Split (3)

train · 25k rows

text stringlengths 1.55k 332k	label int64 0 8
according to one aspect of the present invention , shown in fig1 and fig2 there are provided a stator 1 and a rotor 2 . the rotor 2 being rotatably supported inside the stator 1 with bearing 11 . the stator 1 and rotor 2 share a common central axis 4 . the stator 1 consists of housing parts 10 a and 10 b fixedly supporting the bearing 11 , stator pole laminations 12 and electrical stator coils 13 to electrically energize a plurality of electromagnetic poles , thereafter referred to as electromagnets 9 , as is conventional with electric motors . the stator having a hollow central cavity to functionally receive the rotor 2 and having a stator frictional surface 17 . the stator housing parts 10 a and 10 b may include actuator mounting brackets 18 for mounting the elastic wave actuator in a working position . the bearing 11 outer race is fixedly attached to the stator housing part 10 a by means of first clamping ring 14 and a plurality of bolts 15 . the rotor 2 consists of a core 21 mounted to a flexible shell 22 . fig2 shows the flexible shell 22 coupled at one end to a rotor output flange 23 by means of a plurality of bolts 31 which , in turn , clamp the inner race of bearing 11 between the rotor output flange 23 and a second clamping ring 24 . alternately , in fig3 the rotor output flange 23 may have an extended shaft 43 to support the rotor 2 within the stator 1 at two axially extended locations by means of bearings 11 and 11 a . the flexible shell 22 may be capable of electromagnetic deformation to an elliptical shape by means of magnetic interaction with diametrically opposed stator electromagnets 9 . the elliptical shape may also be retained by means of an elliptical cam 28 slideably positioned coaxially within the inner surface of the flexible shell 22 . the presence of an elliptical cam bearing 29 between the elliptical cam 28 and flexible shell 22 reduces friction between the cam 28 and the flexible shell 22 . the bearing 29 may be any conventional slim - form bearing known in the art that conforms easily to the shape of the cam 28 such as a ball bearing , a roller bearing , a low friction interface such as teflon ® or a lubricated bronze bushing . the rotor 2 and stator 1 , in fig1 are supported relative to each other by bearing 11 which allows rotation of the rotor 2 , but not lateral or angular movement of the rotor 2 , about the central axis 4 . bearing 11 may be a moment carrying bearing , such as a cross roller bearing or a pair of opposed angular contact bearings . alternately , the rotor 2 may be rotationally mounted to the stator 1 using two radial bearings axially spaced from each other along an output shaft 43 such as on opposite ends of the stator pole laminations 12 as shown in fig3 . oil seals 16 at both sides of bearing 11 may be used to retain lubricants within bearing 11 . for best operating efficiency , the stator pole laminations 12 and the flexible rotor core 21 are best made with low - loss magnetically permeable material such as silicon steel and preferably laminated as conventionally practiced to provide a low energy loss path for the electromagnetic flux produced by the stator electromagnets 9 . in preferred embodiments , the core 21 may be silicon steel laminations in the form of a compact spiral ribbon 21 a ( fig4 ) which may also be split axially to form a layered set of concentric thin shells . the core 21 may also be formed as a compact helical ribbon 21 b ( fig5 ), or split radially to form a layered stack of split flat rings 21 c ( fig6 ). the stator laminations 12 may be clamped solidly between stator clamp parts 7 a and 7 b by means of a plurality of axial bolts or rivets ( not shown ) extending through a plurality of holes 33 . the rotor core 21 mounted to the flexible shell 22 may be retained with a flexible mold 27 , preferably of a polymer formulation tolerant of high temperature . uniformly polarized permanent magnet segments 25 may be embedded or circumferentially mounted to the rotor core 21 to improve the attractive force between the rotor 2 and the stator 1 . permanent magnets 25 also maintain the elliptical form of the flexible shell 22 when the stator coils 13 are not energized , thus minimizing the possibility of the rotor becoming locked in a circular form and unresponsive to magnetic excitation . the invention may have the rotor 2 constructed with a large internal hole 40 for passing wires and process lines as may be needed for manufacturing process applications . in many embodiments , the flexible shell 22 deforms into a functional elliptical cross - section under operational forces while one end remains rigidly coupled to the rotor output flange 23 . in such cases , as shown in fig2 the flexible shell 22 must be designed to flex radially to contact the stator frictional surface 17 following the electromagnetic wave while maintaining a circular form at the coupling end 23 a . an alternative coupling means is to interlace axial or radial splines ( not shown ) of the flexible shell 22 with matching splines ( not shown ) of the rotor output flange 23 at the coupling end 23 a . such spline coupling is known in the art and allows transmission of torque from the flexible shell 22 to the rotor output flange 23 through a sliding relative motion . the elastic wave actuator may be fitted with an electronic controller to generate and supply the rotating electromagnetic field , and a sensor - encoder ( optical , magnetic or otherwise ) to provide a feedback signal indicative of the position of the rotor for electronic control of field commutation , positioning , current , speed or torque . for example , in fig1 an electromagnetic sensor 30 together with encoding circuitry may be positioned within stator housing part 10 b to detect the passing of metallic teeth 32 protruding radially inwards from the internal circumference of elliptical cam 28 . the electromagnetic pulse generated as each tooth passes the sensor 30 could be fed to a counter and relayed to the electronic controller as input for control decisions . such electronic controller circuits may excite the stator coils 13 with a multi - phase electrical power excitation or a pulse width modulated ( pwm ) electrical excitation as is customary for servo controlled ac electric motors to generate the rotating electromagnetic field . alternately , the sensor - encoder 30 may be located to detect the position of the flexible shell directly . however , detecting the position of the elliptical cam 28 , which rotates at a much higher speed than the flexible shell , provides higher resolution counts to the electronic controller supportive of better control performance . in another embodiment shown in fig7 the elastic wave actuator may be configured having the rotor external to the stator . this embodiment functions essentially as in the inner - rotor embodiment and functions with the control systems , cam output and other embodiments described for the outer - stator embodiment as , readily contemplated by those skilled in the art . a cam output shaft 45 can be coupled to the elliptical cam 28 to provide an alternate high speed cam output to the elastic wave actuator ( see fig8 ). the elliptical cam 28 rotates at the high rotational speed of the electromagnetic field , which is synchronous with the frequency of the field excitation . therefore , a high - speed power cam output is also available from this actuator as is with conventional motors . the elliptical cam 28 , which rotates at high synchronous speed , is shown coupled to a cam output shaft 45 and mounted within housing part 10 b by means of bearing 46 . bearing 46 being clamped between the elliptical cam 28 and the housing part 10 b with retainers 47 and 48 and bolts 47 a and 48 a respectively . bearing 46 may be a moment carrying bearing or a set of two axially spaced angular contact , or deep groove , bearings as conventional in the art . cam output shaft 45 may serve as a power output shaft rotating at the high speed of the elliptical cam 28 which is synchronous with the rotational speed of the electromagnetic field . the availability of high - speed synchronous power demonstrates the capability of the invention to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy by novel means . conventional electric motors use electromagnetic induction through an air - gap between the rotor and stator to generate electromagnetic forces that rotate the motor &# 39 ; s armature , however , the invention utilizes the much larger magnetic attractive forces between rotating electromagnetic poles and a ferromagnetic rotor to induce an elastic wave into a flexible shell which applies torque to carry the elliptical cam with the rotating electromagnetic field . therefore , the motion of the elastic wave is transferred into a high - speed rotor while the flexible shell itself rotates at a lower speed . hence the actuator simultaneously converts electrical energy to two forms of mechanical energy , one available at the high rotational speed cam shaft output and another available at the low rotational speed rotor shaft output . as is conventional in electrical machines , and described in common text books ( such as , “ principles of electrical engineering ” by john j . d &# 39 ; azzo , published by merrill 1968 ), a rotating magnetic field may be generated electrically when an electrical current is passed through the stator coils 13 . the design of the stator 1 , including the number of poles , lamination geometry , the magnetic circuit parameters , the characteristics of the electrical input and the type of wire windings in the stator coils 13 must follow conventional design rules for electromagnetic machines to generate such rotating electromagnetic field . referring to fig9 and fig1 , the rotating magnetic field has a dominant magnetic vector , v that rotates around the central axis 4 as indicated by the curved arrow 34 . the presence of the magnetic field causes the flexible shell 22 to be biased along the vector v by magnetic attraction and to contact the stator frictional surface 17 at point 0 . in a preferred geometry , the flexible shell 22 may be attracted to flex out at two diametrically opposite points 0 and 180 . preferably , the elliptical cam 28 may be used to force the flexible shell to assume an elliptical geometry and maintain contact with the stator at the two points 0 and 180 . as the vector v rotates a full revolution , the points of contact 0 and 180 of fig9 travel circumferentially along the stator frictional surface 17 in a full circle to their original starting points as shown in fig1 . during the full circle rotation of vector v , the flexible shell 22 remains in contact with the stator frictional surface 17 and progresses , without slipping . thus , the flexible shell experiences an elastic wave deformation that propagates through the shell at the rotational speed of the electromagnetic filed . when the diameter of the stator frictional surface 17 is s , the points of contact 0 and 180 of the flexible shell 22 must travel a distance of πs ( circumference of stator frictional surface 17 ) when vector v makes a full rotation . in its free , non - deformed , state the flexible shell 22 has an outer surface diameter r which differs from the diameter s , and the outer circumference ( πr ) of the flexible shell 22 also differs from the circumference ( πs ) of stator frictional surface 17 . therefore , the flexible shell 22 must turn through a certain angle corresponding to the circumference difference ( πs − πr ) as it progresses in contact with the stator frictional surface 17 when vector v makes a full rotation . for an embodiment with an internal rotor r & lt ; s , while for an embodiment with an external rotor r & gt ; s . therefore , the rotor must rotate through an angle equal to ( πs − πr )/( s / 2 ) for each revolution ( angle 2π ) of the vector v . hence , the ratio between the angle of rotation of the magnetic field to the angle of rotation of the flexible shell is 2π /[( πs − πr )/( s / 2 )]= s /( s − r ). by adjusting the difference in diameters ( s − r ) the ratio of rotor 2 rotation to electromagnetic field ( vector v ) rotation can be controlled . rotor 2 rotation can be controlled to be a small fraction of magnetic field rotation . the resultant low - speed high - torque output can be similar to that of a common gear - reduced high - speed electric motor . for example , if s = 100 and r = 99 , the ratio of the magnetic field rotational speed to the rotor speed is 100 /( 100 − 99 )= 100 . this is equivalent to a conventional synchronous motor with a gear reducer of 100 : 1 gear ratio . contrary to prior art , the permanent magnet segments 25 are arranged about flexible shell 22 with the same radial polarity orientation to interact with the stator magnetic field resulting in the desired shell elliptical shape ( fig1 ). the electromagnetic field may be structured to have two rotating and orthogonal components — one directed inwards and one directed outwards , i . e ., having opposite magnetic polarities such as in a 4 - pole arrangement . the magnetic field components attract the permanent magnets along one axis 41 and repulse them along an orthogonal axis 42 causing the shell to deform elliptically . as the two orthogonal components of the electromagnetic field rotate , the magnetic polarity of the rotor remains unchanged ; hence , the elliptical shape propagates as an elastic wave through the flexible shell . the elliptical shape is generated in this preferred embodiment even without an elliptical cam 28 . the strong magnetic attraction of the permanent magnets to the stator surface at the points of contact along the ellipse &# 39 ; s major axis and the weaker attraction along its minor axis help maintain the elliptical geometry when the electromagnetic filed is de - energized . in contrast with the prior art , this effect stabilizes the actuator &# 39 ; s geometry and allows the actuator to resume its rotation from where it had stopped without slippage or loss of commutation control . it should be noted that the elliptical form of the cam , with two diametrically opposed points of contact , is a preferred embodiment . the invention may be practiced with one point of contact such as with a circular cam , three points of contact with a three - apex cam or four points with a four - apex cam . other stator pole configurations may be used to interact with the permanent magnet segments and yield more than two points of contact with non - orthogonal axes of attraction and repulsion . such alternate configurations may be preferred for some applications especially when lower speed ratios are targeted for the high torque embodiment . it is understood that the above descriptions of the present invention are merely illustrative of preferred embodiments of which many variations may be practiced within the scope of the claims and the reasonable efforts of those skilled in the arts described .	7
as shown in fig1 a convection microwave oven to which the present invention is applied includes a housing comprised of an inner case 10 , an outer case 20 which forms one assembly together with the inner case 10 , and various kinds of electric components mounted between the inner and outer cases 10 and 20 . on the back side of the inner case 10 , a duct 50 and a protective cover 80 are removably mounted . the inner case 10 comprises a front plate 11 , a rear plate 12 , left and right side plates 13 , 14 , and a bottom plate 16 , which form a cooking chamber 100 . on the front plate 11 , an opening 17 which serves as the inlet of the cooking chamber 100 is formed . the front plate 11 includes an upward extending plate 11a and , left and right extending plates 11c and 11d , each being extended , at a predetermined width , in the upper , left and right directions . the rear plate 12 facing the front plate 11 also includes an upward extending plate 12a and , left and right extending plates 12c , 12d , each being extended , at a predetermined width , in the upper , left and right directions . the outer case 20 includes a top plate 21 , a left side plate 23 , and a right side plate 24 . edges of each plate forming the outer case 20 are coupled to edges of the extending plates forming the front and rear plates 11 and 12 of the inner case 10 so as to form a main body of the microwave oven . in this case , lengths from the front to the rear of each plate forming the outer case 20 are equal to those of each corresponding plate of the inner case 10 and the outer case 20 is spaced from the inner case 10 by as much as the width of the extending plates of the inner case 10 . the rear plate 12 of the inner case 10 also serves as a rear plate for the outer case 20 . on the front plate 11 of the inner case 10 , a door 30 is mounted to open and close the cooking chamber 100 , and on the right extending plate 11d of the front plate 11 , a control panel 40 having a display 41 and buttons 42 is mounted . a space defined by the right side plates 14 and 24 of the inner and outer cases 10 and 20 , and the right extending plates 11d and 12d of the front and rear plates 11 and 12 is used as an electric component compartment 200 in which electric components such as a magnetron 201 are mounted . a space defined by the left side plates 13 , 23 of the inner and outer cases 10 , 20 , and the left extending plates 11c and 12c of the front plate 11 and the rear plate 12 is used as an exhaust passage 110 . to cool the electric component compartment 200 and remove humidity and odor of the cooking chamber 100 , the right extending plate 12d of the rear plate 12 and the right side plate 14 of the inner case 10 have a plurality of intake holes 12e and first air vents 14a , respectively , and the left side plate 13 and the left extending plate 12c of the rear plate 12 have a plurality of second air vents 13a and vertical row of exhaust holes 12f ( refer to fig4 ), respectively . as a result , outside air coming in through the intake holes 12e passes via air vents 14a , 13a , and 12f through the electric component compartment 200 , the cooking chamber 100 , and the exhaust passage 110 and is then exhausted outside again . further , a guide 111 for guiding the air passing from the second air vents 13a to the exhaust holes 12f is arranged between the left side plate 13 and the rear plate 12 . fig2 shows the structure of the electric component compartment 200 . in the electric component compartment 200 , a magnetron 201 for radiating high frequency into the cooking chamber 100 is installed . around the magnetron 201 , a high voltage transformer 202 , a high voltage diode 203 , a high voltage capacitor 204 , and a printed circuit board 205 are installed . a cooling fan 206 for cooling electric components which become operation is also installed in the rear of the electric component compartment 200 . as shown in fig3 an electric heater 101 is installed inside of the cooking chamber 100 . the electric heater 101 is pivotally mounted on the upper portion of the cooking chamber 100 . a plurality of intake and exhaust holes 121 and 122 for guiding forced convection of hot air are formed in the rear plate 12 of the inner case 10 , and a duct 50 is joined to an outside of the rear plate 12 . thus , a hot air blowing chamber 60 is formed between the rear plate 12 and duct 50 , and the intake and exhaust holes 121 and 122 serve to communicate the cooking chamber 100 with the hot air blowing chamber 50 . in the hot air blowing chamber 60 , a blower fan 61 is installed . externally of the duct 50 , an electric motor 73 and a blower fan 71 for cooling the electric motor 73 are arranged . a rotating shaft 72 is coupled to the electric motor 73 to transfer the driving force . the rotating shaft 72 penetrates the cooling fan 71 and the blower 61 to hold them rotatably . to protect the duct 50 , the cooling fan 71 , and the electric motor 73 , a protective cover 80 having a large size enough to cover them is also mounted on the rear plate 12 of the inner case 10 . therefore , a cooling chamber 70 is formed between the duct 50 and the protective cover 80 . this protective cover 80 has a plurality of air vents 81 . fig4 shows the structure of an exhaust duct 90 in accordance with a feature of the present invention . the exhaust duct 90 has a ` u ` shaped section extended along the vertical direction . the duct 90 includes a duct rear wall 90a and a pair of duct side walls 90b projecting forwardly therefrom . the bottom of the exhaust duct 90 is closed and the front portion 93 and top portion 91 are opened . on a front vertical edge of each duct side wall 90b a plurality of coupling hooks 92 are projected at regular vertically spaced intervals . on the bottom of the exhaust duct 90 , a hole 94 is formed . this exhaust duct 90 is mounted on the left extending plate 12c of the rear plate 12 to cover the exhaust holes 12f . as mentioned above , the duct 50 is attached to the rear plate 12 to define the hot air blowing chamber 60 communicating with the cooking chamber 100 ( refer to fig3 ), and the protective cover 80 is also attached to the rear plate 12 to protect the electric motor 73 installed outside of the duct 50 . the protective cover 80 has the air vents 81 for allowing the outside air to cool the electric motor 73 . further , on the right extending plate 12d of the rear plate 12 , the intake holes 12e venting the electric component compartment 200 are formed . in the left extending plate 12c of the rear plate 12 , the exhaust holes 12f venting the exhaust passage 110 ( refer to fig1 ) are also formed . the exhaust holes 12f are arranged in the vertical direction with regular intervals from each other . on both sides of the exhaust holes 12f , a plurality of slits 12g corresponding to the hooks 92 of the exhaust duct 90 are formed . a hole 95 corresponding to the hole 94 of the exhaust duct 90 is formed under the exhaust holes 12f . therefore , the hooks 92 of the exhaust duct 90 are hooked into the slits 12g by and then a screw is screwed to the holes 94 and 95 to fasten the exhaust duct 90 to the rear plate 12 securely . in this state , since the left and right and downward directions of the exhaust holes 12f are closed by the exhaust duct 90 , the exhaust holes 12f vent air only in an upward direction . the operation of this invention will now be described . first , when the start button is depressed to cook food by the high frequency energy , power is supplied to the magnetron 201 , so that the high frequency is radiated into the cooking chamber 100 . thus , the food in the cooking chamber 100 is cooked . simultaneously , the cooling fan 206 located in the electric component compartment 200 is operated to draw the outside air inside through the intake holes 12e . after the air enters and the electric components are cooled in the electric component compartment 200 , it becomes hot and then goes into the cooking chamber 100 through the first air vents 14a . passing the cooking chamber 100 the hot air removes humidity and odor generated by the high frequency heat to the exhaust passage 110 through the second air vents 13a . therefore , the temperature of the air passing through the second air vents 13a becomes higher . that air enters the exhaust passage 110 along the guide 111 , and passes through the exhaust holes 12f . finally , the air is exhausted in the upward direction of the microwave oven while guided by the exhaust duct 90 . food can be cooked by the forced convection of hot air and / or by the high frequency energy . cooking by convection of hot forced air will now be described . first , when electric power is supplied to the electric heater 101 to heat the heater 101 and the blower fan 61 , air in the cooking chamber 100 enters the hot air blowing chamber 60 through the below intake holes 121 and is guided upward along the duct 50 . the air is exhausted from the hot air blowing chamber 60 to the cooking chamber 100 through the exhaust holes 122 , with heat generated by the electric heater 101 . the heat is distributed in every direction to cook the food . in addition , the cooling fan 71 is operated together with the electric heater 101 and the blower fan 61 . if the cooling fan 71 rotates , the outside air enters the cooling chamber 70 through the air vents 81 formed in the protective cover 80 to cool the motor 73 , and then it is exhausted outside . here , a portion of hot air which is exhausted from the hot air blowing chamber 60 to the cooking chamber 100 is discharged into the exhaust passage 110 with the air drawing into the cooking chamber 100 by the cooling fan 206 of the electric component compartment 200 . thus , the discharged air becomes hotter compared with the air temperature at the cooking by the high frequency energy . the hot air passing the exhaust holes 12f from the exhaust passage 110 is directed in an upward direction by the guidance of the exhaust duct 90 . as mentioned above , in the convection microwave oven according to the present invention , the hot air passing the cooking chamber is guided upward along the exhaust duct , so that the hot air does not enter the protective cover again , which surrounds the motor , through the intake and exhaust holes . therefore , only the ambient air of a low temperature is drawn into the protective cover , thereby cooling the electric motor more effectively . in addition , since the electric motor does not contact the hot air , the breakdown of the motor coil by heating is prevented . in conclusion , according to the present invention , the efficiency and life of the electric motor , which provides the driving force for circulating the hot air , is increased .	7
in the following description numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present invention . however , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments may be possible . all phrases , derivations , collocations and multiword expressions used herein , in particular in the claims that follow , are expressly not limited to nouns and verbs . it is apparent that meanings are not just expressed by nouns and verbs or single words . languages use a variety of ways to express content . the existence of inventive concepts and the ways in which these are expressed varies in language - cultures . for example many localized compounds in germanic languages are often expressed as adjective - noun combinations , noun - preposition - noun combinations or derivations in romianic languages . the possibility to include phrases , derivations and collocations in the claims is essential for high - quality patents , making it possible to reduce expressions to their conceptual content , and all possible conceptual combinations of words that are compatible with such content ( either within a language or across languages ) are intended to be included in the used phrases . the present invention describes apparatus , systems , and methods to determine position of seabed seismic cables , as well as sound velocity profile of a fluid . the conventional way of determining the position of seabed seismic receiver cables is by use of usbl systems that are commercially available ; however usbl systems are not known to be used for estimating or calculating sound velocity profile of a fluid . the main drawbacks with usbl systems in position determination are that they require transmitters be mounted on the cable for every point to be tracked . this is a safety hazard for personnel working on the back deck on the deployment vessel , and it also reduces the maximum feasible speed of cable deployment and recovery . it is thus an economically impaired technique . compared to the proposed technique it is also less efficient in that the number of transmitters it is possible to fit on the cable is a number far less than the number of seismic receivers . the positions provided by the usbl system will only be at selected intervals and they do not coincide with the seismic receiver positions so that one must interpolate based on the transmitter positions . sbl systems generally utilize a transmitter mounted on the remote target , and the accuracy of the angular measurement provided comes from the use of sophisticated techniques for correlation of the observed signal at receivers located with a short baseline separation . the correlation aims at determining the difference in time of reception between pairs of receivers . the idea is that the signals observed at the two locations have the same source and are distorted in a similar way so that a good correlation can be found . the fact that the signal gets transmitted into the noisy area around the vessel hull is a disadvantage of this method as it poses further challenges on the sensing and processing of the signal . this is fundamentally different from the inventive apparatus , systems , and methods , where the transmitters are located in the noisy area and sends signals into a quiet area where the receivers are located . fig1 illustrates an apparatus , system , and method of the invention to determine an accurate position of receivers 2 in a seabed cable 4 being deployed onto or retrieved from a seabed 6 . two or more acoustic transmitters 1 are fitted onto the hull of the cable deployment vessel 3 riding on sea surface 5 . as stated earlier , transmitters 1 may be mounted on retractable poles or similar devices , not shown , in order to get the transmitters positioned at the optimum depth for the transducer operation . the positions of transmitters 1 need to be known in the vessel body referenced coordinate system , and they may be arranged to form a line , a plane when three transmitters 1 are used , or a volume when three or more transmitters are used . if they are arranged in a straight line , as when two transmitters 1 are used , it is not possible to do positioning without auxiliary sensor measurements , such as pressure sensors to measure pressure , and thus depth . if three or more transmitters 1 are arranged in a plane , receivers 2 to be positioned have to be outside this plane or its extension . this can be ensured by planning the transmitter locations so that the plane tilts away from cable 4 axis as much as possible . seabed seismic receiver cable 4 is fitted with a number of seismic receivers 2 that are adapted to be used for sensing of seismic signals . the same receivers may also be capable of receiving the signals sent by transmitters 1 to be used for the positioning purpose . alternatively , dedicated positioning receivers may be used as well as dedicated seismic receivers , but this may result in more expensive equipment , and is therefore not desired as much as the dual function receivers . when the system is operated , transmitters 1 send synchronized broad spectrum and coded signals , as further described herein . the signals from transmitters 1 are received by all receivers 2 and processed to determine the signal travel time and the travel time differences . when knowing or estimating the sound velocity the travel time can be converted to a distance and the travel time difference to a distance difference . the difference needs to be established with a higher accuracy than the distance for a short baseline system to work well . conventional systems ensure that by transmitting one signal that is received by two or more receivers where the difference in reception time can be established through autocorrelation of the recordings between pairs of receivers . in the inventive apparatus system , and method depicted in fig1 , where there is a multitude of transmitters 1 sending different signals that are received by one or more receivers 2 at unknown distance , the same approach is not possible . when using broad spectrum , encoded signals , the correlation results from the travel time detection can be further used to establish an accurate time difference . as an alternative , a conventional usbl receiver group positioned on the vessel hull could be used to establish the sound velocity profile from known distances between seismic receivers on or in the cable . in this alternative embodiment of the invention , the seismic receivers on or in the cable must be transponders or transducers capable of receiving and transmitting acoustic signals . the position and attitude of vessel 3 at the synchronized time event when transmitters 1 send the signal can be determined for instance by using gps or other positioning system . this information combined with the vessel body frame coordinates of transmitters 1 is sufficient to calculate the positions of transmitters 1 at the time of measurement . by further using the information about the measured distances and differences it is possible to calculate the position of each receiver 2 that has received the signals . all receivers 2 in or on cable 4 can this way be tracked for the purpose of deployment precision . increased operational safety , and increased efficiency . the positioning system may also be augmented with additional sensors for increased robustness of the system . such devices are for instance , but not limited to inclinometers , pressure gauges , compasses and inertial sensors integrated in or placed on cable 4 , and further acoustic measurements provided by transmitters located on buoys or other vessels . in three dimensional cable and streamer positioning under water , the third component , depth , is often difficult or expensive to estimate with acoustic measuring devices alone . this may be due to the cost of obtaining a geometry that will give a well - separated vertical component for the target being positioned . for example , in seabed cable deployment , the deploying vessel travels horizontally away from cable being laid on the sea bottom . as the cable moves through the water column , its depth is dependent on factors not easily measurable , including cable buoyancy due to varying water density layers and currents with a vertical component , especially upward . in order to establish the depth through acoustics the acoustic distances and distance differences measured need to have position fixing geometry strong enough to separate it from the horizontal components . with measurement information all or mostly in the same plane , the number of positions that will fit the measurements is large each with a different distance out of the plane . to obtain this requires one or more separate transmitter units deployed on platforms different from the deploying vessel , the number of such units being dependent on the depth of the water column , and thus the horizontal extent of the cable in the water column during a deployment or along the cable length on the bottom after deployment . especially in the context of time laps survey requirements , ( but also for the purpose of establishing and confirming the vertical component of position in conventional seismic surveying ), deploying the cable to a predetermined point on the seafloor can best be done if the position of the cable is known during it &# 39 ; s descent . this information will allow the deploying vessel to maneuver in a way that will influence the final resting place of the cable on the seafloor . two towed marine applications are over / under surveys and surveys employing a positioning streamer . in these towed marine application acoustic ranging may occur between streamers at different depths , and determining depth other than by acoustics is useful . in certain embodiments of the present invention it would be useful to employ a depth - measuring unit integrated into or attached to the cable at regular intervals that does not employ acoustic ranging from a known point but instead determines depth by measuring pressure . knowing this component of the three dimensional coordinates will constrain the points that are available for the measurements to fit into a horizontal plane and thus allow a better estimate of cable position with less effort than required with acoustics only . apparatus , systems , and methods of the invention using a seabed cable being deployed , retrieved , or resting on the seafloor , so - called short - baseline systems and methods , may particularly benefit from using pressure measurements to determine depth . some of the advantages of the apparatus , systems , and methods illustrated in fig1 and other embodiments are that they may easily be fully automated using a computer to control and do the necessary computations ; there is no need to attach or detach any equipment to and from the cables during deployment and retrieval ; there is consequently no need for manual work on the back deck of the deployment vessel giving a big safety advantage ; full automation , if provided , allows faster cable operation and high operational efficiency ; the systems and methods do not require additional vessels , buoys or other devices on the water to facilitate the positioning with further added safety and efficiency benefits , although they may be employed if desired and the systems and methods may directly provide positions “ as deployed ” for the seismic receivers . useful transmitters 1 are those able to transmit spread spectrum signals that are unique acoustic signals lying within a frequency band that receivers 2 ( hydrophones ) are capable of detecting . the signals may be intercepted by conventional seismic receivers 2 , which are already located in cables 4 , or in the streamers or in the gun array cables . by using the existing receivers in the seabed cables and streamers a far better spatial resolution alone the cable will be obtained than that achieved by means of the prior art . in use , transmitters 1 may transmit a signal on command . receivers 2 will intercept the signal and transmit it on board the vessel for processing and storing . there is no rule governing when the codes from the spread spectrum transmitters should be transmitted or recorded . transmission may be simultaneous and recording may be done during the normal recording time for a shot or also between each shotpoint . seismic signals are normally recorded and stored during a period of 4 to 12 seconds after a shot has been fired . the signals from transmitters 1 can be recorded when wished since there is no correlation between the seismic signal and the spread spectrum codes , i . e . it is not possible to confuse a seismic signal from a seismic source ( not shown ) with a spread spectrum signal transmitted from a transmitter 1 . had a transmitter been used which transmitted signals on a specific frequency this would cause them to be confused with seismic signals on the same frequency . due to the signal - to - noise ratio , the normal procedure may be to time the transmission to maximize the offset in time between the seismic and positioning acoustic events and record the signals once per shot . the signals that are transmitted from transmitters 1 in accordance with this aspect of the present invention are so - called orthogonal spread spectrum signals . spread spectrum techniques are described in the literature and well known by those skilled in the art . an ordinary modulation technique is based on the fact that the transmitted signal uses a certain part of the frequency band in a communication channel , e . g . by means of frequency modulation ( fm ) or amplitude modulation ( am ). as distinct from this , in spread spectrum modulation the entire bandwidth in a communication channel will be used and split up a transmitted signal frequency , the individual parts being transferred on several different frequencies . only the receivers will know which frequency and phase combination the incoming information will have . the receivers know a transmitter &# 39 ; s individual code . by cross - correlating the incoming signals ( y ( n )) with a transmitter &# 39 ; s individual code ( x ( n )), a receiver will be able to extract the unambiguous spread spectrum signal from the range of other signals . an n = t ∞ cross - correlation function will be in the form : when a sequence is cross - correlated with itself the process is called autocorrelation . the autocorrelation function of a series x ( n ) will always have a certain top value for τ = 0 . it is desirable for spread spectrum sequences which are used for positioning of seismic equipment to have an autocorrelation function which represents a “ white noise ” pattern apart from τ = 0 . in order to avoid false detection of , e . g ., signals that are recorded by the same receiver use the same communication line , the cross - correlation function between the codes must have a top value that is as low as possible which is the definition of orthogonal . the transmission pulse comprises a set of orthogonal pulses with an unambiguous top in their respective autocorrelation functions . several conventional methods of generating such functions can be mentioned . perhaps the most common method uses random sequence codes called gold codes . this method provides a selection of codes that give low values in the cross - correlation function . these are generated by the use of shift registers of variable length with a special feedback pattern . when used in the present invention a register of this kind will normally look like that illustrated in fig2 . the figure is a representation of a gold code [ 5 , 4 , 3 , 2 ]. the figure illustrates an eight bit serial shift register which will give a 2 8 = 256 bit long sequence . there are several methods for generating pseudorandom sequences , e . g . frequency hopping , frequency shift coding or phase coding . regardless of which pseudorandom sequence is chosen , it is important for its autocorrelation function to have a distinct top value and for the cross - correlation to be as low as possible . even with signal amplitudes down towards the signal amplitude for sea noise it will be possible to extract a correlation &# 39 ; s top . even calculation of positions for the seismic equipment or the sensors can be performed in countless different and conventional ways depending on which parameters are known for the system and how the system is configured . the common feature of all methods of this aspect of the invention , however is that the received signals have to be cross - correlated with the transmitting signal signature of the specific transmitters to which the absolute or relative distance is required to be determined . further processing of data is performed according to the prior art . note that in certain towed marine spreads there may not be enough unique codes for each transmitter . to work around this limit transmitters with the same code may be separated in space so they do not interfere with one another . the simplest case comprises a transmitter and a receiver where the system is designed in such a manner that accurate information is available as to when the transmitter transmits in relation to the receivers sampling points . after the above - mentioned cross - correlation a maximum value will be found in the cross - correlation function that indicates the absolute time difference between transmitter and receiver . it will be possible to develop this technique used on a seabed cable or streamer with several sensors in order to obtain an unambiguous geonetrical network of distances and relative positions . the invention also describes apparatus , systems , and methods to determine the accurate velocity of sound through the water column . it is particularly well adapted to , but not limited to , seabed seismic data acquisition where a cable containing seismic receivers is deployed on to the seabed from a surface vessel . in some embodiments , one or more towed streamer cable may be used in the sound velocity profile determination and positioning aspects of the invention . in any case , the seismic operation needs accurate position determination of the receivers in the cable and the typically used method for positioning is based on underwater acoustic ranging . a system for hydro - acoustic ranging , for example , intrinsic ranging by modulated acoustics , comprises transmitters that generate an acoustic signal and hydrophonies that can receive the signal . the transmitters and the receivers are synchronized so that the transmission delay between a transmitter and a receiver can be measured . if the velocity of sound through the water media is known it is possible to convert the measured delay into distances that are the data of prime interest for position detennination . less than perfect knowledge of the sound velocity may result in positioning errors and this is in many cases the single limiting factor in obtaining high accuracy . the present invention reduces or overcomes problems with previous apparatus , systems , and methods by measuring the sound velocity through the water column . the cable being deployed or retrieved has receivers at known positions meaning that the exact intervals between them are known . for convenience we will discuss deployment of receiver cables on a seabed , but the invention is not so limited . the deployment vessel may carry a transmitter that sends acoustic signals toward the cable and the receivers in the cable are picking up this signal . different time delays may be measured along the cable , which may be from very near the vessel to a portion of the distance to the sealed or all the way down to the seabed . the combination of the known cable length and the measured time delays can give information about the sound propagation speed by utilizing the fact that the acoustic signal propagation may be substantially parallel to the cable . combining the information from pressure depth sensors with knowledge of the separation between receivers along the cable can further strengthen the vertical acoustic propagation speed estimate ( i . e . sound velocity profile ), by better establishing the vertical component of the distance measurements , and thus cable dip . differencing the two depth measurements to eliminate any common error due to inaccurate water density or atmospheric pressure assumptions can reduce inaccuracies in pressure measurement . the depth measurement difference gives the vertical separation between the two receivers , and thus the vertical difference of the range difference measurement . a single measurement may not give very accurate information , but repeated measurements as the cable is deployed or retrieved may improve the determination . referring now to fig3 - 8 , fig3 illustrates schematically and not to scale an apparatus , system , and method of the invention for determining sound velocity profile , including a transmitter 1 mounted on a deployment vessel 3 in combination with a seabed cable 4 and its receivers 2 , however , the invention is not so limited , as will become apparent . seabed cable 4 containing seismic receivers 2 is illustrated being deployed on to the seabed 5 from a surface cable deployment vessel 3 , although the vessel could be retrieving the cable . receivers 2 pick up under water acoustic signals , and may be of a combined type that can record both the low frequency seismic signals and the higher frequency signals normally used for positioning purposes or they can be dedicated to the positioning signals only . receivers 2 may be built into cable 4 at known positions or they may be attached to the cable at known intervals so that the exact distance between the receivers are known . receivers 2 may be part of a system for hydroacoustic ranging for example intrinsic ranging by modulated acoustics as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 668 , 775 , assigned to vesterngeco llc , houston tex . which also comprises transmitters that generate the acoustic signal . the transmitters and the receivers may be synchronized so that the transmission delay between a transmitter and a receiver can be measured the approximate positions of receivers 2 may be determined by use of an under water positioning system , for instance an ultra short baseline ( usbl ) acoustic system or a short baseline ( sbl ) acoustic system and the position of transmitter 1 is known from a predetermined offset from the vessel &# 39 ; s reference point or the origin of the vessel &# 39 ; s body coordinate frame . the approximate position of the cable is given by receiver 2 positions . transmitter 1 is positioned so its emitted acoustic signals travel substantially parallel to cable 4 or its extension . a geometric compensation of the measurements may become necessary if transmitter 1 is weakly lined up with cable 4 . the compensation requires knowledge of the relative positions of transmitter 1 , receivers 2 and cable 4 , and their required accuracy will increase with the deviation from the line . given the embodiment described in fig3 it is possible to measure the transmission delay of under water acoustic signals from transmitter 1 to each of receivers 2 , and use the differences in time delay to each receiver to cancel most of the errors in approximating the position . in previously known methods , an estimate of the under water sound velocity was computed as the ratio between the calculated distance between transmitter 1 and one of the receivers 2 and the corresponding transmission delay measured . however , the limitation in that approach is that this will only have an accuracy comparable to the accuracy of the positioning system used to determine positions of receivers 2 . fig4 - 8 illustrate five other embodiments for determining sound velocity profile in accordance with the invention . fig4 illustrates an embodiment of the invention wherein the transmitter is not mounted on the vessel 3 , but rather on a mobile underwater device 7 having a transmitter 1 , which follows deployment or retrieval of seabed cable 4 . device 7 may either be a manned vehicle or unmanned vehicle , and may be operated remotely through wireless transmission , or through an umbilical to vessel 3 or another vessel . transmitter 1 transmits acoustic signals substantially parallel to cable 4 , which are received at receivers 2 at slightly different times indicative of their distance from transmitter 1 . fig5 represents another embodiment wherein some receivers 2 on a streamer cable 11 are employed . streamer cable 11 may include any number of steerable birds 12 , and may include a steerable tail buoy 13 . in operation , some receivers 2 on the downward slope of steamer cable 11 are used which are capable of receiving acoustic signals at least at the frequency transmitted by transmitter 1 . as with previous embodiments , this allows sound velocity to be estimated at least in the vicinity of each receiver 2 on the downward slope , and thus a sound velocity profile for that portion of the fluid . note that steerable bird 12 may be used to temporarily move one or more receivers , normally horizontally spaced , in line with the non - horizontal receivers , for example if more data is needed to compute the sound velocity profile . another option ( not shown ) would be to tow a streamer or spread of streamers at different depths and obtain sound velocity at each depth . the sound velocity at each depth could be useful as a less precise , or first estimate of the sound velocity profile . in some instances , streamers are known to “ fail ”, that is , for some reason become not useable from a seismic data acquisition standpoint ; a failed streamer for seismic purposes ( but with sufficient acoustic receivers ) could be positioned with weights or ballast , or steered using birds or other devices , to extend from the tow vessel to some distance below the sea surface , and perhaps very close to the sealed . fig6 illustrates another embodiment of the invention , wherein two identical seismic seabed cables 4 and 4 a are being deployed each having a plurality of receivers 2 and 2 a , respectively . this embodiment may have advantages such as providing more sound velocity data points for the sound velocity profile , since the cables may be deployed such that receivers 2 a are at distances mid - way or near mid - way between receivers 2 . more than two cables could be deployed in this fashion . an alternative might be to deploy cables that are not identical . for example , cable 4 might have twice the receivers that cable 4 a has , or vice versa . in this case the sound velocity profile calculated using receivers 2 might be checked using receivers 2 a . fig7 illustrates another embodiment of the invention wherein vessel 3 makes use of a companion vessel 3 a anchored by an anchor 8 or some other feature on seabed 6 . vessel 3 a employs a simple rope or cable 44 on which has been placed or attached receivers 2 in known or well - approximated distances from vessel 3 a . vessel 3 may then be maneuvered so that transmitter 1 is substantially in - line with receivers 2 . fig8 illustrates an embodiment wherein neither a surface vessel nor a seabed cable is used . rather , a vehicle 33 traverses seabed 6 , vehicle 33 having a transmitter 11 , and optionally one receiver 2 . the remaining receivers are attached to a cable or rope 46 a at known distances form vehicle 33 . a float 23 maintains cable 46 a substantially taught . in all embodiments of the invention , receivers 2 need not be exactly in line : they may be centered about an average line . sealed seismic sensors and their support cables ( herein referred to collectively as seabed cables ) useful in the invention include those described in the article “ shear waves shine brightly ”, oilfield review , pages 2 - 15 ( 1999 ), and typically comprise an instrumented cable packed with receivers , similar to the streamers that are towed in conventional marine surveys , but designed to operate on the seafloor . one seabed cable , known under the trade designation “ nessie 4c ”, contains multiple sensing units each containing one hydrophone and three orthogonally oriented geophones inside the cable , distributing their weight for optimal coupling to the seafloor . each cable may house hundreds of four - component sensors . full particle - motion vector recording of all p and s wavefronts may be achieved , along with the pressure wavefront familiar from towed streamers . this design was an improvement over conventional ocean bottom cables , which may be employed in the present invention as well , comprising only a hydrophone and a vertically oriented geophone strapped to the outside ; however , this arrangement is incapable of recording the full particle - motion vector and may not couple adequately to the seafloor . published patent cooperation treaty application no . wo 02 / 14905 a1 , published feb . 21 , 2002 , assigned to westernigeco llc , houston , tex . describes a seabed sensor unit and support cable that may have improve coupling to the seabed . the sensor unit comprises a one or more sensing elements disposed within a protective housing having a flat base . a flat base ensures that there is an adequate contact area between the sensor housing and the earth &# 39 ; s surface , so that there is good acoustic coupling to the sensing element ( s ) mounted within the sensor housing . the housing is attached to a support cable . furthermore , the dimensions of the base of the housing may be chosen so that the extent of the base in a direction parallel to the cable is similar to the extent of the base in a direction perpendicular to the cable , which may minimize the dependence of the acoustic coupling to the sensor housing , and thus to sensing elements within the housing on the angle between the incident seismic energy and the cable . another seabed cable useful in the invention is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 021 , 091 , also assigned to westerngeco , llc . which describes an elongated ocean - bottom seismic cable section of a desired length manufactured by assembling a stress member in combination with a plurality of signal communication channels . a plurality of receiver clusters is fastened to the assembly at desired intervals . each cluster includes at least two multi - axial , gimbal - supported seismic receivers that are symmetrically mounted about the axis of the cable assembly . output signals from the common axes of the respective multi - axis receivers of each cluster are coupled with each other through a suitable filter and linked to corresponding signal communication channels . the cable section is terminated by connectors for providing mechanical and communication linkage to other sections and eventually to signal - processing instrumentation . streamers useful in the invention have well - known constructions , and may comprise a large number of similar meter streamer , or different length sections connected end - to - end , each section comprising a substantially cylindrical outer skin containing a pair of longitudinally extending strength members to bear the towing forces . acoustic transmitters and receivers may be substantially uniformly distributed along the length of the streamer section another streamer construction comprises an elongate substantially solid core at least one longitudinally extending strength member and a plurality of acoustic transmitters and receivers embedded in the core , a polymeric outer skin surrounding the core and defining there around an annular space , and polymeric foam material adapted to be substantially saturated with liquid and substantially filling the annular space . seismic streamers may normally be towed at depths ranging from about 3 to 20 meters below the surface of the water by means of a “ lead - in ”, a reinforced electro - optical cable via which power and control signals are supplied to the streamer and seismic data signals are transmitted from the streamer back to the vessel , the vertical and / or horizontal position of the streamers being controlled by orientation members , or steerable “ birds ” distributed along the length of the streamer . typically , the front end of the streamer is mechanically coupled to the lead - in by at least one vibration - isolating section ( or “ stretch section ”), while the rear end is coupled to a tail buoy incorporating a gps position measuring system , typically via another “ stretch section ”. in accordance with one embodiment of the invention , a streamer or spread of streamers may alternately be towed at a variety of depths to obtain some knowledge at those depths . alternatively , a failed streamer , ( failed in the sense that it is disabled and cannot be used for some reason for seismic data acquisition ) may be used , as discussed herein . the following non - limiting example referring to fig3 will further illustrate determination of sound velocity profile in accordance with the invention in operation . cable 4 with receivers 2 is first deployed from vessel 3 and arranged as described above . an acoustic signal is transmitted from transmitter 1 . the same acoustic signal is detected by each of the receivers 2 and the apparent transmission delay at each of them is recorded . a geometric correction may be applied to all the measured transmission delays so that they correspond to a measurement taken exactly in the longitudinal direction of cable 4 . for the best precision this correction should take into account the shape of the sonic rays , for instance using a system such as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 388 , 948 , which utilizes a device such as a computer or microprocessor for determining the effective sound velocity between underwater points . the following information is fed into the device : ( i ) an estimate of the sound velocity profile from a source of sound energy located at an initial depth to a predetermined final target depth , ( ii ) a predetermined set of grazing angles , ( iii ) a predetermined number of target depths between the initial depth and the final target depth , and ( iv ) a predetermined uniform set of elevation angles . a corresponding elevation angle and an effective sound velocity value is calculated for each grazing angle and target depth . the calculated elevation angles are scanned to locate a pair of calculated elevation angles which correspond to a pair of successive grazing angles and a particular target depth wherein the particular elevation angle of the uniform set is between the pair of calculated elevation angles . the calculated effective sound velocity values corresponding to each elevation angle of the pair of calculated elevation angles are interpolated to produce an interpolated effective sound velocity . the measured delay is differenced against the adjacent receiver &# 39 ; s measurement . the differences can in principle be formed in any combination , but for the maximum resolution of the determination of the sound velocity profile it will be preferable to difference adjacent measurements . the distances between adjacent receivers 2 can be calculated from the known position of them in the cable 4 . the principles of the invention may be used in deep waters where the sound velocity profile is the most difficult to determine by conventional means and the accuracy of the sound velocity is the most critical for precise positioning near the seabed . if the vessel speed and cable deployment rate are synchronized or nearly so , the cable tension may be close to zero , and then the cable will in an ideal case form a straight line . in certain embodiments the surface end of the cable may be under relatively high tension because of the weight of cable 4 , and it may be stretched accordingly . in order to compensate for this effect it is desirable to know the stretch coefficient of cable 4 , together with the cable tension , otherwise results may be biased estimates . the stretch coefficient can be measured in advance and the tension can either be measured at vessel 3 or estimated using a hydrodynamic model taking into account vessel 3 speed and cable 4 deployment rate . knowing the depth difference and the dip angle ( using one or more inclinometers , for example ) gives an angle and side of a triangle . it this information was precise enough , it could be used to calculate stretch , or calibrate a stretch model . for each receiver interval there can then be made an estimate of the sound velocity as the ratio between the calculated receiver interval and the corresponding differenced delay measurement . cable 4 reaches all the way from the vessel 3 at the surface down to seabed 5 , thus providing sound velocity estimates at each receiver interval through the water column . the sound velocity determined for each interval this way refers to a signal traveling at the dip angle of cable 4 . to make this useful also at other dip angles a mapping function is needed . this can be performed for instance by the method of sonic ray tracings . the accuracy of each estimate of the sound velocity is limited by the precision of the acoustic signal detection . in order to get a sound velocity profile with a useful accuracy ii may be necessary to do more measurements and accumulate them in a statistically meaningful fashion . seismic cable 4 is typically several kilometers long and receiver internals as small as 25 meters or less . this gives room for many measurements to be taken and cancellation of random errors . the sound velocity profile may then be determined in the form of a table using the statistics from results within certain depth intervals , or it may be determined by using a parameterized model where all the results are used to estimate the unknown parameters . a second approach would be able to take advantage of the fact that cable 4 is moving ( continuously down during deployment , continuously up through retrieval ) through the water column while the measurements are taken thus providing almost continuous information . some of this detail may get lost when estimating the sound velocity layer by layer using previous methods . the conventional ways of determining the sound velocity profile are time consuming and cannot in practice be repeated very often . the apparatus , systems , and methods of the invention do not require any stop of operation or alteration of the production procedures as the measurements can be taken automatically when seismic cable 4 is deployed on the seabed 5 , or retrieved there from . the algorithm for determination of the sound velocity can be programmed into a computer that can calculate it automatically . the process can essentially be run at all times when deploying or retrieving a cable . a typical use of the techniques of obtaining sound velocity of this invention will be to determine sound velocity while deploying a seismic seabed cable . the so - called long baseline method may be used to compute distances between receivers , and ultimately positions of the receivers . the receiver positions may be established by measuring transmission delays of acoustic signals from known locations near the sea surface to the cable at the bottom . although on a few exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention . accordingly , all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims . in the claims , no clauses are intended to be in the means - plus - function format allowed by 35 u . s . c . § 112 , paragraph 6 unless means for is explicitly recited together with an associated function . “ means for ” clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents , but also equivalent structures .	6
the present invention is directed to a variable length shaft that provides club length adjustability . club length adjustability is an advantageous feature for golf clubs because , for example , extending the length of a club can have the desired effect of increasing club head speed , which results in longer driving distances . conversely , shortening the length of a club would provide a golfer with more control and accuracy in driving the golf ball . golf course conditions often require accurate driving due to hazards , including but not limited to water , rough , and out of bounds markers , and driving accuracy can be more preferred than driving distance in competitive situations . the present invention is also valuable because a golfer &# 39 ; s swing may change over time , thus requiring alterations to his or her clubs . a golfer may improve his or her game through lessons and may gain greater flexibility and strength through practice and exercise . as such , it is reasonable for a golfer to wish to change his or her club &# 39 ; s length to help improve his or her accuracy , distance , and feel as needed or desired . the present invention provides golfers with a system and method to easily , quickly and inexpensively modify the length of their golf clubs to have them perform in a desired manner . this invention will enable golfers to change their club length wherever they wish , including , but not limited to , at the practice range , the golf course , and their home . the present invention also is designed to avoid altering a club &# 39 ; s swing weight or its “ feel .” the tool and components that are used to alter a club &# 39 ; s length are small and can be carried in a pocket of the user &# 39 ; s golf bag . furthermore , the technical ability required to modify the golf club length according to this invention is minimal and its approach is intuitive and easy for a golfer to understand . a preferred embodiment of the present variable length shaft invention is shown in fig1 - 4 . according to the preferred embodiment of the invention , and as shown in fig1 and 4 , two sections of the shaft 10 , the lower shaft and grip section 20 and the upper shaft and grip section 30 , are joined together proximate the upper end 25 and lower end 35 of the shaft parts 24 , 34 , respectively , along a demarcation line 200 , the line at which the two ends 25 , 35 meet . as shown in fig1 , 3 , and 4 , the lower shaft and grip section 20 includes a lower portion of a grip 22 that encircles and is affixed to a lower part of the shaft 24 with double - sided adhesive tape ( not shown ). in other embodiments , the grip 22 may be affixed to the shaft 24 with another type of adhesive material . a lower adapter 40 is affixed to or otherwise situated proximate the upper , interior surface of the lower part of the shaft 24 , and a lower - adapter o - ring 80 may be used to seal or otherwise secure the connection between the lower adapter 40 and the interior surface of the lower part of the shaft 24 , as shown in fig4 . the lower adapter 40 also contacts an interior surface of the lower grip 22 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , also as shown in fig4 . this adapter 40 includes a threaded hole 45 in its center to receive a screw 50 that allows the adapter 40 to be fastened to the upper shaft and grip section 30 . the upper shaft and grip section 30 correspondingly has an upper grip portion 32 encircling and affixed to an upper shaft portion 34 with double - sided adhesive tape ( not shown ), or , in other embodiments , another kind of adhesive material . the upper shaft and grip section 30 has an upper adapter 60 affixed to or otherwise situated proximate the lower , interior surface of the upper shaft portion 34 , and an upper - adapter o - ring 90 may be used to seal the connection between the upper adapter 60 and the upper shaft portion 34 . the upper adapter 60 also contacts an interior surface of the upper grip 32 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , which is also shown in fig4 . the upper adapter 60 has a hole 65 , which in the preferred embodiment is not threaded , in its center to receive the screw 50 that mates with the lower adapter 40 associated with the lower shaft and grip section 20 , and is affixed to a screw captivator 70 that prevents the screw 50 from falling out of or otherwise becoming dislodged from the upper adapter 60 . in another embodiment , the hole 65 can be threaded . as shown in fig1 and 4 , assembly of the preferred embodiment of the invention requires that the lower shaft and grip section 20 and the upper shaft and grip section 30 be aligned and pressed together in their proper orientation at a demarcation line 200 , the line where the two parts connect . the screw 50 located in the upper adapter 60 is threaded into the threaded hole 45 of the lower adapter 40 and tightened with a specifically provided tool 100 , as shown in fig5 a , 5 b , 6 a , and 6 b . the adapters 40 , 60 may further include anti - rotational features to restrict twisting along the shaft axis when they are screwed together . when the screw 50 has been secured , the two shaft and grip sections 20 , 30 are interlocked securely together , thus allowing the club to be used to hit golf balls . this operation allows for a semi - permanent assembly that will make the golf club comply with the appropriate usga rules of golf . fig5 a , 5 b , 6 a , and 6 b show a tool 100 , having an extension portion 105 and a head portion 110 , which can be used to assemble the upper and lower shaft and grip sections 20 , 30 . as shown in fig5 a , and with reference to fig4 , the extension portion 105 of the tool fits through a hole 38 at the topmost portion of the upper grip portion 32 , extends through the upper shaft portion 34 , the screw captivator 70 , and the upper adapter 60 , and contacts the screw 50 . the screw captivator 70 specifically guides the extension portion 105 to contact the screw 50 . as shown in fig6 a , once the extension portion 105 of the tool 100 engages the head of the screw 50 , the tool head portion 110 can be twisted clockwise or counterclockwise to tighten or loosen , respectively , the screw 50 and therefore the connection between the upper and lower shaft and grip sections 20 , 30 . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the length of the lower shaft and grip section 20 is not altered , as shown in fig7 . in other words , a golfer would not exchange the lower shaft and grip section 20 for a lower shaft and grip section 20 of a different length . the lower shaft and grip section 20 of the present invention thus can be permanently affixed to a desired golf club head ( not shown ). in contrast , according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention and as disclosed in fig7 , the upper shaft and grip section 30 of a normal length club 355 can be easily swapped for other upper shaft and grip sections 305 , 310 , 315 , 320 , 325 , 330 , 335 , 340 , 345 , 350 having different lengths . the upper shaft and grip sections 305 , 310 , 315 , 320 , 325 , 330 , 335 , 340 , 345 , 350 may also have different weights to allow the golfer to change the club weight as desired . alternatively , the upper shaft and grip sections 305 , 310 , 315 , 320 , 325 , 330 , 335 , 340 , 345 , 350 may all have the same weight . fig7 discloses an assortment of upper shaft and grip sections 30 , each having different lengths such that the total club length can range from a short , 43 - inch club 360 to a long , 48 - inch club 370 . the assortment of upper shaft and grip sections 30 , 305 , 310 , 315 , 320 , 325 , 330 , 335 , 340 , 345 , 350 , shown in fig7 may all be sold to a golfer with the lower shaft and grip section 20 in a kit form , or a smaller selection of such upper shaft and grip sections 30 may be included in a kit . as such , if a golfer wishes to increase the length of a shaft , he or she may remove the upper shaft and grip section 30 using the tool 100 and replace it with an upper shaft and grip section 30 having a greater length 335 , 340 , 345 , 350 . in contrast , if the golfer wishes to decrease the length of the shaft , he or she may remove the upper shaft and grip section 30 using the tool 100 and replace it with an upper shaft and grip section having a shorter length 305 , 310 , 315 , 320 , 325 , 330 . this invention thus allows the golfer to increase or decrease the length of a golf club shaft without detaching the lower shaft and grip section 20 from the club head or cutting or otherwise damaging any part of the shaft or grip . the pieces of the variable length shaft 10 of the present invention may be composed of any number of materials , including metals , plastics , rubbers , and composites . the shaft portions 24 , 34 , the screw 50 , the screw captivator 70 , the adapters 40 , 60 , and the tool 100 may be composed of titanium , graphite or carbon composite , plastic , magnesium , aluminum , steel , or alloys of such materials , specifically stainless steel 17 - 7 or titanium 6 - 4 . the shaft portions 24 , 34 preferably are composed of graphite . the grip portions 22 , 32 and the o - rings 80 , 90 preferably are composed of a rubber material . the screw 50 , the adapters 40 , 60 , and the screw captivator 70 preferably are composed of a metal material . the pieces of the variable length shaft disclosed herein may also be bonded together with an adhesive to prevent unwanted separation and ensure adequate strength during club use . in a second embodiment of the invention , the variable length shaft 10 does not include grip sections 22 , 32 . in this second embodiment , the shaft 10 length is adjusted exactly as described herein , but without grip sections 22 , 32 , and a grip that is appropriately sized to the shaft 10 is added once the shaft 10 is completely assembled and has a desired length . the grip is preferably affixed to the shaft 10 with double sided tape , but may also be affixed with another type of adhesive material . from the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof , and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings , numerous changes , modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims . therefore , the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims .	0
referring now to fig1 , the device 101 is shown from a top view ( the handle hidden from view under the riser 102 ), showing the riser 102 with a center portion 103 and two side portions 104 . the side portions are the mounting points for the limbs 105 . the limbs 105 have cams 107 mounted in the limbs 105 . it will be understood that there are various , well - known means of mounting the cams , which include having cams mounted in recesses in the limbs , mounted on the outside of the limbs , and the like . further , design of the device 101 allows the use of a riser 102 that is shorter than risers in traditional bow designs . the best method of mounting known for this device , however , is having the cams mounted in recesses in the limbs 105 or between an upper portion and lower portion ( fig2 - 5 , 201 and 202 ). the cams 107 have a bowstring 108 , which may further comprise a loop 109 for drawing either by hand or with a release trigger . it will be understood that the limbs may be of various designs , including solid and split - limb configuration , without deviating from the scope of the invention . it will also be understood that it is well known in the art the method of choosing bow strings as well as the methods of stringing bow weapons both with and without cams . it will further be understood that , although the invention is described in detail utilizing limbs with cams , bow limbs without cams may be utilized without deviating from the scope and intent of the invention . the center portion 103 of the riser 102 may further comprise a mount 110 , for accessories such as an optical sight 111 . it will be understood that the manner of affixing the limbs 105 to the riser 102 is well known in the art , and various methods may be used for the structure of the mounting of the limbs 105 without deviating from the scope of the invention . referring now to fig2 , the device is shown as seen from the bottom showing the handle 201 attached to the center portion 103 of the riser 102 . also shown is the embodiment of the invention where the limbs 105 comprise an upper portion 201 and a lower portion 202 , with the cams 107 rotatably mounted between the upper portion 201 and the lower portion 202 at the end of the limbs 105 away from the riser 102 . the bottom of the handle 201 may further have a threaded hole to which an adjustable monopod can be attached . referring now to fig3 , the device is shown in perspective view from the front of the riser 102 with the handle 201 shown attached to the center portion 103 of the riser 102 . the device is further shown with the accessory mount 110 . fig4 shows a perspective of the device as shown from the front in the upright position , with an optical sight 111 attached to the accessory mount 110 . the device further shows an arrow rest 401 . the arrow rest 401 shown is a “ whisker ” type of arrow rest ( commonly sold under the name “ whisker biscuit ”), but it will be understood that the type of arrow rest may be changed to any known in the art to accommodate the needs and desires of the operator . fig5 shows a perspective of the device with an arrow 501 nocked for firing . the fletching end 502 of the arrow and the nock 503 are held in an ammo receiver 504 ( see fig6 , 504 and fig7 , 504 ). as shown , the device bowstring 108 is not drawn for firing . fig6 , 7 , 8 and 9 show a detail of the ammo receiver 504 . fig6 shows the ammo receiver 504 without an arrow . the ammo receiver 504 has an outer portion 601 with a hole 602 , and a string 603 affixed to the outer portion 601 on either side of the hole 602 , with the portion of the string 603 within the circumference of the hole 602 being longer than the diameter of the hole 602 , allowing the excess string 603 to flex into a loop behind the hole 602 . in this manner , when an arrow is nocked as shown in fig7 , the arrow nock 503 extends partially through the hole 602 , with the arrow nock 503 engaging the string 603 . referring now to fig8 and 9 , the ammo receiver 504 is further adapted such that a standard ball bearing shot 801 may be disposed within the hole 602 of the ammo receiver 504 , the string 603 ( not visible in fig8 and 9 ) restraining the shot 801 and allowing the device to be used to fire shot 801 as well as arrows . fig1 is a perspective view of the device with an arrow 501 positioned within the ammo receiver 504 in preparation for firing . fig1 shows a detail of the ammo receiver 504 as seen from behind . fig1 shows a perspective of the device 101 in operation . the shooter 1201 has an arrow 501 nocked and drawn for firing . referring now to fig1 , a bottom view of an embodiment of the present invention is shown . the riser 102 is shown with stabilizing rods 1301 . the stabilizing rods 1301 are affixed within the riser 102 ( means of affixing stabilizing rods within bow risers is well known in the industry ) such that the stabilizing rods 1301 are perpendicular to the riser 102 and the string 108 . the stabilizing rods 1301 are positioned underneath the bowstring 108 such that when the string 108 is drawn ( fig1 ) the stabilizing rods 1301 remain under the plane of the string 108 and offset the string 108 while shooting so that projectile fletching will clear the bowstring 108 when shooting . while the stabilizing rods 1301 are preferentially comprised of carbon graphite or the like , it will be understood that other materials may be utilized without deviating from the scope and intent of the present invention . the handle 201 is shown in an embodiment wherein the handle 201 comprises a forked portion 1302 , the forked portion 1302 having two arms 1303 . the arms 1303 are hingedly attached to the riser 102 by means well known in the art , such as bar passing through a corresponding hole in each of the arms 1303 , the bar being affixed in the riser 102 by set screw or other means . it will be understood that other means of hingedly attaching the handle 201 to the riser 102 are well known , and the description and figures herein are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the scope or intent of the invention . it will also be understood that the handle 201 may by hingedly attached by adjustable means , such the handle may be hingedly affixed at various locations on the riser 102 to adjust for different shooter physiology . for example , the handle 201 may be hingedly attached at the front , middle , or rear portion of the riser 102 in order to accommodate different users . the combination of handle 201 and hinge attachment to the riser 102 comprises the pivot point discussed above , which changes the angle between the vertical axis of the handle 201 and the horizontal plane of the riser 102 , limbs 105 , cams 107 and bow string 108 to accommodate the stance and draw of different shooters . the invention further has an arm brace 1304 , which is hingedly attached to the bottom of the handle 201 . the arm brace has a cross member 1305 , two or more bars 1306 that extend rearwards from and horizontally to the cross member 1305 . an arm strap 1307 is attached to the bars 1306 . while a user is shooting the present invention , the arm extends through the space made by the arm strap 1307 and the bars 1306 while the user is gripping the handle 201 . the arm strap 1307 rests on the upper arm of the user , providing a solid brace for shooting . the cross member 1305 has two or more offset holes 1308 ( the hole through which the cross member 1305 is attached to the handle 201 is not visible in this figure ). by attaching the arm brace 1304 to the handle 201 through one of the two or more offset holes 1308 , the invention may be adjusted to an individual user &# 39 ; s comfort and physical differences , including allowing the arm brace 1304 to be adjusted to accommodate a right handed or left handed shooter . the device as shown has a set bolt 1309 affixing the cross member 1305 to the handle 201 , with the corresponding threaded bolt hole ( not shown ) in the bottom of the handle 201 . the set bolt 1309 may be adjusted for individual users , and in a preferred embodiment the set bolt 1309 is chosen such that , when the set bolt 1309 is tightened , the cross member 1305 may still rotate about the vertical axis of the handle 201 , further allowing for micro - adjustments of the device to an individual shooter ( fig1 ). the two or more offset holes 1308 in the cross member 1305 allow the grip to be adjusted for a left - handed or right - handed shooter . fig1 shows and embodiment of the present invention showing the handle 201 partially rotated with respect to the riser 102 . fig1 further shows the arm brace 1304 with the cross member 1305 partially rotated with respect to the vertical axis of the handle 201 . fig1 shows a front view of the present invention with the handle 102 hingedly attached to the riser 201 , with the handle in the firing position — perpendicular to the plane of the arms 105 , the cams 107 , and the bowstring 108 . the bow arms are shown with adjustment screws 1501 , which are known in the art . the invention has been described above and in the drawings to achieve certain objects , features , and advantages . although these have been described herein , those skilled in the art will recognize that substitutions , additions , deletions , modifications and / or other changes may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention .	5
the present invention is a novel servo - control system implemented for optical systems including light sources , such as lasers , and frequency selective devices , such as bandpass filters . the servo - control system , herein referred to as the “ wavelength - locked loop ” or “ lambda - locked loop ” ( since the symbol lambda is commonly used to denote wavelength ), implements a dither modulation to continuously adjust an electromagnetic signal source characterized as having a peaked frequency spectrum or peaked center wavelength , e . g ., laser light , so as to track the center of a frequency selective device , e . g . a filter passband . in this manner , optimal power of the signal is transmitted and optimal use is made of the system transmission bandwidth . the basic operating principle of the wavelength - locked loop ( wll ) is now described with reference to fig1 ( a ), which depicts an example optical system 10 including a light source such as laser diode 12 driven with both a bias voltage 15 from a voltage bias circuit 14 , and modulated data 18 from a data source ( not shown ). the laser diode generates an optical ( laser light ) signal 20 that is received by a bandpass filter 25 or , any frequency selective device including but not limited to : thin film optical interference filters , acousto - optic filters , electro - optic filters , diffraction gratings , prisms , fiber bragg gratings , integrated optics interferometers , electroabsorption filters , and liquid crystals . the laser diode itself may comprise a standard fabry perot or any other type ( e . g ., vertical cavity surface emitting ( vcsel )), light emitting diodes , or , may comprise a distributed feedback semiconductor laser diode ( dfb ) such as commonly used for wavelength multiplexing . preferably , the laser diode emits light in the range of 850 nm to 1550 nm wavelength range . as mentioned , the bandpass filter may comprise a thin film interference filter comprising multiple layers of alternating refractive indices on a transparent substrate , e . g ., glass . as further shown in fig1 ( a ), according to the invention , there is an added sinusoidal dither modulation circuit or oscillator 22 for generating a sinusoidal dither modulation signal 27 that modulates the laser bias voltage . the sinusoidal dither signal may be electronically produced , e . g ., by varying the current for a laser , or mechanically , by varying the micro - electromechanical system &# 39 ; s ( mems ) mirror to vary the wavelength . the dither modulation frequency is on the order of a few kilohertz ( khz ) but may range to the megahertz range . preferably , the dither modulation frequency is much less than the data rate which is typically on the order of 1 - 10 ghz . modulation of the laser diode bias current 15 in this manner causes a corresponding dither in the laser center wavelength . modulated data is then imposed on the laser , and the optical output passes through the bandpass filter 25 . preferably , the filter 25 is designed to tap off a small amount of light 29 , for example , which is incident upon a photo detector receiver device , e . g ., p - i - n diode 30 , and converted into an electrical feedback signal 32 . the amount of light that may be tapped off may range anywhere between one percent ( 1 %) to five percent ( 5 %) of the optical output signal , for example , however , skilled artisans will appreciate any amount of laser light above the noise level that retains the integrity of the output signal including the dither modulation characteristic , may be tapped off . the remaining laser light passes on through the filter 25 to the optical network ( not shown ). as the pin diode output 32 is a relatively weak electric signal , the resultant feedback signal is amplified by amplifier device 35 to boost the signal strength . the amplified electric feedback signal 37 is input to a multiplier device 40 where it is combined with the original dither modulation signal 35 . the cross product signal 42 that results from the multiplication of the amplified pin diode output ( feedback signal ) 37 and the dither signal 35 includes terms at the sum and difference of the dither frequencies . the result is thus input to a low pass filter device 45 where it is low pass filtered and then averaged by integrator circuit 48 to produce an error signal 50 which is positive or negative depending on whether the laser center wavelength is respectively less than or greater than the center point of the bandpass filter . the error signal 50 is input to the laser bias voltage device 15 where it may be added ( e . g ., by an adder device , not shown ) in order to correct the laser bias current 15 in the appropriate direction . in this manner , the bias current ( and laser wavelength ) will increase or decrease until it exactly matches the center of the filter passband . alternately , the error signal 50 may be first converted to a digital form , prior to input to the bias voltage device . according to one aspect of the invention , the wll will automatically maintain tracking of the laser center wavelength to the peak of the optical filter . however , in some cases , it may not be desirable to enable laser alignment to the filter peak , e . g ., in an optical attenuator . thus , as shown in the embodiment depicted in fig1 ( b ), there is provided an optional external tuning circuit , herein referred to as a wavelength shifter device 51 , that receives the error signal and varies or offsets it so that the laser center wavelength may be shifted or offset in a predetermined manner according to a particular network application . that is , the wavelength shifter 51 allows some external input , e . g ., a manual control element such as a knob , to introduce an arbitrary , fixed offset between the laser center wavelength and the filter peak . a generalized description of how dithering is implemented for providing a wll in the present invention is now provided in view of fig7 . as shown in fig7 , the sinusoidal dither generator ( harmonic oscillator ) 22 produces a dither signal 27 which causes the laser center wavelength to oscillate with a small amplitude about its nominal position . after passing thru the optical bandpass filter , the laser wavelength variation is converted into intensity variation which is detected by the photodetector circuit 30 ( e . g ., photodiode ). the servo loop feeds back the photodiode output signal , s , and takes a vector cross product with the original sinusoidal dither , i . the cross product result is averaged ( integrated ) over a time period t and may be sampled and digitized to produce the equivalent of an error detect signal , r , which is bipolar and proportional to the amount by which the laser center wavelength and filter center wavelength are misaligned . optionally , the signals may be normalized to account for variations in the laser power output from the filter . optionally , an external tuning circuit may be implemented to receive the error signal and enable the laser center wavelength offset to vary to an arbitrary value . finally , the error signal r is fed back and added to the laser bias voltage to produce a dc offset in the bias voltage which in turn adjusts the laser center wavelength in the proper direction to better align with the filter center wavelength . this is the technique that is exploited to create a tunable laser , tunable filters , variable attenuators , etc . the operating principle is further illustrated in the timing and signal diagrams of fig2 - 6 . fig2 ( a )- 2 ( c ) particularly depicts the relationship between laser optical power as a function of wavelength for three instances of optic laser signals : a first instance ( fig2 ( a )) where the laser signal frequency center point 21 is less than the bandpass function centerpoint as indicated by the filter bandpass function 60 having centerpoint 62 as shown superimposed in the figures ; a second instance ( fig2 ( b )) where the laser frequency center point 21 is aligned with the bandpass function centerpoint 62 ; and , a third instance ( fig2 ( c )) where the laser frequency center point 21 is greater than the bandpass function centerpoint 62 . in each instance , as depicted in corresponding fig3 ( a )- 3 ( c ), the laser diode drive voltage signal 15 is shown dithered ( a sinusoid ) resulting in the laser wavelength dithering in the same manner . the dithered laser diode spectra passes through the filter , and is converted to electrical form by the pin diode 30 . in each instance of the laser signals depicted in fig2 ( a ) and 2 ( c ) having frequency centerpoints respectively less than and greater than the band pass filter centerpoint , it is the case that the dither harmonic spectra does not pass through the frequency peak or centerpoint of the bandpass filter . consequently , the resulting output of the pin diode is an electric sinusoidal signal of the same frequency as the dither frequency such as depicted in corresponding fig4 ( a ) and 4 ( c ). it is noted that for the laser signals at frequencies below the peak ( fig2 ( a )) the feedback error signal 32 corresponds in frequency and phase to the dither signal ( fig4 ( a )), however for the laser signals at frequencies above the peak ( fig2 ( c )) the feedback error signal 32 corresponds in frequency but is 180 ° opposite phase of the dither signal ( fig4 ( c )). due to the bipolar nature of the feedback signal ( error signal ) for cases when the laser signal centerpoint is misaligned with the bandpass filter centerpoint , it is thus known in what direction to drive the laser diode ( magnitude and direction ), which phenomena may be exploited in many different applications . for the laser signal depicted in fig2 ( b ) having the laser frequency center point aligned with the bandpass function centerpoint , the dither harmonic spectra is aligned with and passes through the frequency peak ( maximum ) of the bandpass filter twice . that is , during one cycle ( a complete round trip of the sinusoid dither signal ), the dither signal passes though the centerpoint twice . this results in a frequency doubling of the dither frequency of the feedback signal 32 , i . e ., a unique frequency doubling signature , as depicted as pin diode output 32 ′ in fig4 ( b ) showing an feedback error signal at twice the frequency of the dither frequency . thus , in each instance , as depicted in corresponding fig4 ( b ), the resulting feedback signal exhibits frequency doubling if the laser center wavelength is aligned with the filter center wavelength ; otherwise it generates a signal with the same dither frequency , which is either in phase ( fig4 ( a )) or out of phase ( fig4 ( c )) with the original dither modulation . it should be understood that , for the case where the laser center frequency is misaligned with the bandpass filter peak and yet there is exhibited partial overlap of the dither spectra through the bandpass filter peak ( i . e ., the centerpoint peak is traversed twice in a dither cycle ), the pin diode will detect partial frequency doubling at opposite phases depending upon whether the laser center frequency is inboard or outboard of the filter center frequency . thus , even though partial frequency doubling is detected , it may still be detected from the feedback signal in which direction and magnitude the laser signal should be driven for alignment . thus , referring now to fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( c ), for the case when the laser and filter are not aligned , the cross product signal 42 resulting from the mixing of the amplified feedback error with the original dither sinusoid is a signed error signal either at a first polarity ( for the laser signals at frequencies below the bandpass filter centerpoint ), such as shown in fig5 ( a ) or , at a second polarity ( for the laser signals at frequencies above the bandpass filter centerpoint ), such as shown in fig5 ( c ). each of these signals may be rectified and converted into a digital output laser bias voltage signal 48 as shown in respective fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( c ), which are fed back to respectively increase or decrease the laser current ( wavelength ) in such a way that the laser center wavelength moves closer to the bandpass filter centerpoint . for the case when the laser and filter are aligned , the cross product generated is the frequency doubled signal ( twice the frequency of the dither ) as shown in the figures . consequently , this results in a 0 v dc bias voltage ( fig6 ( b )) which will maintain the laser frequency centerpoint at its current wavelength value . in order to describe further benefits of the invention , it is first noted that although it may appear that if a filter bandpass is larger than the laser linewidth , then the entire optical pulse will pass through the filter unaffected . however , this is clearly not the case ; the laser spectra and filter function are both gaussian , in both time and frequency . thus , passing the laser spectra through the filter results in a convolution between the spectrum and filter functions . implementing analog signal processing , an output optical spectrum is produced which is actually narrower than the input spectra ( i . e ., some of the light is lost during filtering ). in a real wdm system there may be at least two ( 2 ) bandpass filter devices in a link to perform multiplex / demux functions at either end : in practice , there may be many bandpass filters configured in series . this leads to a secondary problem : when two filters are in series and their bandpass centers are not aligned , the original signal must be convolved with both filter functions ; this narrows the signal spectra even further , at the cost of lowering the optical power by discarding the edges of the light spectra . a succession of filters not aligned with each other can be shown to have the same characteristics as a single , much narrower , filter . this further reduces the margin for misalignment between the laser and multiple filters . for example , even if the ideal center to center , wavelength spacing of a wdm system is 0 . 8 nm , due to misalignment between the mux and demux filters this window may be reduced to approximately 0 . 4 nm or less . this would require extreme precision and stability for the laser wavelength , making for a very expensive laser transmitter . thus , there are really two problems to be solved : ( 1 ) laser to filter alignment ; and , ( 2 ) filter to filter alignment . note that when signals propagate through a fiber optic network and traverse multiple filters the wavelength may shift due to these effects combined with temperature and environmental effects . it is a real , practical problem to keep an input wavelength the same throughout the network , so that network architectures such as ring mesh , wavelength reuse , and wavelength conversion may work properly , i . e ., this is called frequency referencing . the present invention addresses frequency referencing as it can handle both of these instances . for example , as shown in fig8 , there is depicted a general block diagram depicting the underlying system architecture employing the wavelength - locked loop technique in an optical system 10 ′ employing a series connection of two bandpass filters 25 a , 25 b . fig9 depicts each of the individual filter responses 67 and 68 for the two bandpass filters 25 a , 25 b of fig8 and the corresponding composite filter response 69 having a centerpoint or peak 70 . when performing filter to filter or multiple filter alignment , the technique of the invention depicted in fig8 may be implemented to tune the laser signal 55 to have a center frequency such that maximum power transfer will occur through the series connection of two bandpass filters as represented by its composite filter response 69 ( fig9 ). generally , a cascade of bandpass filters results in an effective narrowing of the overall passband , as the net filter response is a convolution of the component filter responses . the wll can align the laser center wavelength with the middle of this composite passband . the system and method of present invention may be used to tune a laser wavelength to compensate for any type of wavelength - selective element in a network , including wavelength selective switches , tunable filters , in fiber bragg gratings , ring resonators in optical amplifiers , external modulators such as acousto - optic tunable filters , or array waveguide gratings . this applies to many other optical components in the network as well ( for example , optical amplifiers that can act as filters when operating in the nonlinear regime ). this method may additionally be used to implement less expensive devices for all of the above application areas . as the optical loss of a wdm filter / laser combination is greatly reduced by implementing the technique of the invention , significantly larger link budgets and longer distances may be supported . further , the invention permits much lower cost lasers and filters to be used ; since these are the most expensive parts of a wdm device today , there is a significant cost reduction in the wdm equipment . as an example there is depicted in fig1 implementation of the wll servo - control system 100 for tuning tunable frequency selective devices such as a bandpass filter for a variety of optical network applications , e . g ., optical attenuators , optical gain control circuits , etc . as shown in fig1 , a bias voltage device 140 applies a bias signal to the laser diode 120 for generating an optical signal 200 having a peaked spectrum function . this light signal is input to a tunable frequency selective device 250 , e . g ., a tunable bandpass filter . as shown in fig1 , however , a sinusoidal dither / driver device 220 is implemented for modulating the peak center frequency of filter pass band with a small dither signal 270 . a small amount of light 290 is tapped off the output of the filter 250 for input to the photodetector device , e . g ., pin diode 300 , where the optical signal is converted to electrical signal 320 , amplified by amplifier device 350 , and input to the mixer device 400 which additionally receives the dither signal 270 . the mixer device generates the vector cross product 420 of the amplified feedback signal 370 with the dither signal 270 and that result is low - pass filtered , and smoothed ( e . g ., integrated ) by integrator device 480 to provide error signal 500 , in the manner discussed herein with reference to fig2 - 6 . this error signal 500 may be a bi - polar signal and may be used to dynamically adjust the peak center frequency of the filter passband until it matches the center frequency of the laser signal input 200 . further advantages achieved by implementing the system and method of the invention include : enable compensation for end of life effects that cause wavelength drift , extending the lifetime and reliability of lasers ; overcoming frequency chirp and relaxation oscillations without requiring costly design changes , and permitting lasers to be driven at their full power and modulation capacity ; and , enable compensation for thermal drift of the laser . for instance , as an alternate embodiment depicted in the system architecture 10 ″ shown in fig1 , a thermocouple or similar temperature transducer element 72 may be used to adjust the laser wavelength by varying the temperature of the laser diode element 12 according to the error signal 48 , rather than adjusting the bias current input to laser diode element . thus , it is contemplated that thermo - optic modulators may be used in an application of the invention . further , the system and method of the invention may be implemented for use as an external cavity modulator for the laser , by detuning the laser center wavelength from the filter peak to regulate the laser optical power . it should be understood that the wavelength - locked loop principle may be implemented for aligning any electromagnetic signal having a peaked spectrum function including a center wavelength and a wavelength selective device implementing a peaked passband function including a center wavelength , in any system employing electromagnetic signals ( e . g ., of radio , microwave and optical frequency spectra ), and may be implemented for tuning or adjusting the electromagnetic wave source or alternately , tuning or adjusting the transmission properties of frequency selective devices such as tunable filters implemented in such systems . fig1 illustrates the generic system for implementing the wavelength - locked loop principle employed in an information carrying or control system employing electromagnetic signals , e . g ., in the microwave or rf frequency range , that have a peaked spectrum function . such an electromagnetic signal generator is depicted in fig1 as a combination of a current or voltage driver and an electromagnetic signal source 13 . for example , when employed in microwave networks , the emitter source may comprise a klystron device , the wavelength selective filter may comprise a surface acoustic wave ( saw ) filter 13 and the detector may comprise any electromagnetic field detector 31 . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to illustrative and preformed embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims .	7
in the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention , reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof , and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made , all without departing from the scope of the present invention . fig1 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of the inventive method , comprising a sender 10 , a receiver 20 , and a transmitter 30 . it is assumed in the description to follow that the sender 10 is an authorized user of the information manipulated by the inventive method . the sender 10 has a message 100 , which may comprise various data elements . persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the data elements may comprise any information . the data may be comprised of random numbers or may instead be comprised of an account number , time and date of the transaction , an account holder &# 39 ; s name , a personal identification number (“ pin ”), an expiration date , an amount to be charged , other data , or some combination thereof . first , a hash function 201 may be performed on the message 100 . the hash function , as the term is used herein , may be any well - defined procedure or mathematical function that converts a large , possibly variably - sized amount of data into a small datum . through this process , the message 100 is transformed into digest 104 , a new string of data . next , the digest 104 undergoes encryption 108 . the encryption 108 will make use of a shared private key 106 . in preferred embodiments , shared private key 106 will be known by , and only by , the sender 10 and the receiver 20 . shared private key 106 should be any data of suitable length for use in encryption process 108 . for example , in credit card applications , shared private key 106 may be any data which compromises enough characters to ensure security and to encrypt the name , date , and time up to the minute , as well as any additional information ( pin , expiration date , service code , and other data ). shared private key 106 may be 256 bits long . the encryption 108 may be of any type . in an exemplary embodiment , the encryption 108 is symmetric , such as , for example , the advanced encryption standard (“ aes ”) with a 256 bit key . in another embodiment , the encryption 108 may be an rsa scheme , which is an algorithm for public - key cryptography . the encryption 108 of the digest 104 results in an encrypted digest 110 , a new set of data . through compression 112 , the encrypted digest 110 may be truncated to a suitable length , forming a shorted encrypted digest 114 . compression 112 may use any mathematical function , such as a modular arithmetic or hashing function , which creates a datum of smaller length . in embodiments for credit transactions , shorted encrypted digest 114 may be , for example , up to 19 characters long . the sender 10 may then utilize the transmitter 30 to transmit message 100 and shorted encrypted digest 114 to the receiver 20 . the transmitter 30 may use any suitable medium , network , or protocol for communication of digital data . for example , the transmitter 30 may comprise a card reader to read the message 100 and digest 114 from a card and transmit that information using a network . more specifically , the transmitter 30 may use the internet network as a medium and the tcp / ip protocol . the receiver 20 will accept delivery of the message 100 and shorted encrypted digest 114 from the transmitter 30 . the receiver 20 will perform the exact same process on the message 100 that the sender 10 did before transmitting the message 100 and shorted encrypted digest 114 . the message 100 will be transformed to a new digest 116 through the hash function 102 ′. then , using the shared private key 106 ′, the digest 116 will be processed by encryption 108 ′, which creates a new encrypted digest 118 . the new encrypted digest 118 undergoes compression 112 ′ to be transformed into a new shorted encrypted digest 120 . the receiver 20 may then perform a comparison 122 of shorted encrypted digest 114 against new shorted encrypted digest 120 . if digest 114 and digest 120 are identical , the receiver 20 may authorize the transaction assuming there are no other reasons to decline the transaction . if digest 114 and digest 120 are not identical , the receiver 20 may decline the transaction . then the receiver 20 may transmit notice to the sender 10 via the transmitter 30 that the transaction has been authorized or declined . a person skilled in the art will appreciate that processes 102 , 108 , and 112 must be operatively identical to processes 102 ′, 108 ′, and 112 ′, respectively , in order for the verification to properly function . the receiver 20 may execute further processes based on finding that the transaction is authorized or declined . for example , the receiver 20 may record that the transaction was authorized and an amount in a database , the receiver 20 may notify a third - party that the transaction was authorized or declined and an amount authorized , and / or the receiver 20 may freeze the account of the sender 10 if the transaction is declined . the inventive method may be utilized in various types of transactions , such as identity or credit card transactions . fig2 and 3 reflect an exemplary embodiment of the inventive method as it might be used for a credit card transaction , with fig2 demonstrating the process from the point of view of a sender and fig3 demonstrating the process from the point of view of a receiver . in this particular exemplary embodiment , it is contemplated that software instructions executing in the processor or other circuitry disposed in a credit card belonging to the sender may perform the functions comprising the steps in fig2 . for example , the process may be performed by software instructions and integrated devices disposed in a “ smart chip ” or “ smart card .” a smart card may comprise an interface configured to connect to a physical layer of an integrated circuit card terminal , a communication interface configured to communicate with a communication device , and an integrated circuit chip . the integrated circuit chip , or smart chip , may comprise control circuitry for managing the operations of the chip , a digital storage location , a communication interface connected to the control circuitry , a symmetric cryptographic processor to perform encryption steps , and an interface for transmitting to a receiver . the communication interface may be configured to communicate with a communication device and to receive data concerning the transaction from at least one of the user , a processor processing the transaction , and a user accessible digital storage location the credit card may further provide an input device , such as a button , which causes instructions to be executed in the processor disposed in the card to begin executing the exemplary process of fig2 . at the start 200 , the first step 202 is to read information from the credit card of sender 10 , such as the cardholder name , bank code , personal account number (“ pan ”), and the date and time ( including hours , minutes and seconds ). the pan may be a four - digit secret numeric password or personal identification number (“ pin ”). the pin may be input using a keypad disposed on the credit card or an external keypad that communicates with card or with the card reader . alternatively , the pan may be an account number representing a static credit card account number . persons skilled in the art will appreciate that a pan comprising a static credit card number may be used with credit card processors that do not support non - repeating account numbers or a temporary account number (“ tan ”) as described in more detail below . other information , such as a card issuer number , may also be obtained from the credit card . the credit card will provide this information from memory located on the card or from another digital storage location , for example a remote location accessible through an input device disposed on or in the credit card . for example , the credit card may comprise a processor , secure memory , and a power source , such as a battery . the second step 204 is to compose a message from the data elements read in step 202 to produce sender message 206 . for example , the message text may be the string concatenation of the data elements in any order . in the exemplary embodiment , the third step 208 is to hash sender message 206 . this hashing may use the whirlpool hashing function or any other suitable hashing function . a pin 205 and / or other optional data 207 may also be used in hashing . the result of step 208 is message digest 210 . the fourth step 214 is to encrypt the message digest 210 using an encryption algorithm based on secret key 212 . any type of encryption , symmetric or asymmetric , may be used . an example symmetric encryption algorithm is the aes 256 encryption algorithm ; an example asymmetric algorithm is rsa encryption . the result of this step is encrypted digest 216 . persons skilled in the art will appreciate that secret key 212 must be available to both sending and receiving parties in an authorization transaction who wish to use a digital signature to verify a transaction . this can be accomplished by providing each party with access to the same copy of the key , or each party may have its own identical copy of the key . the exemplary embodiment further includes step 218 in which encrypted digest 216 is truncated to produce a shortened encrypted digest to be used as a non - repeating temporary account number (“ tan ”) 220 . step 218 may use any compression function suitable to produce the tan 220 based on shortening the length of encrypted digest 216 to one which can be used in a credit card transaction . for example , the tan 220 produced may be up to 19 characters long for credit card transactions that accommodate such lengths . in some embodiments , the tan 220 may be 10 characters long to match the length of current static credit card numbers . alternatively , tan 220 may be longer than 19 characters long . persons skilled in the art will appreciate that shorter digital signatures require less bandwidth to transmit , but also may be less secure , and appropriate tradeoffs may be made to accommodate those considerations as well as expectations of existing readers with which the process will be used . the exemplary process may include step 222 during which the sender message 206 and the tan 220 may be assigned to data elements traditionally representing credit card authorization data . for example , where existing credit card authorization apparatus expects a 21 - digit sequence comprising a 16 - digit credit card number , followed by a 4 - digit expiration date ( mmyy ), followed by a 3 - digit credit card verification (“ ccv ”) number , the sender message and the tan 220 may be mapped to positions that are equivalent to these expectations using a process such as the following , it being recognized that any or all of the specific data elements herein mentioned could be changed to other variables : the least significant digit of the hour number representing the time of the transaction may be concatenated to the three - digit card issuer number , which may in turn be concatenated with a two - digit number representing the seconds at the time of the transaction . this number may in turn be concatenated to the ten - digit tan to produce a sixteen - digit number . the sixteen - digit number may then be mapped to the location where the existing authorization apparatus would expect to read the card number data element . the two - digit month and two - digit year representing the time of the transaction may be mapped to the location where digits of similar length representing the expiration month and year respectively would appear . the two - digit date number representing the day of the transaction may be concatenated with the most significant digit of the hour representing the time of the transaction to produce a three - digit number , which may be mapped to the credit card verification (“ ccv ”) data element . persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the mapping of the data representing issuer number , transaction time , and tan onto the credit card standard card number , expiration date , and ccv may be done in a number of ways . finally , the sender message 206 and tan 220 are joined in a step 222 to produce authorization data , which is saved in the card &# 39 ; s memory . the smart chip may then read the authorization data and output 224 it to a programmable device emulating a static magnetic strip . the data output to the magnetic strip may be structured to be compatible with traditional credit card readers and transmission systems . the credit card may also have a magnetic strip bearing a static credit card number for use in places where there is no smart card reader present . the credit card data elements , including the authorization data , may also , or alternatively , be disclosed through a display disposed in the card so that the numbers may be read over the phone or input online . although the exemplary embodiment of the inventive method as shown in fig2 utilizes a magnetic strip 224 to output the message 206 and the tan 220 , persons skilled in the art will , of course , recognize various other means for outputting this information for transmittal . for example , the cards could instead , or additionally , be equipped with radio - frequency identification (“ rfid ”) transmitters , allowing the card to simply be waved at a credit card reader instead of swiped through the reader . transmission may also be accomplished through near field communication , a wireless internet connection , bluetooth technology , or any other communication protocol . as noted above , fig3 reflects the inventive method as it might be used for a credit card transaction from the point of view of the receiver 20 . the exemplary process as shown in fig3 includes a first step 302 wherein authorization data is read . the authorization data is the information sent by the sender 10 via the transmitter 30 as described with regard to fig1 and 2 . the authorization data may be read by any method capable of transmitting digital data . for example , a computer network may be used , wherein the computer on the receiving end may utilize software instructions to read data from the network into the memory of the computer . in the exemplary embodiment , software instructions executing in a processor or other hardware may perform the functions comprising the steps in fig3 . the second step 304 of the fig3 embodiment is to split the authorization data into the sender message 206 and the tan 220 received from the sender 10 . the sender message 206 may comprise data elements such as cardholder name and / or the date and time of the transaction . persons skilled in the art will recognize that the sender message 206 may include other data elements related to authorization of a transaction . the third step 310 of the exemplary process is to hash the sender message 206 and produce a message digest 312 . a pin 306 and / or other optional data 308 may also be used in hashing . persons skilled in the art will recognize that incorporating authorization data elements not received from the transmitter 30 may be desirable in the verification process ; sending said data elements across a public transmission medium may pose an increased risk of fraud on future transactions . this third step 310 must use the same hash function 208 as the sender 10 who originally hashed the sender message 206 . the fourth step 314 is to encrypt the message digest 312 , resulting in an encrypted digest 316 . the method for encryption should be the same encryption method 214 used by the sender 10 to produce the authorization data 222 . additionally , the encryption should use the same secret key 212 as used by the sender 10 . for added security , it is preferable that the secret key 212 itself not be transmitted to the receiver 20 , but instead be stored in the files of the receiver 20 . it is important to note that the process of fig3 encrypts the sender message 206 rather than decrypting it . as previously discussed , persons skilled in the art will appreciate that a compressed cipher text cannot be decrypted because some information will have been lost . however its authenticity can still be verified by repeating the encryption procedure . the process of fig3 further includes the step 318 in which the encrypted digest 316 is compressed to produce a calculated tan 320 . this step 318 should use the same compression algorithm as used by the sender 10 . upon producing the calculated tan 320 , the device executing the exemplary process then performs a comparison 322 to see whether the calculated tan 320 matches the tan 220 from the sender 10 . if the two tans 220 , 320 match , then the final step is to approve the transaction 324 . if there is no match , then the final step is to decline the transaction 326 . the inventive method may also be utilized through smart phones . various smart phones , including the iphone , palm treo , and sprint moto to name a few , already offer the ability to purchase credit card processing applications that allow the phones to take credit card payments and transmit them securely without add - on magnetic strip readers or other technology . applications may be developed to allow the inventive method to be utilized on these phones in connection with credit or other secure transactions . in the alternative , as shown in fig4 , 5 a , and 5 b , an exemplary accessory 510 for an exemplary smart phone 500 may also be used to perform the inventive method and provide information to be output for use by standard card readers . in embodiments utilizing such an accessory 510 for credit transactions , the user will first utilize the smart phone interface 520 to start an application 400 to select a credit card for use . the application may require the input of user data 402 , which may be one or more authentication means such as a pin , other password , or even biometric information like a fingerprint , using the interface 520 . this next step 404 would be to transmit the user data to the accessory 510 , which comprises memory 530 , a chip 540 , and a programmable magnetic strip 550 . the memory 530 preferably holds encryption keys for each of the user &# 39 ; s credit cards . the chip 540 performs the next step 406 of data processing , which comprises performing the hashing , encryption , and compression process as previously described with respect to the inventive method , to produce a tan 408 . the accessory 510 then writes , at step 410 , the tan 408 as well as the other required user data onto the programmable magnetic strip 550 , which may then be processed like any other credit card . in some embodiments such as is shown in fig5 a and 5b , a magnetic strip 550 may be disposed on a removable temporary credit card 560 . the temporary credit card 560 could then be handed to a server in a restaurant without the user having to turn over his phone . in some embodiments , the application may provide a means for placing a limit on the temporary credit card 560 so that a child or employee may use the card . there are several benefits to utilizing an accessory to perform the method instead of solely using an application . first , the accessory allows for reading of the necessary authorization information by standard card readers . use of the accessory may also provide an additional security measure . for example , the accessory could be stored separately from the phone providing a physical barrier . additionally , should a virus or malicious software compromise the security of the smart phone , the user &# 39 ; s credit card information would not be reached . of course , other embodiments may utilize smart phones comprising one or more of a built - in protected memory , dedicated encryption chips , or magnetic strip emulators . as depicted in fig6 , the inventive method may also be utilized for online transactions through the use of a plug - in 600 for a web browser 610 and a peripheral computer device 630 , such as , for example as shown in fig6 , a universal serial bus (“ usb ”) key . when the exemplary plug - in 600 is activated , it gathers information from the web page 620 to identify the data sought to complete the transaction . the plug - in 600 then sends a request to the usb key 630 , which contains both a chip 632 and protected memory 634 . the chip 632 performs the hashing , encryption , and compression process as previously described with respect to the inventive method to produce a tan , and the memory 634 stores the user &# 39 ; s data , the encryption keys , and the algorithms necessary to complete the process . once the tan has been produced , the tan and any other information sought by the web page 620 is sent back to the plug - in 600 , which automatically fills in the field for the transaction . as with the smart phone accessory , the use of a usb key or other device 630 to store the user &# 39 ; s data , encryption keys , and algorithms separately from a computer provides increased portability as well as increased security . as mentioned above , the inventive method may be used in variety of ways not limited to credit transactions . for example , the method may be implemented in any security or identity card or device , from building access cards and to social security cards and drivers licenses . the method may also be used in place of an rsa securid token for even more secure authentication . moreover , certain steps may be omitted in appropriate instances as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , without departing from the scope of the invention . the foregoing details are exemplary only . other modifications that might be contemplated by those of skill in the art are within the scope of this invention , and are not limited by the examples illustrated herein .	7
referring primarily to fig1 - 6 , a cutter 10 in accordance with the present invention comprises a first shell 12 joined to a second shell 14 by a longitudinal hinge 16 . preferably , hinge 16 is integral with shells 12 and 14 , but shells 12 and 14 could be made separately and joined with a separate hinge . as discussed further below , a removable baby clamp 100 is installed on one end of cutter 10 . baby clamp 100 is not shown in fig2 , 3 , and 6 for the sake of clarity . a blade 40 is transversely mounted to the inside of shell 12 with a blade holder 30 , which extends from the inner surface of shell 12 . blade 40 , which is preferably made of surgical steel about 0 . 03 in . thick , is not shown in fig4 and 5 for the sake of clarity . the end of cutter 10 to which baby clamp 100 is mounted is referred to as the “ baby end ,” and the other end is referred to as the “ mother end .” as best seen in fig2 , blade holder 30 preferably comprises two upstanding walls 32 and 34 connected by a support member 36 . additional support members 38 a and 38 b are provided to stabilize the inner and outer ends of blade 40 , and a plurality of gussets 39 are provided to further strengthen and stiffen blade holder 30 . blade 40 contains a slot 42 such that blade 40 straddles support member 36 . tooling holes 44 are provided to facilitate the installation of blade 40 by pressing it into blade holder 30 . on the inside of shell 14 opposite blade 40 , a cutting support 50 is provided to support an umbilical cord ( not shown ) while the cord is being cut by blade 40 . cutting support 50 preferably comprises a pair of upstanding walls 52 separated by a gap 58 into which blade 40 protrudes as the cord is being cut . the width d . sub . g of gap 58 ( best shown in fig8 ) is preferably about 0 . 06 in . if width d . sub . g is too wide ( for example , greater than about 0 . 125 in . ), blade 40 will tend to press the umbilical cord into gap 58 rather than cut through the umbilical cord . walls 52 preferably have relatively sharp upper edges 56 to help prevent longitudinal movement of the umbilical cord during the cutting process . buttresses 54 a - d may be provided to strengthen and stiffen walls 52 and to serve as lateral constraints to help prevent excessive lateral movement of the umbilical cord . the “ v ” shape of walls 52 also helps to keep the umbilical cord properly positioned for cutting . on the mother side of blade 40 , a clamping member 20 extends transversely from shell 12 . preferably , clamping member 20 has a plurality of teeth 26 for engaging the umbilical cord , and clamping member 20 preferably cooperates with a plurality of ridges 18 formed on the inside of shell 14 opposite clamping member 20 . ridges 18 may be connected by a central ridge 19 . clamping member 20 is preferably stabilized by a plurality of gussets 23 . to keep cutter 10 closed after the umbilical cord has been severed , a pair of tabs 22 , 24 is provided on clamping member 20 for cooperation with a catch 60 that depends from shell 14 . as the cut is being performed , first tab 22 will click into engagement with catch 60 , which prevents shells 12 and 14 from accidentally coming open . thereafter , upon further squeezing of shells 12 and 14 , tab 24 will click into engagement with catch 60 to indicate that the cut has been completed . in addition to providing a locking function , the clicking of tabs 22 and 24 into engagement with catch 60 provides audible and tactile indications to the user that shells 12 and 14 are restricted from reopening and that the cut has been completed . an opening 84 is preferably created in shell 14 by a protrusion of the mold used to form catch 60 . if for some reason cutter 10 needs to be opened after the umbilical cord has been severed , opening 84 provides access to the interior of cutter 10 so that catch 60 may be deflected outward and thereby disengaged from tabs 22 and 24 . alternatively , catch 60 may be accessed for such purpose through the opening between shells 12 and 14 at the mother end of cutter 10 . a plurality of bumps 86 , or alternatively depressions , may be provided on shells 12 and 14 to facilitate grasping by the user . to facilitate installation and removal of baby clamp 100 to and from cutter 10 , slots 74 and 76 are provided on the baby end of shell 12 to form a flexible shelf 66 , and slots 78 and 80 are provided on the baby end of shell 14 to form a flexible shelf 68 . a plurality of nibs 82 are provided on shelves 66 and 68 for cooperation with recesses 138 on baby clamp 100 , as best shown in fig1 , to retain baby clamp 100 on cutter 10 . guides 28 , 160 , and 162 also help to properly position baby clamp 100 with respect to cutter 10 . shells 12 and 14 and baby clamp 100 are preferably sized such that shelves 66 and 68 exert a slight compressive force on baby clamp 100 when cutter 10 is in a closed position . short fences 70 and 72 are preferably provided just inside shelves 66 and 68 , respectively , to prevent baby clamp 100 from sliding too far into the interior of cutter 10 . indentations 88 and 90 are provided in shells 12 and 14 , respectively , to facilitate removal of baby clamp 100 after the umbilical cord has been cut by allowing the user to place a thumb behind an ear 128 of baby clamp 100 and dislodge baby clamp 100 from cutter 10 . to hold shells 12 and 14 in a partially open initial position as shown in fig4 and 5 , cooperating guides 62 and 64 are provided on shells 12 and 14 , respectively . guides 62 and 64 , which preferably have rounded or chamfered nibs 92 that allow initial engagement of guides 62 and 64 and that cause guides 62 and 64 to bear against one another as shells 12 and 14 are closed during the cutting process , serve as a detent to prevent shells 12 and 14 from opening up excessively so that cutter 10 may be easily handled in order to properly position an umbilical cord therein . such an initial position is also a preferred starting position from which to begin the cutting process . a cutout 65 is provided in shells 12 and 14 to accommodate guides 62 and 64 when shells 12 and 14 are closed . fig6 and 7 illustrate the relationship of blade 40 to clamping member 20 and cutting support 50 in open and closed cutter positions , respectively . as shown in fig6 , blade 40 ( including the pointed tip of blade 40 ) is shallower than imaginary arc 46 of clamping member 20 at all points such that clamping member 20 will begin to engage the umbilical cord before blade 40 does so as cutter 10 is closed . additionally , the recession of blade 40 below clamping member 20 helps to prevent medical personnel from being cut while handling cutter 10 . although cutter 10 may be made in any suitable size , in order to accommodate umbilical cords ranging from about 5 to 20 mm in diameter , the radius of arc 46 is preferably about 0 . 62 in ., the distance s . sub . c along arc 46 is preferably about 1 . 3 in ., the depth d . sub . t of teeth 26 is preferably about 0 . 08 in ., the distance s . sub . t between successive teeth 26 along arc 46 is preferably about 0 . 22 in ., the combined total of distances d . sub . 1 , d . sub . 2 , d . sub . 3 , and d . sub . 4 is preferably about 1 . 6 in ., and the thickness t . sub . c of clamping member 20 ( best shown in fig1 ) is preferably about 0 . 05 in . if t . sub . c is too thin , clamping member 20 would tend to cut the umbilical cord rather than pinch it as desired ; if t . sub . c is too thick , clamping member 20 would tend to crush the umbilical cord . almost immediately after clamping member 20 begins to engage the umbilical cord , the blood flow within the umbilical cord begins to decrease as the umbilical cord is constricted and cut . this physiological phenomenon helps to reduce the amount of blood that is available to squirt out of the umbilical cord during the cutting process . the blood that does squirt out of the umbilical cord during the cutting process is trapped by shells 12 and 14 , which prevents splattering of blood and thereby improves cleanliness of the operating room and reduces the risk of blood born diseases to persons in the operating room . as shown in fig7 , blade 40 protrudes all the way past edges 56 of walls 52 of cutting support 50 to accomplish a clean , complete severance of the umbilical cord . because blade 40 is shallower than clamping member 20 and clamping surface 108 , and because edges 56 of cutting support 50 are elevated above the interior surfaces of shell 14 and strap 104 with which clamping member 20 and clamping surface 108 respectively cooperate to compress the umbilical cord on either side of blade 40 , clamping member 20 and clamping surface 108 place the umbilical cord in tension across cutting support 50 , which further enhances the cutting performance of blade 40 by pulling the cord apart at the cut . fig8 - 10 illustrate the relationship of clamping member 20 to ridges 18 and 19 and also the relationship of tabs 22 and 24 to catch 60 and opening 84 . as shown in fig8 , clamping member 20 is longitudinally aligned with ridge 19 , which is centered on ridges 18 . fig9 and 10 show the lateral cross - section of cutter 10 through clamping member 20 , ridges 18 , and catch 60 with cutter 10 in an open and closed position , respectively . as shown in fig1 , in the closed position , tab 24 is engaged with catch 60 to prevent shells 12 and 14 from opening inadvertently , and clamping member 20 is brought to a position in which a small gap 166 exists between clamping member 20 and shell 14 . the umbilical cord ( not shown ) is compressed within gap 166 and is held firmly in place by teeth 26 and ridges 18 . gap 166 is sized such that the umbilical cord is compressed sufficiently so as to completely shut off the flow of blood within the umbilical cord . preferably , to accommodate umbilical cords ranging from about 5 to 20 mm in diameter , gap 166 is sized such that the distance d . sub . 5 ( from the roots of teeth 26 to the interior surface of shell 14 ) is about 0 . 15 in ., the distance d . sub . 6 ( from the tips of teeth 26 to the interior surface of shell 14 ) is about 0 . 07 in ., and the distance d . sub . 7 ( from the interior surface of shell 14 to the tips of ridges 18 ) is about 0 . 03 in . fig1 shows a longitudinal cross - section of shell 12 passing through clamping member 20 , blade holder 30 , and fence 70 . as seen in fig1 , shell 12 preferably has a slight longitudinal curvature as well as lateral curvature for ease in handling . similarly , fig1 shows a longitudinal cross - section of shell 14 passing through ridges 18 , 19 , walls 52 of cutting support 50 , fence 72 , and nub 82 . shell 14 preferably has a thickened area 168 in the vicinity of ridges 18 , 19 and walls 52 of cutting support 50 to eliminate the longitudinal curvature on the interior of shell 14 at ridges 18 , 19 so that ridges 18 , 19 better cooperate with clamping member 20 and to increase the strength and stiffness of cutting support 50 . like shell 12 , shell 14 preferably has a slight longitudinal curvature as well as lateral curvature for ease in handling . as shown in fig1 - 17 , baby clamp 100 comprises a clamp body 102 and a strap 104 connected by a hinge 106 . clamp body 102 preferably has a corrugated clamping surface 108 for clamping the umbilical cord in cooperation with the inner surface 122 of strap 104 , which preferably has a plurality of ridges 124 to help grip the umbilical cord . to save weight , clamp body 102 preferably has a central cavity 154 bounded by clamping surface 108 and a crown 134 . when baby clamp 100 is installed in cutter 10 , back surface 158 faces away from cutter 10 ( as best shown in fig1 ) and face 156 faces toward the interior of cutter 10 ( as best shown in fig4 ). at the end of strap 104 opposite hinge 106 , strap 104 has an ear 128 with a slot 130 for receiving a hook 110 that depends from clamp body 102 opposite hinge 106 . hook 110 has a catch 112 that cooperates with a recess 132 ( best seen in fig4 and 5 ) for holding baby clamp 100 in the closed position . the thickness of hook 110 preferably varies from about 0 . 06 in . at dimension d . sub . 8 to about 0 . 04 in . at dimension d . sub . 9 , and the width w . sub . l of hook 110 ( best shown in fig2 ) is preferably about 0 . 13 in . hook 110 preferably subtends an angle . theta .. sub . l of about 117 degrees with an inner arc length of about 0 . 31 in . as shown in fig2 , the overall thickness t . sub . l of ear 128 and hook 110 is preferably about 0 . 09 in . hinge 106 preferably has an arc length s . sub . h of about 0 . 68 in . crown 134 and strap 104 preferably have a plurality of recesses 138 for cooperating with nubs 82 on shelves 66 , 68 to hold baby clamp 100 in cutter 10 . ridges 114 and 136 , which depend from clamp body 102 , cooperate with ridges 120 and 126 of strap 104 to close the gap between clamp body 102 and strap 104 in the vicinity of hinge 106 and ear 128 when baby clamp 100 is closed . a curved closeout 118 is preferably provided on the end of strap 104 adjacent hinge 106 to help prevent the umbilical cord from slipping into hinge 106 . for symmetry , a similar closeout 146 may be provided on ear 128 . when baby clamp 100 is closed , the umbilical cord will lie compressed in the gap 174 between strap 104 and clamp body 102 and will be held firmly in place by clamping surface 108 and ridges 124 . to accommodate umbilical cords ranging from about 5 to 20 mm in diameter , radius r . sub . s of strap 104 is preferably about 0 . 56 in ., and distance s . sub . s between ridges 120 and 126 along the interior surface 122 of strap 104 is preferably about 1 . 08 in . tooling holes 140 may be provided to help remove baby clamp 100 from its mold during manufacturing . the exterior surfaces of crown 134 and strap 104 preferably have a plurality of recesses 142 to help the user grip baby clamp 100 . as is readily apparent from the drawings , when baby clamp 100 is closed , a preferred shape of baby clamp 100 resembles the head of a koala bear . accordingly , face 156 of clamp body 102 may be provided with protrusions that form a pair of eyes 148 , a nose 150 , and a mouth 152 . cavity 154 may also be utilized to house a sensor ( not shown ) for tracking the location of the baby after baby clamp 100 has been installed . preferably , cutter 10 and baby clamp 100 are each molded as a single piece of material . alternatively , cutter 10 and baby clamp 100 may be machined or manufactured according to other methods known in the art . although a variety of materials may be used , the preferred material is polycarbonate , which may be translucent and may be manufactured in a variety of colors . because cutter 10 is intended to be a disposable product , hinge 16 need not be capable of many openings and closings of shells 12 and 14 . the present inventors have found that hinge 16 is preferably about 0 . 02 in . thick if polycarbonate material is used . in describing the best mode of practicing this invention , a number of dimensions are disclosed herein for various features of the invention . however , it should be recognized that such dimensions , like polycarbonate material , are simply preferred , and this invention is not limited to the dimensions or materials described herein . in order to accommodate umbilical cords ranging from about 5 to 20 mm in diameter , baby clamp 100 is designed such that clamp body 102 moves toward the interior of cutter 10 during the clamping process . in that regard , the angle 178 between clamping surface 108 and clamp body 102 is preferably slightly more than 90 degrees . this obtuse angle 178 also helps in removing baby clamp 100 from the mold during manufacturing . similar to teeth 26 on clamping member 20 , the corrugations of clamping surface 108 also assist in accommodating cords of varying size . as an umbilical cord is being clamped , the upward pressure on clamping surface 108 causes torsional displacement of hinge 106 such that the lower edge of clamp body 102 moves away from strap 104 as shown in fig1 . this design of baby clamp 100 is such that , after the umbilical cord has been cut and baby clamp 100 is left on the infant &# 39 ; s navel , pulling of baby clamp 100 in a direction away from the infant generally serves to tighten the grip of baby clamp 100 on the stub of the cord , which helps to prevent inadvertent removal of baby clamp 100 from the infant . as illustrated in fig2 , gaps having a distance d . sub . 10 of preferably about 0 . 05 in . are provided between ridges 120 and 136 and ridges 126 and 114 to allow clamp body 102 to move as hinge 106 flexes . for proper flexure , hinge 106 preferably has a thickness t . sub . h of about 0 . 06 in . and a width w . sub . h of about 0 . 25 in . as shown in fig1 and 19 , the lower edge of clamp body 102 preferably has a thickness t . sub . f of about 0 . 08 in . to properly pinch the umbilical cord . as with clamping member 20 discussed above , if t . sub . f is too thin , clamp body 102 would tend to cut the umbilical cord rather than pinch it as desired ; if t . sub . f is too thick , clamp body 102 would tend to crush the umbilical cord . fig1 , 22 , 23 , and 24 illustrate preferred distances between strap 104 and clamp body 102 when baby clamp 100 is in the closed position in order to snugly clamp umbilical cords ranging from about 5 to 20 mm in diameter . specifically , distances d . sub . 11 through d . sub . 22 preferably have the following approximate dimensions : d . sub . 11 . apprxeq . 0 . 08 in . ; d . sub . 12 . apprxeq . 0 . 06 in . ; d . sub . 13 . apprxeq . 0 . 11 in . ; d . sub . 14 . apprxeq . 0 . 04 in . ; d . sub . 15 . apprxeq . 0 . 06 in . ; d . sub . 16 . apprxeq . 0 . 07 in . ; d . sub . 17 . apprxeq . 0 . 12 in . ; d . sub . 18 . apprxeq . 0 . 05 in . ; d . sub . 19 . apprxeq . 0 . 15 in . ; d . sub . 20 . apprxeq . 0 . 03 in . ; d . sub . 21 . apprxeq . 0 . 04 in . ; d . sub . 22 . apprxeq . 0 . 06 in . distances d . sub . 11 , d . sub . 14 , d . sub . 17 , d . sub . 20 are average distances from ridges 124 to clamping surface 108 in view of the slight inclination of clamping surface 108 at angle 178 as discussed above . the use of cutter 10 and baby clamp 100 in cutting an umbilical cord 164 is illustrated in fig1 . umbilical cord 164 is placed in shell 14 so that umbilical cord 164 is generally centered in the “ v ” of walls 52 on cutting support 50 . cutter 10 and baby clamp 100 are oriented such that arrow 170 is toward the mother and arrow 172 is toward the baby . once the umbilical cord 164 is thus placed , shell 12 is rotated about hinge 16 toward shell 14 , and shelf 66 of shell 12 thereby rotates body 102 of baby clamp 100 about hinge 106 toward strap 104 , which is supported by shelf 68 of shell 14 . as shell 12 approaches shell 14 , clamping member 20 engages cord 164 on the mother side of blade 40 , and clamping surface 108 engages cord 164 on the baby side of blade 40 . as the closing of cutter 10 and baby clamp 100 upon cord 164 continues , clamping member 20 and ridges 18 , 19 ( best shown in fig3 ) firmly clasp cord 164 on the mother side of blade 40 , and clamping surface 108 and ridges 124 firmly clasp cord 164 on the baby side of blade 40 , which puts cord 164 in tension across cutting support 50 . in the same closing motion , blade 40 severs cord 164 as blade 40 is forced into gap 58 between walls 52 of cutting support 50 . the cutting performance is enhanced by the tension in cord 164 , as discussed above . at the end of the closing motion , tabs 22 and 24 successively click into engagement with catch 60 to indicate that the cut is complete . after completion of the cut , the user removes baby clamp 100 from cutter 10 by placing his or her thumb 176 in the gap behind ear 128 formed by indentations 88 and 90 and forcing baby clamp 100 out of engagement with shelves 66 , 68 . the baby is then left with an aesthetically pleasing koala bear on its navel . thus , the clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord 164 and the separation of the baby clamp 100 from the cutter 10 are easily accomplished with one hand of the user . preferably , cutter 10 and baby clamp 100 are placed as close as possible to the baby before the cutting process is begun so that baby clamp 100 will be essentially adjacent the baby &# 39 ; s tummy after the process is completed . cutter 10 remains clamped to cord 164 , which preserves the blood within cord 164 to be sent to the laboratory with the placenta ( not shown ) for any testing that may be necessary . ultimately , cutter 10 is discarded along with cord 164 and the placenta . the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings is designed primarily for right - handed use . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that cutter 10 and removable baby clamp 100 may be made in the mirror image of that shown in the accompanying drawings for left - handed use . however , the present inventors have found that the configuration shown in the drawings is generally preferred by both right - handed and left - handed users . preferably , cutter 10 and baby clamp 100 are provided pre - assembled in the open position within a sterile package . although the primary use of baby clamp 100 is in conjunction with cutter 10 as described above , baby clamp 100 may also be used to clamp an umbilical cord separate from cutter 10 . additionally , as shown in fig2 , the present invention may comprise a cutter 200 with two removable clamps 100 and 210 , one on each end of shells 212 and 214 . after cutter 200 has been used to sever the umbilical cord , both clamps 100 and 210 may be removed from cutter 200 ; clamp 100 remains with the infant , and clamp 210 remains with the cord and placenta . the removable clamp of this invention may also be made in the likeness of animals other than koala bears and in other non - animal shapes . for example , fig2 - 27 illustrate an umbilical cord cutter 220 in accordance with this invention having a circular blade 224 and a pair of removable clamps 222 in the shape of a teddy bear head . similarly , fig2 - 30 illustrate an umbilical cord cutter 230 in accordance with this invention having a circular blade 234 and a pair of removable clamps 232 in the shape of a duck head , and fig3 - 35 illustrate an umbilical cord cutter 240 in accordance with this invention having an elliptical blade 244 and a removable clamp 242 in the shape of an ellipse that may be made to resemble a mouse ( fig3 ), a cat ( fig3 ), or an owl ( fig3 ). thus , although the preferred shape is that of a koala bear , the removable clamp of this invention may take on many other shapes . as shown in fig3 , an alternative embodiment of the present invention comprises a cutter 250 having hinged shells 252 and 254 with a removable clamp 100 mounted at each end of cutter 250 on shelves 266 and 268 . two blades 40 and clamps 20 depend from shell 252 , and two sets of walls 52 depend from shell 254 for supporting an umbilical cord ( not shown ) and respectively receiving blades 40 as the cord is cut . two sets of ridges 18 , 19 are provided on the interior of shell 254 for respectively cooperating with clamps 20 to clamp the umbilical cord . cutter 250 is operated much like cutter 10 as previously described , and tabs 256 , 258 are provided for latching shells 252 , 254 in cooperation with catches 60 . after shells 252 , 254 are closed and the umbilical cord is severed , one of the removable clamps 100 will remain with the infant , the other removable clamp 100 will remain with the placenta , and a relatively short section of the umbilical cord ( not shown ) will remain inside cutter 250 between clamps 20 . the section of cord between clamps 20 is thus preserved for blood sampling . alternatively , cutter 460 of fig6 may be used to preserve a section of cord for blood sampling . in this embodiment , cutter 460 comprises shells 462 and 464 , which are engaged with a removable clamp 100 . two clamps 20 and 466 and a blade 40 depend from shell 462 , and walls 52 depend from shell 464 for supporting an umbilical cord ( not shown ) and receiving blade 40 as the cord is cut . an opening 468 is provided in shell 464 for access to the cord for blood sampling . cutter 460 is advantageous in that it preserves a section of umbilical cord between clamps 20 and 466 for blood sampling , but at a reduced cost compared to cutter 250 of fig3 because of the absence of the second blade 40 and the second removable clamp 100 . fig4 shows another alternative embodiment comprising a cutter 440 with a removable clamp 100 at each end but only one blade 40 and one set of cord support walls 52 in between . cutter 440 comprises hinged shells 442 and 444 with shelves 446 , 448 for holding removable clamps 100 in a manner similar to previously described embodiments . cutter 440 is operated much like cutter 10 as previously described , and tabs 450 , 452 are provided on shell 442 for latching shells 442 , 444 in a closed position in cooperation with catch 60 which depends from shell 444 . preferably , unlike cutters 10 and 250 described above , cutter 440 does not have an internal clamp 20 or cooperating ridges 18 , 19 . instead , the removable clamps 100 clamp the umbilical cord ( not shown ) on either side of blade 40 , and no portion of the umbilical cord is left in cutter 440 after the cut is made . as a result , cutter 440 is more easily disposed of because no section of cord remains inside cutter 440 to decay . although both removable clamps 100 are shown having facial indicia , the removable clamp on the mother end of cutter 440 need not have such facial indicia because aesthetics are not as important for the clamp on the mother end . also , an openable clamp such as those shown in fig5 - 60 is preferable for use on the mother end of cutter 440 to help facilitate draining of blood from the placenta . referring to fig3 , still another alternative cutter 270 comprises hinged shells 12 and 14 with a removable clamp 100 as described above for cutter 10 ( blade 40 and other internal features not shown ), except that shell 14 has a blood collection port 272 in liquid communication with the trough 58 between walls 52 of the cutting support . it will be appreciated that cutter 270 is shown in an upside down position and that cord blood will collect in trough 58 as the umbilical cord is cut . trough 58 thus serves as a blood collection reservoir . port 272 preferably comprises a luer connector or some other suitable needleless fitting to allow extraction of blood from cutter 270 with an extraction device 278 , such as a luer syringe or other suitable blood extraction device . however , port 272 may comprise a simple gated orifice that allows needle or needleless access to the blood in trough 58 from the outside of cutter 270 but does not allow blood to escape when undisturbed . examples of suitable gated orifices may include ball valves and flapper valves . as shown in fig3 and 38 , in lieu of or in addition to port 272 , a series of holes 274 may be provided in shell 14 of cutter 270 to allow access to umbilical cord 164 with a needle 282 and syringe 280 . as shown in fig3 , arrows 276 or other suitable indicia may be provided on shell 14 to highlight holes 274 . as shown in fig3 , the series of spaced apart holes 274 is preferable to allow access to cord 164 regardless of the position cord 164 may assume when clamped between clamp 20 and ridges 18 . port 272 and holes 274 thus allow sampling of the cord blood for later analysis . fig3 shows still another alternative cutter 296 having hinged shells 284 and 286 . similar to cutter 10 described above , a blade 40 is mounted on the interior of shell 284 , and cord support walls 52 depend from the interior of shell 286 for cooperation with blade 40 . likewise , an internal clamp 20 depends from shell 284 for clamping the umbilical cord ( not shown ) in cooperation with ridges 18 and 19 on the interior of shell 286 . tabs 22 and 24 depend from clamp 20 for cooperation with catch 60 to latch cutter 296 in a closed position . instead of a removable clamp , however , cutter 296 preferably has a self - winding band 290 held in place by catches 292 and 294 when cutter 296 is in an open position . as cutter 296 is closed , band 290 releases from catches 292 and 294 and wraps itself around the umbilical cord 164 as shown on infant 165 in fig4 . band 290 may be made from any suitable biased material , such as spring steel , nylon polymer , or a composite material as is typically found in a “ slap ” bracelet having a lateral concavity which , when broken , causes longitudinal curling . although band 290 is shown with multiple turns about the umbilical cord 164 in fig4 , sufficient constricting action could be accomplished with only one turn or more than one turn , depending on various factors such as the strength of the bias of band 290 , the length of band 290 , and the radial stiffness of cord 164 . alternatively , band 290 may comprise a plastically deformable material that is forcibly deformed about cord 164 in order to constrict cord 164 . fig4 shows an alternative cutter 300 similar to cutter 10 described above but having a blood collection reservoir 304 disposed within a slot 302 in shell 14 between walls 52 of the cord support . a removable clamp 100 is engaged at the baby end of cutter 300 . as shown in fig4 and 44 , blood collection reservoir 304 preferably has several blood collection compartments 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 formed by walls 320 , 322 , 324 , 326 , 328 , 330 , 332 , 334 and outer surface 308 , which is preferably contoured to match the outer surface of shell 14 . edges 306 of walls 320 and 322 are preferably v - shaped to match walls 52 of the cutting support , and internal walls 328 , 330 , 332 , 334 are preferably terminated below the level of edges 306 to allow blade 40 ( not shown ) to pass beneath edges 306 in order to completely sever the umbilical cord . it will be appreciated that reservoir 304 is shown in an upside down position in fig4 . the interior surfaces of compartments 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 are preferably coated with an anticoagulant substance ( not shown ), such as edta , and / or another suitable diagnostic substance for producing a desired reaction with blood in order to indicate a particular characteristic of the blood . as the cord is cut , blood will drain down into compartments 310 , 312 , 314 , 316 , 318 and react with the diagnostic substance . preferably , reservoir 304 is made of a transparent polycarbonate material so that , as a result of the blood reaction , a change in color is viewable from the exterior of cutter 300 . reservoir 304 thus provides immediate delivery room diagnostics of blood type and / or other blood conditions , which is a tremendous advantage for early detection of blood diseases or other disorders . reservoir 304 is preferably removable from cutter 300 for sending to a lab for further analysis . however , reservoir 304 may be permanently installed or integral to cutter 300 , and walls 320 and 322 of reservoir 304 may serve as the cutting support , replacing walls 52 . as shown in fig5 and 51 , an alternative blood collection reservoir 344 may have a single interior compartment 354 bounding by walls 350 , 352 , 356 , 358 rather than multiple compartments . outer surface 346 of reservoir 344 is preferably contoured to match the contour of shell 14 of cutter 300 . a strip of diagnostic paper 348 may be installed in the bottom of compartment 354 ( it being appreciated that reservoir 344 is shown in an upside down position in fig5 ). as the cord is cut and blood drains into compartment 354 and contacts diagnostic paper 348 , diagnostic paper 348 will undergo some change indicative of a condition of the blood as is known in the art . examples of such change may include a change in color or the appearance of a letter or number or other symbol similar to the behavior of diagnostic paper typically used in connection with known antigen antibody assays , such as pregnancy tests or strep screens , for instance . aside from indicating blood type , suitable diagnostic paper may be used to indicate the presence or absence of various other diseases , such as hepatitis , hiv , or syphilis , as is known in the art . like reservoir 304 , reservoir 344 is preferably made of a transparent polycarbonate material such that the color change is viewable from the exterior of cutter 300 in order to provide immediate delivery room diagnostics of blood type and / or other blood conditions . reservoir 344 is preferably removable from cutter 300 for sending to a lab for further analysis . however , reservoir 344 may be permanently installed or integral to cutter 300 , and walls 350 and 352 of reservoir 344 may serve as the cutting support , replacing walls 52 . referring to fig4 and 46 , another alternative blood collection reservoir 304 a is shown . in this embodiment , reservoir 304 a abuts walls 52 a of the cutting support along line 325 . reservoir 304 a preferably comprises internal compartments 310 a , 312 a , 314 a , 316 a , 318 a bounded by walls 320 a , 322 a , 324 a , 326 a , 328 a , 330 a , 332 a , 334 a . a strip of diagnostic paper 348 is preferably placed in the bottom of each of the compartments 310 a , 312 a , 314 a , 316 a , 318 a , which are provided with access ports 311 , 313 , 315 , 317 , 319 , respectively , through outer surface 308 . after the blood drains down into compartments 310 a , 312 a , 314 a , 316 a , 318 a and contacts diagnostic paper 348 , ports 311 , 313 , 315 , 317 , 319 allow a user to insert a further diagnostic material , such as an anti - serum for blood typing . reservoir 304 a is preferably removable from cutter 300 for sending to a lab for further analysis . however , reservoir 304 a may be permanently installed or integral to cutter 300 . referring to fig4 - 49 , another alternative cutter 360 is shown having a removable clamp 100 at each end . shell 364 of cutter 360 has a slot 366 in which a strip of diagnostic paper 348 is disposed . as an umbilical cord is cut , blood drains down into trough 58 between walls 52 and proceeds through holes 368 and contacts diagnostic paper 348 . holes 362 in shell 364 allow access to diagnostic paper 348 from the exterior of cutter 360 . holes 362 allow insertion of additional diagnostic material , such as anti - serum for blood typing . referring to fig5 , another alternative cutter 370 is shown having a capillary conduit 372 which is in liquid communication with trough 58 between walls 52 . capillary conduit 372 thus allows access to umbilical cord blood for sampling purposes by capillary flow from trough 58 . capillary conduit 372 may be removable from cutter 370 , if desired , or may be integral to or permanently affixed to cutter 370 . although capillary conduit 372 is shown as a tube , capillary conduit 372 may comprise a groove , slit , or other suitable conduit that provides capillary flow of blood . the interior of capillary conduit 372 may be coated with edta or another suitable anticoagulant . persons skilled in the art will recognize that the various blood sampling and diagnostic features described herein may be combined with the various cutters described herein in any desirable combination . for example , although fig3 depicts a cutter 270 with a single removable clamp 100 and a port 272 and holes 274 , port 272 and / or holes 274 may also be used in connection with other cutters having two removable clamps , such as cutter 250 of fig3 or cutter 440 of fig4 , or no removable clamps , such as cutter 296 of fig3 . as another example , a capillary conduit such as capillary conduit 372 shown with cutter 370 of fig5 may be used in connection with any other cutter described herein . similarly , the various blood collection reservoirs and associated holes , ports , and diagnostic paper features described in fig4 - 51 may be used in connection with any of the cutters described herein . the foregoing examples of feature combinations are by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting the present invention . fig5 and 54 illustrate an alternative removable clamp 380 for use in connection with the cutters of the present invention . similar to removable clamp 100 described above , clamp 380 has a clamp body 388 and a strap 390 connected by hinge 392 . clamp 380 , however , has an openable closure 386 so that clamp 380 may be opened if desired . it may be desirable to open clamp 380 for purposes such as draining blood from the umbilical cord . finger grips 382 and 384 are provided for manual operation of closure 386 , which is preferably a hemostat - like closure . as shown in fig5 , an alternative closure 386 a may be oriented in a configuration that is rotated 90 degrees , for example , from that shown in fig5 and 54 . referring to fig5 and 57 , another alternative removable clamp 400 is shown having a clamp body 402 and strap 404 connected by hinge 406 . instead of a hemostat - like closure , clamp 400 has a snap - in closure comprising nibs 412 which cooperate with recesses 410 . squeezing finger grips 408 with sufficient force will cause nibs 412 to release from recesses 410 in order to open clamp 400 . although clamp 400 is shown with the finger grips 408 and nibs 412 on strap 404 and the recesses 410 on body 402 , it will be understood that the configuration may be reversed with the finger grips 408 and nibs 412 on body 402 and the recesses 410 on strap 404 . referring to fig5 - 60 , another alternative removable clamp 420 is shown having a body 422 and strap 424 connected by hinge 426 . clamp 420 has an openable closure comprising a nib 430 which cooperates with a recess 432 to close clamp 420 . a tab 428 depends from body 422 such that pressing tab 428 toward body 422 causes nib 430 to release from recess 432 in order to open clamp 420 . again , it will be understood that although nib 430 and tab 418 are shown on body 422 and recess 432 is shown in strap 424 , the configuration may be reversed with nib 430 and tab 428 on strap 424 and recess 432 on body 422 . to aid in the identification of infants in multi - infant births , the cutter and removable clamp ( s ) used for each respective infant may be color coordinated , with a different color being used for each infant . for example , in a birth of twins , one cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may be blue , and the other cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may be red . color coordination of the cutter and removable clamp ( s ) of the present invention for each respective infant allows delivery personnel easily to keep track of which cord and placenta is associated with each infant without any need for marking or other identification before cutting . this color - coded system greatly improves the efficiency of the delivery process and thus reduces the risk of complications . before the present invention , the average delivery time of each infant in a multi - infant birth was about two minutes . thus , for a birth of sextuplets using conventional multi - infant delivery methods , the total delivery time would be about twelve minutes . using color - coordinated clamps and cutters of the present invention , the first named inventor herein was able to deliver an entire group of sextuplets in about two minutes and four seconds total , which represents a reduction in delivery time of approximately 83 %. as mentioned above , the cutters and removable clamps of the present invention are preferably made of a translucent polycarbonate material . for purposes of transparency of the cutter shells and / or the blood collection reservoirs in order to observe diagnostic color changes as described herein , the present inventors have found that makrolon ™ rx - 2530 polycarbonate material ( 1118 tint , product code j4351118 ) available from bayer corporation works quite well , although other suitable materials may also be used . for purposes of color coordination of a cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) as described herein , the present inventors have found that the colorcomp ™ d - 1000 series of polycarbonate materials ( product code 732 - 000 - 493 ) available from lnp engineering plastics , inc . works quite well , and more specifically the following formulations : hc yl3 - 894 tp ; hc bl5 - 984 - 1 tp ; hc gn4 - 121 - 1 tp ; hc rd1 - 044 - 1 tp ; hc rd1 - 312 - 1 tp ; and hc or2 - 645 tp . again , however , other suitable materials may also be used . aside from or in addition to color coordination , it should be understood that a similar benefit may be obtained by using other suitable coordinated identifying attributes for each cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ). for example , each cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may be identified with like numbers , letters , symbols , bar codes , or other indicia , which are preferably incorporated into the cutters and removable clamps at the time of manufacture , such as by molding , etching , embossing , application of stickers , or other suitable means . for instance , the first cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may bear the numeral “ 1 ,” the second cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may bear the numeral “ 2 ,” the third cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may bear the numeral “ 3 ,” and so on . alternatively , the first cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may bear the letter “ a ,” the second cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may bear the letter “ b ,” the third cutter and its associated removable clamp ( s ) may bear the letter “ c ,” and so on . it should be clear that a multitude of different coordinated identifying indicia may be used on the respective cutters and removable clamps for such purposes , and all such possibilities are intended to be covered by the claims of the present invention . although the foregoing specific details describe a preferred embodiment of this invention , persons reasonably skilled in the art will recognize that various changes may be made in the details of this invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims . therefore , it should be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described herein	0
for clarity , only those elements of the delta - sigma converters which are necessary to the understanding of the present invention have been shown in the drawings and will be described hereafter . fig1 shows an embodiment of a delta - sigma digital - to - analog converter associated with an information transfer device according to the present invention . a delta - sigma converter includes a digital part 1 of filtering and formatting of data words td over n bits into a digital signal td &# 39 ; over a single bit . signal td transits through an interpolation filter 2 ( interp ) which forms a finite impulse response filter exhibiting zeros for each multiple of frequency f0 of the samples of signal td . filter 2 is generally preceded by a half - band filter ( assumed to be included in block 2 ) which issues the samples at a frequency p . f0 to the interpolation filter , p representing an integer which is higher than or equal to 2 . filter 2 issues digital oversamples at a frequency fs = p . q . f0 , where q represents an integer number . product p . q is generally higher than or equal to 64 . the n outputs of filter 2 are sent onto a noise shaping circuit 3 ( ns ), the function of which is to push back the quantization noise outside the useful band . circuit 3 issues signal td &# 39 ; over a single bit at oversampling frequency fs . signal td &# 39 ; is sent onto an analog part 4 of the converter , essentially formed of a one bit digital - to - analog converter ( dac ) 5 working at oversampling frequency fs and issuing an analog signal ta . the level of a current sample is determined by incrementing , or decrementing , the level of the preceding sample according to the state of the single bit . converter 5 performs , at its output , a low - pass filtering to eliminate the quantization noise previously pushed back outside the useful band . fig2 illustrates the operation of such a converter from a frequency point of view . useful band bu contains the frequencies lower than data sampling frequency f0 / 2 and quantization noise qn has a gaussian spectral density centered on frequency fs / 2 . frequency fs generally corresponds to a very high multiple of frequency f0 . for example , in audio applications , frequency fs is approximately 64 or 128 times frequency f0 . for a data transmission by means of a modem , frequency fs corresponds to a multiple generally included between 96 and 256 of frequency f0 . the structure and operation of a delta - sigma digital - to - analog converter is well known and will not be discussed in more detail . according to the present invention , line 6 separating circuit 3 from converter 5 is used to transmit additional information with respect to the data . this transmission is performed at one or several frequencies f1 , f2 , lower than frequency fs and corresponding to integer multiples of frequency f0 . in the example shown , two information signals i1 and i2 are transmitted at frequencies f1 and f2 corresponding , for example , to two or three times frequency f0 . information signals i1 and i2 are , for example , formed of binary signals over one bit which pass through encoders ( code ) 7 , 8 , transforming these binary signals into frequency signals at frequency f1 . the respective outputs of encoders 7 and 8 are mixed by a multiplexer 9 ( mux ). the output of multiplexer 9 is mixed with the data signal , at a first end of line 6 . in practice and as illustrated in fig1 the mixture of the output of multiplexer 9 with the digital data is performed , preferably , upstream of noise shaping circuit 3 . it is indeed not very handy to mix frequency signals with a digital signal over 1 bit . the number of bits over which frequencies f1 and f2 are mixed depends on the desired amplitude for these frequencies . at the other end of line 6 ( on the side of converter 5 ), the mixed signal is sent , on the one hand , to the input of converter 5 and , on the other hand , to the input of a demultiplexer 10 for detecting the presence of frequencies f1 and f2 and separating them to restore the two information signals i &# 39 ; 1 and i &# 39 ; 2 at frequencies f1 and f2 . as illustrated in fig2 frequencies f1 and f2 do not pollute the data going through the deltasigma converter . indeed , these frequencies are located between the useful band and the quantization noise distribution around frequency fs / 2 . fig3 shows an embodiment of an analog - to - digital delta - sigma converter associated with a device that transfers additional information according to the present invention . an analog - to - digital delta - sigma converter generally includes an analog part 11 formed of a modulator 12 ( δ / σ modul ) at an oversampling frequency fs , receiving an analog signal ra . modulator 12 issues digital oversamples rd &# 39 ; over one bit at frequency fs . signal rd &# 39 ; is sent onto a digital decimator 13 ( decim ) of a digital part 14 of the converter . the function of decimator 13 is to convert the oversamples over 1 bit into n samples rd at frequency p . f0 ( fs / q ). decimator 13 forms a finite impulse response filter comprising zeros for each multiple of frequency f0 and performs a low - pass filtering of signal rd &# 39 ;. the outputs of decimator 13 generally transit through a half - band filter ( assumed to be included in block 13 ) which brings back the n samples to frequency f0 and issues signals rd over n bits . fig4 illustrates the frequency response of an analog - to - digital delta - sigma converter . the quantization noise qn is , as previously , of gaussian form and is centered on frequency fs / 2 . the frequency response of modulator 12 exhibits zeros for each multiple of frequency f0 . decimator 13 eliminates any frequency higher than the useful band bu of the converted signal . as for the digital - to - analog converter , the structure and operation of an analog - to - digital delta - sigma converter is well known and will not be discussed in further detail . according to the present invention , to transmit additional information over line 15 separating modulator 12 from decimator 13 , one or several frequencies corresponding to integer multiples of frequency f0 are used , as in the case of the digital - to - analog conversion . if several additional information signals have to be transmitted , these information signals are , as previously , multiplexed ( mux 16 ), and are here mixed with signal rd &# 39 ;. the mixture is , preferably , performed upstream of modulator 12 , that is , on signal ra . at the other end of line 15 , the signal is sent on the one hand to decimator 13 , and on the other hand to a demultiplexer 17 ( demux ) for detecting and isolating frequencies f1 and f2 to restore the transmitted information . of course , as in the case of the digital - to - analog conversion , the additional information may be coded upstream of multiplexer 16 and decoded downstream of demultiplexer 17 . as can be seen in fig4 the transfer of the additional information at frequencies f1 and f2 does not pollute the data since these frequencies f1 and f2 are filtered before restoration of data rd . indeed , these frequencies correspond to zeros of finite impulse response filter 3 and are included between the useful band of the converter and the quantization noise distribution around frequency fs / 2 . if , for reasons of practical implementation convenience , the fixed frequency signals are , for a transfer using the digital - to - analog converter , generated in the form of digital frequencies to be mixed with the actual data and , for a transfer using the analog - to - digital converter , generated in the form of analog signals to be mixed with the analog data signal , these signals can also be mixed with the oversampled digital signals over 1 bit , that is , at the output of circuit 3 ( fig1 ) or at the output of circuit 12 ( fig2 ). the number of additional information signals that it is possible to transmit by implementing the present invention depends on the ratio between oversampling frequency fs and frequency f0 . thus , delta - sigma converters having a much higher oversampling frequency than frequency f0 will preferably be used . this condition is perfectly compatible with the usual ratios between frequencies fs and f0 in audio applications or applications of digital data transmission by means of a modem . to implement the present invention in a modem of digital data transmission between a user &# 39 ; s equipment , for example , a microcomputer , and a telephone line , the galvanic isolation between the telephone line and the user &# 39 ; s equipment is , according to the present invention , performed between the digital ( 1 , 14 ) and analog ( 4 , 11 ) parts of the delta - sigma converters . thus , additional information such as control signals and signals for programming the analog part can transit through the same isolation barrier as the data without requiring additional isolation means . in a system for restoring or recording sound signals coded in digital form , the implementation of the present invention superposes on the same line ( 6 , 15 ) both the audio data and the control signals ( for example , a volume control for the analog sound restoration part ). an advantage of the present invention is that it reduces or minimizes the number of connections needed to transmit information between circuits exchanging data by means of delta - sigma converters . of course , the present invention is likely to have various alterations , modifications , and improvements which will readily occur to those skilled in the art . in particular , the practical implementation of the coding of the information signals to be transmitted and of the possible multiplexers and demultiplexers is within the abilities of those skilled in the art according to the functional indications given hereabove . further , the number and the choice of the frequencies of transmission of the additional information depend on the application for which the device of the present invention is meant , provided that these frequencies always correspond to integer multiples of the data sampling frequency . further , the present invention applies to any system of conversion respecting the features of 1 bit delta - sigma converters , that is , exhibiting a transfer line of data oversampled over 1 bit . such alterations , modifications , and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure , and are intended to be within the spirit and the scope of the present invention . accordingly , the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting . the present invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto .	7
this invention arose from a desire of the inventor to provide improved surface coatings , based on urethane pre - polymers comprising free isocyanate groups stable to storage when formulated with mineral fillers . thus , hereby , the present inventor provides a surface coating with improved stability to changes in viscosity during storage in the absence of moisture . the inventor has formulated an improved mineral - containing , urethane pre - polymer - based surface coating having an enhanced storage period . the present product affords a minimal viscosity increase which would lead to gelation . the improvement comprises a formulation , comprising in addition to the urethane pre - polymer comprising free isocyanate groups a thiophene compound of the chemical formula ## str3 ## wherein r 1 and r 2 are ( c 1 - c 8 ) acyl , and r 3 is ( c 1 - c 12 ) acyl , ( c 1 - c 8 ) alkyl and ( c 6 - c 12 ) aryl substituted with halogen , no 2 , cn , alkoxy or carboxyalkyl , the substituent being non - reactive with components of the surface coating ; and wherein r 4 is mononuclear or binuclear ( c 6 - c 12 ), unsubstituted or substituted with at least one halogen , alkyl , or alkoxy , the aryl substituent being non - reactive with components of the surface coating . the stabilized surface coating prepared in accordance with the present invention is particularly effective as a formulation having concentrations of free isocyanate groups of from 0 . 2 to 1 . 4 wt . %, containing a silicate - based mineral filler of the following formula { me . sub . 2 . sup .+ o }. sub . v { me . sub . 2 . sup . 3 + o . sub . 3 }. sub . w { me . sup . 2 + o }. sub . x { si - o . sub . 2 }. sub . y { h . sub . 2 o }. sub . z ( iii ) wherein me + means at least one monovalent metal , e . g . na + or k + , me 2 + means at least one bivalent metal , e . g . ca 2 + or mg 2 + , me 3 + means at least one trivalent metal , e . g . al 3 + or fe 3 + , v is about 0 . 1 to 1 , w is about 0 . 2 to 5 , x is about 0 . 1 to 8 , y is about 10 to 11 and z is about 2 to 8 . in the thiophene compound of formula i , r 1 and r 2 are preferably identical and represent acetyl or another common acyl group . r 3 is preferably a ( c 1 - c 12 ) hydrocarbon residue , which may be substituted one or more times . suitable substituents are non - reactive with the surface coating . examples are halogens , no 2 , cn , alkyl , alkoxyl and carbonyloxyalkyl groups . r 3 is preferably acyl or alkyl substituted with ( c 1 - c 8 ) carbonyloxyalkyl . the arylsulphonylisocyanate compound used according to the invention has the chemical formula wherein r 4 is mononuclear or binuclear ( c 6 - c 12 ) aryl , substituted by one or more substituents non - reactive with the surface coating . examples of substituents are halogen no 2 , cn , alkyl or alkoxy . however , others are possible . particularly preferred are phenyl -, p - tolyl -, p - cumyl - or naphthyl - sulphonylisocyanate . the preparation of these compounds is known from de - c - 1289526 . the surface coating in accordance with the present invention preferably contains the thiophene derivative of formula i in an amount of 0 . 01 to 1 . 0 wt . %, preferably 0 . 1 to 0 . 3 wt . % of the pre - polymer . the arylsulphonyl isocyanate is preferably added in an amount of 0 . 1 to 1 . 0 wt . %, and more preferably 0 . 1 to 0 . 5 wt . %, of the pre - polymer . the surface coating in accordance with the invention described herein may be kept in sealed containers for extended periods , e . g ., at least 12 months , at room temperature and sealed against humidity . gelation does not occur within this period to the formulations of this invention . the preparations showed excellent shelf life due to the synergistic effect of the stabilizing composition disclosed herein . this degree of stabilization could not be obtained with previously known preparations . the urethane pre - polymers comprising terminal isocyanate groups used in the present surface coatings comprise reaction products of polyols , derived from polyesters , polyethers or polybutadienes with diisocyanates of the chemical formula wherein r 5 is a common mononuclear or binuclear aromatic , aliphatic or alicyclic hydrocarbon , which may be substituted by alkyl , alkoxy or halogen . the urethane pre - polymers utilized herein may be prepared with stoichiometric ratios of reactive polyol / hydroxyl groups : isocyanate groups of about 1 . 05 to 1 . 5 . under these conditions liquid , moderately viscous urethane prepolymers are obtained . the thiophene compounds on which the above - named formula i is based may be prepared in accordance with us - a - 4894463 . the stabilized surface coatings in accordance with the present invention comprise the following four components . d ) mineral fillers , in particular silicate fillers of the common formula iii . in addition to the above , components known in the art such as anti - oxidants , reaction accelerators , plasticizers , flame - proof retarding agents , and the like , may also be included in the present formulation . having now generally described this invention the same will be better understood by reference to certain specific examples , which are included herein for purposes of illustration only , and are not intended to be limiting of the invention or any embodiment thereof , unless so specified . various preparations of mineral - containing , urethane prepolymer - based surface coatings were formulated with and without thiophene compounds and arylsulphonylisocyanate compounds as described below . the stability of the prepared surface coatings was measured determining gelation according to the following method . 70 ml of the formulated surface coating together with a teflonized magnetic stirrer was placed in a 110 ml glass bottle equipped with a cap having a humidity - proof seal . the bottle was nitrogen - filled , sealed and stored at room temperature . after 30 days the sample bottles were inverted and the extent of gelation was determined by measuring the movement of the teflonized magnetic stirrer . a hallfeld magnetic sensor was used to measure the movement of the teflonized magnetic stirrer under gravity . if the magnetic stirrer moved in the sample , the sample bottle was stored for another period of 30 days . the samples were re - examined periodically until gelation occurred . preparations in which the teflonized magnetic stirrer did not move were considered gelled . at this point , the storage test was discontinued and the sample bottle was opened and further examined for gelation . triplicate bottles of each surface coating formulation were prepared . the effective storage period to gelation was taken as the period from filling until gelation of the second of three sample bottles of a preparation . a pre - polymer having terminal isocyanate groups was prepared by reacting 7 mols of 2 , 4 - toluylene diisocyanate 80 / 20 with 1 mol of polyoxypropylene triol ( oh number 40 . 3 ) and 3 mols of polyoxypropylene diol ( oh number 55 . 1 ) at a reaction temperature of less than 70 ° c . 100 parts by weight of the pre - polymer comprising terminal isocyanate groups were mixed with 0 . 5 parts by weight of phenolic antioxidant , 1 part by weight of dibutyl tindilaurate ( reaction accelerator ) and 0 . 8 parts by weight of p - cymylsulphonylisocyanate . subsequently diisooctyladipate ( plasticizer ) and talcum were admixed with stirring at a pigment volume concentration ( pvc ) of talcum of 10 %. the content of free isocyanate groups of the converted toluylene diisocyanate was 1 . 0 % by weight of the total preparation . the silicate filler , talcum , had a residual moisture of 0 . 06 % ( xylol method ) and a chemical composition as follows . 100 parts by weight of the preceding preparation a were mixed with 0 . 25 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - diacetyl - 4 -( 4 - ethoxycarbonylbutanoyl )- 1h , 3h - thieno [ 3 , 4 - d ] imidazol - 2 - one . preparation a was formulated without p - cumylsulphonyl isocyanate . 100 parts by weight of the pre - polymer preparation were mixed with 0 . 4 parts by weight of thiophene derivative of 1 , 2 - diacetyl - 4 -( 4 - ethoxycarbonylbutanoyl )- 1h , 3h - thieno [ 3 , 4 - d ] imidazol - 2 - one . a pre - polymer comprising terminal isocyanate was prepared by reacting 15 mols of isophorone diisocyanate with 2 mols of polybutadiendiol of functionality 2 . 5 ( oh number 45 . 2 ) and 8 mols of polyoxypropylene diol ( oh number 55 . 1 ) at a reaction temperature of less than 70 ° c . 100 parts by weight of this prepolymer preparation were mixed with 0 . 4 parts by weight of irganox r 1076 ( antioxidant ), 0 . 8 parts by weight of p - toluolsulphonylisocyanate . subsequently diisoctylphthalate ( plasticizer ) and kaoline were admixed with stirring in amounts such that the pigment volume concentration ( pvc ) of kaoline was 10 % and the content of free isocyanate groups from the converted isophoron diisocyanate was 0 . 9 % by weight of the total preparation . the silicate filler , kaoline , had a residual moisture of 0 . 04 % ( xylol method ) and a chemical composition as follows : 100 parts by weight of the preceding preparation d were mixed with 0 . 25 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - diacetyl - 4 -( 4 - ethoxycarbonylbutanoyl )- 1h , 3h - thieno [ 3 , 4 - d ] imidazol - 2 - one . 100 parts by weight of the preceding preparation d were mixed with 0 . 20 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - diacetyl - 4 - ethyl - 1h , 3h - thieno -[ 3 , 4d ] imidazol - 2 - one . a pre - polymer with terminal isocyanate was prepared by prereacting 8 mols of 2 , 4 - toluylene diisocyanate 80 / 20 with 1 mol of polyoxypropylene triol ( oh number 40 . 3 ) and 4 mols of polydiglycoladipinate ( oh number 58 . 2 ) at a reaction temperature of less than 70 ° c . 100 parts by weight of the above pre - polymer mixture were mixed with 0 . 5 parts by weight of a phenolic antioxidant , 0 . 5 parts by weight of dibutyl tindilaurate ( reaction accelerator ) and 0 . 8 parts by weight of p - toluolsulphonyl isocyanate . subsequently dipropylene glycoldibenzoate ( plasticizer ) and mica powder were admixed with stirring such that the pigment volume concentration ( pvc ) of mica was 10 % and the content of free isocyanate groups from the converted toluylene diisocyanate was 0 . 7 % by weight of the total preparation . the silicate filler , mica , had a residual moisture of 0 . 05 % ( xylol method ) and a chemical composition as follows : 100 parts by weight of the preceding preparation h were mixed with 0 . 10 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - diacetyl - 4 -( 4 - ethoxycarbonylbutanoyl )- 1h , 3h - thieno [ 3 , 4 - d ] imidazol - 2 - one . this composition corresponds to that of preparation h without p - toluolsulphonyl isocyanate . surface coatings of preparations b , e , f and i demonstrated gelation - free periods of greater than 12 months . other preparations without thiophene or arylsulphonylisocyanate compounds had gelation - free periods of 7 months or less and were deemed to have inadequate shelf life . this can be seen from the following table 1 below . table 1______________________________________storage period for surface coating formulationspreparation shelf life in months remarks______________________________________a 6b 16 inventionc 7d 5e 15 inventionf 14 inventiong 2h 6i 12 inventionk 3______________________________________ 100 g mica powder were suspended in 400 ml dry toluol and stirred under nitrogen for 3 days with 6 g phenyl isocyanate at a temperature under 40 ° c . thereafter , the suspension was washed with toluol on a pressure filter until phenyl isocyanate could no longer be found in the outflow . 160 g toluol - moist mica powder nitrogen under were prepared by this method . the silicate filler , mica , had a residual moisture of 0 . 05 % ( xylol method ) and the chemical composition indicated in table 2 below . table 2______________________________________composition of mica______________________________________sio . sub . 2 : 48 . 30 % al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 : 31 . 55 % fe . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 : 2 . 36 % cao : 1 . 25 % mgo : 1 . 99 % k . sub . 2 o : 7 . 86 % na . sub . 2 o : 1 . 20 % tio . sub . 2 : 1 . 04 % h . sub . 2 o : 4 . 2 %. ( of ignition loss ) ______________________________________ a pre - polymer comprising terminal isocyanate was prepared by pre - reacting 7 mols of 2 , 4 - toluylene diisocyanate 80 / 20 with 1 mol of polyoxypropylene triol ( oh number 40 . 3 ) and 3 mols of polyoxypropylene diol ( oh number 55 . 1 ) at a reaction temperature of 70 ° c . 100 parts by weight of said pre - polymer comprising terminal isocyanate groups were mixed with 0 . 5 parts by weight of a phenolic antioxidant , 1 part by weight of dibutyl tindilaurate ( reaction accelerator ). subsequently amounts of diisooctyl adipate ( plasticizer ) and toluol - moist mica powder were admixed with stirring , so that the pigment volume concentration ( pvc ) of mica was 10 % and the content of free isocyanate groups from the converted toluylene diisocyanate was 1 . 0 wt . % of the total preparation . after two - months of storage at room temperature using the procedure of example 1 , the preparation had gelled . the entire text of european patent application no . 92 106475 . 5 filed on apr . 15 , 1992 , to which priority is claimed herein , is incorporated herein by reference . the invention now being fully described , it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth herein .	2
in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , compound e is admixed with an excess of methanol to bring about the diester - diacid compound g . the amide - linked / acid oligomer ( see structure h ) is formed by addition of dcm 1 or dcm 2 , or mixture thereof , in desired stoichiometry ( see structure d ). the bulk of the methanol , beyond that necessary to maintain the mixture as a liquid , is removed either by evaporation at room temperature , by vacuum , or by heating below 80 ° c . this reaction is carried out at a temperature in the range of from about 250 ° to about 275 ° f . a vacuum of at least about 0 . 3 &# 34 ; of mercury is applied to remove excess solvent and water reaction . this polymerization is carried out only to the point that the homogeneity of solution compatability of the mixture is maintained so as to provide easiest application to the matrix and allow volatiles to escape most efficiently as compositing is initiated . the reaction time is generally about 1 / 2 hour for this step . at this point , it is preferred that the reaction mixture be brought into intimate contact with the chosen reinforcement -- in this case , carbon fiber prepared to be wound onto a mandrel . in the next step , the amide - linked / acid oligomer is cyclized so as to form the imide - linked polymer shown in structure i . this step is also carried out under vacuum , preferably more strenuous vacuum of at least 28 inches of mercury , to remove the remaining volatiles such as solvent and water of reaction the cyclization step is preferably carried out for about one hour . the composite is placed under high pressure , e . g . about 200 p . s . i ., so as to best produce the polymer composite . finally , the polymer is completely cured by completing the cyclization reaction throughout the polymer and elongating the polymer through further polymerization . this final cure step is also carried out with the composite maintained under 200 p . s . i . pressure while under the more strenuous vacuum of at least 28 inches of mercury . the temperature is preferably elevated during the final cure ( to about 600 ° f .) and the reaction time is generally about three hours . 2 , 2 bis ( 3 - amino - 4 - hydroxphenyl ) hexafluoropropane ( 500 gm , 1 . 36 mols ) was dissolved in ppa ( 4 kg ) at 70 ° c . and aminobenzoic acid ( 375 gm , 2 . 72 moles ) was added slowly over a period of 1 hour . the resulting solution was heated at 115 ° c . for 1 hour , the temperature was then raised to 185 ° c . and stirred for 12 hours at this temperature . it was poured over crushed ice , the precipitated material filtered out and washed with 10 % nh 4 oh solution . this material was then suspended in water , filtered , dried under vacuum to constant weight and crystallized from methanol - water to afford the pure dcm - 1 ( 650 gm , 84 % yield ), m . p . 254 °- 255 ° c . a 5l flask is equipped with a reflux condenser , stirrer and thermometer . 31 / 2 l of methanol is added to the flask and heated to reflux 215 . 2 g of btda is slowly added . the btda / methanol solution is stirred for 1 hour after the btda goes into solution . 189 . 8 g of dcm - 1 is added slowly and the solution stirred until clear . 189 . 8 g of dcm - 2 is added to the solution slowly and the solution stirred until clear . the mixture is cooled under stirring and a vacuum applied to remove the excess methanol . when a total weight of 915 . 1 g of the resin is measured , the percent solids is 65 %. the same procedure is followed but 379 . 6 g of dcm - 1 only is added slowly to the methanol / btda solution . a large excess of methanol is required to force the dcm - 1 into solution . no dcm - 2 is added . all other reactants are in the same amounts . the following results were obtained in comparing polymer resins dcl 1 . 2 and dcl 3 . 2 to resin representative of the prior art ( pmr - 15 ). table i presents thermo oxidative stability ( tos ) weight loss results for the two dcl resins and prm - 15 laminates on glass cloth . the flat laminate specimens were tested at 650 ° f . and 4 atmospheres pressure for 100 hours . table i______________________________________dcl / glass cloth and pmr - 15 / glass cloththermo oxidative stability dta eb - 10 eb - 8 eb - 9 eb - 10 pc * eb - 11______________________________________resin dcl pmr - 15 dcl 3 . 2 dcl 3 . 2 dcl 1 . 2 1 . 2resin content 52 30 28 28 49void content 7 . 3 0 0 . 8 0 . 8 12 . 9 (% volume ) resin weight 6 . 12 37 . 2 5 . 54 5 . 62 8 . 68loss (%)** ______________________________________ * postcured at 700 ° f . for 3 hours . ** weight loss as a percentage of original resin weight . notes : 1 . test conditions : a . 650 ° f . b . 100 hour c . 4 atmospheres pressure . 2 . data averages of two specimens each . 3 . neat resin weight loss data at this condition : a . avimid n 1 . 60 percent b . dcl1 3 . 74 percent c . pmrii 4 . 37 percent d . pmr15 7 . 07 percent table ii presents flexural property data on these samples of dcl 1 . 2 resin produced on glass panels and cured for one - half hour at 250 ° f ., one hour at 475 ° f . and three hours at 600 ° f . full vacuum was applied . table ii__________________________________________________________________________flexural properties of dcl 1 . 2astm d790 ( 3 point loading ) fiber area ult x - head ult stress modulusi . d . no . sq in lbs ( in ) strain ( ksi ) ( mti ) __________________________________________________________________________1 . 0288 97 . 07525 . 0253 90 . 1 4 . 232 . 0305 116 . 077 . 0268 97 . 9 4 . 343 . 0296 96 . 07425 . 0258 83 . 5 3 . 77mean 103 . 076 . 026 90 . 5 4 . 113std 11 . 269 . 001 . 001 7 . 209 . 302co var % 10 . 941 1 . 844 2 . 942 7 . 965 7 . 351__________________________________________________________________________ tests were conducted on samples prepared in accordance with the following summary : ## str11 ## depending upon the compositing method , matrix type and form and other parameters whose modifications will be within the capability of one of ordinary skill , composites of various types and shapes can be prepared in accordance with the present invention . modification may be made to the parameters of the above - disclosed invention without departing from its spirit .	2
referring to fig1 the tile layer of this invention is generally indicated by the numeral 10 . the layer is shown as it would be typically associated with a trencher ; the trenching wheel 11 mounted on an axle 12 is driven by a suitable source of motive power . the wheel 11 has a plurality of diggers , or buckets , 13 which cut into the earth as the wheel 11 rotates to thereby form a trench 14 of a desired depth into which the tile 15 is laid . earth removed in forming the trench 14 may be deposited at one side of the trench or in an appropriate loading means for later redeposit into the trench to thereby bury the laid tile , or may simply be immediately redeposited in the trench so that digging and refiling forms one continuous process effected by the trencher wheel 11 . the trencher employed is of typical structure , including a grooving member 17 which is carried on a support assembly , generally indicated at 19 , which is rigidly fixed to the trencher . the grooving member 17 has fixed rigid side panels 18 on either side , and is further provided with a grooving tongue 20 which depends from the grooving member 17 . the tongue 20 follows the trencher , projecting in the direction that the trench is being formed , and serves to initially contour the floor of the trench for the tile being laid . removably fixed to the grooving member 17 and extending rearwardly from the tongue 20 is a shoe 21 . the shoe 21 is a rigid rectangular piece of metal which has upturned sides 22 , giving the shoe a small vertical depth . the shoe serves in part as a base for the tile layer 10 , as well as a mounting surface the various channel groovers which finally contour the trench floor for the specific type and diameter of tile that is being laid . that is , channel groovers are removably fixed in position in a known manner to the bottom of the shoe 21 so as to plow or groove the bottom of the trench 14 into the desired shape for receiving tile . for instance , where arched tile is being laid , arched tile being characterized by a flat bottom and an arcuate upper portion , an appropriate flat bottomed channel iron will be removably fixed to the bottom of the shoe 21 to flatten the bottom of the trench to receive the arched tile . when round tile is being laid , round tile being characterized by a circular cross section , a &# 34 ; circular &# 34 ; channel iron will be mounted to the bottom of the shoe 21 to form a semi - annular longitudinally extending recess in the trench floor of an appropriate depth into which the round tile is laid . it will be noted that the round tile requires the semi - annular groove or socket into which it is laid to give the tile essential side support ; this is not a requirement with arched tile , which can merely by placed on the planed floor of the trench . the tile laying mechanism , or tile layer 10 , is formed in two sections comprising a first or forward section 23 , and a second or rearward section 24 . both sections are largely constituted by pairs of exterior spaced side shields 25 and 26 , respectively , which follow the walls of the trench as it is formed during the trenching operation , supporting and packing the same . the side shields 25 and 26 are rigid metal sheets which , when combined , form a layer 10 of roughly right - triangular configuration . internal support for maintaining the shields in spaced relation is provided by appropriate rigid cross beams 31 extending between the shields . forward side shields 25 are rigidly fastened to a vertically extending shoe post 27 which forms a part of the trencher support assembly 19 . a single bolt 28 passing through both side shields 25 and the shoe post 27 and retained by a suitable nut ( not shown ) has been found satisfactory for mounting the shields 25 in place on the trencher . in the disclosure of fig1 and 3 , the rearward side panels 26 are each respectively pivotally fixed to rearwardly projecting portions or flanges 30 of shoe sides 22 by means of coupling bolts 29 ; the interconnection between the forward and rearward sections 23 and 24 , here accomplished via the couple with shoe sides 22 , is so arranged that the rearward section 24 extends slightly within the forward section 23 . this connection for the rearward section 24 permits the rearward section to &# 34 ; float &# 34 ; in the trench by thus providing limited pivotal movement in a vertical plane . this &# 34 ; flexion &# 34 ; for the layer 10 provided by the pivotable rearward section 24 is particularly advantageous where a rapid entry into the earth is made with the trenching wheel 11 , as when beginning a new line . such rapid entry of the wheel 11 into the ground typically places a substantial initial buckling pressure on the side shields of conventional single section tile layers . providing the layer 10 with the floating rearward section 24 permits the layer 10 to &# 34 ; flex &# 34 ; as the wheel 11 is rapidly forced into the ground , substantially eliminating all buckling pressures which would otherwise be imposed on the layer . as shown in fig1 as the trencher moves forwardly , indicated by the arrow f , tile 15 fed from any suitable source , such as a roll of tile ( not shown ), enters the tile layer 10 through an entry end or area 35 in a substantially vertical orientation , and is reoriented therein , in a manner to be described hereafter , to be discharged through a discharge end or area 36 in a substantially horizontal orientation on the trench bottom . earth , indicated at e , redeposited in the trench covers the tile 15 and fills the trench 14 so ground level . it will be noted that once tile laying commences , the earth - covered tile serves to draw or pull the tile being laid through the layer 10 , no other mechanical force consequently being required in the tile laying operation . the structure of the tile layer 10 , as adapted for laying arched tile is more particularly shown in fig2 - 6 . in fig2 a removable top or rearward panel 37 , which is releasably mounted between the rearward side shields 26 , as will be more fully described below , is provided for the layer 10 to permit simple and rapid access to the interior of the layer 10 . since the top panel 37 further serves as a mounting means for various rollers , such as intermediate roller assemblies 38 , 39 and 40 , which rollers define in part the path of travel of the tile 15 as it passes through the tile layer 10 , it has been found advantageous to form the top panel 37 in an arcuate shape , roughly corresponding to the desired path of the tile which it overlies ; the upper edges 45 of the rearward side sections 26 are accordingly contoured , although this is a matter of preference rather than limitation since the top panel 37 is designed to seat between the side shields 26 in this preferred embodiment . to substantially completely enclose the interior of the tile layer 10 , a door panel 46 pivotable on hinges ( not shown ) is provided on the upper portion of the forward section 23 . the door is held closed by any suitable means , such as by a clasp 47 . it will be noted that enclosure of the interior of the tile layer 10 is desirable to protect the interior mechanism from becoming fouled or jammed by earth or debris churned up by the trenching wheel 11 during the tile laying operation . although a door panel 46 has been advantageously employed in this embodiment of the invention to enclose and cover the upper portion of the rearward section 23 , it will be recognized that the top panel 37 can be extended to cover the same area , such as where the tile layer is formed with a single pair of side shields , there consequently being no consideration for pivoting of a rearward section such as here . likewise , the door panel 46 could be eliminated in toto if enclosure of this upper portion is deemed unnecessary by the particular application . the tile layer of the instant invention provides for simple access to the interior of the layer through the employment of the removable top panel 37 , which in this preferred embodiment operates in cooperation with the hinged door panel 46 and certain readily removable rollers , such as first concave guide roller 52 . mounting and manipulation of the top panel means will be described in more detail below . with reference to fig3 - 6 , the various guide rollers which define the flow path of the arched type tile 15 are shown in particular detail . cylindrical or flat rollers 49 are rotatably mounted in vertically extending frames 50 along the topmost portion of each forward side shield 25 , which side shields together to define the entry 35 to the layer 10 . the opposed rollers 49 serve to promote movement of the tile 15 into the entry 35 , typically from a roll of tile ( not shown ) which follows the layer adjacent the top of the trench 15 . a first spreader roller assembly 51 is comprised of first cylindrical concave roller 52 and spreading roller 53 . spreading roller 53 is characterized by a disc - shaped central portion 54 to which is fixed on either side generally frusto - conical shaped sections 55 . the side sections 55 have a slightly curved work surface which tapers radially inwardly from adjacent the central portion 54 to the end of the roller 53 , as shown in fig4 . concave and spreading rollers 52 and 53 forming the spreader assembly 51 are removably rotatably mounted in opposed spaced relation between forward side shields 25 through the use of suitable mounting means . here , generally upwardly facing u - shaped guide and retaining members 60 , 61 are provided on the inside of both rearward side shields 24 , which members receive the ends of the rods 62 and 63 upon which the rollers 52 and 53 , respectively , rotate . access to these rollers 52 and 53 through the openable top portion of the layer 10 , in addition to their ready removability , provides for the ability to adapt the layer 10 for varying types and dimensions of tile , as will be more fully described hereinafter . the cooperation of the concave roller 52 and spreader roller 53 is shown in fig4 . arch - type tile 15 is typically provided in a collapsed form , whereby the flat bottom of the tile has been pressed into the hinged apex of the curved upper portion of the tile . consequently , the tile must be erected or opened before it is laid in the trench . typically , a single concave roller , such as a roller 52 , is employed to force the apex of the tile toward the spreader roller . this roller spreads the bottom section of the tile , partially opening it . as will be appreciated , the spreader roller 53 controls lateral orientation of the tile during this opening operation , and keeps the tile from twisting . a preferred location for mounting the spreader assembly 51 is at the upper tangency point t of the curved flow path of the tile 15 . in other words , the spreader assembly 51 is located at the point where the tile first begins to bend to follow the flow path . mounting of the spreader assembly at this point permits a substantially vertical flow of tile into entry 35 with reorientation to a substantially horizontal position , with the tile remaining in a relatively relaxed condition and subject to a minimum of bending force throughout the flow path . with the arched tile partially open at the spreader assembly 51 , it continues through the layer 10 in a substantially semi - circular flow path defined by rollers mounted within the rearward section 24 and rollers carried by the top panel 37 . the tile is finally erected just beyond the assembly 51 by means of being forced through the curved path by intermediate guide roller means as will be appreciated . the guide roller means in this preferred embodiment of the invention comprise intermediate roller assemblies 38 , 39 and 40 which are mounted in spaced relation along the interior of the top panel 37 , a second concave roller 64 carried on the interior of the top panel 37 and mounted adjacent the discharge end 36 of the layer 10 , and first and second flat rollers 65 and 66 . the intermediate roller assemblies 38 , 39 and 40 and second concave roller 64 are appropriately spaced along the arcuate top panel 37 so as to provide an inwardly directed force which is perpendicular to the apex of the tile 15 to promote passage of the fully erected tile through the tile layer 10 in a smooth curve with a minimum of bending pressure applied to the tile . as shown in fig6 which is a cross sectional view showing representative roller assembly 40 , each roller assembly comprises a central roller 67 which applies force along the apex of the tile 15 , and two side engaging rollers 68 and 69 which apply force against the arcuate sides of the upper portion of the tile 15 . the rollers 67 , 68 , 69 are rotatably mounted on a rod 70 which is appropriately bent at either end to form axles so that rollers 68 and 69 engage the sides of the tile 15 . the rod 70 is fixed in a mount 75 which includes a threaded mounting rod 76 that is received in a threaded bore in the top panel 37 . the rod 76 is secured by a lock nut 77 . as shown in fig5 second concave roller 64 is rotatably mounted in a frame 78 which includes a similar mounting rod and lock nut arrangement for attachment to the top panel 37 , the rod and lock nut for the second concave roller frame 78 here denominated by 79 and 80 , respectively . to promote and maintain the complete opening of the tile 15 , flat rollers 65 and 66 are mounted in the rearward section 24 in opposed spaced relation to the intermediate roller assemblies 38 and 39 , respectively . flat rollers 65 and 66 are rotatably and removably mounted in upwardly opening u - shaped guide and retaining members 71 and 72 , respectively , which are formed in both sides of the rearward side shields 26 . these flat rollers press against the flat bottom of the arched tile 15 , complimenting the pressure applied by the roller assemblies 38 and 39 against the upper portion of the tile , and further serve to keep the tile properly aligned within the flow path by preventing axial rotation of the tile . it will be understood that the number and type of guide rollers employed herein is not deemed critical to the practice of this invention ; it is only important that the rollers in whatever combination or form serve to fully open or maintain open the arched tile before it is laid , and provide a relatively smooth arcuate path of travel for the tile as it passes through the layer mechanism so as to minimize the bending pressures applied to the tile . a preferred form of releasable mount for the top panel 37 is particularly shown in fig2 and 7 . two rigid metal straps 81 depend from the top panel 37 adjacent the discharge end 36 of the layer 10 . the straps 81 have a rearwardly facing notch 82 formed thereon which cooperates with a projection 83 formed on the interior of each of the rearward side shields 26 adjacent the discharge end 36 . these notches 82 cooperate with the projections 83 to keep the panel 37 from moving with respect to side shields 26 . at the opposite end of the top panel 37 is a releasable latch means 85 . latch means 85 is carried on the interior of the top panel 37 , and comprises two outwardly facing l - shaped rods 86 which are journalled in guides 87 fixed to top panel 37 . springs 88 carried by the horizontal portion of the rods 86 bear against guides 87 and radially extending stops 89 , which stops are located on the rods to thereby spring - load the rods in an outwardly direction . the outwardly facing ends of the horizontal portions or the rods are received in collars 90 formed on the inside of the upper portion of rearward side shields 26 . metal strap 91 carried by the top panel 37 serves to retain the vertical portions of the l - shaped rods 86 in place . to install the top panel 37 between the rearward side shields 26 , the notched straps 81 are first positioned on the projections 83 . the top panel 37 is then lowered into position with the rods 86 squeezed inwardly and then released to seat within the collars 90 . optional stops or blocks 92 are provided adjacent the upper edges of the rearward side panels 26 for the top panel 37 . similar stops 93 are likewise provided for hinged door 46 . the top panel 37 extends a small distance into the forward section 23 of the tile layer 10 , and is covered by hinged door 46 . in this way , the latch assembly 85 is protected from any dirt and debris churned up during the tile laying operation . access to the latch assembly 85 is gained by opening door 46 . it will be seen that top panel 37 is spaced slightly inwardly of door 46 , and does not contact or ride against the latter when the layer is in operation . in light of the foregoing , it will be appreciated that loading and unloading of tile is readily and simply accomplished . with hinged door 46 opened and first concave roller 52 removed , latch assembly 85 is hand manipulated and the top panel lifted off the rearward section 24 . tile may be thereupon loaded , unloaded or adjusted through the unobstructed access thereby provided to the interior of the layer 10 . referring now to fig8 and 9 , the tile layer of this invention is shown as adapted for laying round or circular cross section corrugated tile 95 , such as 4 &# 34 ; or 6 &# 34 ; round plastic tile . except as hereinafter noted , this layer structure is identical to that as previously described . briefly , this modification or adjustment of the layer for round tile preferably comprises use of guide rollers only adjacent the entry area 35 and discharge end 36 , and movement of the pivot point of the rearward section 24 upwardly , as will be more fully described immediately below . as previously noted , round tile is laid in a semi - annular groove or socket 96 formed in the bottom of the trench , and not in a flat bottom trench as used with arch tile . to this end , a groover is fixed to the shoe 21 which provides the necessary socket , s , ( fig9 ) in the otherwise flat trench bottom . it has been found advantageous to attach the groover directly to the shoe 21 rather than to the flat bottomed channel iron employed to form the flat bottom trench for the arch - type tile 15 . attaching the socket groover to the flat bottomed channel iron causes excessive pull for the trencher due to the increased soil area which is plowed by the combined groovers rather than dug by the trenching wheel 11 . as a consequence of using the socket groove without the flat bottomed channel iron , the rearward section 24 is raised and directly pivotally connected to the forward section 23 by pivot bolts 97 , which extend through forward and rearward side shields 25 and 26 on both sides of the layer 10 . rearward section 24 thereby rides along the top edge of the trench , as shown in fig9 . in the laying of round tile , which does not need to be opened like arched tile , it has been found that only two rollers are necessary to guide the round tile through the layer , i . e ., a first concave roller 98 removably mounted in the upper entry portion of forward section 23 and a second concave roller 99 mounted within the rearward section 24 adjacent the discharge end 36 . adaptation of the tile layer 10 from arched tile to round tile of a similar diameter therefore simply requires the removal of all rollers , save the concave roller 52 and second concave roller 64 . in an alternate arrangement , both concave rollers can be mounted on the top panel 37 . alternatively , only the spreader roller 53 need be removed for laying of an appropriate diameter round tile . the tile layer , so adjusted , is used with round tile just as used with arch tile . due to the ready removability of the rollers employed in this tile layer and by virtue of the easy access to the interior of the tile layer gained by the openable top portion , the tile layer of this invention can be quickly adapted for laying tile of varying diameters or types by simply interchanging the type and / or diameter of roller employed , and a simple pivot adjustment . unobstructed access to the interior of the tile layer permits loading and unloading of the tile through the top side of the tile layer . loading in this manner eliminates the often substantial loading pressures encountered through conventional axial - type loading , wherein the tile is fed through the upper entry end of a tile layer and forcefully threaded through the layer . more significantly , in the instant invention the tile is readily removable from the tile layer in a manner which places virtually no significant bending forces on the tile . this ability to quickly unload tile from the layer is most advantageous when the trencher and layer have to be removed from the trench during the course of the tile laying operation , such as when an obstruction is encountered which must be removed before tile laying can continue . once the obstruction has been removed and the trencher and layer repositioned , tile laying commences again upon the simple reloading of the tile . while this invention has been described with respect to a certain preferred embodiment , it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . accordingly , applicant intends to be bound only the claims appended hereto .	4
in the drawing , one finds pump chamber 4 , which is connected to plunger tube 5 by means of check valve 6 and in which piston 7 is slidably mounted . tube 9 is slidably mounted in that piston with a certain longitudinal play and carries at its inner end valve 10 , which is urged against the seat 13 machined at the end of piston 7 . the piston lip 7 &# 39 ; is of decreasing cross - section as it extends from valve seat 13 to its free end , thus facilitating radial compression by tapered pump chamber 4 on the downstroke . tube 9 carries , in proximity to valve 10 , openings 15 intended to connect pump chamber 4 with tube 9 . a spring 11 inserted between valve 10 and the bottom of chamber 4 tends to seal the valve against its seat . tube 9 is attached to button 16 carrying spray nozzle 18 . at rest , spring 11 urges valve 10 against its seat 13 , which interrupts the connection of pump chamber 4 with the outside . in addition , the force exerted by spring 11 on the valve is transmitted by the latter to sleeve 7 so that the latter is applied against the bottom 1a of body 1 , air thereby being prevented from entering inside the body through opening 8 . according to this invention , pump chamber 4 has an internal conicity , which is in the order of 1 ° 10 &# 39 ; here , its small base being situated at the end into which plunger tube 5 emerges . when piston 7 is driven into chamber 4 , as a result of the pressure which has been exerted on button 16 , its lip 7 &# 39 ; is compressed radially inwardly . the result is , at the beginning of the suction stroke , an increase of friction of that lip against the wall of chamber 4 and an improvement of the contact between valve 10 and its seat 13 , which is established when button 16 is released . the suction of the liquid into chamber 4 and its delivery from that chamber to nozzle 18 are reliably ensured . the advantages of the present invention , as well as certain changes and modifications of the disclosed embodiment thereof , will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art . it is the applicant &# 39 ; s intention to cover all those changes and modifications which could be made to the embodiment of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	1
the present invention features a compact , wideband , printed circuit slotline balun . the inventive balun utilizes a transition region configuration of a six - port network to achieve a good impedance match and low insertion loss across a wide operating band . referring first to fig1 there is shown a schematic plan view of a slotline balun of the prior art , generally at reference number 100 . balun 100 is typically fabricated on an aluminum sheet . a coaxial connector 102 at the bottom edge of balun 100 allows the connection of an external , unbalanced transmission line , typically coaxial cable . the signal is carried from connector 102 along a coaxial cable 104 to a transition region 106 . a stub section 108 and a slotline open circuit 110 , both functionally connected at transition region 106 , are provided for impedance matching and broadbanding of the input / output signal . slotline 112 carries the signal to a terminus 114 where the signal is coupled to a slot radiator or other antenna element ( not shown ). while a transmitted signal is described , it will be obvious that balun 100 may function in a receiving capacity as well . the electrical performance of balun 100 has been found to be satisfactory . impedance matching and insertion loss are acceptable across the operating bandwidth of interest . however , the mechanical properties of balun 100 are less than satisfactory . because balun 100 must be precision machined into the aluminum sheet , manufacturing costs are high . in addition , the rigid metal structure has multiple mechanical stress points . in the course of temperature cycling , these stress points may lead to mechanical failure of the balun . referring now to fig2 and 3 , there are shown front and back plan views , respectively , of the inventive wideband , flexible balun , generally at reference number 200 . a thin substrate 202 , typically 10 mil fr4 material , supports metallized patterns 204 a , 204 b disposed on both the front and back of substrate 202 , respectively . on the rear side of substrate 202 ( fig3 ), an input pad 206 allows for the connection of an external , unbalanced transmission line ( not shown ) to a micro stripline 208 which terminates at junction 210 a . an open circuit stub leg 212 and a short - circuited stub leg 214 are electrically connected to and radiate from junction 210 a . on the front side of substrate 202 , a relatively large amount of metallized pattern 204 a , typically copper , remains . a slotline 216 etched in metallized pattern 204 a extends from junction 210 b to a terminus 218 . typically , terminus 218 may be coupled to any type of balanced antenna ( not shown ) such as dipoles , slots , spirals , log - periodics , etc . in the example chosen for purposes of disclosure , terminus 218 would connect to a radiator slot ( not shown ), either directly or through a coupling dipole or similar coupling structure ( not shown ). a short - circuited slotline branch 220 and an open - circuited slotline branch 224 are electrically connected to and radiate from junction 210 b . open circuit slotline branch 224 is a meandering line which defines a relatively large , irregular space 226 . junction points 210 a and 210 b , located on opposite surfaces of substrate 202 , are placed directly over one another but are not directly electrically connected . the combination of strip line 208 and slotline 216 , in cooperation with stubs 212 , 214 , 220 , 224 , form the six - port network . referring now to fig4 there is shown a schematic representation of a generalized six - port network , generally at reference number 400 . a stripline 402 feeds a signal from an input 404 to a junction 406 . a slotline 408 carries a balanced signal from junction 406 to a terminus 410 . open and short circuit stripline branches 412 and 414 , respectively , are connected at junction 406 . likewise , open and short circuit slotline branches 416 and 418 , respectively , are also connected to junction 406 . this combination forms a classic six - port network such as that utilized in the inventive balun . referring now again to fig2 and 3 , in operation , an unbalanced rf signal is applied to the input 206 of the inventive balun 200 . the unbalanced rf signal is conducted to junction 210 a , where the interaction of balanced open and short - circuited stubs 212 , 214 , 220 , 224 interact with the signal , which is induced into slotline 216 . the balanced stubs 212 , 214 , 220 , 224 create a very broadband unbalanced - to - balanced current transformer ( balun ) having minimal insertion loss , wherein the output signal current becomes well behaved a very short physical distance away from junction 210 a , 210 b . micro stripline 208 may be meandered to include multiple quarter - wavelength transformers to provide additional degrees of freedom for impedance matching . the combination of micro stripline sections 206 and 208 provides the first tuning capability . the six - port network sections 212 , 214 , 220 , 224 , etc . converts the unbalanced current to a balanced current with a minimal insertion loss . the balanced signal ( not shown ) then travels along slotline 218 to an antenna ( not shown ) coupled at terminus 218 . slotline 218 is shown in the embodiment chosen for purposes of disclosure , as a constant width section . in alternate embodiments , however , slotline 218 could be implemented as a variable width section . the width could vary as an exponential curve , for example , or the like . in summary , the inventive balun consists of three interacting sections : the uniform / non - uniform slotline ; the six - port network ; and the meandering micro stripline . because the inventive balun 200 may be readily manufactured using well known printed circuit technology , it is inexpensive . this means that changes to customize the balun operating frequency range may be made readily by changing printed circuit exposure masks . all other manufacturing processes remain unchanged . also , because it is typically implemented on thin , flexible material ( e . g ., 10 mil fr4 ), the balun 200 may be added as a layer in a composite patch antenna lay - up . the inventive balun 200 exhibits excellent broadband performance and reliability even when thermally stressed . referring now to fig5 and 6 , there are shown front and back plan views , respectively , generally at reference number 500 , of an alternate embodiment of the balun shown in fig3 and 4 . a thin substrate 502 , typically 10 mil fr4 material , supports metallized patterns 504 a , 504 b disposed on both the front and back sides of substrate 502 , respectively . on the back side of substrate 502 ( fig6 ), an input pad 506 allows for the connection of an external , unbalanced transmission line ( not shown ) to a micro stripline 508 which terminates at junction 510 a . unlike micro stripline 208 ( fig3 ), micro stripline 508 is a meander line , which allows an even smaller balun to be constructed compared with the embodiment shown in fig2 and 3 . an open circuit stub leg 512 and a short - circuited stub leg 514 are electrically connected to and radiate from junction 510 a . open circuit stub 512 may exhibit a flair at its outboard terminus which may be used to help control the tuning and / or “ q ” of the balun 500 . on the front side of substrate 502 , a relatively large amount of metallized pattern 504 a , typically copper , remains . a slotline 518 etched in metallized pattern 504 a extends from junction 510 b to a terminus 518 . slotline 518 may be flared in the vicinity of terminus 518 either to act independently as an antenna or to facilitate coupling to an attached radiating element ( not shown ) to which the balun 500 may be coupled . typically , terminus 518 may be coupled to any type of balanced radiating elements such as dipoles , slots , spirals , log - periodics , etc . a short - circuited slotline branch 520 and an open - circuited slotline branch 524 are electrically connected to and radiate from junction 510 b . open circuit slotline branch 524 is a meander line which defines a relatively large , irregular space 526 . junction points 510 a and 510 b , located on opposite surfaces of substrate 502 , are aligned directly over one another but are not directly electrically connected . the combination of strip line 508 and slotline 516 , in cooperation with stubs 512 , 514 , 520 , 524 , form the six - port network described in detail hereinabove . the inventive balun 200 has exhibited virtually identical vswr performance to its expensive , aluminum plate , prior art versions . since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art , the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure , and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention . having thus described the invention , what is desired to be protected by letters patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims .	7
referring to fig1 of the drawing , the bicycle shown is in many ways conventional , having a frame 10 , a front wheel 11 , a rear wheel 12 , seat 13 , handlebars 14 , pedals 15 and crank 16 . with the exception of the mode of powering the rear drive wheel , the operation and interaction of the above elements are well known . the drive mechanism shown in fig1 comprises a vane - type hydraulic pump 22 and a vane - type hydraulic motor 22 &# 39 ;, both of which will be described in more detail below . the motor 22 &# 39 ; and pump 22 are held in spaced relationship by a spacer bar 51 and are connected by oil pressure line 59 and return oil line 60 . both the pump 22 and the motor 22 &# 39 ;, as well as the oil lines 59 , 60 , are filled with a light hydraulic oil which is preferably of very low viscosity . an oil reservoir 55 with cap 56 shown in fig4 is provided to keep the hydraulic system fully charged . referring specifically to fig2 the pump 22 of the present invention comprises a housing 23 which includes two side plates 24 ( a ), 24 ( b ) held in spaced relationship by an annular plate spacer or case 26 . plates 24 ( a ), 24 ( b ) and plate spacer 26 are held together by fastening means such as screws 27 shown in fig4 . plates 24 ( a ) and 24 ( b ) have central openings 24 ( a ) and 25 ( b ) respectively to receive crank 16 , and conventional seal means ( e . g ., resilient washer or chevron seals , described subsequently ) should be used to prevent hydraulic leakage therebetween . the volume enclosed by plates 24 ( a ) and 24 ( b ) and spacer 26 forms a cylindrical cavity 37 . disposed in cavity 37 is an impeller 28 . vanes 33 extend radially from impeller 28 , the vanes being inserted in radial vane slots 30 in impeller 28 . because the rotational speed of impeller 28 is not high enough to create sufficient centrifugal force to hold vanes 33 in contact with the surfaces of cavity 37 radially outward from impeller 28 , vane springs 34 are employed to bias vanes 33 radially outwardly from impeller 28 . the center of impeller 28 has a bore ( not shown ) therethrough and is keyed to crank 16 at impeller key slot 16 ( a ) shown in fig3 . thus , impeller 28 will turn with crank 16 as the latter is rotated by pedalling , the crank being rotatably supported on the bicycle frame in the customary way by bearings described hereinafter . as shown in fig2 and 3 , impeller 28 is generally cylindrical or disc - shaped , the center of the cylinder being positioned eccentrically with respect to the center of cavity 37 , as shown in fig2 . also shown in fig2 are manifold slots 31 and 32 on plate 24 ( b ). as crank 16 and impeller 28 are turned in the clockwise direction as shown in fig2 vanes 33 will draw hydraulic fluid through pump inlet 53 from return line 60 into a chamber 36 roughly at the ten o &# 39 ; clock position as shown in fig2 . as chambers 36 move in the clockwise direction from the ten o &# 39 ; clock position , they expand until they reach a point near the two o &# 39 ; clock position as shown in fig2 . between the ten o &# 39 ; clock position and the two o &# 39 ; clock position , chambers 36 are in fluid communication with pump inlet 53 by means of manifold slot 31 in plate 24 ( b ). manifold slot 31 is an arcuate groove in plate 24 ( b ) and permits fluid to flow around vanes 33 and into expanding chambers 36 between the ten and two o &# 39 ; clock positions as shown in fig2 . therefore , as chambers 36 expand while moving from the ten o &# 39 ; clock to the two o &# 39 ; clock position , they will draw additional hydraulic fluid through inlet opening 53 and around the vanes 33 . as chambers 36 rotate from about the four o &# 39 ; clock to the eight o &# 39 ; clock positions , chambers 36 progressively contract due to the eccentricity of impeller 28 with respect to cavity 37 . as the fluid in the chambers 36 between the four o &# 39 ; clock and the eight o &# 39 ; clock positions is subjected to increasing pressure by the decreasing volume of chambers 36 , the pressurized fluid is forced through manifold slot 32 on plate 24 ( b ) and out pump outlet 54 , manifold slot 32 being an arcuate groove in plate 24 ( b ), disposed at , and interconnecting , the four o &# 39 ; clock and eight o &# 39 ; clock positions . as chambers 36 move between the eight and ten o &# 39 ; clock positions , they are of relatively constant volume ; they are filled with fluid and they repeat the cycle as described above once they pass the ten o &# 39 ; clock position and the pump inlet 53 . the function of manifold slots 31 and 32 is to maintain the chambers of expanding volume in fluid communication with inlet port 53 and to maintain the chambers of contracting volume in fluid communication with the outlet port 54 . as one skilled in the art will realize , such manifolding means is needed , and conventionally utilized , due to the incompressible nature of the fluid . the pressurized fluid delivered from pump 22 through pressure oil line 59 can be used to drive practically any desired type of hydraulic motor operably connected to rear wheel 12 . of course , a hydraulic motor also can be used to drive more than one rear wheel , for instance , on a three - wheeled bicycle . from fig2 it should be apparent that the pressure of fluid delivered to pump outlet 54 will depend upon the eccentricity of impeller 28 with respect to cavity 37 , assuming the applied pedal force remains the same . the more eccentric impeller 28 is with respect to cavity 37 , the more pressurized the fluid delivered to pump outlet 54 will be , with uniform pedal force . conversely , the less eccentric impeller 28 is with respect to cavity 37 , the less pressurized the fluid will be which is delivered to pump outlet 54 ( again assuming uniform pedal force ). thus , impeller 28 is maintained at a constant eccentricity with respect to cavity 37 , the pressure of the fluid delivered to pump outlet 54 must be increased if the bicycle is to be driven uphill , i . e ., pedal force must increase . likewise , if the eccentricity is held constant and the bicycle is driven on level ground , pedals 15 and crank 16 would have to be rotated at a progressively faster rate to increase the speed of the bicycle . these characteristics , common in conventional bicycles known heretofore , are not necessarily desirable , as they require the user either to exert high pedal force and / or to move his legs too quickly at a given speed , either condition being unnecessarily tiring . therefore , the present invention provides means for changing the eccentricity of impeller 28 with respect to cavity 37 . basically , eccentricity is varied by operation of a piston 44 which is slidably received within cylinder 42 , which is in fluid communication with manifold groove 32 . cylinder 42 is fixedly attached to plate 24 ( b ) while piston 44 is fixedly attached , by a bolt 44 &# 39 ; ( fig4 ), to a piston anchor bracket 45 which in turn is fixedly attached to crank housing 17 . as shown in fig3 crank 16 extends through crank housing 17 and is held in spaced relationship to the walls of crank housing 17 by bearings 63 , 63 &# 39 ; and bearing races 64 and 64 &# 39 ;, races 64 , 64 &# 39 ; being threadably secured to crank 16 as shown in fig3 . since impeller 28 is fixedly attached to crank 16 , impeller 28 cannot move laterally with respect to crank housing 17 . by contrast , pump housing 23 is not fixedly attached to either crank housing 17 or crank 16 . instead , pump housing 23 is suspended from crank housing 17 by suspension stand 41 and suspension bracket 39 . suspension bracket 39 is fixedly attached to pump housing 23 as shown in fig2 and 4 . suspension bracket 39 is in turn pivotally attached to and received between the arms of suspension clevis 38 by clevis pin 40 ( b ) shown in fig2 . suspension clevis 38 is also pivotally attached to suspension stand 41 by clevis pin 40 ( a ). as shown in fig3 spacer 26 on crank 16 also maintains the pump 22 in spaced relation to crank housing 17 . further details of the suspension stand apparatus can be seen in fig5 and 6 which illustrate a virtually identical arrangement used on the rear wheel hydraulic motor mechanism of the bicycle . as can be seen from a top view of the suspension apparatus as shown in fig6 suspension clevis 38 &# 39 ; receives suspension bracket 41 and housing 23 &# 39 ; is suspended from clevis pin 40 ( a )&# 39 ; by suspension stand 41 &# 39 ;. referring back to fig4 it should be seen that as fluid pressure increases in the contracting chambers 36 in fluid communication with manifold slot 32 and cylinder 42 , piston 44 will force housing 23 in a rearward direction since the top of the piston is exposed to the pressurized fluid . as piston 44 thus moves , housing 23 will simultaneously pivot about suspension stand 41 on clevis pins 40 ( a ) and 40 ( b ). referring to fig2 it can be seen that as housing 23 is shifted rearwardly , the eccentricity of impeller 28 with respect to cavity 37 is reduced . as indicated earlier , when the eccentricity is reduced , the pump output pressure is reduced . as shown in fig4 the pressure at which piston 44 will move can be predetermined by selecting a spring 47 of suitable tension to oppose the rearward movement of housing 23 at a given amount of fluid pressure . spring 47 is biased rearward against piston anchor bracket 45 and forward against return spring bracket 48 . therefore , as the pressure in cylinder 42 increases , the force of spring 47 will oppose the rearward movement of housing 23 . it should be evident that , as is well known in pumps generally , there are practical limits to the allowable movement of housing 23 around impeller 28 . for instance , if housing 23 is moved too far rearwardly , the pump will no longer pump pressurized fluid out of pump outlet 54 because the contracting chambers 36 containing pressurized fluid will no longer be in fluid communication with outlet port 54 . in addition , the movement of pump housing 23 too far forward will cause it to contact impeller 28 , potentially causing damage either to impeller 28 , vanes 33 or vane springs 34 . therefore , it is desirable to provide a stop in order to limit the allowable forward movement of housing 23 with respect to impeller 28 . it is for this purpose that stop 49 , shown in the preferred embodiment of fig3 and 4 , is provided , and stop 46 is provided to limit the allowable rearward movement of housing 23 with respect to impeller 28 , stop bracket 46 preferably being formed integrally with return spring bracket 48 . the rearward movement of housing 23 beyond an established limit is stopped by a projection 45 &# 39 ; on piston anchor bracket 45 when projection 45 &# 39 ; meets stop bracket 46 . it is desirable that the fluid pressure produced by pump 22 remain fairly constant , at the level selected by the operator . as the fluid pressure increases as a function of load , as when the bicycle is driven uphill , for instance , the pressure in cylinder 42 will increase and force piston 44 against return spring 47 , which in turn will move the pump housing in a direction decreasing the eccentricity of impeller 28 with respect to cavity 37 . this decrease in eccentricity has the result of maintaining the fluid pressure at a constant value as the bicycle is driven uphill , thereby enabling the bicyclist to maintain a constant pedal pressure and a constant pedal rotation rate , the speed of the bicycle decreasing commensurately . because the desired pedal rotation rate or pedal pressure may vary from individual to individual , lever means such as control lever arm 18 are employed to adjust the pretension of return spring 47 acting between return spring bracket 48 and piston anchor bracket 45 . as shown in fig4 control lever 18 is pivotally connected by control lever pivot pin 19 to piston anchor bracket 45 . as seen in fig1 and 7 , control lever 18 extends upwardly to a ratchet plate 21 , where the pretension of spring 47 can be adjusted by lifting the counterbalancing handle 20a and moving ratchet dog 20 along ratchet plate 21 . ratchet plate 21 can be fastened by screws and clamps to the bicycle frame as shown in fig7 and can comprise a series of stacked and overlapping guide plates 21 ( a ) without teeth alongside an indexing plate 21 ( b ) with teeth , as shown in fig7 . it should be noted that a variety of means can be employed to adjust the pretension of return spring 47 against return spring bracket 48 . control lever 18 , ratchet dog 20 , and ratchet plate 21 illustrate merely one preferred embodiment . as was mentioned above , the pressurized fluid produced by vane pump 22 can be utilized in a variety of hydraulic motors operably connected to rear wheel 12 . however , as shown in fig5 a vane - type motor 22 &# 39 ; is well suited for this purpose and has certain advantages which will become apparent . vane motor 22 &# 39 ; ( fig5 and 6 ) includes the same basic elements as vane pump 22 but operates in an opposite fashion , being rotatably driven by the pressurized fluid applied . vane motor 22 &# 39 ; includes an impeller 28 &# 39 ;, a housing 23 &# 39 ; made from plates 24 ( a )&# 39 ; and 24 ( b )&# 39 ; with spacer 26 &# 39 ; interposed between said plates . plates 24 ( a )&# 39 ; and 24 ( b )&# 39 ; and spacer 26 &# 39 ; define a cavity 36 &# 39 ; in which impeller 28 &# 39 ; is disposed . plates 24 ( a )&# 39 ; and 24 ( b )&# 39 ; have openings ( not shown ) similar to openings 25 ( a ) and 25 ( b ) in the corresponding plates in the vane pump . the openings through plates 24 ( a )&# 39 ; and 24 ( b )&# 39 ; receive the axle assembly 68 to which impeller 28 &# 39 ; is fixedly attached . a motor inlet opening ( not shown ) and motor outlet opening 66 are provided to receive pressurized fluid and expel unpressurized fluid from the motor , respectively . vane motor 22 &# 39 ; further includes vanes 33 &# 39 ; which radially extend outwardly from vane slots 30 &# 39 ; in impeller 28 &# 39 ;. vanes 33 &# 39 ; are biased outwardly against the sides of cavity 36 &# 39 ; by vane springs 34 &# 39 ;. vanes 33 &# 39 ;, impeller 28 &# 39 ; and housing 23 &# 39 ; define a plurality of chambers 36 &# 39 ; which expand in volume as they move from about the four o &# 39 ; clock to about the eight o &# 39 ; clock position shown in fig5 and contract in volume from the ten o &# 39 ; clock to about the two o &# 39 ; clock position as shown in fig . as impeller 28 &# 39 ; is rotated in the clockwise position . chambers 36 &# 39 ; which are expanding should be in fluid communication with the aforementioned motor inlet provided by motor inlet fitting 61 . manifold slot 31 &# 39 ;, comprising an arcuate groove in plate 24 ( b )&# 39 ;, serves this function . similarly , vane manifold 32 &# 39 ; maintains chambers 36 &# 39 ; which are contracting in volume in fluid communication with motor outlet 66 and motor outlet fitting 62 . the operation of vane motor 22 &# 39 ; should be apparent at this point . basically , the pressurized fluid entering through the motor inlet fills the chambers of expanding volume by means of vane manifold 31 &# 39 ;, thereby forcing impeller 28 &# 39 ; to turn in the clockwise direction as shown in fig5 . as vanes 33 &# 39 ; and chambers 36 &# 39 ; reach a point where the volume of chambers 36 &# 39 ; begin to contract , the chambers 36 &# 39 ; come into fluid communication with motor outlet 66 through vane manifold 32 &# 39 ;, thereby permitting fluid to be forced out of the vane motor 22 &# 39 ;. the amount of work required to rotate motor impeller 28 &# 39 ; will depend upon the degree of eccentricity of impeller 28 &# 39 ; with respect to cavity 37 &# 39 ;. the greater the eccentricity , the less work will be required to turn impeller 28 &# 39 ; in cavity 37 &# 39 ;. of course , the eccentricity should always be maintained such that motor inlet opening 65 is maintained in fluid communication with those chambers 36 &# 39 ; of expanding volume . otherwise , the pump would turn in the direction opposite that shown in fig5 and the fluid would be short - circuited ( relieved ) to the motor outlet 66 . for a given fluid pressure , more work would be required to turn impeller 28 &# 39 ; in cavity 37 &# 39 ; if the eccentricity of impeller 28 &# 39 ; with respect to cavity 37 &# 39 ; is reduced . again , motor inlet 65 should be in fluid communication with those chambers 36 &# 39 ; which are expanding in volume as impeller 28 &# 39 ; rotates . therefore , if the eccentricity of vane motor 22 &# 39 ; is varied , the amount of work required to turn impeller 28 &# 39 ; can be varied . a piston - cylinder arrangement disclosed previously in connection with the vane pump 22 could be used to vary the eccentricity of impeller 28 &# 39 ; with respect to motor housing 23 &# 39 ;. however , a spacer bar 51 can conveniently be used as well . as shown in fig1 spacer bar 51 extends between pump housing 23 and motor housing 23 &# 39 ; and maintains the two in fixed , spaced relationship with each other . therefore , as the piston - cylinder arrangement on vane pump 22 causes vane pump housing 23 to move , spacer bar 51 will cause motor housing 23 &# 39 ; to move as well . the length of spacer bar 51 should be selected such that impeller 28 &# 39 ; will never contact the radially interior surfaces of spacer 26 &# 39 ; and so that the eccentricity of impeller 28 &# 39 ; in cavity 36 &# 39 ; will be such that motor inlet 65 will be in fluid communication with chambers 36 &# 39 ; of expanding volume and motor outlet 66 will be in fluid communication with chambers 36 &# 39 ; of contracting volume . spacer bar 51 if properly sized will allow the simultaneous reduction of the pedal pressure required to operate vane pump 22 and the work required to operate vane motor 22 &# 39 ;. motor housing 23 &# 39 ; is suspended from a suspension stand 41 &# 39 ; by clevis 38 &# 39 ; and clevis pin 40 ( a )&# 39 ; by suspension bracket 39 &# 39 ; and suspension pin 40 ( b )&# 39 ; in a manner previously disclosed . in one specific example of a preferred embodiment , impellers 28 , 28 &# 39 ; are 4 . 75 inches in diameter and cavities 37 , 37 &# 39 ; are 5 . 125 inches in diameter . the center of pump housing 23 is placed 0 . 094 inches forward from the center of impeller 28 , and pump housing 23 can be moved rearward to a point where its center is 0 . 032 inches forward of the center of impeller 28 . similarly , the center of motor housing 23 &# 39 ; is placed 0 . 094 inches rearward from the center of impeller 28 &# 39 ;, and motor housing 23 &# 39 ; is movable forward to a point where the center of motor housing 23 &# 39 ; is 0 . 032 inches rearward from the center of impeller 28 &# 39 ;. when the housings are moved completely rearward , that is , the center of housing 23 is 0 . 032 inches forward from the center of impeller 28 , there should be about 15 inches of travel for about one turn of crank 16 if wheel 12 is 24 inches in diameter . on the other hand , if the center of pump housing 23 is fully forward , that is , the center of pump housing 23 is 0 . 157 inches forward from the center of impeller 28 , there should be about five turns of the wheel , or about 377 inches , for every turn of crank 16 , provided rear wheel 12 is 24 inches in diameter . of course , the above calculations assume rear housing 23 &# 39 ; moves corresponding distances with respect to impeller 28 &# 39 ; due to the interconnection of the housings by spacer bar 51 . of course , there are an infinite number of settings between the two settings described above . therefore , for a given pedal pressure selected by control lever 18 there is a wide range of speed possible with no manual shifting required . furthermore , the changes between the various speeds will be gradual . thus , there is no incremental change in either pedal pressure or speed as is characteristic of earlier hydraulic and sprocket mechanisms . to ensure that little or no fluid will leak out of the hydraulic system of the present invention , annular gaskets 35 ( a ) and 35 ( b ) ( fig3 ) can be positioned between pump impeller 28 and housing 23 , encircling openings 25 ( a ) and 25 ( b ) respectively . advantageously , annular grooves 35 ( c ) and 35 ( d ) can be provided in plates 24 ( a ) and 24 ( b ) around openings 25 ( a ) and 25 ( b ) respectively to receive such gaskets . similar gaskets can be disposed between motor impeller 28 &# 39 ; and plates 24 ( a )&# 39 ; and 24 ( b )&# 39 ; to prevent fluid from leaking from the motor . any leakage of fluid will result in fluid being drawn from reservoir cup 55 , which is in fluid communication with pump inlet opening 53 . the hydraulic system of the present invention can be installed on a standard bicycle frame without modification of the frame . however , the frame can be modified slightly to provide means of removing the rear tire without breaking the fluid circuit . referring to fig5 one - half of a bifurcated rear wheel support is shown which includes frame elements 69 , 70 , and 71 , and a flange 72 with a slot 73 therein for receiving a threaded rod 74 which extends through rear axle 68 . the primary modification illustrated is the orientation of slot 73 . in prior art bicycle frames , axle support slots such as slot 73 were oriented at an acute angle to the vertical with the mouth of the slot generally oriented toward the front of the bicycle . such a slot would be unacceptable in the present design if easy removal of the rear tire is desired , since the prior art slot would require that the wheel be moved forward almost an inch . this would entail disconnecting spacer bar 51 , and perhaps oil lines 59 and 60 as well if they were not made from a flexible material . having slot 73 extend generally vertically downward permits the rear axle to be swung straight down ( actually , on a long arc ) out of the frame slot . to do so , it is preferable to remove return spring 47 , so as to remove pressure from spacer bar 51 , and machine screw 44 should also be removed , to disconnect piston 44 from bracket 45 . thus , if nut 75 shown in fig6 is removed , threaded axle rod 74 can be slid downwardly until suspension stand pin 40 ( a )&# 39 ; comes into contact with the top of plate 72 , which should provide enough clearance to remove the tire . as will be understood , the modification of the frame shown in fig5 is also done on the other half of the bifurcated rear wheel support not shown . the frame elements 69 , 70 , and 71 are shown with elements 70 and 71 at an angle with one another . in a conventional bicycle , the frame elements 70 and 71 would comprise one horizontal piece interconnecting plate 72 with crank housing 17 . having elements 70 and 71 at an angle to each other permits easy installation of motor outlet fittings 62 , of motor inlet fittings 61 , and of rear spacer bracket 67 which connects spacer bar 51 to motor housing 23 &# 39 ;. of course , it is understood that the above disclosure is merely of particular examples of a preferred embodiment of the invention , and that various other embodiments as well as many changes and alterations may be made without departing from the underlying concepts and within the broader aspects of the invention .	1
in the following detailed description , only the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described , simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by the inventor ( s ) of carrying out the invention . as will be realized , the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects , all without departing from the invention . accordingly , the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature , and not restrictive . to clarify the present invention , parts which are not described in the specification are omitted , and parts for which similar descriptions are provided have the same reference numerals . fig4 shows an sip - based multimedia communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig4 , the sip - based multimedia communication system according to the present invention includes a global domain that integrates sip network service providing domains ( 4 g net , adsl net , wlan net , and so on ) to provide user - centered mobility . in the global domain , a user is allocated a global sip identifier independent of sip network service . the sip identifier identifies the user through all his / her life like a lifelong number or a lifelong telephone number . accordingly , a communication peer can communicate with the user using the sip identifier all the time even when the user changes the sip - network service or physical terminal he / she uses . the global domain has a variety of sip call control related servers 4 a including an sip network server , a park server , a presence server , a b2bua server , a call feature server , a call processing language ( cpl ) server , and so on . these call control related servers perform call control targeting a global sip identifier that is a lifelong number . the global domain provides user - centered mobility on the basis of the global sip uniform resource identifier ( uri ). the global sip identifier is mapped with logical sip identifiers in currently registered sip network service domains 4 g net , adsl net , and wlan net . this mapping is carried out by the sip network server included in the global domain . the logical sip identifiers are mapped with user agents 4 c that are actual physical locations of the user through the sip network servers 4 b of respective sip network service domains 4 g net , adsl net , and wlan net . here , the sip network service domains 4 g net , adsl net and wlan net provide logical address - centered mobility based on the logical sip uri according to a prior art . fig5 shows a personal mobility providing method in the sip - based multimedia communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig5 , a communication peer attempts to set up a call targeting alice &# 39 ; s global sip identifier that is her lifelong number . the peer can set up an optimal communication route irrespective of the sip network service and terminal alice uses only if the peer knows alice &# 39 ; s sip identifier , alice @ global . net 51 . when the peer requests call setup targeting alice &# 39 ; s sip identifier , alice @ global . net 51 , the sip network server 5 a of the global domain obtains logical sip identifiers currently registered as alice @ global . net through forking . the logical sip identifiers include alice @ adsl . home . net 52 and alice @ wlan . home . net 53 . accordingly , the sip network server 5 a of the global domain requests call setup targeting alice @ adsl . home . net 52 and alice @ wlan . home . net 53 , respectively . the sip network server 5 a requests call setup respectively for the two sip identifiers if parallel forking is set up in the global domain , and requests call setup for one of them if parallel forking is not set up . then , an sip network server 5 b of adsl . home . net domain transmits a call to physical sip user agents currently registered as alice @ adsl . home . net 52 through forking . since there are two sip user agents currently registered as alice @ adsl . home . net 52 , tel : 82421238282 54 and alice @ host . home 2 . net 56 , the call can be respectively transmitted to these two sip user agents . for alice @ wlan . home . net 53 , an sip network server sc of wlan . home . net domain transmits a call to physical sip user agents currently registered as alice @ wlan . home . net 53 through forking . since there are three sip user agents currently registered as alice @ wlan . home . net 52 , tel : 82421238282 54 , alice @ laptop . home 1 . net 55 and tel : 82161231005 57 , the call can be respectively transmitted to these three sip user agents . in this manner , improved personal mobility can be provided . while call setup can be carried out only when the communication peer knows the logical sip identifier allocated to the user in the prior art , the peer can be provided with an optimal communication state irrespective of the sip network service or terminal the user uses if the peer knows the user &# 39 ; s global sip identifier that is his / her lifelong number in the present invention . fig6 shows an sip request message processing procedure in an sip network server 5 a included in the global domain for providing personal mobility in the sip - based multimedia communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , when the sip network server 5 a included in the global domain receives an sip message from a communication user , the sip network server checks whether a peer , that is , the destination of the message , is a user who has subscribed for global service ( gls ) in step s 61 . if the peer is not a subscriber , the sip network server transmits an sip 404 not found error response representing that the peer cannot be found , and sip processing fails and finishes the sip message processing in step s 62 . if the peer has subscribed for the global service , the sip network server 5 a checks a user profile to determine whether a call feature server is set up in step s 63 . if the call feature server is set up in the user profile , the sip network server 5 a transmits the received sip message to the call feature server to allow the sip message to be processed by the call feature server in step s 64 . if the call feature server is not set up in the user profile and parallel forking is possible in step s 65 , the sip network server maps the global sip identifier to currently registered logical sip identifiers in step s 66 and transmits the sip message to sip network servers 5 b and 5 c providing sip network services corresponding to the logical sip identifiers in step s 67 . when the parallel forking is impossible in the step s 65 , an optimal sip identifier is selected from the logical sip identifiers currently registered as the global sip identifier in step s 68 . here , the optimal sip identifier is determined in consideration of priority , the kind of media , the kind of the call , and time on the basis of the user profile . the sip network server checks whether registration of the optimal sip identifier has been expired in step s 69 . when registration of the optimal sip identifier has been expired , steps s 68 and s 69 are repeated until a registered optimal sip identifier is selected . the selected optimal sip identifier is mapped with the global sip identifier in step s 66 and the sip message is transmitted to the sip network servers 5 b and 5 c providing sip network service , which correspond to the logical sip identifiers in step s 67 . in the meantime , the global domain manages a service profile independently of sip service networks and terminals the user uses and provides the sip network service to the user on the basis of the service profile when the user uses the sip network service . thus , the user can be provided with the same service irrespective of the sip network service or terminal he / she uses . the service profile can include speed dials , a buddy list , media priorities , bell sounds , voice mail setup , and so on . furthermore , the global domain can manage call control commands independently of terminals using a cpl to process call control in an integrated manner . by doing so , the service mobility is provided . as described above , the global domain provides global sip identifier level service mobility while the sip network service domains 4 g net , adsl net , and wlan net provide logical sip identifier level service mobility . in the meantime , there is a restriction on the session mobility provided by the prior art such that a terminal that attempts to move a session should be registered for sip service and be ready to receive sip messages . practically , a user is moved and then registered for the sip service . in this case , the session mobility cannot be provided . fig7 shows a session mobility providing method through a park server of the global domain in the sip - based multimedia communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig7 , a session is moved to bob 2 7 c when alice 7 a and bob 1 are carrying out multimedia communication between them . first , bob 1 7 b transmits an sip publish message 71 including information on the session to a park server 7 d in the global domain . the sip publish message 71 includes information representing that the peer of the session is alice 7 a . bob 2 7 c to whom the session will be moved transmits an sip subscribe message 72 to the park server 7 d to request information on the currently parked call of bob 1 7 b . the park server 7 d that has received the sip subscribe message 72 transmits an sip notify message 73 to bob 2 7 c to inform him of the information on the parked call of bob 1 7 b . accordingly , bob 2 7 c can start a new call with alice 7 a on the basis of the information . for this , bob 2 7 c transmits an sip invite message 74 to alice 7 a to request a new call setup . this request includes contents that request alice 7 a to finish the previous call set up between alice 7 a and bob 1 7 b . accordingly , alice 7 a transmits an sip bye message 75 to bob 1 7 b to finish the previous call set up between alice 7 a and bob 1 7 b when the new call setup is completed . in this manner , the session in operation can be continued while the terminal is changed with another one or another user can continue the session . furthermore , the session can be moved to a terminal that is not registered for the sip service and continued . consequently , the session mobility is provided . in the meantime , in the case of the terminal mobility provided by the prior art , most terminals do not support multi - homing so that media packets of a session in operation can be lost while ips are changed . furthermore , a communication peer should know terminal changes . fig8 shows a terminal mobility providing method through an sip b2bua ( back - to - back user agent ) of the global domain in the sip - based multimedia communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , bob 8 b , located in a home network , transmits an sip invite message 81 to a b2bua 8 d included in the global domain in order to request alice 8 a to set up a multimedia call . the b2bua 8 d delivers the message received from bob 8 b to alice 8 a who is the actual communication peer ( 82 ). when the multimedia call setup between bob 8 b and alice 8 a is completed , bob 8 b transmits media to the b2bua 8 d , and the media is delivered to alice 8 a . alice 8 a transmits media to the b2bua 8 d and the media is sent to bob 8 b again ( 83 ). that is , alice 8 a and bob 8 b transmit and receive audio or video media using rtp ( real - time transport protocol ). accordingly , the b2bua 8 d performs session control and media relay between the two communication objects 8 a and 8 b . here , it may happen that bob 8 b , located in the home network , is moved to a foreign network ( 84 ). bob 8 c who has moved to the foreign network transmits an sip re - invite message 85 to the b2bua 8 d in order to inform alice 8 a that his address has been changed . at this time , the b2bua 8 d can only re - set up a media route without transmitting the message received from bob 8 c to alice 8 a when media are not newly added or reduced . accordingly , the session with alice 8 a can be continued when only the media route between bob 8 c and the b2bua 8 d is re - set up ( 86 ). in addition , the b2bua 8 d transmits an sip bye message 87 to bob 8 b to delete the media route between bob 8 b and the b2bua 8 d after the session is moved to bob 8 c . as described above , the terminal mobility can be provided using the b2bua 8 d even when the peer is not informed of a terminal change . furthermore , media lost while the session is moved can be reduced to a minimum . moreover , there is no need to re - set up a session when communication objects have different codecs . as described above , the present invention can provide integrated mobility including all sip identifiers to a user even when the user is allocated a plurality of logical sip identifiers from a plurality of sip network service providers and uses them . furthermore , the sip - based multimedia communication system of the present invention has a two - level mobility hierarchy structure such that the global domain that is the upper level provides user - centered mobility based on a global sip uri , and the sip network service domain that is the lower level provides logical address - based mobility based on a logical sip uri . moreover , improved mobility can be provided by adding various functions required for providing mobility to the global domain . furthermore , in the case of personal mobility , an optimal communication route can be set up irrespective of the sip network service and terminal a user uses if a communication peer knows only the user &# 39 ; s global sip identifier that is his / her lifelong number . accordingly , even when the user &# 39 ; s logical sip identifier is changed , the peer need not know this fact . moreover , in the case of service mobility , a service profile is managed independently of sip service networks and terminals , and services are provided to a user on the basis of the service profile . thus , the user can be provided with the same service irrespective of the sip network service and terminal the user uses in the global domain . in addition , sip network service domains can provide service mobility at a logical sip identifier level . in the case of session mobility , a session in operation can be continued while a terminal used for the session is changed or the session can be continued by another user . in addition , the session can be moved to a terminal that has not subscribed for the sip service and continued . moreover , the terminal mobility can be provided even when a communication peer is not informed that a terminal is moved . furthermore , media lost while the terminal is moving can be reduced to a minimum . moreover , there is no need to re - set up a session when communication objects use different media codecs . while this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments , but , on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	7
referring first more particularly to fig1 the acoustic sensor transmitter / receiver dopper velocity sensor 2 of the present invention is mounted in the bottom of conduit 4 which is partially or completely filled with liquid 6 the velocity of which is to be measured . the sensor is operable to transmit a beam 8 of acoustic or ultrasonic energy into the liquid , the beam being in the shape of a cone the axis of which lies generally colinearly with the axis of liquid flow . particles of entrained air in the liquid , or turbulence in the liquid , reflect a portion of the incident energy back toward the sensor as shown by the arrow 10 . owing to the flow of the liquid and the particles entrained therein through the liquid , the reflected acoustic energy received by the sensor will be shifted by the doppler effect according to the formula ; θ is the angle sustained between the acoustic transducer axis and the direction of scatter velocity ; and the sensor 2 includes a pair of transmitting and receiving transducers 14 ( fig2 ) each including a thickness - mode - resonant piezoelectric ceramic disk 16 mounted in one end of a brass cylinder 17 adjacent a quarter - wave acoustic transformer 19 which matches the acoustic impedance of the piezoelectric material to the water into which the incident energy is directed . in the illustrated embodiment , the brass cylinder 17 , which serves as an electrical shield , has a diameter of about 0 . 375 inch and a length of about 0 . 75 inch . the casing is filled with a micro - balloon filed epoxy 18 which serves to dampen acoustic radiation out the backside of the element , and to provide a wide bandwidth . in one embodiment piezoelectric crystal consists of a ceramic lead - zirconate - titanate material such as pzt 5a having a resonating frequency of 1 mhz . the backing 18 comprises e & amp ; c 1090 , and seamax 9 - 38b polyurethane produced by fluid polymers inc . comprises the fill between the transformer and the water . the transformer 19 comprises cast e & amp ; c 2850 mt epoxy . referring to fig3 and 4 , the transmit and receive piezoelectric transducers 14a and 14b , respectively , are aligned so that their beam angles 14a &# 39 ; and 14b &# 39 ; overlap in the region 20 of the liquid to be investigated . the body 2a of the transducer assembly is of integral form containing longitudinal cavities for receiving the transducer elements , respectively . the voids 22a , 22b at the ends of the transducers are filled with a material ( i . e ., seamax 9 - 38b that provides acoustic impedance matching to that of the water 6 . the axes of both transmit and receiver transducers 14a and 14b have an elevation angle α that is determined by the velocity of the propagation of fill material relative to that of the water 6 according to snell &# 39 ; s law . typically , for a body face 2b having an angle β of 30 °, the elevation angle β is about 5 ° to 6 °. electrical cables 24 and 26 electrically connect the transducers with the electronic circuit of fig6 as will be described below . a liquid level sensor may be incorporated into the body 2a with the doppler velocity transducers to for a flow sensor . referring now to fig5 and 6 , the electronics circuit includes a 2 mhz oscillator 30 that drives a quadrature clock generator 32 that supplies in - phase clock signals to the transmitter amplifier 34 and the in - phase doppler signal detector 36 . the quadrature clock signal is supplied via conductor 35 to the quadrature doppler signal detector 38 . the transmitter amplifier 34 supplies the amplified signal to the transmitter transducer 14a that generates the transmitter beam 8 . the reflected doppler beam 10 is received by the receiver transducer 14b , which produces an input control signal to variable gain amplifier 40 . the output of the variable gain amplifier 40 is applied to the input terminals of both the in - phase doppler signal detector 36 and the quadrature doppler signal detector 38 . the function of a doppler signal detector in combination with properly designed anti - alias low pass in - phase and quadrature filters 42 and 44 , respectively , is to provide an output that contains only the doppler difference frequency ( that is the difference in frequency between the signal scattered by the particles in the liquid and the signal transmitted by transducer 14a that is directed to the particles ). the low pass filters are required since the output of each doppler signal detector contains both the sum and difference frequencies of the signal present at the signal input and reference input of the doppler signal detector . since both of the doppler signal detectors 36 and 38 have reference signals that are 90 degrees in phase reference to each other and both detectors have the same received signal , the doppler difference output signals will also have an 90 degree phase relation . the direction of this 90 degree phase relation , or more particularly that signal which leads the other , may be employed to determine whether the moving particles are approaching the transducer or are moving away from it . thus , the direction of the particle movement can be determined in this manner . the output of the anti - alias low pass filters 42 and 44 are directed to the in - phase and quadrature analog - to - digital converters 46 and 48 , respectively . the analog - to - digital converters 46 and 48 are chosen to provide adequate resolution and must sample at a rate in accordance with sampling theory . the filters 42 and 44 pass only the low frequency doppler information from the detectors and also insure that the analog - to - digital converters operate within the bounds of the nyquist rate . the sampling clock is provided by the digital signal processer 50 , and is supplied to the in - phase and quadrature analog - to - digital converters 46 and 48 via conductors 52 and 54 , respectively . the digital signal processor 50 also supplies a voltage controlled control signal to the variable gain amplifier 40 via conductor 56 . flow velocity is indicated by the flow velocity indicator means 58 connected with the output of digital signal processor 50 , and the output of the quadrature analog - to - digital converter 48 is supplied to the digital signal processor means 50 . referring now to the electrical schematic diagram of fig6 the 2 mhz clock oscillator 30 provides a square wave drive to the quadrature 1 mhz square wave generators defined by the 74hc74 d - flip - flop . the in - phase wave form is supplied to the transmitter amplifier 34 including an input field - effect transistor 74 following by an complimentary emitter follower pair of bipolar transistors 76 and 78 that are connected with the transmitter transducer 14a via a 0 . 1 mfd capacitor 80 and an 18μh series tuning inductor 82 . the circuit provides about a 10 volt peak - to - peak drive to the transmitter transducer 14a . the 0 . 375 inch transducers potted with seamax polyurethane present an impedance of 150 ohms at - 70 degrees at 1 . 0 mhz . the measured q is about 4 to 5 and the acoustic total beam angle is about 10 degrees to 3 db , and 28 degrees to the null points . the elevation angle for a 30 degree sensor face is about 3 degrees ( as compared to about 5 degrees calculated from snell &# 39 ; s law ). with this drive , the power dissipated in the transmit disc is about 53 mw which is limited to the maximum of 100 mw . the capacitor 80 protects the transistor 76 against a short circuit output . a portion of the in - phase square wave signal ( about 0 . 2 volts peak - to - peak ) is applied to the in - phase doppler detector 36 via conductor 33 , and a portion of the quadrature - phase square wave is applied to the quadrature doppler detector 38 via conductor 35 . the received doppler signal is supplied from the transducer receiver 14b to the variable gain amplifier 40 which includes an ad600 component 88 , the variable gain amplifier being voltage controlled by the output of the digital signal processor 50 via conductor 56 . the two amplifier sections of ad600 are cascaded through a series rc low pass filter 90 having a corner frequency of about 7 mhz . the low pass filter 90 includes a 100 ohm resistor and a 470 pf capacitor . this stage provides gain from about 10 db to 70 db . doppler signal detection is performed by the mc1496 detectors 92 and 94 of the doppler detector circuits 36 and 38 in combination with the low pass filters 42 and 44 , respectively . the in - phase doppler signal detector 36 is employed for a velocity estimation , and the quadrature detector 38 serves to provide flow direction sensing information . the low pass filters 42 and 44 supplied by the outputs of the in - phase and quadrature detectors , respectively , provide a corner frequency of about 100 khz , the output of the in - phase doppler signal being applied to the a / d converter 46 for further digital signal processing . the digital signal processor 50 analyzes the in - phase doppler signal supplied from the in - phase analog - to - digital converter via conductor 100 . referring to fig1 , the digital signal processor is preferably of the general purpose computer type employing signal processing software , such as labview produced by national instruments . the processor 50 ( fig1 ) includes an adsp - 2105 micro - controller 200 supplied with a clock signal by clock 202 , a program memory eprom 204 , a data memory ram 206 , and a digital - to - analog converter 208 for producing the analog gain control signal supplied to variable gain amplifier 40 via conductor 56 . referring now to fig8 the doppler signal processing is as follows : ( 1 ) a digitized array of n samples is acquired by acquisition means 104 from the output of the in - phase doppler signal detector ; ( 2 ) the gain of the variable gain amplifier by gain adjustment means 106 is adjusted via conductor 56 ; ( 3 ) m zeroed - mean power spectra of the doppler signal are acquired and accumulated by accumulator means 108 , each from a newly acquired sampled array from the in - phase doppler signal detector ; ( 4 ) the first k elements of the accumulated spectra are zeroed by the sampling means 110 , ( 5 ) the accumulated spectra are passed through a median filter 112 of rank r ; ( 6 ) the amplitude range of the filtered spectra is limited by limiting means 114 to between the maximum and about 40 db down from maximum value ; ( 7 ) the best estimate of the high frequency edge of the filtered spectra is determined by hf edge detector means 116 by the use of an hf edge algorithm , as described below ; ( 8 ) based on the results of the hf edge algorithm and the frequency or velocity of the peak spectral amplitude , a determination by spectrum width determining means 118 is made as to whether the spectrum is of narrow or wide bandwidth , use being made of a narrow / wide band detector algorithm , described below ; and ( 9 ) if the spectrum band is wide , then the estimated flow velocity 120 is determined as a function of a multiple of the high frequency edge , and if the spectrum band is narrow , the frequency of the maximum ( peak ) spectral component is the estimated velocity 122 . the aforementioned multiple of the high frequency edge is a function of liquid depth when normalized to pipe diameter . for narrow bandwidth , the flow velocity determined from the peak may also be adjusted by a function of normalized depth . it is known that doppler frequency is related to particle velocity by a constant factor : ## equ1 ## where : c = 4922 fps the gain of the variable gain amplifier 40 is set by the digital signal processor 50 by adjusting the control voltage so that the maximum values of the digitized doppler signal fall within approximately the upper 3 db of the a / d range . this may be carried out as a separate operation just before acquiring the m spectra , in order to simplify operation . the number of samples n in the time domain waveform array is by example 4096 and the sampling frequency 20 k samples / sec . this results in a velocity resolution of about 0 . 01 fps . the number of samples may be restricted to an integral power of 2 in order to employ a fft . in the preferred embodiment , power spectra are employed but other forms of spectral estimation may be employed . a number m of preferable zero meaned spectral arrays , each from n newly acquired time domain samples are accumulated to form the resulting real valued power spectra . a value of 8 for m has been utilized . the first k spectral samples of the resulting spectra are forced to zero . this is done to suppress surface related velocity noise components . a value of 8 has been established for k in the preferred embodiment . the resulting minimum possible detected velocity is about 0 . 01 fps . the resulting accumulated spectrum is passed through a median filter of rank r . this is a nonlinear filter that combines lowpass filtering while preserving edge information . a rank of 2 has been found to be effective with both laboratory and field data , but higher order filters are also effective . specifically , for a rank of 2 , this filter outputs the median at index i for a subset of the input sequence : after filtering , the spectrum is limited to approximately the upper 40 db of its dynamic range . this is done to prevent false edge detection from occurring due to high frequency noise components . other values of dynamic range may also be effective . with reference to fig7 and 8 , time domain waveform a represents a digitized array of a portion the doppler difference signal at point a of fig8 and waveform b represents the resulting spectrum at the point b of signal processing shown in fig8 . actual spectra at point b from flow laboratory experiments are shown in fig9 a - 12a . the hf edge detection algorithm will now be described . inputs include the limited spectrum waveform b , and an integer value called the decimate factor . experimentally the decimate factor has been set to 50 . the general operation is as follows with reference to fig9 - 12 : ( 1 ) the spectrum array is decimated by decimate factor . the elements of the decimated array ( da ) 130 are the average values of the samples contained between the decimation indexes of the full spectral array 132 . ( 2 ) an array , cell ratio array 134 , is formed of the ratios of the adjacent values from the decimated array 130 . a large value of one of these elements indicates an edge in the spectrum . the length of this array in the preferred embodiment is 40 samples for a full spectrum length of 2048 samples and a decimation factor of 50 . mathematically this operation may described as : ## equ2 ## ( 3 ) the index along the full spectrum where the maximum - cell - ratio 140 occurs is utilized to select a sub - array 142 of the full spectrum in which the high velocity edge 144 occurs . a fine grain search is conducted in that subarray 142 . since it is possible that a false high frequency edge may exist because of large low velocity noise , a qualification is done if the maximum cell - ratio 140 occurs in the first cell of the decimated array 130 as follows : then , if ( da 0 / max of all other da j )& gt ; 10 , then index - max 146 = 0 else index - max 46 = index of the cell ratio array element with the second most largest value . ( 4 ) the index number 146 for the sub - array of the full spectrum in which the high velocity edge occurred is determined . as shown in fig9 a , the index value is approximately 574 for the particular data shown . the lower index is reduced by 20 since the fine grain search for the edge employs averages of 20 spectral elements in the preferred embodiment . a sub - array 142 from the full spectrum 132 is formed from this index and of length as shown below : the length is rounded to the nearest integer . the value is 71 for the preferred embodiment . ( 5 ) the index of the high frequency edge 144 , in the context of the full spectrum 132 is located by forming an array with elements equal to the difference between the sum of the 20 elements below the current index and the sum of the 20 elements above it . the index of the high frequency edge 144 is the index of the maximum value of this difference array . ( 6 ) the decimated array 130 samples and the index - max 146 are output for use by the narrow / wide band detector algorithm described below . the peak amplitude of the full spectrum 132 and the velocities at which it occurs is determined from the filtered spectrum . in cases where the spectrum is of narrow bandwidth , such as when the sensor is towed , a more accurate estimate of velocity is the peak of the velocity spectrum . for a wide band spectrum , as is the case for normal pipe or open channel flow , velocity is most accurately estimated to be a fraction of the high frequency edge 144 converted to units of velocity . a decision function , narrow / wide detection algorithm is described as follows : ( 1 ) choose the larger element from the decimated array 130 of either that with an index where the maximum ratio occurred , index - max , or the element just below it . the result is identified as max - value . ( 2 ) compare this maximum value to that of all elements of the decimated array 130 with lower valued indexes . ( 3 ) form an array with elements equal to the max - value divided by each element of the decimated array with an index less than that of the max - value . if the minimum value of the resulting array & lt ; 10 or index - max = 0 ; then bandwith is wide , else is narrow . while the preferred forms and embodiments have been illustrated and described , it will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above .	6
fig1 and 2 represent schematic diagrams of an agitated bead mill utilizing grinding beads and a cylindrical separator screen at the dispersion discharge outlet of the grinding mill . the grinding mill includes a product inlet port 12 for introducing product into the milling chamber 14 . the grinding beads are introduced into the milling chamber 14 through port 16 . the grinding mill shown in fig1 also includes a rotating shaft 17 of eccentric or concentric milling disks 18 . the product , which is ground in chamber 14 , is discharged through product outlet 19 . a cylindrical cartridge separator screen 20 surrounds the outlet port 19 . as shown in fig2 the cylindrical separator screen prevents particles of a predetermined size from being discharged through the outlet port . however , as the cylindrical separator screen openings become smaller and smaller , the screen is more prone to plugging from particles and particle aggregates . when this occurs , pressure in the milling chamber builds up until the grinding mill must be shut down and the screen must be removed and cleaned . the present invention solves this problem and allows continuous operation of the bead mill . shown in fig3 and 4 are the agitated bead mill and cylindrical separator screen of the present invention . fig3 shows a product inlet port 32 , which allows introduction of product to be ground into the milling chamber 34 . grinding media is introduced into the chamber through media input port 36 . the mill of the present invention also contains a shaft 37 containing eccentric milling disks 38 . ground product is discharged through product outlet 39 . fig3 also shows an ultrasonic probe 42 positioned on the outlet side of cylindrical separator screen 40 . in addition , a pressure sensor 44 is used to monitor the pressure within the milling chamber 34 . control means 45 couple the pressure sensor 44 and the ultrasonic probe 42 so that when pressure in the milling chamber reaches a predetermined value the ultrasonic probe is activated and cleans the particles lodged in the cylindrical cartridge screen . this is done while the bead mill is still operating thereby allowing continuous operation of the bead mill . the milling apparatus shown in fig3 was used to test the present invention . the grinding mill contained a four liter grinding chamber which was filled with polymeric grinding beads . a solution of ten percent polyvinylpyrrolidone &# 34 ; pvp &# 34 ; in water was used to study the invention and the dispersed solid phase was eliminated to simplify verification of the invention . the following process parameters were used in operating the grinding mill to study the present invention . the shaft speed was set at 2200 rpm . eccentrically mounted disks were mounted on the shaft as shown in fig3 . the separator screen had a 0 . 2 mm opening . the pvp flowrate was 350 - 800 cc / min . the grinding mill type was a model lme 4 manufactured by netzsch inc . the grinding media size was 0 . 4 - 0 . 6 mm with two percent fines less than 0 . 3 mm . the grinding mill was charged 87 %- 93 % by volume with grinding beads and the &# 34 ; pvp &# 34 ; solution was pumped continuously through the milling chamber . the chamber pressure was monitored continuously . additional subsized media less than 0 . 3 mm in diameter was added to the milling chamber to induce screen plugging . the extent of screen plugging was indicated by the pressure reading in the milling chamber . once the screen plugging began , the pressure in the grinding zone rose from 0 . 4 bar to 1 . 3 bar in about five minutes . since the grinding mill is not practically operable above 1 . 5 bar , the milling event would normally be discontinued or the mill would automatically shut off . however , an ultrasonic probe was mounted as shown in fig3 and 4 on the outlet side of the cylindrical slotted separator screen of the mill . the tip of the probe was a one - half inch diameter flat tip 350 watt power supply manufactured by branson , inc . positioned concentrically in the separator screen about 2 . 5 inches from the tip of the screen . this probe was activated for about five seconds at a power level on the meter of the power supply of two . the pressure in the milling chamber dropped immediately to the initial pressure reading of 0 . 4 bar . the power to the sonic probe was discontinued and in the next thirty minutes the chamber pressure again rose to the shut off value . again , a short burst of sonic energy from the probe reduced chamber pressure to the initial level . this was repeated several times with the same effect over a range of operating conditions . hence , the present method can be used continuously or intermittently during the milling process to maintain an open screen during the milling process . this method can also be used to dislodge blockage from the screen once plugging occurs . the present invention provides the advantage of extending the useful run time of a grinding mill operating continuously before shutting down the mill to clean the separator screen . the capability of this technology allows one to use finer grinding media and finer grinding media produce finer dispersions in a more cost effective manner . the present invention allows a practitioner of this technology to use more polydisperse and cheaper grinding beads i . e ., less sieving and preconditioning of the grinding media to reduce production costs . the present invention allows the processing of larger particles that would normally cause screen plugging and result in shutdown of the mill . finally , the present invention extends the commercially useful process latitude of existing bead milling technology to continuously prepare dispersed systems . while there has been shown and described what are at present considered the preferred embodiments of the present invention , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes , alterations and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	1
electromotive drive system 1 according to fig1 and 2 comprises an electric motor in a motor housing 2 , on which an electronics housing 3 and a connection housing 4 are arranged , the latter being detachably plug - contacted to electronics housing 3 and mechanically connected thereto , for example , with the aid of a screw connection 5 . in the exemplary embodiment , electronics housing 3 is l - shaped and extends partially along the longitudinal side as well as over a narrow side or end face of motor housing 2 . on the end face of the electric motor facing away from electronics housing 3 , motor or gear shaft 7 is led out from motor housing 2 of the electric motor , for example via a gear set 6 . while fig1 b shows connection housing 4 from its connection or front side 8 , fig2 shows , in the right half of the figure , connection housing 4 with a view of its plug contact side 9 , where plug connections 11 a through 16 a are arranged . these plug connections 11 a through 16 a correspond to mating plug connections 11 b through 16 b on housing or plug contact side 10 of electronics housing 3 facing connection housing 4 or its plug contact side 9 . specifically , a single plug connection 11 a , 11 b is provided for a link dc voltage , for example greater than 50 v dc and less than 800 v dc . another individual plug connection 12 a , 12 b is provided for a supply dc voltage of 50v , in particular 24v dc . another plug connection 14 a , 14 b is provided for a field bus input , while a plug connection 16 a , 16 b is furthermore provided for a field bus output . another plug connection 15 a , 15 b is used as a digital input and digital output . a plug connection 13 a , 13 b furthermore acts as a safety connection ( sto technology ). connecting wires of two connecting cables k n are contacted within connection housing 4 , and thus internally in the housing , in a manner which is not illustrated in greater detail . the connecting cables are fed into connection housing 4 on front side 18 thereof via cable openings 17 ( fig1 b ). the terminal contacting of the line ends of connecting cables k n with contact points of particular plug connections 11 through 16 thus takes place internally within connection housing 4 . according to the exemplary embodiment in fig1 b , cable openings 17 may be provided in a front plate 19 , which is detachably connected to a corresponding housing part 20 of connection housing 4 . in this specific embodiment , front plate 19 is first detached from remaining housing part 20 of connection housing 4 for the purpose of assembly and contacting , and connecting cables k n are fed through cable openings 17 . in this state of assembly , the wire ends of connecting wires l n guided by connecting cables k n at the particular contact points of corresponding plug connections 11 a through 16 a may be established with the aid of screw , clamp or plug connections . in the case of connecting wires l n contacted within connection housing 4 according to fig3 , through - contacting areas between at least supply lines l 11 through l 1n and l 21 through l 2n , respectively , which are contacted with plug connections 11 a , 12 a and guided by connecting cables k 1 and k 2 , are established in the form of contact bridges 22 or the like by means of p . c . board 21 inside the housing . in this manner , a through - connection of the power supply from one of connecting cables k 1 to the other connecting cable k 2 is established within connection housing 4 . a through - connection of the power supply , in particular between two energy - and data - networked drive systems , is maintained even if plug connections 11 through 16 , in particular plug connections 11 and 12 , for supplying power to a converter electronic system of the electric motor and / or to a control , regulation , sensor , actuator and / or communication electronic system , is detached between electronics housing 3 and connection housing 4 , as illustrated in fig2 . connection housing 4 thus takes on the function of a tee connector with the aid of only one single plug connection 11 through 16 for corresponding connecting wires l n of both connecting cables k n , while simultaneously always maintaining the through - connection of at least the supply voltage and thus maintaining the power supply of an upstream or downstream drive system . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims .	7
for purposes of this disclosure , an embodiment of an information handling system ( ihs ) may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute , classify , process , transmit , receive , retrieve , originate , switch , store , display , manifest , detect , record , reproduce , handle , or utilize any form of information , intelligence , or data for business , scientific , control , or other purposes . for example , an ihs may be a personal ihs , a network storage device , or any other suitable device and may vary in size , shape , performance , functionality , and price . the ihs may include random access memory ( ram ), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit ( cpu ) or hardware or software control logic : rom , and / or other types of nonvolatile memory . additional components of the ihs may include one or more disk drives , one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output ( i / o ) devices , such as a keyboard , a mouse , and a video display . the ihs may also include one or more buses operable to transmit data communications between the various hardware components . as shown in fig1 , the system 10 comprises an image repository 11 having a base file 16 and virtual disk file instances 12 . each virtual disk file instance 12 is associated with a iscsi lun 13 , which provides an address to one of n servers 15 on an ip network 14 . each server 15 has diskless iscsi boot and is configured with a unique iscsi target lun , which it then boots . fig1 shows how a base disk image 16 can be logically replicated ( i . e ., without full copy ) to multiple disks using copy on write , a functionality embedded in the virtual disk files . one element of the present disclosure is iscsi , and in particular iscsi boot . this allows the ability to point a ihs across the network to a disk ( and to a particular part of the disk ) using iscsi and boot from it . a disc local to the ihs is not required . in an illustrative embodiment , the present disclosure provides for iscsi boot with virtual disc files that have copy on write ability . iscsi is a transport layer protocol in the scsi - 3 specification . the iscsi protocol uses tcp / ip for its data transfer . unlike other network storage protocols , iscsi may require only the simple ethernet interface ( or any other tcp / ip - capable network ) to operate . this enables low - cost centralization of storage without the usual expense and incompatibility normally associated with fibre channel area networks . iscsi host bus adapters ( hbas ) are network interface controllers that incorporate a tcp offload engine with onboard iscsi processing . iscsi hbas have the advantage of including pci option roms to allow booting from iscsi targets . alternative iscsi boot methods with software initiators may require substantial work . the internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the internet and most commercial networks run . it is sometimes called the tcp / ip protocol suite , after the two most important protocols in it : the transmission control protocol ( tcp ) and the internet protocol ( ip ), which were the also the first two defined . tcp is one of the core protocols of the internet protocol suite . using tcp , applications on networked hosts can create connections to one another , over which they exchange data in formatted blocks of information carried by a ihs network . ihs communications links that do not support blocks , such as traditional point - to - point telecommunications links , simply transmit data as a series of bytes , characters or bits alone . when data is transmitted as formatted blocks , the network can transmit longer messages more efficiently and reliably . the protocol guarantees reliable and in - order delivery of data from sender to receiver . tcp also distinguishes data for multiple connections by concurrent applications ( e . g ., web server and e - mail server ) running on the same host . “ copy on write ” is an optimization strategy used in programming . the fundamental idea is that if multiple callers ask for resources which are initially indistinguishable , they are given pointers to the same resource rather than a separate copy of the resource . this fiction can be maintained until a caller tries to modify its “ copy ” of the resource , at which point a true private copy is created to prevent the changes becoming visible to all callers . alt of this happens transparently to the callers . the primary advantage is that if a caller never makes any modifications , no private copy need ever be created . copy on write is a policy that may be used for caching technologies or for caching implementation . typically , disks that ihss use are broken down into blocks . each of the ihss executing an image from a disk over iscsi is reading blocks across iscsi . as long as the ihss only read and do not write to the blocks , all the ihss can read the same blocks from one image that they share . however , when one of the ihss makes an update to the block and the ihs writes back an updated block with changes to it , the updated block cannot be used to change the master image because the other ihss that are sharing that block did not make that update . the other ihss are still operating from the original block copy . a duplicate of the block is made , the updates from that particular ihs are written to this new block , and any time that particular ihs requests that block , that particular ihs gets the block that was created for it with those changes . the other ihss continue to read the original copy of the block when the ihss do their reads unless they also make a change for themselves . continuing with fig1 the image repository 11 is a file stored on a server . the image repository 11 may contain the base virtual disk file 16 and this facility is able to take the file and create multiple instances 12 of it logically . it gives n names ( iscsi luns 13 ) and allows those names to be available on the ip network 14 . the method by which those names are published or made available is are understood by one of skill in the art but are outside the scope of the disclosure . each of the individual n ihss receives a different iscsi target lun 13 from which to boot . when an ihs sends requests across the ip network 14 , such requests are going to the same location , image repository 11 on server . the image repository maps all the ihs requests to the same base file 16 . however , the image repository 11 keeps up with any writes that occur . if a read comes in for disk 87 , block no . 10 , the image repository will determine if there have been any previous writes to disk 87 for block 10 . if there has been a write to disk 87 , block no . 10 , as in the example above , then the image repository 11 retrieves disk 87 &# 39 ; s version of block no . 10 and sends it via an ip network to ihs no . 87 . if a request comes in from an ihs to perform a write , such event triggers the creation of a logical block . as writing is done by the various ihss to their respective iscsi luns 13 , the writes will come in with a disk identifier , the target name , along with the block the ihs is writing to , and the image repository 11 . the image repository 11 will perform a copy on write to change the contents of the block . the image repository 11 will also , over time , build up additional blocks that are modified blocks to the base file . the image repository does not make n copies of the base file 16 . the only way the image repository 11 would have n copies of the base file is if each of the n ihss wrote to each block of the base file . however , this scenario is very unlikely to occur , because most of the ihss on the ip network 14 read much more frequently then the ihss write and because operating system code tends to be fairly static . each target server 15 is endowed with an iscsi boot solution . the solution can be an iscsi hba , or a combination of iscsi - aware nic , os and bios . the iscsi boot mechanism for each target server is assigned one of the unique iscsi target luns of the exposed virtual disk file . a nic ( network interface card ) may be hardware designed to allow ihss to communicate over a network . an os ( operating system ) is a software program that manages the hardware and software resources of a ihs . as a component of system software , the os performs basic tasks , such as controlling and allocating memory , prioritizing the processing of instructions , controlling input and output devices , facilitating networking , and managing files . bios ( basic input / output system or basic integrated operating system ) refers to the software code run by an ihs when first powered on . the primary function of bios is to prepare the ihs so that other software programs stored on various media ( such as hard drives , floppies , and cds ) can load , execute , and assume control in a process is known as booting up . the method of configuring the servers 15 with iscsi boot lun information can be done manually , or can be performed by a directory - ware boot firmware , which can query an ldap directory such as active directory to retrieve lun assignments placed there by the same management software that created the iscsi target luns . a ldap ( lightweight directory access protocol ) directory is a networking protocol for querying and modifying directory services running over tcp / ip . by way of example , active directory is a commercial implementation of ldap directory services . active directory allows administrators to assign enterprise - wide policies , deploy programs to many ihss , and apply critical updates to an entire organization . active directory may also store information and settings relating to an organization in a central , organized , accessible database . in an embodiment , the present disclosure combines two existing technologies — iscsi ( in particular iscsi boot ) and virtual disk files — to rapidly provision homogeneous servers . the present disclosure may allow for the ability to assign an iscsi target lun to a virtual disk file , ability for virtual disk files to be replicated logically ( without full copy ) using copy on write and the ability to boot a physical server using iscsi . the present disclosure may also allow for quickly creating multiple logical instances of a single virtual disk file without the need for complete replication of the disk file . “ copy on write ” is used such that , if multiple servers 15 have mounted a virtual disk file 16 , there is only one instance of each block in the file so long as it is never written by any server 15 . when a server 15 writes a block into the virtual disk file 12 , the block is replicated and associated with that server and updated with its changes . in this way , each server &# 39 ; s 15 perceived disk is a composite of the base virtual disk file and the differences captured by the block copies . the present disclosure further allows a virtual disk file to be associated with an iscsi target lun that is published to the network . this iscsi target may appear similar to any other iscsi target . however , the only difference is that the backing store is a virtual disk file , not a physical disk . the following description of one possible embodiment of the present disclosure , as illustrated in fig2 , is set forth , for the purpose of explanation and not limitation . during normal operation , a server 22 performs an iscsi boot 23 ( and 23 a ) and , using an iscsi lun 24 , may access a virtual disk file from the image repository 21 . the image repository 21 publishes unique target luns to an ip network 25 . occasionally , a server 22 may write a block to a virtual disk file ( see 26 and 26 a ). the image repository 21 processes this block by replicating the block associated with the server using copy on write 27 . then , the image repository 21 updates the virtual disk with the block 28 such that the server &# 39 ; s virtual disk is a composite of the base virtual disk file and the updated block . while various embodiments have been shown and described , various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustrations and not limitation .	7
the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention is applicable to numerous anti - tampering techniques , as may occur to those of ordinary skill when they learn of this disclosure . fig1 depicts a public fwtu . the fwtu includes a housing 101 secured to a stand 106 which has a base 110 secured to the ground by spikes 107 . the fwtu includes an antenna 108 for communication with a cellular network . a phone handset 103 is held within a cradle 104 when not in use , and keypad 102 is used for numeric input into the fwtu . the fwtu includes an internal motion detector 105 , which may be a mercury switch , a cantilever beam switch , or a similar device , located within the outer housing 101 to detect any disturbance with the location of the fwtu . in fig1 motion detector 105 is shown as a mercury switch having a bulb 112 containing liquid mercury 114 for connecting electrical contacts 116 and 118 upon any tilting of housing 101 , such as would be caused by removal of the housing from its stand 106 . fig2 depicts a schematic diagram of the operation of a fwtu with the motion detector of the invention . in normal operation , the cpu / central controller 203 controls operation of the internal workings of the fwtu and its electrically connected components , which include a keyboard and display 204 for the input and output of information to the cpu 203 , a voice coder and decoder 205 , a modulator and demodulator 206 , a handset 214 for generating voice signals , and a receiver and transmitter 207 in electrical connection 209 with antenna 202 for transmitting and receiving telephone communications . the keyboard and display 204 is preferably located on the exterior of the fwtu &# 39 ; s housing so that its keyboard component may serve the same functions as keypad 102 of fig1 . when tampering is detected by closure of the switch of motion detector 201 , a reset function signal is sent via connection 208 to cpu 203 to cause its microprocessor to reset its operating sequence to a stage requiring further input , thereby disabling the fwtu operation . motion detection 201 comprises a switch having an electrical connection 212 shown disconnected from a contact 213 . when connection 212 is connected with contact 213 , the reset signal is allowed to flow to cpu 203 . before cpu 203 resets its microprocessor , the reset signal may be compared with a predetermined noise threshold to determine that the fwtu has been moved . ac to dc power conversion and dc power can be supplied to motion detector 201 by a power conservation module 211 . as an alternative to a special power module , motion detector 201 can be attached to a main or back up battery power supply to effect disabling . in an alternative embodiment , the motion detection switch can be located so as to interrupt the normal power supply to the cpu , thereby causing it to be reset to the beginning of its boot sequence and to subsequently reach a stage requiring further input . as a further alternative , the status of the motion detector switch may be polled periodically by a detection program and the microprocessor reset by software commands when switch closure is detected . this alternative may provide motion detection that is more difficult to avoid by a person attempting to misuse the terminal by disconnecting the motion detector , because the detection program and polling circuitry could recognize such an unauthorized disconnection . in the event normal operation of the fwtu is interrupted by the reset function , the invention further includes in the preferred embodiment a restoration capability . in order to restore normal operation , authorized personnel may input an authorization code through the usual keypad 102 , or through the keyboard 204 for the cpu 203 . where the removal is authorized , such as for maintenance of the unit , an access code for overriding the reset function may be entered through the keypad 102 or the keyboard 204 . to provide this override capability , the fwtu is programmed to ignore the reset signal after entry of the access code so that a reset command is not generated by the cpu when the mercury switch is moved . to enhance security , reprogramming of the fwtu with an override command sequence can be required each time the power is interrupted to make infeasible improper usage of the access code . in case of an unauthorized removal , or if entry of an improper authorization or access code is attempted , the fwtu may be programmed to initiate a telephone call to a central facility in order to send an alarm signal indicating theft of the telephone or the attempt to gain unauthorized access . the fwtu may also continue to periodically send the alarm signal for use as a homing signal to help locate the wireless telephone in the event of its unauthorized removal . while this invention had been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art after they learn of the invention . accordingly , the preferred embodiments of the invention set forth herein are intended to be illustrative , not limiting . various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims set forth below .	7
the embodiments of the present disclosure and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non - limiting embodiments and examples that are described and / or illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description . it should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale , and features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments as the skilled artisan would recognize , even if not explicitly stated herein . descriptions of well - known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the invention . the examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the present disclosure may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the invention . accordingly , the examples and embodiments herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure , which is defined solely by the appended claims and applicable law . moreover , it is noted that like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings . according to one aspect of the disclosure , a dietary ingredient may be provided . the dietary ingredient may be , for example , a vitamin , mineral , herbal , protein , amino acid , or fatty acid . specific , non - limiting examples include whey protein , leucine , arginine , creatine , selenium , zinc , magnesium , chromium , niacin , folic acid , biotin , ginkgo biloba extract , green tea extract , grape seed extract , digestive enzymes , choline , inositol , lycopene , vitamin a , vitamin b 6 , vitamin b 12 , vitamin c , vitamin e , ribose , carnitine , coq10 , glucosamine , and chondroitin . it is also contemplated and within the scope of the invention that the dietary ingredient may be , for example , a combination of one or more of a vitamin , a mineral , an herbal , a protein , an amino acid , and / or a fatty acid . by way of example only , the dietary ingredient may be a mixture of leucine , whey protein , and digestive enzymes . additional , non - limiting examples include a mixture of creatine and grape seed extract and a mixture of arginine and grape seed extract . the dietary ingredient may be micronized . the micronization process generally produces particles that are , on average , only a few micrometers in diameter . for example , the particles of the dietary ingredient may have a maximum diameter of 10 μm ; the particles of the dietary ingredient may have an average diameter of 2 μm ; the particles of the dietary ingredient may have a maximum diameter of 2 μm , or any other particle size as required by the specific application of the principles of the present disclosure . it is contemplated and within the scope of the present disclosure that the average particle size may be less than 1 μm and may be as small as 100 nm or smaller , depending on the requirements of the specific application and the ability of available micronization technology to reduce particle size . micronization may be accomplished by any means known in the art , whether known at the time of invention or developed subsequent to the invention . it is contemplated that the dietary ingredient may be micronized by techniques that rely on friction to reduce particle size . for example , a milling process may be used to reduce particle size . in a milling process , the dietary ingredient is placed inside a cylinder along with a number of spheres . as the cylinder is turned , the spheres crush the dietary ingredient into particles of smaller size . the milling process may also use a jet mill . alternatively , a grinding process , which reduces particle size by trapping particles between two grinding units that are rubbing together , may be used to micronize the dietary ingredient . processes that use a supercritical fluid to micronize particles are also contemplated and within the scope of the present disclosure . these processes include rapid expansion of supercritical solutions ( ress ), supercritical anti - solvent ( sas ), and particles from gas - saturated solutions ( pgss ). finally , novel micronization processes that may be developed in the future are also contemplated and within the scope of the present disclosure . the dietary ingredient may also be combined with polyethylene glycol ( peg ) either in a simple physical dispersion or by a covalent link or conjugation to one or more molecules of polyethylene glycol ( peg ), a process known as pegylation . the molecular weight of peg used in the invention may range , for example , from roughly 140 daltons to approximately 20 , 000 daltons . monomethoxy - polyethylene glycol ( mpeg ), a triethylene glycol , is specifically contemplated for use with the invention . pegylation of the dietary ingredient may be effected by any means known to one skilled in the art , using molecular weights of peg and functional groups that are appropriate to the particular dietary ingredient of a specific embodiment . other pegylation equivalents are also contemplated by the present disclosure and are thus within its spirit and scope . the most preferred form of the peg component is peg 3350 , which contains peg with an average molecular weight between 3015 and 3685 . peg 3350 is available under the trade name carbowax ™ peg 3350 as a hard , opaque white solid . other preferred forms of peg are also opaque white solids . other preferred forms are peg 1450 , which has an average molecular weight of 1305 to 1595 ; peg 4000 , which has an average molecular weight from 3600 to 4400 ; peg 4600 , which has an average molecular weight from 4400 to 4800 ; peg 8000 , which has an average molecular weight from 7000 to 9000 ; and peg 6000 , which has an average molecular weight of 6000 to 7500 . for embodiments of the present disclosure that include creatine , the most preferred form of creatine is the creatine hydrochloride ( creatine . hcl ) salt and the most preferred form of peg is peg 3350 . embodiments that include creatine may include forms of creatine other than creatine hydrochloride . for embodiments that contain creatine , the most preferred form is a solid dispersion of creatine hydrochloride in peg 3350 . such embodiments may be coated with an enteric coating . additional preferred forms of creatine include any creatine salt that is more soluble in room - temperature aqueous solutions than creatine monohydrate ( creatine . h 2 o ). while the present disclosure has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments , those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure can be practiced with modifications in the spirit and scope of the appended claims . these examples given above are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible designs , embodiments , applications or modifications of the invention . whey protein , which is a byproduct of cheese manufacturing , and leucine were milled to produce micronized particles . this was then combined with digestive enzymes and peg 3350 in a physical dispersion . a serving of the dietary supplement included 20 g whey protein , 7 g leucine , 1 g peg 3350 , and 200 mg digestive enzymes . after 10 hours of fasting , test subjects ingested either the formulation above or a control formulation of 20 g non - micronized whey concentrate . blood samples were collected at regular intervals over the next 18 hours to measure serum amino acid concentrations . subjects who took the investigative formulation showed much higher serum amino acid concentrations than did the subjects who consumed the control supplement . in many cases , the peak amino acid concentrations were more than double those with the control , thereby demonstrating that the micronized and pegylated ingredient provides unexpected results in comparison to the current state of the art . fig1 shows this increase in concentration of the bioenhanced leucine compared to regular leucine . the experimental formulation also resulted in a much faster rate of accumulation of leucine and other amino acid concentrations , as shown in fig2 . the amino acid arginine was micronized , combined with a grape seed extract , and physically dispersed with peg 3350 . the final mixture was compressed into a tablet form and enteric coated . test subjects received either 3 g arginine combined with 300 mg peg and 300 mg grape seed extract ; 1 . 5 g arginine combined with 150 mg peg and 300 mg grape seed extract ; or placebo . endurance of the test subjects , as measured by physical working capacity at the fatigue threshold ( pwc ft ), ventilatory threshold ( vt ), and maximal oxygen consumption rate ( vo 2 max ), was recorded . subjects took the supplement for 28 days , and endurance was measured again . as shown in fig3 , subjects receiving the test formulation showed a dramatic improvement of 20 % in physical working capacity at fatigue threshold over subjects receiving placebo .	0
according to one embodiment of the invention , a project - based point system is implemented using a computer 100 , digital storage medium 102 , and display 104 , as shown in fig1 . digital storage medium 102 stores a database 106 together with instructions 108 , such as scripts , to generate user interfaces , perform database searching , report generation , and so on . the database 106 comprises several tables : an employee list , a billable project menu , a non - billable project menu ( a . k . a . reward project menu ), and a project list . the database may also include additional tables such as a client entity list , a client contact list , a list of cases , and other lists . the employee list contains a record for each employee . each record in this table contains several fields : a unique employee id , an employee name , a minimum number of points the employee is required to earn per month , and a monthly salary for the employee . employee list id name point min . salary rj robert jones 120 $ 3000 ma mike adams 120 $ 3000 tm tim miles 100 $ 2500 ks kim sawyer 140 $ 3500 js john smith 110 $ 2800 bs brian stone 110 $ 2900 kb kevin brown 100 $ 2200 bl bill long 130 $ 3200 gk gene keller 100 $ 2300 the employee id used in this example is a two - letter code representing the initials of the employee name . a numerical or other unique id could alternatively be used , but the initials are more easily associated with the employee name . the employee name is not necessary but is helpful in generating reports that are understood without knowledge of which id is associated with which employee . alternatively , the employee name itself could be used as the id . the minimum number of points field is not necessary but enables automatic comparison of computed point totals with the employee &# 39 ; s required minimum . the salary field is not necessary but is shown to emphasize that the employees earn a base monthly salary . the employee list may also contain other fields such as employee start date , employee contact information , employee job title , and other employee - related information . the client list contains a list of clients served by the firm . each record in the list contains two fields : a client id field and a client name field . client list client id client name lum luminary associates pen pendulum research ibm interbrain machines the client id field preferably contains a short acronym or abbreviation of the full client name . however , the client id may be any other type of unique identifier such as a number or other code . the client name field is not necessary but is included to facilitate the generation of reports and invoices . the client list may also contain other optional fields such as client contact information , client type , client status , and other client related information . the project menu is a list of projects routinely performed by professional employees of the firm . projects may be classified as billable ( i . e ., performed for a client and thus billable to the client ) or non - billable ( i . e ., performed for the general benefit of the firm , and not billable to a client ). in either case , a project is a package of tasks that results in the production of a well - defined deliverable . a deliverable , therefore , is a product delivered to the firm , or to a client of the firm , that is the result of the performance of a service by an employee of the firm . the billable project menu is a list of standard services that are routinely performed by employees for the firm &# 39 ; s clients . each record in this table corresponds to a predefined project and contains several fields : a project code , a project description , a fixed number of points , and a fixed fee . billable project menu code description points fee appl preparation and filing of non - provisional 25 $ 3000 patent application prov preparation and filing of provisional 15 $ 2500 patent application opin patentability opinion 6 $ 800 srch prior art search 2 $ 300 resp response to an office action 6 $ 800 the project code is preferably a short acronym or abbreviation that is easily associated with the longer project description . the code could , however , be a number or another unique code . the project description field is not necessary but is helpful when generating reports or invoices . the description could be used as the project code , but it is preferable to have separate fields for the project code and description in case the description needs to be modified . the project points represent a predetermined point - value associated with the project . the point value represents an equitable valuation of the project internally within the firm . it may represent a combination of skill level required to work on the project , level of expertise required for the project , average time required to complete the project , and other project - specific factors related to the valuation of the project internal to the firm . the project fee field is not necessary but is useful in embodiments wherein the system is also used to generate invoices to clients . the value of the fee field represents the value customarily charged to a client of the firm for performing the project for the client . the specific fee value may be determined by various factors such as the market valuation given to similar services provided by other firms , the internal costs to provide the service ( including both human resources , overhead costs , and project specific fees incurred ). note also that there may be two or more sets of fees , each representing a tier of clients . for example , the fee charged to academic clients ( or non - profit clients , not - for - profit clients , etc .) for performing a given project may be slightly less than the fee charged to corporate clients for the same project . a pro bono client would be charged no fee . these different fee structures would thus be represented as additional columns of the billable project menu . in addition , it will be appreciated that the flat fee is not necessarily proportional to the points , thereby allowing independent adjustment to account for differences between internal employee management factors and external client and market factors . in contrast , a billable hour system does not allow such flexibility since the number of hours worked internally is proportional to the fee charged externally . the non - billable project menu is a list of standard activities that are routinely performed by employees for the firm or for the professional development of an employee . these activities , in other words , are not performed for clients and thus are not billable to clients . each record in this table corresponds to a predefined project and contains several fields : a project code , a project description , and a fixed number of points . since these projects are not billable to clients , there is no field representing a fee . non - billable project menu code description points newcl market , negotiate , and engage with new client 20 assist assist coworker with a project 2 as with the billable project menu , in the non - billable project menu the project code is preferably a short acronym or abbreviation that is easily associated with the longer project description . the code could , however , be a number or another unique code . the project description field is not necessary but is helpful when generating reports . these projects do not appear on invoices . the project points represent a predetermined point - value associated with the project . the point value represents an equitable valuation of the project internally within the firm . it may represent a combination of skill level required to work on the project , level of expertise required for the project , average time required to complete the project , and other project - specific factors related to the valuation of the project internal to the firm . in particular , for these non - billable projects , the valuation may be related to the benefit brought to the firm by the employee who performs the project . for example , bringing in a repeat customer for a new project , bringing in a new client , participating in professional development , assisting or supervising another employee , or performing other business or professional development activities that benefit the firm or employee are all activities that are valuable to the firm without directly being billable to clients . the project list contains a list of actual projects performed ( or scheduled to be performed ) by employees of the firm for clients of the firm . each record of the list contains four fields : a project code field , an employee id field , a client id field , a case id field , and a project status field . firm project list project code employee id client id case id status appl rj lum lum - 123 active prov tm lum lum - 234 completed appl ma pen pen - 111 cancelled srch tm pen pen - 112 completed newcl ma active assist rj completed appl ma ibm ibm - 140 active opin tm lum lum - 101 completed the project code field contains a project code taken selected from the billable project menu or the non - billable project menu . the employee id contains an employee id selected from the employee list . the client id field contains a client id selected from the client list . the case id is an optional field which may be used to classify all the projects performed for a client according to a case or docket . the case id may be formed by concatenating the client id with a case number , as in the example shown , or by assigning a unique global case number . note that the non - billable projects shown do not have client id values since these cases are not performed for clients . in some embodiments where internal projects are classified , these projects may have case id values . the project status field is used to indicate the current status of the project . for example , it may be used to indicate whether the project is active ( i . e ., in progress ), completed , or cancelled prior to completion . the project list may optionally contain other fields as well , such as received date , completion date , deadline date , secondary employee , and project notes . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , a conventional user interface is provided as part of instructions 108 to allow the above lists to be edited and viewed . it will be appreciated , however , that computer 100 may be a database server and database client applications can be used to provide multiple authorized users on a computer network ( not shown ) to access and / or update the database 106 remotely . instructions 108 containing several programs or scripts may be associated with the database to allow users to perform searches of the database , sort records , and to view the search results in various formats . for example , a search of the project list can be performed to find all projects with an active status that are being performed by a specified employee . the resulting projects can then be sorted by one or more criteria and displayed to provide an active project list for each employee . fig2 illustrates another script which adds up the point values of all projects completed by a specified employee in a specified time period ( step 200 ), compares the total points for the completed projects with the required total points for the employee ( step 202 ), and displays a report containing the comparison ( step 204 ). the total points may be calculated , for example , by first performing a search of the project list to find those projects whose status is ‘ completed ’, whose employee id corresponds to the selected employee , and whose date of completion falls within the specified time period . the records found will then determine a set of project codes with corresponding fixed point values given by the menu of projects . these fixed point values can then be added up to yield the total points earned . the following table illustrates an example of a monthly report of completed projects and total points earned for a single employee . monthly report of total points earned - single employee : rj project date code points case id completed rev 2 lum - 107 / pct jul . 1 , 2005 resp 6 lum - 109 / us jul . 6 , 2005 sprov 3 pen - 111 / prov jul . 6 , 2005 if 1 pen - 102 / us jul . 7 , 2005 if 1 ibm - 104 / con jul . 7 , 2005 con 1 abc - 115 / us jul . 7 , 2005 sam 2 abc - 121 / cip jul . 7 , 2005 sprov 3 ibm - 140 / prov jul . 12 , 2005 appl 25 lum - 131 / us jul . 21 , 2005 total : 44 by repeating the above script for multiple months , a summary year - to - date report for the employee can be generated , which may include columns comparing the actual earned points to the required points . ytd report of total points earned - single employee : rj hand . month points sup . points total earned point min . difference jan 76 2 78 100 − 22 feb 97 1 98 100 − 2 mar 153 2 155 100 55 apr 21 1 22 100 − 78 may 150 1 151 100 51 jun 123 3 126 100 26 total : 620 10 630 600 30 the difference between the total earned points and the minimum required points can be calculated simply by subtracting the required point value for the employee from the calculated total . this script can be used by an employee or manager to evaluate an employee &# 39 ; s progress toward a required point minimum . as illustrated in the example above , the total points earned by the employee each month may differ significantly from the minimum required points per month . in particular , in april the employee took a vacation and earned only 22 points . however , the employee earned 55 extra points the previous month and 51 extra points the month following the vacation . in the six - month period shown , the employee averaged 105 points per month . this example illustrates how an employee can manage his or her own time , subject only to the requirement that the average number of points earned over several months remains above the required minimum . in addition , the script described above could be repeatedly executed by another script to compute the total points earned for each employee in the firm in a specified time period and comparing the computed total points earned with the employee &# 39 ; s required point minimum , generating the report shown below . monthly report of total points earned - firm summary employee total points point min . difference rj 133 120 + 13 tm 87 100 − 13 ma 121 120 + 1 bl 142 130 + 12 ks 149 140 + 9 js 109 110 − 1 gk 103 100 + 3 bs 83 110 − 17 kb 105 100 + 5 as illustrated by the report , most employees earned a total number of points greater than their required minimum . a few employees , however , earned fewer points than required . this automatically generated report thus provides a manager with a convenient overview of the performance of all the employees during the specified time period . this information can then be used by the manager to make appropriate management decisions . for example , a manager might decide to give a bonus to an employee who exceeds the required number of points , or to give an unfavorable employee evaluation to an employee who fails to meet the required number of points . in addition to the simplicity of this report , it should be emphasized that the use of this project - based point system for internal management takes into consideration not only the billable work performed by employees , but also the non - billable work performed . thus , employees have an incentive to not only perform work specifically for clients , but also perform activities of more general benefit to the firm . by appropriate selection and periodic adjustment of non - billable projects and their valuations , firms can customize the incentives to optimize the balance of billable and non - billable activities that employees are motivated to perform . in addition , an employee who earns a large number of points by performing activities of benefit to the firm may be rewarded with a promotion . employees are provided with the opportunity to self - manage their work within the context of the project - based point system . they may earn their required points by any combination of billable and non - billable projects , and may control their own work schedule to a large degree . in some cases , management may allow excess points to roll over into the next time period , so that employees may build up a reserve of extra points to be used in the future . the project - based point system also provides incentives to employees to work efficiently . as illustrated in fig4 , in the project - based point system , as an employee becomes more efficient ( i . e ., completes more projects in a given time ), the employee earns more points and is rewarded accordingly . in contrast , in the billable hour system , as an employee becomes more efficient ( i . e ., completes more projects in a given time ), they work the same number of hours and receive the same reward . they are thus not provided any incentive for their increased efficiency . fig5 illustrates how salary and minimum monthly point requirements for an employee may be adjusted to manage an employee in the project - based point system . in this example , an employee begins at dot a in the graph which represents a part - time trainee position requiring completion of 10 points per month . after completing training , the employee becomes more efficient and is required to complete 20 points per month , as shown at dot b in the graph . after several months , the employee transitions to 50 points per month ( dot c ) and the monthly salary increases to reflect this increased point requirement . after one year , the employee receives a favorable evaluation and receives a raise in salary , while remaining at the same point requirement ( dot d ). a few months later , the employee transitions to 100 points per month ( dot e ) with a corresponding increase in salary . at the end of the year , the employee again receives a favorable evaluation and receives a salary raise ( dot f ) while remaining at a 100 point requirement . as this example illustrates , the salary and point requirements can be independently adjusted to suit the changing circumstances as a given employee advances . in another embodiment , the system is supplemented by the ability to generate invoices to clients for completed projects . as illustrated in fig3 , a script can add fixed fees of projects completed for a client ( step 300 ) and then generate an invoice including a total of the fixed fees for the completed projects ( step 302 ), such as the invoice shown below . invoice for services completed project code description fee appl regular appl . $ 3000 ptofee filing fees paid to $ 500 patent office on behalf of client total : $ 3500 the total fees can be calculated by performing a search of the project list that selects a subset of projects whose type is ‘ billable ’, whose status is ‘ completed ’ and whose client id is the specified client . the selected subset of projects determines a set of project codes which have corresponding fixed fees . these corresponding fees are then added to calculate the total fees . repeated use of this script for various clients can generate a collection of invoices .	6
embodiments for implementing the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings . however , the following embodiments described below are exemplary , and may be varied as needed within the apparent scope for those skilled in the art . a wireless communication system according to the present invention includes a plurality of wireless communication devices . herein , each wireless communication device is generally configured to find other wireless communication device by performing spectrum sensing , thereby making wireless communication ( data exchange ). therefore , in order to make wireless communication , the wireless communication system requires three functions of a function of performing spectrum sensing , a function of analyzing sensing information as a result of the spectrum sensing , and a function of performing at least one of data sending and receiving . in order to achieve the three functions , an interface common between a plurality of wireless communication devices is needed . the sensing information will be first described , and then the interface will be described . according to the present invention , the sensing information is first classified into four message classes . the classification can be performed by use of an object oriented unified modeling language ( uml ) diagram , for example . that is , the sensing information is represented by the uml , diagram . with the classification , a plurality of service access points ( sap ) can be defined in a reference model described with reference to fig4 , and primitives usable for obtaining and setting the sensing information can be defined . the four message classes obtained by the classification includes a control message class , a sensor message class , a sensing message class , and a regulatory information class . they will be described below in detail . as shown in fig1 , the control message class is directed for describing a control message for exchanging the sensing information between the spectrum sensor and its client . the control message to be described is roughly classified into three classes . the three classes configuring the control message are transport , measurement and application . they will be described below in detail . the class contains a message for controlling sending the sensing information . each instance of the control message class can contain an instance of the transport class . the instance of the transport class may not be contained in the instance of the control message class . the class contains a message for controlling mac for sending the sensing information . the instance of the transport class may contain only one instance of the transport mac class . the class contains a message for controlling a send mode for exchanging the sensing information . the information type can be information on software or information on hardware , for example . the instance of the transport class may contain only one instance of the transport mode class . the class contains a message for controlling spectrum measurement . an instance of each control message class can contain a plurality of instances of the measurement class . the instances of the measurement class may not be contained in the instance of the control message class . the class contains a message for controlling objects to be measured . for example , the objects to be measured can be a frequency to start measuring a wireless frequency and a frequency to finish measuring the same . thereby , a range of a wireless frequency to be measured is defined . the instances of the measurement class can contain one or more instances of the measurement object class . the class contains a message for controlling a measurement operation . the measurement operation may determine a technique used for spectrum sensing , for example . an arbitrary instance of the measurement class may contain one or more instances of the measurement profile class . the class contains a message for controlling performance of the wireless frequency measurement . the performance can be a desired erroneous report probability as an output of the spectrum sensing , for example . an arbitrary instance of the measurement class may contain one or more instances of the measurement profile class . the class contains a message for controlling requesting the sensing information or supplying the sensing information . an instance of each control message class can contain a plurality of instances of the application class . the instances of the application classes may not be contained in the instance of the control message class . the class contains a message for setting a priority level for a client requesting the sensing information . each instance of the application class contains one or more instances of the sensing information request class . the class contains a message for setting a priority level for a sensor when the sensing information is to be sent to its client . each instance of the application class contains one or more instances of the sensing information send class . subsequently , the sensor message class will be described . the class describes therein a message associated with the sensor as shown in fig2 . its details will be described below . the class contains information on sensor phy . the information on sensor phy can be a phase noise , for example . each instance of the sensor message may contain only an instance of the sensor profile . the class contains information on a sensor location . the sensor location can be an absolute position or relative position . each instance of the sensor phy profile contains one or more instances of the sensing information request class . the class contains information on a sensor antenna . the sensor antenna can be antenna high , beam pattern or the like . each instance of the sensor phy profile contains one or more instances of the antenna profile class . the instances of the antenna profile class may not be contained in the instance of the antenna profile . the class contains information on sensor mac . the information on sensor mac can be an id of the mac , for example . each instance of the sensor message can contain only one instance of the sensor mac profile class . the instance of the sensor mac profile class may not be contained in the instance of the sensor message . the class contains general information on the sensor . each instance of the sensor message can contain only one instance of the sensor profile class . the instance of the sensor mac profile class may not be contained in the instance of the sensor message . the class contains information on a sensor manufacturer . the sensor manufacturer information can be a manufacturer id or a product id , for example . each instance of the sensor profile class contains one instance of the manufacturer information class . the class contains information on sensor output information . the sensor output information can be a power level of the power supply or the amount of consumed power , for example . each instance of the sensor profile class contains one instance of the output profile class . the class contains information on a sensor capability when the sensor measures a wireless spectrum . the information can be a measurement range or sensitivity . each instance of the sensor message can contain only one instance of the sensor profile class . the instance of the sensor mac profile may not be contained in the instance of the sensor message . subsequently , the sensing message class will be described . the class describes therein a message indicating a sensing result as shown in fig3 . it will be described below in detail . the class contains general information on a measurement made for producing the sensing information . the information can be a confidence level of the measurement , measurement characteristics , a threshold used in the measurement , and the like . the instance of the sensing message class may contain only an instance of the sensing information class . the class contains information on a location when a measurement is made . the information can be an absolute position or relative position . each instance of the sensing message class can contain one instance of the location information class . the instance of the location information class may not be contained in each instance of the sensor message class . the class contains information on a measured signal . each instance of the sensing message class contains one or more instances of the signal class . the class contains information on a measured signal . the information can be a signal level , an estimated amplitude , and the like . each instance of the signal class contains only one instance of the signal profile class . the class contains information describing a behavior of a measured signal ( such as duty cycle ). one instance of the signal class can contain one instance of the signal behavior class . the instance of the signal behavior class may not be contained in the instance of the signal class . the class contains information on a measured channel . each instance of the sensing message class can contain one or more instances of the channel class . the instances of the channel class may not be contained in the instance of the sensing message class . the class contains general information on a measured channel . the information can be a start frequency or an end frequency , for example . each instance of the channel class contains only one instance of the channel profile class . the class contains information on channel measurement results ( such as measured bandwidth or noise power ). each instance of the channel can contain one instance of the channel measurement class . the instance of the channel measurement class may not be contained in the instance of the channel class . the class contains information on a measured rat . each instance of the sensing message class can contain one or more instances of the rat class . the instances of the rat class may not be contained in the instance of the sensing message class . the class contains general information on a measured rat ( such as id of the rat ). each instance of the rat class contains only one instance of the rat profile class . the class contains information on rat measurement results ( such as measured bandwidth or noise power ). each instance of the rat class can contain one instance of the rat measurement class . the instance of the rat measurement class may not be contained in the instance of the rat class . subsequently , the regulatory information class will be described . the class contains a regulatory request as shown in fig4 . a plurality of regulatory requests depend on mutually different signals of primary users ( type - a primary user and type - b primary user ) at mutually different locations . they will be described below in detail . the class contains a request of regulating a signal of the type - a primary user . the request can be a detection threshold , detection bandwidth or the like . each instance of the regulatory information class can contain one instance of the type - a signal class . the instance of the type - a signal class may not be contained in the instance of the regulatory information class . the class contains a request of regulating a signal of the type - b primary user . the request can be a detection threshold or detection bandwidth . each instance of the regulatory information class can contain one instance of the type - b signal class . the instance of the type - b signal class may not be contained in the instance of the regulatory information class . as described above in detail , the sensing information is classified into four classes . a reference model is constructed based on the classification . the reference model is directed for exchanging the sensing information as described in patent application no . 2009 - 169347 . it will be described below in detail . fig4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a reference model of an interface mounted on a wireless communication device configuring the wireless communication system according to the present invention . the reference model shown in fig4 indicates a basic configuration of the interface mounted on the wireless communication device configuring the wireless communication system , and is effective in mounting the interface . that is , the sensing interface is directed for defining a data configuration suitable for exchanging information such as the sensing information , and the data configuration needs to be read between all the constituents in the cognitive wireless communication system . the interface preferably conforms to the standard ( such as ieee 1900 . 6 ), but any interface according to the reference model described herein may be employed . the reference model ( sensing interface service ) is partially or entirely applied as an interface of each constituent ( spectrum sensor , cognitive engine ( ce ), and data archive ( da )) in the wireless communication system . further , the function necessary for providing the sensing interface service or its interface can access any hierarchy in an open system interconnection model ( osi model ) in iso / iec7948 - 1 : 1994 . as shown in fig4 , the sensing interface service contains three service access points ( sap ). sap means a concept of a logical address in the osi model , and generally corresponds to an interface between hierarchies . the three saps of the reference model according to the present embodiment are specifically communication sap ( c - sap ), application sap ( a - sap ) and measurement sap ( m - sap ). the reference model according to the present embodiment is characterized in that every sap can relate to three or more hierarchies ( such as network layer , data link layer and physical layer ) depending on a scenario . the three saps are used so that the sensing information can be exchanged between one or more spectrum sensors and its client in the wireless communication system . the three saps will be described below in detail . each sap configures a logical interface , and is discriminable from other saps . in each sap , the above classification is used to describe ( define ) primitives . the primitives are used for obtaining or setting the sensing information . the communication sap provides a communication service used for exchanging information such as the sensing information between the spectrum sensor and its client . in this way , the communication sap can relate to the hierarchies ( network layer , data link layer , and physical layer ). the client role can be taken by the spectrum sensor , the cognitive engine ( ce ) and the data archive ( da ). for example , when the spectrum sensor is of a standalone type to independently operate from the wireless communication device , communication between the spectrum sensor and the cognitive engine ( ce ) relates to two hierarchies of the sap between the phy and the mac and the sap between the mac and the network . the communication sap schematically corresponds to a communication mechanism ( subsystem ) in a constituent of the cognitive wireless communication system . the communication sap does not necessarily need to relate to two or more hierarchies . for example , when the spectrum sensor is incorporated in the cognitive wireless communication device , communication between the spectrum sensor and the cognitive engine ( ce ) is made by use of a data bus in the wireless communication device , and thus does not need to relate to a plurality of hierarchies in the osi model . the communication sap is used for exchanging the sensing information between the sensor and its client . the sensing information may contain a sensing message , a sensor message , a control message , and regulatory information with the above classification . the client role is to provide a set of generic primitives , to map ( develop ) the primitives on a transport protocol , and thereby to remove a communication mechanism from a cognitive wireless communication entity . each primitive is described in a table form . the cognitive wireless communication entity can obtain two services from the communication sap . the two services are a sensing information send service and a sensing information receive service . they will be described below in detail . the primitive is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to send the sensing information to other cognitive wireless communication entity . specifically , the primitive is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to send the sensing information via its communication sap to other cognitive wireless communication entity including a communication sap . more specifically , when the cognitive wireless communication entity requests the service , the cognitive wireless communication entity having received the request responds to the cognitive wireless communication entity having issued the request . the response contains a source id , a destination of the sensing information , and information on the sensing information . the sensing information receive service is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to receive the sensing information from other cognitive wireless communication entity including a communication sap . specifically , the primitive corresponding to the sensing information receive service is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to receive the sensing information via its communication sap from other cognitive wireless communication entity including a communication sap . more specifically , when the cognitive wireless communication entity requests the service , the cognitive wireless communication entity having received the request responds to the cognitive wireless communication entity having issued the request . the response contains a source id , a destination of the sensing information , and information on the sensing information . the application sap provides an application service such as the sensing information to the constituent conforming to ieee1900 . 6 , for example . for example , the application sap is used for the application in ieee1900 . 6 . such an application uses the sensing information for its purpose ( such as examination of policy or analysis of spectrum usage situation ). the application sap is used by a control / application to exchange information with the sensing interface service of the cognitive wireless communication entity . the application sap contains a set of generic primitives , and the primitives are used so that the cognitive wireless communication entity can control spectrum sensing or obtain the sensing information obtained by the spectrum sensing . each primitive is described in a table form . the cognitive wireless communication entity can obtain three services from the application sap . the three services are a sensor discovery service , a sensing information access service , and a management / configuration service . the sensor discovery service provides a general framework through which the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity can discover an available spectrum measurement module . further , the service provides a general framework through which the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity can discover an available communication subsystem . thereby , there is provided a mechanism for sending the sensing information to other cognitive wireless communication entity including a communication subsystem . specifically , with the service , an id of the spectrum measurement module or an id of the communication subsystem is discovered . herein , the primitives of the sensor discovery service are part of the application sap . each primitive is described in a table form . the primitive of the spectrum measurement module id is used by the control / application of the cognitive wireless communication entity to obtain a list of spectrum measurement module ids . the primitive of the communication subsystem id is used by the control / application of the cognitive wireless communication entity to obtain a list of communication subsystem ids . the sensing information access service provides a general framework through which the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity can access the sensing information via a logical interface defined in the standard ( ieee1900 . 6 ). with the service , the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity can read the sensing information or write the sensing information . herein , the primitives of the sensing information access service are part of the application sap . each primitive is described in a table form . the primitive of the sensing information read is used by the control / application of the cognitive wireless communication entity to read the sensing information . specifically , when requesting to read the sensing information according to the list , the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity can obtain a response reflecting the result according to the request . the primitive of the sensing information write is used by the control / application of the cognitive wireless communication entity to write the sensing information . specifically , when requesting to write the sensing information according to the list , the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity can obtain a response reflecting the result according to the request . the parameters for request and response are a sensing information list and a client priority list . the sensing information list is a list of sensing information which the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity requests to write , or a list of requested sensing information . the management / configuration service provides a general framework through which the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity manages the cognitive wireless communication entity or configures communication between the cognitive wireless communication entities . that is , with the service , the control / application belonging to the cognitive wireless communication entity can manage the sensor or configure communication . herein , the primitives of the management / configuration service are part of the application sap . each primitive is described in a table form . a primitive of lock is used by the control / application , and is directed for locking resources such as the spectrum measurement modules or the communication subsystem . the lock can prevent the resources from being accessed by other control / application . on the other hand , when a primitive of unlock or a primitive of breaklock is used , other control / application can access the resources . lock , unlock , and breaklock of the resources are performed by the control / application as needs , and the results are notified to each resource . thus , during lock , unlock and breaklock of the resources , the id of the spectrum measurement module or the id of the communication subsystem is used as a parameter . a primitive of trigger is used by the control / application of the cognitive wireless communication entity to trigger a specific operation ( event ). event id , trigger time , and timeout are used as the parameters for requesting trigger . the event id is specific to a particularly triggered event . the trigger time is a start time of the trigger operation , for example . the timeout is a maximum time to wait for a timeout error . when the primitive of trigger is used , the trigger result ( event id and its event status ) is notified as a response to the control / application . a primitive of communication configuration ( primitive of communication management ) is used by the control / application of the cognitive wireless communication entity to manage communication available on the cognitive wireless communication entity . specifically , the primitive of communication configuration is used by the control / application of the cognitive wireless communication entity to obtain a communication type ( network type ) of the cognitive wireless communication entity . the measurement sap provides a reconfiguration service or measurement service in order to manage the spectrum measurement function of the spectrum sensor . that is , the measurement sap can also relate to a plurality of hierarchies depending on a scenario . the spectrum measurement function includes analog / digital conversion ( adc ), digital / analog conversion ( dac ), filtering , and signal status , for example . the measurement sap provides a set of generic primitives through which the cognitive wireless communication entity controls spectrum sensing , or performs spectrum sensing thereby to obtain the sensing information . each primitive is described in a table form . the cognitive wireless communication entity can obtain four services from the measurement sap . the four services are a measurement capability discovery service , a measurement configuration discovery service , a measurement configuration set service , and an information service . the measurement capability discovery service is directed for providing a general framework through which the cognitive wireless communication entity can obtain information on a measurement capability of the entity . a primitive of the measurement capability discovery service is part of the measurement sap , and is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to obtain information on a capability of the spectrum measurement module ( spectrum sensor ). specifically , when the cognitive wireless communication entity requests the service , the spectrum measurement module responds to the cognitive wireless communication entity in response to the request . the response contains information on measurement capability id , measurement range and resolution . the measurement configuration discovery service provides a general framework through which the cognitive wireless communication entity can obtain information on a measurement configuration of the spectrum measurement module . specifically , when the cognitive wireless communication entity requests the service , the spectrum measurement module responds to the cognitive wireless communication entity in response to the request . the response contains a sensor phy profile , a sensor antenna profile , and a sensor location profile . herein , the primitives of the profiles are part of the measurement sap . the primitive of the sensor phy profile is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to obtain information on a physical configuration of the spectrum measurement module ( such as information specific to the phy profile of the spectrum measurement module ). the primitive of the sensor antenna program is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to obtain information on an antenna configuration of the spectrum measurement module ( such as information specific to the antenna profile of the spectrum measurement module ). the primitive of the sensor location profile is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to obtain information on a location of the spectrum measurement module . the measurement configuration discovery set service provides a general framework through which the cognitive wireless communication entity can set a configuration of the spectrum measurement module . specifically , when the cognitive wireless communication entity requests the service , the configuration ( measurement object , measurement profile , and measurement performance ) according to the request is set as the parameters in the spectrum measurement module . the spectrum measurement module returns the result of the set of parameters as a response to the cognitive wireless communication entity . herein , the primitives of the profiles are part of the measurement sap . the primitive of the measurement object is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to set a measurement object of the spectrum measurement module ( for example , to set information specific to a measurement object of the spectrum measurement module ). the primitive of the measurement profile is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to set a measurement profile of the spectrum measurement module . the primitive of the sensor location profile is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to set a target value of the performance of the spectrum measurement module . the information service provides a general framework through which the cognitive wireless communication entity can collect information on a measurement configuration of the spectrum measurement module . specifically , when the cognitive wireless communication entity requests the service , the spectrum measurement module responds to the cognitive wireless communication entity in response to the request . the response contains a sensor profile , a measurement profile , a signal measurement , a channel measurement , and a rat measurement . the primitives of the profiles are part of the measurement sap . the primitive of the sensor profile contains two primitives . one is a primitive of a sensor manufacturer profile , and the other is a primitive of a sensor power profile . the two primitives ( the primitive of the sensor profile ) are used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to collect information on a manufacturer of the spectrum measurement module or information on a consumed power of the spectrum measurement module , respectively . the primitives of the measurement profile contain two primitives . one is a primitive of the measurement profile , and the other is a primitive of the measurement location information . the two primitives ( the primitive of the measurement profile ) are used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to collect information on the spectrum measurement made by the spectrum measurement module and information on the position where the spectrum measurement module makes a spectrum measurement , respectively . the information on the spectrum measurement can be an id of the sensor measurement profile , a priority level , a confidence , and the like . the primitive of the signal measurement profile is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to collect information on a measurement value of the measured signal . herein , the information on a measurement value can be an id of the signal measurement , a signal level , an estimated amplitude , an estimated phase , an estimated frequency , an estimated bandwidth , a modulation type , a duty cycle , a traffic pattern , and the like . the primitive of the channel measurement profile is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to collect information on a measurement value of the measured channel . the primitive of the rap measurement profile is used by the cognitive wireless communication entity to collect information on a measurement value of the measured rat . as described above in detail , the three saps for the sensing interface service are defined by the primitives using the above classification . according to the present invention , the primitives are used in each sap as described above thereby to construct the reference model ( common interface ) as shown in fig4 . one wireless communication device does not need to include all the three saps , unlike the reference model shown in fig4 . for example , a wireless communication system including a plurality of wireless communication devices can be configured as shown in fig5 in order to exchange information between the spectrum sensor and its client . in the example shown in fig5 , the control device mounting the cognitive engine ( ce ) thereon is provided with the application sap and the first communication sap , and the spectrum sensor is provided with the measurement sap and the second communication sap , thereby configuring the wireless communication system . in the wireless communication system , the spectrum sensor first uses the measurement sap ( spectrum measurement part ) to perform spectrum sensing , thereby receiving a signal from the wireless communication device . subsequently , the spectrum sensor sends information on the received signal as the sensing information via the second communication sap . on the other hand , the control device receives the sensing information from the spectrum sensor via the first communication sap . subsequently , the control device uses the application sap ( control / application ) to accumulate the sensing information received from the spectrum sensor . thus , the information from the spectrum sensor is collected in the control device . a plurality of spectrum sensors may be employed . in this case , many items of sensing information are collected and integrated in the control device . the control device can use the application sap ( control / application ) to analyze the sensing information received from the spectrum sensor and to perform a control operation according to the analysis result . according to the present invention , the sensing information is classified into the four classes including the control message class , the sensor message class , the sensing message class and the regulatory information class , and thus the control device can rapidly analyze the sensing information . subsequently , a particularly preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described . the above wireless communication system according to the preferred embodiment is applied to the aviation industry . specifically , the wireless communication system is installed in an airport as shown in fig6 . in the example shown in fig6 , the wireless communication system is configured of the control device and a plurality of spectrum sensors . fig7 shows that the wireless communication system shown in fig6 is represented according to the reference model shown in fig4 . the control device is directed for receiving or processing the sensing information , or for controlling the wireless communication system or making necessary determinations . in the example shown in fig6 , the control device is provided near a boarding gate in an airport concourse . at the boarding gate , passengers pass with baggage ( such as hand baggage ( fig6 ) or checked - in baggage ). in the present embodiment , the control device mounts an alerter thereon . the alerter is directed for giving an alert , and operates under control of the control device ( specifically , an alert signal ). the spectrum sensor includes only the measurement sap and the communication sap , and thus is compact and portable . in the present embodiment , the spectrum sensor is embedded in a badge or tag on clothes of airport staff , and is movable . the spectrum sensor may be directly mounted on clothes of airport staff . the airport staff may include security guards , ushers , cabin attendants and the like . the spectrum sensor may be installed as a baggage sensor in an airport concourse . in the wireless communication system , the sensing information from a plurality of spectrum sensors is collected in the control device . that is , the control device functions as an integrate device for integrating the sensing information . subsequently , the control device specifies a signal which can interfere with the radio waves in the airband ( 108 mhz to 137 mhz ) used in the aviation industry based on the sensing information received from the spectrum sensors ( such as the estimated frequency information contained in the sensing message class ). that is , the control device also functions as an airband interference detector . an electronic device for sending a signal which can interfere with the radio waves in the airband can be a passenger &# 39 ; s mobile phone , a personal computer , and a game player , which are forgotten to turn off the power supply . when specifying such a signal , the control device generates and sends an alert signal to the alerter . the alerter gives an alert according the alert signal . the control device notifies the information on a kind or frequency of a radio wave to be detected to the spectrum sensor . when an alerter gives an alert , airport staff finds a wireless communication device ( such as mobile phone , personal computer , or game player ) from the belongings such as passenger &# 39 ; s baggage , and instructs the passenger to turn off the power supply of the wireless communication device . thereby , the transmitter in the wireless communication device in an active state can be prevented from passing through a boarding gate , thereby securing safety in the aviation industry . according to the above preferred embodiment , a plurality of spectrum sensors distributed in a concourse are used ( because of distributive sensing ), a plurality of items of sensing information can be efficiently collected ( integrated ) in the control device . each item of sensing information is classified , and thus the control device can efficiently process the plurality of items of sensing information and extract necessary information . in particular , in the present embodiment , the control device specifies information on the wireless communication device including the transmitter for sending an airband signal and uses the alerter to give an alert , and thus the wireless communication device can be prevented from passing through a boarding gate . according to the above preferred embodiment , more preferably , the control device tracks the movement ( relative location or direction ) of the wireless communication device which can cause an airband interference on the basis of the sensing information . thereby , the wireless communication device can be accurately prevented from passing through a boarding gate . according to the above preferred embodiment ( fig6 ), the control device mounts the alerter thereon . however , the alerter may be physically away from the control device . the control device is installed near a boarding gate in the above preferred embodiment ( fig6 ), but may be installed not near a boarding gate . further , in the wireless communication system shown in fig6 , the control device may be installed near a belt conveyer for carrying only passengers baggage . a general wireless communication system aims to make wireless communication ( data communication ). on the other hand , the wireless communication system according to the present embodiment is only directed for finding an electronic device which can cause an airband interference . in other words , the present invention has a technical purpose in that the wireless communication system for data communication is specialized to airband interference detection . in the above preferred embodiment , the alerter is used to give an alert when an airband interference is possible , but alerting is not limited thereto . for example , the control device may notify a possible airband interference to each spectrum sensor via the communication sap . thereby , the wireless communication device which can cause an airband interference is more likely to be rapidly found . in the above embodiment , the wireless communication system is configured such that the sensing information is sent from each of the spectrum sensors to the control device . however , the configuration of the wireless communication system is not limited thereto . for example , the wireless communication system may he configured such that with a plurality of spectrum sensors as one platform , the sensing information from other spectrum sensors are integrated in the platform and then sent to the control device . the above embodiment may employ one spectrum sensor .	7
turning now to fig1 there is shown a consumable liquid dispensing station 20 in accordance with the invention . the station 20 includes a cabinet 22 having a door 23 and an upper surface 24 formed by a counter 26 . a fountainhead 28 is secured to the upper surface 24 . wheels , casters or sliders 29 at the bottom of the cabinet 22 afford easy movement of the station 20 . the fountainhead 28 has a base 31 resting on the counter surface 24 . a drip tray 33 is shown supporting a cup 34 . a hollow stem 35 extends upwardly from the base 31 supporting a dispensing head 36 . a series of five manually activated push buttons 38 are the activators of manually operable pinch valves that normally pinch closed five flexible consumable liquid supply tubes as described in greater detail below . a user pushes one or more of the push buttons 38 to choose the consumable liquid of choice . the available products are identified at the five displays 39 aligned with the push buttons 38 . additional information can be displayed at a display area 41 . this can be a passive or active electronic display . at 42 can be found a temperature readout of temperature in the fountainhead as determined by a suitably chosen , commercially available temperature sensor located there . at 43 low product and out of product indications are provided by leds . supported on the fountainhead 28 in a fashion described in greater detail below is a placard 45 that may contain advertising or additional product information . the fountainhead 28 is particularly well suited for supplying coffee or tea additives such as cream , half and half , non - dairy creamer , flavorings , etc ., but can be as well , a dispenser of fruit juices , water or other beverages . in the embodiment of fig1 the station 20 is readily moved to a location such as a hotel or resort conference room to serve at conference breaks , for example . unlike prior dairy and non - dairy coffee additive dispensers , the fountainhead 28 leaves open a substantial amount of countertop that can be put to further good use . in the conference setting , this may support the familiar carafes of coffee and tea . the cabinet 22 of fig1 houses a refrigeration unit 50 . that unit &# 39 ; s shell appears in fig2 . the shell is an insulated box - like structure with insulated walls 51 and 52 , an insulated floor 53 and an insulated top wall 55 . it is sized to fit closely within the cabinet 22 of fig1 . an insulated door 56 swings open as shown in fig2 to allow access to the interior of the refrigeration unit . a magnetic latch ( not shown ) like that used on home refrigerators ordinarily holds the door 56 closed . at 58 a generally square opening through the top 55 of the shell communicates between the interior and exterior of the unit . into this opening a lower stem of the fountainhead 28 will extend . such a stem 47 can be seen in fig9 and 14 , for example . to accommodate the stem an opening similar in size to the opening 58 is formed in the counter 26 of fig1 in alignment with the opening 58 . turning to fig3 the refrigeration unit 50 is again seen , but in perspective view from the rear 59 and side 52 of the unit . in a subassembly 62 a pair of pumps 64 and 65 are housed . one of these pumps , 64 , supplies compressed air and the other , 65 , pumps refrigerant . the refrigeration unit &# 39 ; s evaporator 57 is located in a recess 69 in the back 59 of the unit 50 . the recess 69 ultimately is closed by a panel 71 , a fragment of which is shown in fig3 . because the opening 58 in the top of the refrigeration unit 50 is generally square in cross section , as is the stem 47 that extends into it , the fountainhead 28 can face in any of four directions , as the particular installation site may dictate . in fig4 the refrigeration unit 50 is shown with its door removed . looking into the interior , one sees a pair of fans 74 and 75 . these draw air over the evaporator 67 . they are installed inward of the evaporator in a partition 76 . in fig5 the subassembly 62 appears in perspective looking up from its bottom 78 . a fan 79 draws air into the subassembly housing through an opening 81 in the bottom 78 and expels that air at the opening 82 where the fan 79 is secured . a filter 84 is inserted through an opening 85 in the front face 86 of the subassembly 62 to filter air introduced into the subassembly and prevent dust build - up on a condenser , 88 in fig7 , that is housed in the subassembly 62 . also in fig7 , on top of the condenser 88 , where evaporation is aided by greater warmth , a catch basin 89 receives condensation via a tube 90 from a drip tray 83 below the evaporator 67 . a further temperature display 87 is on the face of the subassembly 62 . controls for the refrigeration unit 50 may be located on the face of the subassembly 62 . the temperature is that within the refrigeration until 50 as measured as known in the art by a suitably chosen commercially available temperature sensor . in fig6 the interior of the refrigeration unit 50 is illustrated with five drawers 91 - 95 in place . each drawer is equipped with a lid 101 - 105 . each lid is affixed to the underside of a shelf 107 , 108 or 109 . brackets 111 or other supporting means secure the shelves in place . each drawer 91 - 95 has a pair of u - shaped channels 112 formed along the sides thereon . each lid 101 - 105 has a pair of laterally outwardly projecting flanges 113 received in each of the channels 112 and supporting the associated drawer . thus supported , the drawers 91 - 95 are able to slide forward toward the open front of the refrigeration unit 50 . as is evident in fig6 , the drawer 91 is larger than the remaining drawers 92 - 95 . this drawer 91 , then , is used to contain a larger collapsible bag and to supply the product most often chosen by users of the dispenser 20 . of course , other configurations with varying drawer sizes and fewer or more drawers for the dispensing of fewer or more products may be readily accomplished . five flexible liquid supply tubes 115 - 119 extend from the drawers 91 - 95 upward to the fountainhead through the opening 58 . at their lower ends , the tubes 115 - 119 connect with hollow outlet connections 121 of a series of fitments 122 . these fitments 122 , better seen in fig6 a and 6b , fit onto five outlet connections 124 , each secured to a consumable liquid supply bag 125 ( fig7 a ) in each of the drawers 91 - 95 . as shown in fig6 a and 6b , each fitment 122 has a series of spaced prongs 127 . the connection 124 , which opens into each interior consumable liquid bag extends downward and into the interior 128 of the fitment 122 as indicated in dashed lines in fig6 b . the two pieces snap securely together . the fitment defines the liquid flow path from the interior of the collapsible container that is the bag 125 to the attached liquid supply tube . as shown at 131 - 136 in the cross - sectional view of fig7 , for liquid flow , bottoms of the drawers 91 - 95 slope towards the opening through the connection 124 and fitment 122 . in addition to each liquid containing flexible bag 125 , each drawer contains an expansible bladder 143 like that shown in fig7 a . this bladder is supplied air under pressure from the pump 64 via compressed air lines 146 - 151 through couplings 153 . the expansible bladders 143 are confined in force exerting relation to the flexible , collapsible liquid containing bags 125 . as shown in the broken away portion of bag 125 in fig7 a , the upstanding prongs 127 of the fitment 122 project into the bag somewhat higher than the bag bottom at the opening from the bag . these prongs prevent collapse of the bag under the influence of the expansible bladder 143 into liquid flow - blocking relation to the opening as the liquid is exhausted . the upstanding prongs define between them spaces through which the liquid can flow until the collapsed bag 125 is substantially completely empty . shown in fig8 c a pair of hall switches 165 and 166 are mounted by a bracket 168 to detect the proximity of a magnet 169 . the magnet 169 is secured , by for example gluing , to the bottom of the bladder 143 . this arrangement serves as a sensor to detect and indicate a low liquid level and an out - of - liquid condition . fig8 a and 8b illustrate the inflatable bladder 143 collapsed when the bag 125 is completely full . fig8 c shows the bag 125 partially empty and the bladder 143 partially inflated . shown in full lines in fig8 c , the bag 156 is not yet at the low liquid level , but shown in broken lines at 143 ′ is the location of the bottom surface of the bladder 143 when it has brought the magnet 169 into proximity with the low liquid level hall switch 165 . this causes a change of state in the hall switch used to indicate low liquid level . finally , in fig8 d , the “ out - of - liquid ” condition is sensed by the hall switch 166 when the bag 125 is substantially empty and the bladder 143 is completely inflated . by a simple electrical circuit known in the art , the switches 165 and 166 are electrically connected to and turn on “ low - level ” and “ out - of - liquid ” led indicators ( not shown ). these are located on the fountainhead where they will be visible to an attendant . in fig9 - 13 , the fountainhead 28 is shown in further detail . in the right side view of fig9 it can be seen that the fountainhead 28 is constructed of three molded pieces . these are the front 171 , the top 172 and the back 173 . in the top view of fig1 a slot 175 in the top 172 receives a downward extending tab 176 of the placard 45 , to support the placard . the three molded elements 171 , 172 and 173 that make up the fountainhead are shown in fig1 , 12 and 13 , respectively . these are molded of an insulating material , such as a plastic foam sandwiched between inner and outer plastic “ skin ” layers . there the internal construction of the fountainhead can be seen . the front 171 and back 173 come together to form two channels 176 and 177 separated by a molded baffle 178 , 178 ′. the channels 176 , 177 lead upward from the stem 147 and are in communication with the refrigeration unit below . at their interface , the front 171 carries seals 179 , 181 and 183 in long slots extending along the sides of the channels 176 and 177 . these seals are received in conforming slots 185 , 187 and 189 formed in the back 173 along the channels 176 and 177 where the back and front interface . carried in the bottom of the channel 176 a fan 190 delivers refrigerated air into the channel 176 . the refrigerated air travels up the channel 176 , circulates about the interior of the fountainhead at its top and is withdrawn back into the refrigeration unit along the channel 177 . it is through the channel 177 that the flexible tubes 115 - 119 pass on their way to the dispensing location at the underside of the front 171 of the fountainhead 28 . the top 172 of the head 28 as seen in fig1 has a short section 192 of the baffle that separates the channels 176 and 177 . a short slot 193 receives an upper end of the seal 181 of fig1 . held in place by a bracket 195 , as seen in fig1 , five pinch valves 197 receive the ends of the tubes 115 - 119 . from fig1 , 12 and 13 , it will be seen that the liquid supply tubes 115 - 119 are cooled along their length as they proceed through the refrigeration unit and into the fountainhead . this cooling is particularly important for dairy product that must be maintained below a government prescribed temperature . in an alternate embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig1 , solenoid driven pinch valves , known in the art and commercially available , are used . the fountainhead 200 of this embodiment has electrically operative touch pads 201 or other electrical switch activation means to activate a solenoid and cause the release of a pinch valve normally biased closed as is known in the art . in other respects , the head 200 is similar to the head 28 previously described . cooling air flow is the same as described with respect to the head of fig1 , 12 and 13 . a temperature readout like that of fig1 indicates temperature within the dispensing head and low liquid and out of liquid leds can be provided . fig1 illustrates an alternative to the previously described pinch valves controlling the flow of liquid from the fountainhead 28 . the valve 210 of fig1 connects to the output end of a flexible liquid supply tube 115 for example . a housing 211 receives a slide 212 . the slide is urged by spring 214 to the rest or home position at which it is shown in fig1 . the slide fits in liquid - tight relation to the housing . however at a location along its perimeter an air escape passage 215 is provided such as a channel or flat or other configuration forming a space between the valve slide and its housing communicating between the interior of the housing 211 and atmosphere . in the home position of the slide as shown the slide 212 and the housing 211 form a chamber 217 . the chamber communicates with the tube 115 through an opening in the chamber at 218 . liquid product from the refrigeration unit enters the chamber 217 , filling it . air displaced by the liquid as it fills the chamber 217 escapes along the passage 215 allowing the chamber 217 to be filled with liquid . to measure out a consistent portion of the liquid , the slide 212 is pushed to the left in fig1 , either manually or by activation of a solenoid or the like . an opening 219 in the slide moves into alignment with an output opening or spout 220 opening into the housing 211 . at that point liquid in the chamber 217 is forced out of the chamber 217 into a hollow interior 221 or other path or passage through the slide 212 and out of the valve through the opening 219 and the spout 220 . the exterior of the slide 212 closes off the opening 218 as it is pushed to the left and a measured dose of the liquid is dispensed . upon release of the slide 212 it returns to its home position under the urging of the spring 214 . initially , air moves into the chamber 217 allowing the slide to move towards its home position and until the opening 218 is again opened into the chamber 217 . at that time , chamber 217 again fills as air is expelled . returning to fig6 a pair of safety shut off safety interlock switches 225 and 226 are supported on the shell of the refrigeration unit 50 to be activated by the door of the unit when the door is closed . any suitable commercially available switch can serve . limit switches and proximity sensors are just two alternatives that may be used . how those switches operate is better described in connection with the circuit of fig1 . there the switches 225 and 226 are seen to be connected in series and are hence redundant for a greater measure of safety . opening one or both switches , by opening the door of the unit 50 , interrupts a circuit from a dc power supply 228 to four electrically operated valves 230 , 231 , 232 and 233 . ordinarily , with the door of the refrigeration unit 50 closed , air pump 64 is operative to apply air pressure elevated to something less than 8 psi to an output line 235 and through a check valve 236 . air is supplied to the vacuum side of the pump 64 via a filter 253 , valve 233 and a line 254 . an air pressure meter 237 monitors the pressure in the line 235 . from the line 235 the increased air pressure branches to lines 238 and 239 . air pressure line 238 serves as an input to the first valve 230 , a valve that maintains the connection between a pair of air lines 241 and 242 normally open . in its normally open state the valve 230 applies the air pressure of the line 238 to the line 242 . a further pressure meter 244 monitors that pressure . the second valve 231 maintains the connection between the line 242 and a further line 245 normally closed . the line 245 applies the increased air pressure output of the pump 64 to a manifold 246 which distributes the air at the raised pressure to the bladders 143 via lines 248 and 249 and the lines 147 - 151 previously discussed . a pressure switch 256 monitors the pressure in the line 242 via a line 257 to interrupt the circuit from mains power at 259 to the pump 64 when that pressure falls . initially , at startup , pressure is built in the line 242 by the pump by means of a timed breaker 261 that , upon application of the output of the dc power supply shorts out the pressure switch 256 for a period sufficient to pressurize the system . when one or both safety switches 225 and 226 open , the valve 230 connects the air lines 241 and 242 thus connecting line 242 to the intake of the pump 64 and dropping the pressure in the line 242 . the valve 231 at the same time vents the line 245 to atmosphere through the valve outlet 265 marked “ exh .” through the manifold 246 the bladders 143 are thus vented to atmosphere , deflating the bladders and making it safe to open the drawers containing the bladders and the flexible bags containing the liquid product . the output of the pump 64 , also , is vented to atmosphere by the closing of the normally closed valve 232 . the air intake and filter 253 are disconnected from the vacuum side of the pump 64 by the opening of the normally open valve 233 . the loss of air pressure in the line 242 is communicated to the pressure switch 256 which interrupts the mains power to the pump 64 . as shown in fig1 , a manually operable pinch valve 350 of the kind shown in fig9 of the incorporate - by - reference u . s . pat . no . 6 , 186 , 381 , can be employed to control the flow of dispensed liquid from the collapsible containers 125 , e . g ., of fig7 a . a spring 354 normal biases a slide 353 to pinch closed at location 372 the tube , 115 for example , near its dispensing tip 356 . manual depression of an external slide acts against the bias of the spring 354 to unpinch the tube and allow the dispensed liquid to flow . with the incorporated - by - reference valve of the above - cited u . s . pat . no . 6 , 186 , 361 as shown in fig1 , liquid is dispensed from the tip of the tube 115 extending below the pinch valve . this means that in its movement from the collapsible container 125 ( of fig7 a ), through the tube 115 , to the tube tip 356 as shown in fig1 , the fluid touches no permanent part of the dispenser , i . e . just the disposable container 125 , tube 115 and attaching means . this significantly reduces the need for cleaning internal dispenser parts when liquids subject to spoilage are dispensed . likewise the use of the inflatable bladder motivated delivery of liquid eliminates passage of the liquid through any pump that would need regularly to be pulled apart and cleaned . although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail , it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that further modifications , alterations and additions to the invention embodiments disclosed may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims .	1
u . s . patent application no . 07 / 569 , 080 filed aug . 17 , 1990 and entitled monolithic accelerometer is assigned to the same assignee as this application , and the disclosure of that application is incorporated herein by reference . that patent application discloses a monolithic accelerometer which can be fabricated by the method disclosed herein . further , u . s . patent application no . 071872 , 037 entitled method for fabricating microstructures , filed on apr . 22 , 1992 and assigned to the same assignee as the present application , discloses an improvement on the method disclosed herein relating to a method for preventing the suspended microstructure from becoming damaged or stuck to the substrate during the fabrication processes . the disclosure of that patent application is also incorporated herein by reference . fig1 a and 1b are top and side views , respectively , of the suspended portion 10 of an exemplary microstructure which may be fabricated by the method of the present invention . as shown in the drawings , the suspended central beam 12 has a plurality of suspended arms 14 extending transversely therefrom . the beam 12 is supported at opposite ends from support beams 16 and 18 . support beams 16 and 18 are suspended above the silicon substrate by anchors 20 , 22 , 24 and 26 . fig1 a and 1b show only the suspended portion of the microstructure . however , in an actual commercially usable device , the microstructure would also comprise fixed components . referring now to fig2 a , a high - level block diagram is shown of a differential - capacitor accelerometer 10 according to the present invention . the accelerometer 10 comprises a signal source 1 , sensor 2 having first and second differential capacitors 200 and 300 , and a signal resolver 3 . differential capacitors 200 and 300 are fabricated so that one electrode of each moves when force is applied , such that one capacitance increases and the other decreases . the signal source 1 drives the capacitors 200 , 300 with sinusoidal signals of equal frequency , phase and amplitude , but of opposite polarities . consequently , the amplitude and phase of the signal at the junction 4 of the differential capacitors is a function of the difference in capacitances , which is directly related to the force - induced displacement of the capacitor electrodes due to acceleration . the signal resolver processes this signal , to generate therefrom a signal proportional to the acceleration of the capacitor plates relative to the substrate and package of the assembly . each of the electrodes of a differential capacitor sensor according to the present invention is formed of a plurality of segments which are arranged in such a manner that each capacitor is built up from a plurality of smaller capacitance “ cells ” connected in parallel . fig2 b shows a top view of an exemplary differential - capacitor sensor 5 according to the invention , but with only a single capacitance cell being depicted , to avoid unnecessary obfuscation of the inventive concept . on top of a silicon substrate 8 , a suspended polysilicon “ beam ” 6 is formed . ( the method of forming this suspended structure is discussed below .) beam 6 rests above the surface of the substrate , on four posts , or anchors , 7a - 7d , indicated by the “ x ” symbols in the figure . beam 6 is generally h - shaped , with two elongated , narrow legs 16 and 18 , and a transverse central member 12 suspended between them . central member 12 is typically much stiffer and more massive than legs 16 and 18 . a pair of beam fingers 14a and 14b depend in parallel orientation from central member 12 , transversely to the axis 93 of the beam . finger 14a forms one electrode of a parallel plate capacitor , having a stationary member 29a as its opposite electrode , or plate . similarly , finger 14b forms one electrode of a second parallel plate capacitor , having a stationary member 28b as its opposite plate . note that fingers 14a and 14b are connected together both physically and electrically and are , thus , a common electrode . electrical connection is made to fingers 29a and 28b via a heavily n + doped region 9a and the polysilicon bridge itself . electrical connection is made to plate 29a via a heavily n + doped region 9b , and connection to plate 28a is made via a similar region 9c . as will be shown below , regions 9b and 9c may be extended to connect together , in parallel , the similar members of other capacitance cells . an n + doped region 91 also is provided beneath the entire polysilicon bridge structure , including the capacitance cells , as a bootstrap diffusion for reducing parasitic capacitance from the beam to the substrate . this is necessitated , at least in part , by the very low values of the capacitance per cell . in the example of fig2 b and 2c , using the dimensions provided herein , each capacitor has a nominal capacitance of about 0 . 002 pf . with 56 cells in parallel , the total capacitance at rest is only about 0 . 1 pf . a full scale measurement involves only about an eight percent change in the value of each capacitor when the sensor is operated open - loop ; naturally , in closed - loop operation the change is about ten times less . the extension of the sensor architecture of fig2 b to multiple cells is illustrated in fig2 c for a four - cell example , the four cells being labeled 62a - 62d . the approximate dimensions below may be used to fabricate such a sensor , the dimension labels pertaining to the features shown on fig2 b : d 1 = 300 micrometers d 2 = 2 . 0 micrometers d 3 = 40 micrometers d 4 = 450 micrometers d 5 = 125 micrometers d 6 = 8 micrometers d 7 = 5 micrometers d 8 = 3 micrometers for purposes of reference in the discussion below , the heavily - doped , or metallization , regions 9a , 9b , 9c , and 91 are shown as terminating at terminals 72 , 74 , 76 , and 80 , respectively , though it should be understood that no actual connection terminal need be present at those physical locations . when a force is applied to the substrate 8 , in the x - direction , the substrate and plates move in that direction while the beam 12 tends to remain in its prior condition . motion of the beam relative to the substrate is permitted by the fact that legs 16 and 18 are not absolutely rigid and will deflect slightly . when the force is in the positive x - direction , the separation between finger 14a and plate 29a increases , decreasing the capacitance in the capacitor they form ; conversely , the separation between finger 14b and plate 28b decreases , increasing the capacitance in the capacitor they form . fig2 d provides a partially block -, partially schematic circuit diagram showing , in greater detail , a first ( open - loop ) embodiment of signal conditioning circuitry for use with the sensor of fig2 b and 2c , for an accelerometer . the oscillator 100 supplies an approximately 1 mhz sinusoidal signal to a carrier generator 102 . the carrier generator supplies therefrom two 1 mhz sinusoidal output signals 180 degrees out of phase from each other ; thus , the output signals are of the form v c sin ωt and — v c sin ωt , where ω is the angular frequency of the oscillator output signal . the first carrier signal is supplied to terminal 74 of sensor 5 , while the second carrier signal is supplied to terminal 76 . sensor output terminal 72 is connected to the non - inverting input of a buffer amplifier 104 . the output of the buffer amplifier is connected to sensor terminal 80 , the bootstrap diffusion contact . through this connection , the parasitic capacitance is prevented from loading the common node 72 . a large resistance 106 ( e . g ., 3m ) is connected between a reference supply voltage vx and the non - inverting input of buffer 104 , to establish a d . c . operating point for the bridge . the output of the buffer feeds a synchronous switching demodulator 110 . the demodulator includes a switching circuit which is connected and responsive to the output of the oscillator 100 . the double - ended output from the demodulator is converted to a single - ended output v o by a buffer amplifier 120 . the value of v o is given by the formula v o = v c mag / k m d 0 , where v c is the carrier amplitude , m is the bridge mass , a is acceleration , k m is the beam &# 39 ; s mechanical spring constant , do is the nominal capacitor gap , and g is a scaling factor which accounts for buffer , demodulator and output amplifier gains . turning to fig2 e , a second embodiment is shown for signal conditioning circuitry employing the sensor of fig2 b and 2c . in contrast to the open loop approach of fig2 d , the apparatus of fig2 e is a closed - loop , force - balance accelerometer . to better illustrate the force - balance principle , the bridge / differential - capacitor assembly is modeled as a conductive mass 122 suspended between a first capacitor plate 124 and a second capacitor plate 126 , which establishes first and second differential capacitances , the latter being shown as capacitors 200 and 300 , respectively . in the force - balance arrangement , capacitors 200 and 300 serve two purposes . first , they provide the means whereby electrostatic balancing forces are applied to the mass 122 , at the acceleration frequency . secondly , they allow the displacement x of the mass ( i . e ., the bridge mass ) to be measured via the differential capacitance , at the carrier frequency . the negative feedback loop adjusts the output voltage v o so that x = 0 and inertial force applied to the bridge equals the net electrostatic force which is applied . the force balance equation is as follows : ma = ɛ 0  a 2  [ ( v r + v 0 ) 2 ( d 0 + x ) 2 - ( v r - v 0 ) 2 ( d 0 - x ) 2 ] ( 1 ) where m is the mass of the bridge , ε 0 is the dielectric constant of air , a is the capacitor plate area ( each capacitor , nominal ), d 0 is the nominal , at rest , capacitor plate separation , x is the change in the capacitor plate separation ( i . e ., the distance the bridge moves due to the applied force ), v r is the reference or d . c . offset voltage applied to the movable plates , and v o is the output voltage . for x & lt ;& lt ; d 0 , at a large loop gain , the output voltage , v o , due to acceleration , is as follows : v 0 = ma   d 0 2 2  ɛ 0  a   v r the output voltage is not sensitive to the spring constant of the structure , k m , since the bridge remains undeflected . full scale adjustment to compensate for values of m , d 0 and a which vary from nominal due to process variations can be made by trimming resistors r1 and r2 in fig2 f . the beam geometry is designed to minimize the mechanical spring constant , k m , so that a beam initially fabricated off - center will be centered automatically by a small percentage of the full scale electrostatic force . then , a desired zero “ g ” output voltage level can be established by trimming the relative carrier amplitudes . taken to the limit , the mass may be considered floating and self - centering ; the mechanical spring constant does , however , prevent the mass from responding to the carrier signal . a more detailed design for the force - balance accelerometer of fig2 e is shown in fig2 f . the oscillator 100 , carrier generator 102 , buffer 104 , and demodulator 110 are the same as the corresponding elements of fig7 . the carrier generator is , however , a . c .- coupled to the sensor through capacitors 132 and 134 . capacitors 132 and 134 may typically be about 30 - 50 pf each , to exhibit low impedance at the 1 mhz carrier frequency . to establish a net electrostatic force on the sensor capacitor plates , input terminals 74 and 76 are connected , respectively , to positive and negative offset ( i . e ., reference ) supplies v r and — v r , through resistors 136 and 137 , each typically being about 300k ohms . when the sensor capacitors 200 and 300 are equal ( i . e ., acceleration is zero ), the electrostatic potential across the capacitors is balanced and equal . by contrast , acceleration causes the capacitors to have different values and the electrostatic potential on them to be unequal , causing a net unbalancing force . the demodulator detects this imbalance , which causes a change in the signal at the non - inverting input of amplifier 104 , and supplies a feedback signal through resistor 106 , to create a net electrostatic force to equalize the inertial force . thus the feedback signal providing for force - balancing is supplied by connecting the junction of resistor 106 and the second demodulator signal input at the base of transistor 108 to the output of output buffer 120 , instead of to fixed source vx . optionally , the circuit of fig2 f also has a resistor 140 and switch 142 connected in series between node 74 and ground . closure of the switch will unbalance the input signals applied to nodes 74 and 76 , which will apply a momentary electrostatic force on the bridge and produce a corresponding shift in the output to recenter the bridge . the output will be different if one or both capacitors fails ( i . e ., the bridge is untethered — broken — or the bridge is stuck ). thus , the closure of the switch can be used to test the proper operation of both the sensor and the circuitry . using the fabrication method of the present invention , the sensor of fig2 a and the circuitry of fig2 b can be embodied in a single chip , thus reducing the size and cost of the accelerometer . the fabrication method of the present invention combines processes for fabricating bimos circuitry and for fabricating suspended microstructures in a mutually compatible manner . the overall method comprises approximately 330 individual steps . many of the approximately 330 individual steps are parts of processes which are well known in the art . for instance , the process of forming a photoresist mask by means of photolithography is well known in the prior art and comprises six individual steps . the individual steps of the present invention can be considered to comprise 67 processes . some of the 67 processes are standard processes which are known in the art . the present invention lies in a novel combination of processes so as to fabricate a monolithic sensor as well as in the fact that some of the processes are novel in and of themselves . on an even broader level , the overall method can be considered to comprise 20 tasks , each task comprising one or more of the processes . the detailed discussion of the invention herein is divided into 20 task headings . the section under each task heading is further divided into one or more processes . where necessary , the individual steps of a process are discussed . however , as previously noted , many of the individual steps are well known in the prior art and thus are not described in great detail . further , not all steps or processes are illustrated in distinct figs . in order to avoid obfuscation of the invention . the starting material for the method of the present invention is a p - doped silicon substrate having a thin p - doped epitaxial layer thereover of approximately 30 microns in thickness . this task involves implanting into the substrate the n - wells within which the transistors will be formed . it comprises processes 1 - 5 . a thermal oxide is formed on the surface of the chip by conventional thermal means . in particular , the chip is heated to approximately 1000 ° c . in an oxygen ambient environment , causing the silicon on the surface of the chip to oxidize , forming a thermal oxide , sio 2 , layer . the depth of oxidation is controlled by the temperature and exposure time . this layer is formed to a depth of approximately 3600 angstroms . this process involves patterning the oxide layer formed in step 1 into the desired pattern of n - wells on the substrate . this process comprises standard photolithography steps followed by etching of the oxide layer in a buffered oxide etch ( hydrofluoric acid ) bath . in particular , photolithography comprises the steps of ( 1 ) coating the chip with a blanket layer of organic photoresist , ( 2 ) placing a mask in the form of the desired n - well pattern over , but not in contact with , the photoresist , ( 3 ) accurately aligning the mask over the chip , preferably in a stepper , so that all layers are formed in proper position relative to all other layers , ( 4 ) shining a light of specified wavelength through the mask onto the photoresist , causing the portions of the photoresist exposed under the mask to be developed while the portions occluded by the mask are not developed , ( 5 ) removing the mask , and ( 6 ) spraying the chip with a chemical wash which washes away the developed portion of the oxide layer . after the six photolithography steps , the underlying oxide layer is exposed beneath the developed away portion of the photoresist . the chip is then dipped in a buffered oxide etch bath of hydrofluoric acid which etches through the exposed portion of the oxide layer but does not affect the portion of the oxide layer which is still covered by photoresist . commonly , the photoresist layer would be removed immediately after the etching of the underlying layer . in the present process , however , the photoresist is not yet removed for reasons which will be explained shortly . in this process , phosphorus is blanket deposited on the chip to a concentration of 5 . 0e12 / cm 2 . the phosphorus is implanted into the substrate only in the areas defined by the thermal oxide mask . the phosphorus is deposited in a standard ion implantation process in which the chip is bombarded with a high energy beam of phosphorus particles ( n - type particles ). in the preferred embodiment , the particles are accelerated to approximately 100 kiloelectron volts ( kev ) of energy . the photoresist mask which was formed in process 1 , but not yet removed , serves as an additional protective mask in this n - well implant process . after the phosphorus is deposited , the photoresist can be stripped away . this can be done by either dipping the chip in a sulfuric acid etch bath or by dry plasma stripping . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , it is done in an acid etch . at the completion of process 3 , the phosphorus implanted in process 3 is diffused into the substrate only to a very shallow depth . the phosphorus now must be diffused ( or driven ) into the substrate to the desired depth . the phosphorous can be diff - used deeper into the substrate in a thermal process . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , the chip is exposed to approximately 1250 ° c . for approximately 7 hours in an ambient environment including a small amount of oxygen ( to allow for some oxidation ) as well as a gas . the depth of diffusion can be controlled by both the duration and temperature of the process . the n - wells having been implanted and driven to the desired depth , the protective oxide layer formed in process i can now be removed . the chip is dipped into a buffered oxide etch bath . since the photoresist mask has been removed , all remaining oxide is etched away leaving the bare silicon with n - wells . this task relates to field threshold adjust in order to improve surface isolation between the components which will be formed in the chip . it comprises processes 6 - 14 . thick oxide will be formed around essentially all individual transistors to increase surface isolation . however , the dopant level must be increased beneath the thick oxide regions to reduce surface leakage . accordingly , arsenic will be implanted in the regions of the n - wells which will be covered by thick oxide ( hereinafter n - field regions ) to increase n - doping . in the other areas of the chip , boron will be implanted under the regions where the thick oxide will be formed ( hereinafter p - field regions ) in order to increase p - doping in those areas . in this process , a thin layer of thermal oxide ( approximately 500 angstroms ) is formed by oxidizing the surface of the chip as previously described with respect to process 1 . this layer of oxide is formed in order to protect the silicon from the nitride which will be deposited in process 7 . nitride will damage bare silicon . in this process , a layer of approximately 1200 angstroms of silicon nitride is deposited in a standard low pressure chemical vapor deposition process . in low pressure chemical vapor deposition , the chip is placed in a low temperature furnace containing an ambient gas . in the case of a nitride deposition step , the ambient would include nh 3 and sih 2 cl 2 . the vaporized particles deposit themselves onto any available surface such as the substrate surface . in this process , a photoresist mask is formed using conventional photolithography as previously described with respect to process 2 . the mask is patterned to define the field inactive regions ( i . e ., n - field and p - field regions ) of the chip where a thick layer of oxide is to be grown in an upcoming process for increasing surface isolation . once the photoresist mask is formed , the nitride layer is etched by a conventional plasma etch . the photoresist mask is removed and the pad oxide is then etched in a conventional buffered oxide etch . only the portions exposed through the nitride layer are etched away . since p - fields and n - fields must be doped with different impurities , a conventional photoresist mask is formed defining only those areas exposed through the thick oxide mask in which p - field regions are to be formed . in this process , boron particles ( p - type particles ) are implanted in the p - field regions exposed under the mask of photoresist to a concentration of 5 . 5e13 / cm 2 at 50 kev by conventional ion implantation such as was described with respect to process 3 . after the boron is implanted , the photoresist mask is stripped away . this process is similar to process 9 except the mask defines the n - field regions rather than the p - field regions of the field area . in this process , arsenic is deposited to a concentration of 4 . 0e11 / cm 2 by an ion implantation process to form the desired n - field regions in the n - wells . in at least one preferred embodiment , the particles are accelerated to 100 kev . the photoresist is then stripped away . fig3 illustrates the state of the circuit region of the chip after the completion of the n - field implant of process 12 , but before the photoresist mask is removed . the p - doped substrate as well as the p - epi layer are shown collectively as 30 . an exemplary n - well formed in task 1 is shown at 40 . the pad oxide layer ( formed in process 6 and patterned in process 8 ) and the nitride layer ( formed in process 7 and patterned in process 8 ) are shown collectively at 13 - the n - field photoresist mask formed in process 11 is shown at 11 wherein openings 11 a define the n - field regions . the actual p - fields and n - fields , however , are not represented in this fig . since they have not been fully formed yet . in particular , they have not been diffused to the desired depth yet . in this process , a blanket thick oxide layer of approximately 14 , 900 angstroms is formed by thermal oxidation such as was described with respect to process 1 . the oxide formed in this process will only form where the bare silicon is exposed under the etched nitride layer formed in processes 7 and patterned in 8 . since the nitride formed in process 7 and patterned in process 8 exposed the inactive regions of the substrate , the thick oxide forms only in those regions . the thick oxide improves the electrical isolation of the transistors which will be formed on the chip from each other and from the aluminum leads which will be formed . the thick oxide layer is a field threshold adjust layer . this thermal process also serves to diffuse the boron and arsenic implanted in processes 10 and 12 , respectively , thus completing the formation of the p - field and n - field regions . in this process , the chip is dipped in a phosphoric acid bath to remove all remaining nitride deposited in process 7 . the chip is then dipped in a buffered oxide etch bath to remove the remaining oxide which was formed in process 6 . the buffer oxide strip , of course , will also strip away some of the thick oxide layer formed in process 13 . however , that layer is so thick that the vast majority of that layer remains after the oxide strip . task 3 : form bases of bipolar transistors and partially form sources and drains of pmos transistors this task comprises processes 15 - 20 . in this task , the bases of the bipolar transistors are formed . since the sources and drains of the pmos transistors have similar doping requirements , they are also partially formed in this task . the more shallow source and drain diffusions necessary to completely form the source and drains of the pmos transistors are formed later during task 7 . in this process , a 850 angstrom thick layer of sacrificial oxide is grown on the chip by thermal oxidation . this sacrificial layer will serve to prevent channeling in the device as well as prevent damage from occurring in the upcoming base implant . in this process , a mask of photoresist is formed on top of the sacrificial oxide layer to define the desired bipolar transistor bases and pmos sources and drains by standard photolithography steps as previously described . the sacrificial oxide layer is then etched into the transistor base pattern in a buffered oxide etch bath also as previously described . in this process , p - type particles ( boron particles ) are ion implanted into the substrate in the pattern dictated by the mask formed in process 16 . after the implantation , the photoresist is stripped away . in this process , another photoresist mask is formed by standard photolithography . the mask is formed so as to protect the circuitry area but expose the moat area of the chip . in this process , boron is ion implanted in the sensor area through the mask formed in process 18 . this implantation creates a more heavily p - doped area ( or plate ) in the moat region . the plate serves as a field threshold adjust to improve isolation between the arms of the sensor . the photoresist is stripped away after the plate implantation . in this process , the boron implanted in process 17 to form the bases of the bipolar transistors and to partially form the sources and drains of the pmos transistors is diffused into the n - wells to the desired depth in a high - temperature diffusion process such as previously described with respect to process 4 . the boron implanted in step 19 is also diffused at this time . fig4 illustrates the state of the chip and particularly the moat region , after the completion of process 20 . as before , the p - doped substrate as well as the p - epi layer are shown collectively as 30 . the plate layer formed in process 19 is shown at 32 . dotted vertical line 34 is the dividing line between the sensor area ( or moat area ) and the circuit area of the chip . as can be seen in that figure , the plate appears only in the moat area . the sacrificial oxide layer formed in process 15 is shown at 36 and covers both the circuit area and the sensor area . an exemplary thick oxide region formed in task 2 ( processes 7 - 14 ) is shown at 38 . thick oxide region 38 in fig4 is part of a ring of thick oxide ( formed in task 2 ) which completely surrounds the moat area . of course , thick oxide has been deposited in other regions as well . an exemplary n - well region in the circuit region is illustrated at 40 . a p - field formed in step 10 beneath thick oxide region 38 is shown at 42 . task 4 : form conductors from moat area to circuit area and bipolar transistor emitters this task comprises processes 21 - 23 . in this task , the emitters for the bipolar transistors are implanted . further , n + runners between components of the sensor and the circuitry are also formed . these conductors are essentially long emitter regions and , thus , can be formed during the same processes as the transistor emitters . a layer of photoresist is deposited and patterned to define the bipolar transistor emitters as well as the n + runners ( conductors ) from the sensor area to the circuit area . these runners will electrically connect the polysilicon sensor to the bimos circuitry . in this process , arsenic is ion implanted to a concentration of 6 . 18e15 / cm 2 at 150 kev to form the emitters and n + runners . in this process , the arsenic is diffused in to the desired depth and concentration in a high temperature diffusion process . fig5 shows the circuit region of the chip at the completion of process 23 . reference numeral 17 denotes the base regions of the bipolar transistors and partially formed source and drain regions of the pmos transistors formed in processes 16 , 17 and 20 . reference numeral 19 denotes the emitter regions formed in processes 21 , 22 and 23 . reference numeral 38 denotes the thick oxide layer formed in processes 8 and 13 . reference numeral 23 denotes an exemplary n - field formed in processes 11 , 12 and 13 . finally , reference numeral 42 denotes an exemplary p - field formed in processes 9 , 10 and 13 . this task comprises processes 24 - 26 . in this task , the dielectric of the mos transistors is formed . in this process , boron is implanted to a concentration of 4 . 5e11 / cm 2 at 50 kev . this blanket layer of boron is a threshold adjust for the pmos transistors . in the embodiment of the invention for manufacturing the monolithic accelerometer shown in fig1 a , 1 b , 2 a and 2 b and disclosed in u . s . patent application no . 07 / 560 , 080 , the circuitry comprises no nmos transistors . accordingly , the boron can be deposited in this step without benefit of a mask . although the boron is blanket deposited on the chip , it only significantly affects the channel regions since the other regions of the chip are already so heavily doped that this relatively small addition of boron will not significantly affect the other regions . the additional steps necessary to adapt this process to a device also having nmos transistors , however , would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art . in this process , the sacrificial oxide layer which was formed in process 15 is now stripped away in a buffered oxide etch bath . in this process , a thermal oxide is grown on the chip to a depth of 725 angstroms . this layer will comprise the capacitive oxide beneath the gates of the mos transistors . fig6 illustrates the moat area of the chip after the completion of process 26 . as shown in fig6 at this point , the moat area has three layers above substrate 30 . they are plate layer 32 , n + conductors 44 and gate oxide blanket layer 46 . this task comprises processes 27 - 29 . in this task , the polysilicon gates of the bimos transistors are formed . in this process , a blanket layer of polysilicon is deposited on the chip . polysilicon deposition techniques are well known in the art . for instance , the polysilicon may be deposited in a chemical vapor deposition technique involving exposing the chip in a high temperature furnace with an ambient containing vaporized silicon hydride ( sih 4 ). the silicon hydride decomposes in the high temperature and deposits onto all available surfaces , i . e ., the chip . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the polysilicon is deposited to a depth of 5500 angstroms . this blanket of polysilicon will be formed into the gates of the mos transistors in upcoming processes . in this process , the polysilicon deposited in process 27 is highly doped ( 20 ohms / sq ) with pocl 3 in order to increase its conductivity . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , the polysilicon is doped in a deposition cycle of a diffusion process in which the chip is placed in a high temperature furnace with ambient pocl 3 . although similar to a chemical vapor deposition technique , this process is not considered a chemical vapor deposition because , instead of depositing a new layer of material , this process dopes the prior existing layer with an impurity . in this process , a photoresist layer is formed over the polysilicon and patterned into the desired gate pattern . the polysilicon is then etched in a dry plasma etch to form the gate regions . fig7 illustrates the sensor area of the chip after completion of process 29 . in addition to forming the gate regions , an island of gate polysilicon 48 is also formed over the moat area . this polysilicon island will act as an etch stop when removing bpsg in a subsequent process . near the end of the fabrication method , a process will remove all gate polysilicon from the sensor region except for a narrow ring . task 7 : form shallow p - type source and drain regions for bimos transistors this task comprises processes 30 and 31 , in which the source and drain regions of the pmos transistors are formed . in this process , a photoresist mask is formed by standard photolithography steps to define the source and drain regions of the pmos transistors . in this process , boron ( p - type ) is ion implanted to a concentration of 1 . 5e13 / cm 2 at 40 kev . the photoresist is stripped subsequent to the boron implantation . at this stage in the fabrication of the device , the surface topography of the chip is relatively severe ( i . e ., rough ). in subsequent processes , it will be necessary to form metal leads on the surface of the chip . it is preferable that the metal be deposited on a relatively smooth surface . accordingly , in processes 32 - 35 , a borophosphosilicate glass ( bpsg ), which essentially comprises sio 2 with small amounts of boron and phosphorus , is deposited and reflowed to provide a smoother surface for the metallization process . otherwise , the severe topography of the surface of the chip would make it difficult to deposit metal leads without cracking . in this process , a 200 angstrom thick layer of nitride is deposited on the surface of the chip by low - pressure chemical vapor deposition . this nitride layer protects the underlying gate oxide from the bpsg layer which will be deposited in process 33 . the nitride prevents the bpsg from diffusing into and beyond the gate oxide layer . in this process , a 5500 angstrom thick layer of borophosphosilicate glass is plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited . the bpsg layer will be reflowed to provide a planarization layer for reducing the severity of the topography such that metal interconnects and contacts can be deposited subsequently with reduced risk of cracking . the bpsg will be reflowed to planarize the chip surface in process 34 . in this process , the boron deposited as source and drain regions is diffused to the desired depth and concentration . in at least one preferred embodiment , the chip is exposed to 1000 ° c . for approximately 2 hours . this process is actually part of both task 8 ( planarization ) and task 7 ( formation of the source and drain regions ). this process is performed subsequent to the bpsg deposition to accomplish source / drain drive as well as bpsg reflow ( i . e ., melt and resolidify the bpsg so it forms a smooth planar surface upon which the metal interconnects can be formed ). in this process , another 200 angstroms of nitride are deposited over the bpsg layer . this nitride layer will act as an etch stop in the circuit area when it becomes necessary to wet etch through dielectrics deposited for the purposes of constructing the sensor . dielectrics are commonly laid down as a blanket and thus the sensor dielectrics will also be formed in the circuit area at some point . accordingly , they must be removed from the circuit area . this nitride layer will act as an etch stop when it becomes necessary to remove those dielectrics . fig8 illustrates the condition of the sensor area of the chip after the completion of process 35 . the nitride layer deposited in process 32 is shown at 50 , the bpsg layer formed in process 33 is shown at 52 , and the nitride layer formed in process 35 is shown at 54 . as can be seen from fig8 at this stage in the fabrication method of the present invention the moat region is covered with a number of layers of dielectric which were deposited for bimos circuitry formation . in processes 36 through 40 , the unnecessary dielectrics will be removed from the moat area and the surface concentration of the p - regions will be increased to reduce the probability of surface leakage between the n + runners . further , after the moat area is cleared of all bimos dielectrics and its dopant concentration has been increased , several dielectric layers for the moat are formed . in this process , a photoresist layer is deposited and patterned to expose only the moat region . then , the nitride layer deposited in process 35 is removed in a dry etch process , the bpsg planarization layer deposited in process 33 is removed in a wet etch process , the nitride layer formed in process 32 is removed in another dry etch process and , finally , the polysilicon layer deposited in process 27 is removed in a dry etch process . at this point , the gate oxide is now exposed in the moat region . in this process , more boron is ion implanted in the moat area ( the remainder of the chip is still protected by the photoresist ). the boron is implanted to a concentration of 5e12 / cm 2 at 50 kev . this boron implantation procedure serves the same function as the plate implant procedure of process 19 , i . e ., as a field threshold adjust to increase componentry electrical isolation . the process is split into two separate implantations because , at this point , the initial plate implant has been substantially depleted from the surface due to exposure to several thermal operations and the segregation nature of boron . fig9 shows the chip after the completion process 37 . as can be seen , the moat area is exposed down to the gate oxide 48 . in this process , a 2 , 000 angstrom thick layer of low temperature oxide is deposited over the chip . this increases the total oxide thickness from about 600 angstroms to about 2600 angstroms in the field regions and ensures adequate surface passivation . in this process , the oxide is not formed by a thermal process as previously described wherein the exposed silicon surfaces oxidize . instead , in this process , the oxide is deposited in a chemical vapor deposition type process . essentially , the chip is placed in a low temperature furnace with a silicon compound and oxygen ambient . the ambient oxide precipitates onto the surface of the silicon . this process does not use up any silicon on the substrate . the low temperature oxide deposited in process 38 is now densified to slow down its etching . essentially , the chip is placed in a high temperature furnace for a specified period to densify the oxide . a 1200 angstrom thick layer of nitride is deposited over the densified low temperature oxide . this layer will act as an etch stop with respect to the etching of another low temperature oxide layer which will be deposited over this nitride layer in process 41 . this nitride layer will also permit the nitride - to - nitride sealing discussed in task 19 . fig1 shows the chip after the completion of process 40 . as shown therein , a layer of low temperature oxide 56 has been deposited followed by a layer of nitride 58 . the microstructure should be able to withstand normal operating conditions after the complete chip has been fabricated and packaged . for instance , the monolithic accelerometer which is contemplated for fabrication by the method of the present invention is expected to withstand accelerative forces on the order of 100 g . nevertheless , during fabrication , the microstructure undergoes processes and is exposed to environmental conditions which are significantly more harsh than it is likely to encounter during operation . thus , precautionary measures must be built into the microstructure as well as the method for fabricating the microstructure in order to reduce the possibility of damaging the microstructure during fabrication . the spacer oxide serves two functions . first , the polysilicon microstructure will be deposited and formed over the spacer oxide and then the spacer oxide will be etched away from underneath the microstructure leaving it suspended . the spacer oxide is not removed until essentially the very end of the method . accordingly , a second function of the spacer oxide is to rigidly support the suspended microstructure which otherwise might be damaged when exposed to the conditions and processes of fabrication . in this process , the spacer low temperature oxide ( lto ) which will support the microstructure is deposited by chemical vapor deposition . this layer is grown to approximately 16 , 000 angstroms . in this process , the chip is exposed to a high temperature for an extended period of time in order to densify the spacer lto layer to slow down its etching . this will allow for much more accurate etching of the spacer oxide . in this process , a photoresist layer is deposited over the spacer lto and patterned to form small openings interspersed in the sensor area . the spacer oxide is then etched in a buffer oxide etch bath . the chip is only exposed to the buffer oxide etch for a limited period of time so that only small divots will be taken out of the top surface of the spacer lto rather than etching completely through the spacer lto down to the underlying nitride layer . thus , when the microstructure is formed over the spacer lto , there will be small bumps in its bottom surface adjacent to the position of the divots in the spacer oxide . these bumps , will serve to minimize surface area contact of the microstructure to the chip during and after removal of the spacer oxide . during and after the etch for removing the spacer oxide to leave the microstructure suspended , the relatively delicate microstructure can be bent such that it comes in contact with the underlying substrate . this is undesirable since the microstructure has a tendency to stick to the substrate . by placing small bumps in the bottom surface of the microstructure , if and when the bottom surface of the microstructure comes in contact with the substrate , only the bumps will contact the surface thereby minimizing the contact surface area and the likelihood of sticking . fig1 shows the chip after the completion of process 43 . as shown therein , a thick layer of spacer oxide 60 has been deposited over the entire chip and small divots such as divot 61 have been formed in its upper surface . in the exemplary accelerometer illustrated in fig1 a , 1 b and 2 a , the microstructure is suspended from four anchors , and the fixed arms are individually anchored to the substrate in the same manner . processes 44 and 45 relate to the preparation for forming the anchors of the microstructure . in this process , a photoresist mask is formed defining the anchors from which the polysilicon microstructure will be suspended . the spacer oxide , nitride , and additional underlying oxides are dry etched , thus exposing the n + runners beneath , such as runner 44 ( see fig1 ). in this process , phosphorous is implanted to a concentration of 4 . 0ei15 / cm 2 in an ion implantation process at 30 kev . the phosphorous is implanted so as to allow the polysilicon anchors , when formed , to make good ohmic contact to the underlying n + runner , e . g ., 44 . the phosphorous implantation increases the phosphorous concentration at the polysilicon / silicon interface , encouraging uniform recrystallization at the anchor point and reducing anchor resistance . fig1 shows the chip after the completion of step 45 , including exemplary anchor opening 59 . processes 46 - 49 relate to the formation of the suspended microstructure . however , as noted earlier , the microstructure will not be suspended , but will be supported by the spacer lto , until essentially the end of the fabrication method . in this process , a 20 , 000 angstrom thick layer of polysilicon is deposited over the spacer oxide in a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process . this is the polysilicon layer from which the microstructure will be formed . a low deposition temperature is used to produce a partially amorphous film . in this process , the microstructure polysilicon is made more conductive by ion implanting phosphorous . when the polysilicon is deposited , it is substantially amorphous . in order to form the polysilicon to the desired tensile stress , it is annealed . the chip is heated for an extended period in a nitrogen ambient ( n 2 ). the annealing step also drives the phosphorous dopant into the polysilicon as in a standard implant drive process . in the preferred embodiment , the polysilicon is annealed to result in a tensile stress of approximately 6e8dynes / cm 2 in order to maintain a relatively stable spring constant for the finished microstructure . the resulting polysilicon sheet resistance is approximately 90 to 160 ohms / sq . fig1 shows the chip after completion of step 48 . as shown therein , a 20 , 000 angstrom thick layer of polysilicon 62 has been deposited over the chip . as shown in fig1 , an anchor 64 is formed in anchor well 59 . in this process , a photoresist mask is formed to remove all polysilicon from the circuit area and to form the desired microstructure shape in the moat area . the polysilicon is then dry etched . fig1 illustrates the chip after the completion of process 49 . in this process , a photoresist layer is deposited and masked for etching the spacer oxide layer 60 . the term “ mobe ” is an arbitrary designation for this particular mask . the term “ mobe ” is a contraction of “ moat and beam ” and was selected because this mask is formed so as to cover the microstructure ( or beam ) but to allow the spacer oxide 60 to be removed from the circuit area . the mask , different than the moat mask used in process 36 . after the photoresist is patterned , the chip is deposited in the buffer oxide etch bath in which the spacer oxide is selectively etched away down to underlying nitride layer 58 . the lpcvd nitride layer 58 acts as an etch stop for the etching of the oxide . fig1 illustrates the chip subsequent to the completion of step 50 . in this process , a 2 , 000 angstrom thick layer of low temperature oxide is deposited by chemical vapor deposition . this oxide layer will serve to protect the microstructure from an upcoming deposition of platinum for forming the electrical contacts in the circuit area as well as between the sensor and the circuitry . without the thin layer of lto , the platinum would react with the polysilicon during platinum silicidation and alter the polysilicons mechanical and electrical properties . fig1 shows the 2 , 000 angstrom low temperature oxide layer at 66 . a patterned photoresist layer is formed using standard photolithography steps to define a large island in the moat area where all sensor dielectrics will be preserved while the remainder of the photoresist is developed away so as to allow the etching away of all sensor dielectrics from the circuit area of the chip . two masks are used here , a mosin mask and the mobe mask , to provide extra photoresist protection on the sharp vertical steps of the polysilicon sensor . the term “ mosin ” was chosen to distinguish this mask from the moat mask and the mobe mask . the term “ mosin ” is a contraction of “ moat and silicon nitride ” since the mask will be used to etch all the way down to nitride layer 54 . in this process , the mobe mask is used first followed by the mosin mask . the mobe mask is slightly smaller than the mosin mask such that two photoresist patterns are visible . the sensor dielectrics which are etched away from the circuit area in this process comprise the low temperature oxide layer deposited in process 51 , the nitride layer deposited in process 40 and the low temperature oxide layer deposited in process 38 . the two oxide layers are removed by separate wet etch processes ( buffer oxide etch ). the nitride layer is removed in a dry plasma etch process . the nitride layer 54 underlying the three layers which are etched in this process that was deposited during process 35 remains . this layer , 54 , serves as an etch stop for the etching of oxide layer 56 . the three layers etched away in this process are removed in order to enable laser trimming in the circuit area . the photoresist is then removed after the three layers are etched . fig1 shows the chip after the completion of process 52 . as shown therein , layers 66 , 58 and 56 have been removed from the circuit area , thus exposing nitride layer 54 . like mosin mask in process 52 , contact mask utilizes two separate photoresist layers ( contact and mobe ) to provide sufficient photoresist coverage on the sharp vertical steps in the sensor area . first mobe mask is applied to cover the moat area and leave the circuitry regions exposed . then , contact mask is applied . the contact mask is developed to define openings to the transistors for metal contacts and openings to the n + runners in the moat area for metal contacts and also to provide additional photoresist coverage for the microstructure in the moat area . after the photoresist masks have been formed , four layers must be etched through . they are nitride layer 54 , bpsg layer 52 , nitride layer 50 and gate oxide layer 46 . all four layers are etched in a single long plasma etch which exposes the substrate in the defined contact areas such as the bare n + runner in opening 67 in fig1 . fig1 illustrates the circuit region of the chip after the completion of process 53 . reference numeral 48 indicates the gate polysilicon . reference numeral 46 indicates the gate oxide . the shallow source and drain diffusion regions of the pmos transistors are shown at 33 . the bpsg layer is shown at 52 . the remaining numerals refer to regions previously discussed with respect to at least fig5 and have been defined in the discussion of fig5 . this task comprises processes 54 - 56 . the purpose of this task is to form a platinum silicide layer in the metal contact openings , e . g ., opening 67 in fig1 , so as to provide good ohmic contact with the electrical leads which will be formed in subsequent processes . in this process , platinum is deposited on the chip by a standard high - vacuum sputtering process . the platinum is deposited to a depth of 400 angstroms . the platinum formed in process 54 is sintered in this process so as to cause the platinum to react with the silicon on the surface of the substrate to form platinum silicide . the process essentially comprises exposing the chip to a high temperature . the platinum silicidizes only where it contacts the bare substrate , e . g ., in the contact openings . in this process , the platinum which has not been silicidized is removed . specifically , the chip is placed in a nitric - hcl acid bath which strips away unsilicidized platinum leaving platinum silicide in the contact openings . fig1 shows the chip after the completion of process 56 illustrating silicidized contact opening 67 . the metallization task comprises processes 57 - 61 . in this task , the metal leads are formed to connect the various contact openings to each other so as to couple the transistors together in the desired circuit pattern . the thin film trimmable resistors also are formed . in this process , a blanket of sicr is formed by a standard sputter deposition process . the sicr will be used to form laser trimmable resistors . the sicr is deposited to a sheet resistance of 1 , 000 - 1 , 200 ohms / sq . in this process , titanium tungsten ( tiw ) and aluminum / copper ( alcu ) are deposited in two separate sputtering processes . the two metals will be formed into the electric leads in the following process . in this process , a photoresist mask is formed defining the desired metal leads . two consecutive exposures are required with two different masks to insure complete removal of the photoresist ( and ultimately the metal ) from the two micrometer deep sensor gaps . the first mask exposed is a standard metal mask to connect the bimos circuitry on the chip . then , a moat mask is exposed in the same resist to facilitate removal of all resist from the sensor area during development . only the sensor area is opened by moat mask so only the sensor area gets over exposed . the alcu is then etched by a wet etch process in a bath of phosphoric acetic nitric ( pan ) acid . this is followed by a wet etch of the tiw in hydrogen peroxide leaving the desired electrical leads . the photoresist is then stripped away . photoresist is deposited and patterned to define the desired resistors . the sicr layer is dry etched in accordance with the photoresist mask to form the resistors . the photoresist is then stripped away . thin film mask , like the metal mask in process 59 , uses a second exposure with moat mask to facilitate clearing the sensor area of photoresist and , therefore , thin film material also . in this process , the chip is exposed in a high temperature furnace to cause the tiw and alcu to react with the platinum silicide in the contact openings so as to form good ohmic contact between the substrate and the electrical leads . fig2 illustrates the circuit after the completion of process 61 . as shown therein , metal leads , such as lead 68 , have been formed in contact openings such as opening 67 . the leads extend over nitride layer 54 to connect the contact openings , thus coupling the transistors into the desired circuit . this task comprises processes 62 - 66 . the passivation used in the method of this invention is deposited in two separate steps to allow a nitride - to - nitride seal to be formed around the sensor to protect the circuitry from the very long etching process which will follow to completely undercut the spacer lto and release the sensor . the passivation layers will serve to protect the metal from scratching and also to protect the circuitry from moisture , ionic contamination , etc . the passivation , however , cannot exist in the bond pad openings because metal must be bonded to the bond pads . the passivation also must be removed from the microstructure so as not to affect its free movement under accelerative forces . in this process , plasma oxide is deposited to a thickness of 5 , 000 angstroms by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition . a small amount of phosphorous is contained in the oxygen plasma so as to form part of the oxide layer . in this process , the oxide layer formed in process 62 is patterned to set up the nitride - to - nitride seal around the perimeter of the sensor and also to open up the circuit area bond pads . accordingly , a photoresist mask is formed and patterned to define ( 1 ) a channel around the perimeter of the sensor and ( 2 ) the bond pads . the oxide layer is etched in a buffer oxide etch bath and the photoresist is then stripped away . fig2 illustrates the chip subsequent to the completion of process 63 . as shown therein , a plasma oxide layer 70 has been formed over the chip and layer 70 has been etched to define openings such as sensor perimeter opening 72 and bond pad opening 74 . at this point , another layer of nitride 76 is deposited to a thickness of approximately 5 , 000 angstroms by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition . this sets up a nitride - to - nitride seal around the sensor area . the nitride - to - nitride seal protects the circuit area from the final long wet etch used to remove the spacer lto from under the polysilicon sensor . the seal is formed between this nitride layer 76 ( see fig2 ) and the lpcvd nitride layer 58 that was deposited in process 40 . this is a standard process and is not actually related to the nitride - to - nitride seal task 19 . however , it is performed at this point , i . e ., before the nitride layer deposited in process 64 is removed , because the nitride layer adds extra protection during the back etch . in any event , the back etch involves blanket coating the front of the chip with photoresist and etching all dielectrics from the back of the chip in a long series of wet and dry etches . it is now necessary to remove the nitride deposited in process 64 from the sensor area as well as from the bond pads , e . g ., bond pad 74 . a photoresist mask is formed to open the bond pads and the sensor . the nitride layer 76 is etched in a dry etching process . as noted above , this etching process is performed after the back etch because the nitride layer provides added protection during the back etch . fig2 illustrates the chip after the completion of process 66 . as shown therein , a nitride layer 76 has been formed over the chip and has been etched to open up the metal leads in the bond pad regions such as lead 68 and to open up the sensor . this final task comprises only process 67 in which the spacer oxide layer is removed , thus releasing the microstructure into its final suspended condition as illustrated in fig1 a , 1 b and 2 a . in this process , a photoresist mask is formed to entirely cover the circuitry area and most of the moat area with a few holes in the moat area adjacent to sections where the spacer oxide is exposed , i . e ., sections where the polysilicon has been removed to form the microstructure shape . the holes in the photoresist are placed such that they are directly adjacent to the edges of the overlying microstructure . the chip is then placed in a buffered etch oxide bath such that the oxide layer is etched where it is exposed under the photoresist mask . the chip is left in the bath for an extended period such that the oxide is etched slightly beyond the dimensions of the hole in the photoresist and extend a few microns beneath the edges of the microstructure . the photoresist is then removed and another layer of photoresist is deposited on the chip . this layer of photoresist fills in the holes now formed in the oxide layer as well as fills in the voids between portions of the etched polysilicon microstructure . the photoresist is then exposed without a mask to develop away most of the photoresist . however , the portions of the photoresist which have filled in the edges of the holes and which extend under the edges of the microstructure are not developed away because these edges are occluded by the polysilicon microstructure . if desired , a mask can be used so as also to leave some photoresist bridges in polysilicon layer 62 in the gaps between non - contacting portions of the polysilicon microstructure , e . g ., between mobile arms 14 . the remaining spacer oxide 60 is then removed in a buffer oxide etch . this bath also removes oxide layers 66 and 70 which were earlier left in the moat area coating the microstructure . the buffered oxide bath does not affect the polysilicon or the photoresist . accordingly , the photoresist bridges in the gaps between non - contacting portions of the microstructure as well as the photoresist pedestals formed underneath the microstructure still remain after the spacer oxide is removed . the photoresist pedestals which formed at the edges of the holes beneath the microstructure vertically support the microstructure preventing it from bending and contacting the underlying substrate . the photoresist bridges left in the gaps between non - contacting portions of the microstructure provide lateral support preventing such portions from laterally bending and contacting each other . without the photoresist pedestals and bridges , portions of the microstructure would be extremely prone to bending and contacting the substrate and / or other portions of the microstructure during the drying procedure after the buffer oxide wet etch due to liquid surface tension effects . the photoresist pedestals and bridges significantly reduce the possibility of portions of the microstructure contacting the substrate or other portions of the microstructure . further , even if contact occurs , the bumps formed on the bottom surface of the microstructure during process 43 significantly reduce surface area contact thus significantly reducing the possibility of sticking . accordingly , the photoresist pedestals and bridges as well as the bumps significantly increase the device yield of the method of the present invention . the photoresist pedestals and bridges are removed in a long oxygen plasma stripping process which does not present any liquid surface tension problems . process 67 of the present invention is more fully discussed in u . s . patent application no . 07 / 872 , 037 referenced above . accordingly , it will only be briefly discussed here . for a more complete understanding of this process and its many steps , reference should be made to the aforementioned patent application . at this point , the microstructure is now suspended in its final form as illustrated in fig2 . it should be understood that the method of the present invention can be readily adapted for circuitry having nmos transistors in addition to the pmos and bipolar transistors discussed in the preferred embodiment disclosed herein . it should further be understood that the method of the present invention can be used to fabricate many kinds of chips embodying a microstructure as well as circuitry and is not limited to the accelerometer discussed herein . having thus described a few particular embodiments of the invention , various alterations , modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art . such alterations , modifications and improvements as are made obvious by this disclosure are intended to be part of this description though not expressly stated herein , and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the foregoing description is by way of example only , and not limiting . the invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and equivalents thereto .	6
the following detailed description illustrates the disclosure by way of example and not by way of limitation . the description clearly enables one skilled in the art to make and use the disclosure , describes several embodiments , adaptations , variations , alternatives , and uses of the disclosure , including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the disclosure . fig1 is a cut - away isometric view of an aircraft wing structure 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . in the exemplary embodiment , aircraft wing structure 100 includes a plurality of truss rib assemblies 102 extending in a forward direction 104 and an aft direction 106 between a leading edge 108 and a trailing edge 110 of aircraft wing structure 100 . aircraft wing structure 100 also includes a forward wing spar 112 and an aft wing spar 114 extending from a fuselage of the aircraft ( not shown ). a lower wing covering section or skin 116 is joined to lower portions of truss rib assemblies 102 between leading edge 108 and trailing edge 110 . similarly , an upper wing covering section or skin 118 is bonded to upper portions of truss ribs 102 between leading edge 108 and trailing edge 110 . fig2 is a side cross - sectional view of a truss rib assembly 102 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure . although described as a rib for an aircraft airfoil such as a wing , it should be understood that the structures and methods of fabricating such structures may be used for other composite truss structures , for example , but not limited to joists , roof trusses , and bridge deck support members . in such embodiments , truss rib assemblies 102 are configured to receive one or more decking members for supporting the decking member thereon . in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 comprises a composite truss structure . truss rib assembly 102 includes an upper chord member 202 , a lower chord member , 204 , and a plurality of web members 206 extending therebetween . each of upper chord member 202 , lower chord member , 204 , and web members 206 are formed of at least a first portion 202 and a second portion 204 mounted side by side . each portion is formed of a fiber reinforced sheet material such as but not limited to plain weave ( pw ) or 5 - hardness ( 5h ) material . fiber reinforced materials such as fiber glass , graphite , aromatic polyamide , such as but not limited to aramid fiber epoxies or thermoplastics may also be used . each portion is bonded or consolidated together . after the portions are bonded or consolidated together all of the truss structural elements form a box structure for each structural element . a cap 206 of the rib is open and becomes closed when the wing skin is bonded to the rib . a foam core may be utilized in the hollow spaces of the rib or truss . in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 includes a lateral flange that is coupled to an outer periphery of truss rib assembly 102 that extends laterally away from truss rib assembly 102 . lateral flange 208 may have a right hand portion and a left hand portion that each extend away from each other . in other embodiments , only a right hand or left hand flange is used . in the exemplary embodiment , flange 208 extends about the entire periphery of truss rib assembly 102 . in an alternative embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 only extends about a portion of the periphery of truss rib assembly 102 . a forward spar flange 210 and an aft spar flange 212 are formed similarly to lateral flange 208 , but circumscribe an inner periphery of each spar opening , 214 and 216 respectively . flanges 208 , 210 , 212 illustrated at the spar and cap locations are configured to bond the rib and or rib sections to the individual skins to form skin assemblies and then bond the subassemblies into a completed wing . each web opening 218 is circumscribed by a respective right hand and / or left hand flange 220 that extends inwardly into web opening 218 . although truss rib assembly 102 is illustrated as being fabricated as a unitary truss rib assembly 102 , it should be understood that truss rib assembly 102 may be fabricated from more that one separate piece to facilitate different wing assembly methods . the use of such composite truss ribs are not limited to aircraft wings , but also to floor or roof trusses on buildings , and bridge trusses that are manufactured in different locations and are erected on site . fig3 is a section view of truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines a - a ( shown in fig2 ). in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 is formed by one or more sheets of composite material cutout to form upper chord member 202 , lower chord member , 204 , and web members 206 . the sheets are bonded together side by side and flanges applied to the periphery of truss rib assembly 102 and openings 218 . the flange at section a - a includes a left hand lateral portion 302 and a right hand lateral portion 304 each extending away from a centerline 306 of the composite sheets . the flange also includes a right hand flange portion 308 that extends into opening 218 and a left hand flange portion 310 that is complementary to flange portion 308 . in the exemplary embodiment , right hand flange portion 308 and left hand flange portion 310 are co - bonded to facilitate coupling the composite sheets together . left hand lateral portion 302 and a right hand lateral portion 304 are configured to receive skin members in a bonding relationship to facilitate assembling a wing structure . fig4 is a section view of truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines b - b ( shown in fig2 ). in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines b - b includes forward spar flange 210 on both sides of forward spar opening 214 and flanges 220 that extend into openings 218 and that facilitate coupling the composite sheets together . fig5 is a section view of truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines c - c ( shown in fig2 ). in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines c - c includes a left hand flange half 502 and a right hand flange half 504 and flanges 220 that extend into openings 218 and that facilitate coupling the composite sheets together . fig6 is a section view of truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines d - d ( shown in fig2 ). in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines d - d includes a left hand flange half 602 and a right hand flange half 604 and flanges 220 that extend into openings 218 and that facilitate coupling the composite sheets together . fig7 is a section view of truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines e - e ( shown in fig2 ). in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 102 taken along section lines e - e includes aft spar flange 212 on both sides of aft spar opening 216 and on each of a left hand flange 702 and a right flange 704 . truss rib assembly 102 also includes lateral flange 208 that extends along upper chord member 202 and lower chord member 204 . aft spar flange 212 facilitates coupling truss rib assembly 102 to aft spar 114 and lateral flange 208 facilitates coupling covering sections or skin members to truss rib assembly 102 during assembly . fig8 is a side cross - sectional view of a truss rib assembly 800 in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the disclosure . in the exemplary embodiment , truss rib assembly 800 is fabricated in three portions , a forward portion 802 , a center portion 804 , and an aft portion 806 . each portion is formed of a composite sheet material such as pw or 5h material or a continuous fiber wound in channels oriented in a pattern representing a respective portion of an upper chord 810 , a lower chord 812 , and interconnecting structural members 814 forming the truss web . in some embodiments , it may be advantageous to form one or more of forward portion 802 , a center portion 804 , and an aft portion 806 of sheet material while other portions are formed of placed fib fabricated material . assembly is accomplished by joining forward portion 802 , a center portion 804 , and an aft portion 806 . in one embodiment , forward portion 802 and center portion 804 are assembled to a forward spar ( not shown ) prior to being joined to each other and center portion 504 and an aft portion 506 are assembled to a rear spar ( not shown ) prior to being joined to each other . the above - described methods of forming composite structural members and composite truss structures formed thereby are cost - effective and highly reliable . the methods and structures include composite sheet material formed and bonded together in a truss that includes an upper and lower chord as well as a web containing plurality of structural truss elements . the truss includes flange members for facilitating stiffening the truss and attaching skin or decking to the truss members . the composite sheet material is bonded or consolidated together to facilitates providing strength and stability . the lightweight truss simplifies handling with less or smaller support equipment . accordingly , the methods and structures facilitate reducing weight and fabrication time , and improving strength and stiffness of the structural member in a cost - effective and reliable manner . while embodiments of the disclosure have been described in terms of various specific embodiments , those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments of the disclosure can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims .	8
first of all , let us remember that a vehicle which is moving along is subjected to the action of three forces which are : the drag fx , the sideslip fy , and the lift fz . the moments of these forces are determined with respect to a frame of reference centred on the centre of gravity of the vehicle and having three orthogonal axes x — longitudinal —, y — transverse —, z — vertical —. as represented in fig1 , these moments are : roll rx , in the case of drag , pitch ry , in the case of sideslip , yaw rz , in the case of lift . the stability of the vehicle is inversely proportional to the moments of these forces ; in other words , the better these forces are minimized , the more stable a vehicle is . referring first of all to fig2 , it is possible to see that the steer - by - wire steering system can comprise a control member . 2 which , in the case illustrated , is a steer wheel . the control member 2 could be a hand tiller , a lever or a rudder bar . it is by virtue of this member that the driver sets a set - point path to be given to the vehicle . the angle that a driver applies to the control member 2 is measured by a sensor 3 , the signal of which is transmitted to a cpu 4 . the cpu 4 can suitably include a microprocessor , a data memory such as a ram memory and a program memory such as a rom memory . according to a preloaded calculation routine , the cpu 4 generates an output signal , which can be transmitted to two actuators 5 a , 5 b responsible , respectively , for orienting two steer wheels 6 a , 6 b with respect to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle . in the example depicted , it may also be noted that each of the steer wheels 6 a , 6 b can be equipped with an antilock braking system ( abs system ) comprising , in a known way , wheel speed sensors 7 a , 7 b which can be connected to a cpu ( not depicted in the drawing ). this cpu is able to limit the extent to which the wheels lock up under braking on a surface that offers very little adhesion . to implement the method according to the invention the vehicle can also be equipped with a yaw sensor 8 . the yaw sensor 8 measures the yaw speed , that is to say the rotational speed of the chassis about its vertical axis . the yaw sensor 8 can be situated at the centre of the vehicle near the centre of gravity or , if it is positioned at a location offset from the centre , an electronic program repositions it in a virtual sense at the centre of gravity . the data measured by the yaw sensor 8 can be used in an electronic stability system ( esp ) preventing sideslip for controlling the path followed , and which does not form part of the present invention . in the method according to the invention , the data measured by the yaw sensor 8 can be compared with a theoretical yaw speed . the theoretical yaw speed can be determined as a function of the angle that the driver has given to the control member 2 and the speed of the vehicle . other parameters may be taken into consideration in determining the theoretical yaw speed such as the load of the vehicle . as has been seen , an aspect of the invention is to improve the stability of a vehicle when it is running along a surface with asymmetric adhesion . this type of condition may be encountered , for example , when the vehicle is running along a road surface partially covered in black ice . in this case , one steer wheel 6 a may find itself on an area exhibiting low adhesion — for example , black ice — while the other steer wheel 6 b finds itself on an area exhibiting good adhesion — for example , dry tarmac —; this type of condition is extremely commonplace particularly in the winter period and may cause accidents through the driver losing control of his vehicle . in fig4 to 6 , the area of low adhesion is symbolically bounded by dotted lines . in such a scenario , if the driver commands his vehicle to brake , the braking is unbalanced because the steer wheels 6 a , 6 b are in contact with a surface that has different coefficients of adhesion . this imbalance can be picked up by the wheel speed sensors 7 a , 7 b of the abs braking system . a signal originating from the abs speed sensors 7 a , 7 b can be carried to the cpu 4 indicating a difference between the speeds of the steer wheels 6 a , 6 b , and this testifies to asymmetry in the conditions of adhesion between the two steer wheels ; this is represented by the block 100 in fig2 . the consequence of this imbalance is that the vehicle may go into oversteer , that is to say may experience sideslip as its back end steps out . in the form illustrated , in the step 200 the cpu 4 can receive a signal originating from the sensor 3 connected to the control member 2 indicating the position thereof , and a signal originating from a speed sensor 9 indicating the speed of the vehicle . using these two signals , the computer can formulate a theoretical yaw speed . at the same time , in the step 300 , the cpu 4 can receive from the yaw sensor 8 the actual yaw speed that the vehicle is experiencing . in the current situation , that is to say under braking in an area of asymmetric adhesion leading to oversteer , the actual yaw speed is different from the theoretical yaw speed , and is greater than the latter . in concrete terms , this is manifested in the fact that the vehicle can escape the control of its driver that is to say that the vehicle no longer follows the set - point path that the driver wishes to give to his vehicle . this thus results in a loss of control of the vehicle . if the difference between the actual yaw parameter and the theorical yaw parameter exceeds a reference data — threshold value or a function of the difference such as a variation rate of the difference —, the cpu 4 then formulates a set - point angle θ 1 and θ 2 to be applied to each of the steer wheels 6 a , 6 b of the vehicle in order to combat the oversteer , and this is represented by block 400 in fig3 . fig4 illustrates a conventional way of combating oversteer , that is to say of opposing the yaw moment rz . this conventional method is to orient each of the steer wheels 6 a , 6 b by an angle θ . the important point to note is that the two steer wheels 6 a , 6 b are oriented by substantially the same angle in the opposite direction to the direction in which the moment is applied to the vehicle . the problem is then that the vehicle , which continues its journey , regains conditions of uniform adhesion . now , given that the actuators 5 a , 5 b cannot instantaneously re - orient the wheels 6 a , 6 b along the axis of the vehicle when the vehicle regains conditions of uniform adhesion , the stability of the vehicle is greatly disrupted . in order to remedy that , in the method according to the invention , the cpu 4 formulates a set - point angle θ 1 for the wheel 7 a which is on the surface of greater adhesion . the angle θ 1 is oriented in the direction opposite to the direction of the moment rz to combat the oversteering of the vehicle . by contrast , the cpu 4 formulates a set - point angle θ 2 for the wheel 6 b which is on the surface of lower adhesion . the set - point angle θ 2 is different from the set - point angle θ 1 ; the near - parallel configuration normally found between two steer wheels is not maintained . it is , for example , possible to anticipate two scenarios as far as the orientation of the steer wheels 6 a , 6 b is concerned . one scenario which is illustrated in fig5 is to formulate a set - point angle θ 2 that is not nil but oriented in the same direction as the moment rz applied to the vehicle as a result of the asymmetric adhesion conditions . what this amounts to is placing the two wheels 6 a , 6 b in a configuration in which the steer wheels 6 a , 6 b converge and thus adopt a configuration that could be called a snowplough configuration . this first scenario may be encouraged when the braking set - point is high — for example , when the driver wishes to bring his vehicle to rest —; this is because the vehicle is then in a configuration in which its steer wheels are in a snowplough configuration , which enhances the effectiveness of the braking action while at the same time keeping the vehicle in a straight line when the vehicle regains conditions of uniform adhesion . it is preferable for the angles θ 1 and θ 2 , which are oriented in opposite directions , to have the same magnitude in order to preserve the equilibrium of the vehicle when it regains conditions of uniform adhesion . the transition between the area of asymmetric adhesion and the area of uniform adhesion therefore takes place with markedly less disruption than in the case of steer wheels oriented as shown in fig3 . another scenario which is illustrated by fig5 may anticipate formulating a zero set - point angle θ 1 ; the steer wheel 6 b then remains along the axis of the vehicle . this other scenario may be encouraged when the braking set - point is not very high — for example when the driver merely wishes to slow his vehicle down —; what actually happens is that one of the wheels — the wheel in contact with the surface of lower coefficient of adhesion — is along the axis of the vehicle , and is thus in position for the vehicle to continue along its path . it may also be anticipated for the orientation of the wheel 6 b to be varied between a position in which θ 2 is nil and a position in which θ 2 is not nil as a function of a driving parameter such as , for example , a variation in the braking set - point given by the driver . it must be appreciated that although the method according to the invention has been described in relation to a vehicle braking on asymmetrical adhesion condition and running in a straight line , the method can of course be implemented in a vehicle braking on asymmetrical adhesion condition and running in a curve . in this latter case , the wheel 6 a , 6 b can already be angled by initial angles θ 1 i and θ 2 i — θ 1 i and θ 2 i depend on the radius of the curve — when the vehicle reaches an area of on asymmetrical adhesion . the initial orientations θ 1 i and θ 2 i of the wheels 6 a , 6 b are modified respectively by θ 1 and θ 2 , θ 1 and θ 2 being formulated in the same way as they are previously in the case of a vehicle running in a straight line . of course , the invention is not limited to the embodiment just described but on the contrary encompasses all embodiments thereof .	1
in fig1 and 2 , a single circuit interrupter and actuating mechanism are illustrated , but are shown in separate drawings for convenience . it will be noted , however , that fig1 and 2 are the continuous part of a single device . the circuit interrupter chosen to illustrate the application of the invention is shown principally in fig1 in the form of a two - pressure circuit interrupter . note , however , that any desired type of circuit interrupter or other load could have been shown to cooperate with the novel operating mechanism of the invention which is shown principally in fig2 . the specific circuit interrupter shown in fig1 has main terminals 10 and 11 for the single pole shown . the first terminal 10 is connected to a conductive tube 12 which may be of copper and has openings such as openings 13 and 14 which communicate with the interior of the steel enclosure section 15 . enclosure 15 is filled with low - pressure gas , such as sulfur hexafluoride , at from 30 to 45 psi . suitable fittings 16 and 17 are connected to member 15 to enable loading and evacuation of gas . member 15 is then fixed to a steel ring 20 as by welding , and the end of tube 12 is fixed to copper ring 21 in any desired manner . rings 20 and 21 are then bolted to the aluminum ring 22 and a pressuretight fitting is formed by the sealing ring 23 . a central opening 24 in member 22 receives a spider 25 which carries a copper arcing contact 26 . opening 24 also receives ring 27 which may be of brass and which supports a plurality of contact fingers . copper contact fingers 28 and 29 are shown in fig1 and are two of a circular cluster of similar fingers . all contact fingers are spring - biased inwardly at their both ends by springs , such as springs 30 , 31 , 32 and 33 shown for contacts 28 and 29 . a low - resistance electrical connection is made between the contact fingers 28 and 29 and the member 27 as by flexible conductors 35 and 36 , respectively . the contact fingers 28 and 29 are carried within an aluminum ring 40 which is fixed within an epoxy ring 41 , as shown . an inflatable seal 42 is then held onto the ring 40 as by the brass plate 43 to serve as a valve seal in the manner disclosed in abovenoted u . s . pat . no . 3 , 821 , 506 . the outer epoxy cylinder 50 is then fixed to the aluminum member 22 and sealed thereto by the sealing ring 51 and is fixed at its other end to an aluminum ring 52 which is continuous with the terminal 11 . a sealing ring 53 ensures a good pressure seal between ring 52 and cylinder 50 . the interior of cylinder 50 is filled by means of a conventional valve ( not shown ) with high - pressure sulfur hexafluoride which may be at a pressure of about 250 psi . this high pressure is normally isolated from the lowpressure region within member 15 by a seal which is formed to the inflatable seal 42 as shown above the center line in fig1 . in fig1 the movable contact is shown as an elongated cylindrical contact member 60 shown in the engaged position above the center line and the disengaged position below the center line . contact 60 carries a sealing ring member 61 having an annular sealing projection 62 which engages the inflatable seal 42 when the contacts are engaged . sealing member 61 is an integral part of the movable contact and makes sliding engagement with a conventional wiping contact ring 63 which is fixed in the copper ring 64 by the plate 65 which may be of brass . the copper ring 64 is then bolted to the aluminum ring 52 as shown . the movable contact 60 is then fixed to aluminum shaft 70 which extends into an epoxy tube 71 and through a wiper seal 72a . aluminum body 70 is fixed to aluminum tube 72 which is in turn connected to a glass filament operating rod 73 which is operated by the novel operating mechanism of the invention as will be disclosed in connection with fig2 . as is shown in both fig1 and 2 , the aluminum plate 52 has an epoxy cylinder 80 connected thereto and sealed thereto by the sealing ring 81 where the cylinder 80 encloses the high - pressure volume 82 along with the epoxy cylinder 50 . in the arrangement described to this point in fig1 a current path can be traced through the system between terminals 10 and 11 and through the closed contacts ( above the center line ) in the circuit which includes contact 10 , tube 12 , ring 21 , member 22 , conductors 35 and 36 and the other conductors associated with the the other contact fingers , the contact fingers such as contact fingers 28 and 29 , movable contact 60 , contact ring 63 , copper member 64 and then the aluminum ring 52 which is connected to the terminal 11 . so long as the contact 60 is closed , the sealing bead 62 of the movable contact seals against the inflated rubber ring 42 and thus all high pressure within the breaker is confined to volume 82 and to the right of the sealing bead 62 . when the contacts are opened by the movement of the operating shaft 73 to the right in fig1 the contacts are physically separated and the movable contact 60 moves to the position shown beneath the center line in fig1 . at the same time , the pressure seal at seal 42 is broken and high - pressure gas from volume 82 can flow between movable contact 60 and the contact fingers such as contact fingers 28 and 29 , thereby to cool and deionize the arc which is subsequently transferred to the arcing contact 26 and extinguished by the cooling of the sulfur hexafluoride gas . this gas then flows into the low - pressure region within member 15 and may be exhausted to the external atmosphere through appropriate filters in the member 15 . referring next to fig2 there is shown therein the novel operating mechanism of the present invention which can be used for the operation of the interrupter of fig1 . the novel mechanism of the invention includes an operating piston 90 which has a cylindrical outer body 91 and a sealing protrusion 92 . the interior diameter of member 90 is fixed to an aluminum sleeve 93 which is appropriately fixed to the glass filament rod 73 . a nut 94 may be threaded onto aluminum member 93 to secure member 90 in position . in accordance with the present invention , the operating piston 90 is separate from the contact 60 of the interrupter of fig1 and is contained in its own housing arrangement and will be operated both by a lenz coil actuator and pneumatic operating system as will be described . the operating mechanism portion of the structure includes an outer housing portion which includes a steel ring 100 which is sealed against cylinder 80 by the sealing ring 101 and a steel tube section 102 which receives an electrical fitting 103 and a gas fitting 104 . electrical fitting 103 receives the electrical operating energy for the lenz coil as will be described , and fitting 104 which permits low - pressure draining as will be described . tube 102 is connected to a stainless steel ring 114 which is bolted to an aluminum plate 105 with a pressure seal 106 compressed between members 114 and 105 . plate 105 is bolted to a further aluminum plate 107 and is sealed thereto by the seal 108 . a slotted aluminum support cylinder 109 is then bolted to member 105 and is supported thereby and carries an aluminum plate 110 . the slotted cylinder 109 receives an annular ring 120 which may be of stainless steel and which is loosely fitted between the cylinder 109 and an internal ring 121 which is also of stainless steel . pressure rings 122 and 123 are formed between an internal shoulder in the ring 110 and the interior of ring 120 and the outer periphery of member 121 . the loosely mounted annular member 120 is then springsupported with respect to the fixed support 109 as by springs 125 . thus , member 120 is capable of axial movement relative to support 109 with this movement being guided as by guide pins located around the periphery of the member 120 , such as the guide pin 126 . the right - hand surface of the floating or spring - mounted member 120 receives a rubber sealing ring 130 which is sealed between two brass rings 131 and 132 which are bolted to the right - hand surface of member 120 . ring 121 is fixed relative to the stationary support members 109 and 110 but is free to move axially with respect thereto . thus , the member 110 has a projecting latching member 140 which limits the righthand maximum location of the steel ring 121 while the ring is free to move to the left to the internal surface 141 of member 110 . a plurality of springs such as spring 142 are fixed between the member 121 and the member 110 so that the member 121 essentially floats with respect to member 110 . the member 121 then has fixed thereto an inpulse coil support disc 150 which carries an impulse coil 151 which may be of any desired type and defines a lenz coil type of operator . note that the lenz coil 151 generally floats due to the spring - mounting as by springs 142 of the main support member 121 . similarly , it should be noted that the valve seal 130 generally floats by virtue of the spring - mounting of the member 120 . the piston 90 which is the main contact operating piston has a short - circuited aluminum ring 160 fixed thereto which serves as the repulsion coil which cooperates with the lenz coil 151 . because of the generally floating configuration of the lenz coil 151 and of the valve seal 130 , the sealing bead 92 of the piston operator 91 and the short - circuited ring 160 of the lenz coil operator can seat in suitable positions relative to the valve seal 130 and the lenz coil 151 , respectively , when the contact is closed and the operating mechanism is in the position shown above the center line in fig2 . electrical connection is made to the lenz coil 151 through the connection 103 and includes a conductor 270 of a coaxial system which passes through opening 271 in the member 121 and is then electrically connected to the coil in the manner generally described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 792 , 217 , in the names of lorne d . mcconnell and ralph mockli , dated feb . 12 , 1974 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention . the novel invention also provides a novel buffer system for bringing the operating mechanism to a quick stop after it has reached extremely high speeds at the end of of a relatively long stroke . the buffer or damper system of the invention is supported from the plate 107 and includes a cylindrical steel bracket 170 which is sealed to the plate 107 as by the seal ring 171 . the outer diameter of member 170 contains a wiper seal 172 which slidably receives the interior diameter of cylindrical extension 91 of piston 90 . the interior diameter of member 170 slidably supports a steel ring 180 which has a relatively large mass . steel ring 180 carries a rubber ring 181 which is dimensioned to fit and receive the right - hand facing surface of piston 90 . the steel ring 180 is axially movable to the right and away from the shoulder 182 and is movable into a further rubber shock - absorbing ring 183 which is fixed to the aluminum plate 184 which is bolted to member 107 . the operation of the operating mechanism of fig2 can be now described . assume first that the operating mechanism is in the closed position shown above the center line in fig2 . in this position , the repulsion disc 160 is coupled very closely to the lenz coil 151 with the lenz coil 151 moving slightly as necessary in order to accommodate the disc 160 in surface - to - surface contact . similarly , the protrusion 92 of the piston 90 securely seals against the seal 130 with the seal penetration being controlled and limited by the point at which the left - hand surface of the operating piston 90 engages the brass plate member 131 . again this accommodation is obtained by the springmounting of the member 120 which carries the seal 130 . in order to operate the operating mechanism , a capacitor bank is discharged into the lenz coil 151 through the coaxial connection conductors including conductor 270 connected to the external connector 103 . an extremely high repulsion force is created between the lenz coil 151 and the repulsion disc 160 . when the repulsion disc 160 begins to move , piston 90 also moves to the right , and the seal to seal 130 is opened . relatively high - pressure gas on the outside of piston 90 is applied to low - pressure volume 191 . the initial low pressure in volume 191 is created through conduit 190 which is to the left of piston 90 in order to apply a high pneumatic force to the piston 90 . note that this pneumatic force will be present even after the repulsion force between the lenz coil 151 and repulsion disc 160 has decreased due to the separation between these numbers . thus , there is an extremely high speed and continuous motion of the piston 90 to the right and to the position shown below the center line in fig2 thereby to move the operating rod 73 to the right and thus open the circuit interrupter to which the contact rod 73 is connected . once the piston 90 reaches its righthand position , it engages the shock absorber assembly which is composed of rubber discs 181 and 183 . the total mass of these members including the mass of steel member 180 is approximately equal to the moving mass of the moving mechanism and therefore , upon impact , a large portion of the kinetic energy of the moving parts is transferred to the shock absorber . the remaining energy is absorbed by the compression or distortion of the two rubber bodies that are connected in series . possible rebound of the mechanism is prevented by the high pressure which is applied against the left - hand face of the piston 90 . in order to reclose the mechanism , a conduit 200 is provided which is connected to a channel 201 in the member 107 and which channel is in communication with the sealed right - hand surface of piston 90 . thus , in order to reclose , pressure is applied to conduit 200 to apply a force to the piston 90 which moves it to the left and to the closed and sealed position . note that , when the piston 90 reaches its closed position , the lenz coil 151 will automatically align in closest possible proximity to the repulsion disc 160 and the bead 92 will seal with appropriate seal penetration into the seal 130 . in the device of fig2 the aluminum member 93 continues to the right and terminates on an aluminum cup 210 which is biased toward the right by the spring 211 . nuts 212 and 213 on extending portion 214 of member 93 engage the interior of cup 210 to press cup 210 to the right when the operating mechanism is closed . cup member 210 is supported for easy sliding motion by the teflon ring 220 which is carried by aluminum support disc 221 which is , in turn , fixed to the aluminum end plate 222 . a steel cylinder 223 is fixed between aluminum plate 222 and aluminum plate 107 and forms a pressure - tight connection between the two . the cup member 210 may then be used to operate a position indicator or suitable microswitch or other mechanism 224 as desired . suitable pressure fittings 225 and 226 are connected to the cylinder 223 . a rubber shock absorber 230 is bolted to the plate 222 in order to absorb the shock of opening of the cup member 210 when it reaches its right - hand most position during the opening of the operating mechanism . cup 210 is not attached to the rod 93 and is free to move towards the right at a much slower velocity than the rod 93 is moving . this feature is added to prevent over accelerating the micro - switches 224 which are used as auxiliary contacts to identify the position of the mechanism . an additional feature of this mechanism is that in the present application it does not have any dynamic seal to atmosphere , thus constituting a completely closed system . although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described , many variations and modifications will now be apparent to those skilled in the art , and it is preferred therefore that the instant invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein but only by the appended claims .	7
fig1 illustrates a representative printing press 10 for repetitively printing desired images upon a substrate such as a paper web . the printing press 10 illustrated is a web offset press and includes a reel stand 14 that supports a reel 16 of the web 12 . it should be noted that the invention is equally applicable to sheet fed presses and other non - offset presses such as gravure presses and newspaper presses for example . the printing press 10 includes printing units 18 , 20 , 22 , and 24 , each of which prints using a different color ink . for example , in the illustrated printing press 10 , the first printing unit 18 encountered by the web 12 prints with black ink and the other printing units 20 , 22 and 24 respectively print with magenta ink , cyan ink , and yellow ink . it should be understood , however , that the invention is capable of being carried out with printing units that print in different colors , and / or with fewer or additional printing units . the printing press 10 includes a drive system 26 , including drive rollers 28 that move the web 12 from the reel 16 through each of the printing units 18 , 20 , 22 , and 24 . each printing unit 18 , 20 , 22 , and 24 includes a pair of parallel rotatable blanket cylinders 30 and 32 that nip the web 12 . each printing unit 18 , 20 , 22 , and 24 further includes a plate cylinder 34 which has a printing plate thereon , and which applies an ink image to the blanket cylinder 30 . the images printed by each of the printing units 18 , 20 , 22 and 24 overlap to create composite multi - color images on the traveling web 12 . optionally , if it is desired to print on both sides of the web 12 , each printing unit 18 , 20 , 22 , and 24 will also include a plate cylinder 36 having a printing plate thereon for applying an ink image to the blanket cylinder 32 . the blanket cylinders 30 and 32 transfer the ink images , received from the plate cylinders 34 and 36 , to the web 12 . after exiting the printing stations 18 , 20 , 22 , and 24 , the now imprinted web 12 is guided through various processing units , such as a tensioner 38 , a dryer 40 , and a chill stand 42 . the imprinted web is then fed to a former / folder 44 . as shown in fig5 ( a )- 5 ( d ), a web inspection system 48 includes a plurality of web inspection modules 50 for scanning the web 12 to produce image data representative of the imprinted web . in particular , fig5 ( a ) is a perspective view of a web inspection system according to one embodiment . a longitudinal direction 46 is defined as the direction of web travel , with a lateral direction 47 substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 46 . fig6 is a side view of the web inspection system shown in fig5 ( a ). although the web inspection system 48 can be mounted at any convenient location on the printing press 10 , in one embodiment , the web inspection modules 50 are mounted to a mounting bar 52 that is mounted to side plates 54 of an idler roller 56 such as at the chill stand 42 . in this manner , the web 12 is stabilized on the surface of the idler roller 56 when the imprinted web is scanned and the system 48 is readily incorporated on an existing printing press . the web inspection system 48 also includes a distribution box 58 having , for example , an ethernet hub for coupling signals to and from each web inspection module 50 to a central processing unit of the press ( not shown ). the web inspection system 48 is low profile and is located in close proximity to the web 12 . in the preferred embodiment , a single web inspection module 50 is designed to include a contact image sensor 66 ( one embodiment shown in fig7 ) to acquire image signals corresponding to approximately 12 . 4 inches across the web , i . e ., in the lateral direction . thus , four web inspection modules 50 can be used to acquire data across the entire width of a 48 inch web , with the web inspection modules being aligned such that their contact image sensors 66 slightly overlap in the lateral direction . in one embodiment , this overlap is on the order of 0 . 1 inch . the web inspection system 48 can also be designed in order to take into account web weave , i . e ., the lateral movement of the web itself , which in some presses can be on the order of two inches or so . in such a case , the web inspection system 48 can include contact image sensors 66 that image an area having a width that is greater than the width of the web by the amount of expected lateral web weave . each module 50 essentially provides image signals for a longitudinally extending slice of the imprinted web . using multiple modules 50 allow image signals corresponding to the entire width of the web to be obtained . fig2 schematically illustrates in block diagram form one embodiment of a web inspection module 50 in accordance with the invention . the web inspection module 50 includes components such as a light source 62 , a lens array 64 , a contact image sensor 66 , a sensor interface circuit 68 , a power / interface circuit 70 , an image processor 72 , and cooling devices 74 . the web inspection module 50 is operable to scan at least a portion of an imprinted web moving in the longitudinal direction 46 in a printing press . each web inspection module 50 receives from the distribution box 58 a plurality of signals including an encoder signal ( as is known in the art ), power and ground signals , and optionally , a light control signal . in particular , the power / interface circuit 70 receives these signals , buffers them as necessary , and supplies appropriate signals to several of the other components . as more fully explained below , the light source 62 provides light to illuminate a portion of the web . reflected light from the web passes through the lens array 64 and is measured by a contact image sensor 66 having a plurality of sensing elements 67 ( one embodiment shown in fig7 ) to generate image signals . the sensor interface circuit 68 receives the image signals from the sensing elements 67 , performs analog to digital conversion of the signals , and processes the digital image signals to produce image data that is then sent to the image processor 72 . the image data is representative of the imprinted web and may represent color information or monochromatic information , as explained below . the cooling devices 74 operate to cool the contact image sensor 66 and several other circuit components in order to allow the contact image sensors to operate at an appropriate clock rate to provide image signals at a desired longitudinal resolution . the image processor 72 performs calculations and operations using the image data according to a desired application , such as a defect detection application , color registration application , or the like . output data from the image processor 72 is then transmitted to the distribution box 58 to be transferred to a central processing unit of the press . fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ) illustrate perspective views of a web inspection module 50 according to one embodiment . this web inspection module 50 includes a compact housing 76 , having dimensions on the order of sixteen inches wide , ten inches high , and a depth of five inches . the housing 76 provides protection for several of the module components . fig3 ( a ) also illustrates the input ports 78 for chilled water for the cooling devices 74 , and also an access panel 80 for easy access to the components inside the housing 76 , and in particular to the power / interface circuit 70 . fig3 ( b ) illustrates one embodiment of an input light port 82 and light distributor 84 for receiving light from the light source and distributing light to a portion of the web . fig4 ( a )- 4 ( e ) are exploded views that illustrate the physical arrangement of several of the module components within the housing 76 . in particular , fig4 ( a ) shows the power / interface circuit 70 , and the image processor 72 coupled to a network board 86 providing connections , such as ethernet connections , to the distribution box 58 . fig4 ( a ) also illustrates the placement of a lens array 64 and lens array housing 94 , and various sealing elements 90 . the lens array 64 couples light reflected from the imprinted web to the contact image sensor 66 , in one embodiment , through a transparent protector 91 . fig4 ( c ) and 4 ( d ) illustrate the contact image sensor 66 and the sensor interface circuit 68 arranged substantially perpendicular to each other . a cooling device 74 a in the form of tubes with chilled water operates to cool the sensor 66 and sensor interface circuit 68 . fig4 ( b ) shows the placement of cooling device 74 b for cooling the image processor 72 . in one embodiment , the cooling devices 74 a , 74 b are connected to the water supply of the chill unit 42 . such chill units are typically part of a web offset printing press . the cooling devices 74 a , 74 b operate to keep the components within a specified operating temperature range , for example , at a temperature below 55 degrees centigrade . fig4 ( e ) further illustrates the light distributor 84 , such as a fiber optic bundle , for transmission and distribution of the light from the light source 62 to a desired portion of the web . the desired web portion has a dimension measured in the lateral direction at least equal to the length of the sensing elements 67 ( note that the length of the sensing elements 67 is also measured in the lateral direction ). the light source 62 can be , for example , an ac or a dc light bulb . using such an optical distributor , the ac or dc light bulb can be located on top of the housing and the light from the bulb transmitted to the desired portion of the web . referring to fig5 ( b )- 5 ( d ), illustrated therein is a light source box 98 for housing the light source 62 , such as a light bulb 100 . although only two boxes 98 are illustrated , in this embodiment , each web inspection module 50 would have its own light source box and bulb . also illustrated is a light tube 102 for transmitting light from the light source box 98 to light distributor 84 via port 82 ( both shown in fig3 ( b )). further illustrated are connections 104 between the web inspection modules 50 and the distribution box 58 , which are routed via the mounting bar 52 . fig5 ( d ) is a top view of the web inspection system illustrated in fig5 ( b ). in the preferred embodiment , the ac or dc light sources are non - strobed such that light is continuously provided while the imprinted web is being scanned . each web inspection module acquires a single line of data at a time , with the movement of the web providing additional lines over time . thus , for each web inspection module 50 , image signals are obtained for the entire longitudinal extent of each repeat of the desired image on the web , for that portion of the web width scanned by that particular module 50 . thus , the web inspection system can provide 100 % coverage of the web 12 . the lifespan and cost of the light source 62 are considerations in the design of the web inspection module 50 , with ac light bulbs typically being cheaper and lasting longer than dc light bulbs . alternatively , a line array of leds can be used as the light source 62 for illuminating a portion of the imprinted web . in such a case , the leds can be arranged along the width of the web inspection module such that an optical distributor is not necessary . preferably , leds emitting white light are employed , although other leds such as those emitting red , blue or green light can be used , depending upon the sensors used and the type of image data required for the application . the leds provide the option of pulsed operation . preferably , light is delivered to the web ( directly or indirectly from a light source 62 ) at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the reflected light travelling to the lens array 64 . the use of leds as a light source may require the use of reflectors to focus the emitted light in an advantageous manner . the power / interface circuit 70 includes the necessary components to supply appropriate power and ground signals to the other components of the web inspection module . in the preferred embodiment , the lens array 64 is a gradient index ( grin ) lens array , such as a selfoc brand lens array , available from nsg europe , as illustrated in fig8 . this lens array has one or more rows of gradient index lenses , with each lens having a continuous change of refractive index inside a cylinder . the lenses couple light reflected from the imprinted web to a plurality of sensing elements of a contact image sensor 66 . the images from adjacent lenses overlap and form a continuous image adjacent the contact image sensor 66 . the array provides a one to one correspondence between the width of an image sensing region and the width w ( illustrated in fig7 ) of a single sensing element 67 . in other words , each sensing element 67 measures light reflected by a corresponding image region on the web , wherein a width of each sensing element is substantially equal to a width of the corresponding image region measured in the lateral direction . if the bottom of lens array 64 is at a distance d 1 from the web 12 , then the distance between the top of the lens array and the contact image sensor 66 is substantially equal to distance d 1 . in a preferred embodiment , d 1 is approximately ¼ inch ( a typical idler roller has a diameter of approximately four to six inches ). the lens array has a height ( measured radially outwardly from the idler roller ) of approximately ½ to ¾ inches . the contact image sensor 66 can include a plurality of sensing elements 67 , and one embodiment of the contact image sensor in the form of a sensor board with input / output ( i / o ) terminals is schematically illustrated in fig7 . in the preferred embodiment , the contact image sensor can include twenty identical image sensor chips 69 placed end to end , having a sensing length of 12 . 4 inches . such sensors are known in the art and are commercially available . each sensor chip 69 can include four rows , denoted mono , red , green and blue , of sensing elements 67 for respectively sensing light having wavelengths within a particular range , such as white , red , blue and green light . each row of the contact image sensor can include 7440 active sensing elements ( i . e ., 372 per sensor chip ) and 120 dark sensing elements for reference purposes . for example , the sensing elements 67 are pn junction photodiodes fabricated using cmos technology and have a width of 42 . 33 microns , which corresponds to 600 sensing elements per inch . various other contact image sensors can be used utilizing other known sensing technologies such as ccd sensing elements . in the preferred embodiment , the contact image sensor 66 is externally configured to read out signals from the twenty sensing chips 69 in parallel . in one embodiment , the sensor chip is used in a monochromatic mode , while in another embodiment , the r , g , and b channels are used . as stated , the image signals are acquired for one line at a time . the resolution in the longitudinal direction is determined by the web speed and a clock rate . for example , for a desired longitudinal resolution of 75 lines of image data per inch ( 75 pixels per inch ), and a web speed of 3000 feet / min ( 600 inches / sec ), the web will move 1 / 75 of an inch in 1 / 45 , 000 second . thus , a line rate of 45 khz is required to provide resolution of 75 pixels per inch . each chip requires 372 clock cycles to output the image signals from each sensing element , so that a single line from all three channels requires a clock speed greater than 50 . 22 mhz (= 45 khz * 372 * 3 ). in a preferred embodiment , a 60 mhz clock signal from the sensor interface board can be employed to clock out data from the r , g , b rows of each chip . the sensor interface circuit 68 includes an analog front end and a digital processing circuit . in the preferred embodiment , the analog front end includes an a / d converter for converting the image signals from analog to digital . further , the a / d converter includes a programmable gain amplifier , and the voltage value corresponding to an averaged output of two sensing elements is converted to an eight bit digital voltage signal . thus , the lateral resolution at the output of the a / d converter corresponds to 300 pixels per inch . the digital processing circuit 72 operates to further reduce the lateral resolution to around 75 pixels per inch . this can be accomplished by averaging every four values to produce a single value , or by simple deleting 75 % of the values . the digital processing circuit also operates to adjust the digital values by an offset and gain amount . an appropriate offset and gain amount for the sensing elements can be determined by obtaining values for no light conditions , and full light conditions , as is known in the art . the image processor processes the image data . the processing can include , for example , comparison with reference image data for ink color control , color registration , and / or defect detection purposes , or for other applications . various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims .	1
as used herein , the term “ curtain ” is understood to mean a generally sheet - like structure having a top edge , a top edge portion extending downward from the top edge , and opposing side edges extending downward from the top edge . the distance between the side edges generally establishing the width of the curtain . as used herein , “ top edge ” is understood to mean the uppermost part of the curtain when hung in a conventional manner for curtains . “ top ” is intended to have its plain meaning , including the highest or uppermost part or location . fig1 illustrates a known curtain assembly including a curtain 10 , a support rod or curtain rod 12 which passes through openings 14 forming a passage in the top edge portion 16 of the curtain . the openings 14 are spaced a distance from the top edge of the curtain 18 in a direction away from the top edge . accordingly , in order to hang the curtain 10 from the rod 12 , the rod must be inserted through the openings 14 and at least the top edge portion of the curtain arranged in an accordioned or corrugated fashion . fig2 illustrates a curtain according to an embodiment of the present invention . the curtain 10 includes six openings : two outer openings 14 a and four inner openings 14 b forming two pairs of inner openings in the top edge portion 16 . six generally circular openings are shown for ease of illustration only , recognizing that more than six openings may be used and shapes other than circular may also be used with similar results . each opening 14 a and 14 b is preferably substantially surrounded by a reinforcing means such as a ring 15 made of a resilient material to reinforce the openings 14 a and 14 b if the curtain 10 is susceptible to tearing and ripping . a resilient material is one that can be deformed to enable the curtain to be mounted onto and detached from the rod while maintaining the shape of the openings sufficiently to retain the curtain on the rod . the resilient material can be made of a plastic , or a resin , or metal , or a combination thereof , or any other suitable material constructed and shaped to achieve the goal of the present invention . the use of rings 15 can also improve the movement of the mounted curtain 10 on the rod as well as improve the engagement of the openings 14 a and 14 b with the rod . the rings 15 can be separate elements made integral with the curtain 10 or can be formed from the same material as curtain 10 during the formation of the curtain 10 . the rings 15 can have any shape compatible with the invention . generally , the periphery of the openings 14 a and 14 b which actually engages the rod 12 may be defined by the rings 15 rather than the curtain 10 . no distinction between these is made herein . in the two outer openings 14 a , included are cuts 20 extending through the thickness of the curtain , starting from the top of the opening 14 a and extending to the top edge of the curtain 18 . as shown in fig3 , the cuts 20 enable engagement of the curtain 10 onto the rod 12 . in the inner openings 14 b , there is a path between each pair of openings 14 b . the path between openings 14 b in a pair further enables the engagement of the curtain 10 onto the rod 12 . this path is accomplished by cuts 17 a and 17 b extending through the thickness of the curtain between each pair of openings 14 b . if openings 14 b are reinforced with rings 15 , the cuts would also extend through the rings as shown in fig2 . although this invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments , the details hereof are exemplary and are not to be construed as limitations .	0
it has been found that the presence or combination of certain compositional features produces a refractory product in which the amount of mixing water is minimized , the quantities of matrix material are minimized , the porosity of the formed dry body is minimized , the density of the formed dry body is increased , and a product having enhanced modulus of rupture and cold crushing strength values is produced . these properties can be imparted to a formed body in the absence of sintering . the coarse aggregates useful in practicing the present invention may contain fused alumina or sintered alumina ( tabular alumina ), whole alumina balls , fused bauxite , fused and sintered mullite , fused and sintered magnesia , fused and sintered magnesia aluminum spinel , fused and sintered zirconia , refractory bauxites , refractory kyanite , refractory andalusite , refractory sillimanite , silicon carbide or combinations thereof . the coarse aggregates useful in practicing the present invention can have any shape . they can be spherical , blocky , rectangular or even fibrous . in addition , they may be used alone or in combination . the binder used in the matrix may contain calcium aluminate cement , alpha bond cement , portland cement , mono - aluminum phosphate ( map ), clays , reactive alumina ( such as aa 101 ), hydratable alumina , and combinations thereof . in certain embodiments , the matrix material according to the present invention does not contain cement . other raw materials used in the matrix may include reactive aluminas , calcined alumina , tabular alumina , fused alumina , mullite , carbon ( graphite or carbon black ), silicon carbide , zirconium dioxide , magnesium oxide , aluminum silicates ( such as kyanite , andalusite , or sillimanite ), micro silica , bauxite , chromium oxide and combinations thereof . the portion of the formulation having diameters in the range of 0 . 01 to 10 micrometers , also known as the fines , may contain reactive aluminas and fume silicas . the matrix may also contain dispersing agents , plasticizers , anti - foaming or foaming agents and de - airing components . these agents are well known in the art . the method of the invention produces castable mixtures with a minimal volume of fine grains . generally , the amount of fine grains needed to create a castable is dependent on the size of the top size grain . mixes with a top grain size of 3 mesh typically need a minimum of 33 volume percent − 100 mesh grains to form a functional castable mixture . useful castable mixtures with 30 volume percent or less − 100 mesh grains , 29 volume percent or less − 100 mesh grains , 26 volume percent or less − 100 mesh grains , 25 volume percent or less − 100 mesh grains , 22 volume percent or less − 100 mesh grains or from , and including , 24 volume percent to , and including , 18 volume percent − 100 mesh grains , can be produced according to the present invention . castable mixtures with a 3 mesh top grain size typically require a minimum of 48 volume percent − 16 mesh grains to form a functional castable mixture . useful castable mixtures with 47 volume percent or less − 16 mesh grains , 45 volume percent or less − 16 mesh grains , or 43 volume percent or less − 16 mesh grains , can be produced according to the present invention . castable mixtures with a 3 mesh top grain size typically need a minimum of 58 volume percent − 6 mesh grains to form a functional castable mixture . useful castable mixtures with 55 volume percent or less − 6 mesh grains , 47 volume percent or less − 6 mesh grains , 42 volume percent or less − 6 mesh grains , or 36 volume percent or less − 6 mesh grains can be produced according to the present invention . regardless of the top grain size , a minimum volume of fine aggregate is needed for prior art castable mixtures . these minimum volumes are similar to the values given for mixes with a top grain size of 3 mesh . mesh values are expressed here as tyler values . additionally , the maximum volume percent values for − 6 mesh grains , − 14 mesh grains , − 16 mesh grains , − 28 mesh and − 100 mesh grains presented for castable mixtures with a top grain size of 3 mesh may also be used to produce castable mixtures according to the invention having a top grain size or aggregate larger than 3 mesh . for example , − ⅜ ″ aggregates , ½ ″× ¼ ″ aggregates , − ½ ″ aggregates , − ¾ ″ aggregates and − 1 ″ aggregates , mixtures of these aggregates and aggregates having a top grain size within the range of , and including , − 3 mesh and 12 ″ may be used to produce castable compositions according to this invention . the method of the invention produces cast bodies with densities previously unattainable for the compositions used . alumina - based cast objects of the prior art may have densities up to 202 pounds per cubic foot in the green state if they incorporate chromium oxide . green state materials contain free water ; this water is removed by heating to 230 ° f . alumina - based cast objects with densities , in the green state , of 204 pounds per cubic foot or greater , or 210 pounds per cubic foot or greater , can be produced according to the present invention . alumina - based cast objects of the prior art may have densities up to 199 pounds per cubic foot after drying to 230 ° f . if they incorporate chromium oxide , or 196 pounds per cubic foot in the green state if they incorporate only aluminas . alumina - based cast objects with densities , after drying to 230 ° f ., of 200 pounds per cubic foot or greater , 202 pounds per cubic foot or greater , or 207 pounds per cubic foot or greater , can be produced according to the present invention . the method of the present invention produces cast bodies with densities , with respect to theoretic densities , previously unattainable . the theoretic density refers to the highest density attainable for a substance ( i . e ., a solid sample containing no gaps , as distinguished from a packed powder having gaps between particles ). alumina has a theoretic density of 247 . 53 pounds per cubic foot . the prior art can produce materials with ( 196 . 0 / 247 . 53 )× 100 % or 79 . 2 % of theoretic density , or ( 199 . 0 / 247 . 53 )× 100 % or 80 . 3 % of theoretic density . materials produced according to the present invention may have ( 200 . 0 / 247 . 53 )× 100 % or 80 . 7 % of theoretic density or greater , or densities that equal or exceed 83 . 6 % of theoretic density . the method of the invention enables the production of castable material with a reduced quantity of liquid . prior art castable materials typically contain at least 3 . 7 wt % liquid . castable material can be produced according to the present invention with 3 . 3 wt % liquid or less , 3 . 0 wt % liquid or less , 2 . 0 wt % liquid , or 1 . 7 wt % liquid or less . prior art castable materials typically contain at least 10 . 9 vol % liquid . castable material can be produced according to the present invention with 9 . 1 vol % liquid or less , or 7 . 8 vol % liquid or less . these percentages are expressed with respect to a total weight or volume of aggregate , matrix , fines and water . the method of the invention enables the production of cast bodies with reduced porosity . cast bodies produced by prior art casting techniques have , after heating to 1500 ° f ., porosity levels of no less than 13 %. cast bodies can be produced according to the present invention with porosity levels less than 13 %, less than 12 %, less than 11 %, less than 10 %, less than 9 %, less than 8 %, less than 7 %, less than 6 %, less than 5 %, less than 4 %, or less than 3 %. in a process according to the invention , cast shapes , cast structures and cast products , such as columnar structures , may be constructed with the castable compositions of the invention . the method comprises steps of ( a ) providing a mold having a cavity which corresponds to the size and shape of the structure or cast product , ( b ) filling the cavity with a castable composition of the invention , ( c ) optionally subjecting the castable composition of the invention to compacting and / or vibration , ( d ) curing the castable composition to form the cast shape , cast structure or cast product , and ( e ) separating the mold from the cast shape , cast structure or cast product . the compositions of the present invention may also be used in a compression forming procedure , in which the wet composition is placed in a mold and subjected to mechanical or hydraulic pressing or other compression processes to form a piece or cast product of the desired shape . the castable compositions of the invention may be heated to obtain good green strengths for demolding . heating to 110 ° c . may be used to react the reactive alumina . alternatively , or in addition , a cement may be used in the fine - grained material to provide green strength . the examples presented in table i were cast using tabular alumina sized as indicated and secar 71 cement as a binder . secar 71 is a hydraulic binder with an alumina content of approximately 70 %. ulm2 is a composition of the present invention having four peaks in particle diameter distribution ; two of the peaks correspond to particles having diameters of 250 micrometers or less . ulm3 and ulm3b are two compositions of the present invention having three particle diameter distribution peaks corresponding to particles having diameters of 1000 micrometers or less . pa1 and pa2 are prior art compositions . ulm1 is a composition of the present invention that was derived from composition pa2 by alteration of the particle distribution of the sub - 100 - micrometer ( or − 60 mesh ) range , and by introduction of gaps in that range . the “ loading ” values in tables i and ii represent remaining weight percentages , defined as the percentage by weight of particles in a given fraction with respect to the weight of all particles in the fraction plus all smaller particles . for example , the fraction containing the largest particles in ulm2 contains 53 wt % of the alumina and silica in the composition . the fraction containing the second - largest particles contains 50 wt % of the remaining particles . the fraction containing the third - largest particles contains 35 wt % of the remaining particles . the fraction containing the fourth - largest particles , which are also the smallest particles , contains 100 wt % of the remaining particles . the compositions ulm 1 , ulm 3 and ulm3b contain four or more fractions having an alternating remaining weight configuration . pa1 and pa2 lack such a configuration . ulm2 also lacks a four - fraction alternating remaining weight configuration , but does have two peaks corresponding to particles having diameters of 250 micrometers or less . the compositions pa1 and pa2 required the quantities of water shown ( 6 . 34 wt % and 5 . 25 wt % respectively ) to produce a cast product . a3000fl is a superground , bimodal reactive alumina with a d50 of approximately 2 . 5 - 3 micrometers and a specific surface area measured by the bet ( brunauer - emmett - teller ) method of typically 1 . 3 - 2 square meters per gram . a152sg is a superground alumina having a monomodal particle size distribution with a median particle size of 1 . 2 micrometers . rg 4000 is a monomodal reactive alumina with a d50 of 0 . 5 - 0 . 8 micrometers . dispex n100 is a sodium polyacrylate dispersant . present invention ultra - low matrix compositions ulm1 , ulm2 , ulm3 and ulm3b show increases in mor , bulk density , and ccs , and decreased porosity when compared with prior art compositions pa1 and pa2 . the components and properties of these compositions are presented in table i . present invention compositions ulm - fg , ulm - pg and ulm - 671 are able to produce cast shapes with decreased percentages of water when compared with prior art composition pa2 . compositions are presented in table ii ; a comparison of properties of cast shapes produced with the addition of various proportions of water is presented in table iii . all samples were subjected to 30 seconds of dry mixing , 4 . 5 minutes of wet mixing , 4 minutes of high vibration and 1 minute of low vibration . kbd values are bulk densities measured in pounds per cubic foot . kpor values are porosity values measured as volume percent . both the kbd values and kpor values are 1500 degree f . values . the designation dnb is given to compositions that did not bond . the designation dnc is given to compositions that did not consolidate . in certain compositions , such as the ultra - low - matrix compositions of the present invention in which high proportions of water were added for comparison purposes , segregation of particle fractions was observed . table values designated as “ full ” are measurements of pieces representing a complete top - to - bottom cross section of a sample . table values designated as “ bottom ” are measurements of a portion of a sample closer to the vibration source . percentages of water in table iii are weight percentages . fig1 contains a comparison of a particle size distribution 12 according to the prior art with a particle size distribution 14 according to the present invention . particle size distribution 14 corresponds to composition ulm 2 in table i . in this figure , the weight percentages for particles in the dry composition are plotted as a function of particle sizes ( expressed in micrometers on a logarithmic scale ). criterion sr 92 cf is a fine particle material that may be used to produce cast bodies according to the prior art . it contains a fine activated alumina binder . its grain size distribution , expressed in mesh , and its chemical composition are compared , in tables iv and v , with that of a fine particle material , exhibiting a particle size gap , according to the present invention . fig2 depicts a particle size distribution according to the present invention in which six fractions have an alternating remaining weight percentage configuration , alternating between 33 % and 48 % until the final fraction is reached . although the weight percentages of the fractions decrease with decreasing particle size until the last fraction is reached , the six largest fractions exhibit an alternating remaining weight percentage configuration . the first fraction 21 contains 33 wt % of the particles ; 67 wt % of the particles remain . the second fraction 22 contains ( 67 * 0 . 48 ) or 32 . 2 wt % of the particles . the first two fractions thus contain 65 . 2 wt %; 34 . 8 wt % remain . the third fraction 23 contains ( 34 . 8 * 0 . 33 ) or 11 . 5 wt % of the particles . the first three fractions thus contain 76 . 7 wt %; 23 . 3 wt % remain . the fourth fraction 24 contains ( 23 . 3 * 0 . 48 ) or 11 . 2 wt % of the particles . the first four fractions thus contains 87 . 9 wt %; 12 . 1 wt % remain . the fifth fraction 25 contains ( 12 . 1 * 0 . 33 ) or 4 . 0 wt % of the particles . the first five fractions thus contain 91 . 9 wt %; 8 . 1 wt % remain . the sixth fraction 26 contains ( 8 . 1 * 0 . 48 ) or 3 . 9 wt %. the first six fractions thus contain 95 . 8 wt %; 4 . 2 wt % remain . the seventh fraction 27 is the only fraction remaining , so it contains 4 . 2 wt % of the particles , or 100 wt % of the particles remaining fig3 depicts the particle size distribution for ulm3 , a composition of the present invention . in this figure , the volume percentages for particles in the dry composition are plotted as a function of particle sizes , expressed in micrometers , on a logarithmic scale . first fraction 31 , second fraction 32 , third fraction 33 , fourth fraction 34 , fifth fraction 35 and sixth fraction 36 are shown . first fraction 31 has a remaining volume percentage of 48 %. the remaining volume percentage is 32 % for second fraction 32 , 42 % for third fraction 33 , 48 % for fourth fraction 34 , and 44 % for fifth fraction 35 . the remaining volume percentage is the percentage of the volume of particles in the indicated range with respect to the sum of the volume of particles in all ranges in which particles have the same or smaller diameters than in the indicated range . sixth fraction 36 , the fraction containing the smallest particles , has a remaining volume percentage of 100 %. fig4 depicts the particle size distribution for ulm3b , a composition of the present invention . in this figure , the volume percentages for particles in the dry composition are plotted as a function of particle sizes , expressed in micrometers , on a logarithmic scale . first fraction 41 , second fraction 42 , third fraction 43 , fourth fraction 44 , fifth fraction 45 and sixth fraction 46 are shown . first fraction 41 has a remaining volume percentage of 48 %. the remaining volume percentage is 30 % for second fraction 42 , 41 % for third fraction 43 , 41 % for fourth fraction 44 , and 49 % for fifth fraction 45 . the remaining volume percentage is the percentage of the volume of particles in the indicated range with respect to the sum of the volume of particles in all ranges in which particles have the same or smaller diameters than in the indicated range . sixth fraction 46 , the fraction containing the smallest particles , has a remaining volume percentage of 100 %. fig5 contains a plot of percentage by mass of particle fractions with respect to particle diameter in micrometers of pa1 , a composition of the prior art . the plot depicts first fraction 51 , second fraction 52 and third fraction 53 . third fraction 53 contains all the material in the composition having a diameter of 100 micrometers or less , and exhibits a single peak . first fraction 51 contains 45 percent of the remaining weight , second fraction 52 contains 46 percent of the remaining weight , and third fraction 53 contains 100 percent of the remaining weight . fig6 contains a plot of percentage by mass of particle fractions with respect to particle diameter in micrometers of pa2 , a composition of the prior art . the plot depicts first fraction 61 , second fraction 62 , third fraction 63 and fourth fraction 64 . fourth fraction 64 contains all the material in the composition having a diameter of 100 micrometers or less , and exhibits a single peak . first fraction 61 contains 40 percent of the remaining weight , second fraction 62 contains 33 percent of the remaining weight , third fraction 63 contains 38 percent of the remaining weight , and fourth fraction 64 contains 100 percent of the remaining weight . fig7 contains a plot of percentage by mass of particle fractions with respect to particle diameter in micrometers of ulm1 , a composition of the present invention . the plot depicts first fraction 72 , second fraction 72 , third fraction 73 , fourth fraction 74 , fifth fraction 75 , and sixth fraction 76 . fractions 71 , 72 and 73 contain the same weight percent as the analogous fractions in pa2 . however , the sub - 1000 - micrometer portion of the pa2 particle distribution exhibits a single peak , whereas the sub - 1000 - micrometer portion of ulm1 exhibits three fractions , namely fractions 74 , 75 and 76 . 1 . a castable composition producing , when cast with a water content of 2 . 8 wt % or less , a cast product having a porosity equal to or less than 15 volume percent when measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 2 . a castable composition producing , when cast with a water content of 2 . 8 wt % or less , a cast product having a modulus of rupture equal to or greater than 1000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 3 . a castable composition producing , when cast with a water content of 2 . 8 wt % or less , a cast product having a cold crushing strength equal to or greater than 3000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 4 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 10 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 5 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 9 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 6 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 8 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 7 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 7 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 8 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 6 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 9 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 5 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 10 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 4 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 11 . a castable composition according to claim 1 , wherein the cast product has a porosity equal to or less than 3 volume percent as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 12 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 and 11 , wherein the porosities are obtained by measurement after exposure to 1500 degrees f . 13 . a castable composition according to claim 2 , wherein the cast product has a modulus of rupture equal to or greater than 2000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 14 . a castable composition according to claim 2 , wherein the cast product has a modulus of rupture equal to or greater than 3000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 15 . a castable composition according to claim 2 , wherein the cast product has a modulus of rupture equal to or greater than 4000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 16 . a castable composition according to any of claims 2 , 13 , 14 and 15 , wherein the modulus of rupture values are obtained by measurement after exposure to 1500 degrees f . 17 . a castable composition according to claim 3 , wherein the cast product has a cold crushing strength of 5000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 18 . a castable composition according to claim 3 , wherein the cast product has a cold crushing strength of 8000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 19 . a castable composition according to claim 3 , wherein the cast product has a cold crushing strength of 10 , 000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 20 . a castable composition according to claim 3 , wherein the cast product has a cold crushing strength of 12 , 000 pounds per square inch as measured after exposure to 230 degrees f . 21 . a castable composition according to any of claims 3 , 17 , 18 , 19 and 20 , wherein the cold crushing strength is obtained by measurement after exposure to 1500 degrees f . 22 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 21 , characterized by a coarsest refractory grain fraction comprising at least 50 % by weight of the dry composition , and wherein the coarsest refractory grain fraction is separated from a smaller grain fraction by a gap having a ratio of largest particle diameter to smallest particle diameter of at least the square root of 2 . 23 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 21 , in which the composition contains at least four grain fractions , of which three adjacent grain fractions are separated by gaps having a particle diameter ratio of at least the square root of two , and the three adjacent grain fractions have remaining weight percentages that are , with respect to the respective immediately larger particle size fractions and in order of decreasing particle size , smaller , larger and smaller in value . 24 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 21 , in which the composition contains at least four grain fractions , of which three adjacent grain fractions are separated by gaps having a particle diameter ratio of at least the square root of two , and the three adjacent grain fractions have remaining weight percentages that are , with respect to the respective immediately larger particle size fractions and in order of decreasing particle size , larger , smaller , and larger in value . 25 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 21 , wherein the composition contains at least two grain fractions separated by gaps having a particle diameter ratio of at least the square root of two , and the at least two grain fractions are entirely composed of particles with diameters less than 100 micrometers . 26 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 21 , wherein the composition contains at least three grain fractions separated by gaps having a particle diameter ratio of at least the square root of two , and the at least three grain fractions are entirely composed of particles with diameters less than 100 micrometers . 27 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 21 , wherein the composition contains at least four grain fractions separated by gaps having a particle ratio diameter of at least the square root of two , and the remaining weight percentages are at least 40 % in each of the at least four grain fractions . 28 . a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 21 , wherein the composition contains at least five grain fractions separated by gaps having a particle ratio diameter of at least the square root of two . 29 . a castable composition according to any of claims 23 - 28 , wherein at least two of the gaps each contain less than 10 percent by mass of the mass of the dry composition . 30 . a castable composition according to any of claims 23 - 28 , wherein at least two of the gaps each contain less than 5 percent by mass of the mass of the dry composition . 31 . a castable composition according to any of the preceding claims , wherein the cast product has a density that is at least 80 . 7 % of the theoretic density . 32 . a castable composition according to any of the preceding claims , wherein the cast product has a density that is at least 83 . 6 % of the theoretic density . 33 . a castable composition according to any of the preceding claims , comprising at least 95 wt % alumina . 34 . a castable composition according to claim 33 , wherein the cast product has a bulk density of at least 190 pounds per cubic foot as measured at 230 degrees f . 35 . a castable composition according to claim 33 , wherein the cast product has a bulk density of at least 195 pounds per cubic foot as measured at 230 degrees f . 36 . a castable composition according to claim 33 , wherein the cast product has a bulk density of at least 200 pounds per cubic foot as measured at 230 degrees f . 37 . a castable composition according to claim 33 , wherein the cast product has a bulk density of at least 202 pounds per cubic foot as measured at 230 degrees f . 38 . a castable composition according to claim 33 , wherein the cast product has a bulk density of at least 207 pounds per cubic foot as measured at 230 degrees f . 39 . a castable composition according to any of claims 34 - 36 , wherein the bulk density is measured at 1500 degrees f . 40 . a cast product produced from a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 39 . 41 . a method for producing a cast product , comprising , ( a ) providing a mold having a cavity which corresponds to the size and shape of the product , ( b ) filling the cavity with a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 39 , ( c ) optionally subjecting the castable composition of the invention to compacting and / or vibration , ( d ) curing the castable composition to form the cast product , and ( e ) separating the mold from the cast product . 42 . a method for producing a cast product , comprising , ( a ) providing a mold having a cavity which corresponds to the size and shape of the product , ( b ) filling the cavity with a castable composition according to any of claims 1 - 39 , ( c ) subjecting the castable composition of the invention to a compression process , ( d ) curing the castable composition to form the cast product , and ( e ) separating the mold from the cast product . what is believed to be the best mode of the invention has been described above . however , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the type described could be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit of the invention . the scope of the present invention is defined by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the claims are expressed .	2
referring to fig1 of the drawings , 1 denotes a combination unit , in its entirety , incorporating machines for the manufacture of tobacco products typified by an elongated cylindrical appearance , in particular filter cigarettes . the unit 1 includes a first machine consisting in a cigarette maker 2 equipped with two tobacco rod processing lines as disclosed in u . s . pat . ser . no . 4 , 418 , 705 , to which reference may be made for a fuller description , and a second machine consisting in a filter tip attachment machine 3 . the cigarette maker 2 comprises a bed 4 carrying an outfeed beam 5 that coincides in practice with a substantially horizontal leg 6 of the unit 1 , along which two continuous cigarette rods 7 and 8 are caused to advance axially at substantially constant and identical rates of feed toward a rotary cutter head 9 of conventional type . the rods 7 and 8 are divided up by the cutter into respective sticks 10 and 11 each measuring twice the length of a single cigarette . as discernible from fig1 , 2 and 3 , the two rods 7 and 8 are made to advance at two different heights , at least along the final part of the beam , and more exactly , the rod 7 on the inboard side of the beam is elevated relative to the other rod 8 . the filter tip attachment machine 3 comprises a bed 12 surmounted by a vertical bulkhead 13 that extends parallel to the outfeed beam 5 and to the rear of the selfsame beam , as viewed in fig1 . the vertical bulkhead 13 carries a plurality of rollers denoted 14 in their entirety , mounted with axes disposed transversely to the bulkhead 13 and coinciding with a leg 15 of the unit 1 that extends in a direction substantially parallel to that of the leg 6 first mentioned . 16 denotes a transfer unit interconnecting the cigarette maker 2 and the filter tip attachment machine 3 , of which the function is to direct the sticks 10 and 11 singly and in succession from the outfeed end of the one leg 6 , identifiable also as a take - up station denoted a , to an infeed end of the other leg 15 , identifiable also as a release station denoted b and coinciding with an infeed roller 17 of which the axis is denoted 18 . the periphery of the roller 17 in question presents a plurality of aspirating grooves 17 a , familiar in embodiment , each able to accommodate a respective cigarette stick 10 or 11 . as illustrated in fig1 and 3 , the transfer unit 16 comprises a cylindrical body 19 of which the axis 20 is vertically disposed . more exactly , it will be seen that the two legs 6 and 15 extend along a direction parallel to the “ x ” axis of a set of cartesian coordinates ( indicated in fig1 ), whilst the axis 18 of the infeed roller 17 and the axis 20 of the cylindrical body 19 of the transfer unit 16 extend in directions parallel respectively to the “ y ” axis and to the “ z ” axis . in particular , and as illustrated in fig3 , 4 and 5 , the transfer unit 16 incorporates a fixed vertical sleeve 21 centered on the axis 20 of the cylindrical body 19 , anchored at the bottom end to a mounting denoted 22 and accommodating a coaxially aligned shaft 23 . this same vertical shaft 23 is power driven from the bottom end by a further shaft 24 , disposed at right angles , to which it is coupled by way of a bevel gear pair 25 - 26 . keyed onto the top end of the sleeve 21 is the fixed sun gear 27 of an epicyclic train , denoted 28 in its entirety ( fig5 ), which also includes a planet carrier 29 concentric with the sun gear 27 , and a plurality of planet gears 30 mounted freely to the planet carrier 29 and coupled to the sun gear 27 by way of intermediate idle gears 31 . it will be seen in fig5 that the transmission ratio between the sun gear 27 and the single planet gears 30 is 1 : 1 . the transfer unit 1 comprises a plurality of holder elements 32 each associated with a relative planet gear 30 and including a plate 33 of which the upwardly directed surface presents two parallel grooves 34 and 35 set at different heights , for reasons that will become apparent . the plate 33 is centered on a vertical axis 36 offset from the axis of rotation 37 of the planet gear 30 . more exactly , referring to fig3 and 4 , the planet gear 30 is keyed to a tubular portion 38 extending downward from a hollow block 39 that carries the holder element 32 . the tubular portion 38 houses a first shaft 40 centered on and rotatable about the planet axis 37 , of which a first top end carries a first gear 41 meshing by way of an idle gear 42 ( see fig4 ) with a further gear 43 carried by the bottom end of a second shaft 44 coaxial with the axis 36 of the plate 33 and connected to the holder element 32 at its top end . the first shaft 40 is connected at the bottom end to a cam and rocker mechanism , denoted 45 in its entirety , comprising an element 46 with two arms 47 and 48 which occupy a common plane and are arranged substantially in a vee formation with the vertex of the vee keyed to the shaft 40 . the cam and rocker mechanism 45 further comprises respective following rollers denoted 49 and 50 , the one mounted underslung to the arm denoted 47 , the other mounted overslung to the arm denoted 48 . finally , the mechanism 45 comprises cam means 51 that consist in a cylindrical body 52 associated rigidly with the sleeve 21 , presenting a lower first profile 53 positioned to interact with one following roller 49 , and an upper second profile 54 positioned to interact with the other following roller 50 . the two cam profiles 53 and 54 are offset one from another and from the axis 20 of the sun gear , their geometry and placement being such that the single holder elements 32 will be caused to pivot on the relative axes 36 as the planet carrier 29 rotates about the sun gear . operationally , the cam and rocker mechanism 45 combines with the first and second shafts 40 and 44 , with the first gear 41 , and with the gears denoted 42 and 43 , establishing means by which to control the axial orientation of the cigarette sticks 10 and 11 . referring finally to fig3 , the two grooves 34 and 35 presented by the plate 33 of the holder element 32 are embodied in conventional manner with suction holes arranged along the bottom surface and connected to a source of negative pressure likewise conventional in embodiment ( not illustrated ) by way of ducts 56 passing through portions of the second shaft 44 and of the hollow block 39 . in practical application , the transfer unit 16 will be positioned below the outfeed beam 5 of the cigarette maker 2 and the infeed roller 17 of the filter tip attachment machine 3 , with the infeed roller 17 rotating tangentially at its lowest point to the horizontal plane occupied by the beam 5 . the transfer unit 16 operates in such a manner as to direct the single holder elements 32 through a trajectory extending from a position at the take - up station a , below the outfeed beam 5 , to a position at the release station b beneath the roller 17 . to reiterate , the grooves 34 and 35 of the single holder elements 32 are set at different heights so that the two sticks 10 and 11 can be taken up at the two dissimilar elevations aforementioned , and transferred to two contiguous grooves 17 a of the infeed roller 17 at different heights , coinciding with those of the grooves 34 and 35 presented by the plate 33 . as discernible from fig4 , and in accordance with standard practice , the cut cigarette sticks 10 and 11 are taken up from the beam 5 at the one station a advancing at a given pitch denoted p 1 , and released to the other station b spaced apart at a reduced pitch p 2 ; pitch p 1 might be 128 mm , for example , and pitch p 2 could be 38 mm , equivalent to the distance separating the two cigarette rods 7 and 8 . the transfer unit 16 is designed to bring about a corresponding reduction in speed of the sticks 10 and 11 , which are taken up from the first station a at a higher tangential velocity substantially equal to the linear velocity of the rods 7 and 8 , and then released to the second station b at a lower tangential velocity equal to the angular velocity at the periphery of the infeed roller 17 serving the filter tip attachment machine 3 . in effect , it will be seen from fig4 that the second shaft 44 supporting the holder element 32 is at a maximum distance d 1 from the axis 20 of the cylindrical body 19 when passing through the take - up station 4 , and at a minimum distance d 2 from this same axis 20 when passing through the release station b . it will be seen also from the schematic representation of fig5 that the positions of maximum and minimum distance , diametrically opposed on either side of the sun gear 27 , are assumed by the shaft 44 as a result of the relative planet gear 30 rotating 180 ° about its axis 37 when the planet carrier 29 is set in motion around the sun axis 20 . observing fig4 , it will be seen that the trajectory followed by each of the second shafts 44 carrying a respective holder element 32 appears as a circumference denoted c , flattened slightly in the neighborhood of the release station b . referring to the foregoing description of the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , where the two legs 6 and 15 are disposed substantially parallel with one another and in the same plane , the single holder elements 32 describe an arc 57 of 180 ° in passing from the take - up station a to the release station b . in the course of this same rotation , the means controlling the axial orientation of the sticks 10 and 11 will cause each pair of sticks to pass from a position at the take - up station a in which the two axes are parallel with the first leg 6 , to a position at the release station b in which the same two axes are rotated through 90 ° and parallel with the axis 18 of the infeed roller 17 of the filter tip attachment machine 3 , hence transverse to the second leg 15 . more exactly , as the planet carrier rotates about the sun axis 20 , the interaction of the following rollers 49 and 50 with the two cam profiles 53 and 54 will cause the element 46 with the two arms to rotate clockwise , as viewed in fig4 . this same angular movement is accompanied by a rotation of the first shaft 40 about the relative axis 37 , also of the first gear 41 and , by way of the corresponding idle gear 42 and intermediate gear 43 , of the second shaft 44 carrying the holder element 32 , likewise about the relative axis 36 . one of the advantages of the transfer unit 16 disclosed is that the reduction in pitch from p 1 to p 2 can be brought about along an arc of 180 °, and therefore in a time substantially twice as long as the time taken by right angle units typical of the prior art . accordingly , the deceleration of the advancing sticks 10 and 11 is brought about more gradually , and the stresses acting on the selfsame sticks are thus significantly reduced . finally , it will be seen that the element 46 with two arms could be replaced by an element with just one arm and a relative following roller positioned to engage a relative single cam profile , albeit the solution shown in fig4 offers the advantage of greater precision in that it is a positive acting mechanism able to eliminate backlash . as illustrated in fig2 , moreover , the filter tip attachment machine 3 might present a second leg , in this instance denoted 15 a , extending in a direction opposite to that illustrated in fig1 .	0
fig1 is a schematic , section view of an optical - based sensor (“ sensor ”) 110 , according to an embodiment of the invention , that operates based on the fluorescence of fluorescent indicator molecules 116 . as shown , sensor 110 includes a sensor housing 112 . sensor housing 112 may be formed from a suitable , optically transmissive polymer material . preferred polymer materials include , but are not limited to , acrylic polymers such as polymethylmethacrylate ( pmma ). sensor 110 may further include a matrix layer 114 coated on at least part of the exterior surface of the sensor housing 112 , with fluorescent indicator molecules 116 distributed throughout the layer 114 ( layer 114 can cover all or part of the surface of housing 112 ). sensor 110 further includes a radiation source 118 , e . g . a light emitting diode ( led ) or other radiation source , that emits radiation , including radiation over a range of wavelengths which interact with the indicator molecules 116 . for example , in the case of a fluorescence - based sensor , radiation sensor 118 emits radiation at a wavelength which causes the indicator molecules 116 to fluoresce . sensor 110 also includes a photodetector 120 ( e . g . a photodiode , phototransistor , photoresistor or other photosensitive element ) which , in the case of a fluorescence - based sensor , is sensitive to fluorescent light emitted by the indicator molecules 116 such that a signal is generated by the photodetector 120 in response thereto that is indicative of the level of fluorescence of the indicator molecules . two photodetectors 120 a and 120 b are shown in fig1 to illustrate that sensor 110 may have more than one photodetector . source 118 may be implemented using , for example , led model number eu - u 32 sb from nichia corporation ( www . nichia . com ). other leds may be used depending on the specific indicator molecules applied to sensor 110 and the specific analytes of interested to be detected . the indicator molecules 116 may be coated on the surface of the sensor body or they may be contained within matrix layer 114 ( as shown in fig1 ), which comprises a biocompatible polymer matrix that is prepared according to methods known in the art and coated on the surface of the sensor housing 112 . suitable biocompatible matrix materials , which preferably are permeable to the analyte , include some methacrylates ( e . g ., hema ) and hydrogels which , advantageously , can be made selectively permeable — particularly to the analyte — i . e ., they perform a molecular weight cut - off function . sensor 110 may be wholly self - contained . in other words , the sensor is preferably constructed in such a way that no electrical leads extend into or out of the sensor housing 112 to supply power to the sensor ( e . g ., for driving the source 118 ) or to transmit signals from the sensor . rather , sensor 110 may be powered by an external power source ( not shown ), as is well known in the art . for example , the external power source may generate a magnetic field to induce a current in inductive element 142 ( e . g ., a copper coil or other inductive element ). additionally , circuitry 166 may use inductive element 142 to communicate information to an external data reader . circuitry 166 may include discrete circuit elements , an integrated circuit ( e . g ., an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ), and / or other electronic components ). the external power source and data reader may be the same device . in an alterantive embodiment , the sensor 110 may be powered by an internal , self - contained power source , such as , for example , microbatteries , micro generators and / or other power sources . as shown in fig1 , many of the electro - optical components of sensor 110 are secured to a circuit board 170 . circuit board 170 provides communication paths between the various components of sensor 110 . as further illustrated in fig1 , optical filters 134 a and 134 b , such as high pass or band pass filters , may cover a photosensitive side of photodetectors 120 a and 120 b , respectively . filter 134 a may prevent or substantially reduce the amount of radiation generated by the source 118 from impinging on a photosensitive side 135 of the photodetector 120 a . at the same time , filter 134 a allows fluorescent light emitted by fluorescent indicator molecules 116 to pass through to strike photosensitive side 135 of the photodetector 120 a . this significantly reduces “ noise ” in the photodetector signal that is attributable to incident radiation from the source 118 . according to one aspect of the invention , an application for which the sensor 110 was developed — although by no means the only application for which it is suitable — is measuring various biological analytes in the human body . for example , sensor 110 may be used to measure glucose , oxygen , toxins , pharmaceuticals or other drugs , hormones , and other metabolic analytes in the human body . the specific composition of the matrix layer 114 and the indicator molecules 116 may vary depending on the particular analyte the sensor is to be used to detect and / or where the sensor is to be used to detect the analyte ( i . e ., in the blood or in subcutaneous tissues ). preferably , however , matrix layer 114 , if present , should facilitate exposure of the indicator molecules to the analyte . also , it is preferred that the optical characteristics of the indicator molecules ( e . g ., the level of fluorescence of fluorescent indicator molecules ) be a function of the concentration of the specific analyte to which the indicator molecules are exposed . to facilitate use in - situ in the human body , the housing 112 is preferably formed in a smooth , oblong or rounded shape . advantageously , it has the approximate size and shape of a bean or a pharmaceutical gelatin capsule , i . e ., it is on the order of approximately 500 microns to approximately 0 . 85 inches in length l and on the order of approximately 300 microns to approximately 0 . 3 inches in diameter d , with generally smooth , rounded surfaces throughout . this configuration permits the sensor 110 to be implanted into the human body , i . e ., dermally or into underlying tissues ( including into organs or blood vessels ) without the sensor interfering with essential bodily functions or causing excessive pain or discomfort . in some embodiments , a preferred length of the housing is approx . 0 . 5 inches to 0 . 85 inches and a preferred diameter is approx . 0 . 1 inches to 0 . 11 inches . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , source 118 is elevated with respect to a top side 171 of circuit board 170 . more specifically , in the embodiment shown , source 118 is fixed to a support member 174 , which functions to elevate source 118 above side 171 and to electrically connect source 118 to circuitry on board 170 so that power can be delivered to source 118 . the distance ( d ) between source 118 and side 171 generally ranges between 0 and 0 . 030 inches . preferably , the distance ( d ) ranges between 0 . 010 and 0 . 020 inches . support member 174 may be a circuit board . circuit board 170 may have a groove 180 for receiving a proximal end 173 of member 174 . this feature is further illustrated in fig3 , which is a perspective , top view of board 170 . in some embodiments , support member 174 may include an electrical contact 158 ( e . g ., a conductive pad or other device for conducting electricity ) disposed on a surface thereof and electrically connected to source 118 . the contact 158 electrically connects to a corresponding electrical contact 157 that may be disposed in groove 180 through an electrical interconnect 159 ( e . g ., a circuit trace or other transmission line ). contact 157 may be electrically connected to circuit 166 or other circuit on circuit board 170 . accordingly , in some embodiments , there is an electrical path from circuit 166 to source 118 . as further shown in fig1 , a reflector 176 may be attached to board 170 at an end thereof . preferably , reflector 176 is attached to board 170 so that a face portion 177 of reflector 176 is generally perpendicular to side 171 and faces source 118 . preferably , face 177 reflects radiation emitted by source 118 . for example , face 177 may have a reflective coating disposed thereon or face 177 may be constructed from a reflective material . referring now to photodetectors 120 , photodetectors 120 are preferably disposed below a region of side 171 located between source 118 and reflector 176 . for example , in some embodiments , photodetectors 120 are mounted to a bottom side 175 of board 170 at a location that is below a region between source 118 and reflector 176 . in embodiments where the photodetectors 120 are mounted to bottom side 175 of board 170 , a hole for each photodetector 120 is preferably created through board 170 . this is illustrated in fig3 . as shown in fig3 , two holes 301 a and 301 b have been created in board 170 , thereby providing a passageway for light from indicator molecules 116 to reach photodetectors 120 . the holes in circuit board 170 may be created by , for example , drilling , laser machining and the like . preferably , each photodetector 120 is positioned such that light entering the hole is likely to strike a photosensitive side of the photodetector 120 , as shown in fig1 . this technique also diminishes the amount of ambient light striking photodetector 120 . as further illustrated in fig1 , each hole in board 170 may be contain a filter 134 so that light can only reach a photodetector 120 by passing through the corresponding filter 134 . the bottom side and all sides of the photodetectors 120 may be covered with black light blocking epoxy 190 to further diminish the amount of ambient light striking photodetector 120 . in one embodiment , photodetector 120 a is used to produce a signal corresponding to the light emitted or adsorbed by indicator molecules 116 and photodetector 120 b is used to produce a reference signal . in this embodiment , a fluorescent element 154 may be positioned on top of filter 134 b . preferably , fluorescent element 154 fluoresces at a predetermined wavelength . element 154 may be made from terbium or other fluorescent element that fluoresces at the predetermined wavelength . in this embodiment , filter 134 a and filter 134 b filter different wavelengths of light . for example , filter 134 a may filter wavelengths below 400 nm and filter 134 b may filter wavelengths below 500 nm . referring now to fig2 , fig2 illustrates a sensor 210 according to another embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig2 , sensor 210 is similar to sensor 110 . a primary difference being that reflector 176 is replaced by a support member 202 , which is connected to end 194 of board 170 and to which source 118 is fixed . in this embodiment , and support member 174 is replaced with a reflector 209 . like reflector 176 , reflector 209 has a reflective face 211 that faces source 118 . additionally , so that photodetector 120 a remains closer to source 118 , photodetector 120 a may switch places with photodetector 120 b and filter 134 a may switch places with filter 134 b . fluorescent element 154 may also be re - positioned so that it remains on top of filter 134 b . as shown in fig1 and 2 , in some embodiments , indicator molecules 116 may be positioned only in a region that is above a region 193 , which region is between source 118 and reflector 176 . referring now to fig4 , fig4 is a schematic , section view of an optical - based sensor 410 , according to another embodiment of the invention . sensor 410 includes many of the same components as sensor 110 . however , the positioning of source 118 , photodetector 120 a and filter 134 a in sensor 410 is different than the positioning in sensor 110 . as shown in fig4 , a base 412 is mounted to an end 413 of circuit board 170 . a top side 414 and bottom side 416 of base 412 each may lie in a plane that is generally perpendicular to a plane in which side 171 of board 170 lies . bottom side 416 may have a groove 418 therein that receives end 413 of board 170 . groove 418 facilitates fixing base 412 to board 170 . photodetector 120 a may be mounted on top side 414 of base 412 . preferably , photodetector 120 a is mounted on base 412 so that photosensitive side 135 of photodetector 120 a lies in a plane that is generally perpendicular to the plane in which side 171 of board 170 lies and faces in the same direction as top side 414 . filter 134 a is preferably disposed above side 135 of photodetector 120 a so that most , if not all , light that strikes side 135 must first pass through filter 134 a . filter 134 a may be fixedly mounted to photodetector 120 a . for example , a refractive index ( ri ) matching epoxy 501 ( see fig5 ) may be used to fix filter 134 a to photodetector 120 a . in some embodiments , base 412 may include at least two electrical contacts disposed thereon ( e . g ., on side 414 ). for example , as shown in fig4 , a first electrical contact 471 and a second electrical contact 472 are disposed on side 414 of base 412 . a wire 473 ( or other electrical connector ) preferably electrically connects photodetector 120 a to electrical contact 471 and a wire 474 ( or other electrical connector ) preferably electrically connects source 118 to electrical contact 472 . contact 471 electrically connects to a corresponding contact 475 via an electrical interconnect 476 . similarly , contact 472 electrically connects to a corresponding contact 477 via an electrical interconnect 478 . contacts 475 , 477 are preferably disposed on the end of board 170 that is inserted into groove 418 . contacts 475 , 477 may be electrically connected to circuit 166 or other circuit on circuit board 170 . accordingly , in some embodiments , base 412 provides a portion of an electrical path from circuit 166 to source 118 and / or photodetector 120 a . referring now to fig5 , fig5 further illustrates the arrangement of photodetector 120 a , filter 134 a and source 118 . as shown in fig4 and 5 , source 118 is mounted on a top side 467 of filter 134 a . accordingly , as shown in fig4 and 5 , photodetector 120 a , filter 134 a and source 118 are aligned . that is , as shown in fig5 , both filter 134 a and source 118 are each disposed in an area that is over at least a portion of photosensitive side 135 of photodetector 120 a . preferably , a non - transparent , non - translucent base 431 is disposed between source 118 and filter 134 . opaque base 431 functions to prevent light emitted from source 118 from striking side 467 of filter 134 a . base 431 may be a gold - clad - molybdenum tab ( molytab ) or other opaque structure . epoxy 555 may be used to fix source 118 to base 431 and base 431 to filter 134 a . preferably , in this embodiment , source 118 is configured and oriented so that most of the light transmitted therefrom is transmitted in a direction away from side 467 , as shown in fig4 and 5 . for example , in the embodiment shown , the light is primarily directed towards an end 491 of housing 102 . preferably , indicator molecules 116 are located on end 491 so that they will receive the radiation emitted from source 118 . as discussed above , indicator molecules 116 will respond to the received radiation , and the response will be a function of the concentration of the analyte being measured in the region of the indicator molecules 116 . photodetector 120 a detects the response . referring now to fig6 , fig6 is a schematic , section view of an optical - based sensor 610 , according to another embodiment of the invention . sensor 610 includes many of the same components as sensor 110 . also , sensor 610 is similar to sensor 410 in that , in sensor 610 , photodetector 120 a , filter 134 a and source 118 are preferably aligned . further , like in sensor 410 , in sensor 610 filter 134 a may be fixedly mounted on side 135 of photodetector 120 a and source 118 may be fixedly mounted on side 467 of filter 134 a , and the photodetector 120 a , filter 134 a , source 118 assembly may be located adjacent an end 491 of housing 102 , as illustrated in fig6 . however , the orientation of source 118 , photodetector 120 a and filter 134 a in sensor 610 is different than the orientation in sensor 410 . for example , in sensor 610 , side 135 of photodetector 120 a faces in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of housing 102 . additionally , in sensor 610 , filter 134 a and / or photodetector 120 a are directly fixed to board 170 such that base 412 may be removed . in the embodiment shown , filter 134 a and / or photodetector 120 a are directly fixed to end 413 of board 170 . in one or more of the above described embodiments , housing 102 may be filled with a material to keep the components housed in housing 102 from being able to move around . for example , housing 102 may be filled with an optical epoxy either before or after board 170 and the components attached thereto are inserted into housing 120 . epo - tek 301 - 2 epoxy from epoxy technology of billerica , mass . and / or other epoxies may be used . while various embodiments / variations of the present invention have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only , and not limitation . thus , the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents .	6
fig1 shows a sacrificial connector 10 in relation to a first complementary connector 20 that is intended to be coupled to a backplane printed circuit board ( pcb ) 40 of a hard disk drive ( hdd ) production test equipment ( not shown ) and to a second complementary connector 30 that is intended to be coupled to a pcb 45 which is further coupled to a hdd ( not shown ). this is disclosed in the singapore application serial no . 200701728 - 8 , ‘ connector apparatus ’. fig2 shows the sacrificial connector 10 in relation to the first complementary connector 20 . for illustration purposes , in both fig1 and 2 , the first complementary connector 20 is represented as a socket and the second complementary connector 30 is represented as a header . in absence of the sacrificial connector 10 , the second complementary connector 30 which is coupled to a hdd via the pcb 45 has to be plugged directly into the first complementary connector 20 which is coupled to the hdd production test equipment via the pcb 40 before any test sequences on the hdd production test equipment can be executed on the connected hdd . the second complementary connector 30 is then unplugged from the first complementary connector 20 when the test sequences are completed . each plugging and unplugging of the second complementary connector 30 to and from the first complementary connector 20 is known as a mating cycle . the performance of the first complementary connector 20 on the pcb 40 drops with increased mating cycles . the first complementary connector 20 on the pcb 40 is replaced as soon as the number of mating cycles reaches the number specified by the manufacturer of the first complementary connector 20 . to replace the first complementary connector 20 on the pcb 40 , one has to de - solder the first complementary connector 20 from the pcb 40 and then re - solder a new connector to the pcb 40 before a hdd can be coupled to the hdd production test equipment for testing . this is time consuming and repeated de - soldering and re - soldering of the first complementary connector 20 from and to the pcb 40 may damage the pcb 40 . the sacrificial connector 10 prolongs the useful life of the first complementary connector 20 by being the interface between the first complementary connector 20 and the second complementary connector 30 . since the mating and un - mating of the second complementary connector 30 is now with the sacrificial connector 10 , any wear and tear due to repeated mating and un - mating action will happen on the sacrificial connector instead of the first complementary connector 20 on the pcb 40 of the hdd production test equipment . along with this solution comes the need to secure the sacrificial connector 10 to the first complementary connector 20 on the pcb 40 of the hdd production test equipment so as to prevent any disengagement of the sacrificial connector 10 from the first complementary connector 20 during the mating and un - mating of the second complementary connector 30 with the sacrificial connector 10 . preferably , the sacrificial connector 10 can be secured to the first complementary connector 20 to the extent of withstanding a disengagement force of at least 4 newtons ( n ). here , the disengagement force refers to the force required to disengage the sacrificial connector 10 from the first complementary connector 20 . for illustration purposes , the sacrificial connector 10 as illustrated in fig2 comprises an elongated insulative housing 2 with a longitudinal base 4 and a plurality of contacts received in the housing 2 . the housing 2 forms a first mating surface 6 and a second mating surface 8 . since the first complementary connector 20 is a socket at its mating surface and the second complementary connector 30 is a header at its mating surfaces , the sacrificial connector 10 has a header at the first mating surface 6 and a socket at the second mating surface 8 . at each end of the sacrificial connector 10 is a bonding device 14 . the bonding device 14 may be any device that is able to temporarily hold the sacrificial connector 10 in place with respect to the first complementary connector 20 at the first mating surface 6 as the second complementary connector 30 is plugged and unplugged to and from the sacrificial connector 10 at the second mating surface 8 during each mating cycle . the bonding device 14 as illustrated in fig2 is a latching device with a latch release 12 , a latch member 16 extending in the direction of the first mating surface 6 and a hole 18 in the latch member 16 . as the sacrificial connector 10 engages with the first complementary connector 20 at the first mating surface 6 , a protrusion 22 coupled to an end wall on the first complementary connector 20 pushes the latch member 16 outwards away from the end wall of the first complementary connector 20 as the latch member 16 rides over the slope of protrusion 22 . as the latch member 16 passes the ridge of the protrusion 22 , the hole 18 in the latch member 16 engages with the protrusion 22 of the first complementary connector 20 causing the latch member 16 to fall back to its original horizontal position . this is the locked position of the latching device and the sacrificial connector 10 is engaged to the first complementary connector 20 . to disengage the sacrificial connector 10 from the first complementary connector 20 , the latch release 12 is depressed inwards towards the housing 2 of the sacrificial connector 10 . in doing so , the hole 18 in the latch member 16 disengages with the protrusion 22 on the first complementary connector 20 , and the two connectors 10 , 20 can be easily disengaged by pulling the sacrificial connector 10 in a direction away from the first complementary connector 20 . in cases where there is no bonding device 14 coupled to the sacrificial connector 10 and / or in cases where there is no corresponding device on the first complementary connector 20 to engage with the bonding device 14 on the sacrificial connector 10 such as to secure the sacrificial connector 10 to the first complementary connector 20 during the un - mating of the second complementary connector 30 from the sacrificial connector 10 , there is a need to have a separate engagement device to secure the sacrificial connector 10 to the first complementary connector 20 . fig3 shows another sacrificial connector 100 in relation to another first complementary connector 200 . the sacrificial connector 100 comprises an elongated insulative housing 110 with a longitudinal base 103 and a plurality of contacts received in the housing 110 . the housing 110 forms a first mating surface 106 and a second mating surface 108 . at one end of the housing 110 of the sacrificial connector 100 is a housing extension 120 which further comprises a hook 123 at one end of the housing extension 120 furthest from the second mating surface 108 . preferably , there is one housing extension 120 at each end of the housing 110 of the sacrificial connector 100 . the first complementary connector 200 comprises a housing 210 wherein at one end of the housing 210 is a housing protrusion 220 . preferably , there is one housing protrusion 220 at each end of the housing 210 of the first complementary connector 200 . the housing protrusion 220 further comprises a horizontal through - hole 240 which is in alignment with the housing extension 120 of the sacrificial connector 100 and a vertical tunnel 230 . it is preferred but not mandatory that the tunnel 230 be made perpendicular to the through - hole 240 . preferably the tunnel 230 extends from a first surface 231 of the housing protrusion 220 to a second surface 232 of the housing protrusion 220 . fig4 shows a close - up view of a vertical cross - section of the housing protrusion 220 with the sacrificial connector 100 and the first complementary connector 200 in an engaged position . while there is frictional resistance at the areas of contact between the housing extension 120 of the sacrificial connector 100 and the through - hole 240 of the housing protrusion 220 of the first complementary connector 200 , the frictional resistance may not be sufficient to prevent the disengagement of the sacrificial connector 100 from the first complementary connector 200 during the un - mating of the second complementary connector ( not shown ) from the sacrificial connector 100 , especially when the disengagement force is greater than 4 newtons ( n ). here , the disengagement force refers to the force required to disengage the sacrificial connector 100 from the first complementary connector 200 . fig5 is a perspective view of an exemplary engagement device 300 of the present invention in position before engagement with the first complementary connector 200 that is engaged with the sacrificial connector 100 . the engagement device 300 comprises a bracket body 310 which at least will partially envelop the sacrificial connector 100 once it is engaged and at least one engaging portion 320 extending from the bracket body 310 to the first complementary connector 200 and coupling to a portion of the first complementary connector 200 . fig6 a shows a close - up side view of a vertical cross - section of the housing protrusion 220 with the engagement device 300 , the sacrificial connector 100 and the first complementary connector 200 in an engaged position . fig6 b shows a close - up top view of a horizontal cross - section of the housing protrusion 220 with the engagement device 300 , the sacrificial connector 100 and the first complementary connector 200 in an engaged position . when in an engaged position , the engaging portion 320 of the engagement device 300 fits into the tunnel 230 of the housing protrusion 220 as illustrated by fig6 a . without the engagement device 300 , during the un - mating of the second complementary connector ( not shown ) from the sacrificial connector 100 , the disengagement force , typically greater than 4 newtons ( n ), may be exerted on the sacrificial connector 100 causing the sacrificial connector 100 to be disengaged from the first complementary connector 200 . however , when the engaging device 300 is engaged with the sacrificial connector 100 and the first complementary connector 200 , the engaging portion 320 of the engagement device 300 will obstruct the movement of the hook 123 thereby preventing the movement of the housing extension 120 of the sacrificial connector 100 and thus , preventing the sacrificial connector 100 from disengaging with the first complementary connector 200 . fig7 a is a perspective view of another exemplary engagement device 400 of the present invention in position before engagement with the sacrificial connector 10 which is engaged to another first complementary connector 250 that is coupled to the printed circuit board ( pcb ) 40 . as illustrated in fig7 a , the sacrificial connector 10 has a bonding device 14 coupled to each end of the sacrificial connector 10 . the first complementary connector 250 comprises a housing 255 , a housing protrusion 260 coupled to both ends of the housing 255 and at least one knob 270 extending from the housing 255 . as there is no corresponding device on the first complementary connector 250 to engage with the bonding device 14 on the sacrificial connector 10 , the sacrificial connector 10 may disengage from the first complementary connector 250 during the un - mating of the second complementary connector ( not shown ) from the sacrificial connector 10 . the engagement device 400 as shown in fig7 a comprises a bracket body 410 which at least will partially envelop the sacrificial connector 10 once it is engaged and at least one engaging portion 420 extending from the bracket body 410 to the first complementary connector 250 . the engagement device 400 further comprises at least one hole 425 on the engaging portion 420 which is positioned according to and will couple to at least one knob 270 on the housing 255 of the first complementary connector 250 when the engagement device 400 is engaged with the sacrificial connector 10 and the first complementary connector 250 . preferably , there is more than one knob 270 extending from the housing 255 and more than one hole 425 on the engaging portion 420 of the engagement device 400 . fig7 b shows the engagement device 400 engaged with the sacrificial connector 10 and the first complementary connector 250 . fig7 c shows the engagement device 400 further secured to the first complementary connector 250 by at least one securing device 275 such as but not limited to screws . while it is shown in fig7 a , 7 b and 7 c that there is a bonding device 14 coupled to the two ends of the sacrificial connector 10 , it is possible to do away with the bonding device 14 in this case since there is no corresponding device on the first complementary connector 250 to engage with the bonding device 14 . fig8 a is a perspective view of another exemplary engagement device 500 of the present invention in position before engagement with the sacrificial connector 10 engaged to another first complementary connector 280 coupled to the printed circuit board ( pcb ) 40 . the engagement device 500 comprises a bracket body 510 which at least will partially envelop the sacrificial connector 10 once it is engaged and at least one engaging portion 520 extending from the bracket body 510 to the first complementary connector 280 . the engagement device 500 further comprises at least one engagement lip 530 at the end of the engaging portion 520 which will hook over at least one portion on the first complementary connector 280 when the engagement device 500 is engaged with the sacrificial connector 10 and the first complementary connector 280 . fig8 b shows the engagement device 500 engaged with the sacrificial connector 10 and the first complementary connector 280 . while it is shown in fig8 a and 8b that there is a bonding device 14 coupled to the two ends of the sacrificial connector 10 , it is possible to do away with the bonding device 14 in this case since there is no corresponding device on the first complementary connector 280 to engage with the bonding device 14 . the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed , since many modifications or variations thereof are possible in light of the above teaching . all such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention . the embodiments described herein were chosen and described in order best to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application , thereby to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated thereof . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto , when interpreted in accordance with the full breadth to which they are legally and equitably suited .	7
referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first , particularly , to fig1 thereof , there is seen a first exemplary embodiment of the circuit configuration according to the invention illustrated in the form of a block diagram . an input region 2 of the circuit configuration is connected via an input line device 3 to an external transmitting device 20 , and to its output line device 21 , via which an input signal i is transmitted to the circuit configuration 1 according to the invention . the mismatch between an input capacitance c rec and the given characteristic impedance z 1 , in the input region 2 , whose impedance is in this case high , of the circuit configuration 1 , results in a reverse reflection signal r , which passes back via the input line device 3 to the output line device 21 of the transmitting unit 20 . a protection device 4 is provided in the input region 2 of the circuit configuration 1 and , via a compensation line 10 provides a compensation signal c , which is generated by a controlled current source device 7 used as the compensation device 5 , to the input line device 3 in order to compensate for the reflection signal r which is formed . the arrow r , which is shorter than the arrow i by the arrow c , is intended to indicate this partial compensation . fig2 shows a second exemplary embodiment of the circuit configuration 1 according to the invention , likewise in the form of block diagram . the circuit configuration 1 once again receives an input signal i in its input region 2 on the input line device 3 , which is once again connected to the output line device 21 of an externally transmitting unit 20 . the input signal i leads to the formation of a partially compensated reflection signal r . a protection device 4 with a compensation device 5 is formed in the input region 2 of the circuit configuration 1 , with the compensation device 5 supplying a generated compensation signal c via a compensation line 10 to the input line device 3 in the input region 2 . the compensation device 5 has a controllable current source device 7 or current source amplification device for generating and providing the compensation signal c . the current source device 7 or current source amplification device has a control signal s applied to it , via the control device 6 , by means of a control line 22 . in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig2 the control signal s is produced and provided in the control device 6 by sampling the reflection signal r of the input line device 3 by means of the sampling line 11 and the comparison device 8 in the control device 6 . the control device 6 and / or the comparison device 8 can be controlled via external control lines 23 and 24 respectively . in a particular embodiment , they are externally programmable . using a further block diagram , fig3 shows a detailed view of a further embodiment of the circuit configuration 1 according to the invention , to be precise with respect to the protection device 4 . in this exemplary embodiment , a number n mutually independent current source devices 7 are provided . these are supplied via a common supply line 14 and are controlled via mutually isolated and independent current control lines 12 - 1 , . . . , 12 - n and switching lines 13 - 1 , . . . , 13 - n , which are likewise isolated from one another and are mutually independent , with regard to the current level to be produced and with regard to their switch - on state . for this purpose , the transistor t 1 , . . . , tn is in each case provided for current control in each of the current source devices 7 , with the respective current control lines 12 - 1 , . . . , 12 - n acting as base lines . the switching state is in each case controlled via switching elements s 1 , . . . , sn , which may likewise be in the form of transistors . the switching elements s 1 , . . . , sn are respectively connected in series with the transistors t 1 , . . . , tn . instead of the transistors t 1 , . . . , tn entirely generic , in particular controlled , current source devices can be provided . in fig3 the corresponding transistor symbols in the drawing figure would in that case need to be read as indicating a generic current source . the respective contributions of the individual current source devices 7 are provided by connecting them in parallel via the compensation line 10 and the protection device 4 . a register device 9 is provided , which has a first register r 1 and a second register r 2 , which are intended for controlling the current levels of the current source devices 7 via the current control lines 12 - 1 , . . . , 12 - n , and for controlling the switch - on state of the current source devices 7 via the switching lines 13 - 1 , . . . , 13 - n . the registers r 1 and r 2 in the register device 9 are arranged in the control device 6 and are connected controllably via bus lines 15 - 1 , 15 - 2 and 16 - 1 , 16 - 2 to the comparison device 8 , to other circuit devices , and to the outside , respectively . for its part , the comparison device 8 receives as the controlled variable the current and / or the voltage of the reflection signal r on the input line device 3 of the input region 2 , via the sampling line 11 , and then carries out an appropriate comparison operation with a predetermined reference or nominal variable which , if required , can be provided or varied via an external control line 24 . the register device 9 together with its registers r 1 , r 2 can be used as what is referred to as a mode register and may be programmable — in particular externally . fig4 shows a prior art circuit configuration 40 , likewise in the form of a block diagram . there , a protection device 4 is provided in the input region 2 of the circuit configuration 40 . the prior art protection device 4 consists solely of a passive , parallel - connected concentrated resistance 41 which is selected in conjunction with the input capacitance c rec of the input region 2 such that the reflection signal r formed because of the input signal i source received via the input line device 3 can be suppressed as well as possible for a given and fixed characteristic impedance z 1 = u rec / i source .	6
the embodiments of a nox purging system and a method of reactivating a deteriorated catalyst therein according to the present invention are described below by referring to the accompanying drawings . first , the nox purging system is described . as shown in fig1 , the nox purging system 10 is provided with a direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 arranged in an exhaust gas passage ( a passage for exhaust gas ) 2 of an engine body 1 . as shown in fig7 and 8 , the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 is constituted by making a support t such as âtype zeolite support a special metal m such as rhodium ( rh ) or palladium ( pd ). moreover , cerium ( ce ) is blended for reducing an oxidization of the metal m and contributing to holding of a nox reduction capability , a three - way - catalyst having platinum or the like is arranged to a lower layer so as to accelerate a redox reaction , and iron ( fe ) is added to a support in order to improve a rate of nox purge . then , the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 has the characteristic that it reduces nox to n 2 contacting with nox in an atmosphere of a high oxygen concentration like an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine in which the air / fuel ratio is lean and the metal m itself is oxidized to become metal oxide mox such as rhodium oxide ( rhox ) as shown in fig7 , and that the metal oxide mox is reduced to become its original metal m such as rhodium by contacting with reducers such as unburned hc , co , and h 2 in the case of a reduction atmosphere in which an oxygen concentration of the exhaust gas is low almost equal to 0 % as the air / fuel ratio is equal to a theoretical air / fuel ratio or in a rich state as shown in fig8 , moreover , an operating state detector 5 is set which is constituted by a torque sensor and an engine speed sensor for detecting an operating state of an engine , mainly a torque q and an engine speed ne . furthermore , in the exhaust gas passage 2 , an air / fuel ratio sensor 6 for detecting an air / fuel ratio af is set upstream of the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 , an exhaust gas temperature sensor 7 for detecting an exhaust gas temperature tg is set upstream of the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 , and moreover a nox sensor 8 for detecting a nox concentration cnox is set downstream of the nox catalyst 3 . then , a controller 4 referred to as an engine control unit ( ecu ) for performing the general control of an engine such as fuel injection control by using the torque ( load ) q and engine speed ne of the engine 1 obtained from the operating state detector 5 or the like as inputs is constituted and a nox purging system control means for performing the catalyst regeneration control and deteriorated catalyst reactivation control of the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 is set to the controller 4 . as shown in fig2 , a nox purging system control means 200 is provided with a catalyst regeneration means 210 including a regeneration time judgment means 211 and a regeneration control means 212 and a deteriorated catalyst reactivation means 220 . the catalyst regeneration means 210 is a means for regenerating the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 in the state of low oxygen concentration where the air / fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is in a rich state . the catalyst 3 has become the metal oxide mox by contacting with nox to reduce nox to n 2 in the normal operating state of high oxygen concentration where the air / fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is in a lean state . the means 210 generates the exhaust gas of theoretical air / fuel ratio or a rich state where oxygen concentration is almost equal to 0 % by the regenerating control means 212 , judging the time for performing the regeneration by the regeneration time judgment means 211 , and makes the metal oxide mox contact with reducers such as unburned hc , co , and h 2 to reduce the metal oxide mox and return it to the metal m . the regeneration time judgment means 211 judges whether it is the regeneration time or not , by the nox concentration cnox of the exhaust gas downstream of the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 when reducing nox , by the elapsed time when the oxygen concentration is high , or by the estimated value of the nox quantity reduced by the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 when reducing nox . moreover , the regeneration control means 212 is a means for decreasing the oxygen concentration of the exhaust gas , that is , a means for performing the rich spike operation with the air / fuel ratio af of 14 . 7 or less , which performs any one or a combination of the controls such as a fuel injection control for controlling the injection of the fuel to be supplied to the combustion chambers of an internal combustion engine , an intake air quantity control for controlling the quantity of the intake air , and an egr control for controlling the quantity of egr gas in an egr system , and performs a feedback control so that the detection value af is kept within a predetermined range in accordance with the detection value af of the air / fuel ratio sensor 6 . the fuel injection control includes a main injection time control for changing time of the main fuel injection into the combustion chambers of an engine and a post - injection control for performing a post - injection after a main injection and the intake air control includes an intake throttle valve control for controlling a valve opening of a not - illustrated intake throttle valve and a turbocharger intake control for controlling the quantity of an intake air from a compressor of a not - illustrated turbocharger . moreover , the deteriorated catalyst reactivation means 220 is provided with a sulfur purge start judgment means 221 , a first sulfur purge control means 222 , and a second sulfur purge control means 223 . the sulfur purge start judgment means 221 judges whether to perform either of the first sulfur purge operation and the second sulfur purge operation . it estimates a sulfur quantity x 1 deposited on the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 according to the fuel consumption and the sulfur concentration of the fuel . it judges to start the first sulfur purge operation when an accumulated value xt obtained by accumulating the deposited sulfur quantity x 1 is larger than a first purge start judgment value x1 and smaller than a second purge start judgment value x2 , and judges to start the second sulfur purge operation when the accumulated value xt is larger than the second purge start judgment value x2 and not to start any of sulfur purge operation in a case other than the above cases . moreover , the first sulfur purge control means 222 does not have to immediately perform the sulfur purge operation by assuming that the accumulated sulfur quantity xt does not reach a limit x2 though xt increases to a certain extent . however , the means 222 performs the rich spike operation for decreasing the oxygen concentration of the exhaust gas and raising an exhaust gas temperature tg to a sulfur purge temperature tr ( approx . 400 ° c .) or higher when the exhaust gas temperature tg becomes higher than a predetermined temperature tc ( 350 ° c . to 400 ° c .) during the normal operation by assuming that the sulfur purge operation must be performed according to a necessity . and it purges and reactivates a deteriorated catalyst preventing secondary sulfur poisoning under low - oxygen conditions . because the first sulfur purge operation is performed when the exhaust gas temperature tg is kept high , only a small quantity of fuel is consumed to raise the exhaust gas temperature . furthermore , the first sulfur purge control means 222 performs sulfur purge before the exhaust gas temperature tg becomes not less than the sulfur purge temperature tr after sulfur is deposited to a certain extent on the catalyst 3 . therefore , it is possible to avoid that the exhaust gas temperature tg becomes not less than the sulfur purge temperature tr under the lean state of the normal operation and to prevent a secondary sulfur poisoning . and , the second sulfur purge means 223 performs the rich spike operation for decreasing the oxygen concentration of the exhaust gas and forcibly raising the exhaust gas temperature tg to the sulfur purge temperature tr or higher by assuming that a sulfur purge is immediately necessary because the accumulated sulfur quantity xt reaches the limit x2 , independently of the exhaust gas temperature tg even when the exhaust gas temperature tg is lower than a predetermined temperature tc . and it purges sulfur and reactivates a deteriorated catalyst preventing the secondary sulfur poisoning under a rich state . it is possible to perform the rich spike operation in the first and second purge operations in accordance with any one of the fuel injection control , an intake air control , and an egr control or a combination of them similar to the case in the rich spike operation for the regenerating process . then , a nox purging system control flow is described below in which nox is purged from the exhaust gas by controlling the nox purging system 10 of above configuration by the nox purging system control means 200 . the control flow is performed in accordance with the flowcharts and the like illustrated in fig3 to 5 . the nox purging system control flow shown in fig3 comprises the catalyst regeneration control in step s 100 and the deteriorated catalyst reactivation control in step s 200 . it is composed as a part of a general flow for controlling the whole of an engine , and is called from a main system control flow . it is carried in parallel with an engine control flow and thereafter the flow returns to the main engine control flow , and completed when the engine control flow is completed . moreover , as shown in fig3 , when the nox purging system control flow starts , the catalyst regeneration control and deteriorated catalyst reactivation control are executed in parallel . as shown by the catalyst regeneration control flow in fig4 , the catalyst regeneration control performs the normal operation control for purging nox by the direct reduction type catalyst 3 for a given time ( for example , the time corresponding to a time period for judging whether to perform the catalyst regeneration control ) in step s 110 and then , judges in step s 120 whether the direct reduction type catalyst 3 is in a regenerating start time , and when it is judged to be in the regeneration start time , after the regenerating control is performed in step s 130 , but when it is not judged to be in the regenerating start time , the flow directly returns to step s 10 to repeat the above control . moreover , when the control flow is completed in such a case as a completion of the engine operation , an interruption of the completion in step s 140 occurs and the flow returns to the nox pursing system control flow in fig3 to complete the flow . then , in the case of the deteriorated catalyst reactivation control , as shown by the deteriorated catalyst reactivation control flow in fig5 , when the flow starts , the accumulated quantity xt of the sulfur accumulated on the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 by the last - time engine operation is read from a memory in step s 11 . then , in step s 21 , the normal operation control is performed for a predetermined time ( for example , time corresponding to a time period for judging whether to perform deteriorated catalyst reactivation control ), and a deposited sulfur quantity xa by the engine operation for the predetermined time is calculated in accordance with fuel consumption and a sulfur concentration of fuel , and the deposited sulfur quantity xa is added to the accumulated quantity xt to make xt a new accumulated quantity xt ( xt = xt + xa ). in next step s 22 , the first sulfur purge start time is judged whether it is the first sulfur purge start time by whether the accumulated quantity xt is larger than a given first purge start judgment value x1 . when xt is not larger than x1 , the flow returns to step s 21 , assuming that it is not in the first sulfur purge start time . moreover , when it is judged in step 22 that the accumulated quantity xt is larger than the given first purge start judgment value x1 , it is assumed it is in the first sulfur purge start time . however further in next step s 23 , the second sulfur purge start time is judged by whether the accumulated quantity xt is larger than the given second purge start judgment value x2 . when xt is smaller than x2 , the flow goes to s 30 to perform the first sulfur purge operation by assuming it is not in the second sulfur purge start time . when xt is larger than x2 , the flow goes to s 40 to perform the second sulfur purge operation by assuming it is in the second sulfur purge start time . in the case of the first sulfur purge operation in step s 30 , it is judged whether the exhaust gas temperature tg is higher than the predetermined temperature tc in step s 31 . when the exhaust gas temperature tg is higher than the predetermined temperature tc , it is further judged in step s 32 whether the present operation is the normal operation in which other operations such as the regeneration control is not performed . when the exhaust gas temperature tg is higher than the predetermined temperature t1 and the normal operation is performed as a result of judgments in both steps s 31 and s 32 , the flow goes to the first sulfur purge operation control in step s 33 . in other cases , that is , when the exhaust gas temperature tg is lower than t1 or the regenerating operation is currently performed , it is not assumed to be in a state for the first sulfur purge operation and the flow returns to s 21 . in the case of the first sulfur purge operation control in step s 33 , the first sulfur purge operation is performed for a predetermined time and in step s 34 , a discharged sulfur quantity xs during the first sulfur purge is calculated by collating the exhaust gas quantity and the exhaust gas temperature tg with discharged sulfur quantity map data previously input and subtracting the discharged quantity xs from the accumulated quantity xt to obtain the accumulated quantity xt after performing the first sulfur purge operation control in step s 33 . however , when the accumulated quantity xt is not equal to or less than a predetermined third judgment value x3 ( x3 is normally zero ) as a result of the judgment in step s 35 , the flow returns to step s 33 to continue the first sulfur purge operation control until the accumulated quantity xt becomes not more than the predetermined third judgment value x3 . when the accumulated quantity xt becomes not more than the predetermined third judgment value x3 as a result of the judgment in step s 35 , it is judged that sulfur purge is completed to stop the first sulfur purge operation in step s 36 and returns to the normal operation . in the case of the flow in fig5 , the time when the accumulated quantity xt becomes not more than the predetermined third judgment value x3 is assumed as the time when the first sulfur purge operation is completed . however , it is also allowed to calculate a sulfur purge operation time by collating the accumulated sulfur quantity xt calculated in accordance with fuel consumption and a sulfur concentration of fuel with a sulfur purge operation time map data previously input in accordance with the exhaust gas quantity and the exhaust gas temperature tg at the start of the first sulfur purge operation and perform the first sulfur purge operation during the calculated operation time . the first sulfur purge operation control in step s 33 sets the exhaust gas temperature tg to a sulfur purge temperature or higher by performing the rich spike operation when the exhaust gas temperature tg is higher than the predetermined temperature tc ( for example , 350 ° c . to 400 ° c .) and the exhaust gas temperature tg may become not less than a sulfur purge temperature ( approx . 400 ° c .) and reactivates the deteriorated direct reduction type catalyst 3 by the rich operation preventing the secondary sulfur poisoning of cerium by making the oxygen concentration close to zero to prohibit so 3 to be produced . moreover , the second sulfur purge operation in step s 40 is the operation control for forcibly performing the sulfur purge before a proper state for sulfur purge is realized when , for example , the deterioration of the nox purging performance becomes problematic by a further progress of sulfur poisoning or an increase of fuel cost becomes problematic because of a frequent regenerating operation for regenerating a catalyst . the second sulfur purge operation performs the rich spike operation independently of the operating state to raise the temperature of the exhaust gas so that sulfur is forcibly separated , and the exhaust gas temperature tg is raised to a sulfur purge temperature or higher by the raised exhaust gas temperature to separate sulfur , and perform the deteriorated catalyst reactivation . when the above step s 30 or s 40 is completed , the flow returns to step s 21 to repeat the operation . then , when a case of completing the control flow such as a completion of an engine operation occurs , an interruption for the completion of step s 50 occurs , the accumulated sulfur quantity xt at the time of completion in step 51 , that is , the accumulated quantity xt calculated in step s 21 or s 32 is rewritten in a memory in step s 51 and the current flow returns to the nox purging system control in fig3 to complete the flow . then , when the catalyst regeneration control in fig4 and the deteriorated catalyst reactivation control in fig5 both return to the nox purging system control flow in fig3 due to the interruption of completion and further return to a not - illustrated main engine control flow , and the nox purging system control flow is also completed at the same time when the engine control flow is completed . according to the exhaust gas purging system 10 of the above configuration and the method of reactivating a deteriorated catalyst therein , it is possible to perform the deteriorated catalyst reactivation against sulfur poisoning preventing secondary sulfur poisoning by using the characteristics that the exhaust gas temperature tg at the time of reactivating the deteriorated direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 is comparatively low at approx . 400 ° c ., thereby performing the rich spike operation when the exhaust gas temperature tg reaches a temperature probably exceeding the sulfur purge temperature tr , that is , the predetermined temperature t1 ( e . g . 350 ° c . to 400 ° c .) and raising the exhaust gas temperature tg to the sulfur purge temperature tr or higher under low - oxygen conditions . moreover , it is also allowed to perform the above control at the temperature of the direct reduction type nox catalyst 3 instead of performing the control at the exhaust gas temperature tg . in this case , the predetermined temperature slightly changes . the present invention provides a nox purging system using a direct reduction type nox catalyst to purge nox contained in an exhaust gas and a method of reactivating a deteriorated catalyst therein , in which exploiting the characteristics that the reactivation of deteriorated catalyst against sulfur poisoning can be performed at an exhaust gas temperature within the normal operation range , a rich control operation is performed to set the temperature of the direct reduction nox catalyst to a sulfur purge temperature ( approx . 400 ° c .) or higher under low - oxygen conditions when the exhaust gas temperature becomes not less than a predetermined temperature ( 350 ° c . to 400 ° c .) during the normal operation of an internal combustion engine so that nox is removed efficiently excluding the influence of sulfur poisoning by the sulfur purge preventing secondary sulfur poisoning . therefore , the present invention can be used for a nox purging system provided with a direct reduction type nox catalyst in order to purge nox in the exhaust gas . thus , the present invention makes it possible to prevent air pollution by efficiently purifying the exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine of a vehicle and a stationary internal combustion engine .	5
the present disclosure describes various embodiments of an exercise mat having coded markings on the mat such that the markings correlate cross - back measurements to positions for body parts during exercise . fig1 a is a diagrammatic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of an exercise mat of the present disclosure . mat 100 of the present disclosure may have an area of material twenty four feet six inches squared , six feet six inches in its height and four feet in its width . this amount of area may be preferred so a young child can use the exercise mat but also a fully matured adult of large stature could also use the mat and feel comfortable using it . the twenty four feet six inches of area will allow a much broader range of use among the many different designs of the human body . the size of mat 100 maybe adjusted when manufactured to be larger or smaller than mentioned depending on the design choice desired for a particular user . coded marks 120 , 130 , on the surface of the mat facilitate proper body alignment during the exercise motions for a push up or sit up , squats , lunges . coded markings 120 , 130 , such as for example colors , cross - hatching patterns , dots , ovals , square , circle , hand prints , as well as lines 110 , 140 , 142 , 144 , may be coordinated with legend 150 on exercise mat 100 that correlates or gives a user directions on what each color or other indicator means and what body part a person should place with that certain color during a push up or sit up . directly down the center of mat 100 is a line called the centerline or centering line 110 . along every twelve inches , or foot , on the centerline is a marking 140 denoting a foot of length . starting from the top edge 141 of mat 100 on centerline 110 one may count down twelve inches and be at a mark 140 and repeat this pattern to the bottom edge 145 of the mat . every three inches on the centerline 110 there is a mark 142 . the three inch markings 142 are shorter than the half way markings 144 between each foot , but the half way markings 144 are shorter than the foot markings 142 . the lines 144 intersecting at each foot are six inches long horizontally , the lines 144 intersecting at the half way point between each foot are four inches long horizontally , and the line intersecting between the halfway marks of the foot markings are two inches long horizontally . center line 110 is used to align the user &# 39 ; s feet properly according to the user &# 39 ; s body size during a push up and a sit up . in specific embodiments , the center line as well as the other intersecting lines should be roughly one half of an inch thick . for example , a foot and a half down the center line from the top , to the left and to the right horizontal of the centerline 110 , may be a series of color coordinated ovals or other suitable shapes 120 resting next to each other to serve as a guide for hand positions . not all of the markings are fully exposed ; however , five of them are and the remaining fourteen under lap each other . in a preferred embodiment only five of the markings 120 , shown in fig1 a as ovals , in the series may be fully exposed . one of the full shaped ovals 121 is on centerline 110 at a foot and a half down from the top , in the middle of the horizontal arrangement of hand markings 120 . the preferred dimensions of the horizontal arrangement of oval for the placement of the hands may be four inches wide and six inches tall and are oriented vertically on the mat . the other four fully exposed ovals may be as follows : two 123 , 124 spread fourteen inches apart and centered in accordance with centerline 110 ; the other two 122 , 125 spread eighteen inches apart in accordance with centerline 110 . legend 150 maybe provided in the upper right corner of mat 100 to explain markings 120 . fig1 b is a diagrammatic illustration of a legend detail of an exemplary embodiment exercise mat of the present disclosure . on the inside of the fully exposed ovals spread fourteen inches apart may be three under - lapping ovals 158 a , 158 b ; they eventual under - lap the fully exposed center oval 121 of the horizontal arrangement . between the fully exposed ovals spread at fourteen inches and eighteen inches may be an under - lapping oval 156 a , 156 b . on the outsides of the fully exposed oval spread at eighteen inches may be three under - lapping ovals 154 a , 154 b . each may be under - lapping by approximately half their shape more or less . in the total arrangement there may be nineteen ovals . one on the center line and nine to its right and nine to its left . the spacing of ovals , or other coded markings , correlates to the cross back measurement of an exerciser . fig2 is a diagrammatic illustration of instructions for an exemplary embodiment of an exercise mat of the present disclosure . graphical explanation 210 of markings 120 may be provided by instructions 200 , together with written instructions 220 . instructions 200 may be included in legend 150 or may be provided as a separate inclusion with the purchase of mat 100 or both . the ovals 120 may be placed on mat 100 so that a human can put his hands on those designated areas , align his or her feet with the center line , and perform one or more pushups . the pectoral muscles may be described as having four different regions : the inner , outer , lower , and upper . mat 100 allows the user to target each of those specific areas by placing their hands wider or closer together during a push up motion . other body positions such as tilting the chest up or down , keeping the chest higher or feet higher during a push up with the desired spread of the hands will allow the user to target the lower portions of the chest , the upper portions of the chest , the outer portions of the chest and inner portions of the chest . on average a small child ( boy or girl ) has a cross back measurement of fourteen inches . the two shapes 156 a , 156 b as a destination point for the user &# 39 ; s hands , spread at fourteen inches apart are for a user who has a cross back measurement of twelve through fifteen inches . these shapes 156 a , 156 b spread at fourteen inches are there for people of that stature . during a standard pushup a person may position their hands at about shoulder width apart and on the markings 120 suitable for exercising the desired muscles . they can then move their hands closer together to target the inner chest or they can move their hands further apart from that point to target the outer portions of pectoral muscles . it may be helpful for the person using the mat to understand how to tilt the chest to target the upper or lower portions of the chest muscles while the hands are at a desired position on the mat . by understanding how to use the mat , the user can focus more attention on the upper - outer , upper - middle , lower - outer , lower - middle . this will help develop the best muscle growth , strength , and balance in those specific areas . on an average , a man or woman has a cross back measurement of eighteen inches . on the exercise mat 100 may be placed two of the shapes 154 a , 154 b at eighteen inches apart specifically for the hands of adults to be placed during a standard push up . if an adult with a cross back measurement of eighteen inches would like to work the inner portion of the chest all they have to do is use a few of the shapes closer to the center line ; if they want to work the muscle groups on the outer part of pectoralis major , for example , they can place there hands on the other three under - lapping shapes 156 a , 156 b outside the shapes spread 123 , 124 nine inches form the center line . the user places their hands on any of the circles no matter what size their body , align their feet with the center line and bends their elbows , lowering the chest and then straightening their arms to complete a push up and be confident that they are aligned for the best pushup of their body &# 39 ; s ability . table 1 provides a convenient reference guide to convert from clothing sizes to measurements in inches to help determine which markings on the mat to use . specific alternative embodiments provide , on the opposite side of the mat , an array , or arrangement of coded markings . positioned in the center of the mat is a primary circular marking eight inches in diameter . two inches outside the primary marking is a series of circles six inches in diameter . this pattern continues , with the circles decreasing in diameter by two inch increments as the circles are spread further apart from the center primary circle . a person can be guided by the coded markings for stretching , lunges , squats , and other floor exercises . exercise mat 100 is versatile because not only can one do a pushup properly and in alignment but also another shape , or oval 130 may be printed on the mat as a destination point for the buttocks during a sit up . directly above the three foot mark may be a bigger oval shape six inches tall and eight inches wide . this shape is there for a user to sit down on , place their feet out in front of them on any of the markings on the center line and perform a sit up , crunch or the like . the human &# 39 ; s abdominal muscle is generally classified into four sections : upper , middle , lower and the obliques . when the user sits down on the bigger shape 130 on mat 100 , puts his feet out in front of him or her on centerline 110 , they will be able to remember which marking they used and which worked the best in targeting the different regions of the abdominals during a sit up ; furthermore , they are confident that the body is inline by using centerline 110 . the material of mat 100 may preferably be water resistant , resilient , tear resistant , flexible and lightweight . mat 100 is preferably made out of water resistant material so that bodily fluids such as perspiration , extracted from body during exercise , can easily be wiped away . closed cell foam materials or rubber are preferred for water resistance . examples of closed cell materials include but are not limited to neoprene , silicone , pvc , nitrile , eva , epdm viton and xlpe . solid rubber material include , for example , eppm , butyl , flexmat and fluourosilicon . alternatively , open celled materials such as for example polyether , polyester , melamine , filter foam , high density urethane , natural sponge and pe may be used . additional alternative materials may include but not be limited to em / rfi , shielding , polycarbonate , plastic films , kaplon , cork , nomex and adhesive coatings . the materials may be treated with a fungus inhibiting substance to help maintain freshness . the mat is preferably made from flexible material such that the mat may be selectively rolled up for storage and unrolled for use . specific embodiments provide one or more fasteners , such as ties , velcro , snaps and the like , attached to the mat to maintain the mat in a rolled - up state when fastened . other specific embodiments provide a kit consisting of a floor exercise mat as described herein , a carrier for carrying the mat to various locations such as back and forth from a gym or from a closet to a den , and a set of instructions that explain to a user how to understand and use the markings and how the coded markings correlate to the proper position of a body part on the mat for a desired exercise . the markings of the present exercise mat may be printed directly onto the substance of mat 100 or alternatively the markings may be printed on a slipcover that is disposed over a cushioned pad or mat . the material of the slip cover may be washable fabric . mat 100 may be a simple sheet of fabric , plastic , rubber or of the materials described herein such that the sheet is simply laid on the floor or on top of an existing exercise mat for use . alternatively , mat 100 may be a pad of cushioning closed cell foam , for instance , with the markings as described herein printed on the pad . another alternative embodiment is that mat 100 is a slipcover with the markings such that the slipcover can be disposed over an existing pad for comfort of use or may be use directly on the floor or simply put on an existing pad . the preferred mat 100 is resilient and cushioning to be absorbent of the shock the body places on mat 100 during human performance . a persons feet , hands , or buttock are going to be constantly putting pressure in one area or mat 100 for a period of time during an exercise routine ; therefore , the mat may be made from durable and shock absorbing material . mat 100 is also preferably flexible so that it can be rolled up for storage when it is not in use . another preferred quality of the material that mat 100 may be made from may be tear resistance . this exercise mat will be able to be moved from one area of a room to another . during the handling of the mat , it should not tear . it may be tear resistant and durable . child &# 39 ; s play and rough housing should not be able to destroy the mat . the mat may be lightweight and flexible . since the mat may be used any where , the mat may preferably be made out of a material that is light weight giving it easy portability . its flexibility may allow the mat to be folded in any fashion , or rolled into a tube , for easy storage and so that the mat will take up less room if desired . many modifications and other embodiments of the exercise mat will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings . therefore , it is to be understood that this description is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims . although specific terms are employed herein , they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation .	0
turning now to the drawings , fig1 schematically illustrates the modular playpen apparatus of the present invention , generally referenced as 10 . the apparatus includes : a plurality of vertical uprights 20 ; a series of substantially rectangular side panels 30 ; a plurality of horizontal cross bars 40 ; floor pads 50 and a center support post 60 underneath the floor pads ( shown in fig6 ). referring specifically to fig1 vertical uprights 20 are positioned a sufficient distance from each other in order to allow for a side panel 30 to fit between them . each upright 20 is a round post comprised of plastic or other suitable material , approximately 2 feet high . each upright 20 has a slot or groove 21 running along its length . this can be seen more clearly in fig2 and fig3 . the vertical side of each side panel 30 slides into one of the grooves 21 of a vertical upright 20 . each upright 20 is joined to two side panels 30 to form the enclosure shown in fig1 . although the playpen 10 can be configured as a square , as shown in fig1 there are an infinite number of configurations that can be formed by either matching different grooves 21 of different uprights 20 with different side panels 30 or by adding on additional panels 30 , uprights 20 and cross bars 40 . each upright 20 has four identical grooves 21 running along its length , in order to receive up to four side panels 30 . in an alternate embodiment , each upright 20 can have more than four grooves . this would allow for connection to more side panels 30 and cross bars 40 thereby creating many more playpen configurations . each horizontal cross bar 40 is of approximately the same length as each side panel 30 and provides structural support to the bottom , horizontal side of each side panel 30 . each end of the horizontal cross bar 40 is inserted into a vertical upright 20 , just below the bottom of groove 21 . fig3 shows the inter - connection of a side panel 30 with a vertical upright 20 . the groove 21 running down the length of the vertical upright 20 is approximately 1 / 2 - inch deep and sized to receive a vertical edge of a side panel 30 . the groove 21 does not extend the entire length of the upright 20 but terminates near the bottom to allow for the cross bar 40 to be inserted into the upright 20 . in the preferred embodiment , the groove 21 begins at the top of the vertical upright 20 and terminates near the bottom of the vertical upright 20 , above where the cross bar 40 meets the upright 20 . fig4 shows a top view of the upright - side panel connection . two side panels 30 can be slid from the top of an upright 20 within one of the grooves 21 . the length of the groove 21 corresponds to the length of each side of a side panel 30 allowing for each vertical side of a side panel 30 to be slidably secured to an upright 20 . fig6 depicts a top view of the square - shaped playpen 10 of fig1 and shows the interconnection of the side panels 30 with the grooves 21 in each vertical upright 20 . also shown is the center post 60 as it protrudes through and between the floor pads 50 . the cut - outs 51 in each corner of the floor pads 50 allow for the center post 60 to protrude between the pads thereby providing a contiguous inner surface . the top covering of the center post 60 is comprised of the same material that comprises the floor pad 50 . in this way , the floor of the playpen 10 forms a uniform surface . the actual inter - connection of the panel and upright can occur in a variety of ways . one method can be to provide a notch or downward protrusion in the bottom of the edge of the side panel 30 . this protrusion would be inserted into the upright 20 first until the protrusion reaches the terminus of the groove 21 . the remaining portion of the edge of the panel 30 can then slide into the remaining portion of the groove 21 until the panel 30 is secured therein . other methods to connect the panels 30 to the uprights 20 may include providing panels with a spring mechanism on one or both ends , a small horizontal flange on the top corner of the panel preventing the panel from dropping down into the groove , or a retractable knob similar to those used to secure accordion closet doors within closet enclosures , located at the bottom corner of each panel used in conjunction with the flange . each side panel 30 is substantially rectangular or square . its sides are generally of plastic and surround a see - through nylon mesh or netting made of standard nylon material . this allows for the young child or infant within the playpen enclosure to observe the events outside of the playpen . each side panel 30 can be easily removed by lifting it up and out of the groove 21 of the vertical uprights 20 . no tools are necessary . the easy removal of the side panels 30 does not belie the fact that the panel - upright connection is sturdy and a young child within the enclosure could not remove a panel by himself . fig5 shows the horizontal cross bar 40 of the present invention in greater detail . each horizontal cross bar 40 has a flat upper longitudinal surface 41 and a rounded lower longitudinal surface 42 . the flat upper longitudinal surface 41 has a thin protruding edge 43 running along its entire length . this edge 43 bisects the flat upper longitudinal surface 41 , thereby creating an inner and outer upper longitudinal surface . as can be seen clearly in fig5 the inner portion of the upper longitudinal surface 41 provides support to the outer edge of the floor pad 50 . for safety and aesthetic purposes , the top of the edge 43 remains below the top surface of the floor pad 50 thereby preventing the appearance of the edge within the interior of the playpen 10 . the lower horizontal side of the side panel 30 rests on top of the protruding edge 43 . each floor pad 50 is made of a sturdy plastic backing material topped by a vinyl - covered cushion , such as polyurethane foam . to accommodate the vertical uprights 20 , the floor pads 50 have an arc - shaped cut - out 51 at each of its corners . therefore , when a floor pad 50 abuts against an upright 20 or center post 60 , a contiguous surface is created , and the pads do not overlap . fig6 shows a top view of the square playpen 10 of fig1 . the cut - outs 51 can be seen wherever a floor pad 50 is positioned next to an upright 20 or center post 60 . these cut - outs 51 allow for the floor pads 50 to fit snugly within the enclosure without any spaces which may cause injury to the child . the floor pads 50 are sized such that each pad will fit snugly between the vertical uprights 20 and the protruding center post 60 . each vertical upright 20 receives an end of a cross bar 40 . in the preferred embodiment , each upright 20 has a notch of approximately the same shape as the t - shaped end 44 of cross bar 40 , below the terminus of groove 21 to receive one end of the cross bar 40 . however , other connection means may be employed to join the upright and cross bar . fig7 shows the center post 60 and its connection to four horizontal cross bars 40 . the center support post 60 is positioned substantially underneath the floor pads 50 , within the interior of the playpen 10 . the top portion of the center post 60 is covered with the same vinyl cushion material as that of the floor pads and protrudes up and between the void created by the cut - outs 51 . the four horizontal cross bars 40 connect to the center support post 60 via the same means as the cross bars 40 are connected to the uprights 20 around the perimeter of the playpen 10 , namely , the insertion of the t - shaped end 44 of the cross bar 40 into a notch in the center support post 60 . once again , other standard connecting means could be employed . the center post 60 , therefore , receives one end of the four cross bars 40 , and the four centermost uprights 20 around the perimeter of the playpen 10 receive the other end of the cross bar 40 . fig6 shows the four ( 4 ) centermost uprights around the perimeter of the playpen 10 receiving three ( 3 ) horizontal cross bars 40 each , ( two along the perimeter of the playpen and a third underneath the floor pads 50 ), while the four ( 4 ) corner uprights receive two ( 2 ) horizontal cross bars 40 . fig6 also shows the cut - outs 51 of the floor pads 50 allowing for the center post 60 to protrude between the floor pads 50 . the center support post 60 , in conjunction with the cross bars 40 , does not support the side panels 30 , but instead serves to provide support to the playpen 10 from underneath the floor pads 50 while forming a connection between the sides of the playpen 10 . the center post 60 is not noticeably discernable as only its top protrudes between the pads and it is made of the same material as the floor pads . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , a total of eight uprights 20 , eight side panels 30 , four floor pads 50 , twelve cross bars 40 and one center support post 60 are used to create a square playpen enclosure , approximately 3 feet by 3 feet . however , as can be seen in fig8 - 11 , the components can also be reconfigured to produce an approximately 41 / 2 foot by 11 / 2 foot rectangular enclosure , or other non - conventional configurations , to conform to the contour of different sized rooms or area constraints . additional side panels , uprights and cross bars can be added to expand and alter the shape of the enclosure to adapt to available space . as shown in fig8 the playpen 10 can be configured around objects in the room . as seen in fig9 side panels 30 can be inserted into the uprights 20 to create separate enclosures . the need for a separate enclosure may be for a sleeping child who needs to be separated from the other children , or to store children &# 39 ; s shoes or extra clothing while the child plays in the larger , adjacent enclosure . a long , rectangular version of the playpen 10 may be used to near a pool , as seen in fig1 . for example , if others are in the pool , and there is not sufficient space to fit a standard playpen , the playpen 10 of the present invention can be configured to &# 34 ; wrap around &# 34 ; and follow the perimeter of the pool . this would allow the child to remain safely in the playpen , yet follow the activity in the pool . with a small amount of creativity , parents can create a variety of entertaining and practical configurations of the playpen 10 . the present invention could be used in various rooms in the home , outside in the backyard , in day - care centers , or taken on trips . the ease at which the side panels can be slid out of the elongated grooves along the length of the uprights make the present invention easy to disassemble and reassemble without the use of tools . furthermore , the horizontal cross bars can be removed from the vertical uprights with little difficulty . the entire playpen can be disassembled and transported in a travel bag . further embodiments can offer an attachable covering or canopy if the playpen were to be used outside , in inclement weather . the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment . it is recognized , however , that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art .	0
the copolymers as used in the present invention can be easily produced by conventional methods . for instance , styrene and acrylic acid are dissolved in a reaction medium , e . g ., methanol , ethanol , acetone , benzene , dimethylformamide , dioxane or mixtures thereof . then , a polymerization catalyst , e . g ., azobisisobutyronitrile , benzoyl peroxide , or the like , is added in an amount of about 0 . 5 to 2 . 0 % by weight of the monomer used followed by stirring at 60 ° to 80 ° c . for 3 to 6 hours under a nitrogen atmosphere . the reaction product is re - precipitated in water , dried , and , if desired , neutralized with sodium hydroxide or the like . a chain transfer agent , e . g ., p - cymene , isopropanol , carbon tetrachloride or the like can be effectively used to control the molecular weight of the polymer . representative copolymers can be produced by copolymerizing styrene and acrylic acid , styrene and methacrylic acid , methylstyrene and acrylic acid , methylstyrene and methacrylic acid , or a like combination , and , if desired , neutralizing the resulting polymers . in the copolymers of the present invention , a high content of the styrene or methylstyrene unit reduces the compatibility of the copolymer with gelatin whereas a high content of the acrylic acid or methacrylic acid unit adversely affects the sensitivity . thus , the styrene or methylstyrene content is about 30 to 70 mole % and preferably 40 to 60 mole %. the acrylic acid or methacrylic acid content is about 70 to 30 mole % and preferably 60 to 40 mole %. too low a molecular weight reduces the effect of the copolymer while too high a molecular weight reduces the compatibility of the copolymer with gelatin . thus , the reduced viscosity , i . e ., η sp / c as measured in a 1 % by weight sodium chloride aqueous solution at 30 ° c ., is about 0 . 2 to 2 . 0 and preferably 0 . 3 to 1 . 0 . the photographic light - sensitive element which can be used in the present invention is characterized as having an uppermost layer which contains the copolymer described hereinbefore . the uppermost layer comprises a hydrophilic colloid and the copolymer of the present invention . the hydrophilic colloid which is preferably used in the present invention is gelatin . also , a part of the gelatin , generally up to about 70 % by weight of the gelatin used can be replaced by one or more hydrophilic colloids other than gelatin . any hydrophilic colloid which is conventionally used in a hydrophilic layer of a photographic material can be used and examples include colloidal albumin , casein , cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethyl cellulose , hydroxyethyl cellulose and the like , agar , sodium alginate , saccharide derivatives such as starch derivatives , synthetic hydrophilic colloids , e . g ., polyvinyl alcohol , polyvinyl pyrrolidone , acrylic acid copolymers , polyacrylamide , and derivatives thereof , gelatin derivatives such as gelatin treated with a compound having at least one group capable of reacting with the functional groups contained in gelatin , i . e ., an amine group , an imino group , a hydroxy group , and a carboxy group , or those gelatins to which high polymeric molecular chains have been grafted , and the like . compounds which can be used for preparing gelatin derivatives are , e . g ., isocyanates , acid chlorides and acid anhydrides as described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 614 , 928 ; acid anhydrides as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 118 , 766 ; bromo acetates as described in japanese patent publication no . 5514 / 1964 ; phenyl glycidyl ethers as described in japanese patent no . 26845 / 1967 ; vinyl sulfone compounds as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 132 , 945 ; n - allylvinyl sulfonamides as described in british pat . no . 861 , 414 ; maleinimide compounds as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 186 , 846 ; acrylonitriles as described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 594 , 293 ; polyalkylene oxides as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 312 , 553 ; epoxy compounds as described in japanese patent publication no . 26845 / 1967 ; acid esters as described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 763 , 639 ; alkanesultones as described in british pat . no . 1 , 033 , 189 ; etc . suitable branch polymers to be grafted to gelatin include polymers or copolymers of the so - called vinyl monomers such as acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , or the esters , amides , or nitriles thereof , or styrene as described in u . s . pat . nos . 2 , 763 , 625 ; 2 , 831 , 767 ; 2 , 956 , 884 ; 3 , 620 , 751 ; polymer letters , 5 , 595 ( 1967 ), phot . sci . eng ., 9 , 148 ( 1965 ), j . polymer sci ., a - 1 , 9 , 199 ( 1971 ), etc . hydrophilic vinyl polymers which are mutually compatible with gelatin to a certain extent , such as polymers or copolymers of acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , acrylamide , methacrylamide , hydroxyalkylacrylate , hydroxyalkylmethacrylate , etc ., are particularly useful . the amount of the copolymer of the present invention which is incorporated in the uppermost layer can be varied over wide range , since the copolymer is compatible with gelatin in any ratio . a suitable amount ranges from about 10 to about 70 , and particularly from 20 to 50 , % by weight . advantageously the binder of the uppermost layer is hardened using a hardening agent . a matting agent , e . g ., particles of polystyrene , polymethyl methacrylate , silica or the like , which is generally used in the field of photography , can be , if desired , added , e . g ., in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 5 , preferably 0 . 3 to 2 , % by weight based on the total amount of the hydrophilic colloid in the layer , to the layer comprising the copolymer and a binder . a suitable particle size ranges from about 0 . 1 to about 5 microns , preferably 0 . 3 to 3 microns . moreover , where the copolymer is used in combination with a binder such as gelatin or its derivatives , a hardening agent can be advantageously used . suitable hardening agents which can be preferably used include those hardening agents as described in c . e . k . mees and t . h . james , the theory of the photographic process , 3rd . edition , pages 55 - 60 , macmillan co . ( 1966 ), and u . s . pat . no . 3 , 316 , 095 . particularly , aldehyde type ( including mucochloric acid type and aldehyde precursor type hardening agents ), e . g ., as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 232 , 761 ; 3 , 565 , 632 ; 3 , 677 , 760 , active vinyl type , e . g ., as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 635 , 718 ; 3 , 232 , 763 ; etc ., active halogen type , e . g ., as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 288 , 775 ; 3 , 732 , 303 ; etc ., carbodiimide type , e . g ., as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 100 , 704 ; etc ., isooxazole type , e . g ., as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 321 , 313 ; 3 , 543 , 292 ; etc ., epoxy type , e . g ., as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 091 , 537 ; etc ., aziridine type , e . g ., as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 017 , 280 ; 2 , 983 , 611 ; etc ., and inorganic type hardening agents can be preferably used . a suitable amount of the hardening agent can range from about 0 . 1 to about 10 , preferably 0 . 3 to 5 , % by weight based on the total amount of the hydrophilic colloid in the layer . more particularly , the following hardening agents provide good results . aldehyde type hardening agents : mucochloric acid , mucobromic acid , mucophenoxychloric acid , mucophenoxybromic acid , formaldehyde , dimethylolurea , trimethylolmelamine , 1 , 3 - bis -( diallylamino ) methyl urea , 1 , 3 - bis ( piperidinomethyl ) urea , glyoxal , monomethylglyoxal , 2 , 3 - dihydroxy - 1 , 4 - dioxane , 2 , 3 - dihydroxy - 5 - methyl - 1 , 4 - dioxane , succinaldehyde , 2 , 5 - dimethoxytetrahydrofuran , glutaraldehyde , etc . these hardening agents can be , as in conventional methods , dissolved in water or an organic solvent and directly added to the uppermost layer containing the copolymers or can be added to other layers in a large amount so that the hardening agent diffuses into the uppermost layer . of these hardening agents , dichlorohydroxy - s - triazine sodium salt , triethyleneimino - s - triazine , formaldehyde , glyoxal , mucochloric acid , trichlorotriazine , 3 - chloro - 1 , 2 - propyleneglycol - diglycidyl ether and the like are particularly preferred . in addition , as a coating aid , sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate , sodium n - oleyl - n - methyl - taurate , sodium 1 , 4 - p - nonylphenyl - 5 , 8 , 11 , 14 - tetraoxatetradecane - 1 - sulfonate , dimethyltetradecyl ammonioacetate , and the like can be used . the mixing ratio of the copolymer of the present invention , gelatin , a matting agent ( e . g ., fine particles of inorganic or organic compound such as silica , magnesium oxide , polymethyl methacrylate , cellulose acetate propionate , etc . ), an anti - adhesive agent , an anti - slip agent ( e . g ., polyethyleneoxide , glycerol , etc . ), a lubricant ( e . g ., polydimethylsiloxane , stearylamide , etc . ), an antistatic agent ( e . g ., saponin , polyoxyethylene lauryl ether , etc . ), a hardening agent , and a coating aid , etc ., can be varied over a wide range depending upon the kind and use of the photographic photosensitive element . the type and suitable amounts of the above described ingredients can be determined by one skilled in the art . appropriate selection of a suitable coating method is important for increasing productivity . for instance , dip coating , air knife coating , curtain coating , extrusion coating , etc ., can be used . an uppermost layer containing the copolymer of this invention can suitably range in thickness from about 0 . 5 to about 3 , preferably 1 to 1 . 5 , microns . the copolymer which can be used in the present invention cn also be added to other photographic hydrophilic layers of the photographic material . such photographic layers include a silver halide emulsion layer , an intermediate layer , a filter layer , and the like . the present invention is further illustrated in greater detail by reference to the following examples . unless otherwise indicated , all parts , percents , ratios and the like are by weight . a reaction vessel was charged with 43 g ( 0 . 5 mole ) of methacrylic acid , 52 g ( 0 . 5 mole ) of styrene , 150 ml of ethanol and 0 . 45 g of benzoyl peroxide as a polymerization initiator . after purging the system with nitrogen , the mixture was stirred at 70 ° to 80 ° c . for 5 hours . then , the reaction product was reprecipitated in water and vacuum - dried until a constant weight was reached . thus , copolymer - 1 was obtained . the yield was 69 . 3 g ( 73 . 0 %). the product was neutralized with sodium hydroxide to adjust the ph of a 20 % aqueous solution to 7 . 5 . the viscosity was 0 . 73 ( η sp / c . c = 0 . 1 %, 30 ° c .). the same procedure was repeated to produce copolymer - 2 and copolymer - 3 using the monomers and proportions as indicated in the following table . ______________________________________ amount chargedcopolymer monomer ( g ) yield η sp / c . c ph______________________________________copolymer - 1 methacrylic 43 69 . 3 g 0 . 73 7 . 5 acid styrene 52 ( 73 . 0 %) copolymer - 2 acrylic acid 36 61 . 4 g 0 . 27 7 . 8 styrene 52 ( 76 . 7 %) copolymer - 3 acrylic acid 25 . 2 80 . 1 g 0 . 31 7 . 8 vinyl toluene 76 . 7 ( 78 . 6 %) ______________________________________ example 1 p on an undercoated cellulose triacetate base were coated a red - sensitive silver halide emulsion layer , an intermediate layer , a green - sensitive silver halide emulsion layer , a yellow filter layer , a blue - sensitive silver halide emulsion layer , and a protective layer as indicated in table 1 below . mixtures of gelatin as a binder and copolymer - 1 containing 0 , 20 , 40 , 60 and 80 % by weight of copolymer - 1 were used for the protective layer to produce samples 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 , respectively . to each of these binder combinations , 2 , 4 , 6 - triethyleneimino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine was added in an amount of 25 mg per gram of the binder as a hardening agent . in addition , as a matting agent , silicon dioxide particles and polymethyl methacrylate particles were added . the thus prepared mixtures were coated and dried to provide a dry thickness of 1 to 2μ . table 1__________________________________________________________________________red - sensitive layer green - sensitive layer blue - sensitive layer__________________________________________________________________________color4 - chloro - n - n - dodecyl - 1 - 2 , 4 , 6 - trichlorophenyl - 3 -{ 3 - 3 -( 2 , 4 - di - amylphenoxyacetamido )- coupler1 - hydroxy - 2 - ( α - 2 , 4 - di - t - amylphenoxy )- α -( 4 - methoxybenzoyl ) acetanilidenaphthamide acetamido }- benzamido - 5 - pyrazolonespectralbis -( 9 - ethyl - 5 - chloro - bis -( 9 - ethyl - 5 - phenyl - 3 - ethyl )- nonesensitizer3 - hydroxyethyl )- oxycarbocyanine isothiocyanatethiacarbocyaninebromidestabilizer5 - methyl - 7 - hydroxy - same as used in red - sensitive same as used in red - sensitive2 , 3 , 4 - triazaindolizine layer layerhardening2 , 4 , 6 - triethyleneimino - same as used in red - sensitive same as used in red - sensitiveagent1 , 3 , 5 - triazine layer layerauxiliarysodium dodecylbenzene same as used in red - sensitive same as used in red - sensitivecoatingsulfonate layer layeragent__________________________________________________________________________ intermediate layer : a gelatin layer containing the hardening agent and auxiliary agent as indicated in table 1 . yellow filter layer : a gelatin layer containing the hardening agent , auxiliary agent as indicated in table 1 and yellow colloidal silver . these samples were allowed to stand under the conditions of a temperature of 25 ° c . and 60 % rh for 1 week . after subjecting these samples to color negative processing , these samples were examined with respect to the formation of reticulation . the processing temperature was 35 °, 40 °, 45 ° or 50 ° c . ______________________________________ time______________________________________color development 3 &# 39 ; 15 &# 34 ; bleaching 6 &# 39 ; 30 &# 34 ; washing 3 &# 39 ; 15 &# 34 ; fixing 6 &# 39 ; 30 &# 34 ; washing 3 &# 39 ; 15 &# 34 ; stabilizing bath 3 &# 39 ; 15 &# 34 ; ______________________________________ with each of the samples processed , the degree of the formation of reticulation was as illustrated in table 2 . table 2______________________________________processingtemperature sample (° c .) 1 2 3 4 5______________________________________35 c a a a a40 c b a a a45 c c b a a50 c c c b b______________________________________ a : no reticulation was observed . b : slight reticulation was observed . c : considerable reticulation was observed . it can be seen from the results in table 2 that the formation of reticulation is prevented by replacing a part of the gelatin with copolymer - 1 of the present invention and that the formation of reticulation is more prevented by increasing the content of copolymer - 1 . to each of the layers as used in example 1 was added copolymer - 2 in the following manner . sample 2 : 30 % of the gelatin contained in the intermediate layer and the yellow filter layer was replaced with copolymer - 2 . sample 3 : 30 % of the gelatin contained in all of the layers except for the protective layer was replaced with copolymer - 2 . sample 4 : 30 % of only the gelatin contained in the protective layer was replaced with copolymer - 2 . sample 5 : 30 % of the gelatin contained in each of the intermediate layer , the yellow filter layer and the protective layer was replaced with copolymer - 2 . sample 6 : 30 % of the gelatin contained in all of the layers was replaced with copolymer - 2 . these samples were allowed to stand under the conditions of a temperature of 25 ° c . and 60 % rh for 1 week and , after being subjected to the same processing as described in example 1 , were examined with respect to the formation of reticulation . the results obtained are shown in table 3 . table 3______________________________________processingtemperature sample (° c .) 1 2 3 4 5 6______________________________________35 c b a a a a40 c c c a a a45 c c c b a a50 c c c c c a______________________________________ a , b and c designate the same grades as set forth for example 1 . it can be seen from table 3 that the formation of reticulation is most effectively prevented by replacing a part of the gelatin contained in all of the layers with copolymer - 2 and that a considerable effect can be attained by replacing only a part of the gelatin contained in the protective layer . on an undercoated polyethylene terephthalate base were coated a red - sensitive silver halide emulsion layer , a green - sensitive silver halide emulsion layer , a yellow filter layer and a blue - sensitive silver halide emulsion layer , which contained the same spectral sensitizer , stabilizer , and auxiliary coating agent as described in example 1 , and 5 mg of 2 - oxy - 4 , 6 - dichloro - s - triazine sodium salt per gram of the binder as a hardening agent , in the following manner . sample 2 : 20 % of the gelatin contained in the red - sensitive emulsion layer , the green - sensitive emulsion layer and the yellow filter layer was replaced with copolymer - 3 . sample 3 : 20 % of the gelatin contained in the blue - sensitive emulsion layer only was replaced with copolymer - 3 . sample 4 : 20 % of the gelatin contained in all four layers was replaced with copolymer - 3 . these samples were allowed to stand at a temperature of 25 ° c . and 0 . 60 % rh for week and , after being subjected to the following color - in - developer type color processing ( the pre - hardening time was changed from 10 seconds to 50 seconds ), examined with respect to the formation of reticulation . ______________________________________ tem - perature time______________________________________1 . pre - hardening 27 ° c . as indicated in table 42 . washing &# 34 ; 1 minute3 . negative development &# 34 ; 4 minutes4 . washing &# 34 ; 3 minutes5 . reversal red flash exposure6 . cyan color development &# 34 ; 5 minutes7 . washing &# 34 ; 2 minutes8 . reversal blue flash exposure9 . yellow color development &# 34 ; 5 minutes10 . washing &# 34 ; 2 minutes11 . reversal white exposure12 . magenta color development 27 ° c . 5 minutes13 . washing &# 34 ; 2 minutes14 . silver bleaching &# 34 ; 5 minutes15 . fixing &# 34 ; 3 minutes16 . washing and drying______________________________________ each of the compositions of processing baths are shown in columns 18 and 19 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 723 , 125 . the degree of the formation of reticulation is indicated in table 4 . table 4______________________________________pre - hardening time sample ( seconds ) 1 2 3 4______________________________________10 c c c b20 c b b a30 c b a a40 b a a a50 a a a a______________________________________ a , b and c designate the same grades used for example 1 . it can be seen from the results in table 4 that the formation of reticulation is reduced by replacing a part of the gelatin with copolymer - 3 . while the invention has been described in detail and with reference 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 thereof .	8
a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a two - stage cma and axially disposed electron gun as illustrated in fig1 . for the purposes of this discussion &# 34 ; electron gun &# 34 ; refers to the entire beam forming and scanning apparatus . the two - stage cma portion of the apparatus comprises a pair of spaced coaxial metal cylinders 10 and 12 with respective radii r 10 and r 12 arranged on axis 13 . these cylinders form a cylindrical capacitor characterized by a radially directed electric field in the space therebetween . the inner cylinder has an intermediate aperture 14 located at the midpoint of the axis which divides the stages of the cma . secondary electrons from the sample pass through this aperture 14 if their energies are within the energy band selected by the cma . the principal purpose of aperture 14 is to prevent electrons which pass through the first stage from striking elements of the electron gun and scattering into the second stage . nearly annular slots 15 and 15 &# 39 ; are formed in the inner cylinder to permit entrance and exit respectively of the particle trajectories under analysis into the radial electric field space between cylinders 10 and 12 . similar slots 16 and 16 &# 39 ; serve similar purposes for the second stage of the analyzer . these slots are each conventionally gridded by mesh 18 to preserve a generally equipotential cylindrical surface and prevent unwanted electric field distortion due to the discontinuities introduced by the presence of the slots . end effects introduce distortions of the electric field for finite length cylinders . these are relieved in a well known manner by a system of guard rings 19 for dividing the potential between cylinders with a resistive network ( not shown ). the extreme trajectories 17 and 17 &# 39 ; are defined with respect to a focus 20 . a sample surface 21 is positioned at focus 20 . it will be appreciated that the sample is situated in a vacuum enclosure although such enclosure does not appear in fig1 . the focal distance determines the location of the focus and is a design parameter of the analyzer . this parameter and radii r 10 and r 12 geometrically determine α , the mean angle of analyzer acceptance , as measured with respect to the analyzer axis . optimum values for α may be found for given relative dimensions of the cma according to well - known analytic treatments . in each stage of the cma , the entrance and exit apertures are preferably symmetrically disposed on the axis with respect to the midplane from each of the respective stages and the stages are themselves symmetrically disposed in respect to intermediate aperture 14 . in general , the two stages need not be identical ( or symmetrically disposed with respect to the midplane ). for example , a shorter second stage may be achieved if the electric field in the second stage is appropriately increased . it will readily occur to one skilled in the art to accomplish this end by employing the same potential difference between the cylinders while decreasing the inner - electrode space , as for example by increasing the inner radius . final aperture 24 defines the image point which is preferably located symmetrically with the object point . aperture 24 may be a simple circular hole as shown , or annular if displaced along the axis toward the intermediate aperture 14 . the dimensions of aperture 24 are selected to accept a portion of the trajectories transmitted by the analyzer . in a preferred form , aperture 24 may be variable in its dimensions to permit selection of a particular narrow band of trajectories defined by the analyzer . this may be accomplished readily by providing a hermetically sealed rotary feedthrough not shown to position a desired aperture at the indicated position . particle detector 25 such as , for example , an electron multiplier , or a scintillator and photomultiplier is provided for detection of the particles transmitted by the analyzer and aperture 24 . a particle beam source , as for example , an electron gun , is disposed on the axis of the cma as described below . such a gun comprises an electron source 30 , anode 32 for establishment of the longitudinal accelerating fields for the beam , 1st lense 34 alignment plates 36 , anti - scattering aperture 38 and secondary electron suppression tube 39 with defining aperture 40 located therein , second electrostatic lens 42 , a second set of alignment plates 44 , objective aperture 46 , stigmator assembly 48 , deflector plates 50 and 50 &# 39 ; and final lens 52 . other electron optical elements may be inserted in the space available , as may be desired . because the primary beam passes through the same region as the analyzed beam , it is essential that the primary beam be carefully collimated to remove the possibility of scattering or secondary electron emission consequent to the primary beam striking intermediate aperture 14 or other structure in this region . aperture 38 is carefully designed and positioned to prevent the entrance of such stray electrons into the second stage of the analyzer . aperture 38 also serves a beam restrictive function . by minimizing the number of electrons passing through the front focal region of the second part of the analyzer , scattering from residual gas molecules in this region is minimized and can be reduced to a negligible level . two sets of alignment plates 36 and 44 are provided to align the beam with respect to the respective apertures 40 and 46 whereas deflection plates 50 and 50 &# 39 ; provide transverse deflection for scanning the sample . the electrostatic lenses may be cylindrical , multiple aperture or quadrupole lenses as may be required for desired optical properties . the distribution of the elements of the electron gun along the axis of the two - stage cma entails a division of components including all of the attendant electron optics , among the axial spaces of both stages of the cma . because the beam is often employed to scan a sample , certain benefits innure to the combination of an n - stage cma with an internal axial gun . for example , a two - stage cma possesses twice the dispersion , e ( δz / δe ), compared to a single stage cma where e is the particle energy and z is the axial displacement of the intersection of trajectories . this remains true , although comparable single and two - stage instruments both possess magnification of unity and identical resolution . because of the increased dispersion , the exit aperture 24 will be twice the diameter of the aperture of the comparable single stage analyzer for accepting the same energy band of trajectories . a magnification of unity for both instruments means that displacement of the beam on the object results in roughly equal displacement of the image thereof at the exit of the analyzer . because of the greater dimension of this aperture , the beam may be scanned over a wider field of view , approximately twice that of the comparable single stage device for the same analyzer reduction and signal attenuation at the edges of the field of view . fig2 illustrates the beam displacement dependence for response of the analyzer to an elastically scattered peak as the beam is swept across the sample . the response measurement is shown for each of three different values of resolution as determined by aperture dimension for exit aperture 24 . normailization of the curves permits comparison of the various resolutions for the extent of lateral sweep which incurs no more than 10 percent variation in analyzer response . while an n stage analyzer effectively widens the useful field of view by a factor approximately n , the effect is not without limit in angular width , nor for the number of stages . the angular width cannot be increased to the extent that the trajectories depart substantially from the acceptance angle α without incurring aberrations in the analyzer which degrade its resolution . for example , displacement of the object point from the axis will introduce a component in the electron trajectories which lay outside of a single radial plane . greater displacements will produce trajectories , each of which to a greater degree contain a non - coplanar component . the non - coplanar component of motion ultimately degrades analyzer resolution and limits the performance of the instrument . non - coplanar trajectories could be removed , for example by means of radial baffles , with consequent reduction in intensity of the detected signal . it will also be apparent that displacement of the trajectories 17 and 17 &# 39 ; is also limited by components of the electron gun whereby large deflection of the incident beam results in trajectories which are not unobstructed over the entire annular acceptance region of the analyzer . utility of the principle of plural stages of analysis is finally limited by the cumulative effect of aberrations in the several stages of such an analyzer . the electron gun of the preferred embodiment is arranged to place the final lense 52 close to the sample . minimizing the distance to the sample from the final lense has the effect of minimizing the effect of spherical aberration , permitting greater beam concentration for a given beam diameter . deflection plates 50 therefore precede lense 50 . it has been found that aberration in the deflected ( and thus non - paraxial ) beam upon traversal of lense 52 is minimized by the artifice of arranging the deflection plates 50 and voltages applied thereto to pivot the beam substantially about the center 54 of lense 52 . this is accomplished by dividing the deflectors into two units displaced by an intermediate drift space . each unit comprises both x and y deflection plates . an &# 34 ; essing &# 34 ; technique is then utilized to direct the &# 34 ; essed &# 34 ; beam to cross the beam transport axis at a predetermined position . for example , y deflection is accomplished by first deflecting the beam away from the axis with the y plates of deflection plates 50 and the beam is then returned to the axis by the y plates of deflection plates 50 &# 39 ;. the same potential difference ( with polarity reversed ) may be applied to both pairs of y deflection plates . the dimensions of the plates are chosen to cause the beam to cross the beam transport axis after the second deflection at center 54 of the lense 52 . for a symmetrical lense , the center is understood to be the geometrical center . the technique is also applicable to an asymmetric lense wherein the center is understood to be the optical center of the asymmetric lense . typical design parameters for the preferred embodiment include variable electron beam energy over the range from 100 ev to 10 kev with optics sufficient to achieve a parallel beam of circular cross section with diameter ranging from 0 . 2 micron or less , to 10 microns . the voltages which are applied to the various optical elements , such as lenses , alignment plates , stigmators , deflection plates , etc ., are arranged to track the beam energy in order to preserve the geometric properties of the beam over the beam energy range . the design for achieving these specifications is well known and beyond the scope of this work . accordingly , the details of the optical elements are not further elaborated . the physical dimensions of the preferred embodiment include outer radius r 10 = 6 cm and inner radius r 12 = 2 . 5 cm . the preferred embodiment has a mean angle of acceptance ( α ) of 42 . 44 ° with an angular spread of ± 6 °. the length between object and image focii is 13 . 091 inches . the intermediate aperture may assume dimensions ranging from 2 mm to 4 mm : where desired , a smaller diameter is used to function as a defining aperture thereby limiting the transmission of the analyzer . although the invention has been shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be readily apparent to one of average skill in the art that various changes in the form and arrangement of the parts may be made to satisfy requirements without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the dependent claims . it will be apparent , for example , that the invention is not limited to electron excitation and that the principals taught herein are equally applicable for similar studies wherein ion beams are employed . it will also be apparent that electromagnetic excitation of photoelectrons can utilize the principals of the invention especially where a spacially coherent radiation source , as for example a laser , is mounted in the interior of the mult stage cma .	7
summarizing briefly in advance , the banding fixture 10 is for applying bands 11 to a workpiece such as a coil 12 of tubing or any other type of coiled material or material to be banded . the bands 11 are received in a predetermined length from a band - dispensing machine of any type which can supply it . each band , by the use of fixture 10 , can then be banded about the coiled material . the banding fixture 10 includes a body 14 fabricated out of a suitable plastic material . body 14 includes a lower plastic portion 15 ( fig2 a ) of substantially rectangular configuration . formed integrally with lower portion 15 are two narrow members 17 and 19 . member 17 merges into a horizontal member 20 and member 19 merges into a horizontal member 21 . a horizontal opening 22 ( fig2 and 2a ) is defined by edge 23 ( fig2 a ) of lower body member 15 , edge 24 of member 20 , edge 25 of member 17 , edge 26 of member 19 and edge 29 ′ of member 21 . metal plates 25 are screwed to body 14 by screws 27 . a substantially rectangular block 29 ( fig2 ) is secured between plates 25 by screws 30 and by a plastic pin 31 . a plastic pin 32 also extends through plates 25 and body portion 20 . a band - receiving slot 33 is thus formed between block 29 and body portion 20 . a second block 34 is secured between plates 25 by screws 35 . a slot 37 is located between body portion 21 and block 34 . a carriage 39 is positioned in horizontal opening 22 for sliding movement between its position shown in fig2 and the position shown in fig7 and 8 . carriage 39 ( fig2 b and 2c ) is a plastic block of substantially solid rectangular configuration having a recess 40 therein . also , a spring - biased ball 41 protrudes from the upper surface 42 of carriage 39 . the bottom surface 43 ( fig2 b and 8 ) of carriage 39 slides on surface 23 of body 14 , and the top surfaces 45 and 42 ( fig2 b ) travel in close relationship to surfaces 24 and 29 ( fig2 a ) of body 14 . as can be seen from fig2 and 5 , the edges 28 of plates 25 which are adjacent to and surround horizontal opening 22 confine carriage 39 for rectilinear movement within horizontal opening 22 . a plate 47 ( fig3 ) is secured to body 14 by screws 49 and plate 47 is for securing the fixture 14 to the band - dispensing machine 13 by screws 50 which pass through apertures 51 in plate 47 . a leg 52 extends downwardly from body 14 for supporting body 14 on a suitable surface . also , a screw 53 is threaded into body 14 to support a plate 54 which is attached to the band - dispensing machine 13 . in operation , a band 11 having a cohesive coating on its upper surface is dispensed from band - dispensing machine into band - receiving slots 37 and 33 and confined against lateral movement by plates 25 on opposite sides of slots 37 and 33 . the band 11 is dispensed to a position as shown in fig5 wherein its central portion lies across workpiece - receiving slot 36 in body 14 above the recess 40 in carriage 39 . the band 11 is positioned so that after it has been banded about coil 12 , its ends will be in perfect overlying relationship as shown in fig8 . the workpiece coil 12 is thereafter manually initially positioned in slot 38 between body members 29 and 34 over the central portion of band 11 , as shown in fig5 and moved downwardly with the adjacent central band portion of band 11 through slot 36 and into recess 40 of carriage 39 , as shown in fig6 . slots 36 and 38 , which extend transversely to band - receiving slots 37 and 33 , can be considered separately and jointly as a coil - receiving slot , and more broadly as workpiece - receiving slots . when the coil is in the recess 40 , portions of the central portion of band 11 will lie along the sides of the coil which are adjacent the lower side of the coil in the lowermost part of recess 40 ( fig6 ). thereafter , the carriage 39 is manually moved to the position shown in fig7 wherein the ends of band 11 are pressed together between spring - biased ball 41 and the undersurface 24 of member 20 so that the band 11 assumes the condition shown in fig8 . during the movement of the carriage 39 into horizontal opening 22 to the position of fig7 a portion of the central portion of band 11 to the right of the coil 12 in fig6 will be moved across the inner side of the coil , and the end portions of the band will be placed in overlapping pressed relationship . thereafter , the carriage 39 is moved to the position of fig9 whereupon the coil 12 can be withdrawn . because the band 11 which is used is of the cohesive type , the surfaces of the band which are pressed together will cohere to each other but the band itself will not adhere to anything else . because the band 11 is confined against lateral movement in slots 37 and 33 by plates 25 during the banding process , the end portions of the band which cohere to each other will be in exact overlying relationship with all of their edges being perfectly aligned with each other . however , while the side edges of the band are in exact alignment because of the above - noted confinement against lateral movement in slots 37 and 33 , under certain circumstances the extreme outer edges on the ends may not be in alignment , depending on the initial placement of the band . slots 36 and 38 were designated above as workpiece - receiving slots . in this respect , while the workpiece which was illustrated is a coil 12 , it will be appreciated that the “ workpiece - receiving slot ” can receive a bundle of material which is not in coil form and a single object to which a band has to be applied . in fig1 - 26 another banding fixture embodiment 60 is disclosed . summarizing briefly in advance , the fixture 60 includes a plurality of features which do not exist in the embodiment 10 of fig1 - 9 . these features include structure for easily replacing carriages to accommodate different coil sizes . also , this embodiment includes an adjustable band - receiving slot to accommodate bands having different curl characteristics . in addition , the embodiment of fig1 - 26 is more simplified than the embodiment of fig1 - 9 . the banding fixture 60 includes a body portion 61 ( fig1 and 13 ) which is fabricated out of a suitable plastic material . body portion 61 includes a lower body portion 62 ( fig1 ) of substantially rectangular configuration . formed integrally with lower body portion 62 is a narrow solid rectangular member 63 which merges into solid rectangular horizontal member 64 . the body also includes an upper body portion 65 ( fig1 ) in the form of a substantially solid rectangular plastic block . two metal plates 67 ( fig1 , 11 , 12 and 14 ) secure body portions 61 and 65 to each other . in this respect screws 69 extend through the apertures 68 in the lower portions of plates 67 and are received in bores 76 ( fig1 ) in body portion 61 to fasten these parts together . screws 70 extend through bores 71 in plates 67 and are received in block 65 to fasten block 65 in position . screws 72 extend through bores 73 ( fig1 ) in plates 67 to fasten the upper portions of plates 67 to portion 64 of body portion 61 . a plate 85 ( fig1 , 11 and 12 ) is secured to body 61 by screws 87 , and screws 89 extend through apertures 90 in plate 85 to secure fixture 60 to band - dispensing machine 13 which will dispense measured lengths of cohesive tape to fixture 60 . a foot 91 is secured to the undersurface of lower body portion 62 to rest on a suitable surface . a bracket 92 is fastened to band - dispensing machine 13 by screw 93 and to body portion 61 by screw 94 . a carriage 74 ( fig1 , 12 , 15 ) is movable in horizontal opening 75 . carriage 74 is fabricated from a block of plastic , and it has a recess 76 therein . carriage 74 also includes sides 74 ′ and ends 78 and 76 ′ and a bottom surface 79 ′ and top surfaces 73 ′ and 75 ′ on opposite sides of recess 76 . the horizontal opening 75 is defined by edge 77 of lower body portion 62 , edge 79 of upper body portion 65 , edge 80 ( fig1 ) of lower body portion 61 and edge 81 of body portion 61 . the edge portions 82 of plates 67 extend above edge 77 of lower body portion 62 , and the edges 83 of plates 67 extend below the lower edge 79 of upper body portion 65 to thereby provide side portions of plates 67 which confine carriage 74 in horizontal opening 75 . also , portions 84 of plates 67 confine the left end of carriage 74 therebetween when the carriage is in the position of fig1 and 22 , and the portions 85 ′ of plates 67 confine the right end of carriage 64 therebetween when the carriage is in the position of fig2 . carriage 74 also includes a spring - biased ball 95 which biases the carriage upwardly so that its upper surfaces 73 ′ and 75 ′ ( fig1 ) will bear against undersurface 79 of body portion 65 and the undersurface 64 ′ of body portion 64 when the carriage is in the position of fig1 and against the undersurface 79 when the carriage 74 is in the position of fig2 . in accordance with one aspect of the present invention , the fixture 60 has an improved band - receiving arrangement . one aspect of this arrangement is shown in fig1 and 22 - 26 . in this respect , the substantially solid rectangular block 97 has its right end ( fig1 and 11 ) secured to plates 67 by screws 99 . the screws 99 also pass through elongated slots 100 ( fig1 ) in plates 67 . thus , the right end of block 97 can be adjusted in the vertical direction . the left end of block 97 is secured to plates 67 by brackets 101 ( fig1 , 20 and 21 ). the lower ends of brackets 101 have apertures 102 therein . screws 70 pass through apertures 102 and are received in block 65 . the upper ends of brackets 101 have apertures 103 therein . screws 104 pass through apertures 103 and into block 97 . as can be seen from fig1 and 22 - 26 , a slot 105 is provided between blocks 65 and 97 which is in the shape of a wedge with the wide part 107 being the entry portion for band 109 . thus , in the event that band 109 has a relatively large upward curl , it will be received within slot 105 in the manner depicted in fig2 and 23 . in addition to the foregoing , it is to be noted from fig1 , 10 a and 22 - 26 that the tape 109 passes across the top 110 of horizontal member 64 and is restricted only by the upper portions 111 of plates 67 . in other words , there is no block above horizontal member 64 and therefore the leading edge of band 109 does not have to pass through a slot . it is merely guided by the upper portions 11 of plates 67 . the slot between blocks 65 and 97 is adjustable from the position shown in fig1 to the positions such as shown in fig1 and 19 . in this respect , in fig1 the slot 105 a is shown in a condition in which it has been placed by adjusting the screws 99 and 104 in slots 100 and 112 , respectively . in fig1 the slot 105 b is shown in an enlarged condition relative to slot 105 a by adjusting the screws 99 and 104 to different positions in slots 100 and 112 , respectively . thus , as can be seen from a comparison of fig1 , 18 and 19 , the slots 105 , 105 a and 105 b can be adjusted to different sizes depending on the curl of the particular banding material which is being used . the sequence of banding a coil 113 is shown in fig2 - 26 , and this sequence is similar to that described in detail above relative to fig5 - 9 . briefly , the band 109 is shown moving to the right and being inserted into slot 105 in fig2 and 23 . slot 105 is located between the lower wall ( not numbered ) of block 97 and the upper wall ( not numbered ) of block 65 . thereafter , as shown in fig2 , coil 113 is inserted through slot 114 between the inner edges 115 and 117 of plates 67 and into engagement with the central portion of band 109 . thereafter the coil 113 is moved downwardly through the slot portion 119 between the ends 120 and 121 of block 65 and member 64 , respectively . the coil 13 is then inserted into carriage recess 76 , as shown in fig2 . the carriage 74 is then moved from the position of fig2 to the position of fig2 so as to cause the ends of band 109 to overlie each other and be pressed together because of the engagement between upper surface 73 ′ of carriage 74 and the undersurface 79 of block 65 , with the two surfaces being biased toward each other by the action of spring - biased detent 95 bearing on surface 77 of lower body portion 62 . thereafter , the carriage is moved back to the position of fig2 , and the banded coil 113 is removed from the fixture . in accordance with another aspect of the present invention , carriages having different recess configurations can be used in fixture 60 . in this respect , a carriage having a recess configuration 76 is shown in fig1 . a carriage 74 a is shown in fig1 having a recess 76 a which differs dimensionally from recess 76 . all other dimensions may be the same except for the upper surfaces 73 a and 75 a which correspond to upper surfaces 73 ′ and 75 ′. in order to remove carriage 74 from fixture 60 , it is merely necessary to unscrew screw 123 ( fig1 and 11 ) so as to pivot plate 124 from its obstructing orientation relative to window 125 ( fig1 ) to thereby permit carriage 74 to be slid out of the fixture through the window 125 . thereafter , a carriage , such as 74 a of fig1 , can be slid into horizontal opening 75 through window 125 and thereafter plate 124 can be returned to its obstructing position relative to window 125 . the window 125 is bounded by the inside surfaces of plate portions 85 ′ and by surface 79 of block 65 and surface 77 of body portion 61 . while preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed , it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims .	1
fig2 is a block diagram of a communications system that provides on - demand call establishment services in accordance with the present invention . the communications system 200 depicts , in part , a third generation wireless system , as defined by the 3 rd generation partnership program , also known as 3 gpp ( see 3 gpp . org ). in such a system , terminals 102 a may be mobile radiotelephone devices , personal digital assistants ( pdas ), modems , network access devices , internet peripherals , and the like . such wireless terminals 102 a generally include a user interface and an interface for coupling to communications system 200 . the user interface of a terminal 102 a is often referred to as terminal equipment . the user interface generally includes an audio interface , such as a microphone and speaker , a visual interface , such as a display or graphic user interface ( gui ), and a user input interface , such as a keyboard , touch pad , keypad , touch screen , track - ball system , voice recognition system , hand writing recognition system , or combinations thereof . the interface for coupling wireless terminals 102 a to the system 200 is typically referred to as a mobile terminal and generally includes an over - the - air interface for transmitting and receiving data . in the typical environment , base stations 104 include an over - the - air interface that is complementary to the over - the - air interface of user terminal 102 a , thereby permitting terminals 102 a and base stations 104 to communicate . while the suggested over - the - air interface is one defined by 3 gpp ( see 3 gpp . org ), it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that several other wireless interfaces are known in the art and may be substituted therefore , without departing from the spirit of the present invention . during operation , the communications that are directed to and received from user terminals 102 a via base stations 104 are coordinated and transferred using a serving device , such as a wireless access gateway ( wag ) 202 . in accordance with a preferred embodiment , when user terminals 102 a are mobile radiotelephones , wag 202 may consist of the gprs ( gsm packet radio system ) equipment ( 106 – 124 ) described in association with fig1 . as will be appreciated after review hereof , wag 202 may also couple user terminals 102 a to other networks . in accordance , wag 202 is also shown coupled to an internet protocol ( ip ) network 146 via well - known data links ( not shown ). such data links implement packet - based protocols providing access to any elements connected to ip network 146 , such as , for example , a telephone 144 , through a public switched telephone network ( pstn ) 142 . with further reference to fig2 , ip network 146 is shown coupled to pstn gateway 204 via a data link ( not shown ). as previously discussed , such data links implement well known packet - based protocols within the knowledge of those skilled in the art , and therefore are not described herein in detail . pstn gateway 204 is in turn coupled to pstn 142 via communications link 152 . during operation , pstn gateway 204 converts packetized voice received from wag 202 to a circuit - switched protocol acceptable to pstn 142 . conversely , pstn gateway 204 converts circuit - switched communications received from pstn 142 , to packetized communications acceptable to wag 202 . by virtue of this connection , user terminals 102 a are coupled to devices attached to the pstn 142 , such as telephones 144 . the communications system 200 also depicts , in part , a local area network ( lan ) communication system , as may be defined by the institute of electronic and electrical engineering ( ieee ), american national standards institute ( ansi ), european transmission standards institute ( etsi ), or other similar governmental or industry standards organization . in such a system , user terminals 102 b may be wired or wireless devices such as , but not limited to , personal computers ( pcs ), personal digital assistants ( pdas ), network access devices , internet peripherals , and the like . such terminals 102 b generally include a user interface and a lan interface . the user interface of terminals 102 b is typically referred to as terminal equipment . the user interface generally includes an audio interface , such as a microphone and speaker , a visual interface , such as a display or graphic user interface ( gui ), and a user input interface , such as a keyboard , touch pad , keypad , touch screen , track - ball system , voice recognition system , hand writing recognition system , or combinations thereof . the lan interface couples terminals 102 b to the system 200 via a communications protocol for transmitting and receiving data , thereby permitting terminals 102 b and the access point 206 to communicate . while the suggested lan is one that may be defined by the ieee 802 . 11 standard , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that several other wired and / or wireless lan protocols are known in the art and may be substituted therefore , without departing from the spirit of the present invention . during operation , communications that are directed to and received from a user terminal 102 b via access point 206 are coupled to the internet protocol ( ip ) network 146 via well - known data links ( not shown ). such data links implement packet - based protocols providing access to any elements connected to ip network 146 , such as , for example , the other user terminals 102 a and 102 b , or telephone 144 through pstn 142 . with further reference to fig2 , a high level structure of ip transmission packets 280 for use within the internet protocol ( ip ) network 146 are shown . since details regarding ip transmission packets 280 are well within the knowledge of those skilled in the art , no further description will be provided at this time . fig3 is a block diagram of a user terminal 102 a or 102 b of fig2 . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , the user terminal of fig2 is capable of receiving a plurality of packet data streams ( 320 – 324 ) comprising audio , data , video , or combinations thereof . each packet data stream ( 320 – 324 ) is presented to respective input ports of a selective digitizer 306 . in accordance with the preferred embodiment , the selective digitizer 306 is a digital - to - analog ( d / a ) converter . in an alternative embodiment , the selective digitizer 306 may comprise any of the available encoder , vocoder , or transcoder techniques known in the art , used alone or in combination with a d / a converter . as shown , the input ports of selective digitizer 306 are individually controlled and enabled / disabled by call control module 308 . the selective digitizer 306 operates to convert an incoming packet data stream into separate analog representations ( 321 – 325 ). the analog representations ( 321 – 325 ) may then be communicated to respective input ports associated with selective mixer 304 . similar to selective digitizer 306 , the selective mixer 304 input ports are individually controlled and enabled / disabled by call control module 308 . in accordance with the present invention , call control module 308 is a processing device such as a central processing unit ( cpu ), digital signal processor ( dsp ), or an equivalent application specific processing unit ( aspu ), with or without a separate memory storage device . the enable / disable operations controlled by call control module 308 may employ any of the well know memory device access or bus addressing techniques available in the art . assuming a dsp - based call control module 308 implementation , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that several of the functions described in association with fig3 may , in fact , be performed by call control module 308 . by way of example , and not by way of limitation , the function of selective digitizer 306 may be performed by an appropriately programmed dsp , without departing from the spirit of the present invention . as previously discussed , each user terminal 102 a and 102 b has an input device , such as a keyboard , touch pad , keypad , touch screen , track - ball system , voice recognition system , hand writing recognition system , or some combinations thereof . the input device ( not shown ) is coupled to call control module 308 , enabling the user to make call service elections , such as , for example call waiting service or conference call service . in response to user election and under direction of call control module 308 , selective mixer 304 sums , mixes , blends , synthesizes , combines , or otherwise manipulates the analog representations ( 321 – 325 ) to provide either a mixed or a non - mixed output 326 to speaker 302 . in accordance with the preferred embodiment , a non - mixed output 326 from selective mixer 304 is synonymous with the provision of a static call or call waiting service . a mixed , summed , blended , or otherwise composite output 326 from selective mixer 304 is synonymous with the provision of call conferencing service . that is , the composite output from selective mixer 304 represents a conference . selective mixer 304 is preferably implemented by an analog mixer in which the set of inputs are controlled by call control module 308 . during operation , the terminal user uses the audio interface consisting of speaker 302 and microphone ( mic ) 312 to communicate with a party or parties of interest . with reference to fig3 , analog voice 328 from mic 312 and feed back 326 from selective mixer 304 are provided to a mixer digitizer consisting of a mixer 314 and an analog - to - digital ( a / d ) converter 316 . the analog inputs 326 and 328 are then summed , mixed , blended , synthesized , or otherwise combined to produce a composite representation of the original inputs . this mixed or composite signal is delivered to a / d converter stage 316 . a / d converter 316 converts the mixed or otherwise composite signal to a packetized data stream . a / d converter 316 may include an encoder , vocoder or transcoder . the mixer 314 is preferably implemented by an analog mixer like those known in the art . from a / d converter 316 , the packet data stream is provided to a multiplexer circuit ( mux ) 318 . under direction of call control module 308 , mux 318 distributes the packet data stream 330 to call sessions of interest . the distribution operation performed by mux 318 may employ any of the well known memory device access or bus addressing techniques available in the art . mux 318 distributes the packet data stream 330 to a single call session for purposes of static call mode and call waiting mode services . conversely , mux 318 communicates the packet data stream 330 to a plurality of call sessions for purposes of establishing and maintaining a conference call . of note , the static call mode is distinguished from the multi - party call waiting mode , in that the static mode is characterized by a single in - bound call session . based upon the prior discussion and with reference to fig3 , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the terminal 102 is shown engaged in the call waiting service mode . by way of example , and not by way of limitation , terminal 102 is in receipt of a plurality of in - bound call sessions . notwithstanding , the selective digitizer 306 and selective mixer 304 inputs associated with analog representations 321 and 323 have been disabled by call control module 308 . by disabling the selective digitizer 306 and selective mixer 304 inputs associated with analog representations 321 and 323 , terminal 102 does not decode voice stream data from devices associated with call sessions 1 and 2 . with respect to call session 3 , it will be appreciated that selective mixer 304 receives the analog representation 325 , which corresponds to voice data stream 324 and call session 3 . as such , call session 3 is serviced by terminal 102 and the selective mixer output 326 comprises a non - mixed signal . under direction from call control module 308 , mux 318 communicates packet data stream 330 to call session 3 only . as such , call session 3 will be serviced by terminal 102 , while call sessions 1 and 2 are , in effect , on - hold . fig4 is another block diagram of the user terminal 102 a and 102 b of fig2 . the user terminal 102 of fig4 is identical to the user terminal 102 depicted in fig3 , except the user terminal 102 of fig4 is shown operating in the conference call or multi - party call service mode . by way of example , and not by way of limitation , the user terminal 102 of fig4 is in receipt of a plurality of in - bound call sessions . notwithstanding , the selective mixer 304 inputs associated with analog representations 321 , 323 , and 325 are enabled by call control module 308 . by enabling the selective mixer 304 inputs associated with analog representations 321 , 323 , and 325 , terminal 102 receives voice stream data from the devices associated with call sessions 1 , 2 and 3 . as such , call sessions 1 , 2 , and 3 are serviced by terminal 102 and the selective mixer output 326 comprises a mixed or composite signal . under direction from call control module 308 , mux 318 communicates the packet data stream 330 to call sessions 1 , 2 , and 3 , i . e ., the call sessions of interest . as such , call sessions 1 , 2 , and 3 are serviced by terminal 102 and a conference call is established and maintained . fig5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for establishing call waiting service in accordance with the present invention . fig5 is described herein with reference to the device shown in fig3 . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the routine of fig5 is employed by user terminal 102 of fig3 when establishing call waiting service in accordance with the present invention . in accordance , the steps described in association with fig5 are those performed by a device , or under the control of a device , such as call control module 308 , which , in accordance with the preferred embodiment , is a central processing unit ( cpu ), digital signal processor ( dsp ), or equivalent application specific processing unit ( aspu ) with or without accompanying memory . commencing at step 500 , flow proceeds to step 502 where a determination is made whether there is an active call session in progress . assuming not , flow continues to monitor step 502 , until such time as an active call session is detected . of note , it matters not whether the call is originated or terminated at user terminal 102 . from step 502 , flow proceeds to step 504 where the user terminal awaits a sip ( session initiation protocol ) invite message , such as , for example , the messaging defined by the internet engineering task force — ietf — rfc 2543 , indicating that an incoming call from a terminating call session is attempting to contact terminal 102 . from step 504 , flow proceeds to step 506 where a determination is made whether the user elects to accept or reject the call for call waiting purposes . assuming the user elects to refrain from initiating call waiting service , flow branches back to step 504 to await receipt of another sip invite message . otherwise , the user utilizes an input device like those described herein above to initiate call waiting service . in response to initiation of call waiting service by the user , flow proceeds from step 506 to step 508 , where the call control module 308 of fig3 disables the selective digitizer 306 and selective mixer 304 input port associated with the in progress call session detected at step 502 . from step 508 , flow proceeds to step 510 where the call control module 308 enables selective digitizer 306 and selective mixer 304 input ports associated with the call session identified by the sip invite message and accepted by the user at step 506 . collectively , steps 508 and 510 of fig5 operate to select , from amongst a number of available call sessions , the call session of interest . with reference to fig3 , upon selection of a call session of interest , the user terminal 102 proceeds to mix at mixer 314 the analog representation 326 of the call session of interest , with the user generated voice from microphone 312 to produce a mixed output that is converted into a packet data stream 330 . returning to fig5 , flow proceeds from step 510 to step 512 where the packet data stream , which includes voice or data , is distributed by multiplexer 318 to the call session of interest . from step 512 , flow proceeds to step 514 where a check is made to determine whether the call session of interest has terminated . if not , flow branches back to step 504 where the terminal awaits receipt of an additional sip invite message . assuming the call session of interest terminates at step 514 , flow proceeds to step 516 where a determination is made whether a call placed on - hold at step 508 is still available . assuming an on - hold call is available , flow branches back from step 516 to step 510 , which operates to select , from amongst a number of available call sessions , another call session of interest . otherwise , if all call sessions have ended at step 516 the process terminates . fig6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for establishing conference call services in accordance with the present invention . fig6 is described below with reference to the device shown in fig4 . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the routine of fig6 is employed by user terminal 102 of fig4 when establishing on - demand conference call and / or multi - party call service . in accordance , the steps described in association with fig6 are those performed by a device , or under the control of a device , such as call control module 308 , which , in accordance with the preferred embodiment is a central processing unit ( cpu ), digital signal processor ( dsp ), or equivalent application specific processing unit ( aspu ) with or without accompanying memory . commencing at step 600 , flow proceeds to step 602 where a determination is made whether there is an active call session in progress . assuming not , flow continues to monitor step 602 , until such time as an active call session is detected . of note , it matters not whether the call is originated or terminated at user terminal 102 . from step 602 , flow proceeds to step 604 where the user terminal awaits : 1 ) receipt of an incoming call session , as indicated , for example , by a sip ( session initiation protocol ) invite message , of the type defined by internet engineering task force — ietf — rfc 2543 , and indicating that an incoming call for a call session is attempting to contact terminal 102 ; or 2 ) receipt of an outbound call request , indicating that the terminal user is attempting to make a call , as indicated , for example , by a sip ( session initiation protocol ) invite message . from step 604 , flow proceeds to step 606 where a determination is made whether the user elects to accept or reject the call for conference call purposes . assuming the user elects to refrain from initiating conference call services , flow branches back to step 604 to await receipt or initiation of another call . otherwise , the user utilizes an input device like the ones described herein above to initiate a conference or multi - party call . in response to user election , flow proceeds from step 606 to step 608 , where the call control module 308 of fig3 , in response to the user selected input , enables the selective digitizer 306 and selective mixer 304 input ports associated with the call session detected at step 602 . from step 608 , flow proceeds to step 610 where the call control module 308 of fig4 enables selective mixer 304 input ports associated with the call sessions identified by the sip invite message and accepted by the user at step 606 . collectively , the steps 604 – 608 of fig6 operate to select , from amongst a plurality of available call sessions , those call sessions of interest to the user . with reference to fig4 , upon selection of said call sessions of interest , the user terminal 102 proceeds to mix at selective mixer 304 the analog representations 321 , 323 , and 325 of the call sessions of interest . thereafter , the mixed output 326 is combined with user - generated voice from microphone 312 to produce another mixed output that is converted into a packet data stream 330 by mixer 314 and a / d converter 316 . returning to fig6 , flow proceeds from step 608 to step 610 where the packet data stream , which includes at least one of voice and data packets , is distributed by multiplexer 318 of fig4 to the call sessions of interest . from step 610 , flow proceeds to step 612 where a check is made to determine whether a conference call session has terminated . if not , flow branches back to step 604 where the terminal awaits receipt or initiation of additional calls . assuming a conference call session of interest terminates at step 612 , flow proceeds to step 614 where associated selective digitizer 306 , selective mixer 304 and mux 318 inputs / outputs are disabled to halt distribution of packet data 330 to terminated call sessions at step 612 . call termination ends the flow at step 616 . advantageously , the invention described herein allows a party to elect call - waiting and / or conference call services in a very timely and cost efficient manner . based upon this arrangement , the user elects on - demand call waiting and call conferencing services . unlike the prior art , the user is permitted to establish call conference services for originating and terminating calls , alike . moreover , the call conference service described herein is established without the coordination of , and use of , substantial network resources . of additional importance , call waiting as described herein is a multi - party call service , permitting multiple calls to be placed on - hold . whereas the present invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments thereof , it will be understood that various changes and modifications will be suggested to one skilled in the art and it is intended that the invention encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims .	7
fig1 . in fig1 a cdma transmitter 1 is shown to feed a transmitter 8 with i and q components of the cdma signal . a transmitter coupler 12 , connected to the transmit antenna 2 , removes a sample of the transmit signal . the sample of the transmit signal represents the transmitted cdma signal but with a small part of the total power . the transmit signal sample is fed to a vector modulator 20 , and a correlator 22 . the line 14 , in fig1 is representative of a coupling between the transmit and received antennas . this coupling has an effect of causing the transmit signal to be present at a front end of the receiver , as a result of coupling between the transmit and receive antenna . as such a component of transmit signal detected by receiver 6 . a representative sample of the receiver signal may be thereby taken from the receiver and fed to a second input of the correlator 22 . the correlator 22 , serves to generate error signals v 1 , v 2 , representative of i and q components of a correlation between the transmit signal sample fed on a first input to the correlator 22 , and the received signal fed on a second input to the correlator . the error signals v 1 , v 2 , are fed to first and second inputs of a vector modulator 20 , with the transmit signal sample fed to a third input of the vector modulator 20 . the vector modulator 20 , serves to modulate the transmit signal sample , with the complex error signal v 1 , v 2 . the modulated transmit signal sample is thereafter fed to the receiver 6 , via a coupler 28 . by arranging for this correlation apparatus , in combination with a separation of the transmitter and received antennas , an isolation of the transmitter and receiver can be effected without a requirement of a duplexing filter . in fig2 and 4 the present invention is explained by way of example , with each example using a different method to provide some initial isolation between the rx and tx ports . none of these methods alone provide the necessary rx / tx isolation of 30 to 40 db required for cellular mobile applications . however , with the enhanced isolation provided by the cancellation device and the controller according to the present invention , adequate isolation performance can be achieved . in fig2 a radio transceiver system 101 is shown which operates as part of a radio communication system ( not shown ). two co - located antenna elements 2 , 4 are arranged in an orthogonal fashion , so as to minimise coupling between them . the antenna elements may be dipoles or patches . for frequency division duplexing operation the orthogonal elements are connected to the receiver unit 6 and transmitter unit 8 . it is well known in the art that the frequency isolation achievable between two cross polarised co - located antennas , such as those shown in fig2 is limited to the region of 15 - 25 decibels . this is due to the asymmetry between the antenna elements 2 , 4 and gives rise to parasitic coupling , shown by arrow 14 , between the tx signal path 12 and the rx signal path 10 . the amount of parasitic coupling between the rx and tx signals is represented by a static coupling coefficient ko . furthermore , some of the transmitted signal from the tx antenna 2 is reflected back to the rx antenna 4 from the surrounding environment . since this environment is always changing during the operation of the radio communication system , this gives rise to a time variant coupling between the rx and tx signals . the amount of time variant coupling is denoted by the dynamic coupling coefficient k ( t ). the initial 15 - 25 decibel isolation achievable between two cross polarised co - located antennas can be enhanced to 30 - 40 decibels by means of a cancellation device 20 and control unit 22 according to the present invention . in this preferred embodiment of the present invention , the combination of the static ( ko ) and dynamic ( k ( t ) coupling coefficients ( ko + k ( t )), hereafter referred to as the leakage signal , is shown by arrow 16 . the leakage signal 16 travels via conductor 10 to the input of the receiver unit 6 . the leakage signal 16 is then amplified by a low noise amplifier 30 located within the receiver unit 6 . a small sample of the amplified leakage signal ( srx ) is then applied by a conductor 32 to control unit 22 . a sample of the original transmitted signal ( stx ) transmitted from transmitter unit 8 is applied via conductor 33 to the control unit 22 . the control unit 22 operates to correlate the srx and stx signal samples and applies control signals c 0 , c 1 . . . cn to a vector modulator 20 . control coefficients 26 comprising of variables c 0 , c 1 . . . cn serve to control the transfer function of the vector modulator 20 . the control coefficients are continuously updated as a result of the dynamic component k ( t ) of the leakage signal being fed to the control unit . thus , the transfer function of the vector modulator which depends on the control coefficients is also continuously updated . the control unit 22 operates to set the control coefficients 26 so that a cancellation signal 28 opposite to the leakage signal 16 is generated at the output of the vector modulator 20 . the cancellation signal as shown in fig2 by arrow 28 is approximately equal to −( ko + k ( t )) and has the effect of cancelling the leakage signal 16 . by the continuous updating of control coefficients 26 , both the static ( ko ) and time variant ( kt ) components of the leakage signal 16 are substantially cancelled at the input of the receiver unit 6 . any components of the leakage signal 16 still remaining are input back into receiver unit 6 and the process is repeated . a further embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig3 where parts also appearing in fig2 bear identical numeric designation . in fig3 a radio transceiver system 102 is shown which operates as part of a radio communication system ( not shown ). a circular device 40 is employed to combine the tx signal path 12 and the rx signal path 10 . the circular 40 is a three part device which rotates a signal from port “ a ” to port “ b ” and from port “ b ” to “ c ” hence providing isolation between ports “ a ” and “ c ”. an ideal isolator has infinite isolation between ports “ a ” and “ c ” and therefore in principle would be capable of providing sufficient isolation required for duplexing operation . however , as is well known in the art , the achievable isolation with a circulator device is limited to approximately 10 - 20 decibels . this is due to the imperfect cancellation of the magnetic fields within the circulator device . in addition , the reflection coefficients at each port are finite and thus give rise to parasitic coupling 70 between ports “ a ” and “ c ”. this parasitic coupling 70 is represented by the static coupling coefficient ko . furthermore , as was detailed in fig2 some of the transmitted signal is reflected back to the antenna from the surrounding environment . this signal appears at port “ b ” of the circular device 40 and is in turn coupled to the input of the receiver unit 6 . since the environment is always changing during operation of the system , this dynamic coupling is denoted by a time varying voltage reflection coefficient γa ( t ). the initial 10 - 20 decibel isolation of the circular device 40 can be enhanced according to this embodiment of the present invention , by means of a cancellation device 50 and a control unit 22 . in fig3 the reflected signal γa ( t ) from antenna unit 3 is shown by the arrow 52 and appears at the input of the cancellation device 50 . this signal passes through the cancellation device and in a modified form appears at port “ c ” of the circulator device 40 and is represented by the static coefficient γko . control coefficients 26 comprising of coefficient c 0 , c 1 . . . cn control the transfer function of the cancellation device 50 . if the transfer function is set for 1 by the control coefficients 26 then γko = γa and the entire reflection signal appears at port “ b ”. in this case , the leakage signal ( ko + γa ( t )) represented by arrow 44 is present at the input of receiver unit 6 and is amplified by low noise amplifier 30 present in the receiver unit 6 . a small sample of both the leakage signal srx represented by arrow 32 and the originally transmitted signal stx represented by arrow 33 are applied to the control unit 22 . the control unit correlates the srx and stx signal and applies control signals 26 to the cancellation device 50 . the control signals are continuously updated in accordance with the changing environment around antenna unit 3 . the control unit sets the control coefficient such that γa ( t ) is continuously mapped to provide a constant reflection coefficient at the output of the cancellation device . by the continuous updating of the control coefficient , the time dependant of the antenna reflection coefficient γa ( t ) is removed and a static reflection coefficient γko is generated . in order to achieve perfect cancellation , the control unit 22 adaptively adjusts the transfer function of the cancellation device such that γko + ko = 0 . yet a further embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig4 in which items also appearing in fig2 & amp ; 3 bear identical numerical designation . in fig4 a radio transceiver system 103 is shown which operates as part of a radio communication system ( not shown ). in fig4 a three decibel hybrid coupler unit 60 is used to combine the tx signal path 12 and the rx signal path 10 in a manner similar to that of the circulator unit 40 shown in fig3 . the three decibel coupler unit 60 has the technical advantage of having a wider band than the circulator unit 40 . however , as is well known in the art , there is an inherit 3 decibel loss in coupler unit 60 due to the fact that the signals are equally split between the antenna unit 3 and the termination unit 70 . the achievable isolation with a 3 decibel coupler such as the one shown in fig4 is limited to approximately 20 decibels . this is due to the fact that there is a static coupling coefficient ko 65 between ports 201 and 203 of coupler unit 60 . this is due to a finite directivity and return loss of the coupler unit 60 . furthermore , as in fig2 and 3 , a portion of the transmitted signal is reflected back to antenna unit 3 from the surrounding environment . in the absence of a cancellation device , the signal is coupled to port 201 and port 203 . due to the fact that the environment is always changing during the operation of the system , this coupling is denoted by a time variant voltage reflection coefficient γa ( t ) 52 . the initial 20 decibel isolation of coupler unit 60 can be enhanced by means of a cancellation device 50 and a control unit 22 . in fig4 the signal γa ( t ) 52 reflected from the antenna unit 3 appears at the input of the cancellation unit 50 . this signal 52 passes through the cancellation unit and in a modified form ( γko ), represented by arrow 53 , appears at port 202 of the coupler unit 60 . the control coefficients 26 comprising of coefficients c 0 , c 1 . . . cn , control the transfer function of the cancellation unit 50 . if the transfer function is set for 1 by the control coefficients , then γko = γa and the entire reflected signal appears at port 202 . in this case a signal equal to ( ko + γa ( t )/{ square root over ( 2 + l )}) and hereafter referred to as the leakage signal and represented by arrow 54 , is present at the input of receiver unit 6 . this signal is then amplified by the low noise amplifier 30 present in receiver unit 6 . a small sample of both the leakage signal ( srx ) and the originally transmitted signal ( stx ) is applied to the controller unit 22 . the controller unit correlates the srx and stx signals and applies control coefficients 26 to the cancellation device 50 . the control signals are continuously updated in accordance with the changing environment around antenna unit 3 . the controller unit sets the control coefficient so that γa ( t ) is continuously mapped to provide a constant reflection coefficient at the output of the cancellation device . by the continuous update of the control coefficient , the time variance of the antenna reflection coefficient γa ( t ) is removed and a static reflection coefficient γko is generated . for perfect cancellation , the control unit adaptively adjusts the transfer function of the cancellation unit such that ( ko + γa ( t )/{ square root over ( 2 + l )})= 0 . fig5 provides an example embodiment of a transmitter for broadband cdma signals where the radio frequency signal is generated in a single stage . in fig5 a vector modulator 220 , is fed with i and q components of a baseband cdma signal on conductors 222 , 224 . the resulting radio signal is fed to an amplifier 226 and then to a transmit antenna 228 . also connected to an output of the power amplifier 226 is an envelope detector 230 , which in this example embodiment is a diode operating as a rectifier . the envelope detector 230 is connected to a low pass filter 232 . the output of low pass filter 232 feeds a comparator and loop controller 34 . the comparator and loop controller 234 generates first and second output signals on conductors 236 , 238 , which are connected to the conductors 222 , 224 , respectively . the envelope detector 230 rectifies the rf envelope and the low pass filter 232 averages out the amplitude varying components . broadband cdma used in cdma link and also the is 95 system waveforms passes a high proportion of amplitude modulation , this means that through correct choice of the low pass filter 232 cut off , the dc voltage fed to the comparator and loop controller 234 contains a component due to the modulation and a component due to any non time varying signal such as carrier leakage . thus , for a given output power , the input to the comparator and loop controller 234 is a voltage proportional to the carrier leakage plus and offset due to the modulation . the error signal is processed by the comparator and loop controller 234 and it produces two dc levels that are used to dc offset the i and q inputs of the i and q vector modulator 220 . dc levels at the inputs to the i and q vector modulator 220 offset the carrier impression , thus if the name of the feedback is correct , the comparator and loop controller will adjust the i and q input level to reduce the error signal to a minimum , thus reducing the carrier level at the output of the modulator . in fig6 where parts also appearing in fig2 and 4 bear identical numerical designation , control unit 22 is shown in more detail . as in fig2 and 4 sample leakage signal srx 32 and sample transmit signal stx 33 are applied to control unit 22 . a local oscillation 70 provides a complex sample of signals srx 32 and stx 33 . these complex samples , srx ′ 32 ′ and stx ′ 33 ′ respectively , are input along with sample signals srx and stx to a pair of analogue - to - digital converters 72 . the sample signals are then applied to an adaptive control unit 74 . the output of the adaptive control unit 74 are the control coefficients 26 comprising of coefficients c 0 , c 1 . . . cn . each coefficient comprises of an m bit wide bit binary word , where m is an integer value . there control coefficients 26 are then applied to a cancellation unit . the control coefficients are initially set to fulfil the criteria for cancellation of the static components of the leakage signal at the receiver input . this is achieved by setting srx = 0 when γa ( t )= 0 . the appropriate data for this condition is stored in a look - up table 80 . as is well known in the art , the control coefficient are frequency dependent . in order for the look - up table 80 to provided the correct data , the frequency as determined by frequency table 85 is input to the look - up table via conductor 76 . frequency table 85 further operates to control the frequency of local oscillator 70 . furthermore , tolerances of circuit elements such as the cancellation device , circulator device , vector modulator device , and hybrid coupler are also represented the look - up table 80 . the complex variable srx ′/ stx ′ ( t ) corresponds to the transfer function of the time variant leakage path k ( t ) or similarly to γa ( t ). these signals are applied to the adaptive control unit 74 . in the adaptive control unit 74 , the appropriate control coefficients 26 for cancellation of the time variant components are continuously computed and updated . the computation is based on the amplitude and phase of srx ′/ stx ′ and a built in algorithm representing the model of the cancellation device . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , the present invention finds application with other radio systems and with a variety of modulation schemes besides cdma . 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 .	7
fig1 a is a plan view showing an important part of a trench gate type mos structure of a trench gate type igbt according to a first embodiment of the invention . fig1 a shows important part of trenches 5 formed in a surface of a semiconductor substrate , poly - si patterns ( satin - hatched portions ) as gate electrodes 7 embedded in the trenches 5 respectively and patterns of n + emitter regions 9 and important part of patterns of p + contact regions 10 hatched with slant lines disposed at narrow intervals and interlayer insulating films 11 transparently hatched with slant lines disposed at wide intervals but others are omitted . fig1 b is a sectional view taken along the line a - a in fig1 a in the case where the others are not omitted . fig1 b is like fig3 b which is a sectional view taken along the line b - b in fig3 a in the background art . fig1 c is a plan view showing important part of a trench gate type mos structure of a trench gate type igbt according to a second embodiment of the invention . fig4 is a plan view showing poly - si as the semiconductor substrate and gate electrodes 7 and n + emitter regions 9 appearing in the semiconductor substrate surface as depicted in the plan view of fig3 a according to the background art . in fig4 , rectangular region portions hatched with slant lines disposed at narrow intervals are portions on which a resist is placed when the n + emitter regions are formed so that ion implantation is suppressed to expose p + contact regions 10 from the surface . when minute patterning advances , trenches are formed at intervals of not longer than 3 μm in the case of the trench gate structure , so that the resist size of the p + contact regions 10 is inevitably reduced to be not larger than 1 μm in terms of the length of one side . consequently , if there is any photo process abnormality , the resist in the abnormal portion is apt to be separated to thereby cause pattern abnormality of the p + contact regions 10 . on the contrary , in first embodiment shown in fig1 a and the second embodiment shown in fig1 c , surface patterns of regions where the n + emitter regions 9 are not formed , that is , surface patterns of the p + contact regions 10 are not simply rectangular as shown in fig4 but polygonal . accordingly , the area of each pattern is large and the length of each side is large compared with the background art shown in fig4 . the first and second embodiments are characterized in that the area of contact between the resist and the semiconductor substrate increases when the n + emitter regions 9 are formed by a photolithography process . for this reason , the risk that the resist will be separated is reduced even when adhesion between the resist and the semiconductor substrate is lowered due to some abnormality . consequently , increase in the gain of a parasitic transistor caused by photo pattern defects can be suppressed to improve breakdown tolerance . in the first and second embodiments , regions where the n + emitter regions are not formed , that is , missing portions 13 of the n + emitter region patterns are slightly formed on channel - forming regions ( substrate surface side ), so that there is no current path formed in the missing portions 13 . however , an igbt or the like may be designed so that each channel is partially inactivated to adjust to a short - circuit current . for example , an igbt with a high withstand voltage is generally designed so that a main current does not flow in a channel width equal to about 5 %- 40 % of the total channel width . particularly in an si igbt with a high withstand voltage , as the withstand voltage increases , the rate of the resistance component of the channel portion to the total resistance component decreases ( e . g . to 10 %) and the influence of the missing portions 13 on transfer characteristic decreases . accordingly , there is no big problem in transfer characteristic such as on - voltage because it can be said that the rate of the width of the missing portions 13 to the total channel width does not change from that in the background art if the rate is in the aforementioned range of 5 % to 40 % though the rate varies according to design . the first and second embodiments are different in the form of the patterns of the missing portions 13 . in the first embodiment , as shown in fig1 a , missing portions 13 of one of n + emitter regions 9 are provided to extend from a long side of each of rectangular p + contact regions 10 to the trench 5 so that one missing portion 13 corresponds to one p + contact region 10 . accordingly , the surface regions of the p + contact regions 10 are extended by patterns corresponding to the missing portions 13 . in the second embodiment , as shown in fig1 c , missing portions 13 of n + emitter regions 9 are provided to extend from long sides of each of rectangular p + contact regions 10 to the trenches 5 so that two missing portions 13 correspond to one p + contact region 10 , differently from the first embodiment . fig2 a is a plan view showing important part of a planar gate type mos structure of a planner gate type igbt according to a third embodiment of the invention . fig2 b is a plan view showing important part of a planar gate type mos structure of a planner gate type igbt according to a fourth embodiment of the invention . fig2 a or 2 b is like fig1 a or 1 b which is a plan view and shows important part of poly - si as gate electrodes 7 and patterns of n + emitter regions 9 appearing in the semiconductor substrate surface and important part of patterns of p + contact regions 10 hatched with slant lines disposed at narrow intervals and interlayer insulating films 11 transparently hatched with slant lines disposed at wide intervals but others are omitted . a sectional view taken along the line d - d in the case where the others are not omitted is like fig5 b which is a sectional view of important part taken along the line e - e in fig5 a in the background art . fig6 is a plan view showing poly - si as the gate electrodes 7 and n + emitter regions 9 and interlayer insulating films 11 appearing in the semiconductor substrate surface as depicted in the plan view of fig5 a . in fig6 , p + contact regions 10 hatched with slant lines disposed at narrow intervals are rectangular portions on which a resist is placed when n + emitter regions 9 are formed . similarly to the trench gate structure shown in fig4 , when minute patterning advances , openings of the poly - si gate electrodes 7 are formed at intervals of not longer than 5 μm , so that the resist size of the p + contact regions 10 is inevitably reduced . accordingly , because the length of one side is reduced , the area of contact between the resist and the semiconductor substrate is reduced . if there is any abnormality , the resist in the abnormal portion is apt to be separated to thereby cause pattern abnormality of the p + contact regions 10 . in contrast , in the third embodiment shown in fig2 a and the fourth embodiment shown in fig2 b , surface patterns of regions where the n + emitter regions 9 are not formed , that is , surface patterns of the p + contact regions 10 are polygonal . accordingly , the area of each pattern is large and the length of each side is large compared with the background art . accordingly , the area of contact between the resist and the semiconductor substrate increases when the n + emitter regions 9 are formed . for this reason , the risk that the resist will be separated is reduced similarly to the case of fig4 even when adhesion between the resist and the semiconductor substrate is lowered due to some abnormality . consequently , increase in the gain of a parasitic transistor caused by photo pattern defects can be suppressed to improve device destruction tolerance . in the third and fourth embodiments , missing portions 13 having no n + emitter region are slightly formed on surfaces of channel - forming regions , so that there is no current path formed in the missing portions 13 . this is , however , not a major issue for the same reason as described with respect to the first and second embodiments . the invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof . it will be understood , however , that modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims . this application is based on , and claims priority to , japanese patent application no : 2008 - 147714 , filed on jun . 5 , 2008 . the disclosure of the priority application , in its entirety , including the drawings , claims , and the specification thereof , is incorporated herein by reference .	7
in order to assist with the understanding of the invention several terms are defined herein . the terms “ peptide ”, “ membrane - translocating peptide ” or “ mtp ” as used herein refer to a plurality of amino acids joined together in a linear chain , including a dipeptide , tripeptide , oligopeptide and polypeptide . a dipeptide contains two amino acids ; a tripeptide contains three amino acids ; and the term oligopeptide is typically used to describe peptides having between 2 and about 50 or more amino acids . peptides larger than about 50 are often referred to as polypeptides or proteins . for purposes of the present invention , the terms “ peptide ”, and “ membrane - translocating peptide ” or “ mtp ” are not limited to any particular number of amino acids . preferably , however , they contain about 2 to about 50 amino acids , or about 2 to about 40 amino acids , more preferably about 2 to about 30 amino acids or about 2 to about 25 amino acids . most preferably the peptide or mtp contains from about 2 to about 20 amino acids or from 8 to about 20 amino acids . for example , an mtp identified according to the methods of the invention may be 18 , 19 . 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 or 25 amino acids in length . typically , a membrane spanning domain of a protein is 22 to 25 amino acids in length , and therefore , particularly where the mtp spans rather than crosses a target membrane , the mtp may be 22 , 23 , 24 or 25 amino acids in length . “ membrane - translocating peptides ” ( mtps ) as used herein are amino acid sequences ( as described above ), which may contain naturally as well as non - naturally occurring amino acid residues . therefore , so - called “ peptide mimetics ” and “ peptide analogues ”, which may include non - amino acid chemical structures that mimic the structure of a particular amino acid or peptide , may also be “ membrane - translocating peptides ” within the context of the invention . such mimetics or analogues are characterized generally as exhibiting similar physical characteristics such as size , charge or hydrophobicity , and the appropriate spatial orientation that is found in their natural peptide counterparts . a specific example of a peptide mimetic compound is a compound in which the amide bond between one or more of the amino acids is replaced by , for example , a carbon - carbon bond or other non - amide bond , as is well known in the art ( see , for example sawyer , in peptide based drug design , pp . 378 - 422 , acs , washington d . c . 1995 ). the present invention is directed towards the identification and characterisation of mtps from amongst a population ( or library ) of peptides — i . e . potential or putative mtps that may be expressed from a library of nucleic acid sequences . although the term ‘ peptide ’ is used herein , it will be understood that the present invention does not preclude identification of mtps or larger peptide domains and motifs that would perhaps under conventional nomenclature be appropriately referred to as polypeptides or proteins . furthermore , the term “ membrane - translocating peptide ” ( mtp ) may include peptides that cross a membrane so that the mtp and any associated non - translocating moieties pass from one side of the membrane to the other , and peptides that merely “ span ” the target membrane . by “ span ” it is meant that an mtp may insert into ( or penetrate ) the target membrane so that at least a portion of the mtp remains within the membrane . thus , for example , an mtp selected by the methods of the invention may span the target membrane causing a portion of the mtp to remain within the membrane ( or lipid bilayer ) and a portion of the mtp or an associated non - translocating moiety to be internalised ( i . e . found on the inside of the respective vesicle or cell . preferably , however , an mtp according to the invention crosses a target membrane , passing from one side of the membrane to the other side of the membrane . in one form , an mtp according to the invention is able to cross a plurality of membranes , such as a plurality of layers of caco - 2 cells or epithelium , such that the mtp is able to move from one side of a tissue to another side of the tissue , or to within the tissue layer . by the term “ derivative ” of an mtp it is meant a peptide sequence that is capable of translocating itself and optionally also an associated / conjugated non - translocating moiety across a target membrane , but that comprises one or more mutations or modifications to the primary peptide sequence of an mtp identified by the methods of the invention . thus , a derivative of an mtp may have one or more , e . g . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 or more chemically modified amino acid side chains , which have been introduced into an mtp of the invention . in addition or in the alternative , a derivative of an mtp may contain one or more , e . g . 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 or more amino acid mutations , substitutions or deletions to the primary sequence of an mtp of the invention . thus , the invention encompasses the results of maturation experiments conducted on an mtp to improve one or more characteristics of the mtp . for example , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 or more amino acid residues of an mtp sequence may be randomly or specifically mutated using procedures known in the art ( e . g . by modifying the encoding dna or rna sequence ), and the resultant library / population of derivatised peptides may be selected according to pre - determined requirements ( such as improved translocation into a particular cell - type , or improved selectivity of a particular cell - type ), by any method known in the art . selected peptides that display membrane - translocation capability are derivatives of mtps and fall within the scope of the invention . the term “ membrane ” in the context of the phrase “ membrane - translocating ”, includes the membranes of any artificial or naturally occurring membrane that comprises a monolayer or bilayer of aliphatic molecules , such as fatty acid or lipid molecules . thus , the term includes the membranes of micelles , liposomes , or other vesicles known to the person of skill in the art , and any type of naturally occurring cell , including bacterial , fungus , plant , animal or human , for example blood cells ( e . g . red blood cells ), or epithelial cells , including skin cells and gut wall cells . preferably , the membrane is a lipid bilayer and it encapsulates an artificial liposome or an endocytotic - incompetent cell . a “ non - translocating moiety ” as used herein , refers to an entity that cannot by itself cross a membrane , such as a lipid monolayer , bilayer or cell membrane ; or to a moiety that cannot by itself cross such a membrane effectively enough to cause the desired intracellular effect . such a non - translocating moiety includes nucleic acids and other polymers , peptides , proteins , peptide nucleic acids ( pnas ), antibodies , antibody fragments , and membrane - impermeable small molecules amongst others . preferably , a non - translocating moiety is a therapeutic molecule , which is further described elsewhere herein . the term “ amino acid ” within the scope of the present invention is used in its broadest sense and is meant to include naturally occurring l α - amino acids or residues . the commonly used one and three letter abbreviations for naturally occurring amino acids are used herein ( lehninger , a . l ., ( 1975 ) biochemistry , 2d ed ., pp . 71 - 92 , worth publishers , new york ). the correspondence between the standard single letter codes and the standard three letter codes is well known to one skilled in the art , and is reproduced here : a = ala ; c = cys ; d = asp ; e = glu ; f phe ; g = gly ; h his ; i = ile ; k = lys ; l = leu ; m = met ; n = asn ; p = pro ; q = gln ; r = arg ; s = ser ; t = thr , v = val ; w = trp ; y = tyr . the general term “ amino acid ” further includes d - amino acids as well as chemically modified amino acids such as amino acid analogues , naturally occurring amino acids that are not usually incorporated into proteins such as norleucine , and chemically synthesized compounds having properties known in the art to be characteristic of an amino acid . for example , analogues or mimetics of phenylalanine or proline , which allow the same conformational restriction of the peptide compounds as do natural phe or pro , are included within the definition of amino acid . such analogues and mimetics are referred to herein as “ functional equivalents ” of the respective amino acid . other examples of amino acids are listed by roberts and vellaccio , the peptides : analysis , synthesis , biology , gross and meiehofer , eds ., vol . 5 p . 341 , academic press , inc ., n . y . 1983 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the present invention is directed towards the identification and characterisation of mtps from amongst a population ( or library ) of peptides — i . e . potential or putative mtps . in particular , the mtps of the invention are selected using in vitro display of in vitro generated libraries of peptides . the terms “ in vitro display ”, “ in vitro peptide display ” and “ in vitro generated libraries ” as used herein refer to systems in which peptide libraries are expressed in such a way that the expressed peptides associate with the nucleic acids that encoded them , and in which such association does not follow the transformation of cells or bacteria with the said nucleic acids . such systems contrast with phage display and other “ in vivo display ” systems in which the association of peptides with their encoded nucleic acids follows the transformation of cells or bacteria with the nucleic acids . membrane - translocating peptides , when used within the context of the present invention , may be “ conjugated ” to a non - translocating moiety . the term “ conjugated ” is used in its broadest sense to encompass all methods of attachment or joining that are known in the art . for example , the non - translocating moiety can be an amino acid extension of the c - or n - terminus of the mtp . in addition , a short amino acid linker sequence may lie between the mtp and the non - translocating moiety . the invention further provides for molecules where the mtp will be linked , e . g . by chemical conjugation to the non - translocating moiety optionally via a linker sequence . typically , the mtp will be linked to the non - translocating moiety via a site in the non - translocating moiety that does not interfere with the activity of the non - translocating moiety . here again , the mtp is considered to be “ conjugated ” to the non - translocating moiety . optionally this linkage may be broken under reducing conditions found in the cytoplasm of cells after internalization . as used herein , the term “ conjugated ” is used interchangeably with the terms “ linked ”, “ associated ” or “ attached ”. a wide range of covalent and non - covalent forms of conjugation are known to the person of skill in the art , and fall within the scope of the invention . for example , disulphide bonds , chemical linkages and peptide chains are all forms of covalent linkages . where a non - covalent means of conjugation is preferred , the means of attachment may be , for example , a biotin -( strept ) avidin link or the like . antibody ( or antibody fragment )- antigen interactions may also be suitably employed to conjugate an mtp of the invention to a non - translocating moiety . one suitable antibody - antigen pairing is the fluorescein - antifluorescein interaction . in this manner a unidirectional and targeted delivery system can be made , whereby the means of conjugation between an mtp and a non - translocating moiety is preferably broken / cleaved once the mtp and its associated non - translocating moiety ( or at least the non - translocating moiety itself ) has crossed the target membrane . any suitable combination of conjugation means and cleavage system can be used , such as enzymatic cleavage , ligand competition , radiation and the like . preferably , when the target membrane is a cell membrane ( such that the non - translocating moiety is delivered into a cell ), the conjugation means is a peptide linkage that can be cleaved by an enzyme , preferably an endogenous enzyme , within the cell ( e . g . in the cytoplasm ). alternatively , the conjugation is preferably a disulphide bridge that can be readily cleaved by the reducing intracellular environment of the cell . where the membrane - encapsulated compartment is not a cell , e . g . it is a lipid vesicle , liposome , or the like , it may be preferable to use an alternative combination of conjugation means and cleavage means . again , any suitable means can be used , provided ( if desired ) that the non - translocating moiety can be delivered unidirectionally to the interior of the compartment . the non - translocating moiety may or may not be active in the conjugated form but in any case , is preferably active after it has been disassociated from the mtp ( i . e . once the conjugation has been broken ). the present invention represents a significant advance in the art of peptide drug development by allowing screening of in vitro generated libraries for membrane - translocating properties . in vitro generated nucleic acid libraries encoding a plurality of peptides are synthesised and initially selected for binding to , penetration of ( e . g . membrane spanning ) or internalization into a target cell or liposome population . library members incapable of associating with a target cell or liposome in one or more of the above ways are removed by washing or other appropriate methods known to those skilled in the art . by way of example , cells , liposomes ( or other target membrane - encapsulated compartment ) that are sufficiently dense may be spun through a non - aqueous layer of oil to separate the membrane - associated library members from the non - associated library members . preferably , the oil is mineral oil . other oils that may be suitable include oils with a specific gravity of less than water . in this regard , mineral oil has a specific density of 0 . 84 g / ml at 25 ° c . preferably , cells such as red blood cells are separated from non - associated library members by centrifugation through mineral oil . as already noted above , an mtp may penetrate or cross the target membrane . library members encoding an mtp or surface - binding peptide will remain bound to the target or internalized within the cell during this step . surface - bound library members are then removed from the cell surface by a non - specific protease such as trypsin , or a nuclease such as dnasei , or a combination of both , or by any other method known to one skilled in the art . only library members encoding an mtp remain within the cell population . the internalized mtps are then recovered and individually characterised by sequencing the associated nucleic acid , and for example , expressing or synthesising the encoded mtp to confirm the desired membrane - translocating properties . the eventual sub - cellular localization of the mtp may also be determined . as mentioned previously , such a step ( i . e . the removal of membrane - bound library members from mtps ) is not possible with phage display libraries as these are naturally resistant to proteases such as trypsin ( see e . g . wo - a - 99058655 ), and a nuclease cannot be used as the phage nucleic acid is protected by the viral coat . a further limitation of phage display libraries is the inherent non - specific binding by phage particles to cell membranes , such non - specific binding being well known to those skilled in the art . advantageously , the mtps of the invention are isolated and individually characterised . however , a mixed population of mtps may be obtained by the methods of the invention , e . g . where more than one nucleic acid - peptide complex crosses a membrane and is internalised into , for example , a liposome or cell during the methods of the invention . in this event , the invention also encompasses said mixed population of mtps . preferably , the invention provides mtps that surprisingly can cross the cell membranes without endocytosis . such mtps can be further selected for by using cells in a selection with no known endocytotic transfer mechanism , such as red blood cells , or by using membrane - encapsulated compartments such as liposomes . optionally , the invention can be applied to the isolation of cell - type specific mtps . in vitro generated nucleic acid libraries encoding a plurality of peptides are synthesised and selected for binding or internalization to a target cell population of interest , such as a population of cancer cells for example , after an earlier incubation with a different non - target cell population , in order to remove cross - reactive mtps ( i . e . those mtps that associated with the non - target cell - type ). means of carrying out such methods will be known to those skilled in the art . typically , library members incapable of binding to the target cell population of interest are removed by washing or other methods known to those skilled in the art . surface bound library members are then removed from the cell surface by a non - specific protease such as trypsin , or a nuclease such as dnasei , or a combination of both or by any other method known to one skilled in the art . as in the above - described methods of the invention , only library members encoding an mtp remain within the cell population . the internalized mtps may then be recovered and individually characterised by sequencing the associated nucleic acid , expressing or synthesising the encoded mtp to confirm the desired membrane - translocating properties , and possibly also determining the sub - cellular localization of the mtp . the invention can also be applied to the isolation of mtps capable of crossing layers of cells such as caco - 2 cells or human epithelium . in vitro generated nucleic acid libraries encoding a plurality of target peptides are synthesised and selected for binding to , penetration of , or internalization into a target cell population of interest such as , by way of example , caco - 2 cells grown in layers . library members incapable of binding to the target cell population of interest are removed by washing or other methods known to those skilled in the art . preferably , surface - bound library members are then removed from the cell surface by a non - specific protease such as trypsin , or a nuclease such as dnasei , or a combination of both or by any other method known to one skilled in the art . once again , only library members encoding an mtp remain within the cell population and are protected from the protease or nuclease . the internalized mtps may then be recovered and individually characterised by sequencing the associated nucleic acid , and optionally expressing or synthesising the encoded mtp to confirm the desired epithelial cell layer translocating properties . alternatively , the cells can be arranged as monolayers on polycarbonate filters and a selection made as described by stevenson et al . ( 1999 , int . j . pharm . 177 , pp 103 - 115 ). in vitro peptide libraries placed on the apical side of the cells can be recovered on the basolateral side if they translocate through the cells . using such methods it is possible to select mtps that are capable of crossing biological membranes , such as the gut wall and skin . mtps isolated in this manner have utility as oral delivery agents for non - translocating moieties . by way of example , an mtp of the invention can be conjugated to a protein drug such as insulin and formulated in a suitable pharmaceutical composition such that on entering the intestine , the mtp causes translocation of insulin into the blood circulatory system . as a further example , an mtp of the invention can be conjugated to a small molecule and formulated in a suitable pharmaceutical composition such that on entering the intestine , the mtp causes translocation of the small molecule drug into the blood circulatory system . in yet another example , the mtp may be coated onto the surface of a nanoparticle containing a protein , peptide or small molecule drug in a suitable pharmaceutical composition such that on entering the intestine , the mtp causes translocation of the nanoparticle into the blood circulatory system . in an alternative composition of the invention , an mtp and its associated non - targeting moiety ( i . e . a therapeutic molecule ) is mixed with a population of liposomes ( i . e . a lipid vesicle or other artificial membrane - encapsulated compartment ), to create a therapeutic population of liposomes that contain the mtp and the therapeutic molecule . the therapeutic population of liposomes can then be administered to a patient by e . g . intra - venous injection . where it is necessary for the therapeutic liposome composition to target specifically a particular cell - type , the liposome composition may additionally be formulated with an antibody domain or the like , which recognises the target cell - type . such methods are known to the person of skill in the art . the mtps according to the invention and mtps conjugated to non - translocating peptides may be produced by recombinant dna technology and standard protein expression and purification procedures . thus , the invention further provides nucleic acid molecules that encode the mtps , derivatives thereof , or therapeutic molecules according to the invention . for instance , the dna encoding the relevant peptide can be inserted into a suitable expression vector ( e . g . pgem ®, promega corp ., usa ), and transformed into a suitable host cell for protein expression according to conventional techniques ( sambrook j . et al , molecular cloning : a laboratory manual , cold spring harbor press , cold spring harbor , n . y .). suitable host cells are those that can be grown in culture and are amenable to transformation with exogenous dna , including bacteria , fungal cells and cells of higher eukaryotic origin , preferably mammalian cells . alternatively , mtps may be synthesised in vitro using a suitable in vitro ( transcription and ) translation system ( e . g . the e . coli s30 extract system , promega corp ., usa ). the term “ operably linked ”, when applied to dna sequences , for example in an expression vector or construct indicates that the sequences are arranged so that they function cooperatively in order to achieve their intended purposes , i . e . a promoter sequence allows for initiation of transcription that proceeds through a linked coding sequence as far as the termination sequence . having selected and isolated an mtp , a functional group such as a therapeutic molecule may then be attached to the mtp by any suitable means . as discussed hereinbefore , an mtp may be conjugated to any suitable form of therapeutic molecule , such has an antibody , enzyme or small chemical compound . a preferred form of therapeutic molecule is an sirna molecule capable of inducing rnai in a target cell . typically a chemical linker will be used to link an sirna molecule to a peptide , such as an mtp . for example , the nucleic acid or pna can be linked to the peptide through a maleimide - thiol linkage , with the maleimide group being on the peptide and the thiol on the nucleic acid , or a disulphide link with a free cysteine group on the peptide and a thiol group on the nucleic acid . pharmaceutical formulations and compositions of the invention are formulated to conform with regulatory standards and can be administered orally , intravenously , topically , or via other standard routes . the pharmaceutical compositions may be in the form of tablets , pills , lotions , gels , liquids , powders , suppositories , suspensions , liposomes , microparticles or other suitable formulations known in the art . accordingly , the invention also encompasses the use of an mtp isolated by the methods of the invention in a therapeutic or diagnostic treatment . in particular , the invention provides the use of an mtp to deliver a non - translocating moiety ( as described hereinbefore ) to one or more populations of membrane - encapsulated compartments . preferably , the membrane - encapsulated compartment is a liposome or one or more populations of cell types . particularly preferred is the use of an mtp according to the invention for delivering a non - translocating moiety , especially a therapeutic molecule , such as an sirna molecule , to a target cell type or population . the target cell or cell population may be in vivo , i . e . in an animal or human subject , or ex vivo , i . e . removed from the animal or human subject to be reintroduced thereto , or in the alternative , the cell , cell population or liposome is in vitro . any route of administration known to the person of skill in the art could be used . particularly , a route of administration that is preferred for the target cell type or population should preferably be used . for example , preferred routes of administration to the subject or patient include subcutaneous injection , ingestion or suppository . by way of example , to treat a viral infection in a subject , an mtp of the invention may be conjugated to a suitable antiviral agent , and the mtp and antiviral molecule can then be administered to the subject either naked or comprised in an artificial liposome , for example . similarly , where a subject is suffering from a cellular disease such as cancer , an mtp of the invention may be conjugated to an appropriate anti - cancer molecule / drug , such as an sirna molecule or other therapeutic entity , and administered via an appropriate administration route to the subject . the mtps can also be used to deliver themselves or a non - translocating moiety to a bacterial cell . thus , a bacterial infection can be treated in a subject , by conjugating an mtp of the invention to an anti - bacterial agent . further in this regard , it is sometimes necessary for a therapeutic composition , such as an mtp conjugated to a therapeutic molecule to be delivered to a specific cell type or population in a subject . this can be achieved ex vivo , for example , by adding the therapeutic composition to a population of cells that have been previously removed from the subject or patient . alternatively , the mtp can be selected , as previously described , to translocate into a specific cell type or cell types , as required . in a further alternative , the mtp may be directly conjugated to an antibody molecule , an antibody fragment ( e . g . fab , f ( ab ) 2 , scfv etc .) or other suitable targeting agent , so that the mtp and any additional conjugated moieties are targeted to the specific cell population required for the treatment or diagnosis . in yet another alternative embodiment , the mtp and its associated non - translocating moiety may be comprised in a liposome population , wherein the liposomes ( e . g . the liposome membranes ) additionally comprise an appropriate targeting moiety , such as an antibody or antibody fragment . the resultant liposomes may then be suitably administered to the subject or patient . preferably in the uses described above , the mtp is conjugated to the non - translocating moiety or therapeutic molecule via an interaction that is cleavable inside the target cell type , e . g . by way of an enzymatic cleavage or due to the reducing intracellular environment . the invention will now be further illustrated by way of the following non - limiting examples . unless otherwise indicated , commercially available reagents and standard techniques in molecular biological and biochemistry were used . the following procedures used by the present applicant are described in sambrook , j . et al ., 1989 supra . : analysis of restriction enzyme digestion products on agarose gels and preparation of phosphate buffered saline . general purpose reagents were purchased from sigma - aldrich ltd ( poole , dorset , u . k .). oligonucleotides were obtained from eurogentec ltd ( southampton , u . k .). amino acids , and s30 extracts were obtained from promega ltd ( southampton , hampshire , u . k .). vent and taq dna polymerases were obtained from new england biolabs ( cambridgeshire , u . k .). fitc labelled peptides were obtained from pepscan systems ( lelystad , netherlands ). library construction and in vitro transcription and translation were carried out as described by odegrip et al . ( 2004 , proc . natl . acad . sci . usa , 101 2806 - 2810 ). the tac - nnb - repa - cis - ori pcr construct was prepared by appending an 18 - mer nnb library ( where n is any nucleotide and b is either c , t or g ) to the tac promoter by pcr and then ligating it to the repa - cis - ori region followed by pcr amplification . in vitro transcription and translation was performed with 2 μg of library dna in an e . coli s - 30 lysate system for up to 30 minutes at 30 ° c . and then diluted with blocking buffer ( 1 % bsa in pbs ). typically , 2 μg of linear dna was added per 50 μl of s - 30 lysate . the expressed library was added to 5 μl of pbs washed human red blood cells ( rbc ) and incubated on ice for 30 minutes . rbc were centrifuged at 2000 rpm for 5 min and supernatant removed . the rbc pellet was resuspended in 200 μl of pbs supplemented with 2 mm cacl 2 , 2 mm mgcl and 1 μg of dnase 1 and incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes . the cells were washed once with pbs by centrifugation to form a loose pellet and then resuspended in 200 μl pbs . the rbc suspension was layered over 200 μl of dibutyl pthalate and centrifuged at 11000 rpm for 4 minutes . the aqueous phase was removed and the rbc pellet gently pipetted from the oil and resuspended in 100 μl of pbs . cells were lysed in 500 μl of pb buffer ( qiagen ), and the dna was purified using qiagen columns and then resuspended in 50 μl of sterile water . in a parallel selection , the rbc pellet was treated with 1 μg / ml of trypsin at 37 ° c . for 30 min instead of dnasei , at which point the cells were spun , the supernatant removed and the pellet resuspended in 200 μl of pbs . the cells were then spun through dibutyl phthalate and dna recovered as described above for dnase treated cells . the n - terminal library region was amplified separately from both selections and reassembled with the repa - cis - ori , as described by odegrip et al . ( 2004 , proc . natl . acad . sci . usa , 101 2806 - 2810 ), to produce input dna for the next round of selection . after five rounds of selection , recovered dna was amplified using pcr , purified and digested with noti and ncoi . the dna was then ligated into a similarly digested m13 gpviii phagemid vector and transformed into e . coli xl - 1 blue cells , and plated on 2 % glucose , 2 × ty , 100 μg / ml ampicillin plates . individual colonies were grown overnight and phagemid dna was isolated and sequenced to determine the peptide sequence . selected peptides were synthesized labelled with fitc at the n - terminus and analysed by facs for cell association using jurkat cells . jurkat cells ( 100000 ) were washed twice in pbs , incubated with 1 μg of labelled peptide in 100 μl pbs supplemented with 1 % foetal calf serum for 15 minutes at room temperature , and washed twice in pbs and analysed in a becton dickinson facs analyzer . peptides associated with cells were then viewed by fluorescence microscopy without fixation to monitor internalization into cells . nine out of twenty - three peptides were cell associated . examples of these are shown in fig1 . fig1 shows fluorescent microscopy and facs analysis of non - fixed jurkat cells . peptides 7 , 13 , and 19 are examples of membrane - translocating peptides isolated by the method described . labelling can be seen by the fluorescence within the cells as observed by microscopy ( left and central photos ) and the fluorescence intensity of the cells by facs ( plot chart on the right ). the facs analysis plot chart shows fitc - fluorescence ( x - axis ) against counts of cells ( y - axis ). peptide 24 is a negative control flag epitope peptide , which does not cause cells to fluoresce as analysed by microscopy or by facs . as described above , parallel selections were performed with either dnasei or trypsin to remove membrane bound or non - translocated peptide - repa - dna complexes from contaminating the recovery of mtps after lysis of the cells . the internalised peptide - repa - dna complexes would be resistant to treatment with either of these enzymes . in the alternative methods , either dnasei was used to digest the repa dna so that this could not be amplified , or trypsin was used to digest the peptide - repa protein and any potential protein - protein interactions . both methods were found to be successful in allowing the selection of the desired mtps . a membrane translocation competent peptide ( mtp ) was selected for sequence analysis to determine whether the translocation competent peptide sequence had any sequence similarities to known membrane - translocating motifs . the result is shown in fig2 . as shown , the selected peptide ( denoted d4 , top row , seq id no : 1 ) showed some sequence homology ( as indicated in the middle row ) to the known membrane - translocating motif of the hiv - tat protein ( bottom row ). the results further demonstrate the efficacy of the selection method described for isolating compounds that exhibit cell - membrane translocation activity . it is interesting to note , however , that other mtps isolated according to the methods described did not show sequence homology to known translocating domains . this allows the identification of new classes of mtps . the following example describes the selection of mtps that are capable of crossing or penetrating synthetic lipid membranes . library construction and in vitro transcription and translation are carried out as described in example 1 above . in vitro transcription and translation are performed as described in example 1 above . emulsions of artificial oil compartments are made by slowly adding 50 μl pbs ( in 10 μl aliquots ) to 0 . 5 ml ice cold 0 . 5 % triton x - 100 and 4 . 5 % span 80 ( sorbitane trioleate ) in light mineral oil on ice stirred at 1600 r . p . m . for 5 minutes . the emulsion mix is then spun at 3000 g for 5 minutes and the oil phase removed to leave the emulsion at the bottom of the tube . the in vitro transcription and translation mix is then added to the emulsion mix in 1 ml pbs and mixed by gently inverting five times and incubating on ice for 30 minutes . 2 . 5 μg of dnasei is then added with 2 mm cacl 2 and 2 mm mgcl ( final concentration ) and incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes . alternatively , to adding dnasei , 1 μg / ml of trypsin can be added and incubated at 37 ° c . for 30 minutes . the emulsion is washed 5 times by adding 1 ml pbs and centrifuging at 3000 g for 5 minutes , removing the wash solution each time . the emulsion is broken and washed by adding 1 ml hexane , vortexing , briefly centrifuging , and then removing the hexane layer . this washing step can be repeated one or two more times and the residual hexane is removed by drying in a speedvac ( farmingdale , n . y .) for 5 minutes at room temperature . the dna can be recovered by addition of 100 μl pb buffer ( qiagen ) and the dna can be prepared for the next round of selection as described in example 1 . the selection process is repeated , for example , 5 times before cloning the dna into phage as described in the example 1 above . peptide sequences can be identified by sequencing and the peptides tested as described in example 1 .	2
the following description includes the best mode presently contemplated for practicing the invention . the description is not to be taken in a limiting sense but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of the invention . the scope of the invention should be ascertained with reference to the issued claims . in the description of the invention that follows , like numerals or reference designators will be used to refer to like parts or elements throughout . as shown in fig1 , there is a stimulation device 10 in electrical communication with the heart 12 of a patient by way of three leads , 20 , 24 and 30 , suitable for delivering multi - chamber stimulation and shock therapy . to sense atrial cardiac signals and to provide right atrial chamber stimulation therapy , the stimulation device 10 is coupled to an implantable right atrial lead 20 having at least an atrial tip electrode 22 , which typically is implanted in the right atrial appendage and an atrial ring electrode 23 . to sense left atrial and ventricular cardiac signals and to provide left chamber pacing therapy , the stimulation device 10 is coupled to a “ coronary sinus ” lead 24 designed for placement in the “ coronary sinus region ” via the coronary sinus or for positioning a distal electrode adjacent to the left ventricle and / or additional electrode ( s ) adjacent to the left atrium . as used herein , the phrase “ coronary sinus region ” refers to the vasculature of the left ventricle , including any portion of the coronary sinus , great cardiac vein , left marginal vein , left posterior ventricular vein , middle cardiac vein , and / or small cardiac vein or any other cardiac vein accessible by the coronary sinus . accordingly , an exemplary coronary sinus lead 24 is designed to receive atrial and ventricular cardiac signals and to deliver left ventricular pacing therapy using at least a left ventricular tip electrode 26 , left atrial pacing therapy using at least a left atrial ring electrode 27 , and shocking therapy using at least a left atrial coil electrode 28 . the stimulation device 10 is also shown in electrical communication with the heart by way of an implantable right ventricular lead 30 having , in this embodiment , a right ventricular tip electrode 32 , a right ventricular ring electrode 34 , a right ventricular ( rv ) coil electrode 36 , and an svc coil electrode 38 . typically , the right ventricular lead 30 is transvenously inserted into the heart so as to place the right ventricular tip electrode 32 in the right ventricular apex so that the rv coil electrode is positioned in the right ventricle and the svc coil electrode 38 is positioned in the superior vena cava . accordingly , the right ventricular lead 30 is capable of receiving cardiac signals , and delivering stimulation in the form of pacing and shock therapy to the right ventricle . to provide a “ tickle warning ” signal , an additional electrode 31 is provided in proximity to the device can . as illustrated in fig2 , a simplified block diagram is shown of the multi - chamber implantable stimulation device 10 , which is capable of treating both fast and slow arrhythmias with stimulation therapy , including cardioversion , defibrillation , and pacing stimulation . while a particular multi - chamber device is shown , this is for illustration purposes only , and one of skill in the art could readily duplicate , eliminate or disable the appropriate circuitry in any desired combination to provide a device capable of treating the appropriate chamber ( s ) with cardioversion , defibrillation and pacing stimulation . the housing 40 for the stimulation device 10 , shown schematically in fig2 , is often referred to as the “ can ”, “ case ” or “ case electrode ” and may be programmably selected to act as the return electrode for all “ unipolar ” modes . the housing 40 may further be used as a return electrode alone or in combination with one or more of the coil electrodes , 28 , 36 and 38 , for shocking purposes . the housing 40 further includes a connector ( not shown ) having a plurality of terminals , 42 , 43 , 44 , 46 , 48 , 52 , 54 , 56 and 58 ( shown schematically and , for convenience , the names of the electrodes to which they are connected are shown next to the terminals ). as such , to achieve right atrial sensing and pacing , the connector includes at least a right atrial tip terminal ( a r tip ) 42 adapted for connection to the atrial tip electrode 22 and a right atrial ring ( a r ring ) electrode 43 adapted for connection to right atrial ring electrode 23 . to achieve left chamber sensing , pacing and shocking , the connector includes at least a left ventricular tip terminal ( v l tip ) 44 , a left atrial ring terminal ( a l ring ) 46 , and a left atrial shocking terminal ( a l coil ) 48 , which are adapted for connection to the left ventricular ring electrode 26 , the left atrial tip electrode 27 , and the left atrial coil electrode 28 , respectively . to support right chamber sensing , pacing and shocking , the connector further includes a right ventricular tip terminal ( v r tip ) 52 , a right ventricular ring terminal ( v r ring ) 54 , a right ventricular shocking terminal ( r v coil ) 56 , and an svc shocking terminal ( svc coil ) 58 , which are adapted for connection to the right ventricular tip electrode 32 , right ventricular ring electrode 34 , the rv coil electrode 36 , and the svc coil electrode 38 , respectively . to provide the “ tickle warning ” signal , an additional terminal 59 is provided for connection to the tickle warning electrode 31 of fig1 . at the core of the stimulation device 10 is a programmable microcontroller 60 , which controls the various modes of stimulation therapy . as is well known in the art , the microcontroller 60 ( also referred to herein as a control unit ) typically includes a microprocessor , or equivalent control circuitry , designed specifically for controlling the delivery of stimulation therapy and may further include ram or rom memory , logic and timing circuitry , state machine circuitry , and i / o circuitry . typically , the microcontroller 60 includes the ability to process or monitor input signals ( data ) as controlled by a program code stored in a designated block of memory . the details of the design and operation of the microcontroller 60 are not critical to the invention . rather , any suitable microcontroller 60 may be used that carries out the functions described herein . the use of microprocessor - based control circuits for performing timing and data analysis functions are well known in the art . as shown in fig2 , an atrial pulse generator 70 and a ventricular pulse generator 72 generate pacing stimulation pulses for delivery by the right atrial lead 20 , the right ventricular lead 30 , and / or the coronary sinus lead 24 via an electrode configuration switch 74 . it is understood that in order to provide stimulation therapy in each of the four chambers of the heart , the atrial and ventricular pulse generators , 70 and 72 , may include dedicated , independent pulse generators , multiplexed pulse generators or shared pulse generators . the pulse generators , 70 and 72 , are controlled by the microcontroller 60 via appropriate control signals , 76 and 78 , respectively , to trigger or inhibit the stimulation pulses . the microcontroller 60 further includes timing control circuitry 79 which is used to control the timing of such stimulation pulses ( e . g ., pacing rate , atrio - ventricular ( av ) delay , atrial interconduction ( a — a ) delay , or ventricular interconduction ( v — v ) delay , etc .) as well as to keep track of the timing of refractory periods , blanking intervals , noise detection windows , evoked response windows , alert intervals , marker channel timing , etc ., which is well known in the art . switch 74 includes a plurality of switches for connecting the desired electrodes to the appropriate i / o circuits , thereby providing complete electrode programmability . accordingly , the switch 74 , in response to a control signal 80 from the microcontroller 60 , determines the polarity of the stimulation pulses ( e . g ., unipolar , bipolar , combipolar , etc .) by selectively closing the appropriate combination of switches ( not shown ) as is known in the art . moreover , as the explained in greater detail below , the microcontroller transmits signals to controlling the switch to connect a different set of electrodes during a far - field overdrive pacing than during near - field overdrive pacing . atrial sensing circuits 82 and ventricular sensing circuits 84 may also be selectively coupled to the right atrial lead 20 , coronary sinus lead 24 , and the right ventricular lead 30 , through the switch 74 for detecting the presence of cardiac activity in each of the four chambers of the heart . accordingly , the atrial ( atr . sense ) and ventricular ( vtr . sense ) sensing circuits , 82 and 84 , may include dedicated sense amplifiers , multiplexed amplifiers or shared amplifiers . the switch 74 determines the “ sensing polarity ” of the cardiac signal by selectively closing the appropriate switches , as is also known in the art . in this way , the clinician may program the sensing polarity independent of the stimulation polarity . each sensing circuit , 82 and 84 , preferably employs one or more low power , precision amplifiers with programmable gain and / or automatic gain control , bandpass filtering , and a threshold detection circuit , as known in the art , to selectively sense the cardiac signal of interest . the automatic gain control enables the device 10 to deal effectively with the difficult problem of sensing the low amplitude signal characteristics of atrial or ventricular fibrillation . the outputs of the atrial and ventricular sensing circuits , 82 and 84 , are connected to the microcontroller 60 which , in turn , are able to trigger or inhibit the atrial and ventricular pulse generators , 70 and 72 , respectively , in a demand fashion in response to the absence or presence of cardiac activity in the appropriate chambers of the heart . for arrhythmia detection , the device 10 utilizes the atrial and ventricular sensing circuits , 82 and 84 , to sense cardiac signals to determine whether a rhythm is physiologic or pathologic . as used herein “ sensing ” is reserved for the noting of an electrical signal , and “ detection ” is the processing of these sensed signals and noting the presence of an arrhythmia . the timing intervals between sensed events ( e . g ., p - waves , r - waves , and depolarization signals associated with fibrillation which are sometimes referred to as “ f - waves ” or “ fib - waves ”) are then classified by the microcontroller 60 by comparing them to a predefined rate zone limit ( i . e ., bradycardia , normal , low rate vt , high rate vt , and fibrillation rate zones ) and various other characteristics ( e . g ., sudden onset , stability , physiologic sensors , and morphology , etc .) in order to determine the type of remedial therapy that is needed ( e . g ., bradycardia pacing , antitachycardia pacing , cardioversion shocks or defibrillation shocks ). cardiac signals are also applied to the inputs of an analog - to - digital ( a / d ) data acquisition system 90 . the data acquisition system 90 is configured to acquire intracardiac electrogram signals , convert the raw analog data into a digital signal , and store the digital signals for later processing and / or telemetric transmission to an external device 102 . the data acquisition system 90 is coupled to the right atrial lead 20 , the coronary sinus lead 24 , and the right ventricular lead 30 through the switch 74 to sample cardiac signals across any pair of desired electrodes . the microcontroller 60 is further coupled to a memory 94 by a suitable data / address bus 96 , wherein the programmable operating parameters used by the microcontroller 60 are stored and modified , as required , in order to customize the operation of the stimulation device 10 to suit the needs of a particular patient . such operating parameters define , for example , pacing pulse amplitude or magnitude , pulse duration , electrode polarity , rate , sensitivity , automatic features , arrhythmia detection criteria , and the amplitude , waveshape and vector of each shocking pulse to be delivered to the patient &# 39 ; s heart 12 within each respective tier of therapy . other pacing parameters include base rate , rest rate and circadian base rate . advantageously , the operating parameters of the implantable device 10 may be non - invasively programmed into the memory 94 through a telemetry circuit 100 in telemetric communication with the external device 102 , such as a programmer , transtelephonic transceiver or a diagnostic system analyzer . the telemetry circuit 100 is activated by the microcontroller by a control signal 106 . the telemetry circuit 100 advantageously allows intracardiac electrograms and status information relating to the operation of the device 10 ( as contained in the microcontroller 60 or memory 94 ) to be sent to the external device 102 through an established communication link 104 . in the preferred embodiment , the stimulation device 10 further includes a physiologic sensor 108 , commonly referred to as a “ rate - responsive ” sensor because it is typically used to adjust pacing stimulation rate according to the exercise state of the patient . however , the physiological sensor 108 may further be used to detect changes in cardiac output , changes in the physiological condition of the heart , or diurnal changes in activity ( e . g ., detecting sleep and wake states ) accordingly , the microcontroller 60 responds by adjusting the various pacing parameters ( such as rate , av delay , v — v delay , etc .) at which the atrial and ventricular pulse generators , 70 and 72 , generate stimulation pulses . while shown as being included within the stimulation device 10 , it is to be understood that the physiologic sensor 108 may also be external to the stimulation device 10 , yet still be implanted within or carried by the patient . the stimulation device additionally includes a battery 110 , which provides operating power to all of the circuits shown in fig2 . for the stimulation device 10 , which employs shocking therapy , the battery 110 must be capable of operating at low current drains for long periods of time , and then be capable of providing high - current pulses ( for capacitor charging ) when the patient requires a shock pulse . the battery 110 must also have a predictable discharge characteristic so that elective replacement time can be detected . accordingly , the device 10 preferably employs lithium / silver vanadium oxide batteries , as is true for most ( if not all ) current devices . as further shown in fig2 , the device 10 is shown as having an impedance measuring circuit 112 which is enabled by the microcontroller 60 via a control signal 114 . in the case where the stimulation device 10 is intended to operate as an implantable cardioverter / defibrillator ( icd ) device , it detects the occurrence of an arrhythmia and automatically applies an appropriate electrical shock therapy to the heart aimed at terminating the detected arrhythmia . to this end , the microcontroller 60 further controls a shocking circuit 116 by way of a control signal 118 . the shocking circuit 116 generates shocking pulses of low ( up to 0 . 5 joules ), moderate ( 0 . 5 – 10 joules ), or high energy ( 11 to 40 joules ), as controlled by the microcontroller 60 . such shocking pulses are applied to the heart 12 through at least two shocking electrodes , and as shown in this embodiment , selected from the left atrial coil electrode 28 , the rv coil electrode 36 , and / or the svc coil electrode 38 . as noted above , the housing 40 may act as an active electrode in combination with the rv electrode 36 , or as part of a split electrical vector using the svc coil electrode 38 or the left atrial coil electrode 28 ( i . e ., using the rv electrode as a common electrode ). cardioversion shocks are generally considered to be of low to moderate energy level ( so as to minimize pain felt by the patient ), and / or synchronized with an r - wave and / or pertaining to the treatment of tachycardia . defibrillation shocks are generally of moderate to high energy level ( i . e ., corresponding to thresholds in the range of 5 – 40 joules ), delivered asynchronously ( since r - waves may be too disorganized ), and pertaining exclusively to the treatment of fibrillation . accordingly , the microcontroller 60 is capable of controlling the synchronous or asynchronous delivery of the shocking pulses . finally , with regard to fig2 , microcontroller 60 includes a t - wave - based cardiac ischemia detection system 101 for controlling the detection of episodes of cardiac ischemia and a warning system 103 for controlling the delivery of warning signals to the patient . in particular , warning system 103 controls a tickle circuit 105 to generate a perceptible internal warning signal using tickle warning electrode 31 of fig1 . referring to the remaining figures , flow charts , graphs and other diagrams illustrate the operation and novel features of stimulation device 10 as configured in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the invention . in the flow charts , the various algorithmic steps are summarized in individual “ blocks ”. such blocks describe specific actions or decisions made or carried out as the algorithm proceeds . where a microcontroller ( or equivalent ) is employed , the flow charts provide the basis for a “ control program ” that may be used by such a microcontroller ( or equivalent ) to effectuate the desired control of the stimulation device . those skilled in the art may readily write such a control program based on the flow charts and other descriptions presented herein . fig3 illustrates pertinent components of t - wave - based cardiac ischemia detection system 101 of the microcontroller or fig2 . briefly , the system operates to detect t - waves within iegm signals and then to detect the onset of an episode of cardiac ischemia based on an analysis of total energies and maximum slopes of the t - waves . to this end , detection system 101 includes both a t - wave detection controller 150 for coordinating components that identify t - waves within iegm signals and a cardiac ischemia detection controller 152 for coordinating components that analyze the t - waves to detect the onset of ischemia . t - waves are detected using both an atrial bipolar signal processing unit 154 and a unipolar signal processing unit 156 . atrial events ( i . e . p - waves ) detected with the bipolar signals are then eliminated from the unipolar signals using an atrial event rejection unit 157 . by eliminating atrial events from the unipolar signals , the unipolar signals thereby include only ventricular events , i . e . t - waves and r - waves . a t - wave / r - wave peak detection unit 158 examines the filtered unipolar signals to identify the peaks of t - waves and r - waves . a t - wave window calculation unit 160 specifies a t - wave location window based upon either the t - wave peak or the preceding r - wave peak . once a t - wave window has been specified , a t - wave energy integration unit 162 calculates the energy associated with the t - wave while a t - wave slope determination unit 164 determines its maximum slope . detection of the onset of the cardiac ischemia depends , in part , on whether each t - wave was a result of a sinus beat or a paced beat . accordingly , both a sinus beat processing unit 166 and a paced beat processing unit 168 are provided . note that , depending upon the implementation , not all of the components shown in fig3 need be implemented as portions of the microcontroller . rather , some or all of the components may be implemented as stand - alone devices within the overall implantable device or may be integrated with other device components . hence , the invention is not limited to being implemented as shown in the figure . fig4 provides an overview of the cardiac ischemia detection technique performed by the ischemia detection system of fig3 . initially , at step 200 , iegm signals are received and t - waves are detected under the control of the t - wave detection controller . then , t - wave energy and maximum slope are determined , at step 202 , using the energy integration unit and slope determination unit . at step 204 , the onset of a cardiac ischemia is detected based upon the t - wave energy and maximum slope using the paced beat and sensed beat processing units . so long as no ischemia is detected , steps 200 – 204 are merely repeated . if ischemia is detected , however , the patient is warned of the ischemia by application of an internal perceptible “ tickle ” notification signal , at step 206 . if the device is configured to generate warning signals for other arrhythmias , such as atrial fibrillation , the device preferably employs different notification signal frequencies for the different warnings so that the patient can properly distinguish between different warnings . in addition , warning signals may be transmitted using a short - range telemetry system to a handheld warning device using techniques described within the above - referenced patent application to wang et al . thus , the technique exploits both the total energies of individual t - waves and the maximum slopes of t - waves to detect cardiac ischemia . the effect of cardiac ischemia on both t - wave energy and t - wave maximum slope is illustrated in fig5 , which shows various conventional iegm and surface ekg signal traces obtained from a canine test subject during normal sinus rhythm and during an episode of artificially - induced cardiac ischemia . more specifically , graph 300 illustrates various surface ekg signals during a normal sinus rhythm and graph 302 illustrates corresponding iegm signals also during normal sinus rhythm . graph 304 illustrates surface ekg signals during an artificially induced cardiac ischemia , generated by inflating a balloon within an artery leading to heart tissue . graph 306 illustrates corresponding iegm signals also during the artificially induced episode of cardiac ischemia . as can be seen , t - waves 308 during cardiac ischemia are much larger than t - waves 310 during normal sinus rhythm . since t - waves are considerably larger during cardiac ischemia , the total energy within the t - waves ( i . e . the integral or sum of the individual amplitude values of the signal during the t - wave ) is considerably greater during cardiac ischemia then during a normal sinus rhythm . hence , total t - wave energy provides a reliable indicator of cardiac ischemia . in addition , the maximum slope of each t - wave is considerably steeper during the episode of cardiac ischemia . compare , for example , slope 312 of graph 306 against slope 314 of graph 302 . detection of a sharp maximum t - wave slope thereby helps confirm the detection of cardiac ischemia made based upon the t - wave energy . alternatively , the maximum t - wave slope can be used as an independent indicator of cardiac ischemia , but it is believed to be more reliable when used in combination with total t - wave energy . fig6 provides a side - by - side comparison of a right ventricular ring iegm for a single heart beat for normal sinus rhythm and for cardiac ischemia , again obtained from a canine test subject . more specifically , solid line 314 illustrates the heart beat during normal sinus rhythm ( i . e . baseline ) whereas dashed line 312 illustrates the heart beat obtained five minutes after artificial occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery ( lad ). in the figures , reference numeral 316 identifies a t - wave window , centered at each t - wave peak , in which the total energy and maximum slope is actually calculated . the t - wave window ( tw ) is 60 milliseconds ( ms ) in both cases . the integral of t - wave energy within the window was determined to be 364 μv - seconds during the ischemia but only 124 μv - seconds during normal sinus rhythm . max dv / dt during ischemia was determined to be − 0 . 22 v / second but only − 0 . 08 v / second during normal sinus rhythm . note that maximum dv / dt here refers to the maximum positive or maximum negative slope , whichever is larger in magnitude . referring now to fig7 – 9 , the detection of t - waves of step 200 of fig4 will now be described in greater detail . simultaneously , at steps 400 and 402 , atrial near - field signals are received using a bipolar lead mounted within the atria and far - field signals are received via unipolar sensing derived from a lead mounted anywhere in the heart . in one example , the far - field channel is derived via unipolar sensing from a lead mounted in the ventricles ( either from a ventricular unipolar lead or from a ventricular bipolar lead used in unipolar configuration ). in another example , the far - field channel is derived from an atrial bipolar lead used in unipolar configuration . in other words , in that example , two channels are derived from the single atrial bipolar lead — a near - field channel derived by using the lead in bipolar configuration ( i . e . tip to ring sensing ) and a far - field channel by using the lead in unipolar configuration ( i . e . ring to case sensing .) in any case , the atrial near - field channel is derived by detecting a voltage difference between a pair of electrodes within the atria ; whereas the far - field channel is derived by detecting a voltage difference between an electrode and the device can . the bipolar lead provides a small antenna for detecting electrical signals and is well suited to sensing near - field signals arising within the atria . the large antenna provided via unipolar sensing is well suited for detecting any cardiac electrical cardiac signals , including r - waves and t - waves arising in the ventricles and p - waves arising in atria . this is illustrated within fig8 . a graph 408 illustrates surface ekg signals and graph 409 illustrates corresponding atrial bipolar iegm signals . as can be seen , the bipolar signals contain primarily only p - waves 410 . graph 412 illustrates surface ekg signals and graph 413 illustrates corresponding unipolar channel signals derived from an atrial bipolar lead in a unipolar sensing mode . as can be seen , the unipolar channel signals include r - waves 414 and t - waves 416 as well as p - waves 410 . the presence of the p - waves makes it difficult to distinguish between p - waves and r - waves so that the t - waves may be reliably detected . returning to fig7 , at step 404 , the atrial near - field channel signals are examined to detect p - waves therein . the detected p - waves are then used to eliminate or filter p - waves from the far - field unipolar channel signals , at step 406 . this is illustrated in fig9 and 10 . fig9 illustrates an atrial bipolar sensing channel along with an atrial unipolar sensing channel derived from the same atrial bipolar lead but operating in a unipolar mode . fig1 illustrates the same atrial bipolar sensing channel along with a ventricular unipolar sensing channel derived from a unipolar lead mounted in the ventricles ( or from some other ventricular lead operating in a unipolar mode .) referring first to fig9 , for each p - wave 410 detected within the atrial bipolar signals , an atrial blanking window 418 is applied to the atrial unipolar channel signals . during the blanking window , signals sensed on the atrial unipolar channel are ignored . as a result , only r - waves 414 and t - waves 416 are detected . the r - waves then can be easily distinguished from the t - waves based upon shape and amplitude . referring next to fig1 , for each p - wave 410 detected within the atrial bipolar signals , an atrial blanking window 432 is applied to the ventricular unipolar channel signals so that signals sensed on the ventricular unipolar channel are ignored . as a result , again , only r - waves 414 and t - waves 416 are detected and the r - waves then can be easily distinguished from the t - waves based upon shape and amplitude . returning to fig7 , the system then detects the peaks of the r - waves and the t - waves within the remaining far - field channel signals , at step 420 . for each beat , a t - wave window is calculated , at step 422 , based upon either the detected peak of the t - wave or the detected peak of the r - wave . in one example , the device is programmed to specify the t - wave window as commencing 150 milliseconds ( ms ) prior to the t - wave peak and concluding 150 ms after the t - wave peak . the starting and ending points of the t - wave window are referred to , herein , as t start and t end , respectively . alternatively , the t - wave window is specified as commencing 80 ms after the r - wave peak and terminating 480 ms after the r - wave peak . preferably , the device is preprogrammed to calculate the t - wave window based on either the t - wave peak or the r - wave peak , but not both . alternatively , the device may be programmed to utilize the t - wave peak so long as t - waves can be clearly identified and to use the r - wave peak otherwise . thus , for example , if the amplitudes of the t - waves are relatively low and their peaks cannot be reliably identified , the t - wave window is instead calculated based upon the r - wave peak . other techniques for specifying the t - wave window may also be employed . for example , the t - wave window may be programmable by the physician via the external programmer . the t - wave window may also be automatically specified based on heart rate or st interval . in any case , an exemplary t - wave window 424 applied to the atrial unipolar channel is illustrated within fig9 and an exemplary t - wave window 434 applied to the ventricular unipolar channel is illustrated within fig1 . note that the t - wave windows are not blanking windows during which signals are completely ignored . rather , the t - wave windows specify periods of time in which the unipolar signals are integrated to determine total t - wave energy and during which time derivatives are calculated to determine t - wave slope . having determined the t - wave window , processing returns to fig4 . as noted , the improved t - wave detection technique is not limited for use with ischemia detection but may also be used for any other suitable purpose wherein reliable t - wave detection is required , such as in the detection of svts and pvcs . referring now to fig1 , the determination of the t - wave energy and maximum slope performed at step 202 of fig4 will now be described in greater detail . at step 500 , the total energy of the latest t - wave is calculated based upon the start and stop times of the t - wave window using the following equation : e t - wave = ∑ n = tstart tend ⁢ s ⁡ ( n ) wherein s ( n ) is a digitized version of the cardiac signal and n represents individual samples of a digitized version of an iegm signal . only summation is required since the sampling rate is assumed to be fixed . if the sampling rate is not fixed , otherwise conventional signal integration techniques may be used to obtain the t - wave signal energy . in one example , s ( n ) is a digitized version of the unipolar ventricular signal filtered using a 0 . 5 hz to 40 hz preamplifier . in other examples , techniques are employed to first emulate a surface ekg based upon iegm signals , preferably configured to emulate surface leads i , ii and v2 . the emulated surface ekg is digitized and used as s ( n ). one technique for emulating a surface ekg using internal electrical signals that allows individual surface ekg lead signals to be individually emulated is described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 334 , 741 to kroll et al ., entitled “ system and method for emulating a surface ekg using implantable cardiac stimulation device ”, filed dec . 30 , 2002 , which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is incorporated by reference herein . the maximum slope of the t - wave ( i . e . max dv / dt ) is then calculated , at step 502 , using the following equation : maxslope t - wave = max ⁡ [ abs ⁡ [ s ⁡ ( n + 1 ) - s ⁡ ( n ) ] ] n = tstart tend i . e . the device calculates the slope at each sample point within the t - wave window by 1 ) calculating a numerical difference between a pair of adjacent samples at that point ; 2 ) taking absolute values of those differences ; and 3 ) then identifying the maximum of the absolute values . other techniques may be employed as well . in addition , a maximum positive slope and a maximum negative slope may be separately calculated . in any case , processing again the returns to fig4 . referring now to fig1 , the detection of cardiac ischemia based upon t - wave energy and maximum slope performed at step 204 of fig4 will now be described . as already noted , the detection of ischemia depends , in part , upon whether the latest t - wave is the result of the paced ventricular beat or a sinus ventricular beat . an indication of whether the ventricular beat is paced or not is provided by other components of the microcontroller . if “ sinus ” then , at step 600 , the ischemia detection system first determines whether the t - wave was the result of an ectopic beat and , if so , the t - wave is ignored . to identify ectopic beats , otherwise conventional morphology - based techniques or svt discrimination techniques can be used . other suitable techniques can be used as well for detecting ectopic beats such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 081 , 747 to levine , et al ., which is incorporated by reference herein . then , at step 601 , the detection system normalizes the t - wave energy value ( assuming it is not the result of an ectopic beat ) based upon the amplitude of the preceding r - wave peak . at step 602 , a running average of t - wave energies of all non - ectopic sinus beats is updated ( e averagesinus ). by normalizing the t - wave energy value , any differences in t - wave energy arising solely from different intrinsic depolarization signal voltages are thereby eliminated . if “ paced ”, then , at step 603 , the detection system first determines whether the t - wave was the result of a fused beat and , if so , the t - wave is ignored . to detect fusion , a paced depolarization integral ( pdi ) value ( or other measure of the evoked response ) may be calculated within an evoked response window then compared against acceptable bounds . if the pdi is outside acceptable bounds , then either the paced beat was not captured or fusion occurred . with this technique , a wider than normal evoked response detection window is preferably employed . the size of the window and the acceptable bounds may be determined via routine testing . other suitable techniques can be used for detecting fusion as well such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 456 , 881 to bornzin , et al ., which is incorporated by reference herein . then , at step 604 , the detection system then normalizes the t - wave energy value ( assuming the t - wave is not ignored ) based again on some measure of the evoked response , such as pdi , or on a maximum of the derivative of the evoked response ( dmax ). pdi is discussed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 643 , 327 to dawson , et al ., which is also incorporated herein by reference . note that , if the paced beat is not captured , its energy is zero and it is also ignored . at 605 , a running average of the normalized t - wave energy for non - fused paced beats is updated ( e averagepaced ). the corresponding running average is based on some fixed number of previous t - waves , such as the two hundred t - waves . at step 606 , a running average of the maximum slope is updated ( e averagemaxslope ). then , at step 608 , differences are calculated between the latest value for the t - wave energy and its corresponding running average and between the latest value of the maximum slope and its corresponding running average . at step 610 , the calculated differences are compared against predetermined threshold values ( t pacedbeatenergy , t sinusbeatenergy , t maxslope ) to identify the onset of an episode of cardiac ischemia and to subsequently identify the termination of the episode . for example , the following logic may be used to detect the onset of an episode of ischemia : the following logic may be used to detect the termination of an episode of ischemia : preferably , though , the determination of whether an episode of ischemia has commenced is not based on a single instance of one of the thresholds being exceeded , but is based on some predetermined number of beats for which one or more thresholds is exceeded . a state machine may be employed to implement logic for determining when to enter and when to exit an ischemia alarm state based on some predetermined number of beats for which some combination of thresholds are exceeded . details of such as state machine may be found in the wang et al . patent application referenced above . in addition , although described with reference to an example wherein the device examines either t - wave energy or maximum t - wave slope or both , other combinations of features may be exploited . for example , the device may calculate a product of t - wave energy and maximum t - wave slope , which is then compared against suitable thresholds . alternatively , the average of the slope of the t - wave may instead be exploited . additionally , or in the alternative , the slope of the st - segment may be used as a basis for detecting the onset of cardiac ischemia , as it has been found that the slope of the st - segment is generally elevated during ischemia . accordingly , either maximum or average slope of the st - segment ( or of a period of time including both the st - segment and the t - wave ) may be examined for the purposes of detecting ischemia . in general , a wide variety of techniques can be implemented consistent with the principles the invention and no attempt is made herein to describe all possible techniques . although described primarily with reference to an example wherein the implanted device is a defibrillation / pacer , principles of the invention are applicable to other implantable medical devices as well . the various functional components of the exemplary systems may be implemented using any appropriate technology including , for example , microprocessors running software programs or application specific integrated circuits ( asics ) executing hard - wired logic operations . the exemplary embodiments of the invention described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention .	0
in the following detailed description , only certain exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described , simply by way of illustration . as those skilled in the art would realize , the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways , all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention . accordingly , the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature , and not restrictive . fig3 is a circuit diagram of a multiplying analog to digital converter ( mdac ) according to a first embodiment of the present invention . the mdac is provided in a like manner to a mdac in each stage of a multipath pipelined analog to digital converter ( adc ) according to an embodiment of the present invention , and thus a detailed description of the mdac in each stage will be omitted . hereinafter , the mdac according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described . referring to fig3 , the mdac includes a digital to analog converter ( dac ) 100 and an amplifier 200 . the dac 100 includes a first capacitor array ( c 1 to c n ) 110 , a second capacitor array ( c 1b to c nb ) 120 , first selection circuits s 1 to s n , and second selection circuits s 1b to s nb . the amplifier 200 includes a first amplifier a 1 , a second amplifier a 2 , compensation capacitors c c and c cb , feedback capacitors c f and c fb , and switches sw 3 , sw 3b , sw 4 , sw 4b , and sw 5 . typically , an n - bit mdac requires 2 n capacitors . ‘ n ’ in the capacitor arrays represents 2 n , and ‘ n ’ represents a number of bits of a digital signal to be converted in each stage according to the first embodiment of the present invention . in the dac 100 , first ends of capacitors c 1 to c n in the first capacitor array 110 are respectively coupled to the first selection circuits s 1 to s n . meanwhile , first ends of capacitors c 1b to c bn in the second capacity array 120 are respectively coupled to the second selection circuits s 1b to s nb . second ends of the first and second capacitor arrays 110 and 120 are coupled to an input end of the first amplifier a 1 , and an output end of the first amplifier a 1 is directly coupled to an input end of the second amplifier . the respective first selection circuits s 1 to s n include the switches sw 1 and sw 2 , receive a clock signal during a sampling period , and apply an analog input voltage v in + to the first capacitor array 110 through the switch sw 1 . in addition , the respective first selection circuits s 1 to s n receive an n - bit digital signal from a sub - analog to digital converter ( sub - adc ) during a holding period and apply a positive reference voltage v ref + or a negative reference voltage v ref − to the first capacitor array 110 through the switch sw 2 . herein , the positive reference voltage v ref + is applied to the first capacitor array 110 when the digital signal is set to be ‘ 1 ’, and the negative reference voltage v ref + is applied thereto when the digital signal is set to be ‘ 0 ’. all elements in the second selection circuit are connected between those , and are operated , as those in the first selection circuit which are arranged with the second selection circuit in a like manner . however , the negative reference voltage v ref − is applied to the first capacitor array 110 when the digital signal is set to be ‘ 1 ’, and the positive reference voltage v ref + is applied to the first capacitor array when the digital signal is set to be ‘ 0 ’ in the second selection circuits . in the amplifier 200 of the mdac , a first end of the switch sw 3 is coupled to the second end of the first capacitor array 110 and the input end of the first amplifier a 1 , and a second end of the switch sw 3 is coupled to a first end of the switch sw 4 and the output end of the first amplifier a 1 . a second end of the switch sw 4 is coupled to a first end of the compensation capacitor c c , and a second end of the c c is coupled to an output end of the second amplifier a 2 . the feedback capacitor c f is coupled to the first end of the switch sw 3 and the second end of the compensation capacitor c c . operations of the switches sw 3b , the switch sw 4b , the compensation capacitor c cb , and the feedback capacitor c fb correspond to operations of the corresponding switch sw 3 , the switch sw 3 , the capacitor cc , and the feedback capacitor c fb . an operation of the mdac will be described with respect to a clock holding period φ 1 and a clock sampling period φ 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention . during the clock sampling period φ 2 , the first capacitor array 110 is coupled to an output voltage v in + of a previous stage through the switch sw 1 of the first selection circuit , and stores the output voltage v in + . herein , the switch sw 2 is turned off and thus the positive reference voltage v ref + or the negative reference voltage v ref − is no longer applied to the first capacitor array 110 , a first offset voltage v os1 is applied to another end of the first capacitor array 110 , and the switches sw 3 and sw 5 are turned on , and the switch sw 4 is turned off . during the clock holding period φ 1 , in the first capacity array 110 , the switch sw 1 of the first selection circuit is switched to the switch sw 2 by the output voltage v in + , and the positive reference voltage v ref + or the negative reference voltage v ref − is applied to the switch sw 2 . herein , each capacitor in the first capacitor array 110 is applied with the positive reference voltage v ref + or the negative reference voltage v ref − depending on a digital output value of the sub - adc . the switch sw 3 is turned off and the switch sw 4 is turned on . an output from the output end of the amplifier is obtained by charge redistribution between the first capacitor array 110 and the feedback capacitor c f . the compensation capacitor c c maintains stability in a loop by obtaining a phase margin in a multistage amplifier . the operation of the mdac will be described with reference to the following equations that are related to the charge redistribution according to the first embodiment of the present invention in the assumption that values of the capacitors in the capacitor array are given to be c . as shown in fig3 , the mdac turns off the switches sw 4 and sw 4b during the sampling period φ 2 , and thus an offset voltage in the input end of the first amplifier 110 is fed back and stored in the capacitor array to remove the offset voltage . therefore , charges q 2 sampled in the capacitor array during the sampling period φ 2 are given as equation 1 : q 2 =( v os1 − v in ) nc + v os1 c f [ equation 1 ] where v in is an input voltage , n is a number of the capacitors in the capacitor array , v os1 is a first offset voltage , and c f is the feedback capacitor . charges q 1 stored in the capacitor array and the feedback capacitor c f during the holding period φ 1 is given as equation 2 : q ⁢ ⁢ 1 = ⁢ ( v x - v out ) ⁢ c f + ⁢ ( v x - v ref ) ⁢ mc ⁡ ( v x + v ref ) ⁢ ( n - m ) ⁢ c = ⁢ ( v x - v out ) ⁢ c f + v x ⁢ nc + v ref ⁡ ( n - 2 ⁢ m ) ⁢ c = ⁢ v x ⁡ ( nc + c f ) + v ref ⁡ ( n - 2 ⁢ m ) ⁢ c - v out ⁢ c f [ equation ⁢ ⁢ 2 ] where v x is a voltage at the output end of the capacitor array , v out is a voltage at the output end of the mdac , v ref is the reference voltage , and m is a number of the capacitors in the capacitor array coupled to the negative reference voltage v ref − ( 0 ≦ m ≦ n ). the charges in each phase are identical , and therefore q 1 is equal to q 2 . accordingly , equation 3 is derived from equation 1 and equation 2 : v in nc = v os1 ( nc + c f )− v x ( nc + c f )− v ref ( n − 2 m ) c + v out c f . [ equation 3 ] the output voltage v out is given as equation 4 : v out =−[( v x − v os1 ) a 1 − v os2 ] a 2 =−( v x − v os ) a [ equation 4 ] accordingly , the voltage v x is given as equation 5 , which is derived from equation 4 : when a gain a of the multistage amplifier having the first and second amplifiers is set to be great enough , v x = v os is satisfied . thus , the output voltage v out of the mdac is given as equation 6 . herein , v x = v os is substituted to equation 3 : herein , v os =( v os1 + v os2 / a 1 ). thus , when the gain a 1 of the first amplifier is set to be great , v os2 / a 1 becomes zero , and v os =( v os1 + v os2 / a 1 )≈ v os1 . in this case , ( v os − v os1 )( nc + c f )/ c f is deleted in equation 6 , and thus the effect of the offset voltage is removed . in other words , the offset voltage is removed by setting the gain a 1 of the first amplifier to be high in the multistage amplifier to prevent degradation of resolution . according to the first embodiment of the present invention , the offset is deleted by using the first amplifier in the two - stage amplifier . thus , it is possible to design a multistage amplifier that satisfies characteristics of a feedback loop varying in the sampling and holding periods φ 2 and φ 1 . in other words , the feedback loop is configured with the first amplifier during the sampling period φ 2 to store the offset while obtaining a high phase margin because load of the amplifier is low and a feedback gain is high during the sampling period φ 2 . however , the feedback loop is configured with the first and second amplifiers during the holding period φ 1 to obtain a high gain because the load of the amplifier is high and the feedback gain is low during the holding period φ 1 . during the sampling period φ 2 , power consumption is minimized by intercepting a portion or an entire current to the second amplifier . thus , the mdac according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention may achieve the feedback loop as a single - stage during the sampling period φ 2 by turning off the switch sw 4 to intercept the compensation capacitor c c . thus , operation of the first amplifier may be maximized . the mdac uses only the first amplifier of the multistage amplifier during the sampling period to delete the offset to thereby gain a larger phase margin . therefore , the mdac is not affected by the offset voltage of the amplifier , and an output voltage of the mdac in this case is given as equation 7 : v out =[ v in − v ref ( 2 m / n − 1 )]× nc / c f . [ equation 7 ] as shown in equation 7 , the mdac substrates v ref ( 2m / n − 1 ) from an input voltage v in according to values of n and m , and amplifies the subtraction output of the mdac by nc / c f . the values of n and m are determined by a digital output of the sub - adc . the operation of the mdac has been described with reference to the first capacitor array 110 , the first selection circuit , the switch sw 3 , the switch sw 4 , and the compensation capacitor c c , but operations of the corresponding second capacitor array 120 , the second selection circuit , the switch sw 3b , the switch sw 4b , and the compensation capacitor c cb correspond to the operations of the first selection circuit , the switch sw 3 , the switch sw 4 , and the compensation capacitor c c , and therefore , no corresponding descriptions will be provided . with reference to fig4 , an mdac according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described . fig4 is a circuit diagram of the mdac according to the second embodiment of the present invention . as shown therein , the mdac includes a dac 100 which corresponds to the dac in the first embodiment of the present invention , and an amplifier 300 . the amplifier 300 includes a first amplifier a 1 , a second amplifier a 2 , first compensation capacitors c c1 and c cb1 , second compensation capacitors c c2 and c cb2 , feedback capacitors c f and c fb , and switches sw 3 , sw 3b , sw 4 , sw 4b , and sw 5 . a first end of the switch sw 3 is coupled to input ends of the first capacitor array 110 and the first amplifier a 1 , and a second end thereof is coupled to an output end of the second amplifier a 2 . a first end of the switch sw 4 is coupled to an output end of the first amplifier a 1 and a first end of the first compensation capacitor c c1 , and a second end thereof is coupled to a first end of the second compensation capacitor c c2 . a first end of the first compensation capacitor c c1 is coupled to an input end of the second amplifier a 2 , and a second end thereof is coupled to the output end of the second compensation capacitor c c2 . the first end of the second compensation capacitor c c2 is coupled to the second end of the switch sw 4 , and a second end thereof is coupled to the output end of the second amplifier a 2 and the second end of the switch sw 3 . a first end of the feedback capacitor c f is coupled to the first end of the switch sw 3 , and a second end thereof is coupled to the second end of the switch sw 3 . connections between the first compensation capacitor c c1 the second compensation capacitor c c2 , the feedback capacitor c f , and the switches sw 3 and sw 4 are applied in a like manner to the corresponding first capacitor c cb1 , the corresponding second compensation capacitor c cb2 , the corresponding feedback capacitor c fb , and the corresponding switches sw 3b and sw 4b . an operation of the mdac according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail . an operation of the dac 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as the operation of the dac 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention . the amplifier 300 will now be described in more detail . during a clock sampling period φ 2 , an input voltage v in + is stored in the first capacitor array 110 through the first selection circuit . herein , the switches sw 3 , sw 4 , and sw 5 are turned on . the input voltage v in + is intercepted , and a positive reference voltage v ref + or a negative reference voltage v ref − is applied to the first capacitor array 110 during a clock holding period φ 1 . a digital output value determines whether to apply the positive reference voltage v ref + or the negative reference voltage v ref − to the first capacitor array 110 , and the switches sw 3 and sw 4 are turned off . the operation of the mdac according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the following charge redistribution equations . in the mdac , an output end of the amplifier is fed back to an input end thereof through the switches sw 3 and sw 3b during the sampling period φ 2 to store an offset . in this case , charges q 2 sampled in the capacitor row during the sampling are given in equation 8 : the operation of the mdac during the sampling and holding periods is similar to the first embodiment of the present invention , and accordingly , equation 2 to equation 5 are applied to the operation of the mdac according to the second embodiment of the present invention . thus , an output voltage of the mdac according to the second embodiment of the present invention is given in equation 9 : when comparing equation 9 to equation 6 , an offset still partially exists , but it is not amplified . the compensation capacitor according to the second embodiment includes the first compensation capacitors c c1 and c cb2 and the second compensation capacitors c c2 and c cb2 in a parallel connection , as shown in fig4 . the switch sw 4 controls the connection of the second compensation capacitors c c2 and c cb2 , and switches the size of the compensation capacitor in each phase . in other words , the size of the compensation capacitor is switched in each phase in the mdac structure according to the second embodiment of the present invention . thus , the amplifier may be designed to satisfy variable characteristics of the loop in each phase . in more detail , since feedback factors are low during the holding period , the switches sw 4 and sw 4b are turned off to reduce capacity of a phase compensation capacitor for high frequency response to thereby increase operation speed . when a unit - gain feedback can be made , the switches sw 4 and sw 4b are turned on to reduce the frequency to gain the phase margin . referring to fig5 , a mdac according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described . fig5 is a circuit diagram of the mdac according to the third embodiment of the present invention . as shown therein , the mdac includes a dac 100 and an amplifier 400 . the dac 100 is similar to the dac 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention , and thus a detailed description will be omitted . the amplifier 400 includes a first capacitor array 110 , a first amplifier a 1 , a second amplifier a 2 , compensation capacitors c c and c cb , feedback capacitor c f and c fb , switches sw 3 , sw 3b , and sw 4 , and a bias control 410 . in the amplifier 400 , a first end of the switch sw 3 is coupled to inputs of the first capacitor array 110 and the first amplifier a 1 , and a second end thereof is coupled to an output end of the second amplifier a 2 . a first end of the compensation capacitor cc is coupled to an input end of the second amplifier a 2 , and a second end thereof is coupled to t the output of the second amplifier a 2 . the bias control 410 is coupled to the first ends of the first and second amplifiers a 1 and a 2 . the switch sw 3b , the compensation capacitor c cb , and the feedback capacitor c fb are coupled to each other in the same way as the switch sw 3 , the compensation capacitor cc , and the feedback capacitor c f are coupled . an operation of the mdac according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail . the operation of the mdac will be focused to an operation of the amplifier 400 because the dac 100 is similar to the operation of the dac according to the first embodiment of the present invention . during a clock sampling period φ 2 , an input voltage v in + is stored in the first capacitor array 110 through the first selection circuit . herein , the switches sw 3 and sw 4 are turned on . during a clock holding period φ 1 , the input voltage v in + is intercepted , the first capacitor array 110 is coupled to a positive reference voltage v ref + or a negative reference voltage v ref − through the first selection circuit , and the switches sw 3 and sw 4 are turned off . herein , the first capacitor array 110 is coupled to the positive reference voltage v ref + or a negative reference voltage v ref − depending on a digital output of a sub - adc . according to the third embodiment of the present invention , a current flowing to first and second amplifiers is changed between the sampling period and the holding period ( amplifying period ) through the bias control 410 coupled to the first and second amplifiers . gains of the first and second amplifiers become differentiated by the change of the current flow between the sampling period and the holding period ( amplifying period ). thus , it is possible to design an amplifier that satisfies characteristics of the loop that varies in each phase . in more detail , the current flowing to the first amplifier is reduced and the current flowing to the second amplifier is increased during the sampling period to gain the phase margin since the feedback factors are high during the sampling period . during the holding period , the current flowing to the first amplifier is increase and the current flowing to the second amplifier is reduced to maximize the operation speed and minimize power consumption since the feedback factors are low during the holding period . in addition , an amount of the current flowing one of the first and second amplifiers is set to be fixed and a current flowing to the other amplifier is set to be periodically changed to thereby control the currents with ease . as previously described , the multipath adc removes the offset without requiring an additional offset calibration circuit according to the embodiments of the present invention . the adc exploiting the mdac removes the offset voltage while gaining the phase margin . while this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments , but , on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	7
below , preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings . in the following explanations , “ shared channel ” is used to indicate a downlink channel for high - speed data communication and shared by a number of mobile stations , such as dsch ( including hs - dsch ). further , in the following explanations , although hs - dsch is used to explain the shared channel , the present invention is not limited to hs - dsch ; it is applicable to any shared channels having the same concept . [ 0042 ] fig1 is a conceptual view for explaining a channel structure of a mobile communication system related to the first embodiment of the present invention . it is shown in fig1 that a radio base station 100 performs radio communication with three mobile stations a 201 , b 202 , and c 203 . the mobile communication system shown in fig1 for example , is a w - cdma communication system , and the radio base station 100 is equipped with a transmitting antenna able to control the beam direction to each mobile station ( mobile stations a 201 , b 202 , and c 203 ), for example , an adaptive array antenna . fig1 shows downlink packet transmission from the radio base station 100 , and mobile stations a 201 , b 202 , and c 203 share hs - dsch allocated by the radio base station 100 , and are adapted to be able to receive high speed downlink packet data . in the channel structure of the present invention , the radio base station 100 allocates the secondary common pilot channel , that is , s - cpich , only to mobile station 201 to which hs - dsch has been allocated . at mobile station 201 to which s - cpich is allocated , channel estimation , coherent , and data restoration are performed using the received s - cpich . at mobile stations 202 and 203 to which hs - dsch is not allocated , channel estimation and other reception processing functions are performed by using dedicated pilots arranged in a dedicated channel ( in this example , it is a - dpch , associated dedicated channel ). [ 0046 ] fig2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a transmitting end of the radio base station 100 shown in fig1 . the radio base station 100 related to the first embodiment of the present invention allocates s - cpich only to mobile station 201 to which hs - dsch has been allocated . the transmitting end of the radio base station 100 shown in fig1 is comprised of a scheduling unit 11 , a - dpch transmitting - signal processing units 12 through 14 , an hs - dsch transmitting signal processing unit 15 , an s - cpich transmitting signal processing unit 16 , accumulators 17 through 19 , weight generators 20 through 22 , weight multipliers 23 through 25 , a radio transmitter 26 , and transmitting antennas 27 , through 27 n . next , operation of the transmitting end of the radio base station 100 having the above configuration will be explained . the thick arrows in fig2 indicate the state of parallel input and output of a number of signal sequences related to the transmitting antennas 27 1 through 27 n . here , it is assumed that user data no . 1 through no . 3 from mobile station users ( here , denoted as user no . 1 through user no . 3 ) are separately input to an input port 1 . further , a - dpch transmitting signal processing units 12 through 14 are respectively allocated to all mobile stations able to receive hs - dsch . here , it is assumed there are three mobile stations that can receive hs - dsch . thus , each user ( user no . 1 , no . 2 , and no . 3 ) is equipped with respective a - dpch transmitting signal processing units 12 through 14 . the scheduling unit 11 decides the order of transmission of data in user data no . 1 , no . 2 , or no . 3 , and switches the user data ( no . 1 , no . 2 , no . 3 ) to be output to the hs - dsch transmitting signal processing unit 15 . once user data decided by the scheduling unit 11 is input to the hs - dsch transmitting signal processing unit 15 , in the hs - dsch transmitting signal processing unit 15 , the user data is coded in block , and is spread by using channelization codes . the spread user data is added to the a - dpch to be transmitted at this moment and is output to a weight multiplier . for example , if the spread user data output from the hs - dsch transmitting signal processing unit 15 is user data no . 1 , in the accumulator 17 , user data no . 1 is added to a - dpch output from the a - dpch transmitting signal processing unit 12 . a - dpch transmitting signal processing units 12 and 13 convert the dedicated pilot bits , data bits , and the other control bits into blocks , then spread them by using channelization codes ( usually the orthogonal code series ). the spread a - dpch transmission signals are output to accumulators 17 through 19 . in weight generators 20 through 22 , weight coefficients ( antenna weights ) are generated so that directions of transmitting beams emitted from transmitting antennas 27 1 through 27 n are in good coincidence with directions of mobile stations . concerning methods for generating those weights , for example , the uplink receiving signals may be used to do that , but any other methods may also be used if they are able to generate weight coefficients making the beams point to the mobile stations . in s - cpich transmitting signal processing unit 16 , data bits in an s - cpich pattern ( as a pilot channel , the pattern is preset ) are spread by using channelization codes . the transmitting signals output from the s - cpich transmitting signal processing unit 16 are added to the user data at a certain moment decided by the scheduling unit 11 , and to a - dpch and hs - dsch used by the user data . for example , in weight multiplier 23 , the signal summed at the accumulator 17 is multiplied by the weight factor generated by the weight generator 20 . signals output from weight multiplier 23 are shaped and frequency transformation is carried out in the radio transmitter 26 . then these signals are sent to transmitting antennas 27 1 through 27 n . in transmitting antennas 27 1 through 27 n , the transmitting beams are emitted pointing in the direction of the mobile station . note that , for mobile stations to which hs - dsch is not allocated , only a - dpch is present , and transmission can be done by processing a - dpch in the same way as above . [ 0054 ] fig3 is view showing an example of a time - varying transmission allocation of channels in the radio base station 100 related to the first embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig3 in each time section ( t1 , t2 , t3 , . . . ), a - dpch is transmitted successively to mobile station users no . 1 through no . 3 , while hs - dsch is transmitted to selected users because of the scheduling function of the scheduling unit 11 . further , s - cpich is transmitted in association with hs - dsch of the selected users , and is used as a pilot channel of hs - dsch . [ 0055 ] fig4 is a view of a sequence showing an example of signal exchange between a mobile station and a radio network controller that is the host node of the radio base station 100 of the first embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig4 for example , a mobile station makes a request for communication using hs - dsch to the radio network controller ( communication setting request ). receiving this request , the radio network controller gives back a response of accepting the request ( communication setting response ), and notifies the mobile station of various setting conditions relevant to a - dpch or hs - dsch ( mobile communication setting ). after the step of mobile communication setting , that is , notices from the radio network controller , is finished , the mobile station starts communication . [ 0056 ] fig5 is a view showing an example of information elements of mobile communication setting in the sequence shown in fig4 . as shown in fig5 among the information elements , neither p - cpich nor s - cpich is used as the phase reference signal of a - dpch ( indicated as “ not allowed ” in the column of “ setting value ” in fig5 ), but use is made of the dedicated pilots arranged in a - dpch . furthermore , it is shown in the relevant information elements that not p - cpich but s - cpich is used as the pilot channel of hs - dsch . note that , as shown in the relevant information elements , when s - cpich is used , replacement is possible by writing down its code number . as shown above , according to the first embodiment , because the radio base station uses s - cpich as a pilot channel to transmit only to the mobile station to which hs - dsch has been allocated , it is possible to save transmission electric power and code resources , and increase the system capacity . the radio base station related to present embodiment has essentially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment . fig6 is a view showing an example of a time - varying transmission allocation of s - cpich allocated at the radio base station according to the second embodiment of the present invention . in the second embodiment of the present invention , s - cpich is allocated for every k transmission blocks in a time interval in which a mobile station measures the downlink quality . of course , as shown in the first embodiment , s - cpich may be transmitted to the mobile station to which hs - dsch has been allocated . as shown above , according to the second embodiment , because s - cpich is allocated in a time interval in which a mobile station measures the downlink quality , and in the time section for hs - dsch transmission , shortage of the transmission electric power and code resources due to usage of s - cpich can be limited , and this enables incrementing of system capacity and improvement of communication quality . [ 0062 ] fig7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a receiving end of a mobile station ( for example , the mobile station 201 shown in fig1 ) related to the third embodiment of the present invention . the receiving end of the mobile station shown in fig7 is comprised of a receiving antenna 51 , a radio receiver 52 , an a - dpch despreading unit 53 , an s - cpich despreading unit 54 , an hs - dsch despreading unit 55 , a channel ( ch ) estimation unit ( a - dpch ) 56 , a ch estimation unit ( s - cpich ) 57 , an a - dpch coherent detecting unit 58 , an hs - dsch coherent detecting unit 59 , an a - dpch data processing unit 60 , and an hs - dsch data processing unit 61 . next , operation of the receiving end of the mobile station having the above configuration will be explained . as shown in fig7 radio signals received at the receiving antenna 51 are transformed in frequency , and are shaped , sampled and quantized in the radio receiver 52 , and then are input to the respective despreading units 53 , 54 , 55 of a - dpch , s - cpich , and hs - dsch . in the despreading units 53 , 54 , 55 , by multiplying the spreading code of each channel , a symbol sequence of each channel ( despread signals ) is obtained . the a - dpch despread signals output from the a - dpch despreading unit 53 are input to the ch estimation unit ( a - dpch ) 56 and the a - dpch coherent detecting unit 58 . in the ch estimation unit ( a - dpch ) 56 , the dedicated pilots of a - dpch are extracted . by going back to the known phase patterns of the extracted pilots and taking their average , an estimated channel value is obtained . while , the s - cpich despread signals output from the s - cpich despreading unit 54 are input to the ch estimation unit ( s - cpich ) 57 , and in the ch estimation unit ( s - cpich ) 57 , by going back to the known phase patterns of s - cpich and taking their average , an estimated channel value can be obtained . [ 0067 ] fig8 is a view showing a schematic configuration of the a - dpch coherent detecting unit 58 in the mobile station shown in fig7 . the a - dpch coherent detecting unit 58 shown in fig8 is comprised of a complex conjugate transformer 71 and a multiplier 72 . as shown in fig8 in the complex conjugate transformer 71 , complex conjugate transformation is carried out for the estimated channel value input from the ch estimation unit ( a - dpch ) 56 . then in the multiplier 72 , the transformed estimated channel value is multiplied with the a - dpch despread signals output from the a - dpch despreading unit 53 , thereby being restored to the a - dpch data symbol . [ 0068 ] fig9 is a view showing a schematic configuration of the hs - dsch coherent detecting unit 59 in the mobile station shown in fig7 . the hs - dsch coherent detecting unit 59 shown in fig7 is comprised of multipliers 81 , 82 , 85 , an accumulator 83 , and a complex conjugate transformer 84 . as shown in fig9 the accumulator 83 adds the product from the multiplier 81 of the estimated channel value output from the ch estimation unit ( a - dpch ) 56 and the weight coefficient α , and the product from the multiplier 82 of the estimated channel value output from the ch estimation unit ( s - cpich ) 57 and the weight coefficient 1 - α , so an estimated channel value is obtained . the weight coefficient α shown in fig9 is a weight coefficient of the estimated channel value obtained from a - dpch , but the estimated channel value may also be obtained by using s - cpich only ( setting α as 0 ). in this case , since it is possible to omit the element block for inputting the estimated channel value obtained from the channel estimation unit ( a - dpch ) 56 in the hs - dsch coherent detecting unit 59 , the hs - dsch coherent detecting unit 59 can be configured relatively easily . as shown above , in the complex conjugate transformer 84 , the complex conjugate transformation is carried out for the estimated channel value combined in the accumulator 83 ( or the estimated channel value obtained from the ch estimation unit ( s - cpich )), and then in the multiplier 85 , the transformed estimated channel value is multiplied with the hs - dsch despread signals output from the hs - dsch despreading unit 55 , thereby being restored to the hs - dsch data symbol . [ 0071 ] fig1 is a view schematically showing receiving signals of s - cpich and hs - dsch along the time axis when one block of hs - dsch is allocated to a mobile station . the time interval t shown in fig1 is a time interval in which the transmission block of hs - dsch is allocated to a mobile station . the mobile station estimates channels by using s - cpich despread signals only in the same time interval . as shown above , according to the third embodiment , s - cpich is used when a mobile station detects coherent of hs - dsch . that is , channel estimation is performed by using s - cpich only that is transmitted in a time interval in which s - cpich is at the same direction as that of hs - dsch transmitted to the mobile station , therefore it is possible to prevent signal deterioration due to averaging of signals of different directions , and high accuracy of channel estimation is obtainable . as a result , it is possible to avoid the degradation of communication quality . [ 0074 ] fig1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a receiving end of a mobile station related to the fourth embodiment of the present invention . the receiving end of the mobile station shown in fig1 has essentially the same configuration as that of the third embodiment , except that a downlink quality measuring unit 62 is provided in the present embodiment . next , operation of the receiving end of the mobile station having the above configuration will be explained . the downlink quality measuring unit 62 measures the quality of the s - cpich despread signals output from the s - cpich despreading unit 54 . for example , it calculates the sir ( signal to interference power ratio ) of s - cpich . the downlink quality value ( for example , sir ) measured by the downlink quality measuring unit 62 is output to a radio transmitter ( not shown ) of the mobile station for transmission to the radio base station 100 . [ 0078 ] fig1 is a view schematically showing a receiving sequence of s - cpich along the time axis in a mobile station . the time intervals t0 , t1 shown in fig1 are time intervals in which s - cpich is allocated to a mobile station . further , t0 indicates one of the times when transmission of s - cpich to the mobile station starts . as shown in fig1 , the mobile station is first notified via the radio network controller , and based on t0 , t1 , and t0 , the above downlink quality is measured by using the s - cpich despread signals only in the time interval from t = t0 + nt1 to t = t0 + nt1 + t0 ( n is an integer ). as shown above , according to the fourth embodiment , the radio base station is able to allocate s - cpich only in the time intervals for the downlink quality measurement by mobile stations , and in the time intervals for hs - dsch transmission , therefore shortage of transmission electric power and code resources due to usage of s - cpich can be limited , and this enables incrementing of system capacity and improvement of communication quality . in the above example , the pilot channel setting function of the radio base station 100 corresponds to the pilot channel setting unit , the first pilot channel setting unit , and the second pilot channel setting unit . the weight generating function of the weight generator 20 corresponds to the beam direction controlling unit . in addition , the channel estimation function of the ch estimation unit ( a - dpch ) 56 and the ch estimation unit ( s - cpich ) 57 corresponds to the channel estimation unit , the first channel estimation unit , and the second channel estimation unit . further , the function of downlink quality measurement of the downlink quality measuring unit 62 corresponds to the downlink quality measuring unit . while the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments chosen for purpose of illustration , it should be apparent that the invention is not limited to these embodiments , but numerous modifications could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the basic concept and scope of the invention . summarizing the effect of the invention , as it has been clearly shown above , according to the present invention , because the radio base station allocates a common pilot channel able to provide sufficient power to channel estimation only for demodulation of the shared channel , it is possible to limit transmission power of the common pilot channel . as a result , downlink interference can be reduced , and degradation of system capacity can be prevented . further , in a mobile station , because the above common pilot channel is used for demodulation of the received shared channel , it is possible to improve the accuracy of channel estimation and communication quality . this patent application is based on japanese priority patent application no . 2002 - 059444 filed on mar . 5 , 2002 , the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference .	7
the present invention is illustrated in detail with the following examples , which should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention . into a 3 - liter jacketed separable flask equipped with a stirrer and a condenser were charged 20 . 22 g of anhydrous aluminium chloride , 400 . 5 g of p - cymene and 300 g of cyclohexane , and vigorously stirred . then , a mixture of 126 g of 2 , 3 - dimethyl - 1 - butene , 156 . 9 g of t - butyl chloride and 300 g of cyclohexane was added dropwise to the resulting suspension over a period of 1 . 5 hours while maintaining the temperature of the suspension at 20 ° c ., to carry out the reaction . the reaction mixture was stirred at the same temperature for another 10 minutes and then allowed to stand to separate tar , whereby an organic layer was obtained . the organic layer was washed successively with 600 g of water , 600 g of a 1 % aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and 600 g of water . the solvent was removed from the organic layer by distillation at atmospheric pressure , after which the excess p - cymene was recovered under reduced pressure . thus , 251 . 6 g of crude hmt with a purity of 86 . 0 % was obtained . in a 500 - ml jacketed separable flask equipped with a stirrer and a condenser were placed 40 . 0 g of the hmt with a purity of 86 . 0 % and 80 g of methanol . then , the mixture in the flask was heated under reflux for 1 hour , after which the temperature of the mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 3 minutes . when the temperature became 55 ° c ., 0 . 1 g of seed crystals of hmt were added . subsequently , the temperature of the resulting mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 6 minutes . the mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for 1 hour , after which the precipitate thus formed was filtered by suction through a buchner funnel . after the filtration , the precipitate was washed with 20 g of methanol . in this case , the stirring was vigorously conducted so as to prevent hmt and the solvent from separating into two layers . the crystals thus obtained were collected and the solvent was allowed to evaporate by means of a vacuum pump . the amount of the purified hmt thus obtained was 30 . 30 g , its purity 99 . 4 %, and the recovery of hmt 87 . 7 %. the solvent was recovered from the filtrate , whereby 8 . 88 g of an oil was obtained . the hmt content of the oil was 48 . 1 %. in a 500 - ml jacketed separable flask equipped with a stirrer and a condenser were p1aced 40 . 0 g cf hmt with a purity of 86 . 0 %, 64 g of methanol and 16 . 0 g of ethanol . then , the mixture in the flask was heated while refluxing methanol , to dissolve hmt . the temperature of the mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 3 minutes . when the temperature became 55 ° c ., 0 . 1 g of seed crystals of hmt were added . then , the temperature of the resulting mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 6 minutes . the reaction mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for 1 hour , after which the precipitate thus formed was filtered by suction through a buchner funnel . after the filtration , the precipitate was washed with 20 g of a mixed solvent of methanol and ethanol . during the above precipitation of crystals , the mixture was stirred at a slow rate at which crystals did not settle to the bottom of the flask . the crystals thus obtained were collected and the solvent was allowed to evaporate by means of a vacuum pump . the amount of the purified hmt thus obtained was 30 . 86 g , its purity 99 . 1 %, and the recovery of hmt 88 . 8 %. the solvent was recovered from the filtrate , whereby 8 . 94 g of an oil was obtained . the hmt content of the oil was 45 . 6 %. the same procedure as in example 2 was repeated except for stirring the mixture at such a rate at which crystals settled . the amount of the purified hmt thus obtained was 30 . 84 g , its purity 99 . 1 %, and the recovery of hmt 88 . 8 %. the solvent was recovered from the filtrate , whereby 9 . 25 g of an oil was obtained . the hmt content of the oil was 46 . 6 %. the same procedure as in example 3 was repeated except for changing the temperature at the addition of seed crystals and the final temperature to 50 ° c . and 10 ° c ., respectively . the amount of the purified hmt thus obtained was 31 . 25 g , its purity 99 . 2 %, and the recovery of hmt 90 . 1 %. the solvent was recovered from the filtrate , whereby 9 . 05 g of an oil was obtained . the hmt content of the oil was 40 . 5 %. in a 500 - ml jacketed separable flask equipped with a stirrer and a condenser were placed 40 . 0 g of hmt with a purity of 85 . 3 % and 80 g of methanol . then , the mixture in the flask was heated under reflux for 1 hour , after which the temperature of the mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 3 minutes . when the temperature became 55 ° c ., 0 . 1 g of seed crystals of hmt were added . subsequently , the temperature of the resulting mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 3 minutes . the mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for 1 hour , after which the precipitate thus formed was filtered through a buchner funnel . during the above precipitation of crystals , the mixture was stirred at a slow rate at which crystals did not settle to the bottom of the flask . the crystals thus obtained were collected and the solvent was allowed to evaporate by means of a vacuum pump . the amount of the purified hmt thus obtained was 31 . 55 g , its purity 96 . 5 %, and the recovery of hmt 89 . 2 %. the same procedure as in example 5 was repeated except for using a mixed solvent of 64 g of methanol and 16 g of ethanol in place of methanol and changing the final temperature to 5 ° c . the purity of the purified hmt thus obtained was 98 . 6 %, and the recovery of hmt 88 . 5 %. the same procedure as in example 5 was repeated except for using a mixed solvent of 48 g of methanol and 12 g of ethanol in place of methanol . the purity of the purified hmt thus obtained was 96 . 3 %, and the recovery of hmt 87 . 0 %. the same procedure as in example 5 was repeated except for using a mixed solvent of 72 g of methanol and 8 g of isopropanol in place of methanol . the purity of the purified hmt thus obtained was 96 . 6 %, and the recovery of hmt 87 . 0 %. the same procedure as in example 5 was repeated except for using a mixed solvent of 54 g of methanol and 6 g of isopropanol in place of methanol . the purity of the purified hmt thus obtained was 96 . 7 %, and the recovery of hmt 89 . 3 %. the same procedure as in example 5 was repeated except for using a mixed solvent of 72 g of methanol and 8 g of ethylene chloride in place of methanol . the purity of the purified hmt thus obtained was 97 . 8 %, and the recovery of hmt 86 . 2 %. in a 500ml jacketed separable flask equipped with a stirrer and a condenser were placed 40 . 0 g of hmt with a purity of 86 . 0 % and 23 g of isopropanol . the mixture in the flask was heated under reflux for 1 hour , after which the temperature of the mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 3 minutes . when the temperature became 50 ° c ., 0 . 1 g of seed crystals of hmt were added . then , the temperature of the resulting mixture was reduced at a rate of 1 ° c . per 3 minutes . the mixture was stirred at 5 ° c . for 1 hour , after which the precipitate formed was filtered by suction through a buchner funnel . during the above precipitation of crystals , the mixture was stirred at such a rate at which crystals did not settle to the bottom of the flask . the crystals thus obtained were collected and the solvent was allowed to evaporate by means of a vacuum pump . the amount of the purified hmt thus obtained was 29 . 03 g , its purity 94 . 4 %, and the recovery of hmt 80 . 3 %.	2
as noted above , in accordance with the present invention cationic mercury is removed from an effluent by a reaction which enables the precipitation of elemental mercury therefrom . the present invention more particularly removes mercury chloride and other mercury salts such as mercury sulfate , mercury acetate , mercury nitrate and the like from such mercury salt - containing effluent by the precipitation of mercury therefrom . the present invention is achieved by introducing aluminum into mercury salt - containing effluent to cause the precipitation therefrom of elemental mercury . the aluminum reacts with the mercury salt to free the mercury , as described below . the mercury , precipitates out of the water , as elemental mercury and is recovered therefrom . in practicing the present invention , the aluminum is introduced into the solution in any convenient form and , preferably , as aluminum foil . aluminum foil is of the type which is well - known and commercially available and may be of any suitable grade and suitable thickness including domestic or consumer grade as well as thin , industrial aluminum foil . preferably , and in order to provide sufficient surface area for the reaction between the aluminum and the mercury - containing salt , minute pieces of the foil are introduced into the aqueous effluent . preferably , the minute pieces have a minimize size of from about 1 to about 2 cm 2 . of course , it is to be understood that the size of the aluminum foil pieces is not critical hereto only that there be sufficient amounts thereof to provide adequate surface area for the reaction to proceed . the process is carried out , preferably , at room temperature and pressure , under normal ambient conditions . typically , the mercury salt - containing effluent - solution has the aluminum foil added thereto with stirring . typically , stirring will take place at from about 10 rpm to about 200 rpm , and , preferably , from about 25 rpm to about 100 rpm depending on the volume of water to be treated . ordinarily , and , again , depending on the quantity of water to be treated the reaction will proceed and be completed in a time period ranging from about one to about 12 hours . the amount of aluminum to be added to the waste water is in excess of stochiometric requirements so that the amount of available aluminum for reaction with the mercury salt is in excess of that which is required under stochiometric conditions . typically , generally from about 1 . 5 to about 2 . 0 molar excess amounts of aluminum is present per anion in the mercury - containing salt . in carrying out the reaction , the mercury precipitates out from a reaction vessel , as elemental mercury , which after decanting , can be recovered and washed several times . it is contemplated that by practicing the present invention that at least 99 . 9 percent of mercury present in any effluent as a salt can be recovered , if sufficient aluminum foil is added thereto . the present invention is contemplated as being useful in connection with any effluent which contains a mercury salt and has particular utility in the removal and recovery of mercury from b - 5 fixatives , pva fixative , schaudian &# 39 ; s fixative , as well as from environmental contaminant containing bodies such as bodies of water and soil or other sources containing mercury chloride in the mercuric form . however , the present invention will also be useful with mercurous forms of the cation , as denoted hereinabove . although not wishing to be bound by any theory it appears that when the aluminum is added to the mercury salt containing water there is formed mercury - aluminum amalgam which frees the anionic ion of the mercury salt , and which remains in the water phase . the mercury - aluminum amalgam , itself , appears to decompose into elemental mercury , aluminum hydroxide and aluminum oxide in the effluent . the aluminum being an electron donor donates its electrons to the mercury ions , as measured by the electromotive forces , to form the elemental mercury . moreover , the thus formed aluminum ion reacts with the water to form the hydroxide and oxide in solution . thus , within the effluent , upon introduction of the aluminum , elemental mercury and a mercury - aluminum oxide are being formed . as the reaction proceeds to final , all of the aluminum is consumed . it appears that there is an equilibrium reaction in the effluent as follows : where there exists about 0 . 003 %, by weight , of amalgam and about 99 . 997 % of elemental mercury . thus , as the reaction proceeds the elemental mercury precipitates out of solution . it should be noted that the time for the reaction to proceed can be accelerated by carbonyl addition to the effluent such as by aldehyde or ketone addition . suitable aldehydes include , for example , formaldehyde , acetaldehyde , propionaldehyde , and so forth , as well as mixtures thereof . suitable keatones include , for example , acetone , methyl ethyl ketone , ethyl ketone , and so forth , as well as mixtures thereof generally , from about 0 . 5 to about 5 . 0 parts , by volume , per 100 parts , by volume , of water in the effluent , and , preferably , about 1 to about 4 parts , by volume , of carbonyl - containing compound per 100 parts , by volume , of water in the effluent is employed , when used . where used , the preferred carbonyl - containing compound is formaldehyde , especially where the effluent is a mercury chloride - containing effluent . after the reaction with the foil is completed , the effluent is decanted and the elemental mercury is recovered . because the reaction does not recover 100 percent of the mercury , where necessary , further treatment of the decanted effluent may be conducted . in such instances , the effluent water is first rendered alkaline by introducing a quantity of alkaline material such as caustic soda , potassium hydroxide , sodium carbonate or the like into the water to raise the ph of the water to a ph ranging from about 11 . 5 to about 12 or greater to neutralize any acid or free ions , such as metal chloride ions , in the effluent and to promote precipitation the mercury . thereafter , a quantity of weak organic or mineral acid , such as phosphoric acid , citric acid , acetic acid , tartaric acid , or the like , as well as mixtures thereof , is added thereto to bring the ph of the system back to about neutral , i . e . ph of about 7 . it is theorized that the alkaline material addition causes the formation of neutral salts , e . g . nacl , and the promotion of the precipitation of residual elemental mercury and aluminum oxide from the effluent . it is believed that by neutralizing the effluent with the acid that the elemental mercury will then complex with the anion of the acid . the so - formed salt can , then , be removed by filtration . a flocculant or water conditioner , including polyelectrolytes such as a polyacrylate or the like , may then be added to the water as a clarifier thereof to promote the precipitation of minute particles remaining in the decanted water , as noted hereinabove . generally , from at least about 1 to about 2 parts or more , by weight , of the flocculant is added to the water per one million parts per million of the water . in the post - treatment of the water to recover residual mercury , generally from about 5 . 0 to about 75 parts of the alkaline material , per million parts of water is sufficient amount to raise the ph to about 11 . 5 to 12 . similarly , sufficient amounts of the acid are used to neutralize the effluent , i . e . bring the ph back to about 7 and , generally , 6 . 5 to 7 . 5 . the so - treated effluent is , thus , filtered through any suitable filtering medium of minimal micron porosity , such as a filter paper , to filter out the so - formed mercury salts as well as any aluminum oxide precipitate . the so - filtered effluent may , then , be further treated to ensure substantially 100 percent removal of mercury . thus , the effluent may be further post - treated through a further or second filtration . preferably , the effluent is further treated by passing the effluent through a mixed bed filter or filtering medium . generally , the mixed bed medium comprises a mixture of ( a ) aluminum , preferably , deployed as granular aluminum , ( b ) activated carbon , such as charcoal , ( c ) an ion exchange resin comprising a cationic exchange resin , an anionic exchange resin and mixtures thereof , and ( d ) silicon dioxide , preferably , present as sand or glass beads . the components of the mixed bed are mixed together to form a uniform homogeneous mix . the mixed bed is housed in any suitable container therefor . the effluent is fed through the container by any suitable means such as by gravity feed , pumping or the like . generally , the effluent has a dwell or contact time with the filtering medium of between 1 / 2 to about 12 hours , and , preferably , from about 3 to 4 hours . the so - obtained discharge from the housing is substantially 100 percent free of mercury . the present invention can be more clearly understood by reference to the following illustrative examples . in the examples all parts are by weight , absent indications to the contrary . it is to be understood that the following examples are for illustrative purposes and are not to be deemed as limitative of the present invention . at room temperature , and into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with stirring means was added 20 parts of b - 5 fixative , which is a common fixative comprising water , 1 . 16 parts mercury chloride and 0 . 2 parts sodium acetate per 100 parts of fixative . thereafter , 20 parts of deionized water was added to the 20 parts of fixative to form a 40 part 1 : 1 dilution solution . a quantity of aluminum foil , introduced as 2 cm 2 small pieces of foil which is domestically available under the mark reynolds wrap ® was then added to the solution with stirring at 100 rpm for about ten hours . upon the addition , an immediate reaction was observed on the surface of the foil particles . the reaction was permitted to proceed . at the end of a ten hour period , elemental mercury had precipitated out . the effluent water was removed and the remaining mercury precipitate was washed several times with deionized water . it was determined by weighing that 0 . 85 parts of elemental mercury was recovered representing a theoretical recovery of 99 . 998 percent . following the procedure of example i , 12 . 5 parts of mercury chloride were dissolved in 400 parts of deionized water . one hundred parts of the so - prepared solution was , then , placed into a separate vessel equipped with stirring means . to this was added 0 . 465 parts of aluminum foil , present as 1 to 2 cm 2 pieces of consumer grade reynolds wrap ®. the aluminum foil - containing solution was then stirred at ambient conditions , for a period for about ten hours . thereafter , the water was decanted from the beaker leaving a residue of precipitated elemental mercury and some residual amalgam . upon removal of the water , the shiny amalgam , still present within the vessel , continued to react with atmospheric oxygen to give aluminum oxide and elemental mercury . the reaction was permitted to continue until the reaction stopped . the residue was , then , washed with water and weighed to recover the mercury . the mercury was recovered in an amount of 2 . 29 parts representing recovery of 99 . 998 percent of the theoretical . the procedure of example ii was repeated except that 1 . 05 parts of iron , as a fine powder , was added to the 100 parts of the mercury chloride solution in lieu the aluminum foil . no mercury was recovered . thereafter 0 . 465 parts of aluminum foil was added to the iron - containing mercury chloride solution and stirring was continued for 24 hours at ambient conditions . thereafter , the light precipitate was removed and the recovered mercury was washed several times with water . two and one tenth parts of mercury were recovered . it was detected that some aluminum was in the core of the mercury and when exposed to water , aluminum oxide or hydroxide was formed . the procedure of example i was repeated except that the test solution was a mixture of polyvinyl alcohol and mercuric chloride . into a suitable beaker equipped with stirring means was added 50 parts of the solution which contained 2 . 25 parts mercury chloride to which was added two times the molar excess of about 2 cm 2 pieces of aluminum foil . the vessel was stirred at 100 rpm at room temperature for 24 hours and elemental mercury was recovered . one and sixty - six hundredths parts of elemental mercury was recovered representing 99 . 98 percent of the theoretical amount . it is to be appreciated from the preceding that the present invention provides an efficient method for recovery elemental mercury from spent effluent .	8
a known machine from the current prior art will be described with reference to fig1 . this machine is designated generally by the reference number 1 and comprises the following parts : a feed 2 for the sheets to be printed , a printing module 3 , and a transport system 4 , with which the printed sheets are transported to the delivery systems 5 and 6 of the machine 1 . this machine additionally comprises a feed for intermediate sheets 7 beside the delivery systems 5 and 6 . put more precisely , the printing module 3 comprises a plate cylinder , which is inked by ink applicator rolls 9 from the ink fountains 13 , 14 , 15 and 16 . the module further comprises an impression cylinder on which there rest the sheets 18 which come from the feed 2 . the module additionally contains a wiping cylinder 19 and transfer rolls 20 and 21 for transporting the sheets 18 onto the impression cylinder 17 . when the sheets have been printed , they are picked up by the output system 4 which , for example , comprises a chain gripper system 22 and drying means 23 such as lamps . the sheets 18 which are transported by the output system 4 are therefore dried by the drying means 23 before they are stacked in the delivery systems 5 and 6 . in addition , in the machine of fig1 a feed device for intermediate sheets 7 is used , with which a protective sheet 24 is placed between each sheet 18 stacked in the delivery systems 5 and 6 . the machine according to the invention will be described in detail with reference to fig2 . this machine is identified by the reference number 30 and generally comprises a feed 31 for unprinted sheets 32 , which are fed to a printing unit 33 and then , after the end of printing , to a delivery stack 34 . the printing unit 33 comprises a plate cylinder 35 and an impression cylinder 36 . the machine illustrated in fig2 also simultaneously uses the principle of direct inking and of indirect inking . the direct inking of the plate cylinder is implemented by means of an ink fountain 37 and an ink applicator roll 38 . the indirect inking , for its part , is carried out by means of the ink fountains 39 , 40 and 41 and their ink applicator rolls 42 , 43 and 44 . these ink applicator rolls 42 , 43 and 44 provide the ink to a collecting inking cylinder 45 , which in turn applies the necessary ink to the plates of the plate cylinder 35 . in the example illustrated in fig2 , the plate cylinder 35 can carry two plates and therefore only a single printing plate is mounted in the present case . the printing module likewise comprises a wiping device with a wiping cylinder 49 . the unprinted sheets 32 are brought from the feed 31 onto the impression cylinder 36 by a suitable transfer system 50 , such as a chain gripper system , and are firmly held on this cylinder by means of suitable grippers belonging to the cylinder 36 . fitted above the impression cylinder 36 and the delivery stack 34 was a feed 46 for intermediate sheets 47 . according to the invention , these intermediate sheets 47 are of the same size as the unprinted sheets 32 on which the securities print is to be made and , like the sheets 32 , are guided onto the impression cylinder 36 by suitable conventional means , such as a chain gripper system or a transfer roll 48 . in this way , the impression cylinder 36 alternately receives an unprinted sheet 32 and an intermediate sheet 47 . since there is only a single plate on the plate cylinder , the adjustment of register between the latter and the sheet 32 which is on the plate cylinder 36 and on which the securities prints are to be printed is carried out : in this way , one of two sheets is printed by the plate , that is to say the sheet 32 which is intended to contain the securities print and the other sheet carried by the impression cylinder 36 , which is the intermediate sheet 47 , is not printed but takes the same route as the printed sheet in the printing machine 30 . in this way , it is possible to obtain a printed sheet and an intermediate sheet 47 alternately in the delivery stack 34 , said intermediate sheet effectively protecting the successive printed sheets from one another . the delivery stack 34 is fed by the impression cylinder 36 : following each revolution of the impression cylinder , the sheets carried by it are picked up by a suitable transfer system , for example by a transfer roll operating on the suction principle by means of a vacuum , in order to transfer the sheet , or a system having a chain 51 with grippers 52 , as illustrated schematically by dotted lines in fig2 . these systems are known in such printing machines in the current prior art . the intermediate sheets 47 are fed to the impression cylinder 36 by conventional means , for example a gripper chain system , and are transferred to the impression cylinder 36 with the aid of a transfer roll 48 . fig3 shows a block diagram of the method according to the invention . in the method described , it may be assumed that the impression cylinder carries two sheets , as in the machine illustrated in fig2 . in the first stage of the method , an unprinted sheet 32 to be printed and an intermediate sheet 47 are fed alternately to the printing module of the printing machine 30 . the variable n is used , as above , in order to define the total number of plates which can be carried by the plate cylinder 35 , n being an integer multiple of 2 . in fig1 , n is equal to 4 and in fig2 , n is equal to 2 . thus , with reference to fig2 and 3 , if the printing module 33 is fed alternately with n / 2 unprinted sheets 32 to be printed and n / 2 intermediate sheets 47 , one is in the situation in which the impression cylinder 36 carries a sheet 32 to be printed and an intermediate sheet 47 . as a result of rotation of the impression cylinder 36 , the individual prints are printed onto the sheet 32 with the aid of the plate carried by the plate cylinder 35 . irrespective of the number of sheets carried by the impression cylinder 36 , in this way each second sheet is printed in the printing machine 30 . when the print has been completed , that is to say when the plate cylinder 35 and the impression cylinder 36 have completed one revolution , the sheets are collected and a sheet stack 34 is formed in the delivery system of the machine , said stack being composed alternately of printed sheets 32 and intermediate sheets 47 which separate the printed sheets 32 from one another . the invention is not restricted to the types of embodiments described , and modifications are possible . for example , the principle of the invention can be applied in printing machines in which a printing process other than copper printing is used . the intermediate sheets are preferably unprinted . however , it is also possible to imagine that , in the case of sufficient absorbency of the paper used for the intermediate sheets , this could nevertheless be printed with individual prints . this procedure could be advantageous if n is equal to 2 . this is because , in this case , when there is only one plate on the plate cylinder , the rotation of the latter is not balanced and disruptive oscillations can be produced . it would be possible to imagine that a second plate were nevertheless fitted to the plate cylinder and could have on it a simplified printing motif in order to avoid excessively large amounts of ink . on the other hand , the variable n is not restricted to 2 . n can in fact be 4 or 6 or even 8 . this number is partly dictated by the size of the sheets to be printed , that is to say the size of the prints and the number of prints per sheet , and also by the diameter of the impression and plate cylinders . on the assumption that n is 4 or 6 or else 8 , the uniform function of the machine is improved by a symmetric distribution of the sectors of the plate cylinder which carry a plate , and the sectors on which there is no plate — this symmetric distribution being necessary to produce printed sheets and intermediate sheets alternately — since no imbalance is produced as a result of the absence of a plate . one advantage of the method according to the invention and of the printing machine which permits the use of the method is the modular construction for small machines . it is actually simple to fit on an intermediate sheet feed above the machine , to insert these sheets into the flow of the unprinted sheets to be printed at the level of the cylinder carrying the sheets and not to interrupt the flow of the sheets stacked in the delivery system of the printing machine . the system described is also very compact , and the necessary space is reduced considerably as compared with a conventional drying system . the system in which the method according to the invention is used is ultimately by far less expensive than a drying system .	1
the following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings . the detailed description does not limit the invention . instead , the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents . the invention includes methods and apparatus for embedding content within an electronic mail message . the invention also includes methods and apparatus for creating a link associated with the content stored on a remote device . the invention also includes methods and apparatus for automatically attaching the link associated with the content onto the electronic mail message . in one embodiment , the content may include a variety of items such as an image , a document , a music selection , and the like . for simplicity and clarity , the various embodiments of the invention are shown using an image and / or corresponding image data to represent the content . the invention is not intended to be limited to be utilized with any particular type of content . those skilled in the art will recognize that many other implementations are possible , consistent with the present invention . [ 0019 ] fig1 is a diagram illustrating an environment within which the invention may be implemented . the environment includes a client 110 , a network 120 , and a server 130 . the client 110 may be a consumer electronics device . the consumer electronics device may include a computer , a digital camera , a telephone , a pager , and the like . the client 110 may be configured to be utilized by a sender . the network 120 interfaces with the client 110 , and the server 130 . in one embodiment , the network 120 is the internet . in another embodiment , the network 120 may be any transmission medium between the client 110 and the server 130 . the sever 130 is a device configured to interface with the client 110 through the network 120 . the client 110 and / or the server 130 may include a combination of software , hardware , and / or firmware to provide functionality for the invention . [ 0024 ] fig2 is a simplified diagram illustrating an exemplary architecture in which the present invention may be implemented . the exemplary architecture includes a plurality of client devices 202 , a server device 210 , and a network 201 . in one embodiment , the network 201 may be the internet . the plurality of client devices 202 are each configured to include a computer - readable medium 209 , such as random access memory , coupled to a processor 208 . processor 208 executes program instructions stored in the computer - readable medium 209 . in another embodiment , the plurality of client devices 202 may also include a number of additional external or internal devices , such as , without limitation , a mouse , a cd - rom , a keyboard , and a display . the interface framework may be stored on the plurality of client devices 202 within each computer - readable medium 209 . similar to the plurality of client devices 202 , the server device 210 may include a processor 211 coupled to a computer - readable medium 212 . the server device 210 may also include a number of additional external or internal devices , such as , without limitation , a secondary storage element , such as database 240 . the interface framework may be stored on the server device 210 within each computer - readable medium 212 . the plurality of client processors 208 and the server processor 211 can be any of a number of well known computer processors , such as processors from intel corporation , of santa clara , calif . in general , the plurality of client devices 202 may be any type of computing platform connected to a network and that interacts with application programs , such as a digital assistant or a “ smart ” cellular telephone or pager . the server 210 , although depicted as a single computer system , may be implemented as a network of computer processors . the plurality of client devices 202 and the server 210 may include the portions of the invention . in one embodiment , the plurality of computer - readable medium 209 and 212 may contain , in part , a portion of the invention . additionally , the plurality of client devices 202 and the server 210 are configured to receive and transmit electronic messages for use with the invention . similarly , the network 201 is configured to transmit electronic messages for use with the invention . [ 0031 ] fig3 illustrates one embodiment of a system 300 . in one embodiment , the system 300 is configured to perform any or all of the following : upload content to a remote device , create a url associated to the content , automatically attach the url to an electronic message , and / or view the uploaded content . in one embodiment , the sent electronic message may contain both the url corresponding to the content and a thumbnail image which displays at least a portion of the content . the system 300 includes an upload module 310 , a url creation module 320 , an attachment module 330 , an interface module 340 , and a control module 350 . in one embodiment , the control module 350 is configured to communicate with the upload module 310 , the url creation module 320 , the attachment module 330 , and the interface module 340 . in one embodiment , the control module 350 is configured to coordinate tasks , requests and communications between the upload module 310 , the url creation module 320 , the attachment module 330 , and the interface module 340 . in one embodiment , the upload module 310 is configured to upload image data to a target server . for example , the image data may resides within the sender &# 39 ; s computer , a remote server , or the target server . if the image data resides within the sender &# 39 ; s computer or a remote server , the image data is uploaded to the target server . in one embodiment , the target server is a photo album application . in one embodiment , the image data may be stored within the target server . in one embodiment , the image data may be stored in a tiff format , a jpeg format , and the like . in another embodiment , the target server is a content storage server which is configured to store a variety of content . this content may include documents , music selections , and the like . in yet another embodiment , the target server may be the same device as the sender &# 39 ; s device . in one embodiment , the upload module 310 may identify the location of the image data and coordinate the transmission of the image data to the target server . in one embodiment , the url creation module 320 is configured to identify a specific image or multiple selected images and to associate a url with the specific image ( s ). for example , if a plurality of images are stored within the target server , the url creation module 320 may be configured to identify the specific image ( s ) from the plurality of images . next , these specific image ( s ) are associated with an url that corresponds with these specific image ( s ). in one embodiment , the attachment module 330 is configured for embedding the url that corresponds to specific image ( s ) within an electronic mail message created by the sender . for example , the attachment module 330 automatically embeds the url which was created in the url creation module 320 into an electronic mail message which is created by the sender and addressed to a recipient . the resulting electronic mail message may be opened by the recipient . after opening the electronic mail message , the recipient may view the specific image ( s ) through the url . accordingly , the sender may transmit an electronic mail message to the recipient which allows the recipient to view the specific image ( s ) without directly sending the specific image ( s ) to the recipient . the sender may seamlessly and automatically embed the specific image ( s ) within the electronic mail message while creating this electronic mail message for the recipient . in one embodiment , the interface module 340 is configured to receive sender instructions to operate the system 300 . in one embodiment , the interface module 340 is configured to receive any of the following : an image selection from a sender , recipient information , message content , and the like . the system 300 in fig3 is shown for exemplary purposes and is merely embodiment of the invention . additional modules may be added to the system 300 without departing from the scope of the invention . similarly , modules may be combined or deleted without departing from the scope of the invention . the flow diagrams as depicted in fig4 , and 6 are merely one embodiment of the invention . the blocks within the flow diagrams may be performed in a different sequence without departing from the spirit of the invention . further , blocks may be deleted , added , or combined without departing from the spirit of the invention . the flow diagram in fig4 illustrates attaching content data to a message according to one embodiment of the invention . in block 410 , a message is created . in one embodiment , the message is an electronic mail message . the message may include information identifying the recipient and / or a corresponding text message directed to the recipient . in one embodiment , the message is created on an email application residing on the sender &# 39 ; s local device such as microsoft outlook ™. in another embodiment , the message is created on an on - line email application residing in a remote location relative to the sender &# 39 ; s local device such as hotmail ™. in block 420 , a selection is made by the sender to identify content . the content identified by the sender is selected to be attached to the message created to be sent to the recipient . in one embodiment , the content includes one of an image , a document , a music selection , an a / v presentation , and the like . in block 430 , content data which corresponds to the content selected by the sender is uploaded to a target server . in one embodiment , the content data is located outside the target server . in another embodiment , the content data is already located within the target server . in one embodiment , the upload module 310 ( fig3 ) may be utilized to upload the content data to the target server . in block 440 , a url is created to correspond with the content data . in one embodiment , the url is configured to uniquely correspond to a location within the target server which stores the content data that represents the content selected by the sender . accordingly , accessing the url allows the content associated with the content data to be displayed . in block 450 , the electronic mail message is embedded with the url . in one embodiment , the url is displayed within the electronic mail message . for example , the recipient opens the electronic mail message and is prompted to select the embedded url . once the url is selected , the recipient may view the selected content . in another embodiment , the url is automatically activated upon the recipient opening the electronic mail message . for example , the recipient opens the electronic mail message . next , the embedded url is automatically selected which causes the content corresponding to the content data to be displayed for the recipient . in yet another embodiment , the url is displayed within the electronic mail message in addition to a thumbnail icon which represents at least a portion of the content which is embedded within the electronic mail message . the content upload in the block 430 , the url creation in the block 440 , and the url attachment in the block 450 are configured to be automatically performed without intervention from the sender . the flow diagram in fig5 illustrates generating image data and attaching the image data to a message according to one embodiment of the invention . in block 510 , a plurality of images may be viewed by the sender . in one embodiment , these images are located on a target server . in one embodiment , this target server hosts a photo album application such as imagestation sm . in one embodiment , the plurality of images are stored and configured as a photo album . in block 520 , a selection is made by the sender to identify an image from the multiple images . the image identified by the sender is selected to be attached to the message created to be sent to the recipient . in one embodiment , a single image is selected by the sender . in another embodiment , multiple images are selected by the sender for attachment to the message . in block 530 , the selected image is copied to a specific location . for example , the selected image is separated from the plurality of images as viewed in the block 510 . specifically , the selected image is duplicated . this duplicated image is stored within the target server but separate from the plurality of images . in this embodiment , the plurality of images may still be viewed as a single photo album while also having the selected image stored separately from the plurality of images . in block 540 , a url is created to correspond with the selected image . in one embodiment , the url is configured to uniquely correspond to a location within the target server which stores the selected image . the location of the selected image differs from the location of the plurality of images . accordingly , accessing the url allows the selected image to be displayed . in block 550 , the url created in the block 540 is transmitted to the location in which an electronic mail message is being created by the sender for receipt by the recipient . in block 560 , the electronic mail message is embedded with the url . in one embodiment , the url is displayed within the electronic mail message . for example , the recipient opens the electronic mail message and is prompted to select the embedded url . once the url is selected , the recipient may view the selected image . in another embodiment , the url is automatically activated upon the recipient opening the electronic mail message . for example , the recipient opens the electronic mail message . next , the embedded url is automatically selected which causes the image corresponding to the image data to be displayed for the recipient . in yet another embodiment , the url is displayed within the electronic mail message in addition to a thumbnail icon which represents at least a portion of the content which is embedded within the electronic mail message . the image copy in the block 530 , the url creation in the block 540 , the url transmission in the block 550 , and the url attachment in the block 560 are configured to be automatically performed without intervention from the sender . the flow diagram in fig6 illustrates generating image data and attaching the image data to a message according to one embodiment of the invention . in block 610 , an electronic mail message is initiated by a sender for transmission to a recipient . in block 620 , the sender is able to browse for images to include within the electronic mail message . the sender may browser for images stored locally within the sender &# 39 ; s device , images stored within a remote location , and / or images stored within the target server . in one embodiment , this target server hosts a photo album application such as imagestation sm . in block 630 , a selection is made by the sender to identify an image to be attached to the electronic mail message . the image identified by the sender is selected to be attached to the message created to be sent to the recipient . in one embodiment , a single image is selected by the sender . in another embodiment , multiple images are selected by the sender for attachment to the message . in block 640 , the location where the image selected by the sender for attachment to the electronic mail message is determined . if the selected image is stored within the target server , the selected image is copied to a specific location within the target server within block 645 . for example , the selected image is separated from other images stored within the target server . specifically , the selected image is duplicated . this duplicate image is stored within the target server but separate from other images . in this embodiment , the other images may still be viewed on the target server prior to the duplicating the selected image while also having the selected image stored separately from the images . if the selected image is stored outside the target server , the selected image is uploaded to the target server within a block 670 . in one embodiment , the upload module 310 ( fig3 ) may be utilized to upload the image data to the target server . after duplicating the selected image in the block 645 or uploading the selected image in the block 670 , a url is created to correspond with the selected image within a block 650 . in one embodiment , the url is configured to uniquely correspond to a location within the target server which stores the selected image . the location of the selected image differs from the location of the plurality of images . accordingly , accessing the url allows the selected image to be displayed . in block 660 , the electronic mail message is embedded with the url . in one embodiment , the url is displayed within the electronic mail message . for example , the recipient opens the electronic mail message and is prompted to select the embedded url . once the url is selected , the recipient may view the selected image . in another embodiment , the url is automatically activated upon the recipient opening the electronic mail message . for example , the recipient opens the electronic mail message . next , the embedded url is automatically selected which causes the image corresponding to the image data to be displayed for the recipient . in yet another embodiment , the url is displayed within the electronic mail message in addition to a thumbnail icon which represents at least a portion of the content which is embedded within the electronic mail message . the image copy in the block 645 , the url creation in the block 650 , the image upload in the block 670 , and the url attachment in the block 660 are configured to be automatically performed without intervention from the sender . the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description . for example , the invention is described within the context of creating profiles for modifying digital images as merely one embodiment of the invention . the invention may be applied to a variety of other applications . they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise embodiments disclosed , and naturally many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application , to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents .	6
referring to fig1 , a purely schematic overview of the present anti - shock method and system is shown . the sound input 1 , a mixture of signal and noise , is first acquired by a transducer 2 , i . e . a microphone , and then converted to a digital input signal 4 by an a / d converter 3 . this digital input signal 4 is then fed to a digital subsystem 5 comprising the below described anti - shock system . a digital output signal 6 , which has been treated by the anti - shock system by applying the present anti - shock method as well as by other digital components such as filters and amplifiers within the digital subsystem 5 , will then be converted by a d / a converter 7 into an analog output signal 8 that will be applied to a receiver for outputting a corresponding sound 9 . referring now to fig2 , an example of a digital subsystem according to fig1 is described in more details . the digital input signal 4 is on one path framed and windowed with a low - pass filter 10 . the windowed data is then converted from the time domain to the frequency domain via a time - to - frequency transformation such as 2n - point fft . the coefficients of the 2n - point fft represent n frequency bands of a band - pass filter - bank . the signal strength of a band is calculated from its fft coefficients . the signal strength of the band in the frequency - domain varies with time . in addition , the input signal changes its frequency components over time . the signal at each frequency band is processed accordingly . a frequency - to - time transformation such as reverse fft 11 is then applied to convert the coefficients from the frequency - domain to the time - domain , providing a digital output signal 6 that may be converted to an analog output signal with a d / a converter 7 , as shown in fig1 . it is to be noted that the transformation of the digital signal between the time - domain and frequency - domain also can be performed with other methods such as band - pass filters or wavelet transforms . on a second path , the digital input signal will be introduced into a shock detection module 12 for an immediate detection of a shock . this shock detection module 12 thus continuously monitors and detects the digital input signal 4 in real time in the time - domain . fig3 depicts the plot of the curve of the signal s ( t ) of a typical aperiodic shock event as a function of the time t . a periodic shock can be viewed as if it consists of a train of attenuating aperiodic shocks . therefore , the detection of a periodic shock can be treated as a set of individual detections of aperiodic shocks , which follow one after the other . in a real world environment , the shock event could start off with soft shocks and then be followed by stronger shocks . therefore , the detection of shock needs to be designed to handle each individual shock independently . then , an adaptive shock reduction can be applied accordingly to handle different kinds of shock within a set of successive shocks . with this approach , shock detection is simplified and different shock reduction strategies can be applied to different kinds of individual shocks . the shock shown in fig3 has a peak level l ( in decibel ) at time t 1 and a duration t = t 2 - t 0 . time t 0 is defined as the starting point of the shock and time t 2 is defined as the half - way point between peak level l and the signal floor sn . the shock contrast level dl ( in decibel ) is : where the signal floor sn can be obtained through a fast smooth processing that can catch up the non - transient signal change over time . as an example , signal floor sn here is using the fast average in such a signal floor sn , the fast averaging of input signal s ( t ) is processed over a short duration such as 1 ms so that it can reflect the normal speech signal or the music signal change over time . other smoothing functions of s ( t ) can be applied to derive signal floor sn to achieve the same characteristic as the above fast averaging example . the higher the shock peak level l , the stronger the shock will be perceived . for the same source of shock , the perceived shock strength depends on the actual shock contrast level dl and the duration t . with the same shock peak level l , the lower the signal floor sn , the higher the shock contrast , which will result in a stronger shock impact perception . also , the longer the duration t of the shock , the stronger the shock will be perceived . therefore , it is critical to detect the shock duration t and shock contrast level dl in order to determine the shock impact and the necessary solution in managing the shock with an appropriate anti - shock strategy . that means : the higher the shock peak level l is , the shorter the attack time ( t 1 - t 0 ) and the longer duration t are , the stronger the shock is perceived . therefore , the relative shock impact level can be expressed as the shock index : si = σ ⁢ ⁢ l - sn t 1 - t 0 where σ is the coefficient for shock index normalization . the shock index normalization constant σ can be defined according to the individual &# 39 ; s preference . in an exemplary system , σ may be defined by referring to a typical dish transient noise with a shock level l = 70 db in quiet ( sn = 40 db ) with 0 . 2 ms attack time ( t 1 - t 0 ) and 10 ms duration t . by applying the formula for the shock index si , σ will be 0 . 0067 ( ms / db ) with si = 1 as normalized shock index . if the environment noise level increases for the same dish noise , the shock index si will drop . the constant may be defined by using other typical shock events or shock sounds respectively as a reference for the normalization . the relative shock energy e may be measured as follows : therefore , two thresholds , the minimum shock contrast level ( mcl ) and the minimum shock index ( msi ), are used for shock detection . these two thresholds ( mcl ; msi ) can be determined through a self - learning process or pre - determined measurement so that daily life non - transient signals such as speech , music , normal acoustic sound are not detected as shock , and that a transient sound such as a gun shot or a door slam will be detected as shock . a stronger and sharper shock will generate a stronger shock index si . the duration of shock t will be used together with shock index si as the measurement of shock strength , which is used for anti - shock reduction control . the shock detection runs in real - time with the use of the thresholds of minimum shock contrast level ( mcl ) and minimum shock index ( msi ). the present shock detection includes the shock detection as such and the shock strength detection . according to the shock contrast level dl and shock index si , it can determine whether a shock happens and how strong the shock is . since the shock detection runs continuously , the shock can be detected anytime as long as it meets with the shock detection criteria ; it is not necessary that shock detection happens solely at the shock peak time . this implies that a shock can be detected during its build - up process before it reaches its peak level . the continuous growth of the shock will result in up - dated shock detection with stronger shock contrast and stronger shock index si , which will overtake the previous shock detection . after detection of a shock , an anti - shock management module has to react for reducing or minimizing the shock effect , by keeping the shock sound as natural as possible to allow awareness by the user of the shock event . furthermore it should keep the relative loudness of shock so that the user can perceive the shock level and keep the shock within a comfort range of the user . in a first embodiment , the shock detection and the anti - shock management will be both performed in the time - domain , as depicted schematically in the block diagram of fig4 . the shock peak thus can be detected without delay but the anti - shock process could be delayed until a shock is detected . therefore , a few samples of signal delay such as 250 μs ( i . e . n = 4 for sampling rate 16 khz ) for anti - shock management is required . as can be see from the lower curve of fig5 , the whole shock part cannot be handled with the anti - shock process in the time - domain without adding additional delay , which will cause distortion of shock event . hence , additional time delay is required to be added by these few samples in addition to the existing system time delay . adding additional time delay at this juncture could cause artificial effects on the input signals . the threshold delay beyond which this negative impact would happen is determined by the overall system delay , the type of shock and the actual shock detection . if the shock detection takes longer time , more samples , and thus more delay , is needed to reduce the artifacts . on the other hand the more delay is implemented due to this fact , the overall system delay could become longer than desired . therefore , these two mechanisms are balanced to reduce artifacts and keep the overall system delay below the desired threshold . the anti - shock manager will apply anti - shock gain reduction g ( t ) to the input signal s ( t ) to get a new signal x ( t ) with anti - shock processing already completed after a shock is detected . as one typical implementation of the embodiment , anti - shock gain reduction g ( t ) is defined as : g ( t )= a exp − β ( t − t1 ) with t ε ( t 1 , t 2 ) a is the anti - shock strength , and β is a time constant for anti - shock control . as can be seen , time constants β and λ can be different to achieve different release speeds at different durations for different purposes ; or be the same to simplify the anti - shock release process . as one typical implementation , it may be desired to have slow anti - shock release for the peak shock duration ( tε ( t 1 , t 2 )) so that the shock can be efficiently controlled . in another typical implementation , it may be desired to have fast anti - shock release for the peak shock duration ( tε ( t 1 , t 2 )), so that the useful signal following the shock is less affected . in a further typical implementation , it may be desired to use the same anti - shock release speed in order to simplify the design . in addition to using the above gain reduction function g ( t ), different activation functions can be selected according to the shock type and the user preference . a very simple one is linear reaction to shock . in a second embodiment of the present invention , the shock detection takes place in the time - domain whereas the treatment or management respectively of the signal takes place in the frequency - domain , as depicted schematically in fig6 . the shock detection will be carried out by the shock detection module 12 in the time domain as already described above with no additional time delay required . the signal s ( t ) in the time - domain is then transformed into frequency domain by a fft module 14 for any frequency - domain signal processing in module 15 and the anti - shock management by the anti - shock management module 13 . afterwards , the frequency - domain signal gain ( f ) is transformed back to time - domain by the ftt module 16 resulting in a new signal y ( t ). for example , the signal transformation from time - domain to frequency - domain and then back to time - domain is frame - based by applying a certain window such as hanning or hamming . the frame size is typical 2 n samples such as 64 ( n = 5 ) for 32 - bit fft , which corresponds to a time length 3 . 2 ms for a sampling rate of 20 khz . this creates a certain time - delay τ ( such as 1 ms ˜ 10 ms ; according to the actual system implementation ) between the signal input and signal output . the fast shock detection in time - domain provides early prediction for anti - shock processing in frequency - domain . an adaptive anti - shock management plan can thus be specified to suppress shock without artificial break of anti - shock . in the anti - shock management module 13 , the anti - shock gain reduction g ( t ) may be divided into three anti - shock phases , such as anti - shock attack phase , anti - shock holding phase and anti - shock release phase . g ( t )= a 0 exp α ( t − t1 ) with t ε ( t 1 , t 1 + τ ) where a 0 is an initial gain reduction and α is the time constant for anti - shock attack speed ; g ( t )=( a 0 exp ατ )· exp − β ( t − t1 − τ ) with t ε ( t 1 + τ , t 2 + τ ) where β can have the same meaning as described above ; and g ( t )=( a 0 exp ατ − β ( t2 − t1 ) )· exp − λ ( t − t2 − τ ) with t & gt ;( t 2 + τ ) the factors a 0 , α , β or λ can be pre - defined as constants or they can be adaptively updated according to the shock contrast level dl , shock index si or shock duration t . in general , the higher the shock contrast level dl and / or the higher shock index si , the higher a 0 and / or α will be . the shorter the system delay , the higher α will be . unlike the shock - detection which is applied in the time - domain and performs broadband , the above described anti - shock processing is applied in different frequency bands independently , as already shown in fig2 . each frequency band can have a different weighting factor adjusted according to preferences . this can result in an effective anti - shock system for the preferable hearing compensation or comfort . in addition to using the above anti - shock management functions , different activation functions can be selected according to the shock type and the user preference . the method according the present invention is not only suitable for single shock events , but will also handle multiple shock events . fig8 to 10 displays three different types of multiple shock events : a second stronger shock follows a first weaker shock , as depicted in fig8 . in this case , the stronger shock will mask the previous one and the new anti - shock for the stronger shock will take over the control once the stronger shock is detected . an equal shock follows a first shock , as depicted in fig9 . in this case , the actual anti - shock relation depends on time difference between the two shocks . if they are very close , they will be detected as only one shock . if the time difference is big enough , they will be detected as two separate shocks and a similar anti - shock processing will be applied to both independently . a weaker second shock follows a stronger first shock , as depicted in fig1 . in this case , the weaker shock after the strong shock can be masked by the stronger shock , if the time difference between them is short . if the weaker shock happens a certain time after the stronger one , it can be detected as a new shock and new anti - shock processing is applied . therefore , a stronger shock happening right after a weaker shock will overtake the weaker shock management , while a stronger shock management will not be affected by a following weaker shock . a zero - delay or predictive shock detection and adaptive shock management has thus been achieved . shock detection takes place with zero time delay , or even predicts the shock before it fully goes through the signal processing . the present method thus is highly efficient and very fast and may be used for shock detection and shock reduction . while reducing acoustic shock adaptively , it keeps the natural sound quality of shock events for environmental awareness by the user maintained and does not hamper the user &# 39 ; s safety . this method is capable of detecting and canceling acoustic shocks adaptively under different environments and reducing the shock in an optimized way to keep the natural sound quality of shock events . it can detect various acoustic shocks reliably and adaptively to the environment . the acoustic shock detection results in a shock index , which reflects the actual shock strength and allows more adaptive shock reduction accordingly . this is also very different from most other transient or impulse detection technologies which simply detect whether a transient or impulse is present or not . based on the continuous shock detection resulting shock index si , an adaptive shock management is carried out to adaptively reduce the acoustic shock . finally , it is expressly pointed out that the method and system according to the present invention can not only be used in connection with a correction of hearing impairment , but also can be very well used in connection with any wired or wireless communication device . in this sense , the term “ hearing device ” must be understood as hearing aid , be it introduced in the ear canal or implanted into a patient , to correct a hearing impairment as well as to any communication device used to facilitate or improve communication .	7
with reference to fig1 to 5 , the helmet assembly includes a conventional helmet 1 and six actuators , in the form of separate air bags 2 to 7 mounted on a support frame 8 secured to the helmet . the air bags are located on the frame 8 such that , when inflated , they contact the upper part of the pilot / aircrew &# 39 ; s body 9 or the seat headrest 10 . the air bags 2 to 7 are individually inflated or deflated by air from the aircraft &# 39 ; s pneumatic supply 11 under control of a control system 12 , so as to increase or reduce the force between the helmet and the crew &# 39 ; s body 9 or headrest 10 . in fig1 the air bags 2 and 6 are shown partially inflated , such that any acceleration of the pilot upwards tending to rotate the center of gravity 13 of his head - helmet combination downwards in pitch by inertial force 14 about its natural point of rotation 15 at the base of the skull , is resisted by pressure in the air bag 2 reacting against the pilot &# 39 ; s helmet 1 above and the pilot &# 39 ; s body 9 below . forward components of acceleration , tending to pitch the pilot &# 39 ; s head backwards by inertial force 16 , are resisted by pressure in the air bag 6 attached to the rear of the helmet 1 reacting against the pilot &# 39 ; s seat headrest 10 . by varying the quantity of air in the bags 2 and 6 , the stable position of the pilot &# 39 ; s head under varying levels of acceleration can be controlled without muscular effort by the pilot . the forces applied , in this way , to the pilot &# 39 ; s head via his helmet 1 are predominantly linear , the direction of action of the forces being tangential to the point of rotation 15 . the actuators are arranged to apply forces in orthogonal axes so that the helmet can be turned and translated to any desired position or orientation . fig2 shows , in front elevation , inflation of the air bag 4 which reacts against the pilot &# 39 ; s body 9 to stabilize the helmet 1 against a lateral , acceleration - induced inertial force 17 tending to roll the pilot &# 39 ; s head sideways about the neck rotation point 15 . the air bag 2 on the up - going side of the helmet 1 is shown deflated but can be rapidly inflated in the event the sense of application of inertial force 17 is reversed , shown dotted by numeral 18 , tending to roll the pilot &# 39 ; s head in the opposite direction . fig3 shows , in plan view , inflation of the air bag 7 attached to the rear of the pilot &# 39 ; s helmet 1 . this reacts against the headrest 10 to resist a lateral acceleration - induced inertial force 17 tending to yaw the center of gravity 13 of the pilot &# 39 ; s head - helmet combination sideways about the neck rotation point 15 . the air bag 6 is shown deflated but may be rapidly inflated to stabilize the position of the pilot &# 39 ; s head should inertial force 17 reverse its direction of application . it will be appreciated that any combination of the actuator air bags shown in fig1 and 3 may be inflated to position the pilot &# 39 ; s head - helmet in other positions not shown . with reference now more especially to fig4 and 5 , the support frame 8 is attached to the pilot &# 39 ; s helmet 1 by fasteners 19 . the frame 8 is symmetrical , having a concave vertical back - plane 80 which engages the rear of the helmet 1 , and two shoulder plates 81 and 82 which extend forwardly , in a generally horizontal plane , on opposite sides of the helmet . on the under side of the left - hand plate 81 are supported the two air bags 2 and 3 . the forward bag 2 is located to engage the upper chest of the crew ; the rear bag 3 engages the shoulder of the crew . similarly , the air bags 4 and 5 are supported under the right - hand plate 82 . the back - plane 80 supports the two air bags 6 and 7 which are mounted side - by - side on the left and right side of the back - plane respectively . the air bags 2 to 7 are readily removable from the frame 8 for repair and maintenance . the rear air bags 6 and 7 both have , on their surface , a smooth plate 83 which enables the pilot to turn his head with minimum friction when in contact with the seat headrest 10 . the size of the air bags is selected such as to limit the extent of displacement of the pilot &# 39 ; s head to an amount that will not cause injury . compressed air is supplied to the assembly via six flexible pipes 20 which are coupled with respective ports 21 on the frame 8 . the ports 21 connect with individual ones of the air bags 2 to 7 via pipes 22 that extend within the frame 8 . a helmet position sensor 30 , which may employ electro - magnetic , electro - optic , ultrasonic or other means of detection , senses the position of markers 31 attached to the pilot &# 39 ; s helmet 1 and , by calculation , locates the helmet in space . this location information is passed via a cable 32 to the control system 12 which includes an electronic computer . detected movements of the helmet 1 are compared with movements predicted by calculation with reference to the inertial forces detected by an inertial measurement sensor 33 attached to the aircraft . the fidelity with which the inertial responses of the pilot &# 39 ; s head - helmet combination are predicted may be enhanced by reference to previously recorded computerized information peculiar to the pilot and which he provides to the control system 12 by inserting a memory module 34 when boarding the aircraft . the control system 12 may include a neural net computer which monitors over time the measured effects of actuator commands . in this way , a model of the behavior of the helmet assembly on the particular pilot is continually built up so that progressively more appropriate actuator operations are commanded . this information may be recorded in the memory module 34 and take the form of a profile of the synaptic strengths of the computer memory . initially , the control system would include a set of standard starting instructions which is modified as better knowledge of the variables , such as the mass of the pilot &# 39 ; s head , is acquired during the flight . any differences between the measured and predicted movements of the helmet 1 are interpreted by the control system 12 to be head positioning commands imparted by the pilot exerting muscular effect . electrical signals are supplied via cables 35 to electrically - actuated servo - pneumatic valves 36 . the valves 36 are arranged one per air bag and admit pressurized air from the aircraft supply 11 via a manifold 37 into the pipes 20 and thence into selected air bags 2 to 7 , so as to drive the helmet 1 to the calculated commanded position . the valves 36 may similarly be signalled to vent designated air bags so that they collapse under incident forces , or may open them to a suction source ( not shown ) for more rapid collapse . the control system 12 may be commanded not to actuate pressurization of the air bags until a pre - set threshold acceleration level is encountered by the pilot . by a further input from the aircraft &# 39 ; s flight control system 50 , the helmet control system 12 may be provided with information on forthcoming aircraft maneuvers , thus permitting anticipatory actuation of the air bags 2 to 7 before the development of measurable changes in ambient acceleration . the pipes 20 are separated for pilot ingress or egress from the aircraft at a personal equipment connector 38 which preferably incorporates in one connector , all pipes for the helmet assembly and other pilot system connections ( not shown ). the helmet assembly alleviates the need for the pilot to exert muscular energy to prevent his head from being deflected from position by accelerative forces . this enables the pilot to view his instrumentation and the external scenery with less difficulty and reduces tiredness and the risk of injury . the pilot is also , however , free to move his head at will . when not required , the actuators may be retracted to reduce obstruction to the pilot &# 39 ; s movement , such as applying suction . the control system 12 may receive a loss - of - consciousness monitoring input 40 and be arranged , on receipt of such a signal , to drive the actuators so that the pilot &# 39 ; s head is moved to a position in which he will be least prone to injury and most likely to recover quickly . similarly , in the event of ejection , appropriate ones of the actuators may be extended to stabilize the pilot &# 39 ; s head position and neck flexure to prevent spinal compression and other injuries . by appropriately shaping the actuators they can minimize airblast effects . actuation on ejection may be by stored energy within the seat and may be commanded by the seat sequencer independently of the control system 12 . the sequencer may similarly command disablement of the actuators after separation from the aircraft . alternatively , the actuators may remain extended , subject to manual selection , to assist injury - free parachute descent of an unconscious pilot and correct head positioning in the event of landing in water . an alternative helmet assembly is shown in fig6 in which the helmet 1 &# 39 ; is especially shaped to accommodate the invention by the incorporation of a chin frame 40 which is integral with the shell of the helmet . the frame 40 has attached at its bottom edge , air bags 2 &# 39 ; and 4 &# 39 ;, under the pilot &# 39 ; s chin , and air bags 3 &# 39 ; and 5 &# 39 ;, under his ears . the air bags 2 &# 39 ; and 4 &# 39 ; are separated by a gap 41 through which may pass an oxygen pipe 42 to the pilot &# 39 ; s face mask 43 ( shown in fig4 ). compressed air is supplied via pipes 20 &# 39 ; to ports 21 &# 39 ; ( duplicated on the other side of the helmet , not shown ) and thence through pipes 22 &# 39 ; within the shell of the helmet 1 &# 39 ; to the airbags 2 &# 39 ; to 7 &# 39 ;. fig7 shows a cutaway view of an alternative form of air bag used in the assembly shown in fig6 . the air bag has an envelope 50 in the shape of a bellows of rubber - impregnated flexible - matrix material . air injected into the bellows , or extracted from it , will tend to expand or contract it in a direction perpendicular to its edge corrugations , while lateral changes of shape will be resisted by internal diaphragms 51 incorporating breather holes 52 to permit the free passage of gases . fig8 shows a further alternative embodiment of the invention in which actuators 2 &# 34 ; to 5 &# 34 ; are worn by the pilot ( not shown ) independently of his helmet 1 &# 34 ;. the actuators are attached to the pilot &# 39 ; s jacket 60 or may be worn as a component of a smaller garment . additional air bag actuators 63 and 64 may be used in this assembly , being located behind the pilot &# 39 ; s neck . the helmet 1 &# 34 ; is attached to the pilot &# 39 ; s head by a chin strap 29 so that the helmet moves with the head . the tops of the actuators 2 &# 34 ; to 5 &# 34 ;, 63 and 64 , adjacent to the helmet , are attached to a smooth - faced plate 44 which may be segmented or may form a continuous ring , as shown . in this way , the lower surface 45 of helmet 1 &# 34 ; may slip with minimum friction on the plate 44 when the pilot turns his head in the yaw sense . the plate 44 is preferably not attached to the helmet 1 &# 34 ;. alternatively , the plate 44 may be constrained axially with respect to the helmet 1 &# 34 ; after donning by the pilot , while still being free to rotate circumferentially , thus forming the neck - seal of what may be a pressure suit . pipes 20 &# 34 ; conducting compressed air from the personal equipment connector 38 &# 34 ; to the air bag actuators are preferably attached to the jacket 60 to minimize cockpit clutter . the source of compressed air may be the same as that used to inflate the pilot &# 39 ; s g - suit via pipes 61 and 62 . where headrest air bags ( not shown ) are attached to the helmet 1 &# 34 ;, connector pipes 65 may be plugged into the air supply 20 &# 34 ; in the jacket via a socket 66 . a lever 67 coupled with a valve is connected in line with the pipes 20 &# 34 ; so that , by manually depressing the lever 67 , the valve is opened and the pilot may vent and deflate the air bags at any time . the invention is not restricted to the use of airbags or other pneumatic actuators . alternatively , hydraulic , mechanical or electromechanical actuators could be used . any number of actuators could be used for greater dexterity of operation , more rapid actuation , redundancy of operation or for other purposes . the helmet assembly could include force sensors that detect the pressure exerted on the pilot &# 39 ; s head by the helmet . this is sensed and used to control the actuators in a sense that reduces this pressure . the actuators need not apply force to the pilot &# 39 ; s head via the helmet but could do this directly by contact with the head , such as by means of an actuator under the chin .	0
in the example shown in fig1 , the breathing aid device comprises a patient circuit 1 which itself comprises a patient connection 2 , namely a facial or nasal mask , or an intubation or tracheotomy tube , connected to an inspiratory branch 3 and to an expiratory branch 4 by the intermediary of a bidirectional branch 5 . the expiratory branch 4 comprises an expiration device 6 which , in a way which is not shown , comprises an expiration valve and means of controlling this valve . the expiration valve is closed during the inspiratory phases of the patient &# 39 ; s breathing . during the expiratory phases of the patient &# 39 ; s breathing , the expiration valve can either be open so that the patient expires at atmospheric pressure , or it can operate like a discharge valve to oblige the patient to expire at a certain predetermined excess pressure . the inspiratory branch 3 is connected , at its end furthest from the mask 2 , to a unit 8 for ventilation through inspiratory aid which comprises means , such as an adjustable speed motor - turbine set , for supplying breathable gas through the inspiratory branch 3 at an adjustable pressure , in the direction of the mask 2 , means of detecting the patient &# 39 ; s respiratory reflexes , for example from instantaneous flow rate variations , and means of controlling the expiration valve of the expiration means 6 and an inspiration valve placed in the inspiratory branch 3 in order to open the inspiration valve and to close the expiration valve during the inspiratory phase , and to close the inspiration valve and to release the expiration valve during the expiratory phases . thus , in the inspiratory phase , the patient is connected in a gas - tight manner with the inspiratory branch 3 , and the volume flowing in the inspiratory branch 3 corresponds to the volume of gas inspired . and during the expiratory phases , the patient is connected in a gas - tight manner with the expiratory branch 4 and the volume flowing in the expiratory branch 4 corresponds to the volume of gas expired . such inspiratory aid devices , or inspiratory aid devices of the same kind are described in the prior art , in particular in fr - a - 2 695 830 . the ventilation unit 8 can comprise pressure control means by means of which the pressure p detected in the inspiratory branch 3 by a detector 10 is compared with a pressure command ai in order to adjust , for example , the speed of rotation of the motor - turbine set in the direction tending to make the pressure p equal to the command ai . according to the invention , the breathing aid device comprises means 11 of regulating the patient &# 39 ; s breathed volume . the regulating means 11 comprise a control unit 9 for controlling the pressure command ai which the ventilation unit 8 must apply to the inspiratory branch 3 during the inspiratory phases . the regulating means 11 furthermore comprise a unit 12 for measuring the volume vti inspired by the patient during each breathing cycle . the unit 12 provides the control unit 9 with a signal indicative of the volume vti . the control unit 9 comprises an input 13 for receiving the signal vti , and three inputs 14 , 16 , 17 , allowing the user of the device to enter a minimum breathed volume command into the control unit , in the form of a minimum inspired volume per cycle vtimini , a minimum inspiratory pressure command aimini , and a maximum inspiratory pressure command aimaxi . in general , the control unit 9 compares the measured volume vti with the command vtimini and adjusts the pressure command ai in the direction tending to bring the measured volume vti towards the command vtimini , without however causing the command ai to move outside of the range included between the two extreme values aimini and aimaxi . within this range , the control unit 9 tends to increase the command ai when the measured volume vti is lower than the command vtimini , and to reduce the pressure command ai in the opposite case . when starting up the device , the commands vtimini and aimini are chosen such that the breathed volume vti is established at a value higher than vtimini when the pressure command ai is equal to aimini . thus , if the patient breathes as expected , the pressure command ai stabilises at aimini with a breathed volume above the minimum command vtimini . it is only in the event of a breathing anomaly or incident , for example a partial obstruction of the breathing channels , that the measured breathed volume vti is likely to become lower than vtimini , thus causing an increase in the command ai generated by the control unit 9 . when the breathing becomes normal again , the breathed volume again becomes higher than the command vtimini , such that the control unit 9 returns the pressure command ai more or less rapidly to the value aimini . the flowchart used by the control unit 9 will now be described in greater detail with reference to fig2 . at the start , ai is made to equal to aimini ( step 18 ). then , at the end of each breathing cycle , or during each expiratory phase , the measurement vti of the volume inspired during the preceding inspiratory phase is acquired ( step 19 ) and is then compared with the command vtimini by the test 21 . if the measured volume vti is greater than or equal to vtimini , in other words if the volume inspired by the patient is satisfactory , a test 22 determines if the pressure command ai is or is not greater than the minimum aimini . if the pressure command is equal to the minimum , the conditions are therefore ideal ( volume at least equal to the minimum , minimum pressure ) and the sequence therefore returns directly to step 19 for acquiring the next inspired volume measurement . in the opposite case , advantage will be taken of the fact that the inspired volume is satisfactory in order to attempt to reduce the pressure command by a step 23 in which there is applied to the pressure command ai , expressed in relative value , a variation equal in percentage and opposite in sign to the difference between the measured inspired volume vti and the command vtimini . the formula is such that , in the particular case in which the measured volume vti is equal to vtimini , no modification is applied to the pressure command ai ( 0 % variation ). returning now to the test 21 on the measured volume vti , if the latter is lower than the command vtimini , an attempt will be made to increase the pressure command ai in order to assist the patient more . but prior to this , by a test 24 , it will be checked that the pressure command ai has not already reached the maximum aimaxi . if the answer is yes , an alarm is triggered ( step 26 ) to indicate the necessity of an urgent intervention . on the other hand , if the pressure command ai is not yet equal to aimaxi , the sequence returns as before to step 23 in which there will be applied to the command ai a variation equal in percentage and opposite in sign to the difference between the measured volume vti and the command vtimini . before actually applying the command ai , reduced or increased such as it has been computed in step 23 , to the input of the ventilation unit 8 , it will firstly be checked , by a test 27 , that the new computed ai value does not exceed the maximum aimaxi and , by a test 28 , that it is not less than the minimum aimini . if the new ai value has gone beyond one or other of these extreme values , the command ai which will be applied to the ventilation unit 8 will be equal to the extreme value in question ( steps 29 and 31 ). the example shown in fig3 will only be described where it differs with respect to the example shown in fig1 . in the example of fig3 , the breathed volume is no longer measured by means of the volume inspired in each cycle but by means of the volume vte expired in each cycle . for this purpose , the vti measuring unit 12 in the inspiratory branch 3 has been eliminated and it has been replaced by a vte measuring unit 32 in the expiratory branch 4 , which sends the measured vte , indicated at 33 , to the control unit 9 . the minimum breathed volume command applied to the control unit 9 is therefore the command vtemini for the volume expired per cycle , in order to be able to be compared directly with the measured vte 33 provided by the unit 32 . it can be advantageous to select , case by case , measurement of the inspired volume or measurement of the expired volume . this is the solution proposed by the embodiment shown in fig4 , which will be described only where it differs with respect to the example shown in fig1 . the measuring unit 42 is this time installed in the bidirectional branch 5 of the patient circuit 1 and it comprises means 43 of selecting the direction of flow in which the volume is to be measured . in accordance with this selection , the unit 42 provides , by choice , a measurement of vti or of vte , indicated at 44 . in accordance with the operating mode of the measuring unit 42 , the control unit 9 interprets the input applied at 14 as an inspired volume command or as an expired volume command . there is no longer any measuring unit in the inspiratory branch 3 nor in the expiratory branch 4 . in all of the described embodiments , the speed of execution of the flowchart in fig2 is sufficient for the measurement carried out in each breathing cycle to make it possible to correct the pressure applied during the following inspiratory phase . when the measurement is based on the expired volume , it is however possible that the pressure correction will occur only during , and not from the start , of the following inspiratory phase . the invention is applicable to all ventilators capable of measuring the volumes delivered and of automatically controlling the value of the insufflation pressure . the invention is applicable to all methods of ventilation using pressure control , and in particular to “ inspiratory aid ” and “ controlled pressure ” methods . inspiratory aid is a method consisting in maintaining a substantially constant pressure in the patient circuit during the insufflation , the patient initiating the start and end of the insufflation by his respiratory reflexes . the controlled pressure method is identical to the inspiratory aid method except that the patient does not initiate the end of the insufflation , the latter being determined by a fixed time . it would also be conceivable for the control unit , instead of adjusting the pressure command ai applied to the ventilation unit , to adjust , for example , the speed of rotation of the motor turbine set , or the electrical power supplied to it . it would then be possible to avoid abnormal pressures in the inspiratory branch 3 by comparing the pressure in the inspiratory branch 3 with limits such as aimini and aimaxi , and by initiating a corrective modification of the speed or of the power of the motor turbine set in the case of exceeding , or of risk of exceeding such limits .	0
referring now to fig1 referance numeral 1 indicates the said support group according to the present invention , comprising two main support parts 2 and 3 which are attached to one another by means of screws 4 in a way which will described later . support part 2 comprises a substantially cylindrical tube provided at its front end with an annular rim 5 having an axial bore 6 . extending upwardly from the front end of part 2 is a substantially rectangular projection 7 to which there is fixed , by means of screws 8 , a support arm 10 ( partially shown by dashed lines ) which is provided at its ends with two support projections 11 to which there are fixed , respectively , two electric control blocks 12 for mounting positions for various elements , such as direction indicators , lights , emergency signalling device , thermal rear window , etc . projecting from the lower region of the cylindrical support part 2 is a hollow cylindrical part 14 whose axis is orthogonal to the support part 2 and in which there may be accomodated an ignition key switch of known type ( not shown ) and a steering lock device ( of known type ) which controls the engagement and disengagement of a latch 15 with a steering wheel hub 16 . projecting from the rear end of the cylindrical support part 2 are two side projections 18 which are bent orthogonally toward the outside and in the ends of which there are formed two longitudinal slots 19 in which there are accomodated , with a possibility of adjustment , the two screws 4 which serve to fix to the two projections 18 to the respective vertical projections 20 of the support part 3 . support part 2 is made in one piece , conveniently by pressure die - casting , and comprises the cylindrical central part , the front base 5 , the projections 7 and 18 and the lower cylindrical part 14 . support part 3 , instead of being die cast , is conveniently made of a shaped sheet plate having a substantially rectangular planar central portion 22 which is bent upwardly at its front end so as to define a horizontal portion 23 at a level higher than the central portion 22 , and from the front end of which two projections 20 extend downwardly . at its rear end the central portion 22 is bent upwards , thus forming a wall 24 which and a rearwardly projecting vertical part 25 to there is fixed , for example by welding , the front region of a support part 26 , made of plate , which at its rear edge is bent upwards and is provided with two projections 27 for the attachment , by known means ( not shown ), of an instrument and control device carrier assembly ( shown by a chain line ). originating from the rear region of the plane central portion 22 and the wall 24 are a vertical wall 31 and a plane wall 32 , and this latter , in combination with the plane portion 23 , defines a bearing horizontal for a board 33 of an electric interconnection group for the control devices , instruments and accessory elements of the vehicle . the said board 33 , which is fixed to the wall 32 and to the portion 23 by means of screws 35 , carries ( in a known manner not shown ) a printed circuit , a plurality of fuse carrier elements with their respective fuses , and a plurality of connectors for the electric connection of the various control devices , instruments and accessory elements , in particular the instrument and control device carrier assembly 28 , to the electric control blocks 12 and to the ignition switch housed within on part 14 . the assembling of the support group 1 constructed according to the present invention is carried out as follows . to the support part 2 are connected by means of screws 8 the arms 19 which carry the electric control blocks 12 , and in the cylindrical part 14 there is accomodated the ignition switch with the steering lock device , while to the support part 3 are connected the instrument and control device carrier assembly 28 ( by means of the support part 26 ) and the board 33 ( by means of the screws 35 ). the two support parts 2 and 3 are then connected to one another by means of the screws 4 , and to the board 33 are connected the various electric connectors ( not shown ). in this way , the said support group comprising the parts 2 and 3 and the instrument and control device assembly 28 , board 33 , electric control blocks 12 and the ignition switch , may be easily subjected to prelimnary testing before being mounted in the vehicle . for the actual mounting of the support group in the vehicle , cylindrical support part 2 is fitted around a tube 40 forming a part of a steering column 41 of the vehicle , until the front end of the said tube 40 comes to rest on the inner surface of the annular rim 5 of the part 2 . the steering column 41 projects outwardly from the axial bore 6 and on its front end is mounted , in a known manner , the steering wheel hub 16 . the position of the support part 3 is then adjusted relative to the part 2 by means of the screws 4 which are housed in the slots 19 , in such a manner that the central planar portion 22 of the support part 3 will rest on a central portion 42 of a body bracket 43 , which has two shaped side portions of u - shaped cross - section ( one of which is shown in fig1 ) and is fixed in its rear region to a transversely disposed wall 44 of a body crosspiece 45 corresponding to the dashboard of the vehicle . connected to the central portion 42 of the body bracket 43 is a wall 65 whose end is fixed in the upper region of the body crosspiece 45 . the said central planar portion 22 of the support prt 3 is then secured the central portion 42 of the body bracket 43 by means of three bolts 46 . the support group shown in fig2 differs from that shown in fig1 by a different embodiment of the support part 2 which is indicated in fig2 by reference numeral 50 . instead of having a cylindrical central portion , the central portion is semicylindrical in shape , and has two longitudinal walls 51 and 52 which are substantially rectangular in shape and project outwardly in opposite directions . extending perpendicularly from front end of the wall 51 is a substantially rectangular projection 53 , to which there is fixed , by means of screws 54 , the support arm 10 supporting the electric control blocks 12 , while from the rear end of the wall 51 there extends perpendicularly a projection 55 , substantially rectangular in shape , to which there are fixed , by means of screws 56 , the vertical projections 20 of the support part 3 . in this embodiment , for the adjustment of the position of the support part 3 relative to the support part 2 , instead of the longitudinal slots 19 on the projections 18 of the support part 2 there are provided longitudinal slots 58 on the projections 20 of the support part 3 . the support part 50 is made by pressure die - casting and comprises , integrally therewith , the walls 51 and 52 , the projections 53 and 55 . the casting also may include an integral cylindrical portion 60 which is disposed perpendicularly to the axis of the support part 50 and accomodates a key type ignition switch and the steering lock device ( which are known ), which steering lock device acts onto the steering column , instead of acting onto the steering wheel hub , as shown in fig1 . the assembly of the support part 50 onto the tube 40 of the steering column 41 is carried out by means of a semicircular bracket 61 which has the same diameter as the tube 40 and the support part 50 and whose ends are fixed , by means of screws 62 , to the longitudinal walls 51 and 52 . the adjustment of the position of support part 50 and its fixing attachment to the body bracket 43 are carried out previously described with reference to fig1 . with the support group according to the present invention there is thus obtained the advantage of having an assembly of various components supported on each of the parts 2 and 3 and with the possibility of adjustment of the relative positions of the two parts . the components are easily assembled both on the various support parts and on the steering column of the vehicle . the said common support group for these various components facilitates their preliminary testing before their assembly in the vehicle , inasmuch as the support group forms an assembly including the various electric connection elements . in addition , the manufacture of the said support group is relatively simple and therefore economical . finally , it is clear that many modifications and variations may be made to the described embodiments of the present invention , without departing from the scope of the invention itself . for example , the support parts 2 and 3 may have different shapes ; the electric interconnection board 33 may be of a different type ; etc .	1
the process of this invention can be represented by the following equation for the monoaminecarbotrithioate formula ( i ) compounds , the reaction involved being equally operable in the preparation of formula ( ii )-( vi ) compounds : ## equ8 ## wherein m + 0 = alkali metal or ammonium cation r 1 = alkenyl , substituted alkenyl , 2 -( loweralkylthio ) ethyl , 2 -( arylthio ) ethyl , 2 -( lower - alkoxy ) ethyl , 2 -( aryloxy ) ethyl or propargyl and wherein r 3 and r 4 represent the remaining portion of a heterocyclic ring containing the nitrogen atom . in the reaction , a single organic liquid or a mixture of two immiscible organic liquids or a mixture of a water immiscible liquid and water may be used as the reaction medium . for instance , the thiolsulfonate reactant may be dissolved in a water - immiscible solvent such as methylene chloride , chloroform , ethyl ether , benzene , toluene , xylene or commercial chlorinated solvents , and the carbodithioate salt may be dissolved in water . the two solutions are then mixed and vigorously agitated for a period of time from 5 minutes to 20 hours advantageously at a temperature ranging between 20 ° and 150 ° c . again , both reactants may be completely soluble in a single organic solvent , or only one reactant may be completely soluble in the single organic liquid or neither reactant may be completely soluble in the single organic liquid . for another example , a solution of the thiosulfonate in ethanol can be added to a suspension of the carbodithioate salt in ethanol , and the resulting mixture stirred at the required temperature to cause reaction . solvents useful in single organic liquid systems include ethanol , methanol , isopropanol , acetone , methylethylketone , methylene chloride , chloroform , benzene , toluene , or xylene . when operating above the boiling point of the solvent system , a pressure vessel is advantageously used . the amounts of the reactants to be employed in the reaction are not critical , some of the desired products being obtained when the reactants are employed in any proportions . in a preferred method , good yields are obtained when employing substantially stoichiometric proportions of the reactants . bis ( aminecarbotrithioates ) are advantageously prepared by reacting two equivalents of an aminecarbodithioate , for example , sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate , with one equivalent of a thiolsulfonate , for example , 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- bis ( phenylsulfonylthio ) diethyl sulfide to give thiodiethylene bis ( morpholinecarbotrithioate ). up to 100 percent excess of either reactant is not deleterious , however . representative thiolsulfonates useful in the process of this invention include o - nitrophenyl benzenethiolsulfonate , dinitrophenyl benzenethiolsulfonate , 2 , 3 , 3 - tribromoallyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate , 2 , 3 , 3 - tribromoallyl benzenethiolsulfonate , p - phenylene bis ( methanethiolsulfonate ), pentamethylene bis ( methanethiolsulfonate ), allyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate , α , α &# 39 ;- bis ( methylsulfonylthio )- o - xylene , propargyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate , methyl methanesulfonate , 2 - methylbenzyl benzenethiolsulfonate , ethyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate , n - dodecyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate , benzyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate , 2 -( methylthio ) ethyl p - iodobenzenethiolsulfonate , 2 -( methylthio ) ethyl methanethiolsulfonate , 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- bis ( phenylsulfonylthio ) diethyl sulfide , 2 -( ethylthio ) ethyl methanethiolsulfonate , 2 -( phenoxy ) ethyl benzenethiolsulfonate , 2 - phenylallyl methanethiolsulfonate , 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- bis ( phenylsulfonylthio ) diethyl sulfide and methylthiomethyl methanethiolsulfonate . representative aminocarbodithioate salts useful in the process of this invention include sodium , potassium , lithium and ammonium dithiocarbamate , dimethylaminecarbodithioate , diethylaminecarbodithioate , 1 - piperidinecarbodithioate , and 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate . the novel compounds of this invention are particularly useful as pesticides for the control of various fungal and bacterial organisms and other pests such as bacillus subtilis , staphylococcus auraus , escherichia coli , candida albicans , trichophyton mantagrophytes , venturia inaequalis , piricutaria oryzae , aerobacter aerogenes , salmonella typhosa , candida pelliculosa , pullularia pullulans , rhizopus nigricans , aspergillus terreus , eimeria necatrix , eimeria tenella and daphnia . the following examples described completely representative specific embodiments and the best modes contemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention . temperatures given are centigrade . o - nitrophenyl benzenethiolsulfonate ( 14 . 8 grams ; 0 . 0500 mole ) in 75 milliliters of methylene chloride and 8 . 7 grams ( 0 . 0510 mole ) of sodium diethylaminecarbodithioate in 75 milliliters of water were combined and stirred vigorously for 18 hours at room temperature . the organic layer was separated , washed with water until free of water - soluble salts and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate . the solvent was removed by evaporation in vacuo , and the yellow , oily residue was crystallized ( norit ) from 1 : 1 volumetric proportions of methylcyclohexane and benzene to give golden platelets , melting point 92 °- 93 °. recrystallization from the same methylcyclohexane - benzene mixture gave the pure o - nitrophenyl diethylaminecarbotrithioate , melting point 92 . 5 °- 93 °. anal . calcd . for c 11 h 14 n 2 o 2 s 3 : c , 43 . 68 ; h , 4 . 67 ; n , 9 . 27 ; s , 31 . 80 . found : c , 43 . 69 ; h , 4 . 64 ; n , 8 . 93 ; s , 32 . 07 . sodium 1 - piperidinecarbodithioate ( 6 . 7 grams ; 0 . 033 mole ) was added to a suspension of 15 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0330 mole ) of 2 , 3 , 3 - tribromoallyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate in 250 milliliters of methanol with stirring at room temperature . dissolution of the reactants occurred immediately with concomitant formation of a yellow - orange color . the mixture was stirred vigorously at room temperature for 1 . 75 hours , and the product , 2 , 3 , 3 - tribromoallyl 1 - piperidinecarbotrithioate , was obtained as a light tan solid , melting point 84 °- 86 °. two recrystallizations from ethanol gave the pure substance as white crystals , melting point 84 . 5 °- 86 . 5 °. anal . calcd . for c 9 h 12 br 3 ns 3 : c , 23 . 0 ; h , 2 . 57 ; br , 51 . 0 . found : c , 23 . 0 ; h , 2 . 57 ; br , 51 . 0 . sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate ( 18 . 5 grams ; 0 . 100 mole ) was added in one portion to a solution of 45 . 1 grams ( 0 . 100 mole ) of 2 , 3 , 3 - tribromoallyl benzenethiolsulfonate in 750 milliliters of methanol at room temperature with vigorous stirring . stirring was continued for 20 minutes , and the cream - colored precipitate which had formed was collected on a filter , dried in vacuo and recrystallized from ethanol to give orange - brown crystals , melting point 112 °- 113 . 5 °. a second recrystallization from ethanol gave the pure 2 , 3 , 3 - tribromoallyl 4 - morpholinecarbotrithioate as tan crystals , melting point 112 . 5 °- 114 °. anal . calcd . for c 8 h 10 br 3 nos 3 : c , 20 . 4 ; h , 2 . 14 ; br , 50 . 8 . found : c , 20 . 4 ; h , 2 . 37 ; br , 50 . 7 . a solution of 3 . 7 grams ( 0 . 020 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 25 milliliters of ethanol was added to a suspension of 2 . 9 grams ( 0 . 010 mole ) of pentamethylene bis ( methanethiolsulfonate ) in 125 milliliters of ethanol . the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 minutes , and the precipitated white crystalline product was collected on a filter and dried . recrystallization from ethanol gave the pure pentamethylene bis ( 4 - morpholinecarbotrithioate ) as colorless crystals , melting point 83 °- 84 . 5 °. anal . calcd . for c 15 h 26 n 2 o 2 s 6 : c , 39 . 27 ; h , 5 . 71 ; s , 41 . 93 . found : c , 39 . 3 ; h , 5 . 48 ; s , 41 . 49 . a mixture of 16 . 5 grams ( 0 . 0726 mole ) of allyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate and 13 . 3 grams ( 0 . 0726 mole ) of sodium 1 - piperidinecarbodithioate in 200 milliliters of ethanol was heated at reflux temperature for one hour . the solvent was removed by evaporation in vacuo , leaving a mixture of crystalline material and oil . the mixture was slurried in ether and filtered to remove the insoluble by - product , sodium p - toluenesulfinate . the ether was removed by evaporation in vacuo to give the crude product as an amber oil . the material was chromatographed on an acid - washed activated alumina column , using 1 : 1 benzene - petroleum ether ( boiling point 60 °- 70 °). the pure allyl 1 - piperidinecarbotrithioate was obtained as a yellow oil , n d 25 1 . 6339 . anal . calcd . for c 9 h 15 ns 3 : c , 46 . 31 ; h , 6 . 48 ; n , 6 . 00 ; s , 41 . 21 . found : c , 46 . 2 ; h , 6 . 56 ; n , 5 . 92 ; s , 41 . 70 . a mixture of 10 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0306 mole ) of α , α &# 39 ;- bis ( methylsulfonylthio )- o - xylene and 11 . 3 grams ( 0 . 0612 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 300 milliliters of ethanol was stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes . the precipitate which formed was collected by filtration and stirred with hot ethanol . the ethanol - insoluble crude product was collected on a filter , air - dried and recrystallized from acetonitrile to give the pure o - xylylene bis ( 4 - morpholinecarbotrithioate ) as ivory - colored crystals , melting point 174 °- 175 °. anal . calcd . for c 18 h 24 n 2 o 2 s 6 : c , 43 . 87 ; h , 4 . 91 ; n , 5 . 69 . found : c , 43 . 7 ; h , 4 . 70 ; n , 5 . 54 . a mixture of 9 . 0 grams ( 0 . 040 mole ) of propargyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate and 7 . 4 grams ( 0 . 040 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 300 milliliters of ethyl ether was stirred at room temperature for 17 hours . during this period of time the by - product sodium p - toluenesulfinate had precipitated as white crystals and was removed by filtration . the solvent was removed from the filtrate by evaporation in vacuo , leaving an oily , red solid . the substance was dissolved in a minimum amount of benzene and precipitated by the addition of petroleum ether ( boiling point 60 °- 70 °) to give a yellow , crystalline , crude product . recrystallization from isopropanol gave the pure propargyl 4 - morpholinecarbotrithioate as pale yellow crystals , melting point 77 °- 78 °. anal . calcd . for c 8 h 11 nos 3 : h , 41 . 2 ; h , 4 . 75 ; n , 6 . 00 . found : c , 41 . 4 ; h , 5 . 12 ; n , 6 . 11 . a mixture of 41 . 0 grams ( 0 . 325 mole ) of methyl methanethiolsulfonate , 116 . 8 grams ( 0 . 0682 mole ) of sodium diethylaminecarbodithioate , 400 milliliters of methylene chloride and 25 milliliters of water was stirred vigorously at room temperature for 48 hours . the methylene chloride layer was separated , washed with water and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate . removal of the solvent by evaporation in vacuo gave the methyl diethylaminecarbotrithioate as a yellow oil , n d 25 1 . 6111 . the oil was crystallized at low temperature from a solution of ethyl ether and petroleum ether ( boiling point 60 °- 70 °) to give a low melting yellow solid , which was quickly collected on a sintered glass buechner funnel and dried in vacuo as a liquid in an abderhalden drying pistol . the purified product , methyl diethylaminecarbotrithioate , was obtained as a yellow oil , n d 25 1 . 6118 . anal . calcd . for c 6 h 13 ns 3 : c , 36 . 9 ; h , 6 . 71 ; s , 49 . 23 . found : c , 37 . 5 ; h , 6 . 91 ; s , 49 . 57 . a solution of 16 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0865 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 50 milliliters of water was added to a solution of 25 . 1 grams ( 0 . 0850 mole ) of o - nitrophenyl benzenethiolsulfonate in 250 milliliters of methylene chloride , and the reaction mixture was stirred vigorously at room temperature for four hours . after standing at room temperature for an additional 13 hours , the methylene chloride layer was separated , washed with water and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate . the solvent was then removed by evaporation in vacuo , leaving the crude product as bright yellow crystals . two recrystallizations from ethanol gave the pure o - nitrophenyl 4 - morpholinecarbotrithioate as yellow crystals , melting point 158 °- 160 °. anal . calcd . for c 11 h 12 n 2 o 3 s 3 : c , 41 . 75 ; h , 3 . 82 ; n , 8 . 86 . found : c , 41 . 7 ; h , 3 . 87 ; n , 8 . 68 . a solution of 20 . 1 grams ( 0 . 110 mole ) of sodium 1 - piperidinecarbodithioate in 50 milliliters of water was added to a solution of 29 . 5 grams ( 0 . 100 mole ) of o - nitrophenyl benzenethiolsulfonate in 200 milliliters of methylene chloride , and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 hours . the methylene chloride layer was separated , washed with water and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate . the solvent was removed by evaporation in vacuo , leaving the bright yellow , crystalline , crude product . two recrystallizations from acetonitrile gave the pure o - nitrophenyl 1 - piperidinecarbotrithioate as bright yellow crystals , melting point 149 . 5 °- 151 . 5 °. anal . calcd . for c 12 c 14 n 2 o 2 s 3 : c , 45 . 84 ; h , 4 . 49 ; h , 8 . 91 . found : c , 45 . 8 ; h , 4 . 51 ; n , 8 . 84 . a mixture of 27 . 8 grams ( 0 . 100 mole ) of 2 - methylbenzyl benzenethiolsulfonate and 19 . 7 grams ( 0 . 110 mole ) of sodium dimethylaminecarbodithioate dihydrate in 300 milliliters of methanol was stirred at room temperature for 20 hours . the white solid which had formed was collected on a filter and dried . the crude substance was twice recrystallized from ethanol to give the pure 2 - methylbenzyl dimethylaminecarbotrithioate as colorless crystals , melting point 83 °- 85 °. anal . calcd . for c 11 h 15 ns 3 : c , 51 . 32 ; h , 5 . 87 ; n , 5 . 44 . found : c , 51 . 3 ; h , 6 . 01 ; n , 5 . 33 . a mixture of 18 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0832 mole ) of ethyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate and 16 . 4 grams ( 0 . 0915 mole ) of sodium dimethylaminocarbodithioate dihydrate in 250 milliliters of methanol was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours . the solvent was then removed by evaporation in vacuo , leaving an oily residue which was slurried in ether and filtered to remove the insoluble by - product , sodium p - toluenesulfinate . the ether filtrate was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and evaporated to dryness , leaving the crude product as a pale green oil . treatment of a solution of the crude product in methylene chloride with activated alumina , with subsequent filtration and evaporation of the solvent , gave the ethyl dimethylaminecarbotrithioate as a pale yellow oil , n d 25 1 . 6205 . ( lit . n d 20 1 . 6278 ; a . a . watson , j . chem . soc ., 1964 , 2100 ). a solution of 13 . 8 grams ( 0 . 0772 mole ) of sodium dimethylaminecarbodithioate dihydrate in 150 milliliters of methanol was slowly added with stirring to a suspension of 25 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0702 mole ) of n - dodecyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate in 150 milliliters of methanol . the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 16 hours during which time the product precipitated . the white , crystalline precipitate was collected on a filter and recrystallized from ethanol to give the pure n - dodecyl dimethylaminecarbotrithioate as colorless crystals , melting point 48 °- 50 °. anal . calcd . for c 15 h 31 ns 3 : c , 56 . 02 ; h , 9 . 72 ; n , 4 . 36 . found : c , 56 . 3 ; h , 9 . 98 ; n , 4 . 37 . a solution of 17 . 8 grams ( 0 . 0640 mole ) of benzyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate in 150 milliliters of methanol was added to a stirred suspension of 12 . 6 grams ( 0 . 0700 mole ) of sodium dimethylaminecarbodithioate dihydrate in 150 milliliters of methanol , and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 18 hours . during the reaction period the crude product precipitated as white crystals and was collected on a filter . the filtrate was evaporated to dryness , and the residue was extracted with methylene chloride , leaving the by - product , sodium p - toluenesulfinate , undissolved . the methylene chloride extract was concentrated to give a further amount of the crude benzyl dimethylaminecarbotrithioate , which was combined with the first amount . recrystallization from ethanol ( norit ) gave the pure benzyl dimethylaminecarbotrithioate as long , colorless needles , melting point 86 . 5 °- 87 °. ( lit . melting point 85 °, u . s . pat . no . 3 , 232 , 974 , imperial chemical industries , ltd .). anal . calcd . for c 10 h 13 ns 3 : c , 49 . 34 ; h , 5 . 38 ; n , 5 . 76 . found : c , 49 . 35 ; h , 5 . 44 ; n , 5 . 40 . a solution of 24 . 1 grams ( 0 . 110 mole ) of sodium 1 - piperidinecarbodithioate in 200 milliliters of methanol was added with stirring to a suspension of 27 . 8 grams ( 0 . 100 mole ) of 2 - methylbenzyl benzenethiolsulfonate in 100 milliliters of methanol . the formation of a white precipitate was observed immediately . the reaction mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature for 20 hours and was then filtered to collect the white , crystalline , crude product . recrystallization from isopropanol gave the pure 2 - methylbenzyl 1 - piperidinecarbotrithioate as colorless crystals , melting point 103 °- 105 °. anal . calcd . for c 14 h 19 ns 3 : c , 56 . 56 ; h , 6 . 44 ; n , 4 . 71 . found : c , 56 . 6 ; h , 6 . 55 ; n , 4 . 87 . a solution of 16 . 1 grams ( 0 . 0431 mole ) of 2 -( methylthio ) ethyl p - iodobenzenethiolsulfonate in 75 milliliters of methanol was added with stirring to a solution of 8 . 5 grams ( 0 . 047 mole ) of sodium dimethylaminecarbodithioate dihydrate in 75 milliliters of methanol , and the reaction mixture was stirred for 15 hours at room temperature . the solvent was removed by evaporation in vacuo , leaving a residue of white solid . the residue was extracted with methylene chloride and the sodium p - iodibenzenesulfinate by - product removed by filtration . the filtrate was concentrated to give the crude product as a white solid , which was collected on a filter and recrystallized from methanol to give the pure 2 -( methylthio ) ethyl dimethylaminecarbotrithioate as colorless needles , melting point 36 °- 37 °. anal . calcd . for c 6 h 13 ns 4 : c , 31 . 68 ; h , 5 . 76 ; n , 6 . 16 . found : c , 31 . 7 ; h , 6 . 00 ; n , 5 . 93 . a solution of 10 . 6 grams ( 0 . 0592 mole ) of sodium dimethylaminecarbodithioate dihydrate in 100 milliliters of methanol was purged of air by a stream of nitrogen . 2 -( methylthio ) ethyl methanethiolsulfonate ( 10 . 0 grams ., 0 . 0537 mole ) in 100 milliliters of methanol was then added slowly with stirring at room temperature . after the mixture had been stirred under nitrogen at room temperature overnight the solvent was removed by evaporation in vacuo to leave an oily residue which , when shaken with methylene chloride , left a water miscible layer which was separated from the organic phase and discarded . the methylene chloride solution was concentrated to give white crystals , melting point 35 °- 36 °, with some remaining solid not completely melting until a temperature of 105 ° was reached . a lengthy fractional crystallization procedure , using methanol as a recrystallizing solvent , gave the pure product as colorless needles , melting point 36 °- 37 °. a mixture of this substance and a sample of the authentic substance gave no depression of melting point . a solution of 21 . 8 grams ( 0 . 118 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 150 milliliters of methanol was added slowly at room temperature to a stirred solution of 20 . 0 grams ( 0 . 107 mole ) of 2 -( methylthio ) ethyl methanethiolsulfonate in 150 milliliters of methanol . stirring was continued for 15 hours , and the solvent was then removed by evaporation in vacuo . the yellow oily residue was shaken with water and the mixture extracted with methylene chloride . after the extract was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate the methylene chloride was removed by evaporation , leaving 27 . 0 grams of a turbid , yellow oil n d 25 1 . 6473 . residual solvent was removed by vacuum distillation , leaving 25 . 0 grams of yellow oil which was dissolved in methylene chloride , the solution treated with activated charcoal and filtered . upon removing the methylene chloride in vacuo , the residue was found to consist of a clear , yellow oil , n d 25 1 . 6445 . anal . calcd . for c 8 h 15 nos 4 : c , 35 . 66 ; h , 5 . 61 ; n , 5 . 20 . found : c , 35 . 4 ; h , 5 . 48 ; n , 5 . 43 . a solution of 9 . 7 grams ( 0 . 0440 mole ) of sodium 1 - piperidinecarbodithioate in 150 milliliters of methanol was added with stirring to a suspension of 14 . 3 grams ( 0 . 0401 mole ) of n - dodecyl p - toluenethiolsulfonate in 150 milliliters of methanol at room temperature . a thick , white precipitate formed almost immediately . the reaction mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature for 16 . 5 hours . the mixture was then collected on a filter and dried . two recrystallizations from ethanol gave the pure product as white crystals , melting point 47 . 5 °- 49 . 5 °. anal . calcd . for c 18 h 35 ns 3 : c , 59 . 78 ; h , 9 . 75 ; n , 3 . 88 . found : c , 59 . 8 ; h , 10 . 04 ; n , 4 . 14 . sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate ( 18 . 5 grams ; 0 . 100 mole ) was added to a warm , stirred solution of 21 . 7 grams ( 0 . 0500 mole ) of 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- bis ( phenylsulfonylthio )- diethyl sulfide with the immediate formation of a voluminous , white precipitate . the reaction mixture was heated under reflux with stirring for 15 minutes and the white , crystalline product collected on a filter and washed with water to remove the sodium benzenesulfinate by - product . the crude product was recrystallized from methanol to give a very pale yellow solid , melting point 116 . 5 °- 117 . 5 °. a second recrystallization from methanol gave a pure product as pale yellow crystals , melting point 117 °- 117 . 5 °. anal . calcd . for c 14 h 24 n 2 o 2 s 7 : c , 35 . 27 ; h , 5 . 07 ; n , 5 . 88 . found : c , 35 . 2 ; h , 4 . 97 ; n , 5 . 79 . to a stirred solution of 27 . 2 grams ( 0 . 121 mole ) of sodium diethylaminecarbodithioate trihydrate in 100 milliliters of methanol was slowly added a solution of 15 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0806 mole ) of 2 -( methylthio ) ethyl methanethiolsulfonate in 100 milliliters of methanol under nitrogen . the reaction mixture was then stirred at room temperature under nitrogen for 18 hours . evaporation of the solvent left an oil which was washed with water . the water washings were combined and washed with methylene chloride . the oil portion was added to the methylene chloride extract and the resulting solution dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate . the solution was then treated with decolorizing charcoal , filtered and concentrated in vacuo to give a clear , yellow oil , n d 25 1 . 6137 . anal . calcd . for c 8 h 17 ns 4 : c , 37 . 57 ; h , 6 . 71 ; n , 5 . 48 . found : c , 38 . 0 ; n , 6 . 69 ; n , 5 . 40 . a mixture of 11 . 0 grams ( 0 . 055 mole ) of 2 -( ethylthio ) ethyl methanethiolsulfonate and 12 . 2 grams ( 0 . 066 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 300 milliliters of methanol was stirred at room temperature for 18 hours . the solvent was removed in vacuo , leaving an oily , crystalline mass which was stirred in ether and filtered to remove the insoluble by - product . the filtrate was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and was evaporated to dryness to give a yellow oil . the oil was crystallized by cooling in a dry - ice - methylene chloride bath and recrystallized from methanol . two recrystallizations from isopropanol gave the pure substance as colorless crystals , melting point 31 °- 32 . 5 °. anal . calcd . for c 9 h 17 nos 4 : c , 38 . 13 ; h , 6 . 05 ; n , 4 . 95 . found : c , 38 . 0 ; h , 5 . 85 ; n , 4 . 96 . a solution of 15 . 1 grams ( 0 . 0816 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 150 milliliters of methanol was added with stirring to a suspension of 20 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0680 mole ) of 2 -( phenoxy ) ethyl benzenethiolsulfonate in 150 milliliters of methanol . a thick , white precipitate began forming immediately . the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 19 hours , and the precipitate was collected on a filter . recrystallization of product from methanol gave the pure substance as colorless crystals , melting point 89 °- 91 °. anal . calcd . for c 13 h 17 no 2 s 3 : c , 49 . 49 ; h , 5 . 43 ; n , 4 . 44 . found : c , 49 . 2 ; h , 5 . 50 ; n , 4 . 47 . a solution of 16 . 7 grams ( 0 . 0732 mole ) of 2 - phenylallyl methanethiolsulfonate and 16 . 3 grams ( 0 . 0878 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 300 milliliters of methanol was stirred at room temperature for 28 hours . the solvent was removed in vacuo , leaving a yellow residue which was stirred in ether and filtered to remove the insoluble by - product , sodium methanesulfinate . the ether filtrate was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and evaporated to dryness to obtain a yellow , viscous oil . trituration with a small amount of cold ether gave the crude , crystalline product which was collected on a filter . recrystallization of product from ethanol gave the pure substance as colorless crystals , melting point 69 . 5 °- 71 °. anal . calcd . for c 14 h 17 nos 3 : c , 53 . 98 ; h , 5 . 51 , n , 4 . 50 . found : c , 54 . 0 ; h , 5 . 38 ; n , 4 . 31 . sodium dimethylaminecarbodithioate dihydrate ( 14 . 2 grams ; 0 . 0792 mole ) was added to a warm , stirred solution of 17 . 2 grams ( 0 . 0396 mole ) of 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- bis ( phenylsulfonylthio ) diethyl sulfide in 700 milliliters of methanol . the mixture was heated under reflux with stirring for one hour , after which time the methanol was removed by evaporation in vacuo . the solid residue was extracted with water at room temperature to remove the by - product , sodium benzenesulfinate , collected on a filter and dried in vacuo over calcium chloride . two recrystallizations from ethyl acetate gave the pure substance as colorless crystals , melting point 105 °- 105 . 5 °. anal . calcd . for c 10 h 20 n 2 s 7 : c , 30 . 58 ; h , 5 . 13 ; n , 7 . 14 . found : c , 30 . 6 ; h , 5 . 10 ; n , 7 . 25 . a solution of 13 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0700 mole ) of sodium 4 - morpholinecarbodithioate in 125 milliliters of methanol was added to a solution of 10 . 0 grams ( 0 . 0580 mole ) of methylthiomethyl methanethiolsulfonate in 125 milliliters of methanol , and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 16 hours . the white precipitate , which had formed during the reaction period , was collected on a filter and recrystallized from methanol to give the pure methylthiomethyl 4 - morpholinecarbotrithioate as pale yellow crystals , melting point 55 °- 57 °. anal . calcd . for c 7 h 13 nos 4 : c , 32 . 88 ; h , 5 . 13 ; n , 5 . 49 . found : c , 33 . 1 ; h , 4 . 81 ; n , 5 . 41 . the compounds of the present invention are variously useful as pesticides for the control of various bacteria , fungi , mollusks , crustaceans , insects and terrestial plants . for such use , the unmodified compounds can be employed . alternatively , the compounds can be dispersed on an inert finely divided solid and the resulting preparation employed as a dust . also , such compounds or dust compositions containing said compounds can be dispersed in water with or without the aid of additional wetting agents and the resulting aqueous dispersions employed as sprays . in other procedures , the compounds can be employed as solutions in petroleum distillates or in other solvents or as constituents of oil - in - water or water - in - oil emulsions . such liquid compositions can be employed as sprays , drenches or washes . in representative operations , the compound of example 2 gives good control of nymphal american cockroaches . in the test method , a paper cylindrical cage is provided , fitted on the bottom with a number 52 whatman filter paper and on the top with a retaining screen . twenty - five nymphal cockroaches are inactivated with co 2 and immersed in an aqueous dispersion of 1 , 000 parts per million by weight of the compound of example 2 contained in the cage . the water is drawn off by suction through the filter paper . the nymphs are then fed with sugar water and left in the cage for three days , when a mortality count is made . under such conditions , substantially complete control is attained . the same compound is separately dispersed in a series of melted nutrient agar samples to product a bacteriological culture medium containing 500 p . p . m . thereof by weight of ultimate medium . each of these media is then poured into a separate petri dish and allowed to solidify . the solidified agar surface in each petri dish is separately inoculated with one of staphylococcus aureus , bacillus subtilis , aspergillus terreus , candida pelliculosa , pullularia pullulans or salmonella typhosa , the inoculation being carried out by mopping the agar surfaces with a swab from a 24 - hour broth culture of the organism . after 72 hours incubation at 30 ° c ., the agar surface of each petri dish is examined for micro - organisms . in each of the series , the control is 100 percent . a control culture , to which none of the compound is added , shows vigorous growth . the compound of example 3 is similarly 100 percent effective against staphylococcus aureus and bacillus subtilis at a concentration of 500 p . p . m . the compound of example 5 is similarly effective against staphylococcus aureus , candida albicans and trichophyton mentagrophytes , but at 100 p . p . m . concentration . this compound is also effective in controlling daphnia and carassius auratus when 100 p . p . m . of compound is dispersed in water containing these organisms . piricutaria oryzae is controlled 100 percent by application of an aqueous dispersion containing 100 p . p . m . of compound . amaranthus species is 100 percent controlled by application to the soil of 10 lb ./ acre of the compound applied in aqueous dispersion as a drench to soil containing viable seed of said species . the compound of example 7 is 100 percent effective against the american cockroach at a concentration of 1000 p . p . m . used in the form of an aqueous dispersion . an aqueous dispersion of 150 p . p . m ., when sprayed on cucumber plants and potato plants , respectively , gives 100 percent control against erysiphe cichoracearum and 95 percent control against phytophthora infestans . the compound of example 24 is similarly 100 percent effective against the american cockroach and against staphylococcus aureus at 500 p . p . m ., and 100 percent effective against candida albicans , trichophyton mentagrophytes , bacillus subtilis , aspergillus terreus , candida pelluculosa , pullularia pullulans and mycobacterium phlei , all at a concentration of 100 p . p . m . the following table shows effectiveness of other compounds at the stated concentrations , using tests as described above . effective for 100 % compound control of : concentration______________________________________example 6 crabgrass 4 , 000 p . p . m . example 16 daphnia 2 p . p . m . ram &# 39 ; s horn snail 2 p . p . m . goldfish 2 p . p . m . cucumber , powdery mildew 75 p . p . m . example 18 daphnia 0 . 4 p . p . m . goldfish 2 p . p . m . cucumber powdery mildew 150 p . p . m . apple scab fungus 400 p . p . m . s . aureus 100 p . p . m . e . coli 100 p . p . m . c . albicans 100 p . p . m . t . mentagrophytes 100 p . p . m . b . subtilis 100 p . p . m . a . aerogenes 100 p . p . m . a . terreus 10 p . p . m . c . pelliculosa 100 p . p . m . p . pullulans 100 p . p . m . s . typhosa 100 p . p . m . example 21 e . coli 500 p . p . m . c . albicans 100 p . p . m . t . mentagrophytes 100 p . p . m . b . subtilis 100 p . p . m . a . terreus 100 p . p . m . c . pelliculosa 100 p . p . m . p . pullulans 100 p . p . m . s . typhosa 100 p . p . m . example 22 s . aureus 500 p . p . m . c . albicans 500 p . p . m . t . mentagrophytes 100 p . p . m . b . subtilis 100 p . p . m . a . terreus 100 p . p . m . c . pelliculosa 100 p . p . m . p . pullulans 100 p . p . m . bread mold fungus 500 p . p . m . example 5 s . aureus 500 p . p . m . t . mentagrophytes 500 p . p . m . b . subtilis 500 p . p . m . bean mildew 100 p . p . m . example 19 s . aureus 100 p . p . m . t . mentagrophytes 100 p . p . m . p . pullulans 100 p . p . m . ram &# 39 ; s horn snail 2 p . p . m . example 4 amaranthus spp . 25 lb ./ acreexample 25 s . aureus 100 p . p . m . c . albicans 100 p . p . m . t . mentagrophytes 100 p . p . m . b . subtilis 100 p . p . m . a . terreus 100 p . p . m . c . pelliculosa 100 p . p . m . ______________________________________	2
we have discovered that dhaa is stable in solutions of pure polyol solvents and in solutions wherein the polyol content is greater than about 50 percent . by “ stable ” is meant that dhaa in these solutions deteriorates very slowly over a sufficient period of time that it can be stored and sold as a dietary supplement or as a skin care product , or as a concentrate for preparing or manufacturing them , with a reasonable shelf life . the solutions are made by oxidizing ascorbic acid that is first dissolved in a pure polyol solvent , or in water , or in some mixture of these liquids . the polyol concentration may be adjusted to about 50 % or greater prior to oxidizing the aa or afterwards . the solutions can also be made by oxidizing aa that is dissolved in an alcohol ( e . g ., ethanol ), and then combining the dhaa - containing alcohol with a polyol solvent . if it is desired that the final solution does not contain alcohol , the alcohol can be removed by evaporating the alcohol from the polyol solvent solution using heat or vacuum , or both . the solutions can also be made by dissolving solid dhaa in a pure polyol solvent , or in water , or in some mixture of these liquids . the polyol concentration may be adjusted to about 50 % or greater prior to dissolving the dhaa or afterwards . the organic polyol solvents are chosen for pharmaceutical and dietary acceptability , their ability to solubilize the aa and dhaa component , water content , and effect on the stability of the dhaa component . at present we prefer to employ commercially available glycerol which generally contains 5 % or less water . in general , we prefer to minimize the water content of the solvent ( s ), consistent with economic and functional considerations . other polyols which can be employed include propylene glycol , hexylene glycol , butylene glycol and the almost infinite molecular weight range of polyethylene glycols , as well as so - called sugar alcohols , e . g ., sorbitol and xylitol , and mixtures thereof with other polyols . these solutions can be prepared entirely with one polyol solvent , e . g ., glycerol , or mixtures of polyol solvents . the final choice of solvent will depend on economics and other relevant factors . methods we have successfully applied for oxidizing the ascorbic acid include the use of halogen or ozone or oxygen / activated charcoal or fenton &# 39 ; s reagent or ascorbic acid oxidase enzyme . all of these methods are known in the art , as are other methods ; the previously cited references pecherer and koliou show typical applications of various methods for example . the method by which the oxidation is accomplished is not the determinant factor of the long term stability of the dhaa in the solution , and other methods of oxidation are within the scope of the invention . aa concentration in solution is commonly measured as the reducing activity of the solution using starch - iodine titration methods that are well - known in the art . aa is also measured by ultra - violet spectrophotometry using a wavelength at which aa absorbs strongly and dhaa does not , typically about 265 nm . this method is also well known in the art . dhaa in solution can be converted into aa by reducing agents such as dithiothreitol ( dtt ) or tris ( 2 - carboxyethyl ) phosphine ( tcep ), and its concentration is commonly measured spectrophotometrically as the difference in absorbance of a solution subjected to reduction by dtt or tcep versus a similar solution that is not subjected to a reducing agent . these methods are also well - known in the art , but see deutsch for examples . in the description , claims , and the following examples , dhaa in the compositions of the invention is the vitamin c that can be measured by the difference in absorbance at 262 nm using tcep reducing agent . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , aa dissolved in glycerol and / or water is oxidized using ozone to produce dhaa solutions . water - based solutions and glycerol - based solutions may be combined to yield stable dhaa compositions having the desired polyol concentration . a 15 % aa solution in water was prepared by adding 15 grams aa per 100 ml purified water with stirring . a 15 % solution of aa in glycerol was prepared by adding 15 grams aa per 100 ml pure usp glycerol and stirring with heat . a corona - discharge type ozone generator with feed - gas of pure oxygen was used to supply an oxidizing gas containing about 5 % ozone , and each of the 15 % aa solutions was subjected to oxidizing conditions by bubbling the oxidizing gas through the solution using a glass diffuser . the progress of aa oxidation in each solution was monitored by the disappearance of reducing activity as measured by starch - iodine titration . each solution was subjected to the oxidizing conditions until all (& gt ; 99 %) of the original reducing activity had disappeared . the solution made with pure glycerol was labeled “ 100 % glycerol ,” and the solution made with purified water was labeled “ 100 % water .” portions of these two solutions were combined to produce solutions of various glycerol concentrations by weight , specifically “ 99 % glycerol ,” “ 98 % glycerol ,” “ 97 % glycerol ,” “ 96 % glycerol ,” “ 95 % glycerol ”, “ 90 % glycerol ,” and “ 50 % glycerol .” for example , 99 parts by weight of “ 100 % glycerol ” was combined with 1 part by weight “ 100 % water ” to produce the “ 99 % glycerol ” solution . aliquots of each of the solutions prepared above were placed in translucent , screw - capped polyethylene vials and were stored at room temperature . no attempt was made to further protect the vials from ambient indoor light , and each vial contained a headspace of normal air . each vial was periodically opened to remove a sample for stability testing over the next 229 days . the concentration of dhaa in each sample was measured by spectrometry on each testing day . the initial dhaa concentration of each solution on day 1 was recorded and assigned a value of 100 %, and the concentration on each subsequent stability test day was calculated as the percent remaining of the initial concentration . fig1 through 8 show the results of stability testing of the various glycerol - containing solutions ; each graph also shows the result of the “ 100 % water ” solution for comparison . it can be seen that dhaa decomposes rapidly in water . by the time the water solution was tested at 20 days , less than 10 percent of the initial amount of dhaa remained . by contrast , dhaa is preserved very well in solutions containing high concentrations of glycerol . in pure glycerol for example , greater than 80 % of the initial dhaa concentration remains even after approximately 8 months of storage at room temperature . as the glycerol concentration is reduced , stability is reduced , until only minor improvement is gained at 50 % glycerol concentration . in another embodiment , a stable dhaa composition is produced by oxidation of aa dissolved in glycerol using exposure to activated charcoal and oxygen as the oxidation method . a solution of aa in pure usp glycerol was subjected to oxidizing conditions by suspending activated charcoal in the solution and then bubbling pure oxygen through the solution . oxidation of aa during this process was monitored by starch - iodine titration . after the desired amount of aa had been oxidized , the activated charcoal was removed from the solution by centrifugation and filtration . this solution was labeled “ 100 % glycerol .” a portion of the solution was then placed in a translucent , screw - capped polyethylene vial and was stored at room temperature . no attempt was made to further protect the vial from ambient indoor light , and the vial contained a headspace of normal air . the vial was periodically opened to remove a sample for stability testing over the next 191 days . the concentration of dhaa in the sample was measured by spectrometry on each testing day . the initial dhaa concentration of the solution on day 1 was recorded and assigned a value of 100 %, and the concentration on each subsequent stability test day was calculated as the percent remaining of the initial concentration . fig9 shows the results of the stability testing of this solution , and for comparison also shows the stability of a dhaa solution prepared in purified water ( labeled “ 100 % water ”). it can be seen that dhaa in glycerol produced by an alternative oxidation method shows excellent long - term stability . in another embodiment , stable dhaa compositions are produced by oxidizing aa dissolved in water using fenton &# 39 ; s reagent as the oxidizing method , and then combining the water solution with propylene glycol such that the final concentration of polyol is 50 % or greater . aa was dissolved in purified water to give a highly concentrated solution , and then sufficient 30 % hydrogen peroxide was added to oxidize about half of the aa . iron to catalyze the reaction was provided by addition of ferrous sulfate . oxidation of the aa was monitored by spectrometry until the expected amount of aa had been oxidized . this solution was labeled “ 100 % water .” portions of this solution were combined with portions of pure , usp grade propylene glycol to produce solutions of “ 97 % propylene glycol ,” “ 95 % propylene glycol ,” “ 90 % propylene glycol ,” “ 80 % propylene glycol ,” “ 70 % propylene glycol ,” and “ 50 % propylene glycol .” for example , 3 parts by volume of the “ 100 % water ” solution were combined with 97 parts by volume propylene glycol to yield the “ 97 % propylene glycol ” solution . aliquots of each of the solutions prepared above were placed in translucent , screw - capped polyethylene vials and were stored at room temperature . no attempt was made to further protect the vials from ambient indoor light , and each vial contained a headspace of normal air . each vial was periodically opened to remove a sample for stability testing over the next 31 days . the concentration of dhaa in each sample was measured by spectrometry on each testing day . the initial dhaa concentration of each solution was recorded and assigned a value of 100 % ( day 0 ), and the concentration on each subsequent stability test day was calculated as the percent remaining of the initial concentration . fig1 through 15 show the results of stability testing of the various propylene glycol - containing solutions ; each graph also shows the result of the “ 100 % water ” solution for comparison . it can be seen that dhaa decomposes rapidly in water ; after only 5 days , less than 20 percent of the initial amount of dhaa remains . by contrast , dhaa is preserved very well in solutions containing high concentrations of propylene glycol . in fact , the dhaa concentration in many of these solutions actually increased significantly over time , a remarkable and unexpected discovery . we believe this phenomenon can be explained this way : residual aa continues to oxidize while the dhaa is stabilized and therefore accumulates in the solution . the spectrophotometric measurements support this explanation , but we do not wish to be bound by this explanation . example 3 demonstrates that stable dhaa compositions may be prepared using a third alternative oxidation method as compared with the first two examples , and also demonstrates that an alternative polyol solvent can be used . while the above description contains many specificities , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention , but rather as exemplification of preferred embodiments . the compositions can be prepared using various methods and ingredients as mentioned , and their equivalents . polyol solvents are known to be antimicrobial in high concentrations and therefore the compositions of the invention generally do not require preservatives . polyol solvents are also capable of dissolving substances that are not soluble in water , so are capable of solubilizing not only aa and dhaa but additional dietary or skin - enhancing ingredients such as vitamin e . many polyol solvents are excellent skin - enhancing substances in their own right , such as glycerol which is commonly utilized in skin care products as a humectant . many polyol solvents are not only safe for ingestion , but in fact have a pleasant , sweet flavor . thus the compositions have favorable properties that are synergistic with their use as dietary supplements , skin - enhancers , concentrates , or research solutions . accordingly , the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated , but by the appended claims and their equivalents .	0
the invention relates to an interconnect , and to interconnect architecture , for communicating between processing elements and memory modules in a parallel on - chip computer system . as used herein , the term “ interconnect ” refers to a circuit element capable of processing and / or storing data in accordance with switching decisions , and of routing data from an input lead to an output lead . the term “ switching decision ” refers to criterion upon which data is evaluated to determine its routing through the interconnect . switching decisions may be made by a “ computer - facilitated protocol ” ( i . e ., a decisional process that employs software and / or hardware devices and that involve data exchange , analysis and / or processing ), and , in particular , by circuit architecture ( e . g ., the placement and orientation of leads , wires , semiconductor devices , etc .). the term “ computer system ,” as used herein is intended to encompass not only mainframe or base computer systems , but to generally include any device ( e . g ., personal computers , data processors , switching systems , telephones , fax machines , personal digital assistants ( pdas ), 2 - way radios , etc .) that is capable of processing and / or storing data . the term “ chip ” as used herein denotes an integrated circuit chip , which comprises cells and connections between the cells formed on or within a semiconductor substrate . the chip may include a large number of cells and require complex connections between the cells . the term “ cells ” denotes a group of one or more circuit elements such as transistors , capacitors , and other basic circuit elements grouped to perform a function . each of the cells of a chip may have one or more pins , each of which , in turn , may be connected to one or more other pins of the chip . in particular , the interconnects of the present invention provide a workable solution to the above - mentioned problems that preferably possesses the following characteristics : 1 . the interconnects are configured such that switching decisions can be made locally thereby permitting messages to progress dynamically as soon as they are able to do so . 2 . the network of interconnects are highly pipelined , thereby enabling short wires and high throughput . 3 . the design of the interconnects incorporates asynchrony , since driving a large , pipelined system at high clock speeds becomes increasingly impractical as its size increases . 4 . while additional hardware and software to handle severely unbalanced communication loads may be needed , global coordination of the interconnect is typically unnecessary . in a preferred embodiment for implementing the interconnects of the present invention possessing such characteristics , most , and preferably , all , of the wires that will make the same routing decisions will be co - located . as illustrated in fig2 ( with respect to a 2 - bit interconnect , for ease of illustration ) the plurality of bits from a given port will be located adjacently to one another . in a preferred embodiment , pairs of multiplexors (“ muxs ”) are coupled as a single logical “ mux - pair ,” thereby enabling switching decisions to be made at the switch points so that messages can progress through a switchpoint as soon as they arrive . in a further preferred embodiment , the multibits from a given port will be “ coordinately processed ,” for example , by some finite state machine . as used herein , the term “ coordinately processed ” is intended to refer to processing in which a mux pair evaluates the multibits from one port against the multibits of a second port . by way of contrast , in a non - coordinately processed architecture each single bit is evaluated against the corresponding single bit of a different port . the “ interconnects ” of the present invention are illustrated with reference to explicit multi - threading ( xmt ) processing ( vishkin , u . et al ., “ explicit multi - threading ( xmt ) bridging models for instruction parallelism ( extended summary & amp ; working document ( 1998 ); http :// www . umiacs . umd . edu / users /˜ vishkin / xmt / bsp - like . ps ); u . vishkin et al ., explicit multi - threading ( xmt ) bridging models for instruction parallelism ( extended abstract ). in proc . 10 th acm symposium on parallel algorithms and architectures ( spaa ) 1998 ; u . vishkin . “ a no - busy - wait balanced tree parallel algorithmic paradigm .” in proc . 12 th acm symposium on parallel algorithms and architectures ( spaa ), 2000 ; d . naishlos , et al ., “ evaluating multi - threading in the prototype xmt environment . in proc . 4 th workshop on multi - threaded execution , architecture and compilation ( mteac 2000 ), december 2000 ( held in conjunction with the 33rd int . symp . on microarchitecture micro - 33 ), all at http :// vww . umiacs . umd . edu /˜ vishkin / xmt ; all such references herein incorporated by reference ). xmt is a framework for parallel computing that provides a high - level parallel programming language and encompasses efficient implementation down to a parallel on - chip microprocessor architecture . such on - chip architecture has the potential to scale to a high degree of parallelism . use of the xmt framework requires an interconnect device capable of providing efficient communication between the parallel processing units and shared memories . the most distinguishing feature about the xmt framework is that it envisions an extension to a standard instruction set which aspires to efficiently implement parallel random access model ( pram )- like algorithms ; xmt does so by single - program - multiple data ( spmd ) explicit multi - threaded instruction - level parallelism ( ilp ). the ( virtual ) thread structure of pram - like algorithms is very dynamic : the number of threads that need to be generated changes frequently , new threads are generated and terminated frequently , and often threads are relatively short . xmt frameworks that can be used in accordance with the interconnects of the present invention are described in pct application serial no . wo / us98 / 05975 , and u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 224 , 104 , and in naishlos , d . et al ., “ evaluating multi - threading in the prototype xmt environment ,” http :// www . umiacs . umd . edu / users /˜ vishkin / xmt / mteac4 . df ); and naishlos , d . et al ., “ evaluating multi - threading in the prototype xmt environment ,” in proc . 4th workshop on multi - threaded execution , architecture and compilation ( mteac2000 ), december 2000 ( held in conjunction with the 33rd int . symp . on microarchitecture micro - 33 ), all herein incorporated by reference . the xmt high - level programming language provides a multi - threaded model that attempts to mimic “ no - busy - wait ” finite state machines . in such machines , no ( software ) thread ever needs to suspend its progress in order to wait for another thread . execution involves a plurality of ( software ) threads that follow independence of order semantics ( ios ); that is , different speeds of execution among threads as well as an ability to tolerate different orders of executions of some reads and writes to memory locations . thus , an attribute of xmt is that threads need to synchronize relatively infrequently . this attribute provides an opportunity for reduced - synchrony hardware implementation , and provides an opportunity for the novel technological solution of the present invention . xmt frameworks that can be used in accordance with the present invention are described in pct application serial no . wo / us98 / 05975 , and u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 224 , 104 , both herein incorporated by reference . [ 0047 ] fig1 and fig2 illustrate the difference in datapath layout of the preferred embodiment of the invention . fig1 represents a more conventional interconnect design ; fig2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the design of the interconnects of the present invention with respect to an exemplary 2 - bit interconnect . as will be appreciated , larger bit interconnects ( e . g ., 8 - bit , 16 - bit , 32 , bit , 64 - bit , 128 bit , etc .) may be likewise employed by extension of the design shown in fig2 . both figures illustrate the datapath layout of an interconnect between four ports ( a , b , c , and d ). each port has a 2 - bit input port ( e . g ., a . i . 0 and a . i . 1 ) going into the interconnect and a 2 - bit output port coming out of the interconnect ( e . g ., a . 0 . 0 and a . 0 . 1 ). the trapezoidal boxes are muxs at which switching decisions are made as to which of two or more input ( s ) is / are to be passed along . the layout in fig1 can be described as a series of bit slices stacked one on top of another . in fig2 the 2 bits from a given port are “ bundled ” together and follow the same global route throughout . the dashed lines in fig2 connect pairs of muxs that are coupled as a single logical 2 - bit mux (“ mux - pair ”). this new configuration enables a scheme in which switching decisions are made at the switch points . messages are allowed to progress through a switchpoint as soon as they arrive . to achieve this goal , asynchronous control techniques are preferably employed . each node of the mux - tree buffers a single data bundle . at each mux - pair , two data bundles compete to progress toward the root of the tree . an arbiter primitive ( sutherland , i . e ., “ micropipelines ,” communications of the acm 32 : 720 - 738 ( 1989 )) guards access to the buffer associated with the mux . the first of the two data bundles to arrive will win and be latched into the data buffer . if a second bundle arrives before the first clears the mux , then the second will be granted next access . optionally , this switching automaton could be designed to incorporate alternation between inputs when both are continually attempting access . when applied globally , an alternation policy can prevent starvation . by abandoning scheduled switching in favor of a more dynamic scheme , a new consideration is introduced . a data bundle written into the interconnect potentially can go to any of the destinations ( e . g ., the 4 possibilities depicted in the figures ) for demonstration purpose only simple bus connections are shown for connecting each source to the leaves of the mux trees of each destination . if the data is initially labeled with the intended destination , a leaf from each mux - tree can interpret the label to determine if it should enter that particular mux - tree . the label can be discarded at that point . similarly , when data is received at an output port ; the source of the data must be determined . each mux - pair can encode the local decision made and pass this data on toward the root of the tree . the receiver can determine the sender from this information . if desired , asynchronous design can also be applied to pipelining the wires in the form of micropipelining ( sutherland , i . e ., “ micropipelines ,” communications of the acm 32 : 720 - 738 ( 1989 )). long wires are highly pipelined to form independently latched short wires . each bundle of wires ( e . g ., the 2 - bit bundles in the figures ) requires 2 control wires to handshake between stages . data can proceed from one stage to the next when the next stage has cleared . the interconnects of the present invention can potentially overcome the limitations of the synchronous crossbar described above . the locally determined switching avoids global communication and coordination , while enabling efficient utilization of connectivity . the high degree of pipelining enables high bandwidth by allowing many data bundles in flight at once . in addition , long wires are avoided , thereby speeding stage - to - stage transfers and reducing driver size . furthermore , an asynchronous global interconnect allows for all processing elements to be independently clocked . this eliminates the need for a global clock tree and allows processing elements to be clocked as fast as is locally possible . while the figures show only a limited number of ports , those of ordinary skill will recognize , in light of the above description , that the invention is readily adaptable to the inclusion of a larger number of ports and / or a larger number of bits per input port . in a preferred embodiment , the memory architecture of the interconnects of the present invention will include parallel memories ( i . e ., a partition of the memory ) so as to permit the system to achieve a digital signal processing ( dsp )- like rate ( for a general purpose processor ) for streaming data in and out of the chip . by providing a strong on - chip interconnect , the invention permits one to use each of the pins connecting the chip to the outside ( or clusters of such pins ), for a separate memory connection . thus , all of the pins can function in parallel . one can rely upon the high bandwidth of the interconnect to “ mix and match ” information once all of the relevant information is on - chip . all publications and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application had been specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference . the discussion of the background to the invention herein is included to explain the context of the invention . such explanation is not an admission that any of the material referred to was published , known , or part of the prior art or common general knowledge anywhere in the world as of the priority date of any of the aspects listed above . while the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof , it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications and this application is intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of the invention following , in general , the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth .	7
as indicated , the fluid compositions of the invention comprise an aqueous hydrated metal crosslinked galactomannan gum solution . preferred solutions are those derived from guar , hydroxypropyl guar , or carboxymethylhydroxypropyl guar , and mixtures thereof . initially , the hydrated metal gum solutions may be formed by providing the gum compositions in solid powder form , or as a suspension in a hydrocarbon liquid ( e . g ., diesel or kerosene ) and blending with a neutral or acidic aqueous solution , the hydrate forming a gel . as indicated , it is a surprising advantage of the invention that reduced concentrations of the hydrated crosslinked gum may be employed in the fluid . preferably , the concentrations of the hydrated metal crosslinked gum will be below 25 pounds per 1000 gallons , being most preferably from about 10 pounds to 25 pounds per 1000 gallons , it being understood that higher amounts may be employed . superior advantages accrue at levels of from 10 to 22 pounds per 1000 gallons of fluid . any suitable crosslinking metal ion , metal containing species , or mixture of such ions and species may be employed . accordingly , as used herein , the term &# 34 ; metal crosslinked &# 34 ; is understood to include crosslinking attributable to certain metal containing species , such as borate ion . the crosslinking ions or species may be provided , as indicated , by dissolving into the solution compounds containing the appropriate metals , or by other means . exemplary metal ions or metal containing species include those of boron , zirconium , and titanium , supplied from compounds such as boric acid , sodium borates , boron oxide , zirconium oxide , and titanium oxide . the concentration of added crosslinking metal releasing agent is dependent on factors such as the temperature and the amount of thickening agent employed , and will normally range from about 5 ppm to about 100 ppm , preferably from about 10 ppm to about 60 ppm . it is an important advantage of the invention that higher levels of the crosslinking metal ion or metal containing species may be employed , thereby insuring improved crosslinking . while cross - linking may be virtually immediate , a slight delay thereof , e . g ., up to twenty seconds or so , may actually be preferred in the field since it allows mixing and pumping of the precursor solution through surface equipment , formation of the composition being feasible on the fly . of course , persons of skill in the art would readily recognize that this invention may be employed using conventionally known polyol stabilizers , encapsulated crosslinkers , or timed released borate sources . any buffering agent or combination of such that will provide or maintain the solution at the necessary ph required may be employed . thus , the combination of a weak acid and its salts may be employed , so long as the ph of the solution is maintained in the range mentioned . for example , the corresponding acid and ammonium and alkali metal phosphates , carbonates , bicarbonates , sesquicarbonates , acetates , or mixtures thereof may be used . ammonium , potassium , and sodium carbonates , bicarbonates , sesquicarbonates and hydrogen phosphates are preferred as buffer salt components . for ph values toward the upper end of the range specified , combinations of alkali metal hydroxide and appropriate weak acid salt may be employed . for example , a buffer comprising a base such as naoh or ioh and a weak acid salt such as na 2 h 2 po 4 may be used . proportioning of the buffer components of the combinations to achieve the desired ph is well within the ambit of those skilled in the art . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , other additives commonly employed in fracturing solutions , such as breakers , clays , etc ., must be selected so that they do not significantly reduce the ph of the solution . as indicated , the ph required in the various embodiments of the invention ranges from about 9 . 0 to 11 , preferably from about 9 . 5 to about 10 . the amount of buffer required is , of course , an effective amount , i . e ., an amount sufficient to maintain the desired ph , given the additives and other components of the fluid . preferably , this amount will not exceed 50 pounds per 1000 gallons of fluid , most preferably , not more than about 20 pounds per 1000 gallons of fluid . in order to illustrate the invention more fully , the following procedures were performed . base fluids comprising fifteen pounds and twenty pounds of guar respectively per 1000 gallons of fresh water , optionally containing kci or similar salt , were prepared , and the guar in each was allowed to hydrate . the fluids also contained minor amounts of normal , non - active ( from the standpoint of crosslinking activity ) fracturing fluid additives such as a surfactant , a biocide , and a defoamer . these fluids were used in the tests reported hereinafter . sodium sesquicarbonate and sodium carbonate were added as a buffering agent to each base fluid in the amount of 12 pounds and 5 pounds , respectively , per 1000 gallons . finally , boric acid , as a 3 . 5 percent by weight solution in water , based on the weight of the water and acid , was mixed with each of the base fluids containing the buffer to give a concentration - triton of 1 . 5 pounds of boric acid per 1000 gallons . borate crosslinking of the guar was effected within 5 to 20 seconds . to demonstrate the suitability of the fluids for fracturing , viscosity tests were performed . the conditions of and results of the tests are given in the tables below . table i reports results with the 15 pound solution , while table ii reports results with the 20 pound solution . in both tables , viscosity results are rounded to the nearest 5th unit . table i______________________________________ viscosity , 100 sec . sup .- 1 ( cp ) temperature initial final ( 3 hours ) ______________________________________1 ) 100 ° f . 135 1202 ) 125 ° f . 140 1103 ) 150 ° f . 140 105______________________________________ table ii______________________________________ viscosity , 100 sec . sup .- 1 ( cp ) temperature initial final ( 3 hours ) ______________________________________1 ) 100 ° f . 350 2752 ) 125 ° f . 370 2553 ) 150 ° f . 290 2504 ) 175 ° f . 285 180______________________________________ as those skilled in the art will be aware , upon completion of fracturing , removal or breakdown of the fluid in the fracture is important , compositions called breakers ( e . g ., ammonium persulfate or peroxide ) being employed to assist in such . the retained conductivity of the formation after such withdrawal and / or breakdown is an important measure of fracturing - fluid efficiency . accordingly , standardized retained conductivity tests were run on two fluids according to the invention , utilizing a combination breaker system , the fluids containing 15 pounds ( a ) and 20 pounds ( b ), per 1000 gallons , respectively , of hydrated borate crosslinked galactomannan gum thickener . each fluid was buffered with 12 pounds of sodium sesquicarbonate and 5 pounds of sodium carbonate . proppant type was 20 / 40 badger sand at a concentration of 2 lbs / sq . ft . a two percent by weight kci solution was used as a base line solution . results are shown in table iii . table iii______________________________________ final polymer percent breaker closure cone conduc - retained temp lbs / 1000 pressure lbs / 1000 tivity conduc - fluid ° f . gal . ( psi ) gal ( darcy ) tivity______________________________________2 % kci 125 0 2000 -- 216 -- a 125 2 . 5 ( tot .) 2000 159 130 60b 125 3 . 0 ( tot .) 2000 188 106 49______________________________________ static fluid coefficients for fluids according to the invention were determined utilizing standard fluid loss coefficient procedures . results are shown in table iv . table iv______________________________________fluid temp . permeability cw spurt ( lbs / 1000 gal ) ° f . ( md ) ( ft / min . sup . 1 / 2 ) ( gal / 100 ft . sup . 2 ) ______________________________________15 100 0 . 76 0 . 0017 1 . 8215 125 0 . 77 0 . 0018 0 . 1515 150 0 . 73 0 . 0023 5 . 1720 100 0 . 77 0 . 0014 0 . 020 125 0 . 80 0 . 0016 0 . 020 150 0 . 71 0 . 0013 0 . 020 175 0 . 80 0 . 0032 0 . 0______________________________________ these results clearly demonstrate the suitability of the low concentration borate crosslinked guar solution , buffered according to the invention , for use as a fracturing fluid . in the manner described , supra , a fracturing fluid was prepared containing , per 1000 gallons , 10 pounds of guar , 1 . 5 pounds of boric acid , and 5 pounds each of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate . viscosity of solution at 90 of was 170 sec - 1 with greater than 100 cp . this further experiment demonstrates the ability of the borate - buffer combination to crosslink very reduced concentrations of galactomannan gum .	8
the present invention is directed to a material for removing gaseous pollutants from combustion exhaust streams , in which the material comprises an oxidation catalyst specie disposed on a high surface area support coated with an absorber material . the oxidation catalyst specie is selected from the group of noble metal elements , base metal transitional elements and combinations thereof . more particularly , the oxidation catalyst species are selected from platinum , palladium , rhodium , cobalt , nickel , iron , copper and molybdenum , and preferably , platinum and rhodium , and most preferably , platinum . the oxidation catalyst specie concentration is 0 . 05 to 0 . 6 percent by weight of the material , and preferably is 0 . 1 of 0 . 4 percent by weight of the material , and most preferably is 0 . 15 to 0 . 3 percent by weight of the material . more than one element may be used as an oxidation catalyst specie , and under these conditions each of said elements has a concentration in the range of 0 . 05 to 0 . 6 percent by weight . the high surface area support is made of alumina , zirconia , titania , silica or a combination of two or more of these oxides . preferably , the high surface area support is made of alumina . the surface area of the support is in the range of 50 to 350 square meters per gram , preferably 100 to 325 square meters per gram , and more preferably 200 to 300 square meters per gram . the high surface area support may be coated on a ceramic or metal matrix structure . the catalyst absorber may be in a shape such as a sphere , solid cylinder , hollow cylinder , star shape or wheel shape . the absorber is coated with at least one alkali or alkaline earth compound , which can be hydroxide compound , bicarbonate compound , or carbonate compound , or mixtures of hydroxides and / or bicarbonates and / or carbonated compounds . preferably , the absorber comprises substantially all carbonate , and most preferably sodium carbonate , potassium carbonate or calcium carbonate . the absorber is disposed on the material at a concentration in the range of 0 . 5 to 20 percent by weight of the material , preferably 5 . 0 to 15 percent by weight of the material , and most preferably about 10 % percent by weight of the material . the process for making the novel catalyst absorber of the present invention includes applying the oxidation catalyst specie from solution . the solution is preferably a nonaqueous solution . the oxidation catalyst specie may also be applied from chloride free aqueous solution . once applied the oxidation catalyst specie is dried after application and may be activated after application , possibly by calcining it . after the catalyst absorber is spent or partially spent , it can be reactivated . reactivation is accomplished by removing and replacing the spent absorber and disposing of the removed spent absorber . the spent absorber can be used as fertilizer in that it is rich in nitrogen , carbon and sulfur . alternatively , reactivation is accomplished by decomposing components formed by the combination of pollutants with the absorber and trapping the concentrated pollution gases for disposal or use . the apparatus of the present invention supports the catalyst absorber and contacts the catalyst absorber with a combustion exhaust . it includes a means for removing spent catalyst absorber from contact with the combustion gases and at the same time moving an equivalent amount of new or regenerated catalyst absorber into contact with the combustion gas to maintain a specified outlet pollution concentration limit . the apparatus is in the shape of a wheel or carousel , or it may be a fluid bed or two or more beds which are alternately used for absorption of pollutant gases and reactivated . as shown in fig1 a - c , the catalyst absorber of the present invention can take on different configurations . fig1 a shows a spherical catalyst absorber made up of an alumina sphere 10 with a platinum coating 12 and a carbonate coating 14 thereon . as shown in fig1 b , the surface of the sphere is very irregular so that there is an extremely large surface area per gram of material as described herein . as shown in fig1 c , the catalyst absorber can be in the form of a monolith surface including a ceramic or stainless steel support 20 , an alumina layer 22 , a platinum layer 24 and a carbonate layer 26 . the method of making the catalyst absorber is shown in fig2 . the catalyst / absorber of the present invention is made by starting with high surface area alumina spheres having a surface area of 50 to 350 squares per gram , these spheres being commercially available from several sources , and preferably from la roche chemicals , inc ., baton rouge , la . the spheres are approximately 1 / 8 inch in diameter . it will be appreciated that other forms of supports may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . the alumina spheres are washed with distilled water to remove small particles bound loosely to the surface . the spheres are then dried for about 16 hours at 300 ° f . to ensure that all of the cavities and interstices in the spheres are fully dried , and that the surface is free of water . the spheres are then stored in an air - tight container until ready for further processing . a solution of pt 2 - ethylhexanoate which contained 25 % pt was added to toluene to get a concentration of pt such that the weight of solution equal to the toluene uptake would contain sufficient pt to give a loading of 0 . 23 weight percent per weight of alumina . the platinum coated spheres were then dried for 3 hours at 900 ° f . in air . the spheres are then cooled to approximately room temperature and stored in an air - tight container again . the platinum coated spheres are then coated with an alkali or alkaline earth carbonate or bicarbonate coating , the alkali or alkaline earth carbonate or bicarbonate being selected from lithium , sodium , potassium or calcium carbonate or bicarbonate solution , preferably a sodium carbonate solution at a concentration of 14 percent by weight in distilled water . the water was heated to dissolve all of the sodium carbonate . the carbonate coated spheres were then dried at 300 ° f . for two hours . the final catalyst absorber had a coating of platinum in the amount of 0 . 23 weight percent added to the alumina , and 10 . 0 weight percent na 2 co 3 added to the alumina . the spheres are then disposed in a 3 × 3 × 6 inch wire mesh basket and used as described below . alternatively , another form of the catalyst absorber can be made using ceramic or metal monolith supports . tests were performed by taking a core plug of a metal monolith having approximately 300 openings per square inch , obtaining a core from the monolith of appropriate dimensions for use in the test equipment , coating the surface of the channels in the monolith with alumina from a water slurry , calcining at 900 ° f . for 3 hours , and cooling . this core is then coated with a platinum coating as described above with respect to the spheres and then the carbonate is applied by the method used for the spheres . after the catalyst absorber is exhausted or saturated , it can be regenerated . a typical regeneration procedure is as follows : 1 . the beads after cooling are transferred to containers approximately 7 &# 34 ;× 10 &# 34 ;× 5 &# 34 ;. the containers have closeable lids and inlet and outlet gas or drain lines . 2 . approximately 260 cubic inches of spheres are washed at 190 ° f . with 4 liters of demineralized water for five minutes with stirring . 4 . three liters of approximately 14 % sodium or potassium carbonate solution at 190 ° f . are added to the container . 5 . the spheres are stirred and soaked for 20 minutes , or as little as 2 to 5 minutes . 7 . in a 300 ° f . furnace the beads are dried for 45 minutes with approximately 10 scfm heated dry air flowing through the container . 8 . the weighed dry beads are returned to the screen container for reuse . as shown in fig3 the catalyst absorber of the present invention can be installed in a wheel apparatus to permit contacting stack gases with the catalyst absorber and regenerating the catalyst absorber after it is saturated or partially saturated . as shown in fig3 the wheel apparatus includes an inlet 30 for receiving the combustion gases and stack 32 for exhausting the treated gases , a cylindrical assembly 34 containing catalyst absorber and a regenerating unit 36 for regenerating the spent catalyst , the regenerating unit having an inlet 37 and outlet 38 for replenishing fresh regeneration fluid . the inner wall 39 and outer wall 40 of a portion of the wheel adjacent the stack 32 are perforated or otherwise vented to permit passage of the gas therethrough . the inner and / or outer walls 41 and 42 of the remainder of the wheel is closed so that the exhaust gases only exhaust through the stack 32 . a drive 44 is used to rotate the wheel either discretely or continuously . arrow a designates the direction of the drive 44 rotation and arrow b indicates the direction of the wheel rotation . as shown in fig4 an alternative arrangement for the catalyst absorber is disclosed , in which a carousel is used . the stack gases enter through the inlet 50 and exit through the stack 52 . the catalyst absorber is inserted in line with the stack gases at 54 , and when spent is retracted into the carousel at 56 and a new absorber installed . the spent catalyst absorber is then regenerated . fresh regeneration fluid enters through inlet 57 and is removed through outlet 58 . as shown in fig5 a fluidized bed apparatus is disclosed . this apparatus has a combustion gas inlet 60 and stack outlet 70 . there is a fluidized bed 62 in line with the gas which contains active catalyst absorber . a portion of the catalyst absorber is removed from the fluidized bed and moved to the regeneration unit 64 . regeneration fluid is sent into the regeneration unit at 65 and is removed by the fluid separator 66 . as shown in fig6 a multiple fluidized bed apparatus is disclosed . this apparatus has a combustion gas inlet 71 and stack outlet 80 . there is a first fluidized bed 72 in line with the gas which contains active catalyst absorber . there is a second fluidized bed 73 which is being regenerated . the first fluidized bed has inlet 77 and outlet 76 with valves to permit regeneration fluid in and out . the second fluidized bed has inlet 75 and outlet 74 with valves to permit regeneration fluid in and out . valve 78 controls whether combustion gases go to the first or second fluidized bed . a most preferred arrangement is shown in fig7 - 10 . the catalyst is disposed in a frame 710 having discrete beds of catalyst 730 at the end of the final heat exchanger for the turbine flue gas . the gas leaving the heat exchanger and entering the catalyst section is at a temperature of about 300 ° f . it has been found that the catalyst may be regenerated by subjecting the spent catalyst to a stream of reducing gas . this preferred method of regeneration is described in detail in commonly assigned co - pending patent application ser . no . 08 / 371 , 274 filed dec . 23 , 1994 , and incorporated herein by reference . in order to achieve the regeneration the reducing gas , such as hydrogen , must be contacted with the spent catalyst . it is contemplated that only a portion of the catalyst would need to be regenerated at one time , leaving the remainder to continue to remove the contaminants . thus the apparatus has been adapted to divert the flue gas from a particular section of the catalyst and to direct the reducing gas thereon . additionally , means have been provided to remove the regeneration gas separately from the flue gas exiting the catalyst section . the apparatus for regenerating the catalyst is shown in fig7 - 10 . fig7 generally shows the catalyst 730 in frame 710 disposed in the exhaust 700 of turbine . the turbine exhaust gases pass through the frame 710 and then out the stack 750 . the regeneration gas is provided by conduit 701 to header 702 which is then fed to the individual sections of the catalyst to be regenerated . the individual or discrete beds of catalyst 730 are covered by hoods 720a - 720c which preclude the exhaust gases from contacting the catalyst bed being regenerated . referring now to fig8 and 10 a hood arrangement for regenerating individual sections of catalyst is shown . in this embodiment each discrete bed of catalyst 730 is one foot in height and there are 23 individual beds . there are four moveable hoods 720a - 720d which are connected by regeneration gas header 702 . additionally there are four other moveable hoods 740a - 740d which collect the spent regeneration gas to prevent it from exiting with the exhaust gases out the stack . the regeneration gas is collected in the header 703 and exits through the conduit 706 . the moveable hoods are raised or lowered by a screw mechanism 704 / 705 a maximum of five feet . four of the individual discrete beds are regenerated at once and then the hoods raised to another level , e . g . the next bed level by the screw mechanism 704 / 705 . the hoods are shown in the uppermost position in fig9 . when the last bed is regenerated the hoods are lowered back down to the lowest position and the process can begin again . in fig8 and 9 the flow of exhaust gas is indicated by the arrows . in fig8 the hood sets 720a - 720d / 740a - 740d are aligned with beds 19 , 13 , 7 and 1 , respectively . after the appropriate regeneration cycle , the screw 704 is operated to raise screw 705 and the associated hood sets one or more bed levels . in normal operation the regeneration would move up one bed after each regeneration cycle and return to position shown in fig8 after completion of the cycle shown in fig9 where the hood sets are on beds 23 , 17 , 11 and 5 . thus the regeneration can be carried out on a continuous or intermittent schedule that will result in a repeat of the cycle as the catalyst is deactivated . in the following examples , gas measurements were made as follows ; co was measured by a teco model 48 infrared analyzer , co 2 was measured by a horiba co 2 infrared meter and no and no 2 were measured using a teco model # 10r chemiluminescent detector with a stainless steel converter . sulfur oxides were measured using a teco model # 43a pulsed fluorescence so 2 analyzer . in each of the following experiments , the starting gas was obtained from a slip stream from the turbine exhaust from a cogeneration plant turbine . the catalyst absorber was disposed in two wire mesh baskets having a 3 inch by 3 inch by 6 inch geometry and placed in line with the slip stream in series to minimize any edge effects and ensure that all of the slip stream comes in contact with the catalyst absorber . the space velocity of the slip stream was 18 , 000 hr - 1 . the two temperatures listed indicate the temperature for the upstream first basket and the temperature for the downstream second basket . all pollutant measurements are in ppm . nox is the total concentration of nitrogen oxide ( no ) and nitrogen dioxide ( no 2 ) . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 10 . 98 ppmno in , 29 . 0 ppmnox in , 33 . 0 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 230 216 0 . 36 3 . 0 3 . 0 : 30 355 323 0 . 18 3 . 0 4 . 0 : 45 355 328 0 . 20 3 . 0 4 . 01 hr . 354 329 0 . 19 3 . 0 5 . 01 : 15 352 328 0 . 20 3 . 0 5 . 01 : 30 351 328 0 . 23 2 . 5 6 . 01 : 45 350 327 0 . 25 3 . 0 7 . 02 hrs . 348 325 0 . 17 7 . 0 8 . 02 : 15 348 325 0 . 17 7 . 0 8 . 02 : 30 348 325 0 . 19 8 . 0 10 . 02 : 45 348 325 0 . 18 9 . 0 10 . 03 hrs . 348 325 0 . 18 10 . 0 11 . 03 : 15 347 325 0 . 17 11 . 0 12 . 03 : 30 346 323 0 . 17 11 . 0 12 . 03 : 45 346 322 0 . 18 12 . 0 13 . 0______________________________________ the catalyst absorber was regenerated and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 9 . 91 ppmno in , 30 . 0 ppmnox in , 36 . 0 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 135 162 2 . 49 16 . 0 16 . 0 : 30 365 160 . 13 5 . 0 5 . 0 : 45 363 351 . 05 2 . 0 2 . 01 hr . 363 353 . 05 2 . 5 2 . 51 : 15 362 353 . 08 4 . 0 4 . 01 : 30 362 352 . 05 4 . 5 5 . 01 : 45 362 354 . 07 5 . 5 6 . 02 hrs . 362 354 . 07 6 . 0 7 . 02 : 15 362 354 . 07 7 . 0 8 . 02 : 30 361 353 . 06 7 . 5 8 . 52 : 45 362 354 . 09 8 . 5 9 . 53 hrs . 362 354 . 08 9 . 0 10 . 03 : 15 362 354 . 08 9 . 0 10 . 53 : 30 363 355 . 08 10 . 0 11 . 53 : 45 363 356 . 08 10 . 0 12 . 04 hrs . 364 356 . 07 10 . 5 12 . 5______________________________________ it is believed that the first reading at 15 minutes showed high pollution level because the temperature of the catalyst absorber was below the necessary temperature for oxidation . the catalyst absorber was regenerated a second time and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the twice regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 13 . 16 ppmno in , 26 . 0 ppmnox in , 32 . 5 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 133 134 0 . 2 23 . 0 23 . 0 : 30 296 139 3 . 02 16 . 0 16 . 0 : 45 313 142 0 . 43 7 . 5 7 . 51 hr . 296 296 0 . 30 6 . 0 6 . 01 : 15 285 285 0 . 34 7 . 0 7 . 01 : 30 279 278 0 . 37 8 . 5 8 . 51 : 45 282 273 0 . 40 10 . 0 10 . 02 hrs . 304 290 0 . 30 9 . 5 9 . 52 : 15 320 308 0 . 25 9 . 5 10 . 02 : 30 330 319 0 . 22 10 . 0 11 . 02 : 45 339 329 0 . 20 10 . 5 12 . 03 hrs . 343 334 0 . 20 11 . 5 12 . 53 : 15 347 338 0 . 22 12 . 0 14 . 0______________________________________ the catalyst absorber was regenerated again and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the three time regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 12 . 13 ppmno in , 28 . 0 ppmnox in , 34 . 0 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 142 155 7 . 61 20 . 0 20 . 0 : 30 352 195 0 . 30 3 . 0 3 . 0 : 45 350 342 0 . 22 2 . 5 2 . 51 hr . 351 342 0 . 23 3 . 0 3 . 51 : 15 351 343 0 . 24 4 . 0 4 . 51 : 30 351 345 0 . 24 5 . 0 5 . 51 : 45 351 344 0 . 27 6 . 0 6 . 52 hrs . 352 345 0 . 24 6 . 5 7 . 52 : 15 351 346 0 . 24 8 . 0 9 . 02 : 30 351 345 0 . 23 8 . 0 9 . 02 : 45 351 345 0 . 30 9 . 0 10 . 03 hrs . 350 343 0 . 37 9 . 5 11 . 03 : 15 350 342 0 . 28 10 . 0 12 . 03 : 30 348 341 0 . 30 11 . 0 12 . 03 : 45 348 341 0 . 30 12 . 0 13 . 5______________________________________ the catalyst absorber was regenerated again and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the four time regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 13 . 16 ppmno in , 28 . 0 ppmnox in , 34 . 0 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 132 132 10 . 28 22 . 0 23 . 0 : 30 353 143 1 . 22 8 . 0 8 . 0 : 45 351 259 0 . 45 4 . 0 4 . 51 hr . 350 338 0 . 42 4 . 0 4 . 51 : 15 349 338 0 . 43 5 . 0 5 . 51 : 30 349 338 0 . 41 6 . 0 6 . 51 : 45 349 339 0 . 41 7 . 0 7 . 52 hrs . 349 339 0 . 42 8 . 0 9 . 02 : 15 348 338 0 . 46 8 . 5 9 . 52 : 30 349 339 0 . 45 9 . 5 10 . 52 : 45 349 339 0 . 49 10 . 0 11 . 53 hrs . 349 339 0 . 48 10 . 5 12 . 03 : 15 350 340 0 . 55 11 . 0 13 . 0______________________________________ the conditions for this series of experiments was the same as those for experiment no . 1 . this series was begun with a new catalyst absorber of the same type and configuration as described above for experiment no . 1 . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 10 . 98 ppmno in , 29 . 0 ppmnox in , 33 . 0 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 345 225 0 . 20 2 . 0 2 . 0 : 30 348 308 0 . 19 2 . 0 2 . 5 : 45 350 315 0 . 22 2 . 0 2 . 01 hr . 350 317 0 . 24 2 . 0 2 . 51 : 15 351 317 0 . 23 2 . 5 2 . 51 : 30 351 318 0 . 23 3 . 0 3 . 01 : 45 351 317 0 . 24 3 . 5 4 . 02 hrs . 351 317 0 . 26 5 . 0 7 . 02 : 15 350 318 0 . 24 6 . 0 8 . 02 : 30 351 319 0 . 25 8 . 0 10 . 02 : 45 351 320 0 . 23 10 . 0 11 . 03 hrs . 352 320 0 . 26 10 . 0 12 . 03 : 15 352 320 0 . 22 11 . 0 12 . 03 : 30 353 321 0 . 26 11 . 0 13 . 0______________________________________ the catalyst absorber was regenerated and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 11 ppmno in , 29 ppmnox in , 33 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 144 142 7 . 75 20 . 0 20 . 0 : 30 374 142 0 . 39 5 . 0 5 . 0 : 45 372 358 0 . 17 2 . 0 2 . 01 hr . 371 362 0 . 15 1 . 5 2 . 01 : 15 370 363 0 . 17 3 . 0 3 . 51 : 30 370 363 0 . 17 4 . 0 4 . 51 : 45 368 361 0 . 18 4 . 5 5 . 02 hrs . 367 369 0 . 13 5 . 0 6 . 02 : 15 367 360 0 . 15 6 . 5 7 . 52 : 30 366 358 0 . 17 7 . 5 8 . 52 : 45 366 359 0 . 18 8 . 0 9 . 03 hrs . 366 358 0 . 14 9 . 0 10 . 03 : 15 366 358 0 . 17 10 . 0 11 . 03 : 30 365 358 0 . 17 10 . 0 11 . 53 : 45 363 356 0 . 18 10 . 5 12 . 04 hrs . 362 354 0 . 17 11 . 5 13 . 0______________________________________ the catalyst again absorber was regenerated and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the twice regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 11 ppmno in , 29 ppmnox in , 33 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 186 142 5 . 53 18 . 0 18 . 0 : 30 279 144 2 . 65 12 . 0 13 . 0 : 45 275 255 0 . 85 7 . 0 7 . 01 hr . 271 254 0 . 65 7 . 0 7 . 01 : 15 267 253 0 . 77 9 . 0 9 . 01 : 30 274 255 0 . 78 10 . 0 10 . 01 : 45 283 262 0 . 73 11 . 0 11 . 02 hrs . 284 266 0 . 68 11 . 0 11 . 52 : 15 282 266 0 . 68 13 . 0 13 . 0______________________________________ the catalyst absorber was regenerated again and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the three time regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________initial starting pollutant levelsco in . 9 . 05 ppmno in , 26 . 0 ppmnox in , 32 . 0 ppmtime temp 1 temp 2 co out no out nox outhrs : min (° f .) (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________ : 15 354 142 1 . 06 7 . 0 7 . 0 : 30 356 150 0 . 49 2 . 0 2 . 0 : 45 354 338 0 . 41 2 . 0 2 . 01 hr . 351 337 0 . 43 2 . 0 3 . 01 : 15 352 338 0 . 45 3 . 0 5 . 01 : 30 352 339 0 . 50 6 . 0 7 . 01 : 45 352 337 0 . 50 7 . 0 8 . 02 hrs . 351 338 0 . 50 8 . 0 9 . 02 : 15 350 336 0 . 49 8 . 5 9 . 52 : 30 349 335 0 . 50 9 . 0 10 . 02 : 45 348 334 0 . 56 10 . 0 11 . 03 hrs . 348 334 0 . 58 11 . 0 12 . 0______________________________________ this experiment was run using a monolith core catalyst in a laboratory set up under the conditions set forth below . the space velocity was 10 , 000 hr - 1 s . the initial starting pollutant levels are set out at time zero ( 0 ) minutes . only one catalyst absorber unit was used and the temperature was measured just before the catalyst absorber . ______________________________________time temp co nox no sulfur ( so . sub . 2 ) minutes (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________input 351 18 . 0 33 . 0 29 . 0 0 . 5concentrations 1 405 0 1 . 0 0 . 5 2 415 1 . 0 0 . 5 0 . 35 5 420 0 . 75 0 . 05910 480 0 . 45 0 . 00420 401 0 0 . 4 032 380 2 . 4 0 . 00442 408 2 . 3 0 . 00748 360 1 . 5 0 . 00150 344 1 . 85 0 . 00264 296 5 . 2 4 . 2 0 . 01675 291 8 . 6 7 . 1 0 . 02385 291 9 . 0 0 . 037______________________________________ the catalyst absorber was regenerated and the experiment was run again under the same conditions using the regenerated catalyst absorber . ______________________________________time temp co nox no sulfur ( so . sub . 2 ) minutes (° f .) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________input 20 . 0 34 . 0 31 . 0 0 . 51concentrations 0 . 5 378 0 . 1 1 . 8 0 . 08 1 369 0 . 1 1 . 8 0 . 02 2 343 0 . 1 1 . 75 1 . 55 0 . 32 3 326 0 . 1 1 . 75 1 . 6 0 . 19 6 300 0 . 1 2 . 0 1 . 85 0 . 0510 286 0 . 1 2 . 6 2 . 6 0 . 02512 284 0 . 1 3 . 0 0 . 02121 287 0 . 1 5 . 0 0 . 02125 288 0 . 1 6 . 2 6 . 2 0 . 02430 291 0 . 1 9 . 0 7 . 9 0 . 0247 300 0 . 1 13 . 5 12 . 5 0 . 05______________________________________ in the following experiment , the starting gas was obtained from a slip stream from the turbine exhaust from a cogeneration plant turbine , as with experiments 1 and 2 . the catalyst has the same configuration as in experiments 1 and 2 . the space velocity of the slip stream was 18 , 000 hr - 1 . the temperature for the upstream first basket was 330 ° f . and 300 ° f . for the downstream second basket . all pollutant measurements are in ppm . ______________________________________time o nox no no . sub . 2minutes ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ( ppm ) ______________________________________input 20 . 0 33 27 6concentrations0 0 1 . 5 1 . 5 0 . 5 0 1 . 5 1 . 5 01 . 5 0 5 5 103 0 10 10 0______________________________________ to apply the catalyst absorber to the continuous reduction of gaseous pollutants in stack gases , an apparatus is required . the catalyst absorber is moved into contact with the stack gas and remains there until the outlet levels of carbon monoxide , nitrogen oxides and / or sulfur oxides exceed some specified low concentrations . the catalyst absorber is then moved out of contact with the stack gases for regeneration while being replaced with fresh or previously regenerated catalyst absorber . the regenerated catalyst absorber is cycled back into contact with the stack gases in sequence . the apparatus to apply the catalyst absorber of the present invention can be in the form of a wheel or carousel , a portion of which is in contact with the stack gas and a portion of which is outside of contact with the stack gas . in this case , the catalyst absorber is mounted to the wheel and moves in and out of the stack gas stream as the wheel rotates . the apparatus may alternatively be a moving continuous belt with the catalyst absorber being disposed on the belt . alternatively , a fluidized bed of the alumina spheres of the catalyst absorbed can be located in the stack gas stream . in this embodiment a small fraction of the catalyst absorber , for example , one percent per minute , is continuously removed , regenerated and returned . any other apparatus could be used to accomplish the goals specified herein , the choice of such apparatus depending upon the individual applications . it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes and modifications can be made to the presently described process , apparatus and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . it is contemplated that the present invention is encompassed by the claims as presented herein and by all variations thereof coming within the scope of equivalents accorded thereto .	8
the present invention uses naturally odiferous chemical compounds that have been known to produce deterrents or repellents for other animals , mixed together to produce a mixture that will repel squamate reptiles , such as without limitation snakes , particularly snakes common to the u . s . the composition of the present invention may be prepared as a concentrate and then administered via a hose spray , or mixed with water in another manner . additionally , it may be prepared as “ ready to use ” with the sufficient quantity of water to allow spreading , but not too much to dilute the amounts of garlic oil , putrescent egg solids and one or more of : menthol , menthene , camphor , camphene , carvacrol , thymol , carvone or 1 , 8 - cineol so that the squamate reptiles , such as without limitation snakes , do not detect the repellent in the vomeronasal organ , or detect and ignore the repellent . the preferred ranges for these components are set forth in table 2 . additionally , the compositions may be prepared as liquids which are then deposited on solids , e . g . without limitation particulates , granules , crushed egg shells , sawdust , diatomaceous earth , dried kelp , and fuller &# 39 ; s earth . it is preferred that the solids are fine because they are easier to disperse in the barriers or snakes &# 39 ; habitats . other embodiments of the present invention include : garlic oil , putrescent egg solids and one or more of compositions containing high levels of menthol , menthene , camphor , camphene , carvacrol , thymol , carvone or 1 , 8 - cineol . compositions containing high levels of menthol and / or menthene include but are not limited to cornmint oil , spearmint oil , horsemint oil , round leaf mint oil , oil of hyssop , japanese mint oil , european pennyroyal , and american pennyroyal . compositions containing high levels of camphor , camphene and / or 1 , 8 - cineol include but are not limited to tea tree oil , cardamon oil , red thyme oil ( thymus vulgaris ), white thyme oil ( thymus zygis ), spanish marjoram oil ( thymus mantichina ), rosemary oil and sage oil . other embodiments include garlic oil , putrescent egg solids , and mint oils . the preferred mint oil have either high levels ( either individually or net ) of one or more of : menthol , menthene , camphor , camphene , carvacrol , thymol , carvone and 1 , 8 - cineol . in some embodiments , surfactants , preferably without limitation alkyl sulfates , more preferably sodium lauryl sulfates , may be used to maintain homogeneity of the composition . weaker surfactants will need to be present in higher amounts than stronger surfactants , such as sodium lauryl sulfates . in some embodiments , it may be desirable to add additional components to the compositions , such as plant fertilizers , plant growth stimulants , repellents for other animals , repellents for insects , colorants , preservatives , dyes , and perfumes . it is believed without being limited to mechanism , that the composition repels snake due to the exposure of the composition and its components to the snake &# 39 ; s tongue and vomeronasal organ . the following study shows that snakes were repelled from the composition set forth in table 1 . fifty - one ( 51 ) snakes were tested for their response to the formulation set forth in table 1 . most of the snakes were members of the family colubridae . the snakes and how they were acquired are set forth in table 2 . the snakes were kept on a 14 hr . light / 10 hr . dark schedule . small snakes were fed twice weekly and large snakes were fed weekly . water was available ad libidum . a few of the snakes did not survive the entire test prior for reasons apparently unrelated to the testing . the testing occurred in wooden chambers 119 cm in internal length , 28 cm in internal width and 28 cm in internal height . the floor , back and sides were wood painted with an odorless paint , and the front was plexiglass , while the top was a screen in a wooden frame . the front of each chamber was marked in one centimeter intervals . the floors were lined with newspaper and 2 wooden shelters were placed at each end of the chamber ( one at each end ). during the trial , a snake was placed in the center of the chamber and allowed to acclimate for 60 minutes . during some runs , a light was placed over one of the shelters to provide a source of heat . snakes sometimes are attracted to heat . controls were run with no repellent in the chambers . during the other trials , absorbent pads were placed in one shelter on top of duct tape ( which was over the floor ) at about the point designated 0 cm . at the end of the acclimation period , about 1 . 5 ml of the formulation was added to the absorbent pad . the snake &# 39 ; s position was then recorded every ten minutes until fifteen positions were recorded . the snakes behaved in three different ways . first , some snakes entered a coiled position and remained essentially motionless . second , some snakes wandered about the chamber for the entire test . third , some snakes intermittently moved gradually from one part of the chamber to another . all three behaviors were recorded in control trials and experimental trials . a few snakes escaped through cracks between the lid and wall , and were recaptured in time to be re - introduced to the chamber before the next positional reading . some snakes moved about frequently and showed no overt reaction to the repellent . however , other snakes did stop near the repellent , flicked their tongues and moved in a different direction , noticing the repellent . the mean average position for each treatment produced the following mean of the snakes &# 39 ; average positions . the mean of the average positions of the snakes was tested using two way analysis of variance in order to separate the effects of heat and repellent . the repellent effects were highly significant , while the light effect was non - significant . the repellent was present at about 0 cm , and from these results , it is apparent that the snakes preferred to stay away from the repellent . based on these results , the formulation had a definite repellent effect . there were some snakes that were restless in both the control and experimental trials . it is possible that this restlessness was caused by the motivation to escape , and that non - captive snakes would have a stronger tendency to avoid the repellent . it is to be understood that while the invention has been described in conjunction with the detailed description thereof , that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention , which is defined by the scope of the appended claims . other aspects , advantages , and modifications are evident from a review of the following claims .	8
particular embodiments of the present invention will now be described . the invention may , however , be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein ; rather , these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete , and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art . fig4 is a diagrammatic drawing of a device for suppression of undesired temporal variations in a video frame sequence . generally , the functional sections ( represented by rectangles in fig4 ) do not necessarily refer to physically separate entities ; at least some of the functional sections may be combined into multi - functional sections , or may even be embodied as computer - executable instructions . to provide insight into the purpose of the functional sections in fig4 , a high - level description of the system is provided before a sequential description of the operations described in fig4 . the input to the system in fig4 is a sequence 1100 of frames ( a first video signal ), which may suffer from flicker . the sequence corresponds to a time - domain sampling of the observed scene , each time - domain sample of the video signal consisting of a set of pixel values ( or vectors ) that represent a spatial sampling of the scene . the output is a second sequence of frames ( a second video signal ) 1800 , where the flicker is essentially removed . in the following , it is assumed that the pixel value is a scalar representing luminance . however , it is understood that the input can be a vector of any dimension describing the color and intensity of the pixel in a particular format . the operations can then be performed for each component separately . for the purpose of this description it is defined , in addition to flicker cycle ( see above ), the term current flicker interval . a current flicker interval refers to a time interval that includes one flicker cycle that includes the current time instant . the precise duration of the flicker interval is not critical , but it is advantageously sufficiently long to include the maximum expected duration of the flicker cycle and sufficiently short to not be biased by intentional scene changes . as an example , for a 30 - frames - per - second video recording and a 50 - hz lighting system , the current flicker interval is set to seven times the time sampling interval . to reduce the flickering , the system of fig4 computes a mapping 1700 that assigns an output pixel value to each possible input pixel value . the actual mapping for each pixel is executed in a mapping operator 700 . the result of the pixel - by - pixel mapping is that the sequence 1100 of video frames ( the first video signal ) is mapped to the second video signal 1800 . the mapping 1700 is based on knowledge of a set of desired values 1600 of each of the quantiles . the desired quantiles together with the corresponding cumulative probabilities form the guidance number pairs . importantly , even if the desired quantiles do not vary over time , the output from the pixel mapping operator 700 — i . e ., the corrected frames — may contain residual flicker due to saturation or resolution effects . consider a video - signal frame f 1 and a video - signal frame f 2 . now consider a set of pixels with identical luminance values in frame f 1 . this set of pixels may not have identical values in frame f 2 , that is , frame f 2 may resolve image features that are not visible in frame f 1 . in a common example of this effect , the pixels are saturated in frame f 1 but not in frame f 2 . the mapping operator 700 then outputs a flickering image as certain features are resolved at some times ( of which frame f 2 is an example ) and not at other times ( of which frame f 1 is an example ). therefore , a major objective of the device shown in fig4 is to resolve in the output 1800 only those features that are resolved in all frames of sequence 1100 over an interval of duration somewhat larger than the current flicker cycle . to avoid ambiguity it is noted that quantiles are effectively a function of cumulative probability ( in this embodiment , the quantiles are evaluated for a set of fixed cumulative probability values ) and that “ not resolving image features ” is equivalent to the quantile value being constant over the range of cumulative probabilities in which such image features are displayed . this is illustrated in fig3 for the exemplary frames f 1 ( solid line ) and f 2 ( dashed line ). it is seen that the quantile function of cumulative probability is constant for frame f 2 for cumulative probabilities between 0 . 75 and 1 . 0 . this corresponds to saturation of bright spatial regions in the image . importantly , the present invention requires knowledge only of a subset of quantiles and not of an entire curve of the type displayed in fig3 . the mapping 700 is constructed from corresponding sets of desired quantiles and input - frame quantiles — herein referred to as basic quantiles — for a frame . the basic quantiles and their corresponding quantiles form the number pairs . if an input value corresponds to a particular basic quantile from the set , then the output value is the corresponding particular desired quantile . let q basic and q desir denote the set of basic and desired quantiles for a predefined set of cumulative probabilities . a mapping v : q basic → q desir can then be written as : where q basic and q desir are the basic and desired quantiles , respectively . note that the quantile q basic is a function of the cumulative probability p , i . e . q basic = q basic ( p ), where q basic denotes a function . advantageously , q basic is the image under q basic of a set of 12 cumulative probabilities , thus , q basic = q basic ( p ). smaller and larger sets can also be used , with smaller sets generally requiring a lower computational effort . if the set of basic quantiles q basic contained all possible values of luminance , then the input - output mapping would be complete . in practice , it is possible to construct the mapping 700 from a small set of basic and desired quantile pairs , such as those pairs specified by the 12 cumulative probabilities in the set p , and by assuming that the mapping 700 is monotone . the remaining parts of the mapping can be found by interpolation between the values obtained with the function v of equation ( 1 ) for the input values q basic εq basic and subsequent rounding off to a suitable set of integer values . advantageously , linear interpolation is used . let q represent the finite set of discrete pixel values ( in 8 - bit coding , q ={ 0 , 1 , . . . , 255 }) then a mapping w desir : q → q can be written as : as mentioned above , the invention aims to remedy the fact that the mapping constructed in the above manner does not resolve image features that are resolved in other frames of the current flicker interval . it is noted that the input has the same discrete scale and the same finite range as the output . furthermore , the basic quantiles are a property of the input frame and , therefore , fixed . the goal of not resolving image features must therefore be reached by changing the output levels , i . e ., the desired quantiles . consider the quantile function q ( p ). not resolving image features means that the corresponding quantiles are constant as a function of the cumulative probability p in a particular range of p , i . e . : where p 0 and p 1 specify the boundaries of the range . there is a fixed number of input levels in q and the same number of output levels at most ( two input levels may be mapped to the same output level ). hence , the presence of constant - quantile intervals ( corresponding to constant - quantile regions in the image ) in some frames imply that the goal of not resolving image features is reachable only if the number of levels used of the output scale is made lower , in other frames of the flicker cycle , than that of the input scale . thus , not resolving image features , the reduction of resolution , in a certain cumulative probability range comes at the price of either a coarser description of the desired quantiles for other quantile ranges , or of a reduction in the dynamic range . clearly both effects are undesirable and the reduction in resolution should be minimized . generally it is desirable to have an image with a large dynamic range so that , advantageously , the option of increasing the coarseness of the desired - quantile scale is selected . while the non - resolving of image features can occur for any quantile range , it most commonly happens near the ends of the pixel - value scale . that is , for reasons of truncation , very dark features and / or very bright features are commonly not resolved in some frames of the current flicker interval . the above overview discusses the operation of the function sections of the system illustrated in fig4 . below follows a step - by - step description of the same system . for each frame , basic - quantiles computer 100 computes a set of quantiles . depending on the resolution of the image and on the quality required , the quantiles can be based on all pixels of the frame or on a subset of pixels based on a spatial sub - sampling of the pixels . advantageously a regular sub - sampling by an integer number can be used for this purpose . the quantiles can be estimated with any of the many well - known methods . for example the quantiles can be computed by sorting the pixel values and selecting the pixel value corresponding to the m &# 39 ; th value of the sorted set such that : where p is the cumulative distribution value of the quantile and n is the number of pixels used for the estimation of the quantile . let the output of the function x ( t , m ) represent the m &# 39 ; th value of the sorted set at sampling time t , then the basic quantile at time t can be estimated from the frame pixel values as where q basic ( t , p ) is a function that maps the cumulative distribution value p and sampling time t onto the basic - quantile value , many other methods exist to estimate the basic quantiles directly , some of which do not require the computation of the cumulative distribution function . the flicker of a sequence of images can be observed directly in the basic quantiles , without further use of the frame pixels . that is , the time variation of q basic ( t , p ), with p chosen suitably , will indicate flicker in the image . as an alternative , consecutive frame - wise means of the pixel values can be monitored for oscillations ; cf . fig2 in which flicker occurs from the 20 th frame and onwards . moreover , the quantiles directly provide information about whether the corresponding image is bright or dark . this is a convenient aspect of using quantiles for the analysis of flicker . this information is not conveniently available in the cumulative distribution function . consecutive sets of basic quantiles are stored in a buffer 200 for a finite time duration , a sliding time window . advantageously , the sliding window has a length of at least one cycle of the flicker . it is natural to set the length of the sliding time window to that of the current flicker interval defined above . the stored sets of basic quantiles are processed in both bright - quantile computer 300 and dark - quantile computer 400 . as will be seen below , the use of two types of processing facilitates the elimination of resolution of certain image features . the bright - quantile computer 300 computes the time maximum over the sliding time window for a subset of the basic auantiles , that is , q bright ⁡ ( t , p ) = max t - t 2 & lt ; s ≤ t + t 2 ⁢ q basic ⁡ ( s , p ) where t is the length of the sliding time window ( s being a discrete quantity ) and pεp ⊂ p . advantageously , the subset is selected to be all the basic quantiles , i . e ., p ′= p . the output of 300 then consists of sets of time - maximum quantiles , one set for each time sample ( frame ) of the video signal . this set of outputs are referred to as the bright quantiles for the sliding window . usually , but not necessarily , the output of 300 is the set of quantiles of the brightest frame of the set of frames corresponding to the sliding window . if the sliding window is at least as long as one cycle of the flicker , then the bright quantiles display little flickering . it is noted that the output of bright - quantile computer 300 can be , as an alternative , the second brightest time value of the basic quantile , the average of the two brightest time values of a basic quantiles , or another similar indicator that numerically characterizes the temporal peak of a basic quantile over the sliding time window . such indicators may be selected because they have the advantage of a smaller estimation error than a simple maximum . the estimation error ultimately results in a jitter in the brightness level . it is understood that ‘ maximum ’, in this context , may refer to any such indicator . an important motivation for the invention is that pixels belonging to the bright quantiles do not resolve image features that are saturated and , therefore , not resolved in at least one frame of the current flicker interval . in the case of bright saturation , the maximum of one or more bright quantiles will then be equal to the maximal admissible value , max q . as the 1 . 0 - quantile equals max q by definition , saturation can be described as a coincidence of this quantile and the next highest one , such as the 0 . 98 - quantile ; if the saturation is severe , there may be even more coinciding quantiles . in practice , this means that the main source of residual flicker is removed when the mapping 1700 is based on the bright quantiles . the dynamic range of the image corresponding to the bright quantiles is usually reduced from that of the input frame at the same time sample . if the bright quantiles were used as desired quantiles , the resulting output video signal would in general be overly bright . this is one reason why a satisfactory deflickering algorithm cannot be based on the set of bright quantiles alone . the dark - quantile computer 400 computes the minimum of a subset of the quantiles , each drawn from the frames of basic - quantiles within the sliding window . its operation is similar to that of the bright - quantile computer 300 . alternatively , and without a strong effect on the final outcome of the method , the dark - quantile computer 400 can compute the time median of each quantile : q dark ⁡ ( t , p ) = median t - t 2 & lt ; s ≤ t + t 2 ⁢ q basic ⁡ ( s , p ) , ⁢ p ∈ p ′ , ( for clarity it is emphasized that , with this definition , q dark ( 0 . 50 ) is the time median of the sequence of pixel - value medians ) or the temporal minimum of each quantile : q dark ⁡ ( t , p ) = min t - t 2 & lt ; s ≤ t + t 2 ⁢ q basic ⁡ ( s , p ) , ⁢ p ∈ p ′ . as an alternative , the dark - quantile computer 400 could compute the temporal average of the quantiles , q dark ⁡ ( t , p ) = 1 t ⁢ ∑ s = t - t 2 + 1 t + t 2 ⁢ q basic ⁡ ( s , p ) , ⁢ p ∈ p ′ , t being the length of the discrete , sliding time window , or other similar quantities useful as indicators , such as the minimum over the sliding time window . as with the bright quantiles , the skilled person may effectuate variations beyond to the formulas above when devising the computation of the dark quantiles . in this process , the minimization of the associated estimation error may be used as a guiding principle in addition to routine experimentation . like the bright quantiles , the dark quantiles generally do not suffer from flicker . however , if the dark quantiles are used for constructing the mapping 1700 , the corrected image may either be too dark ( if the minima over the sliding time window are used as dark quantiles ) or have about the right level of brightness ( if the medians or averages are used as dark quantiles ). however , the dark quantiles generally resolve image features that are saturated and , thus , not resolved in at least one frame of the flicker interval . this means that if the set of dark quantiles is used as the set of desired quantiles , then a residual flicker generally remains for bright image features . on the other hand , if the minimum estimator is used , then the dark quantiles do not resolve features that are not resolved in some of the frames of the current flicker interval because their luminance value falls to zero . this means that the dark quantiles remove residual flicker in dark spatial regions . it should be noted , however , that some residual flicker in dark spatial regions generally is not perceptually annoying . the outputs of the bright - quantile computer 300 and dark - quantile computer 400 are a set of bright quantiles and a set of dark quantiles for each sampling time t . neither set itself suffers from temporal flicker but applying correction based on one of them would either lead to an overly bright or too dark image . if used as desired quantiles , bright quantiles may result in residual flicker in dark spatial regions , and dark quantiles may result in residual flicker in bright spatial regions . to remedy this problem , a desired - quantile computer 500 combines the bright quantiles and the dark quantiles to provide a set of desired quantiles 1600 which do not resolve features for high and low brightness , and which have a coarser resolution in the middle pixel - value range . let w dark : q → q denote a function that maps the set of discrete pixel values onto itself and has the property of mapping each basic quantile to the corresponding dark quantile : similarly , let w bright : q → q denote a function that maps each basic quantile to the corresponding bright quantile . both functions are obtained by linear interpolation , which extends their domains from q basic to q in a manner similar to that described above for w desir : q → q . furthermore , let q desir be the desired quantile value . then , for each quantile , the corresponding desired quantile is constructed as follows : q desir = ( 1 - α ⁡ ( q basic ) ) ⁢ w dark ⁡ ( q basic ) + α ⁡ ( q basic ) ⁢ w bright ⁡ ( q basic ) , ⁢ 0 ≤ q basic ≤ q 0 , ( 2 ⁢ a ) q desir = w bright ⁡ ( q basic ) , ⁢ q 0 & lt ; q basic ≤ max ⁢ ⁢ q , ⁢ α ⁡ ( q ) = q q 0 ( 2 ⁢ b ) for some fixed quantile q 0 . the lower q 0 is chosen , the more the bright quantiles contribute to the desired quantiles . the desired quantile together with its corresponding cumulative probability forms a guidance number pair . a map computer 600 constructs the mapping 1700 on the basis of the desired quantiles ( 2a ), ( 2b ). as it is based on the bright quantiles for bright spatial regions and predominantly on the dark quantiles for dark spatial regions , the mapping 1700 removes residual flicker for both high and low brightness as it reduces the resolution in these regions . since residual flicker is less noticeable for dark regions , and since it is desirable to minimize the coarseness of the desired quantile scale , the dependency on the bright quantiles in bright spatial regions in ( 2a ) and ( 2b ) is stronger than the dependency on the dark quantiles in the dark spatial regions . fig5 illustrates the desired quantiles given by ( 2a ), ( 2b ). the horizontal axis denotes quantile values from zero to max q , and the sets of basic quantiles q basic , desired quantiles q desir , bright quantiles q bright and dark quantiles q dark are indicated on one line for each set and labeled with their corresponding cumulative probabilities . in the exemplary case shown in fig5 , there are seven basic quantiles . the corresponding cumulative probabilities are denser near the ends , 0 and 1 , for this is where non - resolution of image features is most likely to occur and also where the highest sensitivity is needed . below the quantiles , the function α ( q ) is traced . for quantiles greater than q 0 — in the present case , this is the quantiles for cumulative probabilities 0 . 7 , 0 . 8 and 0 . 9 — the desired quantiles are equal to the corresponding bright quantiles . clearly , the two highest quantiles are equal to max q , the 1 . 0 - quantile , and no image features between q basic ( t , 0 . 8 ) and max q are resolved in the corrected frame . below q 0 , the desired quantiles are obtained by interpolation between bright and dark quantiles , e . g . : q desir ( t , 0 . 1 )=( 1 − α ( q basic ( t , 0 . 1 ))) w dark ( q basic ( t , 0 . 1 ))+ α ( q basic ( t , 0 . 1 )) w bright ( q basic ( t , 0 . 1 )) because of the properties of the function α ( q ), the contribution from the dark quantiles is most important near 0 . as has already been mentioned , the mapping 1700 can be constructed by linear interpolation between the basic quantiles . accordingly , the quantile β q basic +( t , p 1 )+( 1 − β ) q basic ( t , p 2 ), where 0 & lt ; β & lt ; 1 and p 1 , p 2 βp * are adjacent cumulative probabilities , is mapped to while the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description , such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive ; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . in particular , the bright and dark quantiles may be defined in a different manner to fulfill specific purposes and the interpolation used for replacing quantiles is not necessarily linear . further , it is understood that some components that are included in the disclosed embodiments are optional . other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention , from a study of the drawings , the disclosure , and the appended claims . the mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage . any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope .	7
in a screen device shown in fig1 , a screen 2 is interposed between a pair of screen installation frames 1 and 1 , at least one of which can slide , in such a manner as to be contractable and expandable , and therefore , the screen 2 can be laterally opened or closed . moreover , an upper guide frame 3 is provided to cover an upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 , thereby guiding the screen installation frame 1 . in the screen device shown in fig1 , the screen installation frame 1 includes a fall - down prevention guide section 11 formed of a projection or a groove at the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 . the upper guide frame 3 includes therein a guide rail projection 31 , which locks the fall - down prevention guide section 11 so as to prevent the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 from being detached from the upper guide frame 3 . the fall - down prevention guide section 11 may be constituted of , for example , a projection or the like having a width greater than that of the screen installation frame 1 , and may be positioned at the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 . the upper guide frame 3 can be fixed to an upper crosspiece , a ceiling face or the like of an opening of a window or a door . a lower end of the screen installation frame 1 can slide on a lower crosspiece or a floor face in a predetermined direction along a rail 7 having various kinds of shapes or structures . even if the screen installation frame 1 is tilted due to a large external force on the screen installation frame 1 or the screen 2 owing to strong winds or a contact with a human body , the fall - down prevention guide section 11 is locked in the guide rail projection 31 , so that the screen installation frame 1 is suspended , as shown in , for example , fig2 , in the screen device shown in fig1 . thus , the screen installation frame 1 can be prevented from being detached and falling down from the upper guide frame 3 . in the state shown in fig2 , it is possible to correct the inclination of the screen installation frame 1 , and further , to readily restore the screen device in a predetermined state . incidentally , the fall - down prevention guide section 11 as a molded product made of a plastic or metal can be fixed to the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 , and further , the guide rail projection 31 as a molded product made of a plastic may be integrated with the upper guide frame 3 or included via other appropriate means . the fall - down prevention guide section 11 and the guide rail projection 31 may take various shapes or arrangements . for example , as shown in fig3 a and 3b , the fall - down prevention guide section 11 and the guide rail projection 31 may be formed into a laterally symmetric shape viewed in cross section . otherwise , as shown in fig4 a and 4b , the fall - down prevention guide section 11 and the guide rail projection 31 may be formed into a laterally asymmetric shape viewed in cross section . the fall - down prevention guide section 11 shown in fig3 a includes a channel formed into a substantial c shape viewed in cross section , and is included integrally with the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 . inside of the upper guide frame 3 is suspended a suspending piece , to which the guide rail projection 31 is horizontally connected . the suspending piece and the guide rail projection 31 are included integrally with the upper guide frame 3 . the guide rail projection 31 is housed inside of the fall - down prevention guide section 11 . the fall - down prevention guide section 11 shown in fig3 b is formed into a substantial t shape viewed in cross section , and is included integrally with the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 . the fall - down prevention guide section 11 shown in fig4 a includes a groove formed into a substantial u shape viewed in cross section , and is included integrally with the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 . the guide rail projection 31 horizontally projects from the inner surface on one side of the upper guide frame 3 in such a manner as to be inserted into the u shape viewed in cross section . the fall - down prevention guide section 11 shown in fig4 b horizontally extends outward from one side at the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 . the guide rail projection 31 horizontally projects from the inner surface on one side of the upper guide frame 3 . the fall - down prevention guide section 11 and the guide rail projection 31 , as described above , can prevent the screen installation frame 1 from being detached and falling down from the upper guide frame 3 . however , it may be difficult to insert the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 into the upper guide frame 3 when the screen device is constructed . in view of this , in a screen device shown in fig5 , at least one of a pair of suspending walls 32 facing each other in the upper guide frame 3 has elasticity , and thus , the suspending wall 32 is opened outward when the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 is inserted into the upper guide frame 3 , to be restored to its original shape owing to its elasticity after the opening . for example , the suspending wall 32 is made of a plastic so that it is elastic . moreover , a width between the guide rail projections 31 , 31 is made smaller than the width of the fall - down prevention guide section 11 . when the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 is inserted into the upper guide frame 3 , the fall - down prevention guide section 11 is pressed upward against the guide rail projections 31 at both right and left ends thereof , so that the force from the fall - down prevention guide section 11 is exerted in such a manner as to widen the suspending walls 32 , thereby opening the suspending walls 32 outward with the exertion of the force , so as to enable the insertion of the screen installation frame 1 . when the fall - down prevention guide section 11 rides on the guide rail projections 31 , the suspending walls 32 are restored inward owing to the elasticity , so that the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 is inserted into the upper guide frame 3 . additionally , it is preferable to form contact surfaces of the fall - down prevention guide section 11 and the guide rail projection 31 into a curved surface such as an arch , as shown in fig5 , in order to facilitate the opening of the suspending wall 32 outward . in a screen device shown in fig6 , in order to facilitate work for inserting the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 into the upper guide frame 3 , a part of the guide rail projection 31 is cut out , so that the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 provided with the fall - down prevention guide section 11 can be inserted into the upper guide frame 3 through a cutout 33 . in a screen device shown in fig7 , a part of the suspending wall 32 of the upper guide frame 3 is cut out , so that the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 provided with the fall - down prevention guide section 11 can be readily inserted into the upper guide frame 3 through a cutout 34 . in a screen device shown in fig8 , the upper guide frame 3 is positioned with a clearance 35 . the clearance 35 may be formed along the upper guide frame 3 or between the upper guide frame 3 and the wall surface or a vertical crosspiece . additionally , in the screen device shown in fig8 , the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 provided with the fall - down prevention guide section 11 can be readily inserted into the upper guide frame 3 through the clearance 35 . here , the clearance 35 is effective in inserting the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 into the upper guide frame 3 and suitable for installation of the screen device in a large space . in installing the screen device in a large space , the upper guide frame 3 is required to be long . however , it is preferable to connect frames divided into a plurality of pieces to each other in consideration of workability and transportability . in this case , from the perspective of ensuring a smooth and stable sliding motion and the appropriate design of an exterior appearance of the screen installation frame 1 , work needs to be carried out with an accuracy high enough to prevent any misalignment between axes 30 a and 30 b in a longitudinal direction and to prevent any generation of a gap 30 c at an end face when respective ends of divided upper guide frames 3 a and 3 b are mated with each other , as shown in fig9 . actually , it is not easy to perform the work at a site with such high accuracy . in view of this , as with the screen device shown in fig8 , a relatively large clearance 35 is formed at the upper guide frame 3 . even if the axes 30 a and 30 b are misaligned or the gap 30 c is generated at the end face , little force is imparted on the sliding motion of the screen installation frame 1 due to the relatively large clearance 35 , with the attendant advantage of visual unobtrusiveness . from the viewpoints of a smoother and more stable sliding motion and the design of the screen installation frame 1 , it is effective that the plurality of clearances 35 are formed and a cap member 8 shown in fig8 is attached to each of the clearances 35 . the cap member 8 includes a suspending wall 82 , inside of which a guide rail projection 81 is disposed . like the upper guide frame 3 , the cap member 8 can prevent the screen installation frame 1 , which slides , from being detached and falling down or being inclined . at both side ends of the suspending wall 82 are tongue pieces 83 overlapping the end surface of the upper guide frame 3 . as illustrated in fig1 , the cap member 8 is securely disposed at the clearance 35 by the effect of the tongue piece 83 . thus , the screen installation frame 1 can slide smoothly and stably by the guide function of the cap member 8 even if the axes of the upper guide frames 3 a and 3 b are misaligned . the cap member 8 is located at a mating position 9 c of separation type screen devices 9 a and 9 b , as shown in fig1 and 12 . in this case , it is effective that a stopper 84 is positioned at the mating position 9 c inside the cap member 8 . the stopper 84 enables the slidable screen installation frame 1 to be stopped at the predetermined mating position 9 c in the separation type screen devices 9 a and 9 b . the stoppage of the screen installation frame 1 at the mating position 9 c can prevent in advance any inconvenience from occurring at the screen 2 due to a load in association with the sliding motion of the screen device , that is , an excessive opening / closing distance or the like . the screen device according to the invention may be configured such that both of a pair of screen installation frames 1 , each having the screen attached thereto , can slide , and that at least either one of the screen installation frames 1 is connected to the slidable screen installation frame 1 in another screen device via a connector . such a construction type screen device is configured such that a plurality of unified screen devices a , b and c are connected to each other via respective connectors 10 of screen installation frames 1 arranged adjacently to each other , in a contracted state shown in fig1 a and 13b and in an expanded state shown in fig1 . the screen device can be implemented by the one - way drawing type screen device shown in fig1 and 14 or a double - leaf drawing type screen device shown in fig1 . reference numeral 20 denotes a magnet for fixing the screen installation frames 1 to each other . in any one of the screen devices , the screen installation frame 1 can be prevented from being detached from the upper guide frame 3 . furthermore , the upper end section of the screen installation frame 1 can be readily inserted into the upper guide frame 3 even in a large - sized screen device . additionally , although the screen 2 is typified by a foldable and unfoldable pleat net member in the screen device according to the invention , the screen 2 is not limited to a pleat net member , but it may be a pleat member made of cloth or a sheet . otherwise , the screen device may incorporate therein a rotary roll that can be freely wound or pulled . in the screen device , the upper end section of the screen installation frame can be prevented from being detached from the upper guide frame , and further , the upper end section of the screen installation frame is readily inserted into the upper guide frame even in a large - sized screen device .	4
for the examples described herein , the precursor form of nafion ™, a perfluorosulfonic acid ( pfsa ) copolymer in the sulfonyl fluoride form with an ion exchange capacity iec = 1 mmol / g was used as ionomeric material ( grade r - 1000 purchased from ion power ). for nanocomposite systems , fumed silica nanoparticles with a surface area of 380 m 2 / g were used as inorganic filler ( grade cab - o - sil eh - 5 purchased from cabot ). a branched low density polyethylene ldpe ( novapol ™ lf - y918 - a ) with mfi = 0 . 75 g / 10 min at 190 ° c / 2 . 16 kg was the incompatible polymer used as a support material for the external layers . to determine melt viscosities of polymeric materials , dynamic rheological measurements were performed in an ares ( advance rheometric expansion system ) rotational rheometer in dynamic mode , using 25 - mm diameter parallel plates in oscillatory shear mode under dry nitrogen atmosphere at t = 240 ° c . prior to testing , samples were dried 24 h under active vacuum at 60 ° c . the test comprises a frequency sweep over a range spanning from 100 down to 0 . 1 rad / s . small deformations ( 10 % or 15 %) oscillatory motions were imposed on the samples for all time and frequency sweeps to avoid any irreversible damage of the structure of the material . the measurements allow to evaluate the response of the materials tested in term of elastic or storage modulus ( g ′), viscous or loss modulus ( g ″), and the dynamic complex viscosity ( η ). rheological measurements were carried out to characterize the viscoelastic properties of ionomeric materials used in the examples described herein . the measurements allow the evaluation of the response of the materials tested in terms of elastic or storage modulus ( g ′), viscous or loss modulus ( g ″), and the dynamic complex viscosity ( eta or η *) as a function of the oscillation frequency . the results of the frequency sweep test at 240 ° c . are shown in fig2 for pfsa precursor nafion ™ r - 1000 , and fig3 for pfsa nanocomposite with 6 wt % eh - 5 filler . for nafion ™ r - 1000 the viscosity increases as the shear rate is decreased but at sufficiently low shear rates it becomes independent of shear rate and shows a linear plateau typical of newtonian melts . for nafion ™ r - 1000 + 6 wt % eh - 5 , the consequence of adding silica filler is an increase in melt viscosity and deviation from the linear viscoelastic range at low frequency . also , the contribution of the viscous or loss modulus ( g ″) clearly governs the rheological behaviour of both ionomeric materials in the range of frequencies investigated . pfsa precursor nafion ™ r - 1000 pellets were directly melt - blown without previous preparation . nanocomposites based on nafion ™ r - 1000 and fumed silica eh - 5 were previously compounded at 240 ° c . using a twin - screw extruder leistritz nano - 16 mm . the melt - blowing experiments were performed on a labtech multilayer co - extrusion blown film line equipped with a flat spiral die system . the multi - layer die has more than one spiral ‘ layer ’ and the die is fed from several extruders . for the examples described herein , a die fed by three melt streams was used , one melt stream of ionomeric materials coming from extruder ( b ) and the other two melt streams of support polymer coming from separate extruders ( a and c ) with a pancake die with four plates as illustrated in fig1 . the multilayer melt - blowing film line is equipped with three single - screw extruders labtech 12 . 5 mm ( type lbe 12 . 5 / 30 ). pfsa precursor thin films obtained by melt blowing are converted to the acid form by using the following process . 1 ) hydrolysis in a solution of 15 % koh / 35 % dmso / 50 % de - ionized ( di ) water at 80 ° c ., followed by washing with di water to remove all traces of un - reacted koh . 2 ) acid conversion to the h t form by exchanging the k + for h − ions using a 10 to 15 % solution of nitric acid ( hno 3 ), followed by di water washing . 3 ) activation : the h − form of pfsa membranes are activated with 7 . 5 % h 2 o 2 at 80 ° c . for 1 h , soaked in di water at 80 ° c . for 1 h , and finally treated with 15 % h 2 so 4 at 80 ° c . for 1 h . the treated membranes are washed thoroughly with di water . in - plane proton conductivities were measured using a solartron ™ 1260 . a strip of membrane ( in h + form ) was set between two pt electrodes and an alternating current was passed through the plane of the sample . in the case of room temperature and liquid water conditions , the samples were immersed in millipore water . room temperature varied from 20 ° c . to 22 ° c . nyquist plots between 5 mhz to 10 hz were collected and membrane resistance was extrapolated by fitting the semi - circle part of the data to equivalent circuits . proton conductivities were calculated from the equation below : where σ is proton conductivity , d is the distance between the pt electrodes , r is membrane resistance and s is the cross - sectional area of the sample . water uptake ( wu ) and volume change ( vc ) were determined as follows . after measuring mass of wet and dried membranes ( in h + form ), wu was calculated from the equation below : the mass of dried membranes were obtained after drying them in a vacuum oven at 80 ° c . overnight . for vc measurements , thickness , width and length of wet and dried membranes ( in h + form ) were determined . wet / dry volume change was calculated from the equation below : dimensions of dried membranes were obtained after drying them in a vacuum oven at 80 ° c . overnight . crystalline orientation was determined from wide - angle transmission x - ray spectroscopy analysis . the equipment used was a bruker d8 discover x - rays goniometer equipped with a hi - star ™ two - dimensional area detector . the generator was set up at 45kv and 0 . 65 ma . membranes in the acid form were previously immersed in a saturated lead acetate solution for 2 h at room temperature to stain the ionic domains . the samples were encapsulated in epoxy resin . the cured epoxies containing the membranes were then microtomed at room temperature into thin slices of 50 nm using a diamond knife . tem of ultrathin sections of the samples were obtained with a philips cm 200 instrument with an acceleration voltage of 200 kv . five different multilayer films were prepared by melt - blowing co - extrusion process using nafion ™ r - 1000 as ionomeric material , and ldpe as a support material . the structures obtained in this example are tri - layer films , where nafion ™ r - 1000 is the mid - layer , and ldpe the external layers ( fig4 b ). the extruder ( b in fig1 ) used for the nafion ™ r - 1000 mid - layer has the following profile temperature : zone 1 : 220 ° c ., zone 2 : 230 ° c ., zone 3 : 240 ° c ., die temperature 240 ° c . the two extruders ( a and c in fig1 ) used for ldpe external layers have the following profile temperature : zone 1 : 185 ° c ., zone 2 : 190 ° c ., zone 3 : 200 ° c ., die temperature 200 ° c . control parameters for the five different multilayer films prepared are listed in table 1 . ldpe is incompatible with the pfsa precursor , which prevents any interfacial bonding between the layers during melt processing . the external layers are peeled easily to obtain a thin membrane of pfsa precursor . thin membranes with different thicknesses ranging from 30 to 6 microns were obtained . blow - up ratios ( bur ) used were between 4 . 5 and 5 . 5 , and draw - down ratios were between 1 and 2 . a multilayer film was prepared by a melt - blowing process using a composite of nafion ™ r - 1000 + 6 wt % silica as ionomeric material , and ldpe as a support material . the structure obtained in this case is a tri - layer film , where nanocomposite pfsa is the mid - layer , and ldpe the external layers ( fig4 b ). the extruder ( b in fig1 ) used for nafion ™ r - 1000 + 6 wt % eh - 5 mid - layer has the following profile temperature : zone 1 : 220 ° c ., zone 2 : 230 ° c ., zone 3 : 240 ° c ., die temperature 240 ° c . the two extruders ( a and c in fig1 ) used for ldpe external layers have the following profile temperature : zone 1 : 185 ° c ., zone 2 : 190 ° c ., zone 3 : 200 ° c ., die temperature 200 ° c . control parameters used for the multilayer film based on nanocomposite pfsa ionomer prepared are listed in table 2 . even though the rheological measurements show an increase in melt viscosity and a deviation from the linear viscoelastic range at low frequency after nanoparticles incorporation , the parameters were very similar since extrusion is a high frequency process . the processes described in examples 1 and 2 permit melt - blowing of a continuous multilayered cylinder . once the cylinder is obtained , it is flattened and drawn through nip rolls to a winder . a cutting device can be used before winding to split the cylinder into two sheets that can be then wound to produce the finished rolls of films or go through chemical treatment baths in case of a continuous process . melt blown films were hydrolyzed by peeling one ldpe layer away from the pfsa layer and following the process outlined above . the second ldpe layer was used as a support during manipulation and chemical treatment to avoid deformation and wrinkling of the very thin films . tests were previously done to ensure that ldpe is not affected by the chemical reagents used for the hydrolysis and activation . examples 1 and 2 show that it is possible to produce thin uniform films from ion exchange resin precursor and composites of ion exchange resin precursor . properties of melt - blown ion exchange resin membranes produced from the films of example 1 ( film 2 ) and example 2 ( film 6 ) were compared with nafion ™ nre - 211 ( a solution - cast commercial ion exchange resin membrane ) and with an extruded membrane prepared from nafion ™ r - 1000 - cs in a bench - top 5cc microextruder ( dsm ) equipped with 5 cm width flat dies . the extruded nafion ™ r - 1000 - cs membranes were melt - cast directly from the flat die and rapidly quenched on a chill roll , producing a monolayer membrane . for the comparative study , the thickness of the membranes selected is about 25 ± 5 microns . transmission electron microscopy ( tem ) was used to examine the morphology and arrangement of the hydrophobic / hydrophilic phase separation within the ionomeric materials . high resolution tem images on lead acetate stained membranes prepared by solution - casting ( nafion ™ nre - 211 ), melt - extrusion ( nafion ™ r - 1000 ) and melt - blowing ( film 2 ) are presented in fig5 . two magnifications are shown for each membrane . the fine phase separation of hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains characteristic of pfsa ionomers is visible in all cases . for solution - cast film of nre - 211 ( fig5 a and fig5 b ), ordered and aligned ionic domains agglomerated in dark spheres ranging from 3 to 10 nm in diameter embedded in a pale background of hydrophobic fluoropolymers can be observed . the very clear regions could suggest free volume left by solvent evaporation . in the case of the melt - extruded membrane ( fig5 c and fig5 d ), ionic domains are smaller and uniform ( 4 to 6 nm ), less ordered , and more interconnected . melt - blown membrane ( fig5 e and fig5 f ) shows ionic domains having even smaller size as illustrated in the high magnification image . 2d xrd patterns obtained in transmission mode are shown in fig6 , where solution cast nre - 211 and melt - blown r - 1000 show an isotropic halo , while extruded r - 1000 shows an anisotropic halo . the spectra in fig7 were obtained by integration of the xrd patterns at an incidence angle of 90 ° , where spectra of extruded and melt - blown membranes are compared with the nre - 211 solution - cast membrane . all the samples show two diffraction peeks at 2 theta of 17 . 2 ° ( 100 ) and 39 . 6 ° ( 101 ) corresponding to d - spacing of 5 . 5 a and 2 . 4 a respectively , attributed to ptfe backbone of pfsa . a more pronounced intensity can be observed for the extruded membrane compared to the melt - blown and solution - cast nre - 211 membrane , which indicates that nre - 211 and melt - blown r - 1000 ( film 2 ) present less anisotropy compared to the extruded - r - 1000 membrane as shown from the higher intensity of the amorphous halo horizontally , where the machine direction axis is vertical . the anisotropic pattern is due to higher orientation generated from stretching in the machine direction during the cast - extrusion process to achieve the required thickness . integrating the halo at 0 ° and 90 ° incidence angle reflects the two normals to the diffraction plane relative to the md / td plane . to quantify the isotropy / anisotropy of the samples , we determined an orientation ratio ( or ) defined as the ratio of the intensity of the peek at 2 theta = 17 . 2 ° ( 100 ) integrated at 0 and 90 ° . or calculated for nre - 211 , melt - blown and extruded r - 1000 were 1 , 1 . 1 and & gt ; 1 . 5 , respectively . after hydrolysis according to the protocol previously described , the proton conductivity of hydrated membranes were measured by impedance spectroscopy at room temperature in water . the results in fig8 show that room temperature ( rt ) conductivity was not affected by the process used for membrane manufacturing , and was around 7 . 10 - 2 s / cm . however , the incorporation of silica seems to slightly reduce the conductivity in water to 3 . 10 - 2 s / cm , which is typical in nanocomposite membranes . the composite membranes are expected to excel at low relative humidity ( rh ), where the fillers have the ability to retain more water than the ionomeric polymer at higher temperature . fig9 shows water uptake ( wu ) and dry / wet volume change ( vc ) measured for solution - cast nre - 211 membrane , extruded membrane , melt - blown nafion ™ r - 1000 membrane ( film 2 ), and melt blown nanocomposite membrane ( film 6 ). membranes prepared by melt blowing show reduced water uptake and volume change compared to the nre - 211 solution - cast membrane and the extruded membrane . thus , the process of the present invention produces ion exchange membranes with increased dimensional stability . membrane - electrode assemblies ( mea ) were prepared by placing the membranes between two electrodes ( 0 . 4 mg pt / cm 2 at the cathode and 0 . 1 mg pt / cm 2 at the anode ) and tested in fuel cell hardware with an active area of 25 cm 2 . testing was done at the facilities of the nrc - ifci using a scribner associates test stand model : 850c . hydrogen crossover was measured by cyclic voltammetry for melt - blown nafion ™ r - 1000 membranes ( film 2 ) and nre - 211 solution - cast membranes . the limiting current densities for hydrogen oxidation at the cathode determined were 1 . 89 and 2 . 07 ma / cm 2 , respectively , demonstrating that the membrane of the present invention has lower hydrogen permeability than the standard solution - cast membrane . fig1 and 11 show i - v preliminary polarization curves measured for solution - cast nre - 211 membrane , melt - blown nafion ™ r - 1000 membrane ( films 2 and 3 ), and melt blown nanocomposite membrane ( film 6 ). the results show that melt blown membranes have similar beginning of life ( bol ) performance compared to nre - 211 reference , with a slightly improved performance for thin melt - blown membranes ( 18 microns ) and the composite membrane , especially at high temperature and low rh conditions ( 95 ° c ., 30 % rh ). the contents of the entirety of each of which are incorporated by this reference . giuffrida a . ( 1994 ) heterogeneous ion exchange materials comprising polyethylene of linear low density or high density high molecular weight . u . s . pat . no . 5 , 346 , 924 issued sep . 13 , 1994 . hasegawa t , inoue y . ( 2007 ) ion exchange fluorocarbon resin membrane . u . s . pat . no . 7 , 160 , 926 issued jan . 9 , 2007 . howard e . ( 2009 ) solid polymer membrane for fuel cell with polyamine imbibed therein for reducing methanol permeability . u . s . pat . no . 7 , 534 , 516 issued may 19 , 2009 . kato h . ( 2003 ) ion exchange assembly for an electrochemical cell . united states patent publication us 2003 / 0152820 published aug . 14 , 2003 . kinoshita s . ( 2009 ) membrane / electrode assembly for polymer electrolyte fuel cells and polymer electrolyte fuel cell . united states patent publication us 2009 / 0246592 published oct . 1 , 2009 . lai y - h , mittelsteadt c k , gittleman c s , dillard d a . ( 2009 ) viscoelastic stress analysis of constrained proton exchange membranes under humidity cycling . journal of fuel cell science and technology . 6 ( 2 ), 021002 - 1 to 021002 - 13 . lavoie p - a , laliberte r , dube j , gagnon y . ( 2010 ) co - extrusion manufacturing process of thin film electrochemical cell for lithium polymer batteries and apparatus therefor . u . s . pat . no . 7 , 700 , 019 issued apr . 20 , 2010 . miyake n , hasegawa t . ( 2006 ) ion - exchange resin membrane and method for producing the same . united states patent us 7 , 037 , 949 issued may 2 , 2006 . nishihata n , tada m . ( 2006 ) separator for solid polymer fuel cells , and production process thereof . u . s . pat . no . 7 , 128 , 996 issued oct . 31 , 2006 . oren y , freger v , kedem o , linder c , korin e . ( 2005 ) highly conductive ordered ion exchange membranes . united states patent publication us 2005 / 0238937 published oct . 27 , 2005 . oren y , freger v , kedem o , linder c , korin e . ( 2010 ) highly conductive ordered ion exchange membranes . u . s . pat . no . 7 , 740 , 967 issued jun . 22 , 2010 . rajendran r g . ( 2007 ) process for making cation exchange membranes with reduced methanol permeability . united states patent publication us 2007 / 0031716 published feb . 8 , 2007 . other advantages that are inherent to the structure are obvious to one skilled in the art . the embodiments are described herein illustratively and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention as claimed . variations of the foregoing embodiments will be evident to a person of ordinary skill and are intended by the inventor to be encompassed by the following claims .	7
the composition of this catalyst was suggested by our preliminary experiments in which we discovered the need of a pt / sno 2 catalyst for bound water to enhance its activity . these experimental results suggested that if the water were bound to the surface , this water would enhance and prolong catalyst activity for long time periods . since the catalyst is to be exposed to a laser gas mixture , and since a co 2 laser can tolerate only a very small amount of moisture therein , a hygroscopic support for the catalyst would provide the needed h 2 o into the gas . of all the hygroscopic materials that would be useful as support materials , silica gel is considered to be superior because of its property to chemisorb water on its surface over a wide range of moisture content . the equilibrium weight percent of water chemisorbed on silica gel ranges from 0 to over 40 percent when exposed to relative humidities of 0 to 100 percent , respectively . silica gel chemisorption characteristics result from its huge surface area , the highly porous nature of its particles , and its tendency toward hydration . the application of a very thin film of pt / sno 2 on the silica gel surface preserves a large fraction of this area and hence , control of the moisture content on the catalyst surface is attained . the catalyst of the present invention may be produced by first preparing a mixture of a commercially available , high - surface - area silica gel and an oxidizing agent . very beneficial results have been obtained using nitric acid as the oxidizing agent since it leaves no residue . it is also helpful if the silica gel is first deaerated by boiling in water to allow the entire surface to be coated . a metal , such as tin , is then dissolved in the oxidizing agent / support material mixture to yield , in the case of tin , metastannic acid . although tin has proven especially beneficial for use in a closed - cycle co 2 laser , in general any metal with multiple valence states may be used . the metastannic acid is adsorbed onto the high - surface - area silica gel and coats the surface thereof . any excess oxidizing agent is then evaporated , and the resulting metastannic acid - coated silica gel is dried , whereby the metastannic acid becomes tin ( iv ) oxide ( sno 2 ). the second step is accomplished by preparing an aqueous mixture of the tin ( iv ) oxide coated silica gel and a soluble , chloride - free salt of at least one platinum group metal . extremely beneficial results have been obtained using chloride - free salts of platinum , palladium , or a combination thereof , such as tetraamine platinum ( ii ) hydroxide ( pt ( nh 3 ) 4 ( oh ) 2 ) or tetraamine palladium ( ii ) nitrate ( pd ( nh 3 ) 4 ( no 3 ) 2 ). it is also beneficial if the coated silica gel is first deaerated by boiling . the platinum group metal salt is adsorbed onto the high surface area and coats the surface . a chloride - free reducing agent is then added to the aqueous mixture whereby the platinum group metal is deposited onto the tin ( iv ) oxide coated silica gel . any reducing agent which decomposes to volatile products and water upon reaction or drying is preferred . formic acid , hydroxylamine ( nh 2 oh ), hydrazine ( n 2 h 4 ), and ascorbic acid are particularly advantageous . after the platinum group metal has been deposited onto the tin ( iv ) oxide coated silica gel , the solution is evaporated to dryness , whereby the desired catalyst is obtained . evaluating its performance , we found that the catalyst of the present invention has not only a high activity , i . e ., a pumping speed of 3 . 2 × 10 - 3 / s - 1 g - 1 under ambient temperature conditions , but also a very long lifetime , exhibiting a half life of eight months . thus , the purpose of this invention , viz ., to formulate a catalyst composition with enhanced activity and long life for sealed co 2 laser applications , has been fulfilled because of the unique composition of this catalyst . an exemplary composition consisting of 6 . 7 % pt , 39 . 7 % sno 2 , and 53 . 6 % silica gel , was tested at 30 ° c . for a period of 106 days with an activity half life of eight months . the water content of this catalyst was determined to be 12 . 5 %. the silica gel employed in the instant composition can be in the form of granules , beads , pellets or monoliths . the size and shape of the particles can vary , although a uniform size and shape are desirable properties for good flow distribution through a bed or structure of these particles . the water content of the silica gel has varied up to 27 %. any other compound which can bind water to its structure can be substituted for silica gel in the instant catalyst composition . examples of other materials include , but are not limited to calcium chloride , magnesium sulfate , hydrated alumina , and magnesium perchlorate , as well as other metal oxides , hydroxides , salts and their hydrates . witteman supra has shown that the introduction of water into the gas phase of a sealed co 2 laser without a hygroscopic catalyst present can increase laser output by approximately 100 percent . however , this output decayed , whereas the hygroscopic properties of the catalyst of the present invention confers a long life at room temperature conditions : a half life of eight months with an initial pumping speed of 3 . 2 × 10 - 3 / s - 1 g - 1 without the introduction of moisture in the gas phase . no other catalyst known can compare with this performance . furthermore , introduction of moisture in the gas phase has been shown to have deleterious effects on the performance of some sealed co 2 lasers . the present invention has been described in detail with respect to certain preferred embodiments thereof . however , as is understood by those of skill in the art , variations and modifications in this detail can be made without any departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the hereto - appended claims .	1
with specific reference to fig1 and 2 of the drawings , there is shown a pair of side frames or plates 1 , 1 which provide the basic side structure for the apparatus . a pair of reinforcing stringer bars 15 , 15 extend transversely between the side frames 1 , 1 at or near the ends thereof and establish the width of the apparatus . a plurality of relatively stationary supporting members 14 , such as wires or relatively thin rods , extend for substantially the full length of the apparatus between the transversely - extending stringer bars 15 , 15 . wires of small diameter are preferred as the supporting members 14 for reasons which will become clearer from a further reading and understanding of this specification . the support wires 14 are substantially parallel , are equally spaced from one another , and are sufficiently closely spaced as to be capable of supporting thereon small flat articles g such as medallions , appliques , patches , and the like , without permitting them to slip and fall downwardly through the individual support wires 14 . wire anchor bars 30 , 30 are provided immediately adjacent the stringer bars 15 , 15 to facilitate the anchoring of the support wires 14 in their desired spaced , parallel relationship . a shuttle assembly 25 is employed to intermittantly advance the medallions , appliques , patches , or like goods g individually by step - by - step stages through the apparatus and comprises a pair of spaced , substantially cylindrically shaped cam followers 2 , 2 which extend transversely across the full width of the apparatus and are adapted to have their ends slide along a pair of lower rails 5 , 5 secured to the inside walls of the side frames or plates 1 , 1 ( see fig1 ). a plurality of movable , lifting and transporting members 32 are mounted on and connect the cam followers 2 , 2 and are employed to intermittantly lift the goods g from the support wires 14 and to advance them in stepwise stages a predetermined distance individually through a considerable portion of the length of the apparatus . the lifting and transporting members 32 may comprises wires , or relatively thin rods , or vertically positioned slats , and are positioned between the support wires 14 , as best shown in fig1 . the upper or top surfaces or edges of the lifting and transporting members 32 are preferably serrated or are otherwise roughened and thus may resemble the working operative edges of saw blades , which actually is one specific embodiment of the lifting and transporting members 32 , as shown in fig2 and 6 . smooth top edges or surfaces , however , are also of use . the shuttle assembly 25 which thus primarily comprises the two spaced cam followers 2 , 2 and the plurality of connecting lifting and transporting members 32 extending therebetween ( and other parts to be described in greater detail hereinafter ) is intermittantly actuated by a conventional intermittantly operable electric motor ( not shown ) and a suitable cyclic reversing mechanism to advance from a rearmost position , as shown in fig1 - 3 to a forwardmost position , as shown in fig7 and then to return to the rearmost position of fig1 - 3 , and then to keep repeating such a cycle , which will be described in greater particularity in fig3 - 8 which represent a modification of the cam portion of the present invention which is different mechanically but not procedurally from the cam portion prepresented in fig1 and 2 . in fig3 the cam followers 2 , 2 riding on the lower rails 5 , 5 are driven forwardly or to the left to successive positions , as shown in fig3 wherein the cam followers 2 , 2 and their associated lifting and transporting members 32 are moved upwardly whereby goods g which were previously manually positioned ( as shown in fig3 ) by an operator , or by an automatic feeding and loading device , are picked up and lifted from the support wires 14 by the lifting and transporting members 32 . this is accomplished by the cam followers 2 , 2 riding up off the lower rails 5 , 5 and onto the upwardly slanting surfaces of a pair of elevating or &# 34 ; up &# 34 ; cams or dogs 3 , 3 , a pair located on each side of the apparatus . the sharpness or the angularity of the upward rise of the sam followers 2 , 2 decreases after the cam followers 2 , 2 pass the corner or point 34 ( see fig3 ) and subsequently actually becomes horizontal in direction after the cam followers 2 , 2 pass the pivot point p3 of the &# 34 ; up &# 34 ; cam 3 ( see fig4 ) which causes the cam 3 to tilt , as shown . by this time , the lifting and transporting members 32 have lifted the goods g from the relatively stationary support wires 14 and are moving them forwardly , or to the left . the cam followers 2 , 2 continue to move horizontally , or to the left ; move over a fixed horizontal elevated rail 4 ; and move onto the horizontal portion of a lowering or &# 34 ; down &# 34 ; cam or dog 6 . when the cam followers 2 , 2 pass the pivot point p6 of the &# 34 ; down &# 34 ; cam 6 , the cam 6 tilts and rotates to assume the position shown in fig6 . the cam followers 2 , 2 are then lowered to finally reach the lower rails 5 , 5 , as shown in fig7 . by this time , the goods g have been advanced the full length of their individual step - by - step forward movement and are replaced on the stationary support wires 14 . the shuttle carrier 25 is then automatically returned rearwardly , or to the right , passing under and temporarily tilting the &# 34 ; up &# 34 ; cam , as shown in fig8 to ultimately return to the rearmost position of fig3 and thus is ready for the beginning of the next cycle . in fig3 - 8 , there has been illustrated an elevating cam 3 , an elevated rail 4 , and a lowering cam 6 to provide for the up , horizontal , down , and return movements of the cam followers 2 , 2 . in fig1 and 9 , there is illustrated a simpler form of such a movement - controlling device . a pair of integral , one - piece elevating and lowering cams 33 , 33 are shown , a pair on each side plate 1 , having an elevating cam surface 37 , a horizontal sliding surface 38 , a lowering cam surface 39 , and a single pivot point p33 . the operation of cam 33 is somewhat generally similar to the operation of cam 3 . the cam followers 2 , 2 slide along the side rails 5 , 5 , move upwardly along the slanting cam surface 37 , then horizontally along the horizontal elevated surface 38 , then tip or tilt the cam 33 after they pass the pivot point p33 , and finally slide downwardly on the inclined cam surface 39 to return to the rails 5 , 5 . return movement of the cam followers 2 , 2 is rearwardly along the side rails 5 , 5 and under the right hand end of the cam 33 which tips or tilts counterclockwise to permit the cam follower 33 to pass thereunder to return to the original initial starting point , ready for the beginning of the next cycle . in fig1 , there is illustrated another form of an integral , one - piece elevating and lowering cam 43 having an upwardly inclined cam surface 46 to raise the cam followers 2 , 2 , a horizontal guiding surface 47 , a second surface 48 which initially is inclined upwardly but , after the cam followers 2 , 2 pass the pivot point p43 , tips or tilts and becomes a second horizontal guiding surface 48 , and a downwardly inclined lowering cam surface 49 which contacts and rests on the lower rail 5 after the cam followers 2 , 2 , have tipped or tilted the cam 43 . return movement of the cam followers 2 , 2 is along the surface of the lower rail 5 to the right and under the &# 34 ; up &# 34 ; portion of the cam surface 46 which tilts upwardly temporarily to permit the cam followers 2 , 2 to return to their original initial starting point , ready for the beginning of the next cycle . it is to be appreciated that the cam surface 48 , although initially inclined upwardly as shown in fig1 at a relatively small angle , say , between about 7 ° and about 12 °, becomes horizontally disposed when the cam 43 tips or tilts , due to the action of the cam followers 2 , 2 passing the pivot point p43 . the extent of the tipping or tilting of the cam 43 is also in the same range , that is , from about 7 ° to about 12 °. it is to be observed that the various pivot points p3 , p6 , p33 and p43 are not located at the centers of gravity of their respective cams but are actually positioned away from such centers of gravity , so that the respective cams will naturally tend to rotate , due to the force of gravity , and fall to the positions indicated in fig3 and 10 . and , of course , the respective cams will tend to return to such illustrated positions , if they are tipped or tilted away from such positions . if desired , conventional and standard springs or other spring - loaded devices ( not shown ) may be employed to insure that the cams promptly and positively come to the desired positions , as shown in fig3 and 10 . the cyclic forward up , horizontal and down movements and the rearwardly back movement of the cam followers 2 , 2 and the associated shuttle carrier or assembly 25 is provided for by any suitable driving means and reversing - movement mechanism . as shown in fig2 and 11 - 14 , a motor ( not shown ) drives a rotatable shaft 60 upon which is mounted a sprocket wheel 61 . a sprocket chain 62 meshes with the sprocket wheel 61 and in turn drives a second sprocket wheel 63 mounted on a rotatable shaft 64 . secured to the underside of the sprocket chain 62 is a depending detent or contact 65 which periodically and cyclically makes contact with electrical or other terminals 66 and 67 to actuate a vibrator 29 , or any other mechanism at the proper moment , or to stop the operation of the apparatus temporarily completely , if a dwell or delay is desired or required at any specific time during the operation . such a delay or dwell in the operating cycle is desirable in many instances , particularly when more time is desired or required for the heating , fusing , and bonding operation , due to the nature of the particulate thermoplastic materials or to the nature of the goods themselves , or for other reasons . in such a case , the terminal 67 is attached to a suitable , conventional time - delay device , which is well known in the art , which immediately cuts off and stops the movement of the sprocket wheel 61 and the sprocket chain 62 , without cutting off or stopping the heating of the heating and bonding unit 20 and the heating and bonding of the particulate thermoplastic materials t . in other words , the heating unit 20 does not cool during the time delay . the sprocket wheel 61 and the sprocket chain 62 remain halted for a pre - selected period of time , say , from about 1 / 2 second to about 5 seconds , or even more , if necessary , and then the movement of the sprocket wheel 61 and the sprocket chain 62 is automatically resumed and the entire operation continues . another detent or rod 69 is secured to the top side of the sprocket chain 62 and extends upwardly therefrom , as shown in fig2 and 11 - 14 . it is to be appreciated that this upstanding rod 69 will cyclically move back and forth as the sprocket chain 62 carries it back and forth , with a momentary dwell at the extreme ends of such abck and forth movements , as the upstanding rod 69 changes direction of movement . secured near the ends of the cam followers 2 , 2 are a pair of blocks 71 , 71 having vertically depending portions 72 , 72 between which a pair of horizontally extending , cylindrically shaped rods 73 , 73 are positioned . a centrally located sliding block 74 is mounted on the rods 73 , 73 and is adapted to slide thereon laterally . the centrally located sliding block 74 is provided with a vertically - extending opening 75 into which the upstanding rod 69 slidably enters , as shown in fig1 . as the sprocket chain 62 moves , the upstanding rod 69 moves with it and describes a corresponding geometric figure comprising two straight lines and two semi - circles resembling a rectangle with semi - circles at the narrow ends thereof . the upstanding rod 69 which enters the opening 75 in the sliding block 74 causes the block 74 to have a similar back and fourth movement with a slight dwell at the ends thereof and to impart a similar movement to the shuttle assembly 25 and its associated parts , particularly the lifting and transporting members 32 which additionally have upward and downward movements . during such forward and rearward movement , the sliding block 74 also moves directly forwardly and rearwardly but also possesses a sidewise sliding movement on the sliding rods 73 , 73 at the ends of the forward and rearward movements . the total intermittant forward step movement or stroke of the goods g by means of the lifting and transporting members 32 is , of course , less than the total movement or stroke of the cam followers 2 , 2 inasmuch as the lifting and transporting members 32 are below the level of the support wires 14 for a brief portion at the beginning and the end of the operating stroke . it is only when the lifting and transporting members attain a level above the support wires 14 that the goods g are lifted and transported forwardly . the total intermittant forward step movement of the goods g results in the goods g being moved forwardly to the left from their initial loading position , as placed there by an operator , or automatically if such type of feeding and loading device is used , to a second station g t whereat powdered , particulate , thermoplastic material t is applied to the upwardly - facing side of the goods g . the goods g are positioned initially on the support wires 14 with their faces or insignia or other informative surfaces down , so that their backs or reverse surfaces are up and are adapted to receive the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic materials t . as shown in fig1 and 2 , a hopper 23 is provided to contain a supply of the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic material t and is located directly over the support wires 14 with enough clearance therebetween as to permit the lifting and transporting members 32 to carry the goods g thereunder and deposit them thereat , in position to receive the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic materials t . the hopper 23 is provided with a bottom , floor , or base 27 having perforations or openings therein of a size suitable to permit the passage therethrough of the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic materials t at the desired , preselected moment during the cyclic operation . the floor 27 of the hopper 23 may be a suitably perforated sheet of metal , or plastic , or the like , having openings or holes drilled , punched , or otherwise formed therein , or it may be a woven screen having screen or sieve openings of the desired size . also , the floor 27 may be flat or planar , or it may be corrugated to give it some additional strength . the perforations or openings in the floor 27 of the hopper 23 will be described in greater detail herein with reference to a woven screen but it is to be appreciated that such description is equally applicable to the size and number of the perforations or other openings in other sheet materials of plastic , metal , or the like . the screen 27 located at the bottom or floor of the hopper 23 possesses screen or sieve openings of such a size that substantially no portion of the finely divided , powdered , particulate thermoplastic materials t will pass therethrough , when the hopper 23 is stationary and motionless . however , if the hopper 23 is given a sudden , relatively violent vibratory or oscillatory motion , the particulate thermoplastic materials t will very rapidly pass through the openings in the screen 27 to fall upon any goods located thereunder . the vibratory or oscillatory force is created by one or more conventional , commercially available vibrators 29 capable of producing a range of vibrations or oscillations of the hopper 23 of from about 30 cycles ( back and forth movements ) per second , up into the ultrasonic range , generally considered as greater than about 20 , 000 cycles per second . normally , however , a range of from about 60 cycles per second to about 14 , 000 cycles per second has been found to be most desirable commercially . the screen or sieve openings in the screen 27 located in the bottom or floor of the hopper 23 will also vary , depending to a very great extent upon the average particle size and the range of particle sizes of the particulate thermoplastic materials t . normally , screens having a sieve opening of from about 250 microns ( no . 60 , u . s . standard sieve series ) to about 590 microns ( no . 30 , u . s . standard sieve series ) are commercially desirable and practical . other screens having smaller or larger sieve openings , say , as small as about 210 microns ( no . 70 , u . s . standard sieve series ) or as large as about 2000 microns ( no . 10 u . s . standard sieve series ) are also of use in special and unusual circumstances . additional details and further discussion regarding the relationship between the average particle size and the overall particle size range of the particulate thermoplastic materials t and the size of the screen or sieve openings of the screen 27 in the bottom or floor of the hopper 23 are to be found in my co - pending patent application , ser . no . 673 , 719 which was filed on apr . 5 , 1976 . the vibrator ( or vibrators ) 29 is mounted on the hopper 23 as securely as possible , in a fashion consistent with the vibrational forces which are to be applied to the hopper 23 . the vibrator 29 is intermittantly vibrated , in timed relationship and synchronization with the intermittant advancing movements of the goods , to vibrate the hopper 23 , whereby the finely divided , powdered , particulate thermoplastic materials t pass through the screen or sieve openings to be deposited upon a particular applique , or patch , or the like . when the vibrating motion of the hopper 23 ceases , no further particulate thermoplastic materials t pass through the screen or sieve openings , until the next particular applique , or patch , or the like , is moved underneath the hopper 23 and the hopper is vibrated again . the particular chemical nature of the finely divided , powdered , particulate thermoplastic materials t in the hopper 23 does not relate to the essence of the present inventive concept but , preferably , such particulate thermoplastic materials t have a chemical nature that they possess relatively good potentially adhesive properties at relatively low softening or sticking temperatures , as well as relatively low melting or fusing temperatures . the particulate thermoplastic materials t must , of course , be plastic or adhesively fusible at the normal operating temperatures of the present process , which temperatures must , of course , be low enough that the material which is to form the main body portion of the appliques , patches , or other goods not be undesirably affected or damaged . synthetic or man - made polymers , copolymers , or other resinous products are of use . these include : polyamides such as nylon 6 , 6 / 6 , 11 , 12 , 6 / 10 and copolymers thereof ; cellulosic derivatives such as cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate butyrate ; polyesters , such as polyethylene terephthalate ; vinyl compounds including homopolymers , copolymers , and terpolymers derived from vinyl chloride , vinyl acetate , polyvinyl alcohol , etc . ; homopolymers , copolymers , and terpolymers of acrylic and methacrylic acids and esters ; polyurethanes ; etc . blends and mixtures of these polymeric materials and resins in varying proportions frequently yield very desirable properties and characteristics of excellent applicability to the present inventive concept . the average particle size of the particulate thermoplastic materials t varies within relatively wide ranges , depending to a very large extent upon the size , thickness and the shape of the goods upon which they are to be deposited , the size of the openings of the screen 27 in the hopper 23 ; and so forth . within the broader aspects of the present inventive concept , an average particle size of from about 0 . 1 micron to about 150 microns has been found practical , with preferred commercial limits for the average particle size ranging from about 5 microns to about 120 microns , and , most desirably , from about 20 microns to about 100 microns . the amount of the particulate thermoplastic materials t which are applied to the goods may be varied within relatively wide limits depending upon the nature and type of the goods , the nature and type of the particulate thermoplastic materials , the purpose and subsequent use of the goods to which the particulate thermoplastic materials t are applied , and so forth . under normal circumstances , from about 50 grams to about 300 grams per square yard are applied , with preferred commercial ranges extending from about 100 grams per square yard to about 200 grams per square yard . the specific amount applied to an individual piece of goods will depend , of course , upon its size or area . the temperatures attained during the heating and bonding of the particulate thermoplastic materials t to the goods depend primarily upon the chemical and the physical properties and characteristics of the particulate thermoplastic materials t and , to a lesser extent , upon the nature of the goods to which they are applied and adhered . under normal circumstances , the temperatures reached by the particulate thermoplastic materials t are in the range of from about 150 ° to about 600 ° f ., and preferably in the range of from about 220 ° to about 460 ° f . the specific temperature selected for any particular process must be sufficient to soften and fuse the particulate thermoplastic materials t but not too elevated as to possibly damage the goods . any excess powdered materials t which do not fall on the goods g or remain thereon , fall between the spaced , relatively thin stationary support wires 14 and the relatively thin lifting and transporting members 32 and go into a collection hopper 40 to be collected for subsequent recycling and re - use . as noted in fig2 the slanting and converging walls of the collection hopper 40 lead to a narrow mouth under which any desired receptacle or container ( not shown ) may be placed for easy collection of the unused thermoplastic materials t . as a consequence , there is substantially no loss of any powdered materials t and waste is cut to an absolute minimum , leading to enhanced efficiencies and economies . after the powdered materials t have been deposited on the reverse side of the goods g , the next cycle commences immediately and another article is placed on the stationary wire supports 14 at the feeding or loading station and is advanced by the lifting and transporting members 32 to a position under the hopper 23 . at the same time , a more forward portion of the lifting and transporting members 32 lifts the goods g t with the powdered materials t thereon from underneath the hopper 23 and moves the goods g t to the next advanced station or position underneath a heating and bonding station . such a position is shown in fig1 . at the heating and bonding station , the forward portions of the lifting and transporting members 32 are capped or provided with rectangular , inverted u - shaped presser elements or blocks 51 , preferably made of metal or plastic , whereby , when the lifting and transporting members 32 are moved upwardly due to the cam action of the cam 33 on the cam followers 2 , 2 to lift the goods g t from the stationary support wires 14 , the goods g t are supported not on narrow , thin wires , such as the top surfaces of the thin lifting and transporting members 32 , but by much wider presser elements 51 . additionally the goods g t will be lifted to a higher level inasmuch as the tops of the presser blocks 51 are higher than the tops of the members 32 . in fig1 , merely ten presser blocks 51 are shown , but it is to be realized that a larger number ( or a smaller number ) of such presser blocks 51 may be used whereby the intervening spaces between the presser blocks 51 may be smaller and merely sufficient to permit the passage of the stationary support wires 14 therebetween . the upper surfaces of the presser blocks 51 are preferably covered with a firm , yielding but resilient material 52 , such as a foamed or expanded material , sponge rubber , natural or synthetic rubber , synthetic elastomers , or like materials . this provides for a smoother and more even application of the heat and the pressure desired or required for the fusing and bonding operation . a heating unit 20 is provided at the heating and bonding station and heat - resistant sheet material , such as a suitable release paper 21 , delivered from a source of supply ( not shown ), or in the form of an endless sheet or belt , is positioned directly below the lower surface of the heating unit 20 . consideration of fig1 and 12 will establish that , when the goods g t are lifted and raised by the resilient tops 52 of the presser blocks 51 , the top surface of the goods g t will be pressed directly against the release paper 21 and the bonding heat from the heating unit 20 will be transmitted to the powdered materials t through the intervening release paper 21 . as a consequence , the powdered materials t are fused and bonded to the reverse sides of the goods g t which , in turn , are bonded to the release paper 21 . therefore , when the presser elements 51 are lowered due to the cam action of the cams 33 on the cam followers 2 . 2 , the goods g t are not replaced on the stationary wires 14 but remain adhered to the under surface of the release paper 21 , as shown at the left hand portion of fig2 . the release paper 21 is normally prepared by applying a standard or conventional release agent coating composition substantially uniformly to the surface of paper or like sheet material . silicone polymeric materials are normally preferred as the release coatings and may be sprayed , brushed , padded , or otherwise applied in any desired fashion and to any desired thickness of coating . other suitable release agents applicable for use in the present inventive concept may be applied in the same way and include : fluorocarbon plastic materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene ptfe , fluorinated ethylene propylene fep , etc . ; natural and synthetic manufactured waxes ; metallic salts of fatty acids , such as zinc stearate ; soaps ; polyvinyl alcohol ; polyamides ; polyethylene ; polysiloxanes ; &# 34 ; quilon &# 34 ; werner type chromium complexes in isopropanol ; mica ; talc ; etc . these release agents are applied substantially uniformly in standard or conventional amounts in order to provide the desired or required anti - stick , low - adhesion release properties and characteristics to the goods as applied to the release paper . at the forward end of the shuttle assembly 25 , a pair of vertically upstanding studs or rods 80 are vertically mounted on the blocks 71 and slidably project through vertically extending openings formed in the overhanging portion of the framework of the heating unit 20 . as a consequence , whenever the shuttle assembly 25 is cyclically moved forwardly or rearwardly , due to the action of the driving and reversing mechanism of fig1 , the heating unit 20 will be correspondingly cyclically moved forwardly and rearwardly in synchronization therewith . however , since the studs or rods 80 of the shuttle assembly 25 slide vertically within the corresponding openings 81 of the heating unit 20 , no vertical movement is imparted to the heating unit 20 . thus , the heating unit 20 will not receive any upward or downward movement , even though the lifting and transporting members 32 and the associated cam followers 2 , 2 may be moving upwardly and downwardly cyclically . the heating unit 20 receives only forward and rearward movements from the rod 80 . also , at the same time , as the shuttle assembly 25 moves upwardly from the position shown in fig1 to the position shown in fig1 , a pair of spring - loaded t - shaped clamping heads 84 on each side of the heating unit 20 are slidably mounted in openings in the blocks 71 and also move upwardly to contact and clamp the release paper 21 against the lower surface of the heating unit 20 to prevent any relative movement or slippage between the two . as shown in fig1 , the t - shaped clamping head 84 is spring - loaded upwardly , urged thereby by a helical compression spring 83 surrounding the shaft 82 of the clamping head 84 , which shaft 82 is slidably received in an opening in the block 71 . it is to be appreciated that the release paper 21 is not driven forwardly or pulled by any separate external driving force , such as a motor or the like , or is it mounted on a driving or constantly driven rotatable shaft . it is normally stationary or motionless but , when urged forwardly by means to be described hereinafter , may move forwardly a pre - selected or predetermined distance . however , when such forwardly - urging means is removed , the movement of the release paper 21 stops immediately . the heating unit 20 may slide horizontally in upper and lower rails secured to the inside walls of the side plates 1 , 1 , in which case it will move in a level horizontal plane . however , if desired , the heating unit 20 may merely ride on a lower horizontal rail secured to the inside walls of the side plates 1 , 1 . in such a case , the heating unit 20 will be maintained in a floating condition and may be raised slightly vertically off the lower rail when so urged by the clamping heads 84 and the upward thrust of the presser elements 51 and their resilient tops 52 . as a result , the pressure exerted on the goods g t during the fusing and bonding operation is due to the weight of the heating unit 20 and therefore provides a constant loading factor . such a constant loading factor is , of course , desirable , particularly when goods are being processed which may have different thickness and which will receive different loading factors if the heating unit 20 were to be maintained in a constant horizontal plane at all times . with the floating heating unit 20 , different thicknesses of goods g t are compensated for by the raising of the heating unit 20 to different levels or heights , whereby the loading factor is constant and is created only by the weight of the heating unit 20 . additionally , if increased or decreased pressures are desired , then additional weights may be placed on or removed from the heating unit 20 to provide additional or less loading . during the forward movement of the shuttle assembly 25 , the release paper 21 , the goods g t , and the heating unit 20 , when they are pressed together at the elevated temperature of the heating unit 20 , the goods g t are heated and the powdered thermoplastic materials t fused and bonded to the goods g t . the temperature levels reached by the thermoplastic materials t are in the range of from about 150 ° to about 600 ° f . and preferably in the range of from about 220 ° to about 460 ° f ., depending upon the particular powdered thermoplastic material used in the process . at the end of the forward movement , the shuttle assembly 25 moves downwardly as the cam followers 2 , 2 slide down the &# 34 ; down &# 34 ; cams but the heating unit 20 , release paper 21 and the goods g t remain basically at the same height . the separation of the shuttle assembly 25 and the heating unit 20 causes the clamping heads 84 to move downwardly and to release their grip on the release paper 21 . when the shuttle assembly 25 and the heating unit 20 move rearwardly to start a new cycle , the release paper 21 with the goods g t adhered thereto is disengaged and separated from the shuttle assembly 25 and the heating unit 20 which move rearwardly . as a result , the release paper 21 and the freshly fused and bonded goods g t are positioned beyond the heating unit 20 and subsequently are moved beyond the heating unit 20 to a cooling station and subsequently on out of the operation . if desired , such as when an endless stretch or belt of release paper 21 is used to be returned and re - used again , the fused and bonded goods g t may be removed from the release paper 21 by a doctor blade or an equivalent device and dropped or directed to a receptacle or container positioned at the delivery end of the apparatus . the time required for one complete cycle ( including forward and rearward movements ) depends upon many factors , primarily , the temperature of the heating unit and the nature , properties and characteristics of the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic materials , and more specifically , its particle size range and its softening and melt point characteristics . depending upon the above factors , and the degree of adhesion desired , complete cycles of as short as about one second are achievable in some circumstances , whereas complete cycles of as long as about twenty seconds are required in other instances . in rare cases , such as in the use of relatively high melting point resins or high energy absorbing resins and in the use of goods which are heavy in weight and of considerable thickness , a complete cycle of as long as a minute or even longer are noted . however , such is not the usual situation or rule . the present invention will be further described with particular reference to the following specific examples , wherein there are disclosed typical and preferred embodiments of the present inventive concept . however , it is to be stated that such specific examples are primarily illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as limitative of the broader aspects , except as defined and limited by the appended claims . the apparatus illustrated in fig1 , 9 and 11 -- 14 is used in the example . the goods are small , woven cotton fabric ovals which are intended to be adhered to shirts of employees , indicating their company affiliation . the ovals are approximately three inches by two inches ( major and minor axes , respectively ). the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic material is bostik 5132a specialty polyamide resin designed for use as a fusible textile adhesive . it has the following specifications : ______________________________________type of resin polyamide resinmelt point ( r & amp ; b ) 245 ° - 275 ° f . density 1 . 095 grams per cc . particle size range 0 - 80 microns ( primarily 53 - 80 microns ) bulk density ( unpacked ) 380 - 420 grams per literbulk density ( packed ) 480 - 540 grams per litermoisture content less than 3 percent by weight______________________________________ the length of the apparatus is about 22 inches and its width is about 6 and three - quarters inches . the total length of the stroke of the shuttle assembly is about seven inches and the forward movement of the goods , from the point it is picked up from the stationary support wires to the point where it is replaced on the stationary support wires , is about four and a half inches . the total length of the distance between the cam followers is about 11 and seven - eighths inches . saw blades having serrated edges are used as the lifting and transporting members . the floor of the hopper for the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic material is a flat perforated metal plate having very closely spaced openings ( 400 per square inch ) having a diameter of 0 . 027 inches . the vibrator is a conventional , commercially available vibrator , 60 cycles , 110 volts , 2 amperes , and is securely attached to the hopper and causes the hopper to vibrate intermittantly and suddenly , in time and in synchronization with the intermittantly forwardly moved goods . the release paper is in the form of an endless sheet material and is reused in the operation . it has a width of about 41 / 2 inches and a total length of about 42 inches . the temperature of the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic materials at the time of the fusing and bonding operation is approximately 275 ° f . the time required for one complete cycle is about 4 seconds ( forward and backward movements ). such a cycle includes a two second dwell created by a suitable time delay device . the powdered , particulate , thermoplastic material is well adhered to the reverse surface of the cotton fabric oval which can easily be reheated and reactivated and permanently adhered to the shirt of the employee . the procedures set forth above are followed with the exception that the goods highly irregular , small monograms including several crossed tennis rackets and small openings . the overall measurements ( longest length and longest width ) are about three inches by three inches . the results are comparable to the results obtained with the cotton ovals previously described . the monogram with the thermoplastic materials adhered to the reverse side is easily applied to sports jackets and other articles of apparel by the addition of sufficient heat to reactivate the thermoplastic properties of the thermoplastic materials . the procedures of example i are followed substantially as described therein with the exception that the flat perforated metal plate in the hopper is replaced by a 40 mesh woven screen ( example iii ) and by a 50 mesh woven screen ( example iv ) having sieve openings of 420 microns and 297 microns , respectively . the results are generally comparable to the results of example i . the procedures of example i are followed substantially as described therein with the exception that the cam which is used to give the cam follower and the shuttle assembly the desired upward , horizontal , downward , and rearward movements are illustrated in fig3 - 8 ( example v ) and fig1 ( example vi ). the results obtained in these examples are generally comparable to the results obtained in example i . the product is substantially equally commercially acceptable . although several specific examples of the inventive concept have been described in particularity , the same should not be construed as limiting the invention to the specific materials and procedures mentioned therein but to include various other materials and procedures , as well as other equivalent features , as set forth in the claims appended hereto . it is understood that any suitable changes , modifications , and variations may be made without departing from the scope and the spirit of the broader aspects of the invention .	1
referring now to fig1 , a perspective view of a candle holder and cap according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown . the candle holder 100 comprises a container 102 . in the present embodiment , the container 102 comprises an outer wall 104 and an inner wall 106 . a space 107 is defined between the outer wall 104 and the inner wall 106 . in some embodiments , this space 107 will serve as an insulating barrier and , in other embodiments , may be used for decorative purposes , as will be described further below . in the present embodiment , the outer wall 104 and the inner wall 106 connect to the base 108 . in some embodiments , the outer and inner wall 104 , 106 , will be formed from separate pieces and attached to the base 108 . in other embodiments , the outer wall 104 and inner wall 106 may be formed integrally and then attached to the base 108 . in some embodiments , the walls 104 , 106 will be made from glass . in other embodiments , the walls 104 , 106 may comprise some other heat resistant and suitably translucent or transparent material ( such as , for example , heat resistant plastic ). in some embodiments , a substantially transparent wall design will be utilized to allow for lighting from a candle to shine through the walls and for allowing the candle to backlight decorative items , as will be described more fully below . the base 108 may provide an opening 110 such that the bottom of the container 102 is open . the base may be made from a metal or plastic or other resilient or durable material . in one embodiment , the walls 104 , 106 will be glued to the base 108 . the candle holder 100 in the present embodiment also comprises a lid 120 . the lid 120 has a top 122 which can be seen as being generally toroidal in shape . in the present embodiment , the top 122 is generally of an open disk shape with a width covering the distance between the outer wall 104 and the inner wall 106 . a lip 124 may be formed around the periphery of the top 122 to ensure that the lip 120 is centered on the container 102 when placed thereon . a set of hangers 126 extends generally downwardly from the top 122 and suspends a candle platform 128 . the candle platform 128 may also have a lip 130 around a periphery thereof to secure a candle . all of the components of the lid 120 may be metal or suitable heat resistant plastic . the hangers 126 may be a stiff wire that is capable of suspending the base 128 in a level and secure relationship with regard to the top 122 . referring now to fig2 , a perspective view of the candle holder of fig1 with the cap in place with a candle is shown . here , the lid 120 is seen in place on the container 102 . it can be seen that when the lid 120 is placed upon the container 102 , the platform 128 will be at approximately the same level as the base 108 of the container 102 . a candle 202 is shown resting on the platform 128 . it can be seen that to replace or remove the candle 202 , the user need only lift the lid 120 . this will allow easy access to the candle platform 128 . in this manner , if a candle becomes stuck or melted to the platform 128 , it may be easily removed for cleaning . it will also be appreciated that , because the walls 104 , 106 may be substantially transparent or translucent , any light from the candle 202 will be substantially unimpeded by the candle holder 100 . it can be seen that the walls 104 , 106 in conjunction with the space 107 therebetween will serve to insulate the user from any heat given off by the candle 202 . referring now to fig3 , a perspective view of the candle holder of fig1 with exemplary decorations is shown . in the present embodiment , a photograph 302 has been placed within the space 107 between the walls 104 , 106 . this may be done for decorative or backlighting purposes . the embodiment of fig3 also provides a shadow - type decoration 304 that may be backlit by the candle 202 , thereby casting pleasing or decorative shadows . although only two decorations are shown in fig3 , it is understood that the number and type of decorations is not meant to be limited by the present disclosure . it will also be appreciated that the design of the candle holder 100 with the lid 120 securely encapsulating the decorations 302 , 304 will keep the decorations 302 , 304 in relative safety . although generally cylindrical or circular walls 104 , 106 are employed in candle holder 100 , shown in fig1 - 3 , other shapes are possible . for example , the candle holder could have an oval cross section . in this way the candle holder would present a broader side when viewed from certain angles . similarly , square or rectangular cross sections could be employed . in other embodiments , other more complex cross sections could be molded and formed ( such star - shaped ). the corresponding tops and candle platforms of these embodiments would be formed to match the shape of the walls such that the candle holder would operate in substantially the same manner as described with respect to fig1 - 3 . thus , the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objectives and attain the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherent therein . while presently preferred embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure , numerous changes and modifications will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . such changes and modifications are encompassed within the spirit of this invention as defined by the claims .	8
referring to fig1 a carton blank 10 includes a central section 12 connected to intermediate sections 14 and 16 by score lines 18 and 20 , respectively . connected to the intermediate section 14 by score line 22 is end section 24 . similarly , end section 26 is connected to intermediate section 16 by score line 28 . the central section 12 is intended to become the top panel of a carton formed from the blank and a handle opening 30 is provided in the middle portion of the central section to facilitate lifting of the carton . intermediate sections 14 and 16 are intended to form the side panels of the carton and end sections 24 and 26 are designed to be glued together to form the bottom panel of the carton . although not shown in the drawing because they form no part of the invention , tear lines may be provided if desired in the intermediate sections to facilitate unloading of the cartons . the end panels of the carton are formed from flaps connected by score lines to the various sections of the blank . thus closure flaps 32 , connected to end section 26 by score lines 34 , and closure flaps 36 , connected to end section 24 by score lines 38 , would be folded in unison about their score lines 34 and 38 after the sections 24 and 26 were glued together . similarly , closure flaps 40 , connected to central section 12 by score lines 42 , would be folded about their score lines 42 at the same time as the closure flaps 32 and 36 . in addition , end panel flaps 44 and 46 are connected to intermediate sections 14 and 16 by score lines 48 and 50 , respectively . as can be seen in fig1 and in more detail in fig2 each end panel flap 44 contains two similar locking apertures 52 spaced from the unconnected outer edge 54 of the flap 44 . the outermost edge 56 of an aperture 52 is the locking edge of the aperture . located at the opposite or innermost edge of the aperture 52 is a holding tab 58 which is connected to the flap 44 by a score line 60 , the side edges of the holding tab 58 being formed by a slit 62 which is a continuation of the side edges 64 of the aperture 52 . the holding tab 58 is thus able to pivot about the score line 60 during the locking of the end panel flaps 44 and 46 , as explained in more detail hereinafter . referring now to fig1 and 3 , each end panel flap 46 contains two similar locking tabs 66 having toe portions 68 which extend outwardly from the unconnected outer edge 70 of the flap 46 . the outer edge 70 and the toe portions 68 of the locking tabs 66 are connected to the main body of the end panel flap 46 by fold line 72 , allowing the portions outwardly of the fold line 72 to be pivoted or folded about the fold line out of the plane of the end panel flap 46 . extending inwardly toward the fold line 50 is a heel portion 74 also capable of being folded out of the plane of the end panel flap 46 . fold lines 76 extend from the central portion of the leading edge 78 of the toe portion 68 diagonally to approximately the juncture of the toe portion 68 and the outer edge 70 of the end panel flap 46 . the functions of the various parts of the locking tab will be explained in more detail hereinafter . still referring to fig1 the various flaps described above are connected to each other by connecting webs which facilitate the end panel forming operation . webs 80 connect the flaps 36 and 44 , webs 82 connect the flaps 44 and 40 , webs 84 connect the flaps 40 and 46 , and webs 86 connect the flaps 46 and 32 . the webs are connected to the flaps along fold lines . in forming a package a carton blank , the end sections 24 and 26 of which have been glued together , is sent through the packaging machine . the machine opens the glued blank to form a sleeve or tube and the beverage cans are loaded into the sleeve through the open ends thereof . later , the closure flaps are folded in , bringing the end panel flaps into position for the locking tabs to be inserted into the locking apertures . when the carton has been fully formed it appears as in fig4 wherein the various panels and components bear like reference numerals to those used in connection with the blank of fig1 . it can be seen that the locking tabs 66 have been inserted into the apertures 52 and that the ends of the toe portions have been covered by the holding tabs 58 . the closure flaps 40 are visible at the edges of the end panel flaps 44 and 46 . referring now to fig5 a , the positions of the end panel flaps 44 and 46 at the initiation of the locking mechanism is illustrated . the outer edge portion of the end panel flap 46 , which carries the locking tabs 66 , overlaps the outer edge portion of the end panel flap 44 , which carries the locking apertures 52 . the locking tab 66 has been pivoted out of the plane of the flap 46 about the score line 72 and the heel portion 74 has been inserted through the outermost portion of the aperture 52 adjacent the locking edge 56 of the aperture . by pivoting the locking tab 66 about the score line 72 in a direction to move the tab back into the plane of the end panel flap 46 , the outer face of the heel portion 74 engages the locking edge 56 . continued pivoting movement brings the locking tab into the position shown in fig5 b , wherein the outer face of the heel portion engages or is about to engage the inner face of the flap 44 between the outermost edge 54 of the flap 44 and the locking edge 56 of the aperture 52 . at this point the toe portion 68 of the locking tab has contacted the outer face of the holding tab 58 . as shown in fig6 a , which corresponds to the position of elements shown in fig5 b , the side edges of the toe portion 68 of the locking tab 66 extend beyond the edges 64 of the aperture . the edges 64 thus form a barrier to the entry of the toe portion into the aperture . in addition , the holding tab 58 , which extends completely across the width of the aperture , extends up beyond the leading edge of the toe portion , also acting as a barrier to the entry of the toe portion of the locking tab into the locking aperture . continued pressure on the locking tab tending to pivot the tab even more about its fold line 72 in a direction to move the tab back into the plane of the end panel flap 46 causes the toe portions located outwardly of the diagonal fold lines 76 to be folded upwardly about the fold lines 76 , causing the effective width of the toe portion to be reduced . at the same time the holding tab 58 is pivoted down about the score line 60 . still more continued pressure on the tab will cause the toe portion to fold about its diagonal fold lines 76 even more , and the holding tab 58 to pivot down about its score line 60 even more , until the toe portion snaps through the side edges of the aperture and moves down over the free end of the holding tab . at that point the resiliency or memory of the material at the folds 76 and the score line 60 causes the toe portion to fold back in the opposite direction about the fold lines 76 and the holding tab to fold back in the opposite direction about the score line 60 . it should be understood that the various movements of the locking components described above are caused by mechanical elements of the packaging machine operating at very high speeds and are not done by hand . the machinery for causing such movements is well known in the art and does not form a part of this invention . referring now to fig5 c and 6b , which illustrate the final locked position of the locking tab in the associated aperture , it can be seen that the toe portion 68 of the locking tab 66 has been secured in place behind the portions of the panel flap 44 adjacent the aperture 52 . due to the action of the diagonal fold lines , the toe portion has been able to slide past the holding tab even though the holding tab extends at a constant height completely across the width of the aperture . the part of the toe portion adjacent the leading edge 78 has been completely covered by the holding tab 58 to prevent the locking tab from escaping out through the aperture . the result of this arrangement is to enable the engaged locking tabs and locking apertures to resist the shipping and handling stresses tending to withdraw the tabs from the apertures so as to retain the overlapping end panel flaps in interlocked condition . it should now be clear that the holding tab of the present invention is able to cover and hold in place the entire exposed width of the toe portion of the locking tab . this is made possible by the ability of the toe portion to fold about its diagonal fold lines so as to enable the toe portion to be inserted into the aperture despite the barrier presented by the holding tab extending out to the side edges of the aperture . because the diagonal fold lines are located in an area of the locking tab which permits the toe portions lying outwardly of the fold lines to fold back upon the locking tab to a much greater degree than would a longitudinally arranged fold line , the locking tab is able to squeeze through the small opening . it should be obvious that although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed , changes to certain of the details of the embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims .	1
[ 0037 ] fig1 a illustrates an internet - based variant of the invention , particularly suited to support large numbers of users from different organizations . an application server 5 comprised of data reader for cd or diskette or the like 7 , data storage device such as hard disk 8 , operating system ( not shown ), application software ( not shown ) and cpu 13 , is connected to the internet 20 via link 16 . preferably , the operating system will support the use of the application server by multiple users at the same time . an administrative terminal 14 is connected to the application server 5 via link 15 . user terminals 30 , 40 , and 50 are connected to the internet via links 31 , 41 , and 51 respectively , and would normally be comprised of a typical personal computer , with display , keyboard , mouse , cpu , and network interface . the details of application server hardware architecture , internet architecture , administrative and user terminals architecture , and link architecture are not specific to the invention and many existing alternatives are well known to those skilled in the art . it is well known in the art that an application server 5 can be advantageously spread across multiple cpus , to increase the capacity , speed and redundancy of the system . it is also well known in the art that an application server 5 can be “ mirrored ” to one or more additional locations , to increase the capacity , speed , and redundancy of the system . in typical use , a user at terminal 30 would access the application through a browser application such as microsoft ™&# 39 ; s internet explorerô or netscape ™&# 39 ; s navigatorô . the user would provide the browser application with a network address , which would cause a request to be made through the internet to locate the required application server 5 . the cpu 13 , under control of the application software and operating system would cause appropriate html and other internet standard protocol codes to be sent via the tcp ip protocol or another internet standard protocol back to the user , presenting the user with a user interface as exemplified in fig3 or fig4 depending on whether the user is acting in a managerial role , or an employee role . the user interface would cause the user to log in ( either explicitly , or implicitly through such techniques as internet “ cookies ”) and then provide the user with access to their data , with the methods provided by the invention . simultaneously additional users at terminals 40 and 50 may also be accessing data at the server , supported by the server &# 39 ; s use of the operating system . some aspects of the invention provide third party information to the user ; in this case a request from user at terminal 30 may be handled by application server 5 , which in turn may request data from a third party server 60 ( which is connected to the internet through link 61 ), and then forward that data back to the user terminal 30 with or without modification . while typical use would be through a network browser , it can be appreciated that a client - server architecture may also be a beneficial model , in which case the terminal 30 would be provided and would maintain a client software ( not shown ) for execution on that local terminal &# 39 ; s cpu ( not shown ), and that client software would exchange data with the application server 5 , eliminating the need for the transmission of user interface details . the client software can provide a similar user interface to that described in fig3 ( all parts ). it should be recognized that while user terminals are illustrated as pcs in fig1 a and 1 b , a full range of other user terminal devices ( pdas , tablet pcs , palm - top pcs , micro - browser equipped telephones , etc .) can be beneficially used within this architecture to access the features of the invention ( necessary gateways are simply added to the network backbone ). the recasting and segmenting of an application &# 39 ; s user interface for access on such devices is well within the knowledge of those skilled in the art , and indeed , may be done automatically by existing tools and software applications , and as such is not described further herein . it may be desirable to offer a user interface with limited features ( and not all of the features of this invention ) on a user terminal device with limited computing power , such as a pda . [ 0046 ] fig1 b illustrates an intranet based implementation of the invention . in this implementation a single organization of sufficient size would have an application server 5 which is located internally to the company , connected to local network 200 , serving users at user terminals 30 , 40 and 50 . some advantages of this arrangement are that the application server ( 5 ) is the property of the organization , and all data is maintained within the organization &# 39 ; s internal network . the application server ( 5 ) may request data from an internal server 600 ( which is connected to the intranet through a link 610 ) and then forward that data back to the user terminal 30 with or without modification . this implementation may also provide access to third party data servers 80 on the internet 70 , through a gateway 100 between the internal network 200 and the internet 70 . support for organization users remote to the local network 200 , but connected to the internet 70 , can also be provided through the same gateway 100 , by means of a user terminal 90 connected to the internet 70 by a link 91 . in an intranet based system supporting large numbers of user terminals , it becomes more likely that some of the data described in fig5 may be available on existing servers prior to the introduction of the invention ( e . g . personnel data , corporate organization structure data ). in this case , the application server 5 can run customized software to provide its features based on a combination of the application server &# 39 ; s data stored at its data storage device 8 , with pre - existing data stored on internal server 600 . the user utilizing a user terminal need not be aware that the data is coming from multiple data stores . a “ first time ” user of the invention , in the implementation described in fig1 a , would start by accessing on a user terminal the application software over the internet 20 using their internet browser . they would obtain access identification and a password to the application in exchange for payment , e . g . by credit card . in the case where a user is associated with other users within a larger organization , that larger organization may be billed directly , eliminating any requirement for an individual user to provide billing data . in the implementation described in fig1 b , a “ first time ” user would be assigned a userid and password by their organization , and direct payment would not be required . [ 0051 ] fig3 a illustrates an example login screen for the invention . in some environments , users may have already authenticated themselves , and may bypass this screen . users presented with a login screen would authenticate themselves by entering their email address ( or user name ) and password in an appropriate location on the login screen 310 , 312 , then pressing the login button 314 . upon accessing the system , already - authenticated users would be presented with a “ home ” page , offering navigation to other functions , a summary of their account status and significant information , such as pending messages from their manager or their employees or notifications “ alerts ” of possible issues . users presented with a login screen would be presented with a “ home ” page after they have been authenticated by the system . fig3 b illustrates an exemplary “ home ” page ; it offers primary navigational control through a left menu 316 , as well as overall controls and functions in a top menu 318 . fig3 b through fig3 gg all represent example user interface screens presented to user 11 ( in the organization chart of fig2 ), and in most cases , viewing the data of user 112 ( in the organization chart of fig2 ). any member of an organization , as depicted in example from in fig2 can be a user of the system . depending on their place in the organizational structure (“ management chain ”), they would be presented an appropriate user interface ( further discussed with reference to fig5 f ) and access to the data for their own subordinate employees . referring to fig2 as an example organizational structure , we will presume the initial user is user 1 in the figure . user 1 would be a manager to users 10 , 11 , and 12 , who can be referred to as user 1 &# 39 ; s subordinate employees . user 11 , for example , would act in a managerial role to users 111 , 112 , and 113 , who can be referred to as user 11 &# 39 ; s subordinate employees . user 11 would thus be a manager with respect to users 111 , 112 , and 113 , and a subordinate employee with respect to user 1 . user 1 would have three subordinate employees ( user 10 , 11 , 12 ) but many employees ; for example , users 111 , 112 , and 113 are not user l &# 39 ; s subordinate employee , they are still considered employees of user 1 . thus a user can also be another user &# 39 ; s subordinate employee . the chain of users and subordinate employees , as depicted in fig2 is known as the “ management chain ”. members above a particular user in the management chain linked to that user are referred to as that user &# 39 ; s manager ; members directly below linked are referred to as that user &# 39 ; s subordinate employee . when user 11 is using the system , he would have users 111 , 112 , and 113 shown in his view of his staff , a potential user interface for which is shown in fig3 c . this screen beneficially provides a display of or direct access to summary information about each of the user &# 39 ; s subordinate , including : an indication of whether that subordinate employee has added items to their discussion agenda , signified by a number in the “ new ” field representing the quantity of agenda items added by the person since the user last looked at the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s agenda / notes , and access to that subordinate employee &# 39 ; s discussion agenda , by selecting the number ; any potential warnings or issues , indicated in the “ alerts ” field , and accessible by selecting the alert indicator ; the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s current status , displayed and changeable by selecting the status indicator ; contact telephone numbers based on the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s current status , displayed in the telephone number field ; supplemental access to each subordinate employee &# 39 ; s ongoing discussion agenda , by selecting the person &# 39 ; s name ; note that the subordinate employee list in fig3 c may be advantageously sorted so that those employees with active alerts or new notes would be presented at the top of the list , to facilitate a quick scan of employees requiring attention where all employees can not be displayed simultaneously . all , or portions of , the subordinate employee list shown in fig3 c may also be advantageously presented within the framework of an information portal , where the portal has appropriately authenticated the accessing user &# 39 ; s rights to such information . the user can act in an employee mode by selecting his own data , for interacting with his manager , or can act in a manager mode for interacting with his subordinate employee &# 39 ; s data , through selections made in the hierarchical navigational menu . the status indication ( 320 ) at the top of the screen provides constant feedback as to whose data is being accessed . data defining the user &# 39 ; s employees could be entered by the user , using typical internet - based data entry forms ; or by an organizational administrator on behalf of the organization ; or via transfer of a file , e . g . a comma - separated - value format description of the data , imported or collated from other systems or lists ; or via a data connection to another system , e . g . a human resources information system — such a human resources information system may be connected as internal server 600 in fig1 b ; all through means well known to those skilled in the art . it should be noted that in a larger organization , with many layers of managers and employees , it would be possible to make use of this invention , starting top - down , with implicit definition of the organizational structure as each manager in turn filled in their employee &# 39 ; s data . [ 0067 ] fig5 c describes the elements of each user &# 39 ; s data structure which is used to display the subordinate employee list ; their name , number of items added to the agenda , active alerts , current status , phone numbers associated with current status , and any note associated with current status . [ 0068 ] fig3 d shows a user &# 39 ; s view of the alerts associated with a single subordinate employee ( the “ alerts screen ”). the alerts subject column lists the possible alert events ; the status column shows the current state of the data which would cause an alert ; the action column offers specific actions for dealing with any particular alert ; the alert trigger column shows the thresholds which would trigger an alert . triggered alerts are shown in a highly visible graphical treatment , e . g . a high - contrast high brightness colour , such as red . alerts can be “ deferred ” to a future date by the user , in which case they are shown highlighted in a less visible fashion , e . g . in bold - face text . the system advantageously provides direct access to the typical activities a user would conduct in the event of an alert , e . g . : deferring the alert , when it is likely to be resolved without other specific action by the user , until a specific date in the future ; sending an email to the subordinate employee regarding the situation which has triggered an alert ; adding a note to the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s ongoing discussion agenda for the purpose of discussing the situation leading to the triggering of an alert in the future ; resetting the alert where the situation is resolved , and the user wishes to be advised of the next alert . it should be noted that some classes of alerts require a user to specifically reset them , where some user action is likely warranted beyond the scope or knowledge of the invention ; however , where the invention can make advantageous use of its own data , it automatically resets the alert on behalf of the user . for example , if an alert is raised due to the user not having had a discussion with the subordinate employee in the prescribed interval , that alert is automatically reset when any note is added to that subordinate employee &# 39 ; s topics data structure . it should be noted that the ability to select one of or scroll through each of the user &# 39 ; s subordinate employees , or their own data , is easily supported in such contexts as this alerts screen , allowing a user to very quickly scan the status of all their subordinate employees . using the top menu , the user can directly select from their staff , displayed in a drop - down menu , or choose to cycle sequentially through their subordinate employees , by choosing “ next ” and “ previous ” controls , which result in the system selecting the next or previous subordinate employee from the list of that user &# 39 ; s subordinate employees . fig5 a represents a portion of a database defining the organizational structure of a group of users ( the same organizational structure shown in a more traditional format in fig2 ), and the list of which users should be displayed as subordinate employees of the current user would be identified in columns “ staff 1 ” through “ staff . . . ”. typical alerts and example thresholds are shown , but other metrics and alert thresholds can be defined , days tardy , customer complaints , low productivity , high productivity , etc ., can be manually entered by the user , the subordinate employee , or fed from a third party source , such as at server 600 in fig1 b . [ 0078 ] fig3 e shows further details of the user interfaces associated with the defer , and add to agenda screens for the alerts screen . the defer screen allows the user to specify the date to which the alert is to be deferred , and notifies the user of the current deferral date if there is one . the add to agenda screen allows the user to describe the subject of discussion for adding to the agenda , optionally to reset the alert if this alert requires manual resetting , and optionally choosing to identify this agenda item for sharing with the subordinate employee ( the ability to share or not a particular agenda item or note with a subordinate employee is further described in reference to fig3 h ). two versions of this screen are shown , highlighting the fact that some alerts are manually reset , some automatically . [ 0080 ] fig3 f shows a calendar screen which allows the user to view a calendar for a subordinate employee , describing the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s status for each day in a particular month ( and those days from prior and subsequent months which share a work week with the selected month ). access to any particular day &# 39 ; s details for the purpose of viewing or changing is available by selecting that day , which accesses the mechanism shown in fig3 g . [ 0081 ] fig3 g shows a calendar details screen which allows the user to view subordinate employee contact information for any given day , for example , any relevant notes for that day , and also in the event that an unusual calendar event has been overlaid onto the weekly default repeating calendar , the beginning and end days for that unusual calendar event . notes for unusual calendar events are also displayed at the bottom of fig3 f . mechanisms to choose and display months other than the current month are included on the display , as arrow keys to either side of the month and year display [ 0082 ] fig3 h illustrates the user interface for adding and managing discussion agenda items . the topic column lists the discussion topics ; it includes a “ general ” area , as well as user - defined discussion topics , shown in this example as “ customer svc response ”, “ dept . cost containment ”, “ s / w quality - x - ray ”, and “ testing knowledge ”. the screen offers the ability to add agenda items associated with any of the topics , and optionally to share those items with the subordinate employee , indicated by the checkbox underneath the folder icon associated with each agenda item . also offered is the ability to add a note to a discussion topic in the notes file , again , optionally shared with the subordinate employee . existing agenda items can be moved to the notes , e . g . after a discussion ; this advantageously minimizes the amount of data entry by the user . existing agenda items can also be simply deleted , where no note is required . the upper window in fig3 i shows the pop - up window associated with adding or moving a note . it allows a date to be associated with the note , defaulted to the current date ; text for the note , defaulted to the current agenda item ; an option to leave the original agenda item untouched , controlled by the “ leave on agenda ” tickbox ; options to tag the note , shown in this example with “ happy face ” and “ sad face ” icons ( for later use in collating notes , e . g . for the purpose of appraisal ), representing praise and criticism ; and an option to share the note with the employee , shown by the shared - folder icon , which modifies a read access field . referring back to fig3 h , discussion agenda items / notes added by the employee are also shown on this screen ( i . e . the item referring to extending a vacation in washington ), with a different graphical treatment ( i . e . font style and text colour ). this permits the user to clearly differentiate subordinate employee &# 39 ; s additions to the agenda from their own items . the lower portion of fig3 i shows the mechanism used for adding user - defined discussion topic ; it includes an option to share the topic with subordinate employees . the system allows for the user to selectively share specific data elements with individual subordinate employees ; fig5 b summarizes the elements of data for which such control is offered , i . e . : overall access to the data , controlled by login access . if the subordinate employee is not given login access , they are not shown any information at all . login access grants implicitly certain rights — the ability to add agenda items , the ability to add discussion topics , and the ability to add objective sets ; visibility of a discussion topic , controlled by the read access field associated with each topic . if a subordinate employee has no access to a particular discussion topic , they system does not display the discussion topic to that employee when they are accessing pages listing discussion topics . as a convenience to the user interface design , the system maintains the general topic as fixed , always with read access enabled . visibility of individual agenda items , controlled by the read access field associated with each agenda item . visibility to individual notes , controlled by the read access field associated with each agenda item . visibility of each objective set , controlled by the read access field associated with each objective set . ability to modify each objective set , controlled by the write access field associated with each objective set . visibility of each appraisal , controlled by the read access field associated with each appraisal . ability to modify the employee comments portion of each appraisal , controlled by the write access field associated with each appraisal . it will be clear to those skilled in the art that sharing controls can be modified in a variety of ways depending on specific requirements of the organization using the invention , adding additional controls or simplifying controls where appropriate . [ 0096 ] fig3 j illustrates an exemplary user interface providing a summary view of and controls for discussion topics , previously discussed with reference to the agenda function . the user is presented with a count of agenda items and notes associated with each discussion topic , and the date of the last change to any datum associated with the topic . the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s ability to view each discussion topic is also shown and controllable . [ 0097 ] fig3 k illustrates a specific set of notes , in this example , the “ customer svc response ” discussion topic &# 39 ; s notes . the features of a note have been discussed with reference to the agenda function . this exemplary user interface shows all of the added notes , offers the ability to add additional notes , delete notes , and change the sharing or tags associated with each note . fig5 d illustrates an exemplary data structure for the discussion topics , agenda items , and notes features of the invention . [ 0098 ] fig3 l illustrates the calendar view of discussion notes ; this allows a manager to quickly see the pattern of discussion across discussion topics over time , and to select the notes for any particular date , by selecting the date of interest , or for a particular discussion topic across all dates , by selecting the discussion topic of interest . selecting a date takes the user to a point in the user interface described in fig3 n ; selecting a discussion topic takes the user to the point in the user interface described in fig3 k . the presentation of information in fig3 l can be condensed , eliminating days in which no discussion occurred ; this is shown in fig3 m . [ 0099 ] fig3 n shows a consolidated view of notes on the employee &# 39 ; s discussion topics for a single day . the user can scroll through other meeting days with the buttons to either side of the date , shown near the top of the screen . the user can also advance immediately to the first discussion notes stored , or to the most recent discussion notes stored . if the user wishes to modify notes , or see the detailed notes for a particular topic , they can access that discussion topic by selecting the topic name , which takes them to the point in the user interface described in fig3 k . the user can return to the multi - day view by selecting the appropriate button on the user interface . in the event that a particular discussion topic becomes obsolete and is not required at all , it can be deleted completely from the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s database . older topics for which notes are advantageously maintained can be “ archived ”; archiving a note removes it from visibility within the database , but allows it to be accessed through an alternate user interface mechanism . this mechanism is not specified herein ; such techniques are well known to those skilled in the art . archival is advantageously permitted for a complete discussion topic , or for a particular subset of dates , allowing , for example , a particular calendar year &# 39 ; s notes to be maintained as a set . [ 0102 ] fig3 o illustrates the portion of the user interface used to summarize and maintain ( add , modify , delete , archive ) employee objective sets ( each set contains one or more individual objectives , advantageously collected into a set ). subordinate employee access to objective sets is controlled herein as well . selecting a particular objective set would take the user to the portion of the interface shown in fig3 p . [ 0103 ] fig3 p illustrates the portion of the user interface used for viewing and modifying an objective set . the user can add new objectives , edit objectives , and delete objectives . the invention allows for each created objective to be linked to an existing objective within the management chain ; the upper window in fig3 s shows the portion of the user interface used to add an objective , allowing for the objective to be titled , have appropriate dates stored , details stored , establishing that linkage to a manager &# 39 ; s objective , and advantageously creating a discussion topic associated with the objective . an objective which is not related to a manager &# 39 ; s objective is left “ independent ”. the means to create a discussion topic associated with an objective greatly facilitates the maintaining focus on an objective as the user continues with day - to - day management activities , as the discussion topic is visible on the agenda , and is not relegated to memory . further , the discussion topic allows for collection of notes associated with the objective , facilitating performance appraisals . from the user interface illustrated in fig3 p , the user can also view the relationship between the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s objectives and their management chain &# 39 ; s objectives ( ie . the objectives of the user , the user &# 39 ; s manager , and anyone above the user in the management chain ). a view of all the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s objectives &# 39 ; titles and their relationship to the management chain &# 39 ; s objectives &# 39 ; titles is shown in fig3 q , which is access through the “ show cascade view ” button shown on fig3 p . from this view , or from the view shown in fig3 p , the full text of a specific objective can be shown as it relates to the full text of the linked management chain &# 39 ; s objectives ; this “ full cascade ” view is shown in fig3 r . [ 0105 ] fig3 t shows the user interface that provides for appraisals . when a user adds a new appraisal , it is based upon existing objectives ; fig3 u illustrates the user interface for adding a new appraisal , which provides means for naming an appraisal , selecting the objective set ( s ) the appraisal is to be based on , and setting the sharing controls for the appraisal . [ 0106 ] fig3 v illustrates the user interface for viewing an appraisal , in summary form , listing each of the current objectives , an associated rating choice , and an overall rating . rating descriptions can be customized to use the terminology required by the organization using the invention . methods are provided to add additional objectives , in the event that the appraisal should cover tasks not originally described within the objective sets . methods are also provided to import an existing appraisal , which allows , for example , an end - of - the - year annual appraisal to include , without modification , a previously - completed mid - year appraisal for reference . a method to view the details of the appraisal is also provided , which would present the view shown in fig3 w . [ 0107 ] fig3 w describes an exemplary user interface for a detailed view of an appraisal ; it provides for viewing and modifying the details supporting the ratings for each of the objectives . the function “ import notes ” associated with each objective , allows the user / manager to scan , filter , and copy previously made notes to the appraisal which are relevant to the performance of the employee with respect to the objective . fig3 x shows the mechanism by which the user chooses which discussion topic &# 39 ; s notes to scan , and fig3 y shows the scan and select interface . the user can advantageously sort notes by tag ( in this case , the tags praise and criticism are shown ), or by date , and then select those notes which are considered to be relevant to the appraisal . once selected and confirmed , the user is returned to the point in the user interface shown in fig3 w , with the selected notes inserted into the supporting text for each objective . the notes can be further modified or added to as required . fig5 e describes an exemplary data structure for the objectives and appraisals features of the invention . it will be apparent to the reader that these elements of the invention will greatly facilitate accuracy and speed in collating information to complete an employee appraisal . [ 0109 ] fig3 z illustrates the user interface presenting a first portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile : the basic information . this stores identification information , used in the application for communications , directory , and access , as well as providing information on the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s use of the system and current access status . the user interface provides a mechanism to reset the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s password in the event that they require this ; it is also apparent to those skilled in the art that a system administrator could do this , and a subordinate employee themselves may be able to reset their own password using an identity confirmation procedure . [ 0110 ] fig3 aa illustrates the user interface presenting a second portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile : the home information . this stores information regarding the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s home addresses : physical , postal , and electronic mail . advantageously provided is means to connect the user to internet - based mapping software providing a road map showing the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s home and driving directions to it . [ 0111 ] fig3 bb illustrates the user interface presenting a third portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile : the telephone contact information . this information allows all of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s telephone numbers to be stored for reference by the user , as well as providing automatic associations between these telephone numbers and various calendar statuses . this permits the calendar status to be associated by default with specific telephone numbers , and thus the features on the staff page and directory which allow current telephone numbers to be displayed for each user . each calendar status may advantageously be associated with up to two telephone numbers . [ 0112 ] fig3 cc illustrates the user interface presenting a fourth portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile , the calendar defaults . this information allows the calendar to automatically default to specific statuses for specific days , allowing subordinate employees who do not regularly work in the office monday - friday to store their personal default schedule . for example , a subordinate employee might work tuesday - saturday , or might work from home ( i . e . telecommute ) two days each week . this portion of the invention allows for the calendar to automatically reflect these default status patterns . [ 0113 ] fig3 dd illustrates the user interface presenting a fifth portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile , the personal development information . this allows the user to store relevant information regarding the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal development plans , needs , etc ., so that the user can refresh their memory regarding this information as appropriate . [ 0114 ] fig3 ee illustrates the user interface presenting a sixth portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile , the table of personal event dates . this feature allows the user to store key dates relevant to the subordinate employee , which can then be used to trigger alerts , discussed in reference to fig3 d . standard dates are pre - labeled ; other dates are labeled accordingly . dates can be automatically recurring , as in the case of birthdays and anniversaries , or non - recurring for other events . specific alert parameters can be set for each date , allowing the user to receive a reminder in advance of a date , on the date , or some period after the date . [ 0115 ] fig3 ff illustrates the user interface presenting the seventh portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile , the family information . this information is used to remind the user about the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s family , facilitating work social interactions . the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s family names can be recorded , as well as other information which the user considers important . [ 0116 ] fig3 gg illustrates the user interface presenting the eighth portion of the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s personal profile , the miscellaneous information . this allows the user to store arbitrary information about the subordinate employee which may be important in understanding and building a rapport with the subordinate employee . arbitrary labels can be associated with arbitrary information , depending on the user &# 39 ; s knowledge and desire to store specific information . [ 0117 ] fig3 ( all parts ) show a manager &# 39 ; s view of the data . fig4 ( all parts ) shows some exemplary portions of the user interface for a subordinate employee to view their own data . subordinate employee accounts can be automatically set up and communicated to the subordinate employee via email , in both of the system architectures shown in fig1 a and 1 b , through the addition of an email component added to server 5 ( such components are well known to those skilled in the art ). it should be noted that most users are also subordinate employees , reporting to yet another user ( their manager ). the system provides these users the ability to access both their own data , as shared by their manager , and that of their subordinate employees , through the navigational mechanisms at the left of the screen . fig5 f summarizes the navigational tree for users 1 , 10 , and 101 illustrated in the organization chart of fig2 . user 1 has full manager access , but limited subordinate employee functions , as he does not exist in a subordinate employee role within the organization . the limited functions allow him to establish his own calendar and personal profile , for the purposes of the directory , and his own objectives , for the purposes of allowing those to be view and linked to by his subordinates . user 10 is both manager and subordinate employee , and is offered full subordinate employee and manager functions . user 101 is only a subordinate employee , with no managerial responsibility , and is offered only subordinate employee functions , with an appropriately simplified labeling in the navigation structure . all of fig4 is shown from the point of view of user 112 , acting as a subordinate employee within his relationship with user 11 . fig4 a shows the initial system view for the employee portion of user 11 &# 39 ; s data . [ 0120 ] fig4 b offers the subordinate employee a view of their calendar , and access to mechanisms to change it ( which are the same mechanisms used by the manager ). [ 0121 ] fig4 c shows a subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of the agenda items for future discussion with their manager ( those that the manager has chosen to share with them ), and the mechanism the subordinate employee can use to provide notes to their manager for the agenda . note that the subordinate employee is not offered any views of the data of the other subordinate employees at his level of the management chain . [ 0122 ] fig4 d shows a subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of the topics summary ; it is similar to the view of the manager , but does not list topics which are not shared , nor does it offer topic management functions ( e . g . delete ). [ 0123 ] fig4 e shows a subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of a particular topic &# 39 ; s notes , showing only those notes which the manager has chosen to share with them . no ability to modify or manage notes is provided to the subordinate employee . [ 0124 ] fig4 f shows a subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of his objectives summary , showing only those objective sets which the manager has chosen to share with them . ability to modify an objective set depends on whether the manager has given them such permission ( indicated by the checkbox under the “ write ” icon column ). subordinate employees are always given the ability to adjust the sharing of their own objectives further down the organization management chain . for example , user 112 has not chosen to share their objectives ( indicated by no selections in the share - 1 and share - all columns ). these columns would allow user 112 to share their objectives with their direct subordinate employees , or employees at all levels of the management chain , respectively . note that in fig4 f , one of the two objective sets has been “ signed off ” by both manager and subordinate employee . the other has not , and the subordinate employee is offered means to sign off that objective set . [ 0125 ] fig4 g shows a subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of an objective set , which they do not have modification permission for . they are not presented with means to modify or add to the objective set . if they did have modification permission , their view would be identical to that of the manager &# 39 ; s , in fig3 p . [ 0126 ] fig4 h shows the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of a summary of their manager &# 39 ; s objective sets ( those which have been selected for sharing by their managers at all levels in the management chain ). as discussed in reference to fig4 f , each manager has the privilege of sharing ( or not ) their own objective sets with employees underneath them in the management chain , selectively to their subordinate employees , or to their employees at all levels . [ 0127 ] fig4 i shows the employee &# 39 ; s view of the details of a selected manager &# 39 ; s objective set . [ 0128 ] fig4 j shows the employee &# 39 ; s view of a summary of the appraisals which their manager has chosen to share with them . if the subordinate employee has permission to modify subordinate employee comments , an indication is shown under the “ write ” icon column . [ 0129 ] fig4 k shows the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of a summary of a specific appraisal . they have no means to modify the appraisal . [ 0130 ] fig4 l shows the subordinate employee &# 39 ; s view of the details of a specific appraisal . in this case , the subordinate employee has been given permission to modify the subordinate employee comments , and the subordinate employee comments field is editable , with means to save or cancel the changes provided . the subordinate employee can access the basic parts of their profile ( basic information , home information , telephone information , calendar information ), for the purpose of verifying and maintaining the data . each subordinate employee is also provided access to a directory preferences portion of their profile . [ 0132 ] fig4 m shows the user interface for a subordinate employee to modify their directory preferences . this screen allows the subordinate employee to determine whether they generally wish to share status , calendar , and specific telephone information with those in the organization who are not in their management chain . [ 0133 ] fig7 a is an example of a user interface for searching a directory , similar to many known in the art . [ 0134 ] fig7 b is an example of a user interface showing a complete directory ( all users retrieved ) for the upper 3 tiers in the management chain depicted in fig2 . in this case , the user interface is what user 1 would see in their directory . in addition to traditional directory information , the invention shows the status of the subordinate employee , current phone numbers , and a link to the user &# 39 ; s calendar , in those cases where the subordinate employee reports directly or indirectly to the person viewing the directory , as is the case for all directory entries in this example . status , status notes , and calendars can all be viewed only ( not changed ) within the framework of the directory . the directory also provides means for the user to view the organization structure , as shown in fig7 c . [ 0135 ] fig7 c shows the organization view , centered on user 12 , displayed by user 1 . user 1 has privileges to see the status , telephone numbers , and calendar of all users , so the selected user &# 39 ; s complete information is displayed at the top of the page . the organization view shows the selected user “ centered ”, with a different graphical treatment . it shows the selected user &# 39 ; s management chain to the top of the organization ( in this case , just user 1 ), and any staff reporting to the selected user ( in this case , users 121 , 122 , and 123 ). the organization can be “ browsed ” by selecting any of the displayed entries . for example , clicking on user 1 would show all of their reports ( user 10 , 11 , and 12 ); one could then continue to click on various displayed users , navigating up and down the organization . [ 0136 ] fig7 d shows a different directory view , in this case , one displayed for user 10 . the user can only see the status information for their own staff , and one additional individual , user 11 , who in this example has configured their directory preferences to allow for the sharing of their status and telephone number with other users . the framework and data structures of the invention allows additional specialized tools to be provided , such as an employee familiarity function , which can present to a user arbitrary random subordinate employees &# 39 ; pictures and information , allowing the using manager to become more familiar with employee faces and associate names with them . the employees could be selected from the organization as a whole or through some organizational subset or , for instance , limited to the user &# 39 ; s employees at all levels . this function can be added to a user homepage , as shown in fig3 a , or other equally appropriate parts of the user interface . [ 0138 ] fig6 a and 6 b describe the overall flow of the invention . at step 670 , the user logs in , with an interface equivalent to that described with reference to fig3 a . the user id and password are verified at step 601 , and if invalid , the user is informed of this at step 602 , and the application effectively terminates at step 603 ( usually by restarting and allowing the user to attempt a subsequent login ; in some cases , common security heuristics are used to block further attempts ). if valid , the invention determines if the user is a manager , at step 604 , and if so , calculates the alerts for the manager &# 39 ; s subordinate employees at step 605 so that they can be summarized and appropriately displayed for the manager . the invention then determines at step 606 ( from data exemplified in and described with reference to fig5 a ) if the manager is a subordinate employee themselves , and if not , presents at step 608 a version of the interface described in fig3 b with the navigation structure limited for this circumstance ( as described in fig5 f ). if the user is a manager and is also a subordinate employee themselves , an unlimited version of the navigation structure is provided , at step 609 . if the user is not a manager , the employee version of the navigation structure is presented , at step 607 . the invention allows for intra - page processing as part of the display step ( as is well known within web - based applications ), and generally awaits user input in the form of a request for navigation to a new part of the application , at step 610 . when a request for navigation is received , the application proceeds through steps 611 and 612 to step 613 , where any changes made in the current screen are saved if necessary ( thus eliminating any requirement for the user to save their data entry manually ). at step 614 , a determination is made to see if alerts need to be recalculated , due to actions in the current screen . if so , alerts are recalculated at step 615 . in either case , the application then proceeds to step 616 , where a determination is made to see if the navigation request made was to log out . if so , the application proceeds via step 618 back to step 670 , for a subsequent login . if the navigation request was not to logout , the requested page is now displayed and processed at step 617 . again , the application then handles intra - page processing and awaits a navigation request at step 619 , at which point it returns to step 613 . at steps 605 in fig6 a and 615 in fig6 b , alerts are calculated . fig6 c describes the overall process involved in this calculation . at step 651 , the invention determines if the current screen impacts alerts in any way ; it references a table such as that in fig5 g , listing the java server pages providing the screens , and where appropriate , an alert calculation function that is to be called if the particular page requires it . if the alert calculation function is “ null ”, no calculation is required or performed . if the function is not null , it is executed at step 652 . at step 653 , the invention determines if the time - based alerts are obsolete . a comparison of whether the current date ( at the time of the calculation ) is the same date as the last calculation date is made . this handles users who have not yet logged in this day , and users who have been logged in over the midnight hour . if the alerts are obsolete , all the alerts are recalculated at step 654 . the displaying of the alerts screen ( as shown in fig3 d ) is driven from a table such as that described in fig5 h . the table allows for the alert screen to be quickly built , and for summaries of alerts to be provided on the staff page and home / myself page for the manager . the alert name is used for display purposes . the id is used internally to allow for alerts to be referenced . the type is used in categorizing the alerts into the three categories displayed to the user , and in processing ; for example , “ eventonce ” alerts are completely deleted from the employee events section of the personal profile once they are reset , and “ eventrecur ” alerts are set to reoccur on the next calendar year . the auto reset determines whether or not the user is provided with a reset button ; in the example in fig3 d , the user can reset the active alert for the service anniversary , but not the deferred alert for an overdue vacation . the “ status value ” shows the current status of the alert ; the “ status units ” show how that is displayed ; a special entry , “ days delta ” indicates that the display depends on whether the status value is positive or negative . in the example fig3 d , the “ upcoming vacation ”, “ birthday ”, “ short term leave ” and “ objectives due ” alerts are all indicating a negative value , which is translated by the invention to “ days before ”. a positive value is shown for “ service anniversary ”, which represents and is displayed as “ days after ”. a zero value represents and would be displayed as “ days ”. the same logic is applied in the trigger units display , allowing for the alert to be triggered before or after an event . the “ status ” field indicates whether an alert is currently set , or deferred , or neither . if set , an alert is displayed in red on the alerts page , and if any alert is set , in red on the staff page . if deferred , an alert is displayed in boldface on the alerts page , and in boldface on the staff page . only set alerts are described on the manager &# 39 ; s “ home / myself ” page , shown in fig3 b . if an alert is deferred , the “ deferred on date ” and “ deferred to date ” are used to keep track of when the alert should be returned to the “ set ” status . the “ reset date ” is used when a manual reset is performed by the manager on one of the “ issue ” type alerts . this is used when calculating that alert ; instead of using the number of days in the alert trigger window , only those days between the reset date and the current date are used . this allows a manager who has seen an issue and expects it to resolve to reset the alert , yet be alerted if the condition reoccurs . the trigger value and trigger units are used in calculating alerts and in the alerts screen display . trigger values and trigger units can be adjusted by the manager through a user interface , as can whether each of the system - provided alerts are used or not , as controlled by “ alert enabled ”. unused alerts , e . g . alert ids 11 - 13 , are not shown in the display . alert id &# 39 ; s 10 - 13 are used for user - defined employee event alerts , and only one has been defined for this employee , leaving alert ids 11 - 13 unused . to this point , discussion of the invention has focussed on the accessing by one user ( e . g . manager ) of one user &# 39 ; s ( e . g . a subordinate employee ) data . it will be apparent to that it would be advantageous to perform certain tasks simultaneously for a plurality of users . for example , a manager might wish to create the same discussion topic for more than one person ; or the same agenda item , or the same set of objectives . in each case , the manager simply selects the set of employees for which the addition is to be made and defines or otherwise identifies the object to be added . at this point the invention merely adds the same record to the portions of the database associated with each of the selected individuals . this can be done both simply ( as copies ), or by reference . in the former case , each of the copies must be managed individually ; in the latter , means and methods can be provided to allow the referenced item to be managed directly , with changes being reflected within the views of the referenced object relevant to each of the selected users . it will also be apparent that for some purposes it may be advantageous to extract and present the data of multiple employees simultaneously . in most cases , this would be done as a management report . the invention &# 39 ; s architecture permits an almost infinite variety of such reports ; some examples are as follows : [ 0155 ] fig8 a illustrates a directory report , wherein the contact information of a number of employees is collated for reference , facilitating contacting employees when the manager cannot access the invention . [ 0156 ] fig8 b illustrates a family info report , wherein the family information of a number of employees is collated for reference . such information may , for example , be advantageously used when attending a social event . [ 0157 ] fig8 c illustrates a vacation planning report , wherein both historical and future vacation information from a number of employees &# 39 ; calendars is collated . simple analysis is also performed on the data , allowing the invention to highlight situations which should be drawn to the attention of the user , i . e . circumstances in which employees are overdue taking a vacation , and circumstances in which multiple employees have scheduled vacations for the same time period . [ 0158 ] fig8 d illustrates a vacation analysis report , wherein historical vacation information from a number of employees &# 39 ; calendars is collated . simple analysis is also performed on the data , allowing the invention to highlight situations which should be drawn to the attention of the user , i . e . circumstances in which employees are overdue taking a vacation . [ 0159 ] fig8 e illustrates an absence analysis report , wherein historical absence information from a number of employees calendars is collated . simple analysis is also performed on the data , allowing the invention to highlight situations which should be drawn to the attention of the user , i . e . circumstances in which absences are unexpectedly frequent . this format of report allows for absence patterns to be detected as well . [ 0160 ] fig3 , and 7 describe an exemplary user interface for the invention , as implemented in a typical web - based environment , showing traditional web - based navigation tools and data entry tools . clearly many other user interface alternatives exist and may be more appropriate as web technology matures or in the event that a client - server architecture is implemented . [ 0161 ] fig8 describes exemplary report formats for the invention , as implemented in a standard portable document format . clearly many other report formats exist . some or all of the functions offered in a web - based environment can be advantageously offered on smaller devices ( such as a personal digital assistant , e . g . the palm pda made by palm computing incorporated ), or on portable pen - based computers . this would permit the user / manager , or employee , to access and modify data when away from their usual work location , increasing the utility and availability of the invention . those skilled in the art will understand that a variety of modifications may be made to the preferred embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention .	6
fig1 shows a portion of a building comprising retail premises 10 which comprises a merchandise area 12 containing aisles 14 where various articles of for - sale merchandise are stocked on shelves 16 . articles which customers wish to purchase are carried by the customers to a check - out area 18 where sales are consummated . check - out area 18 comprises check - out lanes 20 which may either be self - service or be served by an employee of the retailer . after a sale has been consummated , a customer can transport the purchased merchandise to an exit area 22 of the premises through which the customer can exit the building with his / her purchased merchandise . fig2 shows each check - out lane 20 to comprise a check - out counter 24 on which articles of merchandise to be purchased ( designated by the general reference m ) are placed . merchandise to be purchased may first be placed on an approach surface 26 which is ahead of a surface 28 onto or over which the merchandise is moved article - by - article while automated equipment causes the sale of each article to be registered , as will be more fully explained hereinafter . after the sale of an article has been registered , the article passes onto a powered conveyor 29 which conveys the article to an inclined ramp 30 along which it can slide , or roll if the ramp has rollers , onto a collection surface 31 where the customer can retrieve it after having paid for it . each article of merchandise contains a upc bar code which uniquely identifies the specific article . surface 28 contains one or more areas 32 which allow a scanner 34 to “ read ” the upc bar code on an article of merchandise when the article is placed on or moved past an area 32 . by making areas 32 optically transparent and using an optical scanner 34 behind the areas , a visible upc bar code on an article label , tag , or packaging , or on an article itself , can be read by scanner 34 to identify the article . with the article having been electronically identified , the electronic identity is processed by a computer - based register 36 which has access to a data bank comprising a correlation of sale price to bar code for each of various articles of merchandise stocked for sale to determine the article &# 39 ; s sale price from the data bank , and the sale price is then recorded in one or more appropriate ways , such as electronically in a suitable storage medium , or memory . the article is then placed on conveyor 29 for transport via ramp 30 to collection surface 31 . after all articles of merchandise have been processed in this manner , register 36 provides a total of the individual sale prices in a dollar or other currency amount which the customer then pays by any appropriate means of payment such as cash , credit , or debit . a sales receipt which lists articles purchased and the sale price of each , and the total amount of the transaction , which may include other charges such as tax , is printed and issued to the customer who can then collect the purchased merchandise from collection surface 31 and leave the building through an exit door 38 of exit area 22 . for securing “ for - sale ” merchandise against unauthorized removal from premises 10 , such as by theft or pilferage , each article of merchandise is secured by the presence of a passive security device which , upon attempted unauthorized removal of the secured article from the premises , will be detected when the secured article comes within a specified range of a detector 40 shown in fig1 at exit area 22 inside exit door 38 . detection of a passive security device by detector 40 immediately initiates some form or forms of security action . such forms of action include issuing an alarm via an alarm device or system 42 which may comprise one or more of sounding an audible alarm in the building , illuminating a visible alarm in the building , and transmitting a silent alarm to security or staff personnel on the premises and / or to a remote location . exit door 38 may also be locked closed . exit area 22 is also continuously monitored by a closed circuit television camera 44 and an associated video recording device 46 which records the exit area scene either continuously or at a sufficiently fast snap - shot rate , and which may also have audio recording capability . detector 40 comprises a detection transmitter which continuously transmits ( i . e . wirelessly broadcasts ) a detection signal into an approach to exit door 38 which is inside the building premises . the broadcast range does not extend to merchandise area 12 or to check - out area 18 . detector 40 also comprises a receiver for detecting receipt of a wireless return signal from a passive security device in response to the passive security device having received a detection signal from the transmitter . fig3 shows an article of merchandise m containing one or more visible upc bar codes 48 and one or more passive security devices 50 . fig3 should not be construed to imply the size , shape , or location of passive security device 50 , or the number of such passive security devices on articles , or where such passive security devices are placed on articles , because that is a function of the nature of each article and of the nature of the particular passive security device or devices used . the presence of a passive security device on any particular article of merchandise should be known only to authorized personnel , such as management and security staff of a retailer for example . the size and placement of a passive security device on any particular article of merchandise should render its presence unnoticeable to anyone , other than perhaps in some instances to authorized personnel having knowledge . a passive security device may take any of various specific forms , to be discussed in more detail later . a passive security device is essentially a miniature , disposable electronic circuit having an antenna , or antennas , which render the device capable of receiving an incident wireless signal or signals and of transmitting a return signal or signals in response to such an incident signal or signals . a passive security device which receives an incident signal of sufficient strength will transmit a return signal of sufficient strength to be detected by the receiver of detector 40 . the signal strengths are strong enough to provide detection of unpaid - for merchandise even when the person attempting to remove the merchandise from the premises does so in a concealed manner and / or uses some form of protective shielding . attempted removal of an unpaid - for article of merchandise through exit area 22 will result in a signal which is being broadcast by the detection transmitter of detector 40 causing the passive security device which secures the article to transmit a return signal which , upon detection by the receiver of detector 40 , causes some form or forms of security action to be initiated . so that a paid - for article of merchandise will not cause detector 40 to initiate security action when it comes within the broadcast range of the transmitter of detector 40 , each check - out counter 24 comprises a “ kill ” transmitter 52 shown in fig2 . kill transmitter 52 , which may also be referred to as an unsecuring transmitter because it unsecures a secured article to allow the article to be removed from the premises without giving an alarm , can transmit a wireless signal , referred to as a kill signal or alternately an unsecuring signal , which is capable of rendering a passive security device incapable of transmitting a return signal in response to an incident signal from the detection transmitter of detector 40 . in this way , the state of a passive security device is changed from a first , or “ live ”, state to a second , or “ killed ”, state . various ways of rendering a passive security device incapable of responding to an incident signal from the detection transmitter of detector 40 include causing an internal circuit change in the passive security device which changes a response characteristic of the passive security device , such as changing the frequency at which it would respond to a broadcast from the transmitter of detector 40 to a different frequency to which the receiver of detector 40 is not tuned , or overwhelming the internal circuit with enough energy to “ burn out ” one or more circuit elements needed for transmission of a return signal , thereby simply destroying the passive security device . upon register 36 having registered the sale price of an article in an appropriate storage medium or memory , the registration of the sale will cause kill transmitter 52 to transmit an unsecuring signal which “ kills ” the passive security device securing the article . the kill transmission broadcast is properly targeted to hit the passive security device securing an article whose sale has just been registered , but the broadcast range is not so far as to kill passive security devices on other articles which may be nearby waiting to be scanned . register 36 keeps a record of each kill by transmitter 52 in an appropriate storage medium or memory . fig2 shows kill transmitter 52 in a location where it transmits a wireless broadcast targeted toward a paid - for article on conveyor 29 . for assurance that the passive security device securing the article whose sale has just been registered has in fact been killed by kill transmitter 52 and is therefore no longer “ live ”, register 36 causes a “ kill confirmation ” transmitter 54 to confirm each kill after sale of the article has been registered and kill transmitter 52 has transmitted a kill signal intended to kill the passive security device on the article . kill confirmation transmitter 54 performs a kill confirmation by transmitting a wireless signal which would cause a “ live ” passive security device to respond by returning a non - confirmation signal to a receiver located either in kill confirmation transmitter 54 or in the immediate vicinity . the kill confirmation broadcast is properly targeted to hit the presumptively - killed passive security device of the article whose sale has just been registered , but the broadcast range is not so far as to cause “ live ” passive security devices on nearby other articles of merchandise to return signals . fig2 shows kill confirmation transmitter 54 in a location where it transmits a broadcast which is targeted toward a presumptively - killed article on ramp 30 . a kill confirmation may be recorded in register 36 in a suitable storage medium or memory in correlation with the registered paid - for sale price of an article of merchandise . some of the various forms of passive security device 50 comprise passive nano -, micro -, or pulse - technology circuits . such extremely small devices , whose sizes render them incapable of being seen by a person &# 39 ; s naked eye , lend themselves to placement in merchandise in a variety of ways . placement should be in a place where the circuit would be unlikely to be removed before an article leaves the secured premises . articles of wearing apparel can be secured by passive security devices placed in apparel parts which if removed or altered would damage the articles . they can be placed in sewn - in labels or tags which would be expected to not be removed prior to leaving secured premises . manufactured merchandise can use the manufacturing process to embed a passive security device directly in an article during its manufacturing process using processes such as laminating or pressing . fig3 shows a passive security device 50 placed underneath a label l which is adhered to packaging of the article . nano - technology allows nano - type passive security devices to be dispersed in printing ink or fabric dye which is applied to an article of merchandise , a label on an article , or packaging containing an article . placement of nano - type passive security devices in printing ink which is used to print upc bar codes on articles allows bar codes themselves to function as the passive security devices , thereby avoiding a separate securing process . one or more nano - type devices which are dispersed in printing ink will become embedded in the ink after the bar code has been printed and the ink has dried . a manufacturer of articles who incorporates passive security devices by placing them directly on the articles or else in packaging of the articles and then ships them to a wholesale or retail customer enables the customer to verify the presence of passive security devices upon receipt of shipment and count them by a detector to determine if the correct quantity of articles has been shipped . if a retailer of articles wishes to apply passive security devices , a hand tool applicator , like the one 56 shown in fig4 , can apply them at locations on articles of merchandise which the retailer chooses and are known only to the retailer . such an applicator can dispense ink containing nano - type passive security devices , labels containing passive security devices , or apply passive security devices directly by adhesive mounting or other similar techniques . fig2 also shows a removable medium , such as a cassette 58 , associated with register 36 . cassette 58 has a protocol known to a supplier , or licensor , of the check - out lane apparatus ( i . e ., scanner 34 , register 36 , kill transmitter 52 , and associated electronic data processing equipment ), but not to the user of the apparatus , for limiting the total dollar or other currency sales volume of articles of merchandise whose passive security devices are allowed to be killed by the apparatus . the intent is to provide an accounting control on the extent of use of the apparatus which will assure that a user prepays the supplier , or a licensor of the supplier , for use of the apparatus . once the sales volume of merchandise processed by the apparatus nears the prepaid limit , an alert can be given to enable the supplier or licensor to replenish the cassette , or exchange the cassette for a fresh one , upon user prepayment for continued use . instead of a cassette , use can be monitored remotely by the supplier or licensor who can allow continued use after user prepayment . if a user is creditworthy , the supplier or licensor can monitor use and invoice the user accordingly after the fact . by using this accounting procedure , it becomes unnecessary to involve a supplier of merchandise or a supplier of passive security devices in an accounting procedure . a supplier of merchandise who applies passive security devices to them could however be a secondary or alternate point of accounting . if the total sales volume were to near the prepaid limit , certain controls in the apparatus become effective to shut down scanner 34 , register 36 , kill transmitter 52 , and kill confirmation transmitter 54 , thereby rendering the corresponding check - out lane 20 inoperative until a fresh cassette containing a fresh prepayment currency amount is installed or the existing one is reloaded with a fresh prepayment currency amount . by preventing the registration of the sale of an article in this way , its passive security device remains “ live ”, preventing the secured article from being removed from the premises without triggering an alarm at the exit , or alternatively its removal can be authorized by the purchaser paying for it at another check - out lane which will kill the live passive security device . cassette 58 thereby provides a removable medium containing value which is progressively depleted in the amount of the sale price of each secured article as the sale price of each secured article is registered in the register . upon the amount of depletion of the value approaching some limit , such as the prepaid limit initially loaded into the cassette , the kill transmitter is prevented from transmitting a kill signal . to continue use of the kill transmitter , the cassette is removed from the system , and its value replenished only by a supplier or licensor of the system , such as by returning the cassette to such supplier or licensor . by requiring such removal before a cassette can be replenished with value , and by uniquely identifying each cassette , a supplier or licensor of the system can monitor system usage to assure user compliance with conditions of use specified by the supplier or licensor . the point at which the remaining value in cassette 58 will prevent kill transmitter 54 from transmitting a kill signal can be set in different ways . one way is by using historical sales data to set a value which is greater than the remaining value in the cassette and which is likely to be exceeded by the total sales price of merchandise purchased by the next customer . another way is to cause register to perform a “ pre - kill ” calculation by comparing the sale price of an article which has just been scanned to value remaining in the cassette . if the sale price of an article which has just been scanned exceeds the value remaining in the cassette , the register is prevented from registering the sale and the check - out lane is shut down . the ability to manufacture electronic passive security devices with different frequency response characteristics allows each of different secured premises to be assigned their own unique frequency , much as commercial radios stations are . by reserving frequencies in this way , only passive security devices associated with a particular secured premises are useful at those premises . fig5 shows several retail stores 60 , 62 , each of which has its own security system like the one shown in fig1 , with only the detectors 40 being shown in fig5 . the security system of store 60 operates at a different frequency than the one of store 62 . the supplier of the security system , or the licensor of the supplier , can assign a unique frequency to each user which can forestall or prevent unauthorized use of the apparatus and which can also avoid interference with other wireless communication functions , such as inventory control for example . a chain of stores having different geographical locations can be assigned a common frequency for use at all stores . attempts to defeat a security system can be made more difficult by using passive security devices which respond to coded wireless detection signals rather than just one particular frequency alone and / or which respond to multiple frequencies . these features may be incorporated into a single passive security device or may be provided by using several different passive security devices to secure a single article of merchandise . a person trying to defeat a system would therefore have to have knowledge not merely of a single frequency , but also knowledge of multiple frequencies and / or codes in order to kill whatever passive security devices are on an article . a passive security device may also have the capability to respond to a detection signal by a return signal which identifies the specific article in some way such as by its bar code information . this would require a unique passive security device for the specific article of merchandise stocked for sale . there may be instances where management or staff needs to remove from secured premises one or more secured articles which have not been sold . a separate kill transmitter under the control of management may be used to kill the passive security devices on such articles so that they can be removed without triggering an alarm . the security system shown in and described with reference to fig1 can provide conclusive proof of attempted theft . upon detector 40 issuing an alarm indicating that a person is carrying an unpaid - for article of merchandise into exit area 22 , the person can be stopped by store and / or security personnel and asked for a cash register receipt to prove the article has been paid for . in the absence of such proof , the article is then first transported out of range of the detection signal from detector 40 and then brought back into range , area , causing an alarm to once again be issued . these events are recorded on recorder 46 with witnesses present . this proves that the passive security device was live when the person first attempted to remove it from the premises . with witnesses still present , the article is then brought to an idle check - out counter 24 and processed as if it were being paid for . register 36 will cause kill transmitter 52 to unsecure the article by killing the passive security device . the article is then brought back to exit area 22 where it will not trigger an alarm . this scene is also recorded with witnesses present and proves a second time that the article was not paid for . certain prospective users of the system and method disclosed herein may already have an inventory control system in place using individual r . f . i . d . tags ( radio frequency identification tags ) applied to each article of merchandise to identify the particular article . an r . f . i . d . tag is a form of passive security device . those r . f . i . d . tags may also be used as passive security devices in the system and method disclosed herein to provide a combined inventory control and security system . the combined system registers entry of secured articles of merchandise for sale into inventory within the premises and distinguishes between authorized and attempted unauthorized removal of secured articles from the premises . the combined system comprises an inventory control sub - system for registering entry of articles for sale into the premises by scanning inventory control r . f . i . d . tags on the articles and causing each article whose r . f . i . d . tag has been scanned to be registered in an inventory data base , and a security sub - system for distinguishing between authorized and attempted unauthorized removal of articles registered in the inventory data base from the premises . the security sub - system comprises i ) a detector for wirelessly detecting attempted unauthorized removal of articles from the premises by detecting r . f . i . d . tags on the articles when their unauthorized removal is attempted , ii ) a register for registering an article for authorized removal from the premises by scanning its r . f . i . d . tag and for subtracting the article which has been registered for authorized removal from inventory in the inventory data base ; and iii ) an unsecuring transmitter controlled by the register for wirelessly transmitting to the r . f . i . d . tag on the article which has been registered for authorized removal , an unsecuring signal which unsecures the secured article by changing the r . f . i . d . tag from an article - securing state which renders the r . f . i . d . tag wirelessly detectable by the detector to a non - securing state which renders the r . f . i . d . tag wirelessly undetectable by the detector . while a presently preferred embodiment has been illustrated and described , it is to be appreciated that the invention may be practiced in various forms within the scope of the following claims .	6
the following description will typically be with reference to specific structural embodiments and methods . it is to be understood that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specifically disclosed embodiments and methods but that the invention may be practiced using other features , elements , methods and embodiments . preferred embodiments are described to illustrate the present invention , not to limit its scope , which is defined by the claims . those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a variety of equivalent variations on the description that follows . like elements in various embodiments are commonly referred to with like reference numerals . the present invention can be carried out using wafer scale stacking or die scale stacking . in fig1 - 21 , the invention will generally be described in terms of die scale stacking . the additional advantages which accrue from carrying out the invention using wafer scale stacking are described in the description of the present invention with respect to fig2 - 25 . like reference numerals will be typically used when referring to like elements of dies and wafers . fig1 is a simplified enlarged cross - sectional view of an ic die 12 suitable for creating a 3d stacked multichip module as discussed below . die 12 of fig1 illustrates an electrical contact region 18 and schematically illustrates active device circuitry 20 for die 12 , both within a patterned conductor layer 22 . patterned conductor layer 22 includes a dielectric layer 26 overlying and supported by a substrate 28 of die 12 . substrate 28 is typically silicon . electrical contact region 18 includes a number of electrical conductors 24 , typically made of a suitable metal such as copper or tungsten . dielectric layer 26 is typically an oxide such as sio 2 . electrical conductors 24 and device circuitry 20 are , in this example , formed in dielectric layer 26 and are spaced apart from one another by the material of dielectric layer 26 . the active device circuitry 20 , which includes circuits for the mission function of the die , is preferably spaced apart from the electrical contact region 18 and thus does not underlie electrical contact region 18 . the active device circuitry 20 can comprise a flash memory circuit , another type memory circuit , an application specific circuit , a general purpose processor , a programmable logic device , combinations of circuit types as in a system of a chip device , and combinations of these and other types of circuits . in fig1 , active device circuitry 20 is illustrated as a relatively small element only for the purpose of the drawing . the relative size compared to the contact region 18 depends on the particular implementation . fig2 shows the die 12 of fig1 after a hard mask layer 30 has been deposited on the upper surface 32 of patterned conductor layer 22 of fig1 . hard mask layer 30 is an optional dielectric layer used for isolation and enhanced adhesion . a handling die 34 is mounted to hard mask layer 30 of die 12 . handling die 34 is preferably sufficiently thick and strong to help prevent damage to the underlying die 12 , and subsequently added die 12 , during the subsequent processing steps . handling die 34 is typically a bare si die . when wafer scale stacking is used , a handling wafer is mounted to wafer 12 . 1 , typically on a hard mask layer corresponding to hard mask layer 30 applied to wafer 12 . 1 . the handling wafer is preferably sufficiently thick and strong to help prevent damage to the underlying wafer 12 . 1 , and subsequently added wafers 12 . 1 , during the subsequent processing steps . the handling wafer is typically a bare si wafer . fig3 shows the structure of fig2 after a lower portion 36 , see fig2 , of the substrate 28 of the die 12 of fig2 has been removed to create an enhanced handling die 38 having a lower , bonding surface 40 on the remaining substrate 41 . this die thinning step can be undertaken because of the strength provided to the underlying die 12 by handling die 34 . during wafer scale operations , these operations would result in creation of an enhanced handling wafer corresponding to enhanced handling die 38 . fig4 shows the enhanced handling die 38 of fig3 mounted on top of a further die 42 . further die 42 is similar to the die 12 of fig1 but preferably includes hard mask layer 30 formed on upper surface 32 of patterned conductor layer 22 . lower surface 40 of enhanced handling die 38 is mounted to hard mask layer 30 of further die 42 . similarly , during wafer scale operations , the lower surface of the enhanced handling wafer is mounted to the hard mask layer of the further wafer . fig5 shows the structure of fig4 after the lower portion 36 , see fig4 , of the substrate 41 of each of the die 12 has been removed to create a stacked die 46 . fig6 shows the results of repeating the processing steps of fig4 and 5 using additional further die 42 to create a first 3d stacked die 48 . one advantage resulting from reducing the thickness of stacked die 46 is that the depth of the via that must be etched and then filled , see fig9 - 18 , is reduced . this simplifies manufacturing because increasing the depth of the via often requires increasing the diameter of the via . in practice , the vias may be tapered and the technology for filling the vias become limiting with large aspect ratios ( depth divided by the width of the via ). during wafer scale operations , a stacked wafer is created in a similar manner followed by creation of a first 3 - d stacked wafer . fig7 shows the first 3d stacked die 48 of fig6 after the removal of at least a portion of the handling die 34 of fig6 creating a second 3d stacked die 50 with an exposed surface 52 . fig8 shows the structure of fig7 after a dielectric material 54 has been deposited on the exposed surface 52 to create a third 3d stacked die 56 . likewise , during wafer scale operations , the second 3 - d stacked wafer and the third 3 - d stacked wafer 56 . 1 , see fig2 , are created . fig9 - 18 illustrate a sequence of steps creating electrical connectors 60 , shown as a part of stacked multichip module 61 in fig1 , in contact with electrical conductors 24 . electrical connectors 60 connect the landing pads 98 of electrical conductors 24 at the different levels to contact pads 62 . the different electrical connectors 60 are identified in fig1 as electrical connectors 60 . 0 through 60 . 7 with the left most being 60 . 0 . the locations for the electrical connectors 60 for contact with the corresponding electrical conductors 24 are labeled 0 through 7 in the figures . the position labeled gc identifies the location of ground connector 64 which typically electrically contacts electrical conductors 24 at each level . while only one electrical connector 60 is shown to contact an electrical conductor 24 at each level , in practice , many different electrical connectors 60 would be used to contact electrical conductors 24 at the same level . during wafer scale operations , the same basic processing steps are used on a third 3 - d stacked wafer 56 . 1 to create an array of stacked multichip modules 61 . fig9 shows the structure of fig8 after creating an initial - processing photoresist mask 57 on dielectric material 54 followed by etching through dielectric material 54 down to hard mask layer 30 . this creates openings 58 aligned with ground conductor location gc and electrical conductor locations 0 - 7 . a first photoresist mask 66 , shown in fig1 , is created on the structure of fig9 except for openings 58 at electrical conductor locations 1 , 3 , 5 and 7 . these openings , which are aligned with the electrical conductors 24 , are then etched one level through hard mask layer 30 , electrical conductors 24 at the first , topmost levels 68 , dielectric layer 26 and the silicon substrate 41 stopping just above electrical conductors 24 at the second level 70 . while electrical connectors 60 are shown in the figures to be aligned in a row , other layouts are possible . for example , electrical connectors 60 could be arranged in a number of parallel or transversely extending rows . for example , electrical contact region 18 of fig1 could include two or more rows of electrical connectors 60 . next , as shown in fig1 , first photoresist mask 66 is removed and then a second photoresist mask 72 is formed on the resulting structure of fig1 to cover ground conductor locations gc , electrical conductor locations 0 , 1 , 4 , 5 , and following location 7 . the etching of two levels proceeds as follows . the portions of the resulting structure underlying locations 2 and 6 are etched two levels through first and second levels 68 , 70 down to the electrical conductors 24 at those levels . the portions of the resulting structure underlying locations 3 and 7 are etched two levels through second and third levels 70 , 74 down to the electrical conductors 24 at those levels . doing so creates the structure shown in fig1 . next , second photoresist mask 72 is removed and a third photoresist mask 78 is formed to cover ground conductor location gc , electrical conductor locations 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , and following location 7 . the exposed portions of the structure overlying locations 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 are then etched four levels , that is down to fifth level 80 , sixth level 82 , seventh level 84 and eighth level 86 at locations 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 , respectively , to create vias 77 in the structure of fig1 . third photoresist mask 78 is then removed followed by an isotropic etch of the exposed portions of substrates 41 at vias 77 to create recessed regions 88 . see fig1 . an isotropic etch of electrical conductors 24 at vias 77 is then conducted to create conductor recessed regions 90 along the vias 77 . these etching steps create modified vias 92 . fig1 shows the results of lining modified vias 92 with a dielectric material 94 , such as an oxide material 94 , thus filling in recessed regions 88 , 90 with the oxide material 94 . oxide material 94 could be , for example , sin . the resulting vias 96 are extended to open onto the portions of the underlying electrical conductors 24 acting as landing pads 98 . fig1 - 17 show processing steps used to form the electrical conductors 60 and ground conductor 64 shown in fig1 . in fig1 , a fourth photoresist mask 100 is shown covering everything except for ground conductor location gc . fig1 also shows the result of etching through first through seventh levels 68 , 70 , 74 , 76 , 80 , 82 , 84 and down to electrical conductor 24 at eighth level 86 creating a ground conductor via 102 . fig1 shows result of an isotropic etching of substrates 41 at ground conductor via 102 to create recessed regions 104 opening onto ground conductor via 102 . this is followed by the removal of fourth photoresist mask 100 . fig1 illustrates the result of depositing an electrically insulating material 106 , such as an organic material , for example a polymer , within recessed regions 104 . in addition , the exposed dielectric material at layers 26 is etched back to create an enlarged ground conductor via 108 . this causes an increase in the exposed sidewall contact surfaces of the electrical conductors 24 through which enlarged ground conductor via 108 passes . fig1 illustrates the structure of fig1 following filling resulting vias 96 and enlarged ground conductor via 108 with a metal or other suitable electrical conductor to create ground connector 64 and electrical connectors 60 . 0 - 60 . 7 . doing so also creates three - dimensional stacked multichip module 61 . multichip module 61 is shown with contact pads 62 captured between multichip module 61 and a structure 110 . the structure 110 could be , for example , a handling die or a die with active components , such as memory elements or logic devices , or a combination thereof , due to the flexibility provided by the technology . when structure 110 includes active components , structure 110 could be interconnected with stacked multichip module 61 through electrical connections to contact pads 62 and thus electrical connectors 60 . ground conductor 64 and electrical conductors 60 are lengths of substantially homogeneous electrically conductive material . by substantially homogeneous , it is meant herein that the conductors 60 lack physical boundaries between the levels . the conductors 60 are substantially homogeneous as used herein even if the conductive material used to form them includes multiple layers of different materials deposited in the vias , which may vary in relative concentration in each level as a result of the manufacturing process . this is in contrast to the electrical connectors formed by conventional tsv processes in which the electrical connectors within the individual via of each layer are separately formed and then are electrically connected to one another when the chips or wafers are stacked and bonded to one another , forming seams often with a separate conductive material joining the opposed electrode conductors . while the die 12 used to form first 3d stacked die 48 of fig6 could have electrical conductors 24 at different positions and patterns on the individual die , it may be preferred that the positions and patterns for electrical conductors for each die 12 be the same to facilitate manufacturing processes . in particular , it is typically desired that landing pads 98 at each level be aligned . the above - described process for creating electrical connectors 60 can be referred to as a binary process , based on 2 0 . . . 2 n - 1 with n being the number of etching steps . that is , first photoresist mask 66 , see fig1 , alternatingly covers 2 0 landing pads 98 and exposes 2 0 landing pads 98 ; second photoresist mask 72 , see fig1 , alternatingly covers 2 1 landing pads 98 and exposes 2 1 landing pads 98 ; third photoresist mask 78 , see fig1 , alternatingly covers 2 2 landing pads 98 and exposes 2 2 landing pads 98 ; and so on . using this binary process , n masks can be used to provide access to 2 n landing pads 98 for 2 n electrical conductors 24 at 2 n levels . thus , using 3 masks provides access to 8 landing pads 98 for 8 electrical conductors 24 at 8 levels . using 5 masks would provide access to 32 landing pads 98 for 32 electrical conductors 24 . the order of etching need not be in the order of n − 1 = 0 , 1 , 2 . . . . for example , the first etching step could be with n − 1 = 2 , the second could be with n − 1 = 0 , and the third could be with n − 1 = 1 . the result will be the same structure as shown in fig1 . during typical operations half of the contact openings are etched during each etching step . when the number of levels which can be etched is equal to or greater than the number of levels which are etched , such as when five photoresist masks are used to etch 29 contact openings to reach 29 different landing pads 98 , the masks will not all be used to etch to half of the contact openings , but rather will be used to etch to what will be referred to as effectively half of the contact openings . further information on techniques and methods for connecting electrical connectors 60 to landing pads 98 of electrical conductors 24 are disclosed in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 13 / 049 , 303 , filed 16 mar . 2011 , entitled reduced number of mask for ic device with stacked contact levels ; and in u . s . patent application ser . no . 13 / 114 , 931 , filed 24 may 2011 , entitled multilayer connection structure and making method , the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference . these two applications have a common assignee with the present application . fig1 - 21 are simplified plan views of three examples of die 12 , each with one or more electrical contact region 18 and one or more regions of active device circuitry 20 . the die 12 may all be the same or they could be different . for example , logic die such as cpu or controllers , could be used with memory die . in the example of fig1 , active device circuitry 20 constitutes a major portion of die 12 while electrical contact region 18 is positioned along one edge of die 12 . in the example of fig1 , electrical contact region 18 is found at three different locations along three different sides of active device circuitry 20 . in fig2 , there are two regions of active device circuitry 20 separated , in this example , by a single electrical contact region 18 . it is expected that each die 12 will have many electrical contact regions like region 18 because one of the benefits of the stacked process is shorter connection path than with stacked chips using , for example , external bonding pads and connecting wires . it is expected that a minimum distance , such as 2 μm , be maintained between the one or more electrical contact regions 18 and active device circuitry 20 . such a minimum distance is likely to be required because of stresses induced by the process . therefore , in some embodiments , the devices in one or more levels can include a wide i / o structuring , including many connectors , such as a hundred or more , between the levels . in other embodiments , fewer connectors between the levels are used . an advantage of this invention is that it can be employed to create a three - dimensional , stacked multichip module , such as one including three - dimensional stacked memory devices , while drastically reducing the time and expense associated with the steps required to create conventional tsv stacked semiconductor devices . in addition , the invention reduces the required handling and processing of each die in comparison with conventional tsv procedures which can lead to improved yields . in addition to providing a thinner device , which is important for devices such as cell phones , the reduction in the thickness of the resulting stack of die 12 by the removal of lower portions 36 has several advantages . these advantages include reducing the length of the electrical connectors coupling electrical connectors 24 to one another and to landing pads 98 , thus reducing the resistance and associated heat loss , and increasing speed . the invention can be carried out using die scale stacking procedures , such as those discussed above , and can also be carried out using wafer scale stacking procedures which results in additional advantages discussed below . fig2 is a top plan view illustrating an integrated circuit wafer 120 with grid lines 122 indicating die regions 123 where individual die 12 will be created from wafer 120 . fig2 shows a simplified cross - sectional view of a typical die 12 , substantially identical to die 12 of fig1 , from location c - 7 on wafer 120 . in this example there are a total of 50 die 12 to be created from wafer 120 . for purposes of illustration , it is assumed that 5 of the die 12 are defective or bad die 124 as indicated by being crosshatched in fig2 . in this case 90 % of the die on wafer 120 would be good die 126 while 10 % of die 120 would be bad die 124 . fig2 illustrates an example in which four different ic wafers 120 each have 50 die regions 123 with 10 % of die regions 123 being bad . if the ic wafers 120 are individually diced , then the good die can be selected and stacked using a die scale stacking technique resulting in a 90 % yield for the stacked multichip modules 61 . however , the need to individually process each multichip module 61 using die scale stacking techniques makes the processing much more expensive than processing on a wafer scale in which all 50 stacked multichip modules 61 are processed in unison . ic wafers 120 of fig2 are stacked to produce the third 3 - d stacked wafer 56 . 1 of fig2 . stacked wafer 56 . 1 has 15 of the die regions 123 marked with either a 2 , indicating two out of the four stacked die are good die , or 3 , indicating three out of the four stacked die are good die . no marking indicates that all levels are good die . if the four different ic wafers 120 are stacked , bonded to one another , diced and then processed in a conventional manner , such as using wirebonding techniques or tsv , each stacked multichip module with even one bad die would cause that stacked multichip module to be rejected as defective because all of the die need to be good for the stacked multichip module to be good . in this example the yield would be only 70 % good stacked multichip modules , that is 35 out of 50 . this technique would , however , eliminate the processing expenses associated with die scale stacking and processing techniques discussed in the paragraph immediately above . with the present invention the stacked multi - die modules 61 which are partially defective can be segregated as non - perfect die . for example , if each die 12 is one core of a cpu , the non - perfect module 61 can be identified as a two core module 61 if there are two good die 12 or a three core module 61 if there are three good die 12 . similarly , if each die is a 1 gb memory die , the non - perfect modules 61 can be marked as 3 gb memory modules or 2 gb memory modules as the case may be . in this example there would be 35 good stacked multichip module 61 but also 5 non - perfect modules 61 with two good die 12 and 10 non - perfect modules 61 with three good die 12 . the interconnection technology described herein enables isolation of the defective die in the stack , because of the individual connectors reaching to a single landing pad on one level of the stack . during the manufacturing process to stack the die and make the connectors , the defective die can be isolated from operable die , in one approach , using masks for the formation of the connectors that are selected according to the number and locations of the defective die in each stack . being able to salvage the non - perfect module 61 helps to reduce cost over conventional wafer scale processing techniques . the above descriptions may have used terms such as above , below , top , bottom , over , under , et cetera . these terms may be used in the description and claims to aid understanding of the invention and not used in a limiting sense . while the present invention is disclosed by reference to the preferred embodiments and examples detailed above , it is to be understood that these examples are intended in an illustrative rather than in a limiting sense . it is contemplated that modifications and combinations will occur to those skilled in the art , which modifications and combinations will be within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claims . any and all patents , patent applications and printed publications referred to above are incorporated by reference .	7
while the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms , there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a presently preferred embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated . it should be further understood that the title of this section of this specification , namely , “ detailed description of the invention ”, relates to a requirement of the united states patent office , and does not imply , nor should be inferred to limit the subject matter disclosed herein . referring now to the figures and in particular , to fig1 there is shown generally an automatic label printer applicator or label machine 10 . the machine 10 includes a frame or stand 12 and is positioned above objects ( not shown ) onto which labels l ( see , e . g ., fig1 ) are placed . the frame 12 has mounted thereto a supply or unwind roll 14 , a print head 16 , a tamp pad assembly 18 and a take - up or rewind roll 20 . a web indicated generally at w ( which includes a backing or liner strip n on which discrete labels l are adhered ) is fed from the supply roll 14 and traverses through the print head 16 , in which indicia are printed on the individual labels l . the labels l are then separated from the web w and are dispensed to a tamp pad 22 . a tamp pad cylinder 24 ( having the tamp pad 22 mounted thereto ) extends to apply the label l to the surface of the object . the liner n , after the labels l have been removed , is then wound onto the take - up or rewind roll 20 . the operation of the label machine 10 is controlled by a controller 25 mounted local to ( or on ) the machine 10 . in order to monitor the “ level ” of labels l remaining on the supply roll 14 , the machine 10 includes a supply roll level sensing assembly 26 . referring to fig3 and 6 , the sensing assembly 26 includes an optical slot sensor 28 and a series of slots or holes or openings 30 a , b , c . . . formed in the supply roll disk 32 . in a present arrangement , the holes are formed in the supply roll inner disk 32 , beyond the periphery of the web w wound on the roll 14 . the assembly 26 is configured to monitor the level or quantity of labels l on the supply roll 14 and to generate signals ( for indication ) corresponding to a label low supply , label out and “ early out ”. in the present assembly 26 , a single sensor 28 can be used to provide these three indicating functions . the assembly 26 utilizes the sensor 28 and holes 30 a , b , c . . . formed in the supply roll disk 32 in an encoder arrangement . in printing or advancing a label , the number of holes 30 a , b , c . . . moving passed the sensor 28 is counted . as the label l is fed from the machine 10 , the accumulated count , in conjunction with the label length , is maintained in memory in the controller 25 . the controller 25 calculates the diameter ( radius ) of the remaining label roll by use of the equation below : t = the number of transitions or holes counted in one revolution of the supply disk ; and t acc is the number of transitions counted when a label was printed . as the machine 10 begins printing a label l , the supply roll 14 ( and thus the disk 32 ) rotates . as the disk 32 turns , the sensor 28 counts the number of transitions or slots 30 a , b , c . . . if the supply roll 14 does not rotate , the system enters the “ early out ” condition . in this condition , the machine 10 is allowed to run down to the last few labels l without transporting the end of the liner n ( which includes an adhesive bonding material to secure the liner n to the core ) through the printer 16 . as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , it is undesirable to transport this portion of the liner n through the print head 16 as damage and / or premature wearing of the print head 16 may occur . once the supply roll 14 remains stationary for a predetermined period ( during which a preset number of labels l is printed ), the machine 10 enters “ label out ” status and shuts down . it has been found that a number of advantages are achieved using the present sensor assembly 26 arrangement . first , variable set positions for the supply roll 14 level can be established within the controller 25 merely by setting a predetermined supply roll 14 “ radius ”. for example , with a proper operator interface , set point positions or conditions can be established and “ set ” through operator accessible screens and the like . this permits the controller 25 to maintain the particular label and / or operating information within memory for ready recall and reprinting of like labels . in addition , the controller 25 can be configured to allow password only access to the set points within the control system . advantageously , the present sensor arrangement 26 uses a sensor 28 that does not require calibration . that is , the light sensor 28 and “ holes ” 30 a , b , c . . . within the disk 32 are set upon installation . no changes in the position of the sensor 28 relative to the holes 30 a , b , c . . . are required . as such , no field required changes or adjustments are necessary . in addition , such an arrangement is essentially impervious to environmental changes . that is , changes in humidity and / or temperature in the workplace environment have little to no impact on the overall operation of the sensor assembly 26 arrangement . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , no mechanical adjustments are required for setup . a senor block 34 is mounted to a base plate 36 and the encoder or supply roll disk 32 is permanently attached to a supply roll hub 38 . as such , once established at a fabrication plant , the machine 10 can essentially be installed and started up without adjustment or calibration . referring to fig1 and 4 , and continuing through the machine 10 , the web w traverses from the supply roll 14 over one or more guide rollers 40 and enters the print head 16 . as seen in fig4 in the print head 16 , the web w is aligned by one or more guides 42 or rollers 44 and passes through the printer 46 . indicia are printed on the label l in accordance with known methods , using known printing techniques . for example , indicia can be imprinted on the label l by transfer from a print ribbon . alternately , those skilled in the art will recognize the various types of contact and non - contact print devices that can be used . referring to fig2 and 4 , after exiting the printer 16 , the web w traverses to a separating blade 48 . at the separating blade 48 , the web w is rerouted ( i . e ., in a sharp angled turn , as indicated generally at 50 ) to begin separating the label l from the liner n . the liner n then traverses in a direction opposite that of the continued movement of the label l . essentially , the liner n is pulled away from the label l , and the label l traverses on to the tamp pad 22 . referring now to fig1 - 2 and 7 , the tamp pad 22 is part of the overall tamp assembly 18 . the tamp assembly 18 includes generally the tamp pad 22 and the tamp pad cylinder 24 . in a present embodiment , the cylinder 24 is a pneumatic cylinder . the tamp pad 22 ( which will be discussed in detail below ) is mounted to the cylinder 24 and moves with extension and retraction of the cylinder 24 between the label l applying or extended position and a label l receiving or home position ( fig2 ). these positions are the positions at which the label l is applied to the product surface and the position at which the label l is moved onto the tamp pad 22 after separation from the liner n . in a present arrangement , a dual action cylinder 24 is used . that is , air ( or a like compressed gas ) pressure is applied to one side 52 of a piston 54 in the cylinder 24 to extend the cylinder 24 and air pressure is applied to an opposing side 56 of the piston 54 to retract the cylinder 24 . compressed air supply lines 58 , 60 extend from a compressed air source ( not shown ) to inlets at the opposing sides 52 , 56 of the cylinder 24 to move the cylinder 24 between the extended and home positions . in a current embodiment of the label machine 10 , a pressure transducer 62 is positioned in the supply line 58 to the piston 54 for supplying air to move the piston 54 to the extended ( label l applying ) position . the transducer 62 , in conjunction with the controller 25 is used to monitor the varying pressure in the cylinder 24 body . the system is configured to recalibrate during each extension cycle to maintain an optimal threshold level . in this manner , changes in pressure from the pressure source or changes in the tamp cylinder 24 pressure set point are taken into consideration during each recalibration cycle . moreover cylinder 24 body wear and debris within the orifices ( not shown ) are likewise compensated for by measuring the pressure profile of the air filling the cylinder 24 . [ 0069 ] fig8 graphically illustrates one cycle of the piston 54 from the retracted position through the extended position . this figure is a plot of the pressure p as measured by the pressure transducer 62 along the ordinate of the plot ( y - axis ) and time ( t ) or extension ( e ) shown along the abscissa of the plot ( x - axis ). upon receipt of a signal from the controller 25 to apply a label l , a valve 64 is opened to apply pressure to the extension inlet port side 52 of the cylinder 24 , and the tamp pad 22 moves to the extended position . at this point in time , the cylinder 24 volume is small and the initial pressure inlet peaks ( as indicated at 66 ). the pressure initially spikes in that the cylinder 24 must be moved from the home position . as such , the rate of change of volume is less than the rate of change of pressure within the cylinder 24 . the peak pressure ( as at 66 ) measured by the transducer 62 is used to determine a maximum pressure or tamp pressure value setting for the system 10 . as the cylinder rod 68 begins to move at an increased rate ( in that the initial inertia of the system is overcome ), the pressure begins to drop ( as indicated at 70 ) within the cylinder 24 . it has been found that the pressure drops to a level ( as indicated at 72 ) that is equal to the rate of volume expansion or rate of air filling the space behind the rod plate 74 . the transducer 62 monitors and measures the lowest point of pressure ( as indicated at 76 ) for the system and provides a signal to the controller 25 for determining the optimal trigger threshold point for return . the cylinder 24 continues to extend as the pressure slowly begins to increase ( as indicated at 78 ). this is due to the velocity of the cylinder 24 reaching an essentially steady state , while air continues to be fed into the cylinder 24 . although the pressure increases , the increase is significantly small so as to not cause a triggering of the cylinder return . once the tamp pad 22 contacts the product surface , there is an abrupt increase or positive change in pressure ( as indicated at 80 ) in the cylinder 24 . because the volume of the cylinder 24 is fixed , it can no longer extend further . as a result , the pressure in the cylinder 24 increases beyond the trip point established by the proceeding events . upon reaching this point , the cylinder 24 is retracted to the home position by inlet of the retraction air ( through piston side 56 ), and the venting of the extension side 52 of the cylinder 24 . the present arrangement has a number of advantages over known tamp pad pressure return arrangements . first , a relatively inexpensive “ off the shelf ” pressure transducer 62 is used to monitor the pressure in the cylinder 24 . the transducer 62 generates signals that are used to provide input for automatic control and calibration of the tamp process . in addition , the process calibrates each cycle . in this manner , close control is maintained over the tamp process . moreover , the contact force , that is the force of the tamp pad 22 on the object surface is consistent regardless of fluctuations in inlet 58 pressure and user set point adjustments . in addition , as set forth above , the force is established regardless of environmental conditions ( e . g ., temperature and humidity fluctuations ). also , unlike many known tamp sensing arrangements , varying product distances can be accommodated by the present pressure sensing arrangement . that is , packages of different “ heights ” can have labels applied thereto using the present label machine 10 , because the point from which the tamp pad 22 returns is determined by sensing the pressure spike and trough and setting the return pressure accordingly . moreover , it has been found that the use of a pressure transducer 62 in the inlet line 58 does not adversely affect the throughput of the label machine 10 . that is , even though the transducer 62 may not react instantly , it has been found that the sensitivity of the transducer 62 does not adversely affect the speed of the packaging line . with respect to the tamp pad 22 , a pad in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in fig1 - 12 . the tamp pad 22 is configured to allow changing label sizes quickly and to allow use of a single pad with multiple size labels . the tamp pad 22 includes a rear mounting plate 84 having a mounting block 86 attached thereto . a vacuum inlet 88 , such as the illustrated vacuum elbow fitting is mounted to the rear mount plate 84 . an impact plate 90 is mounted to the rear mounting plate 84 . the impact plate 90 is that plate onto which the label l is transferred and is carried to the object surface for adhering to the object . the impact plate 90 is mounted to the rear mounting plate 84 by a plurality of fasteners 92 , such as the illustrated flat head machine screws . the impact plate 90 is configured having counter - bored openings ( as shown at 94 ) so that the screws 92 rest flush or below the surface 96 of the impact plate 90 . the impact plate 90 includes a first or leading end 98 ( which is that end closest to the print head 16 ) and a trailing end 100 ( which is that end farthest from the print head 16 ). a plurality of vacuum openings or through holes 102 a , b , c . . . are formed in the impact plate 90 at the leading end 98 ( the leading end series of openings ). the series of openings 102 extend along the width d of the plate 90 or in the direction transverse to the direction ( indicated by the arrow at 104 ) in which the labels l move on to the plate 90 . the trailing end 100 of the plate 90 includes a plurality of series of openings 106 a , b , c . . . . each of the series of openings 106 extends generally parallel to the leading end series of openings 102 . these openings 106 , like the leading end openings 102 , are transverse to the direction 104 of movement of the label l on to the pad 90 . it is through these openings 102 , 106 that vacuum is communicated to secure the non - adhesive side of the label l to the tamp pad 90 from the time that it is separated from the liner n until it is applied to the product or object surface . intermediate series of openings such as those indicated at 103 , 105 , 107 can also be formed in the pad 22 . the impact plate 90 includes a vacuum channel 108 formed in a rear surface 110 thereof . the vacuum channel 108 includes a main longitudinal channel 112 that is in communication with the vacuum inlet 88 on the mounting plate 90 . the longitudinal channel 112 extends essentially along the length l of the plate 90 from the leading end vacuum openings 102 to the trailing end vacuum openings 106 . there are no vacuum openings formed in the main longitudinal channel 112 . the leading and trailing end vacuum opening series 102 , 106 are in communication with sub - channels 114 , 116 , respectively , that extend from the main vacuum channel 112 . each sub - channel 114 , 116 essentially depends from the main vacuum channel 112 . a single series of vacuum openings ( e . g ., 102 a , b , c . . . ) is formed so as to communicate with a discrete sub - channel ( e . g ., 114 ). in this manner , the leading edge vacuum openings 102 are formed in a first sub - channel 114 and each series of trailing edge vacuum openings ( 103 , 105 , 107 and 106 ) is formed in a discrete trailing edge vacuum sub - channel ( 118 , 120 , 122 and 116 , respectively ). as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , when the vacuum openings 102 , 103 , 105 , 106 , 107 extend over an area that is greater than the size of the label l that is secured thereto , the vacuum tends to be drawn through the openings over which a portion of the label l does not lie . that is , the vacuum tends to be drawn through the path of least resistance which is those vacuum openings that are open to atmosphere , rather than those over which the label l lies . to this end , a present tamp pad 22 includes a plurality of blocking strips 124 that can be laid in each of the sub - channels 116 - 122 along the entire length of the sub - channel 116 - 122 or a portion of the sub - channel 116 - 122 . the strips 124 are configured so as to block or prevent communication of the vacuum from the main channel 112 into those vacuum openings lying along the blocked sub - channel . in this manner , a desired series of openings and / or portions of series of openings can be configured to remain open while other series and / or portions of series of openings can be blocked . in a present pad , the strips 124 are formed from a silicone rubber that is readily placed and held in a desired sub - channel 116 - 122 . this arrangement provides for free communication of the vacuum through those openings that correspond to a given label size . thus , if a small label is to be used with the tamp pad 22 , the impact plate 90 can be removed , strips 124 can be laid in the sub - channels that are outside of the label footprint ( e . g ., 116 - 120 as appropriate ) and the impact plate 90 can be remounted to the mounting plate 84 . thus , when a vacuum is drawn through the vacuum inlet 88 in the mounting block 86 , the vacuum is communicated only to those vacuum openings that correspond to a desired , particular label . this configuration permits reconfiguring a single tamp pad 22 for use with a variety of sizes of labels l by reconfiguring the layout of the blocking strips 124 . it has been found that a tamp pad 22 in accordance with the present invention permits the use of a variety of label sizes with a single tamp pad 22 . for example , as noted below , tamp pads 22 having the dimensions as shown in the first column can be used with labels l ranging from about the size shown in the second column ( smallest label l size ) to a label l size about as large as that shown in the third column ( largest label l size ). approximate approximate pad size smallest label size largest label size 2 ″ × 2 ″ pad 1 ″ × 1 ″ 2 ″ × 2 ″ 2 ″ × 4 ″ pad 1 ″ × 2 . 5 ″ 2 ″ × 4 ″ 2 ″ × 6 ″ pad 1 ″ × 4 . 5 ″ 2 ″ × 6 ″ 2 ″ × 8 ″ pad 1 ″ × 6 . 5 ″ 2 ″ × 8 ″ 2 ″ × 13 ″ pad 1 ″ × 8 . 5 ″ 2 ″ × 13 ″ 4 ″ × 2 ″ pad 2 . 5 ″ × 1 ″ 4 ″ × 2 ″ 4 ″ × 4 ″ pad 2 . 5 ″ × 2 . 5 ″ 4 ″ × 4 ″ 4 ″ × 6 ″ pad 2 . 5 ″ × 4 . 5 ″ 4 ″ × 6 ″ 4 ″ × 8 ″ pad 2 . 5 ″ × 6 . 5 ″ 4 ″ × 8 ″ 4 ″ × 13 ″ pad 2 . 5 ″ × 8 . 5 ″ 4 ″ × 13 ″ the tamp pad 22 is configured so that the blocking strips 124 are readily removed and / or replaced in the sub - channels 116 - 122 . to reconfigure the tamp pad 22 , the fasteners 92 or mounting screws that secure the impact plate 90 to the mounting plate 84 are removed . the strips 124 can then be inserted or removed in those sub - channels 116 - 122 or portions of sub - channels 114 - 122 that require blocking off for the particular label l size . at least a portion of the first sub - channel 114 always remains unblocked . however , if a label l width d is smaller than the maximum that can be accommodated for that particular pad 22 , a portion of the sub - channel 114 can be blocked . in addition , it has been found that the channel utilized for the particular label &# 39 ; s furthest length edge should also remain unblocked . it has been found that present configuration permits reducing the number of tamp pad combinations significantly . for example , in a present application , it has been found that the number of tamp pad combinations can be reduced from over 900 to about 10 . the present configuration also permits an end user to use the same pad 22 even if their label l size changes within a preset range . in addition , the user ( customer ) can readily reconfigure the tamp pad 22 with minimal downtime and without significant skilled labor . still another advantage of the present label machine relates to the rewind or take - up arrangement indicated generally at 130 . the rewind arrangement 130 , best seen in fig3 and 9 , is configured to facilitate creating sufficient tension for separating the label l from the liner n as well as to control the wind up of the waste liner n onto the rewind roll 20 . to this end , the rewind arrangement 130 includes the rewind roll 20 onto which the waste liner n is rolled . the roll 20 is driven by a motor 21 that is controlled by the overall machine controller 25 . in a present machine , a servomotor or stepper motor is used for the rewind assembly 130 to provide greater control over the rewind speed as discussed below . a present rewind assembly 130 includes a pivoting dancer arm 132 that controls the rewind tension and speed while at the same time reduces slack that may develop in the web w when the label feed begins and the rewind motor 21 starts . to this end , the rewind assembly 130 creates sufficient tension on the liner n to avoid telescoping of the liner waste roll 20 while at the same time creating sufficient ( but not too much ) tension in the liner n to prevent label l mis - feed and print stretching . as shown in fig9 the dancer arm 132 is mounted for pivoting about a pivot 134 located near the rewind roll 20 . the dancer arm 132 cooperates with an upper stop 136 and is biased toward the upper stop 136 position . in a present arrangement , a constant rate spring 138 ( fig3 ) biases the dancer arm 132 to the stop position . a roller 140 is positioned at about an end of the dancer arm 132 , over which roller 140 the liner n travels . a sensing assembly 142 cooperates with the dancer arm 132 . in a present arrangement , the sensing assembly 142 includes magnets 144 positioned on the arm 132 between the pivot 134 and the roller 140 and a magnet sensor 146 mounted to the label machine frame 12 . the dancer arm spring 138 is a fixed rate spring and thus sets the tension in the liner n in a non - linear fashion . in addition , as set forth above , the rewind roll 20 is controlled by a stepper or servomotor rather than a conventional induction motor . as such , movement of the rewind roll 20 is more closely controlled than would otherwise be possible with a convention induction motor . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , liner n tension increases as the rewind motor 21 turns . this in turn forces the dancer arm 132 to pivot , thus extending the spring 138 . as the magnets 144 ( mounted on the dancer arm 132 ) approach the magnet sensor 146 , the tension is at an optimal range for liner n take - up . however , if the motor 21 continues to turn the rewind roll 20 , tension in the liner n continues to increase and the liner n may eventually tear . in this manner , there is a balancing of motor 21 rotation and dancer arm 132 ( height ) to control the liner n tension . conversely , if the motor 21 stops , too much slack may be present in the liner n , and insufficient tension is produced for separating the labels l from the liner n . in order to establish the proper tension balance , the rewind motor 21 is controlled to apply a rotation distance proportional to the time elapsed from when the dancer arm 132 leaves the home position . if the dancer arm 132 slowly leaves the home position , the rewind motor 21 speed is increased to bring the arm 132 into position . conversely , an abrupt change in dancer arm 132 position results in a slow increase in rewind motor 21 speed . this arrangement prevents oscillation ( rapid increases and decreases in rewind motor 21 speed ) which could otherwise cause tension spikes in the liner n . in order to provide proper tension for initial peel of the label l from the liner n , the start of print is accomplished with an increase in rewind motor 21 speed for a predetermined period of time . in carrying this out , tension is increased briefly by forcing the dancer arm 132 beyond the set tension . continued feed then results in a relaxation of the dancer arm 132 moving toward the home position . this provides the required tension for the initial peel or separation of the label l from the liner n , without continuously over - tensioning the liner n . all patents referred to herein , are hereby incorporated herein by reference , whether or not specifically do so within the text of this disclosure . in the present disclosure , the words “ a ” or “ an ” are to be taken to include both the singular and the plural . conversely , any reference to plural items shall , where appropriate , include the singular . from the foregoing it will be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be effectuated without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention . it is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated is intended or should be inferred . the disclosure is intended to cover all such modifications as fall within the scope of the invention .	1
with reference to fig3 the present invention is embodied in a merged read / write head 66 including a read element 68 and an integral write element 70 , both of which are built upon a substrate 72 . the read element 68 having been described with reference to the background of the invention , the present description will focus on the write element 70 , which embodies the subject matter of the present invention . the write element 70 includes first and second poles 74 , 76 , which together join to form a magnetic yoke 78 . the poles 74 , 76 join at one end to form a back - gap 80 , and are separated from one another everywhere else . opposite the back - gap , each pole 74 , 76 terminates in a pole tip 82 , 84 . opposite the back gap 80 , the poles 74 , 76 are separated by a write gap 88 . a layer of dielectric write gap material 89 fills the write gap and extends beyond the write gap into the interior of the yoke 78 . an electrically conductive coil 90 passes through the yoke 78 sitting atop the write gap material layer 89 . with continued reference to fig3 , the first pole 74 is constructed of a magnetic material having soft magnetic properties ( i . e . low magnetostriction ), preferably permalloy . such soft magnetic properties are necessary to avoid domain boundary movement and associated popcorn noise in the read element 68 . the first pole 74 includes a pedestal 92 , disposed opposite the back - gap 80 . the pedestal is constructed of a high magnetic moment material and functions to concentrate magnetic flux . while plated high magnetic moment materials do not generally exhibit soft magnetic properties , the pedestal is located far enough away from the read element 68 and is sufficiently small in size as compared with the rest of the first pole 74 so as to not generate undesirable popcorn noise . to further improve performance , the pedestal is preferably constructed of fexn nanocrystalline films with lamination layers of cozrcr , which has been found to exhibit excellent magnetic properties including high magnetic moment and relatively low magnetostriction . the fexn and the lamination layers are preferably sputter deposited onto a flat wafer that has been planarized using by chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ). with continued reference to fig3 , a first insulation layer 94 covers the first pole , having a smooth flat upper surface that is flush with the smooth flat upper surface of the pedestal 92 . while this first insulation layer can be of many suitable materials having a high electrical resistance it is preferably constructed of al 2 o 3 . with reference still to fig3 , the write gap material layer 89 sits atop the smooth coplanar surfaces of the first insulation layer 94 and the pedestal 92 . the write gap material layer is preferably constructed of al 2 o 3 or alternatively of sio 2 . the coil 90 sits atop the write gap material layer 89 and is also covered by a second insulation layer 96 , which insulates the coil 90 from the second pole 76 as well as insulating the winds of the coil 90 from one another . the second insulation layer has smoothly rounded edges formed by a curing process that will be described in greater detail below . with continued reference to fig3 , the second pole 76 includes a high magnetic moment layer 98 . the remainder of the second pole 76 consists of a secondary layer 100 , constructed of a magnetic material such as plated ni — fe alloy , which can be readily electroplated and which exhibits good corrosion resistance . the high magnetic moment material layer 98 , which is preferably constructed of laminated fexn nanocrystalline films with lamination layers of co 90 zr 9 cr , improves performance of the head by facilitating magnetic flux flow through the second pole 76 , thereby resulting in a stronger fringing field at the write gap . the secondary layer 100 , which preferably makes up the bulk of the second pole 76 , provides a mask for etching the high magnetic moment material layer 98 as will be described in greater detail below . in order to minimize apex reflection during the photolithograpy process used to define the top pole , it is desirable that the edge of the coil insulation layer 96 be placed further from the abs than the pedestal edge , in which case the zero throat is defined by the pedestal . apex reflection is a major source of trackwidth variation during the fabrication of the top pole . by moving the coil insulation layer 96 away from the abs and plating the second pole 76 onto a flat surface in the area near the abs , the trackwidth can be more easily controlled . the high magnetic moment layer 98 is preferably on the order of 1 to a few times the thickness of the write gap 88 . in one embodiment the high magnetic moment layer 98 is roughly 0 . 5 um thick while the remainder of the second pole 76 is roughly 2 um thick and the pedestal is roughly 1 um thick . the throat height is preferably 3 – 10 times the thickness of the write gap 88 . in an alternate embodiment of the invention , not shown , the second pole includes a layer of laminated high magnetic moment material as discussed above , but the first pole includes no pedestal . in another embodiment , the first pole includes a pedestal constructed of laminated high magnetic moment material , but the second pole does not include a laminated high magnetic moment layer . such a construction could be useful where magnetic flux saturation is a problem . for example , if saturation were experienced in the pedestal of the first pole , then removing the high magnetic moment material from the second pole would decrease flux flow through the second pole , thereby preventing saturation at the pedestal . similarly , when saturation is experienced in the second pole , the design having a high magnetic moment layer in the second pole and no pedestal on the first pole would promote flux flow through the second pole while limiting flux flow through the first pole , thereby preventing saturation in the second pole . in still another embodiment of the invention , the high magnetic moment layer 98 of the second pole 76 can be constructed of laminated fexn nanocrystalline films with lamination layers of cobalt based amorphous ferro - magnetic alloy or alternatively of a non - magnetic dielectric material , while the pedestal is constructed of some other material such as a ni — fe alloy that can be electro - plated . alternatively , the pedestal can be constructed of fexn nanocrystalline films with lamination layers of a cobalt based amorphous ferromagnetic alloy or of a non - magnetic dielectric material , while the high magnetic moment layer of the second pole is some other plated high magnetic moment material such as nife55 . with reference now to fig4 , a process 400 is provided for constructing a write element of the present invention . the process begins with a step 402 of constructing the first pole 74 . the first pole is preferably constructed by patterning and electroplating permalloy according to lithographic techniques familiar to those skilled in the art , and then is planarized by a chemical mechanical polishing process . then , in a step 404 a layer of high magnetic moment ( high b sat ) material is sputter deposited onto the first pole . this sputtering process results in a layer of high b sat material that completely covers the first pole as well as surrounding structure . thereafter , in a step 406 the pedestal is patterned . a layer of photoresist is deposited so as to form a mask covering the area where the pedestal is to be formed . then , in step 408 , ion milling is performed to the sputtered high b sat material not covered by the photoresist mask , thus forming the pedestal 92 . the ion milling step leaves a tail of sputtered material tapering from the edge of the pedestal 92 . with further reference to fig4 , in a step 410 a first insulation layer 94 is deposited onto the first pole . this first insulation layer 94 is preferably constructed of al 2 o 3 and is deposited sufficiently thick to at least reach the thickness of the pedestal 92 and is preferably slightly thicker than the pedestal 92 . thereafter , in a step 412 a chemical mechanical polishing step is performed to planarize the first insulation layer 94 , generating a flat planar surface across the first insulation layer 94 and the top of the pedestal 92 . in a step 414 the write gap material layer 89 is deposited onto the smooth planar surface of the first insulation layer 94 and the pedestal 92 . the write gap material layer can be constructed of many suitable dielectric substances , but is preferably constructed of al 2 o 3 or alternatively of sio 2 . in a step 416 , the electrically conductive coil 90 is formed . the coil is preferably constructed of copper and is formed by methods that are familiar to those skilled in the art . these methods involve first depositing a seed layer of copper or some other suitable conductive material . the coil is then patterned and electroplated , and the seed layer removed by an etching process . with the coil thus formed , in a step 418 the second insulation layer 96 is formed . the second insulation layer is preferably constructed of a photoresist , which is spun onto the write gap material 89 and the coil 90 . the photoresist is patterned and exposed so that selective portions of the photoresist can be removed to provide vias for the back gap and the coil leads . then the photorsist photoresist is cured by exposure to high temperatures , hardening the photoresist and providing it with smoothly rounded edges . in order to improve properties of the sputtered layer , a thin layer of dielectric material can be added to the top of the photoresist material . with reference still to fig4 , the formation of the second pole will now be described . in a step 420 , a thin layer of high b sat material is sputter deposited onto the structure . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , sputter deposition will cover the entire exposed structure , including the second insulation layer 96 and the write gap material layer 89 . the high b sat material is preferably constructed of ferhn nanocrystalline films with lamination layers of cozrcr , however other high b sat at materials can also be used . then , in a step 422 the remainder of the second pole 76 is deposited . this step involves forming a mask and then electroplating the second pole . using such standard electroplating and photolithographic processes , the electroplated portion of the second pole 76 can be formed with the desired shape . the electroplated portion of the first pole is preferably constructed of a nife alloy suitable for electroplating . with the electroplated portion of the second pole acting as a mask , in a step 424 an etching process is conducted to remove the high b sat material that is not covered by the plated portion of the second pole 76 . this effectively results in a desired second pole 76 being primarily constructed of a magnetic material such as permalloy , and having a high b sat inner layer . the resulting pole structure includes a tail ( not shown ) of high b sat material that extends outward slightly from the edge of the pole 76 , beyond the edge of the plated portion . also , as previously discussed the ion milling step leaves some of the sputtered material re - deposited on the sidewalls of the second pole 76 . with continued reference to fig4 , in a step 426 , the pole tip of the second pole 76 is masked with photoresist . then , in a step 428 the structure is again ion milled to remove material from the uncovered side portions of the tip of the second pole 76 . thereafter , in a step 430 an etching process is performed to remove write gap material in the pole tip region at the sides of the second pole 76 . then , with the write gap material locally removed , in a step 432 , yet another ion mill is performed to remove material from the corners of the pedestal 92 leaving notches 102 in the pedestal 92 , which can be more clearly seen with reference to fig5 , which shows an abs view of the resulting pole trimmed pedestal . the notches 102 in the pedestal prevent magnetic flux from flowing through the sides of the yoke , thereby preventing side writing . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , the above process can be slightly modified to construct one of the earlier described alternate embodiments of the invention . for example , the write element 70 could be constructed without the pedestal by patterning the first insulation layer to terminate short of the abs plane 86 and eliminating the pedestal deposition process . in such a case the write gap material layer would simply slope down along the edge of the first insulation layer , and would sit atop the first pole 74 in the region of the write gap . alternatively , the write element 70 could be constructed with a pedestal 92 as described above , but with a second pole formed without a laminated high b sat layer . furthermore , high b sat layer of the second pole can be constructed of ferhn nanocrystalline films with lamination layers of cozrcr while the pedestal is constructed of some other magnetic material . similarly , the pedestal can be constructed of ferhn nanocrystalline films with lamination layers of cozrcr while the high b sat layer of the second pole is constructed of plated high b sat material such as nife55 . with reference now to fig5 , in an alternate embodiment of the invention , the pedestal can be constructed very thin with a tapered edge . making the pedestal thin advantageously simplifies the manufacturing process , and the tapered edge promotes flux flow into the pedestal , avoiding magnetic saturation in the pedestal . a method for constructing a write element having such pedestal is described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 602 , 536 , titled “ inductive write head incorporating a thin high moment pedestal ”, filed on 23 jun . 2000 , the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference . while the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit , scope and teaching of the invention . accordingly , the disclosed invention is to be considered merely as illustrative and limited in scope only as specified in the appended claims .	8
the present invention will be described as below in more details with reference to the specific implementations and the accompanying drawings in the specification . however , the implementations of the present invention are not limited thereto . as shown in fig1 - 9 , this embodiment provides a double - folding device for softly - packaged lithium ion batteries , including a rack 1 , and a loaded - material positioning mechanism 2 , a primary folding mechanism 3 and a secondary folding mechanism 4 which are arranged on the rack 1 in turn . a bonding layer arrangement mechanism 5 is further provided between the primary folding mechanism 3 and the secondary folding mechanism 4 . a battery cell is primarily folded by the primary folding mechanism 3 after loaded by the loaded - material positioning mechanism 2 , and then passes through the bonding layer arrangement mechanism 5 . the bonding layer arrangement mechanism 5 dispenses a bonding layer 8 on a primarily folded edge 7 of the battery cell . after the battery cell passes through the secondary folding mechanism 4 , the bonding layer 8 bonds the primarily folded edge 7 with a battery cell body 6 . the bonding layer arrangement mechanism 5 is configured as a glue dropping mechanism . when the battery cell already subjected to a primary folding ( as shown in fig7 ) passes through this mechanism , the mechanism dispenses a free - flowing bonding layer 8 on the primarily folded edge 7 of the battery cell ( as shown in fig8 ). the glue dropping mechanism includes a bonding layer position closed - loop control system and a bonding layer material closed - loop control system . these two systems are cooperated with each other when in use to ensure that the bonding layer arrangement position and the bonding layer glue volume meet the requirements . the bonding layer position closed - loop control system includes a position monitoring mechanism 511 , a glue dropping position control mechanism 512 and a position adjusting mechanism 513 . the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 is connected to the position monitoring mechanism 511 and the position adjusting mechanism 513 , respectively . when in use , the position monitoring mechanism 511 first monitors the glue dispensing position and then feeds the glue dispensing position back to the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 . then , the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 compares a feedback signal with a preset signal ; and sends , if there is an offset , an instruction to control the position adjusting mechanism 513 to adjust the glue dispensing position , thereby enabling the glue dispensing position to meet the requirements . the position monitoring mechanism 511 is configured as a charge - coupled device image sensor ; the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 is configured as a programmable logic controller , a singlechip or a computer ; and the position adjusting mechanism 513 includes a first object stage 5131 and a first servo motor 5132 . the first object stage 5131 is driven by the first servo motor 5132 , and the first servo motor 5132 is connected to the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 . the bonding layer material closed - loop control system includes a glue volume monitoring mechanism 521 , a glue volume control mechanism 522 and a glue volume adjusting mechanism 523 . the glue volume control mechanism 522 is connected to the glue volume monitoring mechanism 521 and the glue volume adjusting mechanism 523 , respectively . when in use , the glue volume monitoring mechanism 521 first monitors the glue volume and then feeds the glue volume back to the glue volume control mechanism 522 . then , the glue volume control mechanism 522 compares a feedback signal with a preset signal ; and sends , if there is an offset , an instruction to the glue volume adjusting mechanism 523 to adjust the glue volume , thereby enabling the glue volume to meet the requirements . the structure of the glue volume monitoring mechanism 521 is the same as that of the position monitoring mechanism 511 . the glue volume monitoring mechanism 521 is configured as a charge - coupled device image sensor ; the glue volume control mechanism 522 is configured as a programmable logic controller , a singlechip or a computer ; and the glue volume adjusting mechanism 523 includes an electrically - controlled pressure regulating valve 5231 , a glue tank 5232 , a glue dropper 5233 and a constant temperature system . the glue tank 5232 is in communication with the glue dropper 5233 via a pipeline 5234 . the constant temperature system is connected to the glue tank 5232 . the electrically - controlled pressure regulating valve 5231 is connected to the glue tank 5232 and the glue volume control mechanism 522 , respectively . specifically , the constant temperature system may be a constant temperature material layer sheathed outside the glue tank 5232 . as shown in fig4 , the loaded - material positioning mechanism 2 includes centering and positioning push plates 21 , a clamping cylinder 22 and a clamp 23 . the centering and positioning push plates 21 are disposed on left and right sides of the clamp 23 , and the clamping cylinder 22 is provided above the clamp 23 . as shown in fig1 - 3 , the primary folding mechanism 3 includes an edge cutter 31 , a primary folding roller 32 and a folded - edge shaping mechanism 33 which are arranged in turn . the edge cutter 31 is near the loaded - material positioning mechanism 2 , and the folded - edge shaping mechanism 33 is arranged near the bonding layer arrangement mechanism 5 . when passing through the primary folding mechanism 3 , a well positioned battery cell is finely cut by the edge cutter 31 , subjected to a primary folding by the primary folding roller 32 , and then shaped by the folded - edge shaping mechanism 33 , so that the primarily folded edge 7 is closely fitted with the original seal edge . as shown in fig1 - 3 , the secondary folding mechanism 4 includes a secondary folding roller 41 , a hot - press shaping mechanism 42 and a cold - press shaping mechanism 43 which are arranged in turn . the secondary folding roller 41 is arranged near the bonding layer arrangement mechanism 5 . when the battery cell passes through the secondary folding mechanism 4 , the secondary folding roller 41 vertically bends a side edge of the battery cell , on which a bonding layer 8 has been arranged on the primarily folded edge 7 , and makes this side edge closely fitted with the side edge of the battery . the hot - press shaping mechanism 42 heats the primarily folded edge 7 , the bonding layer 8 and the side of the battery cell body 6 , which are closely fitted with each other . finally , the cold - press shaping mechanism 43 performs rapid annealing to maximize the viscidity of the bonding layer 8 , so that the primarily folded edge 7 and the side of the battery cell body 6 are closely bonded together by the bonding layer 8 . when in use , a battery cell to be processed is placed into the clamp 23 , and then positioned and clamped by the centering and positioning push plates 21 and the clamping cylinder 22 . subsequently , the well positioned battery cell passes through the edge cutter 31 , the primary folding roller 32 and the folded - edge shaping mechanism 33 in turn along with the clamp 23 . so far , the primary folding is completed . the primarily folded battery cell enters the first object stage 5131 of the glue dropping mechanism along with the clamp 23 . the position monitoring mechanism 511 first monitors the glue dispensing position and then feeds the glue dispensing position back to the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 . the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 compares the feedback signal with the preset signal ; sends , if there is an offset , an instruction to control the first servo motor 5132 , so that the first servo motor 5132 drives the first object state 5131 to a predetermined position ; and keeps , if there is no offset , the first object state 5131 unmoved . meanwhile , the glue volume monitoring mechanism 521 first monitors the glue volume and then feeds the glue volume back to the glue volume control mechanism 522 . then , the glue volume control mechanism 522 compares the feedback signal with a preset signal ; sends , if there is an offset , an instruction to the electrically - controlled pressure regulating valve 5231 , so as to make the glue inside the glue tank 5232 reach the glue dropper 5233 via the pipeline by adjusting the electrically - controlled pressure regulating valve 5231 and then to make a predetermined amount of glue dropped from the glue dropper 5233 ; and keeps , if there is no offset , the electrically - controlled pressure regulating valve 5231 not act , so that a free - flowing bonding layer 8 is arranged on the primarily folded edge 7 of the battery cell . the battery cell having the fluid bonding layer 8 arranged thereon passes through the secondary folding roller 41 , the hot - press shaping mechanism 42 and the cold - press shaping mechanism 43 in turn to complete a secondary folding . so far , a battery as shown in fig9 is obtained . the difference between this embodiment and embodiment 1 is that the bonding layer arrangement mechanism 5 is configured as an adhesive tape sticking mechanism , and this mechanism arranges a non - flowing bonding later 8 on the primarily folded edge 7 of the battery cell when the battery cell already subjected to the primary folding passes through this mechanism . as shown in fig1 , the adhesive tape sticking mechanism is a closed - loop control system and includes an adhesive tape sticking position monitoring mechanism , an adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism , an adhesive tape sticking position adjusting mechanism 53 , an adhesive tape unrolling device 55 for releasing an adhesive tape 57 , an adhesive tape attaching mechanism 55 and an adhesive tape rolling device 56 for winding the adhesive tape 57 . the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism is connected to the adhesive tape sticking position monitoring mechanism and the adhesive tape sticking position adjusting mechanism 53 , respectively . one end of the adhesive tape 57 is disposed on the adhesive tape unrolling device 54 , while the other end thereof is rolled on the adhesive tape rolling device 56 after passing through the adhesive tape attaching mechanism 55 . the adhesive tape 57 disposed on the adhesive tape rolling device 56 is transferred to the primarily folded edge of the battery cell by the adhesive tape unrolling device 55 . the adhesive tape sticking position monitoring mechanism monitors an adhesive tape sticking position and then feeds the adhesive tape sticking position back to the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism . the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism compares a monitored signal with a preset signal , and then outputs , if the monitored signal does not meet the preset requirements , an instruction to the adhesive tape sticking position adjusting mechanism 53 to adjust the adhesive tape sticking position until the adhesive tape sticking position meets the requirements . the structures of the adhesive tape sticking position monitoring mechanism and the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism are the same as those of the position monitoring mechanism 511 and the glue dropping position control mechanism 512 in embodiment 1 . the adhesive tape sticking position monitoring mechanism is configured as a charge - coupled device image sensor ; the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism is configured as a programmable logic controller , a singlechip or a computer ; and the adhesive tape sticking position adjusting mechanism 53 includes a second object stage 531 and a second servo motor 532 . the second object stage 531 is driven by the second servo motor 532 , and the second servo motor 532 is connected to the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism . the battery cell already subjected to the primary folding enters the second object state 531 of the glue dropping mechanism along with the clamp 23 . the adhesive tape sticking position monitoring mechanism first monitors the adhesive tape sticking position and then feeds the adhesive tape sticking position back to the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism . the adhesive tape sticking position control mechanism compares the monitored signal with a preset signal ; sends , if there is an offset , an instruction to the second servo motor 532 , so that the second servo motor 532 drives the second object state 531 to a predetermined position ; keeps , if there is no offset , the second object state 531 unmoved , so that one non - fluid bonding layer 8 is arranged on the primarily folded edge 7 of the battery cell . t the remaining is the same as embodiment 1 and will not be repeated here . t for those skilled in the art , alterations and modifications may be made to the forgoing implementations in accordance with the disclosure and teaching of the specification . therefore , the present invention is not limited to the foregoing implementations , and any apparent improvements , replacements or variations made by those skilled in the art on the basis of the present invention shall fall into the protection scope of the present invention . in addition , although some particular terms have been used in the specification , these terms are used for purpose of description and not intended to form any limitation to the present invention .	8
statistical techniques are disclosed for identifying , in real time , the basic features of one or more individual signals that are embedded in a signal mixture including a plurality of independent signals . as shown in fig2 the mixture of signals may include fm ( frequency modulated ) signals such as first signal 101 , qam ( quadrature amplitude modulated ) signals such as second signal 103 , vsb ( vestigial sideband ) signals such as third signal 105 , ntsc ( north american television standards committee ) television signals , pal signals , secam signals , and / or amplitude - modulated signals such as fourth signal 107 . assume that a composite signal including a plurality of individual signals , such as first signal 101 , second signal 103 , third signal 105 , and fourth signal 107 , is placed onto a first end of a coaxial cable by an arbitrarily - determined configuration of transmitters and signal combiners . at the second end of the coaxial cable , it is desired to determine the characteristics of one or more of the individual signals on the coaxial cable so that a desired individual signal may be separated from the composite signal . such a task is rendered all the more difficult due to the fact that each of the signals includes a number of unknown parameters . in the case of a qam signal , the frequency of the carrier ( i . e ., the center frequency of the qam signal ) must be determined , as well as the baud rate , the overall bandwidth , and the nature of the qam constellation . the techniques disclosed herein determine the parameters of one or more individual signals of a composite signal by utilizing several concepts that are not well - understood in the prior art . first , open - loop carrier estimation of the parameters of any qam signal has to be performed in the context of analog double - sideband carrier modulation , even if this qam signal is the only signal present . in other words , the digital nature of a qam signal is not important or critical for purposes of identifying the parameters of a qam carrier . secondly , despite the fact that a qam signal includes time - varying information , it can be proved that the qam signal contains a significant band - limited double - sideband stationary component which may be extracted by direct autocorrelation / power measurements . third , the method of real - time autocorrelation measurements eliminates all independent types of interference incurred during the transmission process . fourth , the effects of multipath that may be present in each of a plurality of qam signals that comprise a given composite signal do not effect the carrier / bandwidth identification / equalization process . fifth , the duration of the measured autocorrelation function is well - defined , finite , and it is defined by the qam signal of minimal bandwidth in the signal composite , which , in one illustrative design specification , is equal to 1 . 5 microseconds ( 1 / 870 khz ). the five aforementioned concepts have been utilized to develop hardware configurations for systems that are equipped to characterize each of a plurality of individual signals from a composite signal . fig3 illustrates such a system designed according to a first embodiment disclosed herein , and fig5 a and 5b , taken together , illustrate a system designed according to a second embodiment disclosed herein . in practice , the hardware components of fig3 a , and 5b may be integrated into , and / or coupled to , modem 18 and / or customer premises equipment 20 ( fig1 ). referring now to fig3 signal source 201 provides a composite signal that includes a plurality of independent signals . examples of such signals were previously discussed in connection with fig1 and 2 . the composite signal is coupled to a complex to real / imaginary converter 203 , which separates the composite signal into a real part on signal line 205 , and an imaginary part on signal line 207 . the real part is processed by raised cosine filter 209 , and the imaginary part is processed by raised cosine filter 211 . after filtering , the real part of the composite signal is fed to a real input 213 of a real / imaginary to complex converter 219 , and the filtered imaginary part of the composite signal is fed to an imaginary input 215 of the real / imaginary to complex converter 219 . the output of the real / imaginary to complex converter 219 , representing a filtered , complex composite signal , is coupled to the input of a complex spectral shifter 221 , and the output of complex spectral shifter 221 is coupled to a complex to real / imaginary converter 225 . the imaginary output 229 of the complex to real / imaginary converter 225 is not used . the real output 227 of the complex to real / imaginary converter 225 is fed to the signal input of a real variable delay line 235 , and also to a first input of a signal multiplier 237 . an optional first signal storage buffer 231 may be used to store the real output 227 of the complex to real / imaginary converter 225 . real variable delay line 235 delays a real signal for a time duration determined by a time delay input signal present at a delay input 236 terminal . the output of the real variable delay line 235 is fed to a second input of multiplier 237 . therefore , the output of multiplier 237 represents an input signal multiplied by a delayed version of itself . the output of the multiplier 237 is coupled to a mean estimator 239 , and the output of the mean estimator 239 may be coupled to an optional third signal storage buffer 241 . the signal at the delay input 236 terminal of the real variable delay line 235 is provided by a counter 255 . a first clock 245 is coupled to a count up terminal of counter 255 such that , when clock 245 generates pulses , the count of counter 255 is incremented . a second clock 249 drives a first inverter 251 , a divide - by - 2000 divider 247 , and a second inverter 253 , arranged sequentially in the order described . the output of the second inverter 253 drives a hold terminal of counter 255 which , when activated , causes the counter 255 to hold its present count . the output of the counter can be stored in an optional second storage buffer 257 . in the hardware configuration of fig3 the complex to real / imaginary converter 203 , raised cosine filter 209 , raised cosine filter 211 , real / imaginary to complex converter 219 , complex spectral shifter 221 , and complex to real / imaginary converter 225 together perform the function of a qam ( quadrature amplitude modulation ) modulator and , hence , these components could , if desired , be replaced by a single functional block labelled &# 34 ; qam modulator &# 34 ;. such qam modulators are implemented , for example , on an integrated circuit chip . the hardware configuration of fig3 operates as follows . assume that signal source 201 represents the output of modem 18 ( fig1 ) coupled to customer premises equipment 20 . upon initial startup , the rf demodulation performed by modem 18 may provide a composite signal having only a portion of a qam signal included at the lowest frequency extreme , i . e ., at the lowest band edge , of the rf - demodulated signal . modem 18 demodulates signals by using a tuner mechanism that typically includes a mixer / oscillator stage for frequency - converting a composite input signal from a first frequency range to a second frequency range . however , note that modem 12 also includes a mixer / oscillator stage which , in the present example , modulates signals from head end 10 . this modulation process involves frequency - converting signals from the head end 10 from a third frequency range to a fourth frequency range . since the mixer / oscillator stage of modem 12 is not synchronized with the mixer / oscillator stage of modem 18 , any frequency discrepancy will cause the frequency spectrum of a given signal of the composite signal mix to be partially truncated . the frequency spectrum will be truncated at the lower band edge of the signal produced by modem 18 . automatic readjustment of the mixer / oscillator stage of modem 18 is then required to guarantee that all desired individual signals of the composite signal mix are fully contained within the available rf demodulation band of modem 18 . in order to properly adjust the mixer / oscillator of modem 18 , a power measurement is conducted at the lower band edge of the rf - demodulated signal produced by modem 18 . to obtain such a power measurement , mean estimator 239 measures the autocorrelation of a signal with a time - delayed version of that signal at a few frequency points , using real variable delay line 235 and multiplier 237 . this autocorrelation measurement effectively performs a discrete cosine transform ( dct ) on the signal generated by modem 18 ( fig1 ) and represented as signal source 201 . in practice , the maximum duration of the autocorrelation is typically about 1 . 5 usec , and a typical sampling rate on the order of 30 msamples / sec is used . these parameters require the computation of a very few points on a 45 - point dct . the result of the autocorrelation process , which may be stored in third signal storage buffer 241 , is then used by modem 18 . modem 18 adjusts a mixer / oscillator that is coupled to , and / or integrated into , the modem , to a proper frequency . the frequency is adjusted such that substantially the entire bandwidth of a specified individual signal is included at the lower band edge of the passband that is demodulated by modem 18 . once the frequency of the mixer / oscillator of modem 18 is properly adjusted so as to include substantially the entire bandwidth of a specified individual signal at the lower band edge of the demodulated passband , it is now necessary to identify the signal frequency domains for individual signals of the composite signal . these signal frequency domains specify , for example , the center carrier frequency of a given individual signal and the bandwidth of that signal . the real variable delay line 235 identifies the signal frequency domains for individual signals by performing autocorrelation measurements , at each of a plurality of time delays , in conjunction with multiplier 237 and mean estimator 239 . an example of an autocorrelation measurement is shown in fig4 a , as a function of amplitude over time . note that the amplitude of the autocorrelation function initially starts out at a peak value . the autocorrelation then swings back and forth , from negative to positive values . however , as time increases , the negative and positive excursions decrease in amplitude until , eventually , the autocorrelation approaches zero as time approaches infinity . the envelope of the autocorrelation function decreases gradually over time from its peak value to zero . fig4 b is a plot showing amplitude versus normalized frequency for an illustrative signal . in this context , the normalized frequency is defined as the actual frequency spectrum of a signal divided by the frequency at which this spectrum is sampled . the plot of fig4 b shows a signal with a normalized center frequency of 4 mhz and a bandwidth of about 2 mhz (+ and - 1 mhz ). at fig5 a and 5b together comprise a hardware block diagram of a system for characterizing each of a plurality of individual signals from a composite signal according to a second embodiment disclosed herein . note that the hardware components of fig5 a and 5b may be integrated into , and / or coupled to , modem 18 and / or customer premises equipment 20 ( fig1 ). referring now to fig5 a , signal source 201 provides a composite signal that includes a plurality of independent signals . examples of such signals were previously discussed in connection with fig1 , and 3 . the composite signal is coupled to a complex to real / imaginary converter 203 , which separates the composite signal into a real part on signal line 205 , and an imaginary part on signal line 207 . the real part is passed to a pole of a first switch 405 , and the imaginary part is passed to a pole of a second switch 407 . the states of the first and second switches 405 and 407 is controlled by a first counter 411 driven by a first clock 409 . the first switch 405 and the second switch 407 each have two states . when the first switch 405 is in a first state , the pole is connected to a first contact , and the pole is not connected to a second contact . when the first switch 405 is in a second state , the pole is connected to the second contact but not to the first contact . similarly , when the second switch 407 is in a first state , the pole is connected to a first contact , and the pole is not connected to a second contact . when the second switch 407 is in a second state , the pole is connected to the second contact but not to the first contact . in the example of fig5 a , when the first switch 405 is in the first state , the second switch 407 is also in the first state . when the first switch 405 is in the second state , the second switch 407 is also in the second state . when the first and second switches 405 , 407 are in the first state , the real and imaginary signals produced by the complex to real / imaginary converter 203 are processed by a first signal chain that includes a real / imaginary to complex converter 413 , a complex to real / imaginary converter 417 , a first pair of raised cosine filters 421 , 423 , a real / imaginary to complex converter 429 , a first complex spectral shifter 433 , and a complex to real / imaginary converter 437 . when the first and second switches 405 , 407 are in the second state , the real and imaginary signals produced by the complex to real / imaginary converter 203 are processed by a second signal chain that includes a real / imaginary to complex converter 415 , a complex to real / imaginary converter 419 , a second pair of raised cosine filters 425 , 427 , a real / imaginary to complex converter 431 , a second complex spectral shifter 435 , and a complex to real / imaginary converter 439 . the real outputs of complex to real / imaginary converter 437 and complex to real / imaginary converter 439 are summed by summer 441 . the imaginary outputs of the complex to real / imaginary converters 437 , 439 are not used . the output of summer 441 is fed to the signal input of a real variable delay line 445 , and also to a first input of a signal multiplier 447 . an optional first signal storage buffer 443 may be used to store the output of summer 441 . real variable delay line 445 delays a real signal for a time duration determined by a time delay input signal present at a delay input 446 terminal . the output of the real variable delay line 445 is fed to a second input of multiplier 447 . therefore , the output of multiplier 447 represents an input signal multiplied by a delayed version of itself . the output of the multiplier 447 is coupled to a mean estimator 449 , and the output of the mean estimator 449 may be coupled to an optional third signal storage buffer 451 . the signal at the delay input 446 terminal of the real variable delay line 445 is provided by a second counter 455 . a third clock 457 is coupled to a count up terminal of counter 455 such that , when third clock 457 generates pulses , the count of counter 455 is incremented . a second clock 459 drives a first inverter 461 , a divide - by - 2000 divider 463 , and a second inverter 465 , arranged sequentially in the order described . the output of the second inverter 465 drives a hold terminal of counter 455 which , when activated , causes the counter 455 to hold its present count . the output of the counter can be stored in an optional second storage buffer 459 . in the hardware configuration of fig5 a and 5b , the complex to real / imaginary converter 417 , raised cosine filters 421 , 423 , real / imaginary to complex converter 429 , complex spectral shifter 433 , and complex to real / imaginary converter 437 together perform the function of a first qam ( quadrature amplitude modulation ) modulator and , hence , these components could , if desired , be replaced by a single functional block labelled &# 34 ; first qam modulator &# 34 ;. similarly , the complex to real / imaginary converter 419 , raised cosine filters 425 , 427 , real / imaginary to complex converter 431 , complex spectral shifter 435 , and complex to real / imaginary converter 439 together perform the function of a second qam modulator and , hence , these components could , if desired , be replaced by a single functional block labelled &# 34 ; second qam modulator &# 34 ;. such qam modulators are implemented , for example , on an integrated circuit chip . fig6 a , 6b , and 6c show power spectra for the autocorrelation process implemented by the hardware configuration of fig5 a and 5b . magnitude in decibels is shown on the y - axis , and normalized frequency in mhz is shown on the x - axis . the spectra of fig6 a , 6b , and 6c may be observed at the output of mean estimator 449 ( fig5 b ). the plot of fig6 a , for a first signal , shows a broad peak at a normalized frequency of 6 mhz , indicating the presence of a first individual signal having a normalized carrier frequency of 6 mhz . the plot of fig6 b , for a second signal , shows a broad peak at a normalized frequency of 2 mhz , indicating the presence of a second individual signal having a normalized carrier frequency of 2 mhz . fig6 c is a plot of the composite signal , showing a first peak at 6 mhz , corresponding to the first signal , and a second peak at 2 mhz , corresponding to the second signal . fig7 a , 7b , and 7c are correlation functions for the autocorrelation process performed by the hardware configuration of fig5 a and 5b . the plot of fig7 a corresponds to the first signal as shown in fig6 a . as revealed in fig7 a , the first signal has a normalized carrier frequency of 6 mhz and a normalized baud rate of 4 mhz . the plot of fig7 b corresponds to the second signal as shown in fig6 b . fig7 b reveals that the normalized carrier frequency of the second signal is 2 mhz , and the normalized baud rate of the signal is 2 mhz . fig7 c is a composite plot of the autocorrelation function that corresponds to the composite power spectrum of fig6 c .	7
fig4 - 6 illustrate one preferred embodiment of slips assembly according to the present invention . however , that preferred embodiment will be better understood if certain principles are first described in connection with the simplified , diagrammatic views of fig1 - 3 . fig1 and 2 illustrate a very simple case . there is shown a portion of a length of drill pipe 10 to be supported by the slips assembly . pipe 10 is supported by being frictionally engaged by three slip bodies , one of which is shown at 12 . the slip bodies are surrounded by an outer body or bowl , a fragment of which is shown at 14 . the bowl 14 defines a longitudinal through opening 16 . the slip bodies 12 are symmetrically circumferentially spaced about the outer part of the opening 16 , and the pipe 10 extends through the center of the opening 16 , surrounded by the slip bodies . each slip body 12 has an inner side 12a provided with teeth for frictionally engaging the pipe 10 . although , for simplicity , the teeth are shown as integrally formed on the slip body 12 , they could be formed on a separate die carried on the slip body , as is well known in the art . the outer side of the slip body has a force transfer protuberance 12b . as may be seen by comparing fig1 and 2 , protuberance 12b is convexly curved in both longitudinal ( fig1 ) and transverse ( fig2 ) planes , and both curves reach a common apex at a point a . this apex a bears on the opposed inner side surface of the bowl 16 , and more specifically , on a camming surface 17 which is inclined downwardly and inwardly . the slip bodies 12 are free to move both radially and longitudinally with respect to the bowl 16 . accordingly , when the weight of the pipe 10 is let onto the assembly , it tends to take the slip bodies down , and the slip bodies are thereby cammed radially inwardly by the surface 17 , so that the grip on the pipe 10 is self - tightening . as shown in fig2 the curvature of protuberance 12b near its apex a in the transverse plane through a is on a shorter radius than that of the adjacent part of the bowl 14 . ( it can be seen that the radius of curvature of the adjacent part of the bowl is the same as a radius from the centerline of pipe 10 to apex a .) thus there is essentially point contact at a in that plane . in the longitudinal plane of fig1 there is of course point contact because the section of surface 17 is linear ( it can be said that surface 17 has a radius of curvature of infinite length ). because of the point contact between apex a and surface 17 , and because the slip body 12 is not constrained from doing so , the slip body 12 can pivot in both longitudinal and transverse planes . more specifically , body 12 can pivot in the transverse plane shown in fig2 about the longitudinal axis passing through point a perpendicular to the plane of the drawing . (&# 34 ; generally &# 34 ; longitudinal is used herein to mean that the axis or member has a significant vertical component of direction .) furthermore , since point or apex a and the longitudinal axis passing therethrough are circumferentially centered on the slip body ( with respect to the centerline of the assembly as a whole ), this pivoting can allow the inner side 12a , which is concavely curved to correspond to the external curvature of pipe 10 , to align itself perfectly with that curvature , so that it is not biting in more deeply at one end of the arc of side 12a than the other . the apex a is also approximately centered along the length of the slip body so that the tangential axis and radial force are also centered . each of the slip bodies in a given assembly can so pivot independently of the others , so that the entire set of slip bodies properly aligns , and this will occur even if the rotary table ( not shown ) on which the assembly is carried is not level , if surface 17 has worn more adjacent one of the slip bodies than the others , if the slip bodies themselves have worn unevenly , or if for any other reason , surfaces 12a would otherwise have been imperfectly mated to the external curve of pipe 10 . to perfect the alignment in the longitudinal plane shown in fig1 each slip body 12 can independently pivot in that longitudinal plane about a tangengential ( true tangent or parallel to tangent ) axis passing through point a perpendicular to the plane of the figure . advantageously , point a is approximately longitudinally centered along the length of protuberance 12b as shown . it will be appreciated that similar results could be obtained if the inclined camming surface were formed on the slip body , and the convexly curved protuberance providing the pivot point were formed on the bowl . it can also be appreciated that , if the device were not of the self - tightening type , e . g . if camming surface 17 were replaced by an hydraulic cylinder capable of applying sufficent gripping force to body 12 , and body 12 were still free to pivot about longitudinal and tangential axes , the same good alignment would be achieved . fig3 diagrammatically illustrates a slightly more complex embodiment in which a distinct force transfer member in the form of a wedge 18 is interposed between the bowl 14 &# 39 ; and the slip body 20 . the slip body 20 does not have the convexly curved protuberance of the first embodiment , but is provided with a downwardly and inwardly inclined camming surface 22 on its outer side . the wedge 18 has its inner side convexly curved in both longitudinal ( fig3 ) and transverse ( not shown ) planes so that it provides a transverse and longitudinal pivot point bearing on the camming surface 22 and allowing each slip body 20 to independently align with the pipe 10 as in the preceding embodiment . the outer side of wedge 18 is shaped to conform with the opposed camming surface 17 of the bowl 14 &# 39 ;. similar results could be achieved if the inner side of wedge 18 were shaped to conform with surface 22 , and the outer side convexly curved to provide point contact with surface 17 . it can be seen that wedge 18 will also transfer forces between camming surfaces 17 and 22 so that the camming surfaces are still cooperative , though indirectly , between bodies 14 and 20 . it can also be appreciated that , if some means , diagrammatically indicated by arrow f , is provided for urging the wedge 18 downwardly between the camming surfaces 17 and 22 , the inclination of the camming surfaces will cause the slip body 20 to be urged radially inwardly toward the pipe 10 . it can be appreciated that , if this is done with a relatively low force , i . e ., lower than that of the pipe 10 , before the weight of the pipe 10 is let onto the assembly , the slip bodies can be pre - aligned with the pipe ; they will in effect cam themselves into proper positions by virtue of contact with the pipe 10 and their independent pivotability . however , the low force of means f will allow this to happen without damage . also , pre - engagement with the pipe 10 will be ensured , so that the slip bodies will be urged down and tightened by the weight of the pipe . use of the wedge 18 also eliminates the need to directly lift the slip bodies to release them . rather , the wedge ( s ) can be retracted . as mentioned , the embodiments of fig1 - 3 are simplified and diagrammatically illustrated . in each of these embodiments , there would be sliding movement between the pivot point and the opposing surface , and this could lead to relatively fast wear of those sliding surfaces . fig4 - 6 illustrate a more detailed embodiment which provides the aforementioned advantages in terms of adjustability of the slip bodies , but with a substantial surface area for contact between each pair of abutting , relatively movable surfaces . certain parts of the slips assembly of fig4 - 6 which are well known in the art and do not form a part of the present invention have been omitted from or simplified in the drawings for clarity of illustration and efficiency of description . the bowl includes main body portion 24 resting on a base plate 26 . one or more locator pins 57 may be provided to position the apperatus with respect to the rotary table . as in the preceding embodiments , the body 24 and plate 26 define a central longitudinal through opening 28 for the pipe 10 . the bowl further includes a guide ring 30 mounted in body 24 and plate 26 near , and defining the lower portion of , opening 28 . the outer part of ring 30 is further supported by another ring 32 . the upper surface of ring 30 partially opposes the slip bodies , one of which is shown at 34 , to prevent them from falling out of the bowl , and its upper surface is inclined downwardly and inwardly as shown so as not to interfere with their movement . the upper portion of ring 30 also has lateral slots , one of which is shown at 40 , loosely receiving respective slip bodies so as to generally maintain their circumferential spacing without interfering with their necessary movements . with the exception of ring 30 , each of the otherwise annular parts of the bowl assembly , parts 24 , 26 , and 32 , have aligned lateral slots so that the apparatus can be initially placed about the pipe 10 , and subsequently removed , as is well known in the art . the slot 37 in main body portion 24 is selectively closed by links or gates 36 and 39 movably mounted to the body 24 by pins , one of which is shown at 38 . ring 30 does not have full - length lateral slots . rather , it is formed in two halves connected by a hinge 31 so that , if lifted out of the main body , it can be opened to allow it to be placed about the pipe . each slip body has a downwardly and inwardly inclined camming surface 41 on its outer side , and pipe gripping teeth on its inner side 42 , which is concavely curved to conform to the contour of the pipe 10 . generally opposed to the camming surface 40 of each slip body , there is a respective force transfer means in the form of a pivot member 44 . the outer side surface of member 44 is generally convexly hemispherical in shape , so that it is curved in both longitudinal and transverse planes . in general , the greater the thickness of slip body 34 , i . e . the greater the distance from the centerline to member 44 , the greater should be the radius of curvature of member 44 . this should help to avoid any possible toggling effect whereby one end of the slip body might be urged more tightly against the pipe than the other . in addition , the radially outmost point of the curved outer surface of member 44 , and thus the line of force application , is approximately centered along the length of slip body 34 . that is to say that it is aligned with the slip body somewhere along the centermost twenty - five percent ( 25 %) of the length of the slip body . in the transverse plane of fig5 the outermost point and the longitudinal axis are precisely centered . in a manner to be described more fully below , member 44 is mounted in the bowl for longitudinal and transverse pivotal movement with respect to the bowl . its inner side is shaped to . conform to or mate with the surface 41 and abuts that surface so that the aforementioned pivotal movement is transmitted to the slip body 34 . thus it provides the equivalent of the type of movement present in the preceding embodiments . however , its outer hemispherical side bears against a mating concave hemispherical surface in a mounting block 46 which is connected to main body 24 to form a part of the bowl . thus , while providing the same type of movement , it avoids the point contact which can quicken wear and also avoids high point loads . likewise , the inner side of member 44 , conforming to the shape of camming surface 41 , provides a large contact surface area on that side as well . the pivoting movement not only allows slip body 34 to align with pipe 10 , but keeps the inner side of member 44 aligned with and fully abutting surface 40 , so that the two serve as similarly inclined camming surfaces . referring now to fig5 and 6 , mounting block 46 fits into a recess 48 in the inner side of main body 24 of the bowl . mounting block 46 is connected to body 24 by screws 50 . the shank of each screw 50 has a small diameter portion 50a adjacent its tip , and a larger diameter portion 50b adjacent its head 50c , so that a shoulder is formed between portions 50a and 50b . body 24 has a threaded hole 52 for receipt of portion 50a , and block 46 has an unthreaded bore 54 for receipt of portion 50b . bore 54 is counterbored at 54a to receive the head 50c of the screw . it can be seen that , when screw 50 is threaded all the way in , so that the shoulder formed between portions 50a and 50b is bottomed against the radially inwardly facing surface of recess 48 , the head 50c of the screw is clearing the shoulder formed between the main portion of bore 54 and its counterbore 54b . thus , mounting block 46 has some radial reciprocating type play with respect to body 24 . a radial bore 56 extends through main body 24 , opening roughly centrally in the radially facing surface of recess 48 . a push rod 58 , longer than bore 56 , extends therethrough . an hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 60 is mounted on the outside of body 24 by any suitable means , diagrammatically shown at 64 . the piston rod 62 protrudes , so that it can abut the protruding end of rod 58 . a spacer plate 63 is interposed between cylinder 60 and bowl 24 and has a central bore for receipt of the protruding ends of rods 62 and 58 . after the slip bodies have been lowered or roughly positioned in the well - known manner , by applying pressurized fluid to the outer side of the piston within cylinder 60 to move it inwardly with respect to the bowl , mounting block 46 can be pushed radially inwardly via rod 58 to the limit permitted by the clearance between screw head 50c and the facing shoulder in bore 54 , carrying member 44 and slip body 34 with it . this serves a similar function to that indicated by the arrow f in fig3 i . e . it sets the slip body 34 against the pipe 10 , preferably under low force , so that slip body 34 cams itself into alignment with the pipe 10 before the weight of the drill pipe is applied , and also so that frictional engagement between the slip body and the pipe is ensured . as mentioned , the setting force applicable by piston and cylinder assembly 60 is preferably low , i . e . it is substantially lower than the radially outward force which will be applied by the weight of the pipe via the camming surface 44 . thus , once the weight of the pipe is let down , it will override cylinder 60 . self - tightening will take over , and there will be no danger of slippage if power to cylinder 60 is lost . as mentioned , member 44 is mounted in block 46 for longitudinal and transverse pivotal movement . more specifically , a pivot pin 66 extends through aligned holes 68 and 70 in the mounting block 46 and member 44 , respectively . pin 66 has enlarged heads 66a at each end for tight fits in respective bores 68 . they may be press fit into bores 68 . however , the central portion of pin 66 which is received in the bore 70 is undersized with respect thereto . thus the pin 66 per se , having a substantial longitudinal component of direction , forms an axis about which member 44 can pivot in a transverse plane , such as the plane of fig5 . furthermore , due to the loose fit of pin 66 in bore 70 , member 44 can also pivot in a longitudinal plane , such as that of fig6 about a tangential axis c intersecting pin 66 about midway along its length . a soft , compressible sleeve 72 is interposed between pin 66 and bore 70 about midway . this helps in centering and stabilizing pin 66 , but is sufficiently soft and compressible that it does not interfere with the requisite pivotal movement . each of the other slip bodies in the assembly would be similarly associated with a respective pivot member such as 44 , in a respective mounting block , but it is unnecessary for the others to have respective piston and cylinder assemblies such as 60 . as is well known in the art , when it is desired to release the grip of the slip bodies , the pipe is lifted to relieve the slip bodies of its weight . then the slip bodies are pulled upwardly with respect to the bowl by some low force means such as one or more hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders . a separate such means may be provided for each slip body , as indicated diagrammatically at r . they may be activated by a common source of pressurized fluid so that they will act in unison . alternatively , a single such means may be provided , and the slip bodies may be connected and articulated for lateral spreading , in the well known manner . all of the preceding embodiments of the invention utilize a single pivot member to provide for both longitudinal and transverse pivoting of the respective slip body . fig7 and 8 diagrammatically illustrate an embodiment which is similar to that of fig4 - 6 , but employs a pair of pivot members for each slip body , one to provide longitudinal movement , and one to provide transverse movement . whereas the one pivot member provided in the embodiment of fig4 - 6 had a part spherical pivot surface , each of the two pivot members 82 and 84 in the embodiment of fig7 and 8 has a part cylindrical pivot surface , and these part cylindrically surfaces are oriented generally perpendicular to each other . one pivot member 86 is mounted in the bowl 82 . although shown in a simplified form , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that it could be mounted on a pivot pin , in turn mounted in a mounting block , in turn radially movable with respect to the bowl by a setting cylinder , all as in the embodiment of fig4 - 6 . as shown in fig8 it is the outer surface of member 86 , which abuts a mating surface in the bowl , which is curved , and it is curved in a transverse plane so that it has a longitudinal pivot axis , i . e . an axis having a substantial longitudinal component . the other pivot member 84 is mounted in the slip body 80 and has its inner surface convexly curved and bearing against a mating concave surface in the outer side of the slip body 80 . it could be so mounted by a pivot pin . it is curved in a longitudinal plane , so that it can pivot in that plane about a tangential axis . the abutting surfaces of the members 84 and 86 are complementarily configured to serve as camming surfaces for the slip body 80 . together they provide both longitudinal and transverse pivotal movement for the slip body 80 . the above embodiments have been described as incorporated in &# 34 ; slips &# 34 ; assemblies , i . e . assemblies located at the rotary tables of their respective drilling rigs . however , slip type assemblies which are identical in terms of those parts which form the present invention could be incorporated in &# 34 ; elevator &# 34 ; assemblies or other gripping devises . all of the embodiments shown are of the self - tightening type , i . e . they have camming surfaces responsive to the weight of the pipe . however , many of the principles of the invention could be applied to assemblies designed to grip only by virtue of a separately imposed force , e . g . from an hydraulic cylinder assembly . likewise , there are many other possible ways of pivotally mounting pivot members in bowls and / or slip bodies . numerous other modifications may suggest themselves to those of skill in the art . accordingly , it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only by the claims .	4
an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig1 to 3 . fig1 schematically shows a gas turbine . a gas turbine comprises a rotation axis with a rotor . the rotor comprises a shaft 107 . along the rotor a suction portion with a casing 109 , a compressor 101 , a combustion portion 151 , a turbine 105 and an exhaust portion with a casing 190 are located . the combustion portion 151 communicates with a hot gas flow channel which may have a circular cross section , for example . the turbine 105 comprises a number of turbine stages . each turbine stage comprises rings of turbine blades . in flow direction of the hot gas in the hot gas flow channel a ring of turbine guide vanes 117 is followed by a ring of turbine rotor blades 115 . the turbine guide vanes 117 are connected to an inner casing of a stator . the turbine rotor blades 115 are connected to the rotor . the rotor is connected to a generator , for example . during operation of the gas turbine air is sucked and compressed by means of the compressor 101 . the compressed air is led to the combustion portion 151 and is mixed with fuel . the mixture of air and fuel is then combusted . the resulting hot combustion gas flows through a hot gas flow channel to the turbine guide vanes 117 and the turbine rotor blades 115 and actuates the rotor . the rotation axis of the turbine is designated by reference numeral 102 . fig2 schematically shows part of a turbine in a sectional view . the axial direction is designated by reference numeral 50 , the radial direction is designated by reference numeral 51 and the tangential direction is designated by reference numeral 52 . in fig2 a vane 117 is connected to a number of carrier elements 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 . the vane 117 comprises a leading edge 4 and a trailing edge 5 . the flow direction of the driving medium , for example gas or steam is indicated by an arrow 1 . the vane 117 comprises a radially outer platform 2 and a radially inner platform 3 . the radially outer platform 2 comprises a leading edge side 45 corresponding to the leading edge 4 of the vane 117 and a trailing edge side 47 corresponding to the trailing edge 5 of the vane 117 . the radially inner platform 3 comprises a leading edge side 46 corresponding to the leading edge 4 of the vane 117 and a trailing edge side 48 corresponding to the trailing edge 5 of the vane 117 . by connecting the vane 117 to a number of carrier elements 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 a number of interfaces between the vane 117 and the carrier element 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 are established . the radially outer platform 2 comprises a first protrusion 41 which is located at the leading edge side 45 of the radially outer platform 2 and a second protrusion 43 which is located at the trailing edge side 47 of the radially outer platform 2 . the radially inner platform 3 comprises a first protrusion 42 at the leading edge side 46 and a second protrusion 44 at the trailing edge side 48 . a first interface is formed between a radially outer surface 31 of the first protrusion 41 of the radially outer platform 2 and a corresponding surface 21 of the carrier element 7 . this first interface is sealed by means of a first leaf seal 11 . a second interface is formed between a radially inner surface 32 of the first protrusion 42 of the radially inner platform 3 and a corresponding surface 22 of the carrier element 9 . this second interface is sealed by means of a second leaf seal 12 . a third interface is formed by a radially outer surface 33 of the second protrusion 43 of the radially outer platform 2 and a corresponding surface 23 of the carrier element 6 . this third interface is sealed by means of a third leaf seal 13 . a fourth interface is formed between a radially inner surface 34 of the second protrusion 44 of the radially inner platform 3 and a corresponding surface 24 of the carrier element 8 . this fourth interface is sealed by means of a fourth leaf seal 14 . the first leaf seal 11 can be connected to the carrier element 7 and / or to the radially outer platform 2 , preferably to the first protrusion 41 of the radially outer platform 2 , by means of retaining pins 15 . the second leaf seal 12 can be connected to the carrier element 9 and / or to the radially inner platform 3 , preferably to the first protrusion 42 of the radially inner platform 3 , by means of retaining pins 15 . the third leaf seal 13 can be connected to the carrier element 6 and / or to the radially outer platform 2 , preferably to the second protrusion 43 of the radially outer platform 2 , by means of retaining pins 15 . the fourth leaf seal 14 can be connected to the carrier element 8 and / or to the radially inner platform 3 , for example to the second protrusion 44 of the radially inner platform 3 , by means of retaining pins 15 . all leaf seals 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 can advantageously be sheetmetal leaf seals . preferably , the retaining pins or location pins 15 which are used for connecting the leaf seals 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 to the platforms 2 , 3 and / or to the carrier elements 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , are constructed such that a free movement between the platforms 2 , 3 and the carrier elements 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 is possible . preferably , location pins with axial and tangential clearance are used . retaining pins or location pins 15 allow for relative movement between the vane 117 and the corresponding carrier elements 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , whilst the sealing performance is maintained . generally , the carrier elements 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 can be part of carrier rings . for example , the carrier element 6 and / or the carrier element 7 can be part of a radially outer carrier ring . the carrier element 8 and / or the carrier element 9 can be part of a radially inner carrier ring . radially outside of the radially outer platform 2 a space 10 is formed under the radially outer platform 2 . radially inside of the radially inner platform 3 a space 20 is formed under the radially inner platform 3 . the leaf seals 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 effectively prevent a leakage of hot gases from a combustion chamber of the gas or steam turbine into the spaces 10 and 20 under the platforms 2 and 3 . at the same time a movement between the vane 117 and the carrier element 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , for example due to vibrations , is possible , whilst the sealing function of the leaf seals 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 is maintained . fig3 schematically shows a leaf seal connected to a platform of a vane in a perspective view . in fig3 the trailing edge side 48 of the radially inner platform 3 is shown as an example . the leaf seal 14 is connected to the second protrusion 14 of the radially inner platform 3 by means of retaining pins or location pins 15 . additionally , a number of openings 17 are shown , which are located in an impingement plate 18 at the underside of the platform 3 . these openings 17 can be used for cooling the underside of the platform 3 and / or for cooling vane 117 . the leaf seal 14 further comprises a number of openings 16 . these openings 16 preferably have a smaller diameter than the openings 17 in the impingement plate at the underside of the platform 3 . the openings 16 of the leaf seal 14 can be used for supplying cooling air or any other cooling medium to the underside of the platform 3 . preferably , the leakage across one of the seals 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 can be allowed to be of a higher value in order to supply cooling air to the underside of the platform 3 . the arrangement shown in fig3 has the advantage that a sealing against leakage of hot combustion gasses is provided , whilst at the same time a cooling of the underside of the platform 3 can be performed . the other three leaf seals 11 , 12 , 13 can be constructed and connected in the same way as shown in fig3 .	5
there is provided by the present invention the multiple groundplane probe 40 shown in fig4 . this structure may be fabricated with a 3 - level - of - metal josephson technology process which may be , for example , an extension of the 2 - level process described in the article in appl . phys . lett ., 59 ( 20 ), november 1991 , by ketchen , et al ., which article is herein incorporated by reference . thus , and advantageously , the other components of the magnetometer , such as a squid can be manufactured at the same time as is the probe of the invention . the probe of the present invention minimizes lead pick - up area , and minimizes the distortion of the local field being measured . the present invention allows a & lt ; 1 μm 2 pick - up area with deep sub - μm feature size required for only one level and consists of a single - level pick - up loop 42 in combination with a progressively wider double ground - planed lead structure in regions 44 , 46 , 48 and 50 . cross sections through three different regions of this lead structure are shown in fig5 and 7 . the double ground - planed structures of fig5 ( section x -- x &# 39 ;) and 6 ( section y -- y &# 39 ;) give somewhat lower lead inductance ( by ≦ 2x ) and considerably lower effective pick - up area than a single groundplane structure . if a single groundplane lowers the pick - up area of the leads by a factor of k , the double groundplane will generally lower it by & gt ; k 2 . fig6 shows a totally enclosed strip line configuration with zero effective pick - up area and a low inductance . the narrow ground - planes near the pick - up loop ( fig5 ) minimizes the distortion of magnetic fields in the vicinity of the pick - up loop while immediately cutting down the lead pick - up area and inductance . after one or more widening steps the width is sufficient to implement the totally enclosed configuration . this wider structure is then far enough away that it does not significantly distort the field at the pick - up loop . typically the fabrication process begins with providing , by thermal oxidation , a layer 91 of sio 2 on a silicon substrate wafer 90 . typically , layer 91 is about 3000 å in thickness . next , using photolithographic techniques known in the art , the patterned first ( m1 ) niobium metal line structure 92 shown in fig5 ( for region 46 ) and 6 ( for region 50 ) is made . structure 92 is typically 2000 å in thickness . structure 92 constitutes the first , or bottom , groundplane which extends the lengths of regions 44 , 46 , 48 and 50 . next , a layer 93 of sio 2 of typical thickness of about 5000 å is sputtered over the surfaces of layers 91 and 92 . this is the first insulating layer ( i1 ). layer 93 is then planarized using techniques known in the art reducing its thickness to about 1500 å above layer 92 at the end of the planarization process . next , first vias are etched through layer 93 in regions 48 and 50 ( locations 94 in fig6 ), to expose metal 92 at the bottoms thereof . thereafter , again using photolithographic techniques , a second layer ( m2 ) of niobium metal about 2000 å thick is selectively patterned onto the surface of layer 93 to form the three coplanar lines 95a , 95b and 95c shown in fig6 and lines 95a and 95c shown in fig5 . metal lines 95a , 95b , and 95c will be in contact with metal layer 92 through the first vias . a second insulating ( i2 ) layer 96 of quartz ( sio 2 ) about 3000 å in thickness is next sputtered over the surface to cover the surface of layer 93 and conformally cover layer 95 . second vias are next etched through insulating layer 96 in regions 48 and 50 ( locations 97 in fig6 ) thereby exposing second metal layer 95 at the bottoms thereof . lastly , and again using photolithographic techniques , a third patterned layer ( m3 ) of niobium 98 about 5000 å in thickness is selectively formed on second quartz insulating layer 96 as shown in fig5 and 6 . layer 96 is in electrical contact with layer 95 through the second vias ( locations 97 in fig6 ). this is the second or top groundplane and like the first or bottom groundplane extends the length of segments 44 , 46 , 48 and 50 . a cross - section z -- z &# 39 ; through probe tip 42 in probe tip region 52 is shown in fig7 . it will be appreciated that the cross - section at location 44 of probe 40 is similar to that of fig5 except for dimensions , and that the cross - section at location 48 of probe 40 is similar to that of fig6 except for dimensions and except that line 95c terminates in section 48 . in the plan view of fig4 the width of the first and second groundplanes are seen increasing in step - wise fashion as the distance from tip 42 increases along the longitudinal axis 54 of probe 40 , but other geometric structures , such as tapers , are also within the contemplation of the invention . the top and bottom groundplane structures in region 44 terminate at a distance αw 1 from tip region 52 . fig8 shows the calculated attenuation factor k as a function of linewidth x for the simplified geometry shown in the inset of fig8 for various groundplane configurations of the present invention . the designator 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 2 implies a lead structure with two leads of width x , a space of width x and a groundplane overhang ( oh ) on each side of 2x . the superconductor in all cases was nb with a london penetration depth λ of 0 . 086 μm . the metal thicknesses t m1 and t m2 were all 0 . 15 μm except when x is & lt ; 0 . 15 μm , t m2 = x . the vertical separation , s , between metal layers was 0 . 15 μm in all cases . the degradation in attenuation ( k factor ) as x was decreased is a direct consequence of the less favorable aspect ratios and the constant value λ . the effectiveness of the two groundplane structures ( 2 gp ) as compared with the one groundplane structure ( 1gp ) is clearly illustrated by the two 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 curves . in general , k ( 2 gp )& gt ; k 2 ( 1 gp ). with reference to fig9 the most critical part of the design of the probe of the invention are the structures of pickup loop 42 , leads 95 ( m2 ) and groundplane structure 92 / 98 in the immediate vicinity of pickup loop 42 . the general situation is as shown in fig9 where b 1 , b 2 , b 3 and b 4 are the average magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the various areas and a 1 , a 2 , a 3 and a 4 are the effective pickup areas . fields in the plane of pickup loop 42 do not couple to the loop or groundplane structure . assuming a double groundplane structure and that the screening currents flowing in area w 2 xw 2 are dominated by the action of screening the field b 3 from that area and provided β ≳ 0 . 5 and the groundplane structure continues to widen to join the totally enclosed groundplane structure over a modest distance , the contribution from b 4 will be small enough to not consider further . the magnetic flux φ a applied to the magnetometer and the measured field b meas is then given by : ## equ1 ## the first term arises from the geometric pickup area of the loop . the second term arises from the pickup area of the ungroundplaned lead structure between the loop and the beginning of the groundplanes . the third term contains two separate components . the first of these arises from the geometric pickup area of the leads in this section ( 2x w 2 ) reduced by the groundplane screening factor k . the second is associated with the flux that is deflected by the groundplanes and ends up passing through the geometric pickup area of the leads between the pickup loop and the groundplane edge . calculations indicate that for w 2 ˜ 1 - 2 μm most of this deflected flux passes within a few 0 . 1 μm &# 39 ; s of the groundplane edge . by way of example , if x = 0 . 1 μm , w 1 = 0 . 1 μm , w 2 = 1 . 0 μm and α = 0 . 4 , then : as another example , consider the case x - 0 . 25 μm , w 2 = 1 . 25 μm and α = 0 . 5 . in this case , as a final case , with x = 0 . 5 μm , w 1 = 1 . 0 μm , w 2 = 1 . 5 μm and α = 0 , the result is : ## equ2 ## or approximately a 100 % increase in effective pickup area . it is thus possible to get pickup areas ≲ 1 μm 2 in size but in one level with the deep sub - μm definition required . the positive effects become increasingly more important as x increases . the arrangement shown in fig4 is clearly a magnetometer tip . in fig1 , the gradiometer version of this invention is shown . here , two small area pick - up loops 70 , 72 wound in opposite sense are positioned at the tip . the same groundplaned structure as with the magnetometer is used . well away from the tip , the necessary cross - over is incorporated and the lead structure reverts to the cross section of fig6 . the gradiometer configuration of fig1 gives improved noise / pick - up reduction and helps to further localize the response to the tip area . the design and operation of gradiometers are discussed , for example , in the paper by m . b . ketchen in j . appl . phys . 58 ( 11 ), december 1985 , which paper is herein incorporated by reference . as shown in fig1 , another novel probe of the invention incorporates a single turn excitation ( or field ) coil 100 circumscribing a single pickup loop 102 where field coil 100 is on the order of about 20 μm across and pickup coil 102 is on the order of about 10 μm across . this probe may be fabricated in the manner discussed above with respect to the magnetometer probe except that here , again through the use of photolithographic techniques , the lower groundplane terminates a distance away from excitation coil 100 in the vicinity of 104 . the top groundplane generally continues over excitation loop 100 but does not extend over pickup loop 102 . excitation coil 100 is formed of the same metal as the lower groundplane and is on the same level of metallization . in this arrangement , excitation coil 100 locally induces a magnetic moment in the underlying sample which in turn couples back to magnetometer pickup loop 102 . the direct coupling between field coil 100 and pickup loop 102 is cancelled out by incorporating in a series wired ( but opposite sense ) configuration an identical pickup loop 105 and field coil 106 located on the same chip far from active tip 108 as shown in fig1 . active tip 108 is then scanned over the surface under study while reference tip 110 remains far away from any material . a squid or other read out device is located at region 112 of chip 114 . input / output pads are located at 116 . examples of applications of this arrangement include use as a susceptibility microscope or for eddy current non - destructive testing on a microscopic length scale . in the presence of a uniformmagnetic field in the plane of the squid chip , this arrangement can also function as a scanning nuclear magnetic resonance ( nmr ) microscope . such devices made be integrated on a single substrate using the planar , thin film , 3 - level of metal technology discussed above . it will be apparent to those of working skill in the art that modifications of this invention may be practiced without departing from the essential scope of this invention such as , for example , the shape of the pickup coils may be varied and are not necessarily restricted to one loop or level and that use may be made of other high and low tc superconducting materials in place of the niomium metal used in conjunction with the foregoing description .	8
fig1 is a top perspective view of an inventive damping mechanism . the inventive damping mechanism is utilized in a belt tensioner , see fig1 . the belt tensioner engages a belt through a pulley journaled to a lever arm . the tensioner is used to apply a preload to the belt and to damp oscillatory movements of the belt . the damping mechanism damps oscillatory movements of a tensioner lever arm . the lever arm generally experiences a bi - directional or oscillatory motion caused by changes in the operating status of a belt drive , for example by load changes . damping is necessary to remove energy from the belt system , thereby ensuring proper operation of the tensioner in order to maximize belt life and operational efficiency . more particularly , an inventive damping mechanism is shown in fig1 . damping mechanism 100 comprises damping band 102 . damping band 102 is connected to an outer arcuate surface 104 of damping shoe 101 . spring , or biasing member , receiving portion 103 comprises a slot in damping shoe 101 . receiving portion 103 receives an end tang ( not shown , see 500 in fig1 ) of a coil spring . surface 105 engages a coil of a spring to provide support during operation . damping band 102 comprises a lubricated plastic such as nylon , pa and ppa , and their equivalents . fig2 is a cross - section view of an inventive damping mechanism at line 2 — 2 in fig1 . ring cut 106 extends about an outer perimeter of outer arcuate surface 104 . rim or protrusion 107 extends about a partial circumference of damping shoe 101 . ring cut 106 in combination with protrusion 107 serve to mechanically attach damping band 102 to damping shoe 101 . fig3 is a top perspective view of an alternate damping mechanism . inventive damping mechanism 200 comprises a first arcuate member 210 and a second arcuate member 220 . first arcuate member 210 has a spring receiving portion 211 into which a spring end tang may be inserted , see fig1 . a wall of the spring receiving portion has maximum thickness 211 a at the spring contact area . wall 211 a may be tapered from the contact area in one direction or in both directions as it extends in both directions . by comparison , a like wall of the previous art has uniform thickness . first arcuate member 210 comprises a damping band 213 attached to a damping shoe 212 . second arcuate member 220 comprises a damping band 215 attached to a damping shoe 214 . first arcuate member 210 is in pivotal contact with the second arcuate member 220 at a point of contact 216 . point of contact 216 comprises end 228 of damping shoe 212 and end 219 of damping shoe 214 . point of contact 216 may vary from a minimum radius to a maximum radius across a width w of each damping shoe with respect to a lever arm axis of rotation r — r , see fig1 . in order to achieve the desired asymmetric damping factor , point of contact 216 is located at a predetermined radial distance from a lever arm axis of rotation r — r . a minimum radius location for point of contact 216 , shown in fig3 , results in the highest asymmetric damping factor for the damping mechanism in operation in a tensioner . point of contact 216 may be disposed at an outer radius 288 which produces a reduced asymmetric damping factor as compared to the foregoing minimum radius location . in an alternate arrangement , end 218 of first arcuate member 210 is in contact with the second arcuate member end 217 . in this alternate embodiment , a spring ( not shown ) having a coil direction opposite that used for the embodiment in fig3 is used . therefore , by switching the point of contact from one end of the first arcuate member and second arcuate member to another end , either a left hand or right hand spring can be used . damping band 213 , 215 are made of frictional material such as plastics , phenolics and metallics . a working surface 230 , 231 of damping band 213 , 215 respectively is slideably engaged under pressure with a tensioner base or arm by operation of a spring , see fig1 and fig1 . a frictional damping force is generated when the damping band slides on the base or arm . damping shoes 212 , 213 are each made of structural material such as steel , molded plastic or equivalents thereof . each damping shoe can be manufactured by utilizing a powder metal process , a die cast process , injection molding or similar processes . materials that can be used include steel , aluminum ( for low load parts ), thermoplastics with various fillers , and equivalents thereof . damping band 215 of the second arcuate member has a material thickness less than the damping band 213 of the second portion . this has two advantages , first , increased spring hook - up size can be realized therefore a larger spring can be used . second , due to the fact of that the second portion 220 of the damping mechanism has higher load than the first portion 210 , a reduced thickness of the first damping band 213 will equalize durability life of both parts . fig4 is a cross - section view of an alternate damping mechanism at line 4 — 4 in fig3 . ring cut 221 extends about an outer perimeter of damping shoe 212 . protrusion 222 extends about a partial circumference of damping shoe 212 . ring cut 223 extends about an outer perimeter of damping shoe 214 . protrusion 224 extends about a partial circumference of damping shoe 214 . each ring cut 221 , 223 in combination with each protrusion 222 , 224 serve to mechanically attached each damping band 213 , 215 to each damping shoe 212 , 214 respectively . fig5 is a top perspective view of a locking mechanism on the damping shoe of an inventive damping mechanism . locking mechanism 300 joins damping shoe 101 to damping band 102 , see fig6 . locking mechanism 300 comprises a plurality of vertical grooves 110 on an arcuate outer engaging surface 111 of damping shoe 101 . ring cut 112 is included to a top edge of the arcuate outer surface 111 to enhance the interconnection of the damping band 102 to the damping shoe 101 . accordingly , lip portion 227 on damping band 102 engages over ring cut 112 . the disclosed multiple groove locking mechanism provides an improved , strong and uniform connection between the damping shoe and damping band . the connection distributes a frictional load imparted to the damping band 102 during operation , thereby extending an operational life over the prior art . fig6 is a top perspective view of a locking mechanism on the damping band of an inventive damping mechanism . the damping band portion of locking mechanism 300 comprises a plurality of spaced vertical ribs 120 on an arcuate inner engaging surface 121 of damping band 102 . ribs 120 of damping band 102 cooperatively engage grooves 110 of damping shoe 101 . protrusions 228 extend from a lower portion 229 of damping band 102 . protrusions 228 engage cooperating recesses or dimples 231 in a base of damping shoe 101 to further affix damping band 102 . the inventive locking mechanism significantly reduces weakening of the damping shoe , therefore , the inventive damping mechanism is much stronger than those in prior art . loading conditions on the damping shoe / damping band are also much improved due to an improved load distribution across the damping shoe realized by the force distributive nature of the locking mechanism . fig7 is a top perspective view of a prior art damping mechanism . prior art damping band db is connected to prior art damping shoe ds . tabs t mechanically connect the damping band db , see fig9 , to the damping shoe ds , see fig8 . fig8 is a top perspective view of a prior art damping mechanism damping shoe . damping shoe ds comprises slots s . slots s receive tabs t in order to mechanically connect damping band db to damping shoe ds , see fig9 . fig9 is a top perspective view of a prior art damping mechanism damping band . damping band db comprises tabs t . each of tabs t mechanically cooperate with corresponding slots s in order to connect damping band db to damping shoe ds . fig1 is a diagram of forces acting on a damping mechanism . the damping mechanism depicted is the embodiment described in fig3 and fig4 . forces f 1 are spring contact reaction forces caused by contact of spring end 500 with the spring receiving portion 211 . spring end 500 contacts the spring receiving portion 211 at two points , creating a pair of reaction forces f 1 . f 2 is a normal reaction force on the damping surface 230 . f 3 is a tangent friction force on the damping surface 230 . f 8 is a normal reaction force on the damping surface 231 . f 9 is a tangent friction force on the damping surface 231 . f 4 is the normal reaction force on damping mechanism arcuate member 220 imparted by a contact of damping shoe 214 with a lever arm 1030 , see fig1 . the asymmetric damping factor is a function of a difference in frictional forces f 3 and f 9 for a movement of the lever arm 1030 . in operation , a normal reaction force f 8 on damping surface 231 is larger than normal reaction force f 2 on damping surface 230 . more particularly , when the lever arm 1030 moves in the + a direction the vectors for the friction forces , f 3 and f 9 operate as shown in fig1 . as the lever arm moves in a direction − a , friction force vectors f 3 and f 9 reverse direction . the change of direction of frictional force vectors f 3 and f 9 causes a resultant force on each damping surface 230 , 231 to change . as a result , when lever arm moves in the − a direction , a normal reaction force on damping mechanism f 4 is larger than when the lever arm moves in direction + a . proportionally , the torque generated on the lever arm in reference to the lever arm axis of rotation r — r by the force f 4 is larger when the lever arm moves in the − a direction than when the lever arm moves in the direction + a . the value of the torque on the lever arm when the arm moves in the direction − a is larger than the value of torque generated by the pair of forces f 1 . the difference between the two values of torque is defined as the damping torque in the direction − a . the value of the torque on the lever arm when the arm moves in the direction + a is smaller than the value of torque generated by the pair of forces f 1 . the difference between the two values of torque is defined as the damping torque in the direction + a . the ratio between the value of the damping torque in the direction − a and the value of the damping torque in the direction + a represents the asymmetric damping factor . the asymmetric damping factor is adjustable depending upon the radial location of point of contact 216 described in fig3 and fig4 . the asymmetric damping factor will be increased as the point of contact 216 is placed radially closer to an axis of rotation of the lever arm 1030 . in the alternative , the asymmetric damping factor will be decreased as the point of contact 216 is placed radially farther from an axis of rotation of the lever arm 1030 . by radially moving point of contact 216 the asymmetric damping factor can be varied in the range of approximately 1 . 5 to 5 . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of forces acting on a tensioner at line 11 — 11 in fig1 . force f 7 is a normal reaction force acting on the arm at the damping mechanism contact point . force f 7 has the same magnitude as force f 4 acting on the damping mechanism . f 6 is a pivot bushing reaction force acting at the interface between bushing 1040 and lever arm 1030 . f 5 is a hub load caused by a load on a belt b , see fig1 . fig1 is a plan view of forces acting on a tensioner . depicted in fig1 is a plan view of the forces described in fig1 . fig1 is a diagram of the forces acting on a damping mechanism . the damping mechanism is that depicted in fig1 and fig2 . forces f 11 are spring contact reaction forces caused by contact of the end 500 with the spring receiving portion 103 . one can see that spring end 500 contacts the spring receiving portion at two points creating a pair of reaction forces f 11 . f 12 is a normal reaction force on the damping surface 109 . f 13 is a tangent friction force on the damping surface 109 . f 14 is the reaction force on damping mechanism portion 102 imparted by a contact with a lever arm 2030 , see fig1 . the asymmetric damping factor is realized by a difference in frictional force f 13 for a movement of the lever arm 2030 . more particularly , when lever arm 2030 moves in the + a direction , f 13 operates as shown in fig1 . as the lever arm moves in the − a direction , f 13 operates in the reverse direction . the change in direction in f 13 causes a resultant force on damping surface 109 to change . as a result when lever arm 2030 moves in the + a direction , a force f 14 on the damping mechanism is larger than when the lever arm moves in direction − a . proportionally , the torque generated on the lever arm in reference to the lever arm axis of rotation r — r by the force f 14 is larger when the lever arm moves in the + a direction than when the lever arm moves in the direction − a . the value of the torque on the lever arm when the arm moves in the direction + a is larger than the value of torque generated by the pair of spring forces f 11 . the difference between the two values of torque is defined as the damping torque in the direction + a . the value of the torque on the lever arm when the arm moves in the direction − a is smaller than the value of torque generated by the pair of spring forces f 11 . the difference between the two values of torque is defined as the damping torque in the direction − a . the ratio between the value of the damping torque in the direction + a and the value of the damping torque in the direction − a represents the asymmetric damping factor . fig1 is a cross - sectional view of forces acting on a tensioner at line 14 — 14 in fig1 . force f 17 is a normal reaction force acting on the damping mechanism contact point . f 16 is a pivot bushing reaction force acting at the interface between bushing 1040 and lever arm 1030 . f 15 is a hub load caused by a load on a belt b . fig1 is a plan view of the forces acting on a tensioner . depicted in fig1 is a plan view of the forces described in fig1 . fig1 is an exploded view of a tensioner having a damping mechanism . damping mechanism 200 engages lever arm 1030 at tab 1031 . biasing member or spring 1020 has one end connected to base 1010 and the other end connected to damping mechanism spring receiving portion 211 as described elsewhere in this specification . lever arm 1030 is pivotably connected to base 1010 through bushing 1040 . dust seal 1050 prevents foreign material from entering the tensioner during operation . pulley 1060 is journaled to lever arm 1030 through bearing 1070 . a belt ( not shown ) engages pulley surface 1061 . bearing 1070 is connected by a fastener such as bolt 1080 . damping mechanism surfaces 230 , 231 are in sliding engagement with an inner surface 1011 of tensioner base 1010 . tab 1031 engages damping shoe 212 during operation , thereby causing a movement of base inner surface 1011 across damping mechanism surface 230 . fig1 is an exploded view of a tensioner having a damping mechanism . damping mechanism 100 is engaged with lever arm 2030 at tab 2031 . biasing member or spring 2020 has one end connected to base 2010 and the other end connected to damping mechanism spring receiving portion 103 as described elsewhere in this specification . lever arm 2030 is pivotably connected to base 2010 through bushing 2040 . dust seal 2050 prevents foreign material from entering the tensioner during operation . pulley 2060 is journaled to lever arm 2030 through bearing 2070 . a belt ( not shown ) engages pulley surface 2061 . bearing 2070 is connected by a fastener such as bolt 2080 . damping mechanism surface 109 is in sliding engagement with an inner surface 2011 of tensioner base 2010 . tab 2031 engages damping mechanism 100 during operation , thereby causing a movement of base inner surface 2011 across damping mechanism surface 109 . although a single form of the invention has been described herein , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variations may be made in the construction and relation of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described herein .	5
the essential function of fig1 is to compare nrz modulation ( 110 ) with other types of modulation in order for the reader to better appreciate the simplicity and the low cost that result from its use in communication products . in particular , it can be compared to a second modulation mode known as the return to zero ( rz ) mode ( 120 ). in contrast to the nrz mode , at the time of the succession of a transmission of ‘ 1 ’ levels , the device emitting the light signals is turned on and then off in each bit period ( 100 ). this obviously results in a greater number of transitions ( 125 ) in the signal to be transmitted , which corresponds to a spreading of the transmitted energy over a wider range of frequencies , a phenomenon familiar to persons skilled in the art and which is shown clearly by the spectral analysis of such signals using appropriate measuring equipment . in other words , the propagation medium , in this instance the optical fiber , and the receiver must be able to transmit and receive modulation comprising components at higher frequencies , and therefore offer better performance , if the signals are not to be degraded . another type of modulation that is often used is two - phase or manchester code modulation ( 130 ). it comprises an even greater number of transitions since there is at least one transition in each ‘ 1 ’ or ‘ 0 ’ bit period . the spectral components of this modulation mode are therefore even more oriented toward high frequencies and the resulting drawbacks are more accentuated . thus , whenever possible , the nrz modulation mode is preferred , for its simplicity and its low cost of implementation . however , fig2 shows a problem of nrz modulation , in particular when a ‘ 0 ’ symbol ( 210 ) must be transmitted in a long series of ‘ 1 ’ symbols ( 220 ). because of the interaction between the symbols , especially beyond the electrical filter in the receiver , the turning off of the light emitter is not so sharp , which therefore makes detection of the isolated ‘ 0 ’ symbol by the remote receiver more difficult . in other words , the extinction rate of the signal after electrical filtering is degraded . the invention therefore proposes to improve nrz modulation from this point of view in order to widen its field of application , thereby avoiding the need to use other modulation modes , such as rz modulation , which although it achieves clear separation of ‘ 1 ’ symbols where the emitter is active , nevertheless has the drawbacks previously cited . fig3 a , 3 b , 3 c show how the signals transmitted must be modified in accordance with the invention to obtain a better extinction rate . fig3 a corresponds to the standard case of an nrz modulation signal in which the ‘ 0 ’ and ‘ 1 ’ holding times are equal , i . e . when the holding at 1 ratio is equal to 1 , the holding at 1 ratio being defined as follows : holding   at   1   ratio = 2 × holding   at   1   time bit   time - transition   time the transition ratio , representing the fraction of the bit time needed to change from one level to the other , and equal to 0 . 44 in fig3 a , is defined as follows : transition   ratio = transition   time bit   time the invention therefore induces a greater or lesser deformation of the holding time to maintain the signal at the ‘ 0 ’ level for longer and thereby to increase the extinction time of the optical transmission device . this is shown in fig3 b and 3c at different levels . thus fig3 b shows a signal with a holding at 1 ratio equal to 0 . 43 and fig3 c shows a situation in which the ratio is 0 . the advantage obtained must be quantified precisely by appropriate measurements carried out by persons skilled in the optical transmission art . thus fig4 shows the limit osnr yielding a floor error rate of 10 − 9 as a function of the equivalent noise band of the electrical filter in the receiver on detecting a signal modulated in the mode according to the invention at a bit rate of 10 gbit / s . for this figure the transition ratio is 0 . 3 . it is important for this value to be identical for both of the modulation modes compared because it shows well that in both cases the modulator has exactly the same speed . for a holding at 1 time equal to 0 . 5 the curve shows that the limit value of the osnr is 0 . 5 db lower than that obtained for a signal modulated in the conventional nrz mode ( holding at 1 time equal to 1 represented by the curve ). these curves are applicable for any bit rate provided that the ratio between the equivalent noise band and the base frequency of the bit rate is complied with . thus it is also possible to say that the modulation mode according to the invention facilitates optimizing opto - electronic receivers because they then have a greater tolerance to optical noise for a smaller equivalent noise band . the advantage obtained can also be assessed by a standard measurement of optical transmission quality . this factor is called the transmission quality factor or q factor . standard measuring instrumentation can in particular plot curves like those shown in fig5 in which the quality factor is expressed as a function of the holding at 1 ratio and as a function of the transition ratio . the optimum equivalent noise band is chosen for this figure , i . e . 5 ghz for a modulated signal at 10 gbit / s . fig5 shows clearly to persons skilled in the optical transmission art that there is an area in accordance with the invention in which the quality factor is improved , i . e . increased , compared to that obtained with standard nrz modulation , shown in the graph for the purposes of comparison . this is achieved for ranges of transition ratio and holding at 1 time which differ from those of the ordinary method and it is therefore advantageous to use them to improve transmission using nrz modulation . this area , determined by a holding at 1 ratio , is from 0 . 1 to 0 . 85 ( on the abscissa axis ), for a transition rate from 0 . 1 to 0 . 6 ( on the ordinate axis ). fig6 shows how the invention can be implemented generally , on the understanding that numerous variants that do not depart from the scope of the invention will be evident to the skilled person . the light emitter ( 610 ) is here an integrated laser modulator ( ilm ). this device receives a control signal ( 618 ) supplied by the electrical control unit ( 620 ) to shape the signal at the modulator input . according to the invention , this signal must have a small bandwidth , given the speed of transmission , in particular with a controlled transition time . this is preferably obtained by appropriate means such as an analog or digital electrical filter ( 625 ), for example a fifth order bessel filter for transforming in accordance with the principles of the invention the data signal ( 635 ) generated by upstream control logic . in this preferred embodiment of the invention , the ilm is characterized by a non - linear transfer function ( 630 ) and produces a resultant optical signal ( 640 ) having all the required characteristics , as discussed hereinabove . when nrz modulation is used in accordance with the above principles , these characteristics extend its use beyond its traditional fields of application . the system uncovered by the invention improves transmission quality on an optical fiber using the nrz modulation mode . although there are other modulation modes offering better performance , the nrz mode is the simplest to implement and therefore the most economic , and the mode of choice for large - scale use . the invention is very suitable for controlling light emitters in the form of lasers which must simply be turned off or on according to whether a ‘ 1 ’ or ‘ 0 ’ level must be transmitted . by shaping the optical signal appropriately , the invention compensates the intrinsic weakness of the nrz mode when it is necessary to transmit an isolated ‘ 0 ’ level in a series of ‘ 1 ’ levels and which therefore becomes more difficult to detect .	7
referring now to fig1 there is shown an agricultural harvesting machine 10 with a frame 12 that is supported by wheels 14 on the ground and can be coupled to a towing vehicle by means of a towbar 16 . baling rolls 18 surround a baling chamber 20 in which crop to be baled , which was taken up from the ground by a crop pick - up arrangement 22 , can be compressed into a bale . the baling chamber 20 extends through a forward , fixed housing part 24 and a rear housing part 26 , forming a discharge gate that can be raised for the ejection of a cylindrical bale . on each side of the crop pick - up arrangement 22 , a height gauge arrangement 28 is located , with which the crop pick - up arrangement 22 can be gauged at a certain height above the ground . the agricultural machine 10 described so far corresponds to a rotobaler of conventional configuration . indeed , the use of the height gauge arrangement 28 according to the invention is limited neither to a rotobaler of the type shown nor to a rotobaler at all . rather , other agricultural machines can be considered , for example , another baler , a self - loading forage box , a forage harvester , a combine , and the like . the crop pick - up arrangement 22 may be a pick - up as well as a cutter head , a corn head or the like , and can extend over the maximum width allowed for the transport on public roads . as can be seen , in particular in fig2 the crop pick - up arrangement 22 includes tines 30 circulating vertically in horizontally spaced rows that leave a spacing 32 between them that is covered by stripper vanes 34 . the tines 30 and the stripper vanes 34 are carried by a frame 36 to a rear side of which is fixed a pair of transversely spaced rear walls 38 that extend vertically beside walls of the frame 12 and contain a bearing 40 to which the frame 36 is coupled so as to pivot vertically . the bearing 40 is located above and to the rear of the frame 36 , but ahead of the support wheels 14 . the crop pick - up arrangement 22 can be repositioned in height by means of actuating arrangements , not shown , for example , linkages , rope pulls , hydraulic motors , etc ., in order to occupy thereby an upper transport position or to slide along the ground for crop pick - up . in the lower crop pick - up position , the crop pick - up arrangement 22 can float according to the surface of the ground . other than for the height gauge arrangement 28 , the crop pick - up arrangement 22 is of conventional configuration . the height gauge arrangement 28 includes a pivot arm assembly 42 , wheels 44 , skid shoes 46 , a pivot shaft 48 , and a bearing 50 . in the disclosed embodiment , the height gauge arrangement 22 is configured as an assembly that is attached to the underside of the crop pick - up arrangement 22 and extends almost or generally over its entire width . indeed , it would also be possible to configure it in each case with only one component ( pivot arm assembly 42 , wheel 44 , skid shoe 46 , pivot shaft 48 , and bearing 50 ) and to locate the narrower assembly at a location between opposite ends of the crop pickup arrangement 22 . while in the disclosed embodiment two wheels 44 and three skid shoes 46 are provided , fundamentally one wheel 44 and one skid shoe 46 would be adequate . on the other hand , more than two wheels 44 and three skid shoes 46 could be provided , as long as this is practical and technically useful . compared to the support wheels 14 , each wheel 44 is of a relatively small diameter and is used for supporting the pivot arm assembly 42 on the ground , when the skid shoes 46 encounter an obstacle . the wheels 44 are located to the rear of the pivot shaft 48 , or as seen in fig1 to the right of the shaft 48 . each wheel 44 is engaged , free to rotate in an end region of an arm 52 , whose other end region is retained radially to the pivot shaft 48 . the wheels 44 may be provided with solid or pneumatic tires . in a simple configuration , the arms 52 may be retained and fixed against rotation on the pivot shaft 48 . in the embodiment shown , however , they are supported in bearings on the shaft 48 , free to pivot . the skid shoes 46 also extend radially from the pivot shaft 48 and are connected to it , fixed against rotation . although the skid shoes 46 are shown , according to fig3 connected directly to the pivot shaft 48 , the description in the following nevertheless is based on the fact that only the forward region shows a skid shoe 46 that is connected by an arm 54 with the pivot shaft 48 or that extends to it . as seen in fig2 the right - hand skid shoe 46 is also configured in such a way that it fits between the tines 30 , and in the extreme case , can be brought into contact with the underside of the stripper vanes 34 , without colliding with the tines 30 . on the other hand , it would also be possible to releasably attach wider plates 55 to the underside of the skid shoes 46 , as shown at the middle and left - hand skid shoes 46 , which plates 55 extend outside of the operating region of the tines 30 . the plates 55 act to minimize the ground pressure . furthermore , the removable plates 55 have the advantage that they could easily be replaced in case of wear or damage . alternatively , the skid shoes 46 in themselves could be configured in the shape of a plate . in a further embodiment , in place of fixed skid surfaces , rolls , wheels or the like could also be used . at the end opposite the skid shoe 46 , each arm 54 extends beyond the pivot shaft 48 and forms a support arm 55 that extends in the form of a scissors to the arm 52 . the pivot shaft 48 is preferably provided with a non - circular profile , for example , hexagonal , and extends preferably over the entire width of the height gauge arrangement 28 . alternatively , each wheel 44 could be connected with one or several skid shoes 46 . the pivot shaft 48 engages , so as to - rotate , at the rear lower corner region of the crop pick - up arrangement 22 by means of the bearings 50 and is secured in the axial direction by means not shown . a spring 56 is provided between the shaft 48 and the frame 36 of the crop pick - up arrangement 22 , which constantly resists counterclockwise movement of the shaft 48 and hence , downward movement of the skid shoe 46 , so that particularly when the crop pick - up arrangement 22 is raised , the skid shoes 46 do not project downward and collide with an obstacle , without being able to evade it , while a contact of the wheel 44 , then located at the bottom and able to move upward , leaves it undamaged . while the spring 56 is shown in the drawing as a torsion spring , a multitude of other springs could also be used , for example , leaf springs , helical compression springs , helical extension springs or even gas springs or the like . the spring 56 is retained at one end by means of an eye ( not shown ) and a screw 57 received in a bore provided in the shaft 48 , and is in contact at its other end under a preload at the rear , lower edge of the frame 36 , which indeed could also be configured differently . the bearings 50 are configured in the usual manner as slide bearings , roller bearings or ball bearings that are fastened in bearing shells 51 on the underside of the frame 36 . the spring 56 or several springs 56 are particularly useful to retain the skid shoes 46 generally upward in addition to the pivoting moments about the pivot shaft 48 due to the weight of the associated masses upon very uneven ground . the arms 52 for the wheels 44 are formed more or less from a flat steel strip with high bending strength . the arms 54 for the skid shoes 46 are configured comparably to the arms 52 . if the arms 54 simultaneously form the skid shoes 46 , they can be configured in a “ j ”- shape , as is shown in fig3 so that they can slide along the ground on the outer bend of the “ j ” instead of on its edge . the arms 52 and 54 can extend on the pivot shaft 48 immediately alongside each other , or spaced to the side alongside each other . in another embodiment , they can also be combined and configured as a one - piece component . in the embodiment shown , their longitudinal axes extend at an angle between them of approximately 140 °. since the arm 52 of the wheel 44 is supported in bearings , free to move on the pivot shaft 48 , the relative position between the arms 52 and 54 is maintained by means of a very strong spring 60 configured as a helical compression spring that can engage with one end the support arm 55 and with its other end on the upper side of the arm 52 . a screw 62 extends through the spring 60 and is secured in the support arm 55 as well as in the arm 52 , and is used to retain the spring 60 in its place as well as to maintain the angular spread between the arms 52 and 54 at a minimum . accordingly , the spring 60 on the one hand and the screw 62 on the other hand provide the assurance that the two arms 52 and 54 can be repositioned relative to each other within a certain region under a preload . a depression 66 , which is semi - circular in side view , is provided on the upper side of the arm 52 in a location for receiving a stop 68 , carried by the frame 36 when the pivot arm assembly 42 pivots to an extreme counterclockwise position . the stop 68 can be configured as a screw , a pin , a welded part or the like and can be attached to the frame 36 rigidly or so that it can be repositioned . the depression 66 and the stop 68 are located on a circular arc about the center of the pivot shaft 48 . on the basis of the above description , the operation is as follows : during operation , the crop pick - up arrangement 22 and the height gauge arrangement 28 take the position shown in fig3 in which the pick - up devices 30 brush over the ground , and the skid shoes 46 , as well as the wheels 44 , touch the ground . if the crop pick - up arrangement 22 is moved to the left as seen in fig3 that is , forward , and if a skid shoe 46 makes contact with an obstacle 64 , then the crop pick - up arrangement 22 moves upward . thereupon , a pivoting movement of the pivot arm assembly 42 , together with the pivot shaft 48 , is performed in the clockwise direction . since the wheel 44 is located on the ground and held there by the action of the coil compression spring 60 , the crop pick - up arrangement 22 is raised in the region of the pivot shaft 48 . as soon as the obstacle has been overcome , the skid shoe 46 is lowered again ; and with it , the crop pick - up arrangement 22 is also lowered . in an embodiment in which the wheel 44 is offset to the side with respect to the skid shoe 46 , the wheel 44 will not also roll over the obstacle 64 and will not lead to a renewed raising of the crop pick - up arrangement 22 . having described the preferred embodiment , it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims .	0
the thermoplastic elastomers of the invention may be prepared by compounding a crude polysulfide rubber with an alkali metal hydroxide and a curing agent . other conventional compounding ingredients may be included if desired . for example , a solid polysulfide copolymer derived from ethylene dichloride , and bis - 2 - chloroethyl formal , carbon black , stearic acid , a zinc chloride complex of mercaptobenzothiazole disulfide , diphenylguanidine , zinc oxide , and potassium hydroxide are compounded together and cured . the exact time and temperature of the compounding are not especially critical , the proportions of the ingredients , including the curing agent , are also not especially critical and those known to the art for the conventional compounding ingredients so as to give the desired physical properties may be employed , the catalytic amount of alkali metal hydroxide may be of any of the common alkali metal hydroxides , such as lithium , sodium , potassium or cesium hydroxides , and it may be employed in a concentration of from about 0 . 4 to about 5 . 0 preferably about 0 . 5 to 1 . 0 parts by weight of hydroxide to about 100 parts by weight of the polysulfide crude rubber . one skilled in the art will recognize that in addition to the ethylene dichloride , bis - 2 - chloroethyl formal polysulfide copolymer illustrated , it will be possible to employ any of the polysulfide rubbers commonly available or known in the literature . the typical polysulfide polymers which are usable are described by fettes and jorczak in industrial and engineering chemistry , vol . 42 , page 2217 ( 1950 ), and industrial and engineering chemistry , vol . 43 , page 324 ( 1951 ). the cure of the compounded crude polysulfide rubber - alkali metal hydroxide mixture may be accomplished in the usual fashion . the cure is normally performed with the addition of heat and the application of pressure . the exact heat and pressure are not particularly critical and will readily be selected by one skilled in the art based upon the type of polysulfide crude rubber employed , the conventional compounding ingredients employed and the desired final properties . it has however been found that the presence of water in excess of that normally found in the individual ingredients entering into the compounded uncured product will retard cure and lead to voids and blisters in the cured product . extrusion of the cured products may be accomplished using standard equipment suitable for the extrusion of other solid thermoplastic elastomers . standard extrusion dies may be employed and the temperatures and pressures employed will normally be well within the usual working ranges for this type of extrusion . the extruded products on cooling regain substantially the original properties of the original cured rubber and can be softened and re - extruded and hardened repeatedly without substantial loss of original properties . the following examples further illustrate the best mode contemplated by the inventor for the practice of his invention . polysulfide polymer based elastomers were compounded of the following ingredients by mixing at 150 ° c . : ______________________________________ parts by weight 1 2______________________________________polysulfide polymer crude rubber ( copolymer derived from ethylenedichloride and bis - 2 - chloroethylformal ) 100 100carbon black 60 60stearic acid 0 . 5 0 . 5zinc chloride complex of mercapto - benzothiazole disulfide 0 . 3 0 . 3diphenyl guanidine 0 . 1 0 . 1zinc oxide 10 10potassium hydroxide -- 0 . 5______________________________________ sheets pressed from these formulations for 40 min . at 300 ° f . and 2000 psi possessed the following properties : ______________________________________ 1 2______________________________________tensile , psi 1180 1290elongation , % 375 205100 % modulus 312 700duro &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; 67 77 % set ( 10 min .) 13 3tear pli 242 180______________________________________ samples of the cured elastomers were extruded through a 1 mm die having length to diameter ratio of 15 / 1 , at 20 minutes the pressures were 6300 psi for # 1 and 3700 psi for # 2 . the extrudate of # 2 was less kinky and regained its &# 34 ; snap &# 34 ; on cooling . polysulfide based elastomers were compounded of the following ingredients by mixing at 150 ° c . ______________________________________ parts by weight______________________________________polysulfide polymer crude rubber ( derived from bis - 2 - chloroethyl formaland 2 % trichoropropane , average slinkages s . sub . 2 . 25 , sh terminated ) 100carbon black 60zinc chloride complex of mercapto - benzothiazole disulfide 0 . 3diphenyl guanidine 0 . 1zinc peroxide 3 . 3potassium hydroxide 1 . 7______________________________________ sheets pressed from this formulation at 150 ° c . for 30 minutes at 2000 psi possessed the following properties : ______________________________________tensile , psi 780elongation , % 355modulus 100 % 268duro &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; 68 % set ( 10 min .) 6tear ( pli ) 207______________________________________ a sample of the cured elastomer was extruded as in example 1 at 15 minutes the pressure was 6800 psi . the extrudate regained its &# 34 ; snap &# 34 ; on cooling . polysulfide polymer based elastomers were compounded of the following ingredients by mixing at 150 ° c . ______________________________________ parts by weight 1 2 3 4______________________________________polysulfide polymer crude rubber ( as in example 2 ) 100 100 100 100carbon black 60 60 60 60zinc chloride complex of mercapto - benzothiazole disulfide 0 . 3 0 . 3 0 . 3 0 . 3diphenyl guanidine 0 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 1zinc peroxide 3 . 3 3 . 3 3 . 3 3 . 3zinc oxide -- 6 . 6 -- -- potassium hydroxide 3 . 3 3 . 3 1 . 7 2 . 5______________________________________ sheets pressed from these formulations at 150 ° c . and 2000 psi for 40 minutes possessed the following properties : ______________________________________tensile , psi 391 384 823 500elongation , % 443 382 423 387100 % mod . 136 180 268 218duro &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; 55 58 64 60 % set ( 10 min .) 27 19 10 22tear pli 857 818 219 143______________________________________ a sample of each cured elastomer was extruded as in example 1 at 15 minutes the pressure for # 1 was 4500 psi , the pressure for # 2 was 3700 psi , the pressure for # 3 and # 4 was 4700 psi . the extrudate of all 4 samples regained their &# 34 ; snap &# 34 ; on cooling .	1
in the electronic musical instrument shown in fig1 a keyboard 10 comprises an upper keyboard , a lower keyboard and a pedal keyboard ( not shown ) and a depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 which operates to detect depressed keys in the keyboard 10 for assigning the tone production as designated by the depressed keys to available tone generating channels . the number of the tone generating channels is 16 , for example , and the time slots of the respective channels are formed on a time division basis as shown in fig2 a . the width of one time slot corresponds to one period ( for example 1 μs ) of a main clock pulse φ . the depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 produces , on a time division basis , key codes assigned to respective channels , key on signals ko representing depressed keys , and other necessary information in synchronism with the given channel time . the circuit 11 also produces , on a time division basis , signals ue , le , pe representing a keyboard to which the key assigned to the given channel belongs . the depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 of the type described above is disclosed in the specification of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 882 , 751 , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 114 , 495 , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 148 , 017 , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 192 , 211 and u . s . patent applicaton ser . no . 940 , 381 filed sept . 7 , 1978 and assigned to the same assignee as the present case . each key code kc comprises a note code consisting of four bits : n 4 , n 3 , n 2 and n 1 that discriminate twelve notes within an octave in a musical scale and an octave code consisting usually of three bits ( but not specified herein as these are not significant in this invention ) that discriminate octaves . one example of the note code n 1 - n 4 is shown in the following table 1 . table 1______________________________________ bitnote n . sub . 4 n . sub . 3 n . sub . 2 n . sub . 1______________________________________c ♯ 0 0 0 1d 0 0 1 0d ♯ 0 0 0 1 1e 0 1 0 1f 0 1 1 0f ♯ 0 1 1 1g 1 0 0 1g ♯ 1 0 1 0a 1 0 1 1a ♯ 1 1 0 1b 1 1 1 0c 1 1 1 1______________________________________ the key code kc produced by the depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 is applied to a frequency information memory device 12 of a tone generator unit tg . the frequency information memory device 12 prestores frequency informations r , which are values ( phase increments per unit time ) corresponding to musical tone frequencies of respective keys , the frequencies being determined in an equally tempered scale , so that a frequency information corresponding to an applied key code is read out . these frequency informations are the same as the frequency numbers or frequency informations defined in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 809 , 786 and 3 , 882 , 751 . a frequency information r produced by the frequency information memory device 12 is applied to an accumulator 14 via a frequency information controller 13 . the frequency information controller 13 is used to modify the values of frequency informations r corresponding to subordinate tones respectively of a chord , so that these have predetermined note interval relationships with respect to the root note of the chord . this root note is detected by a chord detector 15 . more particularly , it changes the frequency information r of each subordinate tone by such an amount that the interval relationship of each tone constituting the chord becomes of just intonation by taking the root note as the reference . the accumulator 14 operates to repeatedly add , with a predetermined regular time interval , the frequency informations ( r for the root tone and modified values rn for the subordinate tones ) of the tones assigned to the respective channels , thus advancing the phase of each designated musical tone waveform by the repeated additional operations . the output of the accumulator 14 sequentially reads out amplitude values at continuous sampling points of a musical tone waveform which has been stored in a musical tone waveform memory device 16 . a key - on signal ko produced by the depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 is applied to an envelope waveform generator 17 to cause it to produce an envelope waveform signal ev which controls the amplitude envelope of a musical tone waveform signal read out from the musical tone waveform memory device 16 . after being suitably controlled in its tone color , tone volume , etc ., the musical tone waveform signal produced by the memory device 16 is applied to a sound system ss . the chord detector 15 is supplied with note codes n 1 through n 4 among key codes sent out from the depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 for detecting a chord formed by the depressed keys of a predetermined keyboard ( for example the lower keyboard ) thus producing a signal rn representing the root note of the chord . in accordance with the root note signal , the frequency information controller 13 passes the frequency information r regarding the root note without any modification ( that is of the value for the equally tempered scale ), whereas it modifies the frequency information r of the notes other than the root note , that is the subordinate notes in a predetermined manner ( that is by the amounts to obtain a just intonation scale ) in accordance with the respective note intervals of the subordinate notes , so as to produce modified frequency informations rm . a switch 18 is provided to enable the frequency information controller 13 when desired . thus , when it is closed the frequency information controller 13 is rendered operative , whereas when it is opened the controller 13 is disenabled to cause it pass all frequency informations r without any modification . the detail of the frequency information controller 13 and the chord detector 15 will now be described with reference to fig3 . as shown in fig3 the chord detector 15 comprises a gate circuit 19 , a decoder 20 , a primary memory device 21 , a secondary memory device 22 and a chord root name encoder 23 . the gate circuit 19 is supplied with only the note code n 1 - n 4 among the key code , on a time division basis , from the depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 . a lower keyboard signal le representing channels to which depressed keys in the lower keyboard are assigned by the depressed key detecting and tone generation assigning circuit 11 is supplied to the control input terminal of the gate circuit 19 . accordingly the gate circuit 19 passes only the note codes regarding the lower keyboard . this is because , in this embodiment , the performance effect of the present invention is applied only to the lower keyboard . the note code n 1 - n 4 passing through the gate circuit 19 enter the decoder 20 which decodes the note code n 1 - n 4 having contents as shown in table 1 to produce a signal corresponding to the content of the input note code n 1 - n 4 on either one of twelve output lines 20c ♯- 20c respectively corresponding to twelve notes c ♯ through c . as above described , since the note codes n 1 - n 4 are produced , on a time division basis , in synchronism with respective channel times , output signals are produced on the output lines 20c ♯- 20c of the decoder 20 at different times . signals produced by the decoder 20 at different times are temporarily stored in the primary memory device 21 , pg , 9 and the signals temporarily stored therein are periodically cleared by the clock pulse sy c as well as periodically written into the secondary memory device 22 . the clock pulse sy c is a signal periodically produced in coincidence with the time slot of the first channel as shown in fig2 b . more particularly , the primary memory unit 21 comprises 12 parallelly connected set - reset type flip - flop circuits 21 - c ♯ through 21 - c corresponding to the twelve notes c ♯ through c , the set terminals s of respective flip - flop circuits 21 - c ♯ through 21 - c being respectively supplied with the signals on the output lines 20c ♯ through 20c . as a consequence , when signals &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; are produced on corresponding decoder output lines 20c ♯ through 20c , the corresponding ones among flip - flop circuits 21c ♯ through 21 - c are set . the clock pulse sy c are commonly applied to the reset input terminals r of respective flip - flop circuits 21 - c ♯ through 21 - c . as a consequence , while all channel times make one cycle corresponding to the notes of all depressed keys of the flower keyboard , signals stored in respective flip - flop circuits 21 - c ♯ through 21 - c are all cleared in the subsequent first channel time . however , since the clock pulse generated at the first channel time acts as a load instruction for the secondary memory device 22 the contents of the flip - flop circuits 21 - c ♯ through 21 - c are transferred and stored in the secondary memory device 22 immediately prior to the resetting of the flip - flop circuits . the secondary memory device 22 is provided with twelve parallel connected latch circuit elements corresponding to twelve notes c ♯ through c and the output signals of the flip - flop circuits 21 - c ♯ through 21 - c are applied to respective data inputs of the latch circuit elements , whereas clock pulse syc is supplied to the load control input of the secondary memory device 22 . the informations of the notes time - divisioned and multiplexed as above described are converted into parallel direct current ( continuous ) signals for respective tones via the decoder 20 , the primary and the secondary memory devices 21 and 22 . more particularly twelve outputs on lines 22c ♯ through 22c of the secondary memory device 22 respectively correspond to respective notes c ♯ through c thus producing continuous ( or dc ) signals &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; on the output lines 22c ♯ through 22c corresponding to the notes of the depressed keys of the lower keyboard . for example , where the keys corresponding to notes c , d and g are simultaneously depressed in the lower keyboard , the outputs 22c , 22d and 22g are all &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. the outputs 22c ♯ through 22c from the secondary memory device 22 are applied to a chord root name encoder 23 which detects a chord in accordance with a state of combination of twelve input signals ( outputs 22c ♯- 22c ) from the secondary memory device 22 and corresponding to the notes c ♯ through c respectively , thus producing a signal rn representing the name of the root note of that chord . the root note signal rn is a 4 - bit data having the same encoded content as the note code n 1 - n 4 shown in table 1 . combinations of notes constituting respective chords are prestored in the chord root name encoder 23 so that a predetermined root note signal rn is read out from the chord root name encoder 23 in accordance with a combination of notes applied thereto . the root note signal rn read out from the chord root name encoder 23 is sent to the frequency information controller 13 . also the note code n 1 - n 4 of the tones of the lower keyboard passing through the gate circuit 19 in the chord detector 15 are applied to the frequency information controller 13 . the frequency information controller 13 comprises a root note assigning channel detector 24 , subordinate note assigning channel detectors 25 - 1 through 21 - 7 , a pitch correction data rom 26 , a pitch correction data selection gate circuit 27 , and a multiplier 28 . the root note assigning channel detector 24 operates to detect a channel which is assigned with a depressed key of the lower keyboard having the detected root note name , and comprises a coincidence detection circuit 240 . the subordinate note assigning channel detectors 25 - 1 through 25 - 7 operates to detect channel which are assigned with depressed keys of the lower keyboard corresponding to the respective subordinates notes or intervals and are constituted by a coincidence detection circuit 250 and a code converting circuit 251 . although the internal construction of only one subordinate note assigning channel detector 25 - 1 is shown , other detectors 25 - 2 through 25 - 7 also have the same construction . however , the contents of conversion of the code converter 251 of each of the detectors 25 - 1 through 25 - 7 are different from each other . the root note signal rn read out from the chord root name encoder 23 is applied to one input of the coincidence detector 240 of the root note assigning channel detector 24 and to the code converters 251 of each one of the subordinate tone assigning channel detectors 25 - 1 through 25 - 7 . the output of the code converter 251 is applied to one input of the coincidence detector 250 . to the other inputs of the coincidence detectors 240 and 250 of the detectors 24 , 25 - 1 through 25 - 7 are applied , on the time division basis , the note code n 1 through n 4 of the depressed keys of the lower keyboard selected by the gate circuit 19 . the coincidence detector 240 of the root note assigning channel detector 24 compares the root note represented by the root note signal rn with a note in the lower keyboard assigned to each channel . when a coincidence is obtained , the detector 240 produces a coincidence detection signal eq1 . thus , the coincidence detection signal eq1 becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; in synchronism with a time divided time slot of a channel assigned to a key corresponding to the root note of the chord of keys of the keyboard now being depressed . in this manner , a root note assigning channel is detected . the subordinate note assigning channel detector 25 - 1 corresponds to the subordinate note of a major third musical interval ( 3 ) from the root note and its code converter 251 converts the note code ( n 1 - n 4 ) of the root note signal rn into a note code having a note name of a major third interval above the root note . the relationship among the input and the output codes of the code converter 251 for the major third is shown by the following table 2 . table 2______________________________________input rn c c ♯ d d ♯ e f f ♯ g g ♯ a a ♯ b______________________________________output e f f ♯ g g ♯ a a ♯ b c c ♯ d d ♯ code______________________________________ consequently , to one input of the coincidence detector 250 of the subordinate note assigning channel detector 25 - 1 is supplied a note code ( major third subordinate note ) having a pitch of the major third from the code converter 251 . accordingly , the coincidence detector 250 of the major third interval detector 25 - 1 produces a coincidence detection signal eq3 in synchronism with the time slot of the channel assigned to the depressed key of the lower keyboard which has a major third interval with respect to the root note signal rn . of course , when a key corresponding to the major third degree is not depressed , the coincidence detection signal eq3 is not produced at any time slots . the subordinate not assigning channel detector 25 - 2 corresponds to the chord constituent of the minor third interval ( 3 ♭) and a code converter , not shown , contained therein converts the note code of the root note signal rn into a note code having a minor third interval which respect to the note code of the signal rn . in the same manner as above described a coincidence detection signal eq3 ♭ is generated in synchronism with the time slot of the channel to which the depressed key of the lower keyboard having a minor third interval with respect to the root note is assigned . in the same manner , the subordinate note assigning channel detector 25 - 3 corresponds to a perfect fifth interval ( 5 ), the detector 25 - 4 to the diminished fifth interval ( 5 ♭), the detector 25 - 5 to the major seventh interval , detector 25 - 6 to the minor seventh interval ( 7 ♭) and the detector 25 - 7 to the major sixth interval ( 6 ) respectively , and the code converters , not shown , contained therein are constructed to convert the note code of the root note signal rn into note code respectiely having predetermined note interval relationships . coincidence signals eq5 , eq5 ♭, eq7 , eq7 ♭ and eq6 are respectively produced in synchronism with the time slots of the channels to which the respective chord constituents corresponding to the respective note intervals ( 5 , 5 ♭, 7 , 7 ♭ and 6 ) are assigned . the coincidence detection signals eq1 , eq3 , eq3 ♭, q5 , eq5 ♭, eq7 , eq7 ♭, and eq6 are applied to a pitch correction data selection gate unit 27 for selecting pitch correction data responding to respective note intervals from a pitch correction data rom 26 . the pitch correction data selection gate unit 27 comprises eight gate circuits 27 - 1 through 27 - 8 corresponding to the root note and other chord constituents . the pitch correction data are supplied from the pitch correction data rom 26 to the data input terminals of respective gate circuits 27 - 1 through 27 - 8 . the coincidence detection signal eq1 produced by the root note assigning channel detector 24 is applied to the gate control input of the gate circuit 27 - 1 corresponding to the root note via an or gate circuit 29 . the gate circuit 27 - 1 is opened when a signal applied to the gate control input from the or gate circuit 29 is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; to produce the pitch correction data given by the pitch correction data rom 26 as its output . to the other inputs of the or gate circuit 29 are applied the output of the switch 18 and the output of a nor gate circuit 30 , which is supplied with the coincidence detection signals eq3 through eq6 produced by the subordinate note assigning channel detectors 25 - 1 through 25 - 7 . the gate control input terminals of the gate circuits 27 - 2 through 27 - 8 corresponding to the subordinate notes of respective note intervals ( 3 , 3 ♭, 5 , 5 ♭, 7 , 7 ♭ and 6 ) are respectively supplied with the coincidence detection signals eq3 , eq3 ♭, eq5 , eq5 ♭, eq7 , eq7 ♭ and eq6 , and the output of the switch 18 . only when all of the coincidence detection signals ( eq3 through eq6 ) and the inverted output of the switch 18 are &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the gate circuits 27 - 2 through 27 - 8 are opened to pass the pitch correction data from the pitch correction data rom 26 . when switch 18 is closed , the signal on its output line 32 becomes &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; whereas the output of the inverter 31 becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; thereby satisfying one condition of the gate control inputs of the gate circuits 27 - 2 through 27 - 8 . under these conditions when a coincidence detection signal ( one of eq3 through eq6 ) is produced , a gate circuit ( one of 27 - 2 through 27 - 8 ) corresponding to the coincidence detection signal thus produced is enabled . to manifest the performance effect of this invention , it is necessary to close the switch 18 . the pitch correction data rom 26 prestores pitch correction data for respective subordinate notes which are necessary to make the note interval relationship between respective subordinate notes and the root note to be of just intonation scale , and applies the pitch correction data for the root note and the respective subordinate notes to the corresponding gate circuits 27 - 1 through 27 - 8 respectively . these pitch correction data are used to correct the note interval relationship based on a equally tempered scale to that based on a just intonation scale . the value of the pitch correction data produced by the pitch correction data rom 26 for the respective note degrees ( intervals above the root note ) and the cent differences between the equally tempered scale notes and the just intonation scale notes are shown in the following table 3 . table 3______________________________________ cent diff . between equally tempered pitch correction scale and justnote degree data from rom 26 intonation scale______________________________________unison 1 . 0000000 0 ( cent ) major third 0 . 9920136 - 14minor third 1 . 0092848 + 16perfect fifth 1 . 0011557 + 2diminished fifth 0 . 9942404 - 10major seventh 0 . 9930925 - 12minor seventh 0 . 9976921 - 4major sixth 0 . 9908006 - 16______________________________________ table 3 shows that the note of the major third degree can be produced in accordance with the just intonation scale relationship in case that the frequency of the tone in accordance with the equally tempered scale is corrected to a frequency 14 cent lower than the frequency of the tone in accordance with the equally tempered scale . pitch correction data are expressed by the frequency ratio of the modified frequency to not corrected frequency ( or no frequency change ). thus , the pitch correction data ( that is a frequency ratio ) determined by the following equation which represents the relationship between the frequency ratio fr and the cent value ## equ1 ## are calculated in accordance with the cent differences at respective note intervals and the calculated data are stored in the pitch correction data rom 26 in terms of binary numerals . the pitch correction data selected by the gate circuits 27 - 1 through 27 - 8 are applied to a multiplying input of a multiplier 26 through an or logic gate circuit 33 . to the multiplicand input of the multiplier 28 is applied a frequency information r read out from the frequency information memory device 12 . as above described , since the pitch correction data are represented by the frequency ratio between the frequency not modified ( or the frequency in accordance with the equally tempered scale ) and the modified frequency ( or the frequency in accordance with the just intonation scale ), the modified frequency information rm in accordance with the just intonation scale can be produced as a product obtained by multiplying the frequency inforation r in accordance with the equally tempered scale by the pitch correction data in the multiplier 28 . the operation of the electronic musical instrument will be described hereunder by taking a case as an example in which three keys c , e and g of the lower keyboard are depressed . as shown in fig2 c , where tones of keys c , e and g are assigned to the second , fourth and sixth channels , respectively , a lower keyboard signal le would be produced as shown in fig2 d . consequently , the gate circuit 19 is enabled only at the time slots of the second , fourth and sixth channels to select the note code n 1 - n 4 of the keys c , e and g at the time slots of respective channels . &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is respectively stored in the three latch circuit elements corresponding to keys c , e and g of the secondary memory device 22 of the chord detector 15 , whereby outputs 22c , 22e and 22g are continuously maintained at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. based on the combination of notes c , e and g , a chord root name encoder detects that the chord is a c major chord so and produces a root note signal rn having a content &# 34 ; 1 1 1 1 &# 34 ; which represents note c is produced . in the coincidence detection circuit 240 of the root note assigning channel detector 24 , two input codes coincide with each other at the time slot of the second channel to which the c note of the lower keyboard is assigned thus producing a coincidence detection signal eq1 which is applied to the gate circuit 27 - 1 via the or gate circuit 29 , thus selecting a pitch correction data [ 1 ] produced by the pitch correction data rom 26 and relating to the root note by the gate circuit 27 - 1 . the pitch correction data [ 1 ] is supplied to the multiplier 28 at the second time slot of the second time channel and multiplied by the frequency information r of note c which is assigned to the second channel and applied to the multiplier at the same time . however , in the case of the root note , since the pitch correction data is [ 1 ], the frequency information r would not be changed by the multiplying operation . accordingly , the root tone is generated with the pitch of the equally tempered scale . the code converter 251 of the subordinate note assigning channel detector 25 - 1 corresponding to the major third interval converts the note code &# 34 ; 1 1 1 1 &# 34 ; of the root note signal pn into an e note code &# 34 ; 0 1 0 1 &# 34 ; of third interval with respect to the root note . consequently , in the coincidence detector 250 in the detector 25 - 1 the two inputs coincide with each other at the time slot of the fourth channel to which the e note is assigned to produce a coincidence detection signal eq3 which is used to select through the gate circuit 27 - 2 a pitch correction data [ 0 . 9920136 ] corresponding to the major third degree at the time slot of the fourth channel . at the same time the coincidence detection signal eq3 is multiplied with the frequency information of the e note assigned to the fourth channel and is supplied to the multiplier 28 at the same time . accordingly , the e note is produced at a frequency that satisfies the just intonation scale ( that is a frequency 14 cents lower than that of the same note in the equally tempered scale . the frequency ratio of the note of the major third degree to the root note is 2 4 / 12 in the equally tempered scale . if this frequency ratio is multiplied with the pitch correction data [ 0 . 9920136 ], a product [ about 1 . 249858 ] is obtained . and if this product is multiplied with 4 , then a value 5 would be obtained , with an error less than 1 cent being neglected . accordingly , the frequency ratio of the root note to the major third degree note thus produced by the modified frequency information would become 4 : 5 which is a simple integer ratio thereby providing the just intonation scale relationship . the code converter ( corresponding to converter 251 ) of the subordinate note assigning channel detector 25 - 3 corresponding to the perfect fifth degree converts the code &# 34 ; 1 1 1 1 &# 34 ; of the root note signal rn into the code &# 34 ; 1 0 0 1 &# 34 ; to indicate the g note which is the fifth degree note with respect to the root note c . accordingly , the detector 25 - 3 produces a coincidence signal eq5 at the time slot of the sixth channel assigned to the g note of the lower keyboard for supplying to the multiplier 25 a pitch correction data 1 . 0011559 corresponding to the perfect fifth interval . this data is multiplied with the frequency information r of the g note assigned to the same sixth channel . accordingly , the g note is produced at a frequency that satisfies the just intonation scale relationship , that is at a frequency 2 cents higher than that of the same note in the equally tempered scale . the frequency ratio of the note of the perfect fifth interval above the root is 2 7 / 12 in the equally tempered scale . if this ratio is multiplied with the pitch correction data 1 . 0011559 , the product becomes about 1 . 500038 . and if this product is multiplied with 4 and by neglecting an error less than 1 cent , the result would be 6 . thus , the ratio of the root note to the perfect fifth degree note produced by the modified frequency information rm becomes 4 : 6 which is a simple integer ratio thereby providing the just intonation scale relationship . as above described , a chord of c , e ang g are produced under a just intonation scale relationship . although not specifically described , with regard to another note intervals , ( 3 ♭, 5 ♭, 7 , 7 ♭ and 6 ), pitch correction data are set as shown in table 3 so as to satisfy the just intonation scale relationship . in the case of lower keyboard notes having degrees other than major third , minor third , perfect fifth , diminished fifth , major seventh , minor seventh major sixth and in the case in which it is impossible to generate a root note signal due to impossibility of detecting a chord , and at the time slots of the channels to which tones of keyboard other than the lower keyboard are assigned , no coincidence detection signal is produced by the detectors 25 - 1 through 25 - 7 . in this case , the output of the nor gate circuit 30 becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; so as to enable the gate circuit 27 - 1 via or gate circuit 29 thereby selecting a pitch correction data [ 1 ] corresponding to the first degree ( unison ). thus , the frequency information is not changed at all and the musical tones are generated according to the equally tempered scale . when switch 18 is opened , a signal &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is normally applied to the output line 32 so that the gate circuit 27 - 1 is normally opened via or gate circuit 29 . at the same time , the output of the inverter 31 becomes &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; thus disenabling the gate circuits 27 - 2 through 27 - 8 . consequently , a signal [ 1 ] is always applied to one input of the multiplier 28 so that the frequency information r would not be changed thereby producing musical tones according to the equally tempered scale . while in the frequency information controller 13 shown in the foregoing embodiment , the pitch correction data rom 26 constantly produces pitch correction data which are supplied to the pitch correction data selection gate unit 27 to select a predetermined pitch correction data in accordance with the coincidence detection signals eq1 through eq6 and a signal on a line 32 and then to supply the selected data to the multiplier 38 , it is also possible to directly address the pitch correction data rom 26 with the coincidence detection signal eq1 throuth eq6 and with the signal on the line 32 so as to read out a predetermined pitch correction data ( table 3 ) depending upon the state of these address signals and to apply the read out data to the multiplier 28 .	6
referring to the drawings for a better understanding of the function and structure of the invention , fig1 shows a typical webpage request process 10 when requesting pc 11 attempts to resolve a human readable name associated with an internet webpage utilizing the dns system 12 over the internet . a dns software application running on server connected to the pc 11 supplies dns name resolutions to the requesting pc 11 during the request . dns 12 working in tandem with the dns software application provides an internet protocol (“ ip ”) address enabling the requesting pc 11 to make a direct request for a resource present on a web server 15 via zone host dns server 13 . the zone host dns server 13 includes the authoritative information about a resource located on the web server 15 in the form of a “ zone file ” 14 . the zone file includes a records and cname records , as the case may be , and the ip address of the web server 15 is of the form 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 as shown . in a nominal web server scenario in which the web server is controlled by an organization having the organization &# 39 ; s website , an entity such as a large institution that owns its own host dns server and web server are likely to be physically located at the physical institution or entity &# 39 ; s location , and both may reside on a single server computer machine . most large institutions or entities need guaranteed sustainability of their web server at all times , and access to the associated webpages residing thereon in order to satisfy their mission requirements for their clients , customers , and third parties relying upon the information found on the web server . however , upon the occurrence of a natural disaster , such as a large hurricane like hurricane katrina in 2005 , the physical locations of the entity and the web server or a host computer server residing thereon may be compromised or even completely destroyed . in those situations in which a catastrophic system failure occurs , requesting pc 11 will be unable to obtain the necessary information residing on the entity web server until a rebuilding of a web server may be accomplished and power and system infrastructure restored to provide the information . the present system provides a system and method for monitoring and redirecting ( i . e . “ deflecting ”) a website inquiry to maintain continuous availability of the entity web server in the event of a catastrophic failure to the institution or entity &# 39 ; s computer systems or supporting infrastructure . referring now to fig2 it may be seen that intervening administration dns server ( s ) 21 is positioned within the dns resolution topology to allow for monitoring and control of web service to entity web server 15 to accomplish automatic 34 deflection of the website inquiry . a system 30 includes an administration dns server ( s ) 21 which monitors and controls the content of zone file 27 such that upon the occurrence of an automatic state change ( i . e . deflection to a pre - specified site ) the appropriate zone file is edited and published . such a state change request may be initiated via the web 22 in which various state site changes 36 - 37 may be requested . cname record 16 is inserted into zone file residing on host dns server 13 as shown , and will be propagated through various dns servers associated with providing authoritative information for the entity web server 15 . upon the editing and publication of the zone file 27 , the dns system propagates the information such that new inquiries for a resource residing on entity web server 15 are now redirected to web server 23 having an ip address of the form of 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . the resource occurring on web server 23 likely contains emergency information , other vital information pertinent to the disaster , the status of the institution &# 39 ; s physical location , and the deflection state of the website may be selectively timed such that information may be provided before , during , and after the occurrence of the disaster . the deflection request may also be automatically initiated by a website intelligent monitor program 34 , as will be shown . prior to initiation of the deflection process via the herein described system 30 , a cname record 16 is created in the dns zone file present on the host dns server 13 . the cname record points to or “ canonizes ” the ip address of the human readable domain name for the entity web server 15 to an a record 27 located on the administration dns server that will control the deflection process . since the cname record present on zone file 16 points to the administration dns server 21 as an a record , zone file 27 may be edited on demand to change the ip address associated with the corresponding a record such that deflection will occur upon the publication and proper refreshing of associated dns servers with the zone file 27 . in other words , web server a record ( e . g ., ip address to 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 ) may be edited such that the a record of file 27 points to a different ip address ( i . e ., 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 ). with a record associated with ip address 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 , the interaction of zone file 16 with zone file 27 does not alter the dns resolution to a web resource , such as index . html or similar record located on entity web server 15 . but , the alteration of a record in file 27 to 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 causes a deflection to web server 23 thereby establishing upon demand a potential disaster response site available to supply information normally available on entity web server 15 . obviously , as already known in the art , all the information on entity web server 15 may be replicated or mirrored on web server 23 prior to the initiation of a deflection in order to maintain all the content previously available on entity web server 15 . other editing of key index files on web server 23 may establish whatever important messages are necessary for a disaster response system to properly present timely information pertaining to the institution disaster or infrastructure damage . the web based switch control 22 allows for the remote initiation of a deflection to web server 23 upon the collection of a primary 36 , secondary 37 , or additional alternate sites to which entity web server 15 should be deflected . as shown below , the website intelligent monitor 34 monitors in real - time the entity web server 15 status in such a manner as to implement the deflection automatically upon the occurrence of a suspension or prolonged interruption of services provided by entity web server 15 . the entire process is complicated by the expiration ( i . e . the “ expiry ”) of the administration dns server 21 &# 39 ; s authorization to transmit data about server 13 , and therefore the efficacy of zone file 27 in the event that server ( s ) 13 are destroyed and they can no longer issue a proper refresh command under the re - curser protocols for dns is limited . hence , it is important that a sufficient length of time ( i . e . the expiry must be sufficiently large ) such that the required refresh time would not occlude the time of destruction during which server 21 would lose it authorization . referring now to fig3 , initiation of the deflection process 50 is typically started with a web based form retrieved from server 21 and a user selecting one of a number of deflection states 36 - 37 as may be desired on an html presented screen . the screen serves as a control switch 22 to select different sites , but each of these sites may also be interpreted as a particular “ state ” in the deflection process because , within the parameters of a particular disaster encounter , there are usually a before state , a during state , and after states that represent the institution &# 39 ; s desire to communicate status and other information pertaining to the entity &# 39 ; s condition and the availability of its data via the web . hence , multiple states may be established for deflection purposes with each state associated with a time or other type of parameter which may be selected or switched on via web base control . the web based control or form 22 typically resides on the administration server 21 , but may reside anywhere that has effective communication with the administration server 21 . for example , the person with a notebook computer may be able to access , assuming the correct passwords are provided , the deflection switch 22 from any location on the planet , including the institution or entity &# 39 ; s primary physical location . the inventor &# 39 ; s anticipate that various types of self - explanatory selection criteria and boxes may be presented to a user desiring to deflect their current site , but for the purposes of the herein described invention the actual form style associated with the various states is unimportant for a complete understanding of the invention . upon the selection of a deflection state via a web form , a file is written on the administration dns server 21 at a known directory location ( e . g . drop - off ) which initiates 51 the generation of a deflection request 52 . the server checks periodically in the drop - off directory to see if a file or multiple files are present . it then processes 53 the files in the order of creation , oldest first . each file that is written to the drop - off directory includes a known set of information to allow for error detection and validation of the file creation . the information that is contained in the file is also written into a database on the server created . for example , the information in the file may be written to a database backend such as my sql . the actual creation of the file and entry into the appropriate database is effected by a “ post ” command via the http protocol from the originally presented webform 22 . data in the file created by the administration dns server 21 has the format shown below in table 1 . 0 . the request file includes information which is pre - populated by information already present in the database file on the server and associated with the user &# 39 ; s identification and selection action . the first line of the deflection request file includes , separated by colons , a request id “ 14 ,” client id “ 1 ”, and the state to which the user wishes to deflect his current website to . the second line comprises a unique identification string to allow for the execution of a checksum validation and for database correspondence verification once the data in the deflection request file is written to the database . the next line is left blank simply for syntax and file protocol verification and does not consist of any viable data . the last line is a validation string to allow for one - way encryption and of the deflection request file . the syntax of any deflection request file may vary depending upon the desired parameters to be received and interpreted by a deflection database , however the inventors have found that this format is simple and ensures integrity of request reception with a minimum of errors or unauthorized intrusions . in table format , the meaning of each line in the request file has the syntax shown in table 2 . 0 . the data structure in a my sql database does not have an obligatory format , however the inventors have found that the format of the database as shown in tables 3 . 0 and 4 . 0 are helpful in the validation process for each user deflection request . the tables 3 . 0 and 4 . 0 below correspond to the file creation structure which correlates with the deflection request action . returning now to fig3 , the deflection request file retrieved during step 53 is validated 54 to confirm an authentic deflection request . validation may be achieved in various ways as is known in the art , however the inventors for the present system utilize a numerical matching strategy to validate both database entry and the integrity of data in the deflection request based upon the confirmation of known data appearing on line 4 of the deflection request file . the control of the post back of information being written into a file directory on the server and the information contained in the file being written into my sql database is controlled by a php program running on the server ( see fig5 , top portion ). typically , the server attempts to retrieve a request file every few minutes or during a pre - selected interval , and to the extent that the directory is empty the system understands that a validation request is not present and takes no action . however , upon the occurrence of any file in the pre - selected drop - off directory then a deflection request initiates processing of that file , and after being stored in the database as discussed above , is deleted from the drop - off directory . in the event that the drop - off directory includes multiple files , all the files are picked up and processed , and then deleted from the directory . each deflection request is processed sequentially in chronological order in conformance with the file &# 39 ; s creation date . the deflection request file is then validated 54 by comparing the validation text string in the file with a text string present in the database on the server . since the validation string in the database provides one of the inputs directly into the file creation , a validation that the file has come from the server 21 may be made . essentially the validation process matches the validation request id to confirm that the request strings match . further , since the user is authenticated prior to being able to access the deflection webform , some information is already associated with the user and can also be written into the sql database as well . however as it will be seen later , a validation request may come from other than a human user who which present a user id and password . in the event that the validation process fails 56 a denial request message , logged in the database , and the administrators are alerted 57 . if the validation request is validated , the deflection request begins to be processed further 59 . initially , a particular state to which a deflection request applies is determined 61 . for example , if the undeflected website is being changed to a first or primary deflection state , information pertinent to the primary state 66 is retrieved . alternatively , secondary 63 or alternate 64 states are determined . as may be understood , an infinite amount of states may be retrieved and processed in order to provide a flexible state change methodology to the entity requesting deflections . so , for example , and as discussed previously , in the event of disaster , different deflections might be invoked associated with different website states to provide pre , during , and post disaster information for the entity that wishes to communicate its status . hence , primary , secondary , and additional alternate states may be invoked via a deflection request process at a time of choosing of the deflecting entity . the associated information for primary , secondary or alternate , states are stored within database 67 and retrieved for further processing in block 71 . block 71 implements the process request by altering the dns zone file 27 and publishing the zone file to the internet dns system . in particular , the a record associated with or corresponding to the cname record resident on the entity &# 39 ; s dns server 16 effects a cname deflection to the alternate website state . the implementation of the alterations to the dns zone file in step 71 is accomplished as indicated in fig4 , and are written in perl and / or bash program scripts an example of which is shown in table 5 . 0 below . standard out and standard error are redirected to the cron . log file as shown in fig4 , initially the zone file on the server computer 21 is located 81 and backed up 82 . once the zone file is read into a memory array and a parse function in perl is invoked 83 . upon the reading of the zone file the information in the zone file is read into a memory array . once the information is read into the memory array the targeted record which corresponds with the cname record associated with the deflection requesting entity , is located within a listing of all of the a records held by the memory array 84 . once the record is located , an update to the record proceeds 87 . however if the record is not located 85 , an error is issued and the deflection process is terminated 86 . the updating of the record 87 consists of altering the listed ip address to correspond with the ip address of the website corresponding to the selected state in the deflection request as recorded in the database . the serial number of the zone file is then updated 88 to correspond with the date and time change associated with the deflection request , thereby creating a unique serial number associated with each update to the zone file in response to a deflection request . the memory array holding the zone file is then written to the server hard drive 89 , and a reload command 111 executed to the administration dns server 21 as it applies to the zone file . an rndc command is then executed 112 via ssh for all slave servers 26 associated with administration dns servers 21 . it is critical that the time to live (“ ttl ”) of the zone file be set to a relatively small value on server 21 so that any changes to the zone file are propagated through the internet dns system quickly . this increases dns traffic to the server 21 , when other servers who might contact the deflected entity web server , however this promotes a rapid publication of the revised deflection ip address to prevent any transient unreachable states for the web server during a disaster deflection implementation . referring again to fig3 , after the zone file is updated in step 71 , an error processing loop is initiated 72 to confirm that the zone file dns changes have been implemented . net dns resolver commands are initiated to all of the servers under the authority of the server 21 . each server is queried using recursor queries and the response from the other servers is compared with the ip address now recorded in the altered a in the zone file 27 . it should be the same . in the event that the query is successful 73 , a three digit code is returned and the loop processing program interprets the code to as a failed or successful state change and the server identified that responded through a three bit identifier . if the state change is successful the administrators are alerted of the successful change 74 for that particular server , but if the state change is unsuccessful then a retry 76 is initiated and looped for a maximum of ten ( 10 ) attempts 78 . if ten attempts are unsuccessful in confirming a correct state change , then a failed deflection and alert is sent to the administrator 77 . it should be noted that should these error initiation attempts are sent to known ip addresses since all of the server ip addresses are known and the queries are sent directly to each server in succession . in other words , the dns system outside of zone of the administration servers 21 is not queried . since the current procedures incorporate a three bit interpretation , the determination of up to three servers might be interpreted as to whether or not any or all of the changes were successful and any at the server level for the servers within the zone of authority for servers 21 . additional bits may be incorporated to address additional servers within the zone of authority for servers 21 . a top level , envelope scripting representation for the processes shown in fig3 & amp ; 4 are shown in fig5 to assist in script replication . the actual perl programming steps may be found under table 6 . 0 below . a further innovation is provided in the herein described system through the use of an intelligent website monitor 34 ( see fig2 ). the entity website server is interrogated periodically in an intelligent manner to determine its operational state in the event that the web server becomes disrupted , as defined in association with known parameters , and the deflection process may be initiated by the intelligent monitor 34 . the processing steps pursuant to the intelligent monitor 34 are shown in fig6 . as shown , prior to initiation of the intelligent monitor process 90 , a signature file is uploaded 91 to entity web server 15 at a known directory location . the intelligent monitor then attempts to detect the existence of the signature file 92 on the entity web server 15 ( see fig2 ). if the presence of the file is verified 93 , the intelligent monitor determines from the existing database on the administration dns server 21 whether or not that site is supposed to currently be in an undeflected state 94 . if the entity web server site is in an undeflected state then counters associated with the process 90 in fig6 are reset to zero 103 and process 90 sleeps for 10 minutes . if the site is in a deflected state then counter 96 is incremented by 1 and the process 90 sleeps for 10 minutes 102 . in the event that the file is not present 93 then the state of the entity web server is again determined 95 and if its in an undeflected state then the counter is incremented 96 . if it is not in an undeflected state then the intelligent monitor initiates a sleep cycle for ten minutes 102 . as shown in the diagram , incrementing the counter 96 results in additional initiated actions depending upon the current counter state . for example , counter values 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , all initiate sleep cycles 102 . conversely , counter values 3 and 7 alert 101 site administrators prior to initiating a state change and sleep for ten minutes 102 . a counter value of 4 results in a state change to a primary state for a deflected web server 97 and generates a deflection request 99 . the counter value of 8 initiates a state change to a secondary deflection state 98 and generates a corresponding deflection request 99 . as it may be seen , the intelligent monitor generally sleeps for specified periods of time , in this case ten minutes , during different portions of the monitoring process so that graduated and intelligent decisions may be made regarding the true status of the entity web server 15 and respond accordingly . referring now to fig7 , it may be seen that process 105 causes the issuance of plurality of text alert messages to a group or groups of recipients as selected pursuant to predetermined filtering criteria . process 105 is initiated 123 in response to one or more external triggers 110 to provide flexibility and security in alert issuance . each trigger 110 is associated with some temporal step associated with zone file alteration . for example , step 114 refers to initial processing step 59 of fig3 for the processing of a zone alteration request . the process request has already been validated pursuant to steps 51 - 56 to ensure that text alert issuance does not occur without proper validation . trigger 116 refers to the actual alteration step 71 for altering the zone file 14 after the alteration parameters ( i . e . the enumerated “ states ”) have been determined in steps 61 , 63 , 64 , and 66 . hence , the website state determination must occur prior to text alert processing . trigger 117 occurs only after a state change has been validated pursuant to step 74 , thereby providing greater integrity to the deflection occurrence prior to issuing a text alert message . while triggers 114 , 116 , and 117 are responsive to states associated with physical alteration to zone file 14 , trigger 118 alternatively occurs from actions resulting from a distinct intelligent monitoring process 90 monitoring the website state externally ( see fig6 ). in accordance with the presence of a signature file on a remotely monitored server , a zone alteration request will be generated 99 if a counter predetermined counter value is met to effect a state change to a monitored website ( e . g . steps 97 and 98 ). hence , trigger 118 occurs only upon the automatic initiation of a zone file modification request . other triggers 121 may be instituted in response to other predetermined events associated with website deflection , although the inventors prefer triggers 114 - 118 . it will be understood that step 123 may include additional decision logic ( not shown ) such that one or more triggers 114 - 121 must occur prior to initiation of a transmission process ( steps 124 - 129 ). for example , step 123 may include additional logic such that both a validated process request be received 114 and a confirmation of website change be received 117 prior to text alert initiation . alternatively , any trigger in 110 may occur for a text alert initiation . upon initiation of the process 123 from one or more , or a multiplicity , of triggers 110 , a determination as to whether a recipient filtering operation occurs 124 . if no filtering is to occur , a recipient list is selected from a predefined recipient list set and a set of destination phone numbers associated with each recipient in the list set is created 127 . a text message using sms is then broadcast 129 for each of the listed phone numbers created is in step 127 and sent . alternatively , a recipient list set may be created in real - time with each text alert message transmission initiation 123 using filtering parameters selected by a user . a large array of cellular device user information may be stored in database 134 having certain demographic information associated with each user . such demographic information may then be filtered 131 by specific demographic information and a unique recipient list created 132 and selected 126 for usage . for example , recipients who attend high schools in a certain selected counties of a state may be selected and placed into a recipient list , thereby transmitting a text alert to all high school students in the selected counties . by allowing for real - time filtering on demographic information from cooperative databases used by various cellular carriers , targeted audiences of alert messages may be reached via sms in response a single website or multiple website deflections pursuant to the processes shown in fig1 - 6 . applicant notes that a further developed variation of the above described system has already issued under u . s . pat . no . 7 , 720 , 998 , ( hereinafter the “&# 39 ; 998 ” system ) to foote . that &# 39 ; 998 system provides a means for a central authority to utilize parts of the herein described system to affect deflection of selected groups of websites , such deflection being restricted to affect only a portion of the information displayed to a remote user of the selected website . the above issuance of text alerts may also be implemented utilizing the &# 39 ; 998 system in which the alerts are issued responsive to the alteration of a zone file , such as file 28 controlled by administration server 26 in the &# 39 ; 998 patent , through mechanisms described above in triggers 110 of fig7 . to that end , the contents of the &# 39 ; 998 patent are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . while i have shown my invention in one form , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof . for example , while the herein described systems would normally transmit text message alerts to human recipients , the inventors anticipate that machines capable of interpreting text messages shall also be placed into a recipient pool to initiate secondary processes by those recipient machines .	7
referring to fig1 and 2 , the aerosol medicament delivery apparatus 10 of the present invention is composed of a holding chamber 200 with first and second ends . at the first end of the holding chamber is a receptacle 300 for connection to a source of aerosol medication . for the purposes of the present invention , aerosol medicament or aerosol medication is intended to include finely divided solid or liquid materials that are carried by a gas for delivery to a subject &# 39 ; s respiratory tract , especially to the lungs . this includes nebulized materials . the medicament and carrier gas aerosol composition can be prepared prior to use if it exhibits sufficient physical and chemical stability , or it can be prepared in situ from sources of solid or liquid medicament materials ( either in pure form or combined with a suitable solid or liquid solvent , excipient or diluent ) and pressurized gas . at the second end is a mouthpiece member 100 for delivering aerosol medicament to a subject through a valve 150 . the mouthpiece member includes a housing 101 that defines a passage 102 through which aerosol medicament can be supplied to a subject and has an opening 103 that opens to the outside of the housing . the valve , discussed below , is of one - piece construction . during inhalation the valve permits the flow of aerosol medicament from the holding chamber to the subject , while blocking the inflow of outside air to the passage 102 through the sidewall of the housing of the mouthpiece member . during exhalation , the valve blocks the flow of exhaled air upstream in the direction of the holding chamber , and permits the exhaled air to be exhausted through the sidewall of the housing . in an exemplary embodiment , the housing 101 is composed of a delivery member 110 and an adaptor member 170 . the opening 103 may be defined , as it is in part in the exemplary embodiment , by a notch 186 in the adaptor member . the delivery member and adaptor member may be releasably connected by a quick release mechanism 182 . in the exemplary embodiment , the quick release mechanism is a flexible wall , upon which a positioning element 175 may be located . also , in the exemplary embodiment , the housing is transparent . this has the advantage that it allows for the subject to visually verify the operation of the valve , to ensure opening and closing during treatment . referring to fig3 , the delivery member 110 may include a subject side section 120 , a connecting ring 130 , and an adaptor side section 140 . in the exemplary embodiment , the subject side section of the delivery member of the mouthpiece is sized and shaped to fit a human mouth , e . g . having an oval shape . the subject end section is defined by a housing composed of a sidewall having a height 124 , and upon which may be provided at least one ridge 125 . positioning pins 141 may be provided on the adaptor side section of the delivery member . referring to fig4 , the adaptor side section 140 of the delivery member 110 in this exemplary embodiment has walls 142 arranged around an opening 145 . one or more openings , for example the illustrated notches 147 , is formed in the wall 142 and can define an exhaust opening from the delivery member for exhaled air . this opening is closed by the valve during inhalation , and the opening may be provided with an element to assist in seating a valve member , for example protrusion 146 . the end face 144 of the wall can be used as a surface for holding the valve in place when the apparatus is assembled , in cooperation with an opposed surface on the adaptor member . also , in this embodiment , the four positioning pins 141 extend from the end face of the wall 142 . referring to fig5 a and 5 b , the one - piece two - way valve system 150 allows for inhalation and exhalation with a single valve . the valve has a base 151 , a first valve element 152 , which has a duck - bill shape in this embodiment , and a second valve element 153 , which is shaped like a hinged flap 153 in this embodiment . in the exemplary embodiment , the valve is composed of a flexible material and there are two hinged flaps 153 . the two valve elements may be joined at or carried on a common base 151 . the base has a thickness 154 that is less than the height of the positioning pins of the mouthpiece , so that the pins may pass therethrough . there is an opening 155 in the base , which may be defined as the perimeter of contact between the duck - bill and the base . the exemplary embodiment has four positioning holes 156 placed near the perimeter of the base , each being sized to admit the matching positioning pins . thus , when the apparatus is assembled , the positioning pins of the mouthpiece penetrate the positioning holes of the valve base and the valve base forms a substantially airtight seal between the delivery member and the adaptor member . the duck - bill is a shape predominantly that of a wedge with a very narrow split across the apex of the wedge . the split is narrow enough that the two edges forming the ends of the duck - bill are substantially in contact when there is no external pressure on the duck - bill . the duck - bill has a span , a height , and a thickness . the height of the duck - bill is the vertical distance between the apex of the wedge where the split is located and the base . the span is the distance of the split across the thin edge of the wedge and the height . the span is sufficiently narrow that the apex of the duck bill will fit within the delivery member without contacting it . thus , the dead zone within the delivery member is minimized by the valve extending therein . the valve may be as wide as possible to provide for easier inhalation , but just narrower than the passage so that the duck - bill sides do not receive pressure and the lips of the duck - bill are not parted except by inhalation . dead space refers to the volume of the apparatus containing air which is rebreathed . dead space is inherent in any valve - based system enclosed within a mouthpiece or mask ; it is the space between the mouth of a subject and the valve . any subject has a limited volume of air that may be inhaled , and which then is exhaled . this is the subject &# 39 ; s tidal volume . the inhalation air will contain both oxygen and medicament . the exhalation air will contain carbon dioxide . in a sealed system , all inhalation air will come through the valve and will contain a preferable mixture of medicament laden air . however , this inhalation air will be combined with whatever gases remain sealed within the dead space on their way to being actually inhaled into the subject &# 39 ; s respiratory tract . similarly , when the subject exhales , all air must pass through this dead zone on the way out the exhaust portion of the valve system . because the subject will be incapable of forcing a complete vacuum within this sealed system , the dead space will contain gases that then will be re - inhaled during the next breathing cycle . given that the volume of the subject &# 39 ; s lungs is fixed , the larger the volume of the system &# 39 ; s dead space , the smaller the volume of medicament laden air the subject will receive with each breathing cycle . thus , the larger the volume of dead space , the less efficient the system because increasing dead space causes a buildup of carbon dioxide and rebreathing . rebreathing carbon dioxide can have an adverse effect on breathing rates and patterns , especially for small children who have very small tidal volumes . duck - bill valves are more efficient than diaphragm valves because the volume encompassed by the duck - bill is subtracted from space that otherwise would be dead space in a diaphragm - based system . the duck - bill is thin enough that the sides of the wedge will flex when the atmospheric pressure on the opposite side of the base from the duck - bill is greater than that above the duck - bill . this causes the edges of the duck - bill to part , letting air flow through the duck - bill in the direction from the base to mouthpiece . thus , in the present embodiment , air is permitted to flow through the mouthpiece to a subject during inhalation . the duck - bill closes automatically at the end of inhalation when the atmospheric pressure differential is removed . thus , the flow of exhaled air upstream of the valve to the holding chamber is prevented during exhalation . the exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides two hinged flaps 153 extending from on or near the perimeter of the base . each hinged flap 153 is sized so as to be able to cover a corresponding notch 147 when assembled . each flap is placed on the base at such a position and at such an angle that when the base is placed onto the positioning pins of the mouthpiece , the flap covers one of the notches 147 . the flap is hinged onto the base so that it may cover the notch 147 during inhalation , thereby preventing the flow of outside air into the interior of the housing through the opening in the sidewall of the housing . when the mouthpiece of the apparatus of the exemplary embodiment is assembled , the notch of the delivery member 147 and the aforementioned notch of the adaptor member 186 may be aligned radially , and the hinged outgas flap 153 is disposed between these notches . the flexible material forming each of the outgas flaps is sufficiently thin to allow an outgas flap to flex through at least a few degrees of flexibility when differences in relative atmospheric pressure caused by human breathing exert flexing pressure on said flap , thereby moving the flap away from the notch 147 during exhalation and allowing exhaled air to pass out of the mouthpiece through the notch 186 . referring to fig6 , the subject side section 120 of the delivery member may be formed by a sidewall 128 that is generally cylindrical in shape with an oval cross section . the exemplary embodiment has two side points 122 , opposite each other on the sidewall , and two lip points 123 , opposite each other on the sidewall . each lip point is equidistant between the two side points . there is a contact end 126 where the sidewall is joined to the connecting ring and a lip end 127 opposite the contact end . the upper opening of the sidewall 121 at the lip end is oval . there is a lower opening of the sidewall at the contact end , through which the tip of the duck - bill valve passes . ridges 125 may be provided for placement of the subject &# 39 ; s lips , or to aid in the placement of an adaptor mask on the outside of the delivery member . shaped correctly , a ridge 125 may be used to seal and mount such a mask with a tight pressure fit . these ridges are placed approximately halfway down the upper section , and are wedge shaped in the exemplary embodiment . specifically , they are formed by the upper and lower thickness measurements being equal at the side points and the lower thickness being greater than the upper thickness at the lip points . referring to fig4 and 6 , the connecting ring 130 between the adaptor side and subject side sections of the delivery member has an interior opening 135 , which may be equal in size to and substantially continuous with the opening of the sidewall of the subject side section . it has an exterior limit 131 that is greater than the interior opening , and a surface 132 where the connecting ring is joined to the subject side section . the surface 132 extends from the sidewall 128 outwards toward the exterior limit 131 where it joins with an exterior wall 133 . the exterior wall 133 may be substantially parallel to the sidewall 128 and extends from the top surface in a direction away from the lip end of the subject side section . the exterior wall has an interior surface and an exterior surface , the interior surface being closer to the interior opening of the connecting ring . in the exemplary embodiment , there are two contact openings 134 in the top surface , which are disposed approximately equidistantly around the circumference of the top surface . each contact hole is adapted to accept a portion of the adaptor member , to help hold the two members of the mouthpiece securely together . on the interior surface of the exterior wall , there may be provided two engaging members 136 , or catches , each being below a contact hole . they are wedge shaped and oriented with the thin end of the wedge towards the adaptor side for ease in connecting and resistance to disconnecting . in the exemplary embodiment , each has a width less than that of the corresponding contact opening above the catch , a length less than that of the distance between the top and bottom of the exterior wall of the connecting ring , and a height less than the length . referring back to fig3 and 4 , the width 143 of each section that makes up the wall 142 is approximately as wide as a contact opening in the top surface of the connecting ring . each wall section is disposed along the interior opening substantially adjacent to a contact opening , thus providing a limit to the flexing of the walls of the adaptor member , which is discussed below . in the exemplary embodiment , each wall section has two positioning pins 141 placed along the end face of the wall , extending in the same direction . they are placed near the edge of the wall sections , and can be placed as far apart from each other as the width of a contact opening in the surface of the connecting ring . due to their height , the sections of the wall 142 extend into the space of the adaptor member when the apparatus is assembled . protrusions 146 may be disposed on the perimeter of the opening forming the passage for exhalation air flow ( notches 147 ). these protrusions act as stop elements for the exhaust flap portions of the one - piece valve , limiting their travel in an inward direction . as will be seen in more detail below , when the subject inhales , these exhaust flaps are pressed by suction against the stop elements and form a seal so that the pressure of inhalation is fully directed towards drawing the medicament laden air from the holding chamber . referring to fig7 , the adaptor member 170 may be generally frustoconical in shape , thereby providing for the smooth change in diameter from the holding chamber to the delivery member . in the exemplary embodiment , it is both frustoconical and transparent . a transparent embodiment of the present invention has the additional advantage of allowing the subject to visually verify the presence of the medicament during delivery to the patient . the adaptor member may have a base end 171 , a conical midsection 172 , four wall sections , and a delivery side end 173 . the base end is adapted to cooperate with the edge of the holding chamber , for example forming an exterior wall extending from the end of the cone . the base end of the adaptor member also may have an inner wall 174 extending from the end of the cone . in the exemplary embodiment , each of these two walls having a height of at least 0 . 5 mm to define a groove for accepting the edge of the holding chamber . in this case , the walls are shaped and positioned such that , when the chamber is positioned between the inner and outer walls and a thin layer of adhesive is applied between the walls , a substantially airtight seal may be formed between the holder and the chamber . other systems for joining the adaptor member and holding chamber may be used , including permanent bonding or releasable connections . the releasable connection may not be needed when the delivery member is made of two readily - separated components that allow for easy cleaning and for replacement of the valve when necessary , as in the illustrated embodiment . referring to fig7 and 8 , the wall arising from the frustoconical midsection 172 of the adaptor member 170 may be divided into four sections , including two catch walls 176 and two vent walls 177 in the exemplary embodiment . these may be placed alternately around the delivery side end of the adaptor member . each catch wall 176 may have a catch opening 178 sized to admit one of the catches 136 of the connecting ring 130 of the delivery member 110 . a catch wall 176 is positioned on the adaptor member such that its opening 178 is adapted to fit a catch 136 when the two adaptor and delivery members are joined . the end 179 of the catch wall 176 may fit a contact opening 134 of the connecting ring 130 of the delivery member 110 . the catch walls 176 may be flexible , so that they may be bent by the subject applying pressure at the positioning points 175 to release the catch 136 from the opening 178 . this allows the two members of the exemplary housing 101 to be joined and separated in a quick - release fashion . each valve wall 177 in the exemplary embodiment is u shaped . that is , it is a wall on the long side of the oval opening with a notch 186 in it . other systems for connecting the adaptor member and delivery member can be used . in addition , the catch and opening could be reversed , i . e . the opening provided on the connecting ring and the catch provided on wall section of the adaptor member . the delivery side end of the conical adaptor member may have an opening 185 of substantially the same size as the opening 155 . an airtight seal may be formed between the opposing surfaces of the adaptor member and the delivery member by the valve . that is , the valve base 151 may have opposing surfaces arranged to meet those of the adaptor member and the delivery member and form an airtight seal when the apparatus is assembled . the exemplary embodiment &# 39 ; s adaptor member 170 has a rim 180 around the opening 185 with four positioning openings 181 in the rim , one for each pin 141 . thus , when the two members are joined , the four pins of the delivery member drop into these openings in the exemplary embodiment . referring to back fig1 and 7 , the cylindrical holding chamber 200 may be defined by a length of cylindrical tube that extends between the mouthpiece 100 and a source of aerosol medicament and includes the receptacle 300 accepting an outlet from a source of aerosol medicament such as a metered dose inhaler or the like . the tube wall 201 may be sized to fit between the inner wall 174 and the outer wall 171 of the base of the mouthpiece . in the exemplary embodiment , the holding chamber is made of a lightweight metal or alloy , such as aluminum or an alloy thereof . the use of such material reduces the risk of resistance to medicament flow by static attraction between the particles of medicament and the holding chamber wall . alternatively , the surface of a holding chamber of any material may be treated with an anti - electrostatic coating or process to achieve this advantage . in the exemplary embodiment using a metal tube , the tube is anodized which provides the advantage of sealing the micro - porosity of such a tube &# 39 ; s surface and stabilizing it against oxidation . referring to fig9 a and 9 b , the receptacle 300 may include a base with a lip 310 , an opening 350 for accepting a source of aerosol medicament in the base with a collar 370 extending into the chamber 200 , an air vent 320 , and a supporting wall 340 that surrounds the opening arising from the base into the chamber . the exemplary embodiment has four vents . the receptacle base is sized to fit within the tube of the holding chamber . it may be formed of a resilient and flexible material such that it may be removed from the chamber tube ( e . g ., for cleaning ) and replaced many times without loss of functionality , such as maintenance of structural integrity or the ability of the receptacle to form a substantially airtight seal with the tube , throughout the life of the apparatus . in the exemplary embodiment , the receptacle may be removed and replaced hundreds of times without ripping , tearing or otherwise harming the functionality of the apparatus . this removal resilience also applies to the removal and replacement of the source of aerosol medicament from the apparatus . the lip 310 of the receptacle fits around the perimeter of the base of the member so that the lip extends beyond the edge of the tube . the lip may be sized such that it forms a substantially airtight seal with the tube . other systems can be used to join the receptacle to the tube if desired . the opening 350 of the receptacle of the exemplary embodiment may be sized to accept several different types of aerosol medicament sources such as mdis . the collar 370 is sufficiently long and flexible to form a seal with the aerosol medicament source when one is admitted into the receptacle . the supporting wall 340 of the exemplary embodiment is provided with cyclone baffles 330 placed upon the outside of the wall ( relative to the opening ) and support ribs 360 radially placed upon the inside of the wall . the support ribs 360 extend from the wall towards the collar 370 . they are sized so that there is space for the collar to be pressed up against the ribs when a typical mdi is inserted into the opening . thus , an airtight seal may be formed around the source of the aerosol medicament . the support ribs of the exemplary embodiment provide support to the source of aerosol medicament by holding that source against the structure of the collar . the vents 320 allow outside air to be drawn into the holding chamber during inhalation . this helps to push the aerosol medicament to the subject during inhalation . each cyclone baffle 330 extends towards the base and is aligned with a vent 320 so that the point where the baffle reaches the base is just beyond the vent . the baffle thus covers the vent . the baffle may have a width sufficient to form a seal between the supporting wall and the tube wall of the chamber . by using the baffle to direct airflow coming through the vents , a rotational flow is imparted to the air entering the chamber through the vents . in the exemplary embodiment , the placement of the cyclone baffles above the vents and next to the wall of the holding chamber wall directs outside air to and along the wall of the holding chamber . this reduces the tendency for medicament to adhere to the wall of the holding chamber . although each of the four vents have been provided with a cyclone baffle in the present embodiment , this may not be necessary in all cases . the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is steam autoclavable either assembled or disassembled . this advantage arises from both the choice of materials used , as herein discussed , and the materials and methods of assembling the components of the invention , such as the quick release mechanism 182 and the use of high - temperature adhesive at the junction of adaptor member 170 and holding chamber 200 . further , the present invention is easily disassembled for cleaning and parts replacement by a non - technical person . while a detailed description of the present invention has been provided above , the invention is not limited thereto . modifications that do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art . the invention is defined by the claims that follow .	0
in brief overview and referring to fig1 one embodiment of the invention includes two coherent light sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ; separated by a distance d and located at a distance r from a detector 14 which is attached to the surface 18 whose deformation or displacement is to be measured . the two sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ; are herein collectively referred to as a fringe source or fringe generator and are contemplated to be held at a fixed distance apart . the output of the detector 14 is connected to a processor 16 . the two sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ; produce an interference pattern 22 at the location of the detector 14 . the interference pattern 22 consists of regions of varying light intensity ( only three periods shown for clarity ). the distance d between adjacent regions of equivalent intensity ( the distance of one period .) is described by the equation : where λ is the wavelength of the light emitted by the sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ;. as the surface 18 moves in the direction shown by arrow m , the detector 14 sweeps across the interference pattern . the detector 14 detects periodic light 26 , 26 &# 39 ;, 26 &# 34 ; and dark 28 , 28 &# 39 ; regions . if the amount of deformation or displacement is less than the spacing of the periods of the interference pattern , the detector 14 can determine the amount of deformation or displacement by determining the change in light intensity , as discussed in detail below . if the deformation or displacement exceeds one period , the number of light and dark periods or fringes can be detected and counted and the amount of deformation or displacement determined . as an example , for a wavelength λ of 0 . 5 μm , a source separation d of 1 . 4 mm and a distance r from sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ; to detector 14 of 20 m , the resulting fringe spacing is 10 mm . thus the deformation or displacement of the surface 18 would have to exceed 10 mm before fringe counting is necessary . although the apparatus is described in terms of the generation of an interference pattern , any device which is capable of projecting a pattern of periodic light and dark regions of accurately known spacing ( hereinafter referred to generally as a fringe pattern ) may be used as the source . for example a moire pattern generator may be used as the source . further , although the detector 14 is described above as being located on the surface 18 to be measured and the sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ; are located some distance from the detector 14 and the surface 18 , it is also possible to locate the sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ; on the surface 18 to be measured , and the detector 14 some distance from the surface 18 . yet further , it is also possible to locate both the source 10 , 10 &# 39 ; and detector 14 on different parts of the surface 18 . referring to fig2 an example of where this system may be used is in the determination of the deformation in a parabolic reflector 30 . in the embodiment shown , a multiplicity of detectors , generally 14 ( only two shown for clarity ), and fringe sources , generally 10 ( only four shown for clarity ), are used to measure the deformation of various portions of the surface 18 of the reflector 30 simultaneously . by receiving signal data from all the detectors , generally 14 , in response to the fringe pattern 22 , simultaneously , the deformation of the surface 18 of the reflector 30 may be mapped . referring to fig3 although the embodiment of the invention is described using two coherent light sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ;, a suitable source of coherent optical radiation may be obtained by using a transmissive plate interferometer 38 . one embodiment of such an interferometer includes a glass plate 40 oriented at an angle θ to a laser beam 44 emitted by a laser 48 . a portion 50 of the laser beam 44 is reflected by the surface 52 of the plate 40 , while a portion 58 penetrates the plate 40 and is reflected by the other surface 62 of the plate 40 . the result is that two coherent beams 50 , 52 are formed which are transmitted to the detector 14 . the two beams 50 , 52 are separated by a distance d which is given by the equation : ## equ1 ## where t is the thickness of the plate 40 and η is the index of refraction . additionally two light shields 64 , 64 &# 39 ; may be provided to prevent the formation of additional beams as the light is internally reflected within the glass plate . referring to fig3 a , an embodiment of a plurality of transmissive plate interferometers of fig3 located adjacent one another to produce a plurality of fringe patterns . in addition , the transmissive plates 38 may be oriented so as to project the light beams in different directions ( see fig3 b ). in another embodiment a laser beam is passed through a cylindrical lens to narrow the beam prior to the beam entering the transmissive plate . in this way beam energy is concentrated in one dimension across one or more detectors 14 . referring to fig4 although the embodiments described above have been discussed in terms of a single detector 14 , increased resolution and the avoidance of the intensity ambiguity may be achieved by using a plurality of detectors . the intensity ambiguity arises because generally a given intensity occurs twice during a cycle and so it is not easy to determine from where in the periodic cycle of intensity ( for example point i 2 or i 3 ) the signal is arising . by using a detector 70 having three parallel detecting elements 72 , 74 , 76 in the form of strips each separated from an adjacent strip by 1 / 4 d , and orienting the strips parallel to the fringes , the ambiguity may be removed . each strip 72 , 74 , 76 produces a signal ( i 1 , i 2 , and i 3 respectively ) proportional the intensity of optical radiation detected . the phase φ of the intensity cycle can be determined by the following relationship : thus the phase φ can be determined unambiguously within a range of 360 °. although this equation is strictly true only for strip widths of 0 , it is a good approximation if the strip width is much less than the fringe period . the amount of deformation or displacement z is then given by the equation : by using a multiple element detector , variations in the amplitude ( a ) of the intensity of the interference pattern caused by changes in the sources 10 , 10 &# 39 ; can be made to cancel out as can changes in the ambient light level or bias ( b ), as is seen from the equation defining φ . referring to fig4 a , it is also possible to create a detector whose strip elements are oriented perpendicular to the fringes . in such a case , each of the strip elements is masked so as to segment each strip into individual active areas . each of the masks are offset by 90 ° with regard to the period of the fringe and with respect to each other . such an arrangement thereby produces the same effect obtained by the three element detector described above , but with increased efficiency due to the larger overall active area . alternatively , a two dimensional charge couple device array may be used . because both of the beams which form the interference pattern travel over nearly the same optical path , temperature gradients and atmospheric effects which do not cause a bending of the optical beams have a minimal effect on the measurement . transverse temperature gradient ∂ t /∂ z , which causes a bending of the beam , affects the measurement of the deformation or displacement according to the equation : where δz is the error in the measurement , ∂ η /∂ t is the change in the index of refraction with temperature , and ∂ t /∂ z is the transverse temperature gradient . to understand the magnitude of the error in measurement , consider for example with a propagation path ( r ) of 20 m , a change in the index of refraction with temperature (∂ η /∂ t ) of 5 . 4 × 10 - 7 / f .° and a transverse gradient (∂ t /∂ z ) of 0 . 5 ° f / m . in such a case the error ( δz ) will be about 50 μm . in another embodiment , the detector is located adjacent to the source and the fringe pattern is projected onto a comer cube retroreflector located where the detector had been in the previous discussions . when the retroreflector receives the fringe pattern , the pattern is reflected back toward the detector which is adjacent the source . such an arrangement has the attribute of not requiring electrical connections at both the source and retroreflector locations . in yet another embodiment one or more detectors are illuminated by two widely separated independent fringe sources . in such a case , each fringe source may have a different wavelength each of which is selectable at the detector using an appropriate filter . this arrangement provides for a consistency check which is useful in the monitoring of fringe stability . it is envisioned that the sources and detectors can be attached to a flexible tape or line to aid in placing them on the surface to be measured . having described the preferred embodiments of the invention , it will now become apparent to one of skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating the concepts may be used . it is felt , therefore , that these embodiments should not be limited to the disclosed embodiments but rather should be limited only by the spirit and scope of the following claims .	6
referring to fig1 there is illustrated a vibration damper 5 embodying the invention and mounted on a span of electrical cable 60 at a point spaced from an insulator 7 and shoe 12 from which the cable is suspended . armor rod 61 covers the cable 60 at and near the point of suspension . the vibration damper includes two clamps 40 and 41 by which the damper is rigidly attached to the cable 60 and free vibratory inertial member 50 suspended therefrom by means of two springs 10 and 11 . each clamp and spring assembly constitutes a resilient support member . the vibration damper of fig1 possesses two interdependent modes of vibration characterized by two different resonance frequencies . in the embodiment of the invention illustrated , this interdependence is achieved in part by employing two springs 10 and 11 , connected between the inertial member 50 and clamps 40 and 41 respectively , having the same stiffness but arranged asymmetrically with respect to the center of gravity cg of the inertial member and in part by selecting the various parts to have characteristics such that the dynamic mass of the damper 5 , as viewed from the clamp , is high compared with the dynamic mass of the cable 60 at the resonance frequencies of the cable over a range of critical wind velocities . the critical wind velocities are those in the range of less than about 5 miles per hour up to about 15 miles per hour . the vibrations at the lower winds in this range create highest alternating stresses in suspended cables and may result in rapid cable fatigue and failure . vibrations in this wind speed range may also cause damage to suspension hardware . the damper 5 is illustrated in greater detail in fig2 . in this embodiment of the invention the inertial member 50 , as shown in fig2 is an elongated member having a predominantly cylindrical body with spherical , or rounded , ends . only the surface facing cable 60 is flat , thus providing rounded edges on all surfaces facing away from cable 60 , that is , those surfaces of the inertial member that are contrapositioned relative to the cable . this is an important feature in order to achieve superior corona extinction characteristics on high voltage cables . the longitudinal axis of the inertial member x -- x is that axis about which the moment of inertia of the inertial member is a minimum . for convenience , the end of inertial member 50 to which the midpoint between equally resilient springs 10 and 11 is closer is called the spring end 53 . likewise , the other end is called the mass end , or weight end . typically , the distance between springs 10 and 11 is greater than the length of either spring and is also greater than the distance between the flat surface of inertial member 50 and cable 60 . reinforcing rods 51 and 52 extend through the inertial member 50 as shown in fig2 and fig3 . these reinforcing rods extend along the direction of the longitudinal axis x -- x of the inertial member 50 . due to the relatively simple design of the inertial member 50 , it may be formed inexpensively from a non - metallic material , such as concrete . the placement of the lower reinforcing rod 51 is not critical . however , upper reinforcing rod 52 is placed within the range of about one - quarter inch to about one - half inch from the flat upper surface of the inertial member to help preclude cracking during manufacture . the cement used to form inertial member 50 possesses hardening characteristics which increase as a function of time after manufacture . thus , the likelihood of a crack occurring in the inertial member is reduced as a function of time . as indicated in fig2 and 3 , springs 10 and 11 and holders 13 and 14 are left - handed . the wire forming the springs is of circular cross - section and the helix of the spring is left - handed . the holders , or anchors , 13 and 14 , shown in fig5 are tubular members designed to be threaded into the lower ends of helical springs . the diameter of the exterior circumference of the holder is slightly greater than the inner diameter of the spring into which is is threaded . a left - handed helical groove of v - shape is formed in the exterior circumference of the holder with a pitch p which may be slightly different from the pitch p &# 39 ; of the spring , or the anchor , to which it attaches . in a practical embodiment of the invention , the anchor pitch p was 0 . 35 inch and the spring pitch p &# 39 ; was 0 . 37 inch . the resulting locking mechanism results from good frictional force of the spring on the anchors . this friction assures a secure connection even when the threaded grooves of the anchors have dimensions that are slightly less than the inside spring dimensions . this type of anchor , or holder , serves to prevent stress concentrations in the springs and to prolong spring life . the two threaded anchor bolts 17 and 18 are cast into the inertial member 50 with each anchor bolt positioned along the length of the inertial member 50 at the selected location for attachment of the springs 10 and 11 . the ends of each anchor bolt protrude from the upper surface of the inertial member as shown in fig3 and it is to these ends that the springs 10 and 11 are attached by means of holders , or anchors , 13 and 14 , lock washers 15 and 16 , and nuts 19 and 20 respectively , as shown in fig2 and 3 . holders 13 and 14 sit partially within holes 23 and 24 in inertial member 50 where they are seated on washers 25 and 26 , respectively . rubber tubular members 21 and 22 lie within interior portions of the springs 10 and 11 respectively , above the nuts 19 and 20 respectively . these rubber tubular members add mechanical loss to the damping function , thus smoothing out the damping characteristics . a suitable rubber for this purpose is neoprene rubber , such as closed cell neoprene rubber type r - 180 - v manufactured by rubatex corporation . in any event , it is best to use a material , such as neoprene , which has a temperature range of about - 30 ° f . to + 150 ° f . and which possesses an average density of about 10 pounds per cubic foot . instead of employing rubber to introduce a resistance component in the damping , other means may be employed for introducing such a component . thus , for example , coulomb friction may be employed for this purpose by utilizing mechanical elements which slide upon each other . likewise , dash pot arrangements may be employed for this purpose . however , viscous rubber - like members of the type described are particularly suitable since they are easy to install and retain their properties for many years . the springs 10 and 11 are connected to clamps 40 and 41 respectively which are threaded to receive and secure the springs . as shown in fig1 and 2 , each clamp is separately connected to the cable 60 thus providing two individual and independent rigid connections of the damper to the cable . as shown in fig3 and encapsulation , or coating , 28 covers the springs 10 and 11 , the rubber cylinders 21 and 22 , and the holders 13 and 14 . the coating 28 serves to prevent corrosion and to resist fatigue failure of the springs . the coating to some small extent also provides an additional resilience factor in the damper . a suitable covering material for this purpose is silicone rubber or butyl rubber . in any event , the most suitable material to use for this process is a material having rubber - like characteristics with a durometer hardness between about 40 and about 70 , such as dow corning type 1890 silicone rubber . as shown in fig3 a covering 27 has been applied to the inertial member 50 . a suitable covering is neoprene rubber , such as dupont hypalon . such a covering improves the appearance of the damper and serves to resist weather and ozone corrosion . suitable materials for the clamps 40 and 41 are cast aluminum alloy , cast iron , and cast magnesium alloy . stainless steel , music wire or other suitable spring steel material may be used for the springs 10 and 11 . in fig2 the axis r1 -- r1 of the spring 10 and the axis r2 -- r2 of spring 11 , are vertical and substantially parallel to each other and are also substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis x -- x of the inertial member 50 . the axis r1 -- r1 of spring 10 and the axis r2 -- r2 of spring 11 are substantially coplanar with the longitudinal axis x -- x of the inertial member 50 and the longitudinal axis of the cable 60 . it is also seen from fig3 that the axes r1 -- r1 and r2 -- r2 lie in a plane which passes through the center of the inertial member 50 . as shown in fig2 the distance l1 from the center of gravity cg of the inertial member 50 to the axis r1 -- r1 is substantially different from the distance l2 from the center of gravity cg of the inertial member 50 to the axis r2 -- r2 . the distances l1 and l2 represent the distances between the center of gravity cg of the inertial member 50 and the axes r1 -- r1 and r2 -- r2 respectively . as shown in fig2 the effect of the springs 10 and 11 is non - symmetrical with respect to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis x -- x of the inertial member 50 and passing through the center of gravity cg of the inertial member . this non - symmetrical effect of the springs 10 and 11 accounts for the two resonance frequencies of this embodiment of the invention . the critical factor is neither the placement itself of the springs nor the relative stiffness itself of the springs . the critical factor is moment of stiffness , that is , the product of coefficient of stiffness of each spring and the distance of the spring from the center of gravity of the inertial member . when the moments of stiffness of the two springs are unequal , there are two interdependent modes of vibration in the vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the inertial member and passing through its center of gravity . but when the moments of stiffness of springs are equal , there will be two independent modes of vibration in the same plane . independence of vibration means that vibration may be experienced in one mode without vibration occurring in the other mode . for example , when the moments of stiffness for the springs in fig2 are equal , the inertial member may rotate about its center of gravity without any displacement in the vertical direction of the center of gravity . similarly , the inertial member may vibrate along a vertical axis passing through the center of gravity with no attendant rotation of the inertial member . dependence of vibration or interaction of two modes of vibration means that when the inertial member vibrates in one given mode , vibration in a second given mode will also necessarily occur . in the case where the moments of stiffness for the two springs are unequal , there will be dependence of interaction of two modes of vibration of the damper in a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the inertial member passing through its center of gravity . in both modes of vibration there is a translational movement of the center of gravity along a vertical axis , and also a rotational movement of the inertial member about its own center of gravity . the two modes of dependent vibration are illustrated in fig1 a and 10b . both principal modes of vibration involve a vertical movement having a maximum displacement z and a rotation through an angle θ . as indicated in fig1 a , one of these principal modes of vibration includes a rotation through an angle θ 1 about an axis at a point q displaced from the inertial member 50 on or near the spring end 53 and a vertical movement with a maximum displacement z 1 . fig1 b shows a rotation θ 2 about an axis through point n which is on the inertial member and displaced from the center of gravity towards the other end or mass end of the inertial member , and a vertical movement having a maximum displacement z 2 . when the moments of stiffness of the springs with respect to the center of gravity of inertial member 50 are equal , the displacement of the point q from the cg becomes infinite while the displacement of the point n from the center of gravity becomes zero . as a result , the mode of vibration corresponding to that in fig1 a becomes a purely vertical vibration and the mode of vibration illustrated in fig1 b becomes a purely rotational vibration . the two modes are then independent of one another . however , nominally , when the moment of stiffness of springs 11 and 12 are not equal , the displacement of each point of rotation from the center of gravity becomes finite and non - zero and both principal modes of vibration include the combination of a vertical displacement and rotation through an angle as mentioned above . the frequency of vibration , or resonance frequency , of the damper is different for each of the two modes of vibration illustrated in fig1 . the absolute frequencies and relative frequencies of these two modes of vibration are important to the effectiveness of the damper in its function of attenuating the vibration of the suspended cable to which it is attached . a stretched cable under a constant tension load of t pounds is shown in fig9 . when the wind blows , the natural characteristic of this cable is to vibrate in a vertical plane . the cable will then have a deflection curve with any one of a number of specific wave shapes , such as that shown in fig9 . such a deflection curve is approximately sinusoidal . the cable vibrates up and down at a particular frequency and with a deflection amplitude a which depends primarily on the wind speed and the temperature of the cable and is exactly the same for each half cycle of vibration when a steady state condition is reached . at certain points g and h along the cable , the deflection of the cable is zero and the distance between these points is half the wavelength of the vibration . these points g and h are called nodal points , or nodes , and are points at which the cable is motionless so far as vertical displacement is concerned . the distances between nodal points is referred to as the loop length s . as shown in fig9 the maximum amplitude of deflection occurs half - way between nodal points or near the center of each loop length . it is well known in the art that the length of a loop is inversely proportional to the wind velocity for a given constant conductor tension , constant conductor weight per unit length , and constant conductor diameter . more specifically , the well known empirical relationship can be represented by the following equation : ## equ1 ## where d = the conductor diameter in inches w = the conductor weight per unit length in pounds per foot a very useful concept in the design of vibration dampers is that of mechanical impedance or dynamic mass . dynamic mass of a cable span is defined as the force applied to the cable at any point in a vertical direction divided by the acceleration of the cable at the same point in the vertical direction . the dynamic mass varies along the length of the cable and , at each point , it is a function of frequency . as the dynamic mass increases , the force required to produce a given acceleration increases . similarly , the greater the dynamic mass , the less the acceleration for a given force . since the maximum amplitude of displacement occurs at points halfway along the loop length , acceleration is largest at points of maximum displacement amplitude . these are points at which the dynamic mass or mechanical impedance of the cable is a minimum . conversely , at points on the cable near the nodal points , the acceleration is small and hence the dynamic mass of the cable at those points is relatively large . it is also useful to distinguish between mechanical impedance as defined above , wherein the vertical displacement is measured at the point of the cable at which the force is applied and a mechanical impedance wherein the vertical acceleration of the cable is measured at a point other than the point at which the force is applied . the former mechanical impedance is called a driving point mechanical impedance while the latter is called a transfer mechanical impedance . further shown in fig9 are locations along or near the cable relevant to measurements of the effectiveness of a damper . points 1 , 2 , 4 , and 5 indicate various points on the suspended cable . point 1 represents the point of application of an applied test force . point 2 represents the point on the cable at which the damper is to be connected . point 3 represents the equivalent point on the damper which is to be connected to the cable , the points 4 and 5 represent points on the cable at which measurements of acceleration would be made . the vibration amplitude is measured with accelerometers while maintaining sinusoidal motion resulting from the applied test force . the vibration amplitude of the cable at point 4 with the damper on the cable ( points 2 and 3 connected ) divided by the amplitude of the cable at point 4 without the damper on the cable ( points 2 and 3 disconnected ) is called the reflection vibration . the residual vibration is the vibration amplitude of the cable at point 5 with points 2 and 3 connected , divided by the vibration amplitude of the cable at point 5 with points 2 and 3 disconnected . the vibration attenuation at point 4 , v 4 , and the vibration attenuation at point 5 , v 5 , expressed in percent , can be calculated from the measurements and are given by the following equations : ## equ2 ## where a 4 &# 39 ; = the vibration amplitude at point 4 with the damper on the cable . a 4 = the vibration amplitude at point 4 without the damper on the cable . a 5 &# 39 ; = the vibration amplitude at point 5 with the damper on the cable . a 5 = the vibration amplitude at point 5 without the damper on the cable . all required data are taken at each frequency of interest while applying the identical value of test force with and without the damper on the cable . in effect , transfer impedances and transfer dynamic masses of the cable are being measured with and without the damper on the cable . the procedure for making such measurements is described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 675 , 471 ( bouche , 1972 ). fig1 is a graph of residual vibration attenuation versus frequency and wind speed for the point on the cable two feet from the near suspension point ( point 5 in fig9 ). fig1 is a graph of reflection vibration attenuation , measured at a point three feet from the far end of the cable ( point 4 in fig9 ). the cable and damper used for these measurements have the characteristics indicated in table i . table i______________________________________cable parameters damper parameters______________________________________diameter 1 . 762 &# 34 ; length of mass 36 &# 34 ; length 145 &# 39 ; weight 36 lbstension 14 , 500 lbs spring separation 12 &# 34 ; weight / length 2 . 5 lbs / ft location of spring 5 &# 39 ; from end clamp suspension point______________________________________ the point dynamic mass of the damper is obtained by attaching the damper to a vibration shaker and measuring the ratio of the force at point 3 to the acceleration at point 3 and the phase angle difference between the sinusoidal force and acceleration . fig1 represents the dynamic mass of the embodiment of this invention depicted in fig2 and further having the specific physical properties of the damper unit ii as indicated in table ii . table ii indicates the more pertinent parameters of two damper units that have been constructed and tested . unit i is used on cables having a diameter of approximately 0 . 971 to 1 . 234 inches and unit ii is used on cables having a diameter of approximately 1 . 487 to 1 . 849 inches . table ii______________________________________damper damper damper spring springunit length weight separation stiffness______________________________________ i 24 &# 34 ; 20 lbs 8 &# 34 ; 500 lbs / in . ii 36 &# 34 ; 36 lbs 12 &# 34 ; 500 lbs / in . ______________________________________ as can be observed from fig1 , this damper has two resonances located at frequencies corresponding to the lower wind speeds . the lower resonance frequency corresponds to wind speeds slightly above 5 miles per hour , and the higher resonance frequency corresponds to wind speeds slightly lower than 15 miles per hour . it will be recalled that the critical wind speeds for high voltage lines lie in the range extending from 5 mph to 15 mph . the lower curve in fig1 represents the phase characteristic of the dynamic impedance of the damper as a function of frequency . the effectiveness of the cable damping is further improved if this phase characteristic is generally smooth in its variations as a function of frequency throughout the range of critical wind speeds . many tests were conducted to determine a practical means for improving damper performance to the extent described herein . the results showed the desirability of providing an elongated inertial member and an increased separation between springs . achievement of this increase in spring separation was clearly more economical when the springs were attached to separate points on the cable . however , this separation of attachment points provided the additional advantage of an increase in rotational coupling between the cable and the damper . this increase in coupling is caused by the exertion of separate and distinct forces by the vibrating cable on the damper at the widely separated points of attachment . additional improvements in damper effectiveness were achieved during testing . vibrations having frequencies in the critical wind speed range are further attenuated by the inclusion of tubular members composed of rubber - like material compressed within the helical springs 10 and 11 . these tubular members smooth out the phase characteristics of the damper , resulting in a more favorable mechanical impedance curve . it has also been found advantageous to attach the damper to the suspended cable with the spring end 53 of the damper pointed towards the near point of suspension . this orientation of the damper with respect to the cable maximizes the torque moment along the longitudinal axis x -- x of the inertial member . this results in a further increase in dynamic mass and a concomitant improvement in damper effectiveness . the damper is mounted at a position on the cable at which the cable would normally vibrate a substantial amount in a vertical direction as well as angularly about a horizontal axis . such a mounting position is effective if it is located between about 10 % and 20 % of the loop length of the cable corresponding to a minimum average critical wind speed . in the case of high tension cables having parameters as set forth in table ii , the damper there described is located 5 feet from the suspension at one end of the span . when so mounted , the damper produces adequate damping as illustrated in fig1 and 12 at both ends of the span as well as at intermediate points . in connection with installing a damper at a position related to such a typical loop length , it is to be borne in mind that the length of such a span would normally be many times the length of such loop . thus , for such a high tension cable , a typical span length would be 1 , 000 feet , and the length of a loop for a wind speed of about 5 mph would be about 23 feet . in the case of such a high voltage cable , the damper may be mounted directly on the cable 60 , while for a lower voltage cable having a smaller diameter and other characteristics that cause the typical loop length in the critical wind speed range to be less , the damper would often be mounted directly on the armor rod 61 as indicated in fig1 and 2 . if the vibration attenuation is approximately 75 % over a predominant portion of the range of critical wind speeds , the damper is acceptably effective . effectiveness of damping is increased if the two resonance frequencies of the damper occur near the range of critical wind speeds of 5 miles per hour to 15 miles per hour . it is well known in the art that these lower wind speeds are the most critical because they place the highest dynamic stresses on the ends of the cable at the points of attachment . however , the vibration attenuation above 75 % will increase by at least several orders of magnitude the number of vibration cycles prior to failure of the cable . moreover , conductor fatigue failures and damage to suspension hardware are minimized to the extent of being virtually eliminated . an indication of the effectiveness of dampers is the extent to which one damper will provide vibration attenuation at points along the span far from the damper including points near the opposite end of the cable . when the vibration attenuation provided by a single damper is 75 % or higher along the entire length of the cable during occurrence of the critical lower wind speeds , the desirable advantage of having to attach just one damper to a full span of suspended cable is achieved . the attenuation curve of fig1 indicates the presence of this advantage in the specimen tested . an alternate embodiment of this invention having a different arrangement of the resilient support members , that is a different arrangement of the springs and clamps , is illustrated in fig6 and 7 . couplings 100 and 101 each have a helically wound toroidal spring 102 and 103 respectively , arcuately nested along the inside surface of the c - shaped ends . springs 102 and 103 are secured to the respective couplings by t - shaped studs 104 , 105 , and 106 , and by end flanges 107 and 108 of the coupling as shown best in fig7 . each coupling has an elongated end or stem portion which is embedded in the free vibratory inertial member 50 . foot members 109 and 110 serve both as guideways for supporting rods 111 and 112 and to increase the retentional friction of coupling 100 to the inertial member 50 . cable 60 lies along the common toroidal axis , or axis of revolution y -- y of the toroid shapes formed by springs 102 and 103 , thus being resiliently but securely connected to the damper . each coupling has a lateral opening through which the cable 60 is forced and snapped snugly into place in sufficient compression of the spring to prevent slipping . t - shaped studs 104 , 105 , and 106 serve the additional purpose of limiting the travel of cable 60 relative to coupling 100 whenever the relative motion exceeds the available spring compression . a rubber - like material , such as dow corning silicone rubber type 1890 permeates the springs 102 and 103 and serves as a coating 113 surrounding the c - shaped end , spring and t - shaped studs . the coating is best illustrated in fig8 . a rubber - like material tubular member 114 lies inside the springs 102 and 103 as shown in fig7 and 8 . this member serves the same purpose as the tubular member of the embodiment shown in fig1 . the coating 113 and tubular member 114 add resilience to the spring and protect the coupling and spring from weather corrosion . the respective elongated ends and c - shaped ends are positioned to be parallel , the points of intersection of the couplings and the inertial member lying along a common line parallel to the longitudinal axis x -- x of the inertial member 50 . the lateral openings of the c - shaped ends are oppositely directed , thus facing opposed edges of the inertial member . this configuration permits easier installation by connecting the damper with a simple rotating motion about a vertical axis . a differently shaped coupling 100 &# 39 ; and retaining stud 104 &# 39 ; are shown in fig1 . this configuration of coupling and stud would permit better accommodation and retention of the spring 102 . an additional alternate embodiment of this invention , having resilient support members similar in appearance to those of the second embodiment , but having differently structured couplings 200 and 201 , is illustrated in fig1 , 16 , and 17 . unlike the couplings 100 and 101 of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in fig6 and 7 , the couplings 200 and 201 are removably attached to the freely suspended inertial member 50 . to provide this removable feature , each of the couplings 200 and 201 has a c - shaped end 202 and 203 respectively , and a foot member 204 and 205 respectively , each of which is flattened to provide a suitable surface for securing couplings 200 and 201 to the flat top - surface of the inertial member 50 . the foot members 204 and 205 are connected to the respective c - shaped ends 202 and 203 by means of leg members 224 and 225 respectively . each leg member extends tangentially from a location adjacent the midpoint of the c - shaped end . the respective leg and foot members of each coupling are together referred to herein as the respective stem portions of the couplings . the couplings 200 and 201 are secured by means of hexagonal nuts 206 and 207 to vertical mounting studs 208 and 209 respectively , each of which forms part of the inertial member . as seen best in fig1 and 17 , the vertical stud 208 is partially embedded in the concrete inertial member 50 with a threaded portion 222 extending through the top surface of the inertial member . the stud head 210 rests against a lower reinforcing rod 212 . a jam - nut 213 , which lies just below the upper surface of the inertial member 50 , rests against an upper reinforcing rod 211 . the vertical stud 208 extends through an aperture or bore hole 214 in foot member 204 . the foot member is secured to the vertical stud by means of a lock - washer 223 and hexagonal nut 206 . it will be observed that the cable 60 lies along the common toroidal axis or axis of revolution y -- y of the toroid shapes formed by the springs 216 and 226 , as in the second embodiment of the invention previously described . in the third embodiment of the invention , each coupling utilizes a single toroidal spring . for example , coupling 200 employs the spring 216 which is secured to the flanged opposing ends 218 and 227 respectively of the c - shaped portion of the coupling by means of a series of parallel grooves such as 219 . the spring 216 is further secured by t - shaped retention stud 221 which retains the spring against the inside surface of the c - shaped ends of the coupling . the toroidal spring 216 is filled with two cylindrical pieces of closed - cell neoprene cord 217 and 220 , each shaped to be compressed within and to conform to the inside surface of the spring . although not shown in the drawings , a neoprene adhesive may be applied to the inside surface of the c - shaped portion of the coupling to provide additional means for securing the pieces of neoprene cord and the toroidal spring within the coupling . fig1 illustrates in an enlarged scale , the relationship between the coupling 200 , and the vertical stud 208 ; and shows an additional view of the relationship between the cable , shown in phantom lines , and the spring 216 within the coupling 200 . as in the embodiment previously described , rubberlike material , such as dow corning silicone rubber type 1890 permeates springs 216 and 226 and serves as a coating surrounding the c - shaped ends , springs , t - shaped retention studs , and end flanges . the foot members 204 and 205 need not be coated . thus it can be seen that the third embodiment of the invention provides coupling means which may be separately transported to the final assembly or installation site and removably attached to the inertial member prior to installation of the damper onto the cable . this removable attachment feature provides a number of advantages not available in either of the first two embodiments of the invention . by way of example , the coupling members may be separately transported to the final assembly or installation site in a more convenient package and from different manufacturing locations . this permits the independent fabrication of the inertial member including the pouring of concrete at a final assembly location close to the installation site where the concrete may be purchased less expensively and transported at a lower cost . the third embodiment of the invention herein described provides an additional advantage regarding maintenance and repair of dampers by making it feasible to replace one or both clamps or the inertial member , any of which may have been damaged , without having to replace all three of these elements of the damper . from the foregoing explanation , it may readily be seen that this invention , though providing a simple and inexpensive damper , also provides a significant improvement over prior art dampers by serving to attenuate aeolian vibrations over the entire length of a span of suspended cable throughout the range of high stress inducing wind speeds even though a damper is installed at only one end of the span . this invention provides an even greater improvement in damping when two such dampers are employed on each cable span . it will be apparent from the foregoing that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described , but that many changes may be made in the design or materials of which the various parts of this invention are comprised without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims .	8
an embodiment is shown in fig1 , which illustrates a block diagram of an image sensor with an included temperature sensor . basically , this system provides an image sensing system in which outputs can represent either the output of the image sensor , and / or at temperature of the image sensor , e . g . the temperature of the substrate on which the image sensor is formed . the system includes an improved temperature sensor circuit which determines the temperature of the substrate , e . g . the silicon . the system of fig1 shows an active pixel sensor , which may be formed using cmos circuitry for example . however , these techniques may also be applied to any other family or type of image sensor . an image sensor pixel array 100 , for example an image sensor array having “ m ” rows and “ n ” columns , is driven by a control signal generator 105 that generates control signals and clock pulses for the pixel array . the output of the pixel array 110 is provided in parallel form to a double sample and hold circuit 115 , that is , one which holds two values . sample and hold circuit 115 may carry out a correlated double sampling from the image sensor , to produce an output signal that is proportional to the difference between the value of each pixel prior to light integration , and the value of the pixel after the light integration is complete . the difference circuit 120 may determine the difference between the two signals . controlling element 105 may also produce the control signals for the difference circuit 120 . the output of difference circuit 120 is amplified by a gain circuit 125 , and output as an analog signal 130 . the final output signal may be this analog signal 130 . alternatively , an a / d converter 135 may be used to produce a digital output 140 indicative of the analog signal 130 . a second input to the double sample and hold circuit 115 comes from a temperature sensor 150 . the output 151 of the temperature sensor is also received by the sample and hold circuit 115 , and passes through the signal chain in the same way as the image sensor outputs . in this way , a signal which is directly proportional to temperature can be received from the temperature sensor 150 . this may be done , for example , during a time slot while the image readout is inactive . it may be done for example at the beginning of each image , or at the beginning or end of each one frame , or every few lines , or any other interval of pixels or time . in this way , changes in temperature which fluctuate on a relatively short time frame may be used as correction , as often as desired . in a typical implementation of an image sensor , such as the one described herein , a hotter chip provides a whiter image , or put another way , the black level of an image pixel has a higher voltage than the white level . increasing the temperature causes a correspondingly decreased pixel signal voltage . this is the typical case when a pixel photodiode is implemented in a p type silicon or p type diffusion well . in the opposite case , where an n type substrate or n type well is used to embed the photoreceptor , an increasing voltage may correspond to a higher temperature . a relationship between the temperature and the amount of compensation of image output may be stored . a so - called bandgap cell is shown in fig2 . this cell includes the temperature and voltage stabilized output labeled as v — ref . the output v — eb , q6 is a voltage drop away from the reference voltage , and has a linear and negative temperature coefficient relative to that reference voltage . in this system , a startup transient current input is required at the node labeled “ start ”. after reaching steady - state , the currents in transistors q 5 and q 6 eventually equalize . the fig2 circuit is based on the brokaw type bandgap reference circuit which is well - known . in fig2 , the two nmos transistors 200 , 202 share the same gate voltage by virtue of their common gate node 206 . the transistors 200 , 202 are matched to have the same or similar transconductance . therefore , the source potentials will be the same when they conduct the same current . the cmos transistors 210 , 212 form a current mirror keeps the source potential of the two nmos transistors 200 , 202 constant . the current mirror is also part of a closed looped amplifier which insures that the source potential of the nmos transistors will be kept low due to feedback . this loop should be kept stable . equal currents are hence forced through the two base p - n junctions of the diode - coupled transistors 220 , 222 . these transistors have different areas , with the area ratio between transistor 222 and 225 being 4 : 32 equals 1 : 8 . because of this area difference , there will be a difference in the p - n junction voltage drop across the junctions according to therefore , δ veb has a positive temperature coefficient proportional to absolute temperature . the v t is called the thermal voltage , k is boltzmann &# 39 ; s constant , t is absolute temperature in degrees kelvin and q is the charge of an electron . the p - n junctions have negative temperature coefficients of about 2 mv per degrees k . by balancing these two coefficients at a chosen temperature t = t θ , a close to 0 temperature coefficient can be obtained at that temperature . in order for the two currents in fig2 to be equal , the resistor r 6 must be greater than the resistor r 5 . the value δr is defined as the difference r 6 - r 5 . the two operating currents are then given by since r 6 = r 5 + δr , the output reference voltage will be : v — ref = v eb , q6 + δv eb +( r 5 / δr )· δ v eb v — ref = v eb , q6 =( 1 + r 5 / δr )· δ v eb ( 3 ) the operating currents and current densities of q 5 and q 6 may be selected to provide a negative temperature coefficient for the v eb determined in equation 3 . this can be balanced against the positive temperature term by the resistor ratio r 5 / δr and also by changing the area ratio between q 5 and q 6 . in this particular embodiment this ratio 1 : 8 . the last part of equation 3 also shows that the last term is independent of any common production tolerance in the absolute value of the resistors . however , the operating current will still vary around the target design value . there will be a logarithmic variation in the first term v eb , q6 over multiple process runs , and hence also in the output voltage . in most cases , this variation is acceptable . there is also an acceptable variation in the negative temperature coefficient of v eb , q6 . according to this finding , the present application uses the double sampling part of the analog signal processing chain of an image sensor to obtain the difference between the voltage v_ref and v eb , q6 , in order to output a signal directly proportional to the absolute temperature of the sensor as v — ptat =( 1 + r 5 / δr )· δ v eb =( 1 + r 5 / δr )·( kt / q )· ln ( a q6 / a q5 ) where a q6 / a q5 are respective emitter areas of q 6 and q 5 . this enables temperature measurement to be carried out independently of process variations according to a first order . however , there may be second order variations in the term δv eb . fig3 also shows a startup circuit for the bandgap cell shown in fig2 . in the fig3 cell , the start node 300 begins with a relatively low potential during startup . prior to start up , the gate potential of transistor m 14 is high so that the transistor does not conduct current . transistor m 11 is a relatively long transistor and can be used as a resistor . m 11 will hence always be conducting . this causes the transistor m 10 to conduct and provide the start up current . when the fig2 bandgap cell has started , this sets the gate potential of m 14 and therefore m 14 conducts current . that current is mirrored by the transistors m 12 , m 13 to pull down the source node of m 11 so that m 10 stops providing its start up current . the circuit also has two buffers and level shifters as shown in fig4 . the level shifters bring the two output voltages up to the normal voltage range used for the output of the pixel source followers . these level shifters also lower the output impedance of the bandgap cell . level shifting needs to be done using carefully matched transistor pairs and matched current sources for the source followers . accordingly , the bandgap cell has an inherent start current provided by the start current generating circuit thereby providing a temperature sensed output . although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above , other modifications are possible .	7
fig1 shows a single mirror motion element ( 1 ). the full array requires one of these per mirror . the first part of the element is a frame ( 2 ) containing two grooves , top ( 3 ) and bottom ( 4 ). the center of the frame contains a hole ( 5 ), in which a rotating axle ( 6 ) is held . at one end of the rotating axle ( 6 ), an arm ( 7 ) is affixed to facilitate the rotation . a top extensible shaft ( 8 ) extends from the top groove ( 3 ) to the rotating axle ( 6 ). the extensible shaft ( 8 ) is designed for one end to slide horizontally through the top groove ( 3 ) and the other end to rotate freely around the rotating axle ( 6 ) without directly rotating it . likewise , a bottom extensible shaft ( 9 ) comprises one end that slides along the bottom groove ( 4 ), and the other end that rotates freely about the rotating axle ( 6 ). the top ( 8 ) and bottom ( 9 ) extensible shafts connect to the arm ( 7 ) via connecting rods ( 10 ). one end of each rod ( 10 ) is allowed to rotate freely where it is mounted to the extensible shafts ( 8 - 9 ). the other end of each rod ( 10 ) is constrained to pivot within a collar ( 11 ) which is free to slide along the arm ( 7 ). as the rods ( 10 ) slide , they cause the collar ( 11 ) and arm ( 7 )— and by extension , the rotating axle ( 6 )— to rotate in the hole ( 5 ). the rotating axle ( 6 ) will support a mirror ( 16 ), which will rotate with the axle ( 6 ), as is shown in fig5 . fig2 shows an alternate embodiment of single mirror motion element ( 1 ). the full array requires one of these per mirror . the first part of the element is a frame ( 2 ) containing two grooves , top ( 3 ) and bottom ( 4 ). the center of the frame contains a hole ( 5 ), in which a rotating axle ( 6 ) is held . at one end of the rotating axle ( 6 ), an arm ( 7 ) is affixed to facilitate the rotation . a top extensible shaft ( 8 ) extends from the top groove ( 3 ) to the rotating axle ( 6 ). the extensible shaft ( 8 ) is designed for one end to slide horizontally through the top groove ( 3 ) and the other end to rotate freely around the rotating axle ( 6 ) without directly rotating it . likewise , a bottom extensible shaft ( 9 ) comprises one end that slides along the bottom groove ( 4 ), and the other end that rotates freely about the rotating axle ( 6 ). the top ( 8 ) and bottom ( 9 ) extensible shafts support large bevel gears ( 28 ). each large bevel gear ( 28 ) is allowed to rotate freely where it is mounted to the extensible shafts ( 8 - 9 ). a small bevel gear ( 29 ) is allowed to rotate freely around arm ( 7 ). the toothed surface of the large bevel gear ( 28 ) meshes with the small bevel gear ( 29 ). as the large bevel gears ( 28 ) rotate , they cause the small bevel gear ( 29 ) on arm ( 7 )— and by extension , the rotating axle ( 6 )— to rotate in the hole ( 5 ). the single mirror motion element ( 1 ) described and shown in fig1 will be used for farther illustration , though the mirror motion element ( 1 ) of fig2 could be substituted with no alteration to farther description of mechanism motion . referring to fig3 , in fig3 a a detailed illustration of the control element ( 13 ) is shown . in fig3 b it is shown in context within the mirror control structure ( 12 ). the top ( 3 ) and bottom ( 4 ) grooves present in the mirror motion elements ( 1 ) extend through the control element ( 13 ). the top lattice ( 14 ) contains a top slide ( 17 ) at its top corner ; the top slide ( 17 ) fits in the top groove ( 3 ), and as it slides it translates the entire top lattice ( 14 ) from side to side . likewise , the bottom lattice ( 15 ) contains a bottom slide ( 18 ) at its bottom corner , which slides within the bottom groove ( 4 ) and translates the bottom lattice ( 15 ). vertical slides ( 19 - 20 ) span across the end of each lattice ( 14 - 15 ), causing expansion or contraction with the results described in the previous paragraph . looking further at fig3 a , a wide variety of configurations can be achieved using only the slides shown ( 17 - 20 ). first , the top slide ( 17 ) allows the array to track the sun throughout the day . the bottom slide ( 18 ) adjusts the x coordinate of the array &# 39 ; s focal point . the vertical slides ( 19 - 20 ) control the z coordinate of the focus . as a result , only four slides ( 17 - 20 ) will move or rotate all the mirrors in the array ; the number of mirrors that can be moved will be limited only by the manufacturing , specifically the weight and compliance of the moving parts . the slides themselves will be moved by any desired actuating means , including motors , hydraulics or pneumatics , cables , belts , chains , or other means ; there is no preferred mode , but the actuating means should be equivalent to one another for the purpose of this invention . referring now to fig3 b , the mirror control structure ( 12 ) is shown , which is comprised of multiple mirror motion elements ( 1 ) in addition to a control element ( 13 ). the control structure ( 12 ) may be manufactured as one piece ; alternatively , several mirror motion elements ( 1 ) may be produced separately and placed together sequentially with a control element ( 13 ) added . the control structure ( 12 ) further includes two expanding lattices , top ( 14 ) and bottom ( 15 ). the purpose of these is to slide the ends of the extensible shafts ( 8 - 9 ) along the grooves ( 4 - 5 ), causing the rotation described above . if an entire lattice ( 14 or 15 ) is moved , all the mirror motion elements ( 1 ) will be adjusted similarly , as required to maintain the focus . if a lattice ( 14 or 15 ) is made to expand or contract by using the vertical slides ( 19 or 20 ), the mirror motion elements ( 1 ) will be adjusted proportionally to their distance from the end of said lattice ( 14 or 15 ). as an alternative to the expanding lattice framework , it may be desirable , and would be comparably achieved , to replace the lattice with threaded rods or springs , as shown in fig3 c . a representative example of control motion is illustrated in fig4 . the control structure is shown first , in fig4 a , maintaining a position in which all mirror control elements are held in an original position ; level and at equal angles . it is seen that neither the top ( 17 ) nor bottom ( 18 ) slide , neither the top ( 19 ) nor bottom ( 20 ) vertical slide , has been displaced from the level and equal condition shown in fig4 a . in fig4 b , the control structure is shown again in a representative new position . it is seen in fig4 b that the top slide ( 17 ) has been displaced laterally , while the top vertical slide ( 19 ) has not been displaced from its original position . thus the upper portion of the control elements in this configuration is set to receive parallel light from a location laterally displaced from the controller . it is also seen in fig4 b that the bottom slide ( 18 ) and the bottom vertical slide ( 20 ) have both been displaced from the level and equal condition shown in fig4 a . in fig4 b it is seen that the bottom slide ( 18 ) has been displaced laterally , and the bottom vertical slide ( 20 ) vertically , from the original position . thus the lower portion of the control elements in this configuration is set to reflect light to a location slightly laterally displaced and vertically displaced from the controller . fig5 shows the mirror control structure ( 12 ) on the opposite side . the control element ( 13 ) is now on the left , with the mirror control elements ( 1 ) on the right . several of the rotating axles ( 6 ) are shown , each one attached to a mirror ( 16 ) attached . depending on the state of the control element ( 13 ), each rotating axle ( 6 ) may be rotated at a different angle . the result of this differential rotation is that the mirrors ( 16 ) are rotated differently as well , which is seen in the figure . in order to achieve the desired mirror configuration , the control element ( 13 ) is used to account for the angular position of the sun , as well as the horizontal and vertical distance to the desired focus . it is likely that the position of the focus will be the location of an energy collector , and may be set at installation , as well as whenever needed . the position of the sun will change throughout each day , and the adjustment for that parameter will undergo continual change , directed by the control element ( 13 ). looking now at fig6 , it is noted that the mirrors ( 16 ) will be systematically rotated so that light from the sun will reflect to a common focal point . as shown in the fig6 a - 6c , it is possible to program a range of ( x , z ) coordinates for the incident light as well as the reflected light . in the preferred embodiment , the incident light will come from the sun , very far away , and will arrive as parallel rays . this will be the standard operating mode , as shown in fig6 d - 6e , though the device is capable of focusing non - parallel light as seen in the other figures . looking at fig7 , it is further possible to create a 2 - dimensional array of mirrors ( 16 ), which will allow a 3 - dimensional focus adjustment and also provide a greater efficiency for energy collection or storage . the first consideration to this end is to use two mirror control structures ( 12 )— one for the x - direction and one for the y - direction . fig7 a shows a 2 - dimensional array of mirrors ( 16 ) rotated about 2 axes , which may be adjusted to focus in 3 dimensions . fig6 a also shows one embodiment , to arrange the control structures ( 12 ) at right angles . this embodiment would require support structures on the remaining 2 sides of the array ( not shown in the figure ). looking further at fig7 , some additional consideration is required to attach both control structures ( 12 ) to each mirror . fig7 b shows one of many solutions : a gimbal ( 21 ), which allows the mirror ( 16 ) to rotate about two axes . the gimbal ( 21 ) allows rotation using the following mechanism , which will be repeated along both axes . first , a rotating cross ( 22 ) will be attached to the rotating axle ( 6 ), as well as potentially to the rotating crosses ( 22 ) of adjacent gimbals ( 21 ), to rotate as the control structure ( 12 ) is adjusted . at opposite ends of each cross ( 22 ), a vertical beam ( 23 ) is attached to translate the rotational motion of the cross ( 22 ). the vertical shafts ( 23 ) then connect to cross - members ( 24 ) on the underside of each mirror ( 16 ), so that as the cross rotates , the mirror ( 16 ) rotates equally in the same direction . note that the cross - members ( 24 ), capable of swiveling such that the angle between the two is not fixed , are necessary such that rotation of one axis ( 22 a ) does not affect the accurate positioning of the other axis ( 22 b ) as the mirror ( 16 ) is inclined . by including the described mechanism in two directions , independent rotation is made possible in two axes . fig7 c shows an example of a gimbal ( 21 ) attached to the rotating axles ( 6 ) of two perpendicular control structures ( 12 ). looking now at fig8 , a solar collector facility is shown . the entire array ( 25 ), as described in detail above , is placed near an energy collector ( 26 ), such as a boiler or photovoltaic cell . as shown in the figure , one array ( 25 ) may be arranged around a collector . in this case , it is still considered a single array because it may be controlled by a single set of four inputs for each axis . however , it will be appreciated that alternative arrangements are possible , without changing the novelty of the invention . for example , the same arrangement of mirrors could possibly be separated into a plurality of arrays , whereby more inputs , controllers , motors , etc . are used to control the motion of the mirrors in different locations . furthermore , the invention as shown in fig8 can be expanded within a solar collecting facility , with multiple collectors . in this expansion , each collector may be used in conjunction with a single array , or with multiple arrays as well . in this embodiment , it is quite conceivable that the controller and the power may be shared by multiple arrays .	6
referring to fig1 of the drawings , the reference numeral 100 generally designates a hollow golf club head embodying features of the present invention . the hollow golf club head 100 generally comprises a face portion 110 , an integrated sole and wall portion 112 , and a crown portion 114 defining a body 116 with an interior cavity 118 . a hosel portion 124 is connected to and / or integrated into the body 116 for receiving a shaft ( not shown ). furthermore , a removable , port cover 120 , which is described in further detail below with reference to fig3 , provides access to the interior cavity 118 , thereby allowing the placement of weighting material , such as lead tape , into the interior cavity 118 . in the preferred embodiment , the hollow golf club head 100 comprises a two - piece golf club head . the first piece comprising the integrated sole and wall portion 112 and the face portion 110 , including the hosel portion 124 . the second piece comprises the crown portion 114 , which is welded or otherwise attached to the first piece . other embodiments , such as a three - piece golf club head , however , may be used as is known in the art . fig2 is a bottom view of the hollow golf club head 100 , further illustrating the positioning and sizing of the weighting - port cover 120 in the preferred embodiment . preferably , the weighting - port cover 120 is positioned on the bottom , i . e ., the sole , of the hollow golf club head 100 and away from the face portion 110 . therefore , the weighting - port cover 120 is preferably positioned such that the weighting - port cover 120 is not visible by a golfer when addressing a golf ball . furthermore , the placement of the weighting - port cover 120 away from the face portion 110 allows placement of weighting material about , or on , the interior side of the face portion 110 , and along the heal / toe portions of the hollow golf club head 100 , as will be described in greater detail below with reference to fig4 . the weighting port cover 120 is preferably attached to the body 116 via a plurality of flush - mounted bolts 122 , and , optionally , may be coated with a friction - reducing material , such as teflon . in order to reduce the friction , the possibility of the weighting - port cover to “ snag ” onto grass , thereby affecting the swing path , and the wear and tear , the weighting - port cover 120 is flush - mounted to the integrated sole and wall portion 112 by the plurality of flush - mounted bolts 122 . fig3 illustrates the hollow golf club head 100 with the weighting - port cover 120 removed . the body 116 preferably includes a recessed portion 310 configured for receiving an optional vibration - dampening ring 312 and the weighting - port cover 120 . the vibration - dampening ring 312 , such as a ring made from foam , rubber , and / or the like , allows the weighting - port cover 120 to be securely fastened , preventing a vibration / rattling noise that may occur as a result of swinging the club and / or striking a ball and sealing the interior cavity from exposure to outside elements , such as sand , water , and / or the like . the plurality of flush - mounted bolts 122 pass through the weighting - port cover 120 and screw into the recessed portion 310 of the body 116 . alternatively , other methods , such as a weighting - port cover that screws into the body 116 , latches , and / or the like , may be used . the preferred embodiment , however , allows for weighting = port cover 120 that is curved to match the contour of the body . fig4 illustrates a side view of the weighting - port cover 120 attached to the body 116 in accordance the one embodiment of the present invention depicted in fig3 . as one skilled in the art will appreciate , the recessed portion 310 allows a smooth contour to be formed by the integrated sole and wall portion 112 and the weighting - port cover 120 when assembled . in an alternative embodiment , however , the weighting - port cover 120 is recessed from the integrated sole and wall portion . fig5 illustrates the hollow golf club head 100 with the crown portion 114 separated from the integrated sole and wall portion 112 in order to illustrate potential placements of weighting material in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . the illustrated positions are presented for illustrative purposes only and , therefore , should not limit the present invention in any manner . furthermore , the positions may be used individually or in combination to further customize the location of the center of gravity . weight location 510 illustrates a low - front - center location , which is located on the integrated sole and wall portion 112 adjacent to the face portion 110 , that imparts less spin on the ball and a high trajectory , resulting in easier workability ( the ability to hit the ball from left to right and vice versa ) and more carry ( the distance the ball travels in the air ). weight location 512 illustrates a high - front - center location , which is located on the crown portion 114 adjacent to the face portion , that imparts less spin on the ball and a low trajectory , resulting in easier workability , less carry , and more rolling . weight location 514 illustrates a low - back - center location , which is located on the back - center of the integrated sole and wall portion 112 , that results in more forgiveness and a high trajectory . weight location 516 illustrates a high - back - center location , which is located on the back - center of the crown portion 114 , that results in more forgiveness and a low trajectory . weight location 518 illustrates a low - back - toe location , which is located on the back - center of the integrated sole and wall portion 112 along the toe , that results in more forgiveness and a high , fading trajectory . weight location 520 illustrates a high - back - toe location , which is located on the back - center of the crown portion 114 along the toe , that results in more forgiveness and a low , fading trajectory . weight location 522 illustrates a low - back - heel location , which is located on the back - center of the integrated sole and wall portion 112 along the heel , that results in more forgiveness and a high , drawing trajectory . weight location 524 illustrates a high - back - heel location , which is located on the back - center of the crown portion 114 along the heel , that results in more forgiveness and a low , drawing trajectory . weight location 526 illustrates a forward - center - center location , which is located on the center of the face portion 110 , that results in easier workability with a neutral trajectory . weight location 528 illustrates a back - center - center location , which is located in the vertical - center of the integrated sole and wall portion 112 , that results in neutrally forgiving club head . weight location 530 illustrates a low - center - center location , which is located on the center of the integrated sole and wall portion 112 , that results in a neutral side - spin with a high trajectory . note that this location is located on the weighting - port cover 120 for illustrative purposes only . as stated above , the weighting - port cover 120 may be located at any desired location , and a weight may be placed on the weighting - port cover 120 if so desired . weight location 532 illustrates a high - center - center location , which is located in the center of the crown portion 114 , that results in a neutral side - spin with a low trajectory . fig6 illustrates a driver golf club head embodying features of the present invention in which the weighting - port cover 120 is located on the crown portion 114 . fig7 illustrates a hollow , iron golf club head embodying features of the present invention in which a weighting - port cover 710 is provided . fig8 illustrates a hollow , putter golf club head embodying features of the present invention in which a weighting - port cover 810 is provided . it should be noted that the placement and size of the weighting port is shown for illustrative purposes only , and , therefore , should not limit the present invention in any manner . it is understood that the present invention can take many forms and embodiments . accordingly , several variations may be made in the foregoing without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention . for example , the weighting port may be of a different shape and / or there may be a different method of accessing the interior of the club head , such as removing the sole of the club head , the back of the club head , or the like . having thus described the present invention by reference to certain of its preferred embodiments , it is noted that the embodiments disclosed are illustrative rather than limiting in nature and that a wide range of variations , modifications , changes , and substitutions are contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and , in some instances , some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of the other features . many such variations and modifications may be considered obvious and desirable by those skilled in the art based upon a review of the foregoing description of preferred embodiments . accordingly , it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention .	0
throughout all the figures , same or corresponding elements may generally be indicated by same reference numerals . these depicted embodiments are to be understood as illustrative of the invention and not as limiting in any way . it should also be understood that the figures are not necessarily to scale and that the embodiments are sometimes illustrated by graphic symbols , phantom lines , diagrammatic representations and fragmentary views . in certain instances , details which are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention or which render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted . turning now to the drawing , and in particular to fig1 , there is shown a perspective illustration of a control arm for a motor vehicle in accordance with the present invention , generally designated by reference numeral 1 . the control arm 1 is configured in the form of an a - arm and includes a single - shell base body 2 having a substantially flat bottom 3 which is formed with lateral legs 4 . in the example shown here , the lateral legs 4 are bent inwards for orientation in orthogonal relationship to the bottom 3 so as to extend approximately at a right angle to the bottom 3 . the bottom 3 has an installation opening 5 and stiffening embossments 6 for reinforcement . plural bearings 7 are arranged on the base body 2 and implemented for example as a bearing pin 8 , a bearing eyelet 9 , and a ball - and - socket joint 10 , respectively . of course , other types of bearings may also be applicable as well . a recess 11 is formed between the bearing eyelet 9 and the ball - and - socket joint 10 in the respective lateral leg 4 extending there between . the recess 11 extends substantially orthogonal to a pivot axis 12 established by the bearing eyelet 9 and the bearing pin 8 . the pivot axis 12 can be oriented in the motor vehicle in a direction of the vehicle longitudinal axis or vehicle transverse axis . fig2 shows an enlarged detailed view of the control arm 1 in an area of the recess 11 . as can be seen , the recess 11 has a rounded edge 14 in a transition zone 13 to the lateral leg 4 . the recess 11 is surrounded by a marginal area r which lies in the lateral leg 4 . the marginal area r may also be sized to continue into the bottom 3 of the base body 2 . fig3 shows an enlarged detailed view of a variation of a control arm 1 having a collared recess 11 , with a collar 15 being oriented in a direction to the control arm 1 . the recess 11 has a toroidal geometry and is defined by a radius 16 which may vary over a length thereof , in particular in the terminal transition zones 17 to the lateral legs 4 . the terminal transition zones 17 have an upper rounded edge 18 on the lateral leg 4 . the collar 15 extends into an interior space 19 of the control arm 1 . while the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with currently preferred embodiments shown and described in detail , it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit and scope of the present invention . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and practical application to thereby enable a person skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated .	1
referring to fig1 a typical data processing system is shown which may function as the computer controlled display terminal used in implementing the tree views of the present invention . a central processing unit ( cpu ), such as one of the pc microprocessors available from international business machines corporation , is provided and interconnected to various other components by system bus 12 . an operating system 41 runs on cpu 10 , provides control and is used to coordinate the function of the various components of fig1 . operating system 41 may be one of the commercially available operating systems such as dos or the os / 2 operating system available from international business machines corporation ( os / 2 is a trademark of international business machines corporation ); microsoft windows 95 ™ or windows nt ™, as well as unix and aix operating systems . a programming application for presenting tree views of action queues and modifying such queues in accordance with the present invention , application 40 to be subsequently described in detail , runs in conjunction with operating system 41 and provides output calls to the operating system 41 which implements the various functions to be performed by the application 40 . a read only memory ( rom ) 16 is connected to cpu 10 via bus 12 and includes the basic input / output system ( bios ) that controls the basic computer functions . random access memory ( ram ) 14 , i / o adapter 18 and communications adapter 34 are also interconnected to system bus 12 . it should be noted that software components including the operating system 41 and the application 40 are loaded into ram 14 which is the computer system &# 39 ; s main memory . i / o adapter 18 may be a small computer system adapter that communicates with the disk storage device 20 , i . e . a hard drive . communications adapter 34 interconnects bus 12 with an outside network enabling the data processing system to communicate with other such systems , particularly when the operations controlled by the interfaces of the present invention are in a network environment or when the controlled operations are in communications systems . i / o devices are also connected to system bus 12 via user interface adapter 22 and display adapter 36 . keyboard 24 , trackball 32 , mouse 26 and speaker 28 are all interconnected to bus 12 through user interface adapter 22 . it is through such input devices that the user interactive functions involved in the displays of the present invention may be implemented . display adapter 36 includes a frame buffer 39 which is a storage device that holds a representation of each pixel on the display screen 38 . images may be stored in frame buffer 39 for display on monitor 38 through various components such as a digital to analog converter ( not shown ) and the like . by using the aforementioned i / o devices , a user is capable of inputting information to the system through the keyboard 24 , trackball 32 or mouse 26 and receiving output information from the system via speaker 28 and display 38 . in the illustrative embodiment , which will be subsequently described , the tree of action queues interfaces will be shown with respect to the control of high throughput printers such as electrophotographic or laser printers . a local printer system 44 may be accessed and controlled via printer adapter 43 while , as previously mentioned , networked printers may communicate via communications adapter 34 . there will now be described a simple illustration of the present invention with respect to the display screens of fig2 through 10 . when the screen images are described , it will be understood that these may be rendered by storing an image and text creation programs , such as those in any conventional window operating system in the ram 14 of the system of fig1 . the operating system is diagrammatically shown in fig1 as operating system 41 . the display screens of fig2 through 10 are presented to the viewer on display monitor 38 of fig1 . in accordance with conventional techniques , the user may control the screen interactively through a conventional i / o device such as mouse 26 of fig1 which operates through user interface 22 to call upon programs in ram 14 cooperating with the operating system 41 to create the images in frame buffer 39 of display adapter 36 to control the display on monitor 38 . the display screen of fig2 shows a tree 50 of levels in region 52 of a display screen . also shown is menu bar 51 . in the example being described , the tree will pertain to levels of items in to be processed during printer operations . thus , the items may be awaiting various printing related actions to be applied to them . in fig3 queue 1 is expanded to show the next lower level , a queue of printer jobs 53 : job1 through job4 . in order to make a modification of actions to be applied , jobs representation 72 has been selected by the operator , which has resulted in an expanded view 70 of all four jobs in the job queue giving details of actions to be carried out . for purposes of this example , let us assume that after reviewing this information , the operator wishes to modify actions applied to all of the documents which are child items under job3 . these child items ( documents ) are not shown in this screen but may be seen hereinafter , as in fig6 a as group 62 of doc1 through doc3 . thus , the operator selects job3 , 71 which is shown highlighted in fig3 . this commences the operation to modify all of doc1 through doc3 as follows . first , the operator selects job modification 55 from menu bar 51 in fig4 . this drops menu 56 from which the operator selects the &# 34 ; change media &# 34 ; process . this results in the dialog box 57 of fig5 appearing on which the operator scrolls until the item in scroll window 58 is &# 34 ; legal &# 34 ;, which indicates that the action modification is the change in media from letter to legal paper . the operator then confirms the change by pressing the ok button 59 . this results in the display screen of fig6 which indicates that in job3 all of the child documents have had the actions to be applied to them modified so that they will be printed on legal paper . this will be clearer with respect to fig6 a which shows the group of child documents : doc1 through doc3 with the medium modified in all so that legal paper will be used . the group of child items or documents in fig6 a has been brought up by the operator pointing and clicking on job3 which is shown highlighted 61 to indicate its section for display of the child documents in the queue 62 . thus , the operator , by designating job3 , which represents its child documents , doc1 through doc3 for change to legal paper has modified doc1 through doc3 to be printed on legal paper . however , job3 itself has not been modified , it remains unchanged in queue1 . now commencing with fig7 there will be described a procedure whereby an individual child item may be modified as to the actions to be applied to it without modifying other child items in the group from its parent . one of the child documents in the group represented by job1 is to be individually modified . the operator selects job1 which is shown highlighted 63 . this brings up document group 64 . doc1 is selected by the operator and thus highlighted 65 which indicates that it is to be changed . then , fig8 the &# 34 ; documents &# 34 ; item 66 is selected from menu bar 51 , menu 67 drops down and &# 34 ; change media &# 34 ; is selected . this results in the dialog box 68 of fig9 appearing on which the operator scrolls until the item in scroll window 73 is &# 34 ; legal &# 34 ;, which indicates that the action modification is the change in media from letter to legal paper for doc1 . the operator then confirms the change by pressing the ok button 74 . this results in the display screen of fig1 which indicates that doc1 has had its paper changed from letter to legal while other child items , doc2 and doc3 remain with letter paper . now with reference to fig1 we will describe a process implemented by a program according to the present invention . the started 90 program is continuous and involves the development of the display screen interfaces previously described with respect to fig2 through 10 . in the flowchart of fig1 , a basic tree interface is set up , step 91 , wherein the items at tree nodes represent items involved in the operations being controlled . in the present example , these would be printer operation control interfaces . of course , appropriate conventional linkages are set up between the actual real - time items involved in the operations and representations of the items displayed on a screen whether these representations be text or icons , step 92 . then a process is set up whereby the operator may designate modifications at parent level modifications in the actions to be applied to child items of that parent and to have such modifications applied to all of the child items , step 93 , without any corresponding modification to the parent . these are the modifications described with respect to fig3 through 6a . then , step 94 , a process is set up by which the operator may elect to change actions applied to only a child item individually . this type of modification has been described with respect to fig7 through 10 . next , step 95 , a set up is made whereby the modifications made by the processes of steps 93 and 94 are reflected in the displayed tree ; in this connection , modifications made by the process of step 93 are reflected in fig6 a , while modifications made by the process of step 94 are reflected in fig1 . now that the basic program has been described and illustrated , there will be described , with respect to fig1 , a flow of a simple operation showing how the program could be run . first , step 80 , the basic trees of items used , fig2 through 10 , and described in steps 91 and 92 of fig1 are set up . next , step 81 , a determination is made as to whether the operator has designated an item at a parent level in order to make an overall action modification in the child items represented by this parent . if yes , then , step 82 , an appropriate set of screen interfaces for this modification are provided , e . g . the interfaces of fig4 and 5 . the modifications are recorded in the system for all of the child items represented by the parent , step 83 , and the changes are shown on the display , step 84 , e . g . the changes shown in fig6 and 6a . then , step 85 , a determination is made as to whether the operator has selected a modification to be made in just one of the individual child items represented by a parent , e . g . the individual child item change selected in the screen of fig7 . step 85 also would have been done directly if the decision from step 81 had been no . if the decision from step 85 is yes , then , step 86 , an appropriate set of screen interfaces for this modification are provided , e . g . the interfaces of fig8 and 9 . the modifications are recorded in the system for the individual child item , step 87 , and the changes are shown on the display , step 88 , e . g . the changes shown in fig1 . the process flow then returns to decision step 81 via branch &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, and a further determination is awaited on additional action modifications to be designated by the operator . step 81 would have been returned to directly if the decision from step 85 had been no . while the present invention has been described using trees of items in printer operations as the illustrative example , the invention is equally applicable to the management and control of a wide variety of operations including the management of directories / folders and files / documents . for example , the present invention would allow all documents in a folder to be printed by specifying a print operation / action at the folder level . likewise , all documents could be deleted by specifying , at the folder level , a deletion of all documents without deleting the folder itself . other properties of the documents ( e . g . format , font , etc .) could also be changed at the folder / directory level . the invention is equally applicable to the management of industrial , chemical , and manufacturing production operations including the manufacturing of integrated circuits , as well as automated tool and die production . the use trees of action items could be a very significant implement in all such operations . in addition , queues of items are very extensively used in all aspects of communications including the distribution of programs , documents and information packets of all varieties over the internet , and the present invention could be of value in modifying items in such communications operations . although certain preferred embodiments have been shown and described , it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope and intent of the appended claims . for example , although the invention has been described with reference to modification of properties , the invention is also applicable to actions to be taken on child items which could be designated at the parent level . such actions may involve the printing , deleting , etc . of documents , for example .	8
the present invention includes a plug system that is insertable into a pipeline from a fitting , through a pipeline wall aperture . preferably , the pipeline has a straight longitudinal axis and circular cross - section . the pipeline can further have at least one aperture positioned normal to the flow of product in the pipeline . in a preferred embodiment , the pipeline is adapted to receive a pig . a plug of the plug system can include a body portion in communication with the circumferential outer surface of the pipe . further , the plug can have a first cylindrical portion , or a large cylindrical portion , having a diameter that is greater than the diameter of the aperture . additionally , the plug can have a second cylindrical portion , or a small cylindrical portion , having a diameter less than the aperture diameter . the plug of the plug system enables a pig to flow freely through the pipeline , and pass the aperture ( s ) without interference . the materials described hereinafter as making up the various elements of the invention are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive . many suitable materials that would perform the same or a similar function as the materials described herein are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention . such other materials not described herein can include , but are not limited to , for example , materials that are developed after the time of the development of the invention . referring now to the figures , wherein like reference numerals represent like parts throughout the several views , fig1 is a vertical cross - sectional view illustrating a pipeline stopping fitting , shown positioned on a pipe . a pipe or pipeline 100 preferably has a straight longitudinal axis and a circular cross section , wherein product or media , e . g ., gas or liquid , normally can flow in the direction shown by the arrow . if it is desired to stop such a flow of the product through the pipe 100 or through a particular section thereof , a plugger ( not illustrated ) can be employed from the stopping fitting 105 and be preliminarily installed on the pipe 100 . the stopping fitting 105 can be attached to the pipe 100 using a conventional method such as mechanical joint , welding , and the like . in order to have access into the pipe 100 , or insert objects into the pipe 100 , at least one aperture 110 in a wall of the pipeline 100 can be created . the axis of the aperture 110 is perpendicular to the product flow ( as illustrated by the arrow in fig1 ). in an exemplary embodiment , a second aperture 115 in a wall of the pipeline 100 can also be created . the aperture 110 enables the plugger ( not illustrated ) to be inserted into the pipe 100 from the fitting 105 . the apertures 110 and 115 can be formed by conventional well - known methods , including , for example , a circular cutter capable of removing the coupons from the pipe 100 . one skilled in the art will recognize there are other methods of removing coupons from the pipe 100 to form apertures in pipelines that can be used . in an exemplary embodiment , the apertures 110 and 115 are preferably on diametrically opposing sides of the pipe 100 . the existence of the apertures 110 and 115 require that , after repair work is completed , a sealing member must be installed across the aperture ; otherwise , product can leak from the pipe 100 . in an exemplary embodiment , the completion plug 120 having a rubber o - ring 125 is installed in the stopping fitting 105 to restrict flow of product from the pipe 100 . a pig 200 can be inserted into the pipe . then , the pig 200 can be fed through the pipe 100 via product flow to perform a number of functions , including , but not limited to : cleaning , displacement , batching , and internal pipe inspections . unfortunately , the pig 200 can be damaged by sharp edges of the apertures 110 and 115 , or can become trapped in / around the apertures 110 and 115 . fig2 is a cross - sectional view illustrating the pipe 100 having the pipeline fitting 105 with a piggable plug system 235 inserted in the pipeline 100 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the plug system 235 includes the plug 130 and retaining assembly 225 . preferably , the plug system 235 can be inserted into the pipe 100 via the fitting 105 through the aperture 110 . fig2 , however , illustrates the pipe having two apertures 110 and 115 . accordingly , the plug system 235 can block both apertures 110 and 115 . the retaining assembly 225 of the plug system 235 fits within the fitting 105 . the retaining assembly 225 can include a spring 135 , having a top 135 t and a bottom 135 b , and a bearing 140 . the spring 135 can be compressed between the completion plug 120 at its top and plug 130 at its bottom to retain the plug 130 in place in the pipe 100 . fig1 is a close up illustration of the plug system 235 , showing the retaining system 225 in communication with the plug 130 . the plug 130 can have a round boss 220 at its top , which can be housed by the bottom 135 b of the spring 135 for the spring positioning and retaining . the compressed spring 135 forces the plug 130 to remain stationary within the pipe 100 . as a result , the spring 135 protects the plug 130 from axial displacement . the bearing 140 can be housed by the top 135 t of the spring 135 . the bearing 140 reduces friction between the completion plug 120 and the spring 135 during the completion plug installation in the fitting 105 , thus protecting plug 130 from rotation . in fig3 - 6 , the plug 130 is illustrated in a close up view . the plug 130 can have a cylindrical portion 145 with the diameter slightly smaller than the diameters of the apertures 110 and 115 . the plug 130 further includes two partial cylindrical portions 150 with the diameter being slightly larger than the diameter of the aperture 110 , which , after plug 130 is inserted in the pipe 100 , can be located above the aperture 110 . the larger cylindrical portions 150 further can have arch - shaped undercuts 160 ( see fig3 and 4 ), located 180 degrees apart , to aid in plug 130 orientation and stability during and after its insertion in the pipe 100 . further , the insertable plug 130 includes a circular opening 155 , as illustrating fig4 , with a diameter approximately the size of the inner diameter of pipe 100 . an axis of the opening 155 is approximately perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical portions 145 and 150 of the plug 130 . fig4 also illustrates the location of the cylindrical portions 145 and 150 , and arch - shaped undercuts 160 , in relation to the opening 155 . the arch - shaped undercuts 160 and the large cylindrical portions 150 can be positioned above the opening 155 . a line connecting the centers of the arch - shaped undercuts 160 can be positioned parallel to the axis of the circular opening 155 . after insertion of the plug system 235 in the pipeline 100 ( see fig2 ), the arch - shaped undercuts 160 , interacting with the circumferential outer surface of the pipe 100 , can coincide with the axis of the circular opening 155 and the longitudinal axis of the pipe 100 . as a result , a pig can pass through the fitting 105 along with product flow . an opening 165 at the top of the plug 130 and a threaded hole 170 at its bottom , as shown in fig5 - 6 , can be included to enable connection of the plug 130 insertion and extraction tools . fig7 illustrates a vertical cross - sectional view of the pipeline 100 with a fitting 175 having a bottom outlet and a branch 180 connected to this outlet . fig7 is similar to fig1 , except a different type of fitting is shown , and the branch 180 is added to the bottom of the pipeline 100 . the aperture 115 , thus , opens to the branch 180 . fig8 depicts a vertical cross - sectional view illustrating the pipeline 100 having the bottom outlet fitting 175 installed and the plug system 235 inserted into the pipeline 100 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . as it shown in fig9 - 12 , the plug 130 can include a plurality of slots 190 , which can connect circular opening 165 to an external space surrounding the plug 130 through the top 195 and bottom 205 surfaces of the plug 130 , thus allowing product to flow from the pipe 100 into the branch 180 . the plug 130 of the plug system 235 can be fabricated from a wide range of materials such as metals , rubbers , plastics , etc . in an exemplary embodiment , the plug 130 can be fabricated from a material having low mechanical properties . common law mechanical properties materials that can be used to fabricate the plug 130 include rubber , polyurethane , plastic , and the like . to increase integrity and rigidity of the plug 130 the reinforcing inserts can be placed inside its body . fig1 illustrates a sectional view of the insertable plug 130 having the reinforcing inserts 210 and 215 , taken from the line a - a in fig3 . fig1 is a close - up of a sectional view from the line c - c in fig1 , illustrating the reinforcing insert 210 inside the plug 130 . in a preferred embodiment , the inserts 210 and 215 can be positioned perpendicularly to an axis of the opening 155 approximately in its middle reinforcing the plug at its weakest section . one skilled in the art would appreciate that the reinforcing inserts 210 and 215 can be positioned at other locations to aid in reinforcing the plug 130 . one skilled in the art would also appreciate that the material used for the reinforcing insert 210 or 215 can be of the material including reinforcing characteristics for the plug 130 . referring now to fig2 , a plug system 255 is illustrated for the pipeline 100 having only one aperture 110 . the plug system 255 includes a plug 240 and a retaining assembly 225 . fig1 - 19 relate to fig3 - 6 illustrating the plug 240 of a plug system 255 , wherein the pipeline 100 includes only one aperture 110 , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . like the plug 130 of the plug system 235 , intended for an insertion in the pipeline having the top 110 and bottom 115 apertures ( see fig2 - 6 ), the plug 240 of the plug system 255 can include cylindrical portions 150 with the diameter greater than the diameter of the aperture 110 . further , like the plug 130 , the plug 240 can include the cylindrical portion 145 with the diameter slightly less than the diameter of the aperture 110 , the arch - shaped undercuts 160 , and the threaded hole 170 for connection of the plug 240 insertion and retracting tools . the plug 240 , however , can include the half - cylindrical opening 245 instead of the full cylindrical opening 155 in the plug 130 . while the plug 130 preferably covers the whole inside circumferential surface of the pipe 100 in an area around the apertures 110 and 115 , the plug 240 need only cover inside surface of the pipe 100 , preferably above the pipe centerline . moreover , because of these differences in the shapes of the plugs 130 and 240 , the threaded hole 170 for connection of the plug 240 insertion and retracting tools can be located at the top of the plug 240 , more particularly , inside the round boss 220 . the assembly of both plug systems 235 and 255 , intended for the insertion in the pipe 100 with one or two apertures can have the same insertion process . the plug 130 or 240 can be assembled with the spring 135 and the bearing 140 outside the fitting 105 . the completion plug 120 with the o - ring 125 can be removed from the fitting 105 ( the machines and procedures used for the completion plug removal and re - installation , as well as for the plug system insertion are not discussed in this invention ). after this , the plug system 235 can be connected to the insertion tool and inserted into the pipe 100 . before insertion , the plug system 235 must be oriented relatively the pipe 100 to ensure that the axis of the opening 155 or 245 is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe 100 . in summary , the pig 200 placed into the pipe 100 would conventionally catch a corner of the aperture 110 or 115 and cause the pig 200 to clog product flow , and / or damage the pig 200 . the plug systems 235 and 255 enable the pig 200 inserted into the pipeline 100 to flow freely through the fitting 105 , past the apertures 110 and 115 , and eliminate pigging hazards . while the invention has been disclosed in its preferred forms , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications , additions , and deletions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents , as set forth in the following claims .	5
a vehicle shield constructed in accordance with the present invention may be used to protect a number of immobile objects . it is particularly well - suited for use with a stored vehicle in a garage , storage space or similar type environment . hence while a preferred vehicle shield will now be described in conjunction with a motorcycle and automobile , it is to be understood that the invention is in no way so limited . referring now to fig1 , a foldable , stowable protective barrier , i . e ., vehicle shield 10 , constructed according to the first embodiment of the present invention is shown . the vehicle shield 10 is constructed from a single sheet of a lightweight yet slightly rigid material . the shield includes a number of flexible connections , i . e ., hinges , 12 created during the manufacture of the shield 10 by any number of well known methods . the hinges 12 serve to subdivide the shield 10 into a number of individual panels 14 . the panels 14 can be angled with respect to one another so that the shield 10 can be erected in a variety of configurations . one such configuration is shown in fig1 but it can be appreciated that many other configurations are possible . in a preferred embodiment , the shield 10 is constructed of a unitary piece of corrugated cardboard measuring eight feet in length and thirty inches in height . the shield 10 is subdivided by fifteen hinges 12 into sixteen panels 14 of equal size each measuring approximately six inches wide and thirty inches high . in another preferred embodiment , the shield 10 measures twelve feet in length and thirty - six inches in height . the shield is subdivided by seventeen hinges 12 into eighteen panels 14 of equal size each measuring approximately eight inches wide and thirty - six inches high . it will be appreciated that the number and size of the individual panels 14 can be modified as required by the intended application . in the first embodiment , the flexible connection 12 is a living hinge . as utilized herein , the term “ living hinge ” is meant to define a hinge formed in and integral with , a relatively resilient material by rendering a portion of the material more flexible as for example by perforations , tempering , embossing or forming a thinner region therein . hinges of this type are well known to those of skill in the art and are utilized in a variety of applications . a living hinge may be bent multiple times without breakage or fracture of the hinge material . the vehicle shield 10 is formed with two side edges 16 , a top edge 18 and a bottom edge 20 . the shield 10 preferably includes at least one , but preferably four , stabilizer foot 22 integrally formed within the panels 14 . each stabilizer foot 22 has a first side 24 hingedly connected to the surrounding panel 14 , a top side 26 and second side 28 releasably attached to the surrounding panel 14 , by scoring , cutting , forming perforations 30 or similar means , and a bottom side 32 that is also part of the bottom edge 20 of the vehicle shield 10 . in alternate embodiment , stabilizer feet can be formed as separate pieces and affixed to the bottom 20 of the shield 10 as needed . a joining tab 34 is provided to connect the shield 10 to an additional shield 10 , as shown in fig4 . apertures , or slots , 36 are formed in the upper portion of a number of the panels 14 . the number of slots 36 depends on the number of panels 14 though preferably one slot 36 is provided on every other panel 14 . the slots 36 are located at approximately the same height as the tab 34 to facilitate joining shields 10 together as explained in further detail below and shown in fig5 a and 5b . alternatively , other joining techniques , such as clamping or an adhesive , could be used to join a shield 10 to itself or to another shield 10 . the vehicle shield 10 of the first embodiment can be made from any number of materials that are durable enough to last yet will also prevent an adjacent car door or similar impacting object from scratching or denting the protected vehicle . examples of suitable materials include foam board , double walled plastic , corrugated thermoplastic , corrugated cardboard and cardboard panels . the choice of materials will affect various characteristics of the shield 10 including weight , durability , effectiveness and price . for example , a low - priced , low - quality material , such as corrugated cardboard , could be used to make an inexpensive and temporary shield while a material such as foam board could be used to make a more permanent and durable shield . alternatively , a thicker shield of any material would provide better protection but weigh more than a thinner shield constructed of the same material . in operation , the shield 10 prevents dents , scratches and other marks to stored motorcycles , automobiles and other vehicles . the shield 10 can be positioned to stand alone , as shown in fig1 , with the aid of stabilizer feet 22 . alternatively , as shown in fig2 , the shield 10 can be connected to additional shields 10 via the joining tab 34 and a slot 36 to completely surround a vehicle such as a motorcycle 38 . for example , in fig3 , three shields 10 are joined together to form a protective barrier 40 placed adjacent to a car 42 . depending on the length of the car 42 , the length of the barrier 40 can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the number of overlapping panels 14 between shields 10 . in that case , the tabs 34 are inserted into any of the different slot 36 to shorten or lengthen the barrier 40 . the stabilizer feet 22 may not always be needed but do provide greater stability . for example , in fig3 , the stabilizer feet 22 are not necessarily needed to keep the shield 10 standing upright , but when used will ensure that the shield 10 does not tip over in the direction away from the car 42 . fig5 a - b details the process for linking a shield 10 to itself or to another shield 10 . the tab 34 is first pulled slightly away from the panel 14 . one of the shields 10 is then moved closer to the other shield 10 until the leading edge 44 of tab 34 is brought into contact with the slot 36 . because the tab 34 is formed from the panel 14 , it can be pushed outwards in either direction from the shield 10 . the panel 14 with the tab 34 must be lifted up slightly to permit the tab 34 to be fully inserted through the slot 36 . after insertion , the panel 14 and tab 34 move downward , either by gravity or an applied force . the two shields 10 are locked together as the trailing edge 46 of tab 34 is no longer adjacent to the slot 36 and therefore cannot be pulled back through the slot 36 . the tab 34 can be disengaged from the joined shield 10 by lifting upwards on the panel 14 containing the tab 34 and pulling the entire assembly away from the slot 36 . fig6 shows a folded vehicle shield 10 . it can be folded up when not in use or when on display in a retail setting . prior to folding the shield 10 , the tab 34 and stabilizer feet 22 can be placed back into their respective panels 14 and held there with a fiction fit . a velcro ® strap could be provided to ensure that the shield 10 remains folded when not in use . additionally , corporate branding , e . g ., trademarks of motorcycle manufacturers , can be printed or otherwise affixed on the shield 10 . turning now to fig7 - 8 , the motorcycle of fig1 is shown in conjunction with an alternative vehicle shield 110 . the vehicle shield 110 of this embodiment is preferably constructed from an inexpensive and flexible material . the shield 110 shown in fig7 is constructed from corrugated cardboard or plastic having corrugations 112 bonded to a single side wall 114 . similar impact - absorbing material is sold in rolls and used as protective packaging material in mailing and shipping applications . in a preferred embodiment , the shield 110 has a thickness of five millimeters ( 5 mm ) or greater . alternatively , the shield 110 may be constructed from any suitable foamed or padded material flexible enough to completely surround a vehicle without forming permanent kinks or bends . in operation , the shield 110 is wrapped completely around a vehicle , e . g ., motorcycle 38 , to protect against impacts from all horizontal directions . a first end 116 is overlapped by a second end 118 to form an overlapping portion 120 . the two ends 116 , 118 can be joined in any number of well known methods for joining two similar materials together . this includes , but is not limited to , tape , pressure - sensitive adhesives , clamps , and the like . a joining means may not be needed if the overlapping portion 120 is sufficiently large . when not in use , the shield 110 can be easily rolled up into a compact roll for storage . when protection is needed , the shield 110 is quickly and easily wrapped around the motorcycle 38 . as one skilled in the art will fully appreciate , the heretofore description of a vehicle shield has applications beyond the disclosed applications . it is appreciated that the present invention is equivalently applicable with any device providing inexpensive protection for stored items . description of a vehicle shield just illustrates the preferred embodiment in which the present invention may be implemented . the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiment , and it is recognized that equivalents , alternatives , and modifications , aside from those expressly stated , are possible and within the scope of the appending claims . various other embodiments including variations in size , materials , shape , form , function and manner of operation are considered to be within the scope of the present invention .	4
the invention employs a distributed database for the recording of the assigned drive letters , having database fragments distributed across multiple drives and media within the unused portions of disk space located after mbr &# 39 ; s and ebr &# 39 ; s . in each fragment , a drive letter assignment or logical volume assignment for that particular piece of media is stored . because the space used to store the database fragment is inaccessible by typical application programs , this method is transparent to programs which view the disk as a traditionally formatted disk . a special database manager , or logical drive manager , can access the database fragments on all disks , and assign each disk and partition the preferred drive letter assignment . as disks are inserted and removed from the drive during runtime , the special database manager can appropriately update the drive letter assignments and resolve any conflicts that may arise . the invention is preferably implemented using shadow partition tables . a traditional partition table is stored in each mbr or ebr on a disk , as described supra , and contains entries which describe partitions . each entry which is in use will contain , among other things , the starting and ending points for the partition as well as the size of the partition . for each traditional partition table on a disk there is a shadow partition table . therefore , one shadow partition table exists for each mbr or ebr on a disk . the shadow partition table for an mbr or ebr is located in one of the unused sectors in the track ( preferably the last sector of the track ) containing that mbr or ebr . the shadow partition table for an mbr or ebr has the same number of entries as the traditional partition table in the mbr or ebr , but its entries will contain drive letter assignment information in addition to partition information . table 2 represents the basic information that needs to be stored in each entry in the shadow partition table . each entry in the shadow partition table must contain a partition definition and the drive letter which is assigned to the partition being defined . there are multiple well - known ways to define partitions , but all known ways are essentially equivalent . the table does not actually have to include an entry “ first , second , etc .” ( note *); this is included for reference only . the starting point of the partition and the size of the partition is used to define a partition . the first item in table 2 is the logical block address ( lba ) of the first sector of the partition . this defines the starting point of the partition . the second item is the size of the partition . taken together , these two values define a partition . the last item in a shadow partition table entry is the drive letter assigned to the partition defined in the entry . when an entry in a shadow partition table is not being used , all of its fields will be set to 0 . the basic method for managing shadow partition tables is to mirror the method by which traditional partition tables are managed . thus , if an mbr or ebr is created , its corresponding shadow partition table is immediately created . if an mbr or ebr is deleted , then its corresponding shadow partition table is deleted as well . if an entry is created or deleted in a traditional partition table , a corresponding entry is created or deleted in the corresponding shadow partition table . every partition in the system is defined by a single traditional partition table entry and a single shadow partition table entry . at this point , it is important to understand how an entry in a traditional partition table is associated with an entry in the corresponding shadow partition table . since there is no default or fixed ordering convention for the entries in a traditional partition table , and since the order of entries in a traditional partition table does not affect the partitioning of the disk , the position of an entry in the traditional partition table cannot be relied upon to associate an entry in the traditional partition table with an entry in the shadow partition table . instead , traditional partition table entries and shadow partition table entries must be associated based upon the partitions they define . therefore , the process for managing the association between partition definitions in traditional partition tables and definitions in the shadow partition tables must directly compare the partition which is defined by the entries . for a given traditional partition table entry , the corresponding shadow partition table must be searched for an entry which defines the same partition including starting lba and length . if such an entry is found , then that entry is the corresponding shadow partition table entry . fig5 illustrates the essential logic of the process to manage the sticky drive letter assignments . starting ( 51 ) when a new drive is detected during the computer power - up sequence , or when a new removable media such as a cd - rom is detected as having been installed , the drive is searched for an existing mbr and / or ebr ( s ) to determine if it is already formatted ( 52 ). if it is not already partitioned , the user or operator of the computer can be prompted for an option to partition the drive ( 53 ). if chosen , the partitions of the mbr and / or ebr ( s ) are created in the normal manner ( 54 ), thereby also creating the unused space following the mbr and ebr ( s ). the user or operator can then be prompted ( 55 ) to create or assign sticky drive letters to the partitions , and if chosen , one or more shadow partition tables are created and stored in the unused disk space ( 56 ) in the manner described already . in summary , a partition table is contained in an mbr or ebr . the shadow partition table corresponding to an mbr or ebr is located in the unused sectors which follow the mbr or ebr . given an entry in the partition table contained in an mbr or ebr , the corresponding entry in the corresponding shadow partition table is the entry which defines the same partition . for a given partition in the system , there is a single entry in a traditional partition table that defines that partition , and there will be a single corresponding entry in a shadow partition table that defines the same partition . the drive letter assigned to that partition is stored in the shadow partition table entry which defines it , thereby completing the association of the preferred drive letter assignment with a partition in a way which physically travels with the medium ( such as a removable disk ), in a manner consistent with backwards compatibility for prior art partition table management . as shown in fig5 if the drive is already partitioned ( 52 ), the process of searching for shadow partition table ( s ) and associating corresponding entries with the mbr and ebr ( s ) as described already is invoked ( 58 ). if no shadow partition tables are found , the user may be prompted to optionally created the sticky drive letters ( 55 ). if sticky drive letters already exist ( i . e . shadow partition tables already exist ), the operating system is notified of the preferred drive letters for the partitions , and the process is ended ( 57 ). it will be understood from the foregoing description that various modifications and changes may be made in the preferred embodiment of the present invention without departing from its true spirit . it is intended that this description is for purposes of illustration only and should not be construed in a limiting sense . the scope of this invention should be limited only by the language of the following claims .	6
the description in this application is in particular directed to trichostatin a as a non - limiting example and is never intended to limit the scope of the invention . trichostatin a or derivatives thereof are disclosed to be useful as an antifibrotic agent for the treatment fibrosis . pharmaceutical formulations and use of compounds of trichostatin a are also disclosed . trichostatin a is an antifungal agent originally isolated from streptomyces hygroscopicus by tsuji et al . ( j . antibiot 29 : 1 - 6 , 1976 ). trichostatin a is also useful as an anticancer ( cancer res 47 : 3688 - 3691 , 1987 ) and an antiprotozoal agent ( j . antibiot 41 : 461 - 468 , 1988 ). in the course of experiments we discovered that trichostatin a has a strong antifibrotic effect on hepatic stellate cells which are the major connective tissue producing cells in the liver . trichostatin a can be brought in the form of pharmaceutically acceptable salts . as such pharmaceutically acceptable salts may be used so long as they do not adversely affect the desired pharmacological effects of the compounds . the selection and the production can be made by those skilled in the art . for instance , as a pharmaceutically acceptable salt , and alkali metal salt such as sodium salt or a potassium salt , an alkaline earth metal salt such as calcium salt or a magnesium salt , a salt with an organic base such as an ammonium salt , or a salt with an organic base such as a triethylamine salt or an ethanolamine salt , may be used . subjects to be treated by the present invention include both humans and animals . the antifibrotic agent of the present invention may be administered orally or non - orally . in the case of oral administration , it may be administered in the form of soft and hard capsules , tablets , granules , powders , solutions , suspensions or the like . in the case of non - oral administration , they may be administered in the form of ointments or injection solution , drip infusion formulations , suppositories whereby continuous membrane absorption can be maintained in the form of solid , viscous liquid , or suspension . the selection of the method for preparation of these formulations and the vehicles , disintegrators or suspending agents , can be readily made by those skilled in the art . the antifibrotic agent of the present invention may contain a further substance having antifibrotic activities , in addition to trichostatin a or its pharmaceutically acceptable salts . the amount of the active ingredients in the composition of the present invention may vary depending on the formulation , but is usually from 0 . 1 to 50 % by weight irrespective of the manner of administration . the dose is determined taking into consideration the age , sex , and symptom of the disease of the subject , the desired therapeutic effect , the period for administration , etc . however , preferably a daily dose of the active ingredient is from 0 . 05 to 100 mg for an adult . the following examples are provided to illustrate the present invention , and should not be construed as limiting thereof . trichostatin a 7 -[ 4 -( dimethylamino ) phenyl ]- n - hydroxy - 4 , 6 - dimethyl - 7 - oxo - 2 , 4 - heptadienamide was prepared from the culture broth of streptmyces platensis no . 145 . sodium butyrate was purchased from sigma ( st . louis , mo ., usa ). stock solutions of trichostatin a were prepared in ethanol ( 2 mg / ml ), stored at - 20 ° c ., and diluted as required for each experiment . the final concentration of ethanol in the medium was 0 . 0016 %. stock solutions of sodium butyrate ( 100 mmol / l ) were prepared in distilled water , and diluted as required . effect of trichostatin a and sodium butyrate on the synthesis of collagens type i and iii , and smooth muscle α - actin by hepatic stellate cells the antifibrotic activity of trichostatin a and sodium butyrate were tested using cultures of hepatic stellate cells . stellate cells were isolated from adult wistar rats ( 400 - 550 g ) by enzymatic digestion of the liver with collagenase / pronase / dnaase followed by density gradient centrifugation on nicodenz ( nycomed , oslo , norway ). after isolation cells were suspended in dulbecco &# 39 ; s modified eagle &# 39 ; s medium supplemented with 10 % fetal calf serum , 100 u / ml penicillin , and 100 μg / ml streptomycin , and cultured at 37 ° c . in a humidified atmosphere with 5 % co 2 and 95 % air . at day 3 cells were exposed to trichostatin a ( 1 - 100 nmol / l ) for 24 h . during the subsequent 24 h cells were metabolically labeled with 25 μci / ml of trans 35s - label ( specific activity of 35 s - methionine & gt ; 1 , 000 ci / mmol , icn biomedicals , costa mesa calif .) while exposure to the compounds was continued . after labelling medium was collected , and subjected to immunoprecipitation using antibodies against collagens type i and iii and smooth muscle α - actin . the precipitates were fractionated by sds - page and radioactivity of specific bands were measured by the phosphorimaging technology . for the effect at mrna level , cells were exposed to 100 nmol / l trichostatin a for 24 h . rna was then extracted and analyzed by northern hybridization analysis . table 1 and 2 show the results which were expressed as percentage value relative to the control culture , respectively for trichostatin a and sodium butyrate . note the dose - dependent suppression of collagens type i and iii synthesis by trichostatin a . also , note the strong suppression of smooth muscle α - actin , an activation marker of stellate cells . table 1______________________________________results for trichostatin a 100 nm 10 nm 1 nm______________________________________collagen i 37 . 9 ± 5 . 6 68 . 9 ± 4 . 7 91 . 7 ± 9 . 5collagen iii 30 . 1 ± 9 . 6 73 . 2 ± 20 . 9 71 . 9 ± 21 . 0sm α - actin 15 . 5 ± 7 . 4 54 . 4 ± 5 . 3 87 . 6 ± 0 . 3______________________________________ sodium butyrate suppressed smooth muscle α - actin less effectively , with 50 % reduction at a concentration of 1 mmol / l . inhibition of collagen type iii and smooth muscle α - actin synthesis indicated that trichostatin a was more potent than butyrate by 5 orders of magnitude . table 2______________________________________results for sodium butyrate 10 . sup .- 3 m 10 . sup .- 4 m 10 . sup .- 5 m______________________________________collagen i 107 . 8 ± 9 . 8 127 . 9 ± 16 . 2 92 . 8 ± 11 . 7collagen iii 67 . 9 ± 19 . 1 90 . 6 ± 42 . 2 109 . 4 ± 31 . 1sm α - actin 50 . 0 ± 19 . 9 91 . 6 ± 23 . 4 97 . 9 ± 24 . 4______________________________________ effect of trichostatin a on the gene expression of collagens type i and iii , and smooth muscle α - actin by hepatic stellate cells hepatic stellate cells were isolated and cultured as described in example 1 . cells were exposed to 100 nmol / l trichostatin a for 24 h . rna was then extracted and analyzed by northern hybridization analysis . at day 3 cells were exposed to 100 nmol / l trichostatin a or 1 mmol / l sodium butyrate for 24 h . total rna was extracted by the method of chomczynski and sacchi . northern hybridization was performed using p - labeled cdna probes for rat procollagen α 1 ( i ) ( 1 . 6 kb pst i fragment ), rat procollagen α 1 ( iii ) ( 0 . 5 kb hind iii / ecori fragment ), and glyceraldehyde - 3 - phosphate dehydrogenase ( gapdh ) ( 0 . 5 kb xbai / hindiii fragment ). for smooth muscle α - actin , a crna probe corresponding to the 5 &# 39 ;- untranslated region of mouse smooth muscle α - actin mrna was used as described previously . the results were quantitated by phosphor - imaging and corrected for gapdh . the results at the mrna level are shown in table 3 . collagen type iii and smooth muscle α - actin mrna levels were suppressed to a similar extent as at the protein level . on the other hand , only modest tendency for suppression was observed for collagen type i , suggesting that the suppression of collagen type i was mainly post - translational . table 3______________________________________ 100 nm______________________________________collagen i 79 . 3 ± 13 . 5collagen iii 39 . 0 ± 13 . 5sm α - actin 20 . 6 ± 15 . 4______________________________________ effect of trichostatin a and sodium butyrate on the cell proliferation of hepatic stellate cells finally , the applicant examined the effects of trichostatin a and sodium butyrate on proliferation of stellate cells , since high proliferative activity is one of the major features of myofibroblastic differentiation . cells were cultured in triplicate or quadruplicate in 24 well plates ( costar ). cells at day 2 were exposed to 0 . 01 - 1 mmol / l sodium butyrate or 1 - 100 nmol / l trichostatin a for the 4 subsequent days . culture medium and test compounds were replaced every day . at day 6 cells were trypsinized and counted in a hemocytometer . trichostatin a showed at 100 nmol / l a strong suppressive effect on proliferation . table 4 summarizes these cell - count results . table 4______________________________________cell - count results______________________________________ 10 . sup .- 7 m 10 . sup .- 8 m 10 . sup .- 9 mcontrol trichostatin a trichostatin a trichostatin a______________________________________23 . 7 ± 1 . 9 16 . 2 ± 1 . 0 22 . 0 ± 3 . 0 22 . 9 ± 1 . 0______________________________________ 10 . sup .- 3 m 10 . sup .- 4 m 10 . sup .- 5 mcontrol butyrate butyrate butyrate______________________________________23 . 9 ± 2 . 0 20 . 4 ± 0 . 2 22 . 2 ± 0 . 7 21 . 1 ± 2 . 0______________________________________ finally cells were cultured in triplicate or quadruplicate in 24 well plates . at day 4 cells were exposed tot 0 . 01 - 1 mmol / l sodium butyrate or 1 - 100 nmol / l trichostatin a for 24 h . subsequently , medium was changed and cells were further incubated for 20 h with the same concentrations of sodium butyrate or trichostatin a in the presence of 10 μci / ml [ 3 h ]- thymidine ( specific activity 25 ci / mmol , 10 μci / ml ). radioactivity incorporated into the 2 % perchloric acid / 95 % ethanol / insoluble fraction was measured by scintillation counting . parallel cultures incubated with [ 3 h ]- thymidine in the presence of 10 mmol / l hydroxyurea provided the baseline value , which was subtracted from each measurement . final data were normalized for cell number which was determined by trypsinization of parallel wells . table 5 shows the results expressed in cpm / cell . table 5______________________________________ [. sup . 3 h ]- thymidine incorporation______________________________________ 10 . sup .- 7 m 10 . sup .- 8 m 10 . sup .- 9 mcontrol trichostatin a trichostatin a trichostatin a______________________________________10 . 0 ± 0 . 8 1 . 3 ± 0 9 . 9 ± 0 . 4 9 . 6 ± 0 . 4______________________________________ 10 . sup .- 3 m 10 . sup .- 4 m 10 . sup .- 5 mcontrol butyrate butyrate butyrate______________________________________9 . 9 ± 0 . 4 6 . 2 ± 0 . 2 9 . 5 ± 0 . 3 9 . 5 ± 0 . 2______________________________________ skin fibroblasts were obtained from male wistar rats ( 300 - 400 g ) by the explant tehnique as described previously . all rats were fed ad libitum , and received humane care in compliance with the institution &# 39 ; s guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals in research . cells were grown in dulbecco &# 39 ; s modified eagle &# 39 ; s medium with 10 % fetal calf serum , and cultured at 37 ° c . in a humidified atmosphere with 5 % co 2 and 95 % air . when the culture became confluent , cells were trypsinized and replated into 75 cm 2 culture flasks in a split ratio of 1 : 4 . experiments were performed using confluent cells between passage 5 and 9 . preliminary experiments have shown that under these conditions , skin fibroblasts had acquired the myofibroblast phenotype at the time of experiments , as evidenced by their large size , prominent stress fibers , and expression of smooth muscle α - actin . confluent cultures of skin fibroblasts were exposed to 1 , 10 and 100 nmol / l trichostatin a for 24 h . for the tgf - β 1 experiment , cells were exposed to 5 ng / ml of human recombinant tgf - β 1 ( calbiochem ) and / or 100 nmol / l trichostatin a for 24 h . after the initial 24 h exposure of these compounds , cells were metabolically labeled for 24 h with 50 μci / ml of trans 35 s - label ( specific activity of 35 s - methionine & gt ; 1 , 000 ci / mmol , icn biomedicals , costa mesa , calif .) in the presence of vitamin c ( 50 μg / ml ) ( merck ) and β - aminopropionitrile ( 64 μg / ml ) ( sigma ), while exposure to trichostatin a and / or tgf - β 1 was continued . labeled media or cell layers were separately harvested and stored at - 70 ° c . protein synthesis was measured by trichloroacetic acid ( tca ) precipitation . equal counts ( 10 6 cpm ) of labeled media or cell lysates were subjected to immunoprecipitation . immunoprecipitation was performed using antibodies against collagen type i ( southern biotechnology , birmingham , ala . ), type iii ( gift by prof . dr . d . schuffan , freie univ . berlin , deutschland ) or smooth muscle α - actin ( clone 1a4 , sigma ). after immunoprecipitation , proteins were separated by sds - page , gels were immersed in amplify ( amersham , little charfort , uk ) and dried , exposed to preflashed autoradiography film ( hyperfilm - mp , amersham ) or quantitatively analyzed by phosphor - imaging ( molecular imager , gs - 525 , biorad , usa ). confluent cultures of fibroblasts were exposed to 100 nmol / l trichostatin a and / or 5 ng / ml tgf - β 1 for 24 h . total rna was extracted by the method of chomczynski and sacchi . northern hybridization was performed as described , using 32 p - labeled cdna probes for rat procollagen α 1 ( i ) ( 1 . 6 kb pst i fragment ), rat procollagen α 1 ( iii ) ( 0 . 5 kb hind iii / ecori fragment ), and gapdh ( glyceraldehyde - 3 - phosphate dehydrogenase ) ( 0 . 5 kb xbai / hindiii fragment ). for smooth muscle α - actin mrna was used as described previously . the results were quantitated by phosphor - imaging and corrected for gapdh . the ratios of protein or mrna levels of treated vs . controls were calculated for each experimental condition and expressed as means ± standard deviation . for the protein study , correction was made for the difference , if any , in the trichloroacetic acid - precipitable counts . the number of experiments used to calculate a mean value was at least 3 . the effect was considered statistically significant , when 1 . 0 did not belong to the 95 % confidence interval of the treated / control ratio . then we metabolically labeled endogenously produced protein with 35 s - methionine , and immunoprecipitated collagen type i and iii using specific antibodies . the immunoprecipitated proteins were separated on sds - page and quantified by phosphor - imaging . we found that at 100 nmol / l , 10 nmol / l , and 1 nmol / l trichostatin a inhibited synthesis of collagen type i by 30 %, 44 %, and 17 %, respectively ( table 6 , row 2 ). synthesis of collagen type iii was inhibited by 41 %, 49 %, and 10 % at the same concentrations of trichostatin a ( table 6 , row 3 ). thus , both collagen type i and iii were inhibited by trichostatin a ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 for 100 nmol / l and p & lt ; 0 . 01 for 10 nmol / l ), with the maximal effect obtained at 10 nmol / l . synthesis of smooth muscle α - actin , a marker for myofibroblast differentiation , was also inhibited by 37 ± 18 %, 36 ± 8 %, respectively , following exposure to 100 nmol / l and 10 nmol / l trichostatin a ( table 6 , row 4 ). these inhibitory effects of trichostatin a was selective , since over all protein synthesis as measured by tca - precipitable counts was not affected . next we explored whether trichostatin a affected the fibrogenic actions of tgf - β 1 in skin fibroblasts . for this purpose , cells were exposed to tfg - β 1 ( 5 ng / ml ) alone , trichostatin a ( 100 ng / ml ) alone , or combination of tfg - β 1 ( 5 ng / ml ) and trichostatin a ( 100 nmol / l ). collagen type i and iii , and smooth muscle α - actin were again immunoprecipitated , separated on sds - page and quantified by phosphor - imaging . as shown in table 7 , exposure to tgf - β 1 stimulated synthesis of collagen type i and iii 3 . 4 and 4 . 7 fold , respectively . although stimulation occurred in every preparation of skin fibroblasts , the magnitude of stimulation varied from culture to culture ranging from 1 . 8 to 5 . 9 fold for collagen type i and from 2 . 5 to 8 . 0 fold for collagen type iii . tgf - β 1 , had a modest stimulating effect ( 1 . 8 fold increase ) on the synthesis of smooth muscle α - actin . strikingly , the stimulating effect of tgfβ 1 was largely abolished , when tgf - β 1 and trichostatin 1 were added simultaneously . finally , we explored at which level trichostatin a exerted its inhibitory effect on the collagen synthesis by skin fibroblasts . for this purpose we again exposed skin fibroblasts to trichostatin a and / or tgf - β1 . after 24 hour exposure , total rna was extracted and subjected to northern hybridization analysis . the radioactivity was measured , corrected for gapdh , and expressed as a ratio to the value of the control culture . as shown in table 8 , tgf - β 1 ( 5ng / ml ) increased gene expression of collagens type i , and iii , and smooth muscle α - actin 2 . 3 fold , 2 . 5 fold and 1 . 7 fold , respectively . trichostatin a alone ( 100 nmol / l ) had a modest suppressive effect on the mrna levels of collagens type i and iii and smooth muscle α - actin . these data suggest that suppressive effect of trichostatin a occurs both at the transcriptional and posttranslational level . the results of the above mentioned examples are summurized in table 6 , 7 and 8 . table 6______________________________________the effect of different concentrations of tsa at the proteinlevel . results are expressed as percentage of control value 100 nm 10 nm 1 nm______________________________________collagen i 70 +/- 13 % 56 +/- 11 % 83 +/- 11 % collagen iii 59 +/- 18 % 51 +/- 11 % 90 +/- 14 % α - sma 63 +/- 8 % 64 +/- 8 % 86 +/- 23 % ______________________________________ table 7______________________________________the effect of tsa on inducing effect of tgf - β atthe protein level tgf - β tgf - β + tsa tsa______________________________________collagen i 347 ± 185 % 121 ± 39 % 70 ± 13 % collagen iii 476 ± 273 % 86 ± 35 % 59 ± 18 % sma 175 ± 196 % 67 ± 6 % 63 ± 8 % ______________________________________ table 8______________________________________the effect of tsa on the inducing effect of tgf - βat the mrna level tgf - β tgf - β + tsa tsa______________________________________collagen i 231 ± 89 % 132 ± 49 % 84 ± 14 % collagen iii 253 ± 94 % 180 ± 51 % 74 ± 10 % sma 171 ± 61 % 114 ± 24 % 85 ± 16 % ______________________________________ the results in this application indicate that histone deacetylase inhibitors provide a novel therapeutic potential in the treatment of fibro - proliferative diseases . in conclusion , we have demonstrated that two unrelated histone deacetylase inhibitors are active antifibronics compounds as two well known experimental models of fibrosis , i . e . hepatic fibrosis and skin fibrosis . the invention further relates to a method for the treatment of humans or animals afflicted with fibrosis , comprising administering to said subject an effective amount of a histone deacetylase inhibitor in particular trichostatin a or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof and optionally a suitable excipient .	0
via the terminal 1 , the horizontal deflection circuit is connected to the supply circuit of the television set . the supply current flows across the storage inductance 21 into the deflection circuit . the voltage applied to the terminal 1 is a dc voltage which is either already stabilized in a correspondingly designed supply circuit , with respect to any occurring mains voltage variations , or else by stabilizing circuit means contained in the horizontal deflection circuit itself . such arrangements , for example , are already known for the assignee &# 39 ; s u . s . pat . no . 3 , 895 , 256 and allowed application ser . no . 401 , 519 filed sept . 27 , 1973 . to the storage inductance 21 there are connected the commutating switch 3 , the commutating inductance 4 and the commutating capacitor 51 . these circuit elements constitute the so - called commutating stage of the horizontal deflection circuit . the capacitors 52 and 53 , as well as the line sweep switch 6 substantially form the stage of the horizontal deflection circuit controlling the line sweep . this stage controlling the line sweep , as may be taken from fig1 is followed by the deflection stage substantially consisting of the capacitor 7 and of the deflecting coil 8 , as well as by the high - tension transformer comprising the various winding 91 , 92 and 93 . the complete mode of operation of this horizontal deflection circuit will not be described in detail herein , as not being necessary for understanding the invention , and because of being described in detail , on the other hand , in the known prior art publications . the storage inductance 21 carries a secondary winding 22 via which , as is well known , energy is transformer - coupled out for supplying the audio output stage . the voltage applied to the secondary winding 22 is an ac voltage with the frequency thereof corresponding to the line frequency . the ac voltage is applied to the input terminal 15 of the audio output stage via a first rectifier arrangement 13 which , in this case , consists of a rectifier and of a capacitor and acts as a point contact diode rectifier . the energy required for the audio output stage , is not constant but varies in dependence upon the volume of the sound information to be reproduced . owing to the finite internal resistance of the supply source including the storage inductance 21 and 22 , load variations at the secondary coil 22 also have effects on the horizontal deflection circuit , i . e . in such a way that the picture width of the television picture varies in the rhythm of the sound volume variations . as already indicated hereinbefore , an increased power consumption at the secondary winding 22 has the effect of increasing the picture width . in conventional circuits , for avoiding this disturbance , stabilizing circuit means are inserted in the circuit connected to the secondary winding , with these means acting in such a way that the loading will always become equally high , i . e . substantially as high as required by the sound volume to be expected , otherwise the consumed energy is converted as a power loss into heat . in cases where the energy consumption at the winding 22 or in the subsequently following commutating stage ( 3 , 4 , 51 ) causes an enlargement of the picture width , the same energy consumption in the stage controlling the line sweep , in this case , e . g . at the terminal 90 , or in a subsequently arranged stage , such as at the terminals 94 or 95 of the high - tension transformer , is noticed as a reduction of the picture width . by making use of these effects , the invention proposes that a second rectifier arrangement 12 designed in analogy to the one ( 13 ) already described , is connected to the terminal 15 . via this rectifier arrangement 12 energy is now taken from the horizontal deflection circuit also at one of the terminals 90 , 94 or 95 , for being supplied to the audio output stage . it is left to the person skilled in the art to decide at what point the energy is to be taken off , e . g . either at one of the terminals 90 , 94 or 95 as shown by way of example , or elsewhere . as shown , a resistor 14 is inserted into the connection between the second rectifier arrangement 12 and the terminal 15 . by correspondingly selecting the resistance value of the resistor 14 , it is achieved in a simple way that the extent of the picture width variation which is dependent upon the point of energy consumption , is exactly adjusted in such a way that the two opposite influences will just compensate each other , thus causing the picture width to remain unaffected in the end , as intended . as may be taken from the aforementioned patents , and as not shown herein , the line - frequency alternating current in the horizontal deflection circuit and , consequently , the induced ac voltage at the secondary winding has an asymmetrical shape , i . e . both halfwaves of the ac voltage have different shapes of curves . moreover , if the regulation of the energy required in the horizontal deflection circuit , is effected by circuit elements in the deflection circuit itself , as is the case in the previously mentioned patents of the assignee , then , for example , during a control operation , the amplitude is changed in the one halfwave of the ac voltage as applied to the secondary winding , and in the opposite polarity halfwave there is changed the width , with the amplitude remaining constant within a certain control range . when choosing the polarity of the point contact diode rectifiers in the arrangements 12 and 13 in such a way as to be rendered conductive during the halfwave having the constant amplitude , this will offer the considerable advantage that a constant dc voltage will be obtainable at the terminal 15 .	7
the active components of the present pharmaceutical composition are present in the toothpaste vehicle in the following ranges of quantities : in the pharmaceutical compositions of the invention , the bicarbonate , fluoride , and zinc salts that can be used to provide the bicarbonate , fluoride and zinc ions are the pharmaceutically acceptable salts which are compatible with the ingredients of the toothpaste vehicle . in the pharmaceutical composition of this invention , the zinc salts that could be used to supply all or part of the zinc ion , are the chloride , citrate , acetate , lactate , salicylate , and , in general , glycerol soluble , pharmaceutically acceptable zinc salts . the preferred salt is zinc chloride . in the pharmaceutical compositions of this invention , the bicarbonates that could be used to supply all or part of the bicarbonate ion are sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate . the preferred salt is sodium bicarbonate . in the pharmaceutical composition of this invention , the fluoride salts that could be used to supply all or part of the fluoride ion are pharmaceutically acceptable fluorides such as sodium fluoride , and the like . the active components are incorporated into a suitable toothpaste vehicle containing polishing agents , thickening agents , sudsing agents , humectants , flavoring agents , and sweetening agents . these agents are standard pharmaceutical tools used in these preparations and are not an essential aspect of this invention . therefore , the amount of these additive materials used can be varied . any suitable water insoluble polishing agent can be employed in the compositions of this invention , such as , for example , dicalcium phosphate , aluminum hydroxide , calcium carbonate , calcium polymetaphosphate , dicalcium orthophosphate dihydrate , sodium polymetaphosphate and mixtures thereof . if a thickening agent is required , cellulose derivatives such as , for example , sodium carboxumethylcellulose and sodium carboxymethylhydroxyethyl cellulose or natural gums such as gum arabic or gum tragacanth may be employed . exemplary of sudsing agents which may be employed are , for example , sodium lauryl sulfate , sodium n - lauroyl sarcosinate , sulfonated monoglycerides of fatty acids having from 10 to 18 carbon atoms such as , for example , sodium monoglyceride sulfonates or mixtures thereof . among the specific compounds which may be employed as humectants are sorbitol , glycerine , polyhydric alcohols of like nature or mixtures thereof . as examples of compounds that may be used as flavoring agents are clove oil , menthol , peppermint oil , spearmint oil , wintergreen oil , sassafras oil and anise oil . sweetening agents would include compounds such as , for example , saccharin , dextrose , and sodium cyclamate . the following examples together with the accompanying drawing further serve to illustrate the pharmaceutical toothpaste compositions of this invention . a pharmaceutical toothpaste composition suitable for treatment of gingivitis is formulated from the following ingredients in two separate portions , including a flavor portion , which are then admixed to form the final composition . ______________________________________ first portion % byphase ingredient weight______________________________________a glycerine 96 % 5 . 00a carboxymethylcellulose 7mf 1 . 00b sorbitol 70 % 15 . 00c deionized water 23 . 05c zinc chloride 0 . 25c sodium benzoate 0 . 10c sodium saccharine 0 . 25c sodium fluoride 0 . 22c sodium chloride 5 . 00c srf 1 . 23c sodium bicarbonate 20 . 00d syloid b - 30 13 . 00d sicosil 63m 4 . 00e titanium dioxide # 3328 1 . 00e sorbitol 70 % 2 . 00f sorbitol 70 % 5 . 00f sodium lauryl sulfate 2 . 40f flavor 1 . 50______________________________________ the flavor portion which is a component of phase f above is composed of the following ingredients which are weighed and placed into a suitable stainless steel container fitted with a mixer . the mixer is then started and the mixing is continued until all of the menthol crystals have dissolved . ______________________________________ % byingredient weight______________________________________cinamic aldehyde 8 . 20menthol , racemic crystals 49 . 30methyl salycilate 20 . 50peppermint oil 4 . 10spearmint oil 4 . 10clove oil 13 . 80______________________________________ 1 . in an appropriate vessel equipped with adequate mixers weigh in glycerine . 4 . in another vessel , dissolve ingredients of phase c in order in deionized water . maintain heat at 50 ° to 70 ° c . for a few minutes . cool to room temperature . add to first vessel . 5 . to a kettle with vacuum draw at least 28 inches of vacuum . mix under vacuum for 5 minutes . 6 . break vacuum and add dry powders of phase d to batch one at a time under agitation . 8 . break vacuum . in a separate vessel , disperse titanium dioxide in sorbitol . add to batch under agitation . 9 . dissolve sodium lauryl sulfate , flavor , and color in sorbitol ( phase f ). add to batch . this embodiment of the pharmaceutical composition of the invention will be described with respect to a toothpaste tube or package in which the srf is separated from the other active ingredients until the time of use . fig1 is a vertical central sectional elevation of a dispensing end of a tube useful in packaging the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention . referring to fig 1 , collapsible dispensing tube 11 has a side wall 13 lined on the inside surface and a shoulder portion 15 terminating in a neck 17 onto which is pressed and held firmly in place a blending fitting 19 , preferably made of synthetic organic polymeric plastic materials , such as nylon or other suitable moldable and form - retaining polymer , preferably of the thermoplastic type . blending fitting 19 includes a longitudinally extending tubular portion 21 , the wall 22 of which is shown tapered and containing internal ribs 23 . wall 22 determines a longitudinal passageway 25 . a plurality ( usually from 2 to 6 but even single passageways may be employed ) of transverse passageways 27 , located near the joinder of the shoulder and neck portions of the tube , passes through wall 22 . the blending fitting includes an externally threaded outer portion 29 and a dispensing opening 31 , which is a continuation of passageway 25 . a sealing cap 33 may be screwed onto threaded portion 29 of the blending fitting to prevent unintentional discharge of contents from tube 11 . as is illustrated in fig1 initially a first portion of srf in a suitable vehicle at a ph of about 5 designated 35 is filled into the tube , as is fully described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 098 , 435 , to the level or interface indicated by numeral 37 . preferably then , an &# 34 ; insulating &# 34 ; or protective intermediate layer of non - reactive material 39 is applied and then the second portion of the dentifrice , identified by numeral 41 , containing the balance of the periodontal toothpaste ingredients set forth in example 2 is filled into the tube while the tube is maintained in inverted position , as illustrated . upon application of pressure to the tube , streams of the first portion of the dentifrice containing srf pass through openings 27 into passageway 25 , forming stripes or &# 34 ; inlays &# 34 ; in the surface of the second portion of the dentifrice in such passageway . entry of the first portion into the second portion is facilitated by the presence of the &# 34 ; upstream &# 34 ; ribs 23 and a correct and uniform proportion of first dentifrice portion to second dentifrice portion is obtained . because of the location of the tranverse openings 27 , essentially all of the product can be discharged and the dispensed product is of substantially uniform composition throughout dispensing . ideally , the portion of dispensing passage 31 &# 34 ; downstream &# 34 ; ( upon dispensing ) of transverse openings 27 will be as short as is feasible so as to minimize contacting of any reactive portions of the dentifrice with each other during storage for any appreciable time between uses . the material of construction of the tube is preferably a conventional polymeric plastic with polymeric plastic cap and blending fitting . the dentifrice and the different portions thereof , the various compositions of which will be described later , will normally be extrudable through the dispensing opening . the number of openings through the dispensing passageway walls will be chosen to regulate the desired proportions of the dentifrices to be discharged . the formulation of the toothpaste of example 2 is as set forth below . ______________________________________ % byphase ingredient weight______________________________________a glycerine 96 % 5 . 00a cmc 7mf 1 . 00b sorbitol 70 % 15 . 00c deionized water 24 . 28c zinc chloride 0 . 25c sodium benzoate 0 . 10c sodium saccharine 0 . 25c sodium fluoride 0 . 22c sodium chloride 5 . 00c sodium bicarbonate 20 . 00d syloid b - 30 13 . 00d sicosil 63m 4 . 00e titanium dioxide # 3328 1 . 00e sorbitol 70 % 2 . 00f sorbitol 70 % 5 . 00f sodium lauryl sulfate 2 . 40f flavor 1 . 50 srf concentrate crude * ______________________________________ * adjust concentration of srf to 3000 units / ounce of product . the flavor component present to the extent of 1 . 50 % by weight contains the ingredients and is produced by the procedure of example 1 . the preparation of the first portion of the toothpaste containing the srf is as follows : mix the srf with one - third of the sorbitol 70 % set forth above for phase b and one - fifth of the glycerine 96 % set forth above for phase b . this first portion at a ph of about 5 , is first added to the tube of example 1 and designated 35 . a small amount of sorbitol 70 %, i . e . one - fifth of the amount set forth above for phase f , is added to the tube to separate the srf first portion from the higher ph second portion . the second portion containing the balance of the ingredients is prepared using the procedure described in example 1 and then added to the tube and sealed . the preparation of another embodiment of the periodontal toothpaste of the invention is described below using the following ingredients . ______________________________________ % w / wingredient q . s . adjust to______________________________________part ipurified water deionized 100 . 000sodium benzoate , nf ( preservative ) 0 . 100sodium saccharin , usp 0 . 250sodium fluoride , usp 0 . 220sodium chloride , usp 10 . 000zinc chloride granular , usp 0 . 250srf concentrate crude * sorbitol solution , usp 22 . 000sodium bicarbonate , usp 15 . 000part iiglycerin 99 percent , usp 3 . 000cmc 7mf 1 . 000part iiiglycerin 99 percent , usp 2 . 000part ivsyloid b - 30 ( silica gel hsg - 750 ) 13 . 000sicosil 63m 4 . 000titanium dioxide ansb div sun 1 . 000sodium lauryl sulfate , nf 2 . 400part vperiodontal toothpaste - flavor mix 1 . 500______________________________________ * adjust concentration of srf to 3000 units / oz . of product . sodium benzoate , sodium saccharin , sodium fluoride , sodium chloride , zinc chloride and srf were placed in a suitable container and mixed for 5 minutes . sorbitol solution was added and stirring continued for an additional 5 minutes . to the mixture was added the sodium bicarbonate and the resulting mixture heated to 60 ° c . with stirring and maintained at that temperature for 10 minutes . the mixture was cooled to 25 ° c . and deaerated . concurrently the glycerin was placed in a separate suitable container equipped with a stirrer . the carboxymethylcellulose was added with stirring until evenly dispersed . the carboxymethylcellulose dispersion was transferred to the mixture of part i with the aid of vacuum . to this was added the glycerin of part iii with the aid of rinsing water . the mixture was deaerated and mixed 30 minutes . the viscosity and ph was checked . to this mixture was added a blended mixture of the syloid , sicosil , titanium dioxide and sodium lauryl sulfate . the resulting mixture was deareated . to the deareated mixture was added the flavor mix of part v with the aid of rinsing water . the resulting mixture was stirred for an additional 20 minutes and packaged in toothpaste tubes . the flavor component contains the same ingredients and is produced by the same method as in example 1 . ______________________________________ % byphase ingredient weight______________________________________a glycerine 96 % 5 . 00a cmc 7mf 1 . 00b sorbitol 70 % 15 . 00c deionized water 22 . 61c zinc chloride 0 . 25c sodium benzoate 0 . 10c sodium saccharine 0 . 25c sodium fluoride 0 . 22c sodium chloride 5 . 00c srf 1 . 37c sodium bicarbonate 20 . 00d syloid b - 30 13 . 00d sicosil 63m 4 . 00e titanium dioxide # 3328 1 . 00e sorbitol 70 % 2 . 00f sorbitol 70 % 5 . 00f sodium lauryl sulfate 2 . 40f flavor 1 . 50g d & amp ; c red # 33 ( 1 %) 0 . 30______________________________________ the components are formulated into a toothpaste by the procedure of example 1 . the flavor component present to the extent of 0 . 30 % by weight contains the ingredients and is produced by the procedure of example 1 . the method in accordance with this invention , to treat gingivitis or to induce an anti - gingivitis effect , comprises administering to the oral cavity of an animal organism , preferably humans , suffering from gingivitis , an amount sufficient to retard and treat said gingivitis . the preferred method is by brushing the toothpaste formulation onto the teeth and gums , and rinsing out . the procedure is used three times per day until results conform to the dentist &# 39 ; s treatment desires . in general , the pharmaceutical preparation of the present invention attacks gram - negative and gram - positive bacteria , both the aerobic and anaerobic spirochetes , large virus and certain protozoa , in addition to exercising an antifungal activity for oral infections caused by candida albicans . it acts as a protective for irritated and inflamed mucous membranes and as an oral lavage , and assists in the removal of tenacious mucus . the antimicrobial activity of the toothpaste of example 3 was determined against various organisms in an agar diffusion assay according to the following procedure : 1 . a 24 hour culture of each organism was diluted 1 - 1000 in sterile saline ( 1 - 100 for c . albicans ). 2 . 0 . 1 ml of this dilution was streaked onto the surface of 3 trypticase soy agar plates . 3 . one 8 mm well was dug into each plate with a cork borer . 5 . the plates were incubated for 24 hours at 35c and then the zones of inhibition were measured in mm . table 1______________________________________zone of inhibitation against various organisms fortoothpaste of example 3 ( in millimeters ) organism well # 1 well # 2 well # 3 average______________________________________c . albicans 50 50 47 49strep . mutans 42 44 44 43 . 3ps . aeruginosa 23 21 20 21 . 3______________________________________ ______________________________________ grams______________________________________gelatin ( finely powdered ) 47srf 3000 units per oz . of productmineral oil 47 . 5polyethylene ( mol . wt . 21 , 000 ) 2 . 5______________________________________ as a night time adjunct to the above brushing treatment of gingivitis the active ingredient , srf , may be formulated in a vehicle suitable for topical application to the gingavae . said formulation is a viscous pharmaceutical composition essentially comprising srf and an intimate admixture of particulate gelatin with mineral oil containing dispersed therein polyethylene having a molecular weight of at least 3 , 500 in an amount equal to approximately 0 . 25 % to 50 % of the combined weight of polyethylene and mineral oil , the srf preferably representing about 3000 units per oz . of the composition . ( a ) a polyethylene - mineral oil dispersion is prepared as described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 628 , 187 . ( b ) the srf is blended with an equal weight of the dispersion of ( a ) in a planetary type mixer and then the material is passed through a roller mill . to 2 gm . of milled material is added 2 gm . of the dispersion ( a ) with mixing in a planetary type mixer until homogeneous . again add ( a ) in an amount equal to that in the planetary mixer and mix until homogeneous . continue this geometric addition process until the dispersion ( a ) has been completely utilized . ( c ) the gelatin is introduced into the bowl of a planetary type mixer , covered with ( b ) and blended until homogeneous . it is thus seen that i have provided a dentifrice which is eminently satisfactory to accomplish all of the aforesaid stated objectives .	0

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