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we have discovered that an nox selective catalytic reduction catalyst of improved efficiency and stability to poisoning by sox can be produced by the combination of high surface area zirconia with a natural or synthetic zeolite . the materials are mixed , formed , dried , and fired into a desired shape such as rings or honeycombs , with or without the addition of a ceramic bonding material . the firing takes place at a temperature below the stability limit of the zeolite to form a monolithic body . the zirconia starting material should have a surface area ( as measured by the b . e . t . method ) of at least 10 square meters per gram , and preferably greater than 50 square meters per gram . a suitable source for the zirconia powder is the hydrolysis product of a zirconium salt . the preferred amount of zirconia in the product is 10 to 30 %, by weight . the operative range of zirconia is from 5 to 50 % depending upon other factors . the zeolite should be present in the amount of 50 to 90 %. bond may be present , 0 to 30 %. the catalyst can be further enhanced by the addition of small amounts of promoter in the form of precursors of vanadium oxide and / or copper oxide and / or other base metal oxides . for best stability in the presence of so 2 the vanadium addition is preferred . a preferred zeolite is natural clinoptilolite which may be mixed with other zeolites such as chabazite . the zeolite must be primarily in the acid form or thermally convertible to the acid form in the catalytic product . this form may be produced directly by acid exchange or indirectly by ammonium exchange followed by heating to drive off ammonia and convert the material to the hydrogen form . zeolites which are useful in this invention are those which can be produced in the hydrogen form by either method and which are stable when in the hydrogen form . certain zeolites such as zeolite a and sodalite are not stable in the acid form and are not effective in this invention . examples of zeolites which can be prepared by ammonia and / or acid exchange are mordenite , clinoptilolite , erionite , heulandite , and ferrierite . zeolites which can be prepared better or only by the ammonium exchange route are natural faujasite and its synthetic counterpart zeolite y , chabazite and gmelinite . mixtures of zeolites may also be used . other hydrogen form zeolites , such as those of the zsm series , are prepared by the thermal decomposition of organic templates and are also suitable for use in the catalytic composites of this invention . in use the exhaust gas , containing a suitable reducing gas such as ammonia , is passed over the catalyst . depending upon the requirements of the particular application , the catalyst may be in the form of honeycombs , stacked and arranged , if plural , to provide a through flow path for the gases . or it may be in the form of randomly dumped saddles , rings , stars , cross partition rings , spheres , pellets , or aggregates or the active catalyst composition can be coated onto a suitable substrate such as cordierite or other ceramic or metal honeycombs . the treated flue gas should be at least 200 ° c . to prevent deposition of ammonium salts , and may be as high as 650 ° c . the space velocity is not critical . typically at 10 , 000 hourly space velocity ( gas volume calculated to standard temperature and pressure ) a 1600 ppm nox content can be reduced by over 90 % at 350 ° c . a composition for making nominal 1 / 4 inch rings with 1 / 8 inch holes was prepared by mixing dry powders consisting of 4 , 000 grams of a powdered ammonium form of clinoptilolite with 1050 gms of chemically precipitated zirconium dioxide powder having a surface area of about 90 square meters per gram . water was added in the amount of 1800 ml and mixing was continued for ten minutes . concentrated nitric acid , 106 ml , is added and the mixing continued for another ten minutes . additional water may be added to adjust the consistency of the mix . when the mix is to be extruded 0 . 2 % of an organic cationic polymer extrusion aid may be added after the mix is wet . after extrusion the rings are dried in an air atmosphere for one to two hours at 200 ° f . the final firing takes place at 1 , 000 ° f . for five hours . when it is desired to incorporate vanadium or copper into the composition the promoter precursor may be added during the mixing operation , or may be impregnated into the formed product after firing . the added promoter should be present in an amount of at least 0 . 1 % by elemental weight , as the oxide ( v 2 o 5 or cuo ). table i shows the composition of a variety of catalysts made as described above , with varying amounts of zeolite , zirconia , binder and promoter . the so 2 concentrations were varied with time . the catalysts initial nox reduction activity without so 2 in the stream was measured over a 24 hour period and is listed in table ii , column 2 . then , 50 ppm so 2 was added to the stream and the nox reduction efficiency measured after an additional 24 hours with the results shown in column 3 . then , this so 2 concentration was increased to 1600 ppm and the nox reduction efficiency measured at 24 , 48 , and 330 hours , and shown in columns 4 , 5 and 6 , respectively . ______________________________________temperature , c . 350oxygen concentration , vol % 5nox concentration , volume 500parts per millionnh3 / nox , vol 1h . sub . 2 o 15n . sub . 2 balanceso . sub . 2 as indicated______________________________________ the data of table ii clearly demonstrate that the zirconia containing catalyst of this invention , sample no . 65411 , out - performs the control catalyst , sample no . 65233 . the zirconia containing catalyst not only has a higher initial activity in the absence of so2 but , more importantly , remains more active even in the presence of 1600 ppm so2 . table i______________________________________selective catalytic reductioncatalyst compositionssample number zeolite zro . sub . 2 binder______________________________________ 65233 * 90 0 1065426 0 100 065411 80 20 0______________________________________ * control table ii______________________________________nox removal efficienciesof selective catalytic reduction catalystsbefore and after exposure to so . sub . 2 % nox removal intitial after 50 ppm % nox removal aftersample nox so . sub . 2 exposure 1600 ppm so . sub . 2 exposurenumber removed 24 hours 24 hrs 48 hrs 330 hrs______________________________________ 65233 * 72 . 1 63 . 9 57 . 4 47 . 4 -- 65426 9 . 1 18 . 2 -- -- -- 65411 96 . 0 84 . 0 82 . 0 82 . 0 81 . 7______________________________________ control | 1 |
the present invention and its operation are hereinafter described in detail in connection with the views and examples of fig1 - 13 , wherein like numbers indicate the same or corresponding elements throughout the views . these embodiments are shown and described only for purposes of illustrating examples of the elements of the invention , and should not be considered as limiting on alternative structures or assemblies that will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . a saddle - type vehicle in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention can include , for example , any of a variety of vehicles configured for recreational and / or utility purposes and that comprise a handlebar to facilitate steering of the vehicle by an operator . saddle - type vehicles can include motorcycles , mopeds , scooters , atvs , and personal watercraft , for example . for example , as shown in fig1 , a saddle - type vehicle is shown to comprise an atv 10 . though the atv 10 is shown to comprise four wheels , it will be appreciated that an atv in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention may include fewer or greater than four wheels . one or more of the atv &# 39 ; s wheels can be configured as drive wheels , whereby their rotation is caused by a drive system present upon the atv , and their contact with the ground while rotating causes movement of the atv . the atv 10 is shown in fig1 to include a handlebar 16 to facilitate steering of the atv 10 by an operator of the atv 10 . the handlebar 16 can be provided with a left handgrip 18 and a right handgrip 20 . an operator of the atv 10 can , during operation of the atv 10 , selectively place his or her left hand on the left handgrip 18 and / or his or her right hand on the right handgrip 20 . an atv in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention will include an engine , as is generally depicted at location 14 in fig1 . although the engine may include an internal combustion engine to facilitate rotation of the atv &# 39 ; s drive wheels , the engine may additionally or alternatively include an electric motor to facilitate this rotation . in such circumstances where an internal combustion engine is provided , the internal combustion engine can be configured to consume gasoline , diesel fuel , kerosene , natural gas , propane , alcohol , and / or any of a variety of other fuels . a locking assembly can be provided upon a saddle - type vehicle in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . for example , in one embodiment of the present invention , the locking assembly can be supported with respect to a handlebar of a saddle - type vehicle . the locking assembly may be supported with respect to the handlebar by direct or indirect attachment to the handlebar . additionally , the locking assembly can be attached to the handlebar at a location such that the locking assembly may be operable through use of an operator &# 39 ; s right or left hand , and without , requiring removal of the operator &# 39 ; s right or left hand from the handlebar . for example , in one embodiment of the present invention , as shown in fig1 , the locking assembly 30 can be attached to the handlebar 16 at a location adjacent to the left handgrip 18 . in another embodiment of the present invention , a locking assembly can be attached to a handlebar 16 at a location adjacent to a right handgrip . the locking assembly 30 is shown in fig2 - 11 as including a removable portion 32 and a receptacle 40 . the receptacle 40 is shown to be configured for selectively receiving the removable portion 32 . in one embodiment of the present invention , the receptacle can be provided within a housing which also includes one or more control devices such as , for example , engine controls , gear shifting controls , drive wheel selection controls , horn controls , radio controls , and / or lamp controls such as for running lights , utility lights , headlights , and / or turn signals . as will be described in further detail below , it will be appreciated that , when the removable portion 32 is removed from the receptacle 40 , and is thus disengaged from the receptacle 40 , operation of the atv 10 can be prohibited . however , when the removable portion 32 is inserted into the receptacle 40 , and is thus engaged with the receptacle 40 , powering and operation of the atv 10 can be enabled . in this manner , the removable portion 32 can serve the role of a conventional key to facilitate selective powering of the atv 10 . when the removable portion 32 is engaged in the receptacle 40 , at least part of the removable portion 32 may be repositioned by an operator from a first position ( e . g ., an “ oil ” position , shown in fig3 ) to a second position ( e . g ., an “ off ” position , shown in both fig4 and 5 ) to selectively discontinue engine operation as desired . in this manner , repositioning the removable portion 32 within the receptacle 40 can provide an engine stop or kill function as desired . as shown in fig8 , for example , the removable portion 32 can comprise an actuator 31 which , in this embodiment , includes a handle 33 and two surfaces 34 and 35 . the receptacle 40 may comprise two pushbutton assemblies 60 and 64 which each respectively include plunger portions 62 and 66 . the actuator 31 may be moved from the central position to the upper or lower positions by gripping the handle 33 and then physically moving ( e . g ., by sliding ) the removable portion 32 so that one of the surfaces 34 and 35 pushes against one of the plunger portions 62 and 66 . depression of one of the plunger portions 62 and 66 resulting from contact by one of the surfaces 34 or 35 can facilitate discontinued or prevention of engine operation . one skilled in the art will recognize that other actuator configurations are possible , including , for example , actuators that do not involve movement of the entire removable portion with respect to the receptacle , or actuators that interact with the receptacle through use of a mechanism other than a pushbutton . such mechanisms can involve , for example , an , inductive proximity sensor , a capacitive proximity sensor , an rf transponder , an optical sensor , or otherwise . although fig4 - 5 , 9 and 11 illustrate the actuator 31 , once the removable portion 32 is engaged with the receptacle 40 , as being slidable within the receptacle 32 ( like a slide - type switch ), it will be appreciated that an actuator may alternatively interact with an engaged receptacle such as in a pushbutton , rocker , rotational , toggle , or other arrangement . also , although fig3 - 5 and 9 - 11 illustrate the actuator 31 as having three selectable positions ( i . e ., central , upper outer , and lower outer ) once engaged with the receptacle 40 , it will be appreciated that an actuator may alternatively have two positions or more than three positions as desired , wherein at least one position is configured to allow engine operation and at least one position is configured to prevent or discontinue engine operation . when engaged with the receptacle 40 , the removable portion 32 can be selectively held within the receptacle 40 in any of a variety of alternative configurations . for example , as shown in fig6 - 7 , the removable portion 32 can be removably held in an engaged position within the receptacle 40 through use of grooves 36 and 38 in the removable portion 32 receiving detents 42 and 44 of the receptacle 40 . while the detents 42 and 44 can be configured to selectively interact with the removable portion 32 for holding the removable portion 32 within the receptacle 40 during normal use of the atv 10 , it will be appreciated that an operator of the atv 10 can apply sufficient force as desired to pull or otherwise remove the removable portion 32 from the receptacle 40 . in one embodiment of the present invention , as shown in fig6 - 7 , the detents 42 and 44 can be spring - biased . one skilled in the art will recognize that there are many alternative configurations in which a removable portion may be selectively held in an engaged position with respect to a receptacle including , for example , spring - and - hook systems , push - and - rotate systems , expandable flange systems , or combinations thereof . it will be appreciated that a locking mechanism can be operable to secure a saddle - type vehicle from unauthorized use . for example , as shown in fig6 and 8 , the removable portion 32 can be disengaged from the receptacle 40 , thereby locking the locking assembly 30 and preventing powering of the atv 10 . fig7 and 9 - 11 depict the removable portion 32 being engaged in the receptacle 40 , thereby allowing powering of the atv 10 . more specifically , the removable portion 32 can be engaged with the receptacle 40 if two conditions are met : ( 1 ) the removable portion 32 is placed in the receptacle 40 , and ( 2 ) a sensor ( e . g ., 50 ) identifies the removable portion 32 as having an engaging configuration . an engaging configuration allows the locking assembly 30 to be unlocked when the removable portion 32 is placed in the receptacle 40 . conversely , a non - engaging configuration does not allow the locking assembly 30 to be unlocked when the removable portion 32 is placed in the receptacle 40 . in one embodiment of the present invention , a locking assembly can be configured such that the ratio of engaging configurations to non - engaging configurations can be at least about 300 . in such a configuration , a removable portion and the receptacle can have only one engaging configuration for at least about 300 non - engaging configurations . as such , a given , removable portion may only be adapted to facilitate operation of no more than about 1 of 300 vehicles , thereby making it unlikely that a removable portion can be used to start a random vehicle , and accordingly providing a security function . in another embodiment of the present invention , the ratio can be at least about 720 , thereby making it even more unlikely that a removable portion can be used to start a random vehicle , and accordingly providing an even more advanced security function . as one mechanism for identification of the removable portion 32 , fig6 - 11 illustrate the use of an embedded identifiable component 48 provided within the removable portion 32 . the sensor 50 can be provided within the receptacle 40 for sensing the embedded identifiable component 48 . in one embodiment of the present invention , the embedded identifiable component 48 can comprise a passive or active radio frequency identification tag or transponder ( rfid ). the sensor 50 can be capable of identifying the rfid and thus detecting when the removable portion 32 is engaged with the receptacle 40 . in an alternative embodiment of the present invention , as shown in fig1 - 13 , the removable portion 32 can include one or more protrusions 46 which are configured to contact and selectively actuate switches ( e . g ., 54 ) provided by the sensor 52 of the receptacle 40 . the pattern of actuated and unactuated switches ( e . g ., 54 ) can be used by the sensor 52 to determine if the removable portion 32 corresponds with a particular vehicle , and is thus suitable to enable operation of the vehicle . in some embodiments of the present invention , the removable portion , when engaged with a receptacle , completes an electrical circuit that is configured to unlock the locking assembly and facilitate operation of a vehicle . in this manner , by actuating switches , the removable portion can facilitate completion of an electrical circuit when the removable portion is engaged in the receptacle . in other embodiments , the removable portion participates in an optical detection arrangement when the removable portion is engaged in the receptacle in order to unlock the locking assembly . other mechanisms may additionally or alternatively be employed to identify the removable portion including , for example , transponders , biometric readers , optical scanners , fingerprint scanners , iris scanners , magnetic strip ) scanners , bar code scanners , and card scanners . it will be appreciated that the ratio of engaging configurations to non - engaging configurations can be affected by selecting a different one of the above - described mechanisms for a receptacle to identify a removable portion . a locking assembly can be connected with an engine control unit ( ecu ) or other device present upon a vehicle , and can be configured to transmit electrical signals thereto . for example , such electrical signals might include information relating to whether a removable portion ( e . g ., 32 ) inserted within a receptacle ( e . g ., 40 ) corresponds with the particular vehicle , and thus whether the vehicle may be operated . such electrical signals might also include information relating to whether the engine present on the vehicle should be allowed to operate . it will be appreciated that communication between a locking assembly and the ecu and / or other vehicle components can occur through electrical wires , fiber optics , or wirelessly , for example . for example , as shown in fig2 - 5 , a cable 24 including at least one electrical wire can extend from the locking assembly 30 , along the handlebar 16 , and to other components ( e . g ., an ecu ) of the atv 10 . one or more straps ( e . g . 26 ) can be provided to secure the cable 24 with respect to the handlebar 16 . significant benefits can be achieved by integrating an engine - stop actuator and a security mechanism into a single control device . for example , any cables extending from the actuator can be bundled with any cables leading from the security mechanism :, and can , for example , even be disposed within a common outer wire sheath or insulation as shown , for example , in fig2 - 13 . also , integrating the engine - stop actuator and the security mechanism into a single device can achieve improved appearance , conserve space and weight , reduce cost , reduce the number of components , and / or decrease the manufacturing tine of the vehicle . the foregoing description of embodiments and examples 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 forms described . numerous modifications are possible in light of the above teachings . some of those modifications have been discussed and others will be understood by those skilled in the art . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best illustrate the principles of the invention and various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated . the scope of the invention is , of course , not limited to the examples or embodiments set forth herein , but can be employed in any number of applications and equivalent devices by those of ordinary skill in the art . rather it is hereby intended that the scope of the invention , be defined by the claims appended hereto . | 1 |
the basic principle is that a light conduit ( pole ) couples the light source contained in the base to an apparatus at the top of the light conduit that disperses the light so as to meet the requirements of boat stem lights determined by the uscg and / or other regulatory agencies . refer to fig1 and 2 for the following description . the preferred embodiment consists of two primary components : base 4 mounted to the boat structure 5 and an acrylic light conduit 2 ( shown detached ), which plugs into the base light conduit socket 3 . the base contains an encapsulated led light source 12 and led drive device 9 where said led light is directed upward into the optical conduit socket 3 . the encapsulated led is located at the bottom end of the light conduit socket 3 so as to minimize physical separation between the led and the installed optical conduit . the optical conduit socket 3 diameter is such as to provide a slip fit to the optical conduit , thus providing secure attachment of the optical conduit , yet still allowing it to be easily removed . electrical wires are provided on the lower side of the base to connect to the boat electrical power system or separate electrical power source . the base 4 may be constructed of any material suitable for the marine environment . examples include aluminum , stainless steel and a variety of plastics and composites . this preferred embodiment utilizes aluminum . the optical conduit 2 is constructed from a clear acrylic rod . the diameter is not critical and is primarily determined by the proximal end surface area needed to couple the optical source light radiation pattern . another diameter consideration is structural integrity , larger diameters being sturdier . this preferred embodiment uses a one inch diameter acrylic rod . the length of the optical conduit 2 is likewise not critical , and can be varied to meet the height requirements of the application . the primary limitation on length is light intensity loss , however that can be offset by higher optical source intensity as needed . the preferred embodiment uses a length of thirty six inches . the dimensions chosen for the preferred embodiment are not intended to be a limitation in any sense , since the length and diameter of the acrylic rod can be of nearly arbitrary length , as needed by the application . the acrylic optical conduit has a cone 1 machined into the distal end to form a light redirection surface . the maximum diameter of the cone is sized so as to nearly match the diameter of the acrylic rod , tapering down to a point at the center of the acrylic rod . the cone angle of the preferred embodiment is sixty degrees . the base 4 , on its lower side , provides wires or terminals 6 for connection to the boat electrical power system . alternatively , a battery or other electrical power source separate from the boat electrical system may be used . the base 4 contains the led light source 12 that is directed upward inside the base socket so as to project light into the mating optical conduit . the led light source is a state - of - the - art high intensity white led available from multiple semiconductor manufacturers . the invention anticipates continuing advancements in led technology which will provide more light output for less power consumption , hence improving overall efficiency and enabling longer optical conduit lengths . the led is driven by the led drive device 9 which conditions the voltage presented via the electrical connection 6 to the drive requirements of the led . the led drive device can take the form of a simple voltage dropping power resistor or a switching power supply design for lower power dissipation and more accurate led current control . multiple semiconductor manufactures provide led driver circuits which are switching power supply topology based designs . for most application the switching power supply design is preferred due to its low power dissipation and more accurate led current control . the voltage dropping resistor is suitable to applications were the input voltage will not result in excessive power dissipation . the led light source 12 and the led drive device 9 are epoxy encapsulated within the base to prevent water damage . the light emerging from the led light source 12 is optically coupled into the removable light conduit installed into the base socket . the light conduit 2 in this preferred embodiment is constructed from an acrylic rod which has excellent light transmission properties . the light inside the conduit experiences nearly total internal reflection , maximizing optical power transmission . an optional opaque outer covering 11 further increases the internal reflection and blocks light from emerging along the periphery of the light conduit . the distal end of the rod has a cone machined into it forming a reflective surface 7 , due to the optical discontinuity . the light traveling within the light conduit 8 is reflected by the cone &# 39 ; s reflective surface 7 and is emitted 10 at angles largely perpendicular to the light conduit . since light impinges essentially the entire reflective surface 7 of the cone , the light is emitted in a three hundred sixty degree pattern around the light conduit . the emitted light pattern can be reduced or segmented via opaque coverings over the sections where light is not desired to be emitted . | 5 |
referring first to fig1 a front portion of a motor vehicle passenger compartment is illustrated , showing the driver &# 39 ; s side of a windscreen opening 12 of an lhd vehicle , defined by an a pillar 13 which forms a boundary between the windscreen 12 and a front quarter light or side window 14 of a door 15 . as will be appreciated , the windscreen 12 is raked through an angle approaching 45 degrees , and the a pillar 13 has a significant thickness d which , from the driver &# 39 ; s position , can constitute a significant barrier , particularly in view of the fact that it , too , is strongly raked so that its effective width , parallel to the line a - a , is greater than its transverse width as represented by d . as can be seen in fig2 an observer cannot see anything within the obscuration zone z defined between two ray paths 16 , 17 respectively leading from the observer &# 39 ; s left eye l past the left edge of the pillar 13 and the observer &# 39 ; s right eye r passing the right edge of the pillar 13 . although the drawing is foreshortened for the purpose of illustration , it will be seen that an elongate object , such as a cyclist occupying a volume such as that represented by the rectangular area v lies entirely within the obscuration zone z and , therefore , cannot be observed by the observer without displacement of the eyes by moving the head from side to side to vary the position of the obscuration zone z . although this may occur if the observer is alert to the possibility of an object in the obscuration zone , this may not happen if the observer has no reason to suppose that the obscuration zone requires monitoring , and this could result in a dangerous situation , particularly if the vehicle is following a curved path and / or the object in the shaded region v is following a path such that the relative movement between itself and the vehicle lies along the obscuration zone z . if , however , according to the invention an optical element is placed at an edge region of the windscreen 12 and acts to divert the light passing through the windscreen 12 towards the normal to the windscreen 12 , and thus towards the observer &# 39 ; s eyes l , r then light arriving in the direction shown by the ray 18 will reach the observer &# 39 ; s right eye r , and the obscuration zone z will be reduced by the wedge - shape area between the rays 17 , 18 resulting , in this example , in a part of the vehicle v being visible to the observer without any movement of the head being required . although the entirety of the vehicle v is not in sight , it is sufficient that a part of it be visible for the observer to be alerted to its presence . if the a pillar 13 has a thickness of , for example , 100 mm the observer using unaided binocular vision will require the diverted light to be turned through no more than about 4 degrees in order to reduce the obscuration region to a minimum , that is where the obscuration region is defined between two parallel rays 16 , 18 and is , therefore , no greater than the width of the barrier 13 even at a distance . in the absence of such light diversion the obscuration region z increases in width with increasing distance from the barrier and is , therefore , capable of obscuring larger objects at a greater distance . with this small diversion , therefore , the obscuring effect of the a pillar 13 is , consequently , effectively negated . of course , it is not sufficient simply to cause light diversion at the point a as illustrated in fig2 , but rather to divert light incident on the windscreen 12 over a more extensive region adjacent the edge of the windscreen 12 in contact with the a 0 pillar 13 ( herein referred to as “ an edge region ”) and fig3 illustrates some of the consideration arising from this . as can be seen in fig3 , in which the same reference numerals have been used to identify the same or corresponding components , light diversion is achieved by means of an additional component 20 fitted on the inside of the windscreen 12 in the edge region thereof . the precise nature of the light - diverting optical component 20 will be described in more detail below , it being sufficient at this stage to establish that it causes light transmitted therethrough to be diverted from its incident angle . if the light - diverting effect were constant across the width of the element 20 as shown by the two rays 18 and 19 this would create its own obscuration zone in view of the fact that the first light ray 21 passing undeviated through the windscreen 12 , that is not passing through the light - diverting element 20 , and reaching the right eye r of the observer would effectively create an obscuration region between the rays 19 and 21 thereby effectively negating the benefit of having reduced the obscuration effect of the a pillar 13 . for this reason it is preferred that the light - diverting properties of the optical element 20 vary across its width , as shown by rays 22 , 23 , 24 which illustrate progressively less deflection for rays further from the a pillar 13 until , at the very edge of the element 20 the ray 24 passes through effectively undeviated so that an object observed by the observer &# 39 ; s right eye does not have a step - change as the eye passes across the boundary element 20 . fig4 and 5 illustrate ways in which this effect can be achieved . referring now to fig4 a light - diverting optical element in the form of a cylindrical negative lens is shown in section . the lens 25 as illustrated has a flat face 26 , a concavely curved major surface 27 , and an end face 28 . in practice , of course , the substantially flat face 26 may be slightly convexly curved to accommodate the curvature of a windscreen as illustrated in fig3 . the length of the cylindrical lens 25 does not have to be as great as the length of the a pillar 13 since the significant region as far as potential visible objects are concerned , occupies only a central part of the length of the a pillar 13 . for example the lens may be only about 200 mm long although , of course , it may be the same length as the a pillar if desired . at most the element 25 may be about 3 mm thick ( this being the width of the end face 28 and the maximum divergence angle between the face 26 and the face 27 may be in the region of six degrees . the face 27 is an acylindrical curvature with a shorter radius near the end 28 and a longer radius at the opposite or thinner end 29 , which may be in the region of 1 mm thick . an element of this form may be fitted , as shown in fig5 , on the rear face 30 of the windscreen 12 closely adjacent the a pillar 13 , with a layer of transparent adhesive 31 securing it in position . as will be appreciated from an observation of fig5 , the face 26 of the element is convexly curved to match the curvature of the windscreen 12 . the element 25 may be a simple moulding , manufactured using an optical thermoplastic and , if not as long as the a pillar 13 , may be positioned at about vision height such that the significant part of the observer &# 39 ; s field of view lies through the element 25 . as an alternative ( not illustrated ) the face 27 of the element 25 may be formed in elementary segments ( fresnel form ) to provide the same optical characteristics as the lens illustrated in fig5 . in this case it is possible , and may be preferable , to arrange that the optical axis of the lens is not parallel to the principle physical axis of the device which is parallel to the a pillar 13 . indeed , this arrangement is also possible with a non - segmented lens , as illustrated in fig5 , but the manufacture of such a lens is more difficult . the advantage of this configuration is that the image of a horizontal line in the object field ( such as the horizon itself ) is maintained horizontal even upon divergence by the optical element so that the horizon is not bent upwardly by the optical element as would be the case if the axis of the cylindrical surface 27 were parallel to the a pillar 13 . in a fresnel lens this is achieved simply by orienting the grooves which form the segments in such a way that they are not parallel to the principal physical axis of the device ; in this case they would be inclined at an angle such that when the device is fitted to an a pillar the grooves or ribs appear substantially vertical to the observer . referring now to fig6 this illustrates a modified laminated windscreen incorporating an edge region having lens properties as described in relation to fig4 . in this drawing the windscreen 12 comprises a laminated structure having a front panel 33 , a rear panel 34 and an intervening laminating adhesive 35 . in the main region of the windscreen 12 the front and rear panels 33 , 34 are parallel to one another and the adhesive 35 is of constant thickness . in the edge region e , however , the rear panel 34 is curved so as to diverge from the front panel 33 . the diverging edge region 34 e may be held spaced from the edge region 33 e of the front panel 33 by a thicker layer of laminating adhesive , or by an interposed wedge - section insert ( not illustrated ). as discussed above , the angle of divergence needs to be no more than about 6 degrees at the greatest , that is at the very edge of the element , reducing to zero where the edge region e meets the main central portion m of the windscreen . this is a particularly elegant solution from the vehicle manufacturer &# 39 ; s point of view as it involves no extra parts nor any change to the vehicle assembly procedure . furthermore , with only a small modification being required to the windscreen tooling and manufacturing process , and with possibly no extra parts being required , the cost of incorporating the device into a windscreen is expected to be very small . in effect , this implementation consists of no more than a slight swelling of the laminating adhesive layer thickness towards the lateral edges of the windscreen . this , of course , has to be done under very controlled conditions in order to achieve the right curvature of the rear panel 34 in the edge region 34 e . it will be appreciated that , as least as far as its application to motor vehicle windscreens is concerned , even a small degree of light diversion at the edges of the windscreen is better than none at all in that it reduces the hazard caused by thick a pillars . in fact , the optimum solution for windscreens may not be complete elimination of the object field obscuration zone because of the accommodation difficulties between eye and brain which may be caused when different images are presented to the brain by the two eyes . however , experience in the use of the now - commonly adopted aspheric driver side external rear view mirror fitted to motor car door mirrors suggests that , although familiarisation time may be required , this may result in a valuable improvement in safety . partial reduction in the obscuration zone achieved according to the invention has particular attractiveness for motor vehicle manufacturers since a small increase in the thickness of the laminating adhesive towards edges will provide at least a degree of light - diversion without it being necessary to make any modifications to the way in which the windscreen is fitted to the vehicle , and with no modifications to the vehicle at all . it is also important to note that an edge region along the substantially horizontal edges of a windscreen may be provided with a light - diverting properties either integrally as in the embodiment of fig6 or by the addition of an optical element as in the embodiment of fig4 and 5 . this may provide , in the case of the upper edge of a windscreen , an extended upward view to assist in the visibility of traffic lights which are sometime obscured by the roofline of a vehicle , especially when it is stationary close to the traffic light . an extended view through a lower region of a windscreen may not be of any particular benefit unless it can improve the view of the front part of the vehicle for manoeuvring or parking , and this would also be of benefit in the rear window of hatchbacks , estate cars and the like . for any embodiment of the invention used in motor vehicles it will be noted that the light diversion , as shown in fig7 , results in the possibility that , with both eyes looking through the windscreen at a distant object , the one nearer the a pillar may be viewing the object through the light - diverting device , whilst the other eye is viewing the same object through an undiverted light path . consequently a convergence angle of the eyes is necessary in contrast to the “ parallel ” eye configuration which would be needed if the device where not present . convergence of the eyes is not normal when viewing distant objects although , of course , does occur when viewing close objects . it is , therefore , a physical condition to which the eyes are accustomed and requires only familiarisation to achieve comfortable observation . by providing an aperture with light - diverting means according to the invention this effectively increases the size of the aperture by an amount equal to the angle that the light is deflected . this applies to both binocular and monocular observation . as can be seen in fig8 an optical element 36 for attachment to a glazing panel may be made as a fresnel prism . the element 36 has a plane , smooth flat front face 37 ( although this may be curved as in the other embodiments ) and a serrated rear face 38 comprising a plurality of facets 39 separated by risers 40 . the inclination of the facets to the plane of the front face 37 varies across the width of the device from zero at the right hand end ( as viewed in the drawings ) which in this case is the end furthest from the edge of the opening and increasing in inclination according to a quadratic relationship in which the angle α between a facet 39 and the plane of the front face ( or the tangent to the front face if this is curved as in the other , embodiments ) increases with an increase in distance x from the right hand end 41 ( that is the end at which α = 0 °) according to in the present embodiment , and with dimensions in the region of those outlined below , κ = 0 . 003 . this is appropriate for an element in which the width of the element between the ends 41 and 42 is in the region of 50 mm , with a minimum thickness of 2 mm at the end 41 , a microstructure pitels of 0 . 808 mm using a material having a refractive index of approximately 1 . 53 . in this embodiment the riser draft angle is 10 ° at the narrow end 41 and changes by 0 . 1 ° per mm across the width of the element . for use in a motor vehicle the dimensions and proportions discussed above ensure that the riser presents the minimum obstruction to the passage of light by being oriented approximately parallel to the light approaching the observer &# 39 ; s eye . at the same time the image magnitude has no step change at the “ narrow ” end 41 so that there is no perceptible variation in the image as the observer &# 39 ; s eye sweeps across the central part of the windscreen and on to the optical element 36 at the end 41 . as it continues to sweep towards the edge of this windscreen ( to the left as viewed in fig8 ) the progressive change in the facet angle causes a progressive reduction in the image width ( there being no change in the image height as the “ lens ” is effectively an acylindrical one ) until at the far end 42 the image width is reduced by 30 % of its width when viewed through the non - deviating central part of the windscreen . although illustrated as flat in this embodiment it will be understood that the front face 37 may be curved , for example to match the curvature of a windscreen . | 1 |
fig1 - 3 , and the following description depict specific examples of the invention . for the purpose of teaching inventive principles , some conventional aspects have been simplified or omitted . those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these examples that fall within the scope of the invention . the features described below can be combined in various ways to form multiple variations of the invention . as a result , the invention is not limited to the specific examples described below , but only by the claims and their equivalents . fig1 is a top view of printer 100 in an example embodiment of the invention . printer 100 includes a base 102 , a print bar 104 , a scanner 106 , and is loaded with media 108 . media 108 is shown as a continuous sheet or roll moving through the printer in a print direction as shown by arrow 110 . in other embodiments , media may be fed through the printer as individual sheets . print bar 104 is attached to base 102 and stretches over and across media 108 . in this example print bar 104 is a page wide array of print heads . in other examples , a carriage containing one or more print heads may move back and forth across media 108 along axis 112 during printing . a print bar is one example of a marking engine . other types of marking engines may also be used , for example a laserjet marking engine . scanner 106 is attached to print bar 104 on the downstream side of the print bar 104 , thereby allowing scanner 106 to scan images printed by print bar 104 . in this example , scanner 106 can traverse along print bar 104 along axis 112 allowing scanner to scan any portion of media 108 . in other examples , multiple scanners 106 may be rigidly attached at different locations along print bar 104 . in yet other examples , the scanner may be a hand held device . printer 102 may contain additional element not shown for clarity . for example , a media transport system comprising motors and rollers for moving media 108 , ink reservoirs , pumps , and tubing to supply ink to the print bar 104 , drying elements and the like . printer 100 may also contain one or multiple controllers for controlling the operation of the printer . the controllers may be located in base 102 , or may be located external to base 102 . each controller may comprise processors , application specific integrated circuits ( asic ), random access memory , non - volatile memory , and the like . code , stored in the memory , when executed by a processor on one of the controllers , causes the printer to run a calibration routine . the calibration routine may be executed between print runs , or may run simultaneously with a print run . fig2 is a flow chart for a calibration routine in an example embodiment of the invention . at step 202 the controller controls the printer to print a number of color patches using known color values . at step 204 the controller controls the scanner to scan each of the color patches to determine a measured color value . at step 206 the controller determines if each measured color value is valid or invalid . at step 208 the controller calibrates the printer using only the measured color values that are valid . the printer is calibrated by making adjustments that minimize the difference between the known color values and the measured color values . some of the adjustments that may be used are the mixtures of the different inks , the amount or concentration of the pigment in the inks , the drying time , the curing temperature , the number of ink droplets , and the like . at step 202 the controller controls the printer to print a number of color patches with known color values . the printer will typically print 10 - 16 different colors for each primary colorant . some printers only use 3 different primary colorants , for example cym . other printers may use four or six different primary colorants . a printer using six different primary colorants , and printing ten different color patches for each primary colorant , would print 60 different colors on the calibration target . when printing the color patches , some areas of the target may have bubbles , wrinkles , or creases that cause the scan of the patch to be inaccurate . to avoid the problems of scanning patches that have bubbles , wrinkles or creases , each color patch is printed more than once . in one example embodiment of the invention , each color patch is printed three times . in other examples more than three patches of each color may be printed . with 60 different colors to print , and three patches for each color , the calibration target would have 180 patches . the three different patches for each color will be spaced apart from each other such that a single bubble , wrinkle or crease will not affect more than one of the patches . by printing each color patch multiple times and spacing the patches away from each other , the likelihood that all three patches will be affected by a bubble , wrinkle or crease is minimized . fig3 a is a drawing of the layout of the color patches in an example embodiment of the invention . arrow 110 indicates the direction of media movement during printing . each letter represents a patch of a different color . each color has been printed three times . in other examples , each color may be printed a different number of times , for example 4 , 5 or 6 times . the colors are shown printed in an ordered pattern , i . e . a set of 4 colors are printed three times in a row . other arrangements may be used to print the color patches as long as the identical patches for each color are spaced apart from one another . for clarity this example only uses 12 different colors , a real calibration target may have up to 96 different colors ( 6 primary colorants times 16 different colors for each primary colorant ). in this example , the three patches of the same color are spaced apart horizontally by distance d . distance d is selected such that it is greater than the width of a typical crease , bubble or wrinkle . typically distance d will be selected such that it is at least 2 to 3 times larger than the width of a typical crease , bubble or wrinkle . for example , system tests show that creases typically grow along the direction of media advance ( in the direction of arrow 110 ) and the width of a crease seldom exceeds five centimeters . therefore in one example distance d would be selected to be at least a multiple of 5 centimeters , for example 20 centimeters or more . in some printers the media is supported by a plurality of parallel media support ribs after it passes under the print bar . the ribs are typically aligned parallel to the direction of media movement . the distance d may be selected such that the center of each patch lines up with one of the plurality of ribs . this will help maintain a uniform height between the media and the scanner along the centerline of the patches . fig3 a has artifacts 320 and 322 shown on the color patches . artifact 320 represents a large bubble formed during the printing of the color patches and artifact 322 represents a crease formed during the printing of the color patches . at step 206 in fig2 , each measured color value is checked to determine if it is valid . determining if a measured color value is valid can be done in a number of different ways . one way is to measure the color value of each of the three identical color patches and compare the measured values . when the measured value of all three identical color patches are within a given tolerance of each other , the three measured values are valid . when one of the measured values is different from the other two measured values by more than a predetermined amount , that measured value is determined to be invalid . the measured color value may be the red , green and blue ( rgb ) values from a standard scanner , the values from a spectrophotometer , or the measured color values may be from a custom instrument that reports the color data in arbitrary , non - industry standard units and scale . the measured color value may be in any color space , for example the cielab color space ( lab for short ), or rgb color space . the measured color value may use only the lightness or intensity value in some color spaces , for example in the lab color space , only the l * value may be used . in other examples a single number resulting from a calculation involving all the components of a color space may be used , for example a single number from calculations involving l *, a * and b * or from rgb . in other examples , different components of a color space may be used for different color patches when comparing the measured values . for example , l * may be used for all color patches except for the yellow patches , where b * is used . in fig3 a the first patch of color “ g ” is in the center of artifact 320 ( a large bubble ). when the measured value of the first patch of color “ g ” is compared to the measured value of the other two patches of color “ g ”, the measured value of the first patch of color “ g ” may be different than the measured value of the other two patches by more than a threshold value . for example , the l * measured values of the three patches of color “ g ” may be 23 , 14 and 13 respectively . the color values of the second two patches of color “ g ” that are not affected by an artifact are only one delta l * apart . the first patch of color “ g ” is 9 and 10 delta l *&# 39 ; s apart from the other two measured values , respectively . when one measured value is different from the other measured values by more than a threshold , the measured color value is deemed invalid . in one example the threshold may be set at 4 delta l * s . 9 and 10 delta l * s are greater than the threshold , therefore the measured value of the first patch of color “ g ” is invalid and would not be used for the color calibration . the other two patches of color “ g ” were within one delta l * of each other , which is under the 4 delta l * threshold , so both these measurements are deemed valid . the color value used in calibration may be an average of all the valid color measurement , the mean value of all the valid color measurement , or the like . fig3 b is a drawing of the layout of the color patches in another example embodiment of the invention . arrow 110 indicates the direction of media movement during printing . each letter represents a patch of a different color . each color has been printed twice . in this example , the two patches for each color are spaced apart in both the horizontal and vertical direction . the distance between the two patches having the same color in the horizontal direction is distance d and the distance between the two patches having the same color in the vertical direction is distance h . for clarity this example only uses 12 different colors , a real calibration target may have up to 96 different colors ( 6 primary colorants times 16 different colors for each primary colorant ). the distance d in the horizontal direction varies between colors . the distance between any two identical color patches is d were d equals either four or six patches . by changing the spacing between some of the identical color patches , the colors surrounding the identical color patches are different for each patch . for example , the color patches surrounding the first “ a ” color patch are b , h and i . the color patches surrounding the second “ a ” patch are d , e , f j and l . by proper arrangement , each patch of a given color can be surrounded by a different set of other colors even when only two patches of each color are printed . fig3 b has artifacts 320 and 322 shown on the color patches . artifact 320 represents a large bubble formed during the printing of the color patches and artifact 322 represents a crease formed during the printing of the color patches . in this example , the measured value of a color patch is determined to be valid by locating artifacts on the target . color measurements taken where artifacts are present are invalid , color measurements taken in the absence of an artifact are valid . artifacts are located by comparing the measure color values of the different identical color patches and the color patches surrounding them . because each pair of identical colors have a different set of surrounding colors , artifacts can be located using the surrounding colors and the measurements of their matching patches . to locate an artifact , the color values of pairs of identical colors are measured and the two measured values are compared . when the difference in the two measured values is greater than a threshold , one of the two patches will have an artifact located on the patch . initially , it will be unknown which of the two patches contains the artifact . by correlating where a mismatch occurs between the measurements of the surrounding colors , the location of the artifact can be identified . for example , when the two measured values of the “ a ” color patches are compared they will have a difference greater than a threshold value . that indicates that one of the two “ a ” patches has an artifact affecting the measurement . initially it is unknown which of the two “ a ” patches contain the artifact . the first “ a ” patch has patches b , i and h next two it . when the two measured values for the two b patches are compared , the difference between the measurements will be within the threshold value ( because neither b patch has an artifact located with it ). the same will be true with the measured values of the i and h patches . the second “ a ” patch has patches d , e , f , j and l surrounding it . when the measured color values for each pair of these patches are compared , the difference between the measured values for each pair of identical color patches will be above the threshold . therefore the location of the artifact can be identified as at the second “ a ” patch and the measured color value of that patch will be marked as invalid . an artifact 322 ( e . g . a crease ) can also be located by looking at the measured color values for colors k and g . when the two measured values of the k color patches are compared they will have a difference greater than the threshold value . the same is true for the g color . only one location on the target has the color patches k and g next to each other . therefore the artifact must be located at that place on the target . another way to determine when a measurement for a color patch is invalid is by actually measuring the height between the patch and the scanner . when the distance is within the nominal tolerance value the measurement will be valid . when the height is outside the nominal tolerance value , the measurement will be marked as invalid . the height will not be outside the nominal tolerance value unless a bubble or crease has caused a change in the height or distance between the patch and the scanner . in an example embodiment , the nominal tolerance value is plus or minus 1 mm . three different methods for determining when a measured color value is valid have been described . these methods can be used individually or in combinations with one another . | 7 |
{ circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of l - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 130 and subjected to dehydration for 4 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 60 torr , reacting at 130 ° c . for 8 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( olla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1500 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to l - lactic acid at 1 : 100 , and the reaction temperature at 180 , vacuum degree of 2 torr , to react 1 h ; then the distilled white crude l - lactide was collected . the collected crude l - lactide was washed with 1 % alkali ( sodium hydroxide ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 24 h at 20 ° c ., to get white needle l - lactide , with the yield of 35 . 5 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d =− 276 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of l - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 170 and subjected to dehydration for 1 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 30 torr , reacting at 170 ° c . for 2 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( olla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 600 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to l - lactic acid at 1 : 10000 , and the reaction temperature at 260 , vacuum degree of 15 torr , to react 4 h ; then the distilled white crude l - lactide was collected . the collected crude l - lactide was washed with 10 % alkali ( sodium carbonate ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 36 h at 40 ° c ., to get white needle l - lactide , with the yield of 40 . 3 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d =− 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of l - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 150 and subjected to dehydration for 2 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 40 torr , reacting at 150 ° c . for 4 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( olla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1100 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to l - lactic acid at 1 : 1000 , and the reaction temperature at 200 , vacuum degree of 10 torr , to react 3 h ; then the distilled white crude l - lactide was collected . the collected crude l - lactide was washed with 8 % alkali ( sodium bicarbonate ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 30 h at 35 ° c ., to get white needle l - lactide , with the yield of 45 . 8 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d =− 277 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of l - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 160 and subjected to dehydration for 2 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 50 torr , reacting at 160 ° c . for 4 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( olla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1300 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to l - lactic acid at 1 : 2000 , and the reaction temperature at 220 , vacuum degree of 8 torr , to react 2 h ; then the distilled white crude l - lactide was collected . the collected crude l - lactide was washed with 5 % alkali ( potassium bicarbonate ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 26 h at 30 ° c ., to get white needle l - lactide , with the yield of 40 . 8 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d =− 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of l - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 150 and subjected to dehydration for 1 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 30 torr , reacting at 130 ° c . for 3 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( olla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 900 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to l - lactic acid at 1 : 5000 , and the reaction temperature at 240 , vacuum degree of 5 torr , to react 3 h ; then the distilled white crude l - lactide was collected . the collected crude l - lactide was washed with 2 % alkali ( potassium hydroxide ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 35 h at 30 ° c ., to get white needle l - lactide , with the yield of 38 . 8 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d =− 277 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of l - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 140 and subjected to dehydration for 2 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 30 torr , reacting at 140 ° c . for 3 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( olla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1200 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to l - lactic acid at 1 : 2000 , and the reaction temperature at 250 , vacuum degree of 3 torr , to react 4 h ; then the distilled white crude l - lactide was collected . the collected crude l - lactide was washed with 1 % alkali ( potassium carbonate ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 24 h at 40 ° c ., to get white needle l - lactide , with the yield of 42 . 4 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d =− 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of d - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 130 and subjected to dehydration for 3 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 60 torr , reacting at 130 ° c . for 8 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( odla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1500 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to d - lactic acid at 1 : 100 , and the reaction temperature at 150 , vacuum degree of 2 torr , to react 2 h ; then the distilled white crude d - lactide was collected . the collected crude d - lactide was washed with 1 % alkali ( potassium hydroxide ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 24 h at 20 ° c ., to get white needle d - lactide , with the yield of 41 . 7 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d = 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of d - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 170 and subjected to dehydration for 1 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 30 torr , reacting at 170 ° c . for 4 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( odla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 800 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to d - lactic acid at 1 : 10000 , and the reaction temperature at 260 , vacuum degree of 15 torr , to react 4 h ; then the distilled white crude l - lactide was collected . the collected crude d - lactide was washed with 5 % alkali ( potassium carbonate ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 36 h at 40 ° c ., to get white needle d - lactide , with the yield of 40 . 3 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d = 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of d - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 150 and subjected to dehydration for 2 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 40 torr , reacting at 150 ° c . for 4 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( odla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1100 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to d - lactic acid at 1 : 1000 , and the reaction temperature at 200 , vacuum degree of 10 torr , to react 3 h ; then the distilled white crude d - lactide was collected . the collected crude d - lactide was washed with 6 % alkali ( potassium bicarbonate ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 30 h at 35 ° c ., to get white needle d - lactide , with the yield of 45 . 6 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d = 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of d - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 160 and subjected to dehydration for 2 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 50 torr , reacting at 160 ° c . for 4 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( odla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1300 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to d - lactic acid at 1 : 2000 , and the reaction temperature at 200 , vacuum degree of 8 torr , to react 2 h ; then the distilled white crude d - lactide was collected . the collected crude d - lactide was washed with 1 % alkali ( sodium hydroxide ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 26 h at 30 ° c ., to get white needle d - lactide , with the yield of 46 . 8 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d = 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of d - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 150 and subjected to dehydration for 1 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 30 torr , reacting at 150 ° c . for 3 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( odla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 900 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to d - lactic acid at 1 : 5000 , and the reaction temperature at 200 , vacuum degree of 8 torr , to react 2 h ; then the distilled white crude d - lactide was collected . the collected crude d - lactide was washed with 1 % alkali ( sodium hydroxide ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 35 h at 30 ° c ., to get white needle d - lactide , with the yield of 44 . 5 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d = 280 . { circle around ( 1 )} a reactor was charged with 100 g of d - lactic acid ( 90 % by mass content ). under an argon atmosphere at normal pressure , the reaction system was then heated to 140 and subjected to dehydration for 2 h . the pressure in the reactor was then reduced to 30 torr , reacting at 140 ° c . for 3 h , to get the lactic acid oligomer ( odla ), with a weight average molecular weight of 1200 da . the biogenic guanidine creatinine ( cr ) was added , to control the mass ratio of catalyst cr to d - lactic acid at 1 : 2000 , and the reaction temperature at 250 , vacuum degree of 3 torr , to react 4 h ; then the distilled white crude d - lactide was collected . the collected crude d - lactide was washed with 6 % alkali ( sodium bicarbonate ) solution , cleaned with the deionized water to neutral , vacuum dried 24 h at 40 , to get white needle d - lactide , with the yield of 43 . 8 % and specific rotation [ α ] 25d = 280 . | 1 |
to better explain the technical solution of the present invention , the embodiments of the present invention are described hereinafter in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . on the one hand , an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for synchronizing time at a master clock side . as shown in fig5 , a method for synchronizing time at a master clock side according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps : 501 . a match rule is predefined for matching packet time stamp generating points . 502 . an olt sends a first clock packet carried in a first downstream frame . the first clock packet may be a sync message or a delay response message . 503 . the olt measures or acquires time at the packet time stamp generating point that matches the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer , where the acquired time is regarded as the time the first clock packet is sent . 504 . the olt sends a second clock packet carried in a second downstream frame , where the second clock packet contains the time the first clock packet is sent . in the method for synchronizing time at a master clock side according to the embodiment of the present invention , the time a clock packet is sent is first acquired at the packet time stamp generating point , which is determined according to the lower layer transmission frame . therefore , the method enables multiple modes of clock packet encapsulation based on the pon transmission frame , for example , the application of ieee 1588 in case of ethernet over gem . thus , time is synchronized in the network . in the method , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point that matches the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer , regarding the acquired time as the time the first clock packet is sent includes : regarding the last bit of the physical synchronization ( psync ) field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the first downstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point . as shown in fig6 , the downstream frame structure of the gtc tc frame includes a frame header and a payload . physical control block downstream ( pcbd ) is the downstream frame header of the gtc tc frame . the packet time stamp generating point is located at the last bit of the psync field in the gtc tc frame header . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point that matches the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the first clock packet is sent includes : regarding the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the first downstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point . as shown in fig7 , the gem frame includes a frame header and a payload . the packet time stamp generating point is determined according to the gem frame header . for example , the packet time stamp generating point is located at the last bit of the hec field in the gem frame header . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point that matches the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the first clock packet is sent includes : determining the packet time stamp generating point according to the sum of the start time received by the onu , the response time of the onu , and the equal delay ( eqd ) of the onu . the above basis for determining the packet time stamp generating point may be included in the first downstream frame or needs be added to the first downstream frame . for example , the olt sends a bandwidth map ( bwmap ) message to the onu . the bwmap message is used to allocate for each onu a transmission interval that indicates the onu to transmit upstream data therein . the starttime ( sstart ) field in the bwmap message includes a time indicator . as shown in fig8 and fig9 , the packet time stamp generating point is determined according to the sum of the start time indicated by the sstart field in the bwmap message received by the onu , the response time of the onu , and the eqd . the response time of the onu is a performance index of the onu and is dependent on the hardware configuration of the onu . the eqd is dependent on the network delay . as shown in fig1 , a method for synchronizing time at a master clock side provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps : 1001 . a match rule is predefined for matching packet time stamp generating points . 1002 . the olt sends a first clock packet carried in a first downstream frame . the first clock packet may be a sync message or a delay response message . 1003 . the olt acquires time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer , where the acquired time is regarded as the time the first clock packet is sent . 1004 . the olt sends a second clock packet which carries the time the first clock packet is sent . the second clock packet is a follow - up message and is carried in a second downstream frame . 1005 . the olt receives a third clock packet carried in a third upstream frame . 1006 . the olt acquires time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer , and the acquired time is regarded as the time the olt receives the third clock packet . 1007 . the olt sends a fourth clock packet , where the fourth clock packet carries the time the third clock packet is received and the fourth clock packet is carried in a fourth downstream frame . in the method , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the third clock packet is received includes : regarding the last bit of the delimiter field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the third upstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point . as shown in fig1 , the gtc tc frame includes a frame header and a payload . in the upstream direction , that is , when the synchronization clock packet is sent from the onu to the olt , the packet time stamp generating point is located at the last bit of the delimiter field in the gtc tc frame . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the third clock packet is received includes : regarding the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the third upstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point , as shown in fig7 . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the third clock packet is received includes : regarding the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the third upstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point . as shown in fig1 , the gtc tc frame includes a frame header and a payload . the physical layer overhead upstream ( plou ) is the upstream frame header of the gtc tc frame . the payload is the upstream frame payload of the gtc tc frame . the last bit of the plou in the gtc tc frame header is regarded as the packet time stamp generating point . the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried over ethernet protocols such as eth , internet protocol ( ip ), and user datagram protocol ( udp ). or , the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried in ieee 1588 / 1588v2 over gem mode ; or the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried in ploam messages ; or the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried in omci messages . in case of ieee 1588 / 1588v2 over gem mode , the pti in the gem frame header may indicate that the frame includes an internal extended field , and the pti in the extended field indicates that the service type of the payload is ieee 1588 / 1588v2 clock packet . for example , as shown in the following table , when the pti code is 110 , it indicates that an internal gem frame extended field is carried . fig1 illustrates the structure of a gem frame when the pti code is 110 . those skilled in the art can understand that the mode of transmitting and / or receiving clock packets here is also applicable to other embodiments of the present invention . on the other hand , an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for synchronizing time of a slave clock . as shown in fig1 , the method for synchronizing time at a slave clock side includes : 1401 . a match rule is predefined for matching packet time stamp generating points . 1402 . the onu receives a first clock packet from the olt . the first clock packet is carried in a first downstream frame . the first clock packet may be a sync message or a delay response message . 1403 . the onu acquires time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer and regards the acquired time as the time the onu receives the first clock packet . 1404 . the onu receives a second clock packet , where the second clock packet carries the time the first clock packet is sent and the second clock packet is carried in a second downstream frame . 1405 . the onu adjusts the local time according to a difference between the time the olt sends the first clock packet and the time the onu receives the first clock packet . in the slave clock time synchronization method according to the embodiment of the present invention , a packet time stamp generating point is first determined based on the lower layer and then the time a clock packet is sent and / or received on the slave clock side is determined according to the packet time stamp generating point . therefore , the method enables multiple modes of clock packet encapsulation based on the pon transmission frame , for example , the application of ieee 1588 in case of ethernet over gem mode . thus , time is synchronized in the network . in the method , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the onu receives the first clock packet includes : regarding the last bit of the psync field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the first downstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point , as shown in fig6 . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the onu receives the first clock packet includes : regarding the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the first downstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point , as shown in fig7 . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the onu receives the first clock packet includes : determining the packet time stamp generating point according to the sum of the start time received by the onu , the response time of the onu , and the eqd of the onu , as shown in fig8 and fig9 . as shown in fig1 , a method for synchronizing time at a slave clock side in an embodiment of the present invention includes : 1501 . a match rule is predefined for matching packet time stamp generating points . 1502 . the onu receives a first clock packet from the olt . the first clock packet is carried in a first downstream frame . 1503 . the onu acquires time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer and regards the acquired time as the time the onu receives the first clock packet . 1504 . the onu receives a second clock packet from the olt . the second clock packet carries the time the olt sends the first clock packet . 1505 . the onu adjusts the local time according to a difference between the time the olt sends the first clock packet and the time the onu receives the first clock packet . 1506 . the onu sends a third clock packet to the olt . 1507 . the onu acquires time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer and regards the acquired time as the time the onu sends the third clock packet . 1508 . the onu receives a fourth clock packet from the olt . the fourth clock packet carries the time the olt receives the third clock packet . 1509 . the onu corrects the local time according to a difference between the time the onu sends the third clock packet and the time the olt receives the third clock packet . in the method , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the third clock packet is sent includes : regarding the last bit of the delimiter field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the third upstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point , as shown in fig1 . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the third clock packet is sent includes : regarding the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the third upstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point , as shown in fig7 . optionally , the step of acquiring the time at the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer and regarding the acquired time as the time the third clock packet is sent includes : regarding the last bit of the plou field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the third upstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point , as shown in fig1 . in the embodiment of the present invention , the packet time stamp generating point is determined at the lower layer ( gtc framing sub - layer or tc adapter sub - layer ) of the pon and thus the precision and accuracy of the generated time stamp are improved . the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried over an ethernet protocol ; or in ieee 1588 / 1588v2 over gem mode ; or in ploam messages ; or in omci messages . the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are received when the onu is in the working state or ranging state . the third clock packet is sent when the onu is in the working state or ranging state . as shown in fig8 , the clock packets are sent and / or received when the onu is in the working state ; or as shown in fig9 , the clock packets are sent and / or received when the onu is in the ranging state . the clock packets are not sent when the onu is in the serial number state to avoid a great error in time synchronization caused by the random delay . those skilled in the art understand that all or part of the steps in the methods according to the above embodiments of the present invention can be completed by hardware under software instructions . the software according to the embodiments of the present invention can be stored in a computer - readable medium . another embodiment of the present invention provides an optical network device on the master clock side , namely , an olt . as shown in fig1 , the optical network device on the master clock side includes : a sending unit , configured to send a first clock packet carried in a first downstream frame and a second clock packet carried in a second downstream frame , where the second clock packet carries the time stamp when the olt sends the first clock packet ; a first monitoring unit , configured to determine the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer ; and a first acquiring unit , configured to acquire time at the packet time stamp generating point and regard the acquired time as the time the olt sends the first clock packet . the optical network device on the master clock side according to the embodiment of the present invention monitors the packet time stamp generating point based on the lower layer and acquires the time the clock packet is sent on the master clock side at the packet time stamp generating point . therefore , the optical network device on the master clock side is able to support ieee 1588 / 188v2 time synchronization in ethernet over gem mode and thus realizes time synchronization in the network . regard the last bit of the psync field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the first downstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as being the packet time stamp generating point ; or regard the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the first downstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as being the packet time stamp generating point ; or determine the packet time stamp generating point according to the sum of the start time received by the onu , the response time of the onu , and the eqd of the onu . as shown in fig1 , the optical network device on the master clock side according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes : a receiving unit , configured to receive a third clock packet carried in a third upstream frame ; a second monitoring unit , configured to determine the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer ; and a second acquiring unit , configured to acquire time at the packet time stamp generating point and regard the acquired time as the time the olt receives the third clock packet . the sending unit is further configured to send a fourth clock packet of the olt , where the fourth clock packet carries the time stamp when the olt receives the third clock packet . regard the last bit of the delimiter field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the third upstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point ; or regard the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the third upstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point ; or regard the last bit of the plou field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the third upstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point . in the embodiment of the present invention , the optical network device on the master clock side determines the time stamp generating point based on the lower layer ( gtc framing sub - layer or tc adapter layer ) of the pon , and thus the precision and accuracy of the generated time stamp are improved . on the other hand , an embodiment of the present invention provides an optical network device on the slave clock side , namely , an onu . as shown in fig1 , the optical network device on the slave clock side includes : a receiving unit , configured to receive a first clock packet and a second clock packet from the olt , where the second clock packet carries the time stamp when the olt sends the first clock packet ; a first monitoring unit , configured to determine the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the first downstream frame at the pon mac layer ; a first acquiring unit , configured to acquire time at the packet time stamp generating point , where the acquired time is regarded as the time the onu receives the first clock packet ; and an adjusting unit , configured to adjust the local time of the onu according to a difference between the time the olt sends the first clock packet and the time the onu receives the first clock packet . regard the last bit of the psync field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the first downstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point ; or regard the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the first downstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point ; or determine the packet time stamp generating point according to the sum of the start time received by the onu which is contained in the first downstream frame or needs to be added in the first downstream frame , the response time of the onu , and the eqd of the onu . as shown in fig1 , the optical network device on the slave clock side further includes : a sending unit , configured to send a third clock packet carried in a third upstream frame ; a second monitoring unit , configured to determine the packet time stamp generating point according to the frame data of the third upstream frame at the pon mac layer ; a second acquiring unit , configured to acquire time at the packet time stamp generating point and regard the acquired time as the time the onu sends the third clock packet ; and a correcting unit , configured to correct the local time of the onu according to a difference between the time the onu sends the third clock packet and the time the olt receives the third clock packet . the receiving unit is further configured to receive from the olt a fourth clock packet carried in a fourth downstream frame , where the fourth clock packet carries the time stamp when the olt receives the third clock packet . regard the last bit of the delimiter field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the third upstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point ; or regard the last bit of the hec field in the frame header of the gem frame of the third upstream frame at the tc adapter sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point ; or regard the last bit of the plou field in the frame header of the gtc tc frame of the third upstream frame at the gtc framing sub - layer as the packet time stamp generating point . the optical network device on the slave clock side according to the embodiment of the present invention monitors the packet time stamp generating point based on the lower layer and acquires the time a clock packet is received on the slave clock side at the packet time stamp generating point . therefore , the optical network device on the slave clock side supports multiple modes of clock packet encapsulation over the pon transmission frame , for example , the application of ieee 1588 in case of ethernet over gem . thus , time is synchronized in the network . in addition , the packet time stamp generating point is determined at the lower layer ( gtc framing sub - layer or tc adapter sub - layer ) of the pon and thus the precision and accuracy of the generated time stamp are improved . an embodiment of the present invention provides a point - to - multipoint optical communications system . as shown in fig2 , the point - to - multipoint optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an olt and at least one onu coupled to the olt . a master clock synchronization processing module , configured to send a first clock packet carried in a first downstream frame and a second clock packet carried in a second downstream frame to the onu , where the second clock packet carries the time stamp when the olt sends the first clock packet ; and a master clock packet time stamp generating module , configured to acquire the time the olt sends the first clock packet according to the frame data of the first clock packet at the pon mac layer . a slave clock synchronization processing module , configured to receive the first clock packet and the second clock packet , where the second clock packet carries the time stamp when the olt sends the first clock packet , and adjust the time of the onu according to the difference between the time the olt sends the first clock packet and the time the onu receives the first clock packet ; and a slave clock packet time stamp generating module , configured to acquire the time the onu receives the first clock packet according to the frame data of the first clock packet at the pon mac layer . optionally , the master clock synchronization processing module is further configured to receive a third clock packet and send a fourth clock packet , where the fourth clock packet carries the time stamp when the olt receives the third clock packet . the master clock packet time stamp generating module is further configured to acquire the time the olt receives the third clock packet according to the frame data of the third clock packet at the pon mac layer . the slave clock synchronization processing module is further configured to send the third clock packet ; receive from the olt the fourth clock packet which carries the time stamp when the olt receives the third clock packet ; and correct the time of the onu according to the difference between the time the onu sends the third clock packet and the time the olt receives the third clock packet . the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is further configured to acquire the time the onu sends the third clock packet according to the frame data of the third clock packet at the pon mac layer . the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention monitors the packet time stamp generating point based on the lower layer and then determines the time a clock packet is sent and received on the master clock side according to the packet time stamp generating point . therefore , the optical communications system supports multiple modes of clock packet encapsulation based on the pon transmission frame , for example , the application of ieee 1588 in case of ethernet over gem . thus , time is synchronized in the network . in addition , the packet time stamp generating point is determined at the lower layer ( gtc framing sub - layer or tc adapter sub - layer ) of the pon and thus the precision and accuracy of the generated time stamp are improved . the application of the optical communications system in the embodiment of the present invention is described hereinafter . fig2 illustrates a first application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention , where the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried over an ethernet protocol . on the master clock side , the olt includes a master clock packet time stamp generating module , a master clock synchronization processing module , an olt gpm sub - layer processing module , an olt gtc framing sub - layer processing module , an olt tc adapter sub - layer processing module , and an olt network protocol stack processing module . the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the master clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . the master clock synchronization processing module is configured to complete ieee 1588 protocol processing and exchange clock packets with the olt to determine the time a clock packet is sent or received according to the time stamp . the network protocol stack processing module is configured to process the protocol stack carrying the clock packets . the protocol stack may be eth , ip or udp . on the slave clock side , the onu includes a slave clock packet time stamp generating module , a slave clock synchronization processing module , an onu gpm sub - layer processing module , an onu gtc framing sub - layer processing module , an onu tc adapter sub - layer processing module , and an onu network protocol stack processing module . the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the slave clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . the slave clock synchronization processing module is configured to complete ieee 1588 protocol processing and exchange clock packets with the olt to determine the time a clock packet is sent and received according to the time stamp . the onu network protocol stack processing module is configured to process the protocol stack carrying the clock packets . the protocol stack may be eth , ip or udp . fig2 illustrates a second application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention , where the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried over an ethernet protocol . fig2 differs from fig2 in that : on the master clock side , the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the master clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer ; on the slave clock side , the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the slave clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer . fig2 illustrates a third application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention . the first , second , third , and fourth clock packet are carried in ieee 1588 / 1588v2 over gem mode . on the master clock side , the olt includes a master clock packet time stamp generating module , a master clock synchronization processing module , an olt gpm sub - layer processing module , an olt gtc framing sub - layer processing module , and an olt tc adapter sub - layer processing module . the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the master clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . the onu includes a slave clock packet time stamp generating module , a slave clock synchronization processing module , an onu gpm sub - layer processing module , an onu gtc framing sub - layer processing module , and an onu tc adapter sub - layer processing module . the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the slave clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . fig2 illustrates a fourth application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention , where the first , second , third , and fourth clock packets are carried in ieee 1588 / 1588v2 over gem mode . fig2 differs from fig2 in that : on the master clock side , the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the master clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer ; on the slave clock side , the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the slave clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer . fig2 illustrates a fifth application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention , where the clock packets are carried in ploam messages . on the master clock side , the olt includes a master clock packet time stamp generating module , a master clock synchronization processing module , an olt ploam processing module , an olt gpm sub - layer processing module , and an olt gtc framing sub - layer processing module . the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the master clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . on the slave clock side , the onu includes a slave clock packet time stamp generating module , a slave clock synchronization processing module , an onu ploam processing module , an onu gpm sub - layer processing module , and an onu gtc framing sub - layer processing module . the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the slave clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . fig2 illustrates a sixth application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention , where the clock packets are carried in ploam messages . fig2 is different from fig2 in that : on the master clock side , the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the master clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer ; on the slave clock side , the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the slave clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer . fig2 illustrates a seventh application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention , where the clock packets are carried in omci messages . on the master clock side , the olt includes a master clock packet time stamp generating module , a master clock synchronization processing module , an olt gpm sub - layer processing module , an olt gtc framing sub - layer processing module , an olt tc adapter sub - layer processing module , and an olt omci adapter sub - layer processing module . the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the master clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . on the slave clock side , the onu includes a slave clock packet time stamp generating module , a slave clock synchronization processing module , an onu gpm sub - layer processing module , an onu gtc framing sub - layer processing module , an onu tc adapter sub - layer processing module , and an onu omci adapter sub - layer processing module . the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the position of the slave clock packet time stamp generating point and generate time stamp information according to the gtc tc frame header at the gtc framing sub - layer . fig2 illustrates an eighth application of the optical communications system according to the embodiment of the present invention , where the clock packets are carried in omci messages . fig2 differs from fig2 in that : at the master clock side , the master clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the master clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer ; on the slave clock side , the slave clock packet time stamp generating module is configured to determine the slave clock packet time stamp generating point according to the gem frame header at the tc adapter sub - layer . those skilled in the art understand that the synchronization method , optical network device , and optical communications system according to the embodiments of the present invention are applicable not only to gpon systems but also to other xpon systems . through the descriptions of the preceding embodiments , those skilled in the art may understand that the present invention may be implemented by hardware only or by software and necessary universal hardware . however , in most cases , software and necessary universal hardware are preferred . based on such understandings , all or part of the technical solution under the present invention that makes contributions to the prior art may be essentially embodied in the form of a software product . the software product may be stored in a storage medium . the software product includes a number of instructions that enable a computer device ( mobile phone , personal computer , server , or network device ) to execute the methods provided in the embodiments of the present invention . the above descriptions are merely some exemplary embodiments of the present invention , but not desired to limit the scope of the present invention . any modification , replacement , or improvement made without departing from the spirit and principle of the present invention should fall within the scope of the present invention . | 7 |
a transport system according to this invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the drawings . [ 0022 ] fig1 shows a portion of manufacturing equipment for manufacturing semiconductor substrates . this equipment is installed in a cleaned indoor space with little dust . the equipment includes a plurality of article processing apparatus a for performing predetermined treatment of half - finished semiconductor substrates in the course of manufacture , and a transport system b for transporting the substrates to container receiving stations h of these article processing apparatus a . the article processing apparatus a are arranged along a direction of article transport ( as indicated by an arrow ) by the transport system b . as seen from fig1 one row of article processing apparatus a is opposed to a different row of article processing apparatus a . as is well known , and therefore not particularly described herein , these article processing apparatus a successively perform plural types of chemical treatment to manufacture semiconductor substrates . next , the construction of transport system b will be described with reference to fig1 and 2 . semiconductor substrates 1 to be treated are stored in a set number in each transport container 2 . the transport container 2 is transported to the container receiving station h of each of the plurality of article processing apparatus a . a container receiving table 3 is disposed at the container receiving station h of each article processing apparatus a . in this transport system , the transport container 2 is placed on the container receiving table 3 . each transport container 2 is formed of plastic and , as shown in fig3 includes a main container body 2 a having an opening 4 formed in one side for receiving semiconductor substrates 1 , and a lid 2 b for closing the opening 4 in a sealed state . the main container body 2 a has , formed on an upper surface thereof , a flange 5 acting as a support portion to be suspended by a gripper described hereinafter . this transport container 2 has an interior space of main container body 2 a sealed to admit substantially no entry of dust - laden ambient air through gaps . next , a device for transporting such transport containers 2 will be described . as shown in fig4 carrier vehicles 8 run along a guide rail 7 fixed by brackets 6 to a ceiling . each carrier vehicle 8 includes a vehicle member 8 a disposed in an inner space of the guide rail 7 to act as one example of moving body , and a transport action unit 8 b connected to the vehicle member 8 a and disposed below the guide rail 7 . the vehicle member 8 a is driven by a linear motor that generates propelling drive , to run along the guide rail 7 . the transport action unit 8 b is connected by front and rear connecting bars 9 and 10 to the vehicle member 8 a . as seen from a section of the guide rail 7 shown in fig7 the guide rail 7 has a pair of right and left legs extending generally vertically and spaced from each other . the inner space is formed between these right and left legs . the legs have guide surfaces 14 formed at lower ends thereof for supporting running wheels 13 of the carrier vehicle 8 . in addition , the legs define vibration damping guide surfaces 16 for contacting vibration damping wheels 15 . the vehicle member 8 a derives drive from a linear motor lm for driving the carrier vehicle 8 . as shown in fig7 the linear motor lm includes a magnet 11 mounted in the inner space of the guide rail 7 , and a primary coil 12 mounted on the carrier vehicle 8 to be adjacent and opposed to the magnet 11 . in fig7 numeral 17 denotes power supply lines attached to the guide rail 7 , and number 18 denotes power receiver coils attached to the carrier vehicle 8 . a supply of ac forms magnetic fields around the power supply lines 17 , which in turn generate power on the receiver coils 18 as required by the carrier vehicle 8 . in this way , power is supplied in a non - contact mode . the transport action unit 8 b has a frame 19 connected to the vehicle member 8 a by the front and rear connecting bars 9 and 10 . the frame 19 supports a lift control unit 20 for gripping the flange 5 and raising and lowering the transport container 2 as supported in suspension . further , the transport action unit 8 b includes a holder 21 acting as a receiving device switchable between a holding position for receiving and supporting the bottom 2 c of the transport container 2 suspended by the lift control unit 20 and bearing the weight of the transport container 2 , and a position retracted from the bottom 2 c of the transport container 2 . more particularly , the lift control unit 20 includes a lift member 23 vertically movable relative to the vehicle member 8 a , and a gripper 22 supported by the lift member 23 and switchable between an operative position for gripping the flange 5 of the transport container 2 and a release position for releasing the flange 5 . the lift member 23 is vertically movable by a lift control mechanism 24 attached to the frame 19 . these lift control unit 20 and lift control mechanism 24 constitute the lift device . as shown in fig6 and 7 , the lift control mechanism 24 has a rotating drum 25 rotatable about a vertical axis by a drum drive motor m 1 . this rotating drum 25 has a construction to wind and unwind four wires 26 simultaneously . with forward and backward rotations of the rotating drum 25 , the lift member 23 supported by the four wires 26 are moved vertically while being maintained in a substantially horizontal posture . the lift control mechanism 24 does not necessarily require such rotating drum 25 , but may have a construction for winding and unwinding the respective wires 26 with separate motors . as shown in fig5 and 7 , the gripper 22 is switchable between a gripping position for gripping the flange 5 with a gripper actuating motor m 2 swinging a pair of gripping members 28 toward each other through a link mechanism 27 , and a release position for releasing the flange 5 by swinging the gripping members 28 away from each other . further , the gripper 22 is attached to the lift member 23 to be rotatable about a vertical axis by a motor m 3 . the holder 21 has a pair of vertical frame portions 29 depending from the frame 19 and arranged forward and rearward with respect to the direction of movement of the vehicle member . each vertical frame portion 29 has a pair of receiving members 30 attached to the lower end thereof . each receiving member 30 is switchable between a projecting position for receiving and supporting the bottom 2 c the transport container 2 raised by the lift control unit 20 , and a retracted position out of a lifting path for allowing the lift control unit 20 to raise and lower the transport container 2 . as shown in fig8 and 9 , each receiving member 30 has one end thereof located in a recess 31 formed in one of the vertical frame portions 29 , and is supported by a vertical support shaft 32 to be pivotable about a vertical axis . the support shaft 32 is rotatable by an electric motor m 4 with a reduction gear , through a link mechanism not shown , whereby a free end of the receiving member 30 is switched between a position projecting to the lifting path of the transport container 2 , and a position retracted into the recess 31 . the receiving member 30 , with the one end thereof located in the recess 31 formed in the vertical frame portion 29 as noted above , is restrained from vertical displacement by upper and lower inner surfaces of the recess 31 . consequently , the receiving member 30 can receive the transport container 2 even though its load falls on the free end projecting in cantilever fashion . numeral 33 in fig7 denotes a controller for controlling movement of the carrier vehicle 8 and operation of the transport action unit 8 b in response to instructions from a supervising controller on the ground and to detection information received from sensors or the like , though not particularly described herein , mounted on the carriers 8 . a transporting operation of the transport system having the above construction will be described next . in this operation , each transport container 2 is transported from a transport starting point ( i . e . one container receiving station h ) to a transport target point ( another container receiving station h ). operations of the holder 21 and lift control unit 20 are controlled by the controller 33 . as shown in fig4 the carrier vehicle 8 is moved to a position corresponding to the transport starting point , where the lift control unit 20 is lowered . the gripper 22 grips the flange 5 of the transport container 2 placed in the container receiving station h . the transport container 2 is raised to a level close to the carrier vehicle 8 . at this time , the lift control unit 20 raises the transport container 2 to an upper limit . as the carrier vehicle 8 begins to move toward the transport target point , the holder 21 is switched from the retracted position to the holding position . specifically , the receiving members 30 are switched to the projecting positions , respectively . thereafter , the lift control unit 20 is lowered by a set amount . when the lift control unit 20 is lowered by the set amount , the bottom 2 c of the transport container 2 is received and stopped by the receiving members 30 . the flange 5 is thereby slightly elevated relative to the gripper 22 , thereby reducing the force of support for the flange 5 by the lift control unit 20 to zero . when the receiving members 30 are switched to the projecting positions , respectively , the transport container 2 has been raised to the upper limit with the receiving members 30 lying slightly below the bottom 2 c of the transport container 2 . thus , the receiving members 30 may easily be switched to the projecting positions . the carrier vehicle 8 moves along the guide rail 7 with the weight of the transport container 2 borne by the receiving members 30 as described above . thus , there is little chance of the transport container 2 being deformed by vibration occurring during the movement of the carrier vehicle 8 , to allow entry of ambient air to its interior . when the carrier vehicle 8 arrives at the position corresponding to the transport target point , the carrier vehicle 8 is stopped , and then the lift control unit 20 is raised to raise the transport container 2 by the set amount with the gripper 22 gripping the flange 5 . while the bottom 2 c of the transport container 2 is raised above the receiving members 30 , the receiving members 30 s are switched from the projecting positions to the retracted positions . subsequently , the lift control unit 20 is lowered with the gripper 22 gripping the flange 5 , to place the transport container 2 in the container receiving station h . then the gripper 22 releases the flange 5 to complete the transporting operation . ( 1 ) in the foregoing embodiment , the operation for switching the holder 21 from the retracted position to the holding position is carried out when the carrier vehicle 8 begins to move toward the transport target point after the transport container 2 is raised close to the carrier vehicle 8 . instead , the switching operation may be carried out as soon as the transport container 2 is raised close to the carrier vehicle 8 . in the foregoing embodiment , the operation for switching the holder 21 from the holding position to the retracted position is carried out after the carrier vehicle 8 arrives and stops at the position corresponding to the transport target point . instead , this switching operation may be carried out a short time before the carrier vehicle 8 stops . ( 2 ) in the foregoing embodiment , when the holder 21 is switched to the holding position , the force of support for the flange 5 by the lift control unit 20 is reduced to zero . instead , the force of support for the flange 5 by the lift control unit 20 may be reduced to a smaller value than when the lift control unit 20 bears the total weight of the transport container 2 . ( 3 ) in the foregoing embodiment , the receiving device 21 is mounted on the frame 19 connected to the vehicle member 8 a . instead , the receiving device 21 may be mounted on the lift member 23 of lift control unit 20 in the foregoing embodiment . as shown in fig1 , for example , a lift member 23 raised and lowered by a lift control mechanism 24 having the same construction as in the foregoing embodiment may have a pair of receiving members 40 pivotable about horizontal axes by a drive mechanism including an electric motor and a link mechanism . when the receiving members 40 are switched to a holding position immediately after the transport container 2 is gripped and raised slightly , the holding action of the receiving members 40 slightly elevates the transport container 2 to raise the flange 5 slightly above the gripper 22 ( see fig1 ( a )). then , the vehicle member 8 a is moved with the transport container 2 received and raised by the receiving members 40 . this construction is effective to avoid entry of unclean ambient air to the container not only during movement of the vehicle member 8 a but also when the transport container 2 is raised . ( 4 ) in the foregoing embodiment , the gripper is constructed switchable between the gripping position for gripping the flange by swinging the gripping members , and the release position for releasing the flange by swinging the gripping members away from each other . this construction is not limitative , but may be modified in various ways . for example , the gripping members may be adapted pivotable about vertical axes , or otherwise movable horizontally , to switch between a position for gripping the flange and a position for releasing the flange . the specific construction of the receiving device similarly is not limited to the switching through pivotal movement about the vertical axes as in the foregoing embodiment or to switching through pivotal movement about horizontal axes toward and away from each other , but may be modified in various ways , such as switching by horizontal movement . ( 5 ) in the foregoing embodiment , each moving body is in the form of a vehicle member for running along the guide rail . instead , it is possible to use linear motor cars which run along the guide rail but have no wheels . other modifications include use of articulated transport robots . ( 6 ) the foregoing embodiment has been described as having a construction for supplying power to each vehicle member 8 a in a non - contact mode . however , this is not limitative , but a contact type power supply may be provided in which a conductor mounted on each vehicle member contacts a power supply rail . instead of the non - contact type or contact type power supply each vehicle member may carry a storage device such as a battery or capacitor . each vehicle member may carry a storage device , and yet receive a non - contact type or contact type power supply when appropriate . then , the storage device may supply power when , for example , no external power supply is available in the contact or no - contact mode . | 8 |
the insert 50 of the instant invention is utilized to stabilize and prevent or reduce wobble or playoff a pull - out spray head or wand 10 when it is inserted into a tube spout 20 . more specifically , an adapter 30 is mounted in the wand 10 as best seen in fig8 a - 8 c . the adapter may be comprised of any suitable material , e . g ., metal such as copper , brass , steel or plastic . the adapter 30 is comprised of a front end 32 and a back end 37 . as best illustrated in fig3 and 4 the adapter 30 has a forwardly extending flexible finger 33 having a downwardly projecting button 34 at its front end 36 . the finger 33 is located at the bottom of the adapter and is free or unattached at its front or forward end 36 . at its back end 35 the finger 33 is attached to the adapter 30 . as illustrated in fig8 a - 8 c the button 34 fits into a complementary shaped opening 12 in the bottom 11 of the wand near the rear or back 14 of the wand and retains or locks the adapter 30 in the wand 10 . the rear of the adapter 37 has two grooves 38 , 39 in which are seated o - rings 40 , 41 . there are also two outwardly extending protrusions or wings 40 , 41 on opposite sides at the rear of the adapter 30 to the rear or downstream of grooves 38 , 39 . the rear 37 of the adapter 30 extends rearwardly out of the wand 10 and is shaped to fit into the insert 50 . the insert 50 , as best shown in fig5 - 7 a , is a hollow generally tubular member . insert 50 is sized and shaped to fit into tube spout 20 . in one embodiment , as best illustrated in fig7 a , the insert 50 has a substantially elliptical cross - section . in the interior of the insert 50 are disposed two tabs 55 , 57 . the tabs 55 , 57 , as best seen in fig7 a , are disposed on opposite side walls of the insert 10 . in one embodiment at least the bottom surfaces 56 , 58 of the tabs 55 , 57 are angled . upon insertion of the adapter 30 into the insert 50 the wings 40 , 41 on the adapter 30 engage with the tabs 55 , 57 , more particularly with the angled bottom surfaces 56 , 58 of the insert , which forces the adapter 30 in a downward direction . this reduces wobble as there is no or little clearance between two of the surfaces . the o - rings 40 , 41 in the adapter serve , inter alia , to provide a good , snug fit between the adapter 30 and the insert 50 , and to minimize wobble or play even more . the front o - ring 40 is centered to provide a consistent fit with the insert 50 while the adapter forces the bottom portion of the o - ring further than is the case with a typical seal . this provides an upward load between tabs 55 , 57 and wings 40 , 41 provides stability and minimizes wobble . more particularly , the wings 40 , 41 of angled tabs 55 , 57 force the entire wand 10 , including the adapter 30 , downward compressing the bottom half of the o - rings 40 , 41 while reducing the squeeze or compressive force on the top part of the o - rings 40 , 41 . this has a line - to - line fit on the wings 40 , 41 with increased loading on the lower section of the o - rings 40 , 41 to minimize droop . because this results in only one direction for a gap the wobble is greatly reduced . located on the bottom of insert 50 is a downwardly projecting button 51 . as best illustrated in fig7 a button 51 fits into an aperture 21 in the bottom of tube spout 20 and helps to retain and properly locate insert 50 in tube spout 20 . at the front of the insert is a circumferentially extending lip 52 . as best illustrated in fig1 the lip 52 extends radially from the front of insert 50 sufficiently to come between tube spout 20 and wand 10 . in one embodiment of the insert 30 , as illustrated in fig1 , 5 - 7 , 8 a - 11 , 13 and 14 , there is a tab extension 58 provided at the top rear of insert 50 . this tab extension 58 engages the inside top surface 25 of the tube spout 20 . this forces button 51 into aperture 25 on the underside of tube spout 20 . this is best illustrated in fig1 . this embodiment eliminates the need for adhesives applied on the insert 50 to keep the insert in the tube spout 20 . in another embodiment , as illustrated in fig1 , the insert 30 , does not have a tab extension 58 . in this embodiment there may be a need for adhesives to keep the insert 50 in the tube spout 20 . in another embodiment of fig1 the insert 50 may be made out of stainless steel and be held in place in the tube spout 20 by an interference fit . in this embodiment the bottom button 51 may be eliminated . while certain embodiments of the invention have been described for purposes of illustration , it is to be understood that there may be various embodiments and modifications within the general scope of the invention . | 4 |
turning now to the drawings wherein elements are identified by numbers and like elements are identified by like numbers throughout the 5 figures , the invention is depicted in fig1 that illustrates a speaker housing 1 for use in the unique wiring system . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the speaker housing 1 may have a plurality of sides including a front portion 3 , a first side portion 5 , a second side portion 7 , a top portion 9 and a bottom portion 11 . additionally , a back portion 13 is illustrated in fig4 . as fig1 further illustrates , the front portion 3 exemplifies the majority of the hardware contained within the speaker housing 1 . the speaker housing 1 may contain the speaker 15 which may have a directional setting projecting sound out of the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 . in other exemplary embodiments , the speaker 15 may face rearwardly , projecting sound out of the rear portion 13 of the speaker housing 1 . moreover , it is anticipated that the speaker 15 may be positioned anywhere within the speaker housing and may project sound from that location . in an exemplary embodiment illustrated in fig1 , the speaker 15 is contained within the speaker housing 1 and projects through the front portion 3 of the housing 1 . additionally as exemplified , the front portion may also have a tweeter 17 and / or additional smaller speaker contained thereon wherein the tweeter 17 and / or additional smaller speaker may also project sound through the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 . in an embodiment , a plurality of tweeters 17 may be adapted for use in a single speaker housing 1 . moreover , in an embodiment , a plurality of speakers 15 may be adapted for use in a single speaker housing 1 . the speaker housing 1 may also allow for configuration of the speaker 15 therein by allowing for replacement of the speaker 15 when necessary by providing a plurality of connection points 21 that may be in the form of a screw 23 . when the screws 23 are removed , the speaker 15 may be detachably removed from the speaker housing 1 which may allow for interchangeability of the speaker 15 relative to the speaker housing 1 . fig1 further illustrates the tubular enclosure 25 in the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 . the tubular enclosure 25 extends rearwardly from the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 to the rear portion 13 of the speaker housing as illustrated in fig4 . fig2 further illustrates the tubular enclosure 25 that extends between the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 and the rear portion 13 of the speaker housing 1 . as illustrated in fig2 , the tubular enclosure 25 may be recessed within a recessed portion 31 from the outside edge 27 of the front portion 3 . providing the enclosure 25 recessed from the outside edge 27 of the front portion 3 may allow for adequate space between the outside edge 27 of the front portion 3 and the tubular enclosure 25 to facilitate storage of the wiring apparatus ( not shown ) within the recessed portion 31 of the speaker housing 1 . fig1 and 2 illustrate wire connectors 29 positioned on the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 . in prior art applications , the wire connectors are typically positioned in the rear of the speaker housing which makes getting to those connectors rather difficult and cumbersome . in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , the wire connectors 29 are position within the recessed portion 31 of the speaker housing , which allows a wire apparatus ( not shown ) to pass through the tubular enclosure 25 from the rear portion 13 of the speaker housing 1 to the front portion 3 of the speaker housing and connected to the wire connectors 29 positioned on the outside surface 33 of the recessed portion 31 of the speaker housing 1 . the tubular enclosure 25 in an exemplary embodiment may be positioned below the speaker 15 in a location within the speaker housing 1 that may facilitate easier and more efficient connection of the wire apparatus to the wire connectors 29 . in an embodiment , the tubular enclosure 25 may be of generally tubular shape , but it should be anticipated that the tubular enclosure 25 may be of any shape to facilitate the insertion of a wire apparatus ( not shown ) from the rear portion 13 of the speaker housing 1 to the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 . the configuration of the tubular enclosure is not limited to a generally tubular shape , but can include a plurality of different shapes including rectangular , trapezoidal , oval , triangular and a variety of other geometric shapes . additionally , the tubular enclosure 25 may also have a first gate 37 positioned at the outside edge 39 of the front portion of the tubular enclosure 25 . moreover , the tubular enclosure 25 may also have a second gate 41 positioned at the outside edge 44 of the back portion of the tubular enclosure 25 . the first gate 37 and the second gate 41 ( see fig4 ) may allow for opening and closing of the tubular enclosure 25 when the enclosure 25 is not in use . additionally , the first gate 37 and the second gate 41 may have an opening 45 ( see fig4 ) thereon to allow only the wire apparatus ( not shown ) to pass through the tubular enclosure 25 . ( see fig4 ). fig3 illustrates a cross sectional view of the speaker housing 1 wherein the tubular enclosure 25 extends from the rear portion 13 of the speaker housing 1 to the front portion 3 of the speaker housing 1 . additionally , fig3 illustrates the speaker housing 1 incorporation of the speaker 15 and the tweeter 17 and / or additional speakers . moreover , fig3 illustrates the wire connectors 29 positioned on the outside edge 33 of the recessed portion 31 . as illustrated in fig3 , a wire apparatus ( not shown ) may enter into the tubular enclosure 25 of the speaker housing 1 from the rear portion 13 . the speaker housing 1 may be positioned on a wall and / or a support structure ( not shown ) to suspend the speaker housing 1 therefrom . allowing the wire apparatus to enter from the rear , be navigated through the tubular enclosure 25 and extend outwardly from the front portion 3 of the speaker house 1 and ultimately attached to the wire connectors 29 on the front portion 3 would allow the individual responsible for connecting the speaker to the transmission unit ( not shown ) to do so with relative ease without the need to remove the speaker housing 1 from its support structure . fig4 illustrates a back view of the speaker housing 1 in an embodiment . the back portion 13 may have the tubular enclosure 25 along with the gate 41 including the opening 45 thereon to allow for insertion of the wire apparatus through the enclosure 25 . in an embodiment , speaker housing 1 may have a mounting bracket ( not shown ) attached to a corresponding attachment point 49 . the attachment point 49 may be located on the top portion 9 and the corresponding bottom portion 11 of the speaker housing 1 . however , it is anticipated that the speaker housing may have a standard attachment aperture 51 thereon . in an exemplary embodiment , the standard attachment aperture 51 may be located at the mid point 55 of the back portion 13 of the speaker housing 1 . however , in another embodiment , the attachment aperture 51 may be located at any other position on the back portion 13 of the speaker housing 1 to allow for attachment of the speaker housing 1 to a support structure ( not shown ). additionally , as illustrated in fig5 , the attachment aperture 51 may be located on the bottom portion 11 of the housing 1 to allow for attachment of the speaker housing 1 to a support structure . in another exemplary embodiment , a plurality of attachment apertures 51 may be located at different locations on the speaker housing to allow for multiple configurations and attachment points for different types of support structures having different configurations . it should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art . such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages . | 7 |
fig1 schematically depicts the classical approach to performing a floating point operation defined by the mathematical relationship the mathematical relationship a * b + c , where a , b and c are individually composed of n bits ( n = 53 ). it should be apparent that the mantissa of operand c must be added before the truncation or rounding of the intermediate result a * b . thus the intermediate result of a * b is composed of 106 bits , including 2 further bit places for carry conditions . following classical practices , the 53 bits of operand c are added to the 108 bits of the a * b result following alignment of the c mantissa with the a * b mantissa . the alignment range of c is shown by the dashed lines in fig1 . following such alignment , the two values a * b and c are added in a full adder having an output of 161 bits . the s bit at the left represents the sign of the value c , with the sign of the a * b product being handled by separate logic . the xor is then used to provide the correct 1 &# 39 ; s complement value from the 161 bit full adder . those skilled in the design of electronic circuits for full addition and multiplication , know that full adders are very large and complicated devices . there are clear benefits to be gained if the bit size of the full adder can be reduced . similarly , a distinct reduction in circuit size can be gained if the wallace tree multiplier , typically composed of multiple csas , can be reduced in bit count . the earlier noted u . s . pat . no . 4 , 969 , 118 suggests that for the mathematical operation of a * b + c , where operands a , b and c are each n bits , an n bit incrementer can be used in the most significant bit ( msb ) position of the full adder to reduce the size of adder from 3n to 2n . a similar approach is discussed in the aforementioned ibm technical disclosure bulletin . the architecture according to the present invention further reducing the size of the full adder by the use of an incrementer to replace operations performed in the least significant bit ( lsb ) side of the full add , and as an aspect thereof , also reduces the size of wallace tree multiplier . central to the refined approach is the partition of the multiplication operation into multiple cycles , and the selective addition of partial products in the multiple cycles using a pipelined architecture . fig2 conceptually depicts the operations associated with a preferred implementation of the invention . again , operands a , b and c are composed of n bits ( where n = 53 ), and operand b is divided into m segments in which m is a whole number greater than 1 . in the illustration m is equal to 2 . in keeping with such implementation , the circuit architecture is partitioned into a pipeline composed of three primary segments , as distinguished by dashed lines in the schematic of fig3 . in the context of fig2 a first multiplication is performed involving the operand a and the partial operand b0 . the second stage of performing the operation a * b + c involves the multiplication of a with the second , most significant segment , of operand b as represented by b1 . however , since the least significant bits of operation of a * b0 are fixed , the value of c as appropriately shifted can also be added into the least significant bit range of the final result . since these , bits of the final result are not directly affected by the outcome of the multiplication a * b1 , the second multiplication can be accomplished concurrent with the first addition . the framework for a pipelined architecture is thereby defined . for the specific example in fig2 the addition of the n / 2 least significant bits is accomplished at the same time that the circuit is performing the second multiplication . it should also be apparent that the concept depicted in fig2 can be extended to larger subdivisions of operand b , and the associated pipelined or concurrent multiplication and addition operations of partial results . unfortunately , the returns diminish as the value of m , the divisor of operand b , increases . for example , for m = 2 , the full adder must accommodate all the bits of a * b1 . in this example the full adder is 2n - n / 2 size . however , the adder decreases in size at a diminishing rate as m increases , as defined by the formula 2n - n ( m - 1 )/ m . the use of partial products according the procedure depicted in fig2 has little consequence unless one appreciates that the least significant bits of the addition of a * b0 with the appropriately shifted bits of operand c are not subject to changes as a direct consequence of subsequent multiplications . therefore , these bits can be manipulated in a device less complex than a full adder . another fallout of the operation can be understood upon recognizing that each partial product a * b0 and a * b1 has fewer bits than the product a * b . namely , a full multiplication of a * b produces a product of 2n bits while the individual products of a * b0 and a * b1 are composed of approximately 1 . 5n bits . an architecture and sequence of operation of the present form , involving multiple cycles through the same multiplier , has a significant effect on the size of a wallace tree multiplier . even though the bit count decreased by 25 %, the number of csa &# 39 ; s in the multiplier decreases by approximately 50 %. thus , as another aspect , the present invention provides for a major reduction in the size of the multiplier . as embodied in fig3 the invention employs a wallace tree with concurrent multiplication and addition resources . thereby , aligned operand c can be added to appropriate bits of a * b0 distinct from the final addition of a * b1 with the most significant bits of a * b0 . the benefits ascribed to multiplication according to the method depicted in fig2 are provided in the circuit architecture of fig3 . the architecture is divided into three segments individualized by dashed lines 1 and 2 in fig3 . the three segments represent three stages of a pipeline which performs the mathematical operation a * b + c in a nominal two cycle sequence while using significantly smaller circuits to perform the functions of the full adder and multiplier . the mantissas of operands a , b and c are provided by file register 3 . the exponents are manipulated elsewhere in fairly well known manner to enable alignment shifter / inverter 4 . similarly , separate logic is used to handle the signs of operands a , b and c in a manner which eventually leads to the appropriate sign in sign bit position 6 of incrementer 23 . the term &# 34 ; operand &# 34 ; in the ensuing paragraphs will refer generally to the mantissa of each operands a , b and c , in that the mantissas are the primary subjects of the manipulations being accomplished . operands a and c are latched into respective latches 7 and 8 while operand b is split by multiplexer 9 before storage in latch 11 . following such latching the respective value of b0 or b1 are plier 13 . multiplier 13 preferably employs a wallace tree configuration capable of simultaneously multiplying a 53 bit operand with a 28 bit operand while adding 3 further operands . wallace trees composed of carry save adders ( csa ) are described in the aforementioned u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 969 , 118 and 4 , 999 , 802 , and in the text book by patterson et al . booth encoding is discussed in the noted text by patterson et al as well as described in the aforementioned ibm technical disclosure bulletin . as depicted in fig3 multiplier 13 receives inputs bits representing operand a , encoded bits representing b0 or b1 , shift aligned least significant bits from operand c , and sum and carry bits from an immediately preceding cycle . thus , in the context of the second multiplication accomplished according to the sequence in fig2 multiplier 13 in fig3 receives the appropriately shifted low end bits of operand c , operand a , operand b1 , and the sum and carry values of the n / 2 least significant bits of the outcome from the previous multiplication involving a * b0 . the next stage of the pipeline is isolated by latches 14 , 16 , 17 and 18 from the stage whose operation was just described . note that latch 18 stores the results of the full addition of the least significant bits of the first multiplication , namely a * b0 , with the appropriately shifted least significant bits of operand c . the primary function of the second stage of the pipeline depicted in fig3 is to complete the full addition of the intermediate results . with reference to fig2 this means the full addition of a * b1 with the most significant bits of a * b0 as affected by shift aligned bits of operand c . the second stage of the pipeline , as situated between boundary lines 1 and 2 , includes lsb incrementer 19 , full adder 21 , logic gate 22 , and msb incrementer 23 , together providing the 161 bit unrounded result to xor 24 . the effects of the sign of operand c are introduced into xor gate 24 from sign bit location 6 . the output of xor gate 24 is held in latch 26 . note that in contrast to prior practices , full adder 21 provides an output of only 83 bits . the classical approach requires greater than 106 bits . accordingly , the size of adder 21 is reduced significantly . lsb incrementer 19 manipulates the 28 least significant bits of the 161 bit result . the 50 most significant bits of the result are manipulated by msb incrementer 23 . further note that lsb incrementer 19 provides a carry to adder 21 , which adder itself provides a selective carry , via gate 22 , to msb incrementer 23 , which incrementer then closes the loop by providing an end around carry to the input of lsb incrementer 19 . the use of lsb incrementer 19 to handle the n / 2 least significant bits arose from the recognition that data manipulation according to the present architecture involves only a single carry bit at the input to the least significant bit position of the composite 161 bit output . example # 1 shows a 1 &# 39 ; s complement manipulation of the decimal values 6 , 10 , 11 , - 6 and - 11 in binary form . 1 &# 39 ; s complement addition of selected numbers as appears in example # 1 illustrates that the circuitry must include the ability to provide an end around carry from the most significant bit position to the least significant bit position . see the example addition of 10 with - 6 . the purpose of gate 22 is to selectively delete carry bits propagating from adder 21 to msb incrementer 23 . carry bits are selectively deleted when the c operand is shifted so that the bits align with the sign position in the partial products from the wallace tree multiplier . the constraints for dropping a carry bit are defined by the three examples which follow . example # 2 ## str8 ## in the example identified as # 2 , the wallace tree multiplier , composed of carry save adders , combines three inputs to provide a sum output and a carry output , the result of which is then further added in a successive stage of the wallace tree multiplier to an aligned value of the c operand ( c 1 ). the x symbol identifies a bit position omitted from c because it aligns with the sign position of the multiplied values . the output of the wallace tree is composed of sum and carry binary bits , which themselves are the two inputs to a full adder . note that the result of the full adder would propagate a &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; bit into the sign bit position . according to the present invention gate 22 is disabled to delete such carry bit before it propagates into the msb incrementer . a similar situation exists for the example identified as # 3 . in this case a c 2 operand value is added . again , the carry bit is dropped when it enters the sign location , but now this occurs during addition preceding the full add cycle . example # 4 ## str10 ## the example identified as # 4 illustrates addition with a c 3 operand value during which gate 22 propagates a carry from adder 21 to msb incrementer 23 . in this situation , the carry bit resulting from the operation preceding the full add is again dropped , but when followed by a second carry during the full add , such second carry is propagated to the next most significant bit . in this way , the carry generated in adder 21 is conveyed only when appropriate to increment the c value as previously entered into msb incrementer 23 . in keeping with the architecture define in fig3 the 161 bit result held in latch 26 is normalized and rounded in block 27 following relatively conventional practices and before being provided as a 53 bit output equal to the mathematical operation defined as a * b + c . it should be apparent from the description that the pipelined architecture provides for concurrence of operations in a manner which optimizes the incremental multiplication of a * b . partitioned multiplication and time interleaved addition allow the use of a smaller multiplier and an incrementer to replace a large number of the least significant bits of the full adder . finally , the invention includes resources for selectively deleting carry bits , which bits would otherwise propagate from the full adder into the most significant bit incrementer when conditions dictate that the propagation is not appropriate . although the invention has been described illustrated by way of a specific embodiment , the apparatus and methods encompassed by the invention should be interpreted consistent with the breath of the claims set forth hereinafter . | 6 |
one or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below . in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments , not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification . it should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation , as in any engineering or design project , numerous implementation - specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers &# 39 ; specific goals , such as compliance with system - related and business - related constraints , which may vary from one implementation to another . moreover , it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming , but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design , fabrication , and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure . turning to fig1 , a block diagram of an exemplary satellite television over ip system in accordance with one embodiment is illustrated and generally designated by a reference numeral 10 . as illustrated , in one embodiment , the system 10 may include one or more satellite dishes 12 a through 12 m , a head - end unit , such as a satellite gateway 14 , an ip distribution network 20 , and one or more set top boxes (“ stbs ”) 22 a through 22 n . those of ordinary skill in the art , however , will appreciate that the embodiment of the system 10 illustrated in fig1 is merely one potential embodiment of the system 10 . as such , in alternate embodiments , the illustrated components of the system 10 may be rearranged or omitted or additional components may be added to the system 10 . for example , with minor modifications , the system 10 may configured to distributed non - satellite video and audio services . the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m may be configured to receive video , audio , or other types of television - related data that is transmitted from satellites orbiting the earth . as will be described further below , in one embodiment the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m are configured to receive directv programming over ku band from 10 . 7 to 12 . 75 gigahertz (“ ghz ”). in alternate embodiments , however , the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m may be configured to receive other types of direct broadcast satellites (“ dbs ”) or television receive - only (“ tvro ”) signal , such as dish network signals , expressvu signals , starchoice signals , and the like . in still other non - satellite based systems , the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m may be omitted from the system 10 . in one embodiment , a low noise - block converter (“ lnc ”) within the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m receives the incoming signal from the earth - orbiting satellite and converts these incoming signals to a frequency in the l band between 950 and 2150 megahertz (“ mhz ”). as will be described in further detail below with regard to fig2 , each of the satellites 12 a - 12 m may be configured to receive one or more incoming satellite tv signals on a particular frequency ( referred to as a transponder ) and with a particular polarization and to convert these satellite signals to l band signals , each of which may contain a plurality of video or audio signals . the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m may be configured to transmit the l band signals to a head - end unit or gateway server , such as the satellite gateway 14 . in alternate , non - satellite embodiments , the head - end unit may be a cable television receiver , a high definition television receiver , or other video distribution system the satellite gateway 14 includes a satellite tuning , demodulating , and demultiplexing module 16 and an ip wrapper module 18 . the module 16 may contain a plurality of tuners , demodulators , and demultiplexers to convert the modulated and multiplexed l band signals transmitted from the satellites 12 a - 12 m into a plurality single program transport streams (“ spts ”), each of which carries a service ( e . g ., television channel video , television channel audio , program guides , and so forth ). in one embodiment , the module 16 is configured to produce a single program transport stream for all of the services received by the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m . in an alternate embodiment , however , the module 16 may produce transport streams for only a subset of the services received by the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 m . the satellite tuning , demodulating , and demultiplexing module 16 may transmit the spts to the ip wrapper module 18 . in one embodiment , the ip wrapper module 18 repackages the data within the spts into a plurality of internet protocol (“ ip ”) packets suitable for transmission over the ip distribution network 20 . for example , the ip wrapper module 18 may convert directv protocol packets within the spts into ip packets . in addition , the ip wrapper module 18 may be configured to receive server requests from the stbs 22 a - 22 n and to multicast ( i . e ., broadcast to one or more of the stbs 22 a - 22 n over an ip address ) the ip spts to those stbs 22 a - 22 n that had requested the particular service . in an alternative embodiment , the ip wrapper module 18 may also be configured to multicast ip protocol spts for services not requested by one of the stbs 22 a - 22 n . it should be noted that the modules 16 and 18 are merely one exemplary embodiment of the satellite gateway 14 . in alternate embodiments , such as the one described below in regard to fig2 and 3 , the functions of the modules 16 and 18 may be redistributed or consolidated amongst a variety of suitable components or modules . the ip distribution network 20 may include one or more routers , switches , modem , splitters , or bridges . for example , in one embodiment , the satellite gateway 14 may be coupled to a master distribution frame (“ mdf ”) that is coupled to an intermediate distribution frame (“ idf ”) that is coupled to a coax to ethernet bridge that is coupled to a router that is coupled to one or more of the stbs 22 a - 22 n . in another embodiment , the ip distribution network 20 may be an mdf that is coupled to a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (“ dslam ”) that is coupled to a dsl modem that is coupled to a router . in yet another embodiment , the ip distribution network may include a wireless network , such as 802 . 11 or wimax network . in this type of embodiment , the stbs 22 a - 22 n may include a wireless receiver configured to receive the multicast ip packets . those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the above - described embodiments are merely exemplary . as such in alternate embodiments , a large number of suitable forms of ip distribution networks may be employed in the system 10 . the ip distribution network 20 may be coupled to one or more stbs 22 a - 22 n . the stbs 22 a - 22 n may be any suitable type of video , audio , and / or other data receiver capable of receiving ip packets , such as the ip spts , over the ip distribution network 20 . it will be appreciated the term set top box (“ stb ”), as used herein , may encompass not only devices that sit upon televisions . rather the stbs 22 a - 22 n may be any suitable form of video or audio receiver , whether internal or external to a television , display , or computer , that can be configured to function as described herein — including , but not limited to a video components , computers , wireless telephones , or other forms video recorder . in one embodiment , the stbs 22 a - 22 n may be a directv receiver configured to receive services , such as video and / or audio , through an ethernet port ( amongst other inputs ). in alternate embodiments , the stbs 22 a - 22 n may be designed and / or configured to receive the multicast transmission over coaxial cable , twisted pair , copper wire , or through the air via a wireless standard , such as the i . e . e . e . 802 . 11 standard . as discussed above , the system 10 may receive video , audio , and / or other data transmitted by satellites in space and process / convert this data for distribution over the ip distribution network 20 . accordingly , fig2 is another embodiment of the exemplary satellite television over ip system 10 in accordance with one embodiment . fig2 illustrates three exemplary satellite dishes 12 a - 12 c . each of the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 c may be configured to receive signals from one or more of the orbiting satellites . those of ordinary skill will appreciate that the satellites and the signals that are transmitted from the satellites are often referred to by the orbital slots in which the satellites reside . for example , the satellite dish 12 a is configured to receive signals from a directv satellite disposed in an orbital slot of 101 degrees . likewise , the satellite dish 12 b receives signals from a satellite disposed at 119 degrees , and the satellite dish 12 c receives signals from a satellite disposed at orbital slot of 110 degrees . it will be appreciated that in alternate embodiments , the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 c may receive signals from a plurality of other satellites disclosed in a variety of orbital slots , such as the 95 degree orbital slot . in addition , the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 c may also be configured to receive polarized satellite signals . for example , in fig2 , the satellite dish 12 a is configured to receive signals that are both left polarized ( illustrated in the figure as “ 101 l ”) and right polarized ( illustrated as “ 101 r ”). as described above in regard to fig1 , the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 c may receive satellite signals in the ku band and convert these signals into l band signals that are transmitted to the satellite gateway 14 . in some embodiments , however , the l band signals produced by the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 c may be merged into fewer signals or split into more signals prior to reaching the satellite gateway 14 . for example , as illustrated in fig2 , l band signals from the satellite dishes 12 b and 12 c may be merged by a switch 24 into a single l band signal containing l band signals from both the satellite at 110 degrees and the satellite at 119 degrees . as illustrated , the system 10 may also include a plurality of 1 : 2 splitters 26 a , 26 b , 26 c , and 26 d to divide the l band signals transmitted from the satellite dishes 12 a - 12 c into two l band signals , each of which include half of the services of the pre - split l band signal . in alternate embodiments , the 1 : 2 splitters 26 a - 26 b may be omitted or integrated into the satellite gateways 14 a and 14 b . the newly split l band signals may be transmitted from the 1 : 2 splitters 26 a - 26 d into the satellite gateways 14 a and 14 b . the embodiment of the system 10 illustrated in fig2 includes two of the satellite gateways 14 a and 14 b . in alternate embodiments , however , the system 10 may include any suitable number of satellite gateways 14 . for example , in one embodiment , the system may include three satellite gateways 14 . the satellite gateways 14 a and 14 b may then further subdivide the l band signals and then tune to one or more services on the l band signal to produce one or more spts that may be repackaged into ip packets and multicast over the ip distribution network 20 . in addition , one or more of the satellite gateways 14 a , 14 b may also be coupled to a public switch telephone network (“ pstn ”) 28 . because the satellite gateways 14 a , b are coupled to the pstn 28 , the stbs 22 a - 22 n may be able to communicate with a satellite service provider through the ip distribution network 20 and the satellite gateways 14 a , b . this functionality may advantageously eliminate the need to have each individual stbs 22 a - 22 n coupled directly to the pstn 28 . the ip distribution network 20 may also be coupled to an internet service provider (“ isp ”) 30 . in one embodiment , the ip distribution network 20 may be employed to provide internet services , such as high - speed data access , to the stbs 22 a - 22 n and / or other suitable devices ( not shown ) that are coupled to the ip distribution network 20 . as described above , the satellite gateways 14 a , b may be configured to receive the plurality of l band signals , to produce a plurality of spts , and to multicast requested spts over the ip distribution network 20 . referring now to fig3 , a block diagram of an exemplary satellite gateway 14 is shown . as illustrated , the satellite gateway 14 a , b includes a power supply 40 , two front - ends 41 a and 41 b and a back - end 52 . the power supply 40 may be any one of a number of industry - standard ac or dc power supplies configurable to enable the front - ends 41 a , b and the back - end 52 to perform the functions described below . the satellite gateway 14 a , b may also include two front - ends 41 a , b . in one embodiment , each of the front - ends , 41 a , b may be configured to receive two l band signal inputs from the 1 : 2 splitters 26 a - 26 d that were described above in regards to fig2 . for example , the front - end 41 a may receive two l band signals from the 1 : 2 splitter 26 a and the front - end 41 b may receive two l band signals from the 1 : 2 splitter 26 b . in one embodiment , each of the l band inputs into the front - end 41 a , b includes eight or fewer services . the front - ends 41 a , b may then further sub - divide the l band inputs using 1 : 4 l band splitters 42 a , 42 b , 42 c , and 42 d . once subdivided , the l band signals may pass into four banks 44 a , 44 b , 44 c , and 44 d of dual tuner links . each of the dual tuner links within the banks 44 a - 44 d may be configured to tune to two services within the l band signals received by that individual dual tuner links to produce spts . each of the dual tuner links may then transmit the spts to one of the low - voltage differential signaling (“ lvds ”) drivers 48 a , 48 b , 48 c , and 48 d . the lvds drivers 48 a - 48 d may be configured to amplify the transport signals for transmission to the back - end 52 . in alternate embodiments , different forms of differential drivers and / or amplifiers may be employed in place of the lvds drivers 48 a - 48 d . other embodiments may employ serialization of all of the transport signals together for routing to the back end 52 . as illustrated , the front - ends 41 a , b may also include microprocessors 46 a and 46 b . in one embodiment , the microprocessors 46 a , b may control and / or relay commands to the banks 44 a - 44 d of dual tuner links and the 1 : 4 l band splitters 42 a - 42 d . the microprocessors 46 a , b may comprise st10 microprocessors produce by st microelectronics . the microprocessors 46 a , b may be coupled to lvds receiver and transmitter modules 50 a and 50 b . the lvds receiver / transmitter modules 50 a , b may facilitate communications between the microprocessors 46 a , b and components on the back - end 52 , as will be described further below . turning next to the back - end 52 , the back - end 52 includes lvds receivers 54 a , 54 b , 54 c , and 54 d , which are configured to receive transport stream signals transmitted by the lvds drivers 48 a - 48 d . the back - end 52 also includes lvds receiver / transmitter modules 56 a and 56 b which are configured to communicate with the lvds receiver / transmitter modules 50 a , b . as illustrated , the lvds receivers 54 a - 54 d and the lvds receiver / transmitters 56 a , b are configured to communicate with transport processors 58 a and 58 b . in one embodiment , the transport processors 58 a , b are configured to receive the spts produced by the dual tuner links in the front - ends 41 a , b . for example , in one embodiment , the transport processors 58 a , b may be configured to produce 16 spts . the transport processors 58 a , b may be configured to repack the spts into ip packets which can be multicast over the ip distribution network 20 . for example , the transport processors 58 a , b may repackage directv protocol packets into ip protocol packets and then multicast these ip packets on an ip address to one or more of the stbs 22 a - 22 n the transport processors 58 a , b may also be coupled to a bus 62 , such as a 32 bit , 66 mhz peripheral component interconnect (“ pci ”) bus . through the bus 62 , the transport processors 58 a , b may communicate with a network processor 70 , an ethernet interface 84 , and / or an expansion slot 66 . the network processor 70 may be configured to receive requests for services from the stbs 22 a - 22 n and to direct the transport processors 58 a , b to multicast the requested services . in one embodiment , the network processor is an ixp425 network processor produced by intel . while not illustrated , the network processor 70 may also be configured to transmit status data to a front panel of the satellite gateway 14 a , b or to support debugging or monitoring of the satellite gateway 14 a , b through debug ports . as illustrated , the transport processors 58 a , b may also be coupled to the ethernet interface 68 via the bus 62 . in one embodiment , the ethernet interface 68 is a gigabit ethernet interface that provides either a copper wire or fiber - optic interface to the ip distribution network 20 . in addition , the bus 62 may also be coupled to an expansion slot , such as a pci expansion slot to enable the upgrade or expansion of the satellite gateway 14 a , b . the transport processors 58 a , b may also be coupled to a host bus 64 . in one embodiment , the host bus 64 is a 16 - bit data bus that connects the transport processors 58 a , b to a modem 72 , which may be configured to communicate over the pstn 28 , as described above . in alternate embodiments , the modem 72 may also be coupled to the bus 62 . as described above , the satellite gateway 14 may transmit the ip packets across the ip distribution network 20 to the stbs 22 a - 22 n . in one embodiment , the satellite gateway 14 is configured to transmit ip packets using two or more levels of security ( e . g ., encryption ) depending on the capabilities of each of the stbs 22 a - 22 n . more specifically , the satellite gateway 14 may be configured to multicast satellite services to each one of the stbs 22 a - 22 n at a security level supported by that particular stb . for example , if an stb operating at a lower level of security ( i . e ., less encryption ), requests a particular satellite service ( cnn , for example ), the satellite gateway 14 may generate a multicast of cnn with the ip packets in the multicast encrypted at the lower security level . if , at the same time , another one of the stbs 22 a - 22 n operating at a higher level of security ( i . e ., more encryption ) also requests to receive cnn , the satellite gateway 14 may generate another multicast of cnn using the higher level of security . in one embodiment , the satellite gateway 14 may be configured to generate three different levels of security : network encryption , network encryption plus partial advanced encryption standard (“ aes ”), and network encryption plus full aes encryption ( 128 - bit key encryption ). in alternate embodiments , however , alternate encryption techniques or security schemes may be employed . as stated above , the satellite gateway 14 may be configured to generate different multicasts to the stbs 22 a - 22 n depending on the security capabilities supported by each of the stbs 22 a - 22 n . in one embodiment , the satellite gateway 14 is configured to request the security capabilities supported by each of the stbs 22 a - 22 n when that particular stb is coupled ( via the ip distribution network 20 ) to the satellite gateway 14 . in this embodiment , the satellite gateway 14 may store the security capabilities of each of the stbs 22 a - 22 n and access these stored security capabilities when one of the stbs 22 a - 22 n requests satellite services from the satellite gateway 14 . in another embodiment , the satellite gateway 14 may look at the hardware and / or software characteristics of a particular one of the stbs 22 a - 22 n when that particular stb requests satellite services from the satellite gateway 14 . in yet another embodiment , the satellite gateway 14 may be configured to query the requesting stb 22 a - 22 n about its security capabilities . while the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms , specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein . however , it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed . rather , the invention is to cover all modifications , equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims . | 7 |
an exemplary toy rocket launcher 10 formed in accordance with the present invention is illustrated isometrically in this view . it is to be understood that the plurality of legs 12 , 14 and 16 which support launcher 10 are only partially illustrated for the sake of clarity , where legs 12 , 14 and 16 are hingeable to allow for easy set up of the launcher . as will be described in greater hereinbelow in association with the remaining drawings , launcher 10 includes a launch subassembly 20 comprising a top deck 22 , a launch plate 24 ( clearly illustrated in the other figures ), and a base assembly 26 . a plurality of launch tubes 28 are disposed in a circular pattern on top deck 22 at a predetermined displacement from its periphery 30 . as can be seen clearly in the other views , each launch tube 28 includes a bottom opening that will be in communication with launch plate 24 to allow for the pressurized air to be expelled through tube 28 and launch a rocket 32 . a plurality of rockets 32 are thus inserted over the associated plurality of launch tubes 28 where , as will be described in detail below , each rocket 32 may be launched in sequence . the pressurized air used to launch the rocket comes from a bellows 34 , connected to launch subassembly 20 by a launch tube 36 . in accordance with the present invention , and seen clearly in the following drawings , launch tube 36 includes a piston 38 that engages with launch subassembly 20 to rotate launch plate 24 within subassembly 20 and provide for the sequential launching of each rocket 32 . also illustrated in fig1 is a guard ring 40 that may be included with rocket launcher 10 to prevent the launching of a rocket when an individual gets too close to launcher 10 and moves the guard ring . as will be described in detail below , as long as guard ring 40 remains in the upright position as shown in fig1 the rockets will launch . however , if guard ring 40 is “ bumped ” and then is tilted to one side or the other , the launcher will not pressurize and a rocket cannot be launched . the action of an exemplary guard ring 40 of the present invention will be described below in association with fig4 . an exploded view of launcher 10 of the present invention is shown in fig2 . particularly evident in this view are the detailed components of launch subassembly 20 , and the interaction of subassembly 20 with piston 38 of launch tube 36 . referring to fig2 top deck 22 of launch subassembly 20 includes a plurality of mounts 42 for launch tubes 28 , where each mount 42 includes a central aperture 44 . as launch plate 24 rotates in a manner to be described below , a launch aperture 46 in plate 24 will align , successively , with each mount aperture 44 . therefore , as launch plate 24 rotates ( for example , in the counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow in fig2 ), each associated rocket 32 will be launched in sequence . in accordance with the present invention , launch plate 24 is rotated by including a ratchet 47 in base assembly 26 , where ratchet 47 includes gear teeth 48 that will engage , in successive movements , piston 38 of launch tube 36 . a pin 50 formed on ratchet 47 will fit through a hole 52 formed in plate 24 to mate the two pieces together and allow for them to rotate together . a molded stop 54 is formed in base assembly 24 and is used to rearwardly engage gear teeth 48 so as to prevent backward motion of ratchet 47 . as bellows 34 is depressed and air flows through launch tube 36 and enters base assembly 26 , piston 38 pushes against an adjacent great tooth 48 and rotates the assembly such that launch aperture 46 will be aligned with the “ next available ” rocket 32 placed over a launch tube 28 . the pressurized air will flow through apertures 46 and 44 and thus launch rocket 32 . also illustrated in fig2 are the remaining components used with guard ring 40 to prevent launch should an individual be too close to launch assembly 10 . in particular , a spring 56 is disposed in the central portion of base assembly 24 and , as shown in fig2 is particularly located in the center of ratchet 47 . a post 58 is formed as a downward extension from guard ring 40 and extends through the center of the assembly , and through a sealing member 60 ( to prevent the pressurized air from escaping through other apertures ), where the bottom of post 58 is secured in a mounting element 62 . mounting element 62 then fits through a central opening 64 in launch plate 24 and rests upon spring 56 . a top view of launch assembly 10 of the present invention is illustrated in fig3 which illustrates , in phantom , the movement of piston 38 in to and out of launch tube 36 . as shown , when piston 38 exits tube 36 ( moving to the left in the particular illustration ), a push rod extension 39 on piston 38 will engage with gear tooth 48 to its left , thus rotating the combination of ratchet 47 and launch plate 24 counterclockwise ( the rotation in counterclockwise in this example ; it is to be understood that with proper re - alignment of the piece parts , a clockwise rotation can also be used ). as mentioned above , molded stop 54 is used to engage the back side of a separate gear tooth 48 to prevent backward ( in this case , clockwise ) motion of ratchet 47 . fig4 contains a cut - away side view perspective of the arrangement of the present invention , taken along line 4 — 4 of fig3 . particularly evident in this view ( and as shown in phantom ), is the movement of guard ring 40 and the associated movement of mounting element 62 to prevent launch . as shown , if guard ring 40 is tilted to one side or the other , this movement will apply a bias to spring 56 , and mounting element 62 will also move , as shown in the illustration . in this case , the air - tight seal in the assembly will be broken , and any pressurized air entering base assembly 26 from tube 36 will escape through central opening 64 in launch plate 24 , as indicated by the direction of the arrow in fig4 . therefore , if an individual comes too close to the launch assembly and knocks guard ring 40 from its upright position , insufficient air will enter a launch tube 28 ( since most of the air will escape through the central region ) and rocket 32 will not launch . a cut - away view of a portion of launch tube 36 , taken along line 5 — 5 of fig3 is illustrated in fig5 . clearly evident in this view is a check valve 41 which is disposed within piston 38 and used to prevent the pressurized air from re - entering launch tube 36 and bellows 34 . as shown , the action of piston 38 may be controlled through a rod 66 connected to a spring 68 , where a base plate 70 of spring 68 receives the air expelled through bellows 34 ( not shown ). the movement of spring 68 thus results in moving piston 38 and push rod 39 and , in turn , allowing ratchet 47 to rotate and effect the launch of the rocket . an end view of the particular cruciform design of an check valve 41 is shown in fig6 . various check valve arrangements may be used to provide for the quick “ re - inflation ” of bellows 34 . fig7 illustrates two different arrangements , the first being a valve 72 disposed along launch tube 36 . alternatively , a check valve 74 may be disposed at the back side 76 of bellows 34 . other arrangements are possible and are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention . while there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and re - arrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described , except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims . | 5 |
in a universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ) as specified by the third generation partnership project ( 3gpp ), base stations are called node bs , subscriber stations are called ues and the wireless code division multiple access ( cdma ) interface between the node bs and ues is known as the uu interface . node bs are typically capable of conducting wireless concurrent communications with a plurality of subscriber stations , ( i . e ., wtrus ), which include mobile units . generally , the term base station includes but is not limited to a base station , node - b , site controller , access point or other interfacing device in a wireless environment . the term wireless transmit / receive unit ( wtru ) includes but is not limited to a user equipment , mobile station , fixed or mobile subscriber unit , pager or any other type of device capable of operating in a wireless environment . when referred to hereafter , a base station includes but is not limited to a base station , node - b , site controller , access point or other interfacing device in a wireless environment . although the preferred embodiments are described in conjunction with a third generation partnership program ( 3gpp ) code division multiple access ( cdma ) system utilizing the tdd mode , the embodiments are applicable to any hybrid cdma , time division multiple access ( tdma ) communication system . the present invention will be described with reference to the drawing figures wherein like numerals represent like elements throughout . a repeating frame 34 of with time slots 36 1 - 36 15 of a tdd system is illustrated in fig2 . the first slot 36 1 represents a beacon channel and is used as the pathloss ( or channel condition ) measurement slot . a wtru will receive and take measurements of the beacon channel . the wtru will make uplink reports of the measurements to the node b and the node b will make power adjustments accordingly . it should be noted that the system may also designate other slots as the power control slots . to better understand the present invention , an outer loop power control equation will first be discussed to show the importance of beacon to slot location allocation . an example of an equation to derive a transmitting station &# 39 ; s transmission power is depicted as per equation 1 : p ts = sir target + i rs + α ( l − l 0 )+ l 0 + constant_value equation 1 where p ts is transmission power level in decibels , sir target is the target signal to interference ratio , which is a value determined on received target adjustment signals , i rs is the measure of the interference power level at the receiving station , α is a weighting measure of the quality of the estimated path loss and is based on the number of time slots between the time slot of the last pathloss estimate and the first time slot of the communication transmitted by the transmitting station , l is a path loss estimate in decibels , l 0 is the long term average of the path loss in decibels and is the running average of the pathloss estimate l and constant_value is a correction term which corrects for differences in the uplink and downlink channels . the weighting value of α plays an import factor in the power control algorithm and is assigned a value between zero and one . generally , if the time difference between the reference beacon and the assigned time slots is small , the recent path loss estimate will be fairly accurate and α is set at a value close to one . by contrast , if the time difference is large , the path loss estimate may not be accurate . accordingly , α is set at a value closer to zero and is determined as per equation 2 : where the value , d , is the number of time slots between the time slot of the last path loss estimate and the first time slot of the transmitted communication , which is referred to the time slot delay . d max is the maximum number of possible delay slots . if the time slot delay is one time slot , α is one for any size frame . however , if a frame has 15 slots and beacons in slots k and k + 8 , the maximum number of slots a wtru can transmit its uplink from a beacon is seven . table 1 shows the calculated α values for such a 15 slot frame . as shown in table 1 , the α calculation for slots closer to the beacon &# 39 ; s transmission use a truer representation of the wtru &# 39 ; s path loss estimate . wtrus that are assigned slots further from the beacon will have more time to move before sending back power or signal quality information on a earlier received beacon . as stated above , the wtru may have repositioned itself into a deep null or peak , thus discounting the current path loss estimate and subsequent power correction . fig3 is a block diagram of a system 300 which implements a slot allocation process . the system 300 includes an interference information device 302 , a code usage estimator device 304 , a fading loss estimator device 306 , weighting devices 308 , 310 , 312 , multipliers 303 , 305 , 307 , summer 314 , slot ranking device 316 and slot prioritization device 318 . each of multipliers 303 , 305 and 307 has two inputs and one output . the system 300 may be located within the crnc . the signal interference information device 302 is connected to one of the inputs of multiplier 303 . the other input of the multiplier 303 is connected to weighting device 308 . the output of the multiplier 303 is connected to a first input of summer 314 . the code usage estimator device 304 is connected to one of the inputs of multiplier 305 . the other input of the multiplier 305 is connected to weighting device 310 . the output of the multiplier 305 is connected to a second input of summer 314 . the fading loss estimator device 306 is connected to one of the inputs of multiplier 307 . the other input of the multiplier 307 is connected to weighting device 312 . the output of the multiplier 307 is connected to a third input of summer 314 . the output of summer 314 is connected to the slot ranking device 316 . the output of the slot ranking device 316 is connected to the slot prioritization device 318 . the signal interference information device 302 contains data supplied by interference measuring devices , such as interference signal code power ( iscp ) or other time slot / system interference measurements . the code usage estimator device 304 maintains an indication , such as a pseudo image , of the crnc &# 39 ; s slot resource allocation database . the fading loss estimator device 306 operates as a function of the sir and the desired bler . for example if it is known that at a certain symbol level has a sir of 2 . 5 db , which is sufficient to obtain a bler of 0 . 01 , the losses can be defined as the difference between the actual required sir and that number . the number of samples used to determine the fading loss is preferably a design parameter and would have to be found in extensive simulations or empirical trials the weighting devices 308 , 310 , 312 are applied to the signal interference information 302 , the usage availability estimator 304 and the fading loss estimator 306 , respectively , via multipliers 303 , 305 , 307 . the weighting values can be determined by simulation , empirically or by other means . the weighting devices 303 , 305 , 307 allow an administrator of system 300 to tweak the parameters of the system 300 for optimum performance . the values of the weighting devices 308 , 310 , 312 are added by summer 314 . the slot ranking device 316 ranks the slots according to their combined score . the slot prioritization device 318 then assigns slots having higher priority to slot locations nearest to the reference beacon . the slots with lower priority are assigned to slot locations further away from the reference beacon . fig4 is a flow diagram of a process 400 implementing method steps in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . in step 405 , a present wtru is activated within the system . in step 410 , an initial slot assignment is made for the present wtru . in step 415 , signal interference information associated with the present wtru is collected . in step 420 , the present code usage and available estimates of code usage associated with the present wtru are collected . in step 425 , the wireless radio channel spread values associated with the present wtru are collected , the spread values indicating how much the paths of a given wireless channel are spread in time and / or frequency to , for example , produce the estimated fading loss . in step 430 , the signal interference , code usage and spread values are each multiplied by a respective weight value ( weight 1 , weight 2 , weight 3 ), resulting in three weighted products . in step 435 , the weighted products are summed together . in step 440 , the result of step 435 is compared to the results of summed weighted products associated with other wtrus and the present wtru is ranked accordingly . in step 445 , the present wtru is then assigned a slot based upon the rank determined in step 440 . in another embodiment , it is possible for the node - b to estimate the channel coefficients directly . this is due to the fact that the spread of the channel corresponds to the channel losses . therefore , a measure of the spread can be used in producing the fading loss estimate . for example , the smaller the path spread of the channel , the greater the channel loss . it is also possible to use the node b to measure doppler and determine a fading rate , which may also be used for fading loss estimates . a high doppler value corresponds to deep fading and conversely , a lower doppler rate corresponds to a more shallow fading . the higher the doppler rate , the faster the fading rate , i . e ., more channel power fluctuation . faster fading may take a small fraction of the interleaving interval , in which case its effect on the bler is reduced . fig5 is a flow diagram of a process 500 implementing method steps in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention . in step 505 , a wtru is activated within the system . in step 510 , an initial slot assignment is made for the wtru . in step 515 , a channel impulse response is estimated from each random access channel ( rach ) access . in step 520 , a spread value provides an estimate of the initial fading . in step 525 , the system attempts to improve or enhance the estimate to enhance the slot assignment . in step 530 , the system examines the bler and sir values . in step 535 , a determination is made as to whether the bler and sir values are high . if yes , the system assigns the wtru &# 39 ; s uplink slot closer to the beacon in step 540 and returns to step 525 . if the bler and sir values are not high , the system will return to step 525 . in yet another embodiment , a method for sorting all the wtrus by α in a coverage area is disclosed . after sorting , the wtrus are allocated time slots in order to reduce the system &# 39 ; s overall fading losses and increase system capacity . a crnc may allocate all time slots by assigning each wtru a α value between zero and one . a α of one represents the maximum value of the weighting parameter used in the wtru power calculation . the α information may be individually signaled to each wtru . wtrus with a higher value of beta will be assigned channels closer to the reference beacon . an additional indicator for fading losses may include vehicular wtru speed . a direct correlation exists between high wtru &# 39 ; s speed and the worsening multipath fading . therefore , a high speed wtru would be indicative of deeper fading . in a variation of the above embodiment , other parameters that control ul slot location / allocation may include information other than the beta information in this variation of the present invention . for example , wtrus having a small α value of less than 0 . 5 will not benefit from higher power control gain even if assigned slots closer to the beacon . in this case , the wtrus with the larger α values should be closer to the beacon . the α information can be also used as one of the criteria or it can be combined with other criteria , e . g ., fading , to determine the optimal ul slot allocation . in yet another embodiment , a doppler measurement is utilized . a measurement would be generated by either the channel impulse rate of change or bler versus the raw ber . the channels with doppler rates that fall into a median range would be placed nearer the beacon . conversely , channels with very high doppler rates would be placed far from the beacon as they will typically not benefit significantly from power control . different methods of measuring fading losses may be used in accordance with the present invention . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention described hereinabove . | 7 |
according to embodiments described herein , a monocrystalline semiconductor substrate ( e . g ., a silicon substrate ) is provided . the substrate has a main surface that extends along a single lattice plane , such as the & lt ; 111 & gt ; crystal lattice plane in the case of silicon . the substrate is processed so as to disrupt the crystal lattice plane and underlying crystallographic structure of the substrate in selected regions . this process makes these regions less conducive to perfect crystalline epitaxial growth . subsequently , a high temperature epitaxial deposition process is used to form one or more iii - v semiconductor layers ( e . g ., a gan layer ) on the substrate . the epitaxial layers include regions of relatively weak semiconductor material ( e . g ., polycrystalline or amorphous semiconductor material ) that are grown on the damaged regions of the base substrate and regions of relatively strong semiconductor material ( e . g ., monocrystalline semiconductor material ) that are grown on the undamaged regions of the base substrate . as the substrate cools from the epitaxy process , the epitaxial layers contract at a different rate than the base substrate due to a difference in coefficients of thermal expansion between the materials . the regions of relatively weak semiconductor material in the epitaxial layers advantageously mitigate mechanical stress that arises in the substrate from the thermal cycling of the epitaxy process . the material structure of these regions is such that they will crack under the mechanical stress associated with the epitaxy process . these cracks interrupt any mechanical stress that is present in the epitaxial layer , and allow the non - cracked portions of the epitaxial layer to expand or contract independent from one another . as a result , a high - reliability type iii - v semiconductor device layer can be formed with relatively uniform properties . the iii - v semiconductor device regions can be made substantially larger without risk of wafer bowing or breakage . a further advantage of this process is that the regions of relatively weak semiconductor material are easily cut , e . g ., by laser or mechanical sawing . thus , these regions can serve as stress - relief mechanisms as well as die singulation regions . referring to fig1 , a base substrate 100 is provided . the base substrate 100 can be formed from any crystalline semiconductor material suitable for manufacturing semiconductor devices , and in particular any material suitable for the epitaxial growth of a type iii - v semiconductor nitride material thereon . exemplary materials for base substrate 100 include silicon ( si ), group iv compound semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide ( sic ) or silicon germanium ( sige ). according to an embodiment , the base substrate 100 is formed from silicon . the base substrate 100 has a main surface 102 that extends between edge sides 104 of the base substrate 100 . according to an embodiment , the main surface 102 extends along a single crystal lattice plane . for example , the main surface 102 may extend along the & lt ; 111 & gt ; lattice plane of the silicon crystals , e . g ., in the case that the base substrate 100 is a silicon substrate . referring to fig2 , the main surface 102 of the base substrate 100 is processed so as to damage the base substrate 100 selected first regions 106 without damaging adjacent second regions 108 of the base substrate 100 . as a result of this processing step , the main surface 102 is disrupted in the first regions 106 . for example , in the case that the main surface 102 initially extended along the & lt ; 111 & gt ; lattice plane , the processing step of fig2 exposes other crystal lattice planes ( e . g . & lt ; 101 & gt ;, & lt ; 100 & gt ;, etc .) at the main surface 102 . moreover , this processing step causes the crystalline structure of the semiconductor material in the first regions 106 beneath the main surface 102 to be disorganized relative to the crystalline structure of the semiconductor material in the second regions 108 . that is , the substrate is no longer monocrystalline and includes point defects . according to an embodiment , the first regions 106 are formed by a patterning technique . according to this technique , a photolithographic mask 110 is provided on the main surface 102 and subsequently patterned ( e . g ., by etching ) so as to expose the first regions 106 while the second regions 108 remain covered by the mask 100 . alternatively , the photolithographic mask 110 may be used to pattern a hard mask ( not shown ), such as an siny or siox hard mask , which in turn is used to cover the second regions 108 and expose the first regions 106 . subsequently , the base substrate 100 is exposed to charged ions 109 . these charged ions 109 damage the main surface 102 and disorganize the crystalline structure of the base substrate 100 . the charged ions 109 can be provided by a plasma treatment technique or an ion implantation technique . more specifically , the charged ions 109 can be provided by a reactive ion etching ( rie ) technique or an inductively coupled plasma ( icp ) technique . referring to fig3 , the mask 110 has been removed and a first semiconductor layer 112 has been formed on the main surface 102 . the first semiconductor layer 112 includes a semiconductor material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion than the material of the base substrate 100 . for example , according to an embodiment , the base substrate 100 includes silicon and the first semiconductor layer 112 includes a type iii - v semiconductor , such as gan , gaas , ingan , algan , etc . the first semiconductor layer 112 is formed over the first and second regions 108 and can partially or completely cover the main surface 102 of the base substrate 100 . third regions 114 of the first semiconductor layer 112 cover the first regions 106 of the base substrate 100 , and fourth regions 116 of the first semiconductor layer 112 cover the second regions 108 of the base substrate 100 . the third regions 114 have a crystalline structure that is disorganized relative to the crystalline structure of the fourth regions 116 . for example , the fourth regions 116 may be monocrystalline regions , whereas the third regions 114 may be polycrystalline regions or amorphous regions . any number of additional layers ( not shown ) can be formed on the first semiconductor layer 112 . for example , in the case of a gan based hemt device , the first semiconductor layer 112 can be an undoped gan buffer layer , and an additional algan barrier layer can be grown on the first semiconductor layer 112 . according to an embodiment , prior to forming the first semiconductor layer 112 , a transition layer 118 is formed on the main surface 102 . the transition layer 118 is configured to alleviate stress due to lattice mismatch between the material of the base substrate 100 and the material of the first semiconductor layer 112 and to provide a relatively defect free surface for the formation first semiconductor layer 112 . the transition layer 118 will typically include a nucleation layer , such as a thin aln layer , followed by other layers for transitioning the growth into gan . these layers may include step - graded layers of algan , continuously graded layers of algan and periodic or aperiodic superlattice structures . the transition layer 118 includes fifth regions 120 that are formed on and cover the first regions 106 of the base substrate 100 and sixth regions 122 that are formed on and cover the second regions 106 of the base substrate 100 . the fifth regions 120 have a relatively disorganized crystalline structure in comparison to the sixth regions 122 . both the transition layer 118 and the first semiconductor layer 112 can be formed by epitaxy . typically , in epitaxial processes , the crystallographic orientations of deposited layers are dependent upon the crystallographic orientation of the subjacent material . this principle is used to grow the transition layer 118 and the first semiconductor layer 112 such that they include the regions with a relatively disorganized crystalline structure ( i . e ., the third regions 114 and the fifth regions 120 ). further , the regions with a relatively organized and physically stronger crystalline structure ( i . e ., the fourth regions 116 and the sixth regions 108 ) form on the undamaged portions of the substrate 100 . generally speaking , the epitaxial deposition process used to form the transition layer 118 and the first semiconductor layer 112 can be any of a variety of conventionally known epitaxial processes . for example , according to an embodiment , the first semiconductor layer 112 and the transition layer 118 are formed by a mocvd ( metalorganic chemical vapor deposition ) process . the mocvd process may be carried out at high temperatures , such as in the range of 700 ° c .- 1200 ° c . the crystalline structure of the third and fifth regions 114 , 120 can be determined by appropriately controlling the process parameters epitaxial deposition process , such as time and temperature . in particular , the time and temperature of the epitaxial deposition process can be controlled such that the third and fifth regions 114 , 120 are polycrystalline regions . in a different embodiment , the time and temperature of the epitaxial deposition process is controlled such that the third and fifth regions 114 , 120 are amorphous regions . referring to fig4 , a compound substrate is shown with the mechanical forces 111 in the first semiconductor layer 112 depicted by arrows . this stress arises during the cool down cycle of the epitaxy process . this stress force is attributable to the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the base substrate 100 and the first semiconductor layer 112 . the base substrate 100 may tend to cool slower than the first semiconductor layer 112 when the substrate cools in the case of a silicon base substrate 100 and gan first semiconductor layer 112 . in that case , a tensile stress arises in the first semiconductor layer 112 in the direction of the arrows . alternatively , the coefficients of thermal expansion of the materials could be such that the force is in an opposite direction , and a compressive stress arises in the first semiconductor layer 112 when the substrate cools . in the absence of further measures , these forces can cause significant bowing or warpage of the wafer . this high non - planarity makes the wafer difficult or impossible to process in standard fabrication equipment . it can also degrade pertinent electrical properties of the first semiconductor layer 112 and can even cause the first semiconductor layer 112 to completely crack or cause the substrate 100 to form slip - lines . advantageously , the crystalline properties of the third regions 114 of the first semiconductor layer 112 alleviate mechanical stress and prevent the compound semiconductor substrate from bowing or cracking . the relatively weak crystalline structure of the third regions 114 causes the third regions 114 to crack under mechanical stress . in fact , the process can be controlled such that the third regions 114 will consistently and reliably crack during the epitaxy process . these cracks allow the fourth regions 116 to expand ( in the case of tensile stress ) or contract ( in the case of compressive stress ) and therefore relieve the stress . the cracks in the third regions 114 physically decouple the adjacent ones of the fourth regions 116 from one another . referring to fig5 , a partial plan - view perspective of the compound substrate , according to an embodiment is depicted , according to an embodiment . the overall shape and size of the compound substrate may vary . for example , the compound substrate can be circular shaped in the case of a typical silicon wafer . as can be seen , the third regions 114 are formed as spaced apart tracks ( i . e ., one of a series of parallel or concentric paths ) in the first semiconductor layer 112 . each set of tracks separates adjacent ones of the fourth regions 116 from one another . the tracks may be formed in two different perpendicular directions as shown in the figure . the size and location of the spaced apart tracks can be easily determined and controlled using the patterning process described with reference to fig2 . the fourth regions 116 of the compound substrate can provide the active device areas for one or more semiconductor devices . any of a variety of commonly known processing techniques can be used to form active device regions , e . g ., source , drain , collector , emitter , etc ., in the fourth regions 116 and corresponding interconnections . according to an embodiment , the compound semiconductor substrate is cut along the tracks formed by the third regions 114 . exemplary cutting lines 124 are shown in fig5 . the cutting process may be a laser cutting process or a mechanical sawing process , for example . conventionally with these processes , the risk of chipping or cracking around the dicing locations is significant , particularly in the case of cutting monocrystalline gan material . advantageously , by using the third regions 114 as dicing locations , the risk of cutting or chipping is greatly reduced , as these regions are substantially devoid of monocrystalline material and separate much easier . as a result of the cutting process , a semiconductor die 200 is formed . the semiconductor die 200 includes a number of the fourth regions 116 , which provide the active device region of the die 200 . the third regions 114 are disposed at least around a perimeter of the die 200 , as these regions correspond to the dicing locations . optionally , further ones of the third regions 114 may be centrally located with the die 200 so as to further alleviate mechanical stress in the above described processes . referring to fig6 , an exemplary compound substrate is depicted according to another embodiment . the compound substrate of fig6 differs from the compound substrate of fig5 with respect to the percentage ratio of area that is occupied by the third and fourth regions 114 , 116 . in this embodiment , the third regions 114 occupy more than an overall area of the compound semiconductor base substrate 100 , and the fourth regions 116 occupy less than 50 % of an overall area of the compound semiconductor base substrate 100 . one advantage of this configuration is that it dramatically reduces the mechanical stress present in the first semiconductor layer 112 during epitaxy due to the large size of the fourth regions 114 . the compound substrate can be cut into a die 200 in a similar manner as described above . according to an embodiment , the die 200 includes a number of hemt devices 202 , wherein the fourth regions 116 provide active channel regions for the hemt devices 202 . hemt devices 202 typically do not require a substantial majority of the overall die area to be dedicated to the active device regions . for example , in some hemt device 202 structures , the active channel region ( i . e ., the buffer and barrier regions ) only need to occupy 30 % or less of the overall die area . the remaining area can be used for other circuit components , such as pads , power metal runners , and passive structures . thus , the die 200 can be configured accordingly , with the third regions 114 can occupying 70 % of the overall area of the compound semiconductor base substrate 100 and the fourth regions 116 occupying 30 % of the overall area of the compound semiconductor base substrate 100 . as used herein “ extends along a single lattice plane ” requires substantial conformity with this requirement within process capability . that is to say , the surface may occasionally deviate from the & lt ; 111 & gt ; due to imperfections in the substrate and / or limitations of the wafer preparation process . spatially relative terms such as “ under ,” “ below ,” “ lower ,” “ over ,” “ upper ” and the like , are used for ease of description to explain the positioning of one element relative to a second element . these terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to different orientations than those depicted in the figures . further , terms such as “ first ,” “ second ,” and the like , are also used to describe various elements , regions , sections , etc . and are also not intended to be limiting . like terms refer to like elements throughout the description . as used herein , the terms “ having ,” “ containing ,” “ including ,” “ comprising ” and the like are open - ended terms that indicate the presence of stated elements or features , but do not preclude additional elements or features . the articles “ a ,” “ an ” and “ the ” are intended to include the plural as well as the singular , unless the context clearly indicates otherwise . with the above range of variations and applications in mind , it should be understood that the present invention is not limited by the foregoing description , nor is it limited by the accompanying drawings . instead , the present invention is limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents . | 7 |
the process for producing the compound of formula ( i ) or hydrochloride thereof of the present invention is explained below in detail . the compound of formula ( i ) or hydrochloride thereof can be produced by subjecting the compound of formula ( ii ) or a solvate thereof to catalytic hydrogenation in the presence of a palladium - alumina catalyst , and if necessary , forming the hydrochloride . the compound of formula ( ii ) is well known and can be produced , for example , by the process described in jp - a - 1 - 79151 , japanese patent no . 2578475 or jp - a - 11 - 171861 . the term “ solvate ” means a compound formed by the incorporation of a solvent used for crystallization into the crystal lattice of the compound of formula ( ii ) in a definite proportion in the production of this compound . the solvate includes , for example , hydrate , solvate with methanol , solvate with ethanol , and solvate with toluene . the solvate can be used in the catalytic hydrogenation reaction as it is so long as it does not inhibit the reaction . similarly , the compound of formula ( ii ) can be used as it is without a particular drying procedure so long as a solvent used for crystallizing the compound or a solvent used for washing in filtration for the production of the compound does not inhibit the catalytic hydrogenation reaction . the palladium - alumina catalyst is not particularly limited and an example thereof is alumina powder supporting palladium thereon in an amount of 1 to 10 % by weight . for example , 1 % by weight palladium - alumina ( 20 , 570 - 2 ), 5 % by weight palladium - alumina ( 20 , 571 - 0 ) and 10 % by weight palladium - alumina ( 44 , 008 - 6 ) are available by aldrich , and they can be used as they are . as to the amount of the palladium - alumina catalyst used , the palladium - alumina catalyst is preferably used in an amount of 1 to 20 % by weight based on the weight of the compound of formula ( ii ), i . e ., the starting material . the solvent for reaction used is not particularly limited so long as it does not inhibit the reaction . for example , methanol , tetrahydrofuran , toluene , ethyl acetate , or a mixture thereof is preferably used as the solvent for reaction . the hydrogen pressure in the catalytic hydrogenation is not particularly limited and is preferably , for example , 0 . 1 to 2 mpa , more preferably 0 . 1 to 1 mpa . although the reaction temperature is not particularly limited , the reaction is carried out , for example , at 0 to 25 ° c ., preferably 0 to 15 ° c ., more preferably 2 to 10 ° c . the reaction is usually completed in 30 minutes to 10 hours , preferably 50 minutes to 5 hours . the hydrochloride can be formed from a solution of the compound of formula ( i ) in a solvent by a conventional method of hydrochloride formation , such as bubbling of hydrogen chloride gas into the solution , addition of a solution prepared by previous dissolution of hydrogen chloride in a solvent , or addition of hydrochloric acid . as the solution of the compound of formula ( i ), a solution obtained by removing the catalyst by filtration of the reaction solution for the catalytic hydrogenation is used as it is , or there is used a solution with a higher concentration prepared by concentrating a part of the catalyst - free solution , or a solution prepared by concentrating the catalyst - free solution and then dissolving the concentrate in a different solvent . alternatively , the solution of the compound of formula ( i ) is obtained by isolating the compound of formula ( i ) by crystallization or the like and dissolving the isolated compound in a solvent . the solvent used for forming the hydrochloride is not particularly limited so long as it does not inhibit the conversion to the hydrochloride or the crystallization of the hydrochloride . as the solvent , ethanol , tetrahydrofuran or ethyl acetate is preferably used . it is also possible to convert the hydrochloride formed to the free compound of formula ( i ) as follows . the hydrochloride is dissolved in a mixed solvent of water and ethanol and the resulting solution is adjusted to ph 8 to 14 , preferably ph 9 to 12 , with a base ( e . g . sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate ) or an aqueous solution thereof , and the compound of formula ( i ) thus precipitated is collected by filtration or extracted with an organic solvent such as ethyl acetate , tetrahydrofuran or toluene . the production process of the present invention is characterized in that in the production of the compound of formula ( i ) by catalytic hydrogenation of the compound of formula ( ii ), the production of the compound of formula ( iii ) ( the debenzylated product ) produced as a by - product by hydrogenolysis , a side reaction is suppressed . in examples 1 to 6 as typical examples of the present invention , the purity of the compound of formula ( i ) and the content of the compound of formula ( iii ) in the reaction solution were measured by hplc analysis under the following conditions and compared with those measured in reference examples 1 and 2 using the same palladium - carbon as used in jp - a - 1 - 79151 and japanese patent no . 2578475 . the results obtained are shown in table 1 . the reaction solution is injected after proper dilution ( for example , about 500 - fold dilution , injected in a volume of 10 μl ). as is clear from the results shown in table 1 , the present invention makes it possible to produce the compound of formula ( i ) or hydrochloride thereof in higher purity . that is , the present invention permits omission of the purification procedure ( e . g . column chromatography ) required in patent document 1 or patent document 2 and hence makes it possible to produce the compound of formula ( i ) more easily in higher yield . according to the present invention , the compound of formula ( i ) or hydrochloride thereof can be industrially produced more easily in higher yield . the present invention is illustrated in detail with reference to the following examples , which should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention . to 200 ml of tetrahydrofuran were added 20 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 2 g of 5 % palladium - alumina . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 5 hours at a pressure of 0 . 4 to 0 . 8 mpa and a temperature of 3 to 4 ° c . after completion of the hydrogenation , the reaction solution was freed from the catalyst and then concentrated . after 160 ml of ethanol was added to the concentration residue to obtain a solution , 6 . 0 g of concentrated hydrochloric acid was added thereto with stirring to carry out conversion to hydrochloride . the crystallized hydrochloride was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 19 . 8 g of donepezil hydrochloride . the values of 1 h - nmr were identified with those of example 3 . to 200 ml of tetrahydrofuran were added 20 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 2 g of 5 % palladium - alumina . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 3 hours at a pressure of 0 . 5 to 0 . 8 mpa and a temperature of 4 to 5 ° c . after completion of the hydrogenation , the reaction solution was freed from the catalyst and then concentrated . after 160 ml of ethanol was added to the concentration residue to obtain a solution , 6 . 0 g of concentrated hydrochloric acid was added thereto with stirring to carry out conversion to hydrochloride . the crystallized hydrochloride was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 20 . 6 g of donepezil hydrochloride , i . e ., hydrochloride of the compound of formula ( i ). the values of 1 h - nmr were identified with those of example 3 . to 913 ml of tetrahydrofuran were added 91 . 3 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 9 g of 5 % palladium - alumina . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 4 hours at a pressure of 0 . 4 to 1 . 0 mpa and a temperature of 3 to 6 ° c . after completion of the hydrogenation , the reaction solution was freed from the catalyst and then concentrated . after 730 ml of ethanol was added to the concentration residue to obtain a solution , 27 . 5 g of concentrated hydrochloric acid was added thereto with stirring to carry out conversion to hydrochloride . the crystallized hydrochloride was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 95 . 1 g of donepezil hydrochloride . the values obtained by 1 h - nmr were as follows : 1 h - nmr ( 400 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ( ppm ): 1 . 35 - 1 . 60 ( 3h , m ), 1 . 75 - 2 . 12 ( 4h , m ), 2 . 68 - 2 . 77 ( 2h , m ), 3 . 04 ( 2h , br . s ), 3 . 27 - 3 . 35 ( 1h , m ), 3 . 49 ( 2h , br . s ), 3 . 84 ( 3h , s ), 3 . 94 ( 3h , s ), 4 . 32 ( 2h , s ), 7 . 05 ( 1h , s ), 7 . 13 ( 1h , s ), 7 . 47 - 7 . 55 ( 5h , m ) to 500 ml of tetrahydrofuran were added 50 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 5 g of 5 % palladium - alumina . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 50 minutes at a pressure of 0 . 5 to 1 . 0 mpa and a temperature of 14 to 20 ° c . after completion of the hydrogenation , the catalyst was removed and then a part of the solvent in the reaction solution was removed by distillation and concentration . to the residual reaction solution after the removal by distillation and concentration was added 15 g of concentrated hydrochloric acid with stirring to carry out conversion to hydrochloride . the crystallized hydrochloride was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 52 . 6 g of donepezil hydrochloride , i . e ., hydrochloride of the compound of formula ( i ). the values of 1 h - nmr were identified with those of example 3 . to 500 ml of toluene were added 50 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 5 g of 5 % palladium - alumina . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 3 hours at a pressure of 0 . 2 to 0 . 5 mpa and a temperature of 9 to 12 ° c . after completion of the hydrogenation , the reaction solution was freed from the catalyst and then concentrated . after 400 ml of ethanol was added to the concentration residue to obtain a solution , 15 g of concentrated hydrochloric acid was added thereto with stirring to carry out conversion to hydrochloride . the crystallized hydrochloride was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 48 . 8 g of donepezil hydrochloride . the values of 1 h - nmr were identified with those of example 3 . to 500 ml of toluene were added 50 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 5 g of 5 % palladium - alumina . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 2 hours and 20 minutes at a pressure of 0 . 4 to 0 . 8 mpa and a temperature of 10 to 11 ° c . after completion of the hydrogenation , the reaction solution was freed from the catalyst and then concentrated . after 400 ml of ethanol was added to the concentration residue to obtain a solution , 15 g of concentrated hydrochloric acid was added thereto with stirring to carry out conversion to hydrochloride . the crystallized hydrochloride was collected by filtration and dried to obtain 45 . 2 g of donepezil hydrochloride . the values of 1 h - nmr were identified with those of example 3 . to 8 ml of tetrahydrofuran were added 1 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 0 . 2 g of 10 % palladium - carbon . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 1 . 5 hours at 0 to 2 ° c . and atmospheric pressure . hplc purity of the reaction solution : the desired compound / 62 . 5 %, the starting material / 34 . 8 %, the debenzylated product / 2 . 6 %. to 200 ml of toluene were added 20 g of 1 - benzyl - 4 -[( 5 , 6 - dimethoxy - 1 - indanon )- 2 - ylidene ] methyl - piperidine and 2 g of 10 % palladium - carbon . hydrogenation was carried out with stirring for 5 hours at 0 to 1 ° c . and 0 . 8 to 1 . 0 mpa . hplc purity of the reaction solution : the desired compound / 72 . 9 %, the starting material / 25 . 3 %, the debenzylated product / 1 . 8 %. according to the present invention , the compound of formula ( i ) or hydrochloride thereof ( donepezil hydrochloride ) can be industrially produced more easily in higher yield . | 2 |
a preferred embodiment of a printed circuit device according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig2 . as shown in fig2 an insulating printed circuit board ( 21 ) has on its surface a conductive layer ( 22 ) of plated copper foil printed thereon and an ic chip mounting region ( 23 ). the board ( 21 ) is made of a glass epoxy resin , a thermoplastic resin , ceramic , glass , and etc . the conductive layer ( 22 ) has a connection part ( 22a ) plated with gold or silver , other portions of which are coated with an insulating protective film ( 24 ) for preventing the conductive layer ( 22 ) from being destroyed due to any corrosion by invaded moisture and owing to any mechanical damage . an adhesive layer ( 25 ) is formed on the protective film ( 24 ). the protective film ( 24 ) is formed by , for example , rendering an epoxy resin to a silk screen printing process . an ic chip ( 26 ) is fixedly mounted onto the ic chip region ( 23 ) by adhering with an adhesive ( 29 ) or by employing a au - si eutectic alloy reaction . for the adhesive ( 29 ), a conductive epoxy resin paste including ag is employed , for example . the connection part ( 22a ) of the conductive layer ( 22 ) is electrically connected with electrodes of the ic chip ( 26 ) via aluminum or gold wires ( 27 ). a sealing cover ( 28 ) with a recessed portion ( 28a ) is disposed over the ic chip ( 26 ). the sealing cover ( 28 ) has a brim ( 28b ) to increase its contacting area with the protective film ( 24 ) for thereby improving sealing strength and water resistance . the brim ( 28b ) is fixed to the adhesive layer ( 25 ) by making use of heating contact bonding , high frequency induction heating , and ultrasonic vibration , for example . the sealing cover ( 28 ) is integrally formed by heating thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene , polypropylene , or polymethylpentene . the polymethylpentene resin is preferable in particular as a sealing cover for an eprom since it is capable of transmitting ultraviolet radiation . the adhesive layer ( 25 ) is made of a thermoplastic resin in a single layer or a plurality of layers . in order to improve melting properties and sealing strength , the same material as that of the sealing cover ( 28 ) is preferable for the adhesive layer ( 25 ). the protective film ( 24 ) described in the above embodiment is not necessarily needed . a process of manufacture of the printed circuit device according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig3 . first of all , as shown in fig3 ( 1 ), the conductive layer ( 22 ) and the ic chip mounting region ( 23 ) are formed on the surface of the insulating printed circuit board ( 21 ). the adhesive layer ( 25 ) is formed on the conductive layer ( 22 ). the ic chip ( 26 ) is sealed onto the ic chip mounting region ( 23 ) with use of an adhesive or by making use of a au - si eutectic alloy reaction . the connection part ( 22a ) of the conductive layer ( 22 ) is electrically connected to the electrodes of the ic chip ( 26 ) via gold wires 27 . the sealing cover ( 28 ) having the recessed portion ( 28a ) and the brim ( 28b ) is integrally formed . the ic chip ( 26 ) is covered with the sealing cover ( 28 ) under an atmosphere of inactive gas such as n 2 or clean dry air , as shown in fig3 ( 2 ). the brim ( 28b ) is sealed to the adhesive layer ( 25 ). according to the first embodiment as described above , it is possible to reduce the ic manufacturing cost because the step of using a resin pellet is not needed to seal an ic chip . furthermore , the printed circuit device according to the present invention makes it possible to employ an automatic sealing process because the hermetic sealing is accomplished only by a resin melting process . in succession , a second embodiment of the printed circuit device according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig4 and 5 . fig5 is a cross sectional view of the second embodiment taken along line a -- a of fig4 . as illustrated in fig4 and 5 , the sealing cover plate ( 48 ) has a plurality of recessed portions ( 48a ) and a plurality of projections ( 48c ). a printed circuit board ( 21 ) has a plurality of ic chip mounting regions ( 23 ) and a plurality of holes ( 21a ). a plurality of ic chips ( 26 ) are fixedly mounted respectively onto the mounting regions ( 23 ). a connection part ( 22a ) of a conductive layer ( 22 ) is electrically connected with electrodes of the ic chips ( 26 ) by means of metal wires ( 27 ). the projections ( 48c ) are inserted into the holes ( 21a ) and the sealing cover plate ( 48 ) is arranged on the printed circuit board ( 21 ). a flat part ( 48b ) of the adhered cover ( 48 ) is sealed to an adhesive layer ( 25 ) on a protective film ( 24 ). according to this second embodiment , as described above , a plurality of the ic chips ( 26 ) are sealed at the same time , whereby the number of steps for of manufacture of the device and working time can be reduced . the projections ( 48c ) of the sealing cover plate ( 48 ) inserted into the holes ( 21a ) in the printed circuit board ( 21 ) simplifies alignment of the sealing cover ( 48 ) with the board ( 21 ) for thereby preventing improper sealing . the projections may instead be formed on the printed circuit board ( 21 ), and the holes may be formed in the sealing cover ( 48 ). another embodiment of a sealing cover for use in the printed circuit device of the present invention will be described with reference to fig6 and 7 . as shown in fig6 a sealing cover plate ( 38 ) provided with a recessed portion ( 38a ) and a brim ( 38b ) has a composite structure composed of a thermoplastic resin layer ( 38 - 1 ) and a sheet - shaped or mesh - shaped metal layer ( 38 - 2 ). the metal layer ( 38 - 2 ) is made of aluminum , or anodized aluminum , or an aluminum alloy , for example . formation of another thermoplastic resin layer ( 38 - 3 ) on the metal layer ( 38 - 2 ) as shown in fig7 prevents corrosion of the metal layer ( 38 - 2 ). this multilayer structure may include an aluminum or an aluminum alloy layer as an intermediate layer and anodized aluminum layers as the upper and lower layers . according to the above described embodiment , the sealing cover plate ( 38 ) is improved in its mechanical strength because of the use of the metal layer ( 38 - 2 ) backing the thermoplastic resin layer ( 38 - 1 ). a polymethyl pentene which can transmit ultraviolet rays is suitable for an eprom ic chip mounted circuit board . in this case , a metal cover plate with a window is required to receive ultraviolet rays . a third embodiment of the printed circuit device of the present invention will be described with reference to fig8 . in fig8 the arrangement of a printed circuit board ( 21 ) and a sealing cover plate ( 28 ) are the same as those of the first embodiment shown in fig2 . in the first place , an ic chip ( 26 ) is fixedly mounted onto an ic chip mounting region ( 23 ) of the board ( 21 ) with an adhesive ( 29 ). the ic chip ( 26 ) is electrically connected to a conductive layer ( 22 ) via metal wires ( 27 ). a frame ( 57 ) is fixedly mounted onto a protective film ( 23 ) with use of an adhesive ( 58 ) so as to enclose the ic chip ( 26 ) and the wire ( 27 ). the frame ( 57 ) is filled therein with a sealing material ( 59 ) to seal the ic chip ( 26 ) and the periphery thereof . the frame ( 57 ) is constructed by stamping out a piece of a paper or cloth impregnated with epoxy resin or phenolic resin . for the sealing material ( 59 ), resins such as epoxy , silicone , polyimide and the like are employed . a method of filling the frame with such resin is found in the &# 34 ; description of the prior art &# 34 ;. then , a sealing cover plate ( 28 ) having a brim ( 28b ) is covered over the ic chip ( 26 ) under an atmosphere of n 2 or clean dry air . the brim ( 28b ) is welded onto the board ( 21 ) via an adhesive layer ( 25 ). according to the third embodiment , as described above , the sealing cover plate ( 28 ) covers the sealing material ( 59 ) to thereby remarkably improve sealing properties for the ic chip ( 26 ). although certain preferred embodiments have been shown and described , it should be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the appended claims . | 7 |
various embodiments of the present invention are directed to an insulated concrete form system . in various embodiments , the system includes an insulated pre - studded portion that acts as both a form during the concrete pour and an attached interior wall portion after the pour and removal of an exterior form . various embodiments also include removable interior forms that may be constructed of a lightweight material . various embodiments are directed to a single face , stay in place , insulated concrete forming panel . in various embodiments , the forms are designed to work with industry standard removable modular concrete forms , either in a double sided or single sided configuration . in various embodiments , the foam form panel contains structural members molded within an expandable foam body that fixes the position of and insulates the members which may be constructed of , for example , light gauge steel . in such embodiments , the expandable foam core body with the fixed members contributes to the structural integrity of the assembly during the concrete casting process . embedding a portion of the members within the concrete portion of a wall allows a reduction in the concrete steel reinforcement . the structural members may be of any length and orientation and are molded within the foam core using , for example , a continuous or semi - continuous process . in various embodiments , the exposed portion of the structural members extending from the bottom of the foam panel and running the length of the panel create a composite wall connection that allows the concrete and light gauge metal stud to better resist the forces of gravity , structural loading and soil pressures . the opposing exposed steel member acts as a furring stud to allow for plumbing and electrical chases and as the attachment point for the modular concrete forms . the structural metal studs also aid the modular concrete forms in resisting the forces applied when the concrete is poured . in various embodiments , the foam surface of the panel prevents the concrete core from contacting the interior portion of the modular forms , thereby extending their useful life and speeding the cleaning of the forms after use . the foam surface also reduces the amount of temporary form bracing required to withstand the pouring forces of the concrete . in various embodiments , the opposing exposed stud is used to apply finishing materials such as drywall or other materials to provide the finishing of the interior walls . the opposing flush surface of the steel member may be used to mechanically attach the concrete , window bucks , door bucks , concrete to panel tie steel , etc . the molded portion of the stay in place form can vary in its depth to create the proper insulation based on the building design and intended use . the foam depth can also vary ( e . g ., from 1 inch to 16 inches ) to provide for differing concrete pour thickness support during the casting phase of construction while using the same modular concrete forms and ties . in various embodiments , the steel members can be varied in dimension ( including the gauge of steel used ) depending on the concrete depth and reinforcement positioning required by structural engineers in the design of differing wall heights and loading requirements . the panels can be reversed with the foam to the exterior and used as a foam surface to attach cost - effective foam architectural detailing . fig1 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of an insulated concrete form system 10 . the system 10 includes a removable concrete form 12 that may be constructed of any suitable material such as , for example , steel , plastic , wood , etc . the system 10 also includes an interior wall portion 14 . the interior wall portion 14 may be constructed of an insulating material such as , for example , a polymer such as a matrix of molded expanded polystyrene ( eps ) or any expandable or non - expandable material ( e . g ., foam based material ) or plastic that may , in one embodiment , include one or more performance enhancing additives . the interior wall portion 14 includes various embedded and exposed structural and non - structural members that are constructed of , for example , light gauge steel , wood , plastic , or a composite material of any natural or engineered composition . the members include studs 16 that allow for utilities to be run in the interior of the finished wall and also allow for finish materials such as drywall to be attached to the interior of the finished wall . reinforcing members 18 connect the interior wall portion 14 and the concrete form 12 and provide either sole reinforcement or reinforcement that supplements conventional reinforcement of the concrete that is poured to fill void 20 between the interior wall portion 14 and the concrete form 12 . fig2 illustrates a side view of an embodiment of the insulated concrete form system 10 of fig1 . fig3 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form system 10 of fig1 . fig4 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form system 10 of fig1 . the embodiment shown in fig4 includes reinforcement members 22 that further reinforce the interior wall portion 14 . fig5 illustrates an embodiment of a connector portion 24 of the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form system 10 of fig1 . the connector portion 24 is molded into the interior wall portion 14 and provides an attachment point for structural elements 16 , 22 and provides points at which the reinforcing members 18 can pass through and be securely connected to the interior wall portion 14 . fig6 illustrates an embodiment of the connector portion 24 of the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form system 10 of fig1 having the reinforcing member 18 extending therethrough . fig7 illustrates an embodiment of a locking mechanism 26 for securing the reinforcing member 18 to the connector portion 24 ( not shown in fig7 ) of the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form system 10 of fig1 . as can be seen in fig7 , the connector portion 24 has a stud 16 attached thereto and the reinforcing member 18 extends through the connector portion 24 and an opening in the stud 16 . the locking mechanism 26 secures the reinforcing member 18 to the interior wall portion 14 and prevents the interior wall portion 14 from separating from the concrete form 12 during the concrete pour . the locking mechanism 26 includes a horizontal member 28 and a vertical member 31 . fig8 illustrates an embodiment of the insulated concrete form system 10 of fig1 having reinforcing members 30 located between the interior wall portion 14 and the concrete form 12 . as can be seen in fig8 , the reinforcing members 30 are reinforcing bars ( rebar ) that are arranged in a grid . the reinforcing members 30 may be made of any type of material , such as a metal or polymer . fig9 illustrates an embodiment of an insulated concrete form system 32 having a removable interior form 34 . the interior form 34 may be constructed of any suitable material such as , for example , steel , plastic , wood , etc . in one embodiment , the interior form 34 is constructed of molded polypropylene . fig1 illustrates an embodiment of an insulated concrete form system 36 having exterior and interior concrete form portions 12 , 34 configured in a modular fashion such that the interior form portions 34 fit between the studs 16 . fig1 illustrates a side perspective view of an embodiment of an insulated concrete form system 38 that is configured prior to a concrete pour . fig1 illustrates an embodiment of an insulated concrete form system 40 that includes locking mechanisms 26 . fig1 illustrates an embodiment of a removable interior form 34 that is attached to the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form systems described herein . as can be seen in fig1 , the stud 16 includes a dimpled surface 17 adjacent the interior form 34 . the surface 17 facilitates removal of the interior form 34 . fig1 illustrates an embodiment of the locking mechanism 26 for securing the various portions of the insulated concrete form systems described herein . the locking mechanism includes the vertical member 28 and the horizontal member 31 and secures the removable interior form 34 , the interior wall portion 14 and the exterior removable form ( not shown in fig1 ). fig1 illustrates a side view of an embodiment of a stud 16 for the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form systems described herein . the stud 16 includes fusion slots 44 that facilitate anchoring the portion of the stud 16 that is contained in the interior wall portion 14 . the stud 16 also includes wiring chase slots 46 that facilitate the routing of wires , pipes , etc . through the stud 16 during the finishing process of the structure that includes the concrete wall that was constructed using the insulated concrete form systems . the stud 16 further includes slots 48 that permit the reinforcing members 18 to extend through the stud 16 . the stud also includes wedge bolt punch holes 50 . fig1 illustrates a perspective view of a stud 16 for the interior wall portion 14 of the insulated concrete form systems described herein . the stud 16 includes a strip 52 that has fusion slots 44 . when in use , the fusion slots 44 are embedded in the interior wall portion 14 . fig1 illustrates a cross - sectional view of an embodiment of an insulated concrete form system after the forms have been removed and the concrete 54 is cured . the stud 16 includes a portion with the strips 52 embedded in the interior wall portion 14 . the stud also includes the slots 48 for insertion of the reinforcing members 18 . fig1 illustrates a cross - sectional view of another embodiment of an insulated concrete form system after the forms have been removed . in the embodiment of fig1 , the stud 16 extends further into the interior wall portion 14 . fig1 illustrates a cross - sectional view of another embodiment of an insulated concrete form system after the forms have been removed . in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , the stud 16 extends through the interior wall portion 14 into the concrete 54 to provide further reinforcement of the system . also , in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , the interior wall portion 14 includes a v - shaped cutout section . fig2 illustrates a cross - sectional view of another embodiment of an insulated concrete form system after the forms have been removed . in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , the stud 16 includes extended strips 56 embedded in the interior wall portion 14 that provide further stability to the system . fig2 illustrates a cross - sectional view of another embodiment of an insulated concrete form system after the forms have been removed . in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , the interior wall portion 14 has a larger v - shaped cutout portion than the embodiment illustrated in fig1 and 20 . fig2 illustrates a cross - sectional view of another embodiment of an insulated concrete form system after the forms have been removed . in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 , the stud does not extend beyond the interior wall portion 14 , but is instead completely embedded in the interior wall portion 14 and the concrete 54 . in the embodiments illustrated herein in which the stud 16 extends into the concrete 54 , the stud 16 acts as a reinforcing member in the concrete and can supplement or replace other reinforcing techniques . in various embodiments , the interior wall portion 14 may include panels that are oriented on different planes , thus creating walls for specific purposes , such as below - grade and above - grade walls , retaining walls with attached architectural details and sandwich insulated walls containing concrete on both exposed wall surfaces . various embodiments of the systems and methods described herein allow for concrete structures that use less concrete , thus reducing costs and the weight of the structure . various embodiments of the systems and methods described herein eliminates or reduces the amount of bracing necessary for creating poured concrete walls and allow for relatively easier installation than traditional concrete poured walls . the present invention has been described with reference to specific details of particular embodiments thereof . it is not intended that such details be regarded as limitations upon the scope of the invention . | 4 |
parts in different figures that are identical or similar are designated by the same reference numbers . the device shown in fig1 is designed to be incorporated into a rotary connection between a mobile member and a fixed member ( not shown ) to which the respective ends of a line 16 are fixed in order to eliminate torsion in said line when the members turn relative to each other . it comprises , in a frame 10 fastened to the fixed member of the connection , two spools 12 and 14 between which the line 16 , such as a cable , hose or the like , is transferred when there is relative rotation between the two spools . the spool 12 is fixed , for example mounted rigidly on the frame by means of attachment members 18 , whereas the spool 14 is mobile in rotation , being fastened to the mobile member of the rotary connection , as will be explained later , this mobile member being driven by its own drive means . this may be , for example , a main spool onto which the line is wound or from which it is paid out . in the known manner , it is this transfer movement which makes possible relative rotation of the two ends el and e2 of the line , respectively fastened to the fixed spool and the mobile spool , without generating any torsion in the line , by virtue of the reversal of the direction of winding the line from one spool to the other . also in a conventional way , this transfer is performed by means of a direction - changing or satellite idler pulley 20 mounted at the free end of an arm 22 . the arm 22 can turn about the common axis a of the spools . in a device of this kind , assuming that no slack appears in the line and that the two spools 12 and 14 are geometrically identical , the rotation speed vb of the arm 22 is related to the rotation speed vm of the mobile spool 14 by the following equation : in which rm is the instantaneous winding radius of the line on the mobile spool 14 and rf is the instantaneous winding radius of the line on the fixed spool 12 . rm and rf vary as the line is wound in and paid out . it is necessary to establish a relationship that changes with time between the rotation speed of the mobile spool and the rotation speed of the arm . the relationship between the torque cb applied to the arm 22 to perform the aforementioned transfer and the tension t in the line is expressed as follows : in which ri is the minimum winding radius of the spools 12 and 14 ( with the spools empty ) and re is the maximum winding radius of the spools 12 and 14 ( with the spools full ). to make the tension t in the line as constant as possible , it is necessary firstly to ensure that the drive torque cb applied to the arm is as constant as possible . there will now be described the means used in accordance with the invention to meet the above conditions and therefore to transfer the line under optimum conditions . the arm 22 carrying the satellite pulley 20 is mounted to rotate freely on a drive shaft 24 and is coupled to this shaft and to the fixed frame 10 by two magnetic couplings 26 , 28 and two one - way clutches 30 and 32 ( shown only schematically ), as will be described in more detail hereinbelow . the magnetic couplings have the property of transmitting between the primary ( inductor or field ) member and the secondary ( induced or armature ) member a torque which is essentially constant , independent of any slip that may occur between them . with the aim of minimizing the stresses in the line 16 , especially if the latter is a flat optical fiber cable , the two spools 12 and 14 are placed immediately adjacent each other and the axis a , of the satellite pulley 20 is inclined at a relatively small angle to the axis a , as can be seen particularly clearly in fig3 . as a natural consequence of this , the satellite carrier arm 22 is l - shaped to locate the pulley 20 in alignment with the boundary between the two spools passing through the exterior thereof . the end 24b of the drive shaft 24 is designed to be fastened to the mobile member of the rotary connection , for example a main spool that is driven by a drive motor ( these members are not shown in the drawings ). the mobile spool 14 is fastened to the shaft 24 . the first one - way clutch 30 provides a positive drive link between the shaft 24 and a primary member 26a of the first magnetic coupling 26 in the direction of paying out the line 16 from the mobile spool 14 . the second one - way clutch 32 is adapted to immobilize the primary member 28a of the second magnetic coupling 28 by being operative between said primary member and a member 34 which is fixed rigidly to the frame 10 of the winder device , in the direction of winding the line 16 onto the mobile spool 14 . the respective secondary members 26b , 28b of the two couplings 26 , 28 are both fixed rigidly to the arm 22 . this embodiment of the device has special features , as follows . the arm 22 is substantially symmetrical relative to the axis a and carries a counterweight 21 at the end opposite the pulley 20 . also , the arm 22 is mounted rigidly on an auxiliary shaft 36 which is mounted to rotate freely in bearings 38 within the facing ends of the drive shaft 24 and the fixed part 34 . the primary members 26a , 28a are carried by respective flanges 26c , 28c which are mounted to rotate freely on the shaft 36 by means of bearings 40 , 42 . finally , the fixed end el of the line is fed out into the frame 10 through the back of the fixed spool 12 and can be further routed as necessary to any device fastened to the frame . the rotating end e2 of the line is led into the interior of the shaft 24 and can be further routed to any rotary device fastened to said shaft . the device in accordance with the invention operates in the following manner . in the direction of paying out the line 16 from the mobile spool , the shaft 24 drives the primary member 26a of the coupling 26 through the first one - way clutch 30 . the electromagnetic coupling between the secondary member 26b and the primary member 26a then transmits to the arm 22 a torque equal to the nominal torque of the coupling and tending to turn said arm in the same direction as the shaft 24 and the mobile spool 14 at a speed that can vary by virtue of slip occurring in the coupling . the effect of this constant torque is to maintain an essentially constant tension in the part of the line between the two spools 12 and 14 , the value of this tension varying only slightly due to variations in time of the parameters rf and rm as explained above . the arm 22 and the pulley 20 are therefore rotated to wind the line 16 onto the fixed spool 12 and to pay it out from the mobile spool 14 . it is to be noted that during this movement the secondary member 28b of the coupling 28 and the associated primary member 28a can freely accompany the arm 22 as it rotates , without imparting any torque to it , as the primary member 28a is free to turn relative to the part 34 because of the second one - way clutch 32 , which can only provide a positive drive coupling in the opposite direction . in the direction of winding the line 16 onto the mobile spool 14 , said line entrains the arm 22 through operating on the direction - changing pulley 20 , and at the same time the arm 22 is subjected to a constant braking torque . in more precise terms , the freewheel 32 is operated in its positive drive direction and prevents the flange 28c from turning relative to the fixed part 34 and the frame . as the primary member 28a is stationary it exerts a constant torque braking action on the arm 22 through magnetic interaction with the secondary member 28b , independently of the speed of the arm . in this case the primary member 26a and the secondary member 26b of the first coupling 26 are free to rotate in the same direction as the arm 22 and without the latter applying any unwanted torque , given that the one - way clutch 30 is then caused to operate in the direction opposite to its positive driving direction . the advantages of the device in accordance with the invention are summarized below . first of all , by virtue of the specific arrangement of the spools and the satellite pulley , it is evident that only minimum torsion is generated in the line 16 . in this regard , the angle α between the axis a &# 39 ; of the satellite and the axis a of the spools is chosen for each individual application according to the geometry of the various parts . depending on individual circumstances , it might vary in practice between 0 ° and 45 ° ( it is approximately 15 ° in fig3 ). for certain types of cable , it may be desired to keep the angle α as small as possible . in this case , if it is necessary to use wider spools or a greater axial spacing between the spools , then the angle α may be kept low by using a satellite pulley of larger diameter . because magnetic couplings are used , the arm drive torque is constant and can be determined precisely by adjusting the couplings 26 and 28 . what is more , different torques can be used in the opposite directions , if required . the tension in the line 16 is therefore fully controlled at all times in accordance with the equation ( 2 ) given above , with only very slight variations due to the variations in rf and rm . in this regard , it can be shown that if the ratio between re and ri is equal to three to one , for example , the tension applied to the line does not vary by more than 12 %. this variation is reduced to 5 % if the aforementioned ratio is two to one . also , whatever the values of the instantaneous winding radii rf and rm , the arm 22 and the pulley 20 are always driven at the appropriate speed . the sliding couplings 26 and 28 enable the arm 22 to adopt any angular speed between zero speed and the angular speed vm of the mobile spool 14 . fig2 is a partial view in elevation of a second embodiment of the invention . in this embodiment , the drive shaft 24 is extended ( towards the right in the figure ) by a part 24a which is substituted for the auxiliary shaft 36 . it supports the arm 22 which rotates on it through bearings 50 . this embodiment comprises only a single coupling 26 the primary member 26b of which is fixed to the arm 22 and the secondary member 26a of which is attached to a flange 26c . the flange 26c is mounted on the extension 24a of the drive shaft by means of a first one - wheel clutch 30 and on the fixed part 34 by means of a second one - way clutch 32 . these two clutches are mounted in the same orientation as in fig1 . the spools 12 and 14 and the satellite idler pulley 20 are arranged in the same way as in the first embodiment . this embodiment of the device operates in an entirely similar way to the fig1 device except that the single coupling 26 fulfils the same role as the two couplings 26 , 28 in fig1 . although the present invention has been described with reference to a main spool for winding on and paying out the line , it may equally well be used for a rotary connection on a finite number of turns , for example between the fixed support structure and the rotating cabin structure of a crane . more generally , it may be used in any application in which two members can rotate relative to each other and must be connected by a line such as a cable , hose or the like the ends of which are respectively fixed to these members , without using slip rings and without inducing any torsion in the line . in the aforementioned case of a crane , the frame 10 of the winder device may be fixed to the fixed support structure of the crane while its rotating cab structure is fixed to the coupling part 24b of the drive shaft 24 . also , although the invention has been described in relation to single - turn spools , it is to be understood that it applies to spools carrying multiple turns . in this case , in the case of lines to which the lowest possible torque must be imparted in transferring them from one spool to the other ( as in the case of flat fiber optic cables , for example ), the number of turns will be reduced as much as possible . the angle α mentioned above will additionally be adjusted to suit the width of the spools . those skilled in the art will know how to implement the inventive concept as explained hereinabove to produce a device comprising multiple pairs of spools , each pair being associated with its own satellite pulley . finally , the terms &# 34 ; fixed &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; mobile &# 34 ; as used throughout this description are to be understood as being relative terms . for example , the drive shaft 24 may be fixed and the frame 10 driven in rotation and fastened to the mobile member of the rotary connection . it is equally feasible for both members of the rotary connection to rotate at different speeds . | 7 |
the detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the preferred embodiment of the invention , and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present invention may be constructed or utilized . the description sets forth the functions and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the invention in connection with the illustrated embodiment . it is to be understood , however , that the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention . the method and apparatus for measuring the flatness of a floor according to the present invention is illustrated in fig2 - 10 which depict a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention . fig1 shows the contemporary methodology . referring now to fig1 according to contemporary methodology , the flatness of a floor is measured with an inclinometer by attaining a constant velocity 10 of the inclinometer prior to commencing any measurements therewith . once the self - propelled inclinometer has attained a constant desired velocity , then the measurement process 20 is commenced at the survey line . the prior art self - propelled inclinometer performs single inclinometer measurements using twelve inch increments between successive measurements in a first direction until the end of the survey line is reached . at the end of the survey line , the self - propelled inclinometer is turned around and the self - propelled inclinometer then performs a second series 30 of single inclinometer measurements using twelve inch increments in the second or opposite direction . the ending elevation is tied to the beginning elevation so as to substantially cancel accumulated offset errors . this is accomplished by setting the ending elevation equal to the beginning elevation and proportionally changing the intermediate elevations , as discussed in detail above . referring now to fig2 according to the methodology of the present invention , the requirement for two different runs in opposite directions is eliminated by determining the relative height of the floor at both the beginning and end of the survey line prior to commencing measurements , and then utilizing these two relative heights to effect corrections to the inclinometer measurements . this provides the same effect as tieing the ending and beginning elevations together , since according to both contemporary methodology and the present invention , it is necessary to know the beginning and ending relative elevations in order to effect accumulated offset error correction . in the prior art , returning the self - propelled inclinometer to the starting point accomplishes this , since in the prior art the starting point and the ending point are the same and thus have the same elevation . thus , according to contemporary methodology , the relative elevations of the starting and ending point are known , i . e ., are equal . more particularly , according to the present invention , the relative elevation of the floor at the beginning of the survey line is determined 100 . next , the relative elevation of the floor at the end of the survey line is determined 200 . inclinometer measurements are performed in only one direction 300 . the difference in measured elevation at the beginning of the survey line and the end of the survey line is the elevation difference 400 . the elevation difference is used to correct offset errors in the inclinometer measurements 500 . referring now to fig3 the process of determining the elevation of the floor at the beginning 100 and end 200 of the survey line comprises positioning the self - propelled inclinometer at the beginning of the survey line 102 , leveling the self - propelled inclinometer on a leveling table using the on - board inclinometer of the self - propelled inclinometer 104 , and taking elevation readings at the start 106 and end 108 of the survey line utilizing the laser beam projected from the self - propelled inclinometer onto the target . since the self - propelled inclinometer is maintained in a level condition via the leveling table , the laser beam thereof travels horizontally from the self - propelled inclinometer to the target . thus , the difference 112 between where the laser beam strikes the target when the target is placed at the beginning of the survey line and when the target is placed at the end of the survey line is equal to the relative difference in elevation between the beginning of the survey line and the end of the survey line . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the self - propelled inclinometer does not necessarily have to be positioned at the beginning of the survey line , however , it is generally convenient to do so . preferably , the centroid of the laser beam projected upon the target is calculated and is considered to be the point at which the laser beam is incident upon the target , so as to more accurately determine the relative elevation at the beginning of the survey line . since the laser beam inherently diverges somewhat prior to being incident upon the target , it does not define a point suitable for use in accurately determining the floor height at the beginning and end of the survey line . in order to compensate for such divergence of the laser beam , the centroid thereof is calculated so as to define a point which may effectively be used in the accurate determination of such floor heights . according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the elevation difference between the beginning and end of the survey line is entered 112 into an eprom of the self - propelled inclinometer such that download software can subsequently utilize this difference to correct for accumulated offset error . referring now to fig4 the process of performing inclinometer measurements in a single direction 300 , comprises first entering survey line length into an eprom contained within the self - propelled inclinometer so as to automatically stop device at end of run ; and then moving the self - propelled inclinometer forward approximately six inches 202 , and taking approximately sixteen inclinometer measurements while continuing to move the device forward approximately one to one and one - half inches 204 at a constant velocity . the sixteen inclinometer measurements are averaged together 206 to effectively provide a single inclinometer measurement approximately every six inches . the average measurement value is stored 208 for later display , printing , or retrieval . this measurement process is repeated until the end of the survey line is reached . when the end of the survey line 210 is reached , inclinometer measurements are complete 212 , but the self - propelled inclinometer travels six inches further before stopping . averaging inclination measurements reduces errors due to roughness or irregularities in the floor surface and also due to incorrect inclinometer readings caused by vibration of the floor . referring now to fig5 the procedure for restarting 200a the self - propelled inclinometer of the present invention is shown . this procedure may be utilized when the self - propelled inclinometer has been purposely stopped along the survey line and must subsequently be restarted so as to complete floor height measurements . after being commanded to stop , the self - propelled inclinometer must be backed up a sufficient distance to allow it to attain a constant velocity prior to restarting floor height measurements . thus , when the self - propelled inclinometer is stopped before the end of the survey line , the self - propelled inclinometer travels forward six inches after the last measurement before halting its forward motion 240 , then , prior to resuming forward motion , the self - propelled inclinometer must be moved backwards six inches and then restarted . the self - propelled inclinometer travels forward six inches before taking the first slope measurement 242 , so as to assure that a constant velocity has been attained . referring now to fig6 and 7 , a preferred embodiment of the self - propelled inclinometer of the present invention is shown . the self - propelled inclinometer 400 comprises a body 402 having two separate nine inch circumference motor driven rear wheels 410 and a single nine inch circumference articulated front wheel 412 to facilitate steering thereof . a keypad 404 is preferably disposed atop the body 402 so as to facilitate control and data entry . entries are shown on lcd 414 , which provides the user with menu driven directions . an electrical connector , preferably an rs - 232 connector 408 , is formed upon the housing 402 , preferably at the rear thereof , so as to facilitate electrical communication with a personal computer , such as an ibm pc , xt , at , etc . according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , an optical detector is utilized to take position readings from radial slots at 120 ° degree intervals cut into an internal sensor wheel attached to the front axle of the self - propelled inclinometer so as to accurately provide a measurement of the distance traveled thereby . optionally , readings may be taken at three , six , nine , and twelve inch lengths along the survey line by modification to the eprom software . the optical detector uses an led to direct light to the wheel , such that light travels through the slots in the sensor wheel to permit measurements at any multiple of three inches . according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , stainless steel wheels are utilized so as to resist wear and corrosion . such stainless steel wheels also maintain sufficient dimensional stability so as to provide the desired degree of accuracy in floor height measurements . optionally , the wheels may be neoprene coated and / or comprise tread , so as to improve the traction thereof . the wheels are also preferably turned rather than milled , so as to improve the uniformity of the radius thereof and thereby enhance the accuracy of floor height measurements . the wheels are also preferably hardened so as to further resist wear . the motor drive circuit is configured so as to provide electrical isolation from the microprocessor and thus mitigate the introduction of motor noise thereinto . preferably , a sleep circuit maintains power to memory circuitry , so as to prevent accidental loss of measurement data . power is supplied to the memory circuitry via separate backup batteries in the event that the main motor batteries are discharged . a laser generating device 406 connected in series with an led 416 is preferably formed at the front end of the housing 402 . this laser may be utilized to facilitate relative elevation measurements at the beginning and end of the survey line . alternatively , a target may be formed upon the housing 402 and an external laser may be utilized to facilitate relative elevation measurements . as those skilled in the art will appreciate , various different methods may be utilized to assure that the self - propelled inclinometer of the present invention travels in a substantially straight path along the survey line . for example , sensors formed upon the housing 402 may be utilized to sense the presence of a laser beam , preferably the centroid thereof , so as to facilitate control of the articulated front wheel 412 in a manner which causes the device to follow the laser beam . alternatively , the laser generating device 406 of the self - propelled inclinometer may be utilized to project upon a sensor disposed at the end of the survey line so as to indicate deviations in travel away from the survey line . these deviations may then be transmitted back to the self - propelled inclinometer via various means , e . g ., radio , ir , optical , etc ., so as to facilitate control of the self - propelled inclinometer and thereby maintain its desired travel along the survey line . other means such as strings , chalk lines , tracks , etc ., may similarly be utilized . alternatively , the self - propelled inclinometer may be configured so as to operate without steering control . that is , the wheels of the self - propelled inclinometer are locked in position so as to assure substantially straight travel of the self - propelled inclinometer . the laser 406 of self - propelled inclinometer is then aimed at a reflective target at the end of the survey line and then allowed to run therealong . if an undesirable deviation in the path traveled by the self - propelled inclinometer occurs , then the self - propelled inclinometer is commanded to stop and is re - aligned with the survey line . it is possible to tap the self - propelled inclinometer as it travels along the survey line , so as to correct undesirable deviations in the path traveled thereby . thus , the present invention provides an apparatus and methodology for measuring floor flatness which has improved accuracy and reduced costs associated therewith . manual operations , e . g ., the manual reading of an inclinometer or optical level , etc ., are reduced so as to increase the efficiency and accuracy of the measurement procedure . human error is substantially eliminated via such automation . referring now to fig8 and 9 , the laser centroiding elevation sensor device preferably comprises a housing 500 having an lcd display 512 formed thereon , for providing operating instructions to the user . an on / off switch 514 provides power to the device and push - button switch 510 is utilized to confirm receipt of the laser beam . a buzzer and led 516 indicate that the laser beam is being received by the laser centroiding elevation sensor device . a window 502 , preferably approximately six inches in height , provides an opening through which the laser beam passes to be incident upon the six inch high detector array 504 housed within the device . the six inch high detector array 504 is mounted upon circuit board 506 . electronics for operating the device are formed upon printed circuit board 508 . the base plate 551 of the elevation sensing device preferably has three fixed feet 553 . referring now to fig1 , a leveling table 550 is preferably utilized to level the self - propelled inclinometer so that it may be used to determine the relative elevations of the beginning and end of the survey line , as discussed in detail above . as those skilled in the art will appreciate , the leveling table is utilized by turning leveling screws 552 until a level condition is indicated . according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention , a level condition is indicated utilizing the on - board inclinometer of the self - propelled inclinometer of the present invention . it is understood that the exemplary method and device for measuring flatness of a floor with an inclinometer described herein and shown in the drawings represents only a presently preferred embodiment of the invention . indeed , various modifications and additions may be made to such embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , a radio link may be utilized to facilitate control of the self - propelled inclinometer , so as to effect stopping thereof without necessitating that controls formed thereon be manipulated . thus , these and other modifications and additions may be obvious to those skilled in the art , may be implemented to adapt the present invention for use in a variety of different applications . | 6 |
in the following description , like parts are designated by like reference numbers throughout the several drawings . fig3 is a sectional view of a manganese dioxide - lithium battery which is one example of enclosed cell according to the present invention . this battery comprises an outer canister 1 acting as a positive terminal , a metal lid 2 approximately of a dish shape fused over an entire circumference to the outer canister 1 by laser welding or the like and defining a through bore 14 centrally thereof , an insulating packing 3 formed of a resin having polar groups such as modified polypropylene or polyamide 11 , polyamide 12 or the like for adhering the metal lid 2 , a negative terminal 5 having a substantially t - shaped section and extending through a center bore 4 of the packing 3 , and an electrode assembly 6 . the electrode assembly 6 includes a cathode 7 having manganese dioxide as its active material , a cathode 8 having lithium as its active material , and a bag - like separator 9 interposed between the anode and cathode 7 , 8 . the electrode assembly , together with an unillustrated electrolyte , constitutes generating elements . the anode 7 is electrically connected to the outer canister 1 under a certain contact pressure , while the cathode 8 is electrically connected to the negative terminal 5 through a negative polar tab 10 . number 13 indicates an insulating sleeve for preventing short - circuit of the electrodes in the battery . in order to provide excellent sealing , this enclosed cell has rigid junctions achieved by thermal fusion between the metal lid 2 and insulating packing 3 and between the insulating packing 3 and negative terminal 5 , respectively . fig4 illustrates a process of injection molding which is one example of means for thermally fusing these junctions . number 15 indicates an upper die and number 16 indicates a lower die . polyamide 12 which has a particularly good adhesive property with respect to metals is employed for forming the insulating packing 3 . in this drawing , the metal lid 2 and negative terminal 5 are first placed in a space 17 between the upper and lower dies 15 , 16 , and then polyamide 12 melted at 230 ° c . is injected under a pressure of about 300kg / cm 2 into an injecting bore 18 defined in the upper die 15 as shown by arrows b . the injected polyamide 12 fills the space 17 and forms a resin packing . in the course of hardening in this process , the molten polyamide 12 adheres tight to the metal elements , namely the metal lid 2 and negative terminal 5 , and becomes fused thereto . this process of fusing the packing to the metal lid 2 and negative terminal 5 simultaneously with the packing formation , improves productivity and lowers manufacturing cost . number 19 indicates heaters embedded in the dies 15 , 16 . these heaters 19 heat the dies 15 , 16 which in turn heat the space 17 , negative terminal 5 and metal lid 2 to a predetermined temperature . table 1 shows the results of a safety valve operating pressure test conducted on the first and second known enclosed cells noted hereinbefore and the cell according to the present invention ( first embodiment ) fabricated by the above thermal fusion process . each cell has the outer canister and metal lid formed of a stainless steel sheet having a 0 . 3 mm thickness . the thin wall portion e of the first known cell ( shown in fig1 ) was formed into a 0 . 1 mm thickness t . the valve operating pressures were measured by sealing the cells with the generating elements excluded from the cells . the cells were internally pressurized from atmospheric pressure up to 100kg / cm 2 at the rate of 2kg / cm 2 per second . the test was conducted at 110 ° c . atmospheric temperature and by using 10 samples for each type of cell . table 1______________________________________operating 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 - 50 over 50pressures kg / cm . sup . 2 kg / cm . sup . 2 kg / cm . sup . 2 kg / cm . sup . 2______________________________________1st embod . 9 1 -- -- of invention1st known -- -- 1 7cell2nd known 5 3 2cell______________________________________ the two remaining samples of the first known cell broke at the laser welded position under the pressure of about 70kg / cm 2 . table 2 shows the result of a similar test in which the cells were internally pressurized at the rate of 20kg / cm 2 per second . this test was conducted at the same atmospheric temperature and in respect of the same number of samples as in the foregoing test . table 2______________________________________operating 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 - 50 over 50pressures kg / cm . sup . 2 kg / cm . sup . 2 kg / cm . sup . 2 kg / cm . sup . 2______________________________________1st embod . 6 4 -- -- of invention1st known -- -- -- 8cell2nd known -- 2 3 2cell______________________________________ the two remaining samples of the first known cell burst because of inoperative valves . the three remaining samples of the second known cell broke out at the weld junction between the outer canister and metal lid under the pressure of 70 - 80kg / cm 2 . in the latter case , the valves operate when the pressure rises to 50kg / cm 2 but fail to cope with a further release of the internal gas at the higher pressures . as seen from tables 1 and 2 , it has been confirmed through the tests that the enclosed cell according to the present invention has its safety valve mechanism acting to prevent bursting of the cell even under severe conditions as above . then the cells were tested by mounting therein the generating elements including the anode 7 and cathode 8 . the cell samples were charged with 6 v first , and the safety valve of every sample operated to prevent bursting and other trouble . when the samples were charged with 12 v , however , two samples of the first known cell and three of the second known cell burst though no sample of the cell according to this invention ( first embodiment ) burst . a further , heating test was conducted by placing each cell sample 5 cm from an acetylene burner . none of the cell samples according to this invention burst thanks to the safety valve mechanism coming into operation , but two samples of the first known cell and one sample of the second known cell burst . table 3 shows the results of a drop test carried out to compare the strengths of the enclosed cell according to this invention ( first embodiment ) and the first known cell having the hermetic seal which is considered to provide an excellent sealing . thirty samples were used for each cell , and the number of leaking samples were counted after dropping them . the test was conducted by throwing each sample ten times in a selected direction from a height of 1 . 5 m to a concrete surface . the hermetic seal had an insulator a ( fig1 ) formed of glass . table 3______________________________________ number of leaking samples______________________________________cell of invention 0 ( first embodiment ) first known cell 7______________________________________ as seen from table 3 , the first known cell must be handled with care since the insulator such as of glass or ceramics used in hermetic sealing is hard and brittle and therefore vulnerable to impact , whereas the first embodiment of the invention is easy to handle since it is sealed with the resin packing which is strong against impact . on the other hand , a helium leak test showed substantially the same leak value for the two types of cells . table 4 shows its measurement results . table 4______________________________________ value of he leaks ( atm · cc / sec ) ______________________________________cell of invention 10 . sup .- 9 ( first embodiment ) first known cell 10 . sup .- 9______________________________________ thus , the cell according to the first embodiment of the invention and the first known cell are equal with respect to the sealing performance under normal circumstances . table 5 shows storage characteristics of the cells . the number of samples used was 100 . table 5______________________________________ leaking initial samples internal 80 ° c ., 90 % rh ( after 30 days resistance ( after 30 days ) at 80 ° c .) ______________________________________1st embod . 8 ω 10 - 15 ω 0of invention1st known 8 ω 9 - 13 ω 4cell2nd known 8 ω 10 - 14 ω -- cell______________________________________ in the case of enclosed cell , cell performance deteriorates after a long storage time due to the moisture of ambient air entering the cell . as seen from table 5 , the enclosed cell according to this invention retains approximately the same internal resistance after a storage period as the first and second known cells , and remains just as well sealed as the prior art cells . where lithium is used for the cathode as in this manganese dioxide - lithium battery , lithium ions in the cell react with silicone dioxide constituting the principal component of glass , thereby to promote disintegration of the glass . this is responsible for the four leaking samples of the first known samples . in contrast , the packing material used in the first embodiment of the invention does not react with lithium ions , and therefore no leakage takes place . the cell according to the first embodiment is well sealed as described above and can dispense with the washer mounted in the second known cell ( fig2 ), which means a reduction in the number of components . with the removal of the washer , a special safety valve structure is no longer required since the negative terminal will disengage from the cell by the gas pressure when , for example , the internal resistance of the cell rises under abnormal circumstances . consequently , the invention has realized a cell having a simple construction and a high degree of safety . fig5 and 6 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention which includes an improved metal lid 2 . this lid 2 has a dish - like shape and perforated with a center through bore 14 which is continuous with four cutouts 20 to define a cruciform bore 21 ( opening ) in plan view . a safety valve mechanism operating test was carried out on a cell having this improved metal lid 2 . in this test the cell having the metal lid 2 in the first embodiment was used for comparison purposes . both of these cells had a 17 mm outside diameter d and a 33 . 5 mm height h , and their outer canisters 1 and metal lids 2 were formed of a 0 . 3 mm stainless steel sheet ( see fig3 ). the through bore 14 in the lid of the first embodiment had a 3 . 5 mm diameter and that in the lid of the second embodiment had a 2 . 3 mm diameter , and each of the four cutouts 20 in the second embodiment had a 1 . 8 mm length l and a 0 . 5 mm width m ( see fig5 ). table 6 shows the results of this test , i . e . valve operating pressure measurements . in the test , the valve operating pressure was measured at room temperature and at 100 ° c ., using cells of 1800 mah nominal capacity charged in a constant temperature oven with 6 v constant voltage . the cells used were those having the same storage characteristics . table 6______________________________________ room temp . 100 ° c . ______________________________________2nd embod . 50 kg / cm . sup . 2 30 kg / cm . sup . 21st embod . 120 kg / cm . sup . 2 55 kg / cm . sup . 2______________________________________ it will be understood from these results that , although the second embodiment has the same sealability as the first embodiment , the second embodiment is resonsive to a very low valve operating pressure and the valve operating pressure therefor has a small range of variation with relation to temperature variations . table 7 shows response time of the cells with the valve operating pressure raised to 30 - 40kg / cm 2 , that is the time taken from the point of time at which the pressure reaches the set value till the point of time at which the resin breaks and a valve operation takes place . the numbers of samples are 78 for the second embodiment and 284 for the first embodiment . these results prove that the second embodiment has high valve operating precision with a short response time , i . e . excellent response , and a small response time distribution . next , the internal resistance of these cells was measured by 1 khz alternating current process and storage characteristics were compared . fig7 is a graph showing the results in comparison with the characteristics of the second known cell ( fig2 ). in this drawing , the solid line represents the cell according to the second embodiment having a 2 . 3 mm through bore diameter , a 1 . 8 mm cutout length l and a 0 . 5 mm cutout width m ( fig5 ), the two - dot and dash line represents a cell according to the first embodiment ( 1 ) having a 3 . 5 mm through bore diameter , the dot and dash line represents a cell according to the first embodiment ( 2 ) having a 2 . 3 mm through bore diameter , and the broken line represents the second known cell shown in table 5 . the test was conducted at an atmospheric temperature of 60 ° c . and a humidity of 90 %. the test results prove that the second embodiment , while having the same valve operating pressure , 30 - 40kg / cm 2 , as the first embodiment ( 1 ), is effective with respect to the cell sealing in that it restrains the internal resistance rise by means of the opening of the metal lid which has a substantially diminished size for defining the cutouts . on the other hand , the first embodiment ( 2 ) having the same through bore in diameter size as the second embodiment is comparable with the latter with respect to the cell sealing . however , the second embodiment which includes the cutouts may be set to a lower valve operating pressure , and therefore may readily be provided with a desired safety valve mechanism . thus , it has been confirmed that in any case the enclosed cells according to the present invention have a safety valve mechanism of better characteristics than that of the known enclosed cells . furthermore , it has been confirmed through a test conducted by applicants that the operating pressure for the safety valve mechanism of this invention is , as distinct from the prior art , variable by changing the adhesion thickness of the resin packing 3 with respect to the metal elements , i . e . metal lid 2 and negative terminal 5 . tables 8 and 9 show operating pressure characteristics obtained by changing the adhesion thickness t in fig3 to 0 . 1 mm , 0 . 2 mm , 0 . 3 mm and 0 . 4 mm . in fig3 dimension d1 is 4 mm , d2 is 7 mm , and d3 is 9 mm . the test of table 8 used polyamide 12 as the packing material and the test of table 9 used modified polypropylene . table 8______________________________________thickness t ( mm ) 0 . 1 0 . 2 0 . 3 0 . 4______________________________________operating 114 - 138 84 - 124 54 - 98 45 - 61pressure ( kg / cm . sup . 2 ) ______________________________________ table 9______________________________________thickness t ( mm ) 0 . 1 0 . 2 0 . 3 0 . 4______________________________________operating 91 - 110 67 - 99 43 - 78 36 - 49pressure ( kg / cm . sup . 2 ) ______________________________________ as seen from table 8 and 9 , the packing 3 having the adhesive thickness t of about 0 . 4 mm results in a low operating pressure , enabling an appropriate pressure setting . in the case of modified polypropylene , which has a low material strength and a low adhesive strength than polyamide 12 , further lowers the valve operating pressure by about 20 % and hence provides for a safety valve of the cell having satisfactory functions . while the second embodiment is provided with the cruciform bore 21 ( opening ), it has been confirmed that the bore 21 including additional cutouts 20 stabilizes the operating pressure even further . table 10 shows a comparison in the valve operating pressure between the cruciform bore 21 ( opening ) and a bore ( opening ) having a shape of *. it will be understood from the above data that the bore ( opening ) having the * shape results in a reduced dispersion of operating pressures and a further improved safety valve of the cell . the valve operating pressure may also be lowered for practical purposes by forming the metal lid 2 to be partially thin as shown in fig8 . more particularly , the metal lid 2 of fig8 includes thin wall portions defining a circle of 9 mm diameter d4 concentric with the cruciform bore 21 ( opening ). these thin wall portions have a 0 . 1 mm wall thickness n1 ( the remaining portion being 0 . 3 mm thick as in the first and second embodiments ). this construction is effective to stabilize the valve operating pressure to 28 - 36kg / cm 2 , which contributes toward improved quality . the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments . the foregoing embodiments employ the thermal fusion method for forming the packing by injection molding and for fusing the packing to the negative terminal and metal lid at the same time . instead of this process , the packing may be manufactured beforehand , set in the space between the dies together with the metal lid and negative terminal , and then heated and pressurized by suitable means to effect the thermal fusion . this has the advantage of permitting a general purpose packing ot be used as it is for the cell . as another fabricating process , a packing is insert molded in the metal lid , then the negative terminal is inserted into the packing , and finally the metal lid and negative terminal are heated and pressurized by the hot press method or the like thereby to bond with each other . these processes , however , require a vacuum drying step since the resin packing has a water absorption of about 1 . 5 %. generally , a metal surface has &# 34 ; o &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; oh &# 34 ; bonded thereto , and h 2 o is hydrogen - bonded to the &# 34 ; o &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; oh &# 34 ;. the resin forming the packing also is hydrogen - bonded to these elements . since the hydrogen - bonding is weaker than the bonding of &# 34 ; o &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; oh &# 34 ; on the metal surface , the h 2 o present between the metal surface and the resin having polar groups would impair good adhesion . it is therefore necessary to dehydrate the packing . thus , the resin packing is dehydrated by vacuum drying it under a reduced pressure of 4 mmhg and at 120 ° c . for about two hours , for example . then the negative terminal is inserted into the packing in dry atmosphere , which is followed by a hot press heating step for heating the metal lid and polar terminal at 200 ° c . for two seconds , for example . a packing material having no polar group cannot be used for lack of the adhesive property with respect to metals , but any resin may be used only if it has polar groups . however , it is desirable to use modified polypropylene or polyamide 12 or polyamide 11 as described with the foregoing embodiments . as is well known , polyamide 12 and polyamide 11 have the excellent rate proof water penetration , and are well suited where tight contact and high sealing performance are required of the packing . modified polypropylene is suitable for setting the valve operating pressure low . although the present invention has been fully described by way of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings , it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art . therefore , unless otherwise such changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention , they should be construed as being included therein . | 7 |
according to the invention , there is provided a noise - proof embedded dram ( edram ) design that is built inside an isolated environment implementing guard ring and triple wells structures to significantly suppress the “ noisy ” portion of dc generators and from charge pump circuits . the same structure that is applied to the dc generator may additionally be implemented to reduce or suppress noise generated from the sense amplifiers of edram circuits . further , the system architecture of the invention requires unique placement of decoupling capacitors and integration of power system power supply and ground busses for facilitating further noise reduction . fig1 ( a ) is a circuit diagram illustrating the noise - free dc generator 80 which is a dc - dc converter comprising ring oscillator 10 , the pump driver 20 , charge pump and reservoir capacitor 30 components provided for an edram circuit . fig1 ( b ) is a cross - sectional structural view 80 ′ of the noise - free dc generator circuit 80 for the edram of fig1 ( a ). as shown in fig1 ( b ), the edram circuit 80 is built upon a p - type substrate 11 . as known , the dc generator ring oscillator 10 and pump driver components of the edram one or more nmos components 40 to exploit their higher speed characteristics . for complete noise isolation , the ring oscillator 10 and pump drivers 20 having their nmos components 40 are fabricated within a triple - well structure 21 comprising a p - type well structure 13 that is formed above a buried n - type diffusion layer 12 which is layered above the p - substrate 11 . the p - well 13 in which the nmos components are fabricated , is surrounded by an n - type guard ring structure 14 . however , the pmos devices of the ring oscillator 10 and pump drivers 20 are built in a n - type well structure 15 . thus , in the embodiment depicted in fig1 ( b ), the key components of the dc generator 80 which generate the highest levels of noise are placed in triple - well structures . usually , the layout of dc generator is not as tight as that of array or sense amplifier , neither is pitch or area limited . therefore , it is preferable to place each of them in a separated triple - well structure for the reason that better electrical contact is made to the buried n - type diffusion layer 12 . as shown in the cross - sectional view of fig1 ( b ), the dc generator pump driver component 20 of the edram comprises one or more mos devices . for more complete noise isolation , the generator pump driver 20 pmos components 50 are fabricated within a n - well structure which 15 as shown in fig1 ( b ). in this arrangement , the ground of the dc generator or gndc is bounded by the reverse biased n - type diffusion layer and , therefore , is decoupled from the lower level p - type substrate 11 which functions as the global ground . similarly , the vddc is tied to the isolated n - well , and is decoupled to the other n - type wells . as further depicted in fig1 ( b ), the charge pump component 30 of the dc generator comprises , for example , a network of diodes ( p - n junctions ) 45 and reservoir capacitors ( caps ) 55 . as depicted , the capacitors 55 comprise poly n - type gates 56 over n - type diffusion surface 54 for coupling to the oscillators and drivers , and are also isolated in a triple - well structure 32 comprising p - type well structure 16 , buried n - diffusion layer 12 and p - type substrate 11 . that is , the p - type well structure 16 is formed above the buried n - type diffusion layer 12 which is layered above the p - substrate substrate 11 . the p - well 16 in which the reservoir caps and charge pump components are fabricated , is surrounded by an n - type guard ring structure 17 on one side and , the n - type well structure 15 on the other side in which the pmos devices of the dc generator pump driver 20 and ring oscillator circuits 10 are formed . in this design , the pump and the reservoir caps are built inside the triple wells for the purpose of separately biasing the body . fig1 ( c ) depicts a system architecture of a core system - on - chip circuit 60 comprising , for example , a microprocessor , asic or analog ic , that includes the dc generator circuit 80 for the edram macro 70 according to the invention . as shown in fig1 ( c ), within the edram macro 70 , the dc generator 80 is positioned relatively close to the external power supply pin vddc pin 23 and gndc pin 24 that are dedicated solely for the dc generator in the preferred embodiment . each external power supply pin 23 , 24 are respectively coupled to power busses 25 , 26 . as further shown in fig1 ( c ), the external power supply vddc bus 25 and gndc busses are each connected to appropriate number of decoupling capacitors (“ decaps ”) 27 . if the power supply pins are not enough , then two or more power busses may share one pin , but each bus will have a sufficient number of decoupling capacitors attached . preferably , the power busses which are routed to the dc generator are not shared by other components of the core chip 60 . further , as shown in fig1 ( c ), the decoupling capacitors assigned to the power busses to the dc generators are located adjacent to the dc generator areas . fig2 ( a ) is a circuit diagram illustrating the edram architecture 70 including dram array components 100 coupled to one or more sense amplifier banks 200 . as known , when one wordline is accessing data in an array memory cell , all the bit - pairs , normally 2000 to 4000 bit - line pairs , of the array will swing simultaneously consequently setting 2000 to 4000 sense amplifiers at the same time . the noise to the ground and vdd in the sense amplifier bank is significant . in order to avoid such noise jeopardize the array for core performance , the sense amplifier banks of the dram macro are isolated in the same manner as the dc generators for the edram . that is , as shown in the cross - sectional diagram of fig2 ( b ), each sense amplifier is located inside an isolated triple - well structure . for example , in the sense amplifier 200 nmos components 240 are fabricated within an triple - well structure 210 comprising a p - type well structure 230 that is formed above a buried n - type diffusion layer 12 which is layered above the p - substrate 11 . the p - well 230 in which the nmos components 250 are fabricated , is surrounded by an n - type guard ring structure 140 on one side and , a n - type well structure 255 on the other side in which the pmos devices of sense amplifier pmos circuits 250 are formed . thus , in the embodiment depicted in fig2 ( b ), the pmos devices 250 in the sense amplifier are fabricated in the n - well structure 255 formed above the n - type diffusion layer 12 . as shown in fig2 ( b ), the n + source region of the nmos devices is connected to a sense amplifier ground which may be noisy as it is isolated from the system ground which is connected to the p - type substrate 11 . further , as shown in fig2 ( b ), in the sense amplifier bank , the n + drain region of the nmos device is connected to the p + drain of the pmos device 250 forming the output the sense amplifier , and the respective gates of each pmos and nmos device are connected to form the bit - line input to a sense amplifier . the p + source region of the pmos device 250 is connected to the power supply voltage vdds which is the sense amplifier power supply . as shown in fig2 ( b ), the dram array structure 100 includes memory cells comprising an nmos device 260 also fabricated in a triple well structure . that is , a dram array comprises nmos gate transfer devices 260 formed inside a special implanted region 265 which provides the devices with proper threshold voltages . all of the nmos gates are fabricated in a p - type well structure 256 , which is isolated from the p - type substrate 11 by the buried n - type diffusion layer 12 ′. for reasons as explained in greater detail , the buried n - type diffusion layer 12 ′ is separated by p - type substrate from the buried n - type diffusion layer 12 component of the triple well structure used for the sense amplifier / word line drivers . the p - type well structure 256 is further isolated by n - type guard rings 150 , 150 ′. the nmos device 260 particularly comprises a transfer gate for receiving a vpp or boosted wordline voltage which is connected to a wordline . as shown in fig2 ( b ) and 2 ( b )′, the body of the nmos transfer gate 260 and consequently , the p - well region , is tied to v bb ( e . g ., at − 0 . 5 v ) which is the most negative voltage for reverse biasing the junction . due to the body effect , this provides the nmos transfer device with a high vt ( threshold voltage ) for reducing leakage . one terminal 262 of the nmos device 260 extends deep into the p - type substrate region to form a capacitor 263 having a ground node represented as n + diffusion region 266 . this capacitor node 263 , and hence , n + diffusion region 266 , is tied to vp 1 ( ½ vdd ) or the plate voltage . as the n + diffusion region 266 of the capacitor 263 contacts the buried n + diffusion layer 12 ′, this n + diffusion layer 12 ′ must be isolated from the buried n + diffusion layer 12 for the sense amplifiers / word - line drivers , as shown in fig2 ( b ). fig2 ( c ) depicts a system architecture of a core circuit 60 including the embedded edram 70 and dc generator 80 components designed in accordance with the invention . it is understood that , as noise may still provide cross - contamination through the power busses , if they share the same power supply , separate power busses to the array as well as different noisy components such as sense amplifiers , and word line drivers , are provided . the key of providing different power supply busses is to first evaluate their activation timing pattern . for example , if it is determined that an off - chip driver ( not shown ) and the sense amplifier operate at the same time , then they may not share the same bus . the bus lines for example , vdd are from the same pin ( pad ). vdds is used for the sense - amplifier bank , while vddc is used for the charge pump , vddo ( not shown ) for off - chip driver , etc . each supply will have a properly sized decoupling capacitor attached , to ensure that supply will not suffer worst - case noise spike . thus , as shown in fig2 ( c ), separate power busses vdds 25 ′ and ground bus 26 ′ are used to supply power to the sense amplifier which are different than the busses 25 , 26 used to supply the dc generator . it should be understood that vdds and vddc are the same voltage and are provided by a common external power supply pin . these busses are isolated from those of the rest of the chip so as to further contain any noise generation from the core . thus , the vdds 25 ′, gnds 26 ′ are separate from the vddc 25 and gndc 26 busses however emanate from the same pair of external pins 23 , 24 and , are clamped with different set of decoupling capacitor blocks . preferably , the power busses which are routed to the noise - free sense amplifier banks are not shared by other components of the core chip 60 . further , as shown in fig2 ( c ), the decoupling capacitors assigned to the power busses of the sense amplifier banks are located adjacent to the sense amplifier bank areas . that is , decap elements 27 are located close to the dc generator 80 and are assigned for the power bus to the dc generator . likewise , the decaps 28 are assigned to the power busses to the sense amplifier banks of the edram 70 . it is important that two buses are shielded by a ground line , and attached with proper local decoupling capacitors , so that no coupling noise will occur . with this arrangement , such an embedded dram in a core will not only provide a quiet environment to the noise sensitive core circuits , but also prevent noise attack from the core to the dram array . this is true when edram is built into a higher performance processor with super - high speed clock frequency . this invention has great potential to be used in many products using embedded dram / logic technologies . the products can range from high performance serves , pc ′ such as the ibm powerpc , workstations as well as portable system for pervasive and wireless applications . 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 drawings , fig1 shows a position indicator and measuring device in accordance with the invention and generally indicated by the reference number 10 . the device includse a body or housing 11 , a rotatable shank 12 for engagement with a chuck or mandrel 13 of a machine or tool including a spindle , such as a drill press 14 , and an angularly adjustable contacting finger 16 having a position - sensing end 17 , mounted on an arm 18 and arm holder 19 at the other side of the housing 11 , all rotatable with the shank 12 and with respect to the housing 11 . the testing device 10 also includes a display instrument 21 as shown , connected by an electrical lead 22 to an input connection 23 with the housing . the display instrument 21 may include a dial 24 with an indicator needle 26 , or it may have other appropriate display means , such as a digital readout , and it includes a display housing 27 within which is contained electrical circuitry for controlling the position of the needle 26 ( or other display ) in response to signals received from within the housing 11 , as will be further seen below . the instrument may include adjustment knobs 28 and 29 , one of which can be used to switch the instrument to different levels of sensitivity and one of which is used to zero the needle 26 position . the circuitry within the housing 27 may be shown in the schematic circuit diagram of fig3 further explained below . as can be seen from fig1 the shank 12 of the position indicator and measuring device 10 is placed into the chuck 13 of the machine 14 and tightened therein . a workpiece 30 is then positioned immediately below the chuck 13 and the rotatable spindle ( not shown ) of the machine 14 , on a rigid table 31 or other stable work surface . the workpiece 30 has some feature having an axis with which the axis of rotation of the machine &# 39 ; s spindle is to be precisely aligned . in the illustration of fig1 this feature is a bore 32 . with the workpiece 30 roughly positioned on the surface 31 such that the bore 32 is approximately aligned with the spindle above , the chuck 13 is lowered so that the position - sensing end 17 of the finger is within the bore 32 . the finger is adjusted in its angular orientation about a pivot 33 such that it tightly engages against a side of the bore 32 , as illustrated . the pivot 33 does not permit free rotation , but rather is relatively stiff so that a deliberate manual force must be applied to the finger 16 in order to change its position and such that , if a resistance or interference is encountered by the finger 16 in the bore , rotation of the finger and arm 18 together will first occur , about another pivot point 34 between the arm 18 and the arm holder 19 . such rotation , even the slightest rotation , pushes up on a spring - loaded movable member 36 in engagement with the arm 18 , preferably in the form of a rod or pin as shown . once the device has been set up as described and as illustrated in fig1 the machine 14 is powered to rotate the device &# 39 ; s shank 12 and connected members 19 , 18 and 16 , and the position - sensing end 17 of the finger sweeps around the bore 32 in a circular path of contact therewith . varying pressures of the bore wall against the finger as the spindle rotates , due to eccentricity of the bore 32 with respect to the spindle , even to a very slight degree , will cause the needle 26 of the display instrument 21 to fluctuate . this indicates the eccentricity to the operator , and also the orientation of the eccentricity as related to the maximum and minimum positions of the needle 26 as the spindle and finger 16 rotate , and can then adjust the position of the workpiece 30 on the table 31 accordingly . as is well known by those in the machining art , the table or work surface 31 will have capability for fine position adjustments of the surface to move the workpiece 30 by very fine increments as desired . such apparatus is not shown in the drawings . fig2 shows , primarily in cross section , the internal components of the device 10 including the body or housing 11 . as illustrated , the shank 12 extending out the top of the housing 11 is secured to or integral with an interior bracket or casing 37 , which in turn is secured , in this preferred embodiment of the invention , to a hollow shaft 38 extending out the lower end of the housing 11 . precision bearings 40 and 41 secure these members for rotation together with respect to the housing , as illustrated in the drawing . fig2 shows that the finger - supporting arm 18 , supported at the pivot point 34 , is permitted rotation in an upward direction only , held by a stop member or pin 42 against rotation in the downward direction , and defining a limit position for the arm 18 which may be approximately horizontal as shown . the stop member 42 engages against a ledge or other structure of the arm supporting member 19 as shown . the arm supporting member 19 is fixed to the hollow shaft 38 by any suitable means , such as by appropriate dimensioning of the two members such that the arm support 19 is tightly press - fit onto the exterior of the hollow shaft 38 . the moveable member or pin 36 is slidable within a central bore of the hollow shaft 38 , and movements of the arm 18 are transferred , by sliding movement of the member 36 , to a bendable member 44 fixed at one end 46 to the bracket 37 . the bendable member 44 may essentially comprise a flat spring , and it exerts a constant biasing force downward on the moveable member or pin 36 , thereby urging the arm 18 toward its zero or base position shown . the bendable member or spring 44 has secured to it ( as by glueing or other appropriate means ) a strain gauge 47 which will undergo flexure strain with the flexure of the member 44 due to movement by the moveable sensor member 36 . as is well known , changes in strain of the strain gauge 47 will vary the resistance of the strain gauge when a current is passed through it , and in this preferred embodiment of the invention this is the manner in which even the slightest movement at the end 17 of the finger 16 is detected . the strain gauge 47 is connected by a pair of wire leads 48 to a corresponding pair of annular contacts 49 which are engaged by brushes 51 which are held stationary within the housing 11 . such sets of contact and brushes are well known in electrical arts and do not in themselves form a part of the invention . the brushes 51 are connected by exit leads 52 to a coupling connection 53 which , as shown in fig1 is connected with the input connector 23 of the electrical lead 22 when the device 10 is to be operated . fig3 shows schematically a form of electrical circuitry in accordance with the invention which may be used in the electric display instrument 21 of the device 10 . the curcuit 100 of fig3 is described below . fig4 shows the use of the device 10 of the invention ( shown without the display instrument 21 ) for centering the spindle of the machine 14 about a cylindrical pin 56 , rather than a bore , of a workpiece 57 . in this case , the finger 16 is manually moved outwardly about its stiff pivot 33 on the arm 18 , to a position wherein the position - sensing end 17 of the finger 16 contacts the exterior surface of the pain 56 as shown . again , slight fluctuations in the position of the finger 16 as the spindle rotates under power of the machine will cause the slidable position - sensing member 36 to vary the strain in the strain gauge ( fig2 ) and will therefore be registered on the display instrument 21 ( fig1 ). the end of the finger 16 contacts the pin 56 in a circular path of contact , the eccentricity of the pin 56 with respect to the axis of the spindle above will cause the arm 18 to swing up and down about its pivot 34 . in fig5 there is shown another use of the device 10 of the invention . again , the display instrument 21 is not shown in this view . in this use of the invention , the device 10 is connected via a collet or other holding device 59 to a machine 60 having a horizontal rotational spindle , such as a milling machine . a workpiece 61 is held by a holder 62 opposite the machine 60 , and the workpiece has a flat surface 63 which is to be made perpendicular with an axis 64 of rotation of the milling machine . perpendicularity is verified or checked using the device 10 of the invention , by extending the contacting finger 16 to an outwardly pivoted position as shown , such that the position - sensing end 17 is in engagement with the flat surface 63 when the collect 59 and device 10 are moved into the position shown . the milling machine 60 is powered so that its spindle rotates to rotate the shank 12 and finger 16 assembly of the device 10 , causing the finger end 17 to make a circular path of contact with the workpiece surface 63 . as explained above , the body 11 of the device 10 is kept from rotating by the connection of the electrical lead wire 22 in this embodiment ( not shown in fig5 -- see fig1 ). as can be envisioned from fig5 if the workpiece surface 63 is not precisely perpendicular to the spindle axis 64 , this will cause a varying strain in the strain gauge ( as shown in fig2 ), and the direction of the non - perpendicularity can be ascertained by the operator using the display instrument 27 and observing the position of the finger 16 . the setup shown in fig5 can also be used to check for warpage or other imperfections in the flatness of the surface 63 . fig6 shows a modification of the invention , wherein a position indicator and measuring device 70 has a display instrument 71 built into a body or housing 72 of the device . the operative structure and features of the device 70 of fig6 are similar to those described above with respect to fig1 and 2 , with an upper shank 12 which can be received in a collet or chuck or other holding device 73 , and a lower finger assembly including the contacting finger 16 , fixed to the shank for rotation along with the shank and with respect to the body or housing 72 . again , the circuitry within the display indicator instrument 71 may be similar to what is represented in fig3 described below . with the device as shown in fig6 there is a need to prevent rotation of the housing 72 when the spindle of the machine including the collet 73 is rotated . since there is no lead wire extending from the housing , in this case there is included a connector or socket 74 at the side of the housing 72 , for receiving a bar 76 or other appropriate projection to engage with a component of the machine on which the device is used , or on the work table or other implement supporting the workpiece which is to be engaged by the finger 16 . milling machines and other such machines with which the invention is concerned will normally include provision for engaging such a projection 76 to stop rotation . in fig7 a holding device 10 of the invention is utilized in a different manner , not involving rotation . the body or housing 11 is secured to a structural member 79 of an adjustable stand 80 of a well - known type . in this method of using the invention , the finger 16 is adjusted to an outstreched position as shown , generally in a horizontal orientation , and the device 10 is used as a height gauge . a workpiece 82 is moved between a table or other fixed surface 83 and the end 17 of the finger 16 , causing the arm 18 to move upwardly somewhat , changing the strain and the resistance in the strain gauge and changing the indication on the instrument 21 . it should be understood that the device depicted in this method can be either the device 10 shown in fig1 and 2 or the alternate form of device 70 shown in fig6 and that any exterior dimension may be checked or measured by passing a workpiece between the finger 16 and the surface 83 . the device 10 may first be calibrated so that a certain known value is displayed on the instrument 21 when the correct height between the finger end 17 and the fixed surface 83 is present , and with variations of the instrument reading in either direction being correlated with permitted tolerances . calibration may be accomplished by first putting a workpiece or known correct height under the contacting finger 16 , and testing a series of further workpieces using this first reading as a reference . fig8 and 9 show in schematic representation some variations of the invention wherein strain gauges are not used . in both fig8 and 9 , a pressure transducer 85 is used to sense changes of position of a contacting finger 86 ( fig8 ) or 87 ( fig9 ). the pressure transducer may be any of a number of simple and inexpensive pressure transducers , such as a simple carbon pile which operates by sensing changes in resistance between its two conductive ends 88 and 89 , conducted to wire leads 91 and 92 as indicated . the upper end 88 of the pressure tranducer in each case is fixed in position . housing and other supporting structure are not shown . in fig8 changes in position of the finger 86 are sensed through a spring 93 , such as a compression coil spring as shown . upward movement of the finger 86 in fig8 about a pivot 94 , will increase pressure between the ends of the pressure transducer 85 , thereby changing the resistance of the pressure transducer and affecting a reading on an instrument ( not shown ). the spring enables free motion of the finger 86 while transferring the effects of movement to the pressure transducer . as an alternative to the coil spring 93 , the finger could itself include a flat spring portion . it should also be understood that the instruments shown in fig8 and 9 are schematic , and that the finger 86 or 87 may be oriented in any direction or may have bends or angles rather than being straight as represented . in fig9 the arrangement is similar except that the finger 87 acts through a flat spring 95 engaged with a compression spring 93 , and a fixed - position finger pivot 96 is located between the ends of the finger . this enables the orientation of the finger 87 to be reversed , as indicated in solid lines and dashed lines in fig9 . the finger may be flipped over - center so that the flat spring 95 flips over to an opposite orientation , making the tool more versatile . a suitable electrical circuit 100 for operating the electromechanical measuring device of the invention is shown in fig3 . therein the circuit includes a power source , such as a small batter 102 which may be a 9 - volt battery , connected as shown in fig3 . voltage from the battery 102 passes through the contacts of a switch 104 and a one way diode 106 to a voltage supply line 108 . the voltage on the line 108 follows two paths : the first path is through a constant current source 110 comprising an operational amplifier 112 and transistor 114 . a network of resistors 116 and 118 divides the voltage on the line 108 and applies the divided voltage at the reference node of the operational amplifier 112 . the inverting node of the operational amplifier 112 is connected to the supply line 108 through another resistor 120 . the emitter of the pnp transistor 114 is directly connected to the inverting input of the amplifier 112 as a feedback connection . a constant current is supplied from the collector of the driver transistor 114 to a bridge 122 . the bridge includes fixed resistances 124 , 126 and 128 and variable resistances 130 and 132 as shown in fig3 . the resistance of the strain gauge 47 is diagramed in fig3 by the resistance 134 and this is a variable resistance depending upon the physical displacement of the strain gauge sensor 47 , following flexure displacement of the flat spring 44 ( fig2 ). this causes the resistance 134 to change and thereby causes a change in the paths of current flowing through the bridge 122 . two sense nodes 136 and 138 are connected to the inputs of a second operational amplifier 140 through resistors 142 and 144 . the operational amplifier 140 senses the shift in current through the legs of the bridge 122 and converts that shift in current to an output current at a node 146 . this node 146 is connected through a milliammeter 148 ( represented by the needle 26 in fig1 ), and a series resistor 150 to the ground return for the power supply 102 . additionally , the node 146 is selectively connected through feedback resistors 152 , 154 or 156 which are selectable via a switch 158 to control the gain of the operational amplifier 140 . the switch 158 thereby controls a range of scaling of the strain gauge electrical circuitry . for convenience , the switch 158 may be ganged with the switch 104 so that a single knob may be provided to control these functions , e . g ., the control knob 28 shown in fig1 . in the resistance bridge 122 , two variable resistors 130 and 132 are provided . one of these resistors may be conveniently provided as a panel control so that the milliammeter may be zeroed or set at a reference point when the strain gauge 47 is in a nominal or reference position , via the control knob 29 shown in fig1 which actuates one of the resistors 130 or 132 . the resistor 130 may be of lower value than the resistor 132 and may be the resistor controlled by the control knob 29 . the other resistor 132 , of higher value , may be an initial calibration resistor operated by a tool but not used in normal operation like the resistor 130 . in operation the strain gauge 47 ( in the embodiment shown in fig2 ) has an initial position defined by the mechanical components of the device . the switch 104 ( knob 28 ) is turned on so that current is permitted to flow from the battery 102 onto the supply line 108 . current then passes through the constant current source 110 to the bridge 122 and is divided into two paths : a first path comprising the resistors 126 , 128 , 130 and 132 to return to the battery or power supply ; and a second path consisting of the resistor 124 and the resistance element 134 of the strain gauge itself . the resistors 130 and 132 are provided so that the resistance in the first leg of the bridge may be made the same as the resistance in the second leg of the bridge in an initial setting of the strain gauge 47 so that there is not current put out by the operational amplifier 140 and so the milliammeter reads at the zero mark or nondeflected mark of its scale ( or it may be calibrated to read a specific value , as a reference reading on a known - dimension test part as in the height gauge application shown in fig7 ). when the strain gauge is deflected , the resistance element 134 changes , upsetting the current passing through the bridge 122 . this change in the amount of current passing through each of the legs of the bridge causes an imbalance at the inputs of operational amplifier 140 which in turn causes current to flow at its output , both through the milliammeter 148 and resistor 150 to the ground return , and also through the feedback path to the inverting input of the operational amplifier 140 to control its gain . the scale of the milliammeter may be conveniently marked off in desired units representing distance of movement of the finger &# 39 ; s contacting end 17 , so that the milliammeter will be direct reading . the circuit 100 shown in fig3 though indicating a strain gauge 47 at the resistance element 134 , may also be used in conjunction with the embodiments of the invention shown in fig8 and 9 . in those embodiments the pressure transducer 85 is a resistance - varying member , and may be represented by the resistance 134 in the circuit 100 of fig3 . the above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate the principles of the invention , but not to limit the scope of the invention . variations to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims . | 8 |
this invention provides schemes whereby a web - based auction may be executed by a set of distributed proxies , thus accelerating its operation while still maintaining administrative and operational control of the auction at the original central server . furthermore , in this invention , we provide a scheme whereby web - based generation of personalized content may be executed by a set of distributed proxies , thus accelerating the personalization operation while still maintaining administrative and operational control at the original central server . furthermore , in this invention , we provide a scheme is provided whereby web - based generation of advertisements may be executed by a set of distributed proxies , thus accelerating the operation of this application while still maintaining administrative and operational control of the generation of advertisements at the original central server . the present invention presents methods and apparatus to distribute and accelerate execution of web - based applications by means of executing them at proxies located closer to requesters . it includes an apparatus of a proxy server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based applications ; an apparatus of a main server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based applications ; methods and apparatus by which to distribute and accelerate execution of web - based auctions by means of executing them at proxies located closer to requesters ; an apparatus of a proxy server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based auctions ; an apparatus of a main server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based auctions ; methods and apparatus by which to distribute and accelerate execution of web - based personalized content by means of generating it at proxies located closer to requesters ; an apparatus of a proxy server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based personalization of content ; an apparatus of a main server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based personalization of content ; methods and apparatus by which to distribute and accelerate execution of web - based generation of advertisements by means of generating them at proxies located closer to requesters ; an apparatus of a proxy server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based generation of advertisements ; an apparatus of a main server that provides an execution environment and maintains the required state for web - based generation of advertisements . fig1 shows components of an application distribution and acceleration infrastructure . a communication network 101 is used to interconnect client / user requester devices containing web - browsers like 102 and 103 to a central server 104 that serves the web - based auction . major portions of the application code are replicated onto proxy servers like 105 and 106 that are in closer proximity to the respective requesters . communication is maintained between the proxy servers 105 and 106 and the main server 104 so that the proxies can send results to the server and the main server can continue to exercise administrative control over the distributed portions of the application code . communication is also maintained between the requesters 102 and 103 and the main server 104 so that the server can continue to perform application functions that are not readily distributable . instances of applications distributed in this manner include auction applications , personalized content generation applications , and advertisement generation applications , among others . the central server as described in fig1 , is also known by alternative names such as the main server or the origin server in the current state of the art . a proxy server is also known as a surrogate server in the current state of the art . a surrogate server is usually defined as a proxy server which is under the same administrative control as the main server , or that has some administrative arrangements with the administrator of the main server . in this disclosure , we will use proxy servers and surrogate servers interchangeably . similarly , the terms clients and users are used interchangeably . fig1 a illustrates an embodiment showing steps executed in order to distribute the application code . the flowchart is entered at the beginning , step 121 , when a request is initiated by a client , e . g ., by using a browser program to request a url for the application . in the next step 123 , the request is directed to one of the surrogate servers ( or proxy servers ) that are in the system . in step 125 , the proxy server receiving the request caches a set of information records at its location . caching is the operation of retrieving an information record as needed from the origin server . if an information record is already present at the proxy server , no requests are made to the origin server . however , if the information record is not present at the proxy server , or if the information record is out of date , the proxy server retrieves the information record from the origin server . the surrogate server then executes the operation in step 127 and returns the results to the client . in step 129 , the proxy server may refresh some of the information records from the origin server . this step may be skipped if the proxy determines that there is no need for such a refreshing . finally , the process terminates in step 131 . instances of applications that can be accelerated in this manner include auction applications , personalized content generation applications , and advertisement generation applications , among others . fig2 shows the steps that comprise an embodiment of a method of auction distribution . in response to a user service request 201 , a server selection module determines the appropriate proxy server to which to direct the request as in 202 . this decision is based upon the current location of the auction for the item of interest . after collecting information about the distribution of requesters , the proxy server or main server then determines the optimal location for the auction , as in 203 . if the the auction is not currently located at the optimal site , the auction is migrated as in 204 . once the auction is in its appropriate location , it is executed there until further migration is necessary . when the auction is over , results are logged at the proxy server , communicated to the main server , and returned to the requester . this step is in 205 . fig3 is a block diagram of an invention embodiment that shows the steps taken by the proxy server in executing the auction for a particular item . the proxy server obtains and records information regarding the location of requesters for the item , as in 301 . this information is used to determine when and where to migrate the auction if necessary . a request log is constructed , as in 302 , which contains a timestamped record of at least some pertinent information for each request . once the auction has closed , the request log and auction results are returned to the main server , as in 303 . finally , the auction results are returned to the interested requesters , as in 304 . if the auction for an item is being conducted at the main server itself , then all of these steps would be executed at the main server . fig4 is a block diagram that shows the steps of an embodiment that include the determination of the appropriate location for an auction for a particular item . a migration weight is computed for each available proxy , as well as the main server , as in 401 . the weight is based on the proximity of requesters for the item to each of the proxies . it may be additionally based on the relative load on the proxies and main server . relative load is determined as the load on the proxy or main server machine , as compared to the load on all servers available to host the auction . to determine proximity , the network may be divided into predetermined zones , with the distance of each zone to each proxy and the main server precomputed . the zones could be based on geographic location or ip address ranges . the distance to a zone may be defined , for example , in terms of network latency between the proxy server and requesters in each zone , or in terms of the geographic proximity of a proxy server to a zone . periodically , or by some other predetermination criteria , the weights are re - computed and checked to determine which proxy has the highest weight , as in 402 . the proxy server with the highest weight should be the one closest to the zone with the most requesters , and also having a relatively light load . once the best proxy server is determined , the proxy or main server can initiate migration of the auction for the item , as in 403 . fig5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the steps to migrate an auction for an item to a new site . after the initial check of whether migration is necessary , as in 501 , the current auction site ( proxy or main server ) sends a message to the new server informing it of the intent to migrate the auction , as in 502 . the current site should include the auction state in the message to the new site . the auction state includes at least some pertinent information about the auction , including the item description , auction parameters , and the existing request log . at the new site , the proxy determines whether it can host the auction ; and , if so , it establishes the auction state locally , as in 503 . this step is taken in order to allow the new site to refuse the migration if , for example , it is overloaded . if the new site agrees to accept the migration , it sends a positive acknowledgement message to the original auction site , as in 504 , indicating that it is ready to accept requests for the auction item . the original site then forwards any new requests it receives for the migrated auction to the new site and also informs the main server of the migration , as in 505 . new requesters wanting to join the auction will be automatically directed to the correct site via the server selection module . existing requesters who contact the original auction site will be referred to the new site . the referral can be accomplished using an http redirect mechanism , for example . the schemes as described above can be seen as a system that achieves distribution of auction execution . an embodiment of an apparatus , 601 , that implements a distributed auction system is shown in fig6 . fig6 includes six components , an auction director , 602 , a set of auction and requester statistics , 603 , a record of auction item locations , 604 , an auction migration module , 605 , a server selection and load balancing module , 606 , and an application acceleration module , 607 . the application acceleration module , 607 , provides a general environment for distributing web - based applications . it allows the proxy to automatically download the auction application program from the main server . its function is distributed between the main auction server and the set of proxies . the details of such a module are available in a cofiled application titled “ method and apparatus for distributed application acceleration .” this invention may , however , use alternate methods that provide a general environment for distributing web - based applications . the load monitor , 606 , is a distributed module that resides on the main server and on each proxy server . it collects load statistics and shares the information with the other load monitors . the sharing can be done by multicasting to other proxies or by reporting statistics to a single instance of the module which serves as a centralized repository . the auction director module , 602 , consults the auction location record , 604 , to determine where to direct requesters based on their item of interest . it may be implemented in a variety of manners . one way to implement it is by means of a module within the main server that is responsible for redirecting requests to the appropriate proxy server . such a redirection module might be implemented as a plug - in module among a variety of web - servers such as apache , netscape or microsoft iis servers , which are commonly in use in the industry . the module would consult a table of redirection rules that specify where requests for different auction items ( e . g ., as indicated by their urls ) should be directed , and use this information to direct the requester . another embodiment of the auction director could be via a stand - alone http server that provides the same functionality as that of the module described above . the http server directs requests to proxy servers , or to the main server , depending on the location of the auction item . the http server must communicate with the auction location record to know the location of auction items . the set of auction and bidder statistics , 603 , provides a record of events in the auction , along with the location of requesters . a set of these statistics is maintained for each auction item . the auction statistics record at least each submitted request , including the requester &# 39 ; s identity , request timestamps , and the highest bid received for each item . the requester location statistics keep track of where ( i . e ., in which zone ) requesters are located . in an alternate embodiment , the collection of these statistics are simplified by dividing the network into zones to which users are statically mapped . suppose a request b arrives for an auction item from zone z . first b is recorded in the request log . in addition the count of requests from zone z is incremented . consulting these statistics should give an immediate view of the zone that is generating the most requests for the auction item . the auction location record 604 keeps track of which machine ( proxy or main server ) is hosting the auction for each item . it serves as a directory for the auction director module , 602 , to allow the director to determine where to send requesters for a particular auction item . the auction location record may be embodied as a centralized directory that is accessed and updated as requests arrive and auctions are migrated . in a general embodiment of the present invention , the auction migrator , 605 , is a distributed module that resides on each machine , i . e ., proxies and the main server . the migrator periodically consults the requester statistics record , 603 , and load monitor , 606 , to determine if the current proxy is the best location for the auction for each particular item . if , for example , most of the requests for an item are coming from another zone , i . e ., not the proxy &# 39 ; s own zone , the migrator can initiate migration to the proxy in a zone closer to the requester population . the auction migrator implements the migration method described in fig5 . the components of the distributed architecture shown in fig6 are contained in various proxies and the main server . a proxy server which is such a component in this solution is shown in fig7 . the proxy server , 701 , includes a set of requester statistics , 702 , a set of cached auction information records , 703 , the cached auction program , 704 , the auction data and statistics , 705 , and a cache manager , 706 . the cache manager , 706 , is responsible for managing and updating the different types of caches , namely the set of cached auction information records , 703 , the cached auction program , 704 , and the set of cached data , 705 . the cache manager maintains all of these caches in an appropriate manner . the set of cached auction information records , 703 , contains information about the auction items that are available locally . these records are updated by the cache manager as auctions are migrated to and from the proxy . the auction program , 704 , is downloaded from the main server using the facilities provided by the application accelerator module ( 607 in fig6 ). it executes the program logic necessary to execute the auction program locally at the proxy server . the auction data , 705 , is the record of the auction progress , including the request log information . the set of requester statistics , 702 , keep track of where requesters are coming from in order to facilitate auction migration . fig8 shows a structure of a main server which would respond to the proxy server shown in fig7 , and provides another part of the infrastructure for auction distribution . the main server , 801 , includes a traditional web - server , 802 , the auction programs to be downloaded to proxy servers , 803 , a local main auction program , 804 , and a set of feedback programs , 805 . the web - server , 802 , provides the means by which a proxy server can gain access to the set of programs 803 , 804 and 805 . the downloadable program , 803 , is transferred to a proxy server upon request . the local program , 804 , provides a means by which a proxy server can execute some parts of the auction processing at the main server itself . as an example , a proxy server may want to execute auction result notification only at the main server . the auction feedback program , 805 , provides a means by which a proxy server can provide diagnostics and management information to the main server . an example of the feedback program , 805 , would be a logger servlet that can obtain logging messages generated by the auction executing at the proxy server in order to recover from execution failures . in some embodiments of the main server , the web - server may incorporate an ability to redirect user requests to other servers . this would be an instance of the auction director module ( 602 in fig6 ). the main server as described in fig8 and a set of proxy servers as described in fig7 together provide the infrastructure for distributed auction execution . fig9 shows a sequence of operations that are executed in order to distribute the application of personalized content generation . a personalization operation provides a different version of content depending on the identity of the user accessing the content . as an example , two users may access the same web site using identical urls . however , the personalization application would know that the first user is interested in sports and would include current scores from recent sports events for that user in the web page being displayed ; and , for the second user , who is interested in stock market information , it would include the current value of leading stock market indices . the process of personalization begins in step 901 when a user makes a request to access information from the system . in step 903 , the system determines an appropriate proxy server at which the request ought to be executed . when the request is dispatched to the appropriate proxy server , in step 905 the proxy server caches a set of information records that are related to creating a personalized response to the request . caching refers to the process by which the proxy server checks to see whether it has up - to - date copies of information records present locally , and if not , it obtains them from the origin server . the types of information records that need to be cached are described further in fig1 . after the caching step is completed , the system generates a personalized response to the query in step 907 . in step 907 , the response is also delivered to the client and the process terminates in step 909 . the information records maintained at the proxy site are divided into two types : a set of information records that contain user profiles , and another set of information records that contain templates on the basis of which personalized content is generated . a user profile contains the preferences and particulars of a specific user , or a group of users . thus , a user profile may include details such as the fact that a user is interested in sports events or stock market events , whether he wants to read the pages in english or french , and other preferences of a similar nature . it is to be noted that the user profiles may be maintained separately for each individual user , or on the basis of a group of users . when defined for a group of users , the user profile may be defined for all users originating from a specific group of ip addresses , a specific domain name , or users accessing a specific url . the template information records contain information that details the different parts of a page that is to be served to the user . a sample template is often used to define that the page includes two tables placed side by side , with the first table including of statically defined information , while the second table contains a list of items that are generated depending on the user profile . fig1 illustrates an example of the steps taken by the proxy server in more detail . the proxy server begins at step 1001 of the algorithm illustrated in fig1 when the request is received at the proxy site . in the next step 1003 , the system determines the matching user profile that needs to be applied for this user , and checks to see if that user profile is in the cache of profiles maintained locally at the proxy server . the determination of the user profile may involve determining the group membership of the user , if the profiles are defined on the basis of groups of users . if the user profile is not found in the cache at the proxy site , or if the user profile found in the cache is not up - to - date , the proxy server retrieves it from the main server in step 1005 . if the entry is found in the cache in step 1003 , or after the completion of step 1005 , the algorithm proceeds to step 1007 . in step 1007 , the algorithm determines if a template for the url being accessed by the client is present in the cache . if not , the template is retrieved and cached in step 1009 . after the completion of step 1009 , or if the template is found in step 1007 , the algorithm proceeds to step 1011 . in step 1011 , the algorithm collects statistics pertinent to the user &# 39 ; s request . these statistics can be used to modify the profile of a user in subsequent requests . after the statistics are collected , the algorithm creates a personalized page for the user as per the template and profile in step 1013 . the algorithm then terminates in step 1015 . those versed in the state of the art will realize that the order in which steps 1011 and 1013 are executed can be interchanged without a change to the basic algorithm . an overall distributed system for distribution of personalized content is shown in fig1 . the entire apparatus , 1101 , for distribution of personalized content generation includes four components : a redirection mechanism , 1105 , an information records store , 1103 , an information records cache , 1107 , and the personalization program code , 1109 . the redirection mechanism , 1105 , includes means for directing users towards a specific proxy server in the system . the information records store , 1103 , contains information records dealing with user profiles and templates , as well as statistics information . the information records store , 1103 , would typically be present at the origin server as described in fig1 . at the different proxy servers , the set of information records would be cached in the form of the information records cache , 1107 . the personalization program code , 1109 , provides means by which the actual response to a user request is created . fig1 and 13 provide more details of an embodiment of a distributed system . the distributed system includes proxy servers and an origin server . the structure of the proxy server is described in fig1 , while the structure of the origin server is described in fig1 . fig1 shows one of several possible ways by which the proxy server required for distributing generation of personalized content can be implemented . the apparatus depicted in fig1 shows the proxy server , 1201 , which includes a user - profile cache , 1203 , a template cache , 1209 , a usage statistics component , 1211 , a cache manager , 1205 , and a personalization program , 1207 . the personalization program , 1207 , could be implemented as a servlet , a java server page , or a cgi - bin script running behind a web - server . the user profile cache , 1203 , includes a cache of information records that contain user profiles . the template cache , 1209 , contains a set of information records that contain information about the templates according to which content needs to be generated . the user profile cache , 1203 , and the template cache , 1209 , are managed and controlled by the cache manager , 1205 . the cache manager 1205 is responsible for : checking if entries are present in the user profile cache , 1203 , or the template cache , 1209 ; determining if they are up - to - date ; and , retrieving them from the origin server if they are not found or are out - of - date . fig1 shows a structure of the origin server to implement an apparatus embodying this invention . the origin server , 1301 , includes a web - server , 1303 , which implements the protocol processing required to communicate with the clients , and one or more proxy servers as described in fig1 . the web - server , 1303 , connects to a store containing a downloadable version of the personalization program code , 1305 . the personalization program code , 1305 , is provided to the proxies so that they can execute it as part of their personalization program , 1207 . the web - server also provides access to an information store , 1307 . the information store maintains the original copies of the user profiles and templates that can be used for personalization at the proxy servers . in some embodiments , the web - server may also connect to a redirection module , 1309 , which determines where the different clients ought to be directed in order to accelerate the generation of personalized content . in other embodiments , the redirection module is implemented as a modified domain name server that can forward requests to the proxy server directly without the direct participation of the origin server . fig1 shows an example of a flowchart executed by a distributed system in order to accelerate the generation of advertisements as part of content shown to a user . advertisements are usually created in selected areas of a web page and are targeted to a local geography , or to a specific profile with which a user is associated . the generation of advertisements is confined to a central origin site in the current state of the art . our invention enables advertisement generation to be created at multiple proxy servers that are located closer to the clients , thereby accelerating its performance , and resulting in higher scalability . the flowchart shown in fig1 is entered at the beginning step , 1401 , when an advertisement needs to be generated , e . g ., when a template space in a web page needs to be filled by a generate advertisement operation . in the next step , 1403 , the request is directed to one of the surrogate servers , or proxy servers , that are in the system . in step 1405 , the proxy server receiving the request caches a set of advertisements at its location . the surrogate server then selects a category of advertisements , and chooses one advertisement that belongs to the said category in step 1407 . in step 1408 , the proxy server refreshes or changes the set of advertisements that it is currently caching so that new advertisements can be generated on subsequent requests . this step may be skipped if the proxy determines that there is no need for such a refreshing . the process then terminates in step 1409 . by obtaining the set of advertisements from the origin site , and refreshing them periodically , the proxy server is able to generate advertisements from its locally cached data , thereby reducing the latency in advertisement generation perceived by the client . fig1 shows an example of a structure of a distributed system used for generating advertisements in a distributed manner . the apparatus , 1501 , includes a redirection mechanism , 1505 , an advertisement set , 1503 , an advertisement cache , 1507 , a classifier , 1509 , and a selector , 1511 . the redirection mechanism , 1501 , provides means by which requests are directed to different surrogate and proxy servers in the network . the advertisement set , 1505 , includes the different advertisements that are to be generated in response to different requests , and is located at the origin server . the advertisement cache , 1507 , is located at the proxy server , and acts to provide local access to advertisement generation program code . the classifier , 1509 , and the selector , 1511 , are instances of program code that are downloaded from the origin server and executed at the proxy server in the network . the classifier program code , 1509 , maps each user request into one of many categories . the set of all advertisements are divided into different categories , each category containing one or more advertisements . the set of all advertisements includes one or more advertisements . the selector program code , 1511 , selects one of the advertisements randomly from the selected category and displays it to the user as part of its response . when advertisements have to be generated in a specific manner , e . g ., an advertisement has to be shown at a specific time , the selector module can be modified to select that particular advertisement more often . similarly , the set of advertisements which are maintained in the cache at the proxy server can also be selected so as to prefer the selection of targeted advertisements . a structure of an apparatus at the proxy server used for generation of advertisements is shown in fig1 . the apparatus , 1601 , includes an advertisement cache , 1607 , a classifier , 1603 , and a selector , 1605 . the advertisement cache , 1607 , provides a cached copy of the original advertisement which is located at the origin server . the classifier , 1603 , and selector , 1605 , are program codes that are downloaded from the origin server and executed at the proxy server . the proxy server executes the programs to select one of the advertisements from the cached copies . the advertisement cache , 1607 , is periodically refreshed with advertisements from the origin site . in conjunction with the origin site , the proxy server provides a means for accelerating the performance of the process of generating advertisements . variations described for the present invention can be realized in any combination desirable for each particular application . thus particular limitations , and / or embodiment alternatives and / or enhancements described herein , which may have particular advantages to the particular application , need not be used for all applications . also , not all limitations need be implemented in methods , systems and / or apparatus including one or more concepts of the present invention . it is noted that the present invention can be realized in hardware , software , or a combination of hardware and software . a tool according to the present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system , or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems . any kind of computer system — or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein — is suitable . a typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that , when being loaded and executed , controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein . the present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product , which includes all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein , and which — when loaded in a computer system — is able to carry out these methods . computer program means or computer program in the present context means any expression , in any language , code or notation , of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after conversion to another language , code or notation , and / or reproduction in a different material form . it is noted that the foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects and embodiments of the present invention . although the description is made for particular arrangements and methods , the intent and concept of the invention is suitable and applicable to other arrangements . it will be clear to those skilled in the art that modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the described embodiments ought to be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention . other beneficial results can be realized by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention in ways known to those familiar with the art . | 7 |
fig1 illustrates , in an isometric view , a bedding product generally and in particular a mattress 10 manufactured according to one embodiment of this invention . mattress 10 consists of a top sleeping surface 12 , a bottom sleeping surface 14 , a head 15 , a foot 16 , and two side edges 17 . top sleeping surface 12 and bottom sleeping surface 14 may include within them , or have attached to them , a topper ( not shown ). the topper may contain one of more layers of fabric , batting , ticking , foam , and / or coiled springs . when present , the foam layer ( s ) of the topper may include latex and / or synthetic foam , including but not limited to polyurethane foam . although omitted for clarity , the topper may be either permanently or removably attached to sleeping surface 12 and 14 . examples of permanently attached topper , seen in the art , are those that are sewn or bonded onto the mattress cover or those that are encased within a sealed pocket in the mattress cover , yet disposed on the surface of the mattress . removable toppers are typically attached with a temporary fastener , such as a zipper or hook - and - loop fastener in one or more locations . either attachment method may be used , or no topper may be supplied . mattress 10 also includes foam core 20 and perimeter element 25 . foam core 20 is , in some embodiments , a single , monolithic block of a single type of resilient foam selected from foams having a range of densities ( themselves well - known in the art ) for supporting one or more occupants during sleep . in one embodiment , foam core 20 is made of any industry - standard natural and / or synthetic foams , such as ( but not limited to ) latex , polyurethane , or other foam products commonly known and used in the bedding and seating arts having a density of 1 . 9 and a 22 ild ( also known as “ 192 foam ”). although a specific foam composition is described , those skilled in the art will realize that foam compositions other than one having this specific density and ild can be used . for example , foams of various types , densities , and ilds may be desirable in order to provide a range of comfort parameters to the buyer . in an alternative embodiment , foam core 20 may comprise one or more horizontal layers of multiple types of foams arranged in a sandwich arrangement . this sandwich of different foams , laminated together , may be substituted for a homogeneous foam block of a single density and / or ild . accordingly , the invention is not limited to any particular type of foam density or ild or even to a homogenous density / ild throughout foam core 20 . in a further embodiment , foam core 20 may comprise one or more vertical regions of different foam compositions ( including vertical regions having multiple horizontal layers ), where the different foams are arranged to provide different amounts of support ( also referred to as “ firmness ” in the art ) in different regions of the sleeping surface . perimeter element 25 is an array of coil springs 32 of substantially the same height as foam core 20 is thick , as shown in fig2 . fig2 is a cross - section view at aa of fig1 and illustrates the relative placement of perimeter element 25 abutting side edges 17 . the term “ perimeter element ” is used herein to denote the entire perimeter spring array , whether it abuts one or more than one edge of foam core 20 . accordingly , while fig1 shows a perimeter element 25 that abuts three edges of foam core 20 ( to wit , foot 16 and two sides 17 ), the definition of the term “ perimeter element ,” and the invention in general , are not limited to the configurations illustrated herein . springs 32 are of a conventional helical or semi - helical type known and used in the art today . springs 32 may also be encased in a fabric pocket , either individually , in groups , or pocketed in strings joined by fabric , all of which are well - known in the bedding art . note also that the mattress drawn in fig1 is not drawn to scale : the perimeter element 25 is generally about two to six inches wide ( measured from the sleeping surface outward to the ultimate edge of the mattress ), while the overall mattress dimensions typically fall into the ranges commonly found in the trade and referred to , for example , as twin , full , king , queen , double , etc . returning to fig2 , border wires 40 of a type and construction well - known in the art are placed at the outer vertices of perimeter element 25 . alternatively , to supply even more stiffness at the mattress edges , an additional set of border wires 40 may be placed at the inner vertices 35 of perimeter element 25 ( see fig3 ). all of these border wires 40 may be used as attachment points for securing springs 32 within perimeter element 25 , as with the clips or metal “ hog ring ” attachment devices currently known and used in the bedding art today . although hog ring or clip attachment means are described , those skilled in the art will realize that attachment devices other than hog rings , such as plastic snap fasteners , locking cable ties , wire twists , lacing , or cord can be used . accordingly , the invention is not limited to any particular type of attachment means for securing coils 32 to border wires 40 . in some embodiments , border wires 40 may also be omitted , along with the hog ring / clip attachment means in order to reduce cost and / or manufacturing complexity . perimeter element 25 and foam core 20 are attached one to the other by planar elements 50 . each planar element 50 is a textile material , including but not limited to a tape or webbing or open - weave material , non - woven fibers , or a coated fabric capable of heat lamination ( fusion , i . e ., a “ fusible fabric ”) to and with both foam core 20 and perimeter 25 . alternatively , planar elements 50 may be attached by means of gluing , stitching , quilting , riveting , or welding , or by other attachment means currently known or afterwards discovered for attaching fabric - like , planar materials to both foam and metallic elements ( i . e ., the perimeter element &# 39 ; s array of springs ), whether or not the perimeter element consists of fabric - pocketed coils and whether or not the perimeter element is encased in a covering . in one embodiment , planar elements 50 consist of strips of weblon ® or duon ® brand ticking . duon is a polyethylene or polypropylene fiber ( an olefin , generally ) manufactured by phillips fiber corp . planar elements 50 , which may consist of a single piece of material cut or otherwise formed to span all foam core / perimeter element interfaces or multiple strips of material that abut or overlap when they intersect , is typically about three to six inches wide , though the exact width is not critical . ( fig1 , by way of example and not limitation , shows planar elements 50 as three strips of material overlapping at two intersections .) planar elements 50 are placed on the sleeping surface of mattress 10 substantially as shown in fig2 , roughly centered on the joint formed by the abutting components and overlapping portions of both foam core 20 and perimeter element 25 prior to attachment to both . alternatively , planar element ( s ) 50 may be first attached to foam core 20 before the core is brought into abutment with perimeter element 25 , in order to aid handling and manufacturing . such an arrangement creates a foam core with a “ flange ” of planar element material around it . fig3 is an alternate embodiment of mattress 10 , shown in a cross - section view at aa ( referring to fig1 ), illustrating an alternate embodiment having two sets of border wires 40 . in some embodiments , planar elements 50 may be omitted entirely . in these embodiments , a perimeter element 25 consisting of pocketed coils may be glued directly to foam core 20 . fig4 a illustrates , in plan view , a further alternate embodiment of the invention , in which perimeter elements 25 extend around all four sides of foam core 20 . such an embodiment is useful , for example , in bedding products for use without a headboard or footboard or when it is desirable to be able to flip the mattress from head to foot to extend the lifetime of the sleeping surfaces . other embodiments , in which perimeter element 25 is placed on only one or only two sides or on the head or foot alone , are equally within the scope and spirit of this invention and are shown in fig4 b and 4c . the order in which the steps of the present method are performed is purely illustrative in nature . in fact , the steps can be performed in any order or in parallel , unless otherwise indicated by the present disclosure . in particular , as an aid to manufacturing , the planar elements may be first attached to the foam core to form a soft “ flange ” prior to placing the perimeter elements in abutment with the foam core ( or vice - versa ). once abutting , the “ flange ” ( unattached ) portion of the planar element can be laminated or otherwise bonded to the perimeter element . while particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspect and , therefore , the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit of this invention . | 0 |
in the following detailed description , for purposes of explanation and not limitation , representative embodiments disclosing specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present teachings . descriptions of known systems , software , hardware , firmware and methods of operation may be omitted so as to avoid obscuring the description of the example embodiments . nonetheless , systems , software , hardware , firmware and methods of operation that are within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art may be used in accordance with the representative embodiments . in general , embodiments of the present teachings relate to a system and method for data collection and probe management on ip networks . existing network infrastructure devices such as switches and routers use pluggable components known as interface converters which convert signals from optical or electrical form to the electrical signaling levels used internally in the network infrastructure device . these interface converters are standardized , and come in form factors including but not limited to as xpak , xenpak , gbic , xfp , and sfp . according to an aspect of the present teachings , existing interface converters in a network are replaced with smart interface modules ( also referred to herein as probes ), which provide probe functionality without increasing equipment footprint . additional embodiments may place the probe functionality directly on the switch or router line card instead of on a modular interface converter . it should be appreciated that in such embodiments , the switch or router line card , in essence , becomes a probe . probes may be configured , either prior to installation or remotely , to collect data on the fly from packet traffic . various software components support the operation of probes . analyzers collect measurement data from sets of probes and provide storage , data transformation , and analysis . probe managers manage sets of probes , tracking probe state , updating probe configurations , and collecting configuration command responses and topology information from probes . the system master may collect topology and probe resource information from the probe managers and act as an intermediary between applications and probe managers . for example , configuration data may be sent by a probe manager connected to the network . the system master may also assist in allocating probe resources to applications and to mediate between multiple applications and multiple analyzers . moreover , the system master may control a plurality of smart interface modules ( probes ). application servers host applications that make use of collected data . applications and applications servers communicate with analyzers and the system master via an open api . notably , not all software components need to be present in a system ; while components may be geographically diverse , they may also reside on the same hardware . one embodiment of communications to and from smart interface converters is described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 336 , 673 , entitled “ a method of creating a low - bandwidth channel within a packet stream ,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby specifically incorporated by reference . aspects of smart interface converters are described , for example , in “ assisted port monitoring with distributed filtering ,” application ser . no . 10 / 407 , 719 , filed apr . 4 , 2003 , “ passive measurement platform ,” application ser . no . 10 / 407 , 517 filed apr . 4 , 2003 , and “ automatic link commissioning ,” application ser . no . 11 / 479 , 196 , filed jun . 29 , 2006 . the entire disclosures of each of these patent applications are also specifically incorporated herein by reference . one known form factor of interface converter known as a gbic converts signals from optical to electrical form ; optical signals carried on fiber optic cables being used to communicate over the network , and electrical signals being used within the device housing the gbic . other gbic forms convert signals from twisted - pair copper conductors used in high - speed networks to electrical signals suitable for the device housing the gbic . while the present teachings are described in terms of the gbic form factor , it is equally applicable to other form factors including but not limited to xpak , xenpak , xfp , sfp or chipsets on a router / switch linecard . in addition to the high - speed interfaces , interface converters may contain a slow - speed data port which may be used for configuration , testing , and sensing device status according to standards such as sff - 8742 . smart interface converters deployed as probes include additional logic within the interface converter package . this additional logic may include the ability to query the status of the interface converter , perform internal tests , and / or perform data capture and analysis . the smart interface converter also adds the ability to inject data packets into the high speed data stream . in conjunction with such communications capability , the smart interface converter contains a unique identifier , such as a serial number or a mac address . as deployed according to the present teachings , smart interface converters are used as probes . these probes may be configured remotely to collect data based on network traffic , and send that collected data to multiple locations for processing . the low cost of the probes and remote configurability allows them to be placed at the edges of networks . fig1 is a simplified overview of a monitoring system 100 in accordance with a representative embodiment . the system 100 comprises three ‘ layers ’ instantiated in hardware and software . the layers include a probe layer 101 , analysis layer 102 and an application layer 103 . in a representative embodiment , the probe layer 101 comprises a plurality of probes 104 illustratively in gbic form factor pluggable transceivers . as noted above , the probes 104 may also be referred to herein smart interface modules . the probes 104 are used in place of the pluggable modules often used in known router and switch line cards . notably , the probes are dynamically configurable . in representative embodiments the probes are configured indirectly by applications . the analysis layer 102 provides flow management and time synchronization , among other functions , and includes an analyzer , a probe manager and a master clock . the probes 104 of probe layer 101 are divided into groups , with each group being managed by a probe manager . the probe manager works with the system master in an application layer 103 to orchestrate measurement requests from various applications . the analysis layer 102 is adapted to provide a time synchronization master , such as an ieee 1588 synchronization master . each master maintains synchronization of entire groups of probes with each probe functioning as an ieee 1588 slave . the analysis layer 102 also collects data from the probes of the probe layer and formats and forwards these data to the appropriate suite of the application layer 103 . among many other functions , the analysis layer 102 also handles multiple common requests from the application layer 103 . for example , if both a video and audio applications require the same data , the analysis layer 102 garners these data from the probe layer 101 and replicates the data ( in this case twice ) and provides the data to the requesting applications . the application layer 103 includes the system master that acts as an arbiter between applications requesting measurements and ensuring that measurements requests are executed within the specified parameters . among many other functions , the system master of the application layer 103 may be adapted to function as a licensing manager . for instance , the probes of the probe layer 101 may require a license to function in the system . the system master may be required to verify the license before authenticating a probe . the application layer of the representative embodiment shows three representative applications : video qos ; gigascope ; and netflow . these are merely illustrative and it is emphasized that more or fewer applications may be included . such applications are within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art . fig2 is a conceptual view of an optical probe 200 in accordance with a representative embodiment . the optical probe 200 may be one of a plurality of probes found in probe layer 101 of the system 100 described above . detailed descriptions of probe 200 may be found in the above - referenced patent application having application ser . no . 10 / 407 , 719 and entitled “ assisted port monitoring with distributed filtering .” the probe 200 has an electrical interface 201 on the line card side of the probe and an optical or electrical interface on the network side of the probe . the embodiment shown in fig2 is for a probe with an optical interface on the network side . other embodiments are contemplated . the probe 200 comprises an optical - to - electrical converter 204 , which converts the optical signal to an electrical signal , and provides the electrical signal to a chip 203 . the chip 203 may be an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ) or a programmable logic device such as a field programmable gate array ( fpga ) or other similar technology which provides the same functionality . the chip 203 is configured with a splitter 205 , which provides an output to a sequence of monitor logic 210 , data reduction 211 and packet assembly 212 ; and to a combiner 206 . the output of the packet assembly is provided to the combiner 206 . electrical data at the electrical interface 201 are received at the chip 203 at another splitter 207 , which provides an output to sequence of monitor logic 213 , data reduction 214 and packet assembly 215 ; and to a combiner 208 . the combiner then provides the signal to an optical to electrical converter 209 that provides the data to the optical interface 202 . normal traffic flows into the chip 203 via the optical interface 202 when it enters to the chip . the normal traffic passes through splitter 205 with one path allowing it to continue on through the combiner 206 where it is forwarded out the electrical interface 201 . in parallel , on the other path from splitter 205 , a copy of each frame is sent through the monitor ( or probe ) logic 210 where it is compared to user defined filters . if there is a match , then one or more of the following may happen : a counter may be incremented ; a copy of the frame may be made ; or some part of the frame may be extracted . at some point there will be results data generated from the above actions that will need to be sent out , the probe will insert the results frames , addressed to an analyzer , into the normal traffic flow using a subchannel as described in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 336 , 673 . a slow - speed interface such as the 12c may be used , for example , to configure a parameter memory during manufacturing , and prior to device deployment . a device serial number may be stored in parameter memory . parameter memory may also preset the destination address for collected data including test information . this address , by example , may be an ipv4 or ipv6 address . additionally , configuration of many of these parameters may be performed over the network . as used according to the present teachings , filter configurations are stored in parameter memory , either prior to device deployment , or while deployed in the field . these filter configurations define the frames and data within those frames that is to be captured . captured data may be time - stamped , and / or accumulated . entire frames may be captured , or only a portion of a frame , for example the first 64 bytes , or only the source and destination ip addresses . captured data are stored in extra packet memory . using the capability to then inject data stored in extra packet memory into the high speed data stream , this data may be sent to a destination address for analysis . multiple filters may be active at one time , and each filter may have its own destination address . commands and new filter configurations may be sent to probes , individually , for example using the serial number stored in each probe , or in groups . commands and new filter configurations may be authenticated by probes , as an example by verifying message checksums , or by verifying authentication codes passed to the probes . when only portions of a frame are needed , captured data may be aggregated in the probe . aggregated data is stored in extra packet memory . probe and capture packet formats suitable for use in accordance with the present teachings are shown in fig3 . an example captured packet data record is shown as 310 . multiple records may be aggregated into probe packet 300 . the number of such records depends on the size of an extra packet memory ( not shown ), and the desired ethernet frame size . using the embodiment of fig3 as an example , a typical ethernet frame could contain 66 records . probe packet 300 contains the usual ethernet header , plus a timestamp in seconds . if these probe packets are transmitted at least once per second , the captured packet data records 310 need only carry the fractional seconds portion of the time ; nanosecond resolution is possible . captured packet data record 310 contains information needed for further analysis , such as the timestamp , ip source and destination addresses , source and destination ports , flags , and the size of the original packet from which this data was gleaned . the information stored in the captured packet data record will vary according to the analysis required . the example given is for a simple ip flow analysis . probes 104 may also be adapted to intercept and respond to timing frames according to the ieee - 1588 standard , acting as an ieee - 1588 slave . in the embodiment of fig1 , real - time clock information may be kept by the master clock , which may be a ieee 1588 master clock in analysis layer 102 beneficially , the probes of the representative embodiments adapted to function as ieee 1588 slaves may provide , among other functions accurate time - stamping . fig4 shows a network measurement system according to a representative embodiment . system 470 streams data through links 420 and network 400 to system 480 . network 400 contains switching elements 410 interconnected through connections 420 . according to the present teachings , some of these connections 420 terminate at switching elements 410 using smart interface converters 430 used as probes . external to network 400 , with switching elements 440 contain connections 420 some of which terminate using smart interface converters 450 used as probes . system 460 inside network 400 hosts an ieee 1588 master clock , probe manager , analyzer server and other software components for probes 430 inside network 400 . similarly , system 490 hosts an ieee 1588 master clock , probe manager , analyzer server and other software components for probes 450 outside network 400 . for this example , system 490 also hosts the system master , and the application software components . in an example using the well known netflow protocol to collect data to classify network traffic between systems 470 and 480 , the system master component queries the probe manager component ( both running on system 490 ), allocating and configuring the appropriate probes 450 connecting systems 470 and 480 to make the desired measurements and send the aggregated data to the analyzer component running on system 490 . the analyzer component running on system 490 processes records , as an example in the form shown in fig3 , expanding them to netflow records and passing them to the netflow application . collecting the data on the probes and performing the required processing to convert captured data in the form of fig3 to netflow records in the analyzer component instead of collecting and sending the data out natively on switching elements 410 and or 440 greatly reduces the computation demand placed on switching elements 410 and or 440 . fig5 shows the network of fig4 in a hierarchical fashion . probes 430 communicate with probe manager 510 and analyzer component 520 . ieee - 1588 master clock 530 may be present to synchronize timekeeping across systems and probes , the probes themselves are functional as ieee 1588 slaves . these components may be present in one physical system as shown , or they may be distributed . similarly , applications suite 570 , which comprises a system master 571 , a netflow manager 572 and application components 573 may be co - resident on one physical system , or may be distributed . similarly , probes 450 in fig4 and 5 communicate with probe manager 540 of fig5 , analyzer 550 , and have timing information supplied by ieee - 1588 clock 560 . these components communicate with applications suite 580 , which includes master 581 , voip application components 582 and netflow application 583 . as examples of network measurement , fig6 shows a representative embodiment , which may be used for remote collection of quality measurements for voice over ip ( voip ), ip multimedia ( ims ), and push to talk signaling ( ptt ) in a voip network 600 . service providers install smart interface modules for use as probes 610 wherever measurements of voip / ims / ptt are desired , typically between customer proxy 620 and edge proxy 640 . probes 610 are managed and configured to begin collecting , for example , voip signaling data . in most cases , these probes 610 completely replace the existing probe , reducing instrumentation costs , and saving space and power . it will also eliminate the need for a mirror port and consequently , port replicators , again reducing instrumentation costs . because probes 610 are limited in memory and computation power , they are not used for many computations except possibly some counters . instead , copies of the signaling data are made from each signaling frame and time - stamped . these copies of the signaling data or “ results frames ” are then sent for analysis to the signaling analysis farm 630 . the “ farm ” of signaling analysis servers will serve multiple probes and the probes may serve multiple applications there are two main aspects of measuring voip : call signaling and call quality . for call signaling , service providers may typically use sip ( session initiation protocol ). to monitor call signaling nearly the entire packet must be captured and delivered to the monitoring application 630 . therefore , the probes 610 will capture sip signaling packets as they cross for example between the customer proxy 620 and the edge proxy 640 , and send them to “ farm ” 630 for analysis . voice quality monitoring may require capturing only certain data from packet headers . because the prevalent transport protocol used for voip is rtp / udp , this means that capturing and time - stamping information from protocol headers such as rtp may be sufficient to assess voice quality . data associated with addressing , for instance , ip addresses and transport layer ports should be captured as well . there may be a single application that monitors both voice quality and signaling or there may be a separate application for each . in either case , a closed loop will enable the system to only monitor the desired calls . for instance , if a provider wants to monitor calls from customer a . it can set a filter to look for sip signaling protocol messages coming from customer a . when sip signaling from customer a is captured , the monitoring application could then notify the system master to configure a filter to monitor the application port indicated in the sip signaling message . that filter will then cause the actual call to be replicated and sent to the monitoring application for analysis . while the primary use of this would be for quality monitoring , it is easy to see how it could be adapted to other uses , such as enforcement of a wire tap order . as an additional example shown in fig7 , a representative embodiment may be used for remote collection of video quality of service ( qos ) measurements for video over ip such as iptv and video on demand ( vod ) networks . information so collected can also be used for troubleshooting and / or diagnostics in these networks . in order to compete with the other delivery vehicles , the quality of these video over ip services must be as good as or better than that of the alternatives available to consumers . therefore , having a means to measure video quality is imperative . current modes of measurement will not scale economically to where they can be deployed at the edges of the network nearest the customer , which leaves service providers making measurements in less than ideal locations and in fewer locations than they would like . ideally , the service providers can make measurements as close to the customer as possible , at any time , for any customer , on any video stream . fig7 illustrates an example network 700 , using the technology referenced above , in this example , using probes in the sfp form factor commonly used in dslam equipment , the service provider would deploy the modules on all interfaces at the dslam . in addition , they would deploy the modules as close as possible to the video encoder . the modules at the dslam ( measurement point 710 on access network are configured to collect various information used to measure video qos . in this example , the transport headers ( packet references ) are collected and time - stamped for every video stream and sent up to an application , such as agilent &# 39 ; s triple play analyzer ( tpa ) product for analysis . at the same time , probes close to the video encoder or server that multicast video streams such as server 760 collect a richer set of information ( measurement point 720 or 730 ). this may be a time - stamped copy of the entire video stream along with all signaling data . this information is sent to an application , again , such as agilent &# 39 ; s tpa , for analysis . if a problem is detected near the dslam , the data collected at the dslam can be compared to the data collected nearest the server , for instance , the d server , may even help in recovering missing video frames ( measurement point 740 ) and determine if the data was corrupted in transit or if the data was corrupt right out of the head end server such as a server 760 . using data references from measurement points 710 and full video streams collected at measurement points 720 or 730 , the application can determine the video qos or video qoe ( quality of experience ) by looking for example at what type of video frames were lost . other examples like this can be given . a long list of video quality measurements may be provided . also , various measurements may be taken depending on the type of video distribution in use . for example , in a system using microsoft iptv edition , measurements with respect to reliable udp will be important . by measuring activity such as reliable udp which is used by set - top boxes ( stb ) to recover missing packets from the d server the problem could be traced to the last mile without having monitoring equipment present at customer premises . in one aspect , the representative embodiment the collection of data from various vantage points and correlation allows for the detection of problems or measurement of video quality close to the customer . from certain data acquisition points like 710 in the above figure time - stamped references of video packets are collected and by doing so the measurement traffic from this point is reduced by an order of magnitude . in this example , using sfp modules as opposed to an external box , we are able to make measurements closer to the edge of the network in an economically scaleable way . in addition , because the dslams need to use sfp modules anyway , there is zero additional installation cost and no additional space or power are required to make the measurements . while the embodiments of the present teachings have been illustrated in detail , it should be apparent that modifications and adaptations to these embodiments may occur to one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present teachings as set forth in the following claims . | 7 |
[ 0046 ] fig1 and 3 show a side view and a top view of a portion of a known plate - link chain with standard plate links 1 and 2 , wherein the plate links as viewed are arranged over the width b of the plate - link chain and repeat themselves in an appropriate arrangement pattern . the plate links form link sets in series . the chain links formed by the plate links 1 and 2 are articulated by articulation members that are connected with each other , which are composed of pairs of rocker members 3 , which are inserted into openings 4 in the plate links and are rotatably coupled and connected by an interlocking connection 5 with the particular associated plate links . the openings 4 can be formed in such a way that there are two openings formed per plate link for both links , or also that per plate only one opening is provided to receive rocker members for both links . the rocker members 3 have rocker faces 6 that are directed toward each other and that can roll against each other , at least some convex , for example , which permits the link movement of adjacent chain links . the rocker faces can both be convex or one rocker face can be flat or concave and the other rocker face is convex . such plate - link chains can be formed in such a way that at least some rocker members are at least partially non - rotatably connected with their plate links associated with their chain links . the individual links have a center - to - center spacing 7 that in general is designated the chain pitch . the magnitude of the chain pitch 7 depends on the given extent of the rocker members 3 in the direction of movement 8 of the chain , as well as on the necessary spacing between the individual openings 4 . it is generally known that the chain pitch 7 is designed to remain unchanged over the full chain length ; it can , however , also vary irregularly within given limits if necessary , in order to favorably influence the noise developed by the chain . the rocker members have end faces at their side end areas with which they can frictionally engage the conical disks during operation of a transmission . it is advantageous for both rocker members to have the same length , so that both rocker members are in contacting engagement with the conical disk . in another embodiment it is appropriate to provide rocker members having different lengths and thereby only one rocker member per link is in frictional contact with the conical disk . it can be seen from the top view of fig3 that the chain is assembled as a double - link unit , which means that in each case two radial end links 9 , 10 , respectively , of adjacent chain links are positioned adjacent to each other between two pairs of rocker members 3 , whereby the spacing of those links formed by pairs of rocker members is correspondingly determined . it can be seen from the top view of fig4 how known chains can be constructed as triple - link units . here can be seen over the width of the chain the standard plate links 11 and the outer plate links 12 that are set against each other in each case and separated in the direction of chain movement , whereby on the other hand , however , the spacing between links assembled by pairs of rocker members 13 can be reduced compared with the double - link unit in accordance with fig3 . the top view of fig4 corresponds with another known chain construction , shown in a side view in fig2 having standard plate links 11 and outer plate links 12 , whereby the articulation members are composed of pairs of rocker members 13 . these rocker members 13 are shaped in such a way that they only lie against the plate link openings 16 at two positions 14 and 15 . between the contact positions 14 and 15 the rocker members 13 are free of the plate links 11 , 12 of the chain . [ 0053 ] fig5 shows an arrangement 50 to stretch a plate - link chain 32 in accordance with the invention , whereby the plate - link chain 32 is received in a conical disk gap 48 between two sets of conical disks . the arrangement of fig5 can , however , also act as a loop - driven conical pulley transmission , which in operation includes a chain in accordance with the invention . one set of conical disks is formed by the two conical disks 24 and 25 that are axially displaceable relative to each other . the one conical disk 25 is axially movable , see arrow 30 . the adjusting cylinder 28 serves to axially displace the chain and to press it against the set of conical disks . the other set of conical disks is formed from the two conical disks 26 and 27 that are axially displaceable relative to each other . for that purpose one conical disk 27 can be shifted axially , see arrow 31 . the adjusting cylinder 29 serves to axially displace the chain and to press it against the set of conical disks . the rotational speed and / or the torque can be adjusted by the input side shaft 22 and the output side shaft 23 . according to another embodiment of an apparatus for stretching a plate - link chain , it can be advantageous for the axes or shafts of the apparatus to be pulled away from each other by the application of a force , so that the plate - link chain is forced into the conical - disk gap and so the power transmission between the plate - link chain and the conical disks can be set at the desired value . in addition , it is not absolutely necessary that the conical disks of the pairs of conical disks be axially displaceable relative to each other . it can also be suitable that the conical disks are rigidly affixed to each other . when stretching the chain in the loop direction after assembly , the individual links of the plate - link chain will be tight against the rocker members . thereafter it will be placed in a variable speed unit , for example in accordance with fig5 . the chain is stretched in the loop direction by the compression between the rocker members and the conical disks and / or by torque transmission and / or by application of a spreading force . in addition , there will be set a multiple of the pressing forces and torques that normally appear in a transmission , and the chain will be allowed , for example , to run through the variable speed unit with fewer revolutions , so that each chain link , such as plate links and rocker members , passes around the variable speed unit at least once or several times . it is advantageous for the chain to be rotated slowly and with fewer revolutions , compared with the conditions in a motor vehicle transmission . typically the stretching process can be carried out in the starting gear ratio ( underdrive ), whereby the torque of the variable speed unit is adjustable within the range of from zero to ten times the nominal torque , that is , the maximum torque that occurs in the transmission . in particular , a torque in the range of approximately three times the maximum moment of the variable speed unit is set . it is also appropriate that the tension in the strand 70 of the chain is larger during the stretching process than during operation of the transmission . advantageously , the tension is at least twice the maximum tension during normal transmission operation . the plate - link chain is then rotated at a low rotational speed in the range of about 0 . 5 revolutions per minute to about 500 revolutions , advantageously from about 10 revolutions per minute to 50 revolutions per minute , over several revolutions or passes . it can be beneficial , depending upon the plate - link chain , to perform 1 to 20 revolutions . in accordance with the invention , the transmission ratio can also be changed during the stretching process . in that way the load distribution is set in a manner corresponding substantially with underdrive ( starting gear ratio ) in the vehicle . during a stretching process , however , another transmission ratio can also be set , such as , for example , an overdrive transmission ratio or a variable transmission ratio . the advantage of the stretching process in the wrap - around member is that the chain is stretched substantially at each bend of the chain that occurs during operation , and as a result the load distribution is similar to the actual load distribution during operation of the transmission . as a result of the stretching process in the wrap - around member , and / or as a result of the application of a spreading force on the basis of the contact pressure and / or the torque loading of the chain that is loaded in that manner , the rocker members , considered relative to the shaft of the set of disks , are elastically deformed or bent in the radial direction as well as in the circumferential direction . as a result , considered over the width of the chain , the outwardly - disposed plate links are more heavily loaded than the plate links disposed in the middle of the chain . that has the result that the outer plate links or those plate links disposed on the edge are more greatly elongated than the plate links disposed inwardly , and those outer plate links experience a higher degree of stretching than the inner plate links . by the degree of stretching is meant the condition between the loading by stretching and the condition of ultimate load . moreover , it can be beneficial for the plate links of one plate - link row which when assembled have the same length , for those plate links to be elongated differently as a function of the width . likewise , it can be beneficial for the plate links of one plate - link row when assembled to already exhibit different lengths and plate - link inner widths , respectively , so that the plate links disposed at the edge of the chain exhibit a larger plate - link inner width than the middle plate links . that can be especially appropriate when stretching is not of the loop member , but , on the contrary , the plate links are stretched before assembly and the plate links are thereafter assembled together to form a chain . then one can , on the basis of the assembly of the plate links having different plate - link inner widths , construct a chain that already has at its edges longer plate - link inner widths than in the middle . that is shown in exemplary form in fig1 . there it is shown that the plate - link inner width as a function of the position of the plate links is greater at the edge than in the middle . that can result both from the stretching process in the loop member as well as from the assembly of different length plate links in accordance with the invention . additionally , the plate links that are stretched by a stretching process before assembly can be stretched with different degrees of stretch , and during assembly they can be constructed in such a way that the plate links with a higher degree of stretching are arranged at the edge of the chain . that has the result that the outer plate links or those plate links arranged at the edge are more highly plasticized and loaded than the inwardly - arranged plate links , and those outer plate links experience a higher degree of stretch than the inner plate links . that is shown in exemplary form in fig1 . there it is shown that the degree of stretching as a function of plate link position is greater at the edges than in the middle area . that can result both through the stretching process of the loop member and also through the assembly of various highly - stretched plate links in accordance with the invention . [ 0065 ] fig6 through 8 show in graphs the condition of the lengths of the plate links considered as a function of their disposition across the width of the chain . on the y - axes of fig6 and 7 are shown the lengths of the plate links and the length of the spacing l between both contact areas of one plate link , respectively . the length l also represents the plate - link inner width . in fig8 is shown the length difference δl of the plate links between an unstretched and a stretched condition in accordance with the invention . shown along the x - axes of each of fig6 through 8 is the position of the plate links across the width of the chain . position 1 corresponds with the position of the plate link on one side of the chain and position 14 corresponds with the position of the plate link on the other side of the chain . positions 2 through 13 correspond with the plate link positions between the edge plate links 1 and 14 . thereby there is shown specifically a chain with 14 plate link positions across the width of the chain as an illustrative embodiment , though other chain variations can also be included without restrictions on generality . [ 0066 ] fig6 shows a graph of an unstretched chain or a stretched open chain in straight condition . the length l as a function of the plate link position 1 through 14 is substantially equal and constant . [ 0067 ] fig7 is a graph of a chain that has been dynamically stretched in the wrap - around , closed condition . the length l variation is a function of the plate link position 1 through 14 , whereby the edge plate links in positions 1 through 3 and 12 through 14 are more highly stretched than the plate links at the middle plate link positions 4 through 11 . that result is based on the radial and circumferential bending of the rocker members and the corresponding high plastic deformation of the contact areas of plate links that are disposed at positions at the edge or near the edge . [ 0068 ] fig8 is a graph of a chain that has been dynamically stretched in the wrap - around , closed condition . the length difference δl variation is a function of the plate link positions 1 through 14 , whereby the edge plate links in positions 1 through 3 and 12 through 14 are more highly stretched than the plate links at the middle plate link positions 4 through 11 . that result is based on the radial and circumferential bending of the rocker members and the corresponding plastic deformation of the contact areas of plate links that are disposed at the edge or near the edge . the presentation in fig8 clearly illustrates once again the inventive effect to increase the efficiency of the chain . the small fluctuations in the length l , that is , in the elongation δl in the middle area results from measurement errors . the elongation of the plate links during the stretching process produces a plastic deformation of the plate links in the contact areas between the plate links and the rocker members . through the particularly radially - and / or circumferentially - directed bending of the rocker members there results a plate link plastic deformation , which accommodates the angle between the movement direction and the rocker member . [ 0072 ] fig9 shows a section of a chain 100 with rocker members 101 and 102 , which are received in openings 120 of the plate links 103 through 113 . the rocker members are represented as bent in the manner that they can be bent in a dynamic stretching process in the wrap - around mode , such as , for example , in the disk wedge . the representation is for clarification and is of course a somewhat exaggerated representation . the contact areas 103 a through 113 a are plastically deformed by the bending of the rocker members 101 and 102 and match their contour with that of the rocker members . it is shown that the outer plate links are more severely elongated and the plastic deformation leads to a larger angle α between the chain transverse direction q and the contact surface f than at a middle plate link such as , for example , 107 . fig9 a and fig9 b each show a cutaway portion . the angle α increases moving from the middle of the chain to the outside . [ 0075 ] fig1 shows a graph in which the angle α is shown as the value | α | represented as a function of the plate link position . the angle increases outwardly toward the edges and returns to zero at the middle area . that can be achieved in accordance with the invention by stretching the loop member or , suitably by a further object of the invention , also by stretching the plate links in such a way before assembly , in which they are stretched to different angles α and are subsequently mounted together to a chain . [ 0076 ] fig1 and 12 show the degree of stretch of the plate links , and the plate - link inner width , respectively , as a function of width - wise plate - link position . the plate links near the edge are more highly loaded by the stretching in accordance with the invention than by a stretching process on a straight strand . thereby the plate links at the edge are more highly elongated and the degree of stretch is higher . through the proper stretch loading of the chain by the stretching process the chain will be preconditioned in such way that during later operation of the chain in a transmission the loading will be equalized and the chain will therefore experience a longer service life . furthermore it is advantageous , for thereby reducing the loading on the chain , that the force introduction by the rocker members to the link elements , by a two - area contact 80 , 81 in conformance with fig2 be equalized in both areas . regarding that , reference is particularly made to german patent application de 30 27 834 , the contents of the disclosure of which expressly forms part of the content of the foregoing application . [ 0080 ] fig1 shows a detail of a plate link 200 with rocker members 201 and 202 , wherein the plate link is stretched in such a way by a stretching process that the force introduction of the stretching force 210 is oriented at an angle φ to the plate link , that is , to the chain length direction 220 . during a stretching operation the angle φ will be varied so that it extends from about 60 degrees to about − 60 degrees , so that the contact areas 230 will be stretched and plastically deformed over a wide angular range . those plate links are also individually preconditioned . [ 0081 ] fig1 shows a plate - link chain 300 in section , in which next to the plate links 301 , 302 , 303 and the rocker members 310 there exist cross pins 320 as a hinge for torque transmission between the conical disks and the chain . the frictional force transmission results from the end faces 321 of the cross - pins . it is especially advantageous if the chain is constructed symmetrically , viewed in a lengthwise direction . in this case , symmetrical means that the plate links are arranged equally to the right and to the left of an imaginary centerline of the chain , and thereby the chain is symmetrical in terms of that imaginary centerline . the centerline can be formed by way of a row of plate links or by two symmetrical rows of plate links , so that together there results an even numbered number of plate - link rows or an odd number of plate - link rows . thereby a uniform elongation of the outer plate links is achieved , and the moment transfer capacity is increased . [ 0083 ] fig1 shows a section of a plate - link chain 400 in accordance with the invention having a symmetrical construction . the transmission pins 405 are indicated as lines . only three rows of plate links of the chain are shown in order to illustrate the principle of a symmetrical chain . the plate links 401 , 402 and 403 are arranged symmetrically relative to the arrow 404 , wherein the arrow 404 represents the chain movement direction . it is also possible for individual plate links to be formed as double plate links or as reinforced plate links , to be able to meet the increased load . the claims included in the application are exemplary and are without prejudice to acquiring wider patent protection . the applicant reserves the right to claim additional combinations of features disclosed in the specification and / or drawings . the references contained in the dependent claims point to further developments of the object of the main claim by means of the features of the particular claim ; they are not to be construed as renunciation to independent , objective protection for the combinations of features of the related dependent claims . although the subject matter of the dependent claims can constitute separate and independent inventions in the light of the state of the art on the priority date , the applicants reserve the right to make them the subject of independent claims or separate statements . they can , moreover , also embody independent inventions that can be produced from the independent developments of the subject matter of the included dependent claims . the exemplary embodiments are not to be considered to be limitations of the invention . on the contrary , many changes and variations are possible within the scope of the invention in the existing disclosure , in particular such variants , elements , and combinations and / or materials which , for example , are inventive by combining or modifying single features that are in combination and are described individually in relation to the general specification and embodiments as well as the claims and shown in the drawings , as well as elements or method steps that can be derived by a person skilled in the art in the light of the disclosed solutions of the problem , and which by means of combined features lead to a new object or new method steps or sequences of method steps , as well as manufacturing , testing and operational procedures . | 5 |
fig1 illustrates the environment of the present invention which is a door latch assembly 10 situated in a door 12 that is pivotally mounted in a door frame where the door latch assembly &# 39 ; s sliding bolt 16 can engage a strike plate 18 situated in door frame 20 . door 12 is shown in a partially open state with its bolt 16 situated to move along dashed line 23 into aperture 19 of strike plate 18 when door 12 completes pivoting to its closed position . also shown in fig1 is door lever 24 mounted pivotally on door 12 to cooperate with the latch assembly 10 for a person to manually pivot lever 24 to retract bolt 16 from its extended position in a strike plate when the door is closed . fig2 illustrates the new latch assembly 10 , shown for illustrative purpose , with its front plate removed . as seen , bolt 16 is situated in a retracted position so that its distal end or bolt head 16 t does not extend outward of the edge surface 21 of latch housing 12 . bolt 16 can move axially outward to enter strike plate aperture 19 as seen in fig1 and 5 ; however , as seen in fig3 , extending proximally from bolt head 16 t is bolt stem 28 with flange 27 intermediate the ends of this bolt stem . coiled spring 26 encircles stem 28 , with a distal end 26 d of spring 26 bearing against frame 11 , and proximal end 26 p urging flange 27 and attached bolt stem 28 in the proximal or retracted position indicated by arrow 29 . the proximal end 28 p of stem 28 is coupled through the latch mechanism 10 to door lever spindle 29 and lever 24 as will be described below . fig5 shows door 12 having pivoted to its fully closed position within door frame 20 , and with bolt 16 having moved axially and distally to its extended position where bolt head 16 t has extended through aperture 19 of strike plate 18 also seen in fig1 . fig6 is a top plan view in section similar to fig3 , taken along line 6 - 6 in fig5 , but showing bolt 16 in its extended position as also shown in fig5 . accordingly , bolt head 16 t has extended distally outward through cover plate 17 on the door edge 21 . in this extended position , seen in fig6 , bolt stern 28 has simultaneously moved in the distal direction and spring 26 has been compressed . transition of the bolt from its retracted to its extended state will occur when the door has been pivoted to its closed state so that bolt 16 is well aligned with aperture 19 in the strike plate , as seen in fig5 and 6 . fig6 further illustrates bolt 16 having moved axially outward of door 12 and axially through aperture 19 of strike plate 18 . inwardly of strike plate 18 in the bolt - extended direction is a bolt - receiving area or chamber 30 conforming generally in shape to the outward surface of bolt head 16 t . further , inward of chamber 30 is magnet 40 which attracts bolt head 16 t to move axially outward of door 20 and axially inward through the strike plate 18 and into chamber 30 . when the door closes a magnetic force fm ( see arrow fm ) will pull bolt head 16 t axially outward against said spring force fs ( see arrow fs ) of spring 26 since the magnetic force fm is greater than the spring force fs . in one preferred embodiment the magnet is of neodynium ¾ ″ in diameter and ⅜ ″ long with surface field = 4667 gauss and bolt travel of about ⅝ ″ to ¾ ″. magnetic attraction between the bolt head and the magnet in the strike can be enhanced by addition of a secondary magnet ( s ) secured in the bolt head similar to the above - mentioned magnet of neodynium ¼ ″ diameter by ⅜ ″ long , surface field = 6261 gauss . fig6 a is a rear elevation view and fig6 b is a side elevation view in section of a lock bolt 16 x with a pair of magnets 16 y installed in the bolt head to enhance magnetic attraction of the bolt into the strike when the door is closed . these magnets may be secured in the bolt head , for example by fit or glue . the axial force fm of magnet 40 can be varied ( a ) by axially positioning magnet 40 closer to the strike plate as seen in fig4 a or farther from the strike plate as seen in fig4 b , or ( b ) by selecting a magnet having a greater or lesser magnetic force . an exemplary structure for axially moving magnet 40 is magnet holder 42 threadedly situated in threaded bore 44 . moving magnet 40 distally away per fig4 b will reduce the effective magnetic force and thus reduce the speed and / or impact of bolt head 16 t into its extended position , and reduce the resultant noise when the doors closed . fig4 d - 4f illustrate a preferred arrangement for adjustment of magnet 50 in the strike plate 18 . magnet 50 can be moved in the direction of arrow m and locked in place by set screws 52 . element 54 is a small projection or bumper or other friction element to slow down closing the door when it &# 39 ; s edge approaches strike plate 18 in the door jam sound damping can also be achieved by a cushion 46 seen in fig4 c in front of magnet 40 or some other restrictive element in the vicinity of bolt head 16 t , by a damper or shock absorber 48 seen in fig1 or 2 , may be applied to stem 16 s of bolt 16 or applied to a movable frame 16 f to which stem 16 s is coupled . in a preferred embodiment the damper restricts bolt movement to 69 in / sec , while bolt may travel three times that speed without a damper . to open a closed and latched door fig1 shows a lever 24 that can be pivoted to rotate spindle 29 and retract bolt 16 . pivoting of lever 24 of a closed door will retract bolt 16 by manually overcoming the magnetic force fm of magnet 40 situated inward of the strike plate . with the bolt 16 retracted and door 12 pivoted to an open position away from magnet 40 , spring 26 would reassert its role of maintaining bolt 16 in its retracted mode . in fig2 is schematically shown a cam finger 32 rotated by spindle 29 , coupled to lever 24 ( not shown ). cam finger 32 engages link 34 which pivots about pivot axle 36 and has an arm portion 38 engaged to the proximal end 16 p of bolt 16 . to open a closed door , counterclockwise motion of spindle 29 drives link 34 in a counterclockwise motion which pulls bolt 16 into its retracted position which overcomes magnetic force fm , and withdraws bolt 16 to be fully ( proximally ) outward of strike plate 18 , so that the door can be opened . after the door is opened and magnet 40 is no longer affecting bolt head 16 t , spring 26 can resume its primary role to maintain bolt 16 in its retracted position , regardless of whether lever 24 and link 34 are urging bolt 16 to its retracted position . thus , when the door is open bolt 16 is normally retracted because of the spring force fs . bolt 16 will be extended only when the door is closed and the magnetic force fm is applied , and finally will be pulled to its retracted position can be lengthened by an extension or other means not shown to compensate for a larger door between the edge of the door and the door jam . also seen in fig2 and three is coupling of the upper end 38 of link arm 34 to bolt stem 16 s . numerous different couplings well known in the prior art may be selected for retracting a bolt by rotation of a lever . this retraction also moves flange 27 in the proximal direction of arrow a1 which allows spring 26 to again exert force urging bolt stem 16 s and bolt 16 to their retracted position . as noted above the magnetic force fm is stronger than the spring force fs , so that manual pivoting of lever 24 is required to overcome the magnet force . thereafter , when the door is open and the lever is released , the spring force without opposition of a magnet force , will maintain the bolt in its retracted position , until such time as the door is closed again . fig7 and 8 further illustrate how the independent keylock cylinder and its cam 62 can bar opening of this door when it is closed and its bolt is extended into the strike plate of the door frame . fig7 shows that spindle 29 and its collar 31 6 and its camming finger 32 are positioned , if pivoted counterclockwise to bear against link 34 which would pivoted about pivot 36 , and in so pivoting pull and retract the bolt . pivoting of link 34 is precluded by cam finger 62 of keylock cylinder not shown , to thus bar opening the door by pushing on the lever . fig2 shows bolt head 16 t slidable in front housing sleeve 4 , and bolt stem 16 s is slidable in rear housing sleeve 5 . link 34 is situated on the near side of rear housing sleeve 5 as viewed in fig2 , while blocking link 55 is situated on the far side of rear housing sleeve 5 , namely on the far or opposite side of housing 5 . link 34 is coupled to the rear portion 16 p of the bolt stem by a transverse pin extending from said stem into slot 37 and link 34 seen in fig3 . fig2 and 8 show more clearly that link 34 is in the foreground , while link 55 is behind or rearward of rear housing 5 . as will be further explained below , door lever 24 can be pivoted to cause bolt 16 to retract from strike 18 so that the door can be opened . keylock cylinder with its cam finger 62 can be rotated to lock mode to temporarily bar door lever 24 from being able to open the door . these two functions are achieved through two different links coupled to the door lever as follows . fig2 shows link 34 connected between spindle 29 ( coupled to door lever 24 not shown ) and stem 16 s of bolt 16 as seen in fig2 . in fig2 link 34 appears in the foreground adjacent one side of housing 11 , of the latch assembly and coupled to the proximal end 16 p of the bolt stem 16 s via a pin 37 p extending transversely from stem 16 s into a slot 37 at the top end of link 34 ( fig3 ). also seen in fig2 , 6 and 8 in the background or far side of housing 11 is link 55 having its upper portion 55 u coupled to keylock cylinder and its cam finger 62 and having its lower portion 55 l coupled to spindle 29 with its collar 31 and cam finger 56 . these links are also shown in the fig6 plan view where cam finger 32 pivoted by collar 31 engages link 34 , both in the foreground or near side of housing 11 , while cam finger 62 engages link 55 in the rear or far side of housing 11 . further details of the foreground link 34 and background link 55 are explained as follows . fig2 shows link 34 coupled to the bolts rear stem rear stem 16 p with bolt 16 in its retracted position and spring 26 in its expanded mode pushing and maintaining bolt 16 to remain in its retracted state until the door is closed and bolt 16 moves distally through strike 18 as seen in fig6 . this bolt can be retracted by rotating spindle 29 , its collar 30 and its cam finger 32 counterclockwise as seen in fig2 which would bear against link 34 and pull bolt stem 28 toward the left into its retracted state as seen in fig2 . thus , the keylock cylinder in lock mode can block lever ; however , if the keylock cylinder &# 39 ; s cam finger 62 is pushing upper arm 55 u of link 55 in a counterclockwise direction , this pushes lower arm 55 l of link 55 into position adjacent cam finger 32 and blocks this finger and spindle 29 from turning to retract the bolt and opened the door . further as regards the damping feature applied to bolt 16 to reduce or eliminate the sound associated with the magnet pulling the bolt into the strike plate , an alternative damping element is a hydraulic piston and cylinder 48 as seen in fig2 coupled through a linkage to bolt 16 . this slows and controls the movement of the bolt when it is under the influence of the magnetic pull . this hydraulic cylinder can be adjusted to affect the speed and / or force of movement of the bolt . an alternative adjustment of the damping effect can be achieved , as described above and as shown in fig6 , by adjusting the position of magnet 40 to alter the magnetic force affecting the bolt head , and a still further alternative damping element would be positioning a cushion proximally of the surface of the magnet to blunt or soften the impact and resulting sound . returning now to fig6 , chamber 30 into which the bolt head 16 t will be inserted is tapered to reduce the possibility of patient suicide as follows . if such patient were to position a segment of a cord , twisted sheet or other ligature into this chamber 30 recess , intending to have the ligament captured therein when the door is closed with the opposite end used as a noose , such ligament would tend to fall out or at least not be captured due to the tapered walls . accordingly , with the spring element in the latching mechanism maintaining the bolt in a retracted state , a ligature inserted in said chamber would simply fall out when any tension were applied thereto since there was nothing on which the ligature could hook onto . although the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described in the foregoing detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings , it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments enclosed , but is capable of numerous rearrangements , modifications and substitutions of steps and elements without departing from the spirit of the invention . accordingly , the present invention is intended to encompass such rearrangements , modifications and substitutions of steps and elements as falls within the scope of the claims . | 4 |
the illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description , any drawings , and claims are not meant to be limiting . other embodiments may be utilized , and other changes may be made , without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein . it will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure , as generally described herein , and that may be illustrated in any figures , can be arranged , substituted , combined , separated , and designed in a wide variety of different configurations , all of which are explicitly contemplated herein . the following words and terms used herein shall have the meaning indicated : the term “ halogenated polymer ” as used herein refers to homopolymers or copolymers derived at least in part from monomers substituted by one or more halogen atoms . the term “ fluorinated polymer ” as used herein refers to homopolymers or copolymers derived at least in part from monomers substituted by one or more fluorine atoms , or substituted by a combination of fluorine atoms and at least one chlorine , bromine or iodine atom per monomer . exemplary fluorinated homopolymers and copolymers include polymers and copolymers prepared from tetrafluoroethylene , hexafluoropropylene , chlorotrifluoroethylene and bromotrifluoroethylene . the term “ conductive polymer ” used herein refers to polymers that exhibit the property of being able to conduct electricity . the conductivity of conductive polymers is related to the abundance of charge - carrying polarons ( cation radicals ) and bipolaron ( di - cation ) structures present on the polymer backbone . the terms “ hydrophilic ” or “ hydrophilicity ”, when referring to a surface , are to be interpreted broadly to include any property of a surface that causes a water droplet to substantially spread across it . generally , if the contact angle between a water droplet and the surface is smaller than 90 °, the surface is hydrophilic or exhibits hydrophilicity . the water droplet may be replaced with any liquid that is miscible with water . accordingly , the contact angle between a liquid miscible with water and a hydrophilic surface is also smaller than 90 °. exemplary liquids that are miscible with water are ethanol , acetone and tetrahydrofuran . the term “ superhydrophilic ” refers to when the contact angle between a water droplet and the surface is smaller than 5 °. the terms “ hydrophobic ” and “ hydrophobicity ”, when referring to a surface , are to be interpreted broadly to include any property of a surface that does not cause a water droplet to substantially spread across it . generally , if the contact angle between a water droplet and the surface is greater than 90 °, the surface is hydrophobic or exhibits hydrophobicity . the water droplet may be replaced with any liquid that is miscible with water . accordingly , the contact angle between a liquid miscible with water and a hydrophobic surface is also greater than 90 °. exemplary liquids that are miscible with water are ethanol , acetone and tetrahydrofuran . the term “ lipophilic ”, when referring to a surface , is to be interpreted broadly to include any property of a surface that causes a hydrophobic solvent droplet to substantially spread across it . generally , if the contact angle between a hydrophobic solvent droplet and the surface is smaller than 90 °, the surface is lipophilic . exemplary hydrophobic solvents are hexane , toluene and trichloromethane . the term “ amphiphilic ”, in the context of this specification , refers to a surface that has both a water contact angle of less than 90 ° and a hydrophobic solvent contact angle of less than 90 °. the term “ contact angle ”, in the context of this specification , is to be interpreted broadly to include any angle that is measured between a liquid / solid interface . the contact angle is system specific and depends on the interfacial surface tension of the liquid / solid interface . a discussion on contact angle and its relation to surface wetting properties can be seen from “ wettability , spreading , and interfacial phenomena in high - temperature coatings ” by r . asthana and n . sobczak , jom - e , 2000 , 52 ( 1 ). the contact angle can be measured from two directions . in the context of this specification , for a longitudinal imprint being disposed about a longitudinal axis , θx refers to the contact angle measured in the “ x ” direction being perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and θy refers to the contact angle measured in the “ y ” direction parallel , or in alignment with , the longitudinal axis . the value of the contact angle , θx or θy , may indicate the hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of a surface . the difference of these two contact angles , represented by δθ ( where δθ = θy − θx ), indicates the degree of isotropy or anisotropy of a wetting property . the word “ substantially ” does not exclude “ completely ” e . g . a composition which is “ substantially free ” from y may be completely free from y . where necessary , the word “ substantially ” may be omitted from the definition of the disclosed embodiments . as used herein , the term “ about ”, in the context of concentrations of components of the formulations , typically means +/− 5 % of the stated value , more typically +/− 4 % of the stated value , more typically +/− 3 % of the stated value , more typically , +/− 2 % of the stated value , even more typically +/− 1 % of the stated value , and even more typically +/− 0 . 5 % of the stated value . in one embodiment , the coupling agent includes nucleophilic groups . in one embodiment , halogen atoms are selected from the nucleophilic groups . in one embodiment , the halogen atoms are fluorine atoms . in one embodiment , the coupling agent is nafion . in one embodiment , the halogenated polymer is a fluorinated polymer or perfluorinated polymer . the porous halogenated polymer of the composite membrane may exhibit good resistance to chemical corrosion , good mechanical strength and thermal stability relative to known conductive polymers . the conductive polymer of the composite membrane may be insoluble and may also exhibit thermal stability . accordingly , the composite membrane is able to withstand harsh acidic and alkaline environments . thus , the composite membrane can be used in a variety of complex treatment environments . in one embodiment , the composite membrane does not give rise to secondary contamination , such as membrane fouling . in one embodiment , the conductive polymer includes a dopant selected to enhance the hydrophilicity of the conductive polymer . in another embodiment , the dopant includes an acid . in yet another embodiment , the acidic dopant is at least one of an inorganic acid and an organic acid . in one embodiment , the inorganic acid dopant is selected from the group consisting of hydrochloric acid , sulfuric acid , phosphoric acid and nitric acid . in another embodiment , the organic acid dopant is selected from carboxylic acid and sulfonic acid . in one embodiment , the organic acid dopant is selected from the group consisting of straight chain aliphatic carboxylic acids , straight chain aliphatic sulfonic acids , aromatic carboxylic acids and aromatic sulfonic acids . the organic acid dopant may be acetic acid , butyric acid , benzoic acid or toluenesulfonic acid . doping of the conductive polymer may render the composite membrane hydrophilic . on the other hand , an undoped conductive polymer may render the composite membrane hydrophobic . in one embodiment , the hydrophilicity of the conductive polymer is capable of being altered by neutralizing the dopant . in another embodiment , the hydrophilicity of the conductive polymer is capable of being altered when a voltage is applied across the composite membrane and an inert electrode in an electrolyte solution . the hydrophilicity of the conductive polymer may be altered instantaneously when the voltage applied is sufficient . the doping of the conductive polymer may be made reversible by altering the polarity of the voltage applied , thus enabling easy control of the hydrophilicity of the composite membrane . the composite membrane may have properties of both super - hydrophilicity and electrical conductivity . accordingly , the composite membrane can perform dual functions of water filtration and heavy metal ion adsorption . the hydrophilicity of the composite membrane may also be dependent on other factors , such as the surface morphology , roughness and thickness of the conductive polymer layer . in one embodiment , the conductive polymer is coupled co - axially to the porous halogenated polymer . in one embodiment , the conductive polymer includes an oxidant to enhance the hydrophilicity of the conductive polymer . in one embodiment , the oxidant may be a strong or mild oxidant . exemplary oxidants include ammonium persulfate , ferric chloride , ferric nitrate , cerium ammonium nitrate , chloroauric acid , silver nitrate , sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide . in one embodiment , the molar ratio of oxidant to the monomeric groups is in the range of about 1 : 1 to about 20 : 1 . in another embodiment , the molar ratio of oxidant to the monomeric groups is in the range of about 1 : 1 to about 5 : 1 . the use of porous halogenated polymers confers excellent chemical inertia , thermal stability and good mechanical strength on the resultant composite membrane . in one embodiment , the porous fluorinated polymer is selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene , fluorinated - ethylenepropylene , perfluoroalkoxys , polychlorotrifluoroethylene , ethylene tetrafluoroethylene , and polyvinylidene fluoride . in one embodiment , the porous fluorinated polymer is polytetrafluoroethylene ( ptfe ). in one embodiment , the conductive polymer is any charged polymer and may include polypyrrole , polyaniline , polythiophene , polyacetylene , polyaromatic amines , and derivatives thereof . the composite membrane may be made conductive by controlling the mass of the conductive polymer grown on the porous fluorinated polymer . in one embodiment , the mass of conductive polymer relative to the composite membrane is in the range of about 1 % to about 30 %. in another embodiment , the mass of conductive polymer relative to the composite membrane is in the range of about 2 % to about 10 %. in one embodiment , the conductive polymer may be in the form of a layer . in this embodiment , the composite membrane may also be made conductive by controlling the thickness of the conductive polymer layer such that the thickness of the conductive polymer layer is in the range of about 2 μm to about 10 μm . the mass of the conductive polymer and thickness of the conductive polymer layer as stated above may be adjusted simultaneously with each other to render the composite membrane conductive . in one embodiment , there is disclosed a method for producing a composite membrane which includes coupling a conductive polymer that is coated with a coupling agent on its surface and a porous halogenated polymer . in one embodiment , the porous halogenated polymer is a porous fluorinated polymer or a porous perfluorinated polymer . in one embodiment , the polymer is water permeable . in one embodiment , the method for producing a composite membrane includes coupling a conductive polymer and a porous halogenated polymer that is coated with a coupling agent on its surface . in one embodiment , the method includes providing nucleophilic groups in the coupling agent . in one embodiment , the method includes selecting halogen atoms from the nucleophilic groups . in one embodiment , the method includes selecting fluorine atoms from the halogen atoms . in one embodiment , the method does not undermine the internal structure of the composite membrane , so that the resultant composite membrane retains the original mechanical strength of the porous halogenated polymer . the method may be relatively simple and economical . the conductive polymer may be coupled to the porous halogenated polymer via a physical coupling . the physical coupling may include hydrogen bond interactions , van der waals interactions and ionic interactions . in one embodiment , the coupling step includes polymerizing a monomeric solution of monomers capable of forming conductive polymers on the porous halogenated polymer . the membrane pore size of the resultant composite membrane may be manipulated by the degree of polymerization of the monomers on the porous fluorinated polymer . in a further embodiment , the method includes providing a dopant in the monomeric solution for enhancing the hydrophilicity of the conductive polymers after the polymerization step . in one embodiment , the dopant is selected from inorganic and organic acids . the hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity of the resultant composite membrane may be controlled by the amount of dopant added . accordingly , the resultant composite membrane may be amphiphilic . thus , the resultant composite membrane may be used in water systems , oil systems , as well as other complex solvent systems . in one embodiment , the method further includes providing an oxidant to the monomeric solution for enhancing the hydrophilicity of the conductive polymers after the polymerization step . in one embodiment , the oxidant is a strong or mild oxidant . in another embodiment , the oxidant is selected from the group consisting of ammonium persulfate , cerium ammonium nitrate , chloroauric acid , sodium hypochlorite , hydrogen peroxide , silver nitrate and ferric salts . in one embodiment , the oxidant may function as a dopant . alternatively , in one embodiment the dopant may function as an oxidant . the hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity of the resultant composite membrane may be controlled by the amount of oxidant added . the hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity of the resultant composite membrane may also be controlled by the molar ratio of the oxidant to monomer . the rate of addition of the oxidant and the amount of oxidant added may alter the speed of the polymerization reaction , thereby controlling the growth of the conductive polymers on the porous fluorinated polymer . accordingly , these microscopic structures formed on the porous fluorinated polymer alter the surface morphology of the conductive polymer and ultimately , the hydrophilicity of the composite membrane , as mentioned above . the growth of conductive polymers on the porous fluorinated polymer may also be altered by varying the type of oxidants added . the amount of deposition of conductive polymers on the porous fluorinated polymer ultimately determines the quality of the composite membrane . the pore size of the resultant composite membrane may be manipulated by the degree of polymerization . in one embodiment , the pore size of the resultant composite membrane may be from about 0 . 01 μm to about 1 μm , about 0 . 02 μm to about 1 μm , about 0 . 04 μm to about 1 μm , about 0 . 06 μm to about 1 μm , about 0 . 08 μm to about 1 μm , about 0 . 1 μm to about 1 μm , about 0 . 5 μm to about 1 μm , about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 5 μm , about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 1 μm , about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 08 μm , about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 06 μm , about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 04 μm or about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 02 μm . in another embodiment , the pore size of the resultant composite membrane may be from about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 1 μm . in one embodiment , the coupling step includes contacting the porous fluorinated polymer with the monomeric solution . in one embodiment , the contacting step is undertaken for about 2 hrs to about 72 hrs . in one embodiment , the contacting step is undertaken for about 24 hrs to about 48 hrs . in another embodiment , the contacting step is undertaken at a temperature in the range of about − 10 ° c . to about 35 ° c . in one embodiment , the contacting step is undertaken at a temperature in the range of about 0 ° c . to about 25 ° c . in one embodiment , the method further includes : providing an acidic dopant in the monomeric solution ; and polymerizing the conductive monomer to form the conductive polymer on the porous fluorinated polymer , whereby the conductive polymer is rendered generally hydrophilic by the acidic dopant . under the appropriate reaction conditions , the monomers in the monomeric solution may polymerize and deposit as a solid onto the porous fluorinated polymer to form the conductive polymer . the solid conductive polymer may neither dissolve nor melt . in one embodiment , the porous fluorinated polymer is dried at a temperature in the range of about 40 ° c . to about 80 ° c . to produce the composite membrane . in another embodiment , the porous fluorinated polymer is dried at a temperature in the range of about 50 ° c . to about 60 ° c . to produce the composite membrane . in one embodiment , at least the acidic dopant disposed on at least the surface of the conductive polymer is neutralized to form a generally hydrophobic surface on the conductive polymer . in one embodiment , the coupling step further includes coating the porous halogenated polymer with a coupling agent on its surface . in one embodiment , the coupling step includes providing nucleophilic groups in the coupling agent . in a further embodiment , the coupling step includes selecting halogen atoms from the nucleophilic groups . in another embodiment , the coupling step includes selecting fluorine atoms from the halogen atoms . in one embodiment , the coupling agent is nafion . the sulfonated groups of nafion alter the surface properties of the porous fluorinated polymer , which aids in the growth of the conductive polymer on the porous fluorinated polymer . accordingly , the composite membrane produced by this embodiment may possess stronger ionic interaction and therefore , may possess stronger coupling between the conductive polymer and the porous halogenated polymer . in one embodiment , the method includes altering the hydrophilicity of the composite membrane between a hydrophilic state and a hydrophobic state . in another embodiment , the altering step includes applying a voltage across the composite membrane and an inert electrode in an electrolyte solution . the disclosed composite polymer can be used to remove contaminants from liquid phases . in one embodiment , the pore size of the composite membrane used for the removal of contaminants may be from about 0 . 01 μm to about 1 μm . in one embodiment , the disclosed composite polymer can be used to remove metal ions from liquid phases . for example , the composite membrane could be used to remove contaminants from water contaminated with metal ions such as heavy metal ions through redox reactions or even to recover precious metals such as silver and gold from liquid phases containing such precious metals . in such an embodiment , there is disclosed a system which includes : an enclosed chamber for containing a feed solution comprising the metal ions in solution therein ; a composite membrane which includes a porous halogenated polymer that is coated with a coupling agent on its surface and a conductive polymer coupled to the porous halogenated polymer mounted within the enclosed chamber for being substantially immersed in the feed solution ; and a pressure differential source to drive at least part of the water feed across the membrane to thereby at least partially adsorb the metal ions therein and to produce treated water having less metal ions relative to the feed water . the pressure differential source may be a vacuum . in one embodiment , the pore size of the composite membrane used for the removal of metal ions may be from about 0 . 01 μm to about 0 . 1 μm . an outgoing water stream may contain less metal ions than the water feed . metal ions in the water feed may undergo redox reactions and deposit onto the composite membrane . the reduced metal depositions may be subsequently recovered by techniques known in the art . with respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein , those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and / or application . the various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity . it will be understood by those within the art that , in general , terms used herein , and especially in the appended claims ( e . g ., bodies of the appended claims ) are generally intended as “ open ” terms ( e . g ., the term “ including ” should be interpreted as “ including but not limited to ,” the term “ having ” should be interpreted as “ having at least ,” the term “ includes ” should be interpreted as “ includes but is not limited to ,” etc .). it will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended , such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim , and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present . for example , as an aid to understanding , the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “ at least one ” and “ one or more ” to introduce claim recitations . however , the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “ a ” or “ an ” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation , even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “ one or more ” or “ at least one ” and indefinite articles such as “ a ” or “ an ” ( e . g ., “ a ” and / or “ an ” should be interpreted to mean “ at least one ” or “ one or more ”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations . in addition , even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited , those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number ( e . g ., the bare recitation of “ two recitations ,” without other modifiers , means at least two recitations , or two or more recitations ). furthermore , in those instances where a convention analogous to “ at least one of a , b , and c , etc .” is used , in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention ( e . g ., “ a system having at least one of a , b , and c ” would include but not be limited to systems that have a alone , b alone , c alone , a and b together , a and c together , b and c together , and / or a , b , and c together , etc .). in those instances where a convention analogous to “ at least one of a , b , or c , etc .” is used , in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention ( e . g ., “ a system having at least one of a , b , or c ” would include but not be limited to systems that have a alone , b alone , c alone , a and b together , a and c together , b and c together , and / or a , b , and c together , etc .). it will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms , whether in the description , claims , or drawings , should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms , either of the terms , or both terms . for example , the phrase “ a or b ” will be understood to include the possibilities of “ a ” or “ b ” or “ a and b .” in addition , where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of markush groups , those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the markush group . as will be understood by one skilled in the art , for any and all purposes , such as in terms of providing a written description , all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof . any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves , thirds , quarters , fifths , tenths , etc . as a non - limiting example , each range discussed herein can be readily broken down into a lower third , middle third and upper third , etc . as will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as “ up to ,” “ at least ,” and the like include the number recited and refer to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above . finally , as will be understood by one skilled in the art , a range includes each individual member . thus , for example , a group having 1 - 3 cells refers to groups having 1 , 2 , or 3 cells . similarly , a group having 1 - 5 cells refers to groups having 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , or 5 cells , and so forth . from the foregoing , it will be appreciated that various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration , and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure . accordingly , the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting , with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims . non - limiting examples of the invention will be further described in greater detail by reference to specific examples , which should not be construed as in any way limiting the scope of the disclosed embodiments . a 30 cm 2 ptfe membrane ( sinoma science & amp ; technology co . ltd , nanjing , china ) was soaked in 10 ml of aniline monomer ( analytically pure grade , from shanghai experiment reagent co . ltd , of shanghai , china ) for 10 minutes . the membrane was then immersed in an aqueous solution containing 0 . 5 g of ammonium persulfate ( analytically pure grade , from nanjing chemical reagent co . ltd , of nanjing , china ) and 5 g of p - toluenesulfonic acid ( analytically pure grade , from shanghai ling feng chemical reagent co . ltd , of shanghai , china ) for 24 hours at 0 ° c . the membrane was removed and rinsed with distilled water and ethanol ( analytically pure grade , from nanjing chemical reagent co . ltd , of nanjing , china ), and dried . the resulting composite membrane is a ptfe membrane with doped polyaniline and exhibits an electrical conductivity of 10 0 s / cm , a water contact angle of 105 - 110 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane and toluene . an sem image of the resulting composite membrane obtained at 50 , 000 × magnification is shown in fig1 a . the resulting composite membrane is rendered hydrophobic by neutralizing the doped polyaniline to undoped polyaniline , either by immersing the composite membrane in 1 m ammonia for 24 hours or immersing the composite membrane in 0 . 1 m sodium sulphate electrolyte solution ( analytically pure grade , from nanjing chemical reagent co . ltd , of nanjing , china ) with a 30 v voltage applied to the solution . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 140 - 145 °. here , the process of example 1 is carried out , except that 1 g of ammonium persulfate is used instead of 0 . 5 g of ammonium persulfate . the resulting hydrophilic composite membrane exhibits an electrical conductivity of 10 0 s / cm , a water contact angle of 55 - 60 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane and toluene . to produce the final hydrophobic membrane of example 1 , the neutralization process of example 1 is carried out , except that 0 . 5 m sodium nitrate electrolyte solution is used . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 140 - 145 °. here , the process of example 1 is carried out , except that 1 . 5 g of ammonium persulfate is used instead of 0 . 5 g of ammonium persulfate . the resulting super - hydrophilic composite membrane exhibits an electrical conductivity of 10 0 s / cm , a water contact angle of 0 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane and toluene . to produce the final hydrophobic membrane of example 1 , the neutralization process of example 1 is carried out , except that 1 m lithium perchlorate electrolyte solution ( analytically pure grade , from nanjing chemical reagent co . ltd , of nanjing , china ) is used . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 140 - 145 °. a ptfe membrane was first coated with nafion ® solution ( de520 , from dupont of wilmington , del . of the united states of america ), and then soaked in 1 m hcl ( analytically pure grade , from suqian luen shing chemical co . ltd , of jiangsu , china ) for 24 h . the membrane was used to compartmentalize a reaction container into two separate compartments . the first compartment contained solution of 2 . 3 g ammonium persulfate in 50 ml distilled water and was placed against a first face of the membrane , and the second compartment contained a solution of 265 ml aniline and 1 . 7 g p - toluenesulfonic acid in 50 ml distilled water and was placed against the opposite second face of the membrane . the solutions were let to react with the membrane at room temperature for 72 h before the membrane was removed and washed several times with distilled water . the resulting amphiphilic ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane exhibited an electrical conductivity of 10 − 1 s / cm , a water contact angle of 0 to 5 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane , and toluene . an sem image of the resulting composite membrane obtained at 500 × magnification is shown in fig1 b . the resulting composite membrane was rendered hydrophobic by neutralizing the doped polyaniline to undoped polyaniline , either by immersing the composite membrane in 1 m ammonia for 24 hours or immersing the composite membrane in 0 . 1 m potassium sulfate electrolyte solution ( analytically pure grade , from nanjing chemical reagent co . ltd , of nanjing , china ) with a 30 v voltage applied to the solution . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 130 - 145 °. here , the polymerization process of example 4 was carried out , except that the second compartment contained 1 m hcl , instead of 1 . 7 g p - toluenesulfonic acid . the resulting amphiphilic ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane exhibited an electrical conductivity of 10 − 2 s / cm , a water contact angle of 15 to 20 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane and toluene . to produce the final hydrophobic membrane of example 1 , the neutralization process of example 1 was carried out , except that 1 m potassium nitrate electrolyte solution was used . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 130 - 145 °. here , the polymerization process of example 4 was carried out , except that the reaction time was decreased to 48 h , instead of 72 h . the resulting amphiphilic ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane exhibited an electrical conductivity of 10 − 2 s / cm , a water contact angle of 10 to 15 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane and toluene . to produce the final hydrophobic membrane of example 1 , the neutralization process of example 1 was carried out , except that 1 m of potassium sulfate electrolyte solution was used . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 130 - 145 °. here , the polymerization process of example 4 was carried out , except that the second compartment contained 0 . 6 g p - toluenesulfonic acid , instead of 1 . 7 g p - toluenesulfonic acid . the resulting amphiphilic ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane exhibited an electrical conductivity of 10 − 3 s / cm , a water contact angle of 80 to 85 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane and toluene . to produce the final hydrophobic membrane of example 1 , the neutralization process of example 1 was carried out , except that 0 . 5 m potassium sulfate electrolyte solution was used . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 130 - 145 °. here , the polymerization process of example 4 was carried out , except that the second compartment contained 0 . 3 g p - toluenesulfonic acid , instead of 1 . 7 g p - toluenesulfonic acid . the resulting amphiphilic ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane exhibited an electrical conductivity of 10 − 4 s / cm , a water contact angle of 90 to 95 °, and a contact angle of 0 ° for the following solvents : n - hexane , tetrahydrofuran , ethanol , acetone , trichloromethane and toluene . to produce the final hydrophobic membrane of example 1 , the neutralization process of example 1 was carried out , except that 1 m lithium perchlorate electrolyte solution ( analytically pure grade , from nanjing chemical reagent co . ltd , of nanjing , china ) was used . the resulting membrane has a water contact angle of 130 - 145 °. a 2 cm × 2 cm ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane produced in accordance with example 4 was immersed in 0 . 02m of silver nitrate ( agno 3 ) solution for 1 hour . after 1 hour , the membrane was removed , dried and analyzed under a scanning electron microscope . fig2 a shows an sem image at 25 , 000 × magnification of the ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane in which the adsorption of silver nanoparticles on the surface of the composite membrane can be observed . the silver nanoparticles were analyzed under an x - ray diffraction microscope and the x - ray diffraction graph produced is shown in fig2 b . diffraction peaks for the ag element can be seen on the graph , showing the adsorption of silver onto the composite membrane . this is due to the reduction of ag + ions present in the agno 3 solution to ag by the polyaniline of the composite membrane . here , the process of example 6 was carried out , except that the 2 cm × 2 cm ptfe / nafion / polyaniline composite membrane was immersed in 0 . 02m of lead acetate ( pb ( ch 3 coo ) 2 ) solution instead of agno 3 solution . after 1 hour , the membrane was analyzed and the multi - element analysis of the membrane is shown in fig3 . the elemental analysis indicates a peak for the pb element and the weight of the adsorbed pb accounts for 3 . 46 % by weight of the total composite membrane . this shows that the pb 2 + ions in the pb ( ch 3 coo ) 2 solution form an effective complex with the amino and imine groups of the polyaniline of the composite membrane which may result in the reduction of the pb 2 + ions to pb and the resultant adsorption of pb onto the composite membrane . the porous fluorinated polymer of the disclosed composite membrane may retain its original mechanical strength and its internal structure may not be undermined . therefore , the disclosed composite membrane may be able to withstand harsh acid and alkali environments . the use of the disclosed composite membrane may thus be tailored to any relevant industrial application . the disclosed composite membrane may not give rise to secondary contamination , such as membrane fouling . the disclosed composite membrane may possess dual functions of both super - hydrophilicity and electrical conductivity . accordingly , the disclosed composite membrane can be used in wastewater treatment as a membrane filter for impurities as well as to adsorb heavy metal ions . the membrane can also be used in the decontamination of acid systems and alkaline systems . the hydrophilicity of the composite membrane may be modified in various ways . accordingly , the disclosed composite membrane is amphiphilic and can be used in water systems , oil systems , as well as other complex solvent systems . the disclosed composite membrane may also be used for the enrichment of heavy metal ions . | 1 |
the principles and operation of an apparatus and method according to the present invention may be understood with reference to the accompanying description and the material in the appendices , which disclose the detailed mathematical principles , circuit diagrams , examples , and other information to completely explain implementing the invention . the present invention discloses a novel rounding procedure for ieee floating point division ( see appendix d - section 4 ), which is herein referred to as “ dewpoint ” rounding — so - called because of the analogy to the meteorological temperature below which condensation of moisture occurs , and above which condensation of moisture does not occur . the procedure relies on an error range of the quotient that allows for only two candidate numbers for the final ieee rounded result . each candidate number is associated with a rounding interval , which is simply the set of numbers that are ieee - rounded to the candidate number . the dewpoint is defined to be the number separating the two rounding intervals . the rounding decision is obtained by comparing the dewpoint against the exact quotient by applying back - multiplication . this comparison determines which of the candidate numbers is the correct ieee - rounded result . appendix d - section 4 discloses the details of a unified dewpoint rounding procedure for all ieee rounding modes , thereby eliminating the need for rounding tables . the novel dewpoint rounding of the present invention represents an improvement over current prior - art approaches for implementing ieee rounding in division , which first compute a “ rounding representative ” of the exact quotient ( i . e ., a number that belongs to the same rounding interval to which the exact quotient belongs ), and then round the rounding representative . an optimized implementation of dewpoint rounding and back multiplication is disclosed in detail in appendix b - section 7 . 6 and in appendix d - section 5 . 3 . to compute the dewpoint , use a rounding injection and a dewpoint displacement constant ( as detailed in appendix d - section 4 . 2 ). the rounding injection is added to the computed quotient , which is then truncated . the dewpoint displacement constant is then added to the truncated computed quotient to obtain the dewpoint . all the intermediate results mentioned here ( the computed quotient , the truncated computed quotient , and the dewpoint ) are also represented in redundant representation . this means that each of the additions mentioned above can be computed in constant time ( i . e ., they do not require a carry - propagate adder with a logarithmic delay ). this enables a reduction of the four ieee rounding modes to a single rounding mode , so that each separate mode need not be dealt with separately . furthermore , the test to determine which of the candidate numbers represents the proper rounding of the computed quotient involves evaluating whether the quantity ( b * dewpoint − a ) is zero , positive , or negative . it is noted that the dewpoint is very close to the exact quotient a / b , so that the absolute value of this quantity is very small , and the sign ( or zero ) of this quantity can be determined by the least - significant few bits . thus , the hardware used to determine the sign ( or zero ) can be fed by a small subset of the least - significant bits . moreover , in yet another embodiment of the present invention , the back - multiplication is split into two half - size multiplication operations that can be performed in consecutive clock cycles using the same multiplier ( refer to cycles 8 and 9 in appendix b - table 3 ). the first part of the back - multiplication is done with an estimated dewpoint ( as shown in appendix b - section 7 . 6 ). the estimated dewpoint is computed from the computed quotient of the previous iteration . an apparatus according to this embodiment of the present invention utilizes a half - size multiplier for the dewpoint back - multiplication , thereby reducing hardware requirements . addition trees in multipliers are not amenable to pipelining . short clock cycles are therefore not achievable at reasonable cost if the addition tree has too many rows . booth radix - 8 recoding reduces the number of rows in an addition tree from n to ( n + 1 )/ 3 . booth radix - 8 multipliers are usually implemented using a 3 - stage pipeline , as follows : 1 . precompute the 3 × multiple of the first operand of the multiplier and recode the second operand ; 2 . an addition tree that computes a carry - save representation of the product ; and goldschmidt &# 39 ; s algorithm performs only two multiplications per iteration . hence running goldschmidt &# 39 ; s algorithm on a 3 - stage pipeline creates unutilized cycles (“ bubbles ”) in the pipeline . these bubbles increase the latency and reduce the throughput . certain prior - art processors attempt to utilize these bubbles ( and increase throughput ) by allowing other multiplication operations to be executed during such bubbles . the present invention discloses a booth radix - 8 multiplier that allows for both operands to be either in nonredundant representation or carry - save representation . booth multipliers with one operand in redundant carry - save representation are known in the prior art , but booth multipliers with both operands in redundant representation conceptually is a novel feature of the present invention , which reduces the 3 - stage pipeline to a 2 - stage pipeline for all but the last iteration of the algorithm . the booth - 8 multiplier design that supports operands in redundant representation is not symmetric , in the sense that the first operand and second operand of the multiplier are processed differently during the first pipeline stage . during the first pipeline stage , operands represented as carry - save numbers are processed as follows : ( a ) the first operand is compressed and the 3 × multiple thereof is computed . this requires two adders . to reduce hardware requirements , an embodiment of the present invention employs the adder from the third pipeline stage for compressing the first operand . in this embodiment , the compression of the first operand appears in appendix d - table 2 as an operation that takes place in the third pipeline stage . ( b ) the second operand can be partially compressed from carry - save representation before being fed to the booth recoder . in appendix d -“ implementation of the dewpoint computation ” a recoding method is detailed . a method for determining the booth recoding of the dewpoint correction term is detailed in appendix b - section 7 . this method is based on a bound on the value of the dewpoint correction term , which determines the most significant digit position i involved in the computation ( i = 24 in appendix b - figure 3 ). a first booth recoded operand of the dewpoint correction term is computed modulo 2 − i , which has either the value of the dewpoint correction term or the value of the dewpoint correction term plus 2 − i . a second booth recoded operand is computed in the same manner , minus 2 − i . only the most significant booth recoded digit of the second booth recoded operand needs to be computed . the other digits are the same as in the first booth recoded operand . in parallel with the above computations , a signal is computed that indicates whether the first booth recoded operand represents the dewpoint correction term plus 2 − i . if the signal is a zero , the first booth recoded operand represents the dewpoint correction constant , and is chosen as the booth recoded operand . if the signal is a one , the booth rcoded operand represents the dewpoint correction constant plus 2 − i and the second booth recoded operand is chosen as the booth recoded operand . for example , 2 − i = 2 − 24 in appendix b - figure 3 . in an embodiment of the present invention , a booth recoded multiplier can be fed by either non - redundant binary operands or by redundant carry - save operands . when applied to a booth radix - 8 multiplier , this enables reducing the feedback latency to two cycles . the prior art features only booth multipliers with one operand in redundant carry - save representation or signed - digit representation . the organization of a booth multiplier according to this embodiment of the present invention has the following stages , as detailed in appendix d - section 5 . 1 . stage 1 . the two operands of the multiplier are prepared for the addition of the partial products in the second stage . the second operand is recoded in booth radix - 8 digits and the partial products are generated . if the second operand is given in carry - save representation , a partial compressor prepares the second operand for the input of a conventional booth recoder . the recoding can accept either a binary string or a carry - save encoded digit string . the first operand is processed as follows : the 3 × multiple of the operand is computed using an adder . the first operand can be represented in either binary or redundant carry - save representation . for the case where the first operand is encoded as a carry - save digit string , the computation of the 3 × multiple is preceded by a 4 : 2 adder that computes a carry - save encoding of the 3 × multiple . this carry - save encoded digit string is compressed to a binary number by the adder . for the case where the first operand is encoded as a carry - save digit string , the binary representation of the operand is also computed by a binary adder . the binary adder from the third pipeline stage can be used for this purpose if available for carry - save feedback operands . this can save an adder in the first pipeline stage . stage 2 . in the second stage , the partial products are compressed by an adder tree . in addition to the partial products , an additional row can be dedicated for an additive input . stage 3 . the third stage contains an adder to compress the carry - save representation of the product to a binary representation . this adder can be shared with the first pipeline stage . appendix d - section 6 . 1 details how a full size multiplier is used in a floating point divider . appendix b - section 6 details how a half - sized multiplier is used . while the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments , it will be appreciated that many variations , modifications and other applications of the invention may be made . [ 1 ] r . c . agarwal , f . g . gustavson , and m . s . schrnookler . series approximation methods for divide and square root in the power3 processor . in proceedings of the 13 th ieee symposium on computer arithmetic , volume 14 , pages 116 - 123 . ieee , 1999 . [ 2 ] s . f . anderson , j . g . earle , r . e . goldschmidt , and d . m . powers . the ibm 360 / 370 model 91 : floating - point execution unit . ibm journal of research and development , january 1967 . [ 3 ] p . beame , s . cook , and h . hoover . log depth circuits for division and related problems . siam journal on computing , 15 : 994 - 1003 , 1986 . [ 4 ] g . w . bewick . fast multiplication : algorithms and implementation . phd thesis , stanford university , march 1994 . 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[ 28 ] stuart f oberman . floating - point division and square root algorithms and implementation in the amd - k7 microprocessor . in koren and kornerup , editors , proceedings of the 14 th ieee symposium on computer arithmetic ( adelaide , australia ), pages 106 - 115 , los alamitos , calif ., april 1999 . ieee computer society press . [ 29 ] w . j . paul and p . - m . seidel . on the complexity of booth recoding . proceedings of the 3 rd conference on real numbers and computers ( rnc 3 ), pages 199 - 218 , 1998 . [ 30 ] j . h . reif and s . r . tate . optimal size integer division circuits . siam journal on computing , 19 ( 5 ): 912 - 924 , october 1990 . [ 31 ] d . m . russinoff . a mechanically checked proof of ieee compliance of a register - transfer - level specification of the amd - k7 floating - point multiplication , division , and square root instructions . lms journal of computation and mathematics , 1 : 148 - 200 , december 1998 . 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power gating groups of gates achieves additional power savings during run - time operation by reducing the leakage current of transistors in the gates . in one embodiment a power gate is formed by a transistor ( or many transistors in parallel ) that are in series between the power - gated gates and their power supplies , e . g ., vdd and / or gnd . the power gate ( s ) are then selectively controlled to disconnect the gates from vdd and / or ground so the leakage current can be reduced when the gates are not being used . referring to fig1 , a high - level block diagram illustrates an integrated circuit 101 such as a microprocessor , which includes multiple macro architectural features 102 such as processing cores , whose power can be controlled by placing them in power states that provide varying levels of performance , from a sleep state to a fully powered state . in addition , one or more of the macro architectural features have groups of gates 103 that can be controlled to reduce power consumption during the full ( or a reduced ) operational state during run time . fig2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of how the groups of gates can be controlled during run time to decrease power consumption . referring to fig2 , nfet power gate 201 is in series between the power - gated gates 203 and gnd . the power - gated gates 203 correspond to the group of gates 103 shown in fig1 . the gates that are power gated are typically and , or , nor , nand , and similar logic gates and are represented in fig2 as power - gated gates 203 . when the gates 203 are idle , the power gate 201 can be turned off , reducing the voltage across the gates and thereby reducing the leakage current from the gates . in addition , or instead of using the nfet 201 , a pfet 202 can be used in series with vdd , and switched off to reduce the voltage across the gates , thereby reducing the leakage current . a significant issue with run - time power gating is having adequate time to transition the gates from sleeping to fully powered , i . e ., having enough time to wake . that is , when power gate 201 is turned on , the power - gated gates take time to fully charge to their fully powered state in response to power gate 201 ( and / or 202 ) turning on . one approach is to include sufficient timing margin in the design , e . g ., a guard band in the timing design , to ensure the gates are fully powered . however , such a timing penalty is generally unacceptable in high - performance integrated circuits such as microprocessors . control logic 205 monitors the clock gate enables 221 and 223 of the source flip - flops 207 to determine when to wake , and when to sleep the power - gated gates . the number of clock gate enables shown is illustrative and other numbers of enables may be utilized based on design requirements . note that the and gate 208 may also be considered part of control logic 205 and helps control the clocking of the destination flip - flops as described further herein . note that while flip - flops are shown in fig2 , any source and destination storage elements , such as latches , may be used instead of , or in addition to , the flip - flops shown in fig2 . fig2 illustrates the basic operation and construction of an exemplary embodiment . a chosen set of destination flip - flops 209 determines the set of gates 203 that can be power gated . that is , a gate can be power gated if all of its output paths terminate exclusively at one or more of the destination flip - flops 209 . gates with output paths that go to places other than destination flip - flops are not power gated . for example , the inverter 215 has an output path 217 that goes somewhere other than destination flip - flops 209 , e . g ., to a different flip - flop , latch , or output port . accordingly , inverter 215 is not included as part of the power - gated gates 203 . in an exemplary embodiment the control logic 205 is a state machine that controls the power gate , monitors the clock gate enables and determines when to wake the power - gated gates , and when the power - gated gates can sleep . consider an initial state of sleep . in the initial sleep state shown in fig2 , destination flip - flops 209 are blocked from clocking and the power - gated gates 203 are sleeping . the term sleeping refers to the power gate 201 ( or 202 ) being turned off to reduce leakage current in the power - gated gates 203 . in the sleeping state the state machine in the control logic 205 is in a first state in which the wake signal is deasserted . fig3 illustrates a timing diagram associated with the circuits shown in fig2 . the term “ wake ” refers to the power gate 201 ( and / or 202 ) being turned on to allow current to flow in the power - gated gates 203 . referring to fig3 , assume a clock signal clk 301 on clock signal line 224 . latches 226 and 228 are used to supply the enable signals ena 1 221 and ena 2 223 for the clock signals for source flip - flops 207 . the enable signals are anded with the clock signals in and gates 230 and 232 . gates 203 wake in response to assertion of any of the source flip - flop clock gate enables 221 or 223 ( shown at 302 ) after the delay through or gates 225 , 227 , and 229 . the state machine flip - flop 231 asserts its output on the rising edge of the next cycle at 304 , thus changing to a second state . the assertion of the output of the flip - flop 231 results , after a delay , in the assertion of the dest_ena_ 3 signal at the output of the and gate 208 at 306 . the destination flip - flops 209 are then clocked after the delay through latch 210 and and gate 212 . the enable ( ena 3 ) for the destination flip - flops is assumed to be asserted at that time . using the state machine , there is at least a one - cycle delay between assertion of the source enables at 302 and the assertion of the destination enable at 306 , allowing the power - gated gates time to fully charge before the destination flip - flop clocks are unblocked and clocked . the power - gated gates 203 are held awake by the control logic 205 until the destination flip - flops are clocked . once destination flip - flops are clocked after dest_ena_ 3 236 is asserted at 306 and the source enables 221 and 223 are deasserted , the output of the state machine flip - flop deasserts at 308 at the rising clock edge , returning to the first state , causing the power - gated gates to sleep by deassertion of the wake signal at 310 . any further clocks for the destination flip - flops 209 are blocked by and gate 208 until source flip - flops are clocked again . the destination flip - flops will not change , of course , if the source flip - flops do not change . the blocking function allows a full clock period before destination flip - flop inputs are consumed . an embodiment may have multiple destination enables . if so , there is a need to wait until all destination clock enable signals have asserted before putting the power - gated gates to sleep . since conceivably the destination enables can arrive at different times , the signals can be stored in flip - flops and then reset when all bits have been asserted at least once and supplied to the logic to cause sleep through the flip - flop 231 . in an embodiment , bits could be encoded to save on the number of flip - flops . fig4 a illustrates an embodiment in which the power - gated gates 403 between source flip - flop 402 and destination flip - flop 404 are coupled to a single power gate 405 . in fig4 b multiple power gates 407 and 409 are used . if there are a large number of power - gated gates , the distribution of wake to the power gates may take several stages of buffers . fig4 b shows how timing requirements can be relaxed by partitioning gates into critical timing gates ( attached to wake 1 ) and non - critical timing gates ( attached to wake 2 ). thus , power gate 407 receives wake 1 and power gate 409 receives wake 2 . gates temporally closest to the source flip - flops are most critical . in the embodiment shown in fig4 b , the power gate for the critical gates receive wake 1 using no buffers ( or fewer buffers ) as compared to wake 2 . for ease of illustration , wake 2 is shown being generated with one buffer and wake 1 with no buffers . other number of buffers may be required depending on the particular implementation and the number of power gates driven by each of the wake signals . timing requirements are aggressive , but can be relaxed . the or of the enables of the source flip - flops supplies the state machine flip - flop 231 . the clock for the flip - flop 231 can be delayed , however , since it initiates the sleeping function , not the waking . a second timing constraint is that the gates should be fully powered by the time they are used , or timing can suffer . they should be wakened by the time the source flip - flops outputs can transition . this timing constraint can be relaxed by not power gating stages of gates immediately following the source flip - flops . referring to fig4 c , gates 411 and 415 are not power gated and not included with power - gated gates 417 to provide additional timing margin for the control signal wake to wake the power - gated logic gates . both of these timing relaxation techniques shown in fig4 b and 4c reduce the leakage savings . as shown in fig4 c , the setup requirement can be relaxed by trading off coverage of how many gates are subject to power gating . the active power gating approach described herein is applicable to microprocessor design , but is widely applicable to circuit design generally . because the techniques herein can be generally applied to digital circuitry , the active power gating described herein can achieve high coverage , which in turn means more power savings . timing impact is modest . the timing impact results from a term being anded in and gate 208 in the clock enable path , and there is additional load for the one or more source enable signals from the or tree . as clock gating efficiency improves over current approaches , the active power gating herein will automatically improve in terms of its impact on leakage savings . power gating described herein may lead to higher use of lowvt ( lvt ) gates , or even ultralowvt ( ulvt ) gates , within power - gated domains because leakage power is selectively and transiently reduced . active - mode power gating puts leakage power on par with dynamic power when making performance - power tradeoffs . an additional benefit of the approach described in fig2 is that dynamic power is likely to be reduced , too , because of the clock blocking function by and gate 208 on the clock for the destination flip - flops . that is , if the destination clocks are blocked by the control logic 205 , additional power savings occurs . as has been described above , pipeline power gating ( ppg ) reduces leakage of inactive circuits during run time . in certain embodiments , it is possible to increase the logical coverage of ppg while preserving the original power savings so that leakage savings is increased . referring to fig5 , consider the illustrated configuration in which gates in group a supplying destination flip - flops 501 and gates in group b supplying destination flip - flops 503 are power gated . gates in group ab are not power gated because they terminate in more than one set of destinations , both group a destination flip - flops and group b destination flip - flops . group ab gates must be awake anytime either group a or group b destination flops are clocked . another important concern is that power - gated domain outputs must not drive fully powered gates without isolation gates . the consequence would be crossover current and possible compromise of reliability . an isolation gate is a gate that is configured to selectively ignore an input , and requires a full - rail signal to control it . for group a and group b gates , the isolation gates are the destination flops , and the isolation controls are the clocks . adding isolation gates to the outputs of group ab gates would impact timing if generally applied . as shown in fig6 , logical coverage can be increased by combining the multiple sets of destination flip - flops into a single set of destination flops . as shown in fig6 , groups of gates a and b are subsumed into a larger group ab . the circuit shown in fig6 increases the logical coverage , but the main problem with this approach is that static and dynamic power savings may actually be reduced . group a gates are now likely to be slept less often than in the original configuration since they are awakened by any of the group a and group b source enables . similarly , dynamic power is likely to increase because group a destination flops are clocked when either ena 3 _a or ena 3 _b is asserted , instead of just ena 3 _a . the same static and dynamic disadvantages apply to group b gates . in addition , there are two other problems with the approach shown in fig6 . first , it is unclear which group of gates should be combined when there are more than two sets of destinations . consider if there are also group c , ac , bc , and abc gates . if all groups are subsumed into a group abc , then the power savings problem described above is worse . if group ab is formed , then groups ac , bc , and abc are not included in the logical coverage ( without duplication of logic ). the second problem is that the register transfer language ( rtl ) description must be rewritten to restructure the logic as groups are combined . fig7 shows an exemplary approach for combining power - gated groups that provides improved logical coverage and power savings . unlike the circuit in fig6 , in fig7 group a and group b gates are power gated as often as they are in the original configuration in fig5 . also , group a and group b destination flip - flops are clocked as often as they are in the original configuration . therefore , in fig7 , group ab gates add to the leakage savings . in this approach , anytime either group a or group b gates are awake , group ab gates are also woken . the function of the and gate 701 driving the group a power gate is to ensure group ab gates are awake before group a gates are woken , i . e ., the and is for power deracing . the same principle applies to the and gate 703 driving the group b power gate . the approach described by fig7 provides another advantage in that the formation of any groups does not prevent the formation of other groups . if there are also group c , ac , bc , and abc gates , they can all be power gated separately using similar logic . note that the preferred approach reduces timing margin by adding an and gate delay in the power gate enable path . also , the register transfer language ( rtl ) description of the circuit has to be updated as combined groups are added . but the approach of fig7 increases the logical coverage and leakage savings from pipeline power gating without decreasing the dynamic power savings , and the approach is scalable for all combinations of groups . fig8 illustrates an embodiment in which flip - flops 502 and 504 supply and gate 801 in group ab . other logic gates are typically included in group ab but fig8 only shows and gate 801 for ease of illustration . as can be seen in fig5 - 8 , source storage element 502 is a source element for both group a and group b through the combinational logic in group ab . similarly , source storage element 504 is a source element for both group a and group b supplied through combinational logic in group ab . thus , source storage elements such as flip - flops 502 and 504 may serve as source storage elements for different groups of destination storage elements 809 and 811 . thus , assertion of either of the clock enable signals ena 1 _b or ena 1 _a wakes both group a and group b ( and group ab ). the power savings can be seen in that group a can remain power gated when ena 2 _b is asserted and group b can remain power gated when ena 2 _a is asserted . group ab is wakened whenever any of the enables for group a or group b are asserted . thus , group ab can be slept when both group a and group b are slept , saving power as compared to fig5 . in addition , group a can be slept when group ab and b are awake and group b can be slept when group a and ab are awake , thus providing power savings as compared to fig5 or 6 . while circuits and physical structures have been generally presumed in describing embodiments of the invention , it is well recognized that in modern semiconductor design and fabrication , physical structures and circuits may be embodied in computer - readable descriptive form suitable for use in subsequent design , simulation , test or fabrication stages . structures and functionality presented as discrete components in the exemplary configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component . various embodiments of the invention are contemplated to include circuits , systems of circuits , related methods , and computer - readable medium having encodings thereon ( e . g ., hdl , verilog , gdsii data ) of such circuits , systems , and methods , as described herein . computer - readable medium includes tangible computer readable medium e . g ., a disk , tape , or other magnetic , optical , or electronic storage medium . in addition to computer - readable medium having encodings thereon of circuits , systems , and methods , the computer - readable media may store instructions as well as data that can be used to implement the invention . structures described herein may be implemented using software executing on a processor , firmware executing on hardware , or by a combination of software , firmware , and hardware . the description of the invention set forth herein is illustrative , and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims . other variations and modifications of the embodiments disclosed herein may be made based on the description set forth herein , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims . | 8 |
fig1 shows a generic rather thin airfoil or fluid dynamic foil ( fdf ) 43 and its air or fluid flow lines 31 that is operating at angle of attack ∝ 50 . this type airfoil is what is most commonly used today as the shape of aircraft wings , helicopter rotary wings , wind turbine rotor blades , hydrofoils , etc . by measurements of the length of the chord line 44 and maximum deviation from the chord line of the mean camber line 45 it can be established that the maximum deviation of the camber line as a percentage of chord line is about two percent in this example . this percentage is given as the first digit in the four digit naca designation of airfoil shapes . for general background information , when a four digit naca designation is given , it is defined as : 1 ) first digit = maximum camber in percent of chord , 2 ) second digit = location of position of maximum camber in percent of chord as measured from the leading edge of the airfoil , and 3 ) last two digits = maximum thickness of the airfoil in percent of chord . the fig1 airfoil therefore would have a designation of naca 2414 . the figures presented in this application normally show airfoils or fdf &# 39 ; s horizontally oriented . it is to be realized that it is within the spirit and scope of the invention that they may be oriented vertically or at any other angle including a rotation of 180 degrees from the orientation of the figures as presented . fig2 presents a prior art fat or high camber fdf 51 that would offer substantially higher c l &# 39 ; s than the slim airfoil given in fig1 except that , due to its high amount of camber and hence fat shape , would experience separation of the fluid flow over its aft end as is indicated by turbulent fluid flow lines 36 . due to its very high degree of camber and hence its fat shape this particular example has a maximum camber as percent of chord of about 15 . as such it would not even fit into the nasa four digit designation . assuming it a slimming down to a maximum camber as percent of chord designation of a single digit of nine , the designation would be : naca 9346 . as can be seen we are dealing with a whole different set of dimensions here compared to the fig1 thin airfoil . fig3 shows a way to do boundary layer control ( blc ) and to avoid the turbulent flow separation seen in the fig2 high camber fdf . this was done in prior art tests by aspirating or sucking in fluid through blc bleed opening 41 proximal where turbulence and flow separation would normally begin . fig4 shows another way to avoid the turbulent separation drag . in this prior art case test case it is accomplished by expelling fluid through blc discharge opening 49 disposed proximal where the turbulent separation would normally begin . what the prior art examples given in fig3 and 4 do is reduce or eliminate the drag values associated with turbulent separation flow patterns . the fig3 and 4 coefficient of lift ( c l ) has been measured in the 4 - 4 . 5 area which is about 2 . 5 times greater than the c l of 1 . 6 or so experienced by the more accepted thin airfoil presented in fig1 . a main reason that the fat high camber airfoils have not seen acceptance is because of the weight , cost , and complexity of the blowers and their powering means required to do the air or fluid pumping . referring back to the discussion of fig2 , it is considered that a preferred maximum camber as percent of chord of at least seven is called for in the case of the instant invention fdf 42 with a value of at least nine more normal and a value of eleven or higher giving best results . fig5 presents a basic variant of the instant invention whereby a rotary element 30 is placed as a forward portion of the shape of the high camber airfoil or fdf 42 . the high camber fdf &# 39 ; s aft portion 52 makes up the rest of the fdf 42 . in this instance the rotary element 30 accelerates fluid by means of the coanda effect over the upper surface of the fdf 42 as it rotates as indicated by rotational arrow 32 . this acceleration of oncoming fluid means that a higher velocity and lower static pressure results over the upper surface of this high camber fdf 42 as is well defined by bernoulli &# 39 ; s equations . the simple and low cost approach suggested here gives even higher efficiencies , due to higher velocities and related lower static pressures , than the high camber fat or high camber fdf shapes of fig2 - 4 . it is expected that an overall efficiency gain of 25 - 30 percent can be realized compared to the prior art of fig2 - 4 which would mean a c l of 5 - 6 may be realized . that c l is 3 to 4 times that of the present day state of the art thin airfoils . it should be possible that this can be accomplished without blc ; however , provision to do blc simply and at low cost , ideally in the preferred embodiment of the instant invention by using energy supplied by the rotary element 30 , is presented in following figures and their discussions . fig6 presents a way to control ∝ of the fdf 42 by simply rotating an aft portion 52 of the fdf 42 in relation to the rotating element 32 as is shown by rotation arrow 46 . in this case it is rotated down to give an increased ∝. fig7 shows rotation of aft portion 52 of fdf 42 upward which gives in a negative ∝. fig8 is a topside plan view of a preferred embodiment of the instant invention in the shape of a tapered wing 53 . a rotary element 30 drive motor 34 , fdf aft portion 52 drive motor 35 , portion of attached body 48 , and optional turbine drive means 38 are shown . note that the fluid discharge openings or exits 41 are in the form of longitudinally oriented slots in this wing 53 . slots are normally preferred over round openings since they spread the fluid flow that reduces turbulence over the wing more evenly . slots may be staggered , angled , or oriented in other ways . fig9 is a cross - section , as taken through plane 9 - 9 of fig8 that shows , in addition to the rotary element 30 as part of the fdf 42 , a way to accomplish blc by expelling fluid to the upper surface of the fdf 42 . note that fluid used for blc is preferably pumped or energized here by the rotary element 30 to insure simplicity of the concept . the fluid being pumped by the rotary element 30 is restrained by labyrinth seal 33 , or other flow restricting means , so that its majority is directed to passageway 39 to fluid exit 41 . it is also possible to supply blc fluid pumping means as separate items , not shown here , than use of the rotary element 30 and that is considered within the spirit and scope of the invention . it is important to note the fluid flow arrows 31 forward of the rotary element 30 . these show the fluid approaching the rotary element 30 to be induced to turn upward rather than divided more evenly top and bottom as was seen in the high camber prior art airfoils of fig2 , and 4 . this feature not only increases flow over the top of the fdf 42 but also increases the velocity of the fluid where it first encounters the forward end of the fdf 42 . what this means is that there is a lower static pressure at the forward end of the fdf 42 and hence a lower overall drag component compared to the prior art high camber airfoils of fig2 , and 4 . fig1 presents a cross - section , as taken through plane 10 - 10 of fig8 , that shows how the rotary element 30 can be integrated structurally with the full fdf 42 . this is done by way of ball bearings 37 here , however ; other ways of providing separate movement of the rotary element 30 from the fdf &# 39 ; s aft body 52 such as fluid bearings , sleeve bearings , etc . that , while not shown , are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention . fig1 is a cross - section , as taken through plane 11 - 11 of fig8 , that shows a means to power the rotation of the fdf &# 39 ; s aft portion 52 around the rotary element 30 . this is done here by means of a rack and pinion gear 55 with said gear &# 39 ; s rotation arrow 47 also shown . other means of rotating the fdf &# 39 ; s aft portion 52 such as hydraulic actuators , or the like , while not shown , are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention . fig1 presents a cross - section , as taken through plane 12 - 12 of fig8 , that illustrates a way to drive the rotary element 30 by means of an optional fluid turbine 38 . that fluid turbine 38 , while shown at the extreme or outward end of the fdf 42 in fig8 , may be positioned anywhere along the length of the fdf . it would be best located where shown when the instant invention fdf 42 is used in a rotary wing application such as is the case of the rotary wing of a helicopter or wind turbine blade . the reason for this is that the extreme of such rotary wings are traveling at the highest velocity and hence have the most fluid dynamic energy available to drive them . fig1 shows a cross - section as taken though the same plane of the high camber fdf 42 as 9 - 9 of fig8 but in this instance fluid is aspirated into the fdf 42 to accomplish blc . note that a labyrinth seal 33 is positioned further forward here to allow the rotary element 30 to work on low pressure incoming fluid rather than building up pressure as in the version shown in fig1 . fig1 shows the outline of a rotary element 30 as would be used in a tapered fdf wing that was presented in fig8 . the smaller diameter areas 56 are bearing seats in this version . fig1 presents another variation of the instant invention where the complete fdf 42 including its rotary element rotates about their attachment structure 48 in unison . this is presented since , while not as elegant as that presented in fig8 where only the fdf &# 39 ; s aft portion is used for trim control , it would be an inherently structurally stronger design than the instant invention fdf presented in the earlier figures . either the means to control ∝ presented in fig8 or fig1 can be employed and either is considered within the spirit and scope of the instant invention . fig1 is a cross - section , as taken though plane 16 - 16 of fig1 , that shows how trim can be accomplished by use of flaps 40 . fig1 shows a rotary element 30 as might be used in straight fdf wing version of the instant invention as was presented in fig1 . while the invention has been described in connection with a preferred and several alternative embodiments , it will be understood that there is no intention to thereby limit the invention . on the contrary , there is intended to be covered all alternatives , modifications , and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims , which are the sole definition of the invention . | 1 |
this document generally describes a process of selecting computing resources in a pool of computing resources that satisfy particular hardware and software constraints to perform tests . a computing resource can be a system of one or more computers connected together , or a virtual machine executing on a system of one or more computers . a pool of computing resources is a collection of computing resources . in implementations where the computing resources are a system of one or more computers , each computing resource can execute software , e . g ., operating system ( s ), system software , and include hardware , e . g ., processor , memory , network resources . in implementations where the computing resources are virtual machines , the computing resources can be instantiated by a system and have software and hardware resources allocated to each computing resource from a pool of resources maintained by the system . the computing resources can be organized into groups of computing resources , with each group including computing resources that share one or more of the same resource characteristics . the system can receive one or more requests that each include multiple tests to perform , and select a computing resource in the pool of computing resources to perform each test . a test may include , for example , steps , modules , or routines to be executed by a computing resource . a user ( or the request ) can specify required characteristics that identify required hardware and software resource characteristics of computing resources that can perform tests in a request . a required characteristic is a software or hardware resource characteristic that is a necessary condition that must be satisfied by computing resources selected to perform the tests . for instance , the user can specify that the tests need to be performed by computing resources with a particular amount of memory , with greater than a particular amount of memory , that execute a particular operating system or operating system version , and so on . alternatively , the test itself may be associated with the required characteristics that must be satisfied by the computing resources . some requests may contain specifications that are concrete , while others may be non - concrete . if the specification is concrete , it identifies specific type and version of hardware and / or software characteristics that are required for the test to be performed . if the request is non - concrete , the characteristics can be satisfied by more than one type of resource characteristic , e . g ., hardware or software resource characteristic . for instance , a non - concrete request may specify that the tests need to be performed by computing resources that execute a particular operating system ( e . g ., microsoft windows ), but not specify a particular operating system version ( e . g ., xp , vista , windows 7 , windows 8 , etc .). in this instance , any computing resource that executes the particular operating system can be used to execute the test , regardless of which version of the operating system the computing resource executes . the system determines one or more groups of computing resources that include computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics . for example , if the request contains a concrete specification that specifies a particular version of an operating system , only the group of computing resources having that particular operating system can be selected to perform the test . on the other hand , if the request is non - concrete with respect to the version of the operating system , computing resources from multiple groups may potentially be selected to perform the test . if the request is non - concrete , the system first determines all concrete specifications that can be used to satisfy the request , i . e ., determines all the groups of computing resources that can be used to perform the test . after determining the groups of computing resources that satisfy required characteristics , the system shuffles the specifications and then tries to satisfy them one by one . for example , it is possible to randomly shuffle a finite set with complexity of o ( n ), such as by using the fisher - yates shuffle or another shuffling algorithm . following the example above , if the request is non - concrete with respect to the operating system and there are computing resources with 3 different versions of a requested operating system ( e . g ., 5 devices with windows xp , 10 devices with windows vista and 15 devices with windows 7 ), the system would identify 3 groups of resources , shuffle them and then try to satisfy the request using a resource from one of those groups . this would result in probabilities of 33 %- 33 %- 33 % for each version of the os for the starting requests , regardless of the number of the devices in each group . while this algorithm is more likely to deplete machines of the scarcest type of os version sooner than randomly selecting any resource with the requested os regardless of type , it attempts to maintain fairness between resource distribution for the tests given the current state of the device pool . fig1 illustrates an example of selecting computing resources to perform tests . in the example of fig1 a test system 150 , e . g ., a system of one or more computers in one or more locations , or one or more virtual machines executing on one or more computers in one or more locations , receives a request 110 , e . g ., from a user device . the request 110 identifies multiple tests , e . g ., tests 1 - n 112 - 118 , and identifies , for each test , required hardware and software characteristics for computing resources on which the test is to be performed , e . g ., that the computing resource should have at least version 3 . 0 of the operating system linux and have a 32 bit processor . the test system 150 maintains multiple groups of computing resources 162 - 172 . the computing resources in each group share one or more resource characteristics , e . g ., hardware characteristics , software characteristics , or both . for instance , group 1 162 includes computing resources that have 32 bit processors and execute version 3 . 1 of the operating system linux . group 2 164 includes computing resources that have 32 bit processors and execute version 3 . 0 of the linux operating system . the test system 150 receives the request 110 , and obtains the required characteristics for each test identified in the request 110 , e . g ., from metadata included in the request 110 . in some implementations , the required characteristics can be the same for every test identified in the request 110 . in some other implementations , the required characteristics can vary among the tests identified in the request 110 . after obtaining the required characteristics , the test system 150 determines , for each test , groups of computing resources that include computing resources that satisfy each of the required characteristics for the test . for instance , the test system 150 determines that groups 1 - 4 162 - 168 include computing resources that satisfy one of the required characteristics , e . g ., that the computing resources in the groups have a 32 bit processor . the test system 150 determines that groups 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 162 - 166 , 170 , include computing resources that satisfy a different required characteristic , e . g ., that the computing resources in the groups execute at least version 3 . 0 of the linux operating system . the test system 150 therefore determines that groups 1 - 3 162 - 166 include computing resources that satisfy all of the required characteristics for the tests identified in the request 110 . the test system 150 then randomly selects a group of computing resources from the determined groups 162 - 166 , and provides a test , e . g ., test 112 , to a computing resource in the randomly selected group . the test system 150 selects a computing resource to perform the test 112 by identifying an available computing resource in the group , e . g ., a computing resource that is not already performing a test . the test system 150 randomly selects a group of computing resources for each test included in the request 110 , and provides the test to an available computing resource in the randomly selected group . if there is no available computing resource in the selected group , the test system 150 randomly selects from among the remaining groups of computing resources and provides the test to an available computing resource in the randomly selected group . fig2 shows an example environment 200 in which a test system 250 , e . g ., the test system 150 of fig1 , performs tests . the example environment 200 includes a network 202 , e . g ., a local area network ( lan ), wide area network ( wan ), e . g ., the internet , or a combination thereof . the network 202 connects user devices , e . g ., a user device 210 , with the test system 250 . the test system 250 maintains a pool of computing resources that includes computing resources with respective hardware and software resource characteristics . each computing resource is included in a group of computing resources that share one or more of the same resource characteristics , e . g ., groups 262 - 266 . the user device 210 is an electronic device , e . g ., a computer , that can send a request to perform one or more tests to the test system 250 , e . g ., a test request 222 . the request 222 includes test data 224 for a test to be performed by the test system 250 . the test data 224 may specify steps , routines , modules , data , and so on , to be performed as part of the test by a computing resource included in the pool 260 . for example , if the test includes the creation of a test user , the test data 224 may include a user name , the user &# 39 ; s role and other data related to the test user . as another example , for if the test relates to provisioning a virtual machine , the test data 224 may include the name of the virtual machine , a template identifier from which the virtual machine may be cloned , and / or other data related to the virtual machine and the management of the virtual machine . the test request 222 also includes required characteristics 226 , e . g ., software characteristics or hardware characteristics , for computing resources selected to perform the test . each of the required characteristics 226 can identify one or more resource characteristics of a computing resource , e . g ., minimum speed of a processor , a type of processor , a minimum number of cores of a processor , number of processors , type of memory , amount of memory , operating system , version ( s ) of an operating system , software , version ( s ) of software , and so on . for example , a data processing intensive test may require a minimum , or a particular , number of central processing units ( cpus ) necessary to perform the processing for the test , and a minimum , or a particular , amount of available memory in order for data to be processed correctly during the test . in some implementations , the required characteristics 226 are specified in metadata attached to , or included with , the test request 222 or test data 224 . for example , the user may generate a document or other type of file that specifies required characteristics 226 for the test . in this way , the required characteristics for each test to be performed by the test system 250 can be received by the test system 250 along with the data identifying the test that is to be performed . the test system 250 includes a required characteristic engine 252 and a test deployment engine 254 . the required characteristic engine 252 can obtain required characteristics 226 for a received test , and determine groups of computing resources that can satisfy the required characteristics 226 . while each determined group includes computing resources that satisfy each of the required characteristics 226 for the test , the resource characteristics in the group may vary from group to group . for instance , if the required characteristics 226 require a 32 bit processor and a particular operating system greater than version 7 , a first group that satisfies the required characteristics , e . g ., group 262 , can include computing resources that have been allocated 32 bit processors and the particular operating system version 8 , and a second group that satisfies the required characteristics , e . g ., group 264 , can include computing resources that have been allocated 32 bit processors and the particular operating system version 9 . the test deployment engine 254 obtains information identifying the groups of computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics 226 for the test identified in the test data 224 , e . g ., from the required characteristic engine 252 , and select a computing resource to perform the test . in general , in order to select a computing resource to perform a given test , the test deployment engine 254 randomly selects a group from among the groups that have characteristics that satisfy the required characteristics 226 for the test , and determines whether there are any available computing resources , e . g ., any computing resources not currently performing a test , in the selected group . if there are any available computing resource in the selected group , the test deployment engine 254 provides the test to one of the available computing resources , as described below with reference to fig3 . if there are no available computing resources in the selected group , the test deployment engine 254 randomly selects from amongst the remaining groups that have characteristics that satisfy the required characteristics 226 for the test , as described below with reference to fig4 . similarly , the required characteristic engine 252 can determine groups of computing resources for each other test identified in the test request 222 , and the test deployment engine 254 can provide each of the other tests to a randomly selected group of computing resources . after all of the tests identified in the test request 222 have been performed by computing resources , the test system 250 provides test results 230 back to the user device 210 , e . g ., in response to the request 222 . alternatively , as each test is completed , the test system 250 can provide test results for the test to the user device 210 without waiting for all of the tests to be completed . fig3 is a flow chart of an example process 300 for selecting a computing resource to perform a test . the example process 300 is performed by a system of one or more computers . for example , the process 300 may be performed by the test system 250 of fig2 . the system maintains a pool of computing resources ( step 302 ). the pool of computing resources includes computing resources with specific hardware resource characteristics , e . g ., processors , memory , network resources , and software resource characteristics , e . g ., operating system types , operating system versions , software applications , and so on . the system can store information identifying each of the computing resources and resource characteristics , e . g ., hardware and software resource characteristics , possessed by each of the computing resource in the pool . in some implementations , the system can maintain a mapping between each computing resource and identifiers of resource characteristics of the computing resource . the system maintains the computing resources in groups . each group of computing resources includes computing resources that share one or more of the same resource characteristics , e . g ., the same version of an operating system , same processor type , and so on . the system receives a request to perform a test on a computing resource ( step 304 ). the request identifies one or more required characteristics for the computing resource on which the test is to be performed , e . g ., required software characteristics , required hardware characteristics , or both , that identify constraints on resource characteristics of the computing resource on which the test is to be performed . for instance , one of the required characteristics may specify that the test should be performed on a computing resource with a 32 bit processor . the system determines groups of computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics ( step 306 ). that is , the system determines groups of computing resources that have characteristics that satisfy all of the required characteristics for the test . the system identifies resource characteristics that satisfy the required characteristics . as described above , some required characteristics can be satisfied by more than one resource characteristic . for instance , a required characteristic can be a particular operating system greater than version 7 . thus , resource characteristics that can satisfy the required characteristic can be the particular operating system version 8 and the particular operating system version 9 . the system identifies groups of computing resources that include computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics . in some implementations the system stores information identifying each determined group . the system randomly selects a group of computing resources from the groups that include computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics ( step 308 ). the system can utilize any random selection process to select the group of computing resources , e . g ., a process with sufficient entropy , or any pseudorandom process , e . g ., a process exhibiting statistical randomness but generated by a deterministic process . in some implementations , the system randomly shuffles the groups to determine a random order for the groups and then selects one of the shuffled groups , e . g ., the first shuffled group in the random order . the system selects an available computing resource from the selected group ( step 310 ). that is , the system determines whether there are any available computing resource in the selected group and , if there are , selects one of the available computing resources . the system can randomly select an available computing resource from the available computing resources in the selected group , e . g ., the system can obtain information identifying all available computing resources and randomly select a computing resource . alternatively , the system can select a first available computing resource in the selected group , e . g ., the system can obtain information identifying all available computing resources in the selected group and select the first identified computing resource in the information . an available computing resource is a computing resource that is not currently performing a test and is not otherwise unavailable to perform the test , e . g ., has not crashed or gone offline . upon selecting an available computing resource , the system stores information identifying the computing resource as unavailable . if the selected computing resource is the last available computing resource in the selected group , the system can store information identifying that the group includes no available computing resources . furthermore , if there are no available computing resources in the group , the system randomly selects a remaining group of computing resources , as described below with reference to fig4 . when a computing resource in the group finishes performing a test , the system can identify the resource as available and modify the stored information to indicate that the group again includes one or more available resources . the system causes the test to be performed on the selected computing resource ( step 312 ). for example , the system can provide data identifying the test to the computing resource with instructions , e . g ., executable code , that cause the selected computing resource to perform the test . after the selected computing resource has finished performing the test , the system receives test results from the computing resource , provides the test results to the user device , and identifies the computing resource as available to perform another test the system performs steps 304 - 312 for each test received a given test request . in some implementations , if two or more of the tests in the test request have the same required characteristics , the system can only determine the groups of computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics for the initial test in the test request and re - use that information for subsequent tests in the request that have the same required characteristics . fig4 is a flow chart of another example process 400 for selecting a computing resource to perform a test . the example process 400 is performed by a system of one or more computers . for example , the process 400 may be performed by the test system 250 of fig2 . the system receives a request to perform a test on a computing resource that satisfies one or more required characteristics for the test ( step 402 ). the request includes a test and required characteristics of computing resources that can perform the test . the system determines groups of computing resources that include computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics ( step 404 ). the system determines the groups as described above with reference to fig3 . the system randomly selects a group of computing resources from the determined groups of computing resources ( step 406 ). the system performs a random selection of the determined groups , as described above with reference to fig3 . the system determines that there are no available computing resources in the selected group ( step 408 ). in some implementations , the system maintains information identifying groups of computing resources that do not include available computing resources . the system can check whether the selected group is included in this information , and if so can determine that there are no available computing resources . the system selects a different group of computing resources from the determined groups of computing resources ( step 410 ). in some implementations , upon determining that there is no available computing resource in the group , the system randomly selects from among the remaining groups of computing resources that include computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics . in some other implementations , rather than randomly selecting a different group , the system can pre - compute a random order of groups of computing resources that satisfy the required characteristics . in these implementations , the system can select the first group identified by the random order , e . g ., with reference to step 406 , and then upon determining there are no available computing resources in the selected first group , the system can select the second group identified by the random order . in some implementations the system can effect this pre - computation by performing a particular process on the groups of computing resources , e . g ., a fisher - yates shuffle , knuth shuffle , and so on . after selecting a different group of computing resources , the system provides the test to an available computing resource included in the different group . if there is no available computing resource in the different group , the system repeats steps 406 - 410 . in some implementations , rather than perform the process 400 , after determining the groups that satisfy the required characteristics in step 306 , the system can consult the data identifying groups that have no available computing resources and remove any such groups from the determined groups that satisfy the required characteristics , i . e ., to ensure that a group with no available resources is not the group that is randomly selected to perform the test . although the specification describes selecting computing resources to perform a test , the described techniques can be generalized to selecting computing resources from a pool of computing resources for any purpose . for instance , computing resources can be selected to satisfy web requests with different constraints . additionally , the described techniques can be applied to other situations to reduce the possibility of starvation of resources . for example , a car rental service can utilize the described techniques to create groups of cars , with each group including cars that share one or more characteristics , e . g ., model , manufacturer , color , four wheel vs two wheel drive . the car rental service can select cars , using the described techniques , to provide to customers who identify specific constraints . embodiments of the subject matter and the operations described in this document can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry , or in computer software , firmware , or hardware , including the structures disclosed in this document and their structural equivalents , or in combinations of one or more of them . embodiments of the subject matter described in this document can be implemented as one or more computer programs , i . e ., one or more modules of computer program instructions , encoded on computer storage medium for execution by , or to control the operation of , data processing apparatus . alternatively or in addition , the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially - generated propagated signal , e . g ., a machine - generated electrical , optical , or electromagnetic signal , that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus . a computer storage medium can be , or be included in , a computer - readable storage device , a computer - readable storage substrate , a random or serial access memory array or device , or a combination of one or more of them . moreover , while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal , a computer storage medium can be a source or destination of computer program instructions encoded in an artificially - generated propagated signal . the computer storage medium can also be , or be included in , one or more separate physical components or media ( e . g ., multiple cds , disks , or other storage devices ). the operations described in this document can be implemented as operations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored on one or more computer - readable storage devices or received from other sources . the term “ data processing apparatus ” encompasses all kinds of apparatus , devices , and machines for processing data , including by way of example a programmable processor , a computer , a system on a chip , or multiple ones , or combinations , of the foregoing . the apparatus can include special purpose logic circuitry , e . g ., an fpga ( field programmable gate array ) or an asic ( application - specific integrated circuit ). the apparatus can also include , in addition to hardware , code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question , e . g ., code that constitutes processor firmware , a protocol stack , a database management system , an operating system , a cross - platform runtime environment , a virtual machine , or a combination of one or more of them . the apparatus and execution environment can realize various different computing model infrastructures , such as web services , distributed computing and grid computing infrastructures . a computer program ( also known as a program , software , software application , script , or code ) can be written in any form of programming language , including compiled or interpreted languages , declarative or procedural languages , and it can be deployed in any form , including as a stand - alone program or as a module , component , subroutine , object , or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment . a computer program may , but need not , correspond to a file in a file system . a program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data ( e . g ., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document ), in a single file dedicated to the program in question , or in multiple coordinated files ( e . g ., files that store one or more modules , sub - programs , or portions of code ). a computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network . the processes and logic flows described in this document can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform actions by operating on input data and generating output . the processes and logic flows can also be performed by , and apparatus can also be implemented as , special purpose logic circuitry , e . g ., an fpga ( field programmable gate array ) or an asic ( application - specific integrated circuit ). processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include , by way of example , both general and special purpose microprocessors , and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer . generally , a processor will receive instructions and data from a read - only memory or a random access memory or both . the essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data . generally , a computer will also include , or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to , or both , one or more mass storage devices for storing data , e . g ., magnetic , magneto - optical disks , or optical disks . however , a computer need not have such devices . moreover , a computer can be embedded in another device , e . g ., a mobile telephone , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a mobile audio or video player , a game console , a global positioning system ( gps ) receiver , or a portable storage device ( e . g ., a universal serial bus ( usb ) flash drive ), to name just a few . devices suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non - volatile memory , media and memory devices , including by way of example semiconductor memory devices , e . g ., eprom , eeprom , and flash memory devices ; magnetic disks , e . g ., internal hard disks or removable disks ; magneto - optical disks ; and cd - rom and dvd - rom disks . the processor and the memory can be supplemented by , or incorporated in , special purpose logic circuitry . to provide for interaction with a user , embodiments of the subject matter described in this document can be implemented on a computer having a display device , e . g ., a crt ( cathode ray tube ) or lcd ( liquid crystal display ) monitor , for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device , e . g ., a mouse or a trackball , by which the user can provide input to the computer . other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well ; for example , feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback , e . g ., visual feedback , auditory feedback , or tactile feedback ; and input from the user can be received in any form , including acoustic , speech , or tactile input . in addition , a computer can interact with a user by sending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is used by the user ; for example , by sending web pages to a web browser on a user &# 39 ; s client device in response to requests received from the web browser . embodiments of the subject matter described in this document can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back - end component , e . g ., as a data server , or that includes a middleware component , e . g ., an application server , or that includes a front - end component , e . g ., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this document , or any combination of one or more such back - end , middleware , or front - end components . the components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication , e . g ., a communication network . examples of communication networks include a local area network (“ lan ”) and a wide area network (“ wan ”), an inter - network ( e . g ., the internet ), and peer - to - peer networks ( e . g ., ad hoc peer - to - peer networks ). the computing system can include clients and servers . a client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network . the relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client - server relationship to each other . in some embodiments , a server transmits data ( e . g ., an html page ) to a client device ( e . g ., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving user input from a user interacting with the client device ). data generated at the client device ( e . g ., a result of the user interaction ) can be received from the client device at the server . while this document contains many specific implementation details , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any inventions or of what may be claimed , but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions . certain features that are described in this document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment . conversely , various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination . moreover , although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such , one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination , and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination . similarly , while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order , this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order , or that all illustrated operations be performed , to achieve desirable results . in certain circumstances , multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous . moreover , the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments , and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products . thus , particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described . other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims . in some cases , the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results . in addition , the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown , or sequential order , to achieve desirable results . in certain implementations , multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous . | 6 |
as shown in fig1 the putter 11 according to the preferred embodiment generally includes a grip 13 , a shaft 15 , and a putter head 17 . as shown in fig2 the shaft 15 attaches , e . g . by welding , epoxy , or unitary formation , to the putter head 17 . the putter head 17 includes a &# 34 ; t &# 34 ;- shaped alignment mechanism 23 , a ball section 27 , and a putter blade 30 . the putter blade 30 has a concave rear contour 31 and a flat face 33 ( fig3 ). it is preferably formed of metal such as brass , bronze , stainless steel , cast iron , or any other appropriate material . the putter blade 30 is symmetrically formed about a plane perpendicular to the putter face 33 and in which lies a center stripe 35 , which may be painted or otherwise imprinted on the putter face 33 . the putter blade width is substantially less than that of a typical putter in order to concentrate the weight of the putter and eliminate inaccuracy . in the preferred embodiment an exemplary width &# 34 ; w &# 34 ; is 21 / 2 inches . this dimension can be varied , for example , increased to greater than 21 / 2 inches . the ball section 27 is preferably a hemisphere having its flat face 49 rearward and a diameter equal to that of the ball to be struck . the diameter of the ball section 27 is preferably 1 . 68 inches , the diameter of a standard golf ball . the ball section 27 is centered with respect to the putter blade 30 and the face 33 such that a plane containing the center stripe 35 bisects the ball section 27 . the ball section 27 is preferably cast as one - or two - piece with the putter blade 30 and of the same material . the embodiment of fig2 includes a &# 34 ; t &# 34 ;- shaped alignment member 23 having a vertical shaft 25 and a horizontal cross - bar 21 . the vertical shaft 25 of the &# 34 ; t &# 34 ;- shaped alignment member 23 is attached at a central point of the putter head 29 , aligned with the stripe 35 . thus , in the orthogonal top view of fig4 the horizontal bar 21 directly overlies the center stripe 35 . the stripe 35 and the ball section 27 are both centrally located to properly direct alignment with the center of gravity 28 , which is the center of the &# 34 ; sweetspot &# 34 ; 28 of the putter face 33 . the putter 11 is preferably designed to conform to usga rules . accordingly , the center shaft 15 is provided with a lie of ten degrees or greater and the face 33 has a two to four degree loft . in use , the putter 11 is aligned as illustrated in fig4 . the ball section 27 is visually lined up with a golf ball 19 as indicated by dashed lines 34 . the horizontal bar 21 and center stripe 35 line up with the center of the &# 34 ; sweetspot &# 34 ; of the club and the center line 36 of the ball 19 . the center stripe 35 and bar 21 effectively form an alignment &# 34 ; sight &# 34 ;, which permits the player to avoid visually skewing the angle of the club shaft 15 and otherwise misaligning the club . with the putter 11 thus constructed , improved tracking of the ball 19 results . in the embodiment of fig5 and 6 , a hemispherical ball section 47 has its face 49 arranged as the ball striking face of the putter 11 . the ball section 47 is integrally formed with the metal club head 51 . an alignment bar 53 is integrally formed at the rear of the club blade 51 and curves around and conforms to the spherical contour of the ball section 47 . the alignment bar 53 then curves upwardly and forms into a horizontal alignment bar 55 . the ball section 47 further has a center stripe 57 painted or otherwise imprinted thereon . the center stripe 57 , curved alignment bar 53 and alignment bar 55 all lie substantially in a common plane perpendicular to the substantially rectangular bottom surface of the putter blade 51 and located equidistant from its ends ( such that the distances &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; are equal ). in using the embodiment of fig5 and 6 , the player visually aligns the outer contour of the ball section 47 with the outer contour of the ball 19 and visually aligns the two bars 53 and 55 and center stripe 57 . again , an alignment sight is effectively formed by the cooperation of the two bars 53 and 55 . fig7 illustrates an improved perimeter weighting feature which can be incorporated into either of the embodiments of fig2 or fig5 . according to this feature , a toe weight 61 and a heel weight 63 are provided within the generally hollow interior 64 of the ball section , e . g . 27 . the heel weight 61 and toe weight 63 are mirror images of one another and of equal weight . they are formed of the same material as ball section 27 and have a flat top surfaces 65 coincident with a horizontal plane bisecting the ball section 27 . the width between them is varied to determine the amount of weighting desired , e . g . from 1 / 2 to 3 ounces on each side . the resulting center of gravity 28 lies just below the geometric center of the ball section 27 . the preferred embodiment may be made according to well - known sandcasting or die casting techniques . for example , according to a typical sandcasting technique , a rubber or aluminum mold is used to form a wax replica of the finished product , in this case , for example , the putter head 17 without the flat face 29 attached . the putter head 17 including the toe and heel weights 61 , 63 , the ball section 27 and &# 34 ; t &# 34 ;- shaped alignment member 23 may thus be formed as a single wax replica . once the wax mold is made , it is used to make a ceramic mold by coating the wax mold with a slurry . the wax is then melted out to leave a ceramic mold which can stand high temperatures , e . g . 3 , 000 degrees fahrenheit . metal is then poured into the ceramic mold to form the putter head 17 , and the ceramic mold is thereafter broken off . the flat face 29 is then attached to the ball section utilizing a high strength epoxy such as golfsmith a & amp ; b shafting epoxy ( 2000 lb . strength ). the same approach is applicable to make either of the embodiments of fig2 or fig5 . an improved alignment mechanism for a golf putter employing a novel sighting mechanism has thus been disclosed . the preferred putters further employ a putter head of narrower width which is closely formed about an alignment ball section and which increases directionality and reduces the possibility of error . the preferred embodiment further provides periment weighting within the sweetspot . the resulting putter is more consistent with on - center and off - center hits because of a reduction in the twisting of the club head . while various embodiments of the invention have been specifically disclosed above , it will be understood that numerous other embodiments may be fabricated without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . therefore , it is to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be permitted other than as specifically described herein . | 0 |
the present invention employs information format pre - processing for emissive displays . as used herein , “ emissive display ” refers to a display wherein each pixel is a light source as opposed to a light modulator , such as an organic light emitting diode ( oled ) display . the pre - processing modifies the information format to reduce the number of bright pixels in the display . the pre - processing does not change the information content but does change the appearance of the information that is displayed . referring to fig1 a pre - processor 10 receives formatted information 12 to be displayed ( represented by lines 13 ) and modifies the format of the information to contain fewer bright pixels . the modified information 14 is supplied to an emissive display 16 that displays the information in the modified format as shown in fig2 . in this example the format has been modified to produce light lines on a dark background , thereby utilizing fewer bright pixels in the display . referring to fig3 original textual information content 20 is shown together with the same information content in a modified format 22 . it can be seen from fig3 that more pixels are dark in the modified format 22 than in the original format 20 . hence , displaying the modified format 22 will require less power than displaying the original format 20 since displaying a dark pixel on an emissive display requires less power than displaying a bright pixel . most information content is formatted using a markup language , containing specific markup tags . these tags are placed within the information content to define the appearance or format of the displayed information content . by modifying the tags or parameters associated with the tags , the information content will be rendered in a different format . for example , the hypertext markup language ( html ) uses a ‘& lt ; u & gt ;’ string to indicate underline , and ‘& lt ; b & gt ;’ string to indicate bold while attributes associated with tables or text ( such as bgcolor ) modify the color or brightness of the background or text . any modification that reduces the number of bright pixels will reduce the power usage in an emissive display . for example , the brightness of the background or text may be reduced . using a light text on a dark background requires less power than the reverse . likewise , bold text ( if in a bright format ) will require more power than normal text . the thickness of the text can be modified , for example by changing bright bold text on a dark background to normal text , or by changing dark normal text on a light background to bold text . similarly , reducing the number of bright pixel elements in a graphic element or image can reduce the total power used by the display . this can be accomplished , for example , by setting all of the pixels below a certain threshold to black , reducing highlights in the graphic or image , or by scaling all of the pixels by a certain percentage thereby making the entire graphic less bright . alternatively , graphic elements may be eliminated entirely and replaced with a black background . a less drastic alternative is to binarize the image or graphic element by setting every pixel in the image to either one of two values , a darker or a lighter value , depending on whether they are below or above a pre - determined or pre - selected threshold . the values and threshold are chosen so that the average brightness of the image or graphic is reduced . the two values may , but need not necessarily , be black and white . the darker or more efficient the two binary values are , the greater the power savings . the threshold value should be set so as to maximize the number of pixels set to the darker or more efficient value . the information necessary to set the thresholds can be obtained from a histogram of the brightness code values of a particular image to be displayed , or from the histograms of a selection of representative images . this binarizing technique can also be applied to text and background to achieve power savings . the degree to which the formatting is modified may be controlled by a viewer . for example , a viewer might enable only text and background color changes , modify a threshold for binarization or the binarized values or , alternatively , eliminate all graphic displays . this control can be managed by setting preferences used by a format modification program in the processor 10 . since emissive displays may be less efficient in producing certain colors than others , it is also possible to reduce the power usage by using the more efficient colors in preference to the less efficient colors . if , for example , the green pixels are more efficient than red , replacing red with green as a preferred color in text will reduce the power use of the display . the color of the text and the background can also be reversed to save power if the background color is of the same brightness , but less efficient . in operation , the system and method works as follows . referring to fig4 the processor 10 receives 24 formatted information to display on a device . the processor 10 then modifies 26 the format of the information by analyzing the format tags in the formatted information and replacing the tags that will result in more power usage by the display with tags that will result in less power usage . the format modification can be done with a software program that reads the file of formatted information , identifies the tags and attributes associated with significant power use , and replaces them with pre - specified alternatives . complementary attributes are maintained where necessary . for example , if a background is set to black , the text will not be set to the same color but is set to an energy efficient color instead . likewise , any graphic elements or images can be processed to reduce the number of bright pixels in the displayed information . the modified information is then rendered 28 into code values representing the brightness of pixel elements in the display and displayed 30 on the display 16 . the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof , but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention . | 6 |
the present invention is discussed with reference to specific logging instruments that may form part of a string of several logging instruments for conducting wireline logging operations . it is to be understood that the choice of the specific instruments discussed herein is not to be construed as a limitation and that the method of the present invention may also be used with other logging instruments as well . fig1 shows a logging tool 10 suspended in a borehole 12 that penetrates earth formations such as 13 , from a suitable cable 14 that passes over a sheave 16 mounted on drilling rig 18 . by industry standard , the cable 14 includes a stress member and seven conductors for transmitting commands to the tool and for receiving data back from the tool as well as power for the tool . the tool 10 is raised and lowered by draw works 20 . electronic module 22 , on the surface 23 , transmits the required operating commands downhole and in return , receives data back which may be recorded on an archival storage medium of any desired type for concurrent or later processing . the data may be transmitted in analog or digital form . data processors such as a suitable computer 24 , may be provided for performing data analysis in the field in real time or the recorded data may be sent to a processing center or both for post processing of the data . fig2 a is a schematic external view of a borehole system according to the present invention . the tool 10 comprises the arrays 26 and is suspended from cable 14 . electronics modules 28 and 38 may be located at suitable locations in the system and not necessarily in the locations indicated . the components may be mounted on a mandrel 34 in a conventional well - known manner . in an exemplary assembly , the outer diameter of the assembly is about 5 inches and about fifteen feet long . an orientation module 36 including a magnetometer and an accelerometer or inertial guidance system may be mounted above the imaging assemblies 26 and 32 . the upper portion 38 of the tool 10 contains a telemetry module for sampling , digitizing and transmission of the data samples from the various components uphole to surface electronics 22 ( fig1 ) in a conventional manner . if acoustic data are acquired , they are preferably digitized , although in an alternate arrangement , the data may be retained in analog form for transmission to the surface where it is later digitized by surface electronics 22 . fig2 b shows an exemplary pad containing transducers capable of performing the method of the present disclosure . pad 40 includes one or more acoustic sensors 45 . in one embodiment of the invention , the acoustic sensors comprise electromagnetic acoustic transducers ( emats ) assembled in a pattern to obtain measurements of ultrasonic velocities for the purpose of determining a stress on a material . the pad 40 is attached to the mandrel 34 of fig2 a by way of supports 42 . the pattern of emats shown in fig2 b is only an example of many possible configurations that may be used . in another embodiment of the invention , the sensors may be disposed on two or more vertically spaced apart pads . such an arrangement makes it easier to make axial measurements as a described below . the present disclosure generally uses orthogonal acoustic velocity measurements in the steel tubulars to determine in - situ stress . in one possible embodiment , the velocity of a vibrational ( acoustic ) wave traveling axially in a casing is compared to the velocity of a similar wave traveling circumferentially at substantially the same point in the casing . differences in the resulting measured velocities indicate either torque or axial stress in the casing . with a more complex arrangement using segmented circumferential or axial measurements , differences in axial stress around the circumference of the casing may indicate bending or crushing loads being applied to the casing by the formation . also , localized stress measurements made in the area of casing corrosion or mechanical defects can be used to predict potential points of casing rupture . since the properties of casing steel may vary , the use of orthogonal measurements is critical to identifying changes caused by stress from background changes in materials . measurement of acoustic travel time may be substituted with alternative measurements that are affected by casing stress . one alternative measurement might be magnetic permeability . the angle between the two measurements may be something other than orthogonal . a 90 ° angle , however , maximizes sensitivity of the measurement . measurements of stress in casing or tubing downhole have multiple potential uses . these uses potentially include casing deformation , freepoint indicators , and formation stresses ( as transferred to the casing ). the disclosed method offers a potential method of making an absolute stress measurement in a casing or tubing . the present disclosure discusses an apparatus and method for performing acoustic testing on a casing or tubular . an ultrasonic wave can be produced at one location on the tubular and the wave can later be detected at the same or another location on the tubular . one way to create ultrasound within a material is via an emat . an emat comprises a magnetic element , such as a permanent magnet , and a set of wires . in general , the emat is placed against the material to be tested such that the set of wires are located between the magnetic element and the material to be tested . when a wire or coil is placed near to the surface of an electrically conducting object and is driven by a current at a desired ultrasonic frequency , eddy currents are induced in a near surface region . if a static magnetic field is also present , these currents experience a lorentz force of the form where { right arrow over ( f )} is a body force per unit volume , { right arrow over ( j )} is the induced dynamic current density , and { right arrow over ( b )} is the static magnetic induction . thus the lorentz force converts the electrical energy into a mechanical vibration , which can be used to test the material . alternatively , emats may also be based on the use of magnetostrictive properties of the casing / tubing . since no coupling device is used between the emat and the tested material , the emat can operate without contact at elevated temperatures and in remote locations . thus emats can eliminate errors associated with coupling variation in contact measurements and thereby provide precise velocity or attenuation measurements . the coil and magnet structure used in an emat can be designed to excite complex wave patterns and polarizations . fig3 a - 3f shows a number of practical emat configurations including a biasing magnet structure , a coil configuration , and resultant forces on the surface of the solid for producing acoustic pulses using emats . the configurations of fig3 a , 3 b , and 3 c excite beams propagating normal to the surface of a half - space and produce , respectively , beams with radial , longitudinal , and transverse polarizations . the configurations of fig3 d and 3e use spatially varying stresses to excite beams propagating at oblique angles or along the surface of a component . these configurations are considered for illustrative purposes although any number of variations on these configurations can be used . fig3 a shows a cross - sectional view of a spiral coil emat configuration for exciting radially polarized shear waves propagating normal to the surface . permanent magnet 301 and tubular 307 are separated by a space containing a wire represented by one or more wires as shown as wire segments 303 and 305 . the wire segments 303 and 305 represent separate groups of wire segments carrying current in anti - parallel directions in the manner illustrated in fig3 a , thereby exciting the radially polarized shear waves propagating normal to the surface . fig3 b shows a cross - sectional view of a tangential field emat configuration for exciting longitudinally polarized compressional waves propagating normal to the surface . permanent magnet 311 is placed against tubular to produce a magnetic field parallel to the surface . a magnet such as the magnet 311 of fig3 b having a horseshoe configuration may be used . wires segments 313 provide a current flowing between the magnetic poles perpendicular to the direction of the local magnetic field of magnet 311 . wire segments 315 provide a current flowing anti - parallel to the current in wire segments 313 in a region exterior to the magnetic poles . fig3 c shows a cross - sectional view of a normal field emat configuration for exciting plane polarized shear waves propagating normal to the surface . the configuration comprises a pair of magnets 321 and 323 assembled so as to provide two anti - parallel magnetic fields at the surface of the tubular . the permanent magnets 321 and 323 are separated from tubular 329 by a space containing one or more wires 325 and 327 providing anti - parallel current . fig3 d shows a cross - sectional view of a meander coil emat configuration for exciting obliquely propagating l ( long ) or sv waves , rayleigh waves , or guided modes ( such as lamb waves ) of plates . the configuration includes a permanent magnet and tubular separated by a space containing wire segments such as one or more wires 333 and 335 which provides current flowing in sequentially alternating directions . fig3 e shows a cross - sectional view of a periodic permanent magnet emat for exciting grazing or obliquely propagating horizontally polarized ( sh ) waves or guided sh modes of plates . multiple permanent magnets such as magnets 341 and 343 are assembled so as to provide alternating magnetic polarities at the surface of the tubular . the magnetic assembly and tubular are separated by a space containing a wire 345 that provides a current in a single direction . for sheet and plate specimens experiencing applied or residual stress , the principal stresses σ a and σ b may be inferred from orthogonal velocity measurements . eq . ( 2 ) relates ultrasonic velocities to the principle stresses experienced in a sheet or plate : 2 ρv avg [ v ( θ )− v ( θ + π / 2 )]= σ a − σ b ( 2 ). in eq . ( 2 ), v avg is the average shear velocity and ρ is a density of a material . v ( θ ) and v ( θ + π / 2 ) are mutually perpendicular wave velocities as can be detected at a transducer . it is understood that velocity difference v ( θ )− v ( θ + π / 2 ) is maximized when the ultrasonic propagation directions are aligned with the principal stress axes . the magnitude of this difference , along with the density and mean velocity can be used to estimate the principal stress difference . fig4 shows an arrangement of two emats 145 a and 145 b . the pad 40 illustrated and figured 2 b is not shown . when emats 145 a and 145 b are of the type shown in fig3 e , they will produce horizontally polarized shear - wave propagating along the tool axis and circumferential to the tool axis , thus providing the necessary measurements for solving eqn . ( 2 ). those versed in the art would appreciate that using an array of transducers as shown in fig2 b , it would be possible to generate horizontally polarized shear waves propagating in different directions . the emats , in addition to acting as transmitters , can also act as receivers , so that by having two emats with the same polarization at different spatial positions , it is possible to determine the velocity of propagation of the wave . in addition , by having such transducers mounted on different pads on the downhole logging to it is possible to make measurements of the stress differences circumferentially around the borehole . by using transducers of the type shown in fig3 b it would be possible to make measurements of compression velocity at different azimuthal positions along the borehole . variations in this velocity are indicative of circumferential variations of the stress . the same is true using transducers of the type shown in fig3 c . but using transducers of the type shown in fig3 d it would be possible to generate rayleigh waves on land waves along the surface of the tubular . in addition , those versed in the art would recognize that the velocity of propagation of a vertically polarized shear - wave may differ from the velocity of propagation of the horizontally polarized shear - wave in the same direction . this difference may also be indicative of the stress in the garden . such measurements may be obtained by using transducers of the type shown in fig3 d and 3e . in one embodiment a velocity of an acoustic wave traveling axially in the casing is compared to the velocity of a similar wave traveling circumferentially at substantially the same point in the casing . differences in the measured velocities are indicative of torque or axial stress in the casing . with a more complex arrangement using segmented circumferential or axial measurements made with pad - mounted emats , differences in axial stress around the circumference of the casing are indicative of bending a crushing load being applied to the casing by the formation . localized test measurements made in the area of casing corrosion or mechanical defects are used to predict potential points of casing failure . as would be known to those versed in the art , such casing corrosion or mechanical defects would produce changes in the stress field . all of these use measurements having orthogonal direction of propagation or orthogonal polarization or both . properties of casings steel may vary , so that the use of such measurements is important in identifying changes caused by stress from changes caused by differences in the steel . the invention has been described above is a specific example of using emats as the acoustic sensors . this is not to be construed as a limitation on the invention . the method of the invention could also be carried out using other side types of sensors such as piezoelectric transducers and wedge transducers . wedge transducers are discussed , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 593 , 568 to telford et al . the invention has been described above with reference to a device conveyed on a wireline . however the method of invention may also be practices using the tool conveyed on a tubular such as a drillstring or coiled tubing , or on a slickline . implicit in the processing method of the present invention is the use of a computer program implemented on a suitable machine readable medium that enables the processor to perform the control and processing . the machine readable medium may include roms , eproms , earoms , flash memories and optical disks . such a computer program may output the results of the processing , such as the stress constraints , to a suitable tangible medium . this may include a display device and / or a memory device . | 6 |
reference will now be made in detail to the example embodiments of the present invention that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . wherever possible , the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts . to begin with , before an embodiment of the present invention is described , in moving pictures having a scene change , a picture in which a scene change occurs entirely in the picture is defined as a scene cut picture and a picture in which a scene change occurs partially in the picture is defined as a partial scene change picture . fig3 a and 3b are flowcharts illustrating a method of coding a moving picture sequence in a moving picture coding system according to an example embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig3 a and 3b , pictures are sequentially input from a moving picture sequence ( s 111 ). kinds of pictures are determined ( s 114 ). in other words , it is determined whether the input picture is a p picture or a b picture . here , in this embodiment of the present invention , it is assumed that a coding with respect to an intra picture is completed in advance . if a picture is a p picture , it is determined whether or not a scene change occurs in the p picture ( s 117 ). here , the scene change is determined by comparing the p picture with a picture ( p picture or b picture ) displayed just before the p picture . if the scene is changed entirely among the p pictures , the p picture is a scene cut picture . if the p picture is determined as the scene cut picture , a coding is carried out with reference to a long - term reference picture ( s 120 ). if the p picture is not a scene cut picture , it is determined whether or not the p picture is a partial scene change picture ( s 123 ). if the p picture is a partial scene change picture , blocks contained in an area in which the scene is changed are coded with reference to the long - term reference picture as in step s 120 ( s 126 ). blocks contained in an area in which the scene is not changed are coded with reference to a short - term reference picture ( s 129 , s 132 ). here , the long - term reference picture is a picture stored in a long - term reference buffer , and the short - term reference picture is a picture stored in a short - term reference buffer . the short - term reference buffer is provided with a first - input , first - output ( fifo ) buffer in which a picture first input is output first , and the pictures coded a relatively short time ago are stored in the short - term reference buffer . the pictures coded a relatively long time ago are stored in the long - term reference buffer . and , pictures of respective scene sets , e . g ., an intra picture , the scene cut picture , the partial scene change picture and the like are stored in the long - term reference buffer . next , an example of scene sets and scene changes will be described to assist in understanding principles of the present invention . it should be understood that this is a non - limiting example . as shown in fig4 , an intra picture 10 that is first scene cut picture of a scene set a 1 , a first scene cut picture p 50 of a scene set b 1 and a first partial scene change picture p 120 can be stored in the long - term reference buffer . here , a scene set is a set of similar pictures . for example , suppose the pictures represent a discussion program where an announcer appears , then a panel a appears , then the announcer appears again and then the panel a appears again . the scene where the announcer first appears is scene set al , and the scene where the panel a subsequently appears is scene set b 1 . the scene where the announcer appears again is scene set a 2 , and the scene where the panel a appears again is scene set b 2 . as described above , when a scene change occurs , the p picture is coded in the inter mode with reference to a short - term reference or a long - term reference picture instead of being coded in the intra mode . this reduces the amount of the bits to enhance coding efficiency . description of the steps s 117 to s 132 in fig3 a will be made with reference fig4 . as shown in fig4 , if the p picture p 200 to be coded now is the scene cut picture belonging to the scene set b 2 , the short - term reference pictures stored in the short - term reference buffer are not used . the scene cut picture p 200 is the first picture of the scene set b 2 , and the scene set of the scene cut picture p 200 is different from the short - term reference pictures such as p 199 , p 198 , p 197 , etc ., belonging to the scene set a 2 . the similarity of the scene cut picture p 200 and the short - term reference pictures belonging to the scene set a 2 is not great ( e . g ., p 200 is part of the scene of panel a and p 199 is part of the scene of the announcer in the above described example ), and precise coding cannot be achieved from such reference pictures . in this case , the p picture is coded in inter mode with reference to the reference pictures p 50 and p 120 belonging to a scene set b 1 , which is a similar scene to the scene of scene set b 2 ( e . g ., both are scenes of panel a in the above - described example ). on the other hand , if a partial scene change occurs in the p picture p 250 , the coding is performed differently depending on two conditions . in other words , the blocks included in the area where a partial scene change occurs are coded in inter mode with reference to the long - term reference pictures p 50 and p 120 stored in the long - term reference buffer . the blocks included in the area where a partial scene change does not occur are coded in inter mode with reference to the short - term reference pictures p 249 , p 248 , p 247 , etc ., stored in the short - term reference buffer . as described above , after one p picture is coded , if a next picture exists ( s 159 ), then the next picture is input ( s 111 ). returning to step s 114 , if the picture input in step s 111 is a b picture , then five prediction modes ( intra mode , forward mode , backward mode , bi - predictive mode and direct mode ) are tested and one of them is selected as an optimal coding mode ( s 135 , s 138 ). in this specification , the direct mode will be described mainly . first , one block of the b picture is read ( s 141 ). of course , the other blocks can be read subsequently . then , a kind or type of a reference buffer storing a specified picture is examined . namely , the type of reference picture ( e . g ., long or short ) is examined . the specified picture is determined of the earlier pictures than the b picture in the coding order regardless of the display order . in other words , the specified picture is one of the reference pictures used to code the b picture . therefore , the specified picture can be a short - term reference picture or a long - term reference picture . the reference pictures may be before or after the b picture in display order and they are stored in the short - term reference buffer and / or stored in the long - term reference buffer . if the specified picture is a long - term reference picture , the forward motion vector of direct mode for the b picture is set as a motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture . the backward motion vector of direct mode for the b picture is determined to be zero ( s 150 ). however , if the specified picture is a short - term reference picture , the reference picture index and the motion vector calculated at the co - located block in the specified picture are read ( s 144 ). the reference picture index and the motion vector is calculated previously and stored in the system buffer . according to the reference picture index , it is determined whether the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture points to a long - term reference picture ( s 147 ). as described above , the short - term and long - term reference pictures are stored in the short - term reference buffer and the long - term reference buffer , respectively . if the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture points to the long - term reference picture , the b picture is coded using the following expressions 3 and 4 ( s 150 ): where mv is a motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture , and mvf is a forward motion vector of direct mode for the b picture ; and where mv is a motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture , and mvb is a backward motion vector of direct mode for the b picture . in other words , if the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture points to the long - term reference picture , the forward motion vector in the direct mode for the b picture is the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture and the backward motion vector is zero . as shown in fig5 , in the step s 150 , if the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture p 200 points to the long - term reference picture p 50 , trd and trb are meaningless in the conventional expressions 1 and 2 . referring to fig5 , a more detailed description will be made . when inserting two b pictures b 1 and b 2 into a moving picture sequence and coding them , the p picture p 200 that is earlier than the b 1 and b 2 pictures in coding order is coded first . here , since the p picture p 200 is a scene cut picture in which a scene change occurs , the p picture p 200 is coded in inter mode from the long - term reference picture p 50 stored in the long - term reference buffer . according to the coding order , the next picture to be coded is the b 1 picture . since the b 1 picture belongs to the scene set a 2 , most blocks thereof are coded in a forward mode from the short - term reference pictures belonging to the scene set a 2 or in bi - predictive mode in which both of the two reference pictures belong to the scene set a 2 . however , intra mode , backward mode or bi - predictive mode from the p picture p 200 belonging to the other scene set b 2 , and direct mode to obtain motion vectors of the direct mode from the co - located block in the p picture p 200 are probably not used as the coding mode for the blocks in the b 1 picture . differently , since not only the b 2 picture but also the specified picture p 200 used for motion vectors of the direct mode for the b 2 picture belong to the same scene set b 2 , the direct mode is selected as a coding mode for most blocks in the b 2 picture . in other words , after obtaining the motion vector of each block in the specified picture p 200 in the inter mode from the long - term reference picture p 50 belonging to the same scene set b 2 , the motion vectors of direct mode in the b 2 picture are calculated from the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture p 200 . since the b 2 picture and the specified picture p 200 belong to the scene set b 2 , and the similarity between the scene set b 1 to which the reference picture p 50 belongs and the scene set b 2 is very high , the direct mode can be selected as a coding mode for most blocks in the b 2 picture . accordingly , the coding efficiency for the b 2 picture is improved . on the other hand , if the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture points to a short - term reference picture , the b picture is coded using the conventional expressions 1 and 2 ( s 153 ). in this time , since the short - term reference picture stored in the short - term reference buffer belongs to the same scene set as the b picture and another scene set does not exist between the specified picture and the short - term reference picture , the forward motion vector and the backward motion vector of direct mode are determined using the conventional expressions 1 and 2 related to trd and trb representing time distance . after one block of a b picture is coded , the next block ( if it exists ) in the b picture is read and coded subsequently ( s 156 ). such processes are performed on the blocks in the b picture . after the b picture is coded , the next picture ( if it exists ) is input ( s 159 and s 111 ) and coded so that a moving picture coding is achieved . as described above , according to a moving picture coding method of the present invention , the forward motion vector and the backward motion vector in the direct mode for the b picture are determined differently based on the type of reference picture pointed to by the motion vector of the co - located block in the specified picture . when coding the b picture , the direct mode is mainly used as the coding mode to enhance coding efficiency . according to the moving picture coding method of the present invention , the p picture in which a scene change occurs is coded in inter mode using motion compensation from a long - term reference to reduce the amount of bits and enhance coding efficiency . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention . | 7 |
following multiple oral doses ( 0 . 6 mg twice daily ), the mean elimination half - life of colchicine in young healthy volunteers ( mean age 25 to 28 years of age ) is 26 . 6 to 31 . 2 hours . pharmacy management systems are computer - based systems that are widely used by commercial pharmacies to manage prescriptions and to provide pharmacy and medical personnel with warnings and guidance regarding drugs being administered to patients . such systems typically provide alerts warning either or both of health care providers and patients when a drug that may be harmful to the particular patient is prescribed . for example , such systems can provide alerts warning that a patient has an allergy to a prescribed drug , or is receiving concomitant administration of a drug that can have a dangerous interaction with a prescribed drug . u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 758 , 095 , 5 , 833 , 599 , 5 , 845 , 255 , 6 , 014 , 631 , 6 , 067 , 524 , 6 , 112 , 182 , 6 , 317 , 719 , 6 , 356 , 873 , and 7 , 072 , 840 , each of which is incorporated herein by reference , disclose various pharmacy management systems and aspects thereof . many pharmacy management systems are now commercially available , e . g ., centricity pharmacy from bdm information systems ltd ., general electric healthcare , waukesha , wis ., rx30 pharmacy systems from transaction data systems , inc ., ocoee , fla ., speed script from digital simplistics , inc ., lenexa , kans ., and various pharmacy management systems from opus - ism , hauppauge , n . y . in the specification and claims that follow , references will be made to a number of terms which shall be defined to have the following meaning . the terms “ a ” and “ an ” do not denote a limitation of quantity , but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item . the term “ or ” means “ and / or ”. the terms “ comprising ”, “ having ”, “ including ”, and “ containing ” are to be construed as open - ended terms ( i . e ., meaning “ including , but not limited to ”). “ concomitant ” and “ concomitantly ” as used herein refer to the administration of at least two drugs to a patient either simultaneously or within a time period during which the effects of the first administered drug are still operative in the patient . thus , if the first drug is , e . g ., clarithromycin and the second drug is colchicine , the concomitant administration of the second drug can occur as much as one to two weeks , preferably within one to seven days , after the administration of the first drug . this is because clarithromycin can exert a long - lasting inhibition of cyp3a isozymes so that cyp3a activity in the patient may not return to pre - clarithromycin - administration levels for as much as two weeks after the cessation of clarithromycin administration . if colchicine is the first drug , administration of a second drug would be concomitant if done within 1 to 2 days , preferably 12 to 24 hours . “ dosage amount ” means an amount of a drug suitable to be taken during a fixed period , usually during one day ( i . e ., daily ). “ dosage amount adapted for oral administration ” means a dosage amount that is of an amount deemed safe and effective for the particular patient under the conditions specified . as used herein and in the claims , this dosage amount is determined by following the recommendations of the drug manufacturer &# 39 ; s prescribing information as approved by the us food and drug administration . “ dosing regimen ” means the dose of a drug taken at a first time by a patient and the interval ( time or symptomatic ) and dosage amounts at which any subsequent doses of the drug are taken by the patient . each dose may be of the same or a different dosage amount . a “ dose ” means the measured quantity of a drug to be taken at one time by a patient . a “ patient ” means a human or non - human animal in need of medical treatment . medical treatment can include treatment of an existing condition , such as a disease or disorder , prophylactic or preventative treatment , or diagnostic treatment . in preferred embodiments the patient is human . “ providing ” means giving , administering , selling , distributing , transferring ( for profit or not ), manufacturing , compounding , or dispensing . “ risk ” means the probability or chance of adverse reaction , injury , or other undesirable outcome arising from a medical treatment . an “ acceptable risk ” means a measure of the risk of harm , injury , or disease arising from a medical treatment that will be tolerated by an individual or group . whether a risk is “ acceptable ” will depend upon the advantages that the individual or group perceives to be obtainable in return for taking the risk , whether they accept whatever scientific and other advice is offered about the magnitude of the risk , and numerous other factors , both political and social . an “ acceptable risk ” of an adverse reaction means that an individual or a group in society is willing to take or be subjected to the risk that the adverse reaction might occur since the adverse reaction is one whose probability of occurrence is small , or whose consequences are so slight , or the benefits ( perceived or real ) of the active agent are so great . an “ unacceptable risk ” of an adverse reaction means that an individual or a group in society is unwilling to take or be subjected to the risk that the adverse reaction might occur upon weighing the probability of occurrence of the adverse reaction , the consequences of the adverse reaction , and the benefits ( perceived or real ) of the active agent . “ at risk ” means in a state or condition marked by a high level of risk or susceptibility . pharmacokinetic parameters referred to herein describe the in vivo characteristics of drug ( or a metabolite or a surrogate marker for the drug ) over time . these include plasma concentration ( c ), as well as c max , c n , c 24 , t max , and auc . “ c max ” is the measured plasma concentration of the active agent at the point of maximum , or peak , concentration . “ c min ” is the measured plasma concentration of the active agent at the point of minimum concentration . “ c n ” is the measured plasma concentration of the active agent at about n hours after administration . “ c 24 ” is the measured plasma concentration of the active agent at about 24 hours after administration . the term “ t max ” refers to the time from drug administration until c max is reached . “ auc ” is the area under the curve of a graph of the measured plasma concentration of an active agent vs . time , measured from one time point to another time point . for example auc 0 - t is the area under the curve of plasma concentration versus time from time 0 to time t , where time 0 is the time of initial administration of the drug . time t can be the last time point with measurable plasma concentration for an individual formulation . the auc 0 -∞ or auc 0 - inf is the calculated area under the curve of plasma concentration versus time from time 0 to time infinity . in steady - state studies , auc 0 - τ is the area under the curve of plasma concentration over the dosing interval ( i . e ., from time 0 to time τ ( tau ), where tau is the length of the dosing interval . other pharmacokinetic parameters are the parameter k c or k cl , the terminal elimination rate constant calculated from a semi - log plot of the plasma concentration versus time curve ; t 112 the terminal elimination half - life , calculated as 0 . 693 / k el . cl / f denotes the apparent total body clearance after administration , calculated as total dose / total auc ∞ ; and v area / f denotes the apparent total volume of distribution after administration , calculated as total dose /( total auc ∞ × k el ). “ side effect ” means a secondary effect resulting from taking a drug . the secondary effect can be a negative ( unfavorable ) effect ( i . e ., an adverse side effect ) or a positive ( favorable ) effect . the most frequently reported adverse side effects to colchicine therapy are gastrointestinal , specifically abdominal pain with cramps , diarrhea , nausea , and vomiting . less frequently or rarely reported adverse side effects associated with colchicine therapy include anorexia , agranulocytosis , allergic dermatitis , allergic reactions , alopecia , angioedema , aplastic anemia , bone marrow depression , myopathy , neuropathy , skin rash , thrombocytopenic disorder , and urticaria . whether a patient experiences an adverse side effect can be determined by obtaining information from the patient regarding onset of certain symptoms which may be indicative of the adverse side effect , results of diagnostic tests indicative of the adverse side effect , and the like . the following examples further illustrate aspects of this disclosure but should not be construed as in any way limiting its scope . in particular , the conditions are merely exemplary and can be readily varied by one of ordinary skill in the art . pharmacokinetic study in healthy adults of single vs . multiple oral doses of colchicine tablets this study was a single - center , open - label , single - sequence , two - period study to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of colchicine following single and multiple oral doses of colchicine tablets , 0 . 6 mg , in healthy volunteers . in period 1 , study subjects received a 0 . 6 - mg dose of colchicine after an overnight fast of at least 10 hours . in period 2 , subjects received a 0 . 6 - mg dose of colchicine in the morning and the evening ( approximately 12 hours later ) for 10 days ( steady state regimen ). subjects received a light breakfast served 60 minutes following dose administration in the morning and the evening dose was administered 90 minutes after an evening meal on days 15 through 24 only . on day 25 , the colchicine dose was administered after an overnight fast of at least 10 hours and lunch was served 4 hours post - dose . study periods were separated by a 14 - day washout . following the single dose and the last dose of the multiple dose regimen ( beginning on the mornings of day 1 and day 25 , respectively ), blood samples were collected ( 6 ml each ) from each subject within 1 hour prior to dosing and after dose administration at study hours 0 . 5 , 1 , 1 . 5 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 10 , 12 , and 24 ( while confined ) and 36 , 48 , 72 , and 96 ( on an outpatient basis ). plasma concentrations of colchicine and its metabolites were determined using validated lc / ms - ms methods . thirteen healthy , non - smoking subjects with a mean age of 25 . 5 years ( range 19 to 38 years ) and within 15 % of ideal body weight were enrolled in this study . all subjects completed both dosing periods according to protocol . after a single dose , plasma concentrations are no longer quantifiable 24 hours post - dose in all but 1 subject . after the last dose of the steady state regimen , concentrations remained quantifiable for 48 to 72 hours . review of individual subject data shows that no subject experienced a secondary colchicine peak , either following a single dose or upon multiple dosing . all 2 - o - demethylcolchicine ( 2 - dmc ) concentrations were below the level of quantitation ( loq , 0 . 2 ng / ml ) and only one sample from 1 subject ( of 13 subjects ) had a detectable 3 - o - demethylcolchciine ( 3 - dmc ) concentration , which was near the level of quantitation . therefore , metabolites are not discussed further . in healthy adults , colchicine appears to be readily absorbed when given orally , reaching a mean maximum plasma concentration of 2 . 5 ng / ml in 1 . 5 hours after a single dose . the drug is distributed widely , with an apparent volume of distribution of 540 l , greatly exceeding total body water . the elimination half - life as calculated following a single oral dose is approximately 5 hours . levels were not detectable by 24 hours post - dose and this is therefore not an accurate estimate . pharmacokinetic parameter values are summarized in the table below . review of trough plasma concentrations indicates that steady state was attained by approximately the eighth day of dosing for most subjects . colchicine may have a diurnal variation reflected in the observed cmin concentrations at steady state . cmin concentrations prior to the morning dose are approximately 12 % higher than the cmin concentrations prior to the evening dose ( day 23 and day 24 ). the mean cmin concentration observed on day 25 was 0 . 907 ng / ml . colchicine accumulated following administration of multiple doses to an extent greater than expected . exposure was nearly two - fold higher ( approximately 1 . 7 based on auc [ day 25 auc 0 - τ / day 1 aug 0 -∞ ] and approximately 1 . 5 based on cmax [ day 25 c max / day 1 c max ]). this observation could be attributable to an underestimation of aug ∞ following a single dose . with the higher plasma levels that occur with repeated dosing , a longer terminal elimination half life is apparent , 26 . 6 hours . pharmacokinetic parameter values are summarized in the tables below . in the above table , the parameter cl / f denotes the apparent total body clearance after administration , calculated as total dose / total auc0 - tau ; and v d / f denotes the apparent total volume of distribution after administration , calculated as total dose /( total auc ∞ × k el ). a single - center , open - label , one sequence , two - period study was carried out in 23 healthy subjects . on day 1 , a single 0 . 6 - mg dose of colchicine was administered . after completing a 21 - day washout period , all subjects received 250 mg of clarithromycin administered twice daily for 7 days ( days 22 through 29 ), a sufficient dose and duration to inhibit cyp3a4 and pgp . on the final day ( day 29 ), a single dose of colchicine was co - administered with the clarithromycin dose . when combined with steady - state clarithromycin , there is a significant increase in exposure to colchicine as compared to when colchicine is given alone : the mean c max and auc 0 - τ concentrations increased 167 % and 250 %, respectively . in addition , co - administration of clarithromycin and colchicine resulted in an increase of 233 % in the plasma elimination half - life ( t½ ) of colchicine and a 75 % decrease in apparent clearance ( cl / f ). a summary of the mean (% cv ) colchicine pharmacokinetic parameters for day 1 ( colchicine administered alone ) and day 29 ( colchicine co - administered with steady - state clarithromycin ) are given in the table below and illustrated in the table that follows . recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range , unless otherwise indicated herein , and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein . the endpoints of all ranges directed to the same component or property are inclusive and independently combinable . all methods described herein can be performed in a suitable order unless otherwise indicated or clearly contradicted by context . the use of any and all examples , or exemplary language ( e . g ., “ such as ”) herein is intended to better illuminate the disclosure and is non - limiting unless otherwise specified . no language in the specification should be construed as indicating that any non - claimed element as essential to the practice of the claimed embodiments . unless defined otherwise , technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs . the terms wt %, weight percent , percent by weight , etc . are equivalent and interchangeable embodiments are described herein , including the best modes known to the inventors . variations of such embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description . the skilled artisan is expected to employ such variations as appropriate , and the disclosed methods are expected to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein . accordingly , all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto are included to the extent permitted by applicable law . moreover , any combination of the above - described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context . | 6 |
interactive transaction card structure and method embodiments are shown in fig1 a - 7 which substantially expand the advantages and uses of conventional transaction cards . in particular , fig1 a illustrates a transaction card embodiment 20 which includes a card shell 22 , a battery 23 embedded in a recess of the card shell , and a data exchange system 24 embedded in another recess of the card shell . fig1 b and 1c are views along the planes 1 b - 1 b and 1 c - 1 c of fig1 a and these views show that the card shell 22 preferably comprises first and second shell panels 25 and 26 that each define panel margins 28 and first and second panel depressions 29 and 30 within the margins . the data exchange system 24 is received into the first depressions 29 and the battery 23 is received into the second depressions 30 . subsequently , the shell panels are joined to complete the card shell 22 about the data exchange system and battery . in one card embodiment , the shell panels comprise a flexible polymer ( e . g ., a thermoplastic polymer ) and are joined with the aid of a bonding agent 31 that is inserted between the opposing margins 28 of the first and second shell panels 25 and 26 . the bonding agent is compatible with the polymer shells and responds to heat and / or pressure to permanently secure the shell panels in an abutting arrangement . the shell , battery and data exchange system are all configured to have a flexibility sufficient for conventional card use . in addition , the card shell 22 is configured to be consistent with the dimensions specified for identity cards ( e . g ., 85 . 60 × 53 . 98 millimeters with a 0 . 76 millimeter thickness ) in the standard iso 7810 of the international organization for standardization . the data exchange system 24 is carried on a flexible printed circuit 34 ( that defines circuit paths 35 ) and further includes a microprocessor 36 , a memory 37 , electrical contacts 38 , a keypad 39 and a display 40 ( an exemplary broken - line enclosure 41 in fig1 c indicates the elements of the system that are carried on the printed circuit 34 ). as indicated in fig1 a , the printed circuit 34 defines circuit paths 35 and the battery , the microprocessor , the memory , the contacts , the keypad and the display are carried on the printed circuit and interconnected via the circuit paths . the printed circuit 34 is preferably secured to the card shell 22 with various processes ( e . g ., a heat process or an ultrasonic process which produces staking structures 45 ). the card shell 22 defines a window 46 and the electrical contacts 38 are accessible via the window . the electrical contacts are preferably configured to be consistent with the contact dimensions and locations specified in international standard iso 7816 - 2 . as shown by the example arrow 47 , contacts 1 and 5 are intended to carry a supply voltage v cc and ground , contacts 2 , 3 and 7 are intended to carry reset , clock and input / output signals and contacts 4 , 6 and 8 are currently not connected ( n / c ) and are reserved for future signals . another example arrow 48 indicates one pattern embodiment 49 in which the contacts may be formed . in another transaction card embodiment , the card shell 22 can be replaced with a molded shell 50 shown in broken lines in fig1 b . an embodiment of the molded shell is an injection molding such as a reaction injection molding ( rim ). an rim shell embodiment 50 is formed with polyurethanes and these polyurethanes can be selected to provide a fairly rigid shell ( in one shell embodiment ) or a flexible shell ( in another shell embodiment ). the polyurethanes can also be selected to provide a substantially opaque shell or a somewhat transparent shell . attention is now directed to fig2 which is an enlarged view of a portion of the printed circuit 34 . this view shows that the printed circuit 34 preferably defines an aperture 52 which receives the microprocessor 36 . a predetermined set 53 of the circuit paths 35 extend over the microprocessor and are operatively coupled to ports of the microprocessor . although not shown , a fanout circuit pattern may be inserted between the microprocessor ports and the circuit paths . the outer ends of the fanout are spaced significantly greater than the inner ends and this makes it easier to form attachments to the circuit paths 35 . preferably , the printed circuit 34 defines a second aperture and the memory ( 37 in fig1 a ) is similarly received into the second aperture so that the printed circuit , the microprocessor and the memory are substantially coplanar and can thereby conform to the thickness limit ( 0 . 76 millimeter ) of the transaction card . as shown in fig1 a - 1c , the battery 23 is embedded in the card shell 22 to provide the supply voltage v cc and the data exchange system 24 is embedded in the card shell to receive the supply voltage . front and top views of one battery embodiment 23 a are shown in fig3 a . in this embodiment , a flexible body 60 is covered by a foil sheet as are each of battery tabs ( i . e ., terminals ) 61 and 62 . as also shown in fig1 a , the terminals extend away from the battery body 60 to facilitate contact with the circuit paths ( 35 in fig1 a ) of the flexible printed circuit ( 34 in fig1 b ). fig3 b shows another battery embodiment 23 b in which the access to the battery is provided by contacts 63 and 64 that do not extend outward from the battery body 60 but , rather , are contained within the border of the battery . this embodiment is especially useful for a card embodiment such as that shown in fig5 . in another battery embodiment , one of the contacts can be moved to the other side of the battery as shown in broken lines in the top view of fig3 b . one battery structural embodiment is a lithium polymer battery system having a manganese dioxide cathode and a metallic lithium anode which provides a nominal voltage of 3 volts and a nominal capacity of 40 milliamp / hours at 20 degrees centigrade . this embodiment has a nominal thickness of 0 . 35 millimeters and includes a flexible aluminum foil jacket with anode and cathode tabs made of nickel flashed copper . this embodiment is especially suited for automated , high volume manufacturing . in arrangement of the interactive transaction card 20 of fig1 a , the keypad 39 is coupled to the circuit paths 35 and is configured to receive tactile data and command instructions that may be inserted by a card owner , the display 40 is coupled to the paths to facilitate the display of visual data and commands , the contacts 38 are coupled to the circuit paths 35 to facilitate exchange of electrical data and commands , the microprocessor 36 is coupled to the circuit paths to process electrical data and commands , and the memory 37 is coupled to the circuit paths to store electrical data and commands that can then be accessed by the microprocessor . to facilitate the entry of tactile data and commands by a card owner , the keypad 39 is formed with pressure - sensitive keys ( e . g ., domed switches , membrane switches ). in the card embodiment of fig1 a , the keypad 39 comprises five pressure - sensitive keys and the microprocessor 36 is configured to recognize tactile pressure on one of the pressure - sensitive keys ( marked f ) as selection of a function and recognize tactile pressure on remaining pressure - sensitive entry keys ( marked 1 - 4 ) as entered data . in a display embodiment , the display 40 of fig1 a may be configured ( e . g ., with microsite technology ) as a number ( e . g ., seven ) of light - emitting diode ( led ) segments that each draw approximately 0 . 1 milliamps of current . the microprocessor 36 is preferably configured to keep the display elements powered on for a predetermined time ( e . g ., 10 seconds ). it is anticipated that when the transaction card 20 of fig1 a is not operated for an extended time , it will draw a small current ( e . g ., on the order of a few microamperes ) to maintain the microprocessor in a “ sleep ” mode . if the card is operated three times a day , it is anticipated that the processor , display and pin entry will consume a slightly greater current ( e . g ., on the order of a few milliamperes ). an operative system of the transaction card 20 is best seen in the block diagram of fig4 which includes elements of fig1 a with like elements indicated by like reference numbers . as shown , the keypad 39 is provided to receive tactile data and commands and the display 40 is provided to display visual data and commands . the electrical contacts 38 facilitate exchange of electrical data and commands and the memory 37 stores electrical data and commands . finally , the microprocessor 36 is coupled between the keypad , display , contacts , and memory to process tactile and electrical data and commands which are then displayed on the display , provided at the contacts , and / or stored in the memory . the reduced keypad 39 is especially suited for transaction cards that are directed to uses in which the desired tactile entries are limited and / or are directed to a particular group of card owners . as an example , some events ( e . g ., the special olympics ) are intended for participation of disabled persons and the keypad can be configured to facilitate their use of the transaction card . in an exemplary keypad configuration , the four entry keys in fig1 a could be altered to replace the numbers 1 - 4 with animal figures ( e . g ., wolf , bear , tiger and lion ) and appropriate tactile entries might involve tactile pressure on one or more of these entry keys . the selection of appropriate ones of these figures may be easier considering the disabilities of the card owners . other transaction card embodiments may be directed to uses in which a more traditional keypad is suitable . fig5 , for example , illustrates a transaction card 70 which is similar to the transaction card 20 of fig1 a with like elements indicated by like reference numbers . in the card 70 , however , the data exchange system ( 24 in fig1 a ) has been extended to a data exchange system 74 which extends over most or all of the length of the card shell 22 . a battery embodiment such as the battery 23 b of fig3 b is positioned immediately behind the data exchange system 74 and has contacts 63 and 64 that abut and couple into circuit paths 35 in a flexible printed circuit of the data exchange system 74 . the extended data exchange system 74 facilitates the use of an expanded keypad 79 which has additional keys . in an exemplary transaction card interactive operation with the transaction card 20 and 70 of fig1 a , the function key f is pressed to activate the card . the microprocessor 36 may be programmed to respond by generating a message ( e . g ., “ hello ”) on the display 40 to indicate that the card system is on and that the card owner should input his or her personal identification number ( pin ) via tactile pressure on the entry keys 1 - 4 . the card system is configured to provide a short time ( e . g ., 10 seconds ) for entry of each pin digit . when the pin number has been entered , the system will , for a short time ( e . g ., 15 seconds ), show a one - time use number in the display 40 . this timeout can be extended for an additional time ( e . g ., 10 seconds ) by pressing any of the numeric keys 39 . the microprocessor 36 is programmed to randomly generate the one - time use number so that it is entirely unpredictable . the interactive transaction card structure embodiments of fig1 a - 5 are suited for use in various interactive transaction methods such as that shown in the flow chart 80 of fig6 . in a process 81 of this method , transaction card are provided that each comprise : 1 ) a card shell consistent with the dimensions specified in international standard iso 7816 , 2 ) a battery embedded in the shell to provide a supply voltage , and 3 ) a data exchange system that is embedded in the shell . in a second process 82 , the data exchange system is configured to : in a third process 83 , card readers are provided that can interface between an institution ( e . g ., banks , restaurants , shops ) or an owner and the owner &# 39 ; s transaction card . the interactive method embodiment 80 of fig6 facilitates the interactive transaction card system 90 of fig7 in which an owner &# 39 ; s transaction card 91 can be accessed by institutional card readers 92 and by a personal card reader 94 which is located , for example , in an owner &# 39 ; s residence and communicates with a personal computer 95 . the institutional reader 92 can be used to conduct and complete transactions on an institutional computer 93 which can communicate with the personal computer via the internet 96 . although the transaction cards 20 and 70 of fig1 a and 5 are shown to have a standard iso form of electrical contacts 38 to facilitate the data and command exchange in process step 82 of fig6 , other card embodiments may substitute other exchange structures such as : a ) microprocessor - emulated magnetic stripe transmission , and b ) electromagnetic transceivers utilizing wavelengths in transmission regions that include : a ) the radio frequency ( rf ) region , b ) the infrared ( ir ) region , c ) the visual region , and d ) the ultra violet ( uv ) region . in an important feature of the invention , the personal card reader 94 can be used to initiate interactive transactions which are then completed via the card owner &# 39 ; s personal computer 95 and the internet 96 which permits mutual data flow between the institutional computer and the personal computer . the transaction card embodiments of the invention and the system 90 of fig7 facilitate a number of transactions of which a selected few are listed in the following transaction table . the embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications , variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results , all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
gun mounts are typically installed in vehicles driven by law enforcement officers to provide officers with ready access to shotguns and assault rifles in the vehicles during emergency situations . a preferred embodiment of a gun mount in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in fig1 - 3 . it is expected that this mount will be used in combination with a conventional butt socket or other mounting bracket to support a gun in a releasable locked secure position in a vehicle or elsewhere . however , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the mount of the present invention is well suited to receive , hold , or lock many articles other than guns or weapons . referring to fig1 an improved gun mount 10 is shown to include a base 12 mounted on a foundation 14 and a retainer arm 16 pivotably connected to base 12 . base 12 and retainer arm 16 cooperate to define an aperture therebetween for receiving a gun barrel 18 or the like upon movement of the retainer arm 16 to its closed position as shown in fig1 . it will be appreciated that base 12 can be configured to mount on a variety of foundations 14 such as floors , overhead screens , and trunk lids to provide floor , horizontal , and trunk mounts , respectively ( not shown ). advantageously , these mounting positions permit a gun to be mounted either muzzle down , horizontally , or vertically in a vehicle . gun mount 10 is well - suited for use in each case . base 12 is formed to include an article - receiving channel 20 and a separate annular groove 22 opening away from foundation 14 , a control chamber 24 opening toward foundation 14 , and a bolt - receiving passageway 26 interconnecting the control chamber 24 and the annular groove 22 as shown best in fig2 . control chamber 24 is sized and configured to contain an actuator assembly 28 operable by remote control to unlock the gun mount 10 to permit release of a gun barrel 18 retained in article - receiving channel 20 . a cover plate 30 is connectable to base 12 to hold actuator assembly 28 in control chamber 24 . retainer arm 16 includes a proximal portion 32 rotatably mounted on a hinge pin 34 and a distal portion 36 . as shown best in fig3 hinge pin 34 is coupled at its opposite ends to upstandinq ears 38 of base 12 to extend across a valley provided by annular groove 22 . retainer arm 16 is pivotable in the direction of phantom arrow 40 about a transverse axis defined by hinge pin 34 between a closed article - retaining position shown in fig2 and 3 to an open article - releasing position ( not shown ). the distal portion 36 of retainer arm 16 is formed to include a concave closure wall 42 for receiving a portion of gun barrel 18 upon movement of retainer arm 16 to its closed position as shown in fig2 . in this way , the retainer arm 16 and base 12 can cooperate to retain a gun barrel 18 or other article in the gun mount 10 . a locking pin 44 is reciprocable in passageway 26 to control pivotability of retainer arm 16 relative to base 12 . locking pin 44 includes a bolt 46 slidably received in passageway 26 and a head 48 movable within control chamber 24 . head 48 includes a flat - faced cam follower 50 for engaging a downwardly facing inner wall 52 to limit upward movement of locking pin 44 relative to base 12 . inner wall 52 defines one boundary of control chamber 24 as shown in fig2 and 3 . bolt 46 is configured to engage a slot 54 formed in the proximal portion 32 of retainer arm 16 to block pivoting movement of retainer arm 16 in direction 40 upon movement of bolt 46 to its projected position as shown in fig2 and 3 . compression spring means 56 acts between head 48 and actuator assembly 28 normally to yieldably urge bolt 46 of locking pin 44 to its projected position , thereby effectively preventing pivoting of retainer arm 16 to a position permitting release of an article situated in channel 20 of base 12 . in particular , proximal portion 32 includes a bolt - stopping wall 58 for engaging a top wall of bolt 46 and a pivot - blocking wall 60 for engaging a side wall of bolt 46 as shown best in fig2 . walls 58 and 60 cooperate to define the transverse slot or opening 54 formed in the retainer arm 16 . as shown best in fig2 passageway 26 has its upper opening facing slot 54 to permit engagement of bolt 46 and pivot - blocking wall 60 . actuator assembly 28 is operable by remote control means to retract locking pin 44 into control chamber 24 , disengaging the proximal portion 32 of the retainer arm 16 . in the illustrated embodiment , locking pin 44 is made of a magnetic material such as steel and a fixed core 62 is energized by coil means ( not shown ) in assembly 28 to generate a magnetic field which applies a force sufficient to move locking pin 44 in the direction of arrows 64 and in opposition to compression sprinq means 56 to a retracted position ( not shown ). it is expected that button means ( not shown ) mounted in a hidden location within the vehicle is operable by a law enforcement officer aware of such location to activate the actuator assembly 28 and withdraw locking pin 44 from pivot - blocking engagement with retainer arm 16 . an easily operated mechanical override system is provided in gun mount 10 to enable an officer to unlock the retainer arm 16 by manually retracting locking pin 46 in the event that the hidden button means is not accessible or the actuator assembly 28 is disabled due to malfunction or loss of power . in particular , base 12 is formed to include a keyway 66 having an inlet opening in an exterior wall 68 of base 12 and an outlet opening in inner wall 52 opposite to flat - faced cam follower 50 of locking pin head 48 . keyway 66 is sized and configured to accept a bitted key 70 such as a typical police handcuff key and to permit rotation of key 70 therein about its longitudinal axis . the outlet opening of keyway 66 is sized and configured so that the bit means 72 on the blade 74 of key 70 engages the follower 50 in camming relation upon rotation of key 70 in keyway 66 to urge the locking pin 44 against compression spring means 56 to its retracted position in response to continued rotation of key 70 . essentially , rotation of key 70 in keyway 66 causes bit means 72 to rotate in the direction of arrow 76 to extend from keyway 66 into control chamber 24 as shown in fig3 . such movement of key 70 causes bit means 72 to act on the flat - faced cam follower 50 to , in effect , disengage bolt 46 from retainer arm 16 , thereby permitting movement of retainer arm 16 to an article - releasing position without operating or damaging actuator assembly 28 . it will be appreciated that compression spring means 56 is configured and positioned underneath head 48 to stabilize locking pin 44 during camming engagement with bit means 72 to minimize disruptive cocking or rocking of bolt 46 in passageway 26 during use of the manually operated mechanical override system . the configuration of keyway 66 is well - suited for use with a typical police handcuff key . advantageously , such a key provides adequate security and , at the same time , is easily accessible by a law enforcement officer during an emergency . moreover , by use of such a simple cam system of the type employed in the present invention , the need for specially bitted keys and for costly and bulky lock components such as cylinders , cores , and tumbler pins are eliminated to provide an efficient , economical mount for locking guns or other articles . although the invention has been described in detail with reference to a preferred embodiment , variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims . | 4 |
reference will now be made in detail to selected illustrative embodiments of the invention , with occasional reference to the accompanying drawings . wherever possible , the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts . in one embodiment of the present invention , as shown in fig7 , a damaged annulus 42 is repaired by use of surgical sutures 40 . one or more surgical sutures 40 are placed at about equal distances along the sides of a pathologic aperture 44 in the annulus 42 . reapproximation or closure of the aperture 44 is accomplished by tying the sutures 40 so that the sides of the aperture 44 are drawn together . the reapproximation or closure of the aperture 44 enhances the natural healing and subsequent reconstruction by the natural tissue ( e . g ., fibroblasts ) crossing the now surgically narrowed gap in the annulus 42 . preferably , the surgical sutures 40 are biodegradable , but permanent non - biodegradable may be utilized . in all embodiments where biodegradable materials are indicated , suitable biodegradable materials may include , but are not limited to , biodegradable polyglycolic acid , swine submucosal intestine , collagen , or polylactic acid . other suitable suturing ( and band ) materials include , e . g ., polymeric materials such as pet , polyester ( e . g ., dacron ™), polypropylene , and polyethylene . additionally , to repair a weakened or thinned wall of a disc annulus 42 , a surgical incision can be made along the weakened or thinned region of the annulus 42 and one or more surgical sutures 40 can be placed at about equal distances laterally from the incision . reapproximation or closure of the incision is accomplished by tying the sutures 40 so that the sides of the incision are drawn together . the reapproximation or closure of the incision enhances the natural healing and subsequent reconstruction by the natural tissue crossing the now surgically narrowed gap in the annulus 42 . preferably , the surgical sutures 40 are biodegradable , but permanent non - biodegradable materials may be utilized . where necessary or desirable , the method can be augmented by placing a patch of human muscle fascia or any other autograft , allograft or xenograft in and across the aperture 44 . the patch acts as a bridge in and across the aperture 44 , providing a platform for traverse of fibroblasts or other normal cells of repair existing in and around the various layers of the disc annulus 42 , prior to closure of the aperture 44 . fig8 a - b , for example , show a biocompatible membrane employed as an annulus stent 10 , being placed in and across the aperture 44 . the annulus stent 10 acts as a bridge in and across the aperture 44 , providing a platform for a traverse of fibroblasts or other normal cells of repair existing in and around the various layers of the disc annulus 42 , prior to closure of the aperture 44 . in some embodiments the device , stent or patch can act as a scaffold to assist in tissue growth that healingly scars the annulus . in an illustrative embodiment , as shown in fig1 - 3 , the annulus stent 10 comprises a centralized vertical extension 12 , with an upper section 14 and a lower section 16 . the centralized vertical extension 12 can be trapezoid in shape through the width and may be from about 8 mm - 12 mm in length . additionally , the upper section 14 of the centralized vertical extension 12 may be any number of different shapes , as shown in fig4 a through 4c , with the sides of the upper section 14 being curved or with the upper section 14 being circular in shape . furthermore , the annulus stent 10 may contain a recess between the upper section 14 and the lower section 16 , enabling the annulus stent 10 to form a compatible fit with the edges of the aperture 44 . the upper section 14 of the centralized vertical extension 12 can comprise a slot 18 , where the slot 18 forms an orifice through the upper section 14 . the slot 18 is positioned within the upper section 14 such that it traverses the upper section &# 39 ; s 14 longitudinal axis . the slot 18 is of such a size and shape that sutures , tension bands , staples or any other type of fixation device known in the art may be passed through , to affix the annulus stent 10 to the disc annulus 42 . in an alternative embodiment , the upper section 14 of the centralized vertical extension 12 may be perforated . the perforated upper section 14 contains a plurality of holes that traverse the longitudinal axis of upper section 14 . the perforations are of such a size and shape that sutures , tension bands , staples or any other type of fixation device known in the art may be passed through , to affix the annulus stent 10 to the disc annulus 42 . the lower section 16 of the centralized vertical extension 12 can comprise a pair of lateral extensions , a left lateral extension 20 and a right lateral extension 22 . the lateral extensions 20 and 22 comprise an inside edge 24 , an outside edge 26 , an upper surface 28 , and a lower surface 30 . the lateral extensions 20 and 22 can have an essentially constant thickness throughout . the inside edge 24 is attached to and is about the same length as the lower section 16 . the outside edge 26 can be about 8 mm - 16 mm in length . the inside edge 24 and the lower section 16 meet to form a horizontal plane , essentially perpendicular to the centralized vertical extension 12 . the upper surface 28 of the lateral extensions 20 and 22 can form an angle from about 0 °- 60 ° below the horizontal plane . the width of the annulus stent 10 may be from about 3 mm - 8 mm . additionally , the upper surface 28 of the lateral extensions 20 and 22 may be barbed for fixation to the inside surface of the disc annulus 42 and to resist expulsion through the aperture 44 . in an alternative embodiment , as shown in fig4 b , the lateral extensions 20 and 22 have a greater thickness at the inside edge 24 than at the outside edge 26 . in an illustrative embodiment , the annulus stent 10 is a solid unit , formed from one or more of the flexible resilient biocompatible or bioresorbable materials well know in the art . the selection of appropriate stent materials may be partially predicated on specific stent construction and the relative properties of the material such that , after fixed placement of the stent , the repair may act to enhance the healing process at the aperture by relatively stabilizing the tissue and reducing movement of the tissue surrounding the aperture . for example , the annulus stent 10 may be made from : a porous matrix or mesh of biocompatible and bioresorbable fibers acting as a scaffold to regenerate disc tissue and replace annulus fibrosus as disclosed in , for example , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 108 , 438 ( stone ) and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 258 , 043 ( stone ), a strong network of inert fibers intermingled with a bioresorbable ( or bioabsorbable ) material which attracts tissue ingrowth as disclosed in , for example , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 904 , 260 ( ray et al .). a biodegradable substrate as disclosed in , for example , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 964 , 807 ( gan at al . ); or an expandable polytetrafluoroethylene ( eptfe ), as used for conventional vascular grafts , such as those sold by w . l . gore and associates , inc . under the trademarks gore - tex and preclude , or by impra , inc . under the trademark impra . furthermore , the annulus , stent 10 , may contain hygroscopic material for a controlled limited expansion of the annulus stent 10 to fill the evacuated disc space cavity . additionally , the annulus stent 10 may comprise materials to facilitate regeneration of disc tissue , such as bioactive silica - based materials that assist in regeneration of disc tissue as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 849 , 331 ( ducheyne , et al . ), or other tissue growth factors well known in the art . many of the materials disclosed and described above represent embodiments where the device actively promotes the healing process . it is also possible that the selection of alternative materials or treatments may modulate the role in the healing process , and thus promote or prevent healing as may be required . it is also contemplated that these modulating factors could be applied to material substrates of the device as a coating , or similar covering , to evoke a different tissue response than the substrate without the coating . in further embodiments , as shown in fig5 ab - 6 ab , the left and right lateral extensions 20 and 22 join to form a solid pyramid or cone . additionally , the left and right lateral extensions 20 and 22 may form a solid trapezoid , wedge , or bullet shape . the solid formation may be a solid biocompatible or bioresorbable flexible material , allowing the lateral extensions 20 and 22 to be compressed for insertion into aperture 44 , then to expand conforming to the shape of the annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall . alternatively , a compressible core may be attached to the lower surface 30 of the lateral extensions 20 and 22 , forming a pyramid , cone , trapezoid , wedge , or bullet shape . the compressible core may be made from one of the biocompatible or bioresorbable resilient foams well known in the art . the core can also comprise a fluid - expandable membrane , e . g ., a balloon . the compressible core allows the lateral extensions 20 and 22 to be compressed for insertion into aperture 44 , then to expand conforming to the shape of the annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall and to the cavity created by pathologic extrusion or surgical removal of the disc fragment . in an illustrative method of use , as shown in fig1 a - d , the lateral extensions 20 and 22 are compressed together for insertion into the aperture 44 of the disc annulus 42 . the annulus stent 10 is then inserted into the aperture 44 , where the lateral extensions 20 , 22 expand . in an expanded configuration , the upper surface 28 can substantially conform to the contour of the inside surface of the disc annulus 42 . the upper section 14 is positioned within the aperture 44 so that the annulus stent 10 may be secured to the disc annulus 42 , using means well known in the art . in an alternative method , where the length of the aperture 44 is less than the length of the outside edge 26 of the annulus stent 10 , the annulus stent 10 can be inserted laterally into the aperture 44 . the lateral extensions 20 and 22 are compressed , and the annulus stent 10 can then be laterally inserted into the aperture 44 . the annulus stent 10 can then be rotated inside the disc annulus 42 , such that the upper section 14 can be held back through the aperture 44 . the lateral extensions 20 and 22 are then allowed to expand , with the upper surface 28 contouring to the inside surface of the disc annulus 42 . the upper section 14 can be positioned within , or proximate to , the aperture 44 in the subannular space such that the annulus stent 10 may be secured to the disc annulus , using means well known in the art . in an alternative method of securing the annulus stent 10 in the aperture 44 , as shown in fig9 , a first surgical screw 50 and second surgical screw 52 , with eyeholes 53 located at the top of the screws 50 and 52 , are inserted into the vertebral bodies , illustratively depicted as adjacent vertebrae 54 and 56 . after insertion of the annulus stent 10 into the aperture 44 , a suture 40 is passed down though the disc annulus 42 , adjacent to the aperture 44 , through the eye hole 53 on the first screw 50 then back up through the disc annulus 42 and through the orifice 18 on the annulus stent 10 . this is repeated for the second screw 52 , after which the suture 40 is secured . one or more surgical sutures 40 are placed at about equal distances along the sides of the aperture 44 in the disc annulus 42 . reapproximation or closure of the aperture 44 is accomplished by tying the sutures 40 in such a fashion that the sides of the aperture 44 are drawn together . the reapproximation or closure of the aperture 44 enhances the natural healing and subsequent reconstruction by the natural tissue crossing the now surgically narrowed gap in the annulus 42 . preferably , the surgical sutures 40 are biodegradable but permanent non - biodegradable forms may be utilized . this method should decrease the strain on the disc annulus 42 adjacent to the aperture 44 , precluding the tearing of the sutures through the disc annulus 42 . it is anticipated that fibroblasts will engage the fibers of the polymer or fabric of the intervertebral disc stent 10 , forming a strong wall duplicating the currently existing condition of healing seen in the normal reparative process . in an additional embodiment , as shown in fig1 a - b , a flexible bladder 60 is attached to the lower surface 30 of the annulus stent 10 . the flexible bladder 60 comprises an internal cavity 62 surrounded by a membrane 64 , where the membrane 64 is made from a thin flexible biocompatible material . the flexible bladder 60 is attached to the lower surface 30 of the annulus stent 10 in an unexpanded condition . the flexible bladder 60 is expanded by injecting a biocompatible fluid or expansive foam , as known in the art , into the internal cavity 62 . the exact size of the flexible bladder 60 can be varied for different individuals . the typical size of an adult nucleus is about 2 cm in the semi - minor axis , 4 cm in the semi - major axis , and 1 . 2 cm in thickness . in an alternative embodiment , the membrane 64 is made of a semi - permeable biocompatible material . the mechanical properties of the injectate material may influence the performance of the repair and it is contemplated that materials which are “ softer ” or more compliant as well as materials that are less soft and less compliant than healthy nucleus are contemplated within the scope of certain embodiments of the invention . it must be understood that in certain embodiments the volume added to the subannular space may be less than equal to or larger than the nucleus volume removed . the volume of the implant may vary over time as well in certain embodiments . in an illustrative embodiment , a hydrogel is injected into the internal cavity 62 of the flexible bladder 60 . a hydrogel is a substance formed when an organic polymer ( natural or synthetic ) is cross - linked via , covalent , ionic , or hydrogen bonds to create a three - dimensional open - lattice structure , which entraps water molecules to form a gel . the hydrogel may be used in either the hydrated or dehydrated form . in a method of use , where the annulus stent 10 has been inserted into the aperture 44 , as has been previously described and shown in fig1 a - b , an injection instrument , as known in the art , such as a syringe , is used to inject the biocompatible fluid or expansive foam into the internal cavity 62 of the flexible bladder 60 . the biocompatible fluid or expansive foam is injected through the annulus stent 10 into the internal cavity 62 of the flexible bladder 60 . sufficient material is injected into the internal cavity 62 to expand the flexible bladder 60 to fill the void in the intervertebral disc cavity . the use of the flexible bladder 60 is particularly useful when it is required to remove all or part of the intervertebral disc nucleus . the surgical repair of an intervertebral disc may require the removal of the entire disc nucleus , being replaced with an implant , or the removal of a portion of the disc nucleus thereby leaving a void in the intervertebral disc cavity . the flexible bladder 60 allows for the removal of only the damaged section of the disc nucleus , with the expanded flexible bladder 60 filling the resultant void in the intervertebral disc cavity . a major advantage of the annulus stent 10 with the flexible bladder 60 is that the incision area in the annulus 42 can be reduced in size , as there is no need for the insertion of an implant into the intervertebral disc cavity . in an alternative method of use , a dehydrated hydrogel is injected into the internal cavity 62 of the flexible bladder 60 . fluid , from the disc nucleus , passes through the semi - permeable membrane 64 hydrating the dehydrated hydrogel . as the hydrogel absorbs the fluid the flexible bladder 60 expands , filling the void in the intervertebral disc cavity . in an alternative embodiment , as shown in fig1 , the annulus stent 10 is substantially umbrella shaped , having a central hub 66 with radially extending struts 67 . each of the struts 67 is joined to the adjacent struts 67 by a webbing material 65 , forming a radial extension 76 about the central hub 66 . the radial extension 76 has an upper surface 68 and a lower surface 70 , where the upper surface 68 contours to the shape of the disc annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall when inserted as shown in fig1 a - c , and where the lower surface 70 contours to the shape of the disc annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall when inserted as shown in fig1 a - c . the radial extension 76 may be substantially circular , elliptical , or rectangular in plan shape . additionally , as shown in fig2 , the upper surface 68 of the radial extension 76 may be barbed 82 for fixation to the disc annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall and to resist expulsion through the aperture 42 . as shown in fig1 and 15 , the struts 67 are formed from flexible material , allowing the radial extension 76 to be collapsed for insertion into aperture 44 , then the expand conforming to the shape of the inner wall of disc annulus 42 . in the collapsed position , the annulus stent 10 is substantially frustoconical or shuttlecock shaped , and having a first end 72 , comprising the central hub 66 , and a second end 74 . in an alternative embodiment , the radial extension 76 has a greater thickness at the central hub 66 edge than at the outside edge . in an embodiment , the annulus stent 10 is a solid unit , formed from one or more of the flexible resilient biocompatible or bioresorbable materials well known in the art . additionally , the annulus stent 10 may comprise materials to facilitate regeneration of disc tissue , such as bioactive silica based materials that assist in regeneration of disc tissue as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 849 , 331 ( ducheyne , et al . ), or other tissue growth factors well known in the art . alternatively , as shown in fig2 , a compressible core 84 may be attached to the lower surface 70 of the radial extension 76 . the compressible core 84 may be made from one of the biocompatible or bioresorbable resilient foams well known in the art . the compressible core 84 allows the radial extension 76 to be compressed for insertion into aperture 44 then to expand conforming to the shape of the disc annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall and to the cavity created by pathologic extrusion or surgical removal of the disc fragment . in an additional embodiment , as shown in fig1 a and 18b , a flexible bladder 80 is attached to the lower surface 70 of the annulus stent 10 . the flexible bladder 80 comprises an internal cavity 86 surrounded by a membrane 88 , where the membrane 88 is made from a thin flexible biocompatible material . the flexible bladder 86 is attached to the lower surface 70 of the annulus stent 10 in an unexpanded condition . the flexible bladder 80 is expanded by injecting a biocompatible fluid or expansive foam , as known in the art , into the internal cavity 86 . the exact size of the flexible bladder 80 can be varied for different individuals . the typical size of an adult nucleus is 2 cm in the semi - minor axis , 4 cm in the semi - major axis and 1 . 2 cm in thickness . in an alternative embodiment , the membrane 88 is made of a semi - permeable biocompatible material . in a method of use , as shown in fig1 a - 16c , the radial extension 76 is collapsed together , for insertion into the aperture 44 of the disc annulus 42 . the radial extension 76 is folded such the upper surface 68 forms the outer surface of the cylinder . the annulus stent 10 is then inserted into the aperture 44 , inserting the leading end 72 though the aperture 44 until the entire annulus stent 10 is within the disc annulus 42 . the radial extension 76 is released , expanding within the disc 44 . the lower surface 70 of the annulus stent 10 contours to the inner wall of disc annulus 42 . the central hub 66 is positioned within the aperture 44 so that the annulus stent 10 may be secured to the disc annulus 42 using means well known in the art . it is anticipated that fibroblasts will engage the fibers of the polymer of fabric of the annulus stent 10 , forming a strong wall duplicating the currently existing condition of healing seen in the normal reparative process . in an alternative method of use , as shown in fig1 a - 17c , the radial extension 76 is collapsed together for insertion into the aperture 44 of the disc annulus 42 . the radial extension 76 is folded such that the upper surface 68 forms the outer surface of the stent , for example in a frustoconical configuration as illustrated . the annulus stent 10 is then inserted into the aperture 44 , inserting the tail end 74 through the aperture 44 until the entire annulus stent 10 is in the disc . the radial extension 76 is released , expanding within the disc . the upper surface 68 of the annulus stent 10 contours to the disc annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall . the central hub 66 is positioned within the aperture 44 so that the annulus stent 10 may be secured to the disc annulus 42 , using means well known in the art . in one illustrative embodiment , the barbs 82 on the upper surface 68 of one or more strut 67 or other feature of the radial extension 76 , engage the disc annulus &# 39 ; 42 inner wall , holding the annulus stent 10 in position . in a method of use , as shown in fig1 a - 12b , where the annulus stent 10 has been inserted into the aperture 44 , as has been previously described . similarly , for the stent shown in fig1 through 21 , an injection instrument , as known in the art , such as a syringe , can be used to inject the biocompatible fluid or expansive foam into the internal cavity 86 of the flexible bladder 80 . the biocompatible fluid or expansive foam is injected through the annulus stent 10 into the internal cavity 86 of the flexible bladder 80 . sufficient material is injected into the internal cavity 86 to expand the flexible bladder 80 to fill the void in the intervertebral disc cavity . the material can be curable ( i . e ., glue ). the use of the flexible bladder 80 is particularly useful when it is required to remove all or part of the intervertebral disc nucleus . it should be noted that in any of the “ bag ” embodiments described herein one wall or barrier can be made stiffer and less resilient than others . this relatively stiff wall member can then be placed proximate the annulus wall and can advantageously promote , in addition to its reparative properties , bag containment within the annulus . fig2 shows a further aspect of the present invention . according to a further illustrative embodiment , a simplified schematic cross section of a vertebral pair is depicted including an upper vertebral body 110 , a lower vertebral body 112 and an intervertebral disc 114 . an aperture or rent 116 in the annulus fibrosus ( af ) is approached by a tube 118 , which is used to deliver a device 120 according to a further aspect of the present invention . the device 120 may be captured by a delivery tool 122 through the use of a ring or other fixation feature 124 mounted on the repair device 120 . fig2 shows a delivery method similar to that depicted in fig2 , with the exception that the tube 118 a has a reduced diameter so that it may enter into the sub - annular space of the disc 114 through the aperture or rent . turning to fig2 , according to a further aspect of the present invention , the delivery of the device 120 through the delivery tube 118 or 118 a may be facilitated by folding the arms or lateral extensions 128 , 130 of the device to fit within the lumen of the tube 118 or 118 a so that the stent or device 120 is introduced in a collapsed configuration . the device 120 is moved through the lumen of the tubes 118 or 118 a through the use of delivery tool 122 . fig2 shows the arms deflected in a distal , or forward direction for insertion into the delivery tube 118 or 118 a while fig2 shows the arms 128 , 130 deflected into a proximal position . fig2 shows the device 120 curled so that one arm 128 is projecting distally , or in a forward direction , and the other arm 130 is projecting proximally , or in a rearward direction . because the lateral extent of the device is relatively flexible , whether the device is of natural or synthetic material , other collapsible configurations consistent with the intent of this invention are also possible , including twisting , balling , crushing , etc . fig2 shows the device 120 having a series of peripheral barb structures typified by barb 132 located at the edges . in operation , these barbs may be forced into the annulus fibrosus as seen in connection with fig2 . barb placement can be anywhere on the device 120 provided that at least some number of barbs are likely to find annulus fibrosus tissue to anchor in during placement . for a simple aperture or rent , placement on the periphery of the device body is a reasonable choice , but for complex tears , it may be desirable to place a plurality of barbs on the device not knowing in advance which barbs will find tissue to anchor in during placement . fig2 shows an alternative fixation strategy where a pair of barbs 134 and 136 are plunged into the annulus fibrosus from the exterior of the annulus while the device 120 is retained in the sub - annular space by means of a tether 142 . although there are a wide variety of fixation devices in this particular example , a tether 142 may be knotted 145 with the band 144 holding the barbs 134 and 136 together to fix the device in the sub - annular space . the knot is shown in an uncinched position to clarify the relationship between the tether 142 and the band 144 . using this approach , the device can be maintained in a subannular position by the barbed bands while the tether knot is cinched , advantageously simultaneously reapproximating the annulus to close the aperture while drawing the device into sealing , bridging engagement with the subannular wall of the annulus fibrosus . fig3 shows an alternative fixation strategy where the barbs 148 and 150 are sufficiently long that they can pierce the body of the device 120 and extend all the way through the annulus fibrosus into the device 120 . in this configuration , the band 144 connecting the barbs 148 and 150 may be tightened to gently restrain and position the device 120 in the sub - annular space , or tightened with greater force to reapproximate the aperture or rent . fig3 shows a still further illustrative embodiment according to another aspect of the present invention . in this embodiment , a metal substrate 160 is incorporated into the device 120 . this piece can be machined from flat stock and includes the loop 162 as well as barbs typified by barb 164 . when formed in to the device 120 the structure shown in fig3 is used in a manner analogous to fig2 and fig2 . stents can expand to be planar , for example as shown hereinabove in fig4 , 9 , 11 and 12 , or they can expand to be three - dimensional as shown hereinabove in fig5 and 10 . fig3 - 36 depict a further three dimensional patch / stent using an autograft formed of fascial tissue . fig3 shows the superior vertebral body 202 and the inferior vertebral body 204 surrounding a disc having an annulus fibrosus 206 and nucleus pulposus 203 in the subannular space . according to this illustrative embodiment of the invention , a suture 210 is passed from outside the annulus through the wall of the annulus on one side of an aperture 208 and into the subannular space as shown . the suture is then passed back out through the annular wall on an opposing side of the aperture 208 leaving a loop or sling 212 of suture in the subannular space . as shown in the posterior view on the right side of fig3 , more than one suture can be applied . turning to fig3 , a fascial autograft 214 is then inserted through the aperture 208 into the subannular space using , for example , forceps 216 . fig3 shows the fascial stent / patch 214 fully inserted into the subannular space within the suture sling 212 . the closure of the aperture is accomplished simultaneously with pulling the autograft 214 toward the annular wall as shown in fig3 . the suture 210 can be cinched 218 or tied to maintain the closure and the fixation of the patch / stent . patches can be folded and expanded in a single plane or in three dimensions . as shown in fig2 - 25 and 41 for example , collapsing the patch can be accomplished laterally , whether the device is a single material or composite . other embodiments , such as that shown in fig1 can collapse vertically , and still others such as that shown in fig2 , longitudinally . others can collapse in three dimensions , such as those shown in fig1 - 15 and 36 . devices which expand in three dimensions can be packaged in a restraining jacket , such as a gelatine shell or “ gelcap ” for example , or a mesh of biosorbable or dissolvable material , that would allow for facile placement and subsequent expansion . patches can also be constructed of a single component , as shown for example in fig3 , made of autograft or a synthetic material such as dacron , or for example where the stent is a gelcap . they can be made of multiple components . an exemplary stent ( not shown ) can be made from a polymeric material , for example silicone rubber , which can be formed to have a natural unstressed shape , for example that of a “ bulb ”. a stylet or push - rod can , for example , be inserted on the inside of the bulb to stretch the bulb into a second shape which is thinner and elongated . the second shape is sufficient to place within the aperture in the annulus . upon placement of the device within the sub - annular space , the push - rod is removed and the bulb assumes it natural , unstressed state , assuming a larger dimension within the sub - annular space . although silicone is used in this example , other metallic constructs could also be envisioned such as a nitinol braided device that has a natural unstressed shape and assumes a second shape under tension for the delivery of the device . it is also contemplated that the opposite scenario can also accomplish the similar objective . in this alternative embodiment , the device can have a first configuration that is unstressed and elongated and assumes a second , larger configuration ( bulb ) under stress . in this embodiment , a portion of the stylet or rod that is used to mechanically activate the device would be left behind to hold the expansion element in its stressed configuration . multiple components could include a frame to help with expansion of the device and a covering to obtain biocompatibility and tissue ingrowth . examples of different frame configurations might include an expandable “ butterfly ” or “ figure - 8 ” configuration that could be constructed of wire material , such as nitinol or multiple wires . exemplary embodiments showing frame members 502 are depicted in fig4 a - e . of course , other configurations such as diamonds or other rounded or polygonal shapes can be used . the diamond frame is a construct that takes a first form that is smaller and expands to a larger frame . the diamond elements could be constructed from a single wire or from multiple wires . alternatively , the members could be constructed of elements that are moveable fixed at each of the ends to allow expansion . a tether or attachment device 504 is also depicted , which may be a suture , a wire , a screw , or other attachment means known in the art . the frame could be cut from a single material , such as flat stock nitinol to accomplish the same objective , as shown for example in fig3 . such shapes can be cut from flat stock using known methods , for example , laser cutting . a heat forming step could also be employed , as known in the art , to form barbs 132 in a shape that passes out of the flat plane of the stock material , as shown in fig2 for example . another frame configuration , also not shown , is that of a spiral or coil . the “ coil ” design can be , for example , a spring steel or other biocompatible material that is wrapped to a first “ wound ” smaller configuration and expands to a larger unwrapped , unwound configuration . depending on the size of the openings in the frames described above , each of these concepts may or may not have a covering over them in order to assure that the nucleus does not re - extrude from the intervertebral disc space after placement of the device , as well as to serve as substrate for the surrounding tissue to naturally incorporate the device . coverings might include eptfe , polyester , silicone , or other biocompatible materials . coverings could also include natural materials such as collagen , cellulose , autograft , xenograft , allograft or similar materials . the covering could also be biodegradable in nature , such as polyvinyl lactic acid . frames that are not covered may be permeable , such as a patch that is porous and allow for normal movement of fluids and nutrients through the patch into and out of the annular ring while maintaining nucleus fragments larger than the porosity of the stent / patch within the subannular space . depending on the material that the frame is constructed , a surface finish may be added to promote tissue ingrowth into the patch . for example , a titanium sputtering of the device may allow it to be more easily incorporated within the disc space . alternatively , a niti or tantalum foam could be added to the outer surface of the patch to promote tissue ingrowth . it is understood that there can be a variety of device designs of patches to accomplish the expansion of a device from a first configuration , to a second configuration to occupy the sub - annular space and reduce re - extrusion of the nucleus . the following device concepts are further discussed for additional embodiments of a device and / or system for the repair of an intervertebral disc annulus . as mentioned hereinabove , the stent / patch according to the present invention may comprise a mass of fascial autograft , and that autograft may be contained in a covering of material to form what will be referred to herein as a “ bag ”. of course , this term is used not necessarily to connote a five - sided closed container so much as to denote the notion of flexibly surrounding the volume of a patch / stent material so that it can be manipulated in space . in the most simplistic form , a prefabricated device of sutures could be used to form the “ sling ” to hold the fascial implant as discussed above . the advantage of this design over simple placement of sutures to hold the autograft is better containment and control of the autograft during and after implantation . the “ sling ” or a “ bag ” surrounds the fascial autograft to hold it in place . it is contemplated that other materials , such as a polyester mesh , could be used instead of the fascial autograft . fig3 shows an example of a pre - fabricated sling 300 . there are three sutures used in this example , 302 , 304 , and 306 , although there could be more or less sutures as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art . a collar member 308 has apertures or other features for attaching to the sutures . in this example , the third suture 306 passes along or within the collar 308 to form a loop extending from the lateral extent of the collar 308 . the first and second sutures 302 , 304 form loops from the superior and inferior extents of the collar 308 . intersections 310 can secure the loops to each other with small loops or knots in the sutures , small fabric attachment pieces , or by small preformed devices resembling grommets placed on the suture to aid in securement . other knot tying techniques known in the art can also be employed . turning to fig3 , the collar is depicted within the subannular space where the loops surround a fascial autograft 314 which by pulling proximally the sutures 302 , 304 , 306 the graft is collapsed into contact with the annular wall in a sealing manner . the sutures can be made of known materials , e . g ., biodegradable , bioabsorbable or bioresorbable vicryl or biocompatible nylon . the collar can be made of a fabric material , e . g ., polyester . during placement , one end of some or each suture can be passed through the inferior wall of the annulus and the other end can be passed through the superior wall surrounding the aperture . after the placement of the sling into the wall of the annulus , the fascial autograft is placed within the sling . the sutures are tightened to bring the tissues together and also to help reappoximate the aperture , as the collar size will be selected based on the surgeon &# 39 ; s judgment according to the degree of reapproximation desired . other constructions can also be used to accomplish the same objective , such as a “ bag ” 404 formed of expandable ptfe as shown in fig4 . the bag is placed through an aperture in the annulus 402 . additionally , a one way seal 406 can be positioned behind the aperture 408 . suturing techniques for introducing cardiac valves could be employed to place the seal . it is understood that there could be multiple constructs to accomplish the same objective and this is only given as an example . there are a variety of ways to affix the device to the subannular wall of the annulus in addition to those discussed hereinabove . the following exemplary embodiments are introduced here to provide inventive illustrations of the types of techniques that can be employed to reduce the time and skill required to affix the patch to the annulus , versus suturing and tying a knot . discussed hereinabove is the use of sutures , staples and other fixation devices , such as those passed through slot 18 to affix the patch to the annulus as shown in fig1 . fig2 also depicts the use of “ barbs ” on the surface of the stent to facilitate fixation to the annulus . in a simple example , as shown in fig2 , a patch / stent could be compressed , passed through a guide tube such as tubes 18 , 18 a shown in fig2 and 23 , and expanded within the sub - annular space . as shown in fig4 , the expanded patch 602 is shown having barbs 604 , along with detachable delivery tool 608 and guide tube 606 . once expanded , barbs 604 on the outer surface of patch 602 can be used to fix the patch into the inner wall 610 of the annulus 612 by pulling the patch back proximally , into the sub - annular wall 610 , and pushing forward distally on the guide tube 606 , thus driving the barbs 604 into the annulus and drawing the inner and outer tissues of the annulus together and reapproximating the disc on either side of the aperture , as shown in fig4 . after the placement of the patch , the delivery tool and guide tube are removed . the advantage of this design described above is that it requires very little time and skill to place and secure the patch to the annulus while also drawing the tissues together . materials of the patch could be similar to materials discussed hereinabove . anchoring barbs could be made of a biocompatible material , for example a metallic material ( e . g ., niti alloy , stainless steel , titanium ), or a polymeric material ( e . g ., polypropylene , polyethylene , polyurethane ). anchoring barbs could also be a biodegradable / bioabsorbable material , such as a polyglycolic acid ( pga ), a polylevolactic acid ( ppla ), a polydioxanone ( pda ) or for example a racemic polylactic acid ( pdlla ). if the barbs included a biodegradable / bioabsorbable material , it is anticipated that the barbs might have sufficient holding strength for a sufficient period of time to allow the patch to be incorporated into the annulus during the healing process . the advantage of having the anchoring barb of fig4 and 43 being biodegradable / bioabsorbable is that after the incorporation of the patch into the annulus there may be no need for the barbs to provide fixation . however , barbs pointing toward the outer surface of the annulus could pose a long term risk of penetration out of the annulus due to migration , and potentially impinging on the nerve root and spinal canal . biodegradable / bioabsorbable barbs address and advantageously reduce any long - term risk in this regard . it is also possible that the barbs could be made of both a biocompatible component and a biodegradable / bioabsorbable component . for example , the very tip of the barb could be made of a biodegradable material . the barb could penetrate the annulus wall with a rather sharp point , but after degradation the point of the barb would become dull . in this embodiment , the point would no longer induce continued scar formation after the patch has been incorporated , nor pose a risk of penetrating out of the annulus onto the nerve root . another fixation means includes the passing of “ anchoring bands ” into the wall of the annulus , vertebral bodies ( superior , inferior , or both ), or the sharpey &# 39 ; s fibers ( collagenous fibers between the junction of the annular fibers and vertebral bodies ). in the following example of anchors , the barbs or bands are affixed to the annulus / vertebral bodies / sharpey &# 39 ; s fibers . another element , for example a suture , cinch line , or a staple is utilized to attach the anchor bands to the patch , and thus hold the patch in proximity to the inner wall of the annulus . in addition , these bands may re - approximate the tissues at the aperture . revisiting one example of using barbs to anchor the device is shown in fig9 , described hereinabove . barbs or bone anchor screws 50 ands 52 are passed into the superior and inferior vertebral bodies 54 and 56 , respectively . superiorly , suture 40 is passed through the outer wall of the annulus , to the sub - annular space . the suture is then passed through the eyelet 53 of bone anchor 52 and then passed through the wall of the annulus from the sub - annular space to the outer wall of the annulus . the inferior end of the suture is similarly passed through the annulus , eyelet of the bone anchor , and back through the wall of the annulus . both ends of suture 40 are tightened and tied . the advantage of this concept is that it allows for fixation of the device to a surface that is known to be present in all discectomy procedures — the vertebral bodies . whereas , it is possible , depending on the location and size of a natural rent that there may not be sufficient annulus accessible to fixate the device directly to the annulus . in addition to providing a location for fixation , anchoring into the vertebral bodies may provide a more stable anchor surface . another example of fixating the device to inner wall of the annulus is shown in fig2 , and is further illustrated by fig4 - 47 . as discussed hereinabove , with reference to fig2 - 30 , a patch 120 is placed with a delivery tool 122 , through the inner lumen of a guide tube 118 , into the sub - annular space and then expanded . this step can also be seen in fig4 and 46 , where a patch 702 is folded and passed through a guide tube 706 and is held by a delivery tool 704 . also shown is a anchor band or staple 709 and an anchor band delivery device 708 . within the guide tube , or within the delivery tool , there is a suture line or cinch line 710 that is attached to the center of the patch 702 . this can be seen in fig4 a with the guide tube 706 removed . as seen in fig4 c and 46a , the guide tube 706 is retracted after the patch 702 has been expanded and deployed . next , as shown in fig4 and 46 , an anchor band delivery tool 708 is used to deliver one or more “ bands ” 709 onto the outer surface of the annulus . these are intended to be anchored into the wall of the annulus with barb shapes that do not allow for the barbs to be pulled back through the annulus . the anchor bands resemble a construction of a “ staple ”. the bands could actually be constructed by connecting two barbed elements with , for example , a suture between the two barbed elements . the barbs and the connection band between the barbs could be constructed of the same material or of different materials . for example , the barbed part of the anchor band could be a biodegradable / bioabsorbable material ( such as polyglycolic acid ) or could be constructed of a metallic or polymeric biocompatible material ( e . g ., titanium , niti alloy , stainless steel , polyurethane , polypropylene ). in addition , the band that connects these barbs can be constructed of materials that are similar to the barbs , or different materials . for example , the connection band could be a biodegradable / bioabsorbable suture , such as vicryl , or a biocompatible material such as polypropylene . in addition , it is possible that these elements are constructed from multiple materials to accomplish the objective of anchoring into the annulus and providing for a fixation site to draw the tissues together . fig4 b and 44c show the placement of the anchor bands 709 into the annulus 712 with the anchor band delivery tool 708 . fig4 a and 46b schematically show the placement of the anchor bands 709 into the wall of the annulus 712 and the retraction of the anchor band delivery device 708 , with the patch delivery tool 704 still in place . fig4 d depicts a representative anchor band 709 , having a pair of stainless steel barbs 709 ″ connected by a suture 709 . fig4 e shows the patch 702 , anchor bands 709 , and cinch line or suture 710 with the delivery tools removed , prior to drawing the patch and the tissues of the annulus together . in this embodiment there is a pre - fabricated knot 714 on the cinch line , which is described further in fig4 b , although other knots are possible . fig4 a also shows a posterior view of the patching of the annulus with this device with knot 714 . in this stent / patch 702 a pair of loops of 7 mm suture 709 are shown , which engage the cinch line and slip knot . these suture loops connect to the barbs directly , as in fig4 , or loop to surgical staples , or are placed directly into the annulus . the presence of a pre - fabricated knot on the cinch line makes the process of repairing quicker since there is no need to tie a knot . it also facilitates drawing the tissues together . the use of the cinch line and a pre - fabricated knot can be placed by , for example , an external tube such as a knot pusher . fig4 e is similar to the fig2 described hereinabove prior to “ tying ” the knot 145 . fig4 f shows the drawing of the patch and the annular tissues together by pulling on the suture in the direction “ a ” indicated by the arrow . in this case , the knot pusher has been removed from the cinch line 710 . the suture 710 is drawn proximally to draw the patch 702 into engagement with the inner wall of the annulus to seal the aperture from within , as well as draw the walls of the annulus together to reapproximate the annular aperture . fig4 c and fig4 g show the cinch line suture 710 tied and drawing the annular tissues together , after the excess suture line has been cut . it is also apparent from this device , fixation and delivery system that the outer surfaces of the aperture are also drawn together for re - approximation . the cinching of the anchor bands and the patch also allows for taking - up the slack that allows for the accommodation of varying sizes . for example , the thickness of the annular wall surrounding the aperture can vary from 1 mm up to 10 mm . therefore , if the anchor bands have a set length , this design with a cinch line accommodates different dimensions of the thickness of the wall of the annulus by drawing the “ slack ” of the bands together within the aperture . although it has been described here as patch placement that involves two lateral anchor bands with a suture to draw the patch , bands and tissues together , one or two or more bands could be used and two bands is only an example . furthermore , the anchor bands were placed with the barbs in a superior - inferior fashion . one skilled in the art would recognize that these could be placed at different locations surrounding the aperture . moreover , although it was described that the bands are placed into the annulus , these anchor bands could also be placed in the vertebral bodies as shown in fig4 a generally at 800 , or the sharpey &# 39 ; s fibers 802 , as shown in fig4 b generally at 804 , adequately allowing for placement of barbs into adequate tissue . although the patch depicted in the example above does not have barbs attached to the patch , it is also possible to have the barbs as described hereinabove to further promote the fixation of the patch to the inner wall of the annulus . finally , although the drawings depict an aperture that lends itself to re - approximating the tissues , it is conceivable that some apertures , whether natural or surgically made , may be relatively large and therefore might require the placement of additional material within the aperture to act as a scaffold for tissue in growth , between the patch on the inner wall of the annulus and the anchor bands located on the outer wall . an example of material to fill the aperture might include autograft para - spinal fascial tissue , xenograft , allograft , or other natural collagenous materials . the filler material could also be of a biocompatible material such as a dacron material . fig5 shows the illustrative filling of an aperture with implant material 716 prior to cinching the suture 710 . as an alternative embodiment of the present invention , the anchor bands 709 as described previously ( anchor bands into annulus ) could be sufficiently long enough to pass through the annulus and then through the patch . the barbs in this embodiment have an engaging involvement with the patch . this concept was previously discussed hereinabove in connection with fig3 . further illustration of such a system is schematically shown in fig4 and 50 . passing the barbs through the patch , in this embodiment , provides additional security and safety by reducing the possibility that the barbs may migrate after implantation . in this application of the invention , the suture cinch line may ( fig5 ) or may not ( fig3 ) be used in addition to the anchor bands to draw the tissues together and reduce tissue movement surrounding the aperture . in addition , although the bands shown in fig4 and 50 take the form of a “ barb ”, they could as easily take a form of a simple t - barb 720 , as shown in fig5 e , or a c - type element wherein the object is to have irrevocable engagement with the patch device 702 after the penetration through the patch . a t - type attachment , when aligned longitudinally with the suture , passes through the patch . the t section then rotates to prevent the suture anchor from being pulled back through the patch . in another embodiment a “ c ” retainer made of a superelastic material may be attached to the end of the suture band . the c retainer is loaded into a needle wherein it is held straight . the needle is used to pass the c retainer and suture through the patch and deploy the retainer in a second configuration in the shape of a “ c ”. it is also foreseen within the scope of the invention that there may be patch designs which will accommodate the placement and securement of the anchor to the fabric that covers the frame of the patch . for example , a frame for a patch that is made out of metal such as nitinol can provide for “ windows ”. the device , covered with a mesh fabric , for example silicone or dacron , would therefore allow the anchoring barbs to be passed through the “ windows ” in the frame of the patch . in this case , the barb can be secured to the patch in the fabric covering the frame . alternatively , the patch can be secured by passing barbs that engage the lattice of the patch frame . these embodiments of the invention illustrate designs in which the barbs engage with the vertical , horizontal or criss - crossed structures / members of the frame . in this case , the barbs would pass through the mesh or lattice of the frame and they would be unable to pass back out of the structure . although this discussion refers to “ anchor bands ” that are shown to be two anchors connected by a suture , it is also contemplated that single barbs with sutures are placed and the sutures &# 39 ; ends , at the outer surface of the annulus , are tied after placement through the patch . it is also possible that these “ single anchors ” could be retained by a suture “ pledget ” on the outer wall of the annulus to better hold the outer surface , or could include a suture ( or band ) locking device . one objective in the designs discussed hereinabove is to provide a way to “ pull up the slack ” in a system to adjust the length of sutures and for anchor bands . according to the present invention , a technique referred to as the “ lasso cinch knot ” was developed as a means to draw the anchor bands together with a suture cinch line that is incorporated into the patch design . fig5 gives further description of the use of the lasso embodiment . in essence , patch and frame constructs are used that incorporate the “ barbs through the patch ” design . once the barbs have passed through the patch , an internal lasso 722 is drawn tight around the sutures of the anchor bands and thus draws the extra suture material within the patch . the internal lasso gathers the sutures of the bands , and as the lasso is tightened , it cinches together the sutures of the bands and therefore tightens them and eliminates slack , bringing the patch / stent into closer or tighter engagement with the annulus wall . the patch in fig5 additionally provides for a diamond shape grid pattern , which advantageously provides a grid which will while allowing a probe or similar instrument to pass through with little resistance , provides resistance to a barb or other restraining feature on the instrument . the frame shown can be made from nitinol , and the locking and holding windows shown at the center of the figure would allow for rotation about the z - axis during placement . a slipknot technique using , for example a knot pusher , would aid in the loop pulling process by the lasso . the internal loop ( lasso ) can be tacked to the outside corners of the patch / stent , in order to hold the loop at the outer edges of the patch frame . when cinching the lasso knot , the loop can be pulled free from some or all of its tacked attachment points to the frame , to prevent deformation of the planar shape of the frame when cinching the lasso . as above , the frame can be a composite structure or sandwich formed with some type of mesh fabric . the proximal mesh fabric can be bonded fully to the patch frame , for example through the use of an adhesive , for instance a silicone . adhesive , advantageously , can fill the interstices of the grid pattern while allowing for easy probe penetration and protection of the suture lines . protection of the suture lines is advantageous when the lasso is used to pull and bunch a group of band sutures together . it is also contemplated within the scope of the present invention that sutures 710 ′ can be preattached directly to a stent / patch . as shown in fig5 a several separate barbs 709 ′″ into the annulus 712 can be directly attached to the patch 702 . each “ barb ” of fig5 a can be independently placed into the annulus after the patch is deployed . this can be seen to be similar to the embodiment including barbs 709 ″″ of fig5 . an alternative embodiment for securing a patch 902 and reapproximating a rent or incision is to provide each of the separate barbs with sutures having variable lengths as shown in fig5 . each independent suture barb 904 is placed into the annulus 906 or into the patch 902 with the barb delivery tool 908 . after the placement , all of the suture lines 910 are drawn taught , by drawing on the free ends that exit the patch delivery tool 912 . a locking element ( which may be referred to as a locking clamp , or band locking device , or band retention device ) 914 that uses a gasket 916 and threading mechanism is attached to the patch 902 and is used to tighten the gasket 916 around the distal ends of the sutures 910 . the patch delivery tool 912 is removed and the extra suture length is cut . it is also possible that the gasket mechanism could be a press - fit to accommodate the tightening of the sutures to the patch . alternatively , the locking mechanism can be as shown in fig5 , although in this case the engagement of the locking element 914 ′ takes part on barb 916 . pulling the suture 910 in the direction of arrow b will tighten and lockingly hold in tension to aid in securing and reapproximating the annulus . the adjustable length suture band between the two anchors allows slack to be taken up between the anchors 916 . two t - type anchors are shown in this example , but multiple anchors of differing configurations could be used . the locking features can be included on the suture band , as depicted here , and allow for substantially one - way locking engagement with the anchor members . this adjustability advantageously promotes for the accommodation of varying thickness of the annulus from patient to patient . the suture slack in this embodiment may be taken up to close the defect in the annulus and / or to shorten the band between anchors for a secondary cinching of multiple tensioned suture bands as described hereinabove . the cinch line and the lasso concepts in essence try to facilitate the re - approximation and drawing of tissues together in a fast and simple way . other contemplated embodiments for “ tension ” elements include using an elastic coupler as a part of the anchor band used to fixate the device . the elastic coupler can be expanded for placement , and upon release , can draw tension to pull the tissues together . the coupler could be made of a biocompatible metal or polymer , or could be constructed of a biodegradable / bioabsorbable material . similarly , an alternative embodiment to cause tension within the device and draw the tissues together after placement of the anchor bands might include an elastic band or band with a spring which one end can be attached to the anchor bands and the other end attached to the patch . alternatively , the anchor bands might , in and of themselves may be made of an elastic band between the barbs , or may contain a spring element between the barbs . such an embodiment can be made to resemble a so - called “ bobber spring .” again , it is contemplated that the elastic or resilient element could be made from a wide variety of metals , polymeric , or biodegradable / bioabsorbable material . fig5 describes an embodiment where the patch element 1002 takes the form of a mesh seal . the securement is effected by a hook having a barb element 1004 that penetrates the inner surface of the annulus 1006 , while the inner connection of the hook ( barb ) 1004 is attached to the patch in such a fashion as to add tension between the outer surface of the annulus and the inner surface in proximity to the patch , thus drawing the annular tissues together . the patch / stent 1002 contains a spring ribbon element 1008 which can be formed from nitinol or other spring material . hooks 1010 are then deployed to “ grab ” the annulus , either through penetration or through grasping into the aperture 1012 as shown . fig5 a - f shows another embodiment of a means to draw the suture lines together to cause tension between the inner and outer tissues of the annulus . anchor bands , for example t - barbs 720 ′ are placed through the annulus and the patch , and they are secured to the patch 702 . “ slack ” in the suture of the anchor band is “ rotated ” around a detachable portion of the delivery tool 704 ′ and a locking element , for example a screw configuration 724 as shown in the drawing , is used to lock the extra suture line in place affixed to threads 726 with the patch 702 . the delivery tool 704 ′ is then removed . fig5 shows alternative embodiments for tightening “ anchoring barbs ” with different configurations of sutures and cinch lines . for example in fig5 b each independent barb has a looped suture attached to it . through each of these loops is passed a cinch line , which contains a knot . after placement of the barbs within the annulus , and possibly through the patch , the cinch line draws the loops of the barbs together . the advantage of this embodiment is that it allows for the independent placement of multiple barbs and the ability to draw all of them together . although cinch lines have been described as using a knot to “ lock ” the length of the suture , other mechanisms could also lock the band locking device , as shown in fig5 . the locking of the suture length is accomplished through a mechanical element located on the barb which engages with three dimensional elements attached to the suture line which mechanically press fit through the engagement element on the barb , thus locking the length of the suture line into place . although the embodiments of fig5 and fig5 depict the use of a single locking mechanism ( e . g ., knot on cinch line ), it is conceivable that various designs could use more than one locking element to achieve the re - approximation and drawing together the tissue surrounding an aperture . all patents referred to or cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the explicit teachings of this specification , including ; u . s . pat . no . 5 , 108 , 438 ( stone ), u . s . pat . no . 5 , 258 , 043 ( stone ), u . s . pat . no . 4 , 904 , 260 ( ray et al . ), u . s . pat . no . 5 , 964 , 807 ( gan et al . ), u . s . pat . no . 5 , 849 , 331 ( ducheyne et al . ), u . s . pat . no . 5 , 122 , 154 ( rhodes ), u . s . pat . no . 5 , 204 , 106 ( schepers at al . ), u . s . pat . no . 5 , 888 , 220 ( felt et al .) and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 376 , 120 ( sarver et al .). various materials know to those skilled in the art can be employed in practicing the present invention . by means of example only , the body portions of the stent could be made of niti alloy , plastics including polypropylene and polyethylene , stainless steel and other biocompatible metals , chromium cobalt alloy , or collagen . webbing materials can include silicone , collagen , eptfe , dacron , polyester , polypropylene , polyethylene , and other biocompatible materials and can be woven or non - woven . membranes might be fashioned of silicone , propylene , polyester , surlyn , pebax , polyethylene , polyurethane or other biocompatible materials . inflation fluids for membranes can include gases , liquids , foams , emulsions , and can be or contain bioactive materials and can also be for mechanical , biochemical and medicinal purposes . the stent body , webbing and / or membrane can be drug eluting or bioabsorbable , as known in the medical implant arts . the foregoing discussion relates to the use of a patch ( or stent ). in some clinical instances , the method of the invention may be accomplished without the use of a patch , however . moreover , a patch may be unnecessary to repair small apertures or apertures of certain shapes , or certain weakened or thin portion ( s ) of an annulus . the invention therefore also encompasses methods for repairing or reconstructing annular tissue that do not necessarily involve the use of a patch , and to fixation devices and tools useful in carrying out these methods . a comparatively simple embodiment of this method is shown in fig7 . in this embodiment , an annulus may be repaired or reconstructed by use of surgical sutures 40 . one or more surgical sutures 40 may be placed at suitable ( e . g ., about equal ) distances along the sides of an aperture 44 ( or along the boundaries of thin or weakened regions ) in the annulus 42 . any suitable surgical needle or its functional equivalent may be used to place the suture . in cases where thinned or weakened regions of the annulus wall are in need of repair or reconstruction , it may be advantageous to place a surgical incision in the affected region to create an aperture prior to proceeding with the method . reapproximation or closure of the aperture 44 may be accomplished by tying the sutures 40 so that the sides of the aperture 44 ( or boundaries of a thin or weakened region ) are drawn together . without wishing to be bound by theory , it is believed that the reapproximation or closure of the aperture 44 enhances the natural healing and subsequent reconstruction by the natural tissue ( e . g ., fibroblasts ) crossing the now surgically narrowed gap in the annulus 42 . preferably , the surgical sutures 40 are biodegradable , but permanent non - biodegradable sutures may be utilized . the use of sutures alone may be insufficient . accordingly , the present invention also provides additional fixation devices that may be used to reapproximate and hold annular tissue . such fixation devices , as described above , may contain an anchor portion and a band portion . the anchor portion serves to fix the fixation device in the annular tissue . the band portion , attached to the anchor portion , serves to reapproximate annular tissue when tightened and secured . at least one fixation device is placed into , or though , the wall of an annulus in a portion surrounding the aperture ( or in a boundary region surrounding a thin or weakened portion of the annulus ). the device is then drawn in tension to pull together , wholly or partially , the surrounding annular tissue . the anchor portion and bands are as described above , and preferably ( though not necessarily ) shaped to enter the annular tissue relatively easily and to resist removal . examples of suitable anchor devices include but are not limited to barbs , t - anchors , or combinations thereof . fig4 d depicts an exemplary anchor device containing barbs . the band and the barbs may be separate elements or comprise one continuous element . bands and barbs may be made of the same or different materials . the bands may be string - like , made from suture or similar material , or of any construction or dimension that is amenable to the delivery and engagement of the fixation device . for example , the band may have a width greater than , in some embodiments far greater than , its thickness . the suture material may in some embodiments have a width : height ratio of 1 . 25 : 1 . in some embodiments , bands may be constructed , wholly or partially , of a mesh tube . moreover , different segments along the length of the band may have different dimensions and constructions . for example , the band may be constructed of thin material , such as nickel titanium alloy or stainless steel wire , close to the anchor barbs , while the middle portion that spans the aperture may comprise a much wider band made of optionally softer material . as described above , the fixation materials may be biocompatible or reabsorbable , or both . examples of biocompatible or reabsorbable materials for use , e . g ., in band and / or barb ( or anchor ), include , but are not limited to , polylactic acid , polyglycolic acid , silk suture , polyethylene , stainless steel , polypropylene , nickel titanium alloy , polyester and their functional equivalents . advantageously , the very tip of the barb could be made of biodegradable material . the barb may be constructed of a material having a shape sufficiently sharp to penetrate the annulus wall , but sufficiently susceptible to wear to dull upon insertion . as an example of the foregoing , the embodiment depicted in fig2 may be adapted for use without patch 120 . in this embodiment , barbs 134 and 136 are plunged ( inserted ) into the annulus fibrosus from the exterior of the annulus . band 144 resides on the outer surface of the annulus and connects barbs 134 and 136 . when knot 145 is tightened or cinched with tether 142 and band 144 , the tissues surrounding the aperture , the inner wall of the annulus , and the outer wall of the annulus , are drawn together . similarly , the arrangement shown in fig3 may be modified by deletion of the patch 120 . anchoring barbs 148 and 150 , attached to band 144 , may be cinched , pulling the appropriate tissues together . the function of the fixation devices of fig2 and 30 are similar to anchor bands 709 shown in fig4 c - 44 e and 46 a - 46 c . in each of these embodiments , the fixation device spans the aperture and is used to draw together the tissues surrounding the aperture , the inner surface of the annulus , and the outer surface of the annulus . thus , in certain clinical situations , such as in the repair of a small aperture , it is possible that a patch may be unnecessary and that cinching the fixation devices may be sufficient to close the aperture . fig5 a - c , 58 a - c , 60 , 61 a , 61 b , 62 a - d , and 63 show additional examples of embodiments of the invention for annular repair or reconstruction without the use of a patch . for instance , in fig5 a - c , in lieu of ( or optionally in addition to ) a patch , two anchors 916 are shown having been passed through the annulus to the subannular space . by drawing on band 910 , the inner and outer walls of the annulus are drawn together in tension , which reapproximates the tissue surrounding the aperture . fig5 c shows a single anchor band across the opening in the annulus . multiple anchor bands may also be placed along an incision or tear in the annulus . the fixation devices of the invention could be delivered as a pair of barbs attached by a single band , as shown in fig4 d , or each barb could be delivered individually . alternatively , multiple barbs may be pre - attached to single or multiple bands for ease and speed of delivery . for example , fig6 shows a fixation device that has multiple anchors 916 ( or barbs , not shown ) connected together in a configuration similar to fig5 b and 58 c , with each anchor 916 being delivered individually into , or through , the nucleus of the annulus 712 . the anchors 910 , if present , may be shown as in the figure . by drawing on the cinch line , the tissues surrounding the aperture , the inner wall of the annulus , and the outer wall of the annulus are drawn together . the knot of fig6 can be similar to the knot shown in fig4 b . other types of knots , such as the knot shown in fig7 , may be used , however . although knots are shown to affix the suture lines together , other means to lock , fasten , clip , retain , or secure the sutures together may also be used . for example , fig5 a shows an alternative way to lock individual bands with barbs together with locking mechanism . fig5 a also shows an alternative embodiment of the fixation device which is contemplated wherein multiple anchor barbs 904 are placed individually with each anchor barb having a single band 910 that are drawn together with other barbs and bands . as previously mentioned , the present invention also encompasses delivery devices of the following description . the delivery devices of the present invention are configured to deliver at least one fixation device into ( or through ) the annulus or other surface or tissue . the delivery device will typically comprise a device or shaft having proximal and distal ends . the shaft of the device may be of any convenient length , typically from , e . g ., 1 inch to 10 inches . materials of which to make the device include , but are not limited to : metals , such as stainless steel , nickel , titanium alloy , and titanium ; plastics , such as ptfe , polypropylene , peek , polyethylene , and polyurethane . advantageously , the shaft of the device will have a cross - sectional shape suitable to accommodate an ejection rod and at least one fixation device . in one embodiment , at least a portion of the shaft of the device may be hollow , having a circular , elliptical , triangular , trapezoidal or other suitable cross - sectional area sufficient to accommodate an ejection rod , described below . the delivery device may also contain a handle or raised surface configured to accommodate the shape of surgeon &# 39 ; s hands or fingers for easier handling . such raised or configured portion may be made of the same or different material as the tube or shaft . suitable materials include polymers , such as acrylic polymers , polyurethane ; and metals , such as stainless steel and titanium . the delivery device may be configured to accommodate and deploy at least one fixation device , such as a barb or t - anchor with one or more associated bands . advantageously , the distal end of the delivery device will comprise a hollow needle or cannula 711 , having a circular , elliptical , triangular , hexagonal or other inner cross sectional area , suitable to accommodate the cross - sectional shape of the fixation device within . the distal point of the cannula 711 is advantageously sharpened , as a needle , to accommodate insertion . the cannula 711 is advantageously cut obliquely as shown in fig6 to form a sharp leading surface or point for ease of insertion . the cannula 711 may contain a cut or groove along its side to accommodate one or more anchors 709 as shown ( or barbs , not shown ), e . g ., in fig6 b or 63 . in one embodiment , the at least one fixation device ( including band and barb or t - anchor ) is disposed within the cannula 711 as shown in fig6 a , 61 b , and / or 63 . alternatively , the t - anchor 709 ( or barb , not shown ), or other fixation device may be hollow and disposed in a manner surrounding the device of the delivery device . the delivery device 708 will also advantageously contain within it an ejection rod 715 . the proximal end of the ejection rod 715 typically will contain an end portion 713 to function as a stopper , e . g ., having a diameter larger than the remaining portion of the rod , such as is shown in fig6 a . the diameter of the remaining portion of the ejection rod 715 will be small enough for insertion within the shaft of the device 708 . upon insertion of the cannula 711 into the location of choice , the ejection rod is pushed to deliver the fixation device . the delivery device is then removed . advantageously , the ejection rod 715 and delivery device may be configured to deliver multiple fixation devices , sequentially or simultaneously . thus , if multiple fixation devices are contained within the device , the ejection rod 715 and delivery device may be configured such that the rod 715 be pushed a first distance , sufficient to deliver a first fixation device . the device is then removed from the first insertion point and inserted into a second insertion point , where the ejection rod is then pushed a second distance for delivery of a second fixation device , and so - on as desired . for simultaneous delivery of multiple fixation devices , multiple delivery devices may be arranged in parallel ( or substantially parallel ). the distance between ( or among ) the delivery devices may be fixed or adjustable , as desired . the distance the ejection rod 715 is pushed to define a first , second , and subsequent distances may be regulated by feel . alternatively , the distance can be regulated by the architecture of the device . for example , the shaft and ejection rod may be fitted with a notch - and - groove configuration , respectively . in such configuration , the notch in the outer surface of the ejection rod may be aligned with a groove in the inner surface of the device . the length of the groove defines a first distance . the ejection rod 715 would be then turned or rotated within the device , aligning the notch within the device to a second groove defining a second distance , and so - on . in an alternative embodiment , the ejection rod and anchor portion of the fixation device ( e . g ., barb or t - anchor ) may surround the shaft of the device , as a sleeve surrounds an arm . in such a configuration , the delivery device would comprise a solid shaft and the ejection rod and fixation device would be at least partially hollow and disposed over the distal portion of the delivery device . pushing the ejection rod in a proximal to distal direction would deploy the anchor portion of the fixation device . fig6 a and 61 b describe one embodiment of an anchor band delivery device 708 and fixation means . fig6 a shows a general drawing of a delivery device . fig6 b further depicts the distal end of the delivery device . anchor band delivery device 708 contains two pointed needles or cannulas 711 . each cannula 711 contains an anchoring t - type anchor 709 ( or barb ) positioned within the distal end of the cannula 711 . a band 709 ′ links the two anchors 709 ( or barbs ) together and a cinch knot 714 secures the anchors ( or barbs ). cinch line 710 is pulled to decrease the length of the band 709 ′ that attaches the anchors 709 . referring to fig6 a , anchor band delivery device 708 is inserted into the annulus 712 sufficiently to engage the inner layers of the annulus 712 , and preferably located at the inner wall of the annulus 712 . the anchors 709 are ejected from the delivery device by pressing the ejection rod 715 in a fashion to expel the t - anchors 709 ( or barbs , not shown ) from the device . for example , pressing on the proximal end of ejection rod 715 as shown in fig6 a drives the ejection rod 715 in a distal direction , thus expelling the anchor from the device . fig6 b shows the anchors 709 ( or barbs ) after being ejected . fig6 c shows a knot pusher 716 attached to the device that can be used to tighten the knot 714 once the fixation device is secured into the annular tissue . fig6 c shows the placement of two anchors 709 , or fixation devices ( anchors and bands ), after they have been delivered to the annulus and before the bands 709 have been tightened . the knot pushers 716 of both devices are still in contact with the knots and the delivery needles have been pulled back , away from the annulus . fig6 d shows the final placement of the two anchor bands after drawing together the tissues surrounding the aperture 717 , the inner wall of the annulus 712 , and the outer wall of the annulus ; and , after tightening and cutting the knot located on each anchor band . although this drawing shows the passage of the bands superior and inferior to the aperture , these bands could also be placed in a multitude of locations to effect desired or equivalent outcomes . in addition , as previously described , one could use barbs having a multitude of configurations . one could also configure delivery devices to deliver one ( as in fig6 ), two ( as in fig6 a ), or more barbs simultaneously , and according to predetermined or variable distances or patterns . the delivery devices may also be configured to eject one , two , or more barbs sequentially . further , the barbs could be delivered by a delivery device that does not require a cannula to cover the barb . in such a configuration , the barb may be disposed on the tip or outside of the delivery device &# 39 ; s shaft , and removed therefrom upon injection into the desired location of the annulus or other tissue . bands and knots may be pre - tied to accommodate each configuration , as previously discussed . for example , although fig6 and 62 a - b depict a device that places two anchors 709 banded together with one device , one could accomplish an equivalent or other desired result with a single device that delivers multiple barbs at the same time , as shown in fig4 b and 44 c . fig6 shows an alternative delivery device that delivers two or more anchors ( or barbs ) from a single cannula 711 . in this embodiment , a first single anchor 709 is ejected from the cannula 711 by pushing the ejection rod 715 a first distance sufficient to eject the first anchor 709 , but insufficient to eject the second . then the delivery device is removed from the first site and passed into another annular location . the second anchor ( or barb ), not shown , connected to the first anchor or barb by band , is ejected out of the cannula 711 by pushing the ejection rod 715 an additional distance sufficient to eject the second anchor ( or barb ) into a second fixation point in the annulus . although much of this description has described placement of the anchors into the annulus ( or soft tissue ) of the disc , one could perform anchoring into other tissues surrounding the aperture , including the bone or sharpey &# 39 ; s fibers as previously described in fig4 a and 48 b , it is also contemplated that , given the delivery device construction , a bone drill or similar device may be necessary to facilitate the placement of the delivery device through the bony or similar tissue . the band 709 ′ connecting the thus implanted anchors ( or barbs ) advantageously contains a moveable knot 714 between the anchors . suitable knots include , but are not limited to , the roeder knot and its functional equivalents , and are advantageously , but not necessarily , pre - tied . after insertion of both anchors 709 ( or barbs ), the band 709 ′ is advantageously tightened by hand or by pushing on the knot with a knot - pusher or similar device . although not shown in fig6 , the knot pusher may be integral to the delivery device . after drawing together the tissues surrounding the aperture , inner wall , and outer wall of the annulus , the excess suture line can be cut . it is also possible to use a cutting device integral to the delivery device to cut the band after cinching . although the device shown in fig6 depicts two anchors being delivered from a single device , multiple anchors or barbs could be delivered from the same or a similar type of device . fig6 shows a delivered configuration of fixation means that may result from the use of a single device to deliver multiple anchors sequentially . other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein . it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only , with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims . | 0 |
referring to fig1 power assister device 10 is shown with syringe 12 engaging said device , butterfly needle 13 attached to said syringe by luer connector 50 and battery recharger 14 is ready to engage power assister device 10 by insertion of plug 44 into receptacle 42 . when assembled together , power assister device 10 and syringe 12 , along with handle 18 and trigger 20a - 20b , resemble a pistol . this configuration provides for firm hold control and convenient handleability . the power assister device 10 comprises a casing which serves as a housing and chassis for the components contained therein . referring to syringe 12 , as shown in fig1 , 3 and 9 , it comprises : a syringe barrel to receive an injectable agent therein , said syringe barrel having a luer connector 50 at one end thereof serving as means for attaching butterfly needle 13 thereto , and the other end of said tubular body having male coupling 46 to engage female coupling 38 . flange 52 of syringe 12 locates and fixes syringe within a complimentary slot ( not shown ) in front 16 of the power assister device 10 . loading of syringe 12 is exceptionally easy and practical , since the syringe is drop - loaded onto said slot without the need of any twisting or turning motion . positioned in said syringe barrel in a slideable relationship is piston 48 integral with male coupling 46 . as best seen in fig2 , 7 and 8 , the casing or housing of the power assister device 10 houses a d . c . motor 22 which produces angular rotation of gear 24 . gear 24 drives gear 26 which has internal thread 28 . linear movement of lead screw 30 is produced by preventing its rotation and by the angular rotation of internal thread 28 . a follower 32 , fixed to the back end of lead screw 30 , prevents rotation of the lead screw during linear movement by the engagement of peg 32a of the follower 32 rolling or sliding in slot 32b . d . c . motor 22 is powered by rechargeable batteries 40 , which are located in handle 18 of power assister device 10 . trigger switch 20a - 20b engageably coupled to batteries 40 and d . c . motor 22 has three positions : forward drive , reverse drive and off position . forward limit switch 36 is positioned so that lead screw follower 32 triggers the switch and stops the motor when piston 48 is in its extended position as shown in fig4 . likewise , the backwards limit switch 34 is positioned so that the lead screw follower 32 triggers the switch and stops the motor 22 when piston 48 is in its engagement position as shown in fig3 . the power assister device 10 is recharged by plugging recharger 14 in a standard electrical outlet and inserting plug 44 into receptacle 42 during periods in which the device is not in use . reference is now made to the operation of the hand - held power assister . the syringe 12 could be prefilled with an injectable liquid , such as contrast media , or the power assister device 10 could be used to fill the syringe . if not prefilled , the empty syringe 12 is loaded onto the front 16 of the device , having male coupling 46 engage female couple 38 , then placing the power assister device 10 in an upright position by placing it with is flat surface 9 on top of a flat object , such as a table . the syringe 12 is then filled with contrast media by first driving the piston 48 to its extended position within the syringe as shown in fig4 . a plastic tube ( not shown ) is attached to luer connector 50 and the contrast media is syphoned into the syringe 12 by placing the opposite end of the plastic tube in a container filled with contrast media and retracting piston 48 back into its engagement position . upon completion of the process the plastic tube is removed from the luer connector 50 and a butterfly needle 13 is attached thereto . after butterfly needle 13 is attached to luer connector 50 , the upright position of power assister device 10 is maintained until the air from syringe 12 and butterfly needle 13 is purged by driving piston 48 in the forward direction . to drive piston 48 forward or in reverse trigger switch 20a - 20b is provided . trigger switch 20a - 20b is positioned in handle 18 of the power assister device 10 to control both the forward and reverse motion of the piston : pressing 20b results in forward motion of piston 48 , while pressing 20a results in reverse motion thereof . when neither 20a nor 20b trigger switch is pressed , switch automatically reverts to neutral or off position and motor 22 becomes disengaged . in the case when the syringe 12 is prefilled with contrast media , the syringe is loaded in the same manner as above - described , then the power assister 10 is positioned in an upright position . syringe cap ( not shown ) is removed from luer connector 50 and butterfly needle 13 is attached to luer connector 50 . the air is then purged from the syringe as above - described . upon purging the air from syringe 12 , the power assister device 10 is held by the medical practitioner at handle 18 with index finger resting on trigger switch 20a - 20b which is in the off position . protective sheath ( not shown ) is removed from butterfly needle 13 and the same is inserted into the injection sight on the patient . the practitioner then activates motor 22 by pressing trigger switch 20b which electrically engages batteries 40 with motor 22 . motor 22 produces angular motion which is converted into linear motion through gears 24 and 26 acting on lead screw 30 . lead screw 30 drives piston 48 in the barrel of syringe 12 forcing contrast media through butterfly needle into the injection sight . piston 48 is driven by lead screw 30 at a steady rate , while the practitioner is able to visually observe the expulsion of the contrast media from syringe 12 . the medical practitioner is in complete control of the injection process . unlike with very expensive and complicated devices where electronics take complete control over the process with the exclusion of the medical practitioner , the instant power assister device accomplishes one result : responds to the desire of the practitioner by forcing the contrast media out of syringe 12 into the patient at a steady rate of delivery . the injection process may be interrupted any time upon releasing trigger switch into neutral position . when lead screw 30 is in its completely extended position , that is , piston 48 has completely discharged contrast media from syringe 12 , lead screw follower 32 triggers forward limit switch 36 to stop motor 22 . upon completing the injection process , butterfly needle 13 is disconnected from the patient and lead screw 30 is retracted to its initial engagement position . syringe 12 is disconnected from power assister device 10 by disengaging male coupling 46 from female coupling 38 and disengaging flange 52 from receiving slot on front portion 16 of the device 10 . as is apparent from the foregoing description , the power assister device of the present invention is extremely simple , compact , easy to hold and operate and is inexpensive . the lack of complicated electronic components virtually eliminates failures and breakdowns which plague complicated instruments . medical personnel have complete control during the use of the device which makes the practice of delivering contrast media to the patient a more tolerable and pleasant experience than that associated with bulky , complicated instrumentalities . | 0 |
the present invention provides a new and unique measuring device for uv radiation . since the device in accordance with the present invention functions as a measuring device and not as a detector or indicator , it is very important that the measuring device will be attached to the user &# 39 ; s skin / clothing or to the product / plant in such a manner that it absorbs the same amount of uv radiation as that of the user / product . the specific photochromic or color changing agent employed in the measuring device of the present invention are selected in such a manner that they are sensitive only to solar radiation in the uv region , or to artificial uv source . the amount of uv radiation that can present danger to an individual exposed to the sun &# 39 ; s radiation is determined on the basis of existing action spectra and available data for each skin type . an average integral of the intensity of radiation vs . time is calculated from the med efficacy - time dependence available for monochromatic radiation of 297 nm . an example of this dependency referring to skin type no . 2 is shown in fig3 . for the personal applications the dose needed is set by using digital dosimeter calibrated to the measure med sun radiations ( type pma2000 data logger with a pma2101 uvb detector , manufactured by solar light co . ), as a reference . for this purpose individual samples of 10 square cm are subjected to sun radiation so as to induce change of color with / without sunscreen in parallel with the digital measuring device . the irreversibility of color and the influence of ambient temperature are tested in full spectrum of the sun &# 39 ; s radiation . for other applications , the desire dose is determined by the manufacture / farmer , and the measuring device is predetermined accordingly . for example the printing industry is using uv lamp to cure ( dry ) ink . the uv lamp intensity is decreasing in non - linear manner , and it is useful to have a fast way to check if the lamp is still affective . the best way according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to put a few stickers across the paper roll and run it throw the machine . then , compare the sticker color to a reference color — if the color is not the correct one after passing under the lamp , the lamp must be replaced . another applications are used to prevent counterfeiting of products , or to alert if package has been opened , which could indicate that the original product was replaced or damaged . the user can be alerted by exposing the previously covered attached / combined device on the package to uv radiation and observe the irreversible color change in known time . for example , a farmer that buys seeds and would like to know that they are the original brand , can expose a printed part of the package ( which is covered until then ), to the sun for a few minutes and know by the irreversible color change , and then knows that he bought the original brand . the particular combination of an photochromic compound , the color changing agent compound and the type of the matrix used in the measuring device is chosen in such a manner that the measuring device changes color during exposure to the predetermine dose of uv radiation according to the application , for example the dose which exceeded the individual &# 39 ; s permissible med corresponding to his personal skin type . the particular efficacy is defined for a particular skin type , by virtue of this provision the user can choose the measuring device which is safest for him and thus avoid damage to his skin and / or his eyes . the new device operates continuously irrespective of whether it is exposed either to direct or reflected uv radiation , or if there is interruption in the irradiation thus , there will be increased awareness of the danger of cumulative exposure to uv radiation . the device for personal use is calibrated to work simultaneously with a sun screen by applying it to the device surface , and thus increase the permissible time of exposure to the uv radiation , and insuring its safety . reference is now made to fig4 illustrating the structure of a new measuring device that can be worn by a user as a sticker or wristband in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the device for human use , the patch version , comprises a polymeric matrix made of two layers 10 and 12 ( the opaque bottom layer is use to make homogenous background ), with a third layer 14 attached thereto . third layer 14 is made of a sticky material , for example , glue or scotch and by virtue of this provision the device can be attached to the user &# 39 ; s skin , clothing or equipment . optionally , for the wristband version this third layer is not needed , however , a sticky patch can be use in the end of the wristband for closing . the aim of matrix 10 is to carry an active chemical compound 16 , to reliably protect it from corrosion due to ambient humidity and to thereto mechanical impact . matrix 10 should be a material that is thermally stable , i . e ., should not alter its character after heating up to 50 degrees c . so as to retain its transparency sufficient for visualizing the variation of color of an active compound incorporated in the matrix . the matrix also has capability to absorb sunscreen like the skin . as an example of a suitable matrix material , one can use various optically transparent materials such as , polystyrenes , polyolefin &# 39 ; s , polyvinyl derivatives , polyester derivatives , cellulose derivatives such as cellulose acetate , polyurethanes , polyethylene ; silicone resins such as lsr ( liquid silicone rubber ), different varnish , epoxies etc . within the matrix an active photochromic and a color changing compound is distributed . the principle of choosing of the active compounds in accordance with the present invention will be explained further . a color changing agent is added to matrix 10 . the total thickness of the matrix layers lies between 0 . 01 - 5 mm . reference is now made to fig5 illustrating the structure of a new measuring device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention to be used in the industry , agriculture or as anti counterfeiting label . for industrial and agriculture applications , the sticker can be comprised of two layers : one with the active compounds 20 and second one with is the sticky layer for attachment 22 . the active compound and absorbing material can be incorporated within the matrix by means of any known - in - the - art suitable method , for example by extruding , molding , casting or printing . in practice , the amount of the photochromic 16 within the matrix and the color changing agent 18 varies between 0 . 001 to 2 weight percent depending on the matrix material , type of an active compound and desire sensitivity . in some case there is a need to use more then one photochromic compound in order to get more colors or colors changes . optionally and advantageously , it is possible to add an organic dye to the polymeric matrix in order to add suitable initial color to the measuring device which could strengthen the contrast with the color of the active material after it has been exposed to the uv radiation . examples of such organic pigments suitable for this purpose include phtalocyanine , quinacridone , isoindolinone , perylene , anthraquinone , etc . having explained the construction of the new device it will now be explained in more details how the chemical compounds employed therein are chosen in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . it has been empirically established that those photochromic and uv sensitive compounds which satisfy the following criteria can be advantageously employed in the device according to the present invention : 1 . the photochromic compound should be capable of undergoing color change in response to uv radiation and endure temperatures of up to 220 c during manufacturing . 2 . the color change agent should be capable of irreversible color change in the sense that it should not change or reverse the photochromic compound color after it has been exposed to the predetermine uv radiation . the irreversibility of color should remain irrespective of whether the device was exposed to visible sun radiation , held in darkness , or exposed to temperatures up to 50 degrees c ., and endure temperatures of up to 220 c during production . 3 . the mechanism of photochemical reaction should be one mechanism chosen from the group including , radical dissociation , or formation of complexes . some non exhaustive representative examples of color change agents and active photochromic compounds that satisfy the above criteria are listed below : a ) aromatic derivatives for example as described in margerum , j . d . ; miller , l . j . ; saito , e . ; mosher , h . s . ; brown , m . ; hardwick , r . j . phys . chem ., 66 , 2434 ( 1962 ) or in . sousa , j . a . ; weinstein , j . j . org . chem ., 27 , 3155 ( 1962 ) or in bluhm , a . l . ; weinstein , j . ; sousa , j . a . j . org . chem ., 28 , 1989 ( 1963 ). b ) spiropyran derivatives represented by the general formula shown in fig9 . in the above formula r and / or r . sub . 1 represent an alkyl group , a nitro group or a halogen . for example as described in berman , e . ; fox , r . j . am . chem . soc , 81 , 5605 ( 1959 ). the chemical reaction governed by the formation of ions is presented with reference to fig9 . the present invention will now be disclosed with reference to non limiting examples : the measuring device is designed for skin type no . 3 and has a total thickness of 2 mm . the matrix is manufactured in the form of a pe sheet by extruding . distributed within this layer is 0 . 02 weight percent of an active photochromic material , 1 ′, 3 ′- dihydro - 1 ′-( 3 - fluorobenzyl )- 3 ′, 3 ′- dimethyl - 6 - nitrospiro { 2h - 1 - henzopyran - 2 , 2 ′-( 2h )- indulu } and 0 . 1 weight percent changing color agent 4 - methylacetophenone . the measuring device changes color from transparent to blue after exposure and finally to yellowish after 3 med the measuring device was irradiated by the sun during different day hours and during different seasons . the tests were calibrated by a pma2100 data logger with a pma2101 uvb detector manufactured by the solar light co . the measuring device &# 39 ; s color was influenced neither after having light being held on it without time limitation or being held in darkness for at least 4 hours , nor at the temperature 50 deg . c . the measuring device is designed for testing printing drying uv lamp has a total thickness of 0 . 005 mm . the matrix is manufactured by printing on pp film . distributed within this layer is 0 . 05 weight percent of an active photochromic material , 1 ′, 3 ′- dihydro - 1 ′-( 3 - fluorobenzyl )- 3 ′, 3 ′- dimethyl - 6 - nitrospiro { 2h - 1 - henzopyran - 2 , 2 ′-( 2h )- indulu } and 0 . 5 weight percent changing color agent 4 - methylacetophenone . the measuring device changes color from transparent to blue after exposure and finally to yellowish exposure of 0 . 2 second to 2500 mw uv lamps assemble in flaxo printing machine . the measuring device is designed for preventing counterfeiting of seeds is printed on the package with a thickness of about 0 . 01 mm , covered by opaque layer . the matrix is manufactured by printing on pp film . distributed within this layer are 0 . 08 weight percent of an active photochromic material , 1 ′, 3 ′- dihydro - 1 -( 3 - fluorobenzyl )- 3 ′, 3 ′- dimethyl - 6 - nitrospiro { 2h - 1 - henzopyran - 2 , 2 ′-( 2h )- indulu } and 0 . 7 weight percent changing color agent 4 - methylacetophenone . when the cover is removed by scratching and exposing it to sun , the printed part will irreversible change its color from blue to clear in a few minutes . it should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the above - described embodiments and that changes and modifications can be made by one ordinarily skilled in the art without deviation from the scope of the invention , as will be defined in the appended claims . the measuring device of the present invention can be used for measuring the uv dose to people and to other objects or product were exposed , for example , plants or crops in agriculture , printed items , semi - conductors , etc . it should be appreciated that the features disclosed in the foregoing description , and / or in the following claims , and / or in the accompanying drawings and / or in the accompanying examples may , both separately and in any combination thereof , be material for realizing the present invention in diverse forms thereof . although certain presently preferred embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described herein , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the various embodiments shown and described herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is intended that the invention be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and the applicable rules of law . | 6 |
a condom according to an embodiment of the invention has a thickness in the range of at least 0 . 007 ″ ( 175 micron ) to 0 . 010 ″ ( 250 micron ), which is approximately 2 - 3 times thicker than thin rolled condoms , which typically range from 0 . 0025 ″ ( 60 micron ) up to 0 . 0050 ″ ( 125 micron ). due to its thickness , the condom of the present invention is shape - retaining , not flaccid like thin rolled condoms . further , given its distinctive and unique thickness , the condom does not suffer from the common limitations and failures inherent in thin condoms . most importantly , it is widely known in the art and independent testing has shown that thin condoms do not provide 100 % protection against sexually communicable diseases , such as hiv . under laboratory testing , thin condoms have proven to have deficient strength ( e . g . tensile strength and tear resistance properties ) and durability , resulting in an average 20 % failure rate for viral permeability . because the condom of the present invention is 2 - 3 times thicker than ordinary thin condoms , it has superior strength and durability , providing greater protection against the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases as well as protection against unintentional pregnancies . in particular , the thickness of the present condom makes it especially effective protection for anal sex , which is considered a more rigorous activity for which thin rolled condoms are less effective . in an embodiment of a male condom of the present invention , the condom is not only thicker but also much longer than a standard condom proportionate to penis length . unlike the standard one - size - fits - all condom , the condom according to the present invention comes in different sizes , being at least approximately 20 % longer than a standard condom and can be as long as 12 ″ in length . the user is to select the size of the condom according to the user &# 39 ; s anatomical requirements . more particularly , the user is to select the condom having a length that is approximately 20 % longer than the user &# 39 ; s erect penis . as shown in fig1 - 5 , a male condom 1 of the present invention has a sheath body 10 with a proximal end 20 that is open and a distal end 30 that is closed . in an embodiment of the invention shown in fig2 , condom 1 has a plurality of flutes 40 on sheath body 10 extending along a longitudinal axis x - x between open end 20 and closed end 30 . each flute 40 is characterized by a curved ridge 42 extending along longitudinal axis x - x of sheath body 10 . the curved ridge 42 is highest at the midsection of body 10 relative to longitudinal axis x - x , and gradually tapers towards the respective ends 20 , 30 , such that the sheath body 10 has an elliptical shape characterized by a midsection that is wider than the respective ends as shown in fig3 . the elliptical shape of the sheath body 10 is in contrast to the straight , tubular shape of a conventional thin condom when it is unrolled . as shown in fig4 , the plurality of flutes 40 is thus defined by curved ridges 42 and furrows 44 that form a corrugated shape , having a serpentine or undulating profile . across - section of the condom 1 would look similar to an asterisk , with the flutes 40 extending radially from the center core of the condom 1 as shown in fig4 . in the embodiment of the male condom shown in fig1 - 5 , condom 1 has a first ring 50 located at the open end 20 . the condom 1 can be donned by pulling first ring 50 so that the sheath body 10 slides onto the penis like a sock . the condom 1 is not like a traditional thin condom that must be unrolled down the shaft of the penis , which can be difficult for the user to do efficiently . rather , the condom 1 can be easily donned without unrolling by pulling the first ring 50 to slide the condom 1 onto the penis like a sock . the open end 20 with first ring 50 is sized to fit tightly around the base of the penis to prevent slippage and spillage of semen . because the open end 20 fits snuggly around the base of the penis , the condom 1 will billow or swell when the penis is inserted into the condom 1 because some air is trapped in the condom 1 due to its extended length . the flutes 40 function as air channels to evacuate the air when the condom 1 is donned to prevent the formation of an air pocket . in another embodiment , condom 1 also has a second ring 60 that is integrally connected to the first ring 50 as shown in fig2 - 3 . the second ring 60 can also be pulled to don the condom 1 like a sock . the second ring 60 can be looped over a user &# 39 ; s scrotum to anchor the condom to prevent slippage . for this purpose , the second ring 60 is typically larger in diameter than the first ring 50 . during intercourse , as the penis is thrust forward into the receiving partner , it is pushed into the elongated condom 1 , which causes the condom 1 to billow . as the penis is pushed farther forward into the billowed condom , the condom 1 buckles cross - current to the flutes , folding over on itself due to its extended length as shown in fig5 . the condom 1 buckles at its midsection where the elliptical sheath body is widest . the top portion of the condom 1 near the closed end 30 folds back towards the base of the condom near the open end 20 as the penis is pushed towards the extended tip of the closed end 30 . conversely , when the penis is pulled on the withdrawal stroke , the condom 1 unfolds . in this way , the elongated length helps prevent the condom 1 from sliding off because the normal ‘ tug ’ action created by the withdrawal stroke of the penis is absorbed by the extra length of the condom 1 , and this motion is repeated consistently with each thrust and withdrawal movement . the flutes 40 allow the condom 1 to fold over on itself and unfold without becoming tangled or bunched , providing a consistent slide - over effect that creates a reciprocating motion that is in fluid concert with bodily motion . unlike a conventional male condom that is designed to be tight - fitting in order to cling to the penis and to move along with the penis , thereby restricting sensation , the fluting 40 allows the penis to move inside the sheath body 10 as the condom 1 folds and unfolds with consistent regularity . as the extended length of the condom 1 glides back and forth over the penis during intercourse , the movement of the condom , facilitated by the convolutions of the fluted shape , functions to create and enhance sensation to the penis . further , the condom 1 can function with internal lubrication to facilitate consistent fluid movement of the sheath body 10 gliding over the penis . the fluid movement of the sheath body 10 gliding over the penis simulates the feeling of wet , slippery sexual contact that normally occurs in the wet , slippery , warm , environment of the vagina to stimulate orgasmic response . since the penis glides inside the condom 1 , direct fluid sensation is created from inside rather than from outside as with typical thin rolled condoms . thus , unlike conventional thin condoms that are designed as thin as possible to facilitate ‘ transferred sensation ’ filtered through the barrier material , the condom 1 of the present invention mechanically creates sensation internally rather than transfer it through the material . further , since the lubricant is viscous , the inner walls cling to the penis and reduce the amount of air that could otherwise be trapped prior to donning . trapped air could cause the condom 1 to have an undesirable air pocket that would cause the condom 1 to balloon up after donning . not only does the condom 1 improve sensation , it is also safer than typical thin condoms . because the condom 1 is thicker than thin condoms , the condom 1 has greater tensile strength , thereby reducing the risk of the condom tearing or bursting . in particular , the elongated length of the condom 1 prevents breakage at the tip that commonly occurs in thin condoms . thin condoms are typically snug fitting with one established generic size that is intended to fit to the tip of the penis , which creates concentrated stress at the tip , the primary site for condom breakage according to clinical studies . the condom 1 reduces the risk of breakage at the tip because the condom designed to be longer than the erect penis on which it is donned . because condom 1 is to be approximately 20 % longer than the user &# 39 ; s erect penis , this prevents stress concentration at the tip , thereby eliminating the risk of breakage at the tip . additionally , the condom 1 can be manufactured by double - dipping the tip for reinforcement to further prevent the most common incidents of breakage at the tip . in summary , the condom 1 provides a more comfortable fit for the active partner as it loosely accommodates the penis so that tactile fluid movement of the penis is possible during coitus . the condom 1 also provides increased stimulation for the passive partner because the flutes rub against the vaginal or rectal wall during intercourse . fig6 - 10 shows a female condom 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig6 - 10 , the female condom 100 has a sheath body 110 with a proximal end 120 that is open and a distal end 130 that is closed . the condom 100 has a plurality of flutes 140 on sheath body 110 extending along a longitudinal axis y - y between open end 120 and closed end 130 . each flute 140 is characterized by a curved ridge 142 extending along longitudinal axis y - y of sheath body 10 . the ridge 142 gradually tapers towards the respective ends 20 , 30 as best shown in fig8 . the plurality of flutes 140 form curved ridges 142 and furrows 144 having a corrugated shape as best shown in fig1 . the condom 100 has an enlarged tubular ring 150 at open end 120 , wherein the tubular ring 150 is sufficiently sized to remain outside of the vaginal opening to maintain the opening of the condom 100 after insertion . | 0 |
referring now to fig2 and 3 of the drawings , a pillow construction comprising a pattern panel of material 10 having four outwardly extending portions 11 , 12 , 13 and 14 , each of which is generally square and positioned longitudinally to define a square center portion 15 , indicated by the dotted line 16 . the four outwardly extending portions 11 - 14 are of a length less than that of the square center portion 15 . the pattern panel of material 10 can be cut from a single piece of material or assembled out of multiple sections . to assemble the pillow , each of the outwardly extending portions 11 - 14 are folded one at a time beginning with the portion 11 inwardly on the dotted line 16 . then an innermost corner 17 of the folded portion 11 is folded back upon itself to the opposite corner 18 defining a triangle 19 . each of the outwardly extending portions 11 - 14 are folded in a similar manner and form respective triangles 20 , 21 and 22 as best seen in fig3 of the drawings . the folding of each outwardly extending portion 11 - 14 in the above - described method assures that each of the triangles 19 - 22 overlaps the triangle adjacent one another . the outer edges of the triangles 19 - 22 are sewn in place and turned inside out completing the assembly as seen in fig4 of the drawings . the above - referred to assembly defines a pillow 23 seen in fig1 of the drawings having a face 24 with an opening at 25 . an insert piece 26 having a design or pattern thereon is of a size so that it can be placed within the opening at 25 and under the folded portions of the triangles 19 - 22 holding the insert 26 in place . filling or stuffing for the pillow 23 is placed in a smaller enclosure , not shown , which is inserted first in the opening 25 followed by the decorative insert 26 as described above . referring now to fig5 and 6 of the drawings , an alternate form of the pillow construction can be seen . a fabric pattern 27 in fig6 of the drawings has a plurality of outwardly extending portions 28 , 29 , 30 , and 31 all of an equal length in relation to a center square portion 29 . the outwardly extending portions 28 - 31 have a length greater than their width having ends 32 and 33 respectively . each of the outwardly extending portions 28 - 31 are folded inward then outward on a dotted line 30 in an alternating overlapping configuration as seen in fig5 of the drawings . the perimeter is sewn in place and turned inside out leaving a face 34 open to accept a pattern insert , not shown , similar to that hereinbefore described . in fig7 of the drawings , a second alternate form of the invention is shown wherein a round pillow configuration 35 has a plurality of folded segments 36 around its perimeter edge . in this alternate form of the invention , the segments 36 are cut individually and folded in half being sewn in place overlapping one another to a circular backing 37 . the segments 36 are arranged to form an open face 37 into which can be positioned a circular insert material , not shown , having a pattern in the same manner as was described above . thus it will be seen that a new and useful pillow construction has been described and that it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention . | 8 |
the numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently preferred embodiment . however , it should be understood that this class of embodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings herein . in general , statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily delimit any of the various claimed inventions . moreover , some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others . this application shares some text and figures with the following us applications , which all have an effective filing date simultaneous with that of the present application and hereby incorporated by reference : application ser . no . 09 / 280 , 313 now u . s . pat . no . 6 , 363 , 449 , application ser . no . 09 / 293 , 587 , and application ser . no . 09 / 280 , 311 now u . s . pat . no . 6 , 463 , 495 . following are short definitions of the usual meanings of some of the technical terms which are used in the present application . ( however , those of ordinary skill will recognize whether the context requires a different meaning .) additional definitions can be found in the standard technical dictionaries and journals . following are short definitions of the usual meanings of some of the technical terms which are used in the present application . ( however , those of ordinary skill will recognize whether the context requires a different meaning .) additional definitions can be found in the standard technical dictionaries and journals . x - 10 is the oldest and most widely - used home automation protocol . it uses the power lines as a transmission medium . lonworks echelon corporation developed this standard for both home and industrial use , and the standard may be obtained from that company . lonworks uses a variety of transmission media including ir , rf , coaxial cable , and twisted pair . ieee 1394 is a communications standard which supports real - time audio and video transmission with data rates up to 400 megabits / sec . ieee 1394 uses a cable consisting of three twisted pairs to connect devices in a network . the ieee 1394 standard , which is hereby incorporated by reference , is published by , and available from , the ieee . cebus is a newer standard in home automation . like lonworks , cebus uses a variety of transmission media including ir , rf , coaxial cable , and twisted pair . the cebus standard , which is hereby incorporated by reference , is published by , and available from , the electronic industries association . usb ( or the universal serial bus ) was originally intended for use as a home automation protocol . however , it was actually developed as a protocol for computer peripherals by several manufacturers of personal computer products . the usb specification is available , as of the filing date of this application , from the usb implementer &# 39 ; s forum at http :// www . usb . org , and is hereby incorporated by reference . power rail refers to any one of the connections which provide power to each of the internal system components of a computer system . the power rail generally receives power from the system power supply , which itself is powered by a battery or an external power source . power mains refers to the power mains systems in common use in all industrialized countries . in the united states , for example , this would refer to the common indoor power outlets which supply current at 60 hz and ( for most circuits ) about 120 v ; in the u . k . this would refer to the common indoor power outlets which supply current at 50 hz and 240 v . intrachassis refers to components of a computer system connected to a common power rail and , typically , located within a common system unit . in the context of this application , “ intrachassis ” includes system devices that may be physically located outside the system unit bus , but which are still powered by the common power rail , e . g ., an external hard drive . according to the preferred embodiment , a network of computer systems is provided in which a “ smart ” device , such as a hood lock , within each system is capable of communicating with other smart devices over the system power rail , and between devices on different computer systems over a common power mains . in the presently preferred embodiment , the hood lock operates by moving a solenoid , which is connected to a locking arm , into or out of a slot attached to the system &# 39 ; s hood . when the locking arm is in the slot , the hood cannot be removed . a “ lock ” pulse will cause the locking arm to move into the slot . an “ unlock ” pulse causes the locking arm to retract from the slot , which frees the hood for removal . in the presently preferred embodiment , the hardware control for the hood lock features a programmable hardware timer designed to prevent solenoid damage from lock / unlock pulses of excessive duration . in addition , the controlling software is freed from having to control the pulse width . fig1 shows the physical configuration of a computer with the case opened , showing a solenoid 120 , with a plunger 125 above the power supply 130 . the hood 140 has an added tab 150 with a hole 155 in it . when the hood is in place , the solenoid plunger 125 extends through this hole 155 to lock the hood in position . the presently preferred embodiment will be described in the context of a system which uses power - line communications to provide both intrachassis and interchassis communications . however , as will be apparent to technologists of ordinary skill , the claimed inventions do not necessarily require such extensive reliance on power - line communications . fig6 shows a sample electrical configuration of some important parts of a computer 600 which includes a “ hoodlock ” 650 . the case 610 encloses the motherboard 630 and power supply 620 , as well as other components , such as a hard disk drive 636 , a removable media drive 637 , and many other possible components , not shown , such as i / o channel interfaces , and option cards if present . the motherboard 630 includes many key components of the computer . for example , the motherboard carries one or more microprocessors ( or other processing units ) 634 , ram 635 , and a peripheral controller 640 , as well as many others which are not shown . also mounted on the motherboard may be a temperature sensor 638 or cooling device 639 , for example , a fan . the power supply 620 preferably includes an ac converter 622 , which permits power to be drawn from an ac power line , and provides power to a dc converter 632 on the motherboard . further , the power supply preferably includes a cooling device 624 ( a fan , for example ) and a temperature sensor 626 . according to the preferred embodiment , the power supply incorporates a microcontroller 628 and non - volatile memory for storing a boot - up program , which is connected to the system power rail , and is capable of communicating with other devices incorporating similar microcontrollers , for example , the peripheral controller 640 , over the power rail . according to the preferred embodiment , this communication is done according to the cebus specification or modifications thereof , described above . the exemplary functions below will be described with particular reference to the microcontroller 228 of the power supply , but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the similar controllers in other system devices will function and communicate similarly . moreover , when reference is made to any specific component communicating with another over the power rail , it will be understood that this is accomplished by use of the respective microcontrollers of those components . in this embodiment , various system devices , including the temperature sensor 638 , the cooling device 639 , and the hard disk drive 636 , are connected to send and receive signals over the power rail . in this manner , the controller 628 in the power supply can communicate with these system devices . further , the system peripheral controller can be connected to communicate over the power rail . particular communications supported by the controller 628 include the ability to request basic status information from each device , and to command the devices to power on or off as needed . for example , the controller 628 may receive information from temperature sensor 638 indicating a high temperature , and may command cooling device 639 to turn on or adjust speed in response . in this context , hoodlock hl is connected to the power rail 270 . hoodlock hl is positioned to engage the door or cover of the system case , so that it is fastened shut unless the hoodlock solenoid is activated . further , each system device has an associated identifier address which uniquely identifies that device within the system . the identifier functions to specifically identify both the type of device and the specific address of that device within devices of that type . this identifier is used to specifically identify the sender and recipient of any data or command sent over the system power rail . this identifier is particularly advantageous when used to determine which device types are authorized to perform certain functions or to send certain commands . for example , while it may be useful for a temperature sensor , upon detection of an overheating condition , to order the power supply to shut the system down , there is almost no reason for a hard disk drive to request a system shut - down . by identifying the class of device from which a command is sent , the receiver can determine whether or not to respond . fig2 shows a block diagram of an exemplary computer system according to the preferred embodiment , with system devices divided into different classes . in this diagram , each device shown incorporates a respective power communications controller ( pcc ), which communicates over power rail 270 . in this example , power supply 210 includes pcc 215 and is designated class 0 . uninterruptible power supply ( ups ) 220 , which includes pcc 225 , may optionally be a unit distinct from the power supply 210 , or they may be integrated together , as indicated by the broken box . in this example , class 1 includes cpu / memory system 230 and pcc 235 . class 2 includes cooling device 240 , for example , a fan , and pcc 245 . class 3 includes i / o device 250 and pcc 255 . a separate class of device , class x , includes , for example , a hoodlock 260 ( described in fig1 ) and a pcc 265 . all devices are connected , through their respective pccs , to power rail 270 . fig3 shows a flow chart of a class - based broadcast process according to the preferred embodiment . in this chart , when a command or request is sent to a certain class of device ( step 305 ), the broadcast type is set to “ class ” and the “ done ” bit is cleared ( step 310 ). then , as long as the done bit remains clear ( step 315 ), a repeated broadcast / verify routine is performed . first , the broadcast is initialized and sending is initiated ( step 320 ). then , as long as acks are received from devices that have received the broadcast ( step 325 ), the broadcast process continues to wait , saving the list of responding devices as the acknowledgments are received ( step 330 ). as each ack is received , a delay timer is reset , and the next ack is waited on ( step 335 ). if the timer expires without receiving another ack , an assumption is made that the broadcast is done and the initial broadcast loop is left . next , the same broadcast is resent ( step 340 ) and an ok bit is set to a default 1 ( step 345 ). the process then waits for device responses as above ( step 350 , looping at step 365 ). as the process receives responses , as long as the responses are the same as those received earlier and saved in step 330 ( step 355 ), the looping continues . if anything different is received , the ok bit is cleared ( step 360 ). the process continues after all information is received . the status of the ok bit ( step 370 ) is checked . if it is set , the done bit is then set as well ( step 375 ); if not , the done bit is left cleared . the process then loops back ( step 380 ) to step 315 . if the done bit is set , the routine is finished ( step 385 ) and ready for the next broadcast ( looping back to step 305 ). if the done bit is clear , the entire broadcast sequence is retried ( looping back to step 315 ). fig4 shows the format of two data / instruction blocks according to the preferred embodiment . fig4 a shows a generic command format . in this block , the select id includes both the device class id and the unit id . next in this block is a read / write bit , indicating the type of transmission . finally , the function portion of the block indicates the function to be performed . fig4 b shows an authenticated command format , which is the same as the generic command format with an additional field for authentication . this field contains an authentication code or key , and can support standard hashing mechanisms , public / private key encryption schemes , and secret sharing and handshaking . in the presently preferred embodiment , a hood lock / unlock function would be accomplished via use of an authenticated command sent to the chassis . fig5 a and 5b depict block diagrams of a network facilitating interchassis communications . as described above , the preferred embodiment provides a network of nodes , wherein each node is preferably as described above . according to the preferred embodiment , each of the nodes can be linked over a common high speed network or networks , but is also configured to communicate over a common power mains . in fig5 a , each chassis is as described in fig2 . however , interchassis communication is facilitated by the use of the common power mains 502 as a means for each ups 220 to communicate . communication among upss 220 and a central ups 504 can take place . therefore , the power mains itself serves as a secondary ( or even tertiary ) means of communication . since the power supply of each node incorporates a pcc 215 and each ups also incorporates a pcc 506 enabling communications over power systems , each node is capable of communicating with each other node over any common power mains . in addition , according to the preferred embodiment , the power supply pcc 215 in each node can act as a bridge to allow communications over the power mains to the individual devices on each node &# 39 ; s power rail . in fig5 b an external network 508 is depicted along with a loosely coupled network 510 created by a modem connection across an existing phone system . the phone system acts in the same way as the common power mains . it is capable of relaying command and control functions across existing common phone wires to other nodes on the network . even if the primary network is down , the hood of a chassis on a node of the network can still be locked or unlocked . according to a disclosed class of innovative embodiments , there is provided a computer network , comprising : a plurality of computer systems , each having a user input device , a microprocessor which is operatively connected to detect inputs from said input device , random - access memory which is connected to be read / write accessible by said microprocessor , an output device operatively connected to receive outputs from said microprocessor , and a power supply connected to provide power to said microprocessor and said memory all enclosed in a case ; a high - speed network connecting said computer systems and allowing communication therebetween ; wherein said computer systems are connected to a power mains , and are capable of communicating therebetween over said power mains ; and wherein access to said case is controlled by an electrically controlled device and said device can be commanded to allow access to said case by command and control signals received over said power mains . according to another disclosed class of innovative embodiments , there is provided a computer system , comprising : one or more microprocessors , a user input device which is operatively connected to provide inputs to at least some ones of said microprocessors , memory which is connected to be read / write accessible by at least some ones of said microprocessors , and an output device connected to receive outputs from at least some ones of said microprocessors ; an internal power supply connected to provide power to said microprocessors and said memory , said microprocessors , said memory , and said power supply all being enclosed in a case ; a plurality of system devices including a power supply connected to provide power to an internal power rail common to said system devices ; and a cooling device connected to cool the interior of said system ; wherein said system devices communicate with each other over said power rail ; and wherein access to said case is controlled by an electrically controlled device and said device can be commanded to allow access to said case by command and control signals received over said power rail . according to another disclosed class of innovative embodiments , there is provided system of hardware management in a computer system , comprising : computer system components connected to a power rail , including , a user input device , a microprocessor which is operatively connected to detect inputs from said input device , random - access memory which is connected to be read / write accessible by said microprocessor , and an output device operatively connected to receive outputs from said microprocessor , non - volatile random - access storage which is connected to be read / write accessible by said microprocessor and at least one cooling device ; and a power supply connected to a power mains to provide power to said computer system components over said power rail , all said components being enclosed in a case ; wherein said power mains facilitates command and control communications between said computer system components and between said computer system components and said power supply ; and wherein access to said case is controlled by an electrically controlled device and said device can be commanded to allow access to said case by command and control signals received over said power rail . according to another disclosed class of innovative embodiments , there is provided a method of hardware security management in a computer network , comprising : operating a plurality of computer systems connected to a high - speed network and a common power mains system ; allowing communication between said computer systems across said network and over said common power mains ; and controlling access to said computer systems by command and control signals received over said power mains . according to another disclosed class of innovative embodiments , there is provided a method of hardware security management in a computer , comprising : allowing system devices of a computer to communicate with a power supply and each other over a common power rail ; controlling access to said power supply and said system devices by an electrically controlled access device ; and electrically controlling said access device by command and control signals received over said power rail . as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , the innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a tremendous range of applications , and accordingly the scope of patented subject matter is not limited by any of the specific exemplary teachings given . of course , in implementing power supply circuits and systems , safety is a very high priority . those of ordinary skill in the art will therefore recognize the necessity to review safety issues carefully , and to make any changes in components or in circuit configuration which may be necessary to improve safety or to meet safety standards in various countries . in the sample computer system embodiment the user input devices can alternatively include a trackball , a joystick , a 3d position sensor , voice recognition inputs , or other inputs . similarly , the output devices can optionally include speakers , a display ( or merely a display driver ), a modem , or other outputs . the presently preferred embodiment of this disclosure relies on the cebus protocol or a modification thereof . however , it is possible that other currently existing protocols , for example , x - 10 , can be used to achieve substantially similar results . it is also possible that a faster protocol could be developed which can take advantage of the disclosed methods and apparatus . a secondary network utilizing power mains connectivity is described for the presently preferred embodiment . the topology of this power mains network can vary according to the wiring of the facility or facilities in which it is used . the power mains network , for example , can be hub and spoke , daisy chained , or some other connectivity scheme . in addition , the scope of the network need not be limited to a particular room , circuit , power mains junction box , or building installation . instead , the service area of the present embodiment extends at least to the detectability distance of the command and control signals . further , it is possible that the command and control signals can be boosted to increase the service area of the secondary network . in the presently preferred embodiment , the command and control signals are described as functions implemented in the ipmi platform . however , a modification of the existing ipmi platform , functions from another management platform , a new set of functions , or some combination of functions and platforms can be utilized by the presently preferred embodiment . additional general background , which helps to show the knowledge of those skilled in the art regarding the system context , and of variations and options for implementations , may be found in the following publications , all of which are hereby incorporated by reference . in particular , many details may be found in the books from mindshare , inc ., including protected mode software architecture , cardbus system architecture , eisa system architecture , isa system architecture , 80486 system architecture , pentium processor system architecture , pcmcia system architecture , plug and play system architecture , pci system architecture , usb system architecture , and pentium pro processor system architecture , all of which are hereby incorporated by reference , and in the pentium processor family developer &# 39 ; s manual 1997 , the multiprocessor specification ( 1997 ), the intel architecture optimizations manual , the intel architecture software developer &# 39 ; s manual , the peripheral components 1996 databook , the pentium pro processor bios writer &# 39 ; s guide ( version 2 . 0 , 1996 ), and the pentium pro family developer &# 39 ; s manuals from intel , all of which are hereby incorporated by reference . | 7 |
referring to fig1 of the drawings , the cylinder safety stop 10 of the invention can be seen engaged on a piston and cylinder assembly 11 which has a cylinder body 12 with a piston rod 13 reciprocally positioned therein . the cylinder body 12 extends from and is integral with a cylinder base block 14 having fluid supply attachment portal fittings 15 for connection with a source of fluid under pressure ps as is well known and understood within the art . the piston rod 13 has a piston rod block 16 secured to its free end , having a bore 17 extending transversely therethrough which provides a point of attachment for the cylinder safety stop 10 as will be described in detail hereinafter . the cylinder safety stop 10 of the invention has a cylinder end engagement locking sleeve fitting 18 , best seen in fig1 and 3 - 6 of the drawings . the locking sleeve fitting 18 has a main body member 19 with an integral engagement plate 20 extending from its upper end surface 21 . the engagement plate 20 has an annular opening at 22 sized for allowing the piston rod 13 to pass therethrough when the cylinder end engagement locking sleeve 18 is attached to the free end 12 a of the cylinder body 12 . an adjustment stop bolt 23 is threadably disposed through the engagement plate 20 with a lock nut 24 positioned thereon . the adjustable bolt 23 can be rotatably advanced thereby extending above the plate &# 39 ; s 20 planar upper surface 20 a for adjustable stop engagement as will be described hereinafter . an elongated u - shaped piston rod block engagement channel 25 is slidably positioned on the piston rod 13 of the cylinder assembly 11 having a plurality of longitudinally and transversely aligned apertures a along the respective edges of the channels upstanding sidewalls 26 and 27 , best seen in fig1 of the drawings . in this primary form of the invention a pair of correspondingly aligned and apertured overlying reinforcement brackets 28 and 29 are secured respectively thereto and extend beyond the respective sidewall ends 26 a and 27 a with angularly offset portions 28 a and 29 a , best seen in fig1 and 2 of the drawings . the offset bracket portions 28 a and 29 a provide for end apertured aligned registration with a piston block pin 30 extending from the piston block bore 17 respective openings as hereinbefore described . the transversely aligned wall apertures a also provide for selective insertion of a removable stop lock pin 31 therethrough for in use engagement with the hereinbefore described engagement plate 20 &# 39 ; s upper planar surface 20 a and alternately the adjustment bolt 23 in registerable alignment therewith of the cylinder and engagement locking sleeve 18 . referring now to fig1 and 3 of the drawings , it will be seen that once the cylinder safety stop 10 of the invention has been initially positioned and secured on the piston and cylinder assembly 11 by engagement of the piston block pin 30 through the respective apertured angularly offset portions 28 a and 29 a of the reinforcement brackets 28 and 29 and that the stop lock pin 31 extend through aligned apertures a will initially rest on the engagement plate 20 when the piston rod 13 is in fully retracted ( rest ) position within the cylinder 12 as seen in fig2 and 3 of the drawings . once installed and in use , upon activation the piston and cylinder assembly 11 , the piston rod 13 will extend pulling the engagement channel 25 therewith to the desired extended rod position as seen in fig1 of the drawings . the stop lock pin 31 will be repositioned through the appropriate aligned sidewall apertures a and inserted . the stop lock pin 31 will now , therefore , once again engage the upper surface 20 a of the engagement plate 20 preventing the piston rod 13 from retracting , effectively locking the cylinder and piston assembly 11 in a fail safe extended position . it will be seen that the adjustment bolt 23 can be rotatably advanced from within the sleeve plate 20 and secured in place by the locking nut 24 providing for incremental fine extending adjustment to match the actual extended piston rod 13 position if it falls between the hereinbefore described aligned sidewall apertures a assuring incremental locking engagement of the piston rod 13 at any effective extended position . referring now to fig7 and 9 of the drawings , an alternate form of the cylinder safety stop lock of the invention can be seen at 40 wherein a modified elongated u - shaped piston rod lock engagement channel 41 can be seen positioned on a piston and cylinder assembly 42 having a cylinder body 43 and a piston rod 44 with a piston rod end block 45 secured thereto . the cylinder body 43 has a cylinder body block 46 with fluid attachment portal fittings 47 as will be well understood by those skilled in the art for a supply of fluid under pressure indicated graphically at arrow fp . a cylinder end engagement attachment fitting 48 which is identical to that of the hereinbefore described cylinder end engagement locking sleeve fitting 18 with a corresponding engagement plate 50 , fine adjustment bolt 51 and off center opening at 52 for the piston rod 44 to pass therethrough when activated . the elongated u - shaped piston rod engagement channel 41 having spaced parallel apertured sidewalls 53 and 54 has a corresponding stop lock pin 55 removably positioned through the aligned apertured pairs ap extending in longitudinally and spaced aligned rows adjacent the edges of the respectively described sidewalls 53 and 54 as best seen in fig1 and 4 of the drawings in non - activated engagement position . it will therefore be evident that the stop lock pin 55 once positioned will registerably engage on the engagement plate 50 and the piston rod and lock engagement channel 41 will abut the bottom surface 45 a of the piston rod end block 43 . this orientation functions as a locking feature can be seen in fig9 of the drawings wherein the piston rod 44 and its end block 43 have been extended showing the cylinder stop lock 40 registerably secured between the piston rod end block 45 and the cylinder engagement attachment fitting 48 by engagement of the lock stop pin 55 securing the piston rod 44 in a fail safe lock extended fail safe lock position . it will be evident from the above referred to description that while the alternate form of the invention is manually utilized , certain applications would be suitable for same while the primary form of the invention provides a self - deploying system for different applications . it will therefore be seen that a new and novel cylinder safety stop has been illustrated and described providing for multiple forms 10 and 40 for adaptable integrated use . it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention . | 5 |
the present invention , mb - taisl - mram ( multi - bit - thermal - assisted - integrated - storage - layer mram ) includes separation of the conventional free layer into two parts : a read - sensing free layer and information storage free layer . free layer 1 is for the read operation . it is part of the mtj structure but has little or no magnetic anisotropy ( by virtue of having a circular shape ) so its magnetization will align with any external magnetic field . free layer 2 , is for the write operation to store the desired digital information as well as to provide a magnetic field from its edge poles that aligns the magnetization of free layer 1 . the free layer 2 structure is a simple ferromagnetic layer exchange coupled to a low blocking temperature afm layer 2 to provide an exchange anisotropy that enables this ferromagnetic layer to maintain its magnetization along a desired direction corresponding to multi - state information ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 ) depending on the angle between free layer 2 &# 39 ; s magnetization , set by afm 2 , and that of the pinned layer . both free layers have a circular shape and free layer 2 does not have to be part of the mtj stack . during a write operation , a heating current pulse will pass through free layer 2 and raise its temperature above the blocking temperature of afm layer 2 . then , free layer 2 will cool down under the combined fields of the bit and word lines with a field direction dependent on the relative strengths and directions of their two fields . an important innovation , disclosed with the present invention in addition to the above features , is the introduction of a second bit line whose purpose is to facilitate precise control of the direction of magnetization of the second free layer . after the fields derived from the word line and the two bit line currents have been removed , this magnetization ( of free layer 2 ) will maintain its direction through the exchange anisotropy provided by afm layer 2 . the magnetostatic field from free layer 2 &# 39 ; s edge poles will align the free layer 1 magnetization antiparallel to the magnetization direction of free layer 2 . so the free layer 1 magnetization will be at an angle relative to that of the pinned layer . the magnitude of this angle will determine the mtj resistance which will increase as this angle increases ( up to a maximum of 180 degrees ). the relationship between this angle and the tunneling resistance , r mtj , is readily computed according to the following formula : r mtj = r p + δ r ×( 1 + cos ( θ fr1 − θ pin )/ 2 ) where r p is the resistance when free layer 1 and the pinned layer are exactly parallel . assume θ pin = 0 , then r mtj = r f + δ r ×( 1 + cos ( θ fr1 )/ 2 implying a state of the device that can be stored in the mtj cell and later recognized by reading the mtj resistance , provided care is taken in choosing the angle of free layer 1 relative tp that of free layer 2 . the resulting possibilities for an 8 state cell design are summarized in table 1 : if we reserve r p + 4 × δr / 8 to be the reference level for the sense amplifier , that leaves 8 states per cell . note the various resistance levels do not have to be equally spaced , furthermore , even more states per cell are possible by choosing a smaller value for θ fr1 . the number of states that can stored per cell is limited only by how high dr / r can be and by the resolution of the sense amplifier . e . g . a dr / r = 20 % is needed for rp - sigma / rp = 1 . 0 %. we note here that if the number of possible states per cell is 10 ( or more ) it becomes possible to perform decimal arithmetic directly in such a system without the need to move back and forth to binary . if 16 or more states can be stored then direct execution of hexadecimal arithmetic becomes possible , and so on . similarly , this ability to store many states in a single physical location could be applied to very high density storage of data . currently , the highest dr / r available is 27 . 8 % for the cofeb / mgo mtj system . dr / r drops by roughly 200 % at a reading bias voltage of 300 mv , implying that 10 states ( 200 %/ 20 %) could be stored in one cell using this design . in fig2 a - 2 c we illustrate , schematically , how one of the possible multi states can be stored in the cell . the current through the first bit line can be unidirectional but the current through the second bit line has to be bi - directional . the current levels for both bit lines need to be adjustable so as to be able to steer free layer 2 &# 39 ; s magnetization into the desired direction . free layer 1 can also be a super - paramagnetic layer ( thickness thinner than a critical value so it has dr / r but no measurable moment at room temperature ) has no ( or very little ) residual magnetization in the absence of an external field , and has a magnetization substantially proportional to the external field in any orientation . there are multiple ways to embody above mb - taisl - mram design , including both heating - current - in - the - film - plane ( hcip ) and heating - current - perpendicular - to - the - film - plane ( hcpp ) designs for the storage element ( free layer 2 ). referring now to fig3 , we show there two storage elements , of the hcpp type , each addressed by conventional orthogonal word line 13 and bit line 11 . additionally ( and key to the invention ), second bit line 12 is seen to be located above , and parallel to word line 13 . closest to second bit line 12 is the conventional mtj structure including seed layer 31 , first afm layer 32 , pinned layer 33 , dielectric tunneling layer 16 , first free layer 34 ( for the read operation ), and capping layer 35 . below this , resting on word line 13 , is the storage structure consisting of second free layer 44 , and second afm layer 41 . two memory cells are shown , one in each of the two possible states . transistor 28 is used to provide the heating current for layer 44 ( free layer 2 ) which current is carried by word line 13 . transistor 29 , connected to stud 39 , serves to control the measurement of the mtj resistance . read sensing element 34 ( free layer 1 ) is seen in fig4 to be a circular mtj structure . storage element 44 ( free layer 2 ) has a circular shape and is a simple ferromagnetic layer with low - blocking temperature afm layer 41 ( afm 2 ) on it . it is a key feature of the invention that , since the read - sensing and information storage functions derive from different layers , each can be optimized independently . the materials chosen for each free layer can be very different . for example , free layer 1 can be optimized for high dr / r by using materials like cofeb , cofe or nife with high fe content while the material for free layer 2 can be selected for its switching behavior or for having a high exchange bias field . as a result , the storage element can be a simple ferromagnetic layer plus an afm layer with low blocking temperature , thereby eliminating undesirable effects on switching behavior from néel field coupling in the mtj stack and the residual demagnetization field from the pinned layer edge . since there is no mtj on free layer 2 , there is no tunneling layer to be broken down . also , heating is centered some distance away from afm layer 21 , thereby reducing the chances of disturbing it during a write operation . afm 22 can be a metal alloy like irmn , ptmn , osmn , rhmn , femn , crptmn , rumn , thco , etc or an oxide like coo , nio , conio . also seen in fig3 are capping layer 35 , seed layer 31 , electrode 36 , and pinned layer 33 . this resembles the 1 st embodiment except that the relative positions of the two free layers , as well as that of bit line 12 and word line 13 have been switched . thus , as seen in fig5 , free layer 2 lies directly between bit line 11 and word line 13 , thereby reducing the current strength needed for writing , relative to embodiment 1 . as in embodiment 1 , the heating current is controlled by transistor 28 and is carried by word line 13 . referring next to fig6 , we show there an arrangement of the word line and the two bit lines which benefits from being formed through a self - aligning process because it causes free layer 2 to be an integral part of the heating line , thereby increasing heating efficiency . in fig7 it can be seen that this embodiment is of the hcip type . as in the first embodiment , the read and storage structure structures are vertically aligned but heating of the latter is achieved by means of second electrode 76 which makes butted end connection to layer 44 ( as well as to layers 31 and 41 ), so the heating current flows from transistor 28 through word line 13 . embodiment 4 is illustrated in fig8 and 9 . it is similar to the first embodiment except that only a single bit line is needed ( line 11 ) and word line 13 has been moved to one side so the heating current passes from transistor 28 through bottom electrode 86 , by way of studs 91 , and out through word line 13 . this is thus an example of a hcip type of design . the reason that only a single bit line is needed is because writing can be accomplished by using appropriate waveforms for the heating and bit line currents . as can be seen in fig8 , the current through bottom electrode 86 runs at right angles to the current through bit line 11 so the magnetic field associated with the heating current will combine with that of bit line 11 to determine the direction of magnetization that will be induced in free layer 2 ( layer 44 ). as shown in fig1 , bit line current 122 is initiated first followed ( within about 10 - 100 nanoseconds ) by heating current 121 . the latter has the form of a high current pulse ( about 5 - 20 nanoseconds wide ) that generates the heating current , followed by a constant current level whose value is comparable to that of the bit current , lasting about 10 - 90 nanoseconds which is sufficient time for the magnetization of layer 44 to be established while afm 2 ( layer 41 ) is above its blocking temperature and to then be ‘ frozen in ’ as it cools below this . two different current levels are depicted ( solid and dotted lines ). the only constraint is that the bit line current has to be bidirectional ( while the heating current can be one directional ). these two currents must , of course , be available at multiple levels to be able to determine the direction of free layer 2 &# 39 ; s magnetization . as seen in fig1 and 11 , the data storage element has been placed directly above , and in contact with , the mtj and is heated by top electrode 96 . current through the latter goes from transistor 28 , through stud 92 ( which does not touch the mtj stack but extends past and behind it ), then leaves through word line 13 by way of stud 98 . as was the case for embodiment 4 , only a single bit line ( line 11 ) is required . since the current through bottom electrode 96 is orthogonal to the bit line current ( see fig1 ) the heating current may be used , in combination with the bit line current , to determine the direction of magnetization induced in free layer 2 ( layer 44 ). the same constraints discussed for embodiment 4 , directionality , waveform , and multi - valued bit currents , apply here as well . these are not explicitly shown here since they are similar to embodiments 3 and 4 but having the storage element located above bit line 11 ( and below bit line 12 ? ), isolated from bit line 11 , in a similar manner to embodiment 2 ( fig7 ). the heating current in these embodiments goes from transistor 28 , through butted contacts 76 ( fig7 ), and out through word line 13 , in the case of embodiment 6 ; and out through word line 13 by way of bottom electrode 86 and studs 91 ( fig9 ) in the case of embodiment 7 . the heating control transistor may be rather large if the heating current is large , thereby making the cell large . to save space ( particularly for high density designs ) a single heating control transistor can be shared by a number of cells by using a segmented heating line approach . a schematic overview of segmented heating lines is shown in fig1 where word line 13 , serving several storage cells , is controlled by single transistor 28 a . these multiple storage elements ( free layer 2 ) mram cells are connected by one heating line and are written simultaneously during a write operation . cell storage element magnetization within each group is determined by the sum of the fields from the two bit lines . these are orthogonal to each other but oriented at 45 deg with respect to the heating current line direction . embodiments 8 - 17 utilize this technique . embodiment 8 is shown in fig1 . it can be seen that it bears some similar to embodiment 4 ( fig9 ). the read current passes through first bit line 11 while heating line 131 also serves as the word line . heating line control transistor 28 a is not seen in the drawing since it lies out of its plane . this is illustrated in fig1 . it is readily seen to be similar to embodiment 8 except that the storage element is now located between bit lines 11 and 12 . these are similar to the 8 th and 9 th embodiments except that the storage element and the heating line are formed by a self - aligning process : ( i ) after free layer 2 is deposited , it is patterned and etched ( reactive ion or ion beam etching ) into the desired shape ( s ); ( ii ) with the photoresist mask still in place , the heating line layer is deposited ; ( iii ) the heating line is now patterned and etched ( using an additional mask ); and ( iv ) all photoresist is stripped , resulting in liftoff of heating line material that is directly over the free layer areas . the final result is as illustrated in fig1 a ( plan view ) and 16 b ( cross - section ). the heating line is usually made of high resistivity material such as ta , w , alloys , semiconductors like nitrides , doped oxides , or polycrystallines . to enhance the efficiency of the heat line , highly conductive metal blocks 93 ( cu , au , al etc .) can be superimposed to contact the heat line wherever there are no mram cells . this is illustrated in fig1 a and 17 b ( for the self - aligned case ). embodiments 12 - 15 are thus embodiments 8 - 11 with this additional feature added as part of their structure . to minimize the possible influence of stray fields from the pinned layer magnetization on free layer 1 , the net pinned layer magnetic moment can be minimized by making it in the form of a synthetic afm structure wherein the single pinned ferromagnetic layer is replaced by at least two ferromagnetic layers , separated by afm coupling metals such as ru and rh , of precise thickness , such that the two ferromagnetic layers are strongly coupled to each other in an anti - parallel configuration . it will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that the single storage layer described above in the interests of clarity , can be replaced by a laminate of several layers , such as in a synthetic structure . the same goes for the pinned layer , from which an antiferromagnetic layer to fix the pinned layer has been omitted for brevity . free layer 1 can also have the form of a super - paramagnetic layer , whose remnant magnetization is substantially zero with the absence of external field , and whose magnetization is roughly proportional to the external field until reaching a saturation value . this super - paramagnetic free layer can be a free layer consisting of nano - magnetic particles isolated from each other with no exchange coupling between them . as an example , one can use the same ferromagnetic material as in a conventional mtj , but at a thickness that is below some critical value . below this critical thickness the film may become discontinuous , resembling a nano - magnetic layer with isolated magnetic particles . to maintain a high mr ratio , multiple layers of such nano - magnetic layers become advantageous . additionally , materials that promote grain separation may be added as thin layers between such laminated magnetic layers to further isolate the magnetic nano particles . | 6 |
as required , detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein ; however , it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms . the figures are not necessarily to scale ; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components . therefore , specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention . fig1 functionally illustrates logical elements associated with a vehicle power system 10 in accordance with one non - limiting aspect of the present invention . the vehicle power system 10 is shown and predominately described for use within an electric vehicle , hybrid electric vehicle , or other vehicle 12 having a high voltage battery 14 or other energy source operable to provide energy sufficient for use by an electric motor 16 to drive the vehicle 12 . the vehicle 12 may include an on - board charger 20 to facilitate charging the high voltage battery 14 with current delivered through a cordset 22 used to connect the on - board charger to a wall charger or other charging station ( not shown ). the cordset 22 may used to deliver current through a cable having a terminal ( not shown ) at one end adapted for receipt within a receptacle or outlet ( not shown ) associated with the on - board charger 20 . u . s . pat . no . 7 , 878 , 866 , entitled connector assembly for vehicle charging , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein , discloses a cordset 22 and receptacle arrangement that may be used in accordance with the present invention . the on - board charger 20 may include electronics or other elements operable to control and manage current flow used to support charging related operations for the high voltage battery 14 , and optionally , to support charging or otherwise powering a low voltage battery 24 , one or more vehicle subsystem 26 , and / or other electronically operable elements included within the vehicle 12 . the low voltage battery 24 may be included to support powering vehicle systems 26 that operate at voltages lower than the electric motor 16 , such as but not limited to remote keyless entry systems , heating and cooling systems , infotainment systems , braking systems , etc . in addition to being charged with energy provided through the cordset 22 , one or more of the high and low voltage batteries 14 , 24 and vehicle subsystems 26 may be operable to power each other and / or to be powered with energy generated by the electric motor 16 . the low voltage battery 24 , for example , may be operable to provide energy sufficient for use by a lower voltage power source 30 . the lower voltage power source 30 may be operable to regulate current from the low voltage battery 24 for use with one or more of the vehicle subsystems 26 and / or the on - board charger 20 . a controller 32 may be included to facilitate executing logical operations and undertaking other processing requirements associated with controlling the on - board charger and / or controller system within the vehicle 12 ( optionally , one or more of the elements may include their own controller or processor ). for exemplary purposes , the terms ‘ lower ,’‘ low ’, and ‘ high ’ are used to differentiate voltage levels respectively coinciding with approximately 5 vdc , 12 vdc , and 200 vdc , which are commonly used within vehicles to support the operation associated with each of the corresponding energy sources . this is done without intending to unnecessarily limit the scope and contemplation of the present invention as the present invention fully contemplates the energy sources having the same or different voltage levels and / or current production / generation capabilities . a proximity detection circuit 36 may be included in accordance with one non - limiting aspect of the present invention to facilitate a current conservative configuration operable to facilitate registering connection of the cordset 22 to the on - board charger 20 while the controller is in the sleep or inactive state . the proximity detection circuit 36 may be operable to transition the controller 32 from the sleep state to the active state , optionally while consuming less than 50 - 150 ua . this may be helpful in allowing the controller 32 to remain in a low energy consumption state ( e . g ., where the controller 32 is unable to detect connection of the cordset 22 or perform other operations ) in order to limit the amount of consumed energy while still allowing the controller 32 to be awoken to perform its prescribed operations once the cordset 22 is connected or some other event takes places ( the other events may relate to other triggering operations associated with capabilities that are unavailable while the controller 22 is in sleep mode ). fig2 schematically illustrates the proximity detection circuit 36 in accordance with one non - limiting aspect of the present invention . the proximity detection circuit 36 is intended to describe the operation of the circuit related elements ( switches , resistors , capacitors , diodes , etc .) shown in fig2 . the values assigned to these elements and the described use of the elements is not intended to necessarily require that value / element or that the same is part of a dedicated circuit . rather , the circuit elements may be part of any one or more of the logical elements shown in fig1 , i . e ., some or all of the illustrated circuit components may be included in some or all of the on - board charger 20 , the lower voltage power source 30 , the vehicle subsystems 26 , the controller 32 , the motor 16 , etc . while multiple circuit elements are shown to achieve certain results , the present invention fully contemplates the use of other circuit elements to achieve similar results , particularly the use of other current conservative elements . the proximity detection circuit 36 is shown to be configured to operate with a constant 5 vdc power supply ( ka5v ), which may be provided by the lower voltage power source 30 . the constant 5 vdc may be used to power switches and bias other elements of the circuit 36 while the controller is in either one of the sleep and / or active states . the configuration shown in fig2 relies on the 5 vdc to power a connection circuit 40 , a wake - up signal generating circuit 42 , and an optional latching circuit 44 . the connection generating circuit 40 may be configured to generate a signal , such as a voltage change , suitable for use in prompting the wake - up signal generating circuit 42 to output a pulsed signal for use in awakening the controller 32 . in the event a duration / length of the pulsed signal is less than a duration needed to awaken the controller 32 , the latching circuit 44 may be used to elongate the pulse signal , or to otherwise process it , into a signal sufficient to transition the controller 32 from the sleep state to the active state . once the controller 32 is awoken , it may be configured to monitor a voltage at a prox_d1 node to determine connection of the cordset 22 and an optional analog to digital component ( adc ) may be used to support other software processing based on measured voltage . fig3 illustrates a current path ( arrowed lines ) through the connection and wake - up signal generating circuits 40 , 42 when the cordset 22 is disconnected . the controller 32 presumably is in the sleep state at this point due to a prior shutdown event that transitioned the controller 32 to the sleep state upon detection of the prox_d1 value indicating disconnection of the cordset 22 . the controller 32 may be in the active state to complete or perform other operations or in the process of transitioning to the sleep state while the illustrated current path is active . when the cordset 22 is disconnected , switch q 1 is open , q 19 is closed , q 12 is open , switch q 8 is open , a prox voltage set by the controller is zero , and a terminal 48 of the vehicle - based receptacle used to receive a proximity pin ( not shown ) of the cordset 22 is empty . this results in the illustrated current path through q 19 , r 130 , and r 33 of the connection circuit 40 . the wake - up signal generating circuit 42 has no current path since a voltage on either side of the capacitor c 39 is constant . fig4 illustrates current paths ( arrowed lines ) through the connection and wake - signal generating circuits 40 , 42 when the cordset 22 is initially connected . the controller , unless previously awoken , is in the sleep state at least for a short period of time after connection of the cordset 22 . connection of the cordset 22 results in the proximity pin 49 being inserted within the corresponding terminal receptacle 48 and becoming part of the connection circuit 40 . the inserted pin 49 conducts current through the terminal 48 such that resistor r 34 becomes connected to a connection node 50 between r 130 and r 33 , effectively lowering a voltage at the connection node 50 . the lowered connection node voltage reduces the voltage on one side of the capacitor c 39 , and thereby , initiates a charging operation of the capacitor c 39 with energy from the 5 vdc power supply . the flow of current through the emitter and base of switch q 1 caused by charging of the capacitor c 39 transitions switch q 1 from an open to a closed state , resulting in approximately a 5v pulse at a prox_set node associated with the collector of switch q 1 . fig5 illustrates a pulsed signal output 54 from the prox_set node of the wake - up signal generating circuit 42 . the pulsed signal 54 may be characterized as a single pulsed signal having a duration from time t 1 to time t 2 wherein time t 1 corresponds with the charging of capacitor c 39 and time t 2 corresponds with capacitor c 39 becoming charged . the duration between time t 1 and time t 2 is proportional to a capacitance of the capacitor c 39 and can be varied by changing the capacitance . one non - limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates capacitor c 39 having a capacitance of less than 150 nf , such as 100 nf , in order to limit its size ( a larger capacitor may be more expensive and have a slower rise time ). of course , the present invention fully contemplates the use of any sized capacitor and is not intended to be necessarily limited to the noted capacitances . the duration of the single pulsed signal output at the prox_set node may be less than a duration needed to awaken the controller 32 . the prox_set signal 54 is illustrated to have a duration of less than 50 ms ( shown as 25 ms ) whereas the controller 32 may be of the type requiring at least a 50 ms pulse in order to transition from the sleep state to the active state . in order to reduce costs and achieve desired signal rise times , one non - limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates including the latching circuit 44 to elongate the prox_set signal 54 instead of simply increasing the size of capacitor c 39 . fig6 illustrates a pulsed signal output 56 from the latching circuit 44 to awaken the controller 32 . the pulsed signal 56 has a longer duration ( shown to be up to time t 3 ) than a time tw needed to awaken the controller 32 . as shown in fig2 , the prox_set pulse signal 54 may be output from the prox_set node to an input of the latching circuit 44 . the latching circuit 44 may then elongate the signal or perform other processing to generation a wake_up signal output 56 to the controller 32 . once awoken , the controller 32 may set a latch_reset signal 60 to reset the latching circuit 44 for generation of subsequent wake - up signals 56 . the awoken controller 32 may then determine connection of the cordset 22 based the voltage at the connection node . optionally , the controller 32 may be configured to support two or more connection states , such as to support connection detection voltages required by society of automotive engineer ( sae ) j1772 and international electrotechnical commission ( iec ) 51851 . these connection states may be supported by the controller 32 controlling the additional of resistor r 177 to the current path through the connection circuit 40 . fig7 illustrates the sae j1772 connection status by way of resistor r 177 being added to the current path with the controller 32 providing a prox signal to a prox input to activate switches q 12 and q 8 . the prox signal may be provided by the controller 32 immediately after awakening according to prior software programming . the addition of resistor r 177 changes the voltage at the connection node to meet the sae j1772 requirement . the resulting voltage change then induces a discharging of the capacitor c 39 through the 5 vdc power source of the wake - up signal generating circuit 42 in the illustrated current path . in the event the iec 51851 standard is used , the resistor r 177 is not connected in parallel with resistor r 130 and the current path through the 5 vdc power source of the wake - up signal resulting from discharging of the capacitor c 39 is delayed until removal of the proximity pin from the terminal . once the proximity pin 49 is removed from the terminal 48 , the controller 32 detects the corresponding voltage change at the connection node 50 and automatically transitions to the sleep state . the transitioning to the sleep state may include removing resistor r 177 from the current path with deactivation of the switch q 8 . the removal of resistor r 177 can be done to reduce current consumption ( quiescent current ) of the connection circuit 40 to less than 150 ua , and preferably less than 100 ua , depending on the component values remaining in the current path . the ability to control the quiescent current may be beneficial in achieving desired proximity ( connection ) detection while minimizing energy consumption . as supported above , the present invention may be configured to : wake up on falling edge of proximity ; wake up on edge transitions lower than 1v ; achieve low quiescent current operation during sleep mode ; facilitate latched wake up to meet minimum startup current requirements of the system ; allows for system sleep mode with proximity signal continuously applied ; provide selectable sae / iec or other settings ; automatically switch from sae to iec mode during sleep to lower quiescent current consumption ; automatic switch from sae to iec also allows for improved low voltage wake up response ; enter sleep mode ( e . g ., using controller 32 ) with proximity applied ( steady state ); detect change in proximity level as low as 800 mv ; and transition at any voltage levels ( e . g ., 5v to 4v or 3v to 1v etc .). while exemplary embodiments are described above , it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention . rather , the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation , and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . additionally , the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention . | 8 |
referring to fig1 individual hinge elements , each containing a hinge hole are alternatively provided on four border ramparts 140 of a bottom 1 and four bottom borders respectively of side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 to interlock . each line of hinge holes of interlocked hinge elements join together to form a tunnel to let pass a link rod 5 , thereby each side wall 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 is attached to the bottom 1 . each link rod 5 after piercing through each line of hinge holes is riveted at the end . the opposed hinge series 11 , 12 respectively on a pair of opposed border ramparts of the bottom 1 are higher than the opposed hinge series 13 , 14 respectively on another pair of opposed border ramparts of the bottom 1 by the thickness of a side wall so that when side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 are collapsed inwardly , side wall 21 , 22 hinged to hinge series 11 , 12 can be suitably collapsed on side walls 23 , 24 hinged to hinge series 13 , 14 . correspondingly , side walls 21 , 22 are higher than side walls 23 , 24 by the thickness of a side wall so that side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 may reach the same height when hinged to and erecting on the bottom 1 . each hinge hole 1410 of each hinge element 141 of hinge series 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 has no bottom so that the mold of the hinge element 141 can be removed directly from the lower face of the border rampart 140 after injection molding . each hinge element 231 , 232 on the bottom borders of side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 is hook - shaped . the hook mouth of the hinge element 231 is provided on the inner face of the side wall while the hook mouth of the adjacent hinge element 232 is provided on the outer face of the side wall . the hook mouth of each hinge element on the bottom borders of side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 is thus alternatively provided on the inner faces and the outer faces of side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 so that the mold of each hinge element 231 , 232 can be removed easily after injection molding . as shown in fig2 hinge series 11 , 12 are respectively inclined inwardly about 5 ° from the vertical line so that side walls 21 , 22 respectively hinged to hinge series 11 , 12 are also , when erecting , inclined inwardly about 5 ° from the vertical line . two ends respectively of hinge series 13 , 14 are set between two ends respectively of hinge series 11 , 12 , so that side borders of side walls 23 , 24 when erecting can be set between side borders of side wall 21 , 22 when erecting . beside each side border on the inner faces of side walls 21 , 22 is provided a protuberant 221 , 222 which collaborates with each side border flange to form a groove for receiving respective side border of side walls 23 , 24 . erecting side walls 21 , 22 on the inclined hinge series 11 , 12 , then erecting side walls 23 , 24 by sliding side borders of side walls 23 , 24 through protuberants 221 , 222 to be set into grooves beside protuberants 221 , 222 , side walls 23 , 24 shall push side walls 21 , 22 to a vertical position . the elasticity of side walls 21 , 22 shall generate a counter force permitting side walls 21 , 22 to be closely engaged with side walls 23 , 24 . to reinforce the structure , strip ribs are provided on the lower face of the bottom 1 . on the outer faces of side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , groove ribs 233 , 234 are provided to reinforce the structure in longitudinal direction and strip ribs 235 , 236 are provided to reinforce the structure in vertical direction . one transverse groove rib 237 on the side wall 21 can be labelled to indicate the name and other concerning information of the containment . as shown in fig3 strip ribs are provided on the inner face of the lid 3 to reinforce the structure . to stably join the lid 3 with the erecting side walls , on the inner face of the lid 3 , each border flange of the lid 3 collaborates with adjacent strip rib to form a groove 35 for receiving the top border of each side wall . a hook piece 32 is provided on each of a pair of opposed border flanges of the lid 3 intended to join with side walls 21 , 22 for hooking onto a transverse strip rib 215 provided on each side wall 21 , 22 . a slight pressure applied on the hook piece 32 can make the oblique section 321 of hook piece 32 slide through strip rib 215 and make the hook curve 322 of hook piece 32 hook thereon . a hole 331 , 332 , 333 , 334 is provided beside each end of each border flange containing hook piece 32 . correspondingly , at suitable spots of side walls 21 , 22 are provided with holes 216 , 217 , 226 , 227 to join respectively with holes 331 , 332 , 333 , 334 when the lid 3 covers on the erecting side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 . a sealing nail as shown in fig4 is provided to pass through each of four groups of joined holes 216 , 217 , 226 , 227 , 331 , 332 , 333 , 334 . the diameter of the nail body 41 is about the same as that of the holes 331 , 332 , 333 , 334 , 216 , 217 , 226 , 227 ; the diameter of the bottom of the nail dart 43 is slightly bigger than the diameter of the nail body 41 . a groove is provided along the longitudinal center line of the nail body 41 and the nail dart 43 , so that the nail dart 43 and the nail body 41 can be nailed into each of four groups of joined holes 331 , 332 , 333 , 334 , 216 , 217 , 226 , 227 , impossible to loosen off . to open the lid 3 off the container , the nail cap 42 at the end of the nail body 41 must be cut off and the nail body 41 must be pushed inwardly off four groups of joined holes 331 , 332 , 333 , 334 , 216 , 217 , 226 , 227 . after removing the lid 3 , slightly pulling side walls 21 , 22 , outwardly shall loosen side borders of side walls 23 , 24 off groves beside side borders of side walls 21 , 22 , thereby disengaging side walls 23 , 24 from side walls 21 , 22 and permitting side walls 23 , 24 to collapse inwardly . side walls 21 , 22 collapse on the collapsed side walls 23 , 24 as shown in fig5 . covering the lid 3 on the collapsed side walls 21 , 22 , and applying slight pressure on the hook piece 32 shall make the hook piece 32 hook to the bottom border of the bottom 1 as shown in fig6 . as shown in fig6 on the outer face of the lid 3 is provided a projecting plug 31 . on each corner of the lower face of the bottom 1 is provided a reinforced foot 15 . a container of this invention can be closely piled on another one by engaging the reinforced feet of the upper container with the projecting plug of the lower container . to make the container weatherproof , an eave piece 211 is provided on each space between individual hinge elements on side walls 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 for preventing the rain water from seeping inside the container through the seams between the interlocked hinge elements . as the plastic material used in this invention is relatively soft therefore the pressure applied to the container and the elasticity of the container are possible without deforming the structure . as this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof , the present embodiment is therefore for illustration only and not for restriction . the scope of the invention shall be defined by the appended claims . | 1 |
aspects , features and advantages of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing ( s ). it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments of the present invention provided herein are illustrative only and not limiting , having been presented by way of example only . all features disclosed in this description may be replaced by alternative features serving the same or similar purpose , unless expressly stated otherwise . therefore , numerous other embodiments of the modifications thereof are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention as defined herein and equivalents thereto . hence , use of absolute terms , such as , for example , “ will ,” “ will not ,” “ shall ,” “ shall not ,” “ must ,” and “ must not ,” are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention as the embodiments disclosed herein are merely exemplary . referring to fig1 , an exemplary system illustrating the components of this invention and constructed in accordance with the teachings expressed herein comprises the following components : wireless devices ( 100 ), wireless networks ( 102 ), message entity gateways ( 104 ), a data network ( 106 ), a plurality of application servers ( 108 ), a short code translator ( 110 ). the wireless devices ( 100 ), wireless networks ( 102 ) and message entity gateways ( 104 ) being existing systems providing for one way or two way messaging technologies by wireless service providers . messages can be exchanged between the wireless devices ( 100 ) and application servers ( 108 ) by means of a wireless service provider message entity gateway ( 104 ). each wireless service provider operates one or more message entity gateways ( 104 ) to provide access to their wireless network and subscribers . the data network ( 106 ) being any data network capable of connecting message entity gateways ( 104 ) with application servers ( 108 ). in one exemplary embodiment , the data network is the internet , using the ip protocol . in one exemplary embodiment , the data network consists of leased data lines . in one exemplary implementation the short code translator ( 110 ) being programmed to resolve the address of the destination application server ( 108 ) in the data network ( 106 ) naming space based on the message source and destination address in the public switched telephone network ( pstn ) numbering plan , whereby the message is correctly routed from one message entity gateway ( 104 ) to the application server ( 108 ). in one exemplary implementation the short code translator ( 110 ) being programmed to resolve the address of the destination message entity gateway ( 104 ) based on the message source and destination address in the public switched telephone network ( pstn ) numbering plan , whereby the message is correctly routed from one application server ( 108 ) to the message entity gateway ( 104 ). referring to fig2 , an exemplary system illustrating the components of the short code translator ( 108 ) and constructed in accordance with the teachings expressed herein comprises the following components : one or more short code translator servers ( 118 ), a short code administration system ( 112 ), a short code translator database ( 114 ). the short code translator servers ( 118 ) being one or more computing devices programmed to support the resolution and administration of message routing . the short code translator servers being accessible for management and administrative access by remote systems ( 116 ). the short code translator database ( 114 ) being a database holding short code routing information . the short code administration system ( 112 ) being a system to administer a common pool of short code address . in one exemplary embodiment , the short code administration system being part of the same system as the short code translator ( 108 ), as illustrated in fig2 . in another exemplary embodiment , the short code administration system ( 112 ) being external and independent of the short code translator ( 108 ) and connected to the short code translator server ( 110 ) by means of the data network ( 106 ). in one exemplary implementation , the short code translator ( 110 ) is queried via the domain name system ( dns ) protocol . for example , the query could be made against a top level domain set for this purpose like 12345 . sc , or 5 . 4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . sc , which would return a list of ip address of the destination application server ( 108 ). in one exemplary implementation , the short code translator ( 110 ), is queried via a protocol based on telephone number mapping ( enum ). in one exemplary implementation , the short code translator ( 110 ) has the capability of mapping a whole range of short code to a single application server ( 108 ). as an illustrative example , short code address 1234 - 00 through 1234 - 99 could map to a unique internet address 234 . 255 . 189 . 001 . in one exemplary embodiment , the short code translator , in addition to storing a map from short code address to the corresponding data network ( 106 ) address of the destination application server ( 108 ), also stores an end date for how long the mapping is valid . this enables high performance caching of the translation at multiple points in the network . in one exemplary embodiment , the short code translator ( 110 ) is not a centralized system , but a set of decentralized servers that cache a common short code translation database ( 114 ). as an illustrative example , if the short code translator is built using the dns protocol , such distributed , cached database design is inherent in the dns design . the availability of multiple decentralized servers provides for greater availability and redundancy . this is similar to the role played by the 13 top - level root dns servers in dns . referring to fig3 , an exemplary system illustrating an exemplary embodiment of this invention where message is routed via an aggregator ( 120 ). an aggregator is responsible for routing all traffic from application servers ( 108 ) to the appropriate message entity gateway ( 104 ), based in the subscriber address . in one exemplary embodiment , the aggregator ( 120 ) uses the short code translator ( 110 ) internally for the application servers connected to the aggregator ( 120 ). in another exemplary embodiment , the aggregator ( 120 ) administers the short code translator ( 110 ) for the application servers connected to the aggregator ( 120 ), and makes it available externally to the message entity gateways ( 104 ). referring to fig4 , there is shown a flow chart of an exemplary embodiment of the routing functionality provided by the short code translator ( 110 ). in step 200 , the subscriber initiates a mobile - originated message addressed with short code . in step 202 , the message is forwarded to the message entity gateway ( 104 ) for routing to the message destination by means of the wireless data network ( 102 ). in step 204 , if the message entity gateway ( 104 ) checks if it already knows how to route the mobile - originated message based on the destination service code . if it does , it used the cached destination address in the data network ( 106 ) naming space corresponding to the short code , to forward the message to application server ( 108 ) and proceeds to step 212 . if it does not know how to route the mobile - originated message , it proceeds to step 206 . in step 206 , the message entity gateway ( 104 ) queries the short code translator passing in the short code . the query is done over the data network ( 106 ). in step 208 , the short code translator returns a routable address for the short code in the naming space of the data network ( 106 ). in step 210 , the message entity gateway caches the routable address for future use , and in most cases , establishes a connection between itself and the application servers ( 110 ) over data network ( 106 ) using the routable address . in step 212 , the mobile - originated message is forwarded to the application server ( 108 ) by means of data network ( 106 ), using the routable address . in one exemplary implementation , a similar flow exists for mobile - terminated messages , with the difference that the application server ( 108 ) is the system making the query to the short code translator , and the address passed in the destination subscriber mobile number . the short code translator being further programmed to resolve the message entity gateway address within the data network ( 106 ) based on the destination subscriber mobile number . having now described one or more exemplary embodiments of the invention , it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing is illustrative only and not limiting , having been presented by way of example only . all the features disclosed in this specification ( including any accompanying claims , abstract , and drawings ) may be replaced by alternative ( including any accompanying claims , abstract , and drawings ) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same purpose , and equivalents or similar purpose , unless expressly stated otherwise . therefore , numerous other embodiments of the modifications thereof are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereto . for example , the techniques may be implemented in hardware or software running on appropriate hardware , such as , for example , the dell ™ poweredge 1750 intel xeon systems , or a combination of the two . in one embodiment , the techniques are implemented in computer programs executing on programmable computers that each include a processor , a storage medium readable by the processor ( including volatile and non - volatile memory and / or storage elements ), at least one input device and one or more output devices . program code is applied to data entered using the input device to perform the functions described and to generate output information . the output information is applied to one or more output devices . each program may be implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language such as java , to communicate with a computer system , however , the programs can be implemented in assembly or machine language , if desired . in any case , the language may be a compiled or interpreted language . each such computer program may be stored on a storage medium or device ( e . g ., cd - rom , hard disk or magnetic diskette ) that is readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described in this document . the system may also be considered to be implemented as a computer - readable storage medium , configured with a computer program , where the storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner . | 7 |
turning now to fig1 - 5 , a combination 30 is illustrated including a standard household propane tank 32 and a detachable , two - piece cover assembly 34 . the tank 32 ( see fig4 ) includes an upright hollow propane - holding container 36 having a circular base 38 and rounded upper and lower shoulders 40 , 42 . a standard propane tank valve 44 is secured at the top of the tank , with a carrying and connection cage 46 disposed partially about the valve 44 . it will be appreciated that the tank 32 is itself wholly conventional . the cover assembly 34 in this embodiment is made up of a body having front and rear sections 48 and 50 which are hingedly interconnected by means of hinge structure 52 . the edges of the sections 48 and 50 opposite hinge structure 52 is provided with mating latch structures 54 and 56 . as best seen in fig5 , the inner surface 58 of the cover assembly 34 is made up of front and rear section inner surfaces 60 and 62 . these surfaces are designed to substantially surround the tank 32 and are further provided with a number of inwardly extending engagement blocks 64 . as illustrated in fig4 , the blocks 64 are designed to firmly engage the wall of container 36 so as to prevent inadvertent axial or rotational movement of the cover assembly 34 relative to tank 32 . it will further be observed that the cover assembly sections 48 and 50 cooperatively present an upper opening 66 , which is disposed about cage 46 and valve 44 , and a lower opening 68 , which extends about the lower portion of tank 32 . in this embodiment , the outer surface 70 of the assembly 34 , made up of front and rear section surfaces 72 and 74 , give the three - dimensional likeness and appearance of an automobile racing helmet . thus , the front surface 72 has a simulated visor 76 presenting concavo - convex surfaces , as well as a downwardly and outwardly extending chin section 78 . in use , the cover assembly 34 is opened as depicted in fig5 , and closed about the tank 32 so that the latch structures 54 and 56 mate and engage . removal of the cover assembly is accomplished by opening the latch structures and swinging the cover sections 48 and 50 apart . fig6 - 9 illustrate another embodiment in the form of a combination 80 made up of an integrated propane tank 82 and cover assembly 84 . in this case , the assembly 84 has a body presenting an outer surface 86 , giving the three - dimensional appearance or likeness of a football helmet . the latter has a rounded surface characteristic of football helmets , along with simulated ear holes 88 and an outwardly projecting mask 90 . the combination 80 further includes an upper valve 44 and cage 46 , as previously described . internally , the combination 80 may have a standard household propane tank , as described above , with the cover assembly 84 welded or otherwise permanently secured to the tank . fig1 - 13 illustrate another form of the invention made of a combination 92 having a standard propane tank 32 , described previously , and a molded , one - piece synthetic resin cover assembly 94 . as best seen in fig1 and 13 , the cover assembly 94 has a body presenting an upper opening 96 designed to surround cage 46 and valve 44 , and a lower opening 98 . the inner surface 100 of the assembly 94 is configured to closely mate with the outer wall of container 36 and shoulder 40 . the assembly 94 may thus be installed on tank 32 simply by positioning the lower opening 98 above the tank and sliding the cover assembly 94 onto the tank to assume the position shown in fig1 . the cover can of course also be readily removed from the tank 32 by reversing this procedure . the cover assembly 94 can be fabricated from any suitable synthetic resin material , such as compressible polyurethane 102 . the outer skin or surface 104 thereof is configured to give the three - dimensional likeness or appearance of an automotive racing helmet , as in the case of the first embodiment . fig1 - 16 depict another embodiment , in the form of combination 106 again comprising a standard propane tank 32 and a cover assembly 108 . the latter is in the form of a body having an inner surface 110 , an outer surface 112 , an upper opening 114 , and a lower opening 116 . thus , the cover assembly 108 is a unitary structure , similar to the cover assembly 94 . the inner surface 110 is designed to closely mate with the outer surfaces of tank 32 , whereas the outer surface 112 gives the three - dimensional likeness or appearance of a football helmet , including simulated ear holes 118 and an outwardly projecting face mask 120 . in this instance , however , the cover assembly 108 is a substantially rigid , hollow body presenting air space 122 between the inner and outer surfaces 110 and 112 , and can be conveniently produced by standard rotary molding or other conventional techniques . the use of assembly 108 is the same as that described with respect to unitary cover assembly 94 , i . e ., the cover 108 can be positioned above a tank 32 and slid into place , as shown in fig1 . fig1 and 19 depict a combination 124 again comprising a standard propane tank 32 with an inflatable unitary cover assembly 126 . the assembly 126 is in the form of a body having an inner wall 128 , which closely conforms with the wall surfaces of tank 32 , and an outer surface 130 , upper opening 132 , and lower opening 134 . the outer surface 130 is equipped with an inflation / deflation nipple 136 , and gives the three - dimensional likeness or appearance of a football helmet , including ear holes 138 and face mask 140 . in use , the mask assembly 126 is inflated through nipple 136 , and the inflated assembly may be installed in the same manner as the previously described unitary cover assemblies . alternately , the cover assembly 126 may be installed on the tank 32 in a deflated condition , and inflated in place . if necessary , the assembly 126 can be deflated before removal from tank 32 . fig2 illustrates a combination 142 comprising a standard propane tank 32 and a cover assembly 144 . the assembly 144 has a body of unitary , one - piece construction as in earlier embodiments . thus , the cover assembly 144 includes an inner surface ( not shown ) configured to mate with the outer surface of tank 32 and has upper and lower openings 146 , 148 allowing the assembly to be positioned over the tank 32 . in this instance , the outer surface 150 of the assembly 144 presents the three - dimensional appearance of a basketball having simulations of typical sections and intervening seams . the cover assembly 144 may be hollow , filled , or inflatable . it will thus be appreciated that the present invention provides a wide array of sports - related propane tank covers and combinations , which may be sectionalized , as illustrated in fig1 - 5 , or unitary , as depicted in fig6 - 20 . alternately , combined assemblies can be made wherein the tank and cover assembly are unitized , as illustrated in fig6 - 9 . furthermore , while the invention has been illustrated in the context of standard household propane tanks , the principles of the invention can be equally applied to larger or differently - configured propane tanks . thus , the term “ propane tank ” as used herein should be understood to embrace all shapes and sizes of propane tanks . additionally , the cover assemblies may be separate from or used with any size or shape of propane tank , or a propane tank may be fabricated from two or more sections by welding the sections together , wherein at least some of the sections have preformed surface design features in accordance with the invention , so that the completed tank has the likeness or appearance of a sports - related item . it will be appreciated that this form of the invention does not make use of a pre - existing or pre - formed propane tank . | 5 |
this invention represents an improvement in the bolt lock mechanisms for firearms and can be more fully understood by reference to the drawings , in which fig1 shows the bolt lock mechanism mounted in a conventional firearm , in accordance with the invention . a receiver 1 serves as a housing for the bolt lock mechanism 2 , and a trigger housing 3 . a bolt 4 , present just above the bolt lock mechanism 2 , is secured by a locking tab 10 when the bolt lock is in a locked position . fig1 shows the safety mechanism 17 in a safe position , thereby engaging the trigger 5 and preventing the firing of the rifle . fig2 shows a fight side elevation view of the bolt lock mechanism . locking member 9 is pivotally mounted . the point of mounting is a matter of choice of the designer , and can be , for example , on the fire control mechanism or the receiver . here , it is shown mounted on the fire control mechanism by pivotal mounting means 8 , and is provided with tab 10 , which secures the bolt when the bolt lock is in a locked position . the locking member is biased upward by coil spring 11 anchored to tab 9a on the locking member 9 and spring keeper 17 . downwardly and rearwardly projecting portion 13 of the bolt lock mechanism , is capable of slideably interacting with the safety actuating means 16 . while the exact design of the downwardly and rearwardly projecting portion can vary widely , it is here shown in an arcuate configuration . fig3 shows the bolt lock in an unlocked position , which is accomplished by depressing the upwardly projecting control means 12 of the bolt lock assembly , in the direction shown by the arrow , thereby lowering the locking tab 10 , and unsecuring the bolt . fig4 shows the interaction between the arcuate portion 13 of the locking member and safety actuating means 16 . the safety mechanism is placed in a fire position , as shown in fig4 by moving the safety lever 14 forward using the thumb manipulable head 15 . fig4 thus shows the bolt lock in the unlocked position and the safety in the fire position . fig5 shows the location of the upwardly projecting control means of the bolt lock and the thumb manipulable head of the safety when the bolt lock mechanism is installed in a rifle . fig6 is an end elevational view of the mechanism , further illustrating the positioning of spring 11 between tab 9a and spring keeper 17 . the present invention provides a simple and an efficient design for a bolt lock mechanism which offers the choice of holding the bolt lock in an unlocked position while maintaining the safety in the safe position . such an arrangement offers the choice of unlocking the bolt independent of the safety mechanism . the present invention continues to offer the choice of controlling the bolt lock mechanism through the safety mechanism . thus , moving the safety to the safe position automatically places the bolt lock in a locked position , and moving the safety to a fire position automatically moves the bolt lock to an unlocked position . this arrangement facilitates the moving of the bolt lock assembly to a locked or an unlocked position in a single operation . | 5 |
the present invention is directed to a system and method for identifying geographic areas commonly known as quarter sections of land , as defined by the public land survey system ( plss ), using unique proprietary coordinate addresses . a typical township and range legal description will demonstrate the need for a more utilitarian identification system . such an identification system will not replace the current plss but is complementary for the purpose of enabling a coordinate addressing system to function using surrogate identifiers . the following is a common t / r legal description : southwest quarter of section 36 , township 1 north , range 3 east . the abbreviated form for this description , sw ¼ , sec . 36 , t . 1 n ., r . 3 e ., is applicable to any of the principal meridians and base lines of record fig3 . 0 . it is fairly evident , the above legal description is cumbersome , and requires a complex string of characters to specify the precise location of a quarter section of land . as such , both manual and automated ( computerized ) processing of this description is an arduous , if not impossible task , which limits the functionality of the current method of referencing geographic locations . translation from the current form of identification to a coordinate system involves a multi - step process , however . the first step requires the conceptual relocation of the grid north control point ( establishing a false origin ), so all cardinal point references can be eliminated . step two provides for the conversion of legal descriptions to numeric values . step three involves the assignment of coordinate value for each quarter section , and the final step provides for the creation of the translation database . locator maps can be created at the conclusion of the translation process . source data for the identification of quarter sections will come from public and private records , field observations , and u . s . g . s . quadrangle maps , etc . public land survey system legal descriptions are descriptions of areas of land that follow the pattern of townships and ranges established by the federal government in 1785 . the descriptions have since been extended , following similar rules , to include non - public domain areas throughout the united states . the origin of public land survey system is a reference for the numbering of township and ranges within a public land survey area . these areas ( regions ) are known by the name of the principal meridian associated with the origin as listed in fig3 . 0 , which are dispersed throughout the united states . referring to the drawings by numerals of reference ; there is shown in fig7 a , a typical region 260 circumscribing a point 140 formed by the intersection of a principal meridian 100 and a base line 120 . next , a typical representation of the public land survey system , fig2 shows an exploded view of the region 260 depicting the typical layout of rows of townships 261 and columns of ranges 263 as they relate to the principal meridian 100 and base line 120 . accordingly , all four quadrants of the rectangular grid 300 are used to identify the location of tracts of land , townships 262 propagating out in all directions from the origin 140 i . e ., initial point . each tract of land is identified by its cardinal points n , s , e , w and , its relative position to its principal meridian 100 and base line 120 . the following two separate legal descriptions : t . 3 n ., r . 1 w ., 267 and t . 1 n ., r . 2 e ., 268 will demonstrate the awkwardness of the current system . the goal of this invention is to eliminate these required compass directions ( cardinal points ) from the identification of tracts of land while , maintaining an order showing the relationship of adjacent tracts of land . step 7 : fig1 a and 1 b are intended to show , in principle , a means to conceptually relocate the initial point for each principal meridian and base line , which may or may not reside within the boundaries of a particular region . having first established orientation to grid north fig1 a for a region 260 using the principal meridian 100 and base line 120 for the selected region , a false origin fig1 b , 200 is subsequently established by conceptually relocating fig1 a the initial point 140 for the region . said point being relocated to the most southwesterly location necessary for the particular region to fall within fig1 b the first quadrant 320 of the realigned coordinate system 370 . the relocated origin 200 that is established by this invention for each region 260 is designed to maintain grid north and will guarantee that all geographic location address values will be positive . repositioning of the origin 200 in this manner however , will create a rectangular grid ( cartesian coordinate system ) containing cells wherein some cells will fall outside the boundaries 270 of the subject region 260 . the present invention notes these exceptions to prevent erroneous references . in addition , the present invention is not a replacement or alternative surveying system . it is a system providing an alternative means for referencing quarter sections fig2 ne ¼ sec . 1 , t . 1 s ., r . 2 w . 266 a of land as defined and identified by the existing public land survey system 300 . it is well known by individuals skilled in the art of surveying , that fig1 b the first or northeast quadrant 320 of the coordinate system 370 is used to measure latitude and departure . in surveying , coordinate locations are given by two values , the first being latitude 240 measured along the y axis 220 , i . e ., distance north from the origin 200 and the second being departure 250 measured along the x axis 230 , i . e ., distance east from the origin 200 . an important point of discussion here relates to the declaration of ( x , y ) coordinates 250 , 240 as used in cartography and mathematics as opposed to surveying . typically , coordinates are stated as matched pairs ( x , y ) 250 , 240 around the origin 200 representing the two axis of the coordinate system 370 . the x value 250 identifies the distance from the origin 200 along the horizontal axis 230 with the y value 240 identifying the distance from the origin 200 along the vertical axis 220 . it should be noted , the configuration of the cartesian coordinate system , comprising four quadrants 370 , i . e ., where x refers to the horizontal axis 230 and y refers to the vertical axis 220 is the standard used in all disciplines . the standard is the same for surveying . the distinction that must be made is the order or sequence in which fig2 — township and range 269 is declared in legal descriptions t . 3 n ., r . 2 e ., 269 a . township , running north to south in rows or tiers 267 along the y - axis ( principal meridian 100 ) is cited first and range , running east to west in columns 263 along the x - axis ( base line 120 ) is cited last . this is the same for surveying where points are stated fig1 b as latitude and departure ( y , x ) 240 , 250 as opposed to ( x , y ) 250 , 240 . as such , latitude , distance north is specified first and departure distance east is specified second . to maintain consistency with township and range declarations , the locational addresses are declared in the same manner and will be known as locality id ™( s ). fig1 c shows a typical locality id ™: stateid [ 6 : 30 ] 400 where the north - to - south position [ 6 ] 402 is specified first and the east - to - west position [ 30 ] 404 is specified last . although a minor aspect , it is important for this point to be understood , especially when the locality id ™( s ) will be used as the reference frame designations on locator maps for all geographic areas . the locality id ™( s ) fig1 c are coordinates that represent , in a single instance , implied boundaries 410 points 420 and locations 430 . the point (.) ( presumed monument ), 420 being the presumed intersection of the quarter section boundary lines 410 and the location ( quarter section ) stateid [ 3 : 60 ] 430 is the geographic area to the southwest of the point and the enclosing lines with adjacent quarter sections . imaginary grid lines 440 , which connect monument after monument , identify the perimeters of quarter sections throughout the region . quarter sections are identified from available public and private documents and assigned coordinates represented by a pair of cardinal numbers greater than zero . each location identifier assigned will represent a relation in a rectangular coordinate system . cardinal numbers assigned to the x and y coordinates for each state coordinate system will not overlap , i . e ., rows ( y coordinates ) synchronized with township quarter sections will always have values less than the values assigned to the columns or range quarter sections ( x coordinates ). step 2 : provides for the conversion of each quarter section , township and range legal description to an all numeric identifier . this is accomplished by converting the cardinal points to numeric values as follows : n = 1 , s = 2 , e = 3 , and w = 4 . partial sections , those not containing four quarters , will include a leading or trailing zero . next , the data structure set forth in table 1 . 0 , fig6 . 0 is one possible alternative that can be used to create a consolidated quarter section description of the previously cited t / r description . the legal description cited above , sw ¼ , sec . 36 , t . 1 n , r . 3e . is converted to an unsigned integer ( using 4 bytes or 32 bits ), for automated processing , having a value less than 2 , 500 , 000 , 000 , using the data structure in table 1 . 0 fig6 . 0 . its numeric value is ( converted to 24 - 36 - 01 - 1 - 03 - 3 ) 2 , 436 , 011 , 033 as an unsigned integer , which represents a typical means of converting the cited legal description . step 3 : involves the manual assignment of coordinate values in accordance with the establishment of the relocated origin representing a rectangular grid for the region as outlined above . once the relocated origin for a region has been completed , the assignment of coordinate values can proceed in accordance with axis ranges from table 2 . 0 , fig5 . 0 . step 4 : the final step involves the creation of a database containing relevant information , such as the consolidated quarter section values and corresponding coordinate values as defined in table 3 . 0 , fig6 . 0 for each region . ideally , the database will reside on a computer database but may initially evolve as a sequential cross reference list of corresponding values . example 1 fig7 . 0 presents the final results of the conversion process for a sample area in arizona . having completed step 1 , relocating the origin , step 2 was completed by converting each legal description to a numeric value as shown . step 3 was completed by assigning coordinate values to each column and row , starting at the relocated origin , and moving north and east in accordance with table 2 . 0 , fig5 . 0 values for the state of arizona . there are five ( 5 ) basic rules for understanding the locality id ™ addressing scheme : 1 ) locality id ™( s ) have two ( 2 ) parts : a .) state identifier , a two - letter prefix , identifies region , b .) grid ( y : x ), coordinates enclosed in braces “[ coordinates ]” and separated by a colon (:). 2 ) y = north - south , coordinate ( axis ) values range between 1 & amp ; 999 . 3 ) x = east west , coordinate ( axis ) values start at 1000 . 4 ) coordinate values increase to the north and east ; decrease to the south and west . 5 ) locality id ™( s ) identify geographic areas approximately ½ mile square . a typical locality id ™ for a location in arizona is , az [ 302 : 1345 ]. see table 2 . 0 , fig5 . 0 for value range exceptions for alaska , california , and texas . within a given state , the first value of the matched pair ( y , x ) the vertical axis ( y ), will always be less than the value of the horizontal axis ( x ). this rule reduces the likelihood that individuals will transpose the coordinates when attempting to locate a place using an locality id ™ locator map of an area . when traveling in the field , assumptions can also be made relevant to direction , i . e . ; coordinate values always increase moving north and decrease moving south . by the same token coordinate values always increase moving east and decrease moving west . a notable aspect of the grid or matrix that is formed for each region ; i . e ., each state , centers around a grids physical characteristics , which is not typical of the vision one gets when thinking of a matrix . grids are usually thought of as being symmetrical , having rigid and straight vertical and horizontal lines intersecting at 90 - degree angles . the matrix formed as part of this invention is not at all conventional . the x and y axes will always intersect at 90 degrees . however , boundaries of individual quarter sections may not always intersect at a 90 - degree angle . accordingly , quarter sections , which in reality represent the cells of the grid , are not always true to form . there are instances where quarter sections are either larger or smaller than one half - mile square . also , it can be expected that vertical or north - to - south boundaries on some quarter sections will not conform to grid north , nor will horizontal or east - to - west boundary lines always intersect at 90 degrees and be parallel to the horizontal axis . these variations which are part of the real world can cause the formation of highly irregular line segments and disjointed cells at various points throughout the grid fig1 c , 440 . an aspect that will be of benefit to travelers is the grid layout of arterial streets along quarter section lines as found in a number of major cities in the central and western united states . in these urban and close - in rural areas , the arterial street signs can be used as landmarks to identify the quarter sections , which are generally transparent to the residents and visitors alike . other man - made or natural features can also identify boundary lines of quarter sections too assist individuals in orientating themselves . the single locality id ™ will be used to identify a geographical area for location identification and mapping , and also , too support the tabulation of statistical information of the identified area . the present invention contemplates , but it is not limited to , the various embodiments disclosed herein . thus the reader will see that the local coordinate addresses known as locality id ™( s ) will assist visitors and residents alike locate places of interest with a minimal amount of effort . individuals will be able to find the general location of points of interest regardless of where these places are situated within a given state . in time , narrative descriptions and profiles of these localities will assist in understanding the general make - up of these places of interest . also , approximating the distance between two locations can be done with ease . while my above description contains many specifications , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention , but rather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof . many other variations are possible . for example a city directory may include locality id ™( s ) for every city facility . a franchise can include the locality id ™ for each outlet . telephone directories could include the locality id ™ for yellow page listings . news publications may include the locality id ™ in articles and advertisements to help the reader understand where a subject is located , etc . profiles of each locality id ™ can assist individuals better understand the composition of an area , for example codes can be developed to reflect the major use of an area as commercial , industrial , residential , etc . accordingly , the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment ( s ) illustrated , but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents . the examples set forth below describe various details of the various implementations of this invention . cross indexed tables can be created to support these and additional uses as awareness to other applications becomes apparent . example 1 , fig7 . 0 demonstrates the conversion of a series of township and range legal descriptions to numeric values and their corresponding locality id ™( s ). it shows how a database of numeric values with corresponding locality id ™( s ) enables the translation of township and range descriptions . accordingly , multiple access points to locality id ™( s ) can be established through the use of similar cross indexed tables . example 2 , fig7 . 0 demonstrates how situs addresses can be enhanced through the addition of locality id ™( s ). residents and travelers alike will enjoy the ease of finding places when this additional information is used in conjunction with an locality locator map of the area . using the locality id ™( s ), residents and travelers will be able to quickly and easily identify the general location of each of the court facilities as well as other points of interest using the locality locator map of the phoenix metropolitan area , which covers over 2100 square miles . example 3 , fig7 . 0 shows how census data can be referenced using locality id ™( s ) that are cross - indexed to census tracts . this example identifies four ( 4 ) adjacent census tracts and corresponding locality id ™( s ) in the city of chandler , ariz . example 4 , fig8 . 0 demonstrates how census data at the block level can be indexed to locality id ™( s ). this example shows how census data for the city of scottsdale in the phoenix , ariz ., smsa can be indexed to support observation and analysis of statistical data without the user having to know anything about census tracts and blocks . example 5 , fig8 . 0 shows how points of interest ( poi ) not having a situs address , can be found more easily using an locality locator map when the locality id ™ is included with the name of the poi . this example includes sites from geological survey topographic quadrangle maps . example 6 , fig9 . 0 includes assessor parcel data that has been cross - indexed to the locality id ™( s ) for the purpose of neighborhood analysis . the parcel numbers are from maricopa county , az . while embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described , it would be apparent to those in the field that many more modifications are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein . the invention , therefore , is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims . | 6 |
first , the general structure of a medical inspection apparatus 1 according to the invention is described with reference to fig1 . in fig1 , the medical inspection apparatus 1 is shown as a microscope solely for explanatory purposes . the microscope 1 is used to visually inspect an object 2 , such as tissue of a body of a human or animal e . g . for preparing for surgery or during surgery . for this , the object 2 is illuminated by a lighting subsystem 3 comprising at least one light source 4 . the light 5 from the light source 4 may be transmitted through the object 2 or be reflected by the object 2 . a fluorophore 6 , i . e . a fluorescent fluid , solid , or suspension , may be present in the object 2 . the light source may emit light 5 containing energy in a band of wavelength , which excites the fluorescence of the at least one fluorophore 6 . the lighting subsystem 3 may comprise one or more illumination filters 7 through which the light 5 from the at least one light source 4 is directed . for example , the illumination filters 7 may comprise a band - pass filter , which allows light to pass only in the excitation band of the at least one fluorophore and in the visible - light range . in particular , the at least one illumination filter 7 may block any light from the light source 4 at those wavelengths , at which the at least one fluorophore emits fluorescent light . additionally or alternatively , the illumination filters may also serve to homogenize the illumination , and may include apertures . the light 8 reflected and / or emitted from the object 2 is received by an optical subsystem 9 , such as a magnifying zoom lens . the light from the optical subsystem 9 is passed to an imaging subsystem 10 , which is adapted to extract visible image data 11 and fluorescence image data 12 in the form of electric signals , from the light 8 reflected and / or emitted from the object 2 and any fluorescent material at or in the object 2 . the visible image data 11 are representative of a visible - light image of the object 2 , i . e . a digital image which corresponds to what can be seen by the eyes of a human observer . the fluorescence image data 12 are representative of a fluorescent - light image . the fluorescent - light image corresponds to a digital image of the object in the emission wavelengths of the at least one fluorophore 6 in the object 2 . in order to be able to use the full spectrum of visible light in the visible image data 11 , it is preferred that both the excitation band and the emission band for the at least one fluorophore is not in the visible light range . for example , both the emission band and the excitation band can be in the near infrared ( nir ). suitable fluorophores may be 5 - aminolevulinic acid which , in a metabolism , results in protoporphyrin ix , which is fluorescent , and indocyanine green . the imaging subsystem 10 comprises a dichoroic or polychroic beam splitter 13 which separates the incoming light 8 into visible light 14 and nir light 15 , the latter containing both the excitation wavelengths reflected by the object 2 and the emitted wavelengths from the at least one fluorophore in the object 2 . the imaging subsystem 10 contains a visible - light imaging assembly 16 and a fluorescent - light imaging assembly 17 in which the visible light 14 and nir light 15 are treated differently , both optically and on the signal level , until the visible image data 11 and the fluorescence image data 12 are combined in an image processing unit 18 of the microscope 1 to a pseudocolor image , which is represented by output data 19 available at the image processing unit 18 . in the visible - light imaging assembly 16 , one or more visible observation filters 20 may be arranged which block all but the visible light . further , the visible observation filter 20 may comprise an optical homogenization filter for rendering the intensity in the field of view 21 observed by the optical subsystem 8 more homogeneous . the visible light 14 is recorded by a visible - light camera 22 and converted to the visible image data 11 . to obtain the fluorescence image data 12 , the nir light 15 is filtered by a fluorescence observation filter 23 and then directed to a fluorescence camera 24 , which may be an nir camera . the fluorescence observation filter 23 may be configured as a band - pass filter which blocks all but the light in the emission wavelengths of the at least one fluorophore 6 . thus , the nir camera 24 records images containing information only in the emission wavelengths . the nir camera may be a black - and - white camera or may be color - sensitive . the latter is particularly useful if more than one fluorophore used as the excitation wavelengths of the various fluorophores can be discerned by their different color in the fluorescent - light image . in this case , the fluorescence observation filter may be a multiple band - pass filter for allowing the different fluorescence wavelengths through . the imaging subsystem 10 may comprise a data interface 25 , which makes the visible image data 11 from the visible - light camera 22 and the fluorescence image data 12 from the fluorescence camera 24 available to other subsystems of the microscope 1 . the imaging subsystem 10 operates in real - time by providing the visible image data 11 and the fluorescence image data 12 with no or almost no delay as compared to the optical image received by the optical subsystem 9 . the data interface 25 of the imaging subsystem 10 may provide the visible image data 11 and the fluorescence image data 12 in a standard data format for a video stream . further , the data interface 25 of the fluorescent imaging subsystem 10 may be configured to receive control signals 26 e . g . to control camera settings . furthermore , the imaging subsystem may be configured to change settings of at least one of the visible observation filter 20 and the fluorescence observation filter 23 , if at least one of the visible observation filter 20 and the fluorescence observation filter 23 is adjustable . the microscope 1 may be a stereoscopic microscope . in this case , an imaging subsystem 10 may be present for each stereoscopic channel . in the embodiment of fig1 , a control and processing subsystem 27 is connected for one - or bi - directional data transfer to the fluorescent imaging subsystem 10 e . g . to receive in operation the visible image data 11 and the fluorescence image data 12 and to exchange control signals 26 . further , the control and processing subsystem 27 may be configured to control the optical subsystem 9 via control signals 26 and / or the lighting subsystem 3 , also via control signals 26 . if the illumination filters are adjustable , the control and the processing subsystem 27 may be configured to also control the illumination filters 7 . control and processing subsystem 27 may be a general - purpose computer , such as a personal computer , or a dedicated electronic system which has been specifically adapted to the requirements of the microscope 1 . the data transfer between the various subsystem , assemblies and other devices of the microscope 1 may be facilitated if a digital communication bus is used . the control and processing subsystem 27 may comprise several units that may be realized in hardware and / or software . for example , a controller unit 30 may be used to store , alter , and control the setting of operative parameters of the microscope 1 . the operational parameters may include but not be limited to parameters of the optical subsystem 9 , such as an aperture , focus and focal length , parameters of the lighting subsystem 3 such as illumination filter settings , brightness of the light source , parameters of the fluorescent imaging subsystem 10 , such as camera settings and settings of the observation filters , and parameters of the image processing unit 18 . the controller unit 30 may comprise elements for user interaction which , upon operation , change the operational parameters . such elements may include a graphical user interface on a screen or a touchscreen , and / or mechanical elements such as sliders , push buttons , switches and / or knobs . the image processing unit 18 comprises a first input section 31 , which is configured to receive the visible image data 11 . a second input section 32 of the image processing unit 18 is configured to receive the fluorescence image data 12 . the output data 19 are provided at an output section 33 of the image processing unit 18 . at the output section 33 , the output data 19 are available in the form of pseudocolor image data which represent a pseudocolor image of the object 2 . in the pseudocolor image , the visible - light image is merged with the fluorescent - light image providing smooth color transitions from the visible - light image to the fluorescent - light image , whereby the fluorescent - light image is assigned and displayed in a pseudocolor . the color of an output pixel in the pseudocolor image is computed by the image processing unit 18 from the at least one pseudocolor , a color of a first input pixel in the visible - light image and an intensity of a second input pixel in the fluorescent - light image . if more than one fluorophore is used , each fluorophore , or its fluorescence emitting waveband respectively , is assigned a different pseudocolor , preferably by the user , or automatically . as can be further seen in fig1 , the microscope 1 may either be provided with or connected to a documentation subsystem 35 for storing both all or selective image data preferably together with the microscope settings . further , the microscope 1 may comprise a monitoring subsystem 36 comprising preferably several displays , such as an eyepiece display 37 and microscope monitor 38 . the microscope 1 may also be provided with a display interface 39 which is configured to supply video data to an external monitor ( not shown ). fig2 shows schematically the structure of the image processing unit 18 . the image processing unit 18 comprises a plurality of modules , which perform different image processing functions on the image data 11 , 12 in real time . the modules of the image processing unit 18 may be implemented in hardware and / or software . different modules which perform the same function may be e . g . be implemented as identical software routines which are fed with different data . the modules may be executed in parallel or sequentially provided that in a sequential execution , the output is still available in real time . the image processing unit 18 may comprise a homogenization module 41 which is configured to compensate at least one of vignetting and inhomogeneous illumination in at least one of the visible image data 11 and the fluorescence image data 12 . the homogenization module may be further configured to do a histogram normalization and optimization of the image data 12 in order to make full use of the contrast range of the image . the homogenization module 41 may comprise a digital homogenization filter 42 which may be different for the visible image data 11 and the fluorescence image data 12 as the distribution of illumination may be different for visible light and light in the excitation band of the at least one fluorophore . further , the cameras may exhibit different vignetting and distortion characteristics which makes an individual compensation necessary . the homogenization filter 43 may be determined using calibration for example of a homogeneously colored calibration object , such as a white , grey or otherwise uniformly colored plate and stored electronically in the image processing unit 18 or an attached memory . fig3 a shows an image of such a homogeneously colored calibration object 44 . the inhomogeneous illumination and the vignetting are clearly visible in the image of the calibration object as the periphery of the field of view 21 is significantly darker than the center . in the homogenization module 41 , a homogenization filter 42 as shown in fig3 b is applied in real time to at least one of the visual - light image and the fluorescent - light image . the homogenization filter 42 results from the rgb values along a spatial profile 44 from the image of the calibration object : for each coordinate in the color space , a separate profile is obtained . the different profiles may be fitted with polynomials . rotating the polynomial curves around the center of the image creates a two - dimensional map of the inhomogeneities in the respective optical path between the object 2 and the sensor in the respective camera 22 , 24 . the homogenization filter 42 results from inverting the homogeneity map . further , the image processing unit 18 may comprise a spatial adjustment module 45 which preferably acts only on one of the fluorescence image data 12 and the visible image data 11 , preferably the fluorescent data 12 only , as the fluorescence image data 12 may be less than the visible image data 11 due to a lower color depth . the spatial adjustment module 47 is adapted to at least one of crop , rotate , shift and stretch at least one of the visible - light image and the fluorescent - light image . the purpose of the spatial adjustment module 45 is to bring the visible - light image and the fluorescent - light image into congruence to each other , so that a pixel at a certain location in the visible image corresponds to the same spot on the object 2 as the pixel at the same location in the fluorescent - light image . in the spatial alignment module 45 , correlation algorithms and pattern detection algorithms may be executed to match corresponding structures in the visible - light image and the fluorescent - light image and to compute the amount of cropping , shifting , stretching and / or rotating necessary to align the two images to each other . further , the image processing unit 18 may comprise a gamma correction module 46 which is configured to act on at least one of the visible image data 11 and the fluorescence image data 12 . by using the gamma correction , the images can be adapted to human vision . the image processing unit 18 may further comprise a threshold adjustment module 47 which is preferably configured to act on the fluorescence image data 12 only . the threshold adjustment module 47 is configured to blank a pixel in the fluorescence image data 12 if this pixel has an intensity f below a threshold value f min : f = f , if f & gt ; f min , and f = 0 , if f & lt ; f min . the controller unit 30 ( fig1 ) may be configured to allow adjustment of the threshold value by a user . blanking a pixel comprises one of setting the color of the pixel to a pre - determined color , such as black , setting it to zero and making the pixel transparent . finally , the image processing unit 18 may comprise a pseudo color image generator 48 , which is adapted to merge the visible - light image and the fluorescent - light image to generate the pseudocolor image available at the output section 33 . in the following , the function of the pseudocolor image generator 48 is described with reference to a color space , for example an rgb color space . in the rgb color space , a cartesian coordinate system is formed by the three component colors red ( r ), green ( g ), and blue ( b ). other color spaces which may be alternatively used may be the cmyk color space or the hsl or hsv color space . in rgb color space , any color is represented by its three components ( r , g , b ) and thus corresponds to a certain location in the 3 - dimensional color space . this location corresponds to a position vector pointing from the origin of the color space to the specific color . the pseudocolor image generator 48 is configured to linearly interpolate the color of an output pixel in the pseudocolor image from the pseudocolor to the color of the first input pixel in the visible - light image depending on the intensity of the second input pixel . thus , in the color space , the color ( r o , g o , b o ) of the output pixel is located linearly between the color ( r i , g i , b i ) of the first input pixel in the visible - light image and the at least one pseudocolor ( r p , g p , b p ) i . e . located on a vector pointing from ( r i , g i , b i ) to ( r p , g p , b p ). the distance between the color ( r o , g o , b o ) of the output pixel and the color ( r i , g i , b i ) of the first input pixel is computed to be proportional to the intensity f of the second input pixel in the fluorescent - light image . thereby , both the first input pixel and the second input pixel correspond to the same spot on the object 2 ( fig1 ). using the color space allows to do the linear interpolation using computationally efficient vector arithmetics . in particular , the color ( r o , g o , b o ) of the output pixel can be calculated in the pseudocolor image generator 48 as follows : where the factor h = f / f max , f max being the maximum expected fluorescence intensity . thus , the intensity of the fluorescence in the second input pixel determines the distance between the output color and the input color for any given color component . if the fluorescence intensity f = 0 , i . e . there is no fluorescence , the color of the output pixel will correspond to the color of the first input pixel in the visible - light image . if the fluorescence in the second output pixel is maximum , f = f max , the color of the output pixel will correspond to the pseudocolor ( r p , g p , b p ). in a further variant , an opaqueness factor a may be used in combination with the factor f / f max to form an alternative factor h = a ·( f / f max ). the opaqueness factor a may be adjusted by the user upon interaction with the control and processing subsystem 27 to increase or decrease the transparency of the pseudocolor . if factor a is close to zero , even highly fluorescent parts of the fluorescent - light image will hardly be visible in the pseudocolor image . increasing factor a will increase visibility of the pseudocolor the process of assigning a color ( r o , g o , b o ) in the output data based on the intensity in the fluorescence image data and the color ( r i , g i , b i ) of a corresponding pixel in the visible image data is exemplarily shown in fig4 , where green is used as pseudo color ( r p , g p , b p )=( 0 , 256 , 0 ), for example . the upper square represents a ( schematic ) visible light image 49 with 4 × 4 first input pixels 50 . only for explanatory purposes , the sample visible - light image 49 contains only four colors which are identical throughout every column in the visible - light image . the lower square on the left - hand side shows schematically the intensity in a sample 4 × 4 fluorescent - light image 51 . the fluorescent - light image consists of 4 × 4 second input pixels 52 . only for explanatory purposes , the intensity in each row of the fluorescent - light image 51 is constant . the upmost row of second input pixels 52 has zero intensity , whereas the lowest row of second input pixels 52 in the fluorescent - light image 51 has maximum intensity . using the above linear rgb interpolation scheme , a 4 × 4 pseudocolor image 53 results . again , it can be seen that , if the intensity of the second input pixel 52 is zero , the original color in the visible - light image 49 is reproduced in the corresponding output pixel 54 of pseudocolor image 53 . if the intensity of the second input pixel 52 is maximum , the color in the pseudocolor image 53 depends on the opaqueness factor a as explained above . in fig5 , the different steps for merging the visible - light image 49 and a fluorescent - light image 51 to obtain a pseudocolor image 53 are shown . in a first step 60 , the visible - light image 49 and the fluorescent - light image 51 are sampled by the visible - light camera 22 and the fluorescent - light camera 24 , respectively . in a second step 61 , the respective images 49 , 51 are homogenized using the homogenization module . in a third step 62 , the homogenized fluorescent - light image 51 is brought into congruence with the visible - light image so that the physical structures in the two images 49 , 51 correspond to each other both in size and location . the spatial adjustment is preferably done before the fluorescent - light image 51 is worked upon by the threshold adjustment module 47 , so that the algorithms for the spatial adjustment have more data available for pattern matching . in a fourth step 63 , a threshold - filtering of the fluorescent - light image 51 takes place to blank all second input pixels 52 in the fluorescent - light image 51 which are below the intensity threshold f min . in a fifth step 64 , the pseudocolor image 53 is computed using the pseudocolor image generator 48 with the above - described linear color interpolation . fig6 shows the generation of a pseudocolor image 53 containing two pseudocolors 70 , 71 . the two pseudocolors result from the use of two fluorofores in the object 2 which emit light at two different emission bands and thus have two different fluorescent colors 72 , 72 . in such a case , linear interpolation takes place after a pseudocolor 70 , 71 has been assigned to a second input pixel 52 in the fluorescent - light image 51 based on the fluorescent color 72 , 73 of the second input pixel 52 . after this assignment , the linear interpolation in color space takes place between the pseudocolor assigned to the specific pixel 50 , 52 , 54 and the color of the first input pixel 50 as explained above . although the invention has been described above with reference to a microscope , it can be applied also to an endoscope , the only difference being that the optical subsystem 8 comprises fiber optics in the case of the endoscope as compared to a microscope 1 . | 6 |
the german physicist , thomas j . seebeck , discovered thermoelectricity at the turn of the nineteenth century . the thermoelectric or seebeck effect is attributed largely to the contact potentials at the junction of dissimilar metals . when a circuit is formed of two wires of different metals and one of their junctions is at higher temperature than the other , an electromotive force is produced in the circuit . ideally , one of those junctions is maintained at a known temperature , and the other junction is subjected to a temperature whose value is to be determined . the first of those junctions is conventionally called , the &# 34 ; cold junction ,&# 34 ; and the other is called , the &# 34 ; hot junction .&# 34 ; the potential developed in the circuit is the measure of the difference between the temperatures at the hot and cold junctions . thus , the temperature at the hot junction is found by adding the differential temperature to the known temperature at the cold junction . in practice it is often impractical to maintain the cold junction at a fixed , known temperature . in that circumstance it is necessary to measure the temperature at the cold junction or to provide some appropriate compensation . the magnitude of the potentials that are developed in a thermocouple circuit and the degree of linearity with which those potentials change with temperature varies with the materials used in forming the junction . the combination of copper and constantan results in linear change in voltage with temperature over the range of temperatures that are of interest in the medical and veterinary fields and are almost universally used in thermocouples intended for those fields . they are the preferred materials for use in practicing the invention . the hot junction is formed by interconnecting a copper wire with a constantan wire . to complete the electric circuit the wires must be joined together at a second junction or the circuit completed by connection through additional conductors . that second junction , or the combination of the additional junctions , forms the cold junction . to avoid the complication that would result from additional junctions of dissimilar materials , it is the practice to locate the second junction and any additional junctions at a common point in the signal - processing unit to which the thermocouple is connected . that practice leads to a construction in which the constantan wire extends the entire distance from the hot junction where temperature is to be measured to the signal - processing unit . in practice that is a significant distance ; it may be six feet , or more , between the point of temperature measurement and the signal - processing unit . that gives rise to two difficulties . one is that thermocouple wires act as a receiving antenna by which radio frequency interference is introduced into the measurement system . those interfering signals may have magnitudes which approach that of the temperature induced voltages . the other problem is that the cost of an elongated constantan and copper wire cable is substantial , in view of the fact that they are not reused . the invention provides a way to solve both of those problems . the cold junction is moved into relatively close proximity with the hot junction . a thermistor disposed in thermal proximity to the cold junction is employed to develop a voltage which varies with temperature as does the voltage at the cold junction , or substantially so . the cold and hot junctions are in series circuit . the potentials developed at those junctions are opposed in polarity . the compensating potential developed with the aid of the thermistor is included in that series circuit such that it opposes the potential produced at the cold junction . the compensating potential is equal to , and opposite in polarity to the cold junction potential . consequently , the potential in the thermocouple circuit which is presented to the cable that extends from the junctions to the signal - processing unit is only the potential produced at the hot junction . the sensor has been converted to one which , like the thermistor sensor , measures temperature directly . the preferred means by which that result is accomplished is depicted at the left in fig2 and in fig3 . the basic circuitry of a copper - constantan thermocouple system is shown in fig1 . it includes a current measurement device 10 and a thermocouple , generally designated 12 . the latter includes a constantan wire 14 , one end of which is connected to one end of a copper wire 16 to form a hot junction 18 . the other end of the constantan wire 14 is connected to one end of a second copper wire 20 to form a cold junction 22 . the other ends of the two copper wires 16 , 20 are connected to the current measurement instrument 10 where the thermocouple circuit is completed . it is assumed in fig1 that the hot junction 18 and the cold junction 22 are at temperatures in the normal operating range of the system , in which case the copper side of the hot junction 18 is positive with respect to the constantan side 14 . at the cold junction 22 the potential is less ; the constantan side 14 is negative with respect to the copper side 20 . current flow in the thermocouple circuit will be clockwise for the conditions described . in fig2 the thermocouple is generally indicated by the numeral 30 . the hot junction 32 and the cold junction 34 are in relatively close proximity . leg 36 is made of constantan . leg 38 is copper . the other side of the cold junction 34 attached to a connector 42 is copper . the circuit is arranged for disconnection on both sides by a connector 40 at the left and the connector 42 at the right . the short portion of the circuit below connectors 40 and 42 is the disposable temperature measuring probe . from connector 40 , the thermocouple circuit continues by copper line 44 to the input of an analog amplifier 46 . at the other side of the circuit , the continuity is completed above connector 42 through resistor 48 to ground and from ground to the other input terminal of the amplifier 46 . the numeral 50 identifies a thermistor which is disposed in thermal proximity to the cold junction 34 so that the temperature to which the cold junction and the thermistor 50 are subjected is substantially the same . that thermistor 50 is connected in a circuit which extends from a positive reference voltage source 52 through a variable resistor 54 to ground through the parallel combination of a resistor 56 and the series circuit combination of the thermistor 50 and the resistor 48 . the junction between the thermistor 50 and the resistor 48 is connected to the connector 42 , at the side away from the cold junction 34 , and is connected to the input of a radio frequency amplifier 58 . amplifier 58 has a bandwidth sufficient to pass and amplify radio frequency signals whose frequency corresponds to the frequency of radiations that emanate from laser power supplies , x - ray machines , cauterizing apparatus , and the like , which are commonly found in the medical and the veterinary fields . amplifier 58 may comprise a conventional tlc 2512 cp operational amplifier , as manufactured by texas instruments . the output of the analog amplifier 46 is applied by line 60 to an analog - to - digital converter 62 . the output of that converter is applied by line 64 to a shift register 66 . the converter 62 and shift register 66 may comprise a conventional tlc 14511n circuit , as manufactured by texas instruments . the output of the shift register 66 is applied to a digital amplifier 68 by line 70 . the output of the digital amplifier 68 is applied by line 72 to the input of a display unit 74 which comprises a display 76 and a display driver 78 of a kind that is suitable to drive the selected display , such as the mm5452 display driver , as manufactured by national semiconductor . the output of the radio frequency amplifier 58 is applied to a radio frequency detector 80 which rectifies , and applies detected signals having greater than a predetermined amplitude to output line 82 . the detector 80 may be a in4149 silicon diode . the output line 82 is connected to the shift register 66 . signals on that line 82 serve to disable the shift register 66 so that , during an interval when radio frequency interference signals have sufficient amplitude to produce an output on line 82 , the shift register 66 is inoperative to transfer temperature signals from the analog - to - digital converter to amplifier 68 . the input of the radio frequency amplifier 58 is not necessarily connected to the temperature sensing circuitry . a wire in the sensing circuit cable , or any other arrangement which serves as an antenna , may be used to provide an indication of the radio frequency field intensity in the region of the temperature sensing circuitry . in some cases , that arrangement is preferred because the measured intensity will be independent of the value of the thermistor and of temperature . the circuits thus far described comprise the combination of a thermocouple and thermocouple - type signal processing and display unit . they incorporate temperature compensation and radio frequency interference deletion according to the invention . in addition , the output of the scale - changing amplifier 68 can be made to drive a signal processing and display unit of a kind which is suitable for use with thermistor sensors . such a signal processing and display unit is included in the circuit of fig2 where it is numbered 100 and comprises a display , unit 102 driven by an ohm meter 104 . the input terminals of the ohm meter are numbered 106 and 108 . a special circuit generally designated 110 is connected across terminals 106 and 108 . it includes a capacitor 112 and a resistor 114 which are connected in series , in that order , from terminal 106 to terminal 108 . a second capacitor 116 is connected in parallel with capacitor 112 through a pair of switches 118 and 120 . switch 118 connects the upper side of the two capacitors in the diagram , and switch 120 connects their lower sides . each side of capacitor 116 is connected to ground through a respectively associated calibrating resistor . the resistor that is in series with switch 118 is numbered 122 . the resistor that is in series with switch 120 is numbered 124 . a switch 126 is connected to short circuit resistor 124 when closed . a switch 128 is connected to short circuit resistor 122 when closed . switches 118 and 120 open and close together , as do switches 126 and 128 . when switches 118 and 120 are closed , switches 126 and 128 are open and vice - versa . in the preferred embodiment switches 118 , 120 , 126 and 128 may be part no . ltc1043cn , as manufactured by linear technologies corp . of milpitas , calif ., and form part of a solid state switching arrangement of which capacitor 116 is another part . the solid state switching arrangement is usually referred to as &# 34 ; switched - capacitor resistors .&# 34 ; such a circuit mimics the behavior of a resistor . together with capacitor 112 and resistor 114 , the switched - capacitor resistor emulates a resistor whose effective value is determined by the rate at which the several switches of the switched - capacitor resistor are actuated . the switches are solid state , cmos devices . to facilitate understanding , they have been shown with symbols that indicate equivalent mechanical switches . the dashed line 130 indicates that the switches 126 , 128 are actuated by pulsed signals generated in a clock 132 . the pulse repetition rate or frequency applied by the clock 132 to the switches is selected by the magnitude of the signal on line 134 , which is connected to the output of amplifier 68 . accordingly , the clock 132 may comprise a variable rate pulse generator such as the p82c54 programmable timer manufactured by intel or fujitsu . the signal on line 134 varies as a linear function of temperature . the frequency or pulse repetition rate of the clock output is a nonlinear function of the signal on line 134 . it varies approximately as shown in the graph within clock block 132 to match the characteristics of circuit 110 and , more particularly , the published characteristics of the switched - capacitor resistor . as an alternative to pulse repetition rate , pulse width modulation or some other equivalent may be employed . circuit 110 and pulse generator 132 may be viewed as a means for generating a resistance of varying value , the overall result being a resistance which , as mentioned above , emulates or simulates the output one would see from a thermistor . while the clock 132 , scale - changing amplifier 68 , and shift register 66 are shown as discrete units , it is possible to perform equivalent functions , or any one of them , in a microprocessor and , in some applications , that would be preferred . it will be appreciated from the foregoing that amplifier 46 , shift register 66 , amplifier 68 , clock 132 , and switched - capacitor resistor circuit 110 comprise signal processing means for providing a resistance value indicative of the temperature at the thermocouple , and which simulates a thermistor output . clock 132 may be viewed as generating a switching signal comprising the pulse train on line 130 , which causes circuit 110 to develop a resistance which simulates a thermistor output . fig3 illustrates the structural arrangement by which the disposable probe 138 is connected to the remainder of the system and how the thermistor 50 is associated with the cold junction 34 . the constantan leg 36 of the thermocouple terminates at the left of fig3 in a connection to a protective , conductive sheath 144 which , in fig2 is leg 38 . the juncture at the far left of fig3 is the hot junction . the sheath 144 is fixed in a two - pronged plug 142 and is connected electrically to prong 150 . both the sheath 144 and the prong 150 are made of copper . leg 36 is made of constantan . it extends through the sheath 144 to a connection to copper prong 152 of the plug 142 and formation of the cold junction 34 . prongs 150 and 152 mate with sockets 154 and 156 , respectively , which are embedded in socket member 158 . the thermistor 50 is disposed in a cavity formed in the socket member 158 , where it is in thermal contact with the cold junction 34 . it will be apparent that the disposable probe 138 is both simple and inexpensive . | 6 |
in an illustrative embodiment , the present invention is a high luminance , one - inch thick display system , although display systems with another thickness may be utilized as well . in accordance with the invention , the source of illumination is located remotely from the display device , such as an lcd and its accompanying waveguide , view screen , and backlight ( if the display device is transmissive ). the display device may be emissive , transmissive or reflective . the display is described below from the optical and mechanical point of view . a schematic block diagram of a flat panel display system 5 in accordance with the present invention is shown in fig1 a , while portions of display system 5 are illustrated in fig1 b , 1 c , 2 a and 2 b . as will be described , such portions comprise peripherals that will be included in a remote enclosure , i . e ., away from the display device . it should be understood that display system 5 is schematic in nature and the relative sizes , positions , and shapes of the components in the diagram are merely for ease of discussion . as shown in fig1 a - c and 2 a and b , display system 5 includes a light - collecting assembly 20 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to fig4 a , 4 b and 5 - 7 , for focusing light from light source 12 . generally , light - collecting assembly 20 is designed to deliver visible light to its exit ports , although assembly 20 may be designed , alternatively , to deliver radiant fluxes , such as infrared ( ir ) light , ultraviolet ( uv ) light , and microwaves . illustratively , light - collecting assembly 20 is approximately 3 ″ by 4 ″ by 3 . 6 ″ high , and has a collection efficiency exceeding 70 %. its functional elements include an enclosed concentrated light source 12 , such as a small - arc high intensity discharge ( hid ) lamp and a lamp enclosure comprising ellipsoidal mirrors 10 . the light source 12 may be powered by a 270 w arc lamp , which may have an arc gap of 1 . 4 mm , although other lamp powers and / or arc gaps can be utilized . in addition , light source 12 , except for electrode shadowing effects , is preferably a substantially omnidirectional radiator . thus , the collecting assembly 20 can preferably provide two or more light outputs , by segmenting the output of omnidirectional light source 12 . as best seen in fig1 b , 1 c and 2 a , the ellipsoidal mirror 10 are supported by a plurality of l - shaped support brackets 115 . each wing of the “ l ” is approximately 0 . 9 ″ wide and 2 . 25 ″ high . specifically , fig1 b and 1c show an assembly of four l - shaped support brackets 115 , while fig2 a shows only two of the existing four brackets 115 . as shown in fig2 a , each bracket has a pair of clearance through - holes ( one on each side of the “ l ”) 117 , for allowing protrusion of the end ferrule of each fiber cable leg 25 , and a pair of tapped holes 119 for securing each protruding fiber cable leg to its respective adjuster 120 by means of thumb screw clamp 18 shown in fig1 b and 1c . through - hole 117 is approximately 0 . 36 ″ in diameter and tapped hole 119 is approximately 0 . 19 ″ in diameter . further , light source 12 and the ellipsoidal mirrors are supported by bottom and top hub plates ( 14 , 16 ), each having approximate dimensions of 3 ″ by 3 . 9 ″ by 0 . 25 ″ thick and having a diameter of 4 . 93 ″. further , the height from the top of top hub plate 16 to the bottom of bottom hub plate 14 , when supporting the mirrors , is approximately 2 . 75 ″. to ensure that ellipsoidal mirrors 10 and mirror edge slots 112 , which form exit port holes for light - collecting assembly 20 , are properly aligned , it is desirable to build a suitable set of accurate datum surfaces into the design of the assembly . efficient light extraction from the light source depends on such proper alignment . in fig2 a , the exploded view of light - collecting assembly 20 illustrates how various elements of the light engine are assembled and illustrates the design of the datum surfaces desired for alignment . with reference to fig2 a and 4 a - 4 c , there are illustratively four ellipsoidal mirrors 10 . the top and bottom of the four ellipsoidal mirrors 10 have cylindrical surfaces that engage cylindrical hubs of bottom and top hub plates ( 14 , 16 ), respectively . the ellipsoidal mirrors 10 are securely held against the bottom and top hub plates ( 14 , 16 ), bottom and top hub plates ( 14 , 16 ) by garter springs 126 that engage matching torroidal grooves 127 ground into the backs of the ellipsoidal mirrors 10 . the top and bottom of the light source 12 are held by means of a cylindrical clamp assembly 28 , which is inserted into circular holes in the bottom and top hub plates ( 14 , 16 ). these holes are concentric with the hubs and provide sufficient clearance for alignment of the light source 12 with a common focal point located in the center of the light - collecting assembly 20 and coincident with the common axis of both hubs . as shown in fig2 a and 2c , a special alignment washer 23 is disposed around the hub of the top hub plate 16 . the top of the special alignment washer 23 is flat to engage the flat bottom surface of the top hub plate 16 while the bottom face of this washer has a conical taper to match the top faces of the ellipsoidal mirrors 10 . clocking alignment of each ellipsoidal mirror 10 about the hub axis is provided by notches 140 in the top corner edges of each mirror section ( see fig4 a - 4 c ). notches 140 have accurate reference datum surfaces that are normal to the bottom face of top hub plate 16 . there are four raised key protrusions 21 from the bottom conical face of special alignment washer 23 . key protrusions 21 have eight accurate reference faces designed to engage the corresponding reference datum surfaces of the four ellipsoidal mirrors 10 notches . in order to provide clocking alignment of mirror edge slots 112 with corresponding through - holes 117 of l - shaped support brackets 115 , a pin through - hole 29 is provided in special alignment washer 23 for engaging a corresponding pin in top hub plate 16 . the four l - shaped support brackets and their eight through - holes 117 are accurately positioned with respect to the top hub plate 16 pin so as to ensure proper alignment of through - holes 117 with mirror edge slots 112 . eight relatively tiny coil springs 38 are inserted into corresponding receptacles 39 in bottom hub plate 14 adjacent to the hub . the conical bottom faces of ellipsoidal mirrors 10 each engage two of these springs . thus , each mirror section is spring - loaded toward top hub plate 16 . this spring - loading action ensures that the top and bottom interfaces of special alignment washer 23 between the ellipsoidal mirrors 10 top conical faces and top hub plate 16 is kept in intimate contact with each other . the spring - loading action of coil springs 38 and of garter springs 126 is an effective means of maintaining critical alignments in the presence of thermal dimensional distortions caused by heat generated by the lamp . this spring - loading method avoids producing stresses at the glass mirror interfaces that would crack the mirrors . such stresses exist in conventional alignment methods that do not accommodate thermally induced dimensional distortions . advantageously , the unit cost of molding accurate glass surfaces is less than the cost of grinding them ( and , of course , less than the cost of grinding and polishing them ). therefore , the critical surfaces of ellipsoidal mirrors 10 are preferably molded . these molded mirror surfaces include the ellipsoidal mirror surfaces , the top and bottom cylindrical hub interface surfaces , the top and the bottom conical interface surfaces , the notched top mirror clocking interface surfaces , and the ellipsoidal mirror 10 edge slot surfaces . to facilitate the glass molding process , all molded surfaces are designed to have draft angles if they are not otherwise shaped and / or oriented to accommodate release from the mold . for example , the top and bottom mirror edges are preferably configured to be conical instead of flat in order to accommodate easy mold release . for the same reason , the mirror edge slots 112 are preferably designed to have a draft angle . fig4 a , 4 b , and 4 c are side elevation , isometric , and assembly views , respectively , of the ellipsoidal mirrors 10 of light - collecting assembly 20 shown in fig1 b and 1c . as shown in fig4 b , each ellipsoidal mirror 10 comprises two ellipsoidal mirror sections 110 , which is preferable for ease of manufacture . accordingly , each ellipsoidal mirror section 110 is positioned in such a way so as to have a first focal point common to all eight mirror sections 110 substantially centered on the arc of light source 12 . further , each ellipsoidal mirror section 110 has a second unique focal point , each of which is substantially centered on or near a respective mirror edge slot 112 that provides a cylindrical rod entrance port 125 ( see fig4 c ) for a corresponding cylindrical rod 138 ( to be described in detail below ). thus , each ellipsoidal mirror focuses the light it intercepts from the arc on the corresponding cylindrical rod entrance port 125 located at or near the second focal point of this mirror . note that each mirror edge slot 112 is aligned with a respective through - hole 117 shown in fig1 b and 1c . each cylindrical rod entrance port 125 is , e . g ., 4 mm in diameter and intercepts light incident at 0 . 42 na ( numerical aperture ). as shown in fig1 b , 1 c and 4 a - 4 c , there are illustratively eight mirror edge slots 112 ( one for each ellipsoidal mirror section 110 ) and thus eight corresponding clearance through - holes 117 . note that each mirror edge slot 112 is formed by a half - hole in a mirror edge . each ellipsoidal mirror section has two half - holes , one on each side , thus providing four mirror edge slots 112 and eight rod entrance ports 125 in the lamp enclosure . if it is desirable to maximize collection efficiency of the light engine , the diameter of each cylindrical rod entrance port 125 should exceed the theoretical size of the arc image formed by the corresponding ellipsoidal mirror section 110 . the margin of excess should be designed to accommodate imaging aberrations , distortion of light rays by the glass envelope that encloses the lamp arc , and inaccuracies in the fabricated mirror surface shape and in the relative alignment between the mirror , the arc and the cylindrical rod . enlarging the diameters of each cylindrical rod 138 requires a corresponding enlargement of each mirror edge slot 112 required for light egress . this reduces the area of the ellipsoidal mirror section 110 surfaces which , in turn , reduces light collection efficiency . the efficiency loss attributable to this reduction in mirror area is significant when , e . g ., the mirror edge slot 112 area is large enough to become a significant fraction of the ellipsoidal mirror section 110 area . alternatively , it may be desirable to have a somewhat smaller diameter cylindrical rod 138 to provide a selected degree of compromise between light collection efficiency and the concentration of rod entrance port irradiance , which tends to be more intense near the rod center than near the rod edges . in the design illustrated here , the rod entrance port diameter d was chosen to be : where s1 is the short distance along the major axis between the ellipsoidal mirror and its first ( common ) focal point , where s2 is the long distance along the major axis between the ellipsoidal mirror and its second ( unique ) focal point , and where g is the gap between the lamp arc electrodes . in this illustrated example , s1 = 18 . 5 mm , s2 = 46 . 1 mm , g = 1 . 4 mm , and the resulting d is 4 mm . in the above expression for d , ( s2 / s1 ) g is an estimate of the largest theoretical arc image size generated by reflection from any portion of the ellipsoidal mirror area . the additional 0 . 51 mm is for margin . as the above expression for cylindrical rod diameter d indicates , the magnitude of d is a strong function of mirror design configuration parameters s1 and s2 , and of the lamp electrode gap g . the illustrated light - collecting assembly 20 design comprising four ellipsoidal mirrors 10 formed from eight ellipsoidal mirror sections 110 is one of many possible alternative design configurations . for example , the collecting assembly could comprise a greater or a lesser number of ellipsoidal mirrors disposed about the arc , which would all have a common first focal point . as in the illustrated configuration , the second focal point of each mirror would be unique and would require a corresponding unique cylindrical rod entrance port for light egress . the greater the number of mirrors in the light - collecting assembly , the smaller would be the solid angle intercepted by each mirror as seen from the arc or from the corresponding cylindrical rod entrance port . this assumes that the mirrors surrounding the arc are all identical . thus , these mirrors would each also have identical values of s1 and s2 . the numerical aperture ( na ), defined as the sine of the maximum angle of incidence of rays from the mirror on the corresponding cylindrical rod entrance port , is driven by the shape and projected area size of the mirror functional aperture and by the distance between the mirror and this entrance port . the 0 . 42 na of the illustrated design of light - collecting assembly 20 represents a maximum ( or nearly maximum ) incidence angle of 25 ° for rays reflected by the mirror to the cylindrical rod entrance port surface . of course , both the magnitudes of d and na depend on the design of light - collecting assembly 20 and on the electrode gap g . however , for small values of g , the dependence of na on g is weak . the mirrors may be fabricated from materials such as glass or metal ( not shown ). glass surfaces may have a dielectric coating ( forming a thin - film cold mirror ) that reflects visible light but transmits infrared and , possibly , uv light ; thus reducing heat dissipation within the light - collecting assembly 20 , in the cylindrical rods 138 , and / or other optics following the cylindrical rods . metal mirrors may be fabricated from diamond - turned aluminum , electro - formed nickel or a high - temperature polymer such as ultem . metal or polymer mirrors may be coated with aluminum , dielectric thin films , or other highly reflective coatings . as with glass mirrors , a dielectric coating can be used on metal mirrors to reflect visible light . however , unlike the coatings used on glass mirrors , which transmit infrared light , ultraviolet light , or both , dielectric coatings on metal mirrors are specially designed to reflect visible light while absorbing light outside the visible band . the heat generated by this absorption is then dissipated by conduction through the metal structure thus diverting heat from the mirror cavity . referring again to fig1 b , 1 c and 2 a , light - collecting assembly 20 uses its ellipsoidal mirror surfaces to capture and channel the output of the light source 12 . light can be distributed from the light - collecting assembly mirror edge slots 112 by a light guide assembly , such as a plurality of fiber optic cables each of which functions as an optical transmission line . as shown , each of eight such fiber cable legs or bundles 25 cooperate with a corresponding rod entrance port 125 . each fiber cable leg 25 may be adjusted by a respective adjuster 120 , depicted in fig1 b and 1c , to ensure proper alignment . note that each adjuster 120 is aligned with a corresponding fiber adjustment hole 117 . assuming that the number of exit ports is two or more ( e . g ., eight mirror edge slots 112 are illustrated ), fiber cable legs 25 can be joined together within ferrule 30 to form a single path . as shown in fig2 a , the ferrule 30 envelope can be cylindrical , while the fiber bundle exit port aperture of ferrule 30 is square . the dimensions of ferrule 30 are approximately 1 . 5 ″ in length and 0 . 75 ″ in diameter . ferrule 30 is supported by a bracket 32 , having dimensions of approximately 3 . 775 ″ in length , 5 ″ in width and 2 . 57 ″ in depth . bracket 32 similarly has a circular opening at one end and a square opening at the opposite end . referring now to fig1 , to diffuse hot spots and withstand high power densities , the input of each fiber leg 25 may be coupled to a respective ferrule 142 . each ferrule 142 can be support a thermally robust optically transmissive element or light pipe , such as a cylindrical rod 138 , which can be air - spaced or bonded to their corresponding fiber bundles . cylindrical rods 138 may be fabricated from solid glass ( e . g ., lasfn31 ) having a high refractive index or from fused silica having a low refractive index . note that the fibers from the eight fiber cable legs that collect light from each mirror edge slot 112 can be randomly mixed to provide a level of homogenization before the light emerges from a single common exit port within ferrule 30 and enters the next stage . an example of a cylindrical rod 138 is shown in fig1 . as illustrated , cylindrical rod 138 is 13 mm in length and 4 mm in diameter . as shown in fig1 a , a beam homogenizer 40 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to fig8 receives light at input 44 from the output of ferrule 30 . however , as further shown in fig1 a and 2b , a dimmer 42 , such as an iris , a variable neutral density filter , sliding apertures , or a liquid crystal shutter , can optionally precede homogenizer 40 , to reduce or eliminate light to the homogenizer . homogenizer 40 creates a uniform irradiance over the cross - section of the output 46 of the homogenizer . the output of the homogenizer 40 is coupled to a second optical transmission line , such as an expanding fiber optic cable 50 shown in fig1 a , which has one input 52 and multiple outputs 54 . in the example of fig1 a , the light from the fiber optic cable 50 is coupled to a collimator 60 . collimator 60 may be a long tapered light pipe having a small area input port and a large area output port , e . g ., a square cross section - tapered cone that functionally approximates a compound parabolic concentrator ( cpc ), a simple array of one or more such elements , or an array of lenses that collimate the light . the output of collimator 60 feeds a waveguide 70 that illuminates a display device 80 either directly or via a turn - the - corner prism assembly 72 , which may be provided for the sake of compactness . collimated light is preferable for illuminating certain types of displays . for example , collimated light is desirable for backlighting certain liquid crystal displays ( lcd ) because the contrast is highest when the light incidence angles on the lcd are confined to a relatively narrow range . conversely , diffused or uncollimated light will result in reduced contrast . as previously mentioned , if the size or other constraints of the physical layout of display system 5 requires a change in the direction of the light traveling between the output of collimator 60 and waveguide 70 , a turn - the - corner assembly 72 ( having one or two prisms ) may precede waveguide 70 . as shown in fig2 a and 2b , many of the components of display system 5 can be placed in an enclosure 900 ( and sealed by cover 905 ), referred to as a remote enclosure . remote enclosure 900 provides a location for positioning elements of the display system away from the area of the display 80 , e . g ., a panel in a cockpit , where space is at a premium . the dimensions of the remote enclosure may be preferentially set to fit unique application requirements . for example , in an aircraft , the remote enclosure can have dimensions defined in the 3ati , 5ati or other size standards and thus be mounted in racks utilized by the instruments to be replaced by this invention . thus , for the 3ati size standard , the dimensions of the remote enclosure may be approximately 3 ″ by 3 ″ by 9 ″. accordingly , the need for any major structural changes to the aircraft is greatly reduced . additionally , components that generate a great deal of heat can be located in the remote enclosure , away from heat - sensitive elements , where heat removal is more easily accomplished , and where envelope space restrictions are less severe . as illustrated , the light source 10 , the collecting assembly 20 , the dimmer 42 , the homogenizer 40 , and associated brackets ( previously described ), are contained within remote enclosure 900 . fiber optic cable 50 connects the output of the homogenizer to the rest of the components ( e . g ., the collimator 60 and the waveguide 70 ). in addition , other components of the system , such as a power supply 910 , a lamp drive 920 , a video interface 930 , an input / output module 940 , and a processing module 950 , can also be located in remote enclosure 900 . it should be understood that depending on the requirements of a particular system and available space , one can choose to include or exclude any number of these items in or from remote enclosure 900 . fig4 a , 4 b , and 4 c show the side , the isometric , and the assembly views of light - collecting assembly 20 , respectively , of fig1 b and 1c . as stated previously , light - collecting assembly 20 efficiently couples light from lighting device 12 to homogenizer 40 . the collecting assembly segments the output of the lighting device through the mirror edge slots 112 , optimizing the capture of light and improving the efficiency of the system . the isometric view of fig4 b shows one of the four ellipsoidal mirror sections 10 which comprise the lamp enclosure , where each of the four mirrors 10 comprises two mirror sections 110 . note that each of mirror sections 110 is an ellipsoid of revolution about the ellipsoid major axis . accordingly , collecting assembly 20 has eight ellipsoidal mirrors 110 having a first common focal point at the center of the light engine cavity and a second unique focal point , not shared with any other ellipsoid , which is at one of the eight mirror edge slots 112 located near the edge of each adjacent ellipsoidal mirror 110 . as previously discussed , each mirror 110 has a half - hole on one side , such that two adjacent mirrors 110 form each mirror edge slot 112 . as further discussed with reference to fig4 c , 18 and 19 , the mirror edge slots 112 can preferably interface with a respective transmissive element or optical light pipe , such as solid cylindrical rod 138 . this light pipe may be coupled to a fiber optic cable ( such as fiber leg 25 ), to another light pipe or to a solid core optical fiber . the rods 138 are formed of a light transmitting material such as glass , fused silica , or sapphire to eliminate hot spots which might damage the fiber cable . in addition , to further shield optical fibers from the damaging effects of heat and / or uv radiation and to further protect the downstream optics , especially polymer optics and adhesives , the input port face of rod 138 can be coated with a dielectric ir , uv reflecting coating , and / or a visible light transmitting dichromic film . further , instead of or in addition to such coating , the rods 138 may be made of a uv absorbing material or may be doped with a uv absorbing material such as cerium . referring specifically to fig1 , during operation ( prior to reaching the downstream optics interface ), the heat from the light source is absorbed by each rod and may be conducted out of each rod 138 and into heat conducting ferrule ( or cell ) 142 that supports the rod and serves as a heat sink . ferrule 142 is preferably formed of a heat conducting material such as copper , aluminum , stainless steel , a combination thereof , or other suitable heat dissipating materials . each cylindrical rod 138 can be secured to its respective ferrule 142 by a thermally robust and optically clear adhesive or clamp ( not shown ). for an adhesive , it is preferable that the adhesive be able withstand a sustained temperature environment , which , for an epoxy such as epoxy technology &# 39 ; s epotek 301 - 2 , is as high as 200 ° c ., and that the adhesive has refractive index low enough to maintain total internal reflection ( tir ) of the light propagated within the rod material . for example , assume that for light rays originating in an air medium : ( 1 ) the maximum ray angle of incidence on the polished entrance port face of a solid cylindrical rod is θ . ( 3 ) the refractive index of the adhesive on the rod &# 39 ; s polished cylindrical surface is n . then , in order for tir to prevail for all light rays propagating within the rod , n is required be less than or equal to the square root of ( n2 − sin 2θ ). assuming the cylindrical rods 138 are made of lasfn31 glass , for which n = 1 . 88 , and the maximum ray incidence angle from air medium is θ = 250 , then the corresponding maximum adhesive index of refraction that maintains tir is n = 1 . 83 . therefore , epotek 301 - 2 epoxy is an example of an adhesive that maintains tir because it has a refractive index of 1 . 564 . alternatively , if the combination of the rod material and adhesive refractive indices causes tir to fail , then an appropriately thick low refractive index coating , such as magnesium fluoride ( which has a refractive index of 1 . 38 ) may be applied between the adhesive and the rod . if , however , a clamp is used to hold rod 138 , the low refractive index coating is applied between the clamp and the rod surfaces to form a barrier layer . if a high - intensity light source 10 ( such as a small - arc hid lamp ) or other high - wattage lamps are employed , a cooling system is preferably incorporated in the system . in the preferred embodiment , illustrated in fig5 assembly 200 includes a light source 12 , approximately 3 . 575 ″ in length , that is mounted inside a close - fitting tube 210 , such that both are positioned on a suitable lamp fixture 220 . the tube 210 may be cylindrical or assume any other appropriate shape , and can be fabricated from a clear material with good thermal conductivity , relative to air , such as fused silica or sapphire . as depicted , tube 210 is covered on one end by a cover 230 to form an enclosure . the outer surface 212 of tube 210 is in physical contact with the mirrors 110 of the collecting assembly 20 . this allows thermal energy generated by the light source 12 to flow to the tube 210 and then to the collecting assembly 20 . alternatively , cooling may be provided by attaching a metal conduit to the glass envelope of the lamp and anchoring the conduit to a heat sink ( not shown ). an alternative light source and cooling assembly 300 is shown in fig6 . the assembly 300 has lighting source 12 . in this embodiment , light source 12 may be a short - arc , metal halide hid lamp such as a 270 w version manufactured by a japanese company , ushio america , inc . thermal buses 330 of copper or other material having suitable heat conductivity couple the light source 12 at a minimum of two points and draw heat away from seal areas 350 to heat sinks 340 . each thermal bus 330 is approximately 1 . 07 ″ long with a diameter of 0 . 75 ″. the seal areas 350 are typically molybdenum foil conductors , which form a gas - tight seal when the lamp quartz envelope is heated and “ pinched .” the thermal buses 330 are designed such that the foil seal temperatures are maintained within a range recommended by the manufacturer , above which the seal would likely fail . this technique also takes advantage of the poor thermal conductivity of the foil , where minimal power from the lamp propagates through the thermal bus resulting in a low thermal variance . the ellipsoidal light - collecting assembly 20 is also represented in fig6 . heat absorbed by light - collecting assembly 20 will pass to heat sinks 340 . to further reduce the foil seal temperature , filler material can be added between the thermal busses 330 and the quartz lamp 310 to fill in air voids , as air is a very poor thermal conductor . the filler material , however , should allow for the relative movements between the quartz and copper , should have low out - gassing characteristics , and should be able to withstand temperatures in excess of those recommended by the light manufacturer ( such as 250 ° c .) in order to have sufficient safety margins . for example , one can use nuclear grade style sw - gta grafoil ® manufactured by the ucar carbon company , inc . of cleveland ohio . this grafoil ® material is a flexible , thermally conductive , and compressible graphite gasket material having an extremely low ash content while containing no binders or resins . the lack of binders and resins eliminates the possibility of high temperature - inducing out - gassing , which would risk the condensation of out - gassing vapors on the colder ellipsoidal mirror 10 surfaces thus degrading their reflectance efficiency . the entire assembly 300 may be forced - air cooled , provided that air does not impinge on any optical surface . as a result , a sealed mirror assembly can be used in relatively dirty environments , such as military and automotive applications . the cooling airflow rate can be adjusted to maintain temperatures within a range that optimizes lamp life . various other arrangements may be employed . for example , the light source can be sealed within light - collecting assembly 20 to form a closed - loop cooling system 400 , as shown in fig7 . in this embodiment , air is circulated around the outside of the light - collecting assembly . specifically , light source 12 is enclosed in a sealed collecting assembly 420 . clean air is forced past light source 12 by a fan 422 and the air is cooled in a plenum 430 . the plenum and air conduit together forms a sealed assembly , which includes collecting assembly 420 . the sealed space is required to prevent dirty air infiltration from outside the sealed space . optionally , heat sinks , fans or other cooling devices ( not shown ) can be used to transfer heat away from the plenum 430 . in another arrangement ( not shown ), the lamp itself may be forced - air cooled provided that clean air is available . instead of air , helium or a mixture of helium , neon and nitrogen may be employed to cool the surfaces . as stated , dimmer 42 may be an iris , a variable neutral density filter , sliding apertures or a liquid crystal shutter . as shown in the detail of fig3 dimmer 42 has two aperture plates 1010 , 1020 that slide horizontally with respect to each other . as illustrated , each plate has a diamond - shaped aperture 1030 . optionally , there may be a filter , such as an nvis filter , covering one of the diamond - shaped apertures , which could make a cockpit display compatible with night vision equipment . by virtue of the small size of this aperture , an nvis filter located here is far less expensive , thinner , and otherwise far more compact than an nvis filter placed in its usual location in front of and covering the entire lcd display backlight area . in operation , as the plates 1010 and 1020 move together or apart , the size of the opening created by the overlap of the two diamond - shaped apertures 1030 varies , as desired . note that the dimmer is preferably electromechanical in operation and has a dimming ratio of up to 300 : 1 . to attain greater dimming ratios up to ( for example ) 85 , 500 : 1 , a two - stage dimmer can be configured by incorporating two apertures into one of the sliding aperture plates of fig3 . at any given translational position of this sliding aperture , only one , of its two apertures , has a transmitting area in common with the aperture in the other ( single ) aperture sliding plate . the sliding mechanism for this assembly should be designed to move both apertures so as to keep this common transmitting area centered on the common axis of the ferrule 30 fiber cable exit port and the homogenizer 40 entrance port aperture 44 . this alignment maximizes the homogeneity of the light exiting exit port 46 of homogenizer 40 . the two - stage dimming is accomplished by means of a neutral density filter placed over one of the apertures of the two - aperture slide . the first stage of dimming would be accomplished by sliding the clear aperture of the two - aperture slide across the opening of the single aperture slide until the minimum size common area opening is reached . for the second stage of dimming , the neutral density filtered aperture of the two - aperture slide is slid across the opening of the single aperture slide until the minimum size common area opening is reached again . the neutral density of the filter is chosen such that its attenuation is equal to , or slightly less than , the maximum attenuation of the first stage of dimming . for example , for a first stage dimming range of 300 : 1 , the neutral density could be 2 . 47 , which would provide a dimming ratio of 295 : 1 when the common area of both sliding apertures is at its maximum . the maximum second stage dimming ratio would then be [ 295 × 300 ]: 1 or 88 , 500 : 1 . an additional benefit of this two - stage dimming arrangement is that the nvis filter can be combined with the neutral density filter on the other side of the same substrate , thus combining both functions . the neutral density of the combination would then be designed to be 2 . 47 in the example above . this removes the system efficiency reduction normally attributable to nvis filters because the first dimming stage is nvis - free . note that the minimum size limit for the common opening area between the two sliding apertures is governed by the increasing level of diffraction that occurs as the transmitting aperture becomes progressively smaller . this diffraction effect can become significant enough to cause decollimation to exceed the numerical aperture ( na ) limit of the fibers in the downstream fiber optics cable . this would cause light absorption in the cables that would reduce their light transmission efficiency . further , even if the fiber numerical aperture ( na ) is sufficient to accommodate this collimation loss , a significant decollimation can cause an undesirable alteration in the backlight collimation . the light transmission system between the light engine and the waveguide is designed to maximize preservation of étendue and to achieve a certain degree of collimation of light egress from the waveguide . appreciable decollimation by the dimmer minimum aperture size would then result in an undesirable reduction of backlight collimation or in an undesirable change in performance as the dimming limit is approached . the beam homogenizer 40 , as shown in fig8 can be fabricated from a square cross - section rod that is polished on all six faces . preferably , homogenizer 40 is made of acrylic , bk7 glass , or other materials having low attenuation in the visible light region . the square cross - section may be uniform for the entire length of the homogenizer or , as illustrated in fig8 may be tapered . specifically , homogenizer 40 has a large entrance port 44 and a small exit port 46 . the homogenizer may be fabricated by being ground , diamond - turned , laser cut or drawn . alternatively , a hollow , reflective air cavity having a square cross section may be employed . the length to width ratio of the homogenizer is selected such that the output is uniform at the homogenizer exit port . length is dependent on the collimation of the input light , the refractive index of the homogenizer material , and the required degree of homogenization . typically , length is in the range of ten times the width . illustratively , the homogenizer 40 has a 13 mm by 13 mm square entrance port and an 8 . 4 mm by 8 . 4 mm exit port separated by a distance of 100 mm . further , the length of a tapered homogenizer may be less than the length of a uniform cross - section homogenizer , while providing the same degree of homogenization . thus , a tapered homogenizer is typically more space - efficient than a homogenizer having a uniform cross - section . fiber optic cable 50 , shown in fig1 a , includes one common square input port designed to match the size and shape as homogenizer exit port 46 . this fiber cable input port is bonded to exit port 46 by means of a clear adhesive to minimize loss of efficiency at the interface by eliminating the air gap and thus reducing fresnel reflection losses . the fibers emerging from the input port are preferably bound within a jacketed cable having a nominally circular cross - section . the cable has a sufficient length , two feet for example , to feed the entrance port apertures of collimator array 60 shown in fig1 a . thus , fiber optic cable 50 has one common square input port and a plurality of fiber cable exit ports . the transition from the single jacketed cable to a plurality of jacketed cables can be made at any convenient point along the length of the cable . the size and shape of the exit ports are designed to be a close match to the collimator array input ports . similar to the single fiber cable input port to the homogenizer exit port interface , each fiber cable exit port is bonded to a corresponding collimator entrance port by means of a clear adhesive , which is used to maximize transmission efficiency at the interface by reducing fresnel reflection losses . the alignment of the mating apertures at the input and exit ports of the fiber optic cable is important to reduce coupling efficiency losses . such alignment includes ensuring that the axes of the mating elements on both sides of the interfaces are parallel and centered with respect to each other . in addition , if the mating apertures are not circular , as is the case for the square apertures of the homogenizer exit port 46 and the fiber cable input port , the ports must be rotationally aligned about their common axis . further , it is possible to avoid the necessity of implementing extremely tight alignment tolerances by designing the entrance port apertures to be slightly larger than the adjacent exit port apertures . this maintains transmission efficiency by allowing the exit port apertures to slightly under - fill the adjacent corresponding exit ports . this under - fill technique provides the most benefit in cases where the mating apertures are smallest at , for example , the interfaces with the small collimator input port apertures . this is because smaller apertures require alignment tolerances to be more critical in order to reduce the resulting interface efficiency loss to a given budgeted allowance . fig1 a and 10b show examples of collimating elements that could comprise collimator array 60 shown in the detailed schematic drawing of fig9 . as shown , the differences between the first collimator 160 and the second collimator 260 is that in input ports 165 of the first collimator 160 are substantially circular , while the input ports 265 of the second collimator 260 are substantially rectangular . however , the collimating elements of both embodiments are tapered in that they each have an exit port area larger than its entrance port area . the exit port ends are lined up side - by - side to form the array of collimators , such as in collimator array 60 illustrated in fig9 . the exit port apertures are preferably square or rectangular in shape to make it possible to fill the adjacent turn - the - corner prism assembly entrance port aperture , which has a long rectangular shape that spans the array of collimator exit ports . filling this aperture with light is important to avoid the dark bands that would otherwise be projected from the resulting areas devoid of light , through the turn - the - corner prism , into the backlight , and across the display . it is advantageous for the optionally square or rectangular cross - section of the collimator element to be uniform for a portion of its length adjacent to its exit port . this allows the array of collimators constructed from these elements be stacked adjacent to each other with their sides in contact and their axes parallel and normal to the turn - the - corner prism assembly entrance port face . such elements can be easily assembled on a flat surface with their exit ports in contact with the turn - the - corner prism assembly entrance port aperture . this arrangement ensures an easy means of alignment . the contacting faces of the collimator exit ports and the turn - the - corner prism assembly entrance port can be bonded together by means of an optically clear adhesive , which should have a sufficiently low refractive index relative to the prism index to maintain total internal reflection at the adhesive layer interface for light rays reflected by the prism hypotenuse face . first collimator 160 of fig1 a shows a plurality of such elements forming a portion of a linear array that interfaces with a mating section of a turn - the - corner prism assembly . each element has a input port 165 circular aperture and an exit port 168 square aperture 168 . the circular input port 165 interfaces with a corresponding circular exit port of fiber optic cable 50 . preferably , the exit port 168 of collimator 160 is 6 . 6 mm square . this dimension slightly overfills the height of the turn - the - corner prism assembly entrance port aperture . thirty - three ( 33 ) of these 6 . 6 mm square collimator apertures arranged in a side - by - side tightly packed linear array are approximately 218 mm long , which is sufficient to overfill the length of the turn - the - corner prism assembly 72 entrance port aperture slightly . this overfill is desirable to avoid the creation of dark areas or stripes on the turn - the - corner prism assembly entrance port aperture . these stripes are devoid of light and the turn - the - corner prism assembly could project these stripes into the backlight and across the display . as shown in fig1 a , the square cross section portion of this collimator element has uniform dimensions of 6 . 6 mm by 6 . 6 mm until it begins to morph with the tapered circular cross section portion . the tapered portion has a conical shape that increases in diameter between the small circular entrance port and the larger square cross section . the second collimator 260 of fig1 b shows a plurality of collimator elements similar to those of fig1 a , which likewise form a portion of a linear array that interfaces with a mating section of a turn - the - corner prism assembly . each of these elements has an input port 265 square aperture and an exit port 268 square aperture . the square input port 265 interfaces with a corresponding square exit port of fiber optic cable 50 . similar to exit port 168 of the first collimator 160 , exit port 268 is preferably 6 . 6 mm 2 . thus , its interface with the turn - the - corner prism assembly 72 entrance port aperture and its overfill properties are identical with that of collimator 160 . the tapered portion of each collimator element of the second collimator 260 has a square cross - section that increases in size between the small square entrance port and the larger uniform square cross section region . thus , instead of having the conical tapered section shape of each collimator element in the first collimator 160 , the elements of the second collimator 260 each have a pyramidal shaped tapered section . the design of the first collimator 160 is preferred over the design of the second collimator 260 because if the second collimator 260 is used , the fiber bundles of fiber optic cable 50 would be required to match the square input port 265 of the second collimator 260 . note that fiber bundles having square exit ports are more expensive and more difficult to fabricate than those with round ports . a typical length for either the first collimator 160 or the second collimator 260 , having a 6 . 6 mm square aperture , is 100 mm . a typical input port 165 of the first collimator 160 may have a diameter of 1 . 65 mm . a typical input port 265 of the second collimator 260 may be 1 . 462 mm 2 . these typical input port sizes for both collimators would preferably have an equal input port area of 2 . 14 mm 2 . similarly , their identical 6 . 6 mm 2 exit port aperture areas of 43 . 56 mm2 are also equal . the conical half angle of light entering the input port aperture , of both collimators 160 and 260 , from the fiber bundle exit port of fiber optic cable 50 has an air - equivalent value of 35 °. by application of snell &# 39 ; s law , the actual half - angle within a medium having a refractive index of n is given by ψ , where ψ = arcsine {( sin 35 °)/ n }. in accordance with principle of étendue conservation in an “ ideal ” system , the relationship of air - equivalent collimation half angles of light entering and light leaving the collimator ports is : where a in and a out are the input and output port areas respectively , and where θ in and θ out are the corresponding air - equivalent light input and light egress conical half - angles , respectively . calculating the value of θ out when θ in = 2 . 14 mm 2 , a out = 43 . 56 mm 2 , and θ in = 35 °, yields a corresponding ideal value of θ out of 7 . 3 °, which is achievable by a properly configured compound parabolic concentrator ( cpc ) used as a collimator element . however , more realistically , the θ out actual value for collimators 160 and 260 , which approximate the performance of the ideal cpc , would be about 9 ° or 10 °. another embodiment of a collimator is shown in fig1 . in particular , a packed triangular air cavity array 1110 includes a plurality of tapered air cavities 1112 having right triangular cross - sections in a plane normal to an axis that bisects the hypotenuse face . as shown , the array is sandwiched by hypotenuse face mirrors 1114 . this embodiment functions in the same manner as a square array , since the mirror image of the right isosceles triangle , reflected in its hypotenuse face , forms a square . the small seams between each right triangle are at a 45 ° angle relative to the top and bottom surfaces . as previously stated , it may be necessary to redirect the light ( due to space constraints ) from collimator 60 before it enters waveguide 70 . fig1 and 13 illustrate turn - the - corner assembly 72 , where fig1 shows greater detail and fig1 includes waveguide 70 . turn - the - corner assembly 72 of fig1 and 13 includes two prisms 510 and 520 separated by an optional transmissive spacer element 530 . by adding spacer element 530 , it is possible to increase the gap between the input and output light bundles . the gap can be adjusted to the desired size by varying the spacer thickness . prism 510 includes a first face 512 , a second face 516 perpendicular to face 512 , and a mirrored hypotenuse face 514 . similarly , prism 520 includes a first perpendicular face 526 , a second perpendicular face 522 , and a mirrored hypotenuse face 524 . all faces of the prism and of the spacer , including their end faces , are polished . the dimensions of the prisms and the spacer may be designed so as to capture and transmit light with maximum efficiency . for example , first and second faces of prisms 510 and 520 may be 6 mm , while the hypotenuse face of prisms 510 and 520 may be 8 . 49 mm . prisms 510 , 520 and spacer element 530 may be formed of a transparent polymer material such as acrylic or polycarbonate . alternatively , glass , such as fused silica , f2 , or bk7 can be used , as well as a combination of these materials . if necessary , the prism hypotenuse faces can be coated with aluminum , silver , a multilayer dielectric film , or other mirror coating 542 . alternatively , a sufficiently high refractive index material , such as lasfn31 glass , can be used to form the prisms and spacer element , which eliminate the need for a mirror coating by maintaining tir for the entire range of light ray angles incident on the prism hypotenuse air / glass interfaces . for example , the hypotenuse faces of right angle prisms made of lasfn31 glass , which has a refractive index of 1 . 88 , will completely internally reflect all light rays incident on the prism entrance port from air medium at angles of 24 . 5 degrees or less . the prism entrance and / or exit port faces may , optionally , be bonded to adjacent transmissive elements , such as the waveguide 70 entrance port and / or the collimator 60 array exit port , by means of a tir - maintaining adhesive having a refractive index sufficiently lower than that of the prism material . when the turn - the - corner prism assembly entrance port has a refractive material interface instead of air , the entrance port incidence angle for determining whether tir is maintained on the hypotenuse face is the air - equivalent angle rather than the actual angle . as an example , in operation , and as shown by the dotted - line examples a , b , c , light enters the entrance port of assembly 72 at the first perpendicular face 512 of the first prism 510 . the rays of light reflect off mirrored face 514 and passes out through second perpendicular face 516 . thereafter , it passes through the spacer 530 and enters second perpendicular face 522 of the second prism 520 , reflects off mirrored face 524 , passes out through first perpendicular face 526 , and is then transmitted to waveguide 70 . an interface adhesive 540 , having a low index of refraction , may be placed between each adjoining surface to improve the light - handling efficiency of the assembly . depending on the physical layout of the components in a given application and the degree of redirection required , the first prism 510 and / or the spacer 530 may be omitted . if both are omitted , the light input port for the turn - the - corner prism would be at the second perpendicular face 522 of prism 520 . if only prism 520 is omitted , light would enter through the bottom of spacer 530 on the face parallel to second perpendicular face 522 . as previously discussed , light is transmitted to display device 80 via waveguide 70 . waveguide 70 is shown in detail in fig1 . as illustrated , waveguide 70 has a relatively thin planar structure , having a front surface 802 , a back surface 804 , and two edge surfaces 806 and 808 . the approximate dimensions of waveguide 70 are 162 . 5 mm by 215 mm by 6 mm thick . the waveguide is preferably acrylic and has a refractive index of 1 . 485 , although materials such as glass or other optical polymers may be used . in operation , collimated light is injected at normal incidence into one or both of the edge surfaces 806 and 808 . as light travels inward from the edges 806 and 808 toward the center of the waveguide 800 , non - smooth surface features ( on the back surface 804 ) redirects light toward the front surface 802 , causing the light to exit the front surface at a predetermined angle relative to the normal to the surface 802 . inventive back surface features will be later described with reference to fig1 and 16 vis - a - vis the conventional back surface features illustrated in fig1 . a thick low - index coating ( not shown ) may be placed between the waveguide and an underlying aluminum or protected silver reflective layer ( not shown ) to maximize the use of tir . additionally , a broadband retarder and reflective polarizing film ( not shown ) can be placed on the front surface 802 of waveguide assembly 70 . suitable films are commercially available from japanese company nittodenko , america , inc . of fremont , calif . such films pass light of one polarization , but reflect light of the opposite polarization . the reflected light will undergo two quarter phase shifts ( the first for the first pass - through from the retarder film and the second upon being reflected by the aluminized coating ) and return through the retarder film . the front surface 802 and the four edge surfaces 806 and 808 may be flat , while the back surface 804 may have surface features designed to redirect the received collimated light . for example , a conventional surface , shown in fig1 , comprises an array of steps or terraces that are parallel to front surface 802 . however , the purely terraced surfaces of fig1 have disadvantages in relation to the inventive sawtooth bottom waveguide surface of fig1 and the inventive truncated sawtooth bottom waveguide surface of fig1 , as will be discussed below . the inventive sawtooth pattern bottom surface for waveguide 70 is shown in fig1 . as shown , light enters the input port face on one side . the sawtooth extraction features on the bottom face are shown greatly enlarged from their actual size for illustration purposes . illustratively , the height of each sawtooth is approximately 0 . 195 mm and the pitch of the sawtooth array is approximately 0 . 39 mm . in this embodiment , all light rays that are intercepted by the bottom sawtoothed array are extracted . further , in operation , the array redirects light out of the waveguide at predetermined angles based on the size and shape of the horizontal sawtooth surface . a staggered or truncated - sawtooth pattern bottom surface for waveguide 70 is illustrated in fig1 . this surface has sawtooth features staggered on a series of terraces that are parallel to front surface 802 . illustratively , the height of each sawtooth is approximately 0 . 039 mm and the pitch of the sawtooth array is approximately 0 . 39 mm . the terraces may be mirror - coated with materials such as an aluminized coating to prevent refraction through the sloped surfaces . the design of the surface features is critical to maintain the desired exit angle , to preserve collimation of light traveling through waveguide , to maintain the spatial uniformity of light exiting through the front surface , and to simplify manufacture . in particular , spatial non - uniformities , such as those caused by waveguide material extinction properties can be compensated for by varying the pitch of the light extraction features or their step height . most of the light on the sawtooth terraced faces in fig1 is reflected by “ totally internal reflection ” ( tir ), so that it re - reflects the light to the top face , after which the light has an additional opportunity to be intercepted and extracted by a sloped facet . in this manner , each ray entering the waveguide “ runs the gauntlet ” of terraces and sloped facets until it is either intercepted by a sloped facet and extracted or it exits the thin end face of waveguide 70 . the truncated - sawtooth design of fig1 is significantly better in performance than the conventional stepped or terraced surface designs ( e . g ., of fig1 ) since such surfaces have two 450 corners per step for the light to strike head - on . conversely , the truncated sawtooth - pattern surface has only one 450 corner per step for light to strike head - on . further , since the corners of the conventional terraced surface cannot be manufactured as “ dead - sharp ,” the light will decollimate once striking head - on a “ rounded ” corner . analysis has shown that these rounded corners make up almost 50 % of the decollimation of light . thus , a lesser percentage of rounded corners is desirable , as occurs with the truncated - sawtooth design of fig1 . the slope angles of the sawtooth faces of fig1 and 16 are illustratively at a 45 ° angle relative to the waveguide front surface 802 . they are also “ clocked ” around display 80 normal , such that the lines formed by the intersection of the sawtooth faces with each other ( in fig1 ) or with the sawtooth - terraced faces ( in fig1 ) are parallel to the waveguide entrance port edge face . this arrangement produces a direction of propagation for the light extracted from the waveguide that is perpendicular to waveguide front surface 802 . however , some lcds have other preferred directions of light propagation for maximizing contrast that differs from the display &# 39 ; s normal direction . therefore , to maximize contrast in a display , it is always desirable to match the propagation direction of light extracted from the waveguide to the direction of optimum propagation ( otherwise known as the “ sweet spot ”) for a given lcd display . by varying the sawtooth face angle from 45 °, the extracted light propagation direction can be varied from that which is perpendicular to the waveguide front surface 802 . without varying the “ clocking ” angle of the sawtooth features , the relationship between the sawtooth face deviation angle 0 from 45 degrees and the propagation direction deviation angle ψ to the perpendicular to the waveguide front surface is : where n is the refractive index of the waveguide material . this applies for ψ variations in the plane containing both the normal to the waveguide front face and the propagation direction of the light entering the waveguide . for ψ variations not in the plane containing both the normal to the waveguide front face and the propagation direction of the light entering the waveguide , it is necessary to rotate or “ clock ” the sawtooth features around the waveguide front face normal . in this case the desired ψ is a function of both “ clocking ” angle β and sawtooth face deviation angle θ from 45 degrees . the illumination portion of the invention may be used in a wide variety of applications , including , but not limited to , vehicle lighting , search lights , task lights and projection systems . the display system can be utilized in vehicle applications , such as an airplane cockpit , as well as other applications where viewing angles , space , thermal , and / or structural issues are of concern . the following is a list of the acronyms used in the specification in alphabetical order . the following terminology , listed below in alphabetical order , is used throughout the specification . alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention . | 8 |
fig1 shows two alternative embodiments of liquid dispensing devices according to the present invention . the design of the devices depicted in fig1 is typical of disposable home dispensing devices , but the invention is not limited to these types of appliances , and can , on the contrary , be applied to any type of beverage dispensing apparatus . in both embodiments of fig1 , the dispensing of a liquid , generally a beverage like a beer or a carbonated soft drink , is driven by a pressurized gas contained in a gas cartridge ( 10 ). upon piercing of the closure of the pressurized gas cartridge ( 10 ) by actuation by an actuator ( 102 ) of a piercing unit ( 101 ), the gas contained in the cartridge ( 10 ) is brought into fluid communication with the container ( 30 ) at a reduced pressure via the pressure regulating valve ( 103 ). in fig1 ( a ) the gas is introduced through the gas duct ( 104 ) directly into the container ( 30 ) and brought into contact with the liquid contained therein , whilst in the embodiment depicted in fig1 ( b ), the gas is injected at the interface between an outer , rather rigid container ( 30 ) and a flexible inner container or bag ( 31 ) containing the liquid . in this latter embodiment , the gas never contacts the liquid to be dispensed . in both embodiments , the pressure in the vessel ( 30 , 31 ) increases to a level of the order of 0 . 5 to 1 . 0 or 2 . 0 bar above atmospheric and forces the liquid through the channel opening ( 6 ), via the drawing stem ( 32 b ), if any , and flows along the dispensing tube ( 32 a ) to reach the tap ( 35 ). in the case of bag - in - containers as illustrated in fig1 ( b ), the use of a drawing stem ( 32 b ) is not mandatory since the bag ( 30 ) collapses upon pressurization of the volume comprised between the bag ( 30 ) and the container ( 31 ), thus allowing the beverage to contact the channel opening ( 6 ) without necessarily requiring a drawing stem ( 32 b ). in order to control the pressure and rate of the flowing liquid reaching the open tap at atmospheric pressure , it is proposed to interpose a pressure reducing channel between the container ( 30 ) and the tap ( 35 ), which is housed in housing ( 1 ) as represented in fig1 . a top chime ( 33 ) generally made of plastic , such as polypropylene , serves for aesthetic as well as safety reasons , to hide and protect from any mishandling or from any impact the dispensing systems and pressurized gas container . a bottom stand ( 34 ) generally made of the same material as the top chime ( 33 ) gives stability to the dispenser when standing in its upright position . fig2 and 3 illustrate two embodiments of a housing ( 1 ) comprising a closed channel ( 5 ) suitable for reducing to a desirable level the pressure and rate of a liquid flowing from the inlet opening ( 6 ) to the outlet opening ( 7 ). in the figures , the housing ( 1 ) is represented as constituting the closure of the container ( 30 ). although this embodiment is particularly preferred , the present invention is not restricted thereto . indeed , it is possible to integrate the channel ( 5 ) in a housing forming part of , or even constituting the chime ( 33 ), for example in that the external walls of the first and second half bodies ( 2 , 3 ) define the chime ( 33 ). it is also possible that one half body ( 2 ) is part of the closure and the other half body ( 3 ) is part of the chime . if the housing forms part of the closure of the container , it may be desirable to provide a through - channel ( 104 ) fluidly connecting the closure surface facing outside of the container to the surface facing inside the container to allow injection of the propellant gas into the container ( 30 ). the inlet opening ( 6 ) brings in fluid communication the pressure reducing channel ( 5 ) with the interior of the container , via the drawing stem ( 32 b ) if any . for this reason it may be advantageous to locate said inlet opening ( 6 ) at the closure surface facing inside the container as represented in fig2 and 3 . the outlet opening ( 7 ), on the other hand , may equally well , depending on the desired design , be located at the closure surface facing outside the container ( cf . fig3 ) or at an edge thereof , the outlet section ( 7 ) being normal to the inlet section ( 6 ) of channel ( 5 ) ( cf . fig2 ). pressure losses in the flowing beverage can be generated by a sinuous or curved channel . the sinuosity of the channel increases its length and comprises bends ; sharp bends increase the level of pressure losses , but also enhance foam generation , therefore careful consideration in the design of the circuit of channel ( 5 ) is required to balance these two antagonistic effects . pressure losses may also be generated by varying the cross - sectional area of the channel ( not represented in the figures ) and by providing the surface of the channel with a structure , such as rugosity or a series of grooves normal to the liquid flow ( not represented in the figures ). the housing hosting the pressure reducing channel ( 5 ) of the present invention is advantageously manufactured by injection moulding two half bodies ( 2 , 3 ), each half body comprising on their inner surface open channels matching the open channels of the other half . the two half bodies are preferably made of a polymer or copolymer of any of polypropylene , polyethylene ( oriented or not ), polyamide , polyesters like pet , etc . and blends thereof . polypropylene is preferred as this is the material usually used for the chime ( 33 ). the two half bodies ( 2 , 3 ) are then brought in abutting relationship , with the open channel of one half body vis - à - vis the open channel of the other half body to thus form a closed channel ( 5 ). these two steps can be performed using a single tool with two cavities corresponding to each half body and located in two different sections of the tool , filling the cavities by injection moulding a polymer to form the half bodies , moving the two cavities in vis - à - vis by sliding or rotating the tool section comprising one cavity relative to the other section . once in abutting relation , the two half bodies are to be joined to form a fluid tight channel ( 5 ). the joining of the two half bodies can be performed by any means known to the person skilled in the art , such as welding using a solvent , heat , or vibration , gluing , using mechanical fastening , like screws , snap fittings , etc . it is preferred , however , to join the two half bodies by over injection , within the same tool , of a polymer , usually the same as the one used for the half bodies , at the interface between the two half bodies . this solution is highly advantageous as it can be carried out in the same tool without any additional assembly step , and it ensures gas tightness of the closed channel ( 5 ). examples of methods using over injection of a polymer to join two half shells in a single tool are described in e . g ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 819 , 806 , jp11170296 , jp4331879 , jp7217755 , de10211663 , ep1088640 , which contents are all included herein by reference . in order to facilitate the alignment of the two half bodies upon joining and to ensure fluid tightness of the thus obtained closed channel ( 5 ), the open channel in one of the two half bodies ( 2 , 3 ) may be provided with walls ( 8 ) and the open channel of the other half body ( 3 , 2 ) with corresponding recesses ( 9 ). the recesses may be matching accurately the protruding walls or , on the contrary , leave an opening forming a channel suitable for injecting the joining polymer therein for bonding the two half bodies . the walls ( 8 ) and recesses ( 9 ) depicted in fig2 and 3 are of the matching type . the drawing stem ( 32 b ), if any , and the dispensing pipe ( 32 a ) may be assembled to the inlet ( 6 ) and outlet ( 7 ) of the channel ( 5 ), respectively , by any means known in the art . preferably , however , they can be an integral part of the housing ( 1 ) as illustrated in fig4 ( a )& amp ;( b ). if one of the half bodies ( 2 , 3 ) is an integral part of the chime ( 33 ), the dispensing duct ( 32 a ) could then be integrated in the chime too . a pressure reducing channel according to the present invention is particularly advantageous for dispensing apparatuses of relatively small size , corresponding for example to home appliances . it is particularly suitable for disposable home dispensing apparatuses , since in such devices the pressure reducing channel needs not be replaced or cleaned after use . for dispensing apparatuses which can be reloaded with a fresh container after use , the housing ( 1 ) is advantageously part of the container &# 39 ; s closure , so that a new , sterilized channel is supplied with each new container . for disposable dispensing apparatuses , the housing ( 1 ) may equally advantageously be part of the container &# 39 ; s closure or the chime , since the whole appliance is disposed of after use . in any case , the hygiene of the dispensing duct ( 32 a & amp ; b , 5 ) is ensured by an industrial sterilization stage in plant , which eliminates any contamination risks associated with changing a container without changing the dispensing duct . the pressure reducing channel according to the present invention can be produced at large volumes and low cost with the claimed method , since it can be fully manufactured and integrated in either the closure or the chime within the same tool , without any separate assembling step . recycling of the dispenser after use is also facilitated as all the polymeric components comprised within the chime ( 33 ), such as the piercing system ( 101 ), actuator ( 102 ), pressure regulating valve ( 103 ), channel housing ( 1 ), and gas and dispensing ducts ( 104 , 32 a , 32 b ) can be made of the same material as the chime itself , for example polypropylene ( pp ). after use , the whole pp chime ( 33 ) and stand ( 34 ) can be ripped off the container , generally made of pet , and ground for recycling . the metal parts within the chime ( 33 ), such as the cartridge ( 10 ) and piercing member of the piercing system , can easily be separated from the polymeric parts by techniques well known in the art , e . g ., with a magnet or by gravimetric separation . the absence of elastomeric components as would be required with a flexible hose , is also advantageous for recycling . | 8 |
in the following detailed description , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary embodiments or other examples described herein . however , it will be understood that these embodiments and examples may be practiced without the specific details . in other instances , well - known methods , procedures , components and circuits have not been described in detail , so as not to obscure the following description . further , the embodiments disclosed are for exemplary purposes only and other embodiments may be employed in lieu of , or in combination with , the embodiments disclosed . as summarized above and described in more detail below , the apparatus for efficient photovoltaic energy conversion device and the method for producing the same is provided . embodiments of this apparatus and method may facilitate the ability to efficiently and economically convert electro - magnetic energy in the form of light into electrical energy in the form of electrical current . embodiments of this apparatus and method may also facilitate large volume production and widespread usage of photovoltaic devices . this invention provides thin - film technology as an alternative means of producing a multi - junction photovoltaic device . as well known in the art , multi - junction devices in general are more efficient for conversion solar energy into electricity than regular pv devices . however , the development of these devices is currently hindered by the complexity of semiconductor manufacturing processes and their high cost . on the other hand , thin - film processing is substantially less complex and expensive . using new design approaches and thin - film technology , a new efficient photovoltaic device with expanded capabilities and application range can be produced . typically , single - crystal semiconductors are grown epitaxially , layer - by - layer on a monolithic wafer . thin - film materials , in contrast , depending on their chemical origin can be deposited and layered by a variety of different methods , using for example evaporation , sputtering , spraying , inkjet printing etc ., some of which could be very inexpensive . furthermore , some thin - film layers can be produced separately and then integrated hybridly using bonding , lamination and other similar methods . alternatively , in some cases the entire structure may be sequentially grown without the need for any mechanical integration of the individual layers . this flexibility in a manufacturing method makes it possible to implement new design approaches in producing a better photovoltaic device . a typical photovoltaic ( pv ) module 100 shown in fig1 includes several pv cells 110 , which are interconnected electrically in series by tabs 120 . as a result , all photovoltaic power may be extracted at a single a pair of terminals 130 . module 100 may also include a carrier 140 to provide mechanical support for pv cells 110 . in this approach cells 110 are produced separately and then manually interconnected with each other to produce a so - called string of cells . crystalline silicon pv modules , for example , are usually produced using this approach . alternatively , a monolithically integrated module 200 may be produced as shown in fig2 , in which individual cells 210 are produced simultaneously on the same substrate 240 and interconnected using thin - film layers 220 to form a string of cells with a single pair of terminals 230 . this manufacturing approach may be used in fabrication of cdte - based pv modules , for example . in both cases , however , individual cells 110 and 210 , respectively , are single - junction cells . such cells are less efficient in comparison with multi - junction cells . strings and modules based on multi - junction cells have also been produced using similar approaches . fig3 shows a pv module 300 , where instead of single junction cells , multi - junction cells 310 are monolithically integrated using thin - film interconnections 320 to produce a string of cells 310 with a single pair of terminals 330 . the cells 310 are formed on substrate 340 . this approach is used , for example , by united solar to produce modules with triple - junction a - si cells . in this case , a triple - junction cell 400 , which is shown in fig4 , includes substrate 401 , back contact 410 , first p - type semiconductor layer 421 , first n - type semiconductor layer 422 , buffer layer 430 , second p - type semiconductor layer 441 , second n - type semiconductor layer 442 , buffer layer 450 , third p - type semiconductor layer 461 , third n - type semiconductor layer 462 and top contact 470 . first , second and third junctions are produced between respective p - type and n - type semiconductor layers based on a - si . the buffer layers provide mechanical and electrical connection between the junctions so that they are connected in series and thus the same electrical current flows through each layer in cell 400 . this condition , called current matching , limits the performance of a multi - junction cell and reduces its power conversion efficiency . as shown in fig5 , the present invention provides a different method of producing a multi - junction pv module . pv module 500 is produced by stacking and attaching at least two junction layers 510 and 520 . in this particular example both junction layers 510 and 520 are strings comprised of pv cells electrically connected in series . individual cells 512 in pv string 510 and cells 522 in pv string 520 may be interconnected using monolithic integration as shown in fig5 . alternatively , other interconnection methods may be used as well , including tabbing or tiling of individual cells . the pv strings may be produced independently from each other on individual substrates 511 and 521 , respectively . strings 510 and 520 may also have individual terminals 515 and 525 for electrical connections . these terminals may be used either for internal or external connections , as discussed below . protective coatings 513 and 514 may be used to cover pv strings cells 512 and 522 , respectively , to improve device reliability and provide mechanical connection . additional junction layers may be produced using this method , increasing the total number of junction layers to more than two . for instance , fig6 shows a three - junction pv module composed of three individual strings 610 , 620 and 630 . while the example in fig5 shows a pair of junction layers that are formed from strings of cells , the concept of a junction layer may be generalized , as will be explained with reference to fig2 a - 22 ( c ). in general , a junction layer may include a plurality of individual pv cells that are electrically connected to one another in any of a variety of different ways . for instance , in fig2 ( a ) junction layer 2210 may include cells 2211 connected in series and a single pair of output terminals 2212 . in fig2 ( b ), on the other hand , junction layer 2220 may include cells 2221 connected in parallel and a single pair of output terminals 2222 . in fig2 ( c ) junction layer 2230 may include cells 2231 independently connected to a plurality of individual output terminals 2232 . as previously noted , in one aspect of the invention , a junction layer in a multi - junction pv module may be composed of a number of pv cells that are interconnected together to form a pv string . the individual pv cells may be single - or multi - junction cells . in the latter case , a multi - junction pv cell may be a typical multi - junction cell , in which junctions are physically and electrically connected in series ( e . g . pv cell 400 ). two or more such strings may be stacked on top of each other to produce a multi - junction pv module ( e . g . module 500 ). the upper junction layers , or strings , ( e . g . string 520 ) may be at least partially transparent . the numbers of cells in each string ( e . g . 510 and 520 ) may be the same or different . furthermore , pv cells in different strings ( e . g ., cells 512 and 522 ) may be produced using absorber materials with different characteristic bandgaps . in this case the cells in the upper string ( string 520 ) may have a larger bandgap absorber as compared to that of the cells in the lower string ( string 510 ). in this case the cells in the upper string , i . e . the upper junction layer , face the light source , absorb the first portion of the light and transmit the rest to the bottom cells . in yet another aspect of the invention , a multi - junction pv module is produced in which each junction layer contains multiple pv cells directly connected with each other in series and forming at least one pv string . there may be at least two junction layers , and the upper junction layers may be at least partially transparent . it may be preferred to produce pv cells in different junction layers from different absorber materials , so that the absorber bandgap of a cell in the upper junction layer may be larger than the bandgap of the lower junction layer or layers . there also may be a preferred set of absorber bandgaps for the junction layers that maximizes the power conversion efficiency of a multi - junction pv module . the junction layers may be produced separately on separate substrates or monolithically on the same substrate . in the latter case , as shown in fig7 , the cells in each junction layer may be interconnected monolithically into a string . common substrate 711 is used to first grow a series of cells 712 interconnected to produce string 710 and then grow a series of cells 722 interconnected to produce string 720 . additional insulating and protective layers 713 and 723 may be grown on top of strings 710 and 720 , respectively . respective electrical contacts 715 and 725 may be produced at the edges . for instance multi - junction pv module based on a - si and sige alloys may be produced using this method . also , in addition to thin - film deposition techniques other techniques may be used , such as epitaxial growth of iii - v type semiconductors , for example . in another aspect of the invention , the characteristics of each junction layer in a multi - junction pv module may be designed and produced in such a way so as to match them and enable electrical interconnection without the use of other electrical conversion circuits . fig9 shows a parallel interconnection of junction layers in an m - junction layer pv module . in this case , the number of cells in each junction layer may be selected so that each layer produces about the same output voltage . alternatively , fig1 shows an in - series interconnection of junction layers in an m - junction layer pv module . in this case , the number of cells in each junction layer may be selected so that each layer produces about the same output current . fig1 shows a hybrid interconnection of junction layers , in which both types of connections ( in parallel and in series ) may be used . for example , in module 600 shown in fig6 , junction layers 610 , 620 and 630 may be produced having different current - voltage ( iv ) characteristics with corresponding sets of open circuit voltage ( v oc ), short circuit current ( i sc ) and maximum power voltage ( v m ) and current ( i m ) under typical illumination conditions . i - v characteristics may be matched so that each junction layer produces nearly the same output voltage ( voltage matching : v 1 = v 2 = v 3 , as shown in fig1 ) or nearly the same output currents ( current matching : i 1 = i 2 = i 3 , as shown in fig1 ). in this case junction layers 610 , 620 and 630 may be interconnected either in parallel ( for voltage - matched junction layers ) or in series ( for current - matched junction layers ) using corresponding electrical output terminals . other interconnection schemes between three junction layers may be used . for example , junction layers 610 and 620 may be current matched and interconnected in series . junction layer 630 in turn may be voltage matched and connected in parallel to the in - series interconnected layers 610 and 620 . electrical interconnections may be achieved using either internal connections inside a pv module or external connectors accessible from the outside of a pv module . the devices , apparatus and methods described herein provide technical benefits and advantages that are currently not achieved with conventional technologies . for example , new module designs may be produced in which a multi - junction pv module is subdivided into multiple junction layers with independent output terminals . alternatively , a new design may be produced in which some cells and junction layers may be connected in series with better current matching characteristics and therefore higher conversion efficiency than standard designs . this advantage may be realized because the current matching condition in this case is established between whole junction layers rather than individual cells . also , parallel interconnections become possible in this new design approach , since such interconnections occur between junction layers rather than individual cells and therefore not only current but also voltage matching conditions can be achieved . the invention can also greatly facilitate manufacturing of multi - junction modules by , among other things , improving manufacturing yield and enabling new pv technologies . individual junction layers may be inspected and tested before the final assembly of a multi - junction pv module , thus avoiding the risk of using a nonperforming cell in the assembly furthermore , different pv technologies may be used and mixed in the manufacturing of such a multi - junction pv module , which may lower manufacturing costs and increase performance . in one embodiment of this invention , a two junction layer pv module may be produced as shown in fig8 . bottom junction layer 810 may be made of several thin - film cells 812 , which are monolithically integrated and connected electrically in series to form a single string . corresponding thin - film semiconductor absorber material may be based on cuinse 2 compound and its alloys with ga and s , more commonly known in the industry as cigs . similarly , top junction layer 820 may be also made of several cigs - based cells 822 , which are monolithically integrated and connected electrically in series into a single string . it may be preferred to adjust the cigs compositions of cells 812 and 822 so that their respective optical bandgaps are about 1 . 1 ev and 1 . 7 ev . the respective compositions of cells 812 and 822 in this case may be close to cuin 0 . 8 ga 0 . 2 se 2 and cugase 2 , for instance . monolithic integration of these cigs cells may be accomplished by laser and mechanical scribing . the top junction layer ( layer 820 ) may be produced on a transparent substrate 821 , such as soda lime glass ( slg ) or polyimide . furthermore , back contacts used in cells 822 may be also transparent , such as for example doped tin oxide or indium tin oxide . the bottom junction layer ( layer 810 ) may be produced on similar substrates or other types of substrates , for example stainless steel or aluminum foil . junction layers 810 and 820 may be laminated together to produce two junction layer pv module 800 . an additional adhesion layer 813 , such as a silicone layer , may be used to attach the two layers . individual contact pairs 815 and 825 may be provided for both junction layers . additional insulating layers 814 may be used to provide electrical separation between these contacts . in another embodiment , a three - junction pv module may be produced using three different types of cigs cells . it may be preferred to have bottom , middle and top junction layers with cells having corresponding cigs compositions close to cuinse 2 , cuin 0 . 7 ga 0 . 3 s 0 . 6 se 1 . 4 and cuin 0 . 3 ga 0 . 7 ses , respectively . these compositions in turn produce semiconductors with characteristic bandgaps of about 1 ev , 1 . 35 ev and 1 . 8 ev . in another embodiment , a multi - junction pv module may be produced using junction layers comprising cells based on cigs alloys with al , te or other elements . in another embodiment , a multi - junction pv module may be produced using junction layers comprising cells based on cdte alloys , such as cd 1 - x hg x te , cd 1 - x mn x te , cd 1 - x zn x te , cd 1 - x mg x te , and others . in another embodiment , a multi - junction pv module may be produced using junction layers comprising cells based on si , si : h , si : c and si : ge alloys , either in polycrystalline , micro - crystalline , nanocrystalline or amorphous form . in another embodiment , a multi - junction pv module may be produced using junction layers comprising dissimilar materials , e . g . cigs , cdte , ge and others . in another embodiment , a multi - junction pv module may be produced by aligning and joining junction layers , so that the scribing lines are aligned between the adjacent layers ( e . g . module 600 in fig6 ). in another embodiment , a two - junction pv module 1400 may be produced as shown in fig1 , in which the two junction layers 1410 and 1420 are comprised of cells 1411 and 1421 , respectively , having different output voltages , e . g . v top and v bottom . the number of cells in the junction layers may be chosen so that the layers &# 39 ; output voltages are about the same , i . e . v out = nv top = mv bottom . in this case , the two junction layers may be connected in parallel , i . e . terminal 1412 connects to terminal 1422 and terminal 1413 connects to terminal 1423 . of course , similarly a three - junction or n - junction pv module may be produced , in which at least some junction layers are connected in parallel . in this particular case , the mutual orientations of the junction layers may be the same as shown in fig1 ( sides with same polarity face the same way ), which is convenient for parallel interconnections . in another embodiment , a two - junction pv module 1500 may be produced as shown in fig1 , in which the two junction layers 1510 and 1520 are comprised of cells 1511 and 1521 , respectively , having different output currents , e . g . i top and i bottom . the number of cells in the junction layers may be chosen so that the layer output currents are about the same . in this case , the two junction layers may be connected in series , i . e . terminal 1523 connects to terminal 1522 . of course , similarly a three - or more layered junction pv module may be produced , in which at least some junction layers are connected in series . in this particular case , the mutual orientation of the junction layers may be the same as shown in fig1 . alternatively and more preferably , junction layers may be oriented opposite of each other as shown in fig1 , which is more convenient for in - series layer interconnections . in this case , the output polarities of the adjacent junction layers are reversed , so that the positive terminal 1612 of junction layer 1610 is on the same side next to the negative terminal 1622 of junction layer 1620 and visa versa . in another embodiment , a multi - junction pv module may be produced comprised of multiple junction layers , at least some of which include bypass diodes for protection against either reverse current or voltage . for example , fig1 shows an m junction layer pv module , in which the junction layers are connected in parallel and each one of them has a blocking diode connected in series for protection against a high reverse current . also , fig1 shows an m junction layer pv module , in which the junction layers are connected in series and each one of them has a bypass diode connected in parallel for protection against a high forward current . in another embodiment , a two junction layer pv module 1900 may be produced as shown in fig1 , in which the terminals from each junction layer are connected to wrap - around leads 1930 that in turn connect to respective terminals in a junction box 1940 . in another embodiment , a two junction layer pv module may comprise two junction layers connected in parallel . the junction interconnection may be external and occur inside the junction box 2000 shown in fig2 . in this case the junction box provides easy access to the connections 2020 and other terminals and in particular , terminals 2040 for connecting current - blocking protection diodes 2030 . the diodes may be easily replaced if necessary . in another embodiment , a two junction layer pv module may comprise two junction layers connected in series . the junction interconnection may be external and occur inside the junction box 2100 shown in fig2 . similarly , a multi - junction pv module with more than two junction layers may be provided with a junction box and corresponding connection terminals . in another embodiment , a multi - junction pv module may be produced using a non - planar substrate , for example cylindrical , spherical , or arbitrarily shaped . junction layers may be successively attached or laminated onto such a substrate . variations of the apparatus and method described above are possible without departing from the scope of the invention . | 7 |
fig3 is a schematic diagram of a circuit for providing a stable , controllable impedance without an invasive connection according to the present invention . in fig3 z l represents the fixed load impedance of a circuit or cable and z in represents the total input impedance of the controlled circuit . a coupling transformer 31 couples a secondary load impedance z 1 to the circuit . a capacitive impedance z c is provided between the transformer 31 and the load impedance . preferably , the transformer 31 comprises a plurality of primary turns and one or more secondary turns . n represents the ratio of primary turns to the secondary turns . one conductor of the circuit with the load impedance z l is disposed within or adjacent the transformer 31 so as to be inductively coupled to the secondary load impedance z 1 . in the circuit depicted in fig3 the input impedance z in for an ideal transformer 31 is given by : z in =( z l + z c )/( z l z c )+ n 2 z 1 if the parallel impedance combination of z l and z c are small relative to n 2 z 1 , then the input impedance is determined and controlled by z 1 . therefore , adjusting the impedance provided by the secondary load impedance z 1 provides for control of the input impedance z in . control of the secondary load impedance z 1 may also compensate for non ideal transformer behavior by the transformer 31 . the secondary impedance may be either a single simple element or a complex network depending upon the impedance control required . the secondary impedance may also comprise passive elements , such as resistors , capacitors and inductors , active elements that provide the necessary reactive and resistive functions , or some combination of passive and active elements . generally , satisfactory impedance control will require a secondary impedance that comprises both resistive and reactive elements . note also that physical realizations of the circuit shown in fig3 will include parasitic effects such as inter - winding capacitance , leakage inductance and non - ideal behavior of the lumped elements . the elements of the secondary impedance may be selected to compensate for these effects . preferred embodiments of the present invention may use a transformer that has a two turn primary and a single turn secondary . preferably , the transformer has a multiple torroidal , very high permeability core . since the present invention may be applied to a wide variety of conductors , it is preferred that the transformer used for inductively coupling the primary conductor to the secondary impedance be designed and fabricated for each specific application of the invention . it is unlikely that commercially available transformers can be directly used or modified for use in the present invention . certain regulatory tests require maintaining a fixed ( typically 150 ohm ) common mode impedance without significantly disturbing the differential mode or line to line propagation of multiple pairs , independent of intrinsic common mode impedance of the equipment under test . fig4 shows a method according to the present invention for maintaining the required common mode impedance . in fig4 the coupling transformer 31 couples a multiple conductor test cable 40 to the secondary load impedance z 1 . the coupling transformer 31 is realized by using the test cable as the primary of the transformer 31 . note that all conductors of the multiple conductor cable , in parallel , form the primary of the coupling transformer 31 . the transformer core and the primary turns ratio are selected to provide adequate primary inductance , and to minimize intra - winding capacitance over the desired frequency range . the secondary is a single turn having low inductance . the secondary load inductance is selected so n 2 z 1 gives the desired load impedance . trimming capacitance elements may be used to compensate for residual secondary inductance . the intrinsic load impedance z l may be unknown and may be either higher or lower than the desired input impedance . as discussed above , a capacitive impedance z c may be used such that the parallel combination of z c and z l is small relative to n 2 z 1 . preferably , the capacitance z c does not significantly affect the line the line impedance . the capacitance z c may be provided by deploying a length of the test cable 40 closely proximate a ground plane 43 . preferably , the test cable 40 is immersed in a lossy high dielectric to reduce the required cable length and to minimize transmission line reflection and resonant effects . as shown in fig4 coiling the test cable 40 on top of the ground plane 43 provides the parallel capacitance z c . in such a configuration , the ground plane 43 may require a large surface area to provide the required capacitance . fig5 shows an alternative deployment of the ground plane 43 . as shown in fig5 the ground plane 43 and the test cable 40 may be wrapped or coiled around each other to reduce the overall dimensions of the ground plane 43 needed to produce the required capacitance z c . another method and apparatus for providing the parallel capacitance z c is shown in fig6 . in fig6 shunt capacitors 61 are connected to ground via a common core transformer 63 . the windings of the transformer 63 are opposed such that the windings present a high differential mode or wire to wire impedance while providing a common mode shunt through the capacitance z c to ground . note that this method and apparatus eliminates the need for a ground plane to be deployed proximate the test cable , but electrical connections to the conductors within the test cable are required . fig6 shows only the capacitive coupling of both wires of a single wire pair to ground , but alternative embodiments of the present invention provide for the capacitive coupling of multiple wire pairs to ground . multiple pair , common core transformers are known in the art and may be used to provide capacitive coupling between multiple wire pairs and ground . the common mode impedance stabilization network , part no . f - cmisn - cat5 , product of fischer custom communications , inc . of torrance , calif . provides for impedance control based on an embodiment of the present invention . the f - cmisn - cat5 device provides for a common mode impedance that is well defined with respect to a reference ground plane over a frequency range of 150 khz to 30 mhz . one application of the f - cmisn - cat5 device is to support conducted emissions testing of information technology equipment . prior art devices that support such testing require the positioning of ferrites on the cable under test to achieve the desired common mode impedance . embodiments of the present invention eliminate the need to reposition the ferrites for every emission frequency tested . embodiments of the present invention may be used to modify the natural impedance of structural elements used as antennas or radiating elements . as is known in the art , metallic structures may be used to transmit or receive radio frequency energy . see , for example , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 633 , 648 , “ rf current - sensing coupled antenna device ,” issued may 27 , 1997 , incorporated herein by reference . the effectiveness of the metallic structure is established , in part , by the intrinsic impedance of the metallic structure . however , the intrinsic impedance of these metallic structures is established by the size , shape , and composition of the structure . hence , the intrinsic impedance of the metallic structure may vary significantly from that needed to effectively receive or radiate energy at a desired frequency or frequencies . fig7 depicts the deployment of an embodiment of the present invention to provide for modification of the intrinsic impedance of an antenna structure . the coupling transformer 31 is deployed such that an antenna structure 70 serves as the single turn primary . the antenna structure 70 may be any metallic structure that is used to radiate or receive radio frequency energy . core materials , geometry , and the location of the cores of the coupling transformer 31 may be chosen to optimize the performance of the transformer for a specific frequency range . also , the intrinsic impedance of the antenna structure 70 may be sufficiently low such that the parallel capacitance z c is not required . as shown in fig7 two secondary impedances z 1 , z 2 may be switch coupled to the coupling transformer 31 . a simple switch 73 may be used to select the desired secondary impedance to be inductively coupled to the antenna structure 70 to provide the desired input impedance . the values of the secondary impedances z 1 , z 2 may chosen to provide two different modes of operation for the antenna structure . for example , the value of the first secondary impedance z 1 may be chosen to modify the intrinsic impedance of the antenna structure 70 to optimize the effectiveness of the structure as an antenna . the value of the second secondary impedance z 2 may then be chosen to modify the intrinsic impedance of the antenna structure 70 to minimize the effectiveness of the structure 70 as an antenna , as might be desired to reduce the radar cross section of the structure or to reduce unintentional electromagnetic emissions from the structure . in a similar fashion , multiple secondary impedances may be switch coupled to the coupling transformer 31 to tune the antenna structure 70 for different operating bands or frequencies . from the foregoing description , it will be apparent that the present invention has a number of advantages , some of which have been described herein , and others of which are inherent in the embodiments of the invention described or claimed herein . also , it will be understood that modifications can be made to the apparatus and method described herein without departing from the teachings of subject matter described herein . as such , the invention is not to be limited to the described embodiments except as required by the appended claims . | 7 |
a game apparatus which executes a game program according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings . fig1 is an outline view illustrating a game apparatus 1 which executes a game program according to the present invention . here , a portable game apparatus is shown as an example of the game apparatus 1 . in fig1 , the game apparatus 1 according to this embodiment is accommodated in a housing 18 so that two liquid crystal display devices ( hereinafter , referred to as “ lcds ”) 11 and 12 are placed in predetermined positions . specifically , in a case where the first lcd 11 and the second lcd 12 are to be positioned one on top of the other , the housing 18 is composed of a lower housing 18 a and an upper housing 18 b , the upper housing 18 b being pivotably supported by a portion of the upper side of the lower housing 18 a . the upper housing 18 b has a planar contour which is slightly larger than that of the first lcd 11 . the upper housing 18 b has an opening in one principal face thereof , through which a display screen of the first lcd 11 is exposed . the lower housing 18 a has a more elongated planar contour than that of the upper housing 18 b ( i . e ., so as to have a longer lateral dimension ). an opening for exposing the display screen of the second lcd 12 is formed in a portion of the lower housing 18 a which lies substantially in the center of the lower housing 18 a along the lateral direction . a sound hole for the loudspeaker 15 is formed in either ( right or left ) wings of the lower housing 18 a between which the second lcd 12 is interposed . an operation switch section 14 is provided on the right and left wings of the lower housing 18 a between which the second lcd 12 is interposed . the operation switch section 14 includes : an operation switch (“ a ” button ) 14 a and an operation switch (“ b ” button ) 14 b , which are provided on a principal face of the right wing of the lower housing 18 a ( lying to the right of the second lcd 12 ); a direction switch ( cross key ) 14 c , a start switch 14 d , and a select switch 14 e , which are provided on a principal face of the left wing of the lower housing 18 a ( lying to the left of the second lcd 12 ); and side switches 14 f and 14 g . the operation switches 14 a and 14 b are used for giving instructions such as : “ pass ” “ shoot ”, etc ., in the case of a sports game such as a soccer game ; “ jump ”, “ punch ”, “ use a weapon ”, etc ., in the case of an action game ; or “ get an item ”, “ select a weapon ”, “ select a command ”, etc ., in the case of a role playing game ( rpg ) or a simulation rpg . the direction switch 14 c is used by a player for providing instructions concerning directions on the game screen , e . g ., instructions of moving directions of ( i . e ., a direction in which to move ) a player object ( or a player character ) that can be controlled by using the operation switch section 14 , or instructions of a moving direction for a cursor , for example . the side switch (“ l ” button ) 14 f and the side switch (“ r ” button ) 14 g are provided at the left and right ends of an upper face ( upper side face ) of the lower housing 18 a . as necessary , more operation switches may be added . further , a touch panel 13 ( an area marked by dotted lines in fig1 ) is mounted on the upper principal face of the second lcd 12 as an example of the input device of the present invention . the touch panel 13 may be of any one of , for example , a resistive film type , an optical type ( infrared type ), or a capacitive coupling type . the touch panel 13 is a pointing device which , when a stylus 16 ( or a finger ) is pressed against or moved or dragged on the upper principal face of the touch panel 13 , detects the coordinate position of the stylus 16 and outputs coordinate data . as necessary , a hole ( an area marked by double - dot lines in fig1 ) for accommodating the stylus 16 with which to manipulate the touch panel 13 is provided near a side face of the upper housing 18 b . the hole can hold the stylus 16 . in a portion of a side face of the lower housing 18 a is provided a cartridge receptacle ( an area marked by dash - dot lines in fig1 ), into which a game cartridge 17 ( hereinafter simply referred to as “ the cartridge 17 ”) internalizing a memory having a game program stored therein ( e . g ., a rom ) is detachably inserted . the cartridge 17 is an information storage medium for storing a game program , e . g ., a non - volatile semiconductor memory such as a rom or a flash memory . a connector ( see fig2 ) lies inside the cartridge receptacle for providing electrical connection with the cartridge 17 . furthermore , the lower housing 18 a ( or alternatively the upper housing 18 b ) accommodates an electronic circuit board on which various electronic components such as a cpu are mounted . examples of the information storage medium for storing a game program are not limited to the aforementioned non - volatile semiconductor memory , but may also be a cd - rom , a dvd , or any other optical disk type storage medium . next , referring to fig2 , the internal structure of the game apparatus 1 will be described . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal structure of the game apparatus 1 of fig1 . in fig2 , a cpu core 21 is mounted on the electronic circuit board accommodated in the housing 18 . via a predetermined bus , the cpu core 21 is connected to a connector 28 for enabling connection with the cartridge 17 , an input / output interface ( i / f ) circuit 27 , a first graphics processing unit ( first gpu ) 24 , a second graphics processing unit ( second gpu ) 26 , and a working ram ( wram ) 22 . the cartridge 17 is detachably connected to the connector 28 . as described above , the cartridge 17 is a storage medium for storing a game program . specifically , the cartridge 17 includes a rom 171 for storing a game program and a ram 172 for storing backup data in a rewritable manner . a game program which is stored in the rom 171 of the cartridge 17 is loaded to a wram 22 , and the game program having been loaded to the wram 22 is executed by the cpu core 21 . temporary data which is obtained by the cpu core 21 executing the game program and data from which to generate images are stored in the wram 22 . thus , the rom 171 has stored thereon a game program which comprises instructions and data which are of a format executable by a computer in the game apparatus 1 , in particular by the cpu core 21 . the game program is loaded to the wram 22 as appropriate , and executed . although the present embodiment illustrates an example where the game program and the like are stored on the cartridge 17 , the game program and the like may be supplied via any other medium or via a communications circuit . the touch panel 13 , the operation switch section 14 , and the loudspeaker 15 are connected to the i / f circuit 27 . the loudspeaker 15 is placed inside the aforementioned sound hole . the first gpu 24 is connected to a first video - ram ( hereinafter “ vram ”) 23 . the second gpu 26 is connected to a second video - ram ( hereinafter “ vram ”) 25 . in accordance with an instruction from the cpu core 21 , the first gpu 24 generates a first game image on the basis of the data used for generation of image which is stored in the wram 22 , and writes images into the first vram 23 . in accordance with an instruction from the cpu core 21 , the second gpu 26 generates a second game image on the basis of the data used for generation of image which is stored in the wram 22 , and writes images into the second vram 25 . the first gpu 24 is connected to the first lcd 11 , and the second gpu 26 is connected to the second lcd 12 . the first gpu 24 outputs to the first lcd 11 the first game image which has been written into the first vram 23 in accordance with an instruction from the cpu core 21 , and the first lcd 11 displays the first game image having been output from the first gpu 24 . the second gpu 26 outputs to the second lcd 12 the second game image which has been written into the second vram 25 in accordance with an instruction from the cpu core 21 , and the second lcd 12 displays the second game image having been output from the second gpu 26 . the i / f circuit 27 is a circuit which governs exchanges of data between the cpu core 21 and the external input / output devices such as the touch panel 13 , the operation switch section 14 , and the loudspeaker 15 . the touch panel 13 ( including a device driver for the touch panel ) has a touch panel coordinate system corresponding to the coordinate system of the second vram 25 , and outputs data of position coordinates corresponding to a position which is input ( designated ) by means of the stylus 16 or the like . for example , the display screen of the second lcd 12 has a resolution of 256 dots × 192 dots , and the touch panel 13 also has a detection accuracy of 256 dots × 192 dots so as to correspond to the display screen . the detection accuracy of the touch panel 13 may be lower or higher than the resolution of the display screen of the second lcd 12 . next , processing which is executed by the game apparatus 1 according to the game program on the basis of information inputted from the touch panel 13 according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig3 to 11 . fig3 is a flow chart illustrating an operation which is carried out by the game apparatus 1 by executing the game program . fig4 shows a subroutine illustrating an operation of initialization at the start of touch in step 43 of fig3 in detail . fig5 shows a subroutine illustrating an operation of hand jiggling correction for a touch point in step 44 of fig3 in detail . fig6 shows a subroutine illustrating an operation of an origin being drawn in step 47 of fig3 in detail . fig7 a to 11 are diagrams illustrating examples of touch - operations which are processed through the operation based on the flow chart shown in fig3 . the program for executing these processing is contained in the game program stored in the rom 171 . when the game apparatus 1 is powered on , the program is loaded to the wram 22 from the rom 171 , and executed by the cpu core 21 . initially , when the power source ( not shown ) of the game apparatus 1 is turned on , the cpu core 21 executes a boot program ( not shown ), and thereby the game program stored in the cartridge 17 is loaded to the wram 22 . the game program having been loaded is executed by the cpu core 21 , thereby to execute steps ( abbreviated as “ s ” in fig3 to 6 ) shown in fig3 . the game program is executed , and thereby game images and the like in accordance with the game program are written into the first lcd 11 and the second lcd 12 . the detailed description is not given of the contents of the game . here , the processing based on the information inputted from the touch panel 13 will be described in detail . in fig3 , the cpu core 21 determines whether a player is touching the touch panel 13 or not in step 40 . the touch panel 13 has a touch panel coordinate system as described above , and outputs data of position coordinates corresponding to a position which is inputted ( designated ) by means of the stylus 16 or a finger of the player . that is , in step 40 , the cpu core 21 detects whether the data of the position coordinates outputted by the touch panel 13 ( including a device driver controlling the touch panel 13 ) is present or not . when the player is touching the touch panel 13 , the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 41 . on the other hand , when the player is not touching the touch panel 13 , the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 49 . in step 41 , the cpu core 21 clears a non - touch counter ct to “ 0 ”. the non - touch counter ct is a counter with which the cpu core 21 determines whether or not the player intentionally puts the touch panel 13 in a non - touch state . as is apparent from the below description , when no coordinate information is outputted from touch panel 13 , the cpu core 21 starts counting by means of the non - touch counter ct . next , the cpu core 21 determines whether or not the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 as a start of touch ( that is , determines whether a non - touch state changes to a touch state or not , and more specifically , determines whether or not a state that no coordinate information is outputted from the touch panel is shifted to a state that coordinate information is outputted .) the cpu core 21 can determine whether the touch - operation is a start of touch or not based on whether the touch flag is being set as on or off , which will be described later . when the touch - operation is a start of touch ( that is , when the touch flag is being set as off ), the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 43 . on the other hand , when the touch - operation is not a start of touch ( that is , when the touch - operation is continued ; the touch flag is being set as on ), the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 44 . in step 43 , the cpu core 21 carries out initialization at the start of touch . hereinafter , the initialization at the start of touch will be described with reference to a subroutine shown in fig4 . in fig4 , the cpu core 21 sets the touch flag as on in step 55 . the cpu core 21 sets , to an origin ( reference coordinates ) on the touch panel 13 , a touch point at which the player is currently touch - operating the touch panel 13 ( hereinafter , simply referred to as a touch point ) and stores the touch point in step 56 . specifically , when the touch point is ( tx , ty ) and the origin is ( ox , oy ) in the touch panel coordinate system , the cpu core 21 sets , as the origin coordinates , that is , when a state that no coordinate information is outputted from the touch panel 13 is shifted to a state that coordinate information is outputted , the cpu core 21 sets origin coordinates ( reference coordinates ) on the touch panel 13 based on the earliest coordinate information of a touch point , which is outputted from the touch panel 13 . next , the cpu core 21 sets the touch point as a designated point on the touch panel 13 ( hereinafter , simply referred to as a designated point ) in step 57 , and ends the processing according to the subroutine . specifically , when the touch point is ( tx , ty ) and the designated point is ( ux , uy ) in the touch panel coordinate system , the cpu core 21 sets , as the designated point coordinates , returning to fig3 , in step 44 , the cpu core 21 makes hand jiggling correction for a touch point . hereinafter , the hand jiggling correction for a touch point will be described with reference to the subroutine shown in fig5 . for example , when a player touch - operates the touch panel 13 with his finger or the like which has a wide area , the touch panel 13 cannot determine the touch point as one point and the touch point coordinates sometimes jiggle . therefore , in the hand jiggling correction for the touch point , the designated point coordinates for use in the processing are defined differently from the touch point coordinates to produce an tolerance for the touch point coordinates . that is , while the touch point coordinates are jiggling with respect to the designated point coordinates within a predetermined range , the designated point coordinates remains unchanged . for example , a circular frame ( tolerance range ) having the designated point coordinates at the center thereof is set , thereby setting the center of the circular frame as the designated point coordinates . while the touch point coordinates are present within the circular frame , the circular frame is not moved . on the other hand , when the touch point coordinates deviate beyond the circular frame , the circular frame is moved in accordance with the movement of the touch point , thereby resulting in the designated point coordinates being moved . that is , the designated point coordinates are moved in accordance with the movement of the circular frame , the movement being caused when the touch point contacts the outer edge of the circular frame . the radius of the circular frame corresponds to the tolerance range for the hand jiggling on the touch panel 13 . the tolerance range is not necessarily required to be a circular area , and the designated point coordinates are not necessarily required to be the center of the area . in fig5 , the cpu core 21 obtains a distance l 2 between the touch point and the designated point which is currently being set based on the difference therebetween in step 61 . specifically , when the touch point is ( tx , ty ) and the designated point is ( ux , uy ) in the touch panel coordinate system , the cpu core 21 obtains the differences vx and vy as follows . the cpu core 21 obtains the distance l 2 as follows . thereby , the distance l 2 between the designated point and the touch point are obtained on the basis of the touch panel coordinate system . next , the cpu core 21 determines whether or not the touch point deviates beyond the tolerance range which is set around the designated point in step 62 . as shown in fig7 a , a predetermined area having the designated point ( ux , uy ) at the center thereof is set as the tolerance range . for example , the tolerance range is set as a circular area of a predetermined radius having the designated point ( ux , uy ) at the center thereof . the cpu core 21 compares the distance l 2 obtained in the step 61 with the radius of the tolerance range , and when the distance l 2 is larger , the cpu core 21 determines that the touch point deviates beyond the tolerance range . when the touch point deviates beyond the tolerance range ( the state shown in fig7 a ), the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 63 . on the other hand , when the touch point is within the tolerance range , the cpu core 21 ends the processing according to the subroutine . in step 63 , the cpu core 21 stores the coordinates of the current designated point so as to obtain the movement speed of the designated point , which will be described later . specifically , as shown in fig7 b , when the designated point coordinates to be stored are ( uxa , uya ) in the touch panel coordinate system , the cpu core 21 sets as next , the cpu core 21 moves the designated point such that the touch point is positioned on the outer edge of the tolerance range in step 64 . for example , as shown in fig7 b , the cpu core 21 moves the designated point along a straight line connecting the designated point with the touch point such that the distance between the designated point and the touch point is the distance r , thereby to set a new designated point . specifically , when the new designated point is ( ux , uy ) in the touch panel coordinate system , the cpu core 21 sets as next , the cpu core 21 calculates the moving distance of the designated point in step 65 , and ends the processing according to the subroutine . specifically , the cpu core 21 calculates the moving distance of the designated point using the following formula . the motion vector ( uvx , uvy ) is used for adjusting a direction in which an origin is drawn , which will be described below in detail . returning to fig3 , the cpu core 21 obtains a distance l 1 between the origin being currently set and the designated point based on the difference therebetween in step 45 . specifically , when the origin is ( ox , oy ) and the designated point is ( ux , uy ) in the touch panel coordinate system , the cpu core 21 obtains the differences vx and vy as follows : the cpu core 21 obtains the distance l 1 as follows . thereby , the distance l 1 between the origin and the designated point are obtained on the basis of the touch panel coordinate system . next , the cpu core 21 determines whether or not the designated point deviates beyond the limited range being set around the origin in step 46 . as shown in fig8 , a predetermined area having the origin ( ox , oy ) at the center thereof is set as the limited range . for example , the limited range is set as a circular area of a predetermined radius having the origin ( ox , oy ) at the center thereof . the cpu core 21 compares the distance l 1 obtained in the step 45 with a radius r of the limited range , and when the distance l 1 is larger , the cpu core 21 determines that the designated point deviates beyond the limited range . when the designated point deviates beyond the limited range , the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 47 . on the other hand , when the designated point is within the limited range ( the state shown in fig8 ), the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 48 . prior to step 47 being described , the processing of step 48 performed in the case of the designated point being within the limited range set around the origin ( no in step 46 ) will be described . in step 48 , the cpu core 21 obtains a stick value based on a vector value from the origin to the designated point . according to the present embodiment , an operation in which the touch panel 13 is used to emulate a joystick is realized and the required information is a vector value of 2 axes of x and y corresponding to an input value of a joystick ( hereinafter , referred to as a stick value ). the vector value is represented as a stick value ( sx , sy ) in the stick coordinate system . the direction indicated by the stick value ( sx , sy ) indicates a direction in which the joystick is tilted and the length of the stick value indicates a degree to which the joystick is tilted . further , the length of the stick value corresponding to the joystick being tilted to the maximum is set as “ 1 ”. in this case , sx =− 1 to + 1 and sy =− 1 to + 1 . the length of “ 0 ” indicates that the joystick is in a neutral ( upright ) position . in step 48 , the stick value ( sx , sy ) in the stick coordinate system can be obtained according to the following formula , using the origin ( ox , oy ) and the designated point ( ux , uy ) on the touch panel 13 , the origin and the designated point being represented in the touch panel coordinate system . where the ratio is a conversion ratio used for defining a length in the touch panel coordinate system , which corresponds to the length “ 1 ” in the stick coordinate system . the vector value from the origin to the designated point is represented as a vector ( ux - ox , uy - oy ). according to the present embodiment , a limited range corresponding to a frame for mechanically controlling a degree to which a joystick lever is tilted is provided around the origin , and an operation of the outer edge of the limited range being touch - operated is handled as an operation of the joystick being tilted to the maximum . a touch - operation performed outside the limited range is similarly handled as an operation of the outer edge of the limited range being touch - operated . that is , the length between the origin and the outer edge of the limited range provided around the origin is defined as the length “ 1 ” in the stick coordinate system . accordingly , ratio = 1 / r is set . here , r is a radius of the limited range in the touch panel coordinate system . as shown in fig8 , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at a position vertically in front of the origin ( ox , oy ) in the limited range , thereby setting a designated point ( ux 1 , uy 1 ). in this case , the vector value from the origin to the designated point is a vector v 1 ( ux 1 - ox , uy 1 - oy ) which is oriented vertically in front of the origin . the stick value obtained on the basis of the vector v 1 has the direction to vertically in front of the origin and the length smaller than or equal to “ 1 ”. then , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at a position to the right of the designated point ( ux 1 , uy 1 ) in the limited range , thereby setting a designated point ( ux 2 , uy 2 ). in this case , the vector value from the origin to the designated point is a vector v 2 ( ux 2 - ox , uy 2 - oy ) which is oriented to the right forward direction . the stick value obtained on the basis of the vector v 2 has the right forward direction and the length smaller than or equal to “ 1 ”. returning to fig3 , when the designated point deviates beyond the limited range provided around the origin ( yes in step 46 ), the cpu core 21 performs an operation of the origin being drawn in step 47 . hereinafter , an operation of the origin being drawn will be described with reference to the subroutine shown in fig6 . in fig6 , the cpu core 21 sets a direction in which the origin is drawn in step 71 . for example , the cpu core 21 sets a direction in which the origin is drawn to a drawing direction ( px , py ) in the touch panel coordinate system . the cpu core 21 obtains the drawing direction ( px , py ) as follows . where m is a parameter greater than or equal to 0 , for adjusting a direction in which the origin is drawn , and the greater the value is , the closer is the direction in which the origin is drawn to the moving direction of the designated point , that is , the closer is the origin to the backward position of the designated point ( assuming that the moving direction of the designated point is forward ). that is , in the case of m = 0 , the origin is drawn so as not to change the direction of the vector connecting the origin with the designated point . the origin is drawn such that the greater m is , the closer is the direction of the vector oriented from the origin to the designated point to the direction of the motion vector of the designated point . according to the adjustment of the value of m , the vector direction of the stick value is determined by focusing on the positional relationship between the designated point and the origin ( when m is small ), or the vector direction of the stick value is determined by focusing on the moving direction of the designated point ( when m is large ). while the expression of “ drawing direction ” is used , it should be noted that the “ drawing direction ” is calculated as a reverse direction of the direction in which the origin is actually drawn . the origin drawing direction obtained using the parameter m will be described below in detail . for example , as shown in fig9 a , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at a position vertically in front of the origin ( ox , oy ) in the limited range , thereby setting a designated point ( ux 1 , uy 1 ). in this case , since the designated point ( ux 1 , uy 1 ) is within the limited range , the operation of the origin being drawn is not executed . then , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at a position which is to the right of the designated point ( ux 1 , uy 1 ) outside the limited range , thereby setting a designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ). in the step 71 , in the case of m = 0 , the direction in which the origin ( ox , oy ) is connected with the designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ) is set as a direction ( px , py ) in which the origin is drawn . next , the cpu core 21 calculates origin destination target coordinates in step 72 . specifically , the cpu core 21 initially calculates a length l 3 based on the drawing direction ( px , py ) which is set in step 71 as follows . the cpu core 21 calculates the origin destination target coordinates ( ox 2 , oy 2 ) based on the touch panel coordinate system as follows . next , in step 73 , the cpu core 21 moves the origin , updates origin coordinates , stores the updated origin coordinates , and ends the processing according to the subroutine . while the origin may be moved to the destination target coordinates which are determined as described above , the origin can be moved so as to gradually approach the destination target coordinates . specifically , the cpu core 21 calculates the moved origin coordinates ( ox , oy ) as follows . where n is a parameter indicating a rate at which the origin is moved so as to approach the destination target coordinates . the setting value of the parameter n can be adjusted so as to control a rate ( parameter n ) at which the pre - moved origin is added to a difference between the pre - moved origin and the destination target coordinates ( ox 2 , oy 2 ) calculated in step 72 . for example , fig9 b shows an example where the origin ( ox , oy ) is drawn to the designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ) in the case of the parameters m and n being set as m = 0 and n = 1 , respectively . as shown in fig9 b , in a case where the designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ) is set outside the limited range ( an area marked by the dotted lines in fig9 b ), the origin ( ox , oy ) is drawn to the designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ) and the limited range is also drawn to the designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ). in the case of m = 0 , the direction in which the origin ( ox , oy ) is drawn is a direction in which the pre - moved origin moves to the designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ). in the case of n = 1 , the origin ( ox , oy ) is moved and thereby the designated point ( ux 3 , uy 3 ) is positioned at the outer edge of the limited range set around the origin , and the distance l 1 between the origin having been moved and the designated point = the radius r of the limited range . as described above , when the designated point is outside the limited range , in the origin drawing operation , the origin is changed so as to approach the designated point . next , the processing of step 48 performed after the origin is drawn will be described . as described above , the cpu core 21 obtains a stick value based on a vector value from the origin to the designated point , and in step 48 the vector value is calculated using the origin having been drawn . hereinafter , an example where the vector value is changed according to origins having been drawn will be described with reference to fig1 a to 10d . fig1 a to 10d are diagrams illustrating an example where the origin is repeatedly drawn , thereby changing the vector value from the origin to the designated point , and the parameters m and n are set as m = 0 and n = 1 , respectively , for giving a concrete description . in fig1 a , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at a position vertically in front of the origin o 1 in the limited range a 1 , thereby setting a designated point u 1 . in this case , the vector value from the origin o 1 to the designated point u 1 is a vector v 1 oriented vertically in front of the origin . the stick value which is obtained on the basis of the vector v 1 also has a direction to vertically in front of the origin and has the length smaller than or equal to “ 1 ”. then , the designated point is moved in the rightward direction . in fig1 , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at the outer edge of the limited range a 1 which is to the right of the designated point u 1 , thereby setting a designated point u 2 . in this case , the vector value from the origin o 1 to the designated point u 2 is a vector v 2 indicating the right forward direction which forms an angle of θ 2 with the horizontal direction . the stick value which is obtained on the basis of the vector v 2 similarly has the right forward direction and the length of “ 1 ”. further , the designated point is moved in the rightward direction . in fig1 c , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at a position which is to the right of the designated points u 1 and u 2 and which is outside the limited range a 1 ( an area marked by dotted lines in fig1 c ), thereby setting a designated point u 3 . in the case of m = 0 , the origin ( an outline round mark shown in fig1 c ) is drawn in the direction of the designated point u 3 , and thereby the origin o 2 is set so as to position the designated point u 3 at the outer edge of the limited range a 2 . in this case , the vector value from the origin o 2 to the designated point u 3 is a vector v 3 indicating the right forward direction which forms an angle of θ 3 ( θ 3 & lt ; θ 2 ) with the horizontal direction . the stick value which is obtained on the basis of the vector v 3 similarly has the right forward direction and the length of “ 1 ”. moreover , in fig1 d , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 at a position which is to the right of the designated points u 1 , u 2 and u 3 and which is outside the limited range a 2 ( an area marked by dotted lines in fig1 d ), thereby setting a designated point u 4 . in the case of m = 0 , the origin ( outline round mark shown in fig1 d ) is drawn in the direction of the designated point u 4 , and thereby the origin o 3 is set so as to position the designated point u 4 at the outer edge of the limited range a 3 . in this case , the vector value from the origin o 3 to the designated point u 4 is a vector v 4 indicating the right forward direction which forms an angle of θ 4 ( θ 4 & lt ; θ 3 ) with the horizontal direction . the stick value which is obtained on the basis of the vector v 4 similarly has the right forward direction and the length of “ 1 ”. as described above , the setting value of the parameter n is adjusted so as to control a rate at which the origin is moved so as to approach the destination target coordinates ( that is , a rate at which a length indicated by a stick value is changed so as to approach a predetermined distance r when the length indicated by the stick value is larger than the predetermined distance r ). therefore , the distance between the origin and the designated point may be sometimes larger than r depending on a value of the parameter n . in this case , as to the stick value ( sx , sy ) obtained in the step 48 , the absolute values of sx and sy are greater than 1 , resulting in the length of the stick value being set as a value greater than 1 . however , as described above , the length of the stick value indicates a degree to which a joystick is tilted and the length of the stick value corresponding to the joystick being tilted to the maximum is set as “ 1 ”. therefore , when the length of the stick value is greater than 1 , the length of the stick value is set as “ 1 ”. as described above , in the origin drawing operation , when the designated point is continuously moved in a give direction ( a direction in which the player moves the touch point ; the right horizontal direction in fig1 a to 10d ), the direction indicated by the stick value ( that is , the direction in which a joystick is tilted ) gradually approaches the moving direction of the designated point ( the right horizontal direction ). therefore , the player continuously moves the designated coordinates in a given direction , thereby determining a direction in which a stick is inputted without concern for the position of the origin . returning to fig3 , when the cpu core 21 determines that the player is not touching the touch panel 13 in the step 40 , the cpu core 21 increments the non - touch counter ct by one in step 49 . next , the cpu core 21 determines whether or not the count value of the non - touch counter ct is greater than a predetermined value c in step 50 . when the count value of the non - touch counter ct is greater than the predetermined value c , the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 51 . on the other hand , when the count value of the non - touch counter ct is smaller than or equal to the predetermined value c , the cpu core 21 advances the processing to the next step 53 . in step 51 , the cpu core 21 sets the touch flag as off . the cpu core 21 sets the stick value as neutral in step 52 , and ends the processing according to the flow chart . when the stick value is set as neutral , it indicates that a joystick is in a neutral ( upright ) position and sx = 0 and sy = 0 . on the other hand , in step 53 , the cpu core 21 does not update the most recent stick value which has been obtained in the previous processing and continuously uses the same , and ends the processing according to the flow chart . as is apparent from the processing of the steps 49 to 52 , the cpu core 21 increments the count value of the non - touch counter ct in a case where the touch - operation performed on the touch panel 13 by the player is interrupted . in a case where the count value is greater than the predetermined value c , the cpu core 21 sets the touch flag as off and determines that the player stops the touch - operation . that is , when the count value of the non - touch counter ct is greater than the predetermined value c , the cpu core 21 determines that a state that the player is touch - operating the touch panel 13 is shifted to a non - touch operation state ( that is , a state that the player intentionally stops the touch operation ). accordingly , even when the touch operation on the touch panel 13 is interrupted against the player &# 39 ; s intention ( for example , even when the player carelessly moves his finger off the touch panel ), the player can continue the game feeling as if no interruption has occurred . the stick value which is obtained in step 48 , the stick value which is set in step 52 , and the stick value which is continuously used in step 53 are used for game processing just like for a prior art game for which a joystick is used . for example , in a case where the player continues to touch - operate the same position on the touch panel 13 as a touch point ( designated point ), the processing according to the aforementioned flow chart is repeated in the processing cycle , thereby repeatedly obtaining the same stick value . that is , in the game processing performed by the game apparatus 1 , the same stick value is used to repeat the game processing , and thereby the game processing similar to the processing according to the operation of a constant input being continuously supplied when a joystick lever is held at a predetermined position can be realized . also when the origin is fixed as in the prior art , a direction indicated by a stick value approaches the right horizontal direction in which the touch - operation is carried out . however , the angle 84 and the like are smaller when the origin is fixed . it is clear that the direction indicated by the stick value further approaches the direction in which the touch - operation is carried out when the origin is drawn . further , the designated point is always set within the limited range , and the distance between the designated point and the origin is always within a predetermined distance . therefore , even when the player moves the designated point ( touch point ) to a position which is extremely far away from the origin and carries out an operation for tilting a joystick to the maximum and returning the joystick in the reverse direction , the distance to the origin of the touch panel is within the predetermined distance , thereby improving a response to the operation . further , the origin is always set within a given range with respect to the touch point on the touch panel 13 , and thereby the player can feel and know the position of the origin being set on the touch panel 13 , and the player can control the touch panel 13 without visually checking the touch panel 13 feeling as if the player controls a joystick . as described above , the setting value of the parameter m can be adjusted so as to control a rate at which the destination target coordinates are moved so as to approach the backward position of the designated point ( assuming that the moving direction of the designated point is forward ) ( that is , a rate at which a direction indicated by a stick value is moved so as to approach the moving direction of the designated point ). further , the setting value of the parameter n can be adjusted so as to control a rate at which the origin is moved so as to approach the destination target coordinates ( that is , a rate at which a length indicated by a stick value is changed so as to approach a predetermined distance r when the length indicated by the stick value is larger than the predetermined distance r ). hereinafter , a relationship between the parameters m and n , and a position to which the origin is drawn will be described with reference to fig1 . fig1 is a diagram for explaining a position of the origin which is drawn according to the parameters m and n . in fig1 , the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 within a limited range a 5 set around an origin o 5 , thereby setting a designated point u 5 . then , the designated point is moved to the right , and the player touch - operates the touch panel 13 outside the limited range a 5 on a straight line s 1 in the rightward direction from the designated point u 5 , thereby setting a designated point u 6 . the origin is drawn according to the origin o 5 , the designated points u 5 and u 6 to position an origin o 6 and set a limited range a 6 based on the origin o 6 . fig1 shows the origin o 6 and the limited range a 6 in the case of the parameter m = 0 and the parameter n = 1 . as described above , a direction in which the origin is drawn is adjusted according to the parameter m , and m ≧ 0 . the greater the setting value of the parameter m is , the closer the origin is drawn to the backward position of the designated point which moves from u 5 to u 6 along the straight line s 1 . in the case of m = 0 , a direction in which the origin o 5 is connected with the designated point u 6 ( a straight line s 2 ) is set as a direction in which the origin is drawn . here , in order to draw the origin as close to the straight line s 1 as possible , the calculation may be performed assuming that the designated point u 6 is further moved along the direction of the straight line s 1 . therefore , as described in the step 71 , when a drawing direction ( px , py ) is obtained on the basis of the difference between the origin o 5 and the designated point u 6 , a value which is obtained by multiplying a motion vector ( uvx , uvy ) of the designated point by a predetermined rate ( parameter m ) is added to the designated point coordinates so as to obtain a value which is obtained when the designated point u 6 is further moved . accordingly , the origin is drawn into a range which is interposed between the straight lines s 1 and s 2 according to the setting value of the parameter m , that is , the destination target coordinates are set in the range which is interposed between the straight lines s 1 and s 2 . further , as is apparent from the above - described formula , the destination target coordinates are set as a position which is a predetermined distance ( r ) apart from the designated point coordinates , thereby resulting in the destination target coordinates being determined as any point on an arc ar 1 shown in fig1 . in the case of m = 0 , the destination target coordinates are set so as to be as close to an intersection of the straight line s 2 and the arc ar 1 as possible . in the case of m being infinitely great , the destination target coordinates are set on an intersection of the straight line s 1 and the arc ar 1 . when m is greater than a predetermined value , the drawing direction may be set so as to match the drawing direction ( px , py ) with ( uvx , uvy ). thereby , when m is greater than the predetermined value , the destination target coordinates can be set on an intersection of the straight line s 2 and the arc ar 1 . on the other hand , as described above , a rate at which the origin is drawn to the destination target coordinates can be adjusted according to the parameter n , and 0 & lt ; n ≦ 1 . in the case of n = 1 , the origin is moved to the destination target coordinates . in the case of 0 & lt ; n & lt ; 1 , the origin is moved to any point on a line segment by which the origin is connected with the destination target coordinates ( exclusive of both ends ). the point to which the origin is moved on the line segment depends on the value n . the smaller n is , the closer a selected point is to the current the greater n is , the closer a selected point is to the destination target coordinates . accordingly , the setting values of parameters m and n are adjusted , thereby drawing ( moving ) the origin to a position within an area a shown in fig1 . the area α is an area which is surrounded by the arc ar 1 which is obtained by cutting , with the straight lines s 1 and s 2 , a circumference of a circle having a radius r and having the designated point u 6 at the center thereof , and the straight lines each connecting one end of the arc ar 1 with the origin o 5 ( not including the origin o 5 ). further , when the drawing direction ( px , py ) is obtained , and then the moved origin coordinates ( ox , oy ) are obtained from ( r ≦ n ′& lt ; l 4 ( the length between o 5 and u 6 )), the origin can be moved to a position within an area β shown in fig1 . the area β is a range which is interposed between the straight lines s 1 and s 2 , which form an acute angle , as well as a range which is interposed between the arc ar 1 of a circle having a radius r and having the designated point u 6 at the center thereof , and the arc ar 2 of a circle having a radius of the length between the designated point u 6 and the origin o 5 and having the designated point u 6 at the center thereof ( exclusive of points on the arc ar 2 ). as described above , a position into which the origin is drawn can be adjusted according to the setting values of the parameters m and n ( or n ′), and a position into which the origin is drawn can be adjusted as an optimal value according to the response or operability for each game . conversely , a case where the origin is moved to other than the area β will be described with reference to fig1 . in a case where the origin is moved to between the arc ar 1 and the designated coordinates u 6 ( for example , a point o 7 shown in fig1 ), while the player is moving the pressing point in the direction in which the length of the stick input value is increased , the length of the input value is reduced , which does not match the player &# 39 ; s controllability . further , in a case where the origin is moved to a position in front of the straight line s 1 on the fig1 ( for example , a point o 8 shown in fig1 ), while the player touches a point which is in the diagonally right forward direction from the origin , and changes the touch position to the right , the stick input value has a right backward direction , which does not match the player &# 39 ; s controllability . moreover , in a case where the origin is moved to a position in the backward direction from the straight line s 2 on fig1 ( for example , a point o 9 shown in fig1 ), while the player moves the touch position to the right , the rightward direction component of the stick input value is reduced , which does not match the player &# 39 ; s controllability . in addition , in a case where the origin is moved beyond the arc ar 2 in the direction away from the designated point coordinates u 6 , the distance between the origin and the designated point coordinates becomes longer . as described above , the player &# 39 ; s controllability is substantially different between a case where the origin is moved into the area β and a case where the origin is moved to other than the area β . as described above , according to the present invention , an origin to be set on the touch panel is set as a position at which the player initially touch - operates the touch panel so as to achieve an operation in which a joystick is emulated . therefore , the player initially touches the touch panel by himself , and thereby the player can controllably feel and know the position of the origin having been set by himself . that is , the player can perceive the position of the origin with his finger , and thereby the player does not have to visually confirm the position of the origin . further , no origin which is fixedly set on the touch panel is set , and thereby the player can start the operation at any position in the touch panel coordinate system . furthermore , in a case where the player releases his finger for a short time against his intention , the origin can be prevented from being reset , and in a case where the player intentionally releases his finger ( in a case where his fingers are released for more than a predetermined time period ), the origin can be reset . further , although in this embodiment the origin is drawn before the stick value is obtained , the origin may be drawn after the stick vale is obtained , and when the stick value is obtained next time , the origin having been drawn may be utilized . however , in general , it is preferable that the origin is drawn before the stick value is obtained . an image of at least one of the origin and the limited range set around the origin , which are described in the aforementioned embodiment , may be displayed on the second lcd 12 . according to the present invention , while the player can feel and know the position of the origin without visually checking the touch panel 13 , when the origin or the limited range is displayed on the second lcd 12 covered by the touch panel 13 , the position of the origin or the limited range of the touch panel 13 can be further displayed to the player in real time . further , in this embodiment , a touch point is arbitrarily positioned in a tolerance range having a designated point at the center thereof , and when the touch point deviates beyond the tolerance range , the tolerance range is moved according to the movement of the touch point , and consequently the designated point is moved , thereby making hand jiggling correction for the touch point . however , when the effect of the hand jiggling correction is not required , the hand jiggling correction is not necessarily required to be made . in this case , a touch point is handled as a designated point as it is , and no tolerance range is set and the processing of the step 44 is not performed . in this way , even when a touch point is handled as a designated point as it is , the effect of the present invention can be similarly achieved . moreover , in the flow chart shown in fig3 , when the player stops touch - operating the touch panel 13 ( no . in step 40 ), in a case where the count value of the non - touch counter ct is greater than a predetermined value c ( yes in step 50 ), a stick value is set as neutral . however , a stick value having been set before stopping the touch - operation may be continuously handled as a game parameter until the next touch - operation is carried out . in a case where the stick value is continuously handled as a game parameter until the next touch operation is carried out , the player does not have to continue the same touch - operation for a long time , and thereby the same operation can be easily continued . moreover , in the flow chart shown in fig3 , when the player stops touch - operating the touch panel 13 and then carries out a touch - operation again , an origin is newly set . however , when the next touch - operation is carried out , a relative positional relationship between a designated point and an origin may be continuously used . for example , the relative positional relationship between the origin and the designated point , which are used in step 48 before stopping the touch - operation , is stored , and when the touch - operation is restarted , the touch point may be set as the designated point . the relative positional relationship having been stored is used to set an origin on the basis of the designated point . in general , when the player touch - operates an area other than the touch panel 13 during the touch - operation on the touch panel 13 , the player touch - operates a different position on the touch panel 13 again and attempts to continue the same operation . also when the touch - operation is carried out again as described above , since the relative positional relationship between the origin and the designated point is maintained , the player can enjoy the game without the operation being interrupted . further , the origin can be also set outside the touch panel 13 , and thereby a wide range of game operations can be provided . further , the origin according to this embodiment does not have to be a touch panel origin . that is , the touch panel origin is fixed and another reference point may be used and changed as a reference for stick input . while in this embodiment a touch panel is used as an input device for carrying out an operation in which a joystick is emulated , other pointing devices can be used . here , the pointing device is an input device which designates an input position or coordinates on a screen . for example , when a mouse , a track pad , a track ball or the like is used as an input device and information concerning a screen coordinate system , which is obtained on the basis of an output value which is outputted by the input device , is used , the present invention can be realized in a similar manner . in a case where a pointing device such as a mouse is used , a touch state and a non - touch state correspond an on and an off of click button , respectively , and the game apparatus or the like may calculate coordinates on the basis of an output value which is outputted from the mouse or the like . in addition , in this embodiment , the touch panel 13 is integrated into the game apparatus 1 . needless to say , however , also when the game apparatus and the touch panel are separately provided , the present invention can be realized . further , while in this embodiment two display devices are provided , the number of display devices provided can be only one . that is , in this embodiment , it is also possible to provide only the touch panel 13 without the second lcd 12 being provided . in addition , in this embodiment , the second lcd 12 is not provided and the touch panel 13 may be provided on the upper principal face of the first lcd 11 . moreover , while in this embodiment the touch panel 13 is integrated into the game apparatus 1 , the touch panel is used as one of input devices for an information processing apparatus such as a typical personal computer . in this case , a program executed by the computer in the information processing apparatus is not limited to a game program which is typically used for a game , and the program is a general - purpose program in which the stick value obtained in the above - described manner is used for processing in the information processing apparatus . further , in this embodiment , when designated point coordinates deviate beyond the limited range , an origin is drawn . however , the origin may be drawn under another condition . for example , when an angle between the origin and the designated point coordinates is different from the angle obtained at the previous input , or when an angle between the origin and the designated point coordinates is greater than a predetermined angle , the origin may be drawn . while the present invention has been described in detail , the foregoing description is in all aspects illustrative and not restrictive . it is understood that numerous other modifications and variations can be devised without departing form the scope of the invention . | 0 |
referring now to the figures , wherein like references refer to like elements of the invention , fig1 is a perspective view of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig1 hanging apparatus 100 is comprised of body 101 with a first body member 102 and a second body member 103 each having a generally rectangular shape . decorative media 108 , such as a fabric or individual elements for example , is captive and extends from body 101 . details of how decorative media 108 is captive within body 101 are described below . body 101 may also include a coupling 130 attached or embedded therein for detachably coupling a cover ( not shown ) to body 101 to enhance its aesthetic appeal . coupling 130 may be a magnet , or a hook and loop material , for example . first body member 102 and a second body member 103 are coupled to one another along respective edges with coupler 112 , such as a hinge , so that first body portion 102 is able to articulate with respect to second body portion 103 to expose the interior of body 101 . in one exemplary embodiment , body portions 102 and 103 may be formed from a variety of materials , such as wood , a polymer and / or metal , for example . it is also possible to form or mold body 101 such that coupler 112 is an integral part of first body member 102 and second body member 103 . as such , coupler 112 may be a conventional hinge having a pin extending along its length , or may be another type of hinge such as a polymer web , for example , extending between first body member 102 and second body member 103 . in one embodiment , hinge 112 is loaded such that it remains in place in both the open and closed positions in order to allow the user to concentrate her efforts on removing or installing decorative media 108 without the need to maintain hinge 112 in the open position , and also allows decorative media 108 to remain in place once installed . in order to hang body 101 from a desired surface , such as a wall ( not shown ), supports 104 , such as metal , wood or polymer , for example extend from body 101 and are attached to conventional support brackets ( not shown ) extending from the desired surface . in one exemplary embodiment , supports 104 may be formed as rods , for example . although two shorter support 104 are illustrated in fig2 the invention is not so limited . it is also contemplated that a single support 104 may be used which extends through body 101 . further , and as shown in fig2 b , it is also contemplated that no support rods are used and that rear surface 103 a of second body member 103 is attached to a mounting surface , such as a wall ( not shown ) using conventional means such as screws 115 . referring now to fig2 a , the interior features of apparatus 100 are shown with body portion 102 removed for clarity . as shown in fig2 a , edge portion 109 of decorative media 108 has through holes 109 a that mate with projections 110 , such as pegs , which extend from the interior surface of body portion 103 . body 101 may include cutout portion 113 to accommodate a thickness of decorative media 108 to allow body portions 102 and 103 to close properly . in one exemplary embodiment , projections 110 extend substantially orthogonal to the interior surface of body portion 103 . the invention is not so limited , however , in that projections 110 may extend at an upward angle so that when body portion 102 is moved into a position to expose the interior of body 101 , decorative media 108 remains in place until removed by the user . projections 110 may formed as a unitary part of body portions 103 and / or 102 , or may be coupled thereto using conventional means , such as glue , screws , etc . further , supports 104 may also be formed as a unitary part of body portion 103 , for example , or may be individual parts attached to body portion 103 using any one of a variety of conventional means , such as screws 114 . although the illustration indicates that projections 110 have a generally circular cross section , the invention is not so limited . it is also contemplated that projections 110 may have other cross sectional configurations , such as square , rectangular , etc . [ 0026 ] fig3 and 4a - 4 b illustrate a top view and side views of alternate embodiments of the present invention . as shown in fig3 and 4b , projections 110 may extend from body portion 103 into the interior 111 of body portion 102 . in addition , support 104 may be positioned such that it interfaces with both body portions 102 and 103 , although rod 104 is only coupled to one of these body portions . as shown in fig4 a , projections 110 may also abut against the inner surface of body portion 102 and support 104 interfaces with only body portion 103 . it is understood by those skilled in the art , that the features illustrated ion fig4 a and 4b may be mixed as desired , and are thus not restrictive . referring now to fig6 a and 6b , an alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown . in this embodiment , a portion of projections 110 are coupled to body portion 103 and the remaining projections are coupled to body portion 102 . each one of projections 110 mates with a respective receptacle 111 in the opposing body portion . in another embodiment , a locking pin 119 / receptacle 120 may be used order to maintain body portions 102 and 103 in a closed position , if desired . locking pin 119 may be formed as part of body potion 102 or may be a separate element attached to body portion 102 , for example . referring now to fig5 a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown . as shown in fig5 screen structure 500 comprises body 101 positioned between support members 502 and 504 . decorative media 108 hangs from body 101 and between support members 502 and 504 forming a decorative screen . mounting feet or wheels 506 may be used to position or reposition screen 500 as desired . although a single screen 500 is shown , it is contemplated that multiple screens 500 may be coupled to one another in a zig - zag panel form , for example to allow for a free standing arrangement . it is also contemplated that outriggers 510 may be added , if desired . as can be appreciated from the above description and accompanying drawing , once the exemplary apparatus is mounted it need not be removed from its mounting surface to change the decorative media . it can also be appreciated that the exemplary apparatus may be used not only within the home , but also outside the home , such as in mobile homes , recreational vehicles ( rv &# 39 ; s ) decks , gazebos , etc . although illustrated and described herein with reference to certain specific embodiments , the present invention is , nevertheless , not intended to be limited to the details shown . rather , various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the spirit of the invention . | 6 |
the winding apparatus shown in fig1 has a drive shaft 1 which extends over several winding positions and on which two drive pulleys 10 and 11 per winding position are mounted . it is also possible to make the drive pulleys 10 and 11 integral with the drive shaft . a winding roll 13 is mounted , parallel to and spaced from the drive shaft 1 , on a shaft 12 . the bobbin 14 is supported on the winding roll 13 and is itself carried by bobbin arms 15 and 16 . two intermediate wheels 20 and 21 ( fig3 ) act as the drive connection between the drive shaft 1 and the winding roll 13 , and can be interposed alternatively between the drive shaft 1 and the winding roll 13 , so that the winding roll 13 is driven by the drive shaft 1 either via the drive pulley 11 and the intermediate wheel 21 or via the drive pulley 10 and the intermediate wheel 20 . as shown in fig3 the drive pulley 11 is , for example , smaller than the drive pulley 10 , while the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 are of equal size . consequently with the drive as shown , the winding roll 13 is driven via the drive pulley 11 and the intermediate wheel 21 at a lower speed than via the drive pulley 10 and the intermediate wheel 20 . each intermediate wheel 20 or 21 is mounted on a lever 22 or 23 respectively which is in turn pivotably jointed to a drive lever 24 or 25 . the two drive levers 24 and 25 are pivotably mounted on a shaft 2 . each of the drive levers 24 , 25 is connected to the armature 26 or 27 , respectively , of an electromagnet 28 or 29 . a yarn reservoir 3 is set up in the yarn path of the winding apparatus and , in the embodiment shown , is constructed as a roller reservoir . the yarn reservoir 3 stores the yarn 5 supplied from a yarn delivery point 4 between two boundary values , and is monitored by a monitoring device 30 . the monitoring device 30 is connected by leads 31 with a source of current 32 and with the electromagnets 28 and 29 , such that either the electromagnet 28 or the electromagnet 29 is addressed . the apparatus according to the invention operates as follows : the monitoring device 30 , for example , constructed as a beam of light measures the reflection of light from the yarn reservoir 3 . when a sufficient reserve of yarn is lacking , much light will be reflected whereupon in order to build up a larger reserve of yarn , the winding roll 13 is driven at a speed which is lower than the supply speed of the yarn supply point 4 . for this purpose , the electromagnet 29 is excited and by means of its armature 27 , pivots the drive lever 25 about the shaft 2 and hence brings the intermediate wheel 21 , via the lever 23 , into simultaneous contact with the drive pulley 11 of the drive shaft 1 and with the winding roll 13 . if , on the other hand , no light is reflected from the body of the yarn reservoir because of the presence of a sufficient yarn reserve , the electromagnet 28 will be addressed , while the previously excited electromagnet 29 drops out . the intermediate wheel 20 is brought , via the armature 26 , the drive lever 24 , and the lever 23 , into the driving position between the drive pulley 10 and the winding roll 13 while because the electromagnet 29 is no longer excited , the intermediate wheel 21 returns to its inoperative position . by the constant change of the drive via the two intermediate wheels 20 and 21 , the amount of yarn stored in or on the yarn reservoir 3 is always kept between given boundary values , as the bobbin 14 winds up the yarn 5 at a correspondingly changing speed . it is , of course , possible to construct the monitoring device 30 in other ways , in particular if the yarn reservoir 3 is also not constructed as a roller reservoir . so that the winding positions can be individually stopped , a switch 6 is provided by which both electromagnets 28 and 29 can simultaneously be addressed via the leads 31 . in addition , there can be provided a further main switch , by means of which the two electromagnets 28 and 29 of all the winding positions can be simultaneously addressed . the simultaneous addressing of the electromagnets 28 and 29 causes both intermediate wheels 20 and 21 to be brought into their inoperative positions , so that the winding roll 13 and , hence , also the bobbin 14 are brought to rest . so that the winding positions can also be individually stopped when a malfunction occurs , and in order in this way to prevent an emptying of the yarn reservoir 3 below the lower tolerance limit , as a result of which the yarn reservoir 3 can become completely emptied and also the yarn end can become unwound , the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 , with their electromagnets 28 and 29 , are connected for control with a yarn monitor 50 which monitors the yarn 5 between the yarn supply point 4 and the yarn reservoir 3 . this yarn monitor 50 is connected in parallel with the switch 6 or even replaces it , so that when the yarn monitor 50 is released by a drop in the yarn tension , both electromagnets 28 and 29 are excited so that both intermediate wheels 20 and 21 move to their inoperative position . the yarn monitor 50 makes it possible for the windup of the winding position to be stopped earlier enough that the yarn reservoir 3 is not emptied , so that in a known way an automatic back - supply of yarn 5 to the yarn supply point is possible . the electrical connections are only shown schematically in fig1 . diodes or other elements for preventing incorrect connections are for this reason not shown , although they are usually provided . instead of the drive pulleys 10 and 11 being of different size and the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 being of equal size , it is also possible for the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 to be made of different sizes while the drive pulleys 10 and 11 are equal in size . if necessary , with this construction , the drive pulleys 10 and 11 can even be completely dispensed with and the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 can be supported directly on the drive shaft 1 . for a particularly rapid stopping of the winding roll 13 and with it also of the bobbin 14 driven by the winding roll 13 and , because of its large mass , moreover , and the accompanying inertia , continuing to turn together with the winding roll 13 , a brake lever 7 is provided as shown in fig1 . this brake lever 7 is controlled in dependence on the control of the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 such that it comes into contact with the winding roller 13 when the switch 6 or the main switch are actuated , or also when the yarn monitor 50 trips out . thus , an electromagnet ( not shown ) can be actuated by the switch 6 , the main switch , and / or the yarn monitor 50 , via the circuit they control , and actuates the brake lever 7 . if the winding roll 13 is a grooved roller , the braking surface of the brake lever 7 which comes into contact with the winding roll is wider than the widest place of the groove located in its region of action . the brake lever 7 can advantageously be elastically pressed by a spring or by its own weight against the winding roll 13 . in order to eliminate a separate control drive for the brake lever 7 , the brake lever 7 has a stop surface 72 or 73 for each respective intermediate wheel 20 or 21 and cooperating with a corresponding stop 74 or 75 connected to the respective intermediate wheel 20 or 21 . in the embodiment shown in fig1 the brake lever 7 has two parallel arms 70 and 71 which are mounted at one end on the shaft 2 that carries the drive levers 24 and 25 and which are connected together at their other ends by a connecting piece that is formed as a brake surface or carries a brake lining 76 . the embodiment shown has a connecting piece and brake lining 76 with a round cross section so that after loosening of the mounting ( not shown ) the connecting piece with the brake lining 76 can be turned , or the brake lining 76 can be turned on the connecting piece so that another point of its periphery comes to be in the working position . when both intermediate wheels 20 and 21 move into their inoperative position , both stops 74 and 75 release the arms 70 and 71 of the brake lever 7 so that this moves with its brake lining 76 into contact with the winding roll 13 and brakes it and hence also the bobbin 14 . if , however , at least one of the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 is in the operative position , the brake lever 7 is lifted from the winding roll 13 by the stop connected to the other intermediate wheel so that the brake lever 7 is inoperative . there is a large enough play between the arm 70 and the stop surface 72 , or between the arm 71 and the stop surface 73 , so that the required movement is available for one of the intermediate wheels 20 or 21 to be brought into its inoperative position . the stop 74 or 75 need not be provided on the drive lever 24 or 25 , but can instead of this be fitted also on the lever 22 or 23 . in this case , the undersides of the arms 70 and 71 form the stop surfaces 72 and 73 . fig2 shows another embodiment of the invention , in which the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 are not arranged as in the example shown in fig1 on the side remote from their drive , but on their side facing their drive . support rollers 230 are , for example , provided for the levers 22 and 23 . in this embodiment , the brake lever 8 is constructed as a two - armed lever which is mounted on a stationary shaft 81 and which abuts with its stop face 80 located on its rearward arm on the stop 75 that simultaneously forms the link between the drive lever 25 and the lever 23 . the brake lining 76 is provided on the forward arm 82 . the brake lever 8 is here also in its rest position when one of the intermediate wheels 20 and 21 is in the working position while the brake lever 8 is in the braking position when both intermediate wheels 20 and 21 are in their inoperative position . the brake lining 76 naturally wears away with time so that replacement is required . in order to be able to effect this replacement without interrupting the winding process , the brake lever 7 or 8 has a slot - shaped recess 77 ( fig1 ) or 83 ( fig2 ) by means of which it is mounted on the shaft 2 ( fig1 ) or 81 ( fig2 ), so that the removal of the brake lever 7 or 8 is effected by merely pulling it off . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the brake lever 7 or 8 is arranged with its brake lining 76 such that the latter , with respect to the plane 78 or 84 passing through the axis 12 and the axis 2 ( fig1 ) or through the axis 12 and the axis 81 ( fig2 ), always abuts the half of the winding roll 13 whose surface moves during winding of the yarn towards the brake lining 76 so that the braking action is even further amplified by the entrainment of the brake lever 7 or 8 by the winding roll 13 . while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms , such description is for illustrative purposes only , and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims . | 1 |
referring to fig1 and 2 , a rotary type lawnmower , generally 10 , has an improved collector assembly , generally 12 , mounted thereon . the lawnmower 10 is of generally conventional construction and may be either a push type or a self propelled type of powerized rotary mower . the lawnmower 10 includes a housing 14 having a front pair of wheels 16 and a rear pair of wheels 18 rotatably and operatively mounted on the housing 14 . either pair of wheels are preferably driven by a drive ( not shown ) interconnected to the engine 20 . an internal combustion engine 20 is operatively carried by the housing for rotating the cutting blade ( not shown ) in a horizontal plane , in a conventional manner , within the housing 14 . a handlebar assembly , generally 22 , is pivotally mounted at its lower end to the rear of the housing 14 . the handlebar assembly 22 includes a pair of normally upwardly and rearwardly extending arms 24 which are interconnected at the tops thereof , by a unitary gripping bar 26 . a lower cross bar 28 is rigidly secured to the handlebar assembly 22 below the gripping bar 26 . support links 30 are pivotally mounted on the lawnmower housing 14 and include a slotted portion 32 which slidably receives a pin 34 mounted at the lower end of each of the arms 24 and act to limit the pivoting movement of the handlebar assembly 22 . referring to fig1 , and 3 , the collector assembly 12 includes a generally upright support assembly , generally 36 , which is secured to the rear portion of the housing 14 , a flexible disposable container 38 being positioned within the support assembly 36 , an enclosed tunnel or chute , generally 40 , for directing air carried clippings from within the housing 14 to the flexible container 38 , a cover assembly , generally 42 , for normally covering the flexible container 38 , and an exhaust , generally 44 , for directing exhaust air from within a substantially enclosed chamber defined by the cover 42 , the support assembly 36 , and the flexible container 38 . referring particularly to fig3 , 6 , and 9 , the support assembly 36 includes a rigid upright support portion , generally 46 , a flexible support portion , generally 48 , and a combination support 50 for the inlet chute 40 , the cover assembly 42 , and the exhaust 44 . referring to fig3 , and 9 , the rigid support 46 comprises tubular upright legs 52 having feet 54 which are secured to the upper surface of the housing 14 by suitable fasteners 56 . the upper ends of the legs 52 are unitarily formed to define a substantially horizontal portion 58 having unitary sides 60 and a back 62 . at the junction between each of the horizontal portions 58 and the upright legs 52 , a reinforcing cross member 64 , generally parallel to the back 62 , is rigidly secured to the inner surfaces of the sides 60 . an upwardly directed opening is defined by the sides 60 , the back 62 , and the cross member 64 . as seen in fig3 the flexible container 38 is received in this opening and the top edges of the flexible container or bag 38 are folded down around the sides 60 , the back 62 and the cross member 64 , so that the support 46 supports the upper end of the container 38 , in the open position , for receiving grass clippings and other lawn debris thereinto , in a manner to be hereinafter described in greater detail . referring to fig3 and 9 , the flexible support 48 for the container 38 is rigidly secured along the lower edges 66 thereof to the housing 14 by a plurality of suitable fasteners 68 . as seen in fig3 in the raised , bag supporting condition , the flexible support 48 includes a back 70 , a bottom 72 and angular sides 74 . the back 70 , the bottom 72 , and the side 74 are unitarily formed of the same material , preferably a reinforced flexible fabric or plastic . as seen best in fig3 , and 9 , the upper edge of the back 70 includes a hanger member 76 which is securely fastened thereto . the hanger 76 includes a hook portion which is constructed and arranged to hang on the upper edge of the back 62 of the horizontal portion 58 of the rigid support 46 , to thereby hold the flexible support 48 in the bag supporting position . the inlet chute 40 is of generally spiral shape and extends from the opening 78 in the upper front portion of the housing , as seen in fig1 upwardly and rearwardly , to an upper end 80 thereof . the inlet chute 40 is preferably formed of a light weight material , such as a molded plastic of designated strength . as seen in fig1 the lower end of the chute is generally arcuate in shape , and covers the opening 78 in the housing 14 . approximately 90 ° of a segment of the top of the housing 14 is covered by the lower portion 82 of the chute 40 . the lower portion 82 is secured to the top surface of the housing 14 by suitable fasteners ( not shown ). the chute 40 has a cross sectional area at the lower portion 82 which diminishes rapidly to a substantially square cross - sectional shape of uniform area , as seen for example , in fig9 . the upper end of the inlet chute 40 has a pivotable door 84 positioned thereon . the door 84 is pivotable from a closed position , as seen in fig9 to an open position as seen in fig3 . the door 84 is pivotally carried by a hinge assembly 86 which moves the door 84 between open and closed positions . as will be described hereinafter in greater detail , the door 84 is a safety feature as it must be in a closed position when the engine is on so that the air and air - carried solids cannot be blown directly toward the operator &# 39 ; s face . additionally , as will be described hereinafter , a safety circuit is provided to stop the engine 20 if the cover 42 is in the open position and the door 84 is in the open position . the combination support assembly 50 , as seen in fig3 and fig9 is secured to the upper rear wall of the housing 14 of the lawnmower 10 . the height of the support 50 is approximately the same as the rigid support 46 . the support 50 includes an upright support wall 88 and upright side walls 90 on the chute side and 92 on the exhaust side . preferably , the combined support 50 is constructed of a light weight , sturdy material , as a formed plastic . the exhaust 44 is carried by the combined support 50 and includes a substantially upwardly directed opening 94 , as seen best in fig4 which communicates with a lower exhaust chamber 96 having an exhaust opening 98 which faces laterally outwardly of the lawnmower 10 and generally out of the path of travel of the operator , even though the air passing from the exhaust opening 98 contains very few air carried solids which might injure the operator . as seen best in fig1 , and 3 , the cover assembly 42 is preferably formed upwardly to define an upper air chamber 100 above the flexible container 38 and is hingedly supported by the support assembly 50 . the cover assembly 42 includes an upwardly formed top wall 102 , a rear wall 104 , and a pair of opposed side walls 106 . the top wall 102 includes a rearwardly and downwardly tapered rear portion 108 and a frontwardly and downwardly tapered front portion 110 . the front portion 110 of the cover assembly 42 is hingedly secured to the support 50 by hinges 112 , as seen in fig3 , and 5 . the hinges 112 support the cover assembly 42 for pivotable movement from a closed position , shown for example , in fig1 to an open position , shown in phantom view in fig2 and in sectional view in fig9 . seals 114 , such as foamed plastic or rubber , are securely mounted along the lower edges of the rear wall 104 and the side walls 106 of the cover assembly 42 and act to provide a suitable air seal between the horizontal portion 58 and the cross member 64 of the rigid support 46 so that substantially no solid materials pass outwardly therebetween , thereby providing an added safety feature . referring to fig3 and 5 , the exhaust half of the air chamber 100 , mounted securely within the cover assembly 42 , has a solids separator 116 rigidly mounted therein . as grass clippings and lawn debris are passed upwardly through the inlet chute 40 and into the air chamber 100 , the clippings and lawn debris , primarily by action of gravity , drop downwardly into the container 38 . the exhaust 44 provides an escape for air from the chamber defined by the container 38 and by the cover assembly 42 . in order to substantially avoid passage of air - carried grass clippings or other air - carried solid particles through the exhaust 44 , the separator 116 acts to separate such materials to avoid passage thereof through the exhaust opening 98 . the separator 116 includes a perforated lower wall 118 , and a unitary perforated upright wall 120 so that substantially only air can pass therethrough . preferably , a fill indicator , generally 122 , is operatively mounted on the back portion 108 of the cover assembly 42 . the indicator 122 includes a generally upright shaft 124 which is rotatably carried on a bearing 126 secured to the rear wall portion 108 . the lower end of the shaft 124 rigidly carries a vane 128 . the upper end of the shaft 124 includes an indicator plate 130 . in use , the moving air normally keeps the plate 130 rotating by acting against the vane blades and thereby rotating the shaft 124 . this rotation continues until the container 38 becomes full and the material within the container physically stops the vane from moving and / or reduced air flow carried by a full bag slows down rotation of the vane . when the vane stops moving or slows down , the operator knows that it is time to remove the filled flexible container 38 and replace it with a new one . referring to fig1 and 8 , a slot 132 , slanted slightly upwardly and rearwardly , is provided in each of the side walls 106 of the cover assembly 42 . a perforated channel 152 is mounted over each slot 132 to screen out air - carried solids . an inwardly directed pin 134 is securely mounted on each of the arms 24 of the handlebar assembly 22 and is carried within each slot 132 . in order for the operator to open the cover assembly 42 , the handlebar assembly 22 is pivoted forwardly , as seen in fig2 and the cover assembly 42 is raised to the open position . referring to fig1 , there is a schematic diagram of a safety circuit , generally 136 , to assure that the operator cannot open the cover 42 , and have clippings or debris blown directly into the face , which may not only be uncomfortable , but may cause physical injury , as to the eyes . the safety circuit 136 includes a cover safety circuit 140 and a drive wheel safety circuit 142 , the circuits 140 and 142 being connected in parallel . the schematic diagram shown includes a power source such as an engine magneto 144 . the circuits 140 and 142 are connected , in parallel between the magneto 144 and a ground connection 146 . the cover safety circuit 140 includes a door switch 148 and a cover switch 150 , which are connected in series in the line 154 . the door switch 148 is mounted adjacent the door 84 which selectively covers the inlet chute 40 . the handle 156 extends outwardly from the hinge assembly 86 of the door 84 and is manually pivoted by the operator . the door switch 148 is in the closed position when the door 84 is open and in the open position when the door 84 is closed . the cover switch 150 is mounted on the housing 14 and is responsive to the bracket or link 30 being in the raised position when the cover assembly 42 is in the open position and when in the closed position . when the cover 42 is open , the cover switch 150 is closed , and when the cover 42 is in the closed position , the cover switch 150 is in the open position . the drive wheel circuit 142 includes a gear switch 158 and a handle grip switch 160 which is connected in series in the line 161 with the gear switch 158 . when the drive mechanism ( not shown ) is in gear , transmitting power to the powerized wheels 16 or 18 , the gear switch 158 is in the closed position . when the grip 162 on the handle assembly 22 is in the closed position , while being depressed by the operator , the grip switch 160 is in the engaged position . when the grip 162 is released , it is biased to the disengaged position by a spring ( not shown ) and opens or disengages the grip switch 160 . when both switches 158 and 160 are &# 34 ; closed &# 34 ; and / or when both switches 148 and 150 are &# 34 ; closed &# 34 ;, the engine magneto 144 will &# 34 ; ground out &# 34 ; so as to stop the engine 20 . the foregoing circuit 136 maintains the engine magneto 144 in the operative or &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; position : ( 1 ) when the door 84 is closed and when the cover assembly 42 is in the open position and ( 1a ) when the drive wheels are in gear and when the grip switch 160 is depressed or engaged ( 1b ) when the drive wheels are in neutral and when the grip switch 160 is not depressed or disengaged , and ( 1c ) when the drive wheels are in the neutral position and the grip switch 160 is depressed ; ( 2 ) when the door 84 is in the open position and when the cover 42 is in the down or closed position and ( 2a ) when the drive wheels are in gear and the grip switch 160 is engaged or depressed , ( 2b ) when the drive wheels are in neutral and the gear switch 160 is not depressed or disengaged , and ( 2c ) when the drive wheels are in neutral and the gear switch 160 is depressed or engaged ; and ( 3 ) when the door 84 is closed and the cover 42 is closed or down and ( 3a ) when the drive wheels are in gear and when the grip switch is engaged or depressed , ( 3b ) when drive wheels are in neutral and when the grip switch 160 is not depressed or disenaged ; ( 3c ) when the drive wheels are in neutral and the gear switch is depressed or engaged . the engine magneto 144 is in the &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; position only ( 1 ) when the gear switch 158 indicates that the drive wheels are in gear and when the grip switch 162 is not depressed or disengaged and / or ( 2 ) when the door 84 is in the open position and when the cover 42 is in the open position . the foregoing circuitry 140 provides important safety features , as it prevents the mower 10 from moving alone without control by the operator and when the cover 42 and door 84 are both open to avoid physical injury to the operator . the various times when the engine is &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; enables the operator to keep the engine &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; under a wide range of conditions and yet not unduly subject the operator to safety hazards . although from the foregoing , the manner of use of the collector assembly 12 should be apparent , a brief description of the use thereof will more clearly show the advantages of the assembly . in initial use , the operator raises the cover assembly 42 to the open position shown in fig9 by raising the handlebar assembly 22 and then places a flexible bag 38 on the horizontal portion 58 of the support 46 . the top of the bag is folded over the horizontal portion 58 and across the front cross member 64 . the flexible support 48 is then raised upwardly and the hanger 76 is hung over the back 62 of the support 58 . at this time , the handlebars 22 are pivoted as seen in fig2 to the closed position . also , the door switch handle 156 is pivoted so that the door 84 is moved to the open position . at this time , the engine 20 is started , and may be started since the gear switch 158 is closed , the drive wheels are in neutral , the cover 42 is down and the door 84 is open . when the engine is started , the operator depresses the grip switch 160 on the handle ; after starting , the drive wheels may be placed in gear . in use , the air - carried grass clippings and other debris pass upwardly through the opening 78 in the top wall of the housing 14 . the clippings are carried upwardly in the inlet chute 40 and are directed to the air chamber 100 of the cover 42 . most of the clippings and solid materials fall by gravity into the flexible container 38 . most , if not all , of the other air - carried solids are screened or removed from the air flow as it passes by the separator 116 mounted on the collector 12 and before the air passes to the exhaust 44 . air passes through the exhaust portions 94 , 96 and 98 and the air , substantially free of solids , is directed laterally away from the operator , at approximately knee level . it is seen that the air flow from inlet to exhaust is substantially continuous as it passes through the chute 40 into the air chamber 100 past the separator 116 and outwardly through the exhaust 44 . air turbulence is minimized and this assists in assuring separation of the soils from the air . when the container 38 becomes full , the indicator 122 slows or stops so that the operator knows to remove the full container , and replace it with a new container . the operator then places the drive wheels in neutral , and releases the grip switch 160 . if the operator wishes to keep the engine &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; while changing the bag 38 , the door is pivoted to the closed position . if , however , the operator desires to stop the engine , the cover 42 is opened without closing the door 84 . in this way , there is assurance that the operator will not have material blown directly into his face . in removing the full flexible container or bag 38 , it is not necessary for the operator to lift the bag off the mower 10 , as it is only necessary to lift the hanger 76 of the flexible support slightly off of the horizontal support 58 . the container then drops by weight and the operator merely moves the bag laterally away from the machine . the avoidance of lifting is particularly important in the spring , for example , when the grass is moist and heavy . it is thus seen that i have accomplished all the objects previously set forth . a highly effective and simple construction is provided . there is a high degree of safety with this collector and the flexible container , when full , may be readily removed from its position on the mower . while in the foregoing , there has been provided a detailed description of one particular embodiment of the present invention , it is to be understood that all equivalents obvious to those having skill in the art are to be included within the scope of the invention , as claimed . | 0 |
herein described are methods and apparatus which utilize a current limiter for active shielding of a superconducting magnet system used in mri and nmr magnetic field generators . more specifically , in one embodiment , a detection system is provided for an active shielding of superconducting magnet systems which use a single electrical current as explained in greater detail below . in another embodiment , a detection system is provided for an active shielding of a multiple electrical circuits superconducting magnet system as also explained in greater detail below . the herein described methods and apparatus use a combination of a detection mechanism and a controlled triggering level to limit the electrical current induced by environment disturbances . as used herein , an element or step recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “ a ” or “ an ” should be understood as not excluding plural said elements or steps , unless such exclusion is explicitly recited . furthermore , references to “ one embodiment ” of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features . additionally , as is known in the art , a reference to a main coil contemplates a plurality of coils , and therefore the terms main coil and main coils are used interchangeably herein . for the same reason , the terms shield coil and shield coils are also interchangeable herein . fig1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a magnetic resonance imaging ( mri ) system 10 in which the herein described systems and methods are implemented . mri 10 includes an operator console 12 which includes a keyboard and control panel 14 and a display 16 . operator console 12 communicates through a link 18 with a separate computer system 20 thereby enabling an operator to control the production and display of images on screen 16 . computer system 20 includes a plurality of modules 22 which communicate with each other through a backplane . in the exemplary embodiment , modules 22 include an image processor module 24 , a cpu module 26 and a memory module 28 , also referred to herein as a frame buffer for storing image data arrays . computer system 20 is linked to a disk storage 30 and a tape drive 32 to facilitate storing image data and programs . computer system 20 communicates with a separate system control 34 through a high speed serial link 36 . system control 34 includes a plurality of modules 38 electrically coupled using a backplane ( not shown ). in the exemplary embodiment , modules 38 include a cpu module 40 and a pulse generator module 42 that is electrically coupled to operator console 12 using a serial link 44 . link 44 facilitates transmitting and receiving commands between operator console 12 and system command 34 thereby allowing the operator to input a scan sequence that mri system 10 is to perform . pulse generator module 42 operates the system components to carry out the desired scan sequence , and generates data which indicative of the timing , strength and shape of the rf pulses which are to be produced , and the timing of and length of a data acquisition window . pulse generator module 42 is electrically coupled to a gradient amplifier system 46 and provides gradient amplifier system 46 with a signal indicative of the timing and shape of the gradient pulses to be produced during the scan . pulse generator module 42 is also configured to receive patient data from a physiological acquisition controller 48 . in the exemplary embodiment , physiological acquisition controller 48 is configured to receive inputs from a plurality of sensors indicative of a patient &# 39 ; s physiological condition such as , but not limited to , ecg signals from electrodes attached to the patient . pulse generator module 42 is electrically coupled to a scan room interface circuit 50 which is configured to receive signals from various sensors indicative of the patient condition and the magnet system . scan room interface circuit 50 is also configured to transmit command signals such as , but not limited to , a command signal to move the patient to a desired position with a patient positioning system 52 . the gradient waveforms produced by pulse generator module 42 are input to gradient amplifier system 46 that includes a g x amplifier 54 , a g y amplifier 56 , and a g z amplifier 58 . amplifiers 54 , 56 , and 58 each excite a corresponding gradient coil in gradient coil assembly 60 to generate a plurality of magnetic field gradients used for position encoding acquired signals . in the exemplary embodiment , gradient coil assembly 60 includes a magnet assembly 62 that includes a polarizing magnet 64 and a whole - body rf coil 66 . in use , a transceiver module 70 positioned in system control 34 generates a plurality of electrical pulses which are amplified by an rf amplifier 72 that is electrically coupled to rf coil 66 using a transmit / receive switch 74 . the resulting signals radiated by the excited nuclei in the patient are sensed by rf coil 66 and transmitted to a preamplifier 76 through transmit / receive switch 74 . the amplified nmr ( nuclear magnetic resonance ) signals are then demodulated , filtered , and digitized in a receiver section of transceiver 70 . transmit / receive switch 74 is controlled by a signal from pulse generator module 42 to electrically connect rf amplifier 72 to coil 66 during the transmit mode and to connect preamplifier 76 during the receive mode . transmit / receive switch 74 also enables a separate rf coil ( for example , a surface coil ) to be used in either the transmit or receive mode . the nmr signals received by rf coil 66 are digitized by transceiver module 70 and transferred to a memory module 78 in system control 34 . when the scan is completed and an array of raw k - space data has been acquired in the memory module 78 , the raw k - space data is rearranged into separate k - space data arrays for each cardiac phase image to be reconstructed , and each of these arrays is input to an array processor 80 configured to fourier transform the data into an array of image data . this image data is transmitted through serial link 36 to computer system 20 where it is stored in disk memory 30 . in response to commands received from operator console 12 , this image data may be archived on tape drive 32 , or it may be further processed by image processor 24 and transmitted to operator console 12 and presented on display 16 . fig2 illustrates a conventional circuitry of a superconducting mri system 100 including a cryogenic temperature cryostat 102 in which a main coil 104 , a shielding coil 106 , a quench protection system 110 , and a superconducting persistent switch 112 are positioned . a power supply 108 is typically positioned outside cryostat 102 . during a magnet system energizing process , persistent switch 112 is in an off mode ( i . e ., a resistive state ). energy is supplied to main coil 104 and shielding coil 106 from power supply 108 until a desired magnetic field is produced , then persistent switch 112 is switched to an on mode ( i . e ., a superconductive state ). without electromagnetic disturbance , electrical current i a of main coils 104 , and electrical current i b of shielding coils 106 is the same in persistent mode . upon an environment disturbance occurring , main coil electrical current i a and shielding coil electrical current i b can change slightly since the laws of physics necessitates only that a total magnetic flux of both main and shielding coils 104 and 106 together will attempt to remain constant . fig3 illustrates a circuitry of mri system 10 including a two coil detection system 118 . mri system 10 includes a cryogenic temperature cryostat 120 in which a main coil 122 , a shielding coil 124 , a quench protection system 128 , and a superconducting persistent switch 134 are positioned . a power supply 126 is typically positioned outside cryostat 120 . detection system 118 includes an environmental fluctuation circuit 130 . in an exemplary embodiment , main coil 122 and shield coil 124 are wired in series receiving the same current , and environmental fluctuation circuit 130 includes two environmental fluctuation circuits 132 , one for main coil 122 , and one for shield coil 124 . during a magnet system energizing process , persistent switch 134 is in an off mode ( i . e ., a resistive state ). energy is supplied to main coil 122 and shielding coil 124 from power supply 126 until a desired magnetic field is produced , then persistent switch 134 is switched to an on mode ( i . e ., a superconductive state ). during the just described magnet ramping , a pair of quench heaters ( not shown in fig3 ) are turned on , thus the sections of cc ′ d ′ d and dd ″ e ′ e are resistive and prevent electrical current to flow therethrough , and all electrical current flows through main coil 122 and shielding coil 124 . after the magnet ( coils 122 and 124 ) reaches a desired field level , and are shimmed and parked using conventional methods , the quench heaters of environmental fluctuation circuits 132 are turned off , and sections cc ′ d ′ d and dd ″ e ′ e return to a superconductive state . when an outside disturbance is present , both electrical currents in main coil 122 and shield coil 124 may start to change . since coils 122 and 124 and environmental fluctuation circuits 132 are in the same circuit , any induced current flows through either cc ′ d ′ d , or dd ′ e ′ e circuit , or both circuits . thus with the aid of a detection and controlling scheme identical or similar to that illustrated in fig5 , currents i c and i d are detected , limited , and / or controlled as explained below in greater detail . fig4 illustrates a one coil detection system 150 in which mri system 10 includes a cryogenic temperature cryostat 152 in which a main coil 154 , a shielding coil 156 , a quench protection system 158 , and a superconducting persistent switch 160 are positioned . a power supply 161 is typically positioned outside cryostat 152 . system 150 also includes an environmental fluctuation circuit 162 . in an exemplary embodiment , main coil 154 and shield coil 156 are wired in series receiving the same current , and environmental fluctuation circuit 162 is wired in parallel to one of main coil 154 and shielding coil 156 . as illustrated in fig4 , environmental fluctuation circuit 162 is wired in parallel to main coil 154 . when electrical current i a and i b are not equal due to outside electromagnetic disturbances , the differential current of main coils i a and shielding coils i b flows through superconducting circuit cc ′ d ′ d , thus with aid of a detection and controlling scheme identical or similar to that illustrated in fig6 , a differential current i c is detected , limited , and / or controlled . although fig4 illustrates that superconducting wire is connected to main coil 154 at points c and d in fig4 , the superconducting wire alternatively can be connected to shield coil 156 similarly , or be connected to the points within the coil . for example , in fig4 points c and d are located at a plurality of edges of coil 154 , points c and d may be located within coil 154 and coil 156 respectively ( i . e ., points c and / or d are located in a coiled section of coil ( s ) 154 and / or 156 ). the exact position of points c and d for example depends entirely on a particular magnet design and the requirements for environment disturbance compensation . fig5 through fig8 explain in additional detail how to detect these induced currents and how to control / eliminate these currents . fig5 is a detailed illustration of a detection circuit 170 having two parts , one part is connected to points c , d , and e of fig1 , with two pieces of superconducting wire 176 and 178 wound on a single mandrel in bifilar fashion , the other part is a plurality of quench heaters 174 with a controlling switch 180 and a resistive quench heater power supply 172 . a sensor 182 is positioned to sense electromagnetic fields . when the current either in cc ′ d ′ d circuit ( i c ) or dd ″ e ′ e ( i d ) or both starts to flow , and with the aid of detection sensor 182 ( either mechanical or electronic as detailed below ) and control switch k , quench heaters 174 are energized to heat the superconducting wires cc ′ d ′ d and dd ″ e ′ e and cause the superconducting wire to quench when current i c and / or i d reaches above a predetermined level ( e . g ., 2 amperes ), and thus reduce the electrical currents i c and i d to zero , which forces electrical currents in main coil 122 i a and shield coil 124 i b to be the same . after sensor 182 detects zero current in i c and / or in i d , control switch 180 switches off the current in the quench heaters 174 . thus the electrical currents of main coil 122 and shield coil 124 are the same again . a similar construction is also shown in fig6 for one coil detection circuit 150 ( shown in fig4 ). fig6 illustrates a single coil detection system 190 including a quench heater power supply 192 coupled to a quench heater 194 and a sensor 196 via a switch 198 . when the current in cc ′ d ′ d circuit ( i c ) starts to flow , and with the aid of detection sensor 196 ( either mechanical or electronic as detailed below ) and control switch k , quench heater 194 is energized to heat the superconducting wires cc ′ d ′ d and cause the superconducting wire to quench when current i c reaches above a predetermined level ( e . g ., 2 amperes ), and thus reduce the electrical currents i c to zero , which forces electrical currents in main coil 154 i a and shield coil 156 i b to be the same . after sensor 196 detects a zero current i c switch 198 switches off the current in quench heater 194 . thus the electrical currents of main coil 154 and shielding coil 156 are the same again . fig7 is a schematic of a mechanical sensor 200 for detection systems 118 and 150 ( e . g ., sensors 182 and 196 ), employed in some embodiments . a power source 201 is coupled to a quench heater 202 via wires 208 to a piston assembly 209 . mechanical sensor 200 includes a solenoid 204 which can be either a bifilar winding ( as shown in fig4 ) or a simple winding ( as shown in fig6 ). a plurality of mechanical springs 206 regulate a null level and a trigger level to control a metal piston on / off condition . mounted within piston assembly 209 is a plurality of pistons 210 . when no net magnetic field disturbances except original magnetic field created by the main and shielding coils present in solenoid 204 , mechanical springs 206 are at a pre - set null level , and metal pistons 210 do not contact a stator , and hence , no current goes through the resistive quench heater ( s ) 202 . when electrical current reaches a pre - set level ( e . g ., 2 amps ) in solenoid 204 by the environment disturbances , the electromagnetic force on pistons 210 pulls one of the pistons 210 toward the stator , and the quench heater circuit engages , causing the superconducting wires ( cc ′ d ′ d and / or d ′ d ″ e ′ e ) to quench . when the current drops to zero after quench , piston 210 returns to its null position , and the quench circuit is disengaged . in one embodiment , pistons 210 are positioned opposing each other such that current flow in either direction cc ′ d ′ d or dd ′ c ′ c causes one of pistons 210 to move tow & amp ; d a center of assembly 209 to complete the circuit between power supply 201 and heater 202 . in an alternative embodiment , only a single piston 210 is used . fig8 is a schematic of an electronic sensor circuit 220 that is used in detection systems 118 and 150 ( e . g ., sensors 182 and 196 ), in some embodiments . circuit 220 includes a quench heater 222 coupled to a power source 224 via a switch 226 . an electronic sensor 228 is positioned within a solenoid 230 . detection sensor 228 is , in one embodiment , a hall effect element . in an alternative embodiment , sensor 228 is other means of semiconductor elements or a pickup coil . with the presence of electrical current in solenoid 230 , a net magnetic field fluctuation is detected by sensor 228 . sensor 228 outputs a related voltage ( or a related current ) signal to control switch 226 in an on state and an off state . if sensor 228 detects the current in solenoid 230 reaching a predetermined level , the corresponding output signal triggers switch 226 to close , and thus , current flows through quench heater 222 , which starts to heat the superconducting wire to cause the superconducting wire to quench . when sensor 228 detects a zero current in solenoid 230 , switch 226 is opened to de - energize heater 222 allowing any superconductive wires proximate heater 222 to return to a superconductive state . the predetermined level can be set electronically . if the main coils and shielding coils operate on different currents , the above described detection methods and systems are employable with only a slight modification . for example , with both coils operational electrical currents i m , i s known , and with their respective preset current changing limits known , a ratio of the currents p =( i m / i s ) is determined . then the number of turns of cc ′ d ′ d superconducting wire to the number of turns of dd ′ e ′ e superconducting wire can be selected such that ( cc ′ d ′ d turn number )/( dd ′ e ′ e turn number ) is equal to p and wound in bifilar fashion , and then the above described methods and apparatus are used to detect environmental disturbances as described above . while the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments , those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims . | 6 |
fig1 shows an operational overview 102 for an embodiment of the present invention . from an ic ( integrated circuit ) schematic or layout 104 , an extraction 106 is selected for modeling . typically this extraction , which may also be considered as a layout , includes a number of objects 108 ( e . g ., inductors as shown ) with associated ports 110 and interconnect 112 . as discussed below in further detail , the modeling process for the extraction 106 includes determining a solid model , generating a corresponding mesh ( e . g ., a discretization ) and running an em ( electromagnetic ) solver to estimate parasitic effects by determining corresponding s - parameters 114 ( or some alternative characterization ). fig2 shows an exemplary flow diagram 202 for a base solver ( e . g ., a basic ic modeler for relating voltages and currents ). first objects are selected 204 from a schematic or layout . next ports are defined 206 . next simulation parameters are specified 208 ( e . g ., accuracy level , frequency sweep type and range , etc .). then the model is simulated 210 at a number of frequencies ( e . g ., n frequencies as shown ). finally the results are collected 212 . fig3 shows an exemplary flow diagram 300 for simulations 210 at each frequency in the base solver 202 of fig2 . first a list of objects is selected 302 for simulation . next a pfft ( pre - corrected fast fourier transform ) grid is set up 304 . next indirect values ( e . g ., matrix h as show ) are determined 306 for the simulation . next , a solid model is specified 308 for the simulation , a mesh is generated 310 , and direct values , projection values , and interpolation values are determined 312 ( e . g , matrices d , p , and i as shown ). notably , a decision can be made 314 for adding additional objects in this process ( e . g ., from the list of objects 302 ). then the resulting system is solved 316 for relating voltages and currents , preferably by a matrix - free iterative solver . finally s - parameters ( or alternatively y - parameters as shown ) are extracted for modeling parasitic effects . ( see , for example , “ on deembedding of port discontinuities in full - wave cad models of multiport circuits ,” v . i . okhmatovski et al ., ieee trans . microw . theory tech ., vol . 51 , no . 12 , pp . 2355 - 2365 , december 2003 .) in general , a circuit layout is defined by specifying parameters , placement and routing for a number of devices . fig4 shows a detail for a circuit layout 402 related to the base solver shown in fig2 . two inductors 404 a , 404 b have been selected for the simulation and are represented in fig2 as solid models with physical dimensions . the solid models 404 a , 404 b are discretized by triangular mesh elements 406 . in general , the mesh defines a basis - function expansion for modeling an electromagnetic field across the integrated circuit by a summation of basis functions that are defined across mesh elements by polynomial interpolations of corresponding mesh - element values ( e . g ., linear interpolation from values at the edges ). in addition to the mesh elements 406 , an overlapping discrete model is provided by grid points 408 for a pfft ( pre - corrected fast fourier transform ) grid with arrows indicating interaction directionality between grid points 408 . in general , the grid defines a spatial - frequency expansion for modeling an electromagnetic field across the integrated circuit by a summation of spatial - frequency functions that are defined across the grid . in the following analysis , interactions between nearby mesh elements 406 are modeled by the direct values , and interactions 410 between far - away mesh elements 412 , 414 are modeled by indirect values . that is , pairs of mesh elements are designated as nearby or far - away ( e . g , based on some threshold distance value ) so that there interactions ( e . g ., impedance relationships ) can be modeled accordingly . for example , in many operational settings it is preferable to use a simple “ nearest neighbors ” rule where directly neighboring mesh - element pairs ( e . g , sharing at least a point or an edge ) are designated as nearby while other pairs are designated as far - away pairs . one advantage of this approach is that designations of nearby or far - away for pairs of mesh elements are unlikely to change as the layout is incrementally changed . as discussed below , this allows greater re - use of the calculated values as the layout is changed incrementally . in this context , we assume that the mesh dimension is n and the grid dimension is m , so that interactions between pairs of mesh elements are modeled with vectors of different sizes depending on the designated proximity of the mesh element pairs . collectively , these interactions can be modeled by the equation . typically the n - dimensional vector x includes coefficients for the basis function expansion of the mesh elements and represents current in the layout . the n - x - n matrix a models impedance values so that ax represents voltage in the layout . the representation on the right - hand - side of eq . 1 represents different modeling for pairs of nearby and far - away elements . the matrix d represents direct values for modeling impedances of nearby pairs of mesh elements . typically , the direct values are determined by calculating potential values for an expansion of an electromagnetic field defined by values at the mesh elements . conceptually , d is an n - x - n sparse matrix with non - zero values close to the diagonal for modeling interactions between basis functions for nearby mesh elements . the matrix { circumflex over ( d )} represents pre - correction values for modeling impedances at nearby pairs of mesh elements to correct for pfft grid calculations for these interactions . typically these pre - correction values are determined by calculating a spatial - frequency approximation on the pfft grid for electromagnetic interactions between nearby mesh - element pairs ( e . g ., through a convolution across the spatial frequencies defined by the pfft grid ) and then projecting back to the mesh - elements . conceptually , { circumflex over ( d )} is an n - x - n sparse matrix with non - zero values close to the diagonal for modeling interactions between basis functions for nearby mesh elements . the matrix h represents indirect values for modeling impedances at far - away pairs of mesh elements . typically these pre - correction values are determined by calculating a spatial - frequency approximation on the pfft grid for electromagnetic interactions between nearby mesh - element pairs ( e . g ., through a convolution across the spatial frequencies defined by the pfft grid ). conceptually h is an m - x - m matrix that is typically implemented by means of an fft ( fast fourier transform ). the matrix p represents projection values for projecting from the mesh coordinates ( n - dimensional ) to the grid coordinates ( m - dimensional ) where far - away interactions are modeled . conceptually , p is an m - x - n matrix . the matrix i represents interpolating values for projecting from the grid coordinates ( m - dimensional ) to the mesh coordinates ( n - dimensional ). conceptually , i is an n - x - m matrix . in general , these matrices need not be formed explicitly . typically a modeling goal relates to determining the currents that correspond to a nominal voltage input ; that is one wishes to solve the equation ax = b for given b , which represents a voltage input ( e . g ., a unit input at the location of a single port ). however , because of the size of the matrices , this problem is typically solved iteratively ( e . g ., by a generalized minimal residual method or a conjugate gradient method ), and so the model represented by eq . 1 is implemented by forming matrix - vector products ( ax ). therefore , the focus of much of the following discussion relates to forming these matrix - vector - products rather than actually solving the matrix equation ax = b . in this context , a good initial approximation for x ( e . g , current values ) that corresponds to a given b ( e . g ., voltage values ) reduces the number of iterations required to solve the matrix equation ax = b . as will be discussed in greater detail below , the present invention enables re - use of the calculated values for these matrices in cases where incremental changes are made in the layout . in many operational settings ( e . g ., where a “ small ” change has been made in the layout ), the matrices d , { circumflex over ( d )}, and h are unchanged from one layout to the next ( because the designations for nearby and far - away pairs do not change for “ small ” changes in the layout ), while p and i maintain the same coefficients but have shifted grid indices ( to reflect “ small ” changes in the layout ). the improved efficiency by reusing these calculated values can be substantial because of the typical dimensions involved in these matrix equations ( e . g ., n & gt ; 1 , 000 , m & gt ; 1 , 000 ). in general , the size of n , the size of the mesh discretization , is driven by overall accuracy requirements for simulating the integrated circuit . then , for a given separation of mesh - element pairs into nearby and far - away pairs , the size of m , the pfft ( or spatial frequency ) discretization is driven by the accuracy requirements for the far - away pairs . note that when only directly neighboring mesh - element pairs ( e . g , according to some threshold distance ) are designated as nearby while other pairs are designated as far - away pairs , the size of the pfft grid may be relatively large since the pfft grid must resolve interactions between mesh element pairs that are physically closer together and therefore require more spatial frequencies for accurate resolution . in general , there is a trade - off between the advantages of a severe definition ( e . g ., a “ nearest neighbors ” rule ) for designating pairs of mesh elements as nearby or far - away and the corresponding size of the pfft grid needed for adequately resolving interactions between far - away mesh element pairs . in some operational settings it is desirable to define the pfft grid so that its size is comparable to that of the mesh elements , thereby making it easier to calculate projections and interpolations between the pfft grid and the mesh elements . additional details related to the decomposition given by eq . 1 can be found in u . s . patent application publication no . 2005 / 0076317 a1 , “ method and apparatus for determining interactive electromagnetic effects among conductors of a multi - layer circuit ” ( apr . 7 , 2005 ), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety , and also in “ large - scale broad - band parasitic extraction for fast layout verification of 3 - d rf and mixed - signals on - chip structures ”, f . ling et al ., ieee transactions on microwave theory and techniques , vol . 53 , no . 1 , january 2005 . for example , in u . s . patent application 2005 - 0076317 , calculations involving “ basis functions on triangles ” and the “ fft grid ” are summarized in fig1 with reference to equations 11 , 16 , and 17 and with additional details provided in related portions of the specification . in the above - cited ieee reference , the relevant matrix equation ( ax = b in the present specification ) is given by equation ( 13 ) and the separation into “ near and far interactions ” is characterized by equations ( 15 ), ( 16 ), ( 22 ), ( 23 ) and related portions of the text . fig5 shows a flow diagram 502 of an incremental solver for an embodiment of the present invention . first a user sets up 504 a routing grid . next objects are selected 506 from a schematic or layout . next ports are defined 508 . next simulation parameters are specified 510 ( e . g ., accuracy level , frequency sweep type and range , etc .). placement and routing are adjusted 512 and objects are updated 514 as desired by the user ( e . g ., to examine the effect of adjusting placement and routing on the design ). next the model is simulated 516 at a number of frequencies ( e . g ., n frequencies as shown ). the results are collected 518 and then verified 520 as required ( e . g ., by additional simulations using the extracted s - parameters ). the process can be continued by further adjusting placement and routing 512 or updating objects 514 , etc ., until the process is terminated 522 by the user . the shading for setting up 504 a routing grid , adjusting 512 placement and routing , updating 514 the objects , and verifying results 520 indicate differences as compared with the flow diagram 202 for the base solver in fig2 . fig6 shows a flow diagram 602 for simulations 516 at each frequency in the embodiment of fig5 . from the list of objects 604 and the routing grid 606 an initial run begins with determining 608 the pfft grid based on the routing grid 606 . the pfft grid is saved 610 so that a pre - set pfft grid 611 is available for future operations . next indirect values ( e . g ., matrix has show ) are determined 612 and saved 614 so that pre - computed indirect values 615 are available for future operations . next , a solid model is specified 616 for the simulation , a mesh is generated 618 , and direct values , projection values , and interpolation values are determined 620 ( e . g , matrices d , p , and i as shown ). these mesh values , direct values , projection values , and interpolation values are then saved ( e . g , as a pdk ( process design kit ) object as shown ) so that pre - computed values 623 are available for future operations . at this point more objects can be added to the model ( e . g , at the steps for getting the solid model 616 , generating mesh 618 and building direct values , projection values , and interpolation values 620 ). then , when the model is complete , the model can be used to determine voltage - current relationships , preferably by invoking a matrix - free iterative solver 624 . finally the s - parameters or y - parameters can be obtained 626 . after the initial run , pre - set values 611 , 615 , 623 for the simulation . that is , the pfft grid can be loaded 628 from pre - set values 611 . then the indirect values ( e . g ., matrix h as show ) can be loaded 630 from the pre - computed values 615 . for building objects into the model , the process can proceed based on whether a corresponding pdk object has been stored . that is , if a pdk object is available from storage , then mesh values , direct values , projection values , and interpolation values are determined 312 ( e . g , mesh representations , and matrices d , p , and i as shown ) can be obtained from pre - computed values 623 and updated 634 as needed . alternatively , a solid model can be specified 636 , a mesh generated 638 , and direct values , projection values , and interpolation values determined 640 ( e . g , matrices d , p , and i as shown ). then , similarly as in the initial run , then , when the model is complete , the model can be used to determine voltage - current relationships , preferably by invoking a matrix - free iterative solver 624 . finally the s - parameters or y - parameters can be obtained 626 . fig7 a , 7 b and 7 c show details for an incremental solution related to the embodiment shown in fig5 . in fig7 a two inductors 702 a , 702 b are shown overlaid on the pfft grid 704 , with triangular mesh elements 706 indicated on the inductors 702 a , 702 b . ( the distance between grid points 704 is approximately 10 microns for this example .) fig7 b shows an incremental change in the layout where the first inductor 706 a has remained fixed and the second inductor 706 b has been moved closer . in this case directly neighboring mesh - element pairs ( e . g , sharing at least a point or an edge ) are designated as nearby while other pairs are designated as far - away pairs . therefore , the incremental change in the layout does not change the designations for nearby and far - away pairs and the calculations related to the decomposition given by eq . 1 can be substantially reused . that is , the matrices d , { circumflex over ( d )}, and h are unchanged from one layout to the next , while p and i maintain the same coefficients but have shifted grid indices to reflect the changes in the layout . in this example , the number of unknowns ( in the mesh model ) is 1490 , and the simulation frequency is 1 ghz . fig7 c shows the improvement in computational speed that results from the incremental solver . for the initial run for modeling the layout in fig7 a , the setup time ( e . g ., for building the model 608 , 612 , 616 , 618 , 620 ) was 40 seconds and iterative solution time 624 was 3 . 7 seconds , which included 16 iterations of a conventional generalized minimal residual ( gmres ) method ( e . g ., starting from a zero - valued initial guess ). for the incremental run for modeling the layout in fig7 b , the setup time was zero seconds ( i . e , the previously calculated values were reused 611 , 615 , 623 with re - indexing of the grid points in the pfft grid to account for moving the second inductor 706 b ). the iterative solution time 623 was 1 . 8 seconds for 7 iterations of the gmres method , where fewer iterations were required because the solution from the initial run was used to initialize the gmres method in the incremental run . ( in general , the solution from initial run provides the best available initial guess for the iterative solver 624 .) fig8 shows a flow diagram 802 of a library - based solver for an embodiment of the present invention , where this library - based solver can be used for simulations 516 at each frequency in the embodiment of fig5 . this flow diagram 802 is similar to the lower half of the flow diagram 602 in fig6 where modeling values ( e . g , for matrices d , p , h , i ) were computed in the initial run and then reused 611 , 615 , 623 . from the list of objects 804 and the routing grid 806 an pfft grid is determined 808 based on the routing grid 806 . next indirect values ( e . g ., matrix h ) are determined 810 . next the model is assembled by adding modeling values for each object in the list of objects 804 . in the case where a pdk object is available from a pre - characterized database 812 , mesh values and the direct values ( e . g , matrix d ) are obtained 814 from the database 812 , which is analogous to the pre - computed values 623 in fig6 . then the direct values ( e . g , matrix d ) are updated 816 if necessary for the object , and the related projecting and interpolating values ( e . g , matrices p , i ) are calculated . in the case where a pdk object is not available from the pre - characterized database 812 , a solid model can be specified 820 , a mesh generated 822 , and direct values , projection values , and interpolation values determined 824 ( e . g , matrices d , p , and i ), which is analogous to equivalent operations 636 , 638 , 640 in fig6 . then , when the model is complete , the model can be used to determine voltage - current relationships , preferably by invoking a matrix - free iterative solver 826 . finally the s - parameters or y - parameters can be obtained 828 . fig9 shows a library architecture related to the embodiment of fig8 ( e . g ., for specifying elements of the pre - characterized database 812 ). two library elements are shown : a fixed ( e . g ., nonparametric ) pdk element 904 and a parameterized pdk element 905 . the fixed pdk element 904 includes data fields for symbol 906 , schematic 908 , layout 910 and compact model 912 , all of which represent conventional pdk characteristics . additionally the element 904 contains data fields labeled solver 914 with entries for mesh - values 916 and direct values ( e . g ., matrix d ) 916 , where these entries are indexed by their accuracy ( e . g ., high 920 , medium 922 and low 924 ) so that , for a given accuracy , corresponding values for mesh 916 and direct values 918 can be can be extracted for the ic model . similarly the parameterized pdk element 905 ( parameterized here by p 1 , . . . p n ) includes data fields for conventional features including symbol 920 , schematic 922 , layout 924 and compact model 926 . additionally the element 905 contains data fields labeled solver 928 with entries for mesh - values 930 and direct values ( e . g ., matrix d ) 932 , where these entries are indexed as different variants 934 ( e . g , variant 1 , variant 2 , etc .) of the parametric values , where these variants may relate to accuracy ( as in the solver fields 914 for the fixed element 904 ) as well as other ic design characteristics ( e . g ., geometrical scale factors , frequency dependencies , etc .). additional embodiments relate to an apparatus for carrying out any one of the above - described methods , where the apparatus may include a computer for executing instructions related to the method . in this context the computer may be a general - purpose computer including , for example , a processor , memory , storage , and input / output devices ( e . g ., monitor , keyboard , disk drive , internet connection , etc .). however , the computer may include specialized circuitry or other hardware for carrying out some or all aspects of the method . in some operational settings , the apparatus may be configured as a system that includes one or more units , each of which is configured to carry out some aspects of the method either in software , in hardware or in some combination thereof . additional embodiments also relate to a computer - readable medium that stores ( e . g ., tangibly embodies ) a computer program for carrying out any one of the above - described methods by means of a computer . the computer program may be written , for example , in a general - purpose programming language ( e . g ., c , c ++) or some specialized application - specific language . the computer program may be stored as an encoded file in some useful format ( e . g ., binary , ascii ). although only certain 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 . for example , aspects of embodiments disclosed above can be combined in other combinations to form additional embodiments . accordingly , all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention . | 6 |
with the aim of achieving the objectives and avoiding the drawbacks mentioned in the previous sections , the invention discloses a grill for cooking characterized in that it comprises in principle a lower base with support legs and an upper grating constituting the actual grill which is attached to the base via its center , with the important characteristic of being adjustable in height so that the heat of the embers on the product to be cooked can be intensified or reduced , simply by moving the upper grating further away or closer by positioning it in different horizontal planes . it can be emphasized that this system permits the food to be moved to a zone of less heat without any need to touch it directly , in order to prevent it from becoming overcooked and in the same way to maintain an optimum temperature until it is eaten . the means of attachment and regulation in height of the upper grating consist of a threaded rod which projects perpendicularly from the center of the grating while at the same time this rod is coupled to a threaded hole also located in the center of the lower base , though , instead of a threaded rod , a smooth , pneumatic or hydraulic rod can also be used , which rod alters the height of the upper grating in relation to the lower grating or base . said rod is linked to the upper grating by means of a horizontal bearing permitting the upper grating to turn in both directions . in order to be able to turn the grating comfortably , and thereby vary its distance with respect to the embers and the lower base , provision has been made for some devices by means of radial handles provided around the edge of the grating , in the manner of a horizontal helm . the grating and the base of the grill present an essentially circular configuration , though their shape could be any other : square , hexagonal , octagonal , etc . moreover , the grill of the invention has been provided with certain accessories , one of them consisting of an additional upper disc that can be attached to the rest of the grill by means of a central bar and which permits food to be kept hot while the cooking is continued on the grating ; this additional upper disc having a diameter less than or equal to that of the said grating . another of these accessories consists of a hood which facilitates the extraction of smoke and prevents particles in the air from falling onto the food . the grill of the invention furthermore comprises an accessory consisting of a lateral screen running from part of the perimeter of the lower base as far as ground , being situated in a zone where the air reaches from the outside , thereby protecting the cook from the heat . the circular configuration of the grill substantially facilitates its maneuverability , and it can be handled by just one person , both during its use when some product is being cooked and for loading it into a vehicle or for transporting it , in this case with the base and the grating being arranged separately in vertical planes so that both elements can be rolled comfortably with a minimum effort . it is easy to dismantle . it takes up very little space . it is very pleasant to look at . it is easy to clean owing to its easy mobility and dismantling . thanks to the coupling between the two essential parts of the grill , the grating will be arranged by rotating it in the appropriate direction or by mechanically raising or lowering it in a higher plane in order to leave enough space for being able to add more coal or wood when required . a semicircular zone with heat can be prepared and another without heat so that the most cooked foods can be placed in the zone without heat in order to prevent these foods from becoming overcooked such that they cannot afterwards be eaten . this is the most usual way of using it , without detriment to being able to use it wholly or partially charged with fuel according to the user &# 39 ; s needs . another characteristic of the invention relates to a plate with a flat surface that can be provided on the grating and which is used , for example , for cutting and preparing the food . another plate can also be incorporated with a structure of a grating that is thicker than the rest of the main grating so that smaller items of foods can be arranged on it in the manner of a griddle . the grating can also rest on small stones or wedges . below , in order to facilitate a better understanding of this descriptive specification and forming an integral part thereof , some figures are attached in which the object of the invention has been represented by way of 30 illustration and non - limiting . fig1 .— shows a view in exploded perspective of the grill for cooking , forming the object of the invention . fig2 .— shows a view in elevation of the grill of the invention . fig3 .— represents a view in exploded perspective of the grill of the invention referred to in the previous figures but showing some accessories which can be coupled thereto . considering the numbering adopted in the figures , the grill for cooking is defined starting from a lower base 1 with support legs 2 on the ground which are adjustable in height and an upper grating 3 which includes a threaded rod 4 in its center for facilitating its coupling in a central hole 5 of the base 1 , in such a way that the grating 3 will be able to be made to turn in one direction or the other in order to vary its height in the case of a threaded rod , these turns not being necessary since this system rises or descends by means of mechanical action , and thereby bring it closer to or further away from the embers located on the ground beneath the lower base 1 , thus obtaining greater or lesser heat for the products to be cooked that are borne on the grating 3 . the rotation of the grating 3 will be carried out by means of some radial handles 6 projecting from the edge of said grating 3 . both the lower base 1 and the grating 3 possess a configuration that is circular , hexagonal , octagonal , etc ., which facilitates their handling both during their use and when they are being assembled and dismantled , and also while they are being handled for transportation , in such a way that in this case the grating 3 and the lower base 1 will be arranged separately in vertical planes and their movement will be done with the minimum effort by carrying out turns on the grill and base by means of a bearing . the lower base 1 includes radial arms 7 which project from a central body 8 where the threaded hole 5 is located and end in an outer circumferential ring 9 . the base is furthermore reinforced by means of two polygonal configurations 10 which are attached to the radial arms 7 . the support legs 2 project from the zone where the radial arms 7 meet the sections of the outermost polygonal configuration 10 . the grating 3 includes a central body 11 from where some radial arms 12 project which are attached via their ends to an outer circumferential ring 13 , there existing other concentric rings 14 of smaller diameter which are also attached to the radial arms 12 . the threaded rod 4 projects from the central body 11 of the grating 3 . provision has furthermore been made for at least one flat piece in the form of a circular sector 15 for being coupled on the grating 3 with application as use . for cutting food . another possibility is the incorporation of other pieces in the form of a circular sector 15 ′ like a small and thicker grating for arranging smaller products than those that rest on the grating 3 . moreover , there is also the possibility of the threaded rod being integral with the lower base , with which the complementary threaded hole would then be located in the central body of the grating . in the present embodiment of the invention , the grill has some accessories , one of which consists of an additional upper disc 16 that can be attached to the rest of the grill by means of a central bar 17 and which permits food to be kept hot while the cooking is continued on the grating 3 , as shown in fig3 . this upper disc 16 has a diameter less than or equal to that of the said grating 3 . provision has also been made for another accessory consisting of a hood 18 which facilitates the extraction of smoke and prevents particles in the air from falling onto the food , this hood 18 being shown in fig3 . a further accessory has moreover been provided , also shown in fig3 , consisting of a lateral screen 19 running from part of the perimeter of the lower base 1 as far as ground , being situated in a zone where the air reaches from the outside , thereby permitting the cook to be protected from the heat . | 0 |
the entire disclosure of u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 466 , 934 filed jun . 6 , 1995 is expressly incorporated by reference herein . turning now to fig3 the endovascular measuring apparatus 100 of the invention broadly includes a hollow plunger 102 , a wire stent 104 , a hollow sheath 106 , and a hollow inner catheter 108 attached to a hub 109 . the plunger 102 has a proximal end 110 with a first locking hemostasis valve 112 and a distal end 116 which is affixed to the proximal end 118 of the stent 104 . the hemostasis valve 112 includes an o - ring 113 , and a locking cap 114 . the lumen ( not shown ) of the hollow plunger 102 is dimensioned such that it can slide freely over the body of the hollow inner catheter 108 . the hollow inner catheter 108 serves as a guide for a guidewire 144 and as a tether to hold a soft flexible hollow dilator tip 148 in place at the distal end 146 of the catheter 108 . the tip 148 can be adjusted relative to the distal end 116 of the plunger 102 by sliding the inner catheter 108 within the plunger 102 . once the tip 148 is adjusted to accommodate the compressed stent 104 , the inner catheter 108 is locked into place by tightening the cap 114 onto a threaded portion 117 of the first locking hemostasis valve 112 . the cap 114 is effectively a locking mechanism which compresses the o - ring 113 , thereby fixing or locking the plunger 102 relative to the inner catheter 108 and the tip 148 . the body 120 of the plunger 102 contains a calibrated scale 122 having , e . g ., fifty major divisions 124 spaced at calibrated intervals . the scale 122 is calibrated to adjust for the longitudinal length contraction and diameter expansion experienced by the particular stent 104 when being decompressed ; i . e ., the ratio of the length of the stent when in the sheath to the length of the stent when uncompressed . the proximal end 118 of the wire stent 104 is affixed to the distal end 116 of the plunger 102 by any desirable means such as by heat fusing , insert molding , or gluing with epoxy . the body 128 of the wire stent 104 when uncompressed has a diameter larger than that of the plunger 102 and of the sheath 106 . the distal end 130 of the sheath 106 is open , and the sheath 106 has a diameter slightly larger than that of the body 122 of the plunger 102 so as to be translatable along the plunger body . the sheath 106 is further translatable over the stent 104 due to flexible and deformable characteristics of the stent 104 . it will be appreciated that when the sheath 106 is positioned over the wire stent 104 , the stent 104 contracts and elongates in a manner similar to that discussed in the background of the invention and shown at 132 . the proximal end 131 of the sheath 106 is attached to a second hemostasis valve 133 which is preferably provided with external threads 135 . a second threaded cap 138 containing a second compressible o - ring 140 is screwed onto the proximal end of a second locking hemostasis valve 133 . the second threaded cap 138 mates with the threads 135 of the second locking valve 133 to reversibly fasten the sheath 106 to the plunger 102 . the o - ring is used both to prevent inadvertent slippage of the sheath 106 relative to the plunger 102 by acting as a friction - locking mechanism , and to serve as a hemostasis valve during interventional surgical procedures . by pulling the first locking valve 112 away from the second locking valve 133 ( or pushing the sheath 106 relative to the plunger 102 ), the wire stent 104 can be pulled into the sheath 106 and compressed . conversely , by pushing the first locking valve 112 toward the second locking valve 133 ( or pulling the sheath 106 relative to the plunger 102 ), the distal end 126 of the wire stent 104 can be released and will expand towards its relaxed uncompressed configuration until ( and if ) constrained by the blood vessel in which it is being deployed . it will be appreciated that the second locking valve 133 can be positioned and will lock anywhere along the body 120 of the plunger 102 , thus providing the user with a means to control the length of stent 104 to be deployed . by reading the scale 122 at the location of the proximal - most end 142 of the second locking valve 133 , the length of stent required for deployment within the body cavity 202 at any given time can be determined . in particular , since the scale 122 is preferably calibrated to the ratio of the length of the stent 104 when compressed in the sheath 106 to the length of the stent 104 in its uncompressed state , the reading provided on the calibrated scale will inform the practitioner as to the length of uncompressed stent required to bridge any cavity in any path , regardless of the state that the stent will assume when deployed in the cavity . still referring to fig3 it is noted that both the first and second locking hemostasis valves 112 , 133 are preferably provided with flushing lines 115 , 137 . the lines 116 and 137 permit the spaces between the concentric hollow sheath 106 , hollow catheter 108 , and hollow plunger 102 to be flushed with heparinized saline during the insertion procedure . it is also seen that the hollow catheter 108 extends from the proximal hub 109 past the open distal end 126 of the stent 104 . the catheter 108 has an interior lumen ( not shown ) dimensioned for following a guide wire 144 into the body cavity 202 ( see fig4 ) of a patient . the distal end 146 of the catheter 108 is coupled to the hollow dilator tip 148 . the hollow catheter 108 and dilator tip 148 are capable of transporting a radiopaque contrast medium ( not shown ) used for fluoroscopic viewing . the plunger 102 and the sheath 106 of the apparatus 100 can be made from any durable biocompatible material such as nylon , polyurethane , teflon ®, polyester , pvc , polyethylene , polypropylene , etc ., or various combinations of the above , with or without radiopaque fillers such as barium sulfate or bismuth subcarbonate . the dilator tip 148 can be formed of the same materials as the plunger 102 and sheath 106 , but is preferably formed of a softer durometer material such as shore 80 a polyurethane or pebax nylon with a radiopaque filler or a radiopaque marking band . the measuring apparatus 100 of the invention can be made disposable or reusable . the lumen ( not shown ) of the inner catheter 108 or the annular space 150 between the sheath 106 and plunger 102 can be used to inject radiopaque contrast media into the vessel to assist in placement of the apparatus 100 as discussed above . the stent 104 material can be of the same material and of similar geometry as would be used in an evg , or it may be of a more radiopaque material such as tungsten , stainless steel , gold and the like . the apparatus 100 can be used in virtually any cavitous area of the body such as the urethra , esophagus , biliary duct , blood vessels , etc . or in any surgically made duct or shunt such as those made in the liver during transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedures . referring now to fig4 - 7 , the apparatus 100 of the invention is seen with reference to the method of the invention . according to the method of the invention , the measuring apparatus 100 of the invention is initially placed in its fully axially extended position ( see fig4 ), with the sheath 106 covering the entire length of the wire stent 104 which is in turn fully compressed . in this configuration , the second locking valve 133 of the sheath 106 is at its furthest distance from the first locking valve 112 of the plunger 102 , and is aligned with the scale 122 such that the proximal most end 142 of the stop coincides with the “ 0 ” mark 204 on the scale 122 . the tip 148 is adjusted to fit into the sheath 106 by loosening the first locking valve 112 and pulling the inner hollow catheter 108 proximally such that the stepped proximal end 143 of the tip 148 fits into the sheath 106 and the distal end 116 of the plunger 102 abuts the proximal end 118 of the compressed stent 104 . tile distal end 206 of the guide wire 144 is located sufficiently past the body cavity 202 to allow proper placement of the measuring apparatus 100 . when positioning the measuring apparatus 100 , the distal ends of the stent 104 and sheath 106 should typically be located slightly past the distal neck 208 of the body cavity 202 in which the stent 100 is to be deployed ( see fig5 ). this is done to compensate for the tendency of the stent 104 to contract in length when going from its compressed configuration in the sheath 106 to its deployed configuration in the vessel 202 . it should be noted that the flexible hollow dilator tip 148 at the distal end 146 of the catheter 108 is radiopaque . thus , a user may monitor the progress and placement of the measuring apparatus 100 by means of a ti fluoroscope ( not shown ). once the measuring apparatus 100 is properly positioned within the body cavity 202 ( as in fig5 ), the sheath 106 is slowly retracted ( see fig6 ) by first loosening the cap 138 on the second locking valve 133 and then , while holding the plunger 102 stationary , pulling the sheath 106 backwards . as the sheath is retracted , the distal end 126 of the stent 104 is released and expands back towards its uncompressed configuration until it engages the distal neck 208 of the cavity 202 . it will be appreciated that , as the distal end 126 of the stent 104 has an at rest uncompressed diameter greater than the distal neck 208 diameter of the body cavity 202 , the distal end 126 of the stent exerts pressure on the distal neck 208 when it is deployed , causing the distal end 126 of the stent 104 to be locked into place . as mentioned above , the overall length of the stent 104 decreases when it goes from its compressed configuration to its less compressed deployed configuration . it is thus important that the user position the distal end 126 of the stent 104 sufficiently past the distal neck 208 of the body cavity 202 to compensate for this shrinkage . it will be noted , however , that should the practitioner discover after the sheath 106 has been retracted that the distal end 126 of the stent 104 is not positioned far enough into the distal neck 208 of the body cavity 202 , the practitioner need only re - extend the sheath 106 fully over the stent 104 and repeat the above steps of positioning . as indicated by fig7 the sheath 106 is further retracted until the user determines , via fluoroscopy , that the stent 104 is sufficiently deployed so as to bridge the length of the body cavity 202 . as shown in fig7 the length of stent 104 as retractably deployed must be slightly longer than the length of the body cavity 202 . in this manner , the proximal end 718 of the length of retractably deployed stent 104 and the distal end 126 of the stent are positioned respectively within the proximal and distal necks 210 , 208 of the body cavity 202 . once the desired length of stent 104 is retractably deployed , the proximal most end 142 of the second locking valve 133 is used as an indicator on the scale 122 of the plunger 102 . as discussed above , the scale 122 is calibrated such that the indicated number 702 represents the uncompressed length of stent needed to fully bridge the body cavity 202 . in this particular case , the scale 122 indicates 27 mm , signifying that a stent having an at rest , uncompressed length of 27 mm must be used to properly bridge the body cavity 202 which may be , e . g ., 20 mm long . once the measurement is taken , the sheath 106 is re - extended over the stent 104 ( as in fig5 ), thus re - compressing it , and the entire measuring apparatus 100 is withdrawn from the body cavity 202 and the patient . the stent 104 may then be detached from the measuring apparatus 100 by cutting it with , for example , scissors , or a new stent or covered stent ( not shown ) having the same properties and pitch angle as the stent 104 of the measuring apparatus 100 , and having an at rest uncompressed length equal to or proportional to the recorded measurement , may be obtained . in the above example , a 27 mm stent of the same diameter and geometry would thus be obtained . this stent is then inserted into the body cavity 202 for deployment via any known means in the art . as the measurement method of the invention has already determined the proper stent length , the user is only left with the task of properly placing the stent within the body cavity 202 . turning now to fig8 a second embodiment of the apparatus 300 of the invention is seen . in this embodiment , the stent 304 of the measuring apparatus 300 is coated with a microporous or non - porous elastomeric membrane . the apparatus 300 has particular advantageous use where the body cavity 301 has several branching vessels 302 , 303 and a saccular aneurysm 308 . with the measuring apparatus 300 deployed inside the body cavity 301 as shown , the organs and tissues ( not shown ) fed by the branch vessels 302 , 303 can be monitored to determine if they are suffering harmful effects as a result of the blocking of the branch vessels 302 , 303 caused by the non porous stent 304 . for example , if the branch vessels 302 , 303 were to represent arteries which nourish the spinal chord , the lower extremities of the patient can be tested and monitored to determine if blocking of these arteries causes paraplegia in the patient . should such a determination be made , the coated stent can either be cut shorter so as to not block the branch vessels , or the procedure terminated altogether . similarly , when proceeding to bridge an aortic aneurysm , the measuring apparatus can be used with a coated stent to determine whether there is a back flow from , for example , a lumbar artery into the aneurysm , which if not occluded can lead to rupture of the aneurysm . if a back flow is detected , interventional blockage of the lumbar artery with an occlusion device may be required prior to stenting the aorta . in accord with yet another aspect of the invention , a detachable hub and detachable hemostasis valve for use in conjunction with methods for loading and deploying a stent or stent - graft are seen in fig9 and 10 . in particular , a detachable hub 310 for use on the endovascular measuring apparatus 100 of fig3 - 8 ( in lieu of hub 109 ) is seen in fig9 having a cap 312 which screws onto threads 314 , an o - ring 316 , a lumen 317 , and a proximal handle 318 having a luer lock 320 capable of connection to a hemostasis valve or the like . the inner catheter 315 is fed through the lumen 317 of the detachable hub 310 and locked into place by tightening the cap 312 onto the threads 314 , thereby compressing the o - ring 316 . similarly , the detachable hemostasis valve 410 of fig1 is intended to replace the valve lock 112 of fig3 - 8 . the detachable hemostasis valve 410 includes a body portion 412 having proximal threads 414 and distal threads 416 , distal and proximal caps 418 , 420 , a lumen 422 , distal and proximal o - rings 424 , 426 , and a flush port 430 . the inner catheter 108 and plunger 120 pass through the lumen 422 , and when in place , the distal cap 420 can be tightened on the distal threads 416 to compress the distal o - ring 424 and lock the valve onto the plunger 120 . similarly , the proximal cap 418 can be tightened on the proximal threads 414 to compress the proximal o - ring 426 to lock onto the inner catheter 108 . the flush port 430 can be used to enable flushing of the annular space between the plunger 120 and the inner catheter 108 with , e . g ., heparinized saline . with the detachable hub 310 and lock 410 as provided in fig9 and 10 , the method of measuring a desired stent length can be carried out as described above with reference to fig3 - 8 . however , in accord with another aspect of the invention , after the measurement , the provided apparatus can be used for loading and deployment of the measured stent or stent - graft . in particular , after the desired stent length has been measured , the entire measuring apparatus is removed from the body of the patient . preferably , all lumens of the apparatus are then flushed with heparinized saline . the detachable hub 310 ( fig9 ) is then detached an removed , and the detachable lock 410 is detached and removed . with the hub 310 and lock 410 removed , the dilator tip 148 is grabbed an pulled distally , such that the inner catheter 108 is removed completely from the hollow plunger 120 . then , the stent 104 is pulled through and entirely out of the sheath 106 . using a waterproof , sterile , felt - tipped pen or the like , or any other desired mechanism , the stent of stent - graft 104 is marked to the desired length from its distal end 126 ( e , g ., 27 mm from the distal end of the stent ). with the stent marked , the proximal end of the plunger 102 , still connected to the stent 104 , is inserted into the sheath , and through the plunger lock 133 until the proximal end 120 of the plunger sticks out of the distal end of the sheath 106 ; i . e ., the plunger is inserted backwards through the sheath . the proximal end of the plunger sticking out to the distal end of the sheath is then pulled such that the stent or stent - graft 104 is pulled into the sheath and out of the distal end of the sheath to the mark . the stent 104 is then cut at , or just proximal to the marking such that the remaining stent ( with the marking ) with the plunger can be discarded , and the stent in the sheath properly loaded . with the sheath loaded , the introducer system is reassembled by inserting the catheter 108 through the sheath and stent , if desired , by providing a plunger to push out the stent or stent - graft 104 when properly located , and , if desired , by reattaching the hub 310 to the catheter , and the lock 410 to the plunger and catheter . it will be appreciated that the plunger utilized with the loaded sheath can be a new plunger used for deploying the stent 104 , or the remaining portion of the stent utilized in the initial measurements with the excess stent removed from the plunger . the loading and deployment method of the invention as set forth above have numerous advantages . it will be appreciated that since the stent is loaded by pulling the stent with the plunger , there is less opportunity for the stent wires to scrape and perforate the wall of the sheath . in addition , funnels usually required to load the stent are eliminate , and the stent loading operation is simple . further , the stent or stent - graft being utilized is the same unit which was used as the measuring devise , thereby rendering the system less expensive . there have been described and illustrated herein several embodiments of a tubular braided stent and a method of manufacturing the stent of the invention . while particular embodiments of the invention have been described , it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto , as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise . thus , while particular stent designs have been disclosed for use with the apparatus of the invention , it will be appreciated that other designs may work as well . for example , while a stent having a homogeneous pitch angle throughout has been disclosed , a stent with a different body and end pitch angle can also be used as disclosed in copending u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 388 , 612 , or continuously varying hyperbaloidal stents can be used . furthermore while a particular mechanism for adjusting and locking the sheath relative to the plunger and a similar method for locking the plunger relative to the inner catheter has been disclosed , it will be understood that other mechanisms or no mechanisms may be used as well . also , while a particular type of scale has been disclosed , it will be recognized that any other suitable scales could be used . for example , although a metric scale has been disclosed , an english system scale or any other measurement system scale could also be used . in addition , although a scale has been disclosed printed along the plunger body , the scale may instead include electronic measuring means coupled to an lcd readout . furthermore , although the scale has been disclosed as having a particular calibration , any other calibration could be used . for example , although the scale has been calibrated to account for the contraction experienced by the stent when in an uncompressed configuration , the scale may be calibrated in any other fashion or may be uncalibrated . when uncalibrated , the practitioner can either conduct the necessary mathematics in order to determine the length of uncompressed stent to use , or can cut a stent in its compressed state in a sheath the same diameter as the sheath of the apparatus . in fact , if desired , no scale or calibration is necessarily required on the plunger , as the plunger can be marked by the practitioner during use , and measured afterwards . although this measuring apparatus has been described for use with a self - expanding stent of the wallsten or didcott configuration , it will be appreciated that the measuring apparatus can be calibrated for use with other devices such as balloon expandable palmaz or gianturco stents and the like . the apparatus may also be used to acquire exact measurements of body cavities for data collection and subsequent use for other procedures such as bypass surgery , electrophysical mapping , endoscopic surgery , etc . moreover , while a particular configuration for the dilator tip has been disclosed , it will be appreciated that other configurations or no dilator tip could be used as well . furthermore , while a particular monitoring means has been described for use with the apparatus , it will be understood that any monitoring means can be similarly used . in particular , while the monitoring means were described to be fluoroscopy , other means such as radioscopy and ct scans may also be used . in addition , while a particular method of measuring the deployment length of a stent in a body cavity using the apparatus of the invention has been disclosed , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that details may be altered without changing the nature of the method . it will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided apparatus and method of the invention without deviating from their spirit and scope as so claimed . | 0 |
the present method , workpiece and system are shown in fig1 - 3 . a superconducting cyclotron facility 21 includes an ion source 23 , a k500 cyclotron 25 , a k1200 cyclotron 27 , an a1900 fragment separator 29 , a momentum compression anl gas catcher 31 , an optional cryogenic gas stopper 33 , a low energy beam line ebit cooler buncher helium jet 35 , an optional linear reaccelerator 37 , and an isotope tagging station 39 . the preceding items are all computer controlled . ion source 23 includes an electron cyclotron resonance (“ ecr ”) source or an electron beam ion source (“ ebis ”), such a using an ion gun employing microwaves in a low pressure gas or thermionic emissions of electrons to ionize the base material in its gaseous state . superconducting cyclotron facility 21 is of the type disclosed in hausmann , m ., et al ., “ design of the advanced rare isotope separator aris at frib ,” nucl . instr . meth . b 317 ( jul . 4 , 2013 ) 349 - 353 ; and “ experimental equipment needs for the facility for rare isotope beams ( frib )— whitepaper ” ( feb . 13 , 2015 ). facility 21 uses projectile fragmentation and induced in - flight fission of heavy - ion primary beams at energies of 100 mev and preferably at least 200 mev / u and at a beam power of at least 1 kw and preferably at least 400 kw , to generate rare isotope beams . more particularly , reaccelerator 37 is a superconducting — rf driver , linear accelerator . fragment separator 29 is preferably a three - stage fragment separator including a first stage vertically bending preseparator followed by two horizontally - bending second and third stages using multiple superferric magnet dipoles and quadruples to focus the beam and / or correct image aberrations . fig1 illustrates the equipment layout of the national superconducting cyclotron laboratory with the proposed location of the isotope tagging station within the accelerator complex , but alternate layouts may be employed . a high value workpiece 51 is an original artwork , such as a painting , print , photograph , sculpture , vase , tapestry , document or the like . alternately , workpiece is an antique , jewelry , watch , vintage automobile component such as an engine block , or other such expensive or one - of - a - kind object that is prone to having forgeries or false reproductions made thereof . in the painting workpiece 51 example used herewith , a substrate 53 is canvas with an aesthetic painted layer 55 on a front surface . if a sculpture , substrate 53 includes the clay or ceramic material . if jewelry or an automobile component , substrate 53 may be a metal structure . first , a visual marker 57 is placed in a small area on a backside of workpiece 51 , such as by printing , painting or any other manner which will last for decades without significant degradation or harm to aesthetic painted layer 55 . marker 57 provides a visual point for the authenticator to begin seeking the isotope tag . one or more metallic masks 59 are temporarily placed against marker 57 . each mask 59 is a lead plate of about 2 - 10 mm thick with one or more holes 61 therethrough . workpiece 51 is then placed in a fixture within isotope tagging station 39 . a hollow and elongated beam pipe 63 is sealed against mask 59 . a beam of heavy ions is generated from source 23 and accelerated to approximately half the speed of light by cyclotrons 25 and 27 . nuclear reactions occur at the beginning of the fragment separator 29 to create the desired isotope . the desired isotope 71 is selected by the fragment separator and then transported for use in a beam pipe or optionally travel through catcher 31 and are slowed down in helium gas stopper 33 . optionally , isotopes 71 are thereafter re - accelerated in linear accelerator 37 to create a precise workpiece - penetration speed . isotopes from the fragment separator or optionally reaccelerated isotopes 71 then travel through pipe 63 and those isotopes aligned with holes 61 in mask 59 , penetrate into and are implanted between 5 mm and 1 micron deep , and more preferably at or between 1 mm and 10 microns inside workpiece 51 relative to the backside surface thereof adjacent pipe 63 . multiple masks 59 with different hole quantities or patterns ( as shown in fig3 ) may be employed to provide unique or customized identifiers . moreover , different combinations of rare isotopes 71 may be implanted through a single or different combinations of mask holes 61 to provide unique or customized identifiers . in the example shown in fig3 , at least four and more preferably sixteen different isotope locations are provided for a single workpiece . the identifier may be published in a reference guide for each original workpiece . since a rare isotope is chosen that can only be implanted in expensive accelerator facilities ( i . e ., & gt ;$ 500 million ( 2015 usd )), the present approach is too expensive and technically difficult for a forger . however , the present approach is feasible for a physicist with legitimate access to such a system . the authenticator uses a gamma ray detector 73 with kev energy resolution or the like to identify the type of isotope and position of the isotope in a nondestructive manner , to assist in authentication ( which includes identification ) of the workpiece . referring to fig4 a - 4f , desired rare isotopes are those that are accelerated with an energy of at least 100 a - mev and with a beam power of at least 1 kw . furthermore , the desired rare isotopes have a half - life decay rate of at least three months , have a measurable and precise alpha or gamma decay emission ( but not a beta decay emission ), and have a unique and repeatable isotope signature which cannot be imitated by other isotopes . nonlimiting exemplary desired isotopes include 64 148 gd , 76 194 os , 26 60 fe , 50 126 sn , 88 228 ra , 82 210 pb , and the like . other such rare isotopes may be employed beyond those specifically identified . however , 14 32 si , for example , is not desired since it is a pure beta emitter which makes it difficult to identify the specific isotope due to a lack of unique energies . while various embodiments have been disclosed , other embodiments may fall within the scope of the present invention . for example , the mask can have alternate external and / or hole shapes , such as elongated slots of straight or curved shapes . additional or alternate accelerator , separator , catcher , stopper and jet equipment may be used as long as the facility is not commonly available and can produce rare isotopes accelerated with the above - specified energies and beam powers ; such alternate equipment may lead to difference rates of isotope production as compared to fig4 b - 4f discussed hereinabove . additional modifications can be made which fall within the scope and spirit of the present invention . | 6 |
in this description , including the accompanying drawing , there is shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention . it is to be understood that changes and modifications can be made in the preferred embodiment within the scope of the invention and that others skilled in the art will be able to modify it and embody it in a variety of forms , each as may be suited in the conditions of a particular case . fig1 is a side elevational schematic view of the invention ; fig3 is a broken away , partial plan view of part of the lower right corner of the invention showing the drive arrangement for the oscillation feeder plate which is shown in dotted lines ; fig4 is a schematic side view of one of the moveable bulkheads in its lower and upper position ; fig6 is a schematic view of the conveyor as it turns on its drive sprocket ; and fig7 is a schematic plan view showing the take - up mechanism for the conveyor . with reference to fig1 there is shown an overall side view of the mobile feeder loader 10 of the present invention . these machines are very large with the preferred embodiment shown in fig1 being approximately 50 feet long and having a width of approximately 22 feet at 45 inches of height . the feeder loader 10 has a self - propelled mobile base 12 which preferably comprises a propelling mechanism such as two track crawlers which are hydraulically driven . these crawlers are available from a number of manufacturers with the one on the preferred embodiment being a komatsu pc400 lc3 crawler side frame , distributed in the u . s . by komatsu of atlanta , ga . the crawler side frames 14 are spaced apart and supported by a car body on which is mounted an engine 16 and generator 18 . also mounted on the car body is an electric driven hydraulic motor and pump with tank 20 . the width of the crawler with the two side frames and the car body is approximately 17 feet and the length is approximately 161 / 2 feet . the engine 16 drives the generator 18 . electric motors drive the hydraulic pump for the crawler propelling mechanism and the oscillation feeder plate . two upper side frames are mounted on the car body for supporting the conveyor . each upper side frame consists of two sets of i - beams pinned together . the longer i - beam 22 is pinned to the car body at 30 and pinned at the top to the conveyor at 26 . the shorter i - beam 28 is pinned at the lower end of the longer i - beam 22 at 24 and pinned at the top to the conveyor at point 32 which is approximately midway of the length of the conveyor . the longer and shorter i - beam form an l with the feeder conveyor and operate as a unitary member permitting the feeder conveyor to pivot about the car body at pin 30 . the amount of pivot is controlled by an adjustable hydraulic cylinder 34 which causes the feeder conveyor to pivot about pin 30 . the long i - beam 22 is approximately 16 feet long and the short i - beam 28 is approximately 9 feet long . the mobile feeder loader 10 has a feeder portion at its lower end which feeds the material onto an inclined conveyor which elevates the material to sufficient height so that it may fall off the end of the conveyor into a truck or other receiver 36 . the receiver could be another conveyor or other type of receiver but normally would be an end dump or rock truck . these trucks are usually huge and normally 50 to 100 tons but may vary from 35 tons to 220 tons and may even be smaller or larger than this range . the flexibility of the present invention permits a variety of receivers to be loaded having different capacities as no matter what the capacity they can be optimally loaded . the previous arrangement would require an attempt to size the front end loader , electric shovels or hydraulic shovels to the size of the truck and such arrangements were relatively inflexible . with reference to fig1 the feeder part of the feeder loader is located at the lower most left portion . first is a lip 38 which rests on the ground during normal operation with an inclined forward most face 40 which rises approximately 45 inches tall . just to the right of the inclined face 40 is a feeder plate 42 which oscillates transversely approximately 12 inches . the oscillation is done by hydraulic cylinders 44 mounted underneath the plate . the cylinders are two way and automatically reverse at the end of the one foot stroke . four cylinders are utilized , two on each side to reduce the height . the feeder plate 42 is carried on four rails 46 which are welded upside down to the underside of the plate and roll on stationery complementary wheels which are preferably td25e double flange rollers 48 available from dresser industries in libertyville , ill . the hydraulic cylinders 44 , rails 46 and rollers 48 are better seen in fig3 . with further reference to fig1 there are two feeder sides 50 at each end of the feeder plate 42 under which it oscillates as will be explained more fully infra . there are also two moveable bulkheads 52 to assist in moving the material to be conveyed onto the conveyor . also , as seen in fig1 the feeder plate 42 is relatively flat and is inclined upward . the conveyor portion of the apparatus is an inclined trough having inclined conveyor sides 54 with a conveyor at the bottom of the trough carried by chain links 56 on top of rollers 58 . for simplicity , only three of many rollers 58 are shown in fig1 . the rollers are available from a number of sources , but the ones preferred are the rollers used on the caterpillar d7 tractor available from caterpillar corporation in peoria , ill . the chain links are the same as used on the tracks of the same tractor . at the bottom of each conveyor side 54 are replaceable wear plates 60 . the conveyor is partially supported by a number of beams or frames 62 spaced along the side and bottom thereof . the chain links 56 form a continuous path around drive sprocket 64 and idler sprocket 66 . the drive sprocket 64 is driven by a chain 68 which in turn is driven by a gear box and clutch 70 . the gear box is a sumitoma gear box of 380 horsepower rating available from sumitoma in houston , tx . the clutch is an air operated clutch available from horton manufacturing co ., inc . located in minneapolis , minn . the starting and stopping of the conveyor is achieved through the clutch and it is necessary to have a soft start up since there is a large inherent weight inertia associated with the weight of the material on the conveyor . this arrangement for starting and stopping of the conveyor permits the conveyor and feeder unit to , in effect , store a large amount of the material to be conveyed so that the truck , or other receiver , can be optimally loaded without delay when ready to receive a full load . thus the amount of material present on the feeder plate and on the conveyor stores sufficient material or accumulates sufficient material so that it functions as a surge pile or accumulator usually sufficient to fill a truck without any delay once the truck is positioned under the end the conveyor . the gear drive and clutch 70 are driven by an 150 horsepower ac electric motor 72 available from weg , rochester , n . y . there is a duplicate of the electric motor 72 and gear drive and clutch 70 on the opposite side of the conveyor . the control of the mobile feeder loader 10 and especially the starting and stopping of the feeding and conveying of the material into the truck 36 is under the control of an operator in the cab 74 . the cab is mounted above the top of the conveyor and gives excellent visibility for controlling the mobile feeder loader . the cab is accessible by a ladder 76 from a catwalk ( not shown ) on the side of the conveyor . an auxiliary or lower cab 75 is provided for moving the feeder loader &# 39 ; s position from one location to another . the location of this cab on the mobile base 12 avoids the need for rollover protection for cab 74 since that cab would not normally be used by the operator for repositioning of locations . as seen on the left of fig1 a bulldozer blade 78 pushes the material 80 up the inclined face 40 of the lip 38 and onto the inclined feeder plate 42 . the width of the feeder is slightly greater than the width of the blade of the bulldozer . the material spills over the top part of the inclined face 40 onto the feeder plate 42 and , when desired , the 45 inch height of material on the front of the inclined face can be also pushed onto the feeder plate by the dozer raising its blade up the inclined face 40 as it is pushing the material onto the feeder plate . the dozer would normally push somewhere between 20 and 40 yards , depending upon the size of the dozer , onto the feeder area which has the capability of storing 80 to 90 yards . thus , the feeder area can accumulate anywhere from two of the very largest loads of the largest dozers pushed thereon to four or four and one - half loads of some of the smaller dozers . thus , the dozer can work continuously . normally the dozer would have no trouble in pushing 100 % of its rated load since it would often be pushing downhill on grades that at times are quite steep . meanwhile , the trucks on the other end of the feeder loader can be loaded in optimum loading in optimum time . the &# 34 ; gate &# 34 ; or the &# 34 ; bridge &# 34 ; between these functions which is provided by the mobile feeder loader of the present invention to keep both the dozers and trucks moving potentially at their ultimate efficiency with the conveyor starting and stopping between each truck load . normally two dozers would be used to push material onto the feeder loader alternatively with one another at any given time . the angle of the feeder plate 42 and the conveyor is approximately 1 feet of rise for each 2 feet of horizontal length . with reference to fig2 there is shown a plan view of the feeder loader in schematic form . the inclined face 40 dumps onto the feeder plate 42 which oscillates transversely under the two feeder sides 50 . the figure is somewhat of an optical illusion because of the various angles with this type of view but each side can be viewed as angled outwardly with the shade lines in the figure being parallel to the conveyor . meanwhile , each moveable bulkhead 52 slide above the feeder plate 42 and is divided into a lower section 82 which is of a smaller angle to the feeder plate than the upper section 84 which has a steeper angle as can be seen in fig1 and 4 . the removable bulkhead are supported on the underside of each bulkhead by two i - beams 86 which serve as rails that ride on two rollers 88 for each i - beam . this is best seen in the schematic side view of fig4 where the moveable bulkhead is shown in solid lines in its most downward position and in dotted lines in its most upward position . the i - beams and rollers are not shown in plan view but are located just above the feeder plate 42 shown in dotted lines in fig3 . as the dozer blade pushes material into the feeder area the material pushes against the moveable bulkheads which ride on the rails up the rollers to their upward position . as material is fed from the feeder plate into the conveyor , the moveable bulkheads 52 move by gravity from their upper dotted line position of fig4 down the rollers 88 to their lower position . the clearance between the bottom of the moveable bulkhead 52 and the feeder plate 42 may be from 11 / 2 inches to actually rubbing . the moveable bulkhead permits substantially the entire feeder plate to be cleared of material which is especially important as cutting down on the cleanup time involved at the end of a shift especially when there is only one shift . as is seen in fig2 the feeder plate 42 has a notch 90 located over the conveyor 92 . the notch runs 83 % of the full height of the feeder plate and has a width at its top slightly less than the conveyor width 92 present in the trough of the conveyor . the width of the notch in its lower position narrows down to slightly less than the upper width . the feeder plate oscillates transversely or to the left and right of fig2 approximately 12 inches from the solid line position to the dotted line position and back . these oscillations are at the rate of about 10 full cycles per minute . the transverse oscillation of the feeder plate 42 causes the notch opening to shift back and forth over the conveyor dropping the material from the plate through the notch onto the conveyor . as can be appreciated , when the feeder plate moves to the left and slides from underneath the right sidewall 50 , the space left between the sidewall and the material will fill in so as the feeder plate moves back to the right the material that is filled in causes the material on the feeder plate to be pushed left and into the notch . the same would occur on the left side . meanwhile , as material is being removed from the feeder plate , the moveable bulkheads 52 move downward under gravity to a lower position to assist in gathering and pushing the load of material on the feeder plate down to the lower position so that it can be more readily moved to the center notch for dropping onto the conveyor . the support for the feeder plate 42 can be seen in fig3 where the plate is shown in dotted lines that move under both the sidewall 50 , or feeder sides 50 , and the moveable bulkhead 52 . the feeder plate is a steel plate approximately 1 inch thick and rests on the rails 46 which are supported by the rollers 48 and driven to oscillate back and forth by the feeder plate hydraulic cylinders 44 . with reference to fig2 and fig5 the conveyor 92 has two parallel sets of chain links 56 carried by rollers 58 that support the entire length of chain links 56 as described earlier . for simplicity , only three of rollers 58 are shown in fig1 . these two parallel chain link groups are bridged transversely by rigid steel flights 94 . these steel flights overlap longitudinally with one another as seen in schematic fig6 . they are fastened by bolts so that they can be removed for replacement in the event of repair . these flights are not flexible in a transverse direction but are very rigid and uniquely permit the carrying of large , heavy materials such as boulders , ore , overburden and the like . the flights 94 extend under the bottom edge of the bottom replaceable wear plates 60 . the spacing between the conveyor sides 54 at the bottom in the vicinity of the wear plates varies from 72 inches at the lower end to 78 inches at the widest upper end . this is an important feature to improve the economics of the operation of the conveyor and keeps the material from crowding together as it is conveyed upward under normal operations . the material being conveyed by the conveyor may be on the order of 31 / 2 feet deep so that there is a substantial amount of the material in contact with the sidewalls which causes wear of the sidewalls , especially in the vicinity of the replaceable wear plates 60 . this is unlike some conveyors where the material is primarily just in the center and is loaded in a manner to be kept from the sides . the feeder loader 10 usually has the conveyor run at a speed slightly faster than the material that is laid on so that there is no jamming . the flights 94 are 78 inches wide , 3 / 4 inch thick and 91 / 2 inches in length with a 1 inch overlap between adjacent flights . the flights each have an upper surface , a forward edge 96 and a rearward edge . preferably , the upper surface if flat . there is approximately a 3 / 4 inch space between the flights at the overlap which opens up to a maximum opening as the flights go around the end of the conveyor as shown in fig6 . the normal design speed is 176 feet per minute for the conveyor which is rapidly achieved from a dead stop with the flights slipping under the load partially to help take up the inertia and prevent shock loading . this occurs because the conveyor is relatively flat and if a huge rock is being conveyed , the likelihood of a single flight taking the full load from such a massive member is reduced by the low heights . the flight edge 96 moves in the direction of the material being conveyed and helps to grip the material being conveyed . when the flights open up as they pass over the end of the conveyor , material caught between the flights will be dropped loose . with reference to fig7 there is shown the schematic breakaway plan view of the takeup mechanism 97 for taking up slack in the main conveyor . it consists of a sliding plate 98 which carries 2 idler wheels 66 . the sliding plate slides along the frame . the conveyor and chain links have a tendency to pull the idle sprocket 66 and sliding plate 98 to the right . to pick up the slack in the conveyor and chain links , the sliding plate 98 is pushed to the left and held in position by spacers 100 which positively lock the plate 98 in position . the spacers 100 have a central shaft between transverse member 102 and the sliding plate 98 . this shaft is free to slide into sliding plate 98 and is adapted to receive a number of horseshoe spacers each 1 / 2 inch by 3 inches . a hydraulic jack is temporarily placed between the transverse frame member 102 and the sliding frame 98 and sliding plate is jacked to the left until the proper tension is achieved on the conveyor and links . when this is done the proper number of spacers 100 are added to the spacer shaft so when the hydraulic jacks are removed the sliding plate 98 places the spacers in compression which retain the plate in its proper position . also carried by the plate are two rollers 104 which help support the conveyor chain links . with reference to fig1 and 5 there is shown a support belt 105 for carrying the conveyor 92 and rigid steel flights 94 on the return or under side . the support belt is a standard flexible reinforced endless belt that is slightly less than the width of the rigid steel flights 94 . as seen in fig1 support belt 105 is looped over idler rolls 112 and 114 at each end of the support belt . the upper supporting side of the support belt is supported by transverse i - beams 109 which in turn support longitudinal beams 108 which run lengthwise under the loaded support belt 105 . the longitudinal beams 108 have stainless steel wear strips on the top surface for the loaded support belt 105 to slide over . the return side 106 of support belt 105 is supported from sagging by riding over a number of transverse carrier members 110 which have on their top surface stainless steel wear strips 107 . the top surface of support belt 105 is thus held against the return side of conveyor 92 and rigid steel flights 94 to support them . the contact friction of support belt 105 with conveyor 92 causes the support belt to be carried along and support the conveyor 92 during its return movement . there is no separate drive for the support belt and the idler rolls 112 and 114 are free to turn and are not powered . it is to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and it is to be understood that this specific embodiment herein shown is not to be construed in the limiting sense but is merely to depict and illustrate the principles of the present invention . modifications may be devised by those with skill in the art which will not depart from the spirit or scope of protection as set forth in the following claims . | 1 |
in order to provide a control according to a prior art method for comparison and analysis with the inventive crumble , isolate crumbles were made from a soy protein isolate by chopping one part functional soy protein isolate with three parts hot water ( 60 ° c .) for approximately 4 minutes . the ratio of soy isolate to water was in the range of 2 to 3 . 5 parts of water to one part of soy isolate protein . a crumble made by this prior art process was used as a control in order to ascertain the amount of improvement provided by the inventive crumble . the following six formulations are various examples of food ingredient combinations tested for their ability to provide a soy isolate crumble using ambient temperature (˜ 75 ° f . ; 24 ° c .) tap water . the formulations are set forth in terms of parts or percent ( by weight ). a blend of isolated soy protein (&# 34 ; isp &# 34 ;) and xanthan / locust bean gum (&# 34 ; xan / lbg &# 34 ;) was formed when 1 part soy protein isolate was chopped with 3 . 75 parts tap water ( 24 ° c .) for about three minutes . the xan / lbg was mixed together and chopped with the hydrated isolate for two additional minutes . isolated soy protein and starch were blended as follows : 1 part isolate with 3 . 75 parts water were chopped for three minutes in order to hydrate the isolate . starch ( mira flow , national starch and chemical co .) was added 0 . 5 parts at a time until the product maintained consistency . a total of 2 . 5 parts of starch was added . the chopping time was extended to enable the repeated addition of the 0 . 5 parts starch . isolated soy protein and soy protein concentrate ( spc ) were blended , as follows : 1 part isolated soy protein was chopped with 4 . 0 parts water for 3 minutes . then 0 . 5 part soy protein concentrate was added and chopping continued for an additional 2 minutes . isolated soy protein and wheat gluten were blended , with a procedure which mirrored the procedure of example 3 . isolated soy protein and xan / lbg ( 2 ×) were blended , using a procedure which was identical to the procedure of example 1 except that the amount of xan / lbg was doubled . isolated soy protein and soy protein concentrate were blended with xan / lbg ( 1 ×), as follows : 1 part isolate was chopped with 4 . 0 parts water for 3 minutes . then 0 . 5 part soy protein concentrate was added and chopping continued for an additional 1 minute . then xan / lbg was added and the mixture was chopped for an additional 1 minute . table 1__________________________________________________________________________screening formulations ( parts ) parts xan lbg parts water (% (% parts parts spc partsexampletreatment isp ( temp ) form .) form .) starch ( arcon s ) gluten__________________________________________________________________________control 1 . 0 3 . 0 -- -- -- -- -- ( 60 ° c .) 1 isp + xan / lbg 1 . 0 3 . 75 0 . 125 % 0 . 125 % -- -- -- 2 isp + starch 1 . 0 3 . 75 -- -- 2 . 5 -- -- 3 isp + spc 1 . 0 4 . 0 -- -- -- 0 . 5 -- 4 isp + wheat gluten 1 . 0 4 . 0 -- -- -- -- 0 . 55 isp + xan / lbg ( 2 ×) 1 . 0 4 . 0 0 . 3 % 0 . 3 % -- -- -- 6 isp + spc + xan / lbg ( 1 ×) 1 . 0 4 . 0 0 . 15 % 0 . 15 % -- 0 . 5 -- __________________________________________________________________________ table 2__________________________________________________________________________screening formulations (%) isp water xan lbg starch spc (%) glutenexampletreatment (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) ( arcon s ) (%) total__________________________________________________________________________control 25 . 0 75 . 0 -- -- -- -- -- 100 . 001 isp + xan / lbg 21 . 0 78 . 75 0 . 125 0 . 125 -- -- -- 100 . 002 isp + starch 13 . 8 51 . 7 -- -- 34 . 5 -- -- 100 . 003 isp + spc 18 . 2 72 . 7 -- -- -- 9 . 1 -- 100 . 004 isp + wheat gluten 18 . 2 72 . 7 -- -- -- -- 9 . 1 100 . 005 isp + xan / lbg ( 2 ×) 20 . 0 79 . 4 0 . 3 0 . 3 -- -- -- 100 . 006 isp + spc + xan / lbg ( 1 ×) 18 . 2 72 . 5 0 . 15 0 . 15 -- 9 . 0 -- 100 . 00__________________________________________________________________________ the six formulations of the products made in the preceding examples were placed in a cooler overnight ( 2 °- 4 ° c .). the following day , the cooled gels were ground ( 3 / 16 &# 34 ; plate ) and evaluated for their potential of forming a cohesive crumble with the proper mouth - feel . the following table 3 sets forth the test results : table 3__________________________________________________________________________exampletreatment actual chop time evaluation of crumble__________________________________________________________________________control 5 min . good , firm1 isp + xan / lbg 5 min . good , firm2 isp + starch 6 - 7 min . grainy , soft3 isp + spc 5 min . good , firm4 isp + wheat gluten 6 min . marginal , soft5 isp + xan / lbg ( 2 ×) 5 min . soft6 isp + spc + xan / lbg ( 1 ×) 5 min . good , firm__________________________________________________________________________ pepperoni was manufactured by using the inventive crumble . based on the screening evaluation set forth in table 3 , crumbles made by the methods of examples 3 and 6 demonstrated the most potential for forming a properly textured crumble for use in the pepperoni . the formulations of examples 3 and 6 were prepared again and tested in a reduced fat traditional pepperoni formulation . the crumble formulations and chopping times were modified as listed in table 4 below . in formulations containing spc , the isp was chopped 3 minutes followed by the addition of the spc at the beginning of the final 1 minute of chopping . the spice / flavoring blend ( diversitech colorlife ™) was added during the final 30 to 45 seconds of crumble manufacture to prevent large color variations between the meat and protein crumble portions of the product . table 4______________________________________ finaltreatment chop time temp (° c .) evaluation of crumble______________________________________example 3 4 minutes 27 . 9 good , firmexample 6 4 minutes 29 . 9 good , firm______________________________________ table 5__________________________________________________________________________test formulations ( parts ) parts spc colorlife ™ treatment parts isp parts water xan (% form .) lbg (% form .) ( arcon s ) season . __________________________________________________________________________example 3 1 . 0 4 . 0 -- -- 0 . 4 0 . 4 % example 6 1 . 0 4 . 0 0 . 1 % 0 . 1 % 0 . 4 0 . 4 % __________________________________________________________________________ table 6__________________________________________________________________________test formulations (%) spc (%) colorlife ™ treatment isp (%) water (%) xan (% form .) lbg (% form .) ( arcon s ) season . __________________________________________________________________________example 3 18 . 2 72 . 7 -- -- 9 . 1 0 . 4 % example 6 18 . 4 73 . 7 0 . 1 % 0 . 1 % 7 . 3 0 . 4 % __________________________________________________________________________ following the crumble manufacture , the product was chilled overnight , ground 3 / 16 &# 34 ; and incorporated into the following pepperoni formulation : table 7__________________________________________________________________________pepperoni test formulations traditional formulation reduced fat formulationingredient ( 32 % fat , control ) ( 20 % fat ) __________________________________________________________________________pork ( 95 % lean ) 19 . 4 38 . 2pork ( 72 % lean ) 52 . 50 32 . 70beef ( 50 / 50 &# 39 ; s ) 23 . 65 14 . 65protein gels 0 . 00 10 . 00nitrite 0 . 07 0 . 07nitrate 0 . 28 0 . 28salt 3 . 10 3 . 10dextrose 0 . 60 0 . 60colorlife ™ ( flavoring ) 0 . 38 0 . 38starter culture ( diversitech , hp - culture ) 0 . 02 0 . 02totals 100 . 00 100 . 00__________________________________________________________________________ the following process was used to prepare the pepperoni formulation as set forth on table 7 . 2 . place in mixer and add salt , nitrite / nitrate & amp ; dextrose and mix to incorporate ingredients . mix minimally to prevent heat build - up and fat smearing . 3 . add colorlife ™/ starter culture (˜ 0 . 4 % colorlife ™; 0 . 02 % starter culture , diversitech hp frozen ) and mix to incorporate . 6 . stuff product into 2 &# 34 ; ( fibrous casings ). the product should be kept cold to prevent fat smearing during stuffing step . 7 . temper product at 70 ° f . ( 21 ° c ,) for 2 to 4 hours . 8 . ferment product at 100 ° f . ( 38 ° c .) and 85 - 90 % rh for 12 - 14 hours or until ph reaches 5 . 1 or less . 9 . thermally process the product as indicated in the cooking cycle listed below . 10 . following fermentation and thermal processing the pepperoni sticks were placed in a 45 °- 55 ° f . ( 7 °- 13 ° c .) room at 40 - 60 % rh and allowed to dry to a moisture : protein ratio of 1 . 6 : 1 (˜ 3 - 4 weeks ). table 8__________________________________________________________________________ internal dry bulb wet bulb autostagetime temp (° f .) smoke (° f .) (° f .) damper__________________________________________________________________________1 30 -- -- 110 0 on2 60 -- -- 120 107 on__________________________________________________________________________ hot / cold shower , temper . the resulting pepperoni was judged completely successful . both of the modified crumble formulations ( examples 3 and 6 ) produced pepperoni that compare closely to the traditional pepperoni manufactured as a control . the comparison was made in sensory quality as well as physical attributes such as particle definition , slicibility and textural changes during cooking . those who are skilled in the art will readily perceive how to modify the invention . therefore , the appended claims are to be construed to cover all equivalent structures which fall within the true scope and spirit of the invention . | 0 |
the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the following figures : fig1 is a schematic illustration of the anatomy of the nail fig2 is a schematic illustration of an ingrown toenail fig3 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a microwave treatment system fig4 is a schematic illustration of functional representation of a microwave treatment system for application to treat onychocryptosis and other dermatological conditions . fig5 is a schematic illustration of a microwave partial matrixectomy treatment for onychocryptosis . fig6 is a schematic illustration of the microwave assisted vandenbos procedure . the anatomy of the nail is illustrated in fig1 , this comprises the nail plate ( corpus unguis ) 1 , the lateral horns ( lunula ) 2 , the nail root ( germinal matrix ), ( radix unguis ) 3 , the lateral nail fold ( paronychium ), 4 , the quick ( hyponychium ) 5 , the nail bed ( sterile matrix ) 6 , the cuticle ( eponychium ) 7 , the nail cleft ( sinus unguis ) 8 the periosteum 9 , the ventral floor 10 . an illustration of onychocryptosis is presented in fig2 , in this diagrammatic view a section of the nail 11 has grown into the nail wall resulting in swelling and algia . an embodiment of a microwave power generator system for medical applications is illustrated in fig3 . the apparatus comprising : — a microwave source for providing microwave energy 12 , connectable to a system controller 13 for controlling at least one property of the microwave radiation provided by the microwave source ; and a monitoring system 14 for monitoring the delivery of energy and an interconnecting cable 15 and an applicator hand piece 16 and a removable applicator means 17 , for example an applicator device , for delivering microwave energy , wherein : — the applicator is configured to deliver precise amounts of microwave energy provided by the source at a single frequency or across a range of frequencies . the source in one embodiment comprises a micronetics mw500 - 1388 oscillator connected to an empower bbm5k8cgm amplifier . in alternative embodiments , any suitable oscillator or other source can be used , for example any dielectric resonator oscillator ( dro ) or any crystal oscillator ( xo ) provided they possess the desired frequency bandwidth . the amplifier in one embodiment is connected to a microwave circulator , for example an meca cs - 6 . 000 which permit the flow of signals in one direction and a microwave coupler , for example an meca 722n - 30 - 3 . 100 . the microwave coupler and microwave circulator are connectable to a transmission line , in the form of high frequency coaxial cable ( for example having 50ω impedance , in this case huber + suhner sucoflex 400 ) having a physical length ( and associated electrical phase length ), which is arranged to deliver high power energy to the applicator device ( for example a ceramic microwave applicator based upon pacific ceramics pd - 160 material ) or other load , such as an antenna , probe or other radiator of energy . the controller may be a suitably programmed pc or other computer , or a dedicated hardware device , and is operable to control operation of the oscillator and / or the amplifier , thereby to control one or more properties of the microwave radiation generated by the microwave source . the monitoring system may include forward and reverse power measurement circuits that comprise diode detector devices ( in this case , an agilent 33330c option 003 ) that are operable to measure forward and reverse signals at a port of the microwave coupler . any other suitable monitoring system may be provided . the controller is operable to control the source to output microwave radiation at a desired frequency or range of frequencies , at a desired power level and for a desired period of time . fig4 shows the components of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention , the components shown separately for ease of reference . the apparatus comprises a generator system 18 with a locking microwave connection 19 to a flexible microwave cable 20 connected to a hand piece 21 ( which may have the same type of locking connection ) which accepts an applicator component 22 . the applicator component is designed to match to the tissue properties of the germinal matrix 3 . the cable 20 may include both microwave and signal data cables and may be reversible to enable connection to either port . the applicator component may dimensionally similar to a lempert elevator . fig5 shows an embodiment of a microwave treatment for onychocryptosis . in this embodiment a segment of the ingrown nail is conventionally excised to allow access to the radix unguis 24 . a microwave applicator 22 is introduced under the eponychium 25 and microwave energy is applied to the germinal matrix 26 producing targeted tissue damage and permanently preventing regrowth of the nail keratin . the narrower nail 27 releases the lateral pressure on the paronychium tissue resolving the onychocryptosis condition . the treatment can be single sided or double sided depending upon the extent of the onychocryptosis . the microwave frequency chosen will be sufficient that the penetration of energy will be limited to the germinal matrix to prevent damage to the underlying tissues such as the periosteum or other tissues that are not intended to be ablated . an alternative embodiment of a microwave onychocryptosis treatment is illustrated in fig6 where a microwave applicator 22 is used to ablate the paronychium tissue 28 at the side of the nail , leaving the nail intact and removing the lateral pressure against the nail 29 , resulting in a more cosmetically attractive result as the nail is intact and is symmetrical . this technique is hereby referred to as a microwave assisted vandenbos procedure . it will be understood that embodiments of the present invention have been described above purely by way of example , and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention . each feature disclosed in the description , and ( where appropriate ) the claims and drawings may be provided independently or in any appropriate combination . | 0 |
hereinafter , preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described . though the following description deals with the case where a material heated is a slab , the present invention is not particularly limited to the slabs but can be applied to other steel materials . fig1 shows diagrammatically the construction of a heating furnace and the control system in accordance with the present invention . reference numeral 1 represents the heating furnace as a whole . in the embodiment the heating furnace is a 4 - zone type heating furnace in which i represents a preheating zone , ii and iii represent heating zones and iv a soaking zone . reference numerals 3 - 1 through 3 - 4 represent furnace zone temperature detectors that are provided in the respective zones . reference numerals 4 - 1 through 4 - 4 represent fuel burners provided in the respective zones and 5 - 1 through 5 - 4 represent minor furnace temperature controllers . reference numerals 6 - 1 through 6 - 4 represent operational devices for determining the difference between the furnace temperatures detected by the detectors 3 - 1 through 3 - 4 and furnace temperature set values t p ( tp - 1 through tp - 4 ), respectively . reference numerals 7 - 1 through 7 - 4 represent fuel flow controllers that control the fuel flow f , respectively . reference numeral 200 represents a furnace temperature control system while reference numeral 9 represents an exhaust stack . reference numeral 2 represents a slab to be heated . in other words , fig1 shows a 4 - zone type heating furnace in which the temperature control for each zone i through iv is independently carried out . namely , the fuel control is effected by the fuel flow controllers ( 7 - 1 through 7 - 4 ) in such a fashion that the actual furnace temperature in each zone coincides with the output ( tp - 1 through tp - 4 ) from the control system for setting the furnace temperature 200 . symbol f represents a fuel and f 1 through f 4 represent fuel flow in the zones i through iv , respectively . the conventional apparatus for setting the furnace temperature calculates the value of the slab temperature in the furnace using the temperature detection values t1 - t4 in the zones and adjusts the setting value of the furnace temperature so that the difference between the target value determined by the temperature elevation pattern of the slab and the slab temperature is minimized . in accordance with this kind of system , the response speed of the furnace temperature control is affected by the change speed of the slab temperature . the time constant of this slab temperature is frequently in the order of scores of minutes so that the furnace temperature control is effected slowly in accordance with the constant . the system is suited for stable control when materials having substantially the same heating conditions (&# 34 ; steady states &# 34 ;) are to be heated , but when materials having remarkably different heating conditions (&# 34 ; unsteady states &# 34 ;) are to be heated , the control accuracy of the slab temperature is markedly deteriorated due to the response delay . when a cold material is subsequently charged after a hot material , for example , the response delay becomes especially critical . fig2 a shows examples of the temperature elevation patterns of such hot and cold materials . in the abovementioned embodiment , the atmosphere inside the furnace is controlled at first in such a manner as to heat the hot material along the curve h in fig2 a because the great majority of the steel plates in the furnace are the hot materials at the beginning . as the number of cold materials increases , however , it becomes necessary to change the temperature of the atmosphere inside the furnace so as to be suitable for heating the cold materials . in other words , heating along the curve c in fig2 a becomes necessary . a critical problem here is that the control accuracy of the slabs before and after the boundary slab drops when the temperature atmosphere inside the furnace is thus changed . that is to say , when the hot charge materials are heated with the temperature pattern for the cold materials , they are over - heated while if the cold charge materials are heated with the temperature elevation pattern for the hot charge materials , they are heated insufficient heating , it is necessary to bring the furnace temperature close to the optimum value of each material as rapidly as possible . in accordance with the conventional system , however , since the furnace temperature correction is effected by means of the time constant of change of the slab temperature as described above , over - heating or insufficient heating of the slab unavoidably occurs . fig2 b is a block diagram of the control system 200 for setting the furnace temperature for explaining the present invention . in the drawing , reference numeral 3 ( 3 - 1 through 3 - 4 ) represents a furnace temperature detector , 4 ( 4 - 1 through 4 - 4 ) is a burner for supplying an air - fuel mixture and 5 ( 5 - 1 through 5 - 4 ) is a minor controller , as in fig1 . reference 202 represents a memory for tracking the slabs inside the furnace and forms a data file in accordance with each slab position . it is a memory file which detects the movement of a walking beam ( or pusher ) by an operation pitch detector s and shifts the memory content in the direction represented by arrow d such as shown in fig3 a , for example . this memory file enables an operator of the furnace to ascertain which slab is now located at which position inside the furnace . the data for a slab or slabs withdrawn from the furnace is deleted from the file but this data can be used for other tracking purposes on rolling lines subsequent to the furnace output . fig3 a diagrammatically shows the case where hot materials h are first charged and then cold materials c are charged , followed by another group of hot materials h . symbols c and h represent the leading cold and hot materials , respectively , and they are hereinafter called &# 34 ; boundary slabs &# 34 ;. even when slabs are carried into the furnace while the furnace is empty , the leading slabs are called the &# 34 ; boundary slabs &# 34 ;. a catalog to the tracking file is made as the operator instructs the catalog to the file when the slabs are carried into the furnace . alternatively , automatic registration may be made including distinction of the hot materials from the cold materials by means of slab temperature detectors disposed at the furnace inlet . reference numeral 204 represents a slab position calculator which manages the slabs by means of the slab position data of the aforementioned tracking file , charge classification data and sitrinction data between the hot materials and the cold materials . these slab data are memorized by alloting each bit to the data as shown in fig3 b , for example . namely , fig3 b shows case where 16 bits are alloted to each slab , and the tracking file data are also the abovementioned three kinds . if necessary , however , other data may also be added . the slab position calculator 204 manages the slabs inside the furnace on the basis of the file data . the aforementioned boundary slabs are c and h shown in fig3 a , and tracking of these boundary slabs is indispensable for correcting the temperature elevation patterns of the slab groups . the slab position calculator 204 calculates the distance x dc of the boundary slab c from the furnace inlet , for example , on the basis of the tracking file data , ordinarily , the number of the boundary slabs that are simultaneously present in the furnace is two at the most . the slab position calculator 204 further determines to which furnace zone k d the boundary slabs belong . generally , judgement is made from the distance x d from the furnace inlet . in fig3 a , for example , the judgement is made in the following manner ; in fig3 a , l represents the entire length of the heating furnace and l 1 through l 3 represent the distances from the furnace inlet to each zone outlet , respectively . the slab position calculator recognizes whether the boundary slab exists or doesn &# 39 ; t in any heating zone , and sends the information to controllers 208 and 208 &# 39 ;. if the boundary slab doesn &# 39 ; t exist in any zone , the set temperature of that zone is determined in the controller 208 . on the other hand , if exist , it is determined in the controller 208 &# 39 ;. the signal 210 represents this control selection and k d . the memory 206 memorizes the temperature elevation pattern of the slab . in this memory the target slab temperatures at 20 furnace positions in the furnace are memorized in the form such as shown in fig3 c . for instance , the values tpc1 - 1 through tpc1 - 20 are represented by the 20 values of the pattern c 1 . the memory values of these patterns are sent to the temperature controller 208 as the signal 205 . the pattern c 1 in fig3 c corresponds to the temperature elevation pattern c 1 of the cold materials in fig4 for example . this also holds true of the patterns c 2 , c 3 and h 1 through h 3 . the controller 208 is used in the steady state . the conventional control method can be applied to the controller 208 , which is represented in commonly assigned u . s . patent application ser . no . 28 , 705 ( filed apr . 10 , 1979 ) entitled &# 34 ; method for controlling furnace temperature of multi - zone heating furnace &# 34 ;, now u . s . pat . no . 4 , 255 , 133 ( issued mar . 10 , 1981 ), for instance . in this controller , optimum temperature elevation pattern , which corresponds to any curve in fig4 is chose from the memorized patterns in 206 . the set temperatures of the heating zones are determined so as to make the slab temperature follow the chosen pattern . the output signal tp1 - 4 , c , h of the block 208 in fig2 b represents the set values of each zone temperature and they are given to the minor controller 5 ( 1 ˜ 4 ). on the other hand , the controller 208 &# 39 ; is used in unsteady state . in other words , 208 &# 39 ; is used , when the boundary slab exist in any heating zone . the memory 206 memorizes setting value of the zone temperature in the form such as shown in fig3 c . in fig3 c , adrc 10 , adrc 11 . . . represent memory addresses while [ tp1 ] c1 , [ tp2 ] c2 . . . represent the set temperatures in the zones corresponding to the slab elevation patterns . when the elevation pattern is determined in the controller 208 , an index signal , which represent the pattern , is send to the controller 208 &# 39 ; as a signal 209 . the controller 208 &# 39 ; is select the setting temperature of the unsteady zone from the memory 206 according to the index signal 209 . this selection is represented as 205 &# 39 ; in fig2 b . next , the furnace temperature setting timing in each zone in 208 &# 39 ; will be explained . here , the timing for setting the furnace set temperature is determined using the boundary slab position x d calculated by the aforementioned slab position calculator 204 and the furnace zone number k d to which the boundary slab belongs . when the response time of the furnace temperature in each zone is extremely fast , the set value can be changed when the boundary slab reaches the entrace of each furnace zone . in practice , however , the response time is not a negligible value . fig5 shows an example of the response of the furnace zone temperature when the set temperature tpi of the furnace zone i , is changed step - wisely by δtpi . the response of the furnace zone temperature t i can be regarded as a response characteristic of the first order delay including the dead time . here , the time until 90 % of the change δtpi , that is , τr ( i ) in fig5 is defined as the response time of the zone i . it is necessary to determine the timing for setting the zone temperature in consideration of this response time . here we suppose the response time for each of the zones ii - iv as τr ( ii ), τr ( iii ) and τr ( iv ), and the boundary slab is now supposed to belong to the zone k as showed in fig6 a . we explain the timing of the setting in 208 &# 39 ; by using fig6 . fig6 b shows the timing for correcting the set temperature tp ( k + 1 ) of the ( k + 1 ) th zone . in other words , fig6 b shows the case where tp ( k + 1 ) is to be corrected earlier by τp ( k + 1 ) than the timing when the boundary slab arrives at the inlet of the ( k + 1 ) th zone by τp ( k + 1 ) while fig6 c shows the case where tp ( k + 1 ) is to be corrected in advance by p ( k + 1 )/ 2 . when the zone temperature is corrected by taking the timing into account in this manner , a desired furnace temperature can be attained when the boundary slabs reaches the furnace zone . the timing may be varied in accordance with the response time of the furnace . fig7 shows an example of the set temperature values of the furnace zones , respectively . [ tp1 ] c through [ tp4 ] c represent the set temperatures for the zone 1 through 4 for the cold material and [ tp1 ] h through [ tp4 ] h likewise represent the set temperatures for the hot material . this is an example when 200 mm - thick steel is heated to 1 , 200 ° c ., within 3 hours . the temperature of the slab to be carried into the furnace is 450 ° c . for the hot material and 30 ° c . for the cold material . the withdrawing temperature from the furnace is 1 , 200 ° c . for both hot material and cold material , and the temperature for the cold material is set considerably higher than that for the hot material . next , a case will be described in which the cold materials are first carried into the furnace and then the hot materials . the set temperatures of the heating zones are determined by the controller 208 until the hot material is charged in the furnace , and we assume the values as tp1 through tp4 . when the leading slab of the hot materials , that is , the boundary slab , is detected at the inlet of the first zone , the set temperature in the first zone is changed from tp1 to [ tp1 ] h , in the case of fig7 [ tp1 ] h = 960 ° c . referring now to fig8 symbols i through iv in fig8 ( a ) represent the zones i through iv . fig8 ( b ) shows the distribution of the slabs inside the furnace where c represents the cold material , h does the hot materials and h does the leading slab of the hot materials , that is , the boundary slab . fig8 ( b ) shows the state where the boundary slab enters the first zone i , fig8 ( f ) shows the set temperature in the case where only the cold materials are present inside the furnace . when the boundary slab is detected at the entrance of the first zone i , that is , under the state shown in fig8 ( b ), the set temperature of the first zone i is changed from tp1 to [ tp1 ] h as shown in fig8 ( g ). the set furnace temperature of the second zone ii is corrected from tp2 to [ tp2 ] h = 1160 ° c . while the boundary slab h is still present in the first zone i , as shown in fig8 c and fig8 h , at the timing of τd1 = τr ( ii )/ 2 , where the time τd1 required for the h slab to reach the entrance of the second zone ii is calculated sequentially in accordance with the equation ( 3 ) from the slab moving speed and the distance . similarly , the set temperature for the third and fourth zones iii , iv are made beforehand while the boundary slab is still present in the second and third zones ii and iii , respectively , and their timings are τd2 = τr ( ii )/ 2 and τd3 = τr ( iv )/ 2 , respectively . the new set temperatures are [ tp3 ] h = 1 , 240 ° c . and [ tp4 ] h = 1 , 210 ° c ., respectively ( see fig7 ). fig8 ( d ) shows the timing for correcting the set temperature of third zone while fig8 ( e ) shows that of fourth zone . when the charge of the hot or cold materials is thus detected at the inlet of the furnace , tracking inside the furnace is effected on the basis of the detected data and the correction of the furnace temperature is effected in advance of the slab movement in consideration of the heat response characteristic of each furnace zone at the timing shown in fig8 . next , the timing for lock release of each zone will be described . first , the case of the first zone i will be explained with reference to fig8 ( k ). if the temperature pattern is changed from the ordinary set temperature tp1 for the cold materials to [ tp1 ] h upon detection of the leading slab ( h detection ) at the time t 1 , the furnace temperature t 1 in the first zone i changes gradually and finally reaches [ tp1 ] h . the lock is released at the timing when the difference δt1 between t1 and [ tp1 ] h becomes equal to , or smaller than , a predetermined value δε1 , that is , at the timing which satisfies the relation δt 1 ≦ δε1 , and the temperature control for the ordinary hot materials is then effected . here , t 2 represents the timing that satisfies the abovementioned relation δt1 ≦ δε1 and at this timing , the lock is released and the set value tp1 is determined by the steady state algorithm . at the timing τd1 , the set value for the second zone ii is corrected to [ tp2 ] h . the lock release holds true also for the second through the fourth zones ii - iv . they are expressed by the following general formulas , respectively : ## equ1 ## namely , the lock release is made at each of the above - mentioned timings . ( in the same way as in fig5 % response or 90 % response may also be employed ). the lock may be released sequentially from the first zone to the fourth zone . a flow chart for practising the furnace zone temperature set control using a computer is shown in fig9 . in the foregoing embodiment shown in fig5 the response time of the furnace temperature is defined as the 90 % response , but the response time may be a 63 % response . selection of these values is determined in conjunction with the furnace operation schedule and the like . more generally , τdi of the ith zone is determined in accordance with the response of the ( i + 1 ) th zone . the optimum value should be selected in accordance with the furnace characteristics . at times , a constant value may be selected irrespective of the furnace characteristics . | 6 |
the principles and operation of the black - body spectrum conversion apparatus and method according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description . before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings . the invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways . also , it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting . referring now to the drawings , fig2 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of the inventive spectrum conversion apparatus 100 , in which a black - body absorber / emitter is used as a converter . apparatus 100 may include a black body 20 , at least a first optical device 22 that may be disposed between a solar light source ( such as sunlight ) 25 and black body 20 , and at least a second optical device 24 disposed between black body 20 and at least one photovoltaic cell 26 . electromagnetic radiation 11 , emanating from a solar light source such as sun 25 and having a first characteristic spectrum , is absorbed by black body 20 , typically operating at a temperature of at least 1200k , more typically , at least 1500k , still more typically , at least 1800k , and most typically , at least 2200k . black body 20 emits electromagnetic radiation 13 having a second characteristic spectrum ( the properties of which depend , inter alia , on the temperature of black body 20 ). electromagnetic radiation 13 is subsequently processed or filtered by optical device 24 , which is adapted to provide photovoltaic cell 26 with electromagnetic radiation 15 having a third characteristic spectrum . this spectrum is narrow with respect to the second characteristic spectrum . preferably , optical device 24 is adapted to provide photovoltaic cell 26 with electromagnetic radiation 15 having a third characteristic spectrum associated with a predetermined energy level aimed to increase or substantially maximize the emerging power conversion of cell 26 , and / or to reduce or substantially minimize the temperature increase of cell 26 . optical device 24 further serves to return , to black body 20 , electromagnetic radiation 17 that is not passed through to photovoltaic cell 26 . electromagnetic radiation 17 may include low energy radiation having energies below the energy threshold of electromagnetic radiation 15 , and may also include high energy radiation having energies exceeding the energy threshold of electromagnetic radiation 15 . in this manner , electromagnetic radiation 17 may be recycled , and may advantageously serve to heat black body 20 . by recycling electromagnetic radiation 17 to black body 20 , the radiation is absorbed and recovered by black body 20 , which in turn emits electromagnetic radiation 13 , whose properties depend on the temperature and surface topology of black body 20 . by sharp contrast , in conventional photovoltaic systems such as silicon - based pv cells , photons having energies below the energy gap may disadvantageously heat the pv cells , resulting in degradation of the pv cell operation . moreover , even photons having energies above the energy gap may deliver their excess energies to the pv cells in the form of heat , which again results in degradation of pv cell operation . black body 20 may emit electromagnetic radiation 31 in a direction other than the direction of optical device 24 . first optical device 22 , which may be disposed between solar light source 25 and black body 20 , may advantageously be adapted to return the energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation 33 to black body 20 . optical device 22 may also enable electromagnetic radiation 11 from solar light source 25 to pass through towards black body 20 , with a minimum or otherwise low incidence of reflection . the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation 13 depends on the operating temperature of black body 20 . fig3 is a graphical theoretical representation of the power density of electromagnetic spectra ( or energy flux spectra ) emitted by a black - body having a smooth surface , as a function of wavelength , for several exemplary black - body temperatures . the dashed curve delineates the peak wavelength of the spectrum as a function of temperature . the actual operating temperature of black body 20 may depend , inter alia , on the desired spectrum for photovoltaic cell 26 , and on various temperature dependent structural limitations of the materials of construction . in some applications , the operating temperature of black body 20 is at least 1500k to 3300k or more , depending on the energy band requirement of the particular pv cell used , and on limitations of the materials of construction . fig4 is a schematic side view of one embodiment of an inventive spectrum conversion apparatus or device 400 , housed in a thermally - insulating housing 50 . optical device 22 , black body 20 , optical device 24 , and photovoltaic cell 26 , may all be in - line , and may preferably be held in fixed position , with respect to one another , by housing 50 . between optical device 22 and black body 20 may be disposed a sealed volume 43 , preferably having a subatmospheric pressure of less than 0 . 1 torr , more preferably , less than 10 − 4 torr , and yet more preferably , less than 10 − 8 torr . typically , the pressure is less than 10 − 9 torr , or 10 − 10 − 10 − 11 torr or less . such subatmospheric pressure advantageously insulates between black body 20 and optical device 22 , and reduces heat loss to the environment . similarly , between optical device 24 and black body 20 may be disposed a sealed volume 45 , preferably having a subatmospheric pressure of less than 0 . 1 torr , more preferably , less than 10 − 4 torr , and yet more preferably , less than 10 − 8 torr . typically , the pressure is less than 10 − 9 torr , or 10 − 10 − 10 − 11 torr or less . such subatmospheric pressure advantageously insulates between black body 20 and optical device 24 , and reduces heat loss to the environment . between optical device 24 and photovoltaic cell 26 may be disposed a volume 47 , which may be sealed . thermally - insulating housing 50 may be of rigid construction , to fix in relative position optical device 22 , black body 20 , and optical device 24 . thermally - insulating housing 50 may also fix the position of photovoltaic cell 26 with respect to optical device 24 . at least a portion of an inner wall 62 of housing 50 may contact black body 20 , and is preferably adapted to thermally insulate black body 20 . the heat transfer coefficient of inner wall 62 may preferably be below 2 . 0 wm 1 k − 1 at 300k , and more preferably , below 0 . 5 wm − 1 k − 1 . inner wall 62 may advantageously include , or essentially consist of , ceramic materials , such as alumina , zirconia , magnesia , and / or other materials that are stable at high temperature and are preferably good thermal insulators . black body 20 may be a macroscopic black body structure , or a mesoscopic black body structure . tungsten , having a dark , steel - gray color and a melting point of approximately 3695k , may be a particularly suitable material of construction . tungsten filaments are extensively used in incandescent light bulbs , in which an electrical current may heat the filament to 2000k to 3300k , depending upon the type , shape , and size of the filament , and upon the amount of current drawn . the heated filament acts as a black body , emitting light that approximates a continuous spectrum . in incandescent light bulbs , the useful part of the emitted energy is solely the visible spectrum , and typically , most energy is given off as heat in the near - infrared wavelengths . in the present invention , however , the waste energy is recycled : at least a portion , and preferably , substantially all of the photons having unsuitable wavelengths for the pv cells are returned to the black body , as described hereinabove . other materials of construction for black body 20 will be apparent to those skilled in the art . such materials may include various carbides such as titanium carbide , silicon carbide , and tungsten carbide , various ceramic materials , and various forms of carbon suitable for high - temperature operation . mesoscopic black body structures may include various thin films or nanostructures such as inorganic nanotubes or inorganic nanofilaments . the films and nanostructures may include materials such as tungsten , titanium , molybdenum , carbon , and various carbides . optical device 22 may be substantially transparent . preferably , optical device 22 may be adapted to reflect less than 20 %, more preferably , less than 10 %, and yet more preferably , less than 5 % of the impinging solar light . in some cases , optical device 22 may be adapted to reflect less than 2 %, or even less than 1 % of the impinging solar light . optical device 22 is preferably a good thermal insulator , having a heat transfer coefficient below 3 . 0 wm − 1 k − 1 at 300k , and more typically , below 2 . 0 wm − 1 k − 1 . glasses and transparent or substantially transparent sintered ceramics may be suitable for optical device 22 . various specific materials of construction for optical device 22 will be apparent to those skilled in the art . optical device 22 may advantageously be adapted to return the energy ( in the form of electromagnetic radiation 31 ) from black body 20 , to black body 20 , as electromagnetic radiation 33 . to this end , optical device 22 may include , by way of example , a bragg filter , preferably designed accounting for the operating temperature of the black body . such a design involves a tradeoff between two contradicting constraints or preferred criteria : achievement ( as close as practically possible ) of 100 % transparency with respect to sunlight , and achievement ( as close as practically possible ) of 100 % reflection with respect to blackbody radiation 31 . concentrating element or assembly 28 may advantageously be disposed above optical device 22 , i . e ., between the solar light source and optical device 22 , to concentrate the electromagnetic radiation provided to optical device 22 . typically , concentrating element or assembly 28 may concentrate the electromagnetic radiation by a factor of at least 1 . 1 , more typically , by a factor of at least 2 , and more typically , by a factor of at least 10 or 50 to 10000 or more . concentrating element or assembly 28 may be selected from various known or commercially available concentrators . optical device 24 may advantageously include photonic crystal elements such as a multilayer reflection coating or bragg filter . an optical bragg filter is a transparent device with a periodic variation of the refractive index , so that a large reflectivity may be reached in some wavelength range ( bandwidth ) around a certain wavelength , provided each layer is of the order of quarter wavelength in the medium : where d is the thickness of each layer , λ is the vacuum wavelength of light , and n is the refractive index of the particular layer . one exemplary embodiment of a bragg filter has a plurality of pairs of alternate layers of silicon and silicon dioxide . typically , 5 - 50 of such pairs may be used in a device such as optical device 24 . other materials may be more suitable for use in conjunction with silicon - based photovoltaic cells . common optical coating materials for constructing such layers may include oxides such as sio 2 , tio 2 , al 2 o 3 and ta 2 o 5 , and fluorides such as mgf 2 , laf 3 and alf 3 . optical device 24 is adapted to receive the output energy from blackbody 20 , and to emit electromagnetic energy having a narrow , modified energy flux spectrum , with respect to that output energy . preferably , at least 80 % of the energy flux spectrum that is output by optical device 24 lies within a narrow range of 0 . 4 ev , more preferably , within a range of 0 . 3 ev , and most preferably , within a range of 0 . 2 ev . yet more preferably , at least 90 % of the energy flux spectrum lies within these ranges . optical device 24 may be adapted such that this range is above or substantially above an energy gap of the specific photovoltaic cell employed . with regard to dimensions , optical device 22 may have a thickness of at least 30 micrometers , and more typically , at least 100 micrometers . the thickness may be largely dictated by thermal insulation considerations . the maximum requisite thickness may be about 1000 micrometers . optical device 24 may have a thickness of at least 20 micrometers , and more typically , at least 50 micrometers . the thickness may be largely dictated by the materials selected , and by the tradeoff between filter efficiency and cost . the maximum requisite thickness is envisioned to be about 300 micrometers . with regard to black body 20 : the mesoscopic arrangement typically has a thickness of less than 5 micrometers , more typically , less than 1 micrometer , and in some cases , less than 0 . 1 micrometers ; the macroscopic arrangement typically has a thickness of less than 100 micrometers , more typically , less than 50 micrometers , and most typically , in a range of 10 to 50 micrometers . in fig4 , the exemplary thicknesses of optical device 22 , black body 20 , and optical device 24 are 200 micrometers , 100 micrometers and 100 micrometers , respectively . the exemplary thickness of photovoltaic cell 26 is 200 micrometers . sealed volumes 43 and 45 may have a thickness or an average thickness of at least 5 micrometers , at least 10 micrometers , or at least 20 micrometers . typically , sealed volumes 43 and 45 may have a thickness or an average thickness of 20 to 200 micrometers , depending , inter alia , on the depth of the vacuum within the respective volumes , and the desired black body temperature . these thicknesses may apply at room temperature and / or under operating conditions . optical device 22 , black body 20 , and optical device 24 may have a length ( long dimension ) of up to several tens of centimeters . the length is usually determined to match the photovoltaic panel or unit , which may have a length of 10 to 30 centimeters or more . fig5 is a schematic top view of apparatus or device 400 of fig4 , in which the short dimension of the apparatus is sealed and insulated at each end by housing 50 , and in which the long dimension of the apparatus is sealed and insulated on both sides by walls 80 . walls 80 may advantageously be made of glass or of ceramic materials . fig6 is a schematic , graphical representation of the multiple - stage conversion of the solar spectrum to a preferred spectrum for a photovoltaic cell , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . spectrum ( a ) is an idealized electromagnetic spectrum produced by the sun . after the light is passed through optical device 22 , this spectrum may be largely unaffected . spectrum ( b ) is an idealized electromagnetic spectrum emitted by black - body 20 , assuming black - body 20 has a generally round , smooth surface . spectrum ( c ) is an idealization of an electromagnetic spectrum that has passed through optical device 24 , which filters various wavelengths so as to provide photovoltaic cell 26 with photons within the requisite energy range . the impact of filters on the emission of a black - body has been recognized recently by j . j . greffet , et al ., “ coherent emission of light by thermal sources ”, nature , 416 , 61 - 64 ( 2002 ), and by m . laroche et al ., “ coherent thermal antenna using a photonic crystal slab ”, phys . rev . lett . 96 , 123903 ( 2006 ). the authors demonstrate that the angular and spectral characteristics of the black - body emission are controlled by the grating at the surface of the black body . using these or other techniques known in the art , a surface 20 a of black - body 20 may be designed and adapted to produce a higher fraction of photons within the requisite energy range , with respect to spectrum ( b ). although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art . accordingly , it is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims . all publications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification , to the same extent as if each individual publication , patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference . in addition , citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention . | 6 |
it will be appreciated that not all embodiments of the invention can be disclosed within the scope of this document and that additional embodiments of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the technology after reading this disclosure . these additional embodiments are claimed within the scope of this invention . the contents of the section entitled summary of invention are incorporated into the detailed description of the invention herein . the construction of wind turbines and generation of electricity from these turbines has increased significantly in the last ten to twenty years . most of these turbines utilize rotating blades and a nacelle containing a gear box and generator setting atop of a fixed positioned tower . the rotor and nacelle rotate atop of a stationary tower in response to changes in wind direction . this rotation may involve operation of a yaw motor . there has been a goal to increase the size of the wind turbines . this goal encounters problems of transporting large structural components over land to the installation site . it also encounters problems with materials required to withstand wind loads from all directions and the corresponding increase in weight and material costs . the wind turbine tower is typically cylindrically shaped and made from steel . the tower may have a tapering shape along the vertical axis . in other examples , the tower may have a derrick frame shape similar to farm windmills . neither design is aerodynamically shaped . since the towers are fixed in place , it is not possible to provide an aerodynamic or structurally optimized shape since the wind direction is variable . structural optimization includes but is not limited to cost , shape , material , material configuration , and functionality . the invention subject of this disclosure teaches constructing a tower structure from multiple pieces or segments ( elements ). the structure forms the leading edge and the trailing edge of the tower ( sometimes collectively termed herein as “ structural edges ”). the structural edges are load carrying . the leading edge faces the on coming wind . conversely the trailing edge is on the lee side of the tower . rotation of the tower ensures the structure maintains this orientation to the wind . utilizing this constant orientation , structural tower loads can be predicted based upon varying wind speeds . this predictability can allow the fabrication of the tower segments tailored to the position of each segment . the tower can be structurally optimized . each segment can be designed to carry a specific load , allowing for cost effective utilization of materials ( structural optimization ). for example the structural segments , including attachment hardware , of the leading edge will experience both compression load and , in high wind , tension loads . the trailing edge segments may more often experience or be subject to compression loading . the segments can also be aerodynamically shaped based upon their position relative to the wind . the segments can be in lengths that allow use of standard transportation methods . as discussed elsewhere herein , the trailing edge segment ( s ) may be sized to nest in the leading edge segment ( s ) ( or vice versa ) during transportation . the invention subject of this disclosure teaches a tower that can rotate in reaction to changes in the wind . the tower rotates with the turbine ( including the nacelle ). this allows the tower to be designed to decrease the tower &# 39 ; s drag in the wind . more important , the leading edge sees tension from variable wind thrust , with the trailing edge seeing or being subject to corresponding compression . therefore the materials choice and placement can be optimized for each type of loading , thereby allowing reduction of high strength and high cost materials . in addition , the tapering width allows nearly uniform stress in these main structural members so their material is loaded efficiently , and the side panels need carry only modest amounts of shear and bending loads . there can be an overall weight savings from carrying the loads in this efficient manner , and transportation costs can be reduced because the tower segments are both smaller and lighter . referencing fig6 , the tower has a vertical axis of rotation 950 . the axis of rotation extends vertically upward from the bottom bearing assembly ( proximate to the tower foundation 360 and pivot stalk 370 ) and through the middle of the upper bearing assembly 220 . the tower can be constructed to allow portions of the structure to extend outside the axis of rotation . particularly the leading edge may lean into the windward direction . this is termed “ leaning forward ”. it will be appreciated that the tower 100 is leaning to the left and into the wind as shown by vector arrow 975 . this configuration increases the distance between the tower leading edge and the plane of rotation of the turbine blades . the increased distance between the tower leading edge 110 and the turbine blade 402 is illustrated by distance 401 . this minimizes potential for damage to the turbine blades by striking the tower . it also decreases the moment distribution from rotor thrust that must be carried by the tower and its supports . a downwind rotor can extend from the trailing edge 120 outside the axis of rotation 950 . this position facilitates the generating of the necessary moment needed to steer the tower into a changed wind direction . in one embodiment of the invention , the tower edgewise load is carried by the leading edge 110 and the separate trailing edge 120 . see fig1 . this allows the sides of the tower structure to be covered with a lower load bearing material as stated in the preceding paragraph and further discussed in relation to fig2 . the tower edges define the outline of the wing shaped tower structure 100 illustrated in fig1 . the tower edges diverge at the tower mid point ( kinked or bowed separation of the leading edge and trailing edge ). the tower edges merge together at the bottom of the structure and are attached to the lower bearing assembly 210 . beneath the bottom bearing assembly ( not shown ) are a pivot stalk 370 and a foundation 360 . in the embodiment illustrated , the leading edge 110 leans forward into the wind . the leading edge is not vertical . the axis of rotation 950 is vertical . as illustrated in fig1 , the axis of rotation starts at the pivot stalk 370 and extends upward through the upper bearing assembly 220 . in one embodiment , ( not shown ) a hinge component connects the bottom segments of the leading edge and trailing edge with the foundation or with the bottom bearing assembly . other placements of the bottom hinge are possible . this configuration allows the tower to pivot on the hinge and the lowering of the tower ( and turbine ) to be placed on the ground for servicing or repair . it may be found advantageous to attach the hinge to the leading edge , thereby ensuring that the turbine and blades will be facing downward when the tower is lowered . the trailing edge can also be attached with a hinge to the foundation or bottom bearing assembly . accordingly the tower can be lowered using the leading edge hinge or the trailing edge hinge , depending upon the component of the turbine to be serviced . a hinge also allows the tower to be elevated and secured in the vertical position for initial erection . the tower edges also merge 240 beneath the attachment fixture or base 350 for the rotor and nacelle 351 . the orientation of the tower depicted in fig1 to the wind direction is shown by vector arrow 975 . the tower may be rotated in response to changes in the wind by use of a yaw motor or other device . also illustrated is the space 136 between the leading and trailing edges . it is this space that is covered by the secondary load bearing material . see fig2 and 4 . see fig2 a comprising a cross - sectional top view of the tower structure . illustrated are the leading edge 110 and trailing edge 120 , side panels 135 and the narrow profile of the tower structure facing the wind 975 . the leading edge defines the narrow profile . referencing fig1 , because the tower edge separation profile is similar to the linear moment profile from rotor thrust , loads in the leading and trailing edges are fairly constant and therefore a good match to a constant material cross - section . related to this is that primary structural shear in the side panels and fasteners is low . the side panels may be a composite material . there will be kick loads at the kink 130 in the trailing edge load path , but the mid - tower collar 230 is installed at this location and may reinforce the trailing edge . also interior structure such as wide flanges or a bulkhead integrated into the joining of upper and lower tower sections may be used to react to these kick loads . in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , the tower edges achieve maximum divergence approximately in the midpoint 130 , 131 of the structure 100 , i . e ., mid - tower . this forms a kink or widest portion of the wing shaped tower structure . an upper bearing assembly 220 reacts the net loads from the two edges at or near this widest point . the upper tower section is above the upper bearing assembly . of course , this upper bearing assembly facilitates the rotation of the tower structure . the bearing assembly comprises an annular structure surrounding the wing shaped tower structure 100 . see fig2 a for a top cross sectional view of the tower structure and the position of the leading edge and trailing edge . also illustrated in fig2 a is the narrow profile of the wing shaped tower . this narrow profile , combined with the design of the tower leading edge and trailing edge , minimize wind resistance of the tower and thereby lessens the load upon the tower components . a second outer annular structure ( mid - tower collar ) 230 surrounds the upper bearing assembly 220 . this mid - tower collar may be the attachment for reinforcing guy wires 310 extending to the ground . it may also restrain the tower structure at the point of greatest separation 141 ( kink ) between the load bearing leading edge 110 and trailing edge 120 . one embodiment may incorporate a kink design in the leading edge to facilitate the turning of the tower in response to changes in wind direction , by placing a downwind rotor substantially downwind of the tower rotation axis . in another embodiment , the turbine is turned by use of a yaw motor . with reference to fig2 a , the leading edge 110 is illustrated to comprise a half circle with a radius 111 . the trailing edge 120 is also illustrated to be a half circle with a radius 121 . the leading edge and trailing edge carry the tension and compression load of the structure , including the rotor and nacelle weight . the leading and trailing edges may comprise steel having a high modulus of elasticity . the radius 121 of the trailing edge 120 can be smaller than the radius 111 of the leading edge 110 . conversely , the radius of the leading edge can be smaller than the trailing edge . this configuration allows the trailing edge to be stored within the leading edge for transportation ( or vice versa ). the half circle shape enhances the load bearing capacity of the steel , in contrast to an equal thickness of sheet steel , because the curved shape provides self stability against buckling . continuing to reference fig2 b , the top cross sectional view shows a tower embodiment having a more elliptical shape . other embodiments can include a leading edge or trailing edge having a parabolic shape or a shape tapering to a wider or narrower crosswind dimension . in addition to the leading edge 110 and trailing edge 120 , fig2 a and 2b illustrate a third element of the tower , i . e ., panels 135 that cover the tower sides . these panels may cover both sides of the tower , creating a hollow interior space 136 . the panels are attached to the leading edge and the trailing edge . fig2 a and 2b illustrate one method of attachment wherein the panel 135 fits underneath the side edge 137 of the leading edge 110 . conversely , the side panel fits over 138 the side edge of the trailing edge 120 . the attachment mechanisms can be bolts , screws or clips and are loaded in shear , i . e ., the attachment mechanism primarily tries to slide laterally in contrast to being pulled apart . a primary structural or sealant bond may be optionally provided . the attachment method described above , i . e ., the leading edge fitting over the side panel and the side panel fitting over the trailing edge and in line with the air flow , advantageously minimizes debris and moisture blowing into the joints or hollow space 136 of the tower . the wind direction is illustrated by vector arrow 975 . this attachment method also reduces drag on the tower . the leading edge 110 is pointing into the wind . the side panels will experience in - plane , shear and air loads . these secondary loads are significantly less than the loads of the leading and trailing edges . accordingly , the side panels can be fabricated of lightweight secondary material . this , of course , reduces the weight of the tower . side panel materials may include but are not limited to fiberglass , balsa or foam core within fiberglass skin panels , fiber reinforced plastics or non reinforced plastic . a diagonal truss structure with covering may also be used . the panels may be lower cost materials relative to the material used for the tower edges . the leading edge 110 will experience both compression and tensile loads . the compression load comes from the weight of the rotor and nacelle . the tensile force will arise from , at least in part , the thrust action of the wind on the turbine rotor blades . when the leading edge is directed into the wind with the turbine operating , there will be thrust induced bending , simultaneous with compression from carrying weight from the turbine rotor and nacelle . the leading edge must carry the net resultant of these compression and tension loads . the trailing edge 120 will experience compression from the thrust force and from the weight load , and must be stable against buckling . due to the disparity of these forces and that the tower components are fabricated as separate pieces or segments , the leading edge can easily be made thinner than the trailing edge , thereby saving on material and transportation costs . the lower portion of the tower ( below the upper bearing assembly ) sees more compression than the upper tower portion due to the load from the anchored and tensioned guy wires . again , since the tower segments may be fabricated separately , the thickness of the tower leading edge and trailing edge can be greater below the upper bearing assembly . fig3 illustrates another embodiment of the tower 100 . the tower leading edge 110 may be vertical . the trailing edge 120 slopes in a linear fashion from the junction 240 with the leading edge . this junction supports the nacelle or rotor attachment fixture 350 . the tower enjoys a wider base 371 resting on a pivot stalk 370 and a foundation 360 . illustrated in fig3 are rotating mechanisms 171 a , 171 b , i . e ., turntable bearings , turning on the edge of the frame 100 allowing rotation of the tower within the base . also illustrated is a yaw motor 212 to power the rotation . the leading edge and the trailing edge are connected by a horizontal frame component 211 . the relationship of the leading edge to the wind is illustrated by vector arrow 975 representing the wind direction . in an alternative embodiment , the tower may rotate on a turntable component . this may comprise a horizontal rotating plate mounted on the foundation . the tower base would be attached to the plate or disk component . in another embodiment , a downwind rotor is attached to the trailing edge of the tower . see fig7 . the downwind rotor provides the mechanism for rotating the tower and turbine in response to changes in wind direction . the downwind rotor would be mounted sufficiently distant from the tower vertical axis of rotation to provide the yaw alignment forces . the leading edge may slant downwind , and the trailing edge may be vertical or also slant downwind , to aid the downwind placement of the rotor . the ability to choose the thickness , shape , and local radius of curvature of the trailing edge part enhances the buckling stability of the trailing edge while minimizing its weight and cost . similarly , these characteristics could be varied for the leading edge as a function of height to minimize weight and cost . the thickness of the tower i . e ., the separation between side panels , could also be varied with height if this provides lower weight and cost , by varying the edge to edge crosswind width dimensions of the leading and trailing edge pieces . fig4 illustrates the leaning tower structure 100 depicted in fig1 with the addition of the side panels 135 spanning the space 136 between the leading edge 110 and trailing edge 120 . the side panels need carry only modest amounts of shear and bending loads . the vertical axis of rotation is shown extending from the pivot stalk 370 and through the middle of the mid tower collar 230 . it extends outside the tower structure . fig2 a and 2b illustrate an embodiment of attaching the side panels to the leading and trailing edges . also illustrated are the mid - tower collar 230 and guy wires 310 , the tower structure midpoints 130 , 131 and the bearing assembly 220 . also illustrated is the merging of the leading and trailing edges 240 , the nacelle attachment component 350 , the bottom pivot post 370 , the foundation 360 . fig5 illustrates an embodiment for supporting the tower and allowing the tower to rotate . illustrated is a top cross sectional view showing the tower comprising the leading edge 110 , the side panels 135 , and the trailing edge 120 . the tower edges carry rotating bearings 170 a thru 170 d or similar components that are in contact with the circular surface 220 of the bearing assembly . also illustrated are three guy wires 310 a , 310 b , 310 c , attached to the mid tower collar 230 . also shown is the space 136 between the tower edges 110 , 120 . the mid - tower collar surrounds the upper bearing assembly and provides structural reinforcement . the tower structure 100 may also include an inner collar 221 . this collar 221 can be a flat plate surrounding the tower and attached to it at or near its widest point . the inner collar rotates with the tower with the upper bearing assembly . in fig5 , the area between the bearing assembly 220 and tower 100 is filled with a planar structure , possibly made from a flat plate , or plate with holes to make it lighter . the bearings may be in a few discrete locations as shown , or distributed more widely around the inside perimeter of the upper bearing assembly 220 . the inner collar stops the tower from deforming out of shape at the kink . alternatively , a planar structure on the inside would restrain the shape and achieve the same result . this specification is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the manner of carrying out the invention . it is to be understood that the forms of the invention herein shown and described are to be taken as the presently preferred embodiments . as already stated , various changes may be made in the shape , size and arrangement of components or adjustments made in the steps of the method without departing from the scope of this invention . for example , equivalent elements may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein and certain features of the invention maybe utilized independently of the use of other features , all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the invention . while specific embodiments have been illustrated and described , numerous modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention , and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims . | 5 |
referring now to the accompanying drawings , there are shown preferred embodiments of the invention . fig1 is a transverse sectional view of a recording apparatus incorporating a paper feeder according to the invention . in a recording apparatus 1 , a separation pad 4 is abutted against a rotating paper feeding roller 2 to separate one sheet of paper from a plurality of sheets of paper ; p stacked on a hopper 3 . the separated sheet is fed to a transport roller 6 along a paper guide 49 , and a skew is removed , then the sheet is sent to a record area matching the print timing . printing is performed by reciprocating : a recording head 7 mounted on a carriage 8 in a subscanning direction of the sheet . then the sheet is discharged by a discharge roller 9 . a paper support 21 is attached to a housing 10 of the recording apparatus 1 and an edge guide 22 for regulating the side margin of the paper p supported on the paper support 21 is slidably placed in the housing 10 . the hopper 3 is rotatably placed between the edge guide 22 and the paper feeding roller 2 , and when the hopper 3 is moved up , the separation pad 4 presses the top sheet of paper against the paper feeding roller 2 and separates and feeds the sheet . a paper feeder 20 includes a first unit 30 comprising the paper feeding roller 2 , an auxiliary roller 33 , a transmission gear 35 , etc ., built in one piece , and a second unit 40 comprising the hopper 3 and a paper returner 42 having the separation pad 4 , built in a frame 41 in one piece . the first unit 30 is fixed to the rear of a frame 13 partitioning the carriage 8 , and the second unit 40 is attached to a main frame 12 so that the bottom portion of the frame 41 shaped like a mountain in cross section is roughly on an extension of a paper , transporting passage connecting the transport roller 6 and the discharge roller 9 . the units make it possible to reduce the number of assembling steps into the recording apparatus and lessen adjustment of the post - assembled units . the first and second units will be discussed in more detail . in fig2 the first unit 30 comprises a roller shaft 32 supported on a bearing part 31 a of a roller holder 30 for rotation , and the paper feeding roller 2 and the auxiliary roller 33 are placed on the roller shaft 32 . a hopper driving cam 34 forming a cam mechanism for moving up or down the hopper 3 , and the transmission gear 35 are placed on the roller shaft 32 . a subsidiary cam 36 for performing the initial inclining operation of the paper returner described later is placed on a side of the hopper driving cam 34 . the transmission gear 35 is associated with a drive gear of a paper feed motor ( not shown ) via an intermediate transmission gear . the paper feeding roller 2 consists of a round portion 2 a and a flat portion 2 c , as shown in fig3 and a friction member is attached to the round portion 2 a for feeding paper . the round portion 2 a is extended to a protruded portion 2 b for enlarging the circumferential for the paper feeding . the protruded portion 2 b acts so as to reliably feed paper to the transport roller 6 , if the paper load capacity of the hopper 3 changes . if one sheet of paper exists in the hopper 3 , the time required to move up the hopper 3 from the lowermost position to abut the sheet of paper against the paper feeding roller 2 becomes the longest . that is , the paper feeding roller 2 rotates at a predetermined angle until the sheet of paper is abutted against the paper feeding roller 2 , and thus the length of the protruded portion 2 b is set so that paper arrives at the transport roller 6 as it is fed from the abutment position . since the protruded portion 2 b is provided , the circumferential length used for the paper feeding is extended without enlarging the diameter of the paper feeding roller 2 , thereby the apparatus can be miniaturized . numeral 37 denotes a flat cable retainer placed in the frame 31 to retain a flat cable 38 for transmitting a print signal to the recording head 7 ( see fig1 ). in the second unit 40 , as shown in fig4 and 5 , a front inclined face of the frame 41 , which is shaped like a mountain in cross section extending in the width direction of the recorder 1 , is used as the paper guide 49 , and a rear inclined face of the frame 41 is used as an aligner 41 c on which leading edges of sheets are abutted to be aligned and the hopper 3 is placed . on the top of the frame 41 , the paper returner 42 is placed along a ridgeline portion 41 b ( boundary between the aligner 41 c and the paper guide 49 ), and a base end of the paper returner 42 is placed in the ridgeline portion 41 b for rotation . the hopper 3 is pivotably attached with one end in the width direction of the recorder 1 as a support point 43 along the rear inclined face of the frame 41 and an opposite end is positioned on the side of the first unit 30 and a hopper edge guide 3 a is provided . the upper end face thereof forms a hopper cam follower 3 c on which the hopper driving cam 34 acts . a projection 3 b extending from the hopper edge guide 3 a to the outside is formed and is inserted into a hopper guide 41 a placed upright from the frame 41 for regulating motion of the opposite end of the hopper 3 so that it is moved only up or down . the rotation support point 43 of the hopper 3 is placed so that the hopper face in the proximity of the rotation support point 43 almost matches the ridgeline portion 41 b , for preventing the paper tip from being caught in the frame 41 on the rotation support point 43 side of the hopper 3 , when paper is set . a hopper spring 44 is placed between the hopper 3 and the frame 41 on the rear in the proximity of the opposite end of the hopper 3 for urging the hopper 3 in the crest direction of the inclined face . a sheet 45 having a friction coefficient higher than that of other hopper face is put on the hopper 3 so as to match with the position of the separation pad 4 . as shown in fig7 to 9 , a base end 42 b formed as a bearing structure is inserted into a shaft part of the frame 41 , whereby the paper returner 42 is attached for rotation . the separation pad 4 and a shift stopper 5 which are placed away from each other are provided on a surface 42 c of the paper returner 42 . the separation pad 4 is made of a material having a higher friction coefficient than the surface 22 c . the shift stopper 5 is a sheet - like member having a higher friction coefficient than the surface 22 c , such as cork , etc . a cam follower 42 a for initially inclining the paper returner 42 is placed on the edge guide 3 a side of the hopper 3 and the subsidiary cam 36 placed on the side of the hopper driving cam 34 acts on the cam follower 42 a . the subsidiary cam 36 and the cam follower 42 a constitute an initial incliner which starts to rotate the paper returner 42 at a predetermined angle from the stand - up position to the fall - down position in association with rotation of the paper feeding roller 2 in a paper feed direction . at a free end on an opposite side to the base end 42 b , a protrusion 42 d is formed on the surface 42 c in a portion except the separation pad 4 is provided . the protrusion 24 d acts so as to reliably grasp the leading end of sheet , and return it to the hopper 3 when the paper returning operation is performed as described later . the paper guide 49 is formed with a notch part 46 of roughly the same shape as the paper returner 42 . the notch part 46 is covered when the paper returner 42 rotates against the urging force of a paper returner spring 47 from the stand - up position shown in fig6 a to the fall - down position shown in fig6 b . the notch part 46 is flush with the paper guide 49 . the paper returner spring 47 is implanted as a coil spring , for example , and is disposed on the rear slope of the frame 41 . the paper returner spring 47 is retained at one end on the back of the paper returner 42 and at an opposite end on the frame 41 for urging the paper returner 42 so as to stand up the paper returner 42 as shown in fig6 a . the paper returner 42 stands up almost vertically for blocking accidental entry of paper into the paper transporting passage when paper is set . in the stand - up state , the paper returner 42 is out of the rotation path of a roller face of the paper feeding roller 2 and a rotation force cannot be given . then , to enter a portion for making the rotation force act on the paper returner 42 in the rotation path of the roller face of the paper feeding roller 2 , the paper returner 42 is initially rotated at a predetermined angle in association with rotation of the paper feeding roller 2 by the subsidiary cam 36 and the cam follower 42 a ( the initial incliner ) at the initial stage of rotation of the paper feeding roller 2 for feeding paper . then , the force from the paper feeding roller 2 acts directly on the paper returner 42 for rotating the same . accordingly , the paper returner 42 can be rotated smoothly . on side of the hopper 3 close to the rotation support point 43 , a paper receptor 48 is formed on the paper guide 49 near to the ridgeline portion 41 b and has a triangular plane which is wide on the rotation support point 43 side of the hopper 3 and becomes narrower toward the center , whereby a load shift of stacked sheets of paper is prevented . another embodiment of the invention wherein a separation pad and a paper returner are formed separately will described below . fig1 a is a perspective view to show a stand - up state of the paper returner and fig1 b is a perspective view to show a falldown state of the paper returner . a separation pad 4 is attached at one end to a separation pad holder 51 rotatably supported on a main frame 12 . the separation pad holder 51 is urged to the side of a paper feeding roller 2 by a spring 52 . a paper returner 42 has a portion opposed to the separation pad 4 as a notch , and a first paper retainer 5 is put at a position away from the separation pad 4 to the side of a support point 43 of a hopper 3 . next , the operation of the hopper will be described with reference to fig1 to 14 . at a home position of the paper feeding roller 2 , the paper returner 42 is retained at a stand - up position by a spring 47 . while the paper feeding roller 2 arrives at the home position , the hopper 3 is rotated on the support point 43 by a hopper cam 34 against the urging force of a spring 44 and is maintained at the position shown in fig1 and 13 ( moved - down state ). if a plurality of sheets of paper p are set when the hopper is moved down , entry of the lower part of paper into a paper transporting passage is blocked by the paper returner 42 and the leading edges of paper sheets abut against the aligning face 41 c of a frame 41 to be aligned . on the support point 43 side of the hopper 3 , the aligning face 41 c is not as thick as the thickness of a plurality of sheets of paper p and thus the paper overhangs from the aligning face 41 c to the side of a paper guide 49 , as shown in fig1 . when paper is set , a second paper retainer 48 regulates entry motion of the overhung part of the sheets into the paper transporting passage before the leading end of the sheet is fed by the paper feeding roller 2 ( skew feeding ), so that paper is set correctly . when paper feed starts , the hopper 3 moves up to the position shown in fig1 and presses paper against the paper feeding roller 2 . at this time , the number of overhung sheets of paper is increased in comparison with the moved - down state of the hopper 3 , however , the first paper retainer 5 of the paper returner 42 retains the leading ends of the sheets for suppressing the skew feeding occurring on the support point side of the hopper 3 . when the top sheet of paper is fed , the leading end of sheet on the support point side also starts to enter by the paper feeding roller 2 . at this time , the paper feeding roller side of the second paper retainer 48 is narrow , so that the leading end of sheet is not caught therein and can climb over smoothly . a preferred advantage can be provided particularly for firm paper such as ohp sheets . the paper returner 42 becomes flush with the paper guide 49 at the fall - down position of the paper returner 42 and the leading end of sheet at an almost intermediate point in the paper width direction is restrained by the first paper retainer 5 , so that the skew feeding of the leading ends of sheets occurring on the support point side of the hopper 3 is suppressed . accordingly , the paper enters the paper transporting passage straight . next , the paper feed operation will be explained in detail . fig1 to 27 are schematic representations to show a flow of the paper feed operation . a plurality of sheets of paper p are set in a paper support 21 . a flat portion 2 c of the paper feeding roller 2 at the home position is almost parallel to a face of the paper guide 49 of the frame 41 . the paper returner 42 stands up and does not interfere with the paper feeding roller 2 . in this state , it is blocked accidental entrance of the leading end of the set paper into the transport passage between , the paper feeding roller 2 and the hopper 3 . on the other hand , the hopper 3 is pressed down to the lowermost position by a hopper driving cam 34 ( state in fig1 ). when the paper feeding roller 2 rotates as paper feed starts , the subsidiary cam 36 first acts on the cam follower 42 a of the paper returner 42 so that the paper returner 42 is slightly inclined as the initial operation of falling down ( state in fig1 ). after the paper returner 42 is inclined at a predetermined angle , the paper feeding roller 2 abuts the surface of the paper returner 42 and rotates the paper returner 42 toward the fall - down position by the rotation press force against the urging force of the paper returner spring 47 . meanwhile , the hopper driving cam 34 acts on the hopper cam follower 3 c for maintaining the hopper 3 at the lowermost position ( state in fig1 ). the paper returner 42 reaches the fall - down position ( state in fig1 ) and then maintaining the hopper 3 at the lowermost position by the hopper driving cam 34 is released and the hopper 3 is moved up by the hopper spring 44 for pressing the top sheet of paper against the paper feeding roller 2 ( state in fig1 ). as the paper feeding roller 2 rotates , feeding the top sheet starts ( state in fig2 ). in the following figures , the upper arrow indicates the position of the leading end of the fed sheet . before the leading end of the fed sheet arrives at the transport roller 6 , the hopper driving cam 34 acts on the cam follower 3 c for starting to move down the hopper 3 at the position just before move down shown in fig2 . fig2 shows a state in which the hopper 3 is moving down . the hopper 3 arrives at the lowermost position ( fig2 ) and then the standing - up operation of the paper returner 42 is started by the spring force of the paper returner spring 47 . fig2 shows a state just before the paper returner 42 is stood up . meanwhile , the leading end of the fed sheet arrives at the transport roller 6 so that the skew removal and the positioning operation are performed . subsequently , standing up the paper returner 42 is completed by the spring force of the paper returner spring 47 . during the rotating for standing up the paper returner 42 , a leading end of a sheet p 1 overlappedly transported with the top sheet p and entered between the paper feeding roller 2 and the paper returner 42 by a wedge effect in the previous operation is grasped , and the sheet p 1 is pushed back into the hopper 3 . fig2 shows a state at the paper returning operation is completed . fig2 shows a state in which the paper feeding roller 2 is rotating to the home position after completion of the paper returning operation . while the paper feeding roller 2 is returned to the home position , print on the paper p is started ( state in fig2 ). although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments , various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein . such changes and modifications as are obvious are deemed to come within the spirit , scope and contemplation of the invention as defined in the appended claims . | 1 |
the following examples describe preparation of comparative reaction products ( crp ) for ( a ) germall ® 115 ( 1 : 1 . 5 ); at low caustic levels ; and ( b ) at high caustic levels ; and ( c ) germall ® ii ( 1 : 4 ), low caustic and ( d ) high caustic ; and invention reaction products ( irp ) germall ® iii ( 1 : 3 ), ( a ) laboratory and ( b ) commercial runs , with only enough caustic to neutralize the formic acid present in the formalin solution . [ 0013 ] ( 1 : 1 . 5 ) allantoin 15 . 8 g ( 0 . 1 mole ) formalin ( 37 %) 12 . 2 g ( 0 . 15 mole ) water 28 . 5 ml the above mixture was refluxed for one hour to form a clear solution . [ 0015 ] ( 1 : 1 . 5 ) allantoin 600 g ( 3 . 8 mole ) formalin ( 37 %) 450 g ( 5 . 5 mole ) sodium hydroxide 123 g refluxed for one hour to form a clear solution . concentrated acetic acid was added to adjust the ph to 4 . 0 . removed water to give a white powder . [ 0017 ] ( 1 : 4 ) allantoin 1053 g ( 6 . 66 mole ) formalin ( 37 %) 2160 g ( 26 . 64 mole ) the white suspension was heated to 85 ° c . and held for an additional hour ; upon cooling a clear solution was obtained . removed water under reduced pressure to give a white powder . [ 0019 ] ( 1 : 4 ) allantoin 158 . 1 g ( 1 . 0 mole ) formalin ( 37 %) 324 . 2 g ( 3 . 99 mole ) sodium hydroxide 10 % 32 . 0 g ( 0 . 08 mole ) refluxed at 85 ° c . for one hour . the clear colorless solution obtained was dried under reduced pressure to give solid white powder residue . a . niger c . albican atcc 9642 test solutions attc1023 ( for 3 days ) 0 . 3 % germall ® 115 + + ( exs . a / b ) 0 . 3 % germall ® — — ii ( exs . c / d ) [ 0023 ] ( 1 : 3 ) allantoin 1616 g ( 10 . 23 mole ) formalin lm *( 37 %) 2488 g ( 30 . 68 mole ) sodium hydroxide 50 % 24 g mixed and heated at 60 ° c . for 3 hours to give a clear solution . the ph of the product was adjusted to 7 . 2 with the sodium hydroxide solution to neutralize formic acid in formalin ® and the solution was spray dried to give a free - flowing , white powder . [ 0026 ] ( 1 : 3 ) allantoin . wet cake 2095 lbs ( 10 . 23 mole ) formalin lm ( 37 %) 2488 lbs ( 30 . 68 mole ) sodium hydroxide 50 % 23 . 6 lbs ph 6 . 5 - 7 . 0 reaction temp 40 - 60 ° c . the resultant mixture then was further reacted at 85 ° c . for 3 hours to give a clear solution at ph 7 . 2 . the solution was spray dried to remove water and other volatile by - products to give a free - flowing , white powder . a study was conducted to determine the level of methylene diol in the reaction products versus the number of equivalents of formaldehyde added during formation . these results are based on quantitative 13c - nmr analysis and summarized in table 1 below . [ 0029 ] table 2 bioactivity of germall ® compounds invention exs . preservative organism static cidal irp - germall ® staph aureus 300 ppm 1250 ppm iii ( 1 : 3 ) e . coli 300 ppm 1250 ppm p . aeruginosa 300 ppm 600 ppm b . cepacia 150 ppm 300 ppm c . albicans & gt ; 5000 ppm — a . niger 2500 ppm 2500 ppm crp - germall ® staph aureus 300 ppm 1250 ppm ii ( 1 : 4 ) e . coli 600 ppm 1250 ppm p . aeruginosa 600 ppm 1250 ppm b . cepacia 150 ppm 600 ppm c . albicans 5000 ppm & gt ; 5000 ppm a . niger 2500 ppm 2500 ppm crp - germall ® staph aureus 1250 ppm 2500 ppm 115 ( 1 : 1 . 5 ) e . coli 1250 ppm 2500 ppm p . aeruginosa 1250 ppm 2500 ppm b . cepacia 600 ppm 1250 ppm c . albicans & gt ; 5000 ppm a . niger 5000 ppm 5000 ppm the purpose of this test procedure is to screen experimental compounds for anti - microbial activity . the measurement of the lowest effective concentration of an anti - microbial or anti - microbial blend is important for recommending use concentrations . the mic test is an in vitro tube dilution procedure used to identify effective concentrations of anti - microbials . in this test , the experimental compound is diluted by serial concentrations into nutrient culture media . test organisms are then inoculated into the anti - microbial solutions . if the experimental compound is effective , there is no growth observed in the test dilution tubes and they are clear . if the experimental compound is not effective , the test dilution tubes are cloudy , indicating growth . this test will determine static as well as cidal activity concentrations . 4 . media : trypticase soy broth ( bbl 11043 ) and aoac letheen broth ( bbl 10914 ) 5 . test organisms : staphylococcus aureus atcc 6538 , escherichia coli atcc 8739 , pseudomonas aeruginosa atcc 9027 , burkholderia cepacia atcc 25416 , candida albicans atcc 10231 , and aspergillus niger atcc 16404 . 1 . antimicrobial stock solutions are prepared at predetermined concentrations ( i . e ., 10 % through 0 . 07 %) depending on the test material . serial doubling dilutions are made as follows . each culture tube contains 5 mis of trypticase soy broth . five mis of the stock solution are added to the first tube and vortexed . 5 mis are then removed and placed into the second tube , ( and so on , until the last tube ). at the final test concentration , 5 mis of the broth / antimicrobial mixture is decanted out . 2 . the test organisms are prepared as with any organism inoculum ( mlm 100 - 3 , mlm 100 - 4 , and mlm 100 - 5 ). a saline suspension of each organism is prepared . the bacterial organisms and the yeast are a standardized at a concentration of 1 × 10 6 cfu / ml . the mold inoculum is approximately 1 × 10 5 cfu / ml . 3 . inoculate each culture tube with 0 . 10 mls of organism inoculum and vortex . 4 . incubate bacterial tubes for 24 hours at 35 ° c . incubate yeast or mold tubes for 48 hours at 25 ° c . read for growth ; turbid tubes for bacteria and yeast ; mold clearly visible tubes . this is the minimum inhibitory concentration ( static activity ). 5 . after the tubes are read , transfer all “ clear ” tubes and the first cloudy ( growth ) tube into letheen broth containing neutralizers . incubate the letheen broth tubes for 48 hours at the bacterial or fungal incubation temperatures . read for growth ; turbid tubes for bacteria and yeast ; mold clearly visible in mold tubes . this is the cidal activity concentration . the cidal activity of an anti - microbial can be rapidly screened by means of a mic test before further evaluation tests , such as longer preservative efficacy tests , are performed . this test is a tube serial dilution procedure limited only by the water solubility of the material . where anti - microbial materials are slightly insoluble , leaving the tsb broth turbid , a procedure modification can be made . tubes are incubated for 24 hours ( bacteria ) or 48 hours ( fungi ) but instead of transfer to letheen broth , the tsb tubes are streaked onto letheen agar . the agar plates are then incubated appropriately and then read for absence or presence of growth . depending on the degree of insolubility , a measure of cidal activity may be the only parameter measured . anti - microbial neutralization is important in this screening test . letheen broth or agar contains neutralizers but if these do not neutralize the anti - microbial adequately , others can be added . these are to be determined prior to testing . aseptic technique is important in any microbiological procedure . all functional operations are performed under the laminar flow hood with use of sterile pipettes , tubes and media to eliminate cross - contamination . surface sanitizers ( i . e ., alcohol ) are used on the work surface before and after each operation . ample time is allowed for recirculation of air within the sterile chamber of the hood . the bioactivity data show particular effectiveness against the organism cepacia b . ( cidal = 300 ppm vs . 600 ppm and 1250 ppm for germall ® ii and germall ® 115 , respectively ). however , if desired , even broader spectrum antibacterial activity can be achieved by combination products with the invention composition whose formulations are given below . [ 0053 ] combination blends ( by weight ) ( 1 ) germall ® iii 20 - 30 % mp - methyl paraben 8 - 12 % pp - propyl paraben 2 - 4 % pg - propylene glycol q . s . 100 ( 2 ) germall ® iii 40 - 45 % ipbc - iodopropynyl butyl carbamate 0 . 5 - 5 % pg - propylene glycol qs 100 ( 3 ) germall ® iii 98 . 5 - 99 . 5 % ipbc - iodopropynyl butyl carbamate 0 . 5 - 1 . 5 % ( powder ) a typical cosmetic emulsion was prepared for microbiological challenge testing and predetermined admixtures of a methylol compound and ipbc were added at various use levels . the emulsion thus prepared had the following composition : nonionic emulsion ( unpreserved control ) phase ingredient % wt . a water 69 . 80 a carbomer 10 . 00 b octyl palmitate 5 . 00 b cetearyl alcohol and ceteareth - 20 2 . 00 b glyceryl stearate and laureth - 23 2 . 50 b mineral oil 5 . 00 c triethanolamine ( 99 %) 0 . 20 d preservative 0 . 00 e hydrolyzed collagen 0 . 50 e water 5 . 00 total 100 . 00 standard screening emulsions % wt . phase a stearic acid 5 . 00 mineral oil 2 . 50 cetyl alcohol 1 . 00 lareth - 5 and ceteth - 5 and 0 . 50 oleth - 5 and steareth - 5 glycerol monostearate and 1 . 50 polyoxyethylene stearate phase b deionized water 88 . 0 triethanolamine 99 % 1 . 00 citric acid 30 % aqueous solution 0 . 60 preservative admixture qs to prepare the emulsion , phases a and b were heated separately to 75 °- 80 ° c . phase a then was added to phase b with mixing . the mixture then was cooled to 55 ″- 60 ° c . at this point the desired amount of the preservative admixture was added and the product was cooled to 50 ° c . while stirring . the citric acid solution then was added to adjust the ph and the mixture was stirred until a temperature of 30 ° c . was reached . the challenge tests were carried out using the following microorganisms : sa , ecoli , psa , pc , an and can , in this manner . 50 g aliquots of the test emulsion containing various amounts of the preservative admixture were inoculated with approximately 10 7 - 10 8 of the challenge organisms . the test samples then were stirred to disperse the challenge inoculum . the samples were incubated and assayed at 48 hours , 7 , 14 , 21 and 28 days . the assays were performed on 1 g of the test sample by serially diluting 10 1 to 10 6 of the original concentration . the plating medium for bacteria was letheen agar and for fungi it was low ph mycophil agar with tween 20 . each plated sample was incubated for 48 hours at 37 ° c . for bacteria , 5 days at 25 ° c . for mold , and 3 days at 25 ° c . for fungi . after incubation , readings of the number of colonies per milliliter ( cfu / ml ) were made . at 21 days the test product was reinoculated with half of the original inoculum . the data is presented in tables 3 - 11 below . [ 0064 ] table 3 comparison of activity of germall iii to germall ii and 115 ( screening emulsion ) organ - preservative conc . ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days germall ii 1000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 160 , 000 78 , 000 63 , 000 260 , 000 210 , 000 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 1000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 160 , 000 380 , 000 380 , 000 810 , 000 640 , 000 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall 115 2000 ppm sa 3000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 490 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 230 , 000 2 , 000 , 000 650 , 000 1 , 500 , 000 1 , 200 , 000 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 2000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 150 9 , 600 48 , 900 490 , 000 210 , 000 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 2000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 6000 195 , 000 460 , 000 690 , 000 1 , 070 , 000 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 unpreserved 0 sa 2 , 100 , 000 57 , 000 90 & lt ; 10 68 , 000 ec 37 , 000 96 , 000 96 , 000 43 , 000 790 , 000 psa 70 4600 500 10 , 100 170 , 000 bc 2 , 100 , 000 860 , 000 1 , 520 , 000 3 , 520 , 000 & gt ; 10 e6 can 1 , 100 , 000 168 , 000 67 , 000 270 , 000 460 , 000 an 700 , 000 56 , 000 44 , 000 190 , 000 320 , 000 [ 0065 ] table 4 comparison of activity of germall iii to germall ii and 115 ( nonionic emulsion ) organ - preservative conc . ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days germall iii 2000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 820 , 000 1 , 680 , 000 1 , 350 , 000 700 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 2000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 320 , 000 720 , 000 650 , 000 730 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall 115 2000 ppm sa 1 , 500 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 52 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 700 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an & lt ; 10 20 390 370 & gt ; 1e4 germall iii 4000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 24 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 730 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 4000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 50 10 , 000 620 , 000 460 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall 115 4000 ppm sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 1 , 500 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 1 , 060 , 000 1 , 000 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 unpreserved 0 sa & gt ; 1e6 6 , 300 & gt ; 1e4 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 1e4 ec & gt ; 1e6 900 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 psa 20 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 bc & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 can & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 an 500 , 000 510 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 [ 0066 ] table 5 comparison of activity of germall iii to germall ii and 115 ( screening emulsion ) organ - preservative conc . ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days germall iii 250 ppm sa 69 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 11 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc 200 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 430 , 000 120 , 000 70 , 000 150 , 000 850 , 000 an 100 , 000 200 70 40 1 , 300 germall ii 250 ppm sa 55 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 5500 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 290 , 000 170 , 000 71 , 000 46 , 000 680 , 000 an 50 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 100 germall 115 250 ppm sa 117 , 000 30 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 1 , 500 ec 40 , 000 20 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 3600 psa & lt ; 10 320 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 bc 11 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 can 1 , 090 , 000 270 , 000 1 , 120 , 000 770 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an 90 , 000 20 , 000 20 , 000 29 , 000 300 , 000 germall iii 500 ppm sa 38 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 18 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 100 , 000 210 , 000 310 , 000 270 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an 9000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 500 ppm sa 17 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 610 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 170 , 000 100 , 000 90 , 000 320 , 000 930 , 000 an 40 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall 115 500 ppm sa 140 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec 24 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 290 , 000 760 , 000 790 , 000 1 , 210 , 000 & gt ; 1e6 an 130 , 000 1 , 000 40 290 80 , 000 unpreserved 0 sa & gt ; 1e6 34 , 000 6 , 800 20 & gt ; 1e4 ec 18 , 000 4 , 900 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 psa 50 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 bc & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 can 970 , 000 270 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 an 150 , 000 280 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 [ 0067 ] table 6 comparison of activity of germall plus and germall iii / ipbc ( screening emulsion ) organ - preservative conc . ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days germall plus sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 1980 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 20 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 1980 sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 20 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 100 germall iii 1960 sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 40 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 unpreserved sa 580 , 000 3200 180 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 1e4 ec 5 , 200 70 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 psa 18 , 000 40 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 bc & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 can & gt ; 1e6 200 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 an 210 , 000 270 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 [ 0068 ] table 7 comparison of activity of liquid germall plus and germall iii / ipbc - liq ( screening emulsion ) organ - preservative conc . ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days liqgermplus sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 790 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 8 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liqgermplus sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 1580 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 20 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 100 germall iii 790 sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liquid psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 26 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 1580 sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 20 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liquid psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 unpreserved 0 sa 580 , 000 3200 180 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 1e4 ec 5200 70 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 psa 18 , 000 40 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 bc & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 can & gt ; 1e6 200 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 an 210 , 000 270 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 [ 0069 ] table 8 comparison of activity of germall plus and germall iii / ipbc ( screening emulsion ) organ - preservative conc . ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days germall plus sa 42 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 495 ec 40 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 5 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 48 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an 100 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall plus sa 300 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 990 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 495 sa 46 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 5 ec 25 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 11 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 990 sa 24 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 10 ec 1 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa 19 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & gt ; 1e6 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 2 , 500 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 490 sa 23 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 10 ec 900 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa 18 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & gt ; 1e6 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 2800 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 980 sa 2 , 700 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 20 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 unpreserved 0 sa & gt ; 1e6 54 , 000 4 , 400 20 & gt ; 1e4 ec 80 , 000 67 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 psa 2 , 000 4200 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 bc & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 can 990 , 000 320 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 an 380 , 000 170 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 [ 0070 ] table 9 comparison of activity of liquid germall plus and germall 111 / 0 . 5 % or 0 . 8 % ipbc ( screening emulsion ) organ - preservative conc . ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days liqgermplus sa 110 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 195 ec 2 , 600 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 2 . 5 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 240 , 000 120 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 1e4 an 230 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liqgermplus sa 2 , 800 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall ii 390 ec 1100 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 5 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 11 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 20 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 100 germall iii 195 sa 260 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 2 . 5 ec 4 , 300 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liquid psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 150 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 1e4 an 200 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 390 sa 170 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 5 ec 2 , 500 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liquid psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 50 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 1e4 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 195 sa 70 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 4 ec 1400 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liquid psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 41 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 40 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germall iii 390 sa 76 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ipbc 8 ec 3 , 400 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 liquid psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 14 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 unpreserved 0 sa & gt ; 1e6 54 , 000 4 , 400 20 & gt ; 1e4 ec 80 , 000 67 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 psa 2 , 000 4200 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 bc & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 can 990 , 000 320 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 an 380 , 000 170 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 [ 0071 ] table 10 comparison of activity of germaben ii and germaben iii ( screening emulsion ) use organ - preservative level ism 8 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days germaben ii 0 . 30 % sa 480 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 20 , 000 100 2 , 600 380 , 000 380 , 000 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germaben ii 0 . 75 % sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 100 germaben iii 0 . 30 % sa 7 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 14 , 000 120 & gt ; 1e4 470 , 000 190 , 000 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germaben iii 0 . 75 % sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 5 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 unpreserved 0 sa & gt ; 1e6 46 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 60 & gt ; 1e4 ec & gt ; 1e6 170 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 psa 690 24000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 bc & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e6 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 can 440 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 an 87 , 000 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 & gt ; 1e4 [ 0072 ] table 11 comparison of activity of germaben iie and germaben iiie ( screening emulsion ) use organ - preservative level ism 48 hrs 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days germaben iie 0 . 30 % sa 580 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 1 , 600 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germaben iie 0 . 75 % sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germaben iiie 0 . 30 % sa 270 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can 4 , 000 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 90 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 germaben iiie 0 . 75 % sa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 ec & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 psa & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 bc & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 can & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 an & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 & lt ; 10 the 28 day challenge results reported in tables 3 - 11 above demonstrate the effectiveness of the preservative composition of the invention in a use emulsion composition against a wide range of bacteria and fungi organisms . while the invention has been described with particular reference to certain embodiments thereof , it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made which are within the skill of the art . accordingly , it is intended to be bound only by the following claims , in which : | 0 |
in a following description , reference is made to the accompanying drawings , which form a part hereof , and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific example in which the invention may be practiced . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . the present invention is a shoe pair matching clip device that is simple to use and inexpensive . the present invention enables the matching pair of shoes to be easily physically held together and separated with minimal effort giving the user an easy method of keeping the pairs of shoes organized and mated . fig1 for illustrative purposes only shows an example of a shoe pair matching clip in operation clipped onto a pair of shoes in a side rear prospective view of one embodiment of the present invention . many items of use in our daily lives come in pairs . when those pairs get physically separated they can be lost or difficult to find . losing one shoe in a pair of shoes 110 is costly to replace requiring the purchase of a new pair and then disposing of what may be one shoe that has more useful life , but not as a single . loss of time in searching for a shoes &# 39 ; mate is frustrating and annoying . employee time spent searching for a shoes &# 39 ; mate and the economic loss in a commercial setting is costly . a shoe pair matching clip 100 provides a cost effective , fast and easy to use device and method for maintaining pairs of shoes in physical contact until their next use or when the pair of shoes is on display for sales or promotion purposes of one embodiment of the present invention . the shoes are held together side by side with the shoe pair matching clip device by easily slipping the device down the two inside portions of the shoe openings and toward the front of the pair of shoes , acting as a clip , clamp or fastener of one embodiment of the present invention . the present invention can be manufactured for different sizes of shoes such as men &# 39 ; s , women &# 39 ; s and children &# 39 ; s sizes . the shoe pair matching clip 100 can be configured to fit different styles of footwear such as dress , casual , high - tops , athletic and various styles of sports shoe style categories . the shoe pair matching clip can be manufactured from a number of materials that provide compression forces with stability and rigidity , such as low - density polyethylene ( ldpe ), high - density polyethylene ( hdpe ), memory metals , and / or suitable material and many other recycled and / or biodegradable materials or combination thereof . it should be noted that the illustrations show in many cases angular edges or flat faces , the angular edges or flat faces are illustrated for ease of understanding of directional changes and distinction of structural elements . the underlying principles apply to clipping pressure and bowed tension in other embodiments of the shoe pair matching clip wherein some or all of the angular edges or flat faces maybe rounded or curved . fig2 for illustrative purposes only shows an example of a shoe pair matching clip showing structural features from a right side rear prospective view of one embodiment of the present invention . a shoe pair matching clip 100 is handled primarily by a grab base 210 which has finger holes 220 for more secure gripping . a heel clip 240 at the rear of the shoe pair matching clip 100 secures the back portion of the pair of shoes . the heel clip 240 maintains clipping pressure through the heel clip bowed tension structure 230 which is reinforced by heel clip side supports 260 . at the opposite end of the shoe pair matching clip 100 which is positioned further inside the shoes is a raised tongue support 250 to provide vertical stability with a point to press against the inside tongue area of each shoe and limit vertical pivoting of one embodiment of the present invention . fig3 for illustrative purposes only shows an example of a shoe pair matching clip showing structural features from an end prospective view of one embodiment of the present invention . the shoe pair matching clip 100 extends into the interior of the shoes with the arch extension 300 . the arch extension 300 has an arch clip 320 to provide a clipping point further into the shoe interior near the arch support . the arch extension 300 is formed by two opposing arch clip bowed tension structure 310 sections to maintain clipping pressure on the arch clip 320 . the arch extension 300 terminates with two opposing raised tongue support 250 of fig2 which are directed toward the outside of each shoe to form a flared end opening 330 to ease the initial installation or slipping of the shoe pair matching clip 100 into the pair of shoes of one embodiment of the present invention . fig4 for illustrative purposes only shows an example of a shoe pair matching clip showing structural features from a left side front prospective view of one embodiment of the present invention . the two arch extension 300 of fig3 are reinforced at the point where they start the extension from the grab base 210 of fig2 with an arch extension lateral support 400 to reduce damage from the stress of spreading apart as the shoe pair matching clip 100 of fig1 is being installed . the arch extension lateral support 400 additionally adds additional tension to maintain clipping pressure on the arch clip 320 of fig3 of one embodiment of the present invention . fig5 for illustrative purposes only shows an example of a shoe pair matching clip installed in a shoe in an interior prospective view of one embodiment of the present invention . in fig5 a men &# 39 ; s dress shoe interior section 500 is illustrated as though the shoe were cut in two sections longitudinally with the inside half of the left shoe shown in this illustration . the shoe pair matching clip 100 is shown after installation demonstrating its position inside the shoe . fig5 shows where the heel clip 240 of fig2 at the rear of the shoe pair and the arch clip 320 of fig3 hold the pair of shoes together . fig5 shows where the raised tongue support 250 of fig2 provides a point to press against the inside tongue area of each shoe and limit vertical pivoting . the terminal ends of the arch extension 300 raised tongue support 250 are slightly flared out to the outside to allow a wider point of initiating installation of one embodiment of the present invention . the shoe pair matching clip 100 of fig1 is a device to securely hold a pair of two shoes physically together . in one embodiment the purpose of the shoe pair matching clip 100 of fig1 is for organizational purposes of personal shoes . other purposes can include storage of shoes , as a packing aid for shoes when traveling and shoes for display in commercial applications such as sales or promotion in other embodiments of the present invention . the shoe pair matching clip 100 of fig1 is an easily installed device that provides a stable and secure method of keeping a pair of shoes in physical contact with three points of contact and support . the foregoing has described the principles , embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention . however , the invention should not be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed . the above described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive , and it should be appreciated that variations may be made in those embodiments by workers skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims . | 0 |
the dba method of the present invention comprises in the most general sense three steps . in a configuration stage ( not shown ) a predefined grant cycle is divided by the olt into n part cycles . preferably n = 2 . in alternative embodiments , n is greater than 2 . when n = 2 , the parts are preferably equal , i . e . “ half cycles ”. the following description relates to this “ half cycle ” embodiment . in fig3 a , step 300 represents a “ division ” step , in which the onus are divided by the olt into exemplarily two onu groups . a preferred way to form the onu groups is detailed below . step 302 represents an “ allocation ” step . in this step , the dba algorithm run by the olt takes the reports of one onu group ( e . g . the first group ) and allocates grants accordingly . step 302 takes place simultaneously with the transmission of data and reports of the other onu group . after each allocation step , the dba algorithm checks in step 304 if any of the onus in either group has changed its status , i . e . whether it has registered , deregistered or changed its sla . if there is a status change , there is a loop back to step 300 , where the division takes place again and the onus of all ( in this example two ) groups are rearranged into new groups . otherwise , in step 302 the dba algorithm takes the reports of the other ( in this case second ) group and allocates grants accordingly . the check in step 304 is repeated , and if there is no status change , in step 302 the dba algorithm takes the reports of the first group and allocates grants accordingly , and so on . in a preferred embodiment , the onus are divided in step 300 into two fixed groups . other embodiments ( see e . g . fig6 ) may include division into more than two groups , or into non - fixed groups . in such embodiments , the dba algorithm can move onus between onu groups . in each half cycle , onus of one group transmit ( send ) their data and reports while the dba processes allocations for the other group . details of the process flow are illustrated schematically in fig3 b and in a flow chart in fig3 c . alternative embodiments may work with a cycle that is not fixed or a division in which the numbers of onus in the groups are not equal . for the example shown in fig3 b and 3 c assume that an exemplary pon includes n onus . the onus are divided into two onu groups . group 1 comprises onus 1 . . . k ( k & lt ; n ) and group 2 comprises onus k + 1 . . . n . in use , as shown in fig3 b and 3 c , the onus of group 1 transmit their data and reports in step 320 . the dba allocates bw for group 1 in step 324 by processing the reports of group 1 and sending grants for step 326 . the onus of group 2 transmit data and reports in step 322 , which is performed concurrently ( simultaneously ) with step 324 ( as shown on the time axis in fig3 c ). in step 326 , the dba allocates bw for group 2 by processing the reports of group 2 and by sending grants concurrently with the grant sending of group 1 in step 328 ( for which bw was allocated in step 324 ). in essence , the dba interleaves the processing of reports of one onu group with the transmission of data and reports of the other onu group . preferably , the number of onus in each group is roughly equal , to balance the processing time of the reports of each group . nevertheless , the method can also be performed on non - equal groups ( in terms of onu numbers ). the two major aspects of the method — the division of the onus between the groups and the allocation of the bw fairly between the onus — is further described in more detail below . in the preferred embodiment , the sla of each onu comprises two services : a “ guaranteed ” bw , which is given to the onu upon request , regardless of the network &# 39 ; s load , and a “ best effort ” bw , which limits the bw that can be given to the onu when the network is not loaded . both services are enforced over time , rather than over a specific cycle . throughout the description of the preferred embodiment , we use a convention that transforms bw and rates into actual transmission grant sizes . as an example , assuming a fixed dba algorithm cycle of n time quanta ( tq ) and a half cycle of n / 2 tq , a rate of x mbps ( out of a total line rate of 1 gbps in epon technology ) is equivalent to transmission of x / 1000 * n tq in each cycle . according to the same convention , whenever the dba algorithm starts processing the reports , it has n / 2 tq to allocate , which is equivalent to 0 . 5 gbps . for example , if the cycle size is 1000 tq , an onu whose sla allows it to transmit 100 mbps should be allocated an average of 100 mbps / 1000 mbps * 1000 tq = 100 tq per cycle ( or every second half cycle ), in order to transmit at the desired rate . whenever the dba algorithm starts running , it allocates the next 500tq . fig3 d , e show schematically an embodiment of the dba algorithm of the present invention with a predefined grant cycle divided into more than two parts ( 1 / n cycles where n & gt ; 2 ). the onus are divided here into k groups , where k & gt ; 2 . in each 1 / n cycle part , onus of one group transmit their data and reports while the dba algorithm processes allocations for the other groups . fig3 f presents an alternative embodiment of the dba algorithm of the present invention . this embodiment represents an improvement on a greedy algorithm or an immediate response algorithm . in this case , there is no implicit division of onus into groups , but rather a phase of accumulating the reports , represented by steps 340 - 344 . in step 340 , the algorithm waits for a next report . when the report arrives , it is added to a list in step 342 , and a condition necessary for processing is checked in step 344 . in the preferred embodiment , the condition checked is based on the division of onus into groups , as described in step 300 . the condition is fulfilled ( yes ) once all the onus of one group have sent their reports , i . e . all their reports have been accumulated in the list . however , alternative embodiments of this step can be implemented without a strict definition of groups . for example , the condition in step 344 can be the arrival of r reports at the olt ( i . e . the processing start once r reports have accumulated ). note that the special case of r = 1 reduces the alternative embodiment to a greedy algorithm , in which each report is triggered individually . once the condition is fulfilled ( yes ), the dba processes all the reports that were accumulated in the list in step 346 . the processing preferably follows the procedure in step 302 , wherein the “ group ” of onus in step 302 is the list of onus whose reports were accumulated in step 342 . as mentioned , in the preferred embodiment , the cycle is divided into half cycles . ideally , the dba algorithm will be able to allocate the bw fairly to all the onus of the same group within the same half cycle without violating their sla . however , in case of uneven load ( in which , for example , onus of one group have more data to transmit that the onus of the other group ), this may not be possible . therefore , the onus are preferably divided into groups in a way such that the dba algorithm can at least allocate the guaranteed bw to all the onus of each group . note however that this requirement is not essential , and other divisions , in which this requirement is not fulfilled , are also possible . fig4 shows a preferred division scheme , i . e . an elaboration on the division phase in step 300 . in one embodiment , all the onus are sorted by ascending order of their guaranteed bw in step 400 . the onus are then alternately divided between the groups ( not shown ). step 402 checks if there are still onus in the sorted list . if yes , a “ next ” onu with a guaranteed bw (“ next onu guaranteed bw ”) is taken from the list in step 404 . if no , the process ends . following step 404 , step 406 checks if the “ next ” onu can be accommodated in one of the two groups , i . e . if its addition to a respective group does not cause the sum of the guaranteed bw of the onus in this group to exceed half the line rate . if yes , the “ next ” onu is added to this group in step 408 a . otherwise ( no ) the “ next ” onu is added to both groups in step 408 b and treated as two distinctive onus with a guaranteed bw which is smaller than the “ next onu guaranteed bw ” such that the total guaranteed bw equals that of the original onu and the sum of the guaranteed bw of the two groups is smaller than or equal to half the line rate . as an example of the entire process in fig4 , let us assume that there are 4 onus , numbered 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 with respective guaranteed bws of 50 , 100 , 200 and 500 mbps . the line rate is 1000 mbps . the onus are sorted by their guaranteed bw in step 400 . repeating the loop of steps 402 , 404 , 406 and 408 a above , onu 1 will be added to group 1 , onu 2 will be added to group 2 and onu 3 will be added to group 1 . when the algorithm gets to step 406 with onu 4 , the following computation takes place : the sum of the guaranteed bw in group1 is now 50 + 200 = 250 mbps and the sum of the guaranteed bw in group 2 is 200 mbps . adding onu 4 to group2 would cause the total guaranteed bw of this group to be 200 + 500 , which is more than half the line rate ( 500 mbps ). onu 4 is therefore added to both groups in step 408 b . in group 1 , it is treated as an onu with a guaranteed bw of 300 mbps ( so the total guaranteed bw of the group is 500 mbps ) and in group 2 it is treated as an onu , with a guaranteed bw of 450 − 300 = 150 mbps . allocation of grants for a half cycle ( step 302 ) to reduce fragmentation loss , the onus preferably report using threshold reporting and queue freezing mechanisms , where the report is of the queue capacity in whole packets up to a certain threshold . such threshold reporting and queue freezing mechanisms are well known in the art . in the preferred embodiment , there are two numbers in the report — the “ below threshold ” report mentioned above and the total queue capacity . however , it would be apparent to one skilled in the art that there can be many alternative methods for such reporting schemes . when the onu transmits data , it starts with the data that was reported in the “ below threshold ” report then transmits the data that was reported in the total queue capacity report , and eventually transmits data that entered the queue after the last report was issued . this allocation mechanism is described in detail in fig5 and is performed every half cycle ( or every part n of a cycle divided into n parts ). in step 500 , the dba algorithm treats the reports below threshold as guaranteed service requests . the allocation mechanism grants the “ below threshold ” reports as long as the guaranteed bw in the sla is not exceeded . there can be different ways to keep track of the guaranteed rate of each specific onu . preferably , the mechanism for this tracking is “ leaky bucket ”. alternative embodiments might have different allocation mechanisms . step 500 is performed only for the onus of the group that reported in the specific half cycle ( or every part n of a cycle divided into n parts ) following step 500 , the bw that was not allocated yet is allocated as a best effort service ( bes ). all onus from both groups are considered for the bes . the exact way of allocating the bw is chosen according to a desired definition of fairness . however , to reduce fragmentation loss , the bes is preferably given to as few onus as possible . in step 502 the onus of both groups are sorted again to one list according to the fairness preference of the dba . preferably , the criteria for sorting the onus is the ratio of the number of transmitted bytes over a recent history divided by the guaranteed bw , as it appears in the sla . the list is sorted such that the first onu in the list is the one for which this ratio is lowest . other criteria for this sorting procedure can be based on the past transmission rates of the onu , its sla or any other criteria . in step 504 , a check is run to see if there are still onus that did not receive bes . if there are such onus ( yes ) a second check is run in step 506 to see if there is still unallocated bw in the half cycle . if there is ( yes ), the next onu from the list receives its bes in step 508 , based on its report of total queue capacity , and the process loops back to step 504 . if the answer is ( no ) in either one of checks 504 or 506 , the process ends . to enforce a bes as decided in the sla , the request of each onu is preferably clipped by a leaky bucket mechanism and by the amount of the remaining tq to be allocated in the half cycle . preferably , there is one leaky bucket for each onu for the sake of bes . each onu &# 39 ; s respective leaky bucket value decrease rate is the rate of the bes , as decided in the sla , and each onu &# 39 ; s respective leaky bucket value increase rate is the total grant given to the specific onu . alternative embodiments may include other sla enforcement mechanisms , or not include any such mechanism , if there is no best effort indication in the sla definition . all patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification , to the same extent as if each individual patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference . in addition , citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention . while the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments , it will be appreciated that many variations , modifications and other applications of the invention may be made . | 7 |
the present application is a continuation - in - part of co - pending application ser . no . 869 , 358 , filed june 2 , 1986 , which in turn is a continuation of application ser . no . 680 , 821 , filed dec . 12 , 1984 , both now abandoned . the present invention relates to a shoe tree and , more particularly , is directed to such a tree incorporating a shoe horn . in its more specific aspects , the invention is concerned with a combined shoe tree and horn wherein the horn serves as a lever to facilitate placement and removal of the tree shoe trees are very well known in the prior art . the more popular current trees incorporate heel and toe engaging portions with some type of compression strut therebetween . the strut telescopes to facilitate insertion and removal of the tree . it also serves to impart compressive force to the interior of a shoe within which the tree is received . in the more sophisticated shoe trees , the forward toe - engaging portion of the tree is expandible in response to the compressive force applied thereto by the strut . certain prior art shoe trees have also employed heel and toe - engaging portions which may serve as a shoe horn when the tree is removed from a shoe . such a device may be seen in canadian pat . no . 637 , 524 , issued mar . 6 , 1962 . in that device , however , the horn construction did not serve as a lever to facilitate placement and removal of the tree . the shoe tree of the present invention comprises heel and toe - engaging portions connected together by compression means which function to impart internal compressive force to the interior of a shoe within which the tree is received . a shoe horn is secured to the heel engaging portion so as to overlie that portion and facilitate placement and removal of the tree . in the preferred embodiment , the horn extends laterally of the heel - engaging portion so as to serve as a lever , and may be selectively removed for separate use as a shoe horn . a principal object of the present invention is to provide a shoe tree having a shoe horn incorporated thereinto which may serve as a lever to facilitate placement of the tree . another object of the invention is to provide such a shoe tree wherein the shoe horn may be fabricated of a material different from that of the tree . still another object related to the latter object is to provide such a shoe tree wherein the horn may be adorned with a decorative design , identifying and / or advertising material . yet another object of the invention is to provide such a shoe tree wherein the horn may be selectively removed to facilitate the substitution of different colored horns , or for use separate from the tree . a further object of the invention is to provide such a shoe tree wherein the heel - engaging portion is rotatable to cam the tree and subject a shoe within which it is received to internal compressive force . yet another object related to the latter object is to provide such a tree wherein the shoe horn serves as a lever to force the heel portion into a compressive state , and selectively release it from that state . still another object of the invention is to provide such a shoe tree wherein the heel and toeengaging portions are connected by a resiliently biased compressive strut and the heel engaging portion is rotatable to cam the strut into a state of high compression . yet a further object of the invention is to provide such a shoe tree wherein , upon rotation of the rear portion of the tree away from the front portion , the rear portion snaps clear of a shoe within which the tree is received . another and more specific object is to provide such a shoe tree wherein a compressive strut exerts force on the rear portion of the tree through a force line which moves upwardly relative to the contact area between the rear portion of the tree and a shoe within which it is received as the rear portion is rotated to remove the tree from the shoe . these and other objects will become more apparent when viewed in the light of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings . fig1 is a perspective view of the inventive shoe tree ; fig2 is a side elevational view of a shoe , with the horn portion of the shoe tree as it would be placed to facilitate insertion of a foot into the shoe ; fig3 is a cross - sectional view taken on the plane designated by line 3 -- 3 of fig1 ; fig4 is an exploded perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the heel - engaging portion of the inventive shoe tree , illustrating a removable tongue and groove section provided to permit the horn to be selectively removed ; fig5 is a side elevational view of a modified embodiment of the inventive shoe tree in the first step of being inserted into a shoe , such shoe being shown in phantom lines ; fig6 is a side elevational view of the modified embodiment shown in fig5 in the second step of being inserted into a shoe ; fig7 is a plan view , with parts thereof broken away , taken on the plane designated by lines 7 -- 7 of fig6 ; fig8 is a side elevational view of the modified embodiment shown in fig5 in the third and final step of being inserted into a shoe ; and fig9 is a side elevational view of the modified embodiment shown in fig5 with the rear portion of the shoe tree being rolled out of the shoe and snapping clear therefrom . the inventive shoe tree is illustrated in its entirety in fig1 and designated by the numeral 10 . it comprises a front or toe - engaging portion 12 conformed to fit within the toe of a shoe and a rear or heel - engaging portion 14 conformed to fit within the heel of a shoe . the toe - engaging portion 12 is split longitudinally so as to provide laterally expandible segments 16 and 18 . segments 16 and 18 are formed with opposed internal slots 20 and 22 , respectively , which slidably receive a tapered cam plate 24 . the lateral surfaces of the slots 20 and 22 converge toward the forward ends of the segments 16 and 18 . the plate 24 is tapered so as to complementally engage said surfaces and force the segments 16 and 18 apart as the plate is forced forwardly within the slots . suitable slidable pin connections ( not illustrated ) are provided between the segments 16 and 18 to prevent the segments from completely separating when the tree is removed from a shoe . it should be understood that the general construction of the slots 20 and 22 , cam plate 24 and slidable pin connections is known in the prior art . the heel and toe - engaging portions are articulatively connected by a compression strut 26 . the strut is telescopic and comprises a forward inner section 28 and a rearward outer section 30 . the section 28 is telescopically received within the section 30 and a compression coil spring ( see fig3 ) 32 is interposed between the closed end 34 of the section 30 and the inner end 36 of the section 28 . a longitudinally extending slot 38 is formed through the section 28 and slidably receives a pin 40 . the ends of the pin 40 are secured between openings in the section 30 and , thus , pin 40 serves to prevent the sections 28 and 30 from separating , while permitting limited telescopic movement thereof . the forward or distal end of the section 28 is pivotally connected to the plate 24 . although not illustrated , it should be understood that this may be provided by a transversely extending bar provided on the plate 24 and a transversely extending opening provided in the section 28 , which opening rotatably captures the bar . the rearward end of the section 30 is formed with a generally vertically disposed tongue 42 which is received between side walls 44 formed integrally with the heel - engaging portion 14 . a pin 46 is secured within and extends through the side walls and rotatably through an opening provided therefor in the tongue 42 . the pin 46 mounts the heel - engaging portion 14 for rotation about an axis extending transversely of the strut 26 . this axis is disposed eccentrically of the heel - engaging portion , with the result that rotation of the heel - engaging portion about the pin functions to lengthen the composite length of the shoe tree , as may be seen from a comparison of the phantom and solid line positions in fig3 . in the solid line lengthen position , the toe and heel - engaging portions of the tree are in general longitudinal alignment . as the heel engaging portion is moved to the phantom line position , it moves out of longitudinal alignment with the toe - engaging portion and the composite length of the shoe tree is shortened . from fig3 it will also be seen that the rear of the heel engaging portion 14 is rounded to provide a cam surface 48 . this rounded surface configuration facilitates forcing of the heel - engaging portion into engagement with the internal surface of a shoe within which the tree is received . the top surface of the heel - engaging portion 14 carries a shoe horn 50 which extends laterally from the portion 14 in a forward direction . as shown in the embodiments of fig1 to 3 , the horn 50 is secured to the top surface of the portion 14 by screws 52 . the horn 50 serves as a lever to facilitate movement of the heel - engaging portion 14 between the solid and phantom line positions shown in fig3 . it may also be used as a horn , as shown in fig2 to facilitate insertion of a foot into a shoe . the embodiment of fig4 differs from that of fig1 to 3 only in that the shoe horn , designated 50a is connected to the heel - engaging portion , designated 14a , by a releasable tongue and groove connection , rather than a screw connection . the tongue and groove connection shown in fig4 comprises a t - shaped tongue 54 formed on and extending transversely of the undersurface of the horn 50a , a forward channel 56 secured to and opening upwardly of the portion 14a , and a rearward channel 58 secured to and opening forwardly of the top surface of the portion 14a . the horn 50a is secured to the portion 14a by sliding the tongue 54 into the channel 56 simultaneously with sliding of the rearward distal end of the horn 50a into the channel 58 . the connection thus provided is readily releasable . ideally , there is sufficient frictional resistance between the tongue 54 and the channel 56 to prevent inadvertent displacement of the horn 50a from the heel portion 14a . the modified embodiment of fig5 to 9 differs from the previously described embodiments primarily in that the rear or heel engaging portion 14b is formed as an integral unit and the strut 26b is reversed so that the larger telescopic portion 28b is pivotally secured between the sides of the toe engaging portion 12 and the smaller section 30b is pivotally secured within a slot 60 formed in the portion 14b . the slot is defined between spaced side walls 44b formed on the heel engaging portion 14b . elements of the fig5 - 9 embodiment corresponding identically to those of the previously described embodiments are designated by like numerals . elements corresponding to those of the previous embodiments , but differing in design detail , are designated by like numerals , followed by the subscript b . from fig5 - 9 , it will be seen that the hinge pin 46 for the rear portion 14b is eccentrically disposed within the portion so as to be closer to its top , than its rear , as viewed in the fully inserted position shown in fig8 . this relationship results in increasing the compression on the strut 26b as the tree is inserted into a shoe ( see the sequence of fig5 - 8 ). it also results in relaxing of the compression on the strut 26b as the heel engaging portion 14b is rolled out of the shoe . the progressive sequence shown in fig5 , and 8 illustrates how the rear portion 14b rolls into the shoe in response to clockwise swinging . from these figs ., it should also be evident that the horn 50b serves as a lever to facilitate such swinging . removal of the shoe tree from a shoe is carried out by reversing the steps shown in fig5 , and 8 . namely , the tongue 50b is lifted to swing the heel engaging portion 14b in a counter - clockwise direction , thus rolling the portion along the back interior surface of the shoe from the position shown in fig8 to that shown in fig5 . during this rolling movement , a contact area is established between the back of the portion 14b and the inside back surface of the shoe , which area moves upwardly as the portion 14b is rotated in a counter - clockwise direction . in the initial stages of removal , as would correspond sequentially to the position shown in fig8 and 6 , a contact area is above the line of force exerted by the strut 26b through the pin 46 . as the tree reaches the position shown in fig5 with the horn 50b in a generally vertical position , the area is markedly below that line of force . as a result , upon assuming the condition shown in fig5 during removal , the force exerted by the strut functions to rotate the portion 14b counterclockwise and kick it from the shoe , as shown in fig9 . once the portion 14b is so ejected from the shoe , it is a simple matter to pull the entire shoe tree out of the shoe . in use , the shoe tree is placed within a shoe by first inserting the portion 12 within the toe of the shoe and then inserting the portion 14 , 14a , 14b within the heel of the shoe , with the horn 50 raised to a nearly vertical position , as shown in fig3 and 5 . the horn is then depressed to pivot the portion 14 , 14a clockwise , as viewed in fig3 and 5 , thus rolling the portion 14 , 14a 14b into the shoe and imparting compression to the strut 2 . such compression , in turn , functions to laterally expand the segments 16 and 18 . removal of the tree from a shoe is carried out in reverse , by lifting the horn 50 , 50a , 50b to rotate the heel - engaging portion 14 , 14a , 14b in a counterclockwise direction , as viewed in fig3 and 9 . such lifting rolls the portion 14 , 14a , 14b out of the shoe and facilitates removal of the tree from the shoe . it should be appreciated that all embodiments of the invention provide a structure wherein heel engaging portion 14 , 14a , 14b rolls into and out of the shoe and the horn 50 , 50a , 50b serves as a lever to facilitate the rolling action . additionally , upon being rolled out to a condition corresponding to that shown in fig9 in all embodiments the heel engaging portion is snapped clear of the shoe by the compressive action of the strut 26 , 26b . from the foregoing description , it will be appreciated that the present invention enables the attainment of the objects initially set forth herein . in particular , the shoe tree provides an eccentrically mounted heel - engaging portion which may be rotated to compress or release the tree . the horn secured to the heel - engaging portion serves as a lever to facilitate its rotation and positioning and removal of the tree . the horn may also be used , as shown in fig2 to facilitate insertion of a foot into the shoe . in the embodiment of fig4 the horn may be used separately from the tree as a conventional shoe horn . in all embodiments , the heel engaging portion of the tree is designed to roll into and out of position and , during removal , to snap clear of the shoe within which it is used . while preferred embodiments have been illustrated and described it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specifics of these embodiments , but rather is defined by the accompanying claims . | 0 |
recent advances in the development of high resolution , compact , and lightweight actuators for use in cryogenic environments , such as piezoelectric inchworm ® ( d . a . henderson and j . c . fasick , “ inchworm ® motor developments for the next generation space telescope ( angst ),” spie vol . 3429 , p . 252 - 256 , october 1998 , which is incorporated by reference herein ). and squiggle ™ motors ( new scale technologies , “ linear actuator ”, eo magazine , p . 36 , march 2004 , and new scale technologies , “ cryogenic squiggle ™ motor operates at 100 ° k ,” new product press release , published on new scale technologies &# 39 ; website at http :// www . newscaletech . com / pr % 20cryo % 20sq . pdf , sep . 14 , 2004 , both of which are incorporated by reference herein ) can be used for the dynamic alignment of optical components while operating within a cryogenic dewar environment . there are a number of significant advantages that arise from the technical innovations described here , including : the ability of miniature actuators to operate at cryogenic temperatures allows a spectrometer system that is located within a dewar environment to be dynamically aligned while collecting data measurements , thereby eliminating the need for time consuming cool - down and warm - up iterations and enabling an extremely fast , easy , and even automated alignment procedure to be implemented with an increased degree of accuracy . the extremely small and lightweight properties of the cryogenic actuators contribute very little to the overall size and weight of the spectrometer , allowing for these alignment devices to be integrated into the opto - mechanical hosing of the spectrometer and to remain a permanent part of the spectrometer device . in some cases , these cryogenic actuators remain locked in position once their drive power is removed , thereby allowing them to also serve also as automatic alignment locks once the spectrometer has been aligned . the combined benefits described above enable the spectrometer assembly to be successfully incorporated into the dewar and dynamically aligned under the cryogenic operating conditions without the burden of a time consuming iterative alignment procedure , thereby reducing the unwanted stray light and thermal radiation in the system and enhancing the overall performance of the spectrometer . the fabrication of large linear dynamic range piezo actuators has reached an unprecedented level of maturity . piezo materials change dimensions when supplied with a voltage . the length of change is very small but can be done accurately and very fast . applications that require large motions have been unable to utilize these piezo devices due to the limited range (& lt ; 0 . 005 ″). worm drives using two different pitched screws have been used to increase the piezo dynamic range by an order of magnitude . picomtors ™ [ 4 ] by new focus have greatly increased the linear range (˜ 2 ″) with limited resolution ( 500 nm ). new scale technologies have developed squiggle motors ™ [ 2 ] have developed piezo motors with an unprecedented small size with large ranges and small resolutions . these motors find new applications optical alignment , such as , but not limited to , the following : auto - focus , image stabilization , factory alignment fixtures etc . . . . optical prism and wedge rotations and centrations optical sensor motions such as one or two axis gimbals used for : scanned optical systems ( bar code scanners , 2 nd generation flir systems , f - theta scan systems used in print industry ) commercial sensors , cctv , missile applications , military and civilian flirs . unmanned air vehicles and micro - unmanned air vehicles . fitting gimbaled optical systems into a 15 mm × 5 mm is very challenging . without actuator advancements this type of sensing is nearly impossible . in addition these motors are robust in difficult environments , such as cryogenic applications ( discussed in detail below ) and high g applications . a ball - joint gimbal with a compressed air interface has been developed for use on high g projectile applications . squiggle motors can be used for these high g actuators . in order to experimentally demonstrate the cryogenic alignment of an optical system , an opto - mechanical housing was designed to be as compatible as possible with the spectrometer design 100 illustrated in fig6 . this spectrometer design is shown overlaid on a cutaway view of the opto - mechanical housing 200 in fig2 , with the individual optical elements 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 140 shown and the grating 130 , which is directly coupled to the actuator arm assembly 240 . in operation , the motor support arm 230 shown mounted to the main housing 210 in fig3 supports the cryogenic motor 235 that drives the actuator arm component 240 illustrated in the sectional views of fig4 . as the motor 235 is driven , it provides linear translational motion , displacing the top of the actuator arm 240 and pivoting it about the optical axis of the system . this in turn rotates the grating 130 about the optical axis of the system , as shown in the cutaway view of fig4 . given the relatively small range of angular displacement necessary for alignment of the grating 130 to the optical system , the incremental angular step size of the grating 130 can be related to the translational resolution of the cryogenic motor by the simple trigonometric approximation where δθ is the incremental angular step size of the grating 130 , × x is the incremental linear step size of the motor 235 and r is the radial distance measured from the optical axis to the point of contact between the motor 235 and the actuator arm 240 . in order to maintain a very low system mass , the opto - mechanical housing components 210 , 220 , 230 , 240 were fabricated from aluminum , and polished to minimize the absorption of unwanted thermal radiation entering the dewar through the view ports . to reduce any frictional drag that might limit the angular incremental step size of the actuator driven mirror , the entire grating mount and internal portion of the actuator arm 240 were first anodized and then impregnated with teflon . schematic drawings of a fabricated opto - mechanical housing 200 equipped with a cryogenic squiggle ™ motor 235 are shown in fig5 a , b . fig6 is a schematic sectional view of the cryogenic alignment system 200 enclosed within a dewar environment 300 , and illustrates the location and orientation of the opto - mechanical assembly 200 . the dewar can be a cryo - pump , pour filled ln 2 , or any other type of dewar that provides the cryogenic environment . in order to provide dynamic alignment of an optical system 200 within a dewar environment 300 , an actuator device suitable for use in a vacuum and at cryogenic temperatures must be selected . this places several requirements on the actuator , its components , and its method of translation , including the exclusion of any lubricants or out - gassing materials and the proper matching of thermal coefficients of expansion between components . one type of cryogenic actuator that overcomes these limitations has recently been developed by new scale technologies . their miniature squiggle ™ motor , shown in fig7 , consists of a piezoelectric ceramic tube that supports two threaded nuts holding a threaded shaft . electrically driven at an ultrasonic frequency , the piezoelectric tube wobbles like a “ hula hoop ”, causing the nuts to orbit the shaft , thereby rotating and translating the shaft in the axial direction . fig8 shows the application of the squiggle ™ motor on a compressed air interface ball - joint gimbal 400 . referring to fig8 , two squiggle ™ motors 430 , 440 ( or equivalent ) are used in pull / push configuration . fig9 shows the application of squiggle ™ motor in conventional gimbal systems 500 . two squiggle ™ motors 520 , 530 ( or equivalent ) are used in a conventional gimbal 510 , one squiggle ™ motor 520 in a direct drive configuration used for angular degree of freedom , another squiggle ™ motor 530 in a gear drive configuration 540 used for the other angular degree of freedom . although the invention has been described with respect to various embodiments , it should be realized this invention is also capable of a wide variety of further and other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
fig1 - 3 show an annealing rack element 1 in front and side views and a top view . the front view according to fig1 shows a short , horizontal , hollow rest profile 2 as a part of the rest 3 , which has multiple holes 4 and is connected via rack struts 5 to corner supports 6 . all hollow profiles , i . e ., annealing rack elements and baskets , used in the annealing rack are preferably those having high geometrical moments of inertia . in addition , preferably all hollow profiles are selected having identical wall thicknesses in order to avoid different temperature profiles during the quenching procedure . only some of the holes 4 are provided with reference numbers . accelerations and inertial forces may be absorbed better through the diagonally running rack struts 5 . the corner supports 6 are connected at their lower end to the rest 3 and have a centering tip 7 at their upper end . when multiple annealing rack elements 1 are stacked one on top of another , the centering tips 7 of the particular lower annealing rack element 1 engage in corresponding recesses of the rest 3 of the particular upper annealing rack element 1 . these recesses are not shown . the centering aids 7 allow secure stacking and unstacking . in the event of dynamic loads during the transport , slipping and upsetting of the stacked annealing rack elements 1 is prevented . a transport switching flag 8 in the form of an oblong sheet is positioned between two corner supports 6 . this transport switching flag 8 is also detachably attached using bolts and cotter pin . it is detected by light barriers ( not shown ) and the position of the annealing rack is detected for the process controller on the basis of this . for precise identification of an annealing rack , an identification switching flag 17 is attached to one of the corner supports 6 , from which the details on each of the individual annealing racks and / or the annealing stock transported therein are readable . the function of the positioning profile 9 illustrated is explained in the following for fig3 . the side view shown in fig2 shows a long horizontal rest profile 10 having holes 11 as a part of the rest 3 , as well as rack struts 5 and corner supports 6 having centering aids 7 . the long rest profile 10 has a greater height than the short rest profile 2 . only some of the holes 11 are provided with reference numbers . in the top view shown in fig3 , the construction of the rest 3 having two short rest profiles 2 and two long rest profiles 10 may be seen . only some of the holes 4 and 11 are marked with reference numbers . four corner supports 6 having centering aids 7 are located in the four corners of the rest 3 . the long rest profiles 10 are connected to one another via the positioning profile 9 . the positioning profile 9 has three square holes 12 . as may be seen from fig5 and 10 , the basket supports 18 are inserted into the square holes 12 . more detailed explanations in this regard are in the following descriptions of the corresponding figures . fig4 through 6 correspond to fig1 through 3 . they additionally have an annealing basket 13 which is inserted into an annealing rack element 1 . the basket floor 14 comprises two short floor profiles 15 , which are positioned parallel and at a distance to one another and between which four long floor profiles 16 are positioned . the long floor profiles 16 lie on the shorter rest profiles 2 and the positioning profile 9 . in this case , the positioning profile 9 is not only used for laying down the annealing basket 13 . the three square holes 12 additionally allow the passage of three basket supports 18 of the annealing basket 13 . these basket supports 18 and the positioning profile 9 are implemented as hollow profiles . the basket supports 18 are fixed solely by gravity in the square holes 12 . the annealing basket 13 may be raised easily out of the annealing rack element 1 after the heat treatment process . upwardly projecting basket supports 18 are positioned on the basket floor 14 . the basket supports 18 are connected to one another via basket struts 19 , the long basket struts 19 covering the long floor profiles 16 in the top view shown in fig6 . since the rest 3 , the corner supports 6 , and the rack struts 5 of the annealing rack elements 1 , and the basket floor 14 , the basket supports 18 , and the basket struts 19 of the annealing basket 13 are all produced either from multiply perforated hollow profiles of identical wall thickness or from flat steel , the annealing stock may be cooled rapidly and uniformly during the quenching process . the flat steel cools down rapidly upon contact with cold water and the coolant liquid , usually water , may additionally penetrate extremely rapidly into the hollow profiles through the multiple holes in the hollow profiles . in this case , the selection of identical wall thicknesses encourages uniform cooling . the wire clip shown will be discussed in greater detail in fig9 . each part may be replaced individually as needed through the plug - in connections and / or screw connections . no complete annealing rack elements 1 have to be kept ready . a small reserve is completely sufficient , this only occupying a small space in the disassembled state . the detail w from fig6 is shown enlarged in fig7 . in this case , the plug - in connection of three parts of the annealing basket 13 is shown . using this plug - in connection , a short floor profile 15 is detachably connected to a long basket strut 19 running perpendicularly thereto and , in addition , to a basket support 18 , which projects upward perpendicularly from the basket floor 14 . for this purpose , the short floor profiles 15 have a rectangular hole 20 , into which the lower end of the upwardly projecting basket support 18 is inserted with play . this basket support 18 is drilled through above its insertion region and the long basket strut 19 is inserted through this hole with play . therefore , this long basket strut 19 lies on the short floor profile 15 . the long basket strut 19 is secured at its inserted end with play using a cotter pin 21 . the three parts of the annealing basket are therefore equipped with a certain mobility in the assembled state , through which the stability of the basket is not negatively influenced and the basket may manage tensions during the heat treatment and dynamic loads well . the detail x from fig1 is shown enlarged in fig8 . the plug - in connection of three parts of the annealing rack element is recognizable here . using this plug - in connection , a long rest profile 10 is detachably connected to a short rest profile 2 of the rest 3 and to a corner support 6 . in this case , each of the three parts is oriented perpendicularly to each of the two other parts . the long rest profile 10 is implemented having a greater height than the short rest profile 2 . the long rest profile 10 has a first hole 22 , in which a short rest profile 2 is inserted , in the region of one end , but at a distance thereto on the side facing toward the interior of the rest 3 . the long rest profile 10 has a second hole 23 in the region of one end , but at a distance thereto . this second hole 23 is applied to the upper face of the long rest profile 10 . the basket support 6 is inserted through this second hole 23 . its lower end comes to rest on the short rest profile 2 , which is also inserted . two diametrically opposite retaining holes 24 and 24 ′ are positioned in the region of the lower end of the corner support 6 , but at a distance to this end . at the same height , the long rest profile 10 also has a retaining hole 25 and 25 ′ on each side . the retaining holes 24 , 24 ′ and 25 , 25 ′ in the long rest profile 10 and in the corner supports 6 are positioned flush . a retaining bolt 26 is inserted parallel to the longitudinal axis of the inserted short rest profile 2 through these retaining holes 24 , 24 ′, 25 , and 25 ′. the retaining bolt 26 is secured using a retaining cotter pin 27 . the strut bolt 28 having strut cotter pin 29 is used for the purpose of detachably connecting a rack strut 5 to the long rest profile 10 and the corner support 6 . through the retaining bolts 26 and strut bolts 28 having assigned cotter pins 27 and 29 , the rest profiles 2 and 10 , the corner supports 6 , and the rack struts 5 are secured with play . the detail y from fig6 is shown enlarged in fig9 . in this case , the plug - in and screw connections of wire clips 30 to a long floor profile 16 of the basket floor 14 may be seen . in this case , the wire clips 30 shown are inserted into or through holes of the long floor profiles 16 . the wire clips 30 inserted through are screwed onto the free ends of the wire clips 30 using self - locking nuts 31 . the wire clips 30 are specially shaped . they are used for centering aluminum parts during the automatic loading and unloading procedure . the wire clips 30 are tailored to the particular aluminum component to be held . the aluminum component is not shown . the detail z from fig4 is shown enlarged in fig1 . in this case , a plug - in connection for fixing an annealing basket 13 on the annealing rack element 1 is shown . for this purpose , the positioning profile 9 of the annealing rack element is provided with two diametrically opposite square holes 12 on its top and bottom in such a way that a basket support 1 of an annealing basket 13 may be inserted through . in this case , the basket support 18 of the annealing basket 13 is implemented as a vertical hollow profile , whose diameter is slightly smaller than the diameter of the two holes 12 . in the state inserted through , regions of the basket floor 14 lie directly on the upper side of the positioning profile 9 . the use of the low - distortion annealing rack according to the present invention is to be explained in the following on the basis of an example : the annealing baskets are charged with the stock to be treated , particularly aluminum cast parts for the automobile field . the charging is typically performed automatically . for this purpose , the baskets are already in the annealing rack element or are raised therein after charging . baskets which are only self - supporting in the empty state , but not with annealing stock inserted , are generally used . even annealing stock having very complicated geometry may be fixed well by the wire clips . the advantage of this division is that these baskets may be adapted easily to the components and the simply designed , stable annealing rack elements assume the supporting function . after an automatic stacking of this type of multiple annealing rack elements , the annealing rack is introduced into the furnace via transport rollers or transport chains . for this purpose , the annealing rack has an at least largely planar bottom . the stock is now annealed in the furnace . subsequently , it is immersed in a quenching basin which is filled with water , then removed from the basin and made available for further treatment . the individual treatment stages in the furnace and subsequently in the quenching basin are automated in such a way that automatic recognition units determine the current position of the annealing rack and gripping units may grip exactly . the annealing rack may also not have any deformations , so that these positions may be detected correctly . 25 ′ retaining hole in the long rest profile 10 | 5 |
shown in fig5 is the forward section of a conventional body or hull 8 of a tank or other vehicle to which are fixed flat lugs 4 and 6 . fixed on the lugs by such means as a pin 9 or bolt 10 pin is a flat , horizontally oriented , crescent - shaped bracket 12 having apertures 14 and 16 . these apertures are coplanar in that they both have a flat shape and both lie in the general plane defined by bracket 12 . lug 4 is sandwiched between the main body of bracket 12 and extension 11 thereof , whereas lug 6 is on the inboard side ( upper side in fig1 and 3 ) of the bracket . as best shown in fig3 cylinder 18 is securely fixed normal to bracket 12 through aperture 14 , the cylinder closed at end 20 . as seen in fig4 a second cylinder 22 , closed at end 24 , is mounted to bracket 12 through aperture 16 ( fig5 ) parallel to cylinder 18 . cylinders 18 and 22 are similarly constructed , are horizontal , and are disposed one directly above the other . these cylinders have a majority of their lengths protruding from bracket 12 inboard and away from a subassembly comprised of bracket 34 , bracket 36 , dispenser 40 and shield 38 . round shafts 26 and 28 are closely received and translatable in the cylinders , and outside the cylinders are gussets 30 and 32 welded or otherwise fixed both to bracket 12 and a respective one of the cylinders . cylinders 18 and 22 may optionally be replaced by tubes having polygonal cross sections accepting deployment shafts whose complimentary polygonal cross sections fit closely with the polygonal tubes . for some applications it may be desired that a single polygonal tube and shaft replace both cylinders and both round shafts . at the opposite ends of shafts 26 and 28 from the cylinders in fig1 is a subassembly comprised of a primary accessory bracket 34 , a secondary accessory bracket 36 , shield 38 and dispenser 40 . the subassembly is fixed relative to the shafts so as to translate outboard or inboard with them relative to hull 8 . the weight of the subassembly creates a torque on bracket 12 which causes the main body of bracket 12 to frictionally bear against the inboard face 5 of lug 4 and to frictionally bear against the outboard face 7 of lug 6 . a detail view of the subassembly at fig6 shows engagements of brackets 34 and 36 with the shafts , shield 38 and dispenser 40 . referring now to fig6 a secondary accessory bracket or shield bracket 36 comprises a pair of oval plates 42 and 44 through which shaft 26 closely fits . the plates are parallel , extend forward from shaft 26 and define a narrow gap between themselves . fixing the plates together is a short sleeve 46 centered on axis 76 and closely surrounding shaft 26 , there being a bolt 48 passing through the sleeve and shaft to fix the position of bracket 36 upon the shaft . once bolt 48 is removed , bracket 36 can be slid inboard on shaft 26 away from bracket 34 until bracket 36 is aligned with hole 49 in the shaft , whereupon bolt 48 can be reinserted through bracket 36 and passed through hole 49 so as to lock bracket 36 in an inboard position . at the opposite ends of the plates from shaft 26 and fixed therebetween is a stub shank 50 ( fig6 ) on which is closely fit sleeve 52 integral with shield 38 . it is preferred that the ends of sleeve 52 be in facial contact with the inner , opposing faces of plates 42 and 44 as shown in fig6 . although bracket 34 is shown in fig6 the structure of that bracket is perhaps best explained in conjunction with fig8 and 10 , which are views of bracket 34 alone . the lower part of bracket 34 is a u - shaped upright channel comprised of two opposed parallel walls 54 and web 56 therebetween . at the bottom end of the upright channel is cross - sectionally rectangular stop bar 58 fixed between walls 54 . lower aligned apertures 60 in walls 54 closely receive shaft 28 ( fig2 and 4 ) and upper aligned apertures 62 in these walls closely receive shaft 26 . typically bracket 34 is welded to the shafts or fixed to the shafts by other suitable , known means . at the upper ends of walls 54 are forwardly extending ears 64 , which are integral with the walls and which define axially aligned holes 66 . like bracket 34 , shield 38 is seen in fig6 but the configuration of shield 38 is most clearly shown in fig1 and 12 , where a vertical , generally triangular panel or wall 86 has sleeve 52 at the wall &# 39 ; s rounded apex 88 . fixed along the bottom edge of wall 86 is a rectangular plate 90 , which normally covers the bottom of dispenser 40 as seen in fig2 . elongate beam or rectangular bar 80 is welded or otherwise permanently fixed to both wall 86 and plate 90 . referring again to fig6 bracket 34 can be held on shafts 26 and 28 by heads affixed to ends of the shafts , such a head being shown at 68 . in such a case bracket 34 need not be welded to the shafts , and inboard motion of bracket 34 along the shafts can be limited by bracket 36 . dispenser 40 is journalled in bracket 34 by short spindles 70 fixed to dispenser 40 and protruding through holes 66 , spindles 70 having heads 72 to retain dispenser 40 on bracket 34 . bracket 34 and dispenser 40 are also engaged at the dispenser &# 39 ; s rectangular protrusion 78 ( fig2 ), which abuts stop bar 58 of that bracket , whereby dispenser 40 is prevented from swinging backward toward hull 8 . in a somewhat similar fashion , shield 38 has an elongate rectangular bar 80 that abuts or faces against dispenser 40 at interfaces 82 and 84 ( fig2 ). since spindles 70 , holes 66 , stub shank 50 of bracket 36 and sleeve 52 of shield 38 are all centered on common axis 74 , shield 38 and dispenser 40 can swing together as a unit . the engagement between bar 80 and dispenser 40 locks the shield and dispenser together as they swing about axis 74 , and shield 38 can be disengaged from dispenser 40 only by moving shield 38 along axis 74 away from dispenser 40 . fig7 shows an optional modification to bracket 34 wherein ear 64 has v - shaped notch 92 which receives spindle 94 that connects dispenser 40 to the spindle &# 39 ; s head 96 . a releasable arcuate keeper 98 is pivotable about pin 100 on ear 64 and is received on spindle 94 . keeper 98 can be locked in its fig7 position by a conventional fastener such as bolt 102 , whereby dispenser 40 is swingably held in bracket 34 . the side of bracket 34 facing away from the viewer in fig7 also has a notch 92 receiving a spindle 94 and a keeper 98 engaging the spindle . fig7 a shows keeper 98 swung away from spindle 34 so that the spindle , and hence dispenser 40 , can be removed from bracket 34 . fig1 and 14 semi - schematically show an optional power mechanism 104 connected between hull 8 and bracket 34 for translating bracket 34 inboard and outboard relative to the hull . mechanism 104 includes a power unit 106 , which can be a conventional power source such as double acting cylinder or a motor , unit 106 being fixed to gussets or ancons 108 , which themselves can be bolted or otherwise removably mounted to hull by conventional fasteners . extending from power unit 106 and translatable thereby is a an elongate member 110 , which can be a shaft if power unit 106 is a double acting cylinder or can be a toothed rack if power unit 106 is a motor . fixed to the end of elongate member 110 is connector plate 112 releasably attached to bracket 34 by bolts ( not shown ) or other conventional fastening devices . it is preferred that there be very little looseness or play in the translational engagement between power unit 106 and elongate member 110 , so that power mechanism 104 stiffens the connection between hull 8 and bracket 34 . referring to fig1 and 6 , preparation for use of dispenser 40 begins by removing bolt 48 from sleeve 46 so that bracket 36 and shield 38 can be translated along shaft 26 away from bracket 34 and dispenser 40 . shield 38 will be translated far enough inboard from its fig1 position so that the shield &# 39 ; s plate 90 is repositioned inboard of dispenser 40 and bracket 34 . bolt 48 will be reinserted in sleeve 46 and will also enter hole 49 , whereby bracket 36 and shield 38 are held away from dispenser 40 . dispenser 40 is now in deployed condition . the bottom of dispenser 40 will now be exposed to the ground and lane markers or other objects can be ejected or dropped from the bottom of dispenser 40 during travel of the vehicle of which hull 8 is part . the subassembly formed by bracket 34 , bracket 36 , dispenser 40 and shield 38 can also be prepared for rapid travel of the vehicle over rough terrain . this is done by translating the subassembly inboard as a unit on shafts 26 and 28 from the fig1 position . i do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction or method shown herein since obvious modifications will occur to those skilled in the relevant arts without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims . | 1 |
it may be helpful to consider initially the forms and certain features of the type of ide interface and power male connectors with which the female connectors of the present invention are to be engaged during use . fig1 and 20 are perspective and front elevation view , respectively , of a known ide male connector . such a male connector 1900 has a generally cubical elongate body made of an electrically insulating plastics material defined by a peripheral surface including a plane upper part 1902 , a plane bottom part 1904 and end parts 1906 and 1908 , and a transverse wall which supports three sets of pins having distal ends disposed within separate compartments . there are two internal partitions 1950 , 1952 , each oriented in a height - wise direction , which together define three laterally separated compartments each housing one of the three sets of engageable forwardly - extended pins . from the right - hand side , as best seen in the front elevation view of fig2 , there is a first set of pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; for data transfer , each of these pins being linked at the rear end to a corresponding data line ( not shown for simplicity ). the compartment next to the set of data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; contains a second set of pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; connectable to a power supply at a first selected voltage , e . g ., 3 . 3 v or , optionally , to test jumpers or the like . this set of pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is generally smaller in number and is usually not connected to data lines . the set of data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; is separated from the set of jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; by partition 1950 . a third set of pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; for providing power , typically at 12 . 0 v or 5 . 0 v , is provided in the third compartment , defined by a height - wise partition 1952 separating the power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; from the jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ;. in the compartment housing the power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ;, there may be provided two angled faces 1954 and 1956 which serve to guide in a correspondingly shaped female connector for forcible engagement with power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ;. in addition , in this known male connector element 1900 there is typically found a cut - out 1960 in the base wall , shaped and sized to receive therein a correspondingly shaped and located extension of a female data line connector ( not shown ). furthermore , at both ends of the male connector body , extending rearwardly from a rear thereof , are first and second gripper extensions 1960 and 1962 , each of which typically is slitted to provide a narrow opening forcibly engageable with an edge portion of a typical electronics circuit board . thus , for example , the gripper extension 1962 may typically be split into two portions 1964 and 1966 separated by a gap suitable for firmly gripping an edge of a circuit board . an additional gripper extension 1970 may be provided intermediate the gripper extensions 1960 and 1962 adjacent the ends of the male connector . in known male connector 1900 there are typically two parallel lines of data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;, which may but need not contain equal numbers of the pins . an exemplary pinless space is left at 1999 in the upper line above cut - out 1960 to indicate this . six jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; are typically provided , also in two lines , each containing only three pins . four power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; are provided , and are typically used in pairs for 12 . 0 v and 5 . 0 v supplies . the above - described known male connector , although in use , has numerous limitations , and these are addressed by a 3 - in - 1 ide male connector disclosed and claimed in co - pending u . s . utility application ser . no . 08 / 714 , 478 and co - pending u . s . design application ser . no . 29 / 059 , 797 . relevant structural details of the 3 - in - 1 ide male connector disclosed therein are incorporated herein by reference . this male connector structure differs from the known structure per fig1 and 20 in many ways . for convenience of reference , elements and structural features comparable to those previously described herein will be identified by numerals having the same last two digits . thus , for example , what was identified as upper part 1902 of the peripheral surface of the male connector 1900 in fig1 and 20 is identified as upper part 2102 in fig2 and 22 , etc . in the improved male connector 2100 , the partition 1950 of connector 1900 has been replaced by a downwardly depending internal flange 2144 which stiffens the upper part 2102 but does not extend all the way to lower part 2104 . flange 2144 leaves room for the inclusion of an additional pin of set &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; in the bottom line . this makes it possible to optionally have as many as nine jumper pins ( 4 in an upper line and 5 in the lower line ). note that in fig2 only eight jumper pins ( 4 in each line ), are shown , whereas in fig2 an optional ninth pin 2109 ( located in the lower line beneath external flange 2144 ) is shown to indicate the added pin capacity provided by the modified structure of the male connector body . the male connector 2100 also differs from the prior art connector 1900 in providing notches 2136 and 2138 , respectively above and below jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ;, to facilitate convenient engagement thereat of a corresponding female jumper or suitable test line . in addition , partition 1952 of connector 1900 between jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; and power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; is replaced by a locator element 2128 having a generally triangular cross - section defined in part by angled surface 2156 . yet another distinction between these structures is the provision of recesses 2151 and 2153 immediately inboard of internal flange 2144 and end part 2108 in male connector 2100 . the preceding discussion is considered helpful in understanding various structural features of the claimed invention because the male 3 - in - 1 ide connector 2100 is to be operatively engaged , in part or entirely , by each of the three embodiments of the female connector described hereinbelow with reference to fig1 - 18 and as specifically claimed herein . in the first preferred embodiment per fig1 - 6 , female connector 100 has a generally cubical body intended for simultaneous engagement with all three sets of data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;, jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; and power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; of a 3 - in - 1 male connector 2100 as shown in fig2 and 22 hereof and as described above . this female connector 100 has a peripheral outer surface comprising an upper part 102 ( which in use will fit closest to upper part 2102 of male connector 2100 ), a base part 104 ( which in use will fit closest to base part 2104 of male connector 2100 , etc . ), and end parts 106 and 108 . upper part 102 is continuously planar , whereas base part 104 is discontinuously planar and includes a fitting projection 160 extending outwardly of planar base part 104 and oriented in a width - wise direction of the female connector body 100 . note that in accordance with the numbering system employed here , to facilitate use of female connector 100 the outwardly projecting fitting portion 160 is sized and shaped to be closely received into cutout 2160 when female connector 100 is operatively fitted to all of data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; j &# 34 ;, and &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; of a male connector 2100 . the front part of fitting portion 160 is tapered by the provision of facets 161a and 161b , as best seen in fig1 and 4 , to facilitate fitting thereof into cutout 2160 . such structural shaping of elements which must interfit with each other is important because many of the pins of male connector 2100 are relatively close together , may be somewhat fragile , and because any deformation of even one pin may seriously interfere with the utility of the invention . this aspect of the invention , namely the tapering of a forward portion of an element which is to be received into a cutout or opening of another portion is practiced elsewhere in the overall structure . this will be referred to as appropriate in the following description . in addition , preferably two locating projections , 151 and 153 , are formed to extend forwardly of front face 180 of female connector 100 . of these , locating projection 153 is preferably provided at and contiguous with end part 108 of the peripheral surface , and locating projection 151 is preferably located between end parts 106 and 108 . in the first embodiment per fig1 - 6 , lower part 104 and end part 106 of the peripheral surface are connected by a plane surface 154 inclined at an angle &# 34 ; θ &# 34 ; to the plane of end part 106 , as best seen in fig3 . furthermore , a groove preferably of triangular cross - section defined by an angled plane surface 156 intersecting another plane surface 158 is formed in lower part 104 , with surface 156 inclined oppositely to surface 154 and making an angle &# 34 ; θ &# 34 ; to surface 158 which is perpendicular to the planar portion of lower part 104 . this is best understood with reference to fig3 . the structure just described ensures that there are two angled cooperating faces 154 and 156 which respectively fit to surfaces 2154 and 2156 of male connector 2100 when female connector 100 is operatively fitted thereto . this is best understood by reference to fig3 and 21 . note that this is another application of the principle of using inclined surfaces of the male and female connectors to facilitate convenient simultaneous engagement of numerous pins of the male connector with correspondingly disposed pin receptacles of the female connector , as described below in greater detail . first and second locating projections 151 and 153 may also be provided outside tapers 155 , each making an angle &# 34 ; β &# 34 ; relative to the widthwise direction of the female connector body 100 . this is best understood with reference to fig4 . even further , the upper and lower corner portions of locating projections 151 and 153 may be faceted at an angle &# 34 ; α &# 34 ;, as best seen in fig2 . thus - faceted forwardmost portions of locating projections 151 and 153 readily and closely fit into correspondingly sized , shaped and located recesses 2151 and 2153 , respectively , of the male connector 2100 , as best understood with reference to fig2 . as will be appreciated from reference to fig2 , if female connector 100 is to be fitted to male connector 2100 , taking into account the various extensions and / or faceting surfaces discussed above , the outer peripheral shape and size of female connector 100 must be such as to be received closely into the front open space of male connector 2100 . furthermore , to effect the desired electrical connections , for each of the pins , i . e ., data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;, jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ;, and power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; of the male connector 2100 , there must be a correspondingly shaped , sized , and located electrically - conducting pin receptacle in female connector 100 . as will be well understood , each of the pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; of male connector 2100 will have its own correspondingly sized , shaped and located lead and wire ( not shown ) connected to selected elements of a circuit served thereby . each of the pin receptacles provided in female connector 100 has the form of an elongate element with an open front end , and is electrically insulated from each of the other pin receptacles . each pin receptacle will also have a tail ending in a lead such as &# 34 ; dl &# 34 ; for data line leads , &# 34 ; jl &# 34 ; for jumper line leads , and &# 34 ; pl &# 34 ; for power line leads ( best seen in fig4 and 6 ) extending outwardly of rear face 182 . the body of female connector 100 is preferably made of the same type of known strong , electrically insulating , durable , easily - formed and affordable plastics material as used to make the body of male connector 2100 . numerous such plastics are known , and the exact composition is not critical to the success of the present invention . thus , through the width of the body of female connector 100 extend a plurality of pin receptacles having open forward ends at front surface 180 ( as best seen in fig1 and 5 ), and each having a lead extending outwardly of rear surface 182 , ( as best seen in fig4 and 6 ). individual pin receptacles are made of metal and may be molded in place within the body of female connector 100 in any known manner during manufacture . the exact composition of the metal used to form such pin receptacles is not critical , and any known suitable metal and / or alloy may be utilized . the selected material should preferably be non - corrodible under normal operating conditions of ambient temperature , humidity and pollution . the dimensions of the open end of each pin receptacle must be selected to ensure a convenient but effective electricity - transmitting contact when a corresponding pin of the male connector 2100 is fitted therein . the open forward portion of each pin receptacle may be provided with one or more lengthwise splits in a manner commonly utilized in such electrical connections . the exact details thereof are , therefore , considered to be well understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art and not critical to this invention . similarly , the various leads corresponding to each of the pin receptacles may be provided during manufacture with a coating or treatment deemed suitable for facilitating good electrical connection thereat of numerous corresponding wires . again , the exact composition , size , shape , and manner of application of such treatments is not deemed critical to the present invention , and any known technology may be utilized . the above may be summarized thus : female connector 100 is shaped and sized to be forcibly yet readibly fitted to a correspondingly shaped and sized male connector 2100 to effect simultaneous electrical connections between data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; and data receptacles &# 34 ; dr &# 34 ;, between jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; and jumper receptacles &# 34 ; jr &# 34 ;, and between power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; and power pin receptacles &# 34 ; pr &# 34 ;. there are , therefore , three distinct sets of pin receptacles &# 34 ; dr &# 34 ; having leads &# 34 ; dl &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; jr &# 34 ; having leads &# 34 ; jl &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; pr &# 34 ; having leads &# 34 ; pl &# 34 ;. the above - described structure permits the provision of eight or nine pin receptacles &# 34 ; jr &# 34 ;, i . e ., optionally one more than previously available , a feat realized by eliminating a portion of what was the dividing wall 1950 in the prior art structure per fig1 and 20 . a recess 144 is formed and is oriented in the upper planar part 102 , as depicted in fig5 , 11 and 12 . one of the pin - receptacles is located directly below the recess 144 , as best seen in fig5 and 11 . note that this is facilitated also by removal of virtually all of divider element 1952 as well . reference to fig2 shows that one of the data pins in the upper line , at a located identified by the numeral &# 34 ; 2199 &# 34 ; is shown missing . this is intended to be exemplary , and indicative of the fact that one or more such pins may be omitted as deemed appropriate . correspondingly , as best understood with reference to fig5 the corresponding pin receptacle 199 may also be omitted . these are merely examples and the precise locations of such omitted pins / pin receptacles is a matter of design choice . although the term jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; and jumper pin receptacles &# 34 ; jr &# 34 ; has been employed in the above discussion , not every one of these pins / pin receptacles needs to serve the same function as all of the others in that set . in other words , some of these may be utilized to provide power at a selected voltage , others may be utilized for data collection , and yet others may be utilized for diagnostic lines . the present invention is intended to provide an ample supply of pins / pin receptacles to add flexibility to existing systems , i . e ., to provide backward capability so that a user may utilize the optimum power supply voltage , have the flexibility to perform diagnostics and to utilize a large number of data lines simultaneously with new and / or existing ide systems . the above - described first embodiment of the present invention permits simultaneous total engagement between all the pins of a male connector 2100 and pin - receptacles of a female connector 100 to effect operative engagement of all data , jumper and power lines . there are , however , other applications in which it may be desirable to provide a female connector which engages with only a portion of a male connector 2100 . the following description relates to two such embodiments which engage with correspondingly different portions of male connector 2100 . a second preferred embodiment is illustrated in fig7 - 12 . as will be readily apparent , the only structural difference between the first preferred embodiment 100 per fig1 - 6 and the second preferred embodiment 700 per fig7 - 12 is that the latter totally lacks that portion which accommodated the four power pin receptacles &# 34 ; pr &# 34 ;. female connector 700 is , therefore , shorter in length than female connector 100 . the end part 106 which previously was furthest away from end part 108 of the peripheral surface continues to remain so , except that it has now moved to be at the far end of the junction pin receptacles &# 34 ; jr &# 34 ;. other than this and obvious related incidental distinctions among the various views , there are no other structural distinctions that need to be described in detail . the female connector 100 , as noted above , permits simultaneous engagement of all of data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;, jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; and power pins &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; of male connector 2100 . female connector 700 , on the other hand , permits simultaneous engagement only of data pins &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; and jumper pins &# 34 ; j &# 34 ;. a third preferred embodiment 1300 is illustrated in fig1 - 18 , and differs from the second preferred embodiment per fig7 - 12 in that it lacks only the portion which accommodated junction pin receptacles &# 34 ; jr &# 34 ;. the end part 106 ( opposed to end part 108 of the peripheral surface ) is now moved to be immediately adjacent to and contiguous with the outside portions of locating element 151 . other than that , the structural features , aspects and utilization of female connector 1300 are as described correspondingly in the preceding discussion of the first preferred embodiment per fig1 - 6 . although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail , it should be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation , the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims . | 7 |
the composition of this invention includes a combination of the herbs , serenoa repens , pygeum africanum , and urtica dioica , or extracts thereof , and the pytochemical lycopene , which were specifically chosen and combined according to their biological activities . the term “ herb ” as used herein refers to the whole herb or tuber , or to the seeds , leaves , stems , flowers , roots , berries , bark , or any other plant parts that are used for healing . the lycopene component of the composition was obtained is available commercially from hoffman la roche , of nutley , n . j ., u . s . a , as a synthetic chemical available at a 5 % strength that is chemically identical to the lycopene extracted from tomato fruit using standard methods . the natural standardized extract is available from many sources well known to those of ordinary skill in the art at a strength of 3 %, including brainway , inc ., senovazne 23 , praha 1 , 110 czech republic . the serenoa repens component of the composition is available commercially around the world , through distributors such as amira , box 1717 , alachua fla ., u . s . a . the component is obtained from the berry portion of the herb and the component is preferably powdered but may also be cut , and preferably contains about 40 % fatty acids . the pygeum africanum component of the composition is available commercially around the world , through distributors , such as advanced alternatives for better health , 1344 lansing avenue , lansing mich ., u . s . a . preferably , the powdered bark is used and contains about 2 . 0 - 2 . 5 % steroids . the urtica dioca component of the composition is available commercially around the world , through distributors such as advanced alternatives for better health , 1344 lansing avenue , lansing mich . 48915 and amira , box 1717 , alachua fla ., u . s . a . the preferred embodiment of the invention contains the component from the powdered root , with 0 . 8 % sterols , but alternatively the root may be cut or powdered or cut leaves may be utilized . the methods for combining the herbs , extracts , and vitamins are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and may be accomplished at a number of commercial production laboratories around the world . each herbal component selected in this group has been well characterized and used individually before for the treatment of bph and for the prevention of prostate cancer . however , they have not , to date , been used together as is disclosed in this invention . it is the synergism between all of the herbs that renders the administration of a combination containing each of the herbs desirable . as a holistic approach to combating the treatment of bph and prevention of prostate cancer , herbs were selected which possess the following biological activities : ( 1 ) anti - tumor activity ; ( 2 ) immune stimulating activity ; ( 3 ) anti - androgen activity ; ( 4 ) anti - bph activity ; and ( 5 ) activities to restore micturitional disorders . most of the herbs have multi functional activities . in a specific embodiment of the invention , the composition comprises between 0 . 1 and 180 mg lycopene , an amount that will comprise from 0 . 1 to 10 % by weight of a tablet or capsule having a total weight of 100 to 1800 mg , between 30 and 1080 mg serenoa repens , an amount that will comprise from 30 to 60 % by weight of a tablet or capsule having a total weight of 100 to 1800 mg , between 4 and 450 mg pygeum africanum , and amount that will comprise from 4 to 25 % by weight of a tablet or capsule having a total weight of 100 to 1800 mg , and between 30 and 1080 mg urtica dioica , an amount that will comprise from 30 to 60 % by weight of a tablet or capsule having a total weight of 100 to 1800 mg . in yet another embodiment of the invention , the composition comprises between 0 . 1 and 60 mg lycopene , an amount that will comprise from 0 . 1 to 10 % by weight of a tablet or capsule having a total weight of 100 to 600 mg , between 30 and 360 mg serenoa repens , an amount that will comprise from 30 to 60 % by weight of a tablet or capsule having a total weight of 100 to 600 mg , between 4 and 150 mg pygeum africanum , and amount that will comprise from 4 to 25 % by weight of a tablet of capsule having a total weight of 100 to 600 mg , and between 30 and 360 mg urtica dioica , an amount that will comprise from 30 to 60 % by weight of a tablet or capsule having a total weight of 100 to 600 mg . in yet another embodiment of the invention , the composition comprises about 50 mg lycopene , about 150 mg serenoa repens , about 50 mg pygeum africanum , and about 150 mg urtica diocia . in a preferred embodiment , the composition further comprises between about 3 and 3 mg vitamin a ; between about 5 and 150 mg vitamin b6 ; between about 1 mg and 25 mg zinc ; between about . 1 and 5 mg copper ; between about 10 mg and 600 mg bee pollen powder ; between about 10 mg and 1800 mg each of the amino acids alanine , glutamine , and glycine ; between about 5 mg and 500 mg panax ginseng extract ; and between about 1 and 100 mg hydrangea arborescens extract . in yet another embodiment , the composition further comprises between 1 and 2 mg vitamin a , between 5 and 50 mg vitamin b6 , between 1 and 15 mg zinc , between 0 . 1 and 2 mg copper , between 10 mg and 240 mg bee pollen powder , between 10 and 600 mg each of alanine , glutamine , and glycine , between 5 and 100 mg panax ginseng extract and between 1 and 25 mg hydrangea arborescens extract . in yet another embodiment , the composition further comprises about 1 . 5 mg vitamin a , about 15 mg vitamin b6 , about 5 mg zinc , about 0 . 5 mg copper ; about 60 mg bee pollen powder , about 60 mg each of alanine , glutamine , and glycine , about 10 mg panax ginseng extract , and about 5 mg hydrangea arborescens extract . in a more preferred embodiment the composition is present in a 500 mg tablet or capsule containing about 50 mg lycopene , an amount that will comprise about 10 % by weight of the tablet or capsule , about 150 mg serenoa repens , and amount that will comprise about 30 % by weight of the tablet or capsule , about 50 mg pygeum africanum , an amount that will comprise about 10 % by weight of the tablet or capsule , and about 150 mg urtica dioica , and amount that will comprise about 30 % by weight of the tablet or capsule , and about 1 . 5 mg vitamin a , about 15 mg vitamin b6 , about 5 mg zinc , about 0 . 5 mg copper , about 60 mg bee pollen powder , about 60 mg each of alanine , glutamine , and glycine , about 10 mg panax ginseng extract , and about 5 mg hydrangea arborescens extract . in a further embodiment , the composition is administered in four tablets , each comprising about 500 mg red yeast rice , about 15 mg coenzyme q 10 , about 50 mcg chromium , about 13 mg inositol , about 50 mcg selenium , and about 20 iu mixed tocopherols to provide a total daily dose of about 2 gm red yeast rice , about 60 mg coenzyme q 10 , about 200 mcg chromium , about 52 mg inositol , about 200 mcg selenium and about 80 iu mixed tocopherols . preferably , the compositions of the present invention are prepared in a tablet dosage form , however it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other dosage forms may also be suitably prepared by known methods , for example , capsules , caplets , powders , pastes , liquids and similar dosage forms . also , it will be understood that the compositions may also contain one or more conventional pharmaceutically acceptable excipients , adjuvants , solvents or carriers and may also include flavors , colorings , coatings , etc . one dose of the pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of bph , for example one tablet or one capsule , may contain , for example 100 - 600 mg of the composition of the present invention . one dose of the pharmaceutical composition for the prevention of prostatic cancers may contain , for example , 600 - 1800 mg of the composition of the present invention . the compositions are preferably administered in spaced dosages throughout the day , for example , administered every three to six hours , so as to maintain the level of active ingredients in the system of the mammal . the dose may be administered in single or divided doses throughout the day and is preferably taken with food . a person skilled in the art will understand that the therapeutic effects of the compositions result from a plurality of active agents in each herb which when combined , act synergistically to enhance efficacy . it will also be understood that the compositions comprising all agents , are also contemplated herein , as are liquid or slow release formulations of the composition . thus , it will be understood that the compositions of the invention can be administered orally , rectally ( as suppositories ), intravenously , topically or by other known means . as a capsule , the formulation should be stored at a temperature of 80 ° or less . the administration of the composition would be in accordance with a predetermined regimen , which would be at least once daily and over an extended period of time as a chronic treatment , and could last for one year or more , including the life of the host . the dosage administered will depend upon the frequency of the administration , the blood level desired , other concurrent therapeutic treatments , the severity of the condition , whether the treatment is for prophylaxis or therapy , the age of the patient , the levels of ldl - cholesterol and hdl - cholesterol in the patient , and the like . the following examples will serve to further typify the nature of the invention , but is not limited on the scope thereof , which is defined solely by the appended claims . the following references are incorporated herein by reference : u . s . provisional application no . 60 / 153 , 322 ; kupelian p a , et al ., ( 1997 ) j . of urol 158 ( 6 ): 2197 - 2201 ; carter b s , et al ., ( 1992 ) proc natl academy science usa 89 : 3367 - 3371 ; walsh p c , partin a w , ( 1997 ) cancer 80 : 1871 - 74 ; cooney k a , et al ., ( 1997 ) natl cancer inst 89 : 955 - 959 ; smith j r , et al ., ( 1996 ) science 274 : 1371 - 1374 ; gronberg h , et al ., ( 1999 ) am j of hum genet 65 ( 1 ): 134 - 140 ; li j , et al ., ( 1997 ) science 275 : 1943 - 1947 ; perrin p , et al ., ( 1991 ) presse med 20 ( 28 ): 1313 - 1319 ; harvey , h , ( 1995 ) pathol res prac 191 ( 9 ): 924 - 934 ; gann p h , et al ., ( 1999 ) cancer res 59 ( 6 ): 1225 - 1230 ; giovannucci e , ( 1999 ) j natl cancer inst 91 ( 4 ): 317 - 331 ; rao a v , et al ., ( 1999 ) nutr cancer 33 ( 2 ): 159 - 164 ; pastori m , et al ., ( 1998 ) biochem biophys res commun 250 ( 3 ): 582 - 585 ; bayne c w , et al ., ( 1999 ) prostate 40 ( 4 ): 232 - 241 ; wilt t j , et al ., ( 1998 ) jama 280 ( 18 ): 1604 - 1609 ; delos s , et al ., ( 1995 ) j steroid biochem mol biol 55 ( 3 - 4 ): 375 - 383 ; schroder f , ( 1994 ) clin endocrinol 41 ( 2 ): 139 - 147 ; barlet a , et al ., ( 1990 ) wien klin wochenschr 22 : 667 - 673 ; carani c , et al ., ( 1991 ) arch ital urol nefrol androl 63 : 341 - 345 ; varro , t . herbs of choice , ( 1994 ) pharmaceutical press ; schottner m , et al ., ( 1997 ) planta med 63 ( 6 ): 529 - 532 ; hryb d j , et al ., ( 1995 ) planta med 61 ( 1 ): 31 - 32 ; mindell , e ., earl mindell &# 39 ; s herb bible , a fireside book ( 1992 ); rosner w , et al ., ( 1999 ) j steroid biochem mol biol 69 ( 1 - 6 ): 481 - 485 ; damrau , f . ( 1958 ) j . maine medical association 49 : 99 - 102 ; aito , k . & amp ; iwatsubo , e . ( 1972 ) hinyokika kiyo — acta urologica japonica . 18 ( 1 ): 41 - 4 ); feinblatt , h m & amp ; gant , j ( 1958 ), j maine medical assoc . 49 : 99 - 124 ; mahajan , s k , et al . ( 1982 ), amer j clin nutr 36 : 1177 - 1183 ; leake , chisholm & amp ; harib ( 1984 ), j steroid biochem 20 : 651 - 655 ; fahim , wang sutcu & amp ; fahim ( 1993 ), andrologia 25 : 369 - 75 ; antoniou , sudhakar , shalhoub & amp ; smith ( 1977 ), lancet oct . : 895 - 898 ; wallace , a m , & amp ; grant , j k ( 1975 ) biochemical society transactions 3 : 540 - 542 ; buck a c , rees , r w m , ebeling , l ( 1989 ), brit j urology 64 : 496 - 499 ; rugendorff , e w et . al . ( 1993 ), brit j . urology 71 : 433 - 438 ; habib , f k ( 1990 ), brit j urology 66 : 393 - 397 ; zhang , x ( 1995 ) j med chem 38 : 735 - 738 ; simon , h b , ( 2000 ) harvard mens health watch . 4 ( 9 ): 8 ; fahim m s . et al ., ( 1982 ) archives of andrology . 8 ( 4 ): 261 - 3 , 1982 june ; key t j ., et al ., ( 1997 ) brit . j . cancer . 76 ( 5 ): 678 - 87 ; bender d a , ghartey - sam k , singh a . ( 1989 ) brit . j . nutrition , 61 ( 3 ): 619 - 28 ; olson k b and pienta k j . ( 1998 ) j . nat . cancer institute . 90 ( 6 ): 414 - 5 ; and chattopadhyay a ., et al ., ( 1999 ) j . toxicological sciences . 24 ( 5 ): 393 - 7 . | 0 |
i have found that by using appropriate combinations of reagents under condition which permit these reagents to react with each other effectively , instantaneously and completely and ensuring that the overall temperature in the reactors used does not exceed 850 ° c . coupled with rapid removal and shock cooling of the gaseous products of the reaction that substantially all of the adversities detracting from the chemical and thermal efficiency of the prior art are not only obviated but also recovery of the desired carbon monoxide and hydrogen as sources of combustible fuel are achieved with the material efficiencies in excess of 94 percent and with thermal efficiencies superior to any of those described in the prior art by virtue of controlled application of heat into the area where such heat operates with greatest effect . this is accomplished by initiating the reaction between ( 1 ) molten alkali metal at a temperature of the order of 350 .° c . in one spray stream and ( 2 ) a slurry comprising superheated stream with carbon in separate streams which is pumped into a first reaction chamber and then into a semifluid bed chamber containing finely divided powdered iron , cobalt , nickel or manganese oxides of said metals , alloys of said metals , or mixtures of said metals in which such chambers are maintained at a temperature not exceeding 850 ° c . alternatively , a third reagent in the form of heated carbon dioxide may also and preferentially be pumped into the reaction chamber . the water , carbon and carbon dioxide streams are also fed at a temperature of 350 ° c . these reagents are pumped into a first reaction zone in such a manner that all of the spray jets are commingled just prior to entering the semifluidized bed containing metallic iron and / or an oxide of iron , or the preferred equivalent mixtures of metals and / or oxides defined previously . all sprays except that of the alkali metal are introduced tangentially in order to yield a pronounced vortex action in the first reaction chamber . a hypergolic reaction developing an excessive gas pressure is thus initiated in the first reaction zone . the gaseous products of the reaction obtained after passing through the semifluidized bed zone ( which may be designated as the second reaction chamber ), comprising chiefly sodium vapor , hydrogen , and carbon monoxide are passed to a condensor operating at a pressure of less than 0 . 5 atmospheres where the metallic sodium is shock cooled to a temperature not exceeding 380 ° c . and not dropping below a temperature of 200 ° c . through heat exchange , heat is extracted from the products and added to the incoming reagents . an advantage of the process is that a substantial excess of combustible gas producing reagents in the form of carbon , water and carbon dioxide without additional metallic sodium may be added to the reagents to produce extra quantities of combustible gas , again at high rates and without hindering the course of the reaction . these extra reagents permit a significant content of the familiar &# 34 ; water shift reaction &# 34 ; to be added on top the various reactions involving sodium or potassium . further , the desired reducing conditions are ensured by maintaining an excess of reducing agent in the reactor through the medium of amounts of carbon and metals taken from the class of iron , cobalt , nickel and manganese , such excess being above that required for exact stoichiometry as may be defined by the equations which describe the various reactions taking place . these extra reagents also serve the function of maintaining the hypergolic reaction temperature so as to not exceed 850 ° c . when the principal metallic reductant is metallic iron in powdered form , production of alkali metals just barely begins to take place at temperatures in the range of 850 ° c . to 950 ° c . if metallic reductants taken from the group of manganese , cobalt , and nickel are utilized as at least partial replacements for the iron , hydrogen production begins at temperatures as low as 350 ° c . with active alkali metal production taking place at temperatures as low as 550 ° c . to 650 ° c . thus , the use of metals taken from the class of manganese , cobalt and nickel or combinations thereof as a replacement for a portion of the iron burden greatly facilitates the reaction by substantially reducing the temperature at which the reaction takes place . since the carbon monoxide and hydrogen pass into the gaseous condition immediately , removal of these gaseous products from the reaction zone by utilization of reduced pressure is exceptionally rapid , compared to the slower volatilization of the metallic sodium , thereby again reducing the possibility for a back reaction between metallic sodium and carbon monoxide which detracts from the efficiency of the desired gas formation . the commercial viability of the cyclic process described is not only a function of the purity of the carbon which is utilized as one of the reductants but further is a function of special treatments which need to be carried out in the reactor in the event that impure types of carbon such as coal are used as reactants . an ideal material as a carbon source is ash - free calcined petroleum coke . use of such a reductant permits substantially indefinite recycling without adverse building up of adverse by - product nonproductive reactions . if the coke contains a significant amount of mineral contamination , then a sufficient amount of limestone needs to be added in order to produce a high melting point powder with the ash constituents of the coal requiring periodic tapping of the furnace to remove the undesired by - product powder which consists primarily of calcium silicates , sometimes containing substantial portions of calcium sulfide in the event that the coal contains high percentages of sulfur . the melting points of these by - products are substantially above 850 ° c . so that they can be removed from the reactor periodically as dry , free flowing powders . in view of the fact that water is one of the reagents , high water content coals normally designated as brown coal or lignites may be utilized as the carbon source without the need for preliminary calcination of the coal for removal of such water and the volatile components of the coal represent a plus for the formation of gaseous energy producing fuels usually in the form of gaseous hydrocarbons and hydrogen . coke is a useful reductant if utilized in the presence of limestone . the preferred form of coke is the type normally designated in the trade as &# 34 ; coke breeze .&# 34 ; alternately , finely divided coke recovered from blast furnace dust is also useful . the basic reactions and reaction routings which take place are defined in tables 1 through 7 and in fig1 through 3 following , which are block diagrams of the process . a schematic representation of the reactor in which the combustible gases are produced is depicted in fig4 . fig4 is not drawn to scale . in addition , equipment items whose design and function are amply described in the prior art are not shown but will be defined in the description to follow . however , sufficient dimensional information will be provided so that the schematic representation may be considered in terms of proper scale . table 1______________________________________chemistry of production of co and h . sub . 2 fromnaoh + c + fereaction sequence a ## str1 ## ## str2 ## ## str3 ## ## str4 ## ## str5 ## reaction sequence b ## str6 ## ## str7 ## ## str8 ## ## str9 ## ## str10 ## ______________________________________ table 2______________________________________gas production from chemistry in table 1 ( a or b ) ______________________________________9 . 49 . sup .+ standard cubic feet of h . sub . 2 ( 12 moles of h . sub . 2 ) 9 . 49 . sup .+ standard cubic feet of co ( 12 moles of o . sub . 2 ) ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________chemistry of production of co fromna . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 + fe + c + co . sub . 2 ## str11 ## ## str12 ## ## str13 ## ## str14 ## ## str15 ## ______________________________________ table 4______________________________________gas production from chemistry in table 3______________________________________12 . 66 standard cubic feet of co ( 16 moles of co ) ______________________________________ table 5______________________________________combination of reaction sequence a ( table 1 and table 3 ) ## str16 ## ( a ) combination of reaction sequences aand b ( table 1 and table 3 ) ## str17 ## ( b ) ______________________________________ table 6______________________________________gas production from chemistry in table 5______________________________________from reaction sequence a ( table 1 ) and table 3______________________________________22 . 15 standard cubic feet of co ( 28 moles of co ) 9 . 49 . sup .+ standard cubic feet of h . sub . 2 ( 12 moles of______________________________________h . sub . 2 ) from reaction sequences a and b ( table 1 ) and table 3______________________________________31 . 64 standard cubic feet of co ( 40 moles of co ) 18 . 99 standard cubic feet of h . sub . 2 ( 24 moles of h . sub . 2 ) ______________________________________ table 7______________________________________addition of extra c , h . sub . 2 o and co . sub . 2 ## str18 ## ## str19 ## ## str20 ##= 4 . 75 standard cubic feet of h . sub . 2 ( 6 moles )= 14 . 24 standard cubic feet of co ( 18 moles ) ______________________________________ the reactor proper 1 is made of 3 / 8 &# 34 ; thick armco iron of welded construction . metals such as nickel or nickel clad inconel or zirconium stabilized nichrome are useful alternates . the reactor 1 is maintained at operating temperature by wrapping the exterior of the reactor ( not shown ) with high temperature ceramic coated resistance wire and the exterior of the ceramic coated resistance wire is insulated to drive the heat inwards toward the reactor . alternately , the reactor may be heated by induction . the inside diameter of the reactor is 12 &# 34 ; and the inside height of the reactor in its longest dimension is 48 &# 34 ;. a ring 33 having a cross section of 1 &# 34 ; by 1 &# 34 ; is welded to the inside of the reactor in the position indicated so that the top of such ring is 12 &# 34 ; from the bottom of the reactor . placed on top this ring is a perforated flat bottom dish shaped plate 2 , 1 &# 34 ; in thickness in its flat portions and 3 &# 34 ; high on the raised edges . the perforated dish 2 is drilled with holes as shown , 3 / 32 &# 34 ; each in diameter on 1 / 3 &# 34 ; centers , such holes being made only on the flat portions of the dish . both ring 33 and dish 2 are also made of armco iron . the reactor 1 is loaded above with a graded series of armco iron balls 3 through the tight sealing removable cover 4 , such graded series varying regularly in size from 1 &# 34 ; in diameter to 1 / 8 &# 34 ; in diameter . a bed of iron balls approximately 16 &# 34 ; thick is provided as follows : a first double layer of 1 &# 34 ; balls ; followed by four layers of 3 / 4 &# 34 ; balls ; six layers of 1 / 2 &# 34 ; balls , eight layers of 1 / 4 &# 34 ; balls ; and finally topped off with a 6 &# 34 ; to 8 &# 34 ; thick layer of 1 / 8 &# 34 ; balls . the balls are hollow or porous to reduce weight . the approximate height of the total ball containing bed is approximately 16 &# 34 ; deep . the top of the bed is 8 &# 34 ; below the gas outlet 11 said gas outlet being 5 &# 34 ; in diameter . the distance between the top of the ball bed layer and the removable tight sealing removable cover 4 is 19 &# 34 ;. the removable cover 4 is 6 &# 34 ; in diameter which when in use , is bolted down against a copper gasket ( bolts and gaskets not shown ). the reactor above the perforated plate 2 is designated as the second reactor zone . the first reactor zone 29 is 12 &# 34 ; deep from the bottom of the perforated plate 2 to the inside of the discharge opening 5 in which 5 again is a tight sealed removable cover 2 &# 34 ; in diameter held in place with bolts and copper gasket , said bolts and copper gasket not shown . the reactor 1 is held in place with four 1 &# 34 ; diameter iron legs 6 equally spaced around the bottom of the reactor . each leg is welded to a 1 / 2 &# 34 ; thick iron plate 3 &# 34 ; in diameter 7 set on top a firm iron plate foundation 9 1 &# 34 ; thick which is bolted to the floor . between plate 7 and foundation 9 is placed a magnetically actuated vibrator 8 of known design operating at frequencies of at least 1000 cycles per second through an amplitude not exceeding 0 . 5 mils and preferably maintained at 0 . 1 mils . similar foundations and vibrators ( not shown ) are situated under all other unit process pieces of equipment so that the entire assembly of fig4 can be made to vibrate in unison , if desired , to prevent undue strain on piping and couplings . loop 32 is a heat exchanger constructed of iron using liquid gallium as the heat exchange fluid which enables the gases coming from reactor 1 through conduit 11 to be cooled to a temperature not exceeding 380 ° c . other fluids such as metallic sodium , biphenyl and standard heat exchange media may be used instead . mechanical pumps are used for all fluids except metallic sodium which is magnetically pumped . the pumps are not shown . the heat extracted at this stage is transferred to the feeding devices 25 and 26 through which the non - sodium reagents are fed into the vortex chamber 29 . this heat transfer device is not shown . the cooled gases consisting primarily of very fine droplets of metallic sodium , carbon monoxide and hydrogen pass into a fluted condensor ( iron ) 12 where the sodium is coalesced into a liquid state and thence into the insulated iron container 13 maintained at a temperature not exceeding 350 ° c . and not below 200 ° c . the magnetically activated internal valves 20 , 21 , 31 , 24 , 34 and 35 are appropriately opened and closed as defined later . the internal capacity of the container 13 is 5 gallons up to the dashed line . since sodium , potassium , and mixtures thereof have a small but significant vapor pressure at 350 ° c ., a second condensor is provided in which the off - gases now consisting chiefly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen with a minute amount of entrained alkali vapor are passed through conduit 15 into the fluted condensor 12a cooling these gases to a temperature in the range of 125 ° c . to 150 ° c ., at which temperature the vapor pressure of the alkali metals is miniscule . the container 16 again has a capacity of 5 gallons up to the top dashed line and a capacity of 1 / 2 gallon up to the double dashed line . the off - gases , now consisting of a substantially pure mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen , are pulled from the container 16 through the conduit 17 by means of a totally sealed graphite vane pump 18 of speed and capacity so that a pressure of 0 . 1 to 0 . 5 atomspheres is maintained from the interior of reactor 1 at position 3 up to the exhausting face of the vane pump 18 . carbon monoxide and hydrogen are passed to the gas holder 19 in which the sealing liquid at room temperature is purified mineral oil , of specific gravity equal or less than 0 . 90 , containing no additives . purified mineral oil is chosen as the gas holder sealant since it does not react with alkali metal which may enter the gas holder fortuitously and any vapor pressure it might exhibit will represent a beneficial additive to the desired combustible gas product . chamber 14 is an insulated iron container of 5 gallon capacity to which is fed 30 pounds of molten sodium or potassium or mixtures thereof , to be used later for start up and balancing purposes through pipe 30 . the alkali metal is fed into the container 14 through the magnetically activated valve 31 while valves 34 and 35 are in the closed condition . such alkali metal is maintained at a temperature between 200 ° c . and 350 ° c . pipe 38 leads back to the top of the gas holder 19 not only to provide a backup pressure forcing gaseous medium of carbon monoxide and hydrogen entering at atmospheric or superatmospheric pressure , but also to ensure appropriate pressure balancing means while the gas forming reactions are in progress in reactor 1 . to accomplish this operation , valve 39 is either opened at will or automatically when the gas pressure in front of the valve exceeds 0 . 5 atmospheres . whenever valve 39 is open , pump 40 is started automatically to pump gas from the top of gas holder 19 into chamber 14 . all valves such as 31 , 34 , 35 , 21 , 20 and 24 through which molten alkali passes are totally internal magnetically activated flip type devices of known construction . all piping for molten alkali such as 11 , 15 , 17 , 36 , 23 and 22 are made of externally insulated armco iron of 1 &# 34 ; inside diameter and 3 / 16 &# 34 ; wall thickness with the exception of conduit 11 which has an inside diameter of 5 &# 34 ; and a wall thickness of 3 / 8 &# 34 ;. the molten alkali metal at a temperature of 350 ° c . is pumped concentrically with a magnetic pump 10 into the vortex nozzle 37 which ejects such molten metal into the first reaction chamber 29 which is maintained at a temperature not exceeding 850 ° c . with appropriate opening and closing of valves as will be described in example 1 . the balance of the vortex nozzle 37 consists , first , of a 5 &# 34 ; diameter iron tube 27 of 3 / 8 &# 34 ; wall thickness made of iron welded through the wall of the reactor 1 so as to permit access to chamber 29 . lines 25 and 26 are 1 / 2 &# 34 ; internal diameter iron of 1 / 8 &# 34 ; wall thickness through which reagents other than the alkali metals , such as carbon , steam , carbon dioxide and sometimes limestone are fed tangentially into the vortex nozzle . solids are in powder form of particle size not exceeding 25 microns . these reagents are fed into the nozzle from pressure chambers and pressurized mixing chambers fitted with pumps , all of known design , and not depicted in fig4 which enables such reagents to be fed into the nozzle at temperatures in the range of 200 ° c . to 350 ° c . these feed chambers are maintained in this temperature range by heat exchange devices ( not shown ) whose heat is supplied by loop 32 . the vortex nozzle assembly 37 is sealed into the tubulature 27 by welding into appropriate perforations in the flange 28 which in turn is welded into the inside of tubulature 27 . the gas holder 19 has a gas capacity of 1000 cubic feet above the sealant level and is used primarily as an overflow device into a second gas holder of at least 100 , 000 cubic feet capacity ( not shown ) from which combustible gas can be drawn for end use purposes . this combination of gas holding devices is a further aid for pressure balancing purposes . outlet 41 and valve 44 and outlet 42 with valve 45 are drain ports for gravity removal of molten alkali from the system when desired or necessary . inlet 43 with valve 46 represents a means for purging the system of air and replacing the atmosphere with hydrogen , carbon monoxide , or a mixture of the two . this is accomplished by closing off valves leading to lines 25 and 26 ; closing valves 31 , 39 , 47 , 44 and 45 ; opening valves 24 , 20 , 21 and 34 . after the system is partially loaded in a manner to be described later , purging is accomplished by evacuating the system through port 43 and valve 46 and replacing the air thus removed with hydrogen , carbon monoxide or a mixture of the two through a bypass to 43 ( not shown ). this purging process is repeated twice , after which valve 46 is closed . the reactor assembly is empty except for sealant in the gas holders 19 . reactor 1 is then loaded with iron balls as heretofore described through the opened cover 4 . on top the layer of 3 / 4 &# 34 ; balls is placed a 4 lb . layer of calcined petroleum coke which has been crushed to pass a screen of 4 mesh ( tyler ) size so that all the coke is minus 4 mesh . on top of this layer is placed 3 layers of the 1 / 2 &# 34 ; iron balls followed by a layer of 3 lbs . of minus 300 mesh powdered metals comprising a mixture of equal weights of iron , cobalt , nickel and manganese . cover 4 is closed and the entire system is then purged of air with dried tank hydrogen up to closed valves 39 and 47 . the gas holder 19 is then loaded with 200 cubic feet of carbon monoxide and hydrogen from an outside source in the ratio of 3 volumes of carbon monoxide to 1 volume of hydrogen . next valves 34 and 35 are closed and valves 39 and 31 are opened . all other valves are closed . simultaneously , container 14 is loaded with 30 lbs . of molten sodium at 200 ° c . through conduit 30 while pump 40 removes hydrogen gas from container 14 at a rate equal to the volume of the molten sodium being added . once loading is completed , valve 31 is closed . now , valves 35 and 47 are opened and pump 18 is actuated while valve 39 is closed and pump 40 is stopped . loading of sodium is continued into chamber 16 until 10 lbs . of metal have been added . valve 35 is then closed and valve 34 is then opened until chamber 14 is empty and chamber 13 contains 20 lbs . of molten sodium . the molten metal in chamber 16 is eventually maintained at a temperature of 135 ° c . and in chamber 13 eventually at a temperature of 350 ° c . in the meanwhile , reactor 1 and its contents have been heated to 850 ° c . while valves 34 , 47 and 39 are open and all other valves are closed . valve 39 is opened to permit gas to be moved towards the left with pump 40 turning in the appropriate direction while pump 18 is moving gas towards the gas holder . heat exchanger 32 is in the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; condition while chamber 13 is heated to 350 ° c . and chamber 16 is maintained at 135 ° c . gas pressure balancing is thus maintained while reactor 1 is being heated to temperature . the system is now in condition for initiating the gas forming reaction . the reactor depicted in fig4 is a dynamic steady state device in which material flow is regulated by flow meters of known design in calibrated form . the flow of the molten alkali metals is regulated by the controlled action of the magnetic pump 10 . while the finely divided carbon source may be fed directly as a gas or liquid borne slurry , the most convenient and accurate technique is the use of aspiration into the tubulatures 25 or 26 . this is accomplished by placing a side arm ( not depicted ) onto 25 or 26 just prior to position of flange 28 . such side arm connects to a container ( not depicted ) from which the air has been displaced with hydrogen . by vibrating the container at a controlled rate , the powdered reagent is fed into the vortex nozzle 37 and the first reaction zone 29 . the containers for the powder are fitted with valved ports for filling purposes and backup pressure inlets where carbon dioxide gas is the equalizing pressure medium . water is fed to the reactor at temperatures in the range of 90 ° c . to 350 ° c . at nozzle pressures of the order of 100 lbs . per square inch . when water is injected at temperatures below its boiling point some or all of the carbon is fed to the reactor in the form of a well stirred slurry from a stirred pressure type vessel of known design . this situation obtains when pure carbon such as calcined ash - free petroleum coke is utilized . when impure sources of carbon are used such as lignite only part of the carbon can be injected with the water , and the balance in the form of powdered lignite by aspiration . the carbon dioxide is fed to the reactor at a temperature of 350 ° c ., also at nozzle pressure of the order of 100 lbs . per square inch . water above its boiling point is utilized as dry steam . as indicated previously , the reagents with the exception of the molten alkalis , are heated to the desired temperature by heat interchange from exchanger - coil 32 . the molten alkali metal , which is already at a temperature of 200 ° c . to 350 ° c ., is pumped from container 13 with occasional admixture of metal from container 16 via a line 22 at an internal pressure not exceeding 10 lbs . per square inch . the exit concentric molten alkali nozzle at 37 has an opening of approximately 0 . 08 square inches which provides a nozzle pressure of approximately 100 lbs . per square inch . as a consequence of the recited conditions , all the products of the reaction in chamber 29 are in gaseous or extremely fine mist form . in view of the reduced pressure imposed by pump 18 , these products pass almost immediately into the vibrated bed 3 . the production of hydrogen is substantially quantitative practically immediately based on measurements of gas samples reduced to standard conditions taken at the inlet to gas holder 19 within 5 minutes after the start of the reaction , while the production of carbon monoxide becomes quantitative after about 10 minutes which apparently is the time required to reach steady state conditions in zone 3 of reactor 1 . the term &# 34 ; quantitative &# 34 ; refers to the stoichiometry depicted in tables 1 through 7 and the equations therein . in view of the dynamic operation of the system an exact figure for gas production is difficult to determine at any exact moment in time at the gas holder inlet area but samples taken from the gas holder itself 19 indicate that under steady state conditions , the production of gas represents a yield between 95 and close to 100 percent of theoretical based on the combined equations given in tables 1 , 3 and 7 . obviously , the relative ratios of carbon monoxide and hydrogen can be varied by appropriate combinations of variations of tables 1 , 3 and 7 since carbon monoxide only is produced from the chemistry given in table 3 . access to reaction chamber 1 for addition and / or removal of reagents and / or undesired by - products is made available through valved ports 48 and 49 . passage of dust into the molten alkali condensor containers is prevented by welding a 300 mesh iron screen 50 onto the face of tubulature 51 . normally , such gas borne dust problem does not occur except when channeling takes place which sometimes occurs in the upper portions of the fluidized bed . a slight and temporary increase in amplitude of vibration through vibrator 8 remedies the difficulty . the conditions as defined in 1a are established . simultaneously valves 34 , 47 , 20 , 21 and 24 and those leading to lines 25 and 26 are opened with valve 39 and pump 40 actuated to initiate action to the left when the gas pressure reaches 0 . 5 atmospheres at the same time pumps 18 and 10 are actuated . molten sodium at 350 ° c . is injected into chamber 29 through the vortex nozzle 37 at the rate of 1 . 5 lbs . of metal per minute . carbon in the form of ash - free calcined petroleum coke in the amount of 0 . 77 lbs . per minute is fed as a slurry mixed with water in the amount of 0 . 58 lbs . per minute at a temperature of 95 ° c . carbon dioxide gas is fed at the rate of 1 . 412 lbs . per minute at a temperature of 350 ° c . these reagent feeding conditions are maintained for 15 minutes . thereafter , pump 10 and the pumps actuating lines 25 and 26 are stopped , followed immediately by reversal of pump 10 for 15 seconds after which valve 24 is closed along with stoppage of pump 10 . the exhausting action of pump 18 is accelerated to yield a pressure of 0 . 1 atmospheres and continued for 10 minutes longer after which pumps 18 and 40 are stopped along with closure of valves 39 and 47 . after corrections for volumes of gas left in gas holder at start up and its analysis reduced to standard conditions , it was found that 659 cubic feet of gas at standard conditions was produced which represents a gas volume yield of approximately 95 . 5 percent of theoretical . analysis shows that this gas exhibited a ratio of carbon monoxide to hydrogen of 2 . 81 , whereas the theoretical quantitative ratio at 100 percent yield would have been 3 . 00 , defining that the majority of loss of yield from theoretical was due to a slightly less than quantitative yield of carbon monoxide along with a quantitative yield of hydrogen . actual yields were 173 cubic feet of hydrogen and 486 cubic feet of carbon monoxide . start up conditions as in example 1a were reestablished and the procedure of example 1b carried out except that the molten sodium was replaced with molten potassium . all conditions of example 1b were maintained except that the potassium was fed at the rate of 2 . 55 lbs . per minute . a residual gas volume of 679 cubic feet at standard conditions was produced showing a carbon monoxide - hydrogen ratio of 2 . 92 corresponding to an overall gas volume yield of 98 . 4 percent . same as example 1b except that the carbon was aspirated into the reaction chamber and the water was fed to the reaction in the form of dry steam at a temperature of 350 ° c . a gas yield of 676 cubic feet was obtained ( at standard conditions ) equivalent to a yield of 98 percent of theoretical . coke breeze ground to a particle size of less than 25 microns having the proximate analysis shown in table 8 is used as the carbon source and is fed at the rate of 0 . 96 lbs . per minute along with 0 . 04 lbs . per minute of equally fine limestone , and in accordance with the teachings of example 3 . a gas yield of 652 standard cubic feet was obtained equivalent to 94 . 5 percent of theoretical . table 8______________________________________proximate analysis of coke breezec = 80 . 0fe = 5 . 0mn = 0 . 04sio . sub . 2 = 7 . 4al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 = 2 . 8cao = 1 . 8mgo = 0 . 6s = 0 . 6h . sub . 2 o = 1 . 7______________________________________ after the reaction was completed to the full stop condition and all valves closed , gas was fed from the gas holder 19 into the reactor through pipe 48 until a pressure of 1 atmosphere was obtained . gas flow was then stopped and the valve in pipe 48 closed . a chamber containing an atmosphere of carbon monoxide and hydrogen taken from the gas holder was attached to pipe 49 . the valve in pipe 49 was opened and the reactor was then vibrated with an amplitude of 0 . 2 mils at 2000 cycles per second from position ( 8 ) for 15 minutes . valves at 49 and in the collecting chamber were closed . the collecting chamber was removed , cooled to room temperature , and the contents in the form of a grey - black fine powder was magnetically separated . the magnetic portion along with 3 lbs . of - 16 mesh ( tyler ) calcined petroleum coke was added back to the reactor through pipe 48 , after which the valve in pipe 48 was closed . the reactor was vibrated for 5 minutes at an amplitude of 0 . 1 mils at 1000 cycles per second and the gas forming reaction as previously described in this example was reinitiated with approximately the same yield of gas as before , indicating that the procedure used was adequate for placing the reactor back into operating condition . the nonmagnetic fraction weighed 2 . 30 lbs . and analysis indicated that it comprised a major amount of the silicates of lime , magnesia and alumina plus a minor amount of the sulfide of lime . these results indicate that the reactor can be run for 45 to 75 minutes before cleanout is required . further , it appears that continuous removal and refilling is possible in a dynamic sense by appropriate manipulation of amplitude and speed of vibration while reagent injection is in the full stop condition . same as example 4 except that the source of carbon used was a semibituminous montana coal in finely ground state having the analysis given in table 9 . the coal was fed at the rate of 1 . 28 lbs . per minute along with 0 . 04 lbs . of finely ground limestone per minute . a gas yield of 697 of standard cubic feet of gas was obtained presumably equivalent to about 101 percent of theoretical . however , the gas analysis indicated that the hydrogen yield was approximately 104 percent of theoretical and the carbon monoxide yield was about 97 . 5 percent of theoretical . apparently , the extra hydrogen comes from hydrocarbons present in the coal . also , the gas was found to contain approximately 0 . 7 percent of nitrogen by volume . table 9______________________________________combined proximate analysisof semibituminous coal ( a ) ( b ) ______________________________________ 60 . 0 fixed c = 43 . 7 h 5 . 6 volatiles = 34 . 7 n 1 . 3 h . sub . 2 o = 10 . 5 0 21 . 0 ash = 11 . 2 s 1 . 1 h . sub . 2 o 10 . 5______________________________________ | 2 |
[ 0018 ] fig1 displays the preferred embodiment of the invention and its environment . this environment comprises a housing 10 and a rotatable shaft 12 , extending through said housing . the invention is applied to seal and separate fluid within the annular space 14 from the fluid environment at 16 . basic components of the rotary barrier seal face of the invention comprise an annular stationary ring 20 , having a radial extending face 22 in sealing relation with a radial extending face 26 of an annular rotary ring 24 . the stationary ring 20 is held in place by an annular retainer 40 , and its outer diameter engages a lip of the low friction static seal 60 . cover 18 locks the retainer 40 and the static seal 60 against the shoulder 48 of the housing 10 to prevent axial movement . an o - ring seal 56 extends around the outer circumference of the retainer 40 to preclude leakage of buffer fluid at ports 58 and 64 into fluid environment 16 between retainer 40 and housing 10 . amid retainer 40 and stationary ring 20 is a plurality of springs 46 , spaced equidistantly around the circumference of retainer 40 . springs 46 act against an annular disc 44 , urging the stationary ring 20 into engagement with the rotary ring 24 . an o - ring 42 seals the space between the stationary ring 20 and retainer 40 . the rotary ring 24 is retained in the axial position by the drive sleeve 36 and the clamp sleeve 34 . drive sleeve 36 and clamp sleeve 34 are concentric with the shaft 12 and both are locked on to the shaft 12 between shaft shoulder 62 and locknut 38 threaded onto shaft 12 . the o - ring seals 50 and 52 preclude leakage between the rotary ring 24 , the drive sleeve 36 and the shaft 12 . in operation , radial extending face 22 of the stationary ring 20 and radial extending face 26 of rotary ring 24 are in sealing relationship , maintaining a very narrow sealing clearance , generated by a helical groove pattern 28 on the sealing face 26 of the rotary ring 24 . opposite arrangements with said helical groove pattern on the sealing face 22 of the stationary ring 20 are also effective and will be shown below . said narrow clearance prevents generation of friction heat and wear , yet limiting consumption and outflow of the buffer fluid supplied through opening 30 into crescent - shaped pockets 32 which have a pressure - equalizing function , whereas the same function can also be achieved by means of an annular recess , which will be shown below . [ 0023 ] fig2 shows a view in elevation of the sealing face 26 of the rotary ring 24 with a pattern of helical grooves 28 according to fig1 taken along line 2 - 2 . shown helical grooves 28 are directed counter - clockwise and inward for a particular direction of shaft rotation and will be directed clockwise and inward for the opposite direction of shaft rotation . non - grooved area 54 at the outside diameter of the sealing face 26 fosters restriction of outflow of buffer gas into process fluid at annular space 14 of fig1 as will be shown below . [ 0024 ] fig3 is a view in elevation of the seal face 22 of the stationary ring 20 according to fig1 taken along line 3 - 3 . exposed are openings 30 for the supply of the buffer fluid . pressure of said buffer fluid is circumferential equalized by concentric crescent - shaped pockets 32 , whilst outward outflow of said buffer fluid is restricted between narrow dam 66 and the non - grooved area 54 of the sealing face 26 as shown in fig2 . although fig3 shows said crescent - shaped pockets within stationary ring 20 , the same pressure equalizing arrangements will also be effective with said pockets within said rotary ring . [ 0025 ] fig4 shows an enlarged view in section taken along line 4 - 4 of fig3 through both stationary ring 20 and rotary ring 24 . arrows within clearance between rotary ring 24 and stationary ring 20 show the direction of buffer fluid outflow from pockets 32 and opening 30 , exposing the key mechanism for maintaining separation of process fluids between space 14 and at environment 16 according to fig1 and according to fig5 shown below . [ 0026 ] fig5 shows another embodiment of the invention , where low friction static seal 68 engages with the bore of the retainer 40 and rests within disc 44 . an additional o - ring 76 between disc 44 and stationary ring 20 prevents intermixing of buffer fluid and process fluid at space 14 . static o - ring seals 70 and 72 as well as 74 help channel said buffer fluid via ports 58 and 64 toward openings 30 and a circumferential groove 33 . [ 0027 ] fig6 shows a view in elevation of the sealing face according to fig5 taken along line 6 - 6 , where the partial helical groove pattern is formed in the sealing face 22 of the stationary ring 20 . circumferential groove 33 is located near the stationary ring 20 outer diameter , from which it is separated by a narrow dam 66 . said circumferential groove 33 serves to equalize buffer fluid pressure circumferentially , while it can be formed in either one of the two sealing faces to obtain the above purpose . inner circumference of the groove 33 defines outer extent of the pattern of helical grooves 28 . [ 0028 ] fig7 shows another embodiment of the elevation view of the rotary ring 24 according to fig1 taken along line 2 - 2 . this arrangement does not embrace a non - grooved dam area at the outer diameter of the face 26 and my be applied in situations where helical groove pattern is exceedingly shallow . [ 0029 ] fig8 shows another embodiment of the elevation view of the stationary ring 20 according to fig1 taken along line 3 - 3 . a plurality of openings 30 supply buffer fluid into the sealing face 22 of said stationary ring 20 . it is to be realized that only preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and that numerous substitutions , modifications and alterations are permissible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims . | 5 |
a more detailed description of the present invention follows , with specific reference to the accompanying drawings , fig1 - 5 . in the present case , this description orients itself toward the application of the present invention to eyewear , although could equally apply to any optical quality lens assembly , of arbitrary shape and curvature , with a holographic image or information recorded within the holographic recording material component of the assembly . referring now to fig1 and 2 , shown are two possible completed optical lens assemblies , 1 and 3 , for use in eyewear which is of multi - lens or unitary lens type , respectively . the materials comprising the various components of these lenses shown in finished form is given in the body of this description below in reference to fig3 and 4 . each of fig1 and 2 illustrates a representation 2 of an arbitrary three dimensional holographic image which an observer may view under appropriate lighting conditions , and is recorded within the holographic recording material 5 of fig3 and 4 . embodied within fig3 and 4 are the essential components of the present invention , with fig3 being for a two - component assembly , and fig4 for a multi - component assembly . component 4 is a primary lens element , of arbitrary shape and curvature , which has optical quality inner and outer polished surfaces , and generally should be transparent to wavelength ( s ) of electromagnetic radiation used to form the holographic image or information in 5 . for the purposes of the present description , common materials for this lens element 4 may include optical quality glasses such as bk - 7 or quartz , or optical quality plastics , as in acrylic or polycarbonate . additionally , this primary lens element may have light filtering additives or coatings applied to it , so as to provide similar functional light filtering capabilities as components 6 and 7 described below . for items such as guided missile components , the material of interest for the lens element 4 may be optical quality silicon , which is opaque to the human eye , but transparent to electromagnetic radiation in the near and mid - infrared spectrum . component 5 is an optical quality coating of holographic recording material , which is coated directly onto the inner or outer polished surfaces of lens element 4 . this coating may be any one or combination of several widely available holographic recording materials , including , but not limited to , photopolymers , silver halide , and dichromated gelatin . in the case of lenses to be worn by persons , photopolymers are the preferred holographic recording material . such photopolymers in liquid form are capable of being applied as repeatable optical quality coatings on arbitrary shape and curvature surfaces of 4 , and when fully processed show very high light transmission in the visible spectrum , and very little light scatter from the bulk material . consideration must also be given to the choice of compatibility between lens element 4 and holographic recording material 5 so as to achieve an intimate bond between them . in the present description , liquid photopolymers bond very well when coated in liquid form on optical glasses and plastics . the methodology of obtaining an optical quality holographic recording material coating 5 on lens element 4 is essential to producing high quality , distortion free completed lens assemblies . this is particularly true when working with curved surfaces . in the present description , necessarily involving compound curvatures , the preferred method is by dip - coating lens element 4 within a solution of holographic recording material maintained at 20 degrees centigrade , 0 % relative humidity , and class 100 clean room particle cleanliness to form a uniform coating 5 of thickness between 15 and 30 microns directly on the inner or outer surface of lens element 4 . the inner or outer surface of lens element 4 may be masked during the coating process , and stripped of this mask after coating to leave 5 on one surface only of lens element 4 . additionally , chamfering the edge of lens element 4 to a semi - pointed shape before coating will help to reduce excess coating buildup around the perimeter of 4 . the viscosity of the holographic recording material , due to both composition and temperature , as well as the speed of withdrawal of lens element 4 from the holographic recording material solution , are the primary factors in determining the thickness of the applied coating 5 to lens element 4 . it has been found that viscosities between 1 - 1000 centipoise and withdrawal speeds between 0 . 001 - 0 . 1 centimeters per second are best , with a viscosity of 400 centipoise and a withdrawal speed of 0 . 007 centimeters per second being optimum . the overall coating uniformity is determined mainly by the control of withdrawal speed , with computer control and active feedback methods necessary to allow for such variables as the contact angle between lens element 4 and the surface of the holographic recording material solution it is being withdrawn from , especially in the case of curved surfaces on lens element 4 . alternative methods in obtaining such a coating of 5 on lens element 4 include placing drops of the liquid holographic recording material on a highly polished non - stick surface , such as teflon or a surface impregnated with teflon , of appropriate shape and curvature , and then placing lens element 4 on top of this surface , spreading the holographic recording material uniformly over the inner or outer surface of lens element 4 . upon evaporation of solvents in the holographic recording material , the lens element 4 with component 5 intimately bonded to it can now be removed from the polished non - stick surface . in most cases , the combination of lens element 4 and holographic recording material coating 5 will be used in this form to serve as a suitable structure for the recording of a holographic image or information directly on this combination in - situ . this is in marked contrast to the normal methods of recording first on flat or stress - curved films , and then transferring these films to curved structures , which does not allow for high optical quality lens assemblies free from distortions and delaminations . any suitable holographic image or information within the limitations of the holographic recording material may be recorded within 5 , and for the present description may be a white - light viewable , image plane or other reflection type of holographic image . at this point , the combination of lens element 4 and its integral holographic recording material coating 5 , as shown in fig3 with a holographic image ( s ) or information recorded within it , may be used alone as a two - component optical lens assembly , or may be used in conjunction with further components to produce a multi - component assembly , as shown in fig4 and described below . component 6 represents an optical contacting agent which is used to optically contact tile combination of lens element 4 and its integral holographic recording material coating 5 to component 7 , a secondary lens element , thereby encapsulating the holographic recording material between the primary lens element 4 and the secondary lens element 7 . common cements for component 6 include optical grade ultraviolet curing adhesives , and optical epoxies . this optical contacting cement 6 can play a functional role in the light transmission properties of the finished lens assembly , in addition to its obvious role in optically contacting the various components together . in some instances it may be desirable to filter various wavelength bands by absorption , as will be discussed in reference to fig4 within this optical cement by doping it with appropriate light absorbing dyes . there are practical considerations to be given to introducing light absorbing additives into the optical contacting cement , namely that they do not inhibit its bonding qualities , and more importantly , that the additives do not exhibit visible fluorescence or phosphorescence which would give the appearance of a cloudy lens . in addition , it is often easier to dope the optical contacting cement with light absorbing additives rather than the bulk of the material used for component 7 . component 7 is a secondary lens element , of arbitrary shape and curvature , which has optical quality inner and outer polished surfaces . for the purposes of the present description , common materials for this lens element 7 may include optical quality glasses such as bk - 7 or quartz , or optical quality plastics , as in acrylic or polycarbonate . other optical materials may be required to obtain the desired transmitted wavelength region , such as the ultraviolet or infrared , and additives or coatings may be applied to this lens element 7 to modify its light transmitting / reflecting qualities . of particular importance are optical materials which can provide light filtering abilities suitable for eyewear , namely protection from ultraviolet light , and also overall light transmission reduction and contrast improvement , as in the case of sunglass optical materials . taken together , the components 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 form an optical quality lens assembly of arbitrary shape and curvature , with little or no perceptible distortion . 0f distinct advantage is the ability to directly record holographic images or information in - situ on the transparent , arbitrary shape and curvature , combination of lens element 4 and its integral holographic recording material coating 5 , so as to allow for their incorporation , either alone , or in combination with other components , such as 6 and 7 , as a useful optical lens assembly with an integrated hologram , suitable for high - quality eyewear . when assembled as described above , and using the appropriate materials , the combination of components 4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 can form an optical quality lens assembly suitable for use in eyewear as illustrated in fig4 . to the wearer 8 , coherent rays 9 can pass through the lens assembly undistorted so as to give the wearer a clear view of the surroundings with no visual indication of the holographic image formed by reflected rays 10 that an exterior observer 11 can view under appropriate lighting conditions . there are situations where such perfect results are only obtained when careful selection of materials is made , as to be described shortly below . the source of lighting for both the wearer 8 and external observer 9 may be either natural or artificial . the integral holographic recording material coating 5 may contain one or more holographic images which appear to the observer 11 under various lighting conditions and angles , each image typically having an angular viewing bandwidth on the order of 20 degrees , depending on the nature of the holographic image . due to the high optical surface quality of the holographic recording material 5 , the low light scatter from holographic photopolymers , and the geometry at which the holographic image is recorded under nearly all conditions , only the observer 11 is able to see the holographic image , with the wearer 8 not being aware of the image or any distortion from the lens assembly . however , under certain unavoidable conditions , such as certain angles of incidence in bright sunlight , internal fresnel - type reflections can occur which can give rise to light impinging on the holographic recording material at an angle which allows the wearer 8 to see minor , but still perceptible , portions of tile holographic image . this situation may arise in other foreseen applications of such lens assemblies , and is remedied through the ability of lens component 6 and secondary lens element 7 provide filtering capability for various portions of the electromagnet spectrum , depending on the choice of light absorbing additives introduced into these components 6 and 7 . this is described in more detail below . many holographic images or information have the property that at specific viewing angles only a very narrow dominant wavelength band of diffracted light is present in the image . in the case of unmodified photopolymer holographic images , this is a narrow wavelength band nearby the laser wavelength used to record the image . in the present case , this narrow wavelength band present in external lighting is nearly entirely redirected by the hologram to form the bundle of rays 10 forming the holographic image for the observer 11 . in the undesirable case mentioned above , where under certain conditions light can impinge on the holographic material from the wrong side at such an angle so that a portion of the image can be noticed by the wearer , this unwanted image will only contain this same narrow band of dominant wavelengths , much the same as can be seen by an external observer 11 . by the addition of light absorbing or reflecting additives or coatings to one or both of components 6 and 7 , any unwanted narrow wavelength band images of the hologram recorded in 5 that may be visible to the wearer may be filtered , leaving nearly all of the balance of the visible spectrum unaffected , and no objectionable color bias to the coherent bundle of rays 9 which reach the eye of the wearer 8 . additionally , in the case of eyewear designed for outdoor use in bright sunlight , typically the secondary lens element 7 will be given an overall neutral gray or brown sunglass - type tint , which in itself will provide for apparent visual elimination to the wearer of any unwanted minor portions of the holographic image which may diffract light far from the wavelength ( s ) filtered by the addition of specific light absorbing additives introduced into components 6 and 7 as mentioned above . finally , the addition of anti - reflective coatings , such as magnesium fluoride or other multi - layer coatings , can increase the overall optical clarity of the completed lens assemblies . | 6 |
fig1 is a perspective view of game chair apparatus 10 of the present invention . fig2 is a side view in partial section of the chair apparatus 10 . for the following discussion , reference will primarily be made to fig1 and 2 . the chair apparatus 10 includes a base 12 which includes generally 3 primary elements appropriately secured together . there is a front member 14 which preferably comprises a length of rectangular tubing and to which is secured a transversely extending front stabilizer 18 . along the length of the member 14 extending rearwardly from the front stabilizer 18 is a plurality of apertures 16 . the purpose of the apertures 16 is to enable a foot rest 20 to be secured to the member 14 at various locations , as desired . the foot rest 20 comprises a generally l shaped member 22 , with the long arm of the member 22 secured to the member 14 through a bracket 24 and a screw 26 . the short arm of the member 22 supports a pair of foot pedals or foot rests 28 and 30 . the foot rests or pedals 28 and 30 extend generally perpendicularly outwardly from the short arm of the member 22 . if desired , the foot rests or pedals 28 and 30 may include switches or other sensors which provide an output signal in response to movement of the pedals or foot rests . the bracket 24 is simply a generally u shaped bracket which includes a pair of aligned holes . the holes in the bracket 24 are aligned with a hole in the end of the long arm of the member 22 and with one of the holes 16 in the member 14 for securing the foot rest 20 to the member 14 . the base 12 also includes a rear member 40 which is also preferably made of rectangular tubing . the member 40 includes a front cap 42 and a rear stabilizer 46 . the rear stabilizer 46 is generally parallel to the stabilizer 18 of the front member 14 . the cap 42 is at the front or upper end of the member 40 , remote from the rear stabilizer 46 . the stabilizers 18 and 46 are generally parallel to each other and provide lateral stability for the chair apparatus 10 . the front cap 42 comprises a generally u shaped member preferably secured , as by welding , to the end of the member 40 . the front cap 42 extends upwardly from the member 40 to allow the member 40 to be secured to a horizontal assembly 60 . for such securement , the end cap 42 includes a pair of aligned apertures which receive an appropriate fastening element , such as a pin or bolt 44 , to secure the member 40 to the horizontal assembly 60 , as will be discussed below . the horizontal assembly 60 is the third major portion of the base 12 . the horizontal assembly 60 is shown in partial section in fig4 . for the following discussion of the horizontal assembly 60 , reference will be made to fig4 in addition to fig1 and 2 . the horizontal assembly 60 includes an outer tube or sleeve 62 and an inner tube 78 . the outer tube or sleeve 62 includes an end plate 64 . the tube or sleeve 62 is preferably square tubing , as also shown in fig5 . the end plate 64 covers one end of the tube 62 . the opposite end of the tube 62 is open and the inner tube or member 78 extends into the outer tube 62 through the open end . an aperture 66 extends through the end plate 64 and a bushing 68 is appropriately secured , as by welding , about the aperture 66 on the inside of the end plate 64 and thus on the inside of the tube 62 . a threaded rod 70 extends through the aperture 66 and through the bushing 68 . a handle 72 is secured to the &# 34 ; outer &# 34 ; end of the threaded rod 70 , outside of and adjacent to the end plate 64 , and a stop element 74 is secured to the &# 34 ; inner &# 34 ; end of the threaded rod 70 , disposed within the tubes 62 and 78 . the threaded rod 70 extends through a nut 76 which is appropriately secured , as by welding , to the inner tube 78 and adjacent to the end of the tube 78 within the outer tube 62 . the tube 78 includes a pair of aligned apertures 80 adjacent to the &# 34 ; outer &# 34 ; end of the tube 78 , outside of the tube 62 and remote from the nut 76 at the &# 34 ; inner &# 34 ; end of the tube 78 . as may be understood from fig1 and 2 , the outer end of the tube 78 extends into the cap 42 of the member 40 . the pin or bolt 44 extends through the pair of apertures in the front cap 42 and through the aligned apertures 80 to secure the tube 78 , and accordingly the horizontal assembly 60 , to the member 40 . in fig4 a pair of bearing assemblies 82 and 84 are shown between the inner tube 78 and the outer tube 62 . the inner tube 78 moves relative to the outer tube 62 on the bearing assemblies 82 and 84 . from fig4 it will be understood how rotation of the handle 72 , which is fixed to the threaded rod or shaft 70 , causes movement of the inner tube 78 relative to the outer tube 72 . with the threaded rod or shaft 70 extending through a nut 76 in the tube 78 , and with the nut 76 being fixed to the tube 78 , rotation of the handle 72 causes rotation of the shaft 70 , and the nut 76 moves on the shaft 70 and the movement of the nut 76 in turn imparts movement to the tube 78 . returning again to fig1 and 2 , the relationship among the three elements of the base 12 , namely the front member 14 , the rear member 40 , and the horizontal assembly 60 , may be understood . a bracket 90 is appropriately secured , as by welding , to the bottom of the outer tubing or sleeve 62 . the bracket 90 includes an appropriate bushing through which a pin or bolt 96 extends to secure the member 14 to the outer tube or sleeve 62 of the horizontal assembly 60 . both the member 14 and the member 40 include a pair of holes or apertures between their respective ends , but not necessarily at their mid points , through which a pin or bolt 98 extends . the aligned apertures in the members 14 and 40 through which the pin or bolt 98 extends secures the members 14 and 40 together for relative motion . a plate 92 extends generally parallel to the upper portion of the member 40 between the bracket 90 and the member 40 . the plate 92 includes a pair of holes or apertures which are appropriately aligned with apertures in the members 14 and 40 through which the pin bolt 98 extends and with the bushing in the bracket 90 and the aperture in the member 14 through which the pin or bolt 96 extends . the plate 92 and the upper portion of the member 14 are thus in parallel from the bracket 90 to the member 40 for providing an appropriate stabilizing effect for the member 14 relative to the members 62 and 40 . the members 14 , 40 and 60 , are thus pivotly linked together . by varying the length of the horizontal assembly 60 , the distance between the front stabilizer 18 and the rear stabilizer 46 may be varied . the height of the horizontal assembly 60 is accordingly varied . in other words , as the length of the horizontal assembly 60 is increased by movement of the tube 78 relative to the tube 62 , the height of the horizontal assembly 60 relative to the stabilizers 18 and 46 decreases . shortening the length of the horizontal assembly 60 by the same relative movement decreases the distance between the stabilizer members 18 and 46 and thus increases the height of the horizontal assembly . the front member 14 and the rear member 40 and the horizontal assembly 60 are secured together essentially is a scissors type arrangement . the members 14 and 40 are the scissors elements or struts and the horizontal assembly 60 causes the scissors struts to move relative to each other to vary the height of the horizontal assembly 60 relative to a surface on which the chair apparatus 10 is disposed on for the benefit and comfort of a user . the base 12 may also be essentially collapsed for storage and transport by thw scissors strut arrangement as may be understood . a chair or seat back assembly 110 is secured to the horizontal assembly 60 , and specifically to the outer tube or sleeve 62 thereof . the chair back assembly 110 is best shown in fig1 and 2 . the chair back assembly 110 includes a channel bracket 112 which extends upwardly from and is appropriately secured to , as by welding , the top of the sleeve or tube 62 . the bracket 112 includes a slot 114 which extends downwardly from the upper part of the bracket 112 . a vertical support member 116 is appropriately pinned to the upper portion of the bracket 112 by a pin or bolt 118 . a cushion or chair back 120 is appropriately secured to the upper portion of the vertical support member 116 . the channel bracket 112 is a generally u shaped element , having a pair of arms and a center web connected to and extending between the pair of arms . the arms are connected to the tubing of the member 62 . the slot 114 in the center web of the bracket 112 allows the vertical support member 116 and the seat back or back cushion 120 secured to it to pivot relative to the bracket 112 in a forward pivoting movement . this allows the cushion 120 to be disposed generally parallel to the horizontal assembly 60 , and disposed on top of a seat assembly 130 . the seat assembly 130 will be discussed in more detail below . when the vertical support member 116 is pivoted to the &# 34 ; up &# 34 ; or use position shown in fig1 and 2 , the portion of the center web of the bracket 112 below the slot 114 acts as a stop element to limit the movement of the vertical support member 116 . the seat assembly 130 is shown in fig1 and 2 and is shown in detail in fig3 and 5 . fig3 is an exploded perspective view of the seat assembly 130 , and fig5 is a view in partial section through the seat assembly 130 in its assembled state . for the following discussion of the seat assembly 130 , reference will primarily be made to fig1 , 3 , and 5 . the seat assembly 130 includes a plate 132 which is appropriately secured , as by welding , to the outer tubing or sleeve 62 . the plate 132 includes a pair of downwardly extending flanges , including a flange 134 and a rear flange 136 . the flanges 134 and 136 are appropriately notched out to fit or to receive the upper portion of the tube or sleeve 62 . this may be best understood from fig5 . incidentally , it will be noted that , for convenience , the outer sleeve 62 only is shown in fig5 and the other elements associated with and disposed within the outer sleeve 62 have been omitted . they have been discussed in detail above and are best shown in fig4 . a housing 140 is in turn disposed on , and appropriately secured to , the plate 132 . the housing 140 includes a bottom 142 through which extend a plurality of holes 143 , only one of which is shown in fig3 . the holes 143 are used to secure the housing 140 to the plate 132 . this will be discussed below . the housing 140 also includes a front wall 144 , a back or rear wall 146 , and a pair of side walls 148 and 152 . a slot 150 extends through the side wall 148 , and a slot 154 extends through the side wall 152 . the slots 150 and 154 extend downwardly from the upper portions of the side walls 148 and 152 , respectively . the slots 150 and 154 are appropriately aligned generally parallel to each other . a generally rectangular aperture 156 extends through the side wall 152 adjacent to the juncture of the side wall 152 and the back or rear wall 146 . the aperture 156 receives appropriate connector elements , not shown , for connecting electrical or electronic components within the housing 140 to game elements , as require , and as are known and are understood . a control box 170 is disposed within the housing 140 . the control box 170 includes a top 172 , a front wall 200 , a back or rear wall 204 , and pair of side walls , including a side wall 208 and a side wall 218 . the sides 208 and 218 include outwardly extending flanges . the side 208 includes an outwardly extending flange 212 and the side 218 includes an outwardly extending flange 220 . as best shown in fig3 there are a number of holes or apertures which extend through the top 172 of the control box 170 . there are four spring apertures , including a front spring aperture 174 , a rear spring aperture 176 , and a pair of side spring apertures 178 and 180 . the spring apertures 174 . . . 180 are appropriately spaced inwardly from the respective front wall 200 , rear wall 204 , and the side walls 208 and 218 . a central aperture 182 extends through the top 172 generally centered with respect to the front , rear , and side walls . a pin aperture 184 also extends through the top wall 172 . the pin aperture 184 is shown adjacent to the spring aperture 178 . four switch or sensor apertures extend through the top wall 172 between the various walls and the spring apertures . there is a switch or sensor aperture 186 between the spring aperture 174 and the front wall 200 . there is a switch or sensor aperture 188 which extends between the spring aperture 176 and the rear wall 204 . there is a switch or sensor aperture 190 that is disposed between the spring aperture 178 and the side wall 208 , and there is a switch or sensor aperture 192 which extends through the top wall 172 between the spring aperture 180 and the side wall 218 . appropriate sensor or switch elements extend upwardly through the switch or sensor apertures , as will be discussed below . through the front wall 200 , the back or rear wall 204 , and the side walls 208 and 218 , and adjacent to the switch or sensor apertures , are pairs of holes through which fastening elements , such as screws or bolts , extend to secure switches or sensor elements to the respective four walls . in fig3 there is shown a pair of holes or apertures 202 extending through the front wall 200 . another pair of apertures 210 is shown extending through the side wall 208 . similar pairs of holes or apertures , not shown , extend through the rear wall 204 and the side wall 218 . four sensor or switch elements are appropriately secured to the four walls of the control box 170 . as illustrated , the sensor elements comprise microswitches , each of which includes an arm and an upwardly extending tip on the distal or outer end of the arm . it is the tips of the arms which extend upwardly through the sensor apertures in the top 172 of the control box 170 . in fig3 two microswitches 240 and 260 are shown beneath the front wall 200 and the side wall 208 , respectively . in fig5 the microswitch 260 is shown secured to the side wall 208 , and two other microswitches , a microswitch 250 and a microswitch 270 , are shown secured to the rear wall 204 and the side wall 218 , respectively . the microswitch 240 is shown in fig3 with an arm 242 and a tip 244 extending upwardly from the outer end of the arm . the arm extends outwardly and upwardly from the body of the microswitch . a pair of screws or bolts 246 is shown adjacent to the microswitch 240 . the screws or bolts 246 extend through holes in the microswitch and through the holes or apertures 202 to secure the microswitch 240 to the wall 200 . the tip 244 of the arm 242 extends upwardly through the hole or aperture 186 . a pair of conductors 248 is shown extending from the microswitch 240 . the conductors 248 extend to an appropriate connector ( not shown ) disposed in the opening 156 in the wall 152 for appropriate connection to the particular game or device to which the chair apparatus is connected to . the microswitch 260 as shown in fig3 includes an arm 262 and a tip 264 . a pair of screws or bolts 266 is shown adjacent to the microswitch 260 . the screws 266 extend through the apertures 210 to secure the microswitch 260 to the wall 208 . the tip 264 extends upwardly through the hole or aperture 190 . a pair of conductors 268 is shown extending from the microswitch 260 . the conductors 268 also extend to the connector in the opening 156 . the microswitch 250 , shown in phantom in fig3 includes an arm 252 and an arm tip 254 . the tip 254 extends upwardly through the aperture 188 . the microswitch 250 is secured to the rear wall 204 by a pair of screws or bolts 256 . one of the screws 256 is shown in fig5 . the microswitch 270 is secured to the side wall 218 by a pair screws or bolts 276 . the microswitch 270 includes an arm 272 and an arm tip 274 . the tip 274 of the arm 272 extends upwardly through the hole or aperture 192 . the microswitches 250 and 270 also include conductors , not shown , for connecting the microswitches in the same manner as discussed above in conjunction with the conductors 248 and 268 for the microswitches 240 and 260 . the flange 212 extends outwardly , generally perpendicularly to the side wall 208 . the flange 212 is disposed on the bottom 142 of the housing 140 . a pair of apertures or holes 214 and 216 extend through the flange 212 . a pair of screws or bolts 217 extend through the apertures 214 and 216 and through aligned pairs of apertures or holes in the bottom 142 of the housing 140 and in the plate 132 to secure the control box 170 , the housing 140 , and the plate 132 together . the flange 220 is substantially identical to the flange 212 , although it is a mirror image thereof . the flange 220 extends outwardly generally perpendicularly to the side 218 . the flange 220 is accordingly disposed on the bottom 142 of the housing 140 . the flange 220 also includes a pair of holes or apertures through which extend a pair of bolts 226 . the bolts 226 extend through aligned apertures in the bottom 142 of the housing 140 and through the plate 132 . washers , nuts , etc ., are used to secure the bolts 217 and 226 to the plate 132 , as shown in fig5 and as is well known and understood . thus , by means of the bolts 217 and 226 and their respective washers and nuts , the control box 170 and the housing 140 are secured to the base 12 through the plate 132 . a control plate 300 is disposed above the top 172 of the control box 170 . the control plate 300 is preferably a round plate , as best shown in fig6 . fig6 is a top view of the control plate 300 , showing a portion of an actuator 360 secured thereto . fig7 is a view in partial section through the plate 300 taken generally along line 7 -- 7 of fig6 . the control plate 300 , and its associated elements , may best be understood from fig3 , 6 , and 7 . accordingly , for the following discussion , reference will primarily be made to fig3 , 6 , and 7 . the control plate 300 includes a center hole 302 . five threaded studs extend upwardly from the control plate 300 . the threaded studs include a stud 304 , a stud 306 , a stud 308 , a stud 310 , and a stud 312 . the studs 304 and 306 are aligned with each other , and the studs 308 and 310 are aligned with each other . the pairs of studs 304 , 306 and 308 , 310 are disposed on opposite sides of the stud 312 and the center hole 302 , respectively . the stud 312 is aligned with the center hole 302 . a pin 314 extends downwardly from the bottom of the plate 300 . when the plate 314 is appropriately secured to the control box 170 , the pin 314 extends downwardly through the pin aperture 184 in the top 172 . the purpose of the pin 314 is to prevent rotation of the plate 300 relative to the control box 170 . the purpose of the stud pairs 304 , 306 and 308 , 310 is to secure a joy stick or actuator 360 to the plate 300 . the actuator or joy stick 360 includes a bottom portion 362 which is disposed on the top of the plate 300 and between the stud pairs 304 , 306 and 308 , 310 . the bottom portion 362 is secured to the plate 300 by a pair of mounting brackets 400 and 410 . the mounting brackets 400 and 410 each include a curved central portion which is disposed over the bottom or horizontal portion 362 of the joy stick 360 and a pair of outwardly extending flanges through which extend apertures . the studs 304 and 306 extend through the apertures in the mounting bracket 400 and a pair of nuts 402 and 404 threadedly engage the studs 304 and 306 to secure the bracket 400 to the plate 300 . the bracket 410 is substantially identical to the bracket 400 . its pair of apertures extend over the studs 308 and 310 and a pair of nuts 412 and 414 are respectively secured to the threaded studs 308 and 310 to also secure the bottom portion 362 of the joy stick 360 to the plate 300 . extending outwardly from the bottom portion 362 of the joy stick or actuator 360 is a plate 364 . the plate 364 is appropriately secured , as by welding , to the bottom 362 at about its mid point . an aperture 366 extends through the plate 364 . the actuator or joy stick 360 is pivotly secured to the plate 300 by the brackets 400 and 410 . to secure the actuator or joy stick 360 in its use orientation , as shown in fig1 and 2 , the aperture 366 of the plate 364 extends over the threaded stud 312 , and a wing nut 368 threadedly engages the stud 312 above the plate 364 to secure the plate 364 , and accordingly the joy stick 360 , in the upright or use position or orientation relative to the plate 300 . for storage and transport purposes , the wing nut 368 is removed from the stud 312 , and the joy stick or actuator 360 may then be pivoted rearwardly and downwardly until it is generally parallel to the horizontal assembly 60 . the pivoting movement of the joy stick 360 is indicated in fig2 by the large curved arrow adjacent to the joy stick . the actuator or joy stick 360 is made of tubing , and is accordingly hollow . the actuator or joy stick 360 includes two arms , an upwardly extending arm 372 and an upwardly extending arm 382 . the arms are appropriately curved , as shown in fig1 and 2 , for convenience in use . at the top of the arm 372 there is a handle grip 374 . the handle grip 374 includes a top switch 376 and a front trigger switch 378 . the arm 382 also includes at its top or upper end a handle grip 384 . a top switch 386 extends upwardly from the handle grip 384 and a trigger 388 extends outwardly from the handle grip 384 . appropriate electrical elements are disposed in the handle grips 374 and 384 and are secured to the switches 376 , 378 and 386 , 388 . such elements are connected by conductors 390 schematically shown in fig6 . the elements are appropriately connected to the electrical conductors 390 which extend down through the interior of the actuator or joy stick 360 and extend outwardly through an aperture 370 , also shown in fig6 . while only two conductors 390 are illustrated , it will be understood that the tubing of which the actuator or joy stick 360 is composed will accomodate as many conductors as required by the switches or triggers associated with the handlegrips . the electrical conductors 390 then extend to the appropriate connector disposed in the aperture 156 in the housing 140 , as previously mentioned . the plate 300 is secured to the top 172 of the control box 170 by means of a bushing 340 , a bolt 342 , a washer 344 , and a nut 346 . the bushing 340 is disposed on the plate 300 about the hole or aperture 302 . the bolt 304 extends through the bushing 340 , through the hole or aperture 302 in the plate 300 and through the center hole or aperture 182 in the top 172 . the washer 344 and the nut 346 are beneath the top 172 , and the nut 346 threadedly engages the bottom of the bolt 342 . this is shown best in fig5 . while the bolt 342 secures the plate 340 to the control box 170 , the bushing 340 allows the plate 300 to move relative to the control box 170 , and particularly relative to the microswitches and to the tips at the ends of the actuator arms of the microswitches which extend upwardly from the top 172 to the control box 170 . the movement is in response to movement of the arms 372 and 382 of the joy stick 360 . the plate 300 is essentially supported by four springs , and the springs allow the plate 300 to move in response to the movement of the actuator or the joy stick 360 . the four springs include a front spring 324 , a rear spring 326 , and a pair of side springs 328 and 330 . the springs 324 . . . 330 are shown in fig3 . two of the springs , the side springs 328 and 330 , are shown in fig5 . the springs 324 . . . 330 are disposed on the bottom 142 of the housing 140 and extend upwardly through the respective spring apertures 174 . . . 180 in the top 172 of the control box 170 . the springs 324 ... 330 bias the plate 300 to a neutral position out of contact with the tips of the microswitches . the springs also oppose movement of the plate . however , the opposition of the springs is relatively light , but is sufficient to insure that some force is required on the joy stick to move the plate . in other words , the joy stick by itself remains in a neutral position of orientation , and a positive forceful movement applied to the joy stick is required to move the plate into contact with the tips of the microswitches to provide an output signal from the microswitches . movement of the plate 300 in response to the movement of the joy stick 360 , by movement of the arms 372 and 382 , is opposed by the compression springs 324 . . . 330 . in the neutral position , as shown in fig5 the plate 300 is spaced apart a slight distance above the tips 244 . . . 274 of the microswitch arms . the bolt 342 essential comprises a pivot point for the plate 300 and forward , backward , and sideways movements on the arms 372 and 382 of the joy stick 360 causes the plate 300 to pivot , and the pivoting movement makes contact with the tips of the microswitches . the contact of the plate with a tip causes the tip to move its arm downwardly , thus providing an output signal from the microswitch . this is well known and understood . it will be noted that the pivoting movement of the plate 300 may result in contact with either one or two microswitches , as desired . that is , the pivoting movement of the plate 300 will allow contact between the plate and any one of the microswitches , or two of the microswitches at substantially the same time . the contact between two of the microswitches will include either the front and one of the side microswitches or the rear and one of the side microswitches . both front and rear and both side microswitches can &# 39 ; t be actuated at the same time , but the front microswitch and one of the side microswitches , or the rear microswitch and one of the side microswitches may be contacted or actuated at substantially the same time . it will accordingly be understood that the chair apparatus 10 includes the capability of providing a number of substantially simultaneous signals for the playing of various types of electronic games . the signals include output signals from the microswitches and from the switches on the handle grips . moreover , it will be understood that additional switches may be included on the handles , such as on the top of the handle and even more trigger switches beneath the top of the handles . furthermore , as discussed above , additional actuators may be incorporated into the foot rests , if desired . in the alternative , the foot rest assembly 20 may be omitted entirely . finally , a seat and cushion 420 is appropriately pivotly secured to the housing 140 by a hinge 422 , as shown in fig2 . the pivotal securement of the seat and cushion 420 to the housing 140 allows access to the wing nut 368 , as discussed above . thus , for storage purposes , the seat and cushion 420 is pivoted upwardly and the wing nut 368 is removed from the stud 312 to allow the actuator or joy stick 360 , and particularly its arms 372 and 382 , to be moved backwardly , or towards the seat assembly 110 , for storage or transport purposes . after the joy stick 360 is pivoted rearwardly , the wing nut 368 may be again secured to the stud 312 . the cushion 420 is then returned to its down position . the pivoting movement of the seat cushion 420 is shown in fig2 by a large doubled headed arrow . the back assembly 110 may then be pivoted downwardly until the seat back or cushion 120 is disposed generally on top of the seat cushion 420 , again for storage and transport purposes . the pivotal movement of the seat back 120 is also shown in fig2 by a large double headed arrow . the base 12 may also be collapsed for transport and storage purposes . rotating the handle 72 to extend the inner tube 78 relative to the fixed , outer tube or sleeve 62 essentially collapses the base 12 . the adjustment of the base 12 , and the raising and lowering of it , may be understood from the dash / dot positions shown in fig2 . thus , the chair apparatus 10 may be essentially folded into a compact package for transport or storage purposes . the setting up of the chair apparatus 10 for use by a user or game player is substantially the reverse of that just described . after appropriate electrical connections are made to an electronic game , the user then sits on the seat cushion 420 , with the user &# 39 ; s back against the seat back or cushion 120 , and the user &# 39 ; s feet either on the foot rests 28 and 30 , or on the floor , as desired . the user then grasps the handle grips 374 and 384 , with the user &# 39 ; s thumbs and fingers on the appropriate triggers and switch elements . with the user now comfortably and appropriately disposed on the chair apparatus 10 , the chair apparatus is ready for use . while the principles of the invention have been made clear in illustrative embodiments , there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure , arrangement , proportions , the elements , materials , and components used in the practice of the invention , and otherwise , which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements without departing from those principles . the appended claims are intended to cover and embrace any and all such modifications , within the limits only of the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 6 |
structure formed during processing in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention are shows in fig2 a through 2 i , which show , in simplified , cross - sectional , schematic fashion , an illustrative , but not limiting , embodiment of the present invention . fig2 a shows a semiconductor substrate - based workpiece similar to that shown in fig1 d , including inlaid conductors 5 ′ overlain by a barrier layer 7 . the semiconductor substrate 1 may comprise a semiconductor material such as monocrystalline silicon ( si ) or gallium arsenide ( gaas ). as shown in fig2 b , according to embodiments of the present invention , a dielectric stack may be formed above the substrate , for example over the previous metallization layer shown in fig2 a . the dielectric stack may comprise sequential layers of different materials . as an example , the dielectric stack shown in fig2 b begins with an interlevel dielectric layer 8 formed over barrier layer 7 . an etch stop layer 9 is formed over the interlevel dielectric layer 8 . a sacrificial dielectric layer 10 may then be formed over etch stop layer 9 . a capping layer 11 is formed over the sacrificial dielectric layer 10 to complete the dielectric stack . interlevel dielectric layer 8 is preferably a material a lower dielectric constant ( low - k ) than dielectric constants of silicon dioxide and silicon nitride . such materials include poly ( arylene ether ) (“ pae ”), fluorinated polymide (“ fpi ”), benzocyclobutene (“ bcb ”), hydrogen silsesquioxane (“ hsq ”), methyl silsesquioxane (“ msq ”), and xerogel . etch stop layer 9 may comprise a suitable etch stop layer material , such as silicon nitride or silicon carbide . the sacrificial dielectric layer 10 is preferably comprised of a material that can be easily removed without damaging other non - sacrificial structure , for example , by thermal processing utilizing temperatures in the range of 50 - 400 degrees c ., by etching in nh 3 , or by ashing in an oxygen atmosphere . a number of organic polymers may be employed as the sacrificial dielectric layer to facilitate removal in one of these manners . examples include polycarbonates and polynorbornes . as shown in fig2 c , recesses are then formed in the dielectric stack for forming , for example , vias , interlevel metallization , and / or interconnection routing . as an example , via 12 is formed in the dielectric stack by conventional masking and etching techniques , stopping on barrier layer 7 . as shown in fig2 d , trench 13 and trench 14 are then formed in sacrificial dielectric layer 10 and etch stop layer 9 by conventional masking and etching techniques , removing the capping layer 11 and stopping on interlevel dielectric layer 8 . referring now to fig2 e , in some embodiments , barrier liner 15 may be deposited over the dielectric stack to cover bottom and sidewall surfaces of the dual damascene trench structure 12 , 13 and trench 14 . the barrier liner material 15 is chosen to substantially prevent diffusion of subsequently electroplated metal ( for example cu ) from via 12 , trench 13 , and trench 14 into surrounding dielectric materials . suitable materials for barrier liner 15 include , for example , ti , w , cr , ta , and tantalum nitride ( tan ). a cu seed layer 16 is then deposited over barrier liner 15 . the cu seed layer 16 provides a base for the subsequently plated cu that will fill the dual damascene trench structure 12 , 13 and trench 14 . referring now to fig2 f , conductive layer 17 , which is preferably . cu or cu - based alloy , is deposited by electroless plating or electroplating on the an upper exposed surface of the dielectric stack to fill the dual damascene trench structure 12 , 13 and trench 14 . in order to ensure complete filling of the dual damascene trench structure 12 , 13 and trench 14 , the conductive layer 17 is deposited as a blanket ( or “ overburden ”) layer of excess thickness t so as to overfill trench 13 , and trench 14 and cover the upper surface 18 of barrier liner 15 . next , as shown in fig2 g , the entire excess thickness ( t in fig2 f ) of the overburden portion of conductive layer 17 over the upper surface 18 of barrier liner 15 is removed by a planarization process , for example a cmp process utilizing an alumina ( a 1203 )- based slurry . the portion of barrier liner 15 above the upper surface 20 of sacrificial dielectric layer 10 is also removed , leaving conductive elements 17 ′ with their upper , exposed surfaces 19 substantially co - planar with the upper , exposed surface 20 of sacrificial dielectric layer 10 . referring now to fig2 h , in a preferred embodiment , barrier layer 21 is selectively deposited over conductive elements 17 ′. barrier layer 21 may be selectively plated over conductive elements 17 ′ and may comprise co - w - p ( cobalt - tungsten - phosphide ). perfect selectivity in the barrier layer deposition process is typically not attainable . as a result , residual barrier material portions 22 may be deposited on the upper surface of sacrificial dielectric layer 10 as an undesirable by - product of the selective deposition step . as discussed above , the residual barrier material portions 22 may undesirably bridge adjacent conductive lines , possibly resulting in compromised performance or even destruction of the electrical device . therefore , to ensure reliable operation of the electrical device , these barrier layer portions 22 should be removed . fig2 i shows the structure of fig2 h after removal of the sacrificial dielectric layer 10 along with the residual barrier material portions 22 . the sacrificial material 10 is preferably removed by a thermal decomposition , however other suitable processes such as etching may be employed in accordance with the particular sacrificial material . in the process of removing the sacrificial dielectric layer 10 , residual barrier material portions 22 are also removed . referring now to fig2 j , an interlevel dielectric layer 23 is then deposited over barrier layer 21 and conductive elements 17 ′. replacement dielectric layer 23 preferably has a lower dielectric constant ( low - k ) than a dielectric constant than silicon dioxide and silicon nitride . such materials include poly ( arylene ether ) (“ pae ”), fluorinated polymide (“ fpi ”), benzocyclobutene (“ bcb ”), hydrogen silsesquioxane (“ hsq ”), methyl silsesquioxane (“ msq ”), and xerogel . while the processing of fig2 a - 2 i is presently preferred , alternative processing may be implemented . for example , in accordance with one alternative , the conductive layer 17 of fig2 f may contain carbon , nitrogen , or oxygen . in this embodiment , barrier layer 21 may comprise a thin metal layer ( for example with a thickness of between 10 and 100 angstroms ) selectively deposited over conductive elements 17 ′. the carbon , nitrogen , or oxygen contained in conductive layer 17 may then , in preferred embodiments , be diffused into the barrier layer 21 to form a metal carbide , metal nitride , or metal oxide . in these preferred embodiments , suitable metals for barrier layer 21 include , but are not limited to , zirconium ( zr ), thorium ( th ), molybdenum ( mo ), and tantalum ( ta ). fig3 shows a process flow encompassing the preferred embodiment , the aforementioned alternatives , and further alternative embodiments . initially , a substrate comprising a layer of a sacrificial material is provided ( 301 ). a conductive element is then inlaid in the sacrificial layer ( 302 ). a barrier material is then selectively deposited on an exposed surface of the conductive element by a selective deposition process that preferentially deposits the barrier layer material on the conductive element and also forms residual barrier material portions on the sacrificial layer ( 303 ). the sacrificial layer is then removed after depositing the barrier layer ( 304 ). by removing the sacrificial layer , any residual barrier material portions that were deposited on the sacrificial material are also removed . embodiments of the present invention thus provide a method for reducing parasitic capacitance between adjacent conductors which may be the result of blanket - depositing over adjacent conductors a barrier layer composed of a material , for example silicon nitride , which has a relatively high dielectric constant . embodiments of the present invention also provide a method for reducing , or substantially preventing , bridging between conductive lines . such bridging may be the result of undesirably depositing barrier layer portions on the dielectric between conductive lines during a selective deposition process . moreover , embodiments of the present invention are fully compatible with conventional process flow for automated manufacture of high - density integration semiconductor devices , as well as other types of electrical and electronic devices and / or components . in the previous description , numerous specific details are set forth , such as specific materials , structures , reactants , processes , etc ., in order to provide a better understanding of the present invention . however , the present invention can be practiced without resorting to the details specifically set forth . in other instances , well known processing materials and techniques have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention . it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that the tasks described in the above processes are not necessarily exclusive of other tasks , but rather that further tasks may be incorporated into the above processes in accordance with the particular structures to be formed . for example , intermediate processing tasks such as formation and removal of passivation layers or protective layers between processing tasks , formation and removal of photoresist masks and other masking layers , doping and counter - doping , cleaning , planarization , and other tasks , may be performed along with the tasks specifically described above . further , the process need not be performed on an entire substrate such as an entire wafer , but rather may be performed selectively on sections of the substrate . thus , while the embodiments illustrated in the figures and described above are presently preferred , it should be understood that these embodiments are offered by way of example only . the invention is not limited to a particular embodiment , but extends to various modifications , combinations , and permutations that fall within the scope of the claimed inventions and their equivalents . | 7 |
fig1 is a diagram illustrating an example of some of the traditional components an embodiments of an immersive multi - sensory performance system . all of the components , working together to deliver a fully immersive , 3d , multi - sensory entertainment performance to the audience . it should be stated that fig1 should not be limiting and it is an example of a number of system “ modules ” that comprise the overall system . the example modules should in no way limit the overall system as there may be more modules , or less , dependent on the purposes and needs of the system that is being built . fig2 is a diagram that represents the actual performer ( s ). the performers can be outfitted with all of the necessary tracking equipment that will allow the system software to track their performance in real - time and make the necessary adjustments to all of the other modules , for example , in real - time , if the performance is a live performance . the examples of the tracking equipment could be but is not limited to face feature tracking , eye tracking , mouth tracking , jaw tracking , audio tracking , vocal tracking , body heat , full body tracking , heart rate , speed of motion , location , head , torso , hand , finger , feet , arms and leg movements . if the performance is off - stage or offline , the software doesn &# 39 ; t necessarily need to work in real - time and can take more time to make the best calculated decisions . fig3 represents and example but should not be limited to , the centralized software system or the “ kernel ” which can essentially be the gatekeeper of the entire performance . the kernel can take in and processes the data from each of its “ nodes ” ( all of the various high - level figures in fig1 , for example , but not limited to fig2 - 10 ). the kernel can make intelligent decisions that can push the proper data to each of its nodes which can trigger node events such as a special effect being rendered from the 3 a . the “ 3d rendering engine ”, which can then be synced with fig9 a . “ the sound module ” and can concurrently be projected onto fig8 a “ screen types ”, which can be seen in 3d in fig6 a through the audiences “ viewer glasses ” and the synced sound can be heard through the chosen audio system . the software system might utilize but will not be limited to 3d rendering , sync software such as calibration software for taking in various capture sources such as a series of stereo cameras for example . the “ kernel ” can host its configuration software on dedicated servers ( local or wide area ), content delivery networks ( local area or over the internet ), distributed computing networks , camera modules that can handle for example , but not limited to camera output such as various views and calibration of those views , device controllers , audio controllers , motion capture controllers , projectors , temperature controllers , smell controllers , hydraulic controllers , vibration controllers and time - stamp controllers used for calibration purposes to name a few . fig4 represents and example but should not be limited to environmental modules that comprise the overall physical experience , including the environment of the performance such as but not limited to lighting , vibration equipment , scent and smell equipment , temperature equipment , hydraulic equipment and wind / air machines . fig5 represents and example but should not be limited to capture devices that essentially capture various elements of the performance such as , but not limited to , cameras , 3d devices , lasers , radio transmitters , wifi transmitters , gps transmitters , bluetooth , infra - red , heat sensors , motion sensors , audio capture devices and more . fig6 represents and example but should not be limited to immersive visual devices that are designed to enhance and support the viewing experience of the users for example , glasses designed to view 3d , special effects or other visual events not viewable by the naked eye . the glasses could themselves have electronic capabilities to display events within the lens or to project images themselves . fig7 represents and example but should not be limited to broadcasting of the performance , live or offline via traditional airwaves , radio , satellite , or over internet . the performance could be downloaded offline , streamed live to devices or could be shared over social media channels . fig8 represents and example but should not be limited to any number of screen types which can be used to display for example , imagery or video . for example some projectors are designed to project onto standard , white theatrical screens , while others are specialized to project onto mist , to project onto the viewing devices themselves , for example the lens of the glasses worn by viewers , the eyes themselves or other dynamic media . fig9 represents and example but should not be limited to the audio module ( s ) that comprise the audible performance . for example traditional concert speaker setups can be used , in - ear / headphone systems , spacialization audio setups , 3d audio , audio / vibration devices designed to affect the skin , subconscious audio are also examples of audio devices that can be used in the system . fig1 represents and example but should not be limited to the viewer tools that are utilized by the audience or viewers of the performance to aid in the driving of the performance , lesson or presentation . control modules such as devices used to send commands to the “ kernel ”. devices used to take input from the watchers and viewers can be but will not be limited to gesture capture , direct input such as a control devices such as a remote controller , speech recognition or audio commands , physical motions , even commands using brain waves . while certain embodiments have been described above , it will be understood that the embodiments described are by way of example only . accordingly , the systems and methods described herein should not be limited based on the described embodiments . rather , the systems and methods described herein should only be limited in light of the claims that follow when taken in conjunction with the above description and accompanying drawings . | 6 |
the preferred embodiments of the present invention and its advantages are best understood by referring to fig1 through 6 of the drawings , like numerals being used for like and corresponding parts of the various drawings . cable tensioner 20 incorporating the present invention is shown in fig1 and 3 . cable tensioner 20 is preferably used with a surgical cable and a crimp to trap the desired amount of tension in a loop formed by the surgical cable and crimp . surgical cable 100 , crimp 120 and first loop 102 are shown in fig3 as examples which may be used with cable tensioner 20 . the use of cable tensioner 20 to install surgical cable 100 to selected portions of a patient &# 39 ; s body and to trap the desired amount of tension within loop 102 using crimp 120 will be described later in more detail . cable tensioner 20 has three main components , elongated shaft 22 , first handle 30 and second handle 40 . an important feature of the present invention is that the main components of cable tensioner 20 may be formed from molded plastic . thus , cable tensioner 20 is relatively inexpensive and may be discarded after only one use in a surgical procedure . this advantage of the present invention is particularly important due to the increased concern with sterilization of surgical instruments to prevent the spread of aids and other diseases . first handle 30 is preferably secured to one end of elongated shaft 22 . first handle ( sometimes referred to as &# 34 ; fixed handle &# 34 ;) 30 is generally configured to fit within the palm of a surgeon &# 39 ; s hand ( not shown ). elongated shaft 22 and first handle 30 cooperate to form a generally &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; shaped surgical tool . second handle 40 is slidably disposed on the exterior of elongated shaft 22 intermediate the ends thereof . elongated shaft 22 has a generally rectangular cross section . first slot 24 is formed in the exterior of elongated shaft 22 intermediate the ends thereof . second handle 40 includes opening 42 which is sized to fit over the portion of elongated shaft 22 containing first slot 24 . opening 42 cooperates with the exterior of elongated shaft 22 to allow second handle 40 to slide longitudinally over the exterior of elongated shaft 22 . the other end 26 of elongated shaft 22 has an opening 28 which provides a portion of the means for releasably securing a portion of a surgical cable with end 26 of elongated shaft 22 . a second slot 29 is provided in the exterior of elongated shaft 22 adjacent to and extending from end 26 . as will be explained later in more detail , second slot 29 is provided to assist with attachment of a surgical cable to second handle 40 . second handle 40 and elongated shaft 22 also define a generally &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; shaped configuration . second handle ( sometimes referred to as &# 34 ; slidable handle &# 34 ;) 40 preferably includes extensions 44 and 46 which are provided for engagement by the fingers of a surgeon &# 39 ; s hand . cable tensioner 20 is frequently used by resting first , fixed handle 30 against the palm of a surgeon &# 39 ; s hands and engaging extensions 44 and 46 by the fingers of the surgeon &# 39 ; s hand . when the surgeon squeezes her fingers , second handle 40 will slide longitudinally towards first , fixed handle 30 . this movement provides a direct tactile feedback with a 1 : 1 ratio between force applied to second handle 40 and tension applied to a surgical cable attached to tensioner 20 . second handle 40 includes pawl 48 which is disposed within recess 50 of extension 44 . pin 52 is provided to secure pawl 48 within recess 50 and to allow pawl 48 to pivot with respect to pin 52 and the exterior of elongated shaft 22 adjacent thereto . first spring 54 is disposed within recess 50 and contacts a portion of pawl 48 . spring 54 cooperates with pivot pin 52 to bias pawl 48 to contact the exterior of elongated shaft 22 adjacent thereto . therefore , pawl 48 will normally ride against the exterior of elongated shaft 22 and prevent movement of second handle 40 away from first handle 30 . pawl 48 is preferably sized to fit within longitudinal slot 24 and to engage elongated shaft 22 therein . spring 54 and pivot pin 52 cooperate with pawl 48 to allow longitudinal movement of second handle 40 towards first handle 30 . in a similar manner spring 54 , pivot pin 52 and pawl 48 cooperate with each other to prevent undesired movement of second handle 40 in the direction away from first handle 30 . second handle 40 includes cleat 60 which is attached to the exterior of second handle 40 by pivot pin 62 . since second handle 40 is preferably formed from molded plastic , plate 64 is disposed between cleat 60 and the adjacent portions of second handle 40 . torsion spring 66 is provided to bias cleat 60 into contact with plate 64 . as will be explained later in more detail , cleat 60 cooperates with plate 64 to trap a portion of surgical cable 100 therebetween . as shown in fig3 cable tensioner 20 may be used with surgical cable 100 to secure first loop 102 with selected portions of a patient &# 39 ; s body such as vertebrae 104 and 106 . crimp 120 is preferably secured to one end of surgical cable 100 and loop 102 placed around the selected portion of the patent &# 39 ; s body . crimp 120 and the one end of surgical cable 100 are then secured to end 26 of elongated shaft 22 opposite from first handle 30 ° a portion of surgical cable 100 is placed within second longitudinal slot 29 in the exterior of elongated shaft 22 and slot 56 in second handle 40 adjacent to cleat 60 . second slot 29 in elongated shaft 22 and slot 56 in handle 40 cooperate with each other to align surgical cable 100 with elongated shaft 22 and to allow engagement of a portion of surgical cable 100 with cleat 60 . cleat 60 , torsion spring 66 and pivot pin 62 cooperate with each other to secure surgical cable 100 to second handle 40 . if desired , cleat 60 could be replaced by other mechanisms for trapping surgical cable 100 with second handle 40 . an example would be one or more set screws or locking nuts carried by second handle 40 . cleat 60 is preferred considering the ease of installing surgical cable 100 therewith . in fig3 second surgical loop 112 is shown installed on vertebrae 104 and 106 with crimp 122 . for many procedures such as installing two surgical cables on selected vertebrae , it is preferable to alternately tighten and loosen the surgical loops until the vertebrae are positioned as desired . a separate cable tensioner 20 may be used with each surgical loop 102 and 112 to alternately increase and decrease the tension in the respective surgical loops . pawl 48 normally prevents second handle 40 from sliding longitudinally away from first handle 30 . by manually depressing pawl 48 into recess 50 , pawl 48 is released from engagement with the adjacent portion of elongated shaft 22 . when the surgeon depresses pawl 48 , second handle 40 may slide longitudinally away from first handle 30 to release the tension in surgical cable 100 . thus , if separate cable tensioners 20 are attached to each surgical loop 102 and 112 , respectively , the surgeon may alternately tighten and release the tension in the surgical loops 102 and 112 by alternatively squeezing and releasing the respective second handle 40 . this feature of the present invention allows the surgeon to provide the optimum tension in the loops on vertebrae 104 and 106 . the ability of tensioner 20 to either increase or decease the tension in the surgical loops allows obtaining the optimum forces on the portion of the patient &# 39 ; s body which will be secured by the surgical cables . this procedure is similar in many respects to tightening and loosening fasteners which are used to hold mechanical components together . after the desired amount of tension has been placed in loops 102 and 112 , their respective crimps 120 and 122 may be compressed on the respective surgical cables 100 to trap the tension . a portion of crimps 120 and 122 and their respective surgical cables 100 may then be cut to allow removal of tensioners 20 and the remainder of surgical cables 100 . cable tensioner 220 incorporating an alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig4 and 5 . cable tensioner 220 is preferably used with a surgical cable and a crimp to trap the desired amount of tension in a loop formed by the surgical cable and crimp . as explained for cable tensioner 20 , cable tensioner 220 may be used with surgical cable 100 and crimp 120 to tighten first loop 102 around a selected portion of a patient &# 39 ; s body and to trap the desired amount of tension within first loop 102 . cable tensioner 220 has three main components , elongated shaft 222 , first handle 230 and second handle 240 . an important feature of this embodiment of the present invention is that the main components of cable tensioner 220 may be formed from aluminum or other suitable metals and composite materials which are appropriate for sterilization and repeated surgical use . first handle 230 is preferably secured to one end of elongated shaft 222 . first handle 230 is generally configured to fit within the palm of a surgeon &# 39 ; s hand ( not shown ). elongated shaft 222 and first handle 230 cooperate to form a generally &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; shaped surgical tool . second handle 240 is slidably disposed on the exterior of elongated shaft 222 intermediate the ends thereof . elongated shaft 222 has a generally circular cross section . first slot 224 is formed in the exterior of elongated shaft 222 intermediate the ends thereof . a plurality of serrations 225 are provided within slot 224 . second handle 240 includes opening 242 which is sized to fit over the portion of elongated shaft 222 containing first slot 224 . opening 242 cooperates with the exterior of elongated shaft 222 to allow second handle 240 to slide longitudinally over the exterior of elongated shaft 222 . the other end 226 of elongated shaft 222 has an opening 228 which provides a portion of the means for releasably securing a portion of a surgical cable with end 226 of elongated shaft 222 . a second slot 229 is provided in the exterior of elongated shaft 222 extending from end 226 . as explained for second slot 29 of cable tensioner 20 , slot 229 is provided to assist with attachment of a surgical cable to second handle 240 . second handle 240 and elongated shaft 222 also have a generally &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; shaped configuration . second handle 240 preferably includes extensions 244 and 246 which are provided for engagement by the fingers of a surgeon &# 39 ; s hand . cable tensioner 220 is generally used by resting first , fixed handle 230 against the palm of a surgeon &# 39 ; s hands and engaging extensions 244 and 246 by the fingers of the surgeon &# 39 ; s hand . when the surgeon squeezes his fingers , second handle 240 will slide longitudinally towards first , fixed handle 230 . second handle 240 includes pawl 48 disposed within recess 50 of extension 244 . pin 52 is provided to secure pawl 48 within recess 50 and to allow pawl 48 to pivot with respect to pin 52 and the exterior of elongated shaft 222 adjacent thereto . first spring 54 is disposed within recess 50 and contacts a portion of pawl 48 . spring 54 cooperates with pivot pin 52 to bias pawl 48 to contact the exterior of elongated shaft 222 adjacent thereto . pawl 48 is preferably sized to fit within longitudinal slot 224 and to engage serration 225 therein . pawl 48 cooperates with first longitudinal slot 224 to prevent rotation of second handle 240 relative to spring 54 and pivot pin 52 cooperate with pawl 48 to allow longitudinal movement of second handle 240 towards first handle 230 . in a similar manner spring 54 , pivot pin 52 and pawl 48 cooperate with each other and serration 225 to prevent undesired movement of second handle 240 in the direction away from first handle 230 . as previously discussed for cable tensioner 20 , pawl 48 allows controlled movement of second handle 240 to tighten and loosen tension in a surgical cable attached to cable tensioner 220 . second handle 240 includes cleat 60 which is attached to the exterior of second handle 240 by pivot pin 62 . since second handle 240 is preferably formed from metal , plate 64 used with tensioner 20 is not required . torsion spring ( not shown , but identical to torsion spring 66 of fig2 ) is provided to bias cleat 60 into contact with shoulder 241 formed on second handle 240 . cleat 60 cooperates with shoulder 241 on second handle 220 to trap a portion of surgical cable 100 therebetween . cable tensioner 220 may be used with surgical cable 100 to secure first loop 102 with selected portions of a patient &# 39 ; s body such as vertebrae 104 and 106 . crimp 102 is preferably secured to one end of surgical cable 100 and loop 102 placed around the selected portion of the patent &# 39 ; s body . crimp 120 and the attached end of surgical cable 100 are then secured to the other end 226 of elongated shaft 222 opposite from first handle 230 . a portion of surgical cable 100 is placed within second longitudinal slot 229 in the exterior of elongated shaft 222 . second slot 229 in elongated shaft 22 aligns surgical cable 100 with elongated shaft 222 and assists with engagement of a portion of surgical cable 100 with cleat 60 . one of the differences between cable tensioner 220 and cable tensioner 20 includes providing gauge 250 , which indicates the amount of force applied to second handle 240 after a surgical cable has been secured to cable tensioner 220 . the force measured by gauge 250 is an approximation of the tension applied to the surgical cable . elongated shaft 222 comprises first portion 222a attached to first handle 230 and second portion 222b , which is slidably disposed within first portion 222a . as shown in fig5 second portion 222b of elongated shaft 222 preferably includes longitudinal passageway 236 extending partially therethrough . alignment rod 232 is preferably attached to first portion 222a and extends from first handle 230 into longitudinal passageway 236 . biasing means or spring 234 is preferably disposed on the exterior of alignment rod 232 between first portion 222a and second portion 222b . when one portion of a surgical cable is attached to end 226 of elongated shaft 222 and another portion of the surgical cable is attached to second handle 240 , movement of second handle 240 towards first handle 230 will result in longitudinal movement of second portion 222b relative to first portion 222a and compression of spring 234 . movement of second handle 240 towards first handle 230 will thus result in movement of gauge 250 relative to scale 252 . the amount of force required to move second handle 240 towards first handle 230 is proportional to the spring constant of biasing means 234 . therefore , the position of gauge 250 on scale 252 is an indication of the force being applied to second handle 240 and to the surgical cable attached to tensioner 220 . thus , cable tensioner 220 with gauge 250 provides an indication of the amount of tension being applied to a surgical loop around a selected portion of the patient &# 39 ; s body . scale 252 may be used to indicate increments of force such as 20 , 40 , 60 and 80 pounds . pawl 48 cooperates with second handle 240 to trap the desired amount of tension within the attached surgical cable as indicated by gauge 250 . an important feature of cable tensioner 220 is that spring 234 is located between second handle 240 and first handle 230 contained within second portion 222b of elongated shaft 222 . this position for spring 234 minimizes potential adverse consequences from a failure of spring 234 and associated components . cable tensioner 20 and 220 may be used with various types of surgical cable crimps , clamps and locks . cable tensioners 20 and 220 are not limited to use with crimp 120 . also , if cable tensioners 20 and 220 are used with self - locking crimps , pawls 48 may not be required for use with second handles 40 and 240 to hold the desired amount of tension in the surgical cable loop . although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims . | 0 |
referring now to the drawings in detail , and initially to fig1 the electronic measuring system of the present invention employs a load cell 1 to measure the weight of an object . load cell 1 is a conventional load measuring device conventionally arranged in a bridge circuit . a pulsed voltage is applied across terminals a and b , to excite load cell 1 , and output terminals c and d register a voltage corresponding with the load applied to the cell . the excitation voltage driving load cell 1 is provided by a power supply 2 . power supply 2 may be any conventional dc power supply or battery , or any power supply which is altered to provide a d . c . voltage . for example , a conventional 120 volt , 60 hertz ac power supply could be rectified and converted to provide the desired dc voltage levels . switches 4 and 6 operatively determine when power is supplied to terminals a and b from power supply 2 . when switches 4 and 6 are enabled via a pulse signal line 10 , the voltage from power supply 2 is provided at terminals a and b . when pulse signal line 10 is deactivated , power supply 2 is isolated from load cell 1 . in a preferred embodiment , the constant dc voltage to switches 4 and 6 , by way of example , is + 5 v and - 5 v respectively . these voltages may vary provided that they are dc , and that the corresponding circuitry is modified accordingly , i . e . resistors and amplifiers adjusted to obtain the proper readings . it is readily foreseen that a power supply of any appropriate voltage for the system circuitry may be used . the system includes a conventional microprocessor 8 which handles many of the unique functions of the present invention . previous systems known to applicants , such as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 238 , 784 , employed electronic circuitry which produced power pulses at a fixed frequency and duty cycle . the duty cycle of the system is the ratio of working time , the time during which power is being pulsed , to the total time . the frequency is the time between successive pulses . it has been found to be advantageous in portable applications to modify the frequency and duty cycle of the pulses at the load cell to maximize battery life while providing only the minimum necessary scale resolution . higher scale resolution requires a larger duty cycle to allow the circuitry sufficient time to accurately sample the load cell output . when the system is used to obtain higher resolution of the load , it consumes more power which results in shorter battery life . conversely , for lower resolution , the system requires a lower duty cycle . thus , lower resolution output results in increased system battery life . taking advantage of this principle , the system of the present invention preferably includes a program stored in rom 12 which allows the desired resolution of the scale to be preset via data entry device 14 located on a front panel of the system . if desired , the system could include factory preset resolution options , or interface with a computer device to receive such commands . in practice , the user will determine a preferred resolution of the scale to maximize informational importance while minimizing power consumption . for example , if the desired accuracy of the system is 1 / 1000th of the range ( i . e . range of 100 lbs ., accurate to the nearest pound ), the user would enter these values into the system via the keyboard 14 . the microprocessor 8 would then preferably utilize these values , plus other information described hereinafter to determine the minimum necessary pulse rate for the load cell . having determined the optimal frequency and duty cycle for the application , microprocessor 8 preferably sends a series of signals via pulse signal line 10 to switches 4 and 6 for preferably alternatively switching the power to load cell 1 on and off at the correct times . the system preserves power by pulsing the load cell only as necessary . thus , for high resolutions , the system may pulse several hundred times per second whereas it will pulse much slower for lower resolution applications . the analog output from load cell 1 at terminals c and d is amplified by operational amplifier 16 and is then applied to a drift correction circuit 18 . while the system is between pulses , drift correction circuit 18 stores in a capacitor any residual voltages which remain in the circuitry . since during a no - pulse , the amplifier output should be zero , any residual voltages would tend to render subsequent output voltage readings inaccurate . drift correction circuit 18 stores a reading of the residual voltages at the amplifier output , and subtracts this value from the output of the amplifier during the next pulse . thus , an accurate zero reading is provided . drift correction circuit 18 is preferably controlled by the zero signal 20 generated by microprocessor 8 . when the zero signal 20 is activated , a reading of voltage offsets will be taken . as the system duty cycle or frequency changes , microprocessor 8 preferably varies the timing signals to the system components accordingly . at higher duty cycles , zero corrections are needed more often . the output of the drift correction circuit 18 is fed to a sample - and - hold (&# 34 ; s / h &# 34 ;) circuit 22 . when signalled by microprocessor 8 via s / h signal line 24 , the s / h circuit 22 reads and stores the zeroed analog load cell output signal . once the amplified output has been stored in the s / h circuit 22 , microprocessor 8 may turn off the pulse signal line 10 and the s / h signal line 24 , and may thereafter engage the zero signal 20 . the output of the s / h circuit 22 is directed through low pass filter 26 . since the input voltage is dc , any signal content which is oscillating must be noise . generally , such noise is caused by physical oscillation of the scale , or by power supply noise . low pass filter 26 clips all noise above a very low frequency before directing the filtered output through two - input switch 28 into analog - to - digital (&# 34 ; a / d &# 34 ;) converter 30 . in order for a / d converter 30 to accurately convert the load cell output reading into digital form , this output voltage is preferably ratiometrically compared to the input voltage . thus , the magnitude of the pulse voltage which generated the load cell output is preferably stored for input into a / d converter 30 . when signalled by microprocessor 8 , pulse reference 32 measures and stores the voltage applied across terminals a - b . in a preferred embodiment , the signal which initiates storage of the reference voltage is the same as that of s / h signal line 24 . therefore , whenever a load cell output is sampled , pulse reference 32 will be signalled to record the reference voltage as well . the voltage is preferably stored in a capacitor . the reference voltage stored in pulse reference 32 is input into a / d converter 30 along with the filtered load cell output to provide the necessary ratiometric input . a / d converter 30 then converts the load cell analog voltage into a digital reading for the microprocessor 8 . all of the various electrical components of the present invention are preferably located in a common housing or in very close proximity . the heat generated tends to cause the load measurement to drift as a result of the heating effect of the various components , especially the analog devices . temperature sensor 34 is preferably placed in close proximity to the analog circuitry and load cell 1 to accurately approximate their temperatures . in a preferred embodiment , temperature sensor 34 is an integrated circuit which provides a voltage output proportional to temperature . it is readily foreseen that any appropriate conventional temperature sensor such as thermistor or other device may be utilized in the system of the present invention . the voltage output of the temperature sensor 34 , representative of the circuitry temperature , is selectively routed to a / d converter 30 through the second input of two - input switch 28 under the control of microprocessor 8 . the frequency with which a temperature reading is read may be a constant ( i . e . every 5 seconds ) or may be variable , determined by microprocessor 8 . since temperature changes occur very slowly in contrast with load changes , it is preferable that the temperature be read at a much lower rate than load cell readings . generally , one reading per minute or less is sufficient . however , in certain conditions it might be desirable to read the temperature value more often . if desired , microprocessor 8 might determine the rate of temperature change , and vary the frequency of temperature readings accordingly . for example , in an embodiment where power to the load cell is constant , i . e . not being pulsed , the load cell 1 will heat up and cause temperature related error . it may therefore be advantageous to take more frequent temperature readings . when no load is present , very infrequent or no temperature readings may be sufficient . once a / d converter 30 generates a digital value for the output of temperature sensor 34 , this value is read and stored by microprocessor 8 . microprocessor 8 is preferably conventionally programmed with the temperature response characteristics for the system . this is ordinarily accomplished in one of two ways . firstly , the entire housing may be placed in a temperature chamber where a look - up table is generated containing the temperature response characteristics for the system over a desired range of temperatures . this look - up table is preferably stored in eeprom 40 . alternatively , the transducer 1 may have an associated temperature response equation , or series of coefficients which relate the load cell output to applied load and temperature . these values , ordinarily provided by the load cell manufacturer are preferably stored in eeprom 40 . microprocessor 8 , having stored values for the system temperature and for the load cell output may determine the weight of the load applied to load cell . this is conventionally accomplished by utilizing either the look - up table or the coefficients as described above . the microprocessor is also able to utilize the system characteristics to compensate for zero drift or span errors , which occur when the load cell output varies with load and temperature . creep errors may likewise be compensated for . creep occurs when the load cell output varies with time , temperature and load . for example , to reduce creep , the microprocessor could store several consecutive output readings and conventionally utilize mathematical algorithms to smooth or average the readings . the use of the microprocessor 8 allows the system of the present invention to compensate for non - linearities in the system and to more accurately correct for span and creep errors . in order to display the computed load weight , a display 36 is provided . display 36 ordinarily comprises a plurality of conventional seven - segment lcd &# 39 ; s arranged to display a numerical value . microprocessor 8 preferably contains the necessary lcd driver circuitry to display the load value on the display . alternatively , driver devices may be provided to display the output in any conventionally known manner . if desired , however , the system of the present invention may be operated in a checkweight mode . when operated in this mode , a desired weight and desired acceptable range are preferably entered by the system user or may be preset into keys on the display panel . the lcd display circuitry may then preferably be utilized to relay messages to the user . rather than utilizing additional displays , or additional circuitry , microprocessor 8 may preferably reconfigure the lcd displays for displaying the over / under mode . if the weight present is below the desired tolerance range , the lcd &# 39 ; s preferably display lower case u &# 39 ; s such as shown in fig4 a . a vertical bar preferably indicates how far below the accept range the weight is . preferably , by way of example , each bar corresponds to 1 / 12 of the programmable limit . if the weight is within the accept range , preferably horizontal bars appear , with the vertical bars indicating where in the accept range the weight is , such as shown in fig4 b . a decimal point in the center of the display represents the target weight . preferably , there are six bars on each side of the target , and each one represents 1 / 12 of the programmable limit . if the weight exceeds the accept range , inverted o &# 39 ; s preferably appear , with a vertical bar indicating how far above the accept range the weight is , such as shown in fig4 c . preferably , each bar represents 1 / 12 of the programmable limit . preferably , microprocessor 8 includes the necessary driver circuitry to operate the lcd &# 39 ; s in this mode . for example , if it were desirable to have a scale with 0 . 5 lb . increments determine when a box was filled to within 12 lb . of 100 lb . target , the display as shown in fig4 a - 4c might be used . if the weight were 10 lbs . under the target , the under display indicated at fig4 a would be shown . fig4 b shows the accept display and indicates a weight 0 - 1 lbs . over the target value . fig4 c represents an over display , and shows approximately 6 lbs . over the target . while the system of the present invention includes various new and useful features , it is readily foreseen that a system may be designed which utilizes only certain of these features . for example , if power is not a consideration for the scale so that pulsing is less advantageous , it would still be useful to employ a single temperature sensor for compensating for all of the components , or to implement the present novel over / under indicator . as shown in fig2 microprocessor 8 must properly time the signals to the various devices for the system to operate correctly . in operation , microprocessor 8 would determine the optimal frequency and pulse width for the pulses to load cell 1 based upon desired resolution , battery life and other factors . to initiate the first pulse at time t1 , microprocessor 8 sends a dc signal through pulse signal line 10 which closes switches 4 and 6 and thereby supplies power to load cell 1 . a short time after the start of the pulse , at time t2 , microprocessor 8 sends a dc signal through s / h signal line 24 to sample the load cell output . substantially simultaneously , pulse reference 32 is signalled by the same s / h signal line 24 to take a measurement of the pulse voltage . if desired , microprocessor 8 may include a separate signal line for pulse reference 32 . time t2 may be any time after time t1 , provided that the load cell is still being pulsed until a stable sample is taken , and that the input amplifier , load cell and zero circuitry have had sufficient time to stabilize . after a sufficient time has passed to take an accurate sample , time t3 , s / h signal line 24 may be set to zero by microprocessor 8 . any time thereafter , at time t4 , pulse signal line 10 may be set to zero , and the pulse ended . thus time t1 - t4 represents the pulse - width of the pulse . after the pulse has ended , microprocessor 8 sends a dc signal through the zero signal line 20 at time t5 . this actuates a switch which will store residual voltages in a capacitor . this line must be kept on for a sufficient time , until time t6 , for the storage capacitor to charge . further , the zero reading must be taken sufficiently close to the next pulse so that the capacitor will not discharge before the next s / h reading . at time t7 , the pulse sequence begins again . thus the interval of pulses is t1 - t7 , and the frequency is 1 /( t1 - t7 ). the system of the present invention preferably includes an additional feature to preserve power . most scales are actually used for measurements only a small percentage of the time which power is actually on . therefore , the present invention preferably includes a sleep mode to conserve power during periods of non - use . the microprocessor 8 is preferably provided with a program to determine when to place the system in the sleep mode . for example , during periods of non - use longer than a desired threshold or in response to an input from the keyboard , microprocessor 8 may initiate the sleep mode . in the sleep mode , power is cut off from all circuitry which is not necessary . in a preferred embodiment , when the sleep mode is initiated the following events occur : 1 ) the power supply is signalled to reduce system voltage from + 5 vdc to + 3 vdc ; 2 ) power to the voltage inverter ( provides - 5 vdc source ) is shut off ; 3 ) all power to the load cell , the sample and hold , the amplifier , the zero circuitry , the pulse reference and the a / d converter is terminated . it is readily foreseen that various combinations of circuitry may be shut off while the system is in the sleep mode . while system response is slow in the sleep mode due to the reduced voltage to the microprocessor , power consumption is significantly reduced . the sleep mode may be terminated by either a user input , or by placing an object on the scale . if the system is attached to a separate computer , control signals to terminate the sleep mode may be externally provided . fig3 shows a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of the system of fig1 . certain components have been placed in boxes for simplified reference . box a contains the amplifier circuitry for amplifying the load cell 1 ( not shown ) output . box b contains the drift correction circuitry , including capacitor c7 which stores the residual system voltages , and the zero signal line 20 . box c visualizes the sample - and - hold circuitry including the s / h signal line 24 . box d contains pulse reference 32 circuitry . the pulse reference voltage is stored in capacitor c16 . s / h signal line 24 is connected to a switch in both the s / h circuitry , and the pulse reference circuitry . therefore , when this line is activated , a sample of the load cell output is taken , and a sample of the pulse reference is taken . low - pass filter 26 is contained in box e . the filter output is connected to a / d converter 30 as is the pulse reference output . box f contains the temperature sensor 34 . the temperature sensor output is directed to a microprocessor controlled switch which determines if the temperature sensor output will be directed to a / d converter 30 . the power supply circuitry is substantially contained in box g . voltage regulator u7 controls the provision of the necessary dc voltages for the system to be operated , and the voltage inverter u11 provides the negative voltages for the system . these voltages are directed toward the pulse circuitry located in box h . fet &# 39 ; s q2 and q3 correspond with switches 4 and 6 as previously described . microprocessor 8 is connected to rom 12 for storing the fixed system program , and eeprom for storing any particular characteristics of the actual system ; i . e ., load cell coefficients or temperature sensor characteristics . a control line on pin 19 of microprocessor 8 handles multiple functions . when the microprocessor 8 determines that it is appropriate for the system to enter the sleep mode , this line is actuated to reduce the system voltage and to disengage the inverter u11 . however , if this line is only pulsed for a short time , it engages the switch connected to the temperature sensor 34 so that the temperature reading is directed to the a / d converter 30 . preferably , this signal line is not actuated long enough for the system voltage to change , or for the inverter u11 to turn off . another advantage of the electronic measuring system of the present invention is that it is suitable for use in high explosive environments . in such environments , it is necessary to prevent a spark from occurring anywhere on the circuit boards . since the present invention operates on low voltages and generates lower heat than previous scales , it is useful in such environments . as shown in fig5 by modifying the circuitry slightly , sparks even due to component failures are eliminated . redundant zener diodes d60 an d61 insure that if voltage regulator u7 fails , a resultant voltage spike will not result in a spark . further safety is achieved by placing current limiting resistors in series with any capacitor which could discharge with sufficient charge to spark . resistors r1 , r74 , r68 , r69 , r72 , r73 , and r70 , for example , help eliminate potentially catastrophic stray sparks . although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to certain embodiments and examples , variations and modifications exist which are within the scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims . | 8 |
the term “ web 14 ” is used herein to refer to a thin membrane of photographic film , coated or uncoated paper or plastic , or other material . the web 14 has a uniform transverse dimension , within limits required for a particular use . the length of the web 14 is determinate or indeterminate , as appropriate for a particular use . for example , the web 14 can be a short sheet of known length or a long roll of unknown length . the term “ rotary element ” is used to refer to a rotating structure or endless belt that is capable of receiving the web 14 in a single turn or portion of a turn , or in a wrap or coil having multiple turns . for example , the “ rotary element ” can be a roller , a mandrel , or a core 20 or spool that can be removably mounted on a spindle . the invention is generally discussed herein in terms of embodiments in which the rotating element is a core 20 that is mounted on a spindle . the term “ fixes ” and like terms are used herein in the sense of an immobile rather than movable mounting . referring initially to fig1 - 2 , the winding apparatus 10 has a base 12 to which other components are attached . the base 12 is illustrated in the figures as a vertically aligned panel , but this is not critical . for example , the base 12 can be aligned horizontally or an assembly of smaller members ( not illustrated ) can be used instead of the panel . in the illustrated embodiments , features of the apparatus that contact a web 14 are arranged on the front side of the base 12 . this is a matter of convenience and can be changed to meet particular requirements . the invention is described in relation to and is particularly advantageous for the winding of photographic film . webs of other materials can be wound in a like manner . a winding spindle 16 is mounted to the base 12 . the winding spindle 16 defines a core space ( indicated by arrow 18 ) that receives a core 20 , when a core 20 is mounted on the winding spindle 16 . the spindle 16 is configured to hold and turn the core 20 without slippage . features for this purpose , such as square spindles and matching core openings , are well known to those of skill in the art . in the illustrated embodiment , the spindle 16 has a protrusion that extends radially outward and is complementary to a pocket on the winding core 20 . a web supply 22 is mounted to the base 12 in spaced relation to the winding spindle 16 . the configuration of the web supply 22 is not critical . in the figures , the web supply 22 is illustrated as an unwinding spindle 24 and a web roll 26 that is wound around an unwind core 20 a that is mounted on the unwinding spindle 24 . depending upon web materials and other factors , other configurations of web supply 22 , such as a bin of bifolded web , can be used instead . additional components can also be provided as a part of the web supply 22 or separate from the web supply 22 . for example , components such as idler rollers , tensioners , and cutters , can be provided . the apparatus 10 can be limited to the function of rewinding film ; however , other functions can also be provided between the web supply 22 and the winding spindle 16 . such functions are illustrated in fig1 - 2 by a function unit 28 in the shape of a box . examples of function units include , include components for : digital scanning , optical projection , chemical processing , coating , laminating , and printing . in the following , the core 20 positioned on the winding spindle 16 and the core 20 positioned on the unwinding spindle 24 are both the same ; however , for convenience in the following discussion , the core 20 on the winding spindle 16 is sometimes referred to as the “ winding core 20 ”. different reference designations , “ 20 a ” for the unwind core and “ 20 b ” for the winding core , are also used . the winding spindle 16 rotates about a winding axis 30 . this rotation is powered by a web drive 32 . additional components such as an unwinding spindle 24 can also be driven by the web drive 32 . the web drive 32 includes one or more motors 34 and can optionally include a gear train or trains , belt or belts , or other transmission ( not shown ). in the illustrated embodiment , the winding spindle 16 and unwinding spindle 24 are each directly driven by a separate electric motor 34 . an additional motor 36 is provided that rotates a pivot arm 38 . a microprocessor or other controller 40 is connected to the motors 34 , 36 and other controlled components by signal lines 42 . features and operation of suitable controllers for this purpose are well known to those of skill in the art . operations can also be sequenced manually using switches . a builder roller 44 is rotatable about a builder roller axis 46 ( see fig6 - 7 ) that is parallel to the winding axis 30 . the builder roller 44 is positioned adjoining the winding core 20 so as to form a nip 48 . in the illustrated embodiment , the builder roller 44 has a pair of opposed flanges 50 that adjoin either end of the winding core 20 adjacent the nip 48 . the roller 44 is rotatably mounted to a pivot arm 38 . the pivot arm 38 is pivotably mounted to the base 12 . the location of the winding spindle 16 does not change and the builder roller 44 thus pivots relative to the winding spindle 16 . the pivot arm motor 36 pivots the pivot arm 38 as needed to accommodate the growth of the web roll 26 on the winding core during winding . the rate of pivoting can be linked to spindle rotation or web travel or time and can be fixed or variable , as desired . suitable sensors and equipment for this purpose are well known to those of skill in the art . as an alternative , the pivot arm motor 36 can be replaced by a pivot bearing ( not shown ) and a biasing member ( not shown ) that allows the web roll 26 to push the pivot arm 38 about the bearing as the web roll 26 on the winding core 20 b grows . if the apparatus 10 is to be used for winding a web of photographic film , then the builder roller 44 can be configured to contact the film only at opposed lateral margins of the film . this reduces the risk of pressure marking in image areas of the film , since the film is not contacted between the lateral margins . in this case , the nip 48 can be considered to have two spaced apart segments ( not shown ) separated by an enlarged gap , in which the web 14 is not squeezed . for other types of web 14 , such as paper , that are not subject to pressure marking ; it is convenient to provide a nip 48 that is continuous from side to side and continuously contacts the web 14 between lateral margins . referring now to fig4 - 13 , cinching related components include a guide shoe 52 and a scroll guide 54 . both the guide shoe 52 and the scroll guide 54 are mounted to and pivot with the pivot arm 38 . in the embodiment shown in the figures , a first guide support 56 mounts the guide shoe 52 to the pivot arm 38 . a second guide support 58 mounts the scroll guide 54 to the guide shoe 52 . additional or alternative supports can be provided as needed for a particular use or as convenient . the scroll guide 54 and guide shoe 52 are movable in directions parallel to the winding axis 30 between a use position and a standby position . in the use position , both adjoin the builder roller 44 and winding core 20 or core space 18 . the inner end 60 of the guide shoe 52 is located between and closely adjoins the builder roller 44 and the winding core 20 or core space 18 . the outer end 62 is spaced from the builder roller 44 . in the stand - by position , both the guide shoe 52 and scroll guide 54 are disposed in spaced relation to the builder roller 44 and winding core 20 or core space 18 . movement of the scroll guide 54 and guide shoe 52 between positions is provided by a linear actuator 64 that is mounted to the first guide support 56 . the scroll guide 54 and guide shoe 52 can , alternatively , be movable independent of each other . this approach is more complex and not particularly desirable , unless there are other concerns , such as spatial constraints in a particular use . movement of the scroll guide 54 and guide shoe 52 can also be provided in other directions . for example , the guide shoe 52 can easily be moved in a plane that is perpendicular to the winding axis 30 . the scroll guide 54 can be made in separable pieces to allow similar movement . the guide shoe 52 has a body 66 that encloses a plenum 68 . the body 66 has a chute wall 70 that has an array of bores 72 that communicate with the plenum 68 . in the embodiments illustrated , the guide shoe 52 has a pair of opposed sidewalls 74 that laterally adjoin the chute wall 70 . the sidewalls 74 and chute wall 70 together form a chute that is sized to accommodate the web 14 . the guide shoe 52 is aligned with the nip 48 , that is , the chute wall 70 leads toward the nip 48 . the chute wall 70 is flat in the illustrated embodiments , but can be curved . the body 66 of the guide shoe 52 has a port 76 that extends through to the plenum 68 . a pressurized gas supply 78 is connected to the port 76 . the controller can be operatively connected to the pressurized gas supply to limit gas deliver to those times the guide shoe 52 is in the use position or cinching is being done . the number of bores 72 in the chute wall 70 depends upon the area and weight of a supported portion of the web 14 . in a particular embodiment , the bores 72 each have a diameter in the range of about 0 . 012 - 0 . 032 inch ( 0 . 030 - 0 . 081 cm ). the bores 72 are angled toward the nip 48 . an angle of the bores 72 to the chute wall 70 is in the range of 5 to 45 degrees . the scroll guide 54 has a deflector 80 that curves around the winding axis 30 and winding core 20 . the deflector 80 has a pair of opposed axial ends 82 , 84 . the deflector 80 has a uniform crescent - shaped cross - section . in the illustrated embodiments , an external reinforcing ridge 86 extends radially outward from the deflector 80 at the outer axial end of the deflector 80 . the position the reinforcing ridge can be varied . the deflector 80 has a deflecting wall 88 that faces the winding core 20 . the deflecting wall 88 defines an imaginary arc that is radial to the winding axis 30 . the deflecting wall 88 of the scroll guide 54 and the winding core 20 or core space 18 together define a scrolling space 90 having an entrance 92 adjoining the builder roller 44 and an exit 94 adjoining the inner end 60 of the chute wall 70 . in the illustrated embodiments , the deflecting wall 88 is continuous between an entrance margin 96 and an exit margin 98 . alternatively , the deflecting wall 88 can be discontinuous ; but this can present a risk of the web 14 hanging up in a discontinuity . the deflecting wall 88 can extend from end to end of the winding core 20 or can be larger or smaller ( in an axial direction ). in particular embodiments , the winding core 20 and deflecting wall 88 have the same axial length . the deflector 80 can have friction reducing features such as surface relief , pressurized gas jets , roller bearings , or the like . in particular embodiments , the scroll guide 54 has a limit stop 100 joined to the deflector 80 at one or both ends . in the illustrated embodiments , the limit stops 100 are roughly c - shaped and relatively thin , in an axial direction , in comparison to the deflector 80 . the limit stop or stops 100 extend inward from the deflector 80 toward the winding axis 30 . the limit stop or stops 100 prevent excessive lateral movement of the web 14 during cinching . the use of the limit stops 100 and the extent of lateral movement allowed by the stops 100 can be varied to meet the requirements of a particular use and the propensity of a particular web 14 to telescope or otherwise cinch improperly . in the illustrated embodiments , the outer limit stop 100 a can be conveniently fixed on the axial end of the deflector 80 and can be sized as desired . the inner limit stop 100 b can be fixed to the inner axial end of the deflector 80 , but is configured so as to permit withdrawal of the deflector 80 over the winding core 20 and initial turn or turns of the web 14 . the inner limit stop 100 can be considered to define a subdivision of the scrolling space 90 into an axially inner removal zone or hollow cylinder 102 , which has open axial ends ; and an axially outward blocked zone or hollow cylinder 104 , which has an inner axial end blocked by the inner limit stop 100 . in an alternative embodiment , the limit stop or stops 100 c are movable in a plane perpendicular to the winding axis 30 , between a retracted position and an extended position . in this embodiment , two stop portions 106 of each stop 100 c are pivoted about a pin 107 that is fixed to the deflector 80 . in the retracted position , the limit stop 100 c blocks lateral web movement . in the extended position , the limit stop 100 c is moved outward beyond the deflecting wall 88 . pivoting can be performed manually or by an automated device . in cinching , gas flow and winding core rotation are first started . the guide shoe 52 utilizes a flow of gas from the bores 72 to propel the free end of the web 14 into the nip 48 . the flow of gas causes a zone of reduced gas pressure to be formed between the chute wall 70 and the web 14 , in accordance with the bernoulli effect . this establishes a pressure differential across the web 14 and holds the web 14 in the guide shoe 52 on the film of flowing gas . the bernoulli effect retains the web 14 along the chute wall 70 . gas issuing from the bores 72 flows in a film along the chute wall 70 and floats the web 14 toward the nip 48 . the path of the gas flow is disrupted at the nip 48 , but the web 14 is then propelled by the rotating winding core 20 into the scrolling space 90 . the distance between the inner end 60 of the guide shoe 52 and the nip 48 is short . this , along with the flowing gas , causes the web 14 to act as a beam and to bridge the gap into the nip 48 . continuing movement of the web 14 along the guide shoe 52 pushes the web 14 around the scroll guide 54 and back into the gas flow over the guide shoe 52 . the free end is again entrained by the gas flow and reenters the nip 48 . continued rotation of the winding spindle 16 causes the loop of web 14 within the scroll guide 54 to tighten against the winding core 20 , resulting in cinching . the rotation of the winding spindle 16 is in the same direction as the movement of the web 14 around the scroll guide 54 . air jets , rollers , or the like ( not shown ) can be provided in the scroll guide 54 to reduce friction during the passage of the web 14 through the guide . in particular embodiments of the invention , the web supply 22 is spaced from the winding spindle 16 by an intermediate space 108 . the intermediate space 108 is free of idler rollers or guides or other features that would block movement of the web 14 in a plane that extends perpendicular to the winding axis 30 . in this embodiment , a slack loop 110 of web 14 is formed prior to manual insertion of the web 14 into the guide shoe 52 . the slack loop 110 is tightened away by growing web tension following cinching . the invention is not limited to the embodiment shown and described . for example , the scroll guide can be shortened ( not shown ). this eliminates cinching , but allows passage of a web through a nip , followed by a redirection of the web . in this case , the builder roller is retained , but is better designated as “ roller ”. the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof , but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention . | 1 |
the inventor has recognized that although the conventional igniter assembly 110 illustrated in fig1 is designed to reduce an airflow passing through the opening 118 within the combustion liner 119 , the positioning of the igniter boss 115 around the igniter 114 introduces a radial gap 117 between the igniter boss 115 and the igniter 114 to facilitate an undesired air flow to pass through the opening 118 . additionally , the inventor has recognized that although the conventional igniter assembly 210 illustrated in fig2 is similarly designed to reduce an airflow passing through the opening 218 in the combustion liner 219 , the positioning of the igniter boss 215 proximate to the igniter housing base 226 introduces an axial gap 217 between the igniter boss 215 and the igniter housing base 226 to facilitate an undesired air flow to pass through the opening 218 . thus , the inventor has recognized that there is a need to provide an igniter assembly with an air seal to eliminate radial gaps and axial gaps within the igniter assembly which facilitate the passage of an undesired air flow through the opening in the combustion liner . the inventor has recognized that although the igniter assembly 38 of the wells et al . patent provides an air seal for a radial gap 40 in the combustion liner 16 , the air seal is limited to the igniter tip 44 being in an extended position beyond the combustion liner 16 . the inventor has recognized that if the igniter tip 44 of the wells et al . patent were to retract through the combustion liner 16 , a noticeable undesired air flow would be generated through the opening 40 and into the combustion chamber 14 . accordingly , the inventor has developed an igniter assembly featuring an air seal which prevents an air flow from entering the opening of the combustion liner , regardless of whether the igniter is in a retracted position or an extended position with respect to the combustion liner . additionally , the inventor has recognized that even if the igniter tip 44 remains in the extended position beyond the combustion liner 16 , the igniter assembly 38 provides no structure to prevent an air flow from passing through an axial gap in the igniter assembly 38 attributed to thermal growth properties in the axial direction of the outer casing 30 and the combustion liner 16 . for example , the lone pair of springs 42 , 52 surrounding the igniter do not provide an adequate air seal to prevent such an air flow . accordingly , the inventor has developed an igniter assembly with an air seal having the appropriate structural features to prevent an air flow from passing through a respective radial gap or axial gap within the igniter assembly attributed to thermal expansion properties . the inventors have additionally recognized that the pair of springs 42 , 52 in wells et al . are positioned within an open area of the igniter assembly 38 , thereby posing a risk in the event that a portion of a spring 42 , 52 were to break away and fall through the opening 40 into the combustion chamber 14 , or to interfere with the motion of the igniter 36 . accordingly , the inventor has developed an air seal featuring a spring which is captured within a stagnant volume , thereby reducing the risk posed by such a spring . fig9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an igniter assembly 10 of a gas turbine 12 . the igniter assembly 10 includes an igniter 14 disposed within an igniter housing 16 , which encircles the igniter 14 . although the exemplary embodiment of the igniter assembly 10 in fig3 features a circular igniter housing 16 and other circular components encircling the igniter 14 and the igniter cavity 13 , the igniter housing and the other components may be non - circular , polygon shaped components , for example . as illustrated in fig9 , the igniter tip 17 is positioned on a same side of a combustion liner 19 as the igniter housing 16 . the igniter 14 is extendable from the igniter housing 16 through an opening 18 in the combustion liner 19 to an extended position ( not shown ) on an opposite side of the combustion liner 19 than the igniter housing 16 . subsequent to extending the igniter 14 through the opening 18 to the extended position , the igniter 14 is retractable from the extended position back through the opening 18 to a retracted position 22 ( fig9 ) where the igniter tip 17 is positioned on the same side of the combustion liner 19 as the igniter housing 16 . the igniter assembly 10 of the present invention provides its notable advantageous features , including an air seal between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 , when the igniter 14 is in the extended position , the retracted position , and all positions in between . however , an exemplary embodiment of the igniter assembly 10 may exclusively provide the advantageous features for one or more particular igniter positions , for example . as illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of fig9 , the igniter assembly 10 further includes a compressible assembly 24 disposed between a base 26 of the igniter housing 16 and the combustion liner 19 to form a sealed interface 15 with a perimeter 28 of the opening 18 in the combustion liner 19 . the compressible assembly 24 collectively restricts an air flow from passing between the igniter housing base 26 and the perimeter 28 of the opening 18 . in an exemplary embodiment of the igniter assembly 10 , the compressible assembly 24 is variable in length to accommodate a respective variation in a separation between the igniter housing base 26 and the opening 18 within the combustion liner 19 . the structural features of an exemplary embodiment of the compressible assembly 24 are discussed in further detail below . fig3 - 9 illustrate exemplary embodiments of the respective structural assembly steps for a compressible assembly 24 of the igniter assembly 10 . fig3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the igniter 14 encircled by the igniter housing 16 , and a top guide portion 36 which is slid up around the igniter tip 17 and into contact with the igniter housing base 26 ( fig4 ). as illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of fig3 , the top guide portion 36 includes an outer flange 40 to form a sealed interface 21 with the igniter housing base 26 ( fig4 ), an upper longitudinal portion 42 slidably engaged with an inner portion 44 of the igniter housing 16 , and a lower longitudinal portion 46 . as illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of fig4 , once the top guide portion 36 forms the sealed interface 21 with the igniter housing base 26 , and the upper longitudinal portion 42 is slidably engaged with the inner portion 44 , a cover 52 is passed up around the lower longitudinal portion 46 of the top guide portion 36 . as illustrated in fig5 , upon passing the cover 52 around the lower longitudinal portion 46 of the top guide portion 36 , a bottom guide portion 38 is passed up inside the cover 52 and aligned with the top guide portion 36 . the bottom guide portion 38 includes a spring flange 48 extending outwardly from a longitudinal portion 50 . the top guide portion 36 and bottom guide portion 38 are welded together , as illustrated in fig6 , at opposing ends , where the respective opposing ends are slanted in opposite directions to accommodate the welding process , as appreciated by one of skill in the art . upon welding the top guide portion 36 and bottom guide portion 38 , the cover 52 includes an outer portion 56 ( discussed below ) and a top portion 54 which is slidably engaged with an outer surface 58 of the longitudinal portion 50 of the bottom guide portion 38 and the lower longitudinal portion 46 of the top guide portion 36 . as illustrated in fig7 , a spring 66 is passed up into the cover 52 adjacent to an inner surface of the outer cover portion 56 and against the spring flange 48 of the bottom guide portion 38 . as illustrated in fig8 , upon positioning the spring 66 , a base 60 including a bottom portion 62 and a longitudinal portion 64 is passed upward , and the longitudinal portion 64 is passed into the cover 52 between the spring 66 and the longitudinal portion 50 of the bottom guide portion 38 . the bottom portion 62 is subsequently welded to the bottom end of the longitudinal portion 56 of the cover 52 ( fig9 ), and the bottom portion 62 forms a sealed interface 57 with the opening 18 . as illustrated in fig9 , the spring flange 48 , the outer cover portion 56 , the bottom base portion 62 and the longitudinal base portion 64 form a variable stagnant volume 68 in which the spring 66 is disposed to impart an upward force on the spring flange 48 such that the compressible assembly 24 forms an effective seal between the igniter housing base 26 and the opening 18 . although fig3 - 9 illustrate an exemplary set of assembly steps for the exemplary embodiment of the compressible assembly 24 utilizing a particular set of components , these assembly steps may be rearranged or supplemented using the same components so to provide an additional exemplary embodiment of a compressible assembly . additionally , the compressible assembly is not limited to the exemplary set of components illustrated in fig3 - 9 , but may include any set of components which may be assembled using any set of steps , provided that the compressible assembly restricts an air flow from passing between the igniter housing base 26 and the perimeter 28 of the opening 18 , and is variable in length to accommodate a respective variation in a separation between the igniter housing base 26 and the opening 18 within the combustion liner 19 . in the exemplary embodiment of the igniter assembly 10 illustrated in fig9 , the spring flange 48 contacts a top end 70 of the spring 66 disposed within the stagnant volume 68 . a variation in the separation between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 causes the spring 66 to maintain an upward force on the spring flange 48 and vertically shift the spring flange 48 in the same relative shift direction as the igniter housing 16 during the separation variation . thus , the spring flange 48 forms a variable top portion of the stagnant volume 68 . additionally , the longitudinal base portion 64 disposed between the spring 66 and the longitudinal portion 50 of the bottom guide portion 38 forms an inner portion of the stagnant volume 68 . the stagnant volume 68 is further defined by the outer cover portion 56 positioned along an outer surface of the ring 66 , which forms an outer portion of the stagnant volume 68 . the bottom base portion 62 forms a bottom portion of the stagnant volume 68 . in an example of a variation in the separation between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 , when the separation is minimized as illustrated in fig9 , the spring flange 48 imparts a downward force on the spring 66 and compresses the spring 66 to a compressed length 78 within the stagnant volume 68 such that the stagnant volume 68 is minimized . additionally , as the spring flange 48 is lowered to compress the spring 66 within the stagnant volume 68 , the top cover portion 54 slidably moves up and engages an upper portion 86 along the outer surface 58 of the longitudinal portion 50 and the lower longitudinal portion 46 , as illustrated in fig9 . from the minimal separation between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 illustrated in fig9 , the separation may be increased to a maximum separation ( not shown ), in which the downward force imparted on the spring 66 by the spring flange 48 is reduced , and the spring 66 varies in length to an uncompressed length ( not shown ). additionally , as the spring flange 48 is raised to uncompress the spring 66 within the stagnant volume 68 , the top cover portion 54 slidably moves down and engages a lower portion 84 along the outer surface 58 of the longitudinal portion 50 and the lower longitudinal portion 46 , as illustrated in fig9 . although fig9 illustrates one spring 66 disposed within one stagnant volume 68 , the present invention is not limited to this arrangement and may include multiple springs disposed within a single stagnant volume , or multiple springs disposed within respective multiple stagnant volumes . additionally , the present invention may include the use of a non - spring compressible device disposed within the stagnant volume or within any portion of the compressible assembly , provided that the compressible device facilitates varying the compressible assembly length with the variance in the separation between the igniter housing and the opening in the combustion liner , and ensures that a sufficient minimal contact is maintained between the compressible assembly and the igniter housing and perimeter of the combustion liner opening , to maintain all sealed interfaces to prevent an undesired air flow from passing between the igniter housing and the combustion liner opening . regardless of the degree of separation between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 , the top cover portion 54 forms a sealed interface 55 with the outer surface 58 to prevent air from passing between the top cover portion 54 and the top guide portion 36 or bottom guide portion 38 , depending on the separation between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 . for example , when the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 are separated by the maximum separation , the top cover portion 54 slidably engages a lower portion 84 along the longitudinal portion 50 of the outer surface 58 and forms the sealed interface 55 between the top cover portion 54 and the longitudinal portion 50 . thus , for the maximum separation between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 , the sealed interface 55 prevents an air flow from passing between the top cover portion 54 and the bottom guide portion 38 . in another example , when the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 are separated by a minimum separation , the top cover portion 54 slidably engages an upper portion 86 along the outer surface 58 , and forms the sealed interface between the top cover portion 54 and the longitudinal portion 50 . thus , for a minimum separation between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 , the sealed interface 55 prevents an air flow from passing between the top cover portion 54 and the top guide portion 36 . as illustrated in fig9 , the compressible assembly 24 is configured to form a seal in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis 88 of the igniter 14 , where the seal extends from the igniter housing base 26 to the opening 18 to prevent the air flow from passing between the igniter housing base 26 and the opening 18 and through the opening when the igniter 14 is either in the retracted position ( fig9 ) or the extended position ( not shown ). in addition to the compressible assembly 24 illustrated in fig9 , the igniter assembly 10 features a landing 23 positioned between the base 60 and the combustion liner 19 to form a sealed interface 15 around the opening 18 . the compressible assembly 24 is disposed between the igniter housing base 26 and the landing 23 , and the compressible assembly 24 maintains a respective minimum contact level with the igniter housing base 26 and the landing 23 for a range of separations between the igniter housing 16 and the opening 18 sufficient to maintain the sealed interface 21 between the top guide portion 36 and the igniter housing base 26 , a sealed interface 57 between the bottom base portion 62 and the landing 23 , and the sealed interface 15 between the landing 23 and the combustion liner 19 . the sealed interface 21 prevents air from passing between the igniter housing 16 and the top guide portion 36 , into the igniter cavity 13 and through the opening 18 . the sealed interface 57 prevents air from passing between the bottom base portion 62 and the landing 23 and entering the opening 18 . the sealed interface 15 prevents air from passing between the landing 23 and the perimeter 28 of the opening 18 and into the opening 18 . as illustrated in fig9 , an opening 90 is provided in the igniter housing 16 to selectively supply an air flow into an igniter cavity 13 of the igniter housing 16 to purge the igniter cavity 13 . the opening 90 may be selectively opened ( using a controller or other control mechanism ) to purge air from the igniter cavity 13 , particularly when the temperature of the air within the igniter cavity 13 exceeds a predetermined threshold ( which may be measured by a temperature sensor , for example ). thus , purging the igniter cavity 13 through the opening 90 provides some protection against thermal damage to the interior of the igniter cavity 13 and the igniter assembly 24 when the air temperature within the igniter cavity 13 reaches a high level . while various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein , it will be obvious that such embodiments are provided by way of example only . numerous variations , changes and substitutions may be made without departing from the invention herein . accordingly , it is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims . | 5 |
referring now to the drawings fig1 depicts a prior - art system of using water as a cooling unit to cool a computer &# 39 ; s electronic components , including , but not limited , the computer &# 39 ; s central processing unit . the circuit board 30 [ motherboard ] has on it , among other electronics , a central processing unit 20 . in operation the central processing unit generates heat as described above . a water cooling unit 111 , above the central processing unit 20 cools the central processing unit . the prior - art water cooling unit has an intake port 13 to receive water from an external source [ radiator , not shown in this figure ] and from its outlet port 14 to return the water to the radiator . as described above , leaks to the water cooling unit will drip to the motherboard 30 and adversely affect the computer &# 39 ; s central processing unit and other electronic components resulting in damage , shorts , and loss of productivity . fig2 through 4 , reference character 10 generally designates a computer cooling system constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the computer cooling system of the present disclosure . the computer cooling system 10 has a cooling unit 11 which includes an inner chamber and a base 15 with an intake port 13 connected to the cooling unit 11 to permit entry of water from an external source [ radiator ]. water is discharged from the cooling unit 11 via the outlet port 14 returning expended water to the radiator . this base 15 acts largely like a heat sink , dissipating heat collected from the central processing unit 20 into the cooling fluid . this base 15 may have cooling fins [ not shown ] in the fluid chamber to increase the surface area of the base 15 ; i . e ., fluid junction . the materials best suited for the intended purpose would either be copper or aluminum , primarily because of their superior thermal conductivity , though any suited material having good thermal conductivity characteristics would generally suffice . a pump on the outlet side of the cooling unit 11 forces water from the cooling unit 11 back to the radiator and in the process , cycles water from the radiator back to the cooling unit 11 via the inlet port 13 . a reservoir in the computer cooling system , between the radiator and the intake port 13 acts to regulate the flow of water and to receive , retain , or release any excess or overflow water in the system . the unique aspect of this computer cooling system 10 is the inversion of the motherboard 30 such that it is above the central processing unit 20 rather then below it as in virtually computer motherboard 30 [ exception being where the motherboard 30 is configured vertically . with the motherboard 30 being above the central processing unit 20 , placement of the cooling unit 11 below the computer &# 39 ; s electronic components , and in particular , below and adjacent to its central processing unit 20 , will serve to enhance its cooling effect and to protect the computer &# 39 ; s electronic components from damage should a leak occur in the water cooling unit 11 or the entire computer cooling system 10 . in addition to inverting the motherboard 30 , another novel feature of this computer cooling system 10 is the drip collection pay 40 below the cooling unit 11 . the collection drip pan 40 serves to receive and retain any water dripping from the cooling unit 11 due to any leaks to and in the cooling unit 11 or the entire computer cooling system 10 for that matter . the drip pan 40 has a non - perforated bottom and upstanding walls around the bottom to contain therein any accumulating and accumulated water . a series of blades 41 extend and angle upward from the bottom . the series of blades 41 are substantially parallel to one another . each blade has a bottom end 45 and a top end 43 . the blades 41 are angled from the bottom of the drip pan 40 at approximately between 20 ° to approximately 60 ° and in such fashion that the top end 43 of one blade 41 extends beyond the bottom end 45 of the adjacent blade 41 . reference being made to fig3 , vertical line a - b . with this configuration of the drip pan 40 , the angling of the blades 41 will cause any water dripping from the cooling unit 11 to deflect away from the angle of the blade 41 , generally in the direction of arrow c , not rebound directly upward , and will also serve to diminish any splatter effect . the overlapping of the top ends 43 past the bottom ends 45 will also serve as a barrier from the deflections and splattering caused by the dripping water on the adjacent angled blade . in a vertical rack - type computer system with individual computer units above and below one another [ fig2 ], the drip pan 40 serves as protection for the entire computer system . computer unit z has a floor 60 , with drip pan 40 resting on its floor 60 . computer unit x is above computer unit z . computer x has a floor 60 ′ which in essence serves as the ceiling for computer unit z . below the floor 60 ′ of computer unit x is the inverted motherboard 30 , with central processing unit 20 below the motherboard 30 , of computer unit z . the computer cooling system 10 for computer unit z is below and adjacent to the central processing unit 20 of computer unit z . computer unit y is below computer unit z . each computer unit above and below that of computer unit z in configured in like fashion as that of computer unit z . each having a floor wherein the floor of a computer unit above [ example of computer x ] is the ceiling of the computer unit below [ example of computer unit z ]. each computer in this rack system therefore has its motherboard 30 inverted with a computer cooling system 10 below the respective central processing units 20 as described hereinabove . in addition , and for greater protection from leaks , the computer cooling system 10 has a water - absorbent member 17 around each intake port 13 and around each outlet port 14 at the points where the intake port 13 and the outlet port 14 connect to the respective cooling unit 11 . therefore , if a leak occurs , such generally would occur at weakest points , i . e ., connection points , and the water - absorbent member 17 would serve to retain the water and sound an alarm as an alert that a leak has occurred . if the leak is not corrected in a timely manner , leaking water will be retained by the water - absorbent member 17 until it becomes over - saturated at which point the water would drip down into the drip pan 40 . this water - absorbent member 17 may be of any conventionally available material suited to the intended purpose including , but not limited to , nylon or cotton or any combination thereof although any cloth substance capable of stemming the spray or flow of leaking water . the material may be but need not be water resistant . in this regard , the water - absorbent member 17 is designed to limit spraying that may occur in the case of a failure [ leak ] of the system 10 . the water - absorbent member 17 is not intended to primarily capture water , but rather it is intended to be capable of absorbing the kinetic energy of the leaking water , thereby allowing the water to fall into the drip pan 40 . the present disclosure includes that contained in the present claims as well as that of the foregoing description . although this computer cooling system of the present disclosure has been described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity , it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms has been made only by way of example and numerous changes in the details of construction and combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the computer cooling system of the present disclosure . accordingly , the scope of the computer cooling system of the present disclosure should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated , but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents . applicant [ s ] have attempted to disclose all the embodiment [ s ] of the computer cooling system of the present disclosure that could be reasonably foreseen . it must be understood , however , that there may be unforeseeable insubstantial modifications to computer cooling system of the present disclosure that remain as equivalents and thereby falling within the scope of the computer cooling system of the present disclosure . | 6 |
referring now to fig1 a , a schematic representation of one embodiment of the sensor 1 is shown having a pressure conduction composite 2 disposed between two conductive layers 5 , 6 . an optional pair of non - conductive layers 51 and 52 contact the conductive layers 5 and 6 , respectively , opposite of the pressure conduction composite 2 . conductive layers 5 , 6 include a variety of materials , such as metals and composites , and a variety of generally planar structures , including plates , foils , films , foams , weaves , and braids . the pressure conduction composite 2 is composed of conductive particles 3 within a non - conductive yet pliable and resilient matrix 4 . the matrix 4 is a generally planar solid that surrounds and isolates the conductive particles 3 so as to maximize resistance and minimize conductance thereby preventing current flow between conductive layers 5 , 6 at an ambient or biased pressure . non - conductive layers 51 , 52 isolate the sensor 1 so as to prevent electrical current loss from the sensor 1 and to shield the sensor 1 from electrical current external to the device . non - conductive layers 51 , 52 include a variety of non - conducting materials , such as polymers and composites , and a variety of generally planar structures , including plates , foils , films , foams , weaves , and braids . it is preferred for conductive layers 5 , 6 and non - conductive layers 51 , 52 to be pliable . referring now to fig1 b , the distance between conductive particles 3 decreases with increasing force 7 thereby increasing the effective conductance of the pressure conduction composite 2 . in the present invention , force 7 is a mechanical load partially interacting with at least one conductive layer 5 , 6 and optionally with at least one non - conductive layer 51 , 52 , as represented in fig1 b . maximum conductance is achieved when conductive particles 3 and conductive layers 5 , 6 are contacting . the matrix 4 should be sufficiently resilient to allow for its recovery after the force 7 is removed . it is preferred for the conductive particles 3 to return to their original or nearly original location within the matrix 4 . the term “ locally resilient ” refers to the movement of the pressure conduction composite 2 , one or more surrounding conductive layers 5 , 6 , and one or more optional non - conductive layers 51 , 52 under and adjacent to a mechanical load . for example , a compression event includes a volumetric reduction of the matrix 4 , spatial displacement of conductive particles 3 , and localized elastic deformation of conductive layers 5 , 6 and nonconductive layers 51 , 52 . a decompression event includes a volumetric expansion of the matrix 4 to its original or nearly original volume , spatial displacement of conductive particles 3 to their original or nearly original locations , and localized elastic recovery of conductive layers 5 , 6 and nonconductive layers 51 , 52 . compression and decompression may be assisted by a variety of mechanical , electromechanical , and magnetic devices . referring now to fig2 , resistance - force curves are shown for several exemplary pressure conduction composites 2 having titanium diboride particles within a polymer plate . in general , pressure conduction composites 2 exhibit an extremely large decrease in resistance over a relatively small range of force . the volume fraction of conductive particles 3 influences the resistance - to - force characteristics of the composition thereby allowing the material system to be tailored or tuned for ambient and operating pressures . it is likewise possible for the pressure conduction composite 2 to be actively biased as a function of constant or changing ambient pressure thereby requiring minimal pressure to produce the desired change in conductance . referring again to fig1 a , stoichiometry , thickness , and feedstock materials greatly influence the resistance - force profile via the properties of sensitivity , signal quality , and pressure range . stoichiometry relates to the density of particles 3 within the matrix 4 . the size and density of particles 3 greatly influence the sensitivity and pressure range . thickness of the pressure conduction composite 2 , conductive layers 5 , 6 and non - conductive layers 51 , 52 determine the pliability of the sensor 1 and its ability to couple mechanical loads into the material system . in general , it is preferred to have conductive particles 3 at a volume fraction at or near the critical percolation threshold of the material system . furthermore , it is generally preferred to have the conductive particles 3 randomly dispersed within the matrix 4 so as to avoid a continuous path between conductive layers 5 , 6 at initial conditions . likewise , it is preferred for matrix 4 , conductive layers 5 , 6 and non - conductive layers 51 , 52 to be sufficiently thin so as to insure a low profile , flexible sensor 1 for conformal applications . the critical percolation threshold is the pressure at and above which the pressure conduction composite 2 exhibits a very large decrease in resistance , which may be as large as six orders of magnitude . pressures near yet less than the critical percolation threshold ensure the conducting particles 3 to have a spatial separation sufficiently small so as to allow current flow between the conducting layers 5 , 6 . pressure conduction composites 2 operating near the critical percolation threshold ensure a sufficiently distinctive change in conduction over a range of pressures so as to allow for the precise measurement of pressure and / or stress . the matrix 4 may be composed of one or more electrically resistive , compressible and resilient materials including , but not limited to , polymers and elastomers . it is preferred for the matrix 4 to be temperature resistant . exemplary materials include formulations of polyethylene , polystyrene , polyvinyldifluoride , polyimide , epoxy , polytetrafluorethylene , silicon rubber , polyvinylchloride , and combinations thereof . preferred embodiments of the present invention were composed of the elastomer rtv r3145 manufactured by the dow corning company . conductive particles 3 may include one or more electrically conductive materials including , but not limited to , metals , metal - based oxides , nitrides , carbides , and borides , and carbon black . it is preferred that conductive particles 3 resist deformation when compressed and have a melt temperature sufficiently above the thermal conditions generated during current flow and interrupt . exemplary materials include aluminum , gold , silver , nickel , copper , platinum , tungsten , tantalum , iron , molybdenum , hafnium , combinations and alloys thereof , sr ( fe , mo ) o3 , ( la , ca ) mno3 , ba ( pb , bi ) o3 , vanadium oxide , antimony doped tin oxide , iron oxide , titanium diboride , titanium carbide , titanium nitride , tungsten carbide , and zirconium diboride . the pressure conduction composite 2 is fabricated via known methods . for example , the pressure conduction composite 2 may be prepared from high - purity feedstocks , mixed , pressed into a solid , and suffused with oil . conductive layers 5 , 6 are thereafter bonded to the pressure conduction composite 2 via an adhesive or vulcanization process . it was preferred to adhesively bond conductive layers 5 , 6 to the pressure conduction composite 2 via an electrically conductive epoxy . non - conductive layers 51 , 52 are likewise bonded to the conductive layers via a thermally resistant adhesive , preferably a pliable epoxy . feedstocks include both powders and liquids . conductive particles 3 were exclusively solid particulates . for example , it was preferred for the feedstock comprising the conductive particles 3 to be a fine , uniform powder , examples including 325 - mesh titanium diboride and titanium carbide . the non - conductive matrix 4 was fabricated with either a fine , uniform powder or a liquid with sufficient viscosity to achieve adequate dispersion of conductive particles 3 after mixing . powder - based formulations were mechanically mixed and compression molded using conventional methods . polytetrafluorethylene and other polymers may require sintering within an oven to achieve a structurally durable solid . powder - liquid formulations , examples including titanium diboride or titanium carbide and a silicone - based elastomer , were vulcanized and hardened within a die under low uniaxial loading at room temperature . in some embodiments , it may be desired to impregnate the pressure conduction composite 2 with a liquid via a method referred to as suffusion . the pressure conduction composite 2 is submerged within a bath of one or more inorganic oils , preferable silicone based , thereby allowing complete infiltration of the liquid into the otherwise solid pressure conduction composite 2 . the exposure time of the pressure conduction composite 2 is influenced by the dimensional properties and composition of the solid . for example , a pressure conduction composite 2 having a thickness of 0 . 125 - inch , a width of 0 . 200 - inch , and a length of 0 . 940 - inch and composed of titanium diboride or titanium carbide at a volume fraction of 66 percent and rtv r3145 at a volume fraction of 34 percent was adequately suffused after a 48 hour period . conductive layers 5 , 6 and non - conductive layers 51 , 52 are adhered to the pressure conduction composite 2 either before or after suffusion . if before suffusion , conductive layers 5 , 6 and non - conductive layers 51 , 52 are placed within a die along with sufficiently mixed composition comprising the pressure conduction composite 2 in the desired sequential order . for example , a matrix 4 composed of a silicone elastomer was adequately bonded to two 0 . 020 - inch thick brass plates and polymer non - conductive layer 51 , 52 by curing the otherwise liquid elastomer at room temperature between 3 to 24 hours or at an elevated temperature between 60 to 120 degrees celsius for 2 to 10 hours . if after suffusion , a silicone adhesive is applied between pressure conduction composite 2 and conductive layers 5 , 6 and non - conductive layers 51 , 52 and thereafter mechanically pressed until the adhesive is cured . in some embodiments , it may be advantageous for the pressure conduction composite 2 to be porous . porosity may be required to tailor the mechanical stiffness , elastic properties and cooling characteristics of the pressure conduction composite 2 without adversely degrading electrical conductance and resistance of the element . furthermore , porosity may improve the compliance and sensitivity of the sensor 1 . pores may include a variety of shapes including , but not limited to , spheres , ellipsoids , cylinders , and irregular shapes . referring now to fig3 , an exemplary planar disposed pressure compression composite 13 is shown having a plurality of cylindrically shaped perforations 15 traversing the thickness 14 of the element . the dimensions and spatial distribution of the perforations 15 are used to achieve the desired mechanical and electrical characteristics . pores may be formed by a variety of manufacturing methods . for example , cavities may be mechanically drilled into the pressure conduction composition 13 . pores may be introduced during mixing of matrix 4 and conductive particles 3 feedstocks via the introduction of gas bubbles . it is likewise possible to include microspheres composed of either a low - density foam or a gas or fluid filled spheres during the mixing process . also , cavities may be formed during curing of the matrix 4 in an oven whereby localized heating and phase transitions yield void formation and growth . in yet other embodiments , it may be advantageous to apply a waterproof or heat resistant coating known within the art over sensors 1 described herein to prevent direct contact with the surrounding medium . a more complex embodiment of the sensor 1 in fig1 a and 1 b may include two or more pressure conduction composites 2 bounded by three or more conductive layers 5 or 6 where the outermost conductive layers 5 or 6 each contact an optional non - conductive layer 51 or 52 opposite of the pressure conduction composite 2 . referring now to fig4 , an exemplary planar disposed embodiment is shown having four pressure conduction composites 19 a – 19 d separated by three inner conductive layers 18 a – 18 c and bounded by a paired arrangement of an outer conductive layer 17 a or 17 b and a non - conductive layer 53 or 54 . materials and fabrication methods described above are applicable to this embodiment . inner conductive layers 18 a – 18 c physically and electrically separate adjacent pressure conduction composites 19 a – 19 d within the multi - layer sensor 16 . a voltage is selectively applied to one or more outer conductive layers 17 a , 17 b and inner conductive layers 18 a – 18 c so as to allow for current flow to one or more outer conductive layers 17 a , 17 b and / or one or more inner conductive layers 18 a – 18 c . current flow across one or more pressure conduction composites 19 a – 19 d may be arranged to form a conduction logic circuit facilitating two or more sensitivity ranges for pressure and stress . for example , it may be desired to have two or more pressure conduction composites 19 a – 19 d tuned to one or more separate pressure - conduction or stress - conduction ranges . the multi - layer sensor 16 in fig4 may have a voltage applied to both outer conductive layers 17 a and 17 b and the center inner conductive layer 18 b so as to achieve four conduction pathways . compression of the pressure conduction composite 19 a allows current flow between outer conductive layer 17 a and inner conductive layer 18 a . compression of the pressure conduction composite 19 b allows currently flow between inner conductive layers 18 b and 18 a . compression of the pressure conduction composite 19 c allows currently flow between inner conductive layers 18 b and 18 c . compression of the pressure conduction composite 19 d allows currently flow between outer conductive layer 17 b and inner conductive layers 18 c . a variety of other conduction logic circuits are apparent from the example above . referring now to fig5 , it may be advantageous in some applications to have the pressure conduction composite 23 sealed from the surrounding environment . in this embodiment , the sensor 20 is shown having a pressure conduction composite 23 disposed between and electrically contacting a pair of electrical leads 24 and 25 and thereafter between a pair of outer layers 21 and 22 . materials and fabrication methods described above are applicable to this embodiment . it is preferred for the outer layers 21 and 22 to be composed of a flexible , thermally resistant , and non - conducting material , one example being a polyimide . outer layers 21 and 22 completely cover and surround the pressure conduction composite 23 and electrical leads 24 and 25 so as to prevent their contact with the surrounding environment . outer layers 21 and 22 are joined via an adhesive or thermally bonded so as to provide a continuous seam 28 about their mutual perimeters . electrical contacts 26 and 27 are electrically connected to the electrical leads 24 and 25 , respectively , and traverse the seam 28 between outer layers 21 and 22 without compromising the seal there between . electrical contacts 26 , 27 facilitate communication of sensor 20 data to acquisition equipment . in preferred embodiments , the pressure conduction composite 23 was hermetically sealed between a pair of kapton ® thin films , sold by the dupont corporation , having copper traces and contact pads along one side thereon so as to form the electrical contacts 26 and 27 . contact pads mechanically and electrically contacted the pressure conduction composite 23 within the sensor 20 . traces and pads were pre - etched onto the kapton thin film via known flex circuit techniques . kapton outer layers 21 and 22 were adhered to the pressure conduction composite 23 via a conductive silver epoxy . a pair of pads was provided along the thin film opposite of the pads contacting the pressure conduction composite 23 so as to form the electrical contacts 26 and 27 . the sensor 1 in fig1 a , multi - layer sensor 16 in fig4 , and sensor 20 in fig5 each require electrical connectivity to a circuit for the purpose of data retrieval and interpretation . referring now to fig6 , a sensor 29 , exemplary of the described devices above , is shown within a divider circuit , although a variety of other circuit designs are possible . the sensor 29 is electrically connected at one end to a resistor 30 in a serial arrangement . the second end of the sensor 29 and resistor 30 are electrically connected to a voltage source of known magnitude , one example being a battery . a buffer 31 is electrically connected at one end between the sensor 29 and resistor 30 at node “ a ” and at the other end to a communications circuit 32 . as described above , the sensor 29 has zero conduction and nearly infinite impedance when no mechanical load is applied across the sensor 29 . as such , the voltage at node “ a ” is zero . the conductance of the sensor 29 increases from zero as a mechanical load of increasing magnitude is applied . the increasing conductance causes the voltage at node “ a ” to increase accordingly . thereafter , the voltage at node “ a ” is amplified and / or filtered by a commercially available buffer 31 and communicated to a communications circuit 32 . the type , density , size , and mass fraction of the conductive particles 3 and matrix 4 within the pressure conduction composite 2 determine the functional relationship between pressure and voltage at node “ a ”. for example , it is possible for the pressure conduction composite 2 to communicate a voltage that is linearly proportional to the mechanically applied pressure within the sensor 29 . likewise , it is possible for the pressure conduction composite 2 to communicate a voltage that is non - linear in relation to the applied pressure . however , it was preferred for the change in conductance to be sufficiently large so as to be distinguishable from electrical noise within the circuit to minimize signal filtering and amplification . referring now to fig7 , one possible embodiment of the communications circuit 32 in fig6 is shown including an interface circuit 34 electrically connected to a microcontroller 35 , thereafter electrically connected to a wire interface 36 and / or a wireless interface 37 . the interface circuit 34 amplifies and / or filters the voltage output from the sensor 29 in fig6 prior to the microcontroller 35 . the microcontroller 35 converts the now analog signal to a digital signal , via an analog - to - digital converter ( adc ), samples the signal , and organizes the sampled signal data prior to its communication to the wire interface 36 and / or wireless interface 37 . the communications circuit 32 may be directly embedded onto or within the sensor 29 or separately disposed so as to provide a smart network of sensors 29 communicating to a master controller . direct coupling between communications circuit 32 and sensor 29 allows the sensor 29 to also function as a heat sink . while a variety of commercially available microcontrollers 35 are applicable to the present invention , the mps430 sold by texas instruments , inc . contains onboard adcs and communications interface required for remote data uploading to a master controller . the mps430 supports a variety of asynchronous serial communication protocols compatible with the present invention . the wire interface 36 may be attached to the mps430 controller as a flexible serial communications interface ( sci ). the sci allows for both synchronous and asynchronous communication protocols , including rs - 232 , rs422 , rs485 , spi and i2c . the wireless interface 37 may include , by way of example , a wi - port module sold by lantronix , inc . capable of communicating data in an asynchronous format over an 802 . 11b ethernet network . the wi - port also contains internal firmware allowing connection to a variety of tcp / ip protocol stacks including arp , udp , tcp , icmp , telnet , tftp , autoip , dhcp , http , and snmp with or without 128 bit wep encryption for security purposes . in some applications , it may be advantageous to limit external mechanical loads to one surface along the sensor 38 . referring now to fig8 , a sensor 38 , exemplary of those described herein , is shown contacting a rigid structure 39 along one surface and having a force 40 applied onto the opposite surface . it is preferred for the sensor 38 to be electrically isolated from the rigid structure 39 via either a non - conductive layer 51 , as described above , or a non - conducting epoxy applied between sensor 38 and rigid structure 39 . a solid , fluid , or gas impinges the surface opposite of the rigid structure 39 thereby providing either a point or distributed mechanical load . referring now to fig9 , a sensor 46 , exemplary of the devices described herein , is shown within a pipe 42 at two locations about a valve 41 to demonstrate one specific application of the present invention . the pliable nature of the sensor 46 allows it to conform to the contour of pipe 42 . sensors 46 are bonded via a non - conductive adhesive to the interior surface 47 of the pipe wall 43 . a hole is provided through the pipe wall 43 immediately adjacent to the sensor 46 so to allow the sensor 46 to cover and seal the hole and prevent leakage from the pipe 42 . electrical leads 44 , similar to those described above , traverse the hole and electrical connects the sensor 46 to a communications circuit 45 , as described above . likewise , the communications circuit 45 may be bonded via a non - conductive adhesive to the exterior surface 48 of the pipe wall 43 to further present leakage from the pipe 42 . two or more sensor 46 may be located within the pipe 42 so as to measure and record pressure , pressure drop , and flow . the low profile and compactness of the present invention lend itself to arrayed configurations . referring now to fig1 , a plurality of sensors 49 may be applied along a planar or non - planar rigid element 50 so as to provide a two - dimensional array . individual sensors 49 are electrically connected so as to communicate conductance data to a central computer via a row - column architecture similar to that used to control flat panel displays and to control active devices . the latter control architecture is described by the present inventors in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 823 , 237 , entitled matrix architecture switch controlled adjustable performance electromagnetic energy coupling mechanisms using digital controlled single source supply , co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 872 , 974 , entitled thin , nearly wireless adaptive optical device , and co - pending u . s . application ser . no . 10 / 894 , 150 , entitled pressure sensitive sensor for real - time reconfigurable sonar applications , the contents of which are incorporated by reference . the rigid element 50 may include a keyboard housing or a floor . in the former application , sensors 49 are applied to the housing so as to provide a plurality of touch sensitive keys or interact with conventional keys . in the latter application , sensors 49 are applied to a floor to form an intrusion detection system . sensors 49 may be covered by carpet or have an exterior finish representing a specific floor type and style . an intruder activates individual sensors 49 within the floor via the progression of footsteps . individual signals from the sensors 49 are thereafter communicated via wire or wireless means to a central computer so as to provide location , path and speed data to security personnel . the description above indicates that a great degree of flexibility is offered in terms of the present invention . although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof , other versions are possible . therefore , the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein . | 6 |
according to the present invention , in the case of performing a waveshape calculation by the fourier calculation method , information to be obtained is divided into information by the calculation of a waveform varying with time , such as depressed key information by a key and a tablet ( mode i ), and information by the calculation of a fixed waveshape , such as information on a tone or key - state variation ( mode ii ). normally , the calculation is repeated in the mode i and , as required , mode i is switched to mode ii , in which the calculation is performed and , after its completion , mode i is repeated again in a new state . with this method , it is possible to quickly respond to a tone variation or key - state variation even if low - frequency clock pulses are employed . in the case where the number of sounds simultaneously produced when depressing keys on a keyboard is n , if a time tx is needed for calculating by a waveshape calculation unit one waveshape which varies with time , then n waveshapes can be calculated in a period of time n · tx . accordingly , the waveshape varying with time is always repeatedly calculated with a period of n · tx . if a new key is depressed during this time , then the fixed waveshape is calculated for a time tz ( tz being a time related to tx ) in the period n · tx . in the case of a tablet change , the fixed waveshape is calculated in a period n · tx for a time n · tz in which are calculated waveshapes of the same number n ( n ≦ n ) as the keys currently depressed . fig1 illustrates in block form the arrangement of an embodiment of the present invention . the present invention is intended to achieve a smooth waveshape variation without raising the frequency of clock pulses used , by dividing the waveshape calculation into the modes i and ii based on the concepts of the aforesaid u . s . pat . no . 4 , 085 , 644 entitled &# 34 ; polyphonic tone synthesizer &# 34 ;. fig1 a and 1b show a block diagram of fig1 of the above united states patent , indicating the correspondence between its block and those in fig1 by marking the former with the same reference numerals as the latter . other numerals of fig1 a and 1b are used as found in the mentioned u . s . patent . the correspondence between the blocks are as follows : in fig1 a key tablet switch 10 corresponds to instrument keyboard switches 12 in fig1 a and includes a tablet switch as well as key switches . a key tablet assignor 11 corresponds to a note detect and assignor and assigns tablet information as well as key information . a new key on generator 112 and a mode determining circuit 13 are requisite for the present invention . a mode i waveshape data generator 14 and a mode ii waveshape data generator 15 change the contents of harmonic coefficient memories 26 and 27 ( fig1 b ) with time or for each key . a waveshape calculator 18 includes a multiplier and an accumulator and multiplies each harmonic component and the sine and accumulates the multiplied value to perform a waveshape calculation . a control circuit 22 generates a timing signal for controlling the waveshape calculation and an address signal for addressing a predetermined memory area . a main memory 19 is one that allows read and write on a time - divided basis . a note memory 20 is shown by one block but has an area covering keys depressed and allows read and write on a time - divided basis . a note address generator 25 generates , as a read address , frequency information on a time - divided basis which corresponds to note clock pulses of the keys depressed . in fig1 and 1a , the key / tablet switch 10 is a switch group including keys and tablets ( which are generally tone select switches including draw bars ). signals detected by the depression of these switches are each assigned by the key / tablet assignor 11 to a time - division channel in which each key or tablet is open or closed . a key on signal from the key / tablet assignor 11 and the output from a new key on generator 112 which detects the key on signal are provided to the mode determining circuit 13 to provide therefrom a mode signal with a sign representing the state of the aforesaid mode ii . otherwise , a tablet event signal from the key / tablet assignor 11 is applied directly to the mode determining circuit 13 to derive therefrom the mode signal representing the mode ii for the waveshape calculation corresponding to the key being depressed . next , tablet information , the key on signal and key information from the key / tablet assignor 11 are fed to the mode i waveshape data generator 14 , wherein basic tone data is selected by the tablet information , data representing a waveshape variation with time is produced by the key on signal and data for changing the waveshape is generated by the key information . these data are for calculating or synthesizing a waveshape which undergoes variations with time . further , the tablet information and the key information from the key / tablet assignor 11 are applied to the mode ii waveshape data generator 15 , wherein basic tone data is selected by the tablet information and data for changing the waveshape is generated by the key information . these data are for calculating or synthesizing a fixed waveshape which undergoes no variations with time . the outputs from the mode i and mode ii waveshape data generators 14 and 15 are provided to a data selector 16 , wherein a selection is made by the mode signal from the aforesaid mode determining circuit 13 , whether data to be supplied to the waveshape calculator 18 will be mode i waveshape data varying with time or the mode ii waveshape data which does not vary with time . in other words , the mode i waveshape data is normally provided to the waveshape calculator 18 and , when the mode signal indicates mode ii , the mode ii waveshape data is provided instead of the mode i waveshape data . the waveshape calculator 18 performs the waveshape calculation by the fourier calculation method using data from a sinusoid table 17 and a harmonic coefficient selected as the output from the data selector 16 . amplitude value data synthesized at sample points calculated by the waveshape calculator 18 is applied to the main memory 19 , wherein it is written by a write address signal which is produced by controlling fundamental clock pulses from a main clock generator 21 by the control circuit 22 and selecting its output by an address selector 23 . at the same time , a content stored in the main memory 19 stored upon each sampling of a previously calculated waveshape is read out by a read address signal which is derived from the fundamental clock pulses from the main clock generator 21 as is the case with the abovesaid write address signal . the write and read steps are carried out on a time - divided basis . the waveshape amplitude value data read out from the main memory 19 is provided to the note memory 20 , wherein it is written by a write address signal supplied from the control circuit 22 and selected by an address selector 24 . next , waveshape amplitude value data at a frequency corresponding to a scale frequency , stored in the note memory 20 , is read out therefrom by a read address signal from the note address generator 25 applied thereto after being selected by the address selector 24 . the waveshape amplitude value data thus read out is converted by a d - a converter 126 into an analog signal , which is supplied to a sound system 127 . fig2 illustrates the arrangement of another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the mode i and mode ii waveshape data generators 14 and 15 are respectively divided into upper keyboards 14 1 and 15 1 , lower keyboards 14 2 and 15 2 and pedal keyboards 14 3 and 15 3 to increase the number of states to be detected . the operation of this embodiment is the same as that of the embodiment depicted in fig1 . while in the foregoing the fourier calculation method is employed for the waveshape calculation , other calculation methods can also be used . as has been described in the foregoing , according to the present invention , the waveshape calculation by various methods is divided into the calculation of a waveshape which undergoes variations with time and the calculation of a waveshape which undergoes no variations with time and normally the waveshape calculation of the mode i for the waveshape varying with time is repeated with a short period and only when a new key is depressed or the state of the tone select switch changes , the waveshaped calculation of the mode ii takes place . accordingly , the present invention permits a rapid response to a new key depression or a change in the state of the tone select switch without the necessity of using sampling clock pulses of high frequency , and hence produces a musical sound similar to a natural one . moreover , since the sampling clock pulses used may be of low frequency , the electronic musical instruments of the present invention can be constituted by highly reliable and inexpensive circuit elements . it will be apparent that many modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of this invention . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings , a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described . fig2 shows discharge voltage waveforms illustrating the detection principle according to the present invention , and the frequency spectrums thereof . in the case of the application of a voltage pulse only without an electric discharge , the spectrum can readily be expressed by a numerical formula ; for instance , the spectrum is given by ## equ1 ## where e = amplitude , t = period , τ = pulse width and ω = 2π / t . however , it is difficult to reduce the case where electric discharge takes place to an equation since the data change quite at random . the spectrum chart in fig2 refers to the case of t = 2τ . the spectrum distribution and discharge conditions make clear each of the following items : ( 1 ) irrespective of the spectrum , a very high output is exhibited at frequency fo , which is equivalent to the inverse of the period t . however , in comparison with other cases , the peak value is low in the case of normal electric discharge . ( 2 ) in the case of an electric discharge relating to an arc , there exists almost no high frequency component f h ( more than about 2 mhz ), but there is developed a high frequency component without attenuation up to almost 200 mhz in the case of normal electric discharge . ( 3 ) if the output is low at f o and sufficient at f h , the electric discharge will be assumed normal . the above described results make it clear that the discrimination of abnormal electric discharge will be possible if the state in ( 3 ) can be distinguished . fig3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the invention , and has basically the same construction as that of a spectrum analyser . the voltage signal f ( t ) in the interpole gap is mixed with an output signal f ( t ) of an fm modulator 51 , and only an intermediate frequency j ( t ) is taken out of the sum of the frequencies f ( t ) and f ( t ), and the difference between them is also indicated through heterodyne detection . subsequently , that frequency is amplified by an amplifier 53 for removing the intermediate frequency by means of a filter , whereas the amplified portion is detected by a detector 54 and amplified by a low frequency amplifier 55 . since the fm modulator has performed frequency modulation using an analog voltage av , the relation between time and frequency becomes linearized by changing the analog voltage av in proportion to time , so that the amplitude of the frequency spectrum larger by the frequency j ( t ) of the signal f ( t ) can be obtained as the output of the low frequency amplifier 55 on a time basis . consequently , the time required for the analog voltage av to become equivalent to the voltages at f o , f h can be distinguished by an accurate oscillator 56 and a counter 57 for counting the output thereof . there are also shown an f o discriminator 58 and an f h discriminator 59 . the contents of the counter 57 are converted into the analog voltage av by a d / a converter 60 and are used to modulate the modulator 51 . responding to a timing signal applied by the f o discriminator or f h discriminator , a level comparator 61 determines whether the signal amplitude being subjected to low frequency amplification is larger or smaller than a reference value at predetermined timing , that is , whether the frequency spectrum is large or small , and , based on the results of this determination , generates an output sa when an abnormal electric discharge is caused . if the fm modulator 51 is such that it covers a wide band range of 5 mhz when input power is at 0 v and 10 mhz when it is at 10 v , and with d / a conversion of the 16 - bit type , it is equivalent to a spectrum analyser having resolution of ± 80 hz . moreover , because f o is changed each time the machining condition is selected , the operation , f o = 1 / t ( the period t is the sum of the on and off times ) must be controlled . referring to a detailed view of the level comparator 61 in fig4 the above described output sa will be described in detail . the output of the low frequency amplifier 55 is arranged such that it is not connected to comparators 64 , 65 by analog switches 62 , 63 except at the timing for f o and f h discrimination . if the spectrum amplitude v o is greater than v 1 at the timing of f o discrimination , that is , if the amplitude at f o with respect to normal electric discharge is less than the actual value of v o at f o indicating an abnormality being initiated , the output of the comparator 64 will change to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and let a counter 67 carry out an accumulating operation through an and gate 66 . on the other hand , if v o is greater than v 2 at the timing of f h discrimination , that is , if f h exists at the time indicating normal electric discharge , the output of the comparator 65 will become &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and reset the counter 67 through an and gate 68 . consequently , the contents of the counter 67 increase when the spectrum amplitude is large at f o and becomes zero when v o is large at f h . since these operations are repeated , the quality of the condition in the interpole gap can be discriminated , if the contents of the counter are converted into an analog voltage v o , using the d / a converter 40 , and are observed . in other words , if v o becomes large , the situation is approaching an abnormal electric discharge , because , for instance , sludge is gathered in the interpole gap because chips remain therein , carbon is generated by the thermal decomposition of the working liquid 16 caused by an abnormal arc , or broken pieces of the electrode are present in the interpole gap 20 . these operational problems are readily detectable . however , the presence of this voltage v o for a short time cannot always be employed to judge the condition of the interpole gap to be abnormal because the conditions therein can change within a short time . accordingly , whether or not the interpole gap is in a normal condition must be judged by detecting the fact that a value exceeding a prescribed output value of the digital / analog converter 40 has continued for a certain period of time . a voltage comparator 148 in fig5 is used to determine whether the output v o of the digital / analog converter 40 is larger or smaller than a predetermined value v11 . if v o & gt ; v11 , the output of the voltage comparator 148 will become negative , and turn on a switching transistor 152 through a base resistor 150 . thus , a capacitor 154 for time measurement is charged through a resistor 156 , and the voltage v31 across the ends of the capacitor 154 is expressed by the following equation : where r 2 = resistance of the resistor 156 ; c = capacitance of the capacitor and t = time . the voltage v31 of the capacitor 154 is compared with a reference voltage v21 by the voltage comparator 158 . since the output of the voltage comparator 158 does not become negative during the period when v31 & lt ; v21 , an led 160 will not light . when v31 & gt ; v21 , i . e ., after the condition v o & gt ; v11 continues for a predetermined period of time , the output of the voltage comparator 158 becomes negative and indicates the occurrence of an abnormal condition in the interpole gap by lighting the led 160 via a resistor 162 . a switch 164 is used to change the manner of determining the condition in the interpole gap from one using only a function of time ( on the 164b side ) to one dependent on the sum of the intensity and the time duration of the output , v o of the digital / analog converter 40 . in other words , for machining wherein it is difficult to distinguish an abnormal condition in the interpole gap by merely detecting the elapsed time , for instance , in the machining of a sintered hard alloy subject to instantaneous cracking due to an arc or to the dropping of broken tungsten pieces , the occurrence of an abnormal condition in the interpole gap can be quickly detected as a function of the sum of the output v o and time of the digital / analog converter 40 , if the switch 164 is turned to the contact point 164a . this is because , if the output v o is large , the current with which the capacitor 154 is charged will increase and the voltage v31 at the capacitor 154 will immediately reach the reference voltage v21 . in addition , it is clear that , by directly observing the voltage v o , the difference between the most recent and actual values can be directly observed , and this can also be used to monitor the condition of the interpole gap . although a primary delay circuit comprising the capacitor 154 and the resistor 156 is used to measure the worsening condition in the interpole gap in the above described embodiment , it is also easy to measure the time by providing an accurate integrating circuit and an operational amplifier , to secure an accurate time measurement . the embodiment of the present invention shown in fig2 through 5 makes it possible to accurately detect the quality of the condition of the interpole gap during electric discharge machining and , accordingly , to effectively prevent machining failure . as shown in fig6 the output of the detector for detecting abnormal conditions in the interpole gap is sent to a control device ( jmp ) for controlling the condition of the interpole gap , together with a binary digital value , i . e ., the output 2 °- 2 n of the counter 67 , and these signals are employed to force the interpole gap to be enlarged . the quantity of such enlargement is automatically controlled depending on the condition in the interpole gap . fig6 is a detailed view of the control device ( jmp ) for controlling the condition of the interpole gap , and , in this embodiment of the invention , the ratio of the quantity of the enlargement of the interpole gap and the machining time to the time required for the enlarging operation is controlled by controlling the time during which the signal used to forcibly enlarge the gap remains present . in fig6 when the abnormal detection signal sa is in the &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; state , an or gate 227 is enabled through a one - shot - multivibrator to set the flip - flop 220 and to reset a counter 219 , whereby the q output of the flip - flop 220 becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and a counter 219 is reset . the signal &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; at the q output of the flip - flop 220 is fed to both one of the inputs of the and gate 226 and an analog switch 222 . in response to the signal &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; from the q output of the flip - flop 220 , the switch 222 is closed , thereby causing the interpole gap servo - circuits 24 and 26 to receive a signal s m to raise the electrode . to another input of the and gate 226 , the sa signal &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is fed through an inverter . hence , the clock pulses generated from a reference clock pulse generator 221 are fed to a cp terminal of the counter 219 . the time set by the counter 219 is equal to the product of the period of the clock pulse of the pulse generator 221 and the count number of the counter 219 . a multidigit coincidence circuit 228 ( digital comparator ) detects the coincidence of the value of the counter 67 for detecting abnormalities with that of the counter 219 . when such coincidence occurs , the r - s flip - flop 220 is reset and the signal &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; from the q output terminal thereof is applied to the analog switch 222 , thereby opening the latter and causing the lowering of the electrode . the q output of the flip - flop 220 remains at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; only for a period of time corresponding to the value of the counter 67 , and the electrode is forced to rise during this time . moreover , the flip - flop 220 is reset by the output of the digital comparator 228 and thus the q output becomes &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, whereupon the inverted output q becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. consequently , a clock pulse input gate 224 of a counter 223 for determining the lowering time of the electrode is enabled to thereby permit the counter 223 to count the clock pulses from the clock generator 221 , and upon the elapse of a preset time set by a switch 225 , the flip - flop 220 is set through the or gate 227 . concurrently , the content of the counter 219 is reset . as a result , the switch 222 is rendered open to thereby raise the electrode . thus , the normal servo operation for the interpole gap is conducted on the basis of the difference between the interpole gap signal v s and the reference voltage v r . during the period of time when the signal sa remains at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the switching operation of the analog switch 222 is repeated and thus a pumping action is achieved to generate a liquid flow in the interpole gap . a resistor r is used to protect the vs and v r generating circuits when the signal sm for raising the electrode is provided . the above operation is conducted only when the signal sa for detecting an abnormal condition in the interpole gap becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, that is , when the gap is in an abnormal condition . the state of the detection signal sa is determined by the and gate 226 and the or gate 227 and , because the output of the or gate 227 is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; when the signal sa is at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the flip - flop 220 is kept in a reset state and the signal sm for raising the electrode is not output , whereby the normal servo operation for the interpole gap is conducted . according to the example shown in fig6 the interpole gap is automatically set depending on the abnormal machining condition when the signal sa for detecting an abnormal condition in the interpole gap becomes ` 1 `. the greater the difference between the normal and abnormal conditions , the greater the time required for and the quantity of enlargement , so that the condition of the interpole gap may be improved . in addition , when the signal sa is ` 0 `, the electrode is not forcibly raised and the normal servo operation for controlling the interpole gap is conducted . in the above embodiment of the present invention , although a description has been given with respect to a case in which the time of raising the electrode is controlled , the object of the present invention is to control the gap between the electrode and the workpiece in a manner such as to improve the conditions of the interpole gap based on the signal for detecting the abnormal condition . it is not technically difficult to control the period of time for machining , the raising speed , the period of elevation and machining , the servo reference voltage and gain in the servo system as in the case of controlling the time required for raising the electrode . by means of the invention , such control is readily carried out . the continuous occurrence of an arc as the so - called failure of electric discharge is expected when electric discharges are concentrated at a point , and , in order to prevent such concentration , the most preferred method is to make it difficult for such an electric discharge to be generated . a description of a method of implementing the preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be given with reference to fig7 et seq . fig7 shows an inverting amplifier 101 , wherein like reference characters designate like component parts in fig4 . the device shown in fig8 is used to change the voltage applied across the interpole gap based on the above output signal sa , and , if the voltage applied for commencing the electric discharge is lowered , electric discharge will scarcely be caused , particularly at one spot in the same discharge gap . moreover , unless there is an electric discharge concentration , it is possible to easily conduct electric discharging in the same electric discharge gap by raising the voltage applied across the interpole gap . the amplifier 41 in fig8 is used to apply the analog voltage corresponding to the output of the counter 67 to an oscillator 100 , which controls transistor 151 , after amplifying the voltage . the voltage vg applied to the interpole gap is expressed as follows . ic is almost nearly equal ( about 99 %) to the current flowing to the emitter follower load , r 2 of the transistor 51 . ic is given by : assuming that r 1 = 30 kω , r 2 = 1 kω and the supply voltage = 300 v , the change of vb from 0 to 10 v causes a change in the output voltage of the transistor 151 from 0 to - 300 v . thus , if the electric discharges are concentrated , the output of the inverting amplifier 101 will decrease as the contents of the counter 67 increase , whereby the interpole gap voltage vg will decrease , thus preventing the concentration of electric discharges . although the voltage applied across the interpole gap is continuously changed according to the contents of the counter 67 in this example , it is not always necessary to make the contents of the counter proportional to the voltage . it has been confirmed through experiment that the transfer of the arc discharge is rather more effectively prevented by exponentially changing the voltage . as shown by examples in fig7 and 8 , there is realized a novel electric discharge machine , wherein an abnormal electric discharge is detected from the frequency spectrum of the discharge voltage waveform and , in addition , the value of the pulse voltage applied across the interpole gap is controlled to make the electric discharge condition normal . by prolonging the off time of the switching element 18b ( fig1 ) based on the output obtained by the detection circuit in fig4 the interval between electric discharges can be made longer so as to obtain a deionization effect and eliminate one of the factors causing electric discharge concentration . referring to fig9 a circuit and means for the above purpose will be described . an rs flip - flop 118 causes the switching element 18b to be turned on through an amplifier 119 when its output q is 1 . in other words , the transistor has an on time when q = 1 and off time when q = 0 . although the output of the and gate 120 remains &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; until the on time setting output τp of the counter 121 for setting on and off times becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, q then becomes &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; because the and gate resets the flip - flop 118 as τp becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and causes off time . simultaneously at this time , the output of the and gate 120 operates to reset an oscillator osc and the counter 121 for time setting through the or gate 122 ; and thus counting is again initiated . when q = 0 is justified , q = 1 is also brought about , so that a q output of 1 may not be obtained until the output of the or gate 124 becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. the or gate 124 and and gates 125 , 126 operate to control the setting of the off time in two modes according to the signal sa , that is , to a value τ1 or to τ2 & gt ; τ1 . in other words , according to the present invention , machining is carried out with off time τ1 during normal electric discharge and with a long off time τ2 during abnormal electric discharge , whereby when the electric discharge is deemed abnormal , deionization is effected by sharply prolonging the quiescent time to prevent electric discharge concentration and to suppress the generation of an abnormal arc . the abnormal electric discharge condition is quickly determined by utilizing the change in the frequency spectrum at the time of discharge . although two off times τ1 , τ2 are referred to in the description above , the same effect can be made available by continuously setting the off time in accordance with the contents of the counter 67 detecting the number of concentrated electric discharges . by changing the interpole gap control , or the reference value v r of the interpole servo signal based on the output obtained from the detection circuit 61 ( fig4 ), the reference voltage may be made greater at the time of an abnormality , to increase the mean interpole gap voltage , and thus the length of the interpole gap is increased , that is , electric discharge may not readily occur while preventing electric discharge concentration . referring to fig1 , an exemplary embodiment for implementing this method is described in detail . since the output of an inverter 300 is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; when the detection signal sa given by the device shown in fig3 is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, or at the time of an abnormality , analog switches 301 and 302 are in on and off states , respectively . consequently , the input voltage of an integrating circuit comprising operational amplifier 303 , resistor r10 and capacitor c10 becomes ei =- e , and the voltage vr is expressed as follows : wherein v = initial value at t = 0 . accordingly , as long as sa continues to be &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the reference value vr will keep increasing with an increase in time t and , because an amplifier 24 drives an oil hydraulic servocoil 26 and raises the electrode , vs proportionally increases in the negative direction to an extent corresponding to the increase of vr . subsequently , when sa is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, or when electric discharge concentration is not present , both switches 301 , 302 are in an off state , whereby the input voltage ei of the operational amplifier 303 becomes 0 , so that the voltage stored in the integrating capacitor c10 is discharged . consequently , the voltage vr is decreased and the interpole gap is controlled so that it is increasingly narrowed while the frequency of electric discharge and machining speed are also increased . the resistor r10 and the capacitor c10 determine the time constant of integration , which should be a value on the order of roughly several tens of seconds ; if the voltage vr is controlled so that it is changed in a short period of time , the length of the interpole gap will be sharply changed resulting in inconveniences such as the hunting phenomenon and vibration of the electrode . the voltage value vr is limited to the zener voltage in the positive direction by a zener diode zd and to 0 in the negative direction . a power supply v e and a variable resistor r b are used to manually set a value , which assumes a central role in automatically controlling the interpole gap . an operational amplifier 304 , and resistors r3 , r4 perform as an inversion circuit and an attenuator for controlling the mean voltage vs of the interpole gap by adding it to the voltage vr . although the voltage vr is made to change by integrating the detection signal sa in the above described example , the voltage vr is much more minutely controllable by converting the digital data in the counter 67 into analog data through the primary delay circuit with a greater time constant . as already referred to , the exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 makes it possible to provide an electric discharge machine wherein a prescribed condition in the interpole gap is established by distinguishing between normal and abnormal conditions using frequency spectrum analysis and , to normalize the electric discharge condition , changing the reference value of the interpole gap servomechanism to reduce the frequency of the electric discharge by enlarging the size of the interpole gap at the time of an abnormality . on the other hand , if the supply of working liquid to the interpole gap is changed depending on the contents of the counter 67 , a normal condition in the interpole gap may be resumed in this manner . fig1 shows a control circuit for controlling the supply of the working liquid , wherein the output of a working liquid supply pump 416 is passed through a pipe 417 via variable displacement valves v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 , and then communicated with a jet channel 418 installed in the electrode 10 , so that the quantity of flowing liquid can be changed according to the opening and shutting of the valves v1 , v2 , v3 and v4 . the valves v1 - v4 are controlled such that they are opened and closed by the outputs 2 6 - 2 9 of the counter 67 . in this example , v1 , v2 , v3 and v4 are arranged to supply working liquid at rates of 100 cc / min , 200 cc / min , 400 cc / min and 800 cc / min , respectively , so that a quantity of liquid corresponding to the quality of the condition in the interpole gap can be supplied . for instance , because the output of 2 6 is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; when the contents of the counter 67 indicate 64 , v1 is opened and is used to supply 100 cc / min of working liquid , whereas v1 and v2 are opened and are used to supply 300 cc / min of liquid to the interpole gap when the outputs 2 6 and 2 7 are &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. when the counter content is too large , namely , more than 1024 , a forced jet valve v5 is opened so as to supply as much as several thousand cc / min of working liquid . on the contrary , when the difference is small , a proper small quantity of liquid , which is employed for ordinary machining , is supplied to the interpole gap from a manually operated valve vo . as noted above , electric discharge in an abnormal condition is detected by analysing the frequency spectrum of the electric discharge waveform and controlled by the quantity of flowing working liquid in the example shown in fig1 . as a result , the sludge produced in the interpole gap is efficiently discharged , so that the efficiency of electric discharge can be considerably improved . in other words , since a discharge arc generated between the electrode and workpiece passes through sludge if the same exists in the interpole gap , a great deal of discharge energy is consumed by the sludge and the machining efficiency is reduced . however , according to this aspect of the invention , the impedance in the interpole gap is not increased more than necessary , and the electric discharge for use in machining is stabilized , because the discharge energy is prevented from being wasted , and the liquid flow is reduced when the interpole gap is narrowed so as to effectively increase the machining speed . although the quantity of the flowing working liquid is made variable in the above example , the purpose is to effectively remove sludge from the interpole gap , and it is also possible to control the liquid pressure in proportion to the contents of the counter in order to obtain the same effect . | 1 |
according to an embodiment of the invention , a magnet keeper - shield assembly is provided to attenuate the magnetic field of a permanent magnet in areas peripheral to one magnetic pole in an extended , operating position and attenuate the entire magnetic field in a retracted , storage position . the magnet keeper - shield assembly is suited to generate and position a high gradient , non - ionizing magnetic field into deep , targeted tumor sites . fig1 illustrates a magnet keeper - shield assembly 10 according to one embodiment . a keeper - shield 12 approximately 10 cm long is provided with a cylindrical bore 14 dimensioned to accept a cylindrical permanent magnet 16 . the material used in keeper - shield 12 is substantially permeable to magnetic flux . according to the present embodiment , a soft steel , preferably 1010 - 1018 steel , is used for keeper - shield 12 . other suitable shielding material includes , for example , mumetal ( 75 %/ ni - 5 % cu - 2 % cr - 18 % fe ) and supermalloy ( 79 % ni - 15 % fe - 5 % mo ). the keeper - shield material may be laminated . the side wall 18 of keeper - shield 12 has an inner diameter of 5 . 6 cm and an outer diameter of 8 . 1 cm . a sleeve 20 of nonmagnetic material is provided along the inner diameter of bore 14 to keep the magnet centered within the bore and prevent surface binding . a cap 22 may be provided to prevent magnetic objects and debris from magnetically adhering to a front face 24 ( north pole ) of the magnet . preferably cap 22 is a delran cap with an on - axis gaussmeter calibration port 21 . the port is a recessed well in the face of the cap positioned over the center axis of front face 24 of magnet 16 . the bottom of the port 21 is 10 cm from the front face 24 , in the retracted position . the port 21 accepts a probe 23 , for example a hall - effect sensor , of a gaussmeter 19 used to measuring the magnetic field at a calibrated distance from the magnet . a magnetic washer 31 can be embedded in the base of the cap to magnetically adhere the cap the keeper - shield 12 . according to an alternate embodiment , cap 22 is constructed from magnetic material and flier increases the volume enclosed with - in the 5 gauss line . magnet 16 can be fabricated from any high energy material including alnico , featuring rare earths ( atomic number 21 , 39 , and 57 - 71 ) compositions such as samariam - cobalt and neodymium - iron - boron amongst others , ceramics and ceramic oxides such as amongst others ferrite and garnet compositions and permanent magnet superconductor compositions . according to the present embodiment , magnet 16 is fabricated from a composition of neodymium - boron - iron magnet . the magnet is machined to 5 . 08 ± 0 . 1 cm dia . by 6 . 31 ± 0 . 1 cm length from a powdered metallurgy grade 39h ( bhmax at 39mgoe ) composition of nd 2 fe 14 b that is substantially free of barium and strontium bonding agents . fig2 illustrates the de - magnetization ( b - h ) curve for grade 39h neodymium - boron - iron composite . preferably a sealant is applied to the outer surface of magnet 16 to improve corrosion resistance . other compositions of ndfeb , and other rare earth , ceramic , or superconducting magnets may be suitable for magnet 16 . for example , stronger magnets may be used to produce a stronger field and increased depth of field at the target site . for example , on axis magnetic flux density of magnet 16 ( 39mgoe ), measured with a lakeshore , model 410 gaussmeter , is approximately 112 gauss with a magnetic flux density times magnetic gradient product of approximately 3 × 10 3 gauss 2 / cm and the flus density of the magnet 16 is approximately 4 . 5 gauss at 38 cm . the field strength of a magnet of approximately the same dimensions as magnet 16 with a 48 mgoe rating would produce 130 gauss and approximately 4 × 10 3 gauss 2 / cm at 10 cm and less than 5 gauss at 38 cm . fig1 illustrates the operating position of the keeper - shield assembly 10 in which magnet 16 extends about 3 . 5 cm from the front of the keeper - shield 12 . fig3 a illustrates the magnetic field strength profile around a magnetic module 25 with the magnet 16 in the extended position . the magnetic module 25 includes a dust cover 27 that covers the keeper - shield assembly 10 holding magnet 16 . the magnetic field is strongest at front surface 24 and a bottom surface 26 , corresponding respectively to the north and south poles of magnet 16 . front surface 24 may be flat or concave . a concave front face may be provided to focus the magnetic field of the north pole of the magnet . fig3 b is a more detailed graph of the magnetic field profile in the operating position . as shown in fig3 a and 3b the magnet produces ( on axis ) a magnetic flux density of greater than or equal to 50 gauss at 13 cm from the pole face and a magnetic flux density less than or equal to 5 gauss at 38 cm from the pole face 24 in the operating position . fig4 illustrates the magnet fully retracted in keeper - shield 12 for storage . the magnetically permeable material of the keeper - shield shunts the magnetic field lines , thereby attenuating the magnetic flux around the keeper - shield assembly 10 . in the retracted position , the magnet produces 5 gauss at about 22 cm from front face 24 . this attenuation of the magnetic flux makes handling and storing the keeper - shield assembly 10 easier , as the attenuation reduces the 5 gauss line to less than 10 cm from the rear of magnetic module 25 . further , the shunting action of the keeper - shield 12 provides long term protection from spurious losses of the field strength . according to the present embodiment , no measurable loss of field strength due to random domain realignment over the life time of the device is expected . the magnetic field at bottom face 26 ( south pole ) is comparable to that of front face 24 ( north pole ). the keeper - shield 12 attenuates the field at the south pole , which reduces radiation interference emission and magnetizable object concerns arising from the tendency of magnetic objects to fly toward the magnet &# 39 ; s poles . the attractive force between bottom face 26 ( south pole ) and base 28 of the keeper - shield 12 biases the magnet into the fully retracted position ( fig4 ). an actuator rod 30 is provided through the base 28 to push the magnet 16 out of bore 14 . according to the present embodiment , actuator rod 30 is driven by a manually powered screw drive mechanism 32 . this mechanism could be motor driven . due to the strength of the magnet 16 , the attractive force between the bottom face 26 and base 28 is very large , and increases at a rate that is approximately proportional to the inverse of the distance between the bottom face 26 and the base 28 . the attractive force is greatest in the fully retracted position , at which the attractive force is about 200 pounds . springs are provided to offset a large portion of this attractive force to ease the action of the actuator rod 30 . a relatively strong primary spring 34 is provided in the center of the base around actuator rod 30 . four secondary springs 36 are provided peripherally as shown in fig5 . secondary springs are longer than spring 34 and extend through the base 28 into external spring keeper - shield assemblies 38 . a nonmetallic spacer 40 may be provided on bottom face 26 to prevent the springs from magnetically adhering to the bottom face 26 of the magnet . the contribution of the springs is cumulative , as shown in fig6 . in the fully retracted position , the springs exert a combined force of about 225 pounds on the spacer 40 , the primary spring 34 contributing about 140 pounds and secondary springs 36 contributing about 85 pounds . the primary spring 34 contributes the most force up to about 0 . 25 cm from base 28 . after this point the secondary springs 36 contribute the most force . the springs only contact the spacer for a portion of the magnet &# 39 ; s travel through the bore . primary spring 34 extends about 0 . 425 cm into the bore 14 when fully extended , and secondary springs 36 extend about 1 . 2 cm into the bore 14 when filly extended . according to an embodiment shown in fig7 a secondary ( back - up ) actuator mechanism is provided to extend the magnet in case of failure of the primary actuator mechanism , that is , actuator rod 30 and screw drive mechanism 32 . in the event that the primary actuator mechanism fails , a screw that holds a secondary spring in place is removed , and a threaded secondary rod 40 of the same diameter and thread pitch as actuator rod 30 is inserted through the back of keeper - shield 12 . secondary rod 40 is driven by secondary screw drive mechanism to push the magnet 16 out of bore 14 . a sliding position indicator 44 can be attached to the magnet 16 to indicate its position relative to the housing . this allows the user to know the magnet is in the fully extended and fully retracted positions . a probe 46 for a gaussmeter 48 can be provided at the back of keeper - shield 12 . probe 46 that measures the magnetic field emanated from the back face ( south pole ) of magnet 16 at that position . as the magnet is extended , the measured field decreases . the measurement is used by a microcontroller 48 to calculate the magnetic field at 1 cm from north pole face 24 . this allows the user to select a magnetic field strength desired for a particular application continuously over the range of fields emanated between the filly extended and fully retracted magnet positions . fig8 illustrates a stand 50 according to an embodiment provided to ease positioning of keeper - shield assembly 10 . keeper - shield assembly 10 is encased in a cover 52 which is attached to a rolling stand 54 by a spring - loaded , counterbalanced articulated arm 56 that can be rotated in three dimensions . the articulated arms 56 and cover 52 may be locked in position to maintain magnet 16 at a desired height and orientation to facilitate precise alignment of the emanated magnetic field onto the targeted site . an articulated magnetic applicator of the type shown in fig8 is manufactured and supplied by ferx , incorporated under the name flexible magnet holder ( fmh ). the fmh houses and positions the magnetic keeper - shield assembly 10 . keeper - shield assembly 10 with magnet 16 may be used in conjunction with any magnetic particle for any application . typically , magnetic particles can be designed to deliver any given drug or diagnostic agent . the use of magnetic particles to deliver antitumor agents may useful . the treatment of solid tumors using chemotherapy has been limited by systemic toxicity resulting in sub - optimal dosing , and by multiple other mechanisms ( e . g . multiple drug resistance of the tumor cells , tumor architecture limiting access of drug to the tumor cells , volume of distribution for drug ) resulting in limited efficacy . although the magnet can operate to temperatures up to about 140 ° c ., the preferred operating range of the magnet is from about 10 ° c . to about 50 ° c . for such clinical applications . in order to enhance the effectiveness and diminish systemic toxicities of certain chemotherapeutic agents , investigators have attempted to target administration of these drugs by intra - arterial injection immediately proximal to the tumor . one possible reason why an enhancement of the therapeutic index of an agent like doxorubicin is not observed after administration into a tumor - feeding hepatic arteriole is the lack of retention of the agent at the site . normal clearance mechanisms lead to rapid elimination of the chemotherapeutic from the region of the tumor and , therefore , only transiently increased levels of the drug are regionally available to exert an antitumor effect . regional therapy achieved through targeted drug delivery using keeper - shield assembly 10 with magnet 16 could improve efficacy by increasing the drug concentration at the tumor while limiting systemic drug concentrations . the keeper - shield assembly 10 is positioned over a target site on the patient . the magnet is extended from the fully retracted position ( fig4 ) to the operating position ( fig1 ) by manipulating screw drive mechanism 32 . the keeper - shield assembly 10 and patient are maintained in this position for a prescribed time period that may be from several seconds to many hours . after sufficient exposure , the magnet is retracted to the fully retracted position for storage . fig9 shows the field strength ( on axis ) of the magnet 16 as a function of depth . magnetic targeted carriers ( mtcs ) are a proprietary microsphere composite of elemental iron and activated carbon . see for example , u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 549 , 915 , 5 , 651 , 989 , 5 , 705 , 195 , and co - pending u . s . ser . nos . 09 / 003 , 286 and 09 / 226 , 818 . mtcs combine elemental iron and activated carbon in microspheres of 0 . 5 - 5 μm . the activated carbon is capable of adsorbing and desorbing a wide variety of drug substances . the elemental iron component of the microspheres allows targeting and local retention after hepatic arterial administration , by placement of an external magnet on the body surface . mtc - doxorubicin ( mtc - dox ) can thus be administered by selective catheterization of one of the hepatic arterioles feeding an hcc . placement of the external magnet over the region of the tumor allows for efficient targeting of the mtc - dox . mtc - dox ( doxorubicin ) is designed for the magnetically targeted site - specific delivery to a liver tumor in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field . eighteen swine were assigned to 6 - treatment groups including 3 control groups and 3 doses of the mtc - dox preparation . animals were given a single administration of test article and evaluated over 28 days and then sacrificed . there were no adverse effects in the dox alone group . biologically significant treatment - related gross and microscopic lesions were limited to the targeted area only of the liver in groups receiving ≧ 75 mg of mtc , and the “ no adverse effect level ” noael was determined to be 25 mg mtc / 2 mg dox . evidence for a possible synergistic effect between mtc and dox was observed , where parenchyma regenerating from the damage caused by targeted mtcs caused the dividing hepatocytes to be more sensitive to dox . the designation of the test article used was mtc - doxorubicin ( mtc - dox ). doxorubicin - hcl injection , usp was purchased from fujisawa usa . the drug carrier was mtc and manufactured by ferx incorporated . the mtcs were rendered sterile by gamma irradiation . the vehicle for injection is 10 % mannitol and 0 . 5 % carboxymethylcellulose in wfi . the designation of the magnet assembly is flexible magnet holder ( fmh ) and is manufactured and supplied by ferx incorporated . the drug substance ( doxorubicin ) and vehicle were supplied as sterile solutions , and the drug carrier was supplied as a sterile dry powder . the magnet ( 1 . 97 in ( w )× 2 . 5 in ( l )) housed in the fmh is a rare - earth ndfeb permanent magnet ( 5 kgauss at the pole face ) purchased from magnet sales , inc . of culver city , calif . for administration , a vial containing 100 mg of mtc drug carrier product was incubated at room temperature ( 18 to 25 ° c .) with 8 mg ( 4 ml ) of doxorubicin ( 2 mg / ml ) for 30 minutes . the mtc - doxorubicin solution was then diluted with 16 ml of vehicle for injection and sonicated for 30 seconds using a cole - palmer ultrasonic cleaner using the “ sonic degas ” setting prior to administration . the resulting dose solution had a concentration of 0 . 4 mg / ml of doxorubicin and 5 . 0 mg / ml of mtc drug carrier . yorkshire domestic swine used in this study were obtained from s & amp ; s farms ( san diego , calif .). the animals were laboratory bred and were experimentally naive at the outset of the study . animals selected for use in this study were as uniform in age and weight as possible . they were generally prepubertal to young adult animals approximately 3 to 4 months of age , and their body weights ranged from 23 to 29 kg . all animals were acclimated to laboratory conditions for a minimum of 7 days prior to study initiation . general description — a total of eighteen animals were randomly assigned to six treatment groups of three animals / group as shown in table 1 below . each animal received a single dose of test article by hepatic intra - arterial infusion . the animals were evaluated for changes in clinical signs , body weight , clinical pathology indices , and other parameters as described below . all animals were euthanized on day 29 , except for those animals that required early sacrifice . a full necropsy was conducted on all animals that survived to the end of the study , and a partial necropsy was conducted on those animals that were sacrificed early . a full panel of tissues was collected for histopathological evaluation . group assignments and dose levels — animals were dosed using a fixed concentration of the test article . the low , medium , and high mtc - dox doses varied as a function of the infusion volume . table 1 lists the total dose and the mg / kg dose based on the dose calculated from the average pig weight determined for the respective groups . catheterization procedure — the animals were fasted overnight ( approximately 12 - 15 prior to surgery . in preparation for the procedure , each animal was weighed and pre - anesthetized with 150 - mg ketamine and 150 mg xylazine . the right hind leg of each animal was disinfected with betadine solution and the surgical site was covered with a steridrape . all study personnel wore surgical gloves , gown or scrubs during the catheterization and administration procedure . under general anesthesia , a skin incision was made in the right inguinal area and the animals were cannulated via the femoral artery using standard percutaneous techniques . animals were administered 5000 iu of heparin ( elkins - sinn ) systemically prior to delivery as prophylaxis against catheter induced thrombosis . under fluoroscopy , a 5 - french angled glide catheter ( cook , inc ., bloomington , ind .) and a 0 . 035 inch angled glidewire ( meditech inc ., watertown , mass .) were inserted into the celiac artery . the common or proper hepatic artery was catheterized , and was performed to select a segmental branch of the hepatic artery that provided adequate accessibility to the desired lobe of the liver to which the test article was targeted . the right middle , or left hepatic artery , or segmental branch thereof , was then catheterized with a tracker 325 catheter ( target , inc ., freemont , calif .) and taper 22 wire ( target inc ., freemont , calif . ). angiography was then performed to verify catheter placement in the desired segment branch of the hepatic artery feeding the selected lobe of the liver . magnet placement and depth measurements — using angiography , placement of the magnet was determined by placing a 2 - inch diameter metal disk on the ventral surface of the pig positioned central to the capillary blush , and approximately 1 - 2 cm distal to the catheter tip . the disk &# 39 ; s position was verified under angiography , and the disk was outlined on the skin surface to guide placement of the magnet . once the magnet position was determined , a depth from the catheter tip to the center point of the magnet was determined by angiography . for groups 1 and 2 , a depth measurement was done by placing a metal ruler on the ventral surface of the skin , distal to the catheter position , and measured by angiography . following the angiography procedures , the north pole of the 5 kgauss rare - earth magnet housed in the flexible magnet keeper - shield assembly was centered in the marked position on the surface of the animal . the magnet was kept in position during the entire infusion procedure ( groups 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ) and for an additional 15 minutes following the completion of the infusion . test material infusion — the test article dose volume was infused as repeated cycles of 7 . 5 ml infusions at an infusion rate of 2 ml / min ( group 4 ( mtc - dox low dose group ) received a single 5 - ml injection ), as described in table 2 . the cycles were repeated every 15 minutes until all of the dose volume was administered . prior to each infusion cycle , the test article suspension was kept uniform by passing the material between two connected syringes 5 times . post infusion angiography — at the end of the infusion , an angiogram was done to verify the patency of the arteries in the selected lobe of the liver . angiography was performed through the tracker 325 catheter . the tracker 325 was then removed and repeat angiography of the common or proper hepatic artery was performed through the 5 - french glide catheter to determine the patency of the hepatic arterioles . toxicokinetic analysis — aliquots of approximately 2 . 0 ml of whole blood were collected in edta - containing tubes from all animals in groups 2 , 4 , 5 and 6 on day 0 prior to dosing , and at 15 , 30 , 45 , 60 , 90 , 120 and 180 minutes post dose . the samples were mixed immediately by inverting at least six times , and then centrifuged . analysis of plasma doxorubicin levels were quantitated by hplc . angiography — table 3 provides information on the location of the target region within the liver , including depth relative to catheter position , and degree of embolization as observed by angiography . toxicokinetic data — plasma concentrations of doxorubicin were analyzed by hplc . samples were taken from groups 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 prior to dosing and at 15 , 30 , 45 , 60 , 90 , 120 , and 180 minutes post - dose . results show that the mtc - dox groups as compared to the doxorubicin control group have little or no circulating doxorubicin as shown in fig1 . these results suggest that the drug remained localized primarily to the targeted site in the mtc - dox treatment groups . microscopic pathology , targeted liver — direct treatment related microscopic changes were primarily limited to the targeted region of the liver in those groups receiving mtc particles . in general , microscopic changes increased in severity in proportion to the increasing dose of mtc particles , with the most severe liver changes in both groups receiving the high dose of mtc particles ( groups 3 and 6 ). as a result of the use of the permanent magnet , extravasation of mtc particles into the portal area tissue ( including the walls of the hepatic artery branches ) was noted in all animals receiving mtc particles . mtc particles in the kupffer cells of the hepatic lobule was noted in all groups receiving mtc , although only in one of the three animals ( at a minimum severity ) in the group receiving the mtc - dox low dose ( group 4 ). in most animals , multinucleated giant cells were associated with the presence of mtc particles in the portal area tissue . several other treatment related changes were present affecting the portal regions of the targeted liver and were present in a dose - related fashion . portal fibrosis ( bridging ), a change characterized by bands of fibrous connective tissue connecting adjacent portal areas , was a prominent change except in the mtc - dox low dose group . bile duct hyperplasia consistently accompanied the bridging fibrosis . bile pigment , peribiliary fibrosis , neutrophilic inflammation of bile ducts and bile duct rupture were variably present in the groups receiving 75 mg of mtc particles or greater ( groups 3 , 5 , and 6 ). chronic / active inflammation was only seen in those animals receiving the high dose of mtc particles ( groups 3 and 6 ). of these changes , only mild focal peribiliary fibrosis was present in a single animal receiving the mtc - dox low dose . in the targeted liver , severe necrosis of entire hepatic lobules was present in the mtc - dox high dose group . the mtc control group had moderate necrosis of the targeted region and only one animal in the mtc - dox medium dose group had mild necrosis of the hepatic lobules in the targeted liver . areas of chronic / active inflammation surrounded the areas of necrosis in the mtc - dox high dose group only . this inflammatory reaction was a response by the body to surround and isolate the zones of necrosis . microscopic pathology , non - targeted liver — in the groups receiving the high dose of mtc particles ( groups 3 and 6 ), a mild to moderate presence of mtc particles were seen in the hepatic artery , portal areas and hepatic lobules ( kupffer cells ) in the non - targeted regions of the liver . the presence of these particles in the non - targeted region of the liver did not appear to cause any associated damage to the liver . moderate bile - stasis in the non - targeted region of the liver was present in only one animal receiving the mtc - dox high dose and was considered to be secondary to the severe changes occurring in the targeted region of the liver in that animal . no other groups had particles outside of the targeted region . microscopic pathology , other tissues — mtc particles were present within submucosal arteries in the stomach of a single animal in the mtc - dox high dose group . these particles were associated with a minimal accumulation of multinucleated giant cells but otherwise , there were no related changes in the stomach . changes indirectly related to treatment — microscopic changes indirectly related to treatment were found in the mtc - dox high dose group only . these changes were present in the lung , heart , and spleen . these changes were inflammatory in nature and likely developed secondary to the clinical deterioration of the animals resulting from the hepatic pathology . in the lung of two of the three animals from group 6 , there was severe lung inflammation with bacteria in the bronchi . these changes were characteristic of a bacterial bronchopneumonia developing either as an acquired infection or via aspiration . in one animal , pleural fibrosis and pleura inflammation was associated with the pneumonia . neutrophilic inflammation of the pericardium in one of the animals from this group was also most likely due to bacterial infection . granulomatous inflammation or neutrophilic inflammation in the spleen of 2 / 3 animals from this group were likely extensions of inflammation in other tissues of the body . eighteen female domestic swine were administered a pulsatile administration of one of the following treatments via the hepatic artery : vehicle control ( negative control ), 18 mg doxorubicin , 225 mg mtc , 25 mg mtc / 2 mg doxorubicin , 75 mg mtc / 6 mg doxorubicin , or 225 mg mtc / 18 mg doxorubicin . toxicokinetic results indicate that doxorubicin is not freely circulating in any of the mtc - dox groups , and therefore suggests that the drug has been localized to the targeted site through the use of the externally placed permanent magnet . based upon the gross and the microscopic pathology , the noael was 25 mg mtc / 2 mg doxorubicin . clinical engineering at the ucla medical center has evaluated the ferx flexible magnet holder lot number d002 . a three - part test was performed to determine its potential effect on the equipment that will be present in angiographic procedure room . the field strength of the magnet holder was set at 1 , 000 gauss . this test was made to determine the influence of the magnet to the image intensifier in various distances . a line pair resolution phantom was mounted to the center of the image intensifier and successive readings were made . all distance measurements are referenced to the central beam of the 1 . 1 . for the type of procedure to be performed , an evaluation was made using the 9 - inch and 12 - inch field modes . in both cases the magnet started to influence the tv image at a 36 - inch distance . at 12 - inch , the image resolution dropped off completely . various infusion devices were tested within close proximity to the flexible magnet holder . the baxter model 6201 , 6301 , and pcaii were the only devices affected by the flexible magnet holder . when the magnetic module was within one inch of these units it caused a “ door open ” alarm , stopping infusion . the marquette physiological monitoring system , model tramscope 12c , was tested within close proximity ( up to one inch ) to the device without any interference with monitoring performance . caution should be used when this device is in close proximity to the above equipment . when not in use , this device should be at least 36 inches from the x - ray image intensifier . it is not to be used in presence of any implantable devices or respiratory ventilators . note that since the maximum field strength of the magnet was measured to be 1 , 073 gauss , to increase the above mentioned “ safe ” distances by 10 % would be more than sufficient . it is clinical engineering &# 39 ; s recommendation that the flexible magnet holder is safe to be utilized with human subjects who are not on life support and / or saving devices , based on the specified criteria in the patient inclusion selection of the protocol # mtc - dox001 ( attached ). a number of embodiments of the invention have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims . | 0 |
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