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when referred to hereafter , the terminology “ wireless transmit / receive unit ( wtru )” includes but is not limited to a user equipment ( ue ), a mobile station , a fixed or mobile subscriber unit , a pager , a cellular telephone , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a computer , or any other type of user device capable of operating in a wireless environment . when referred to hereafter , the terminology “ base station ” includes but is not limited to a node - b , a site controller , an access point ( ap ), or any other type of interfacing device capable of operating in a wireless environment . the term computer or pc may be any device capable of supporting a voice call . such devices include , but are not limited to , laptop computers , pda &# 39 ; s , cellular telephones , mobile internet devices ( mids ), ultra mobile pcs ( umpc ), automobiles and any other device that may interface with a pc card . referring to fig3 , a functional block diagram of an enhanced cellular pc card 300 is shown . here , the soft mobile phone client 101 functionality is included with wireless connectivity 309 . the soft mobile phone client 101 no longer requires a non - access stratum ( nas ) 111 because this functionality is already included in the wireless connectivity 309 . instead , a software interface 313 is introduced to allow the soft mobile phone client 101 to access nas 111 functionality in the wireless connectivity 309 as shown . the soft mobile phone client 101 now comprises a reduced set of functions that will , at a minimum , include unlicensed mobile access / generic access network ( uma / gan ) 113 and voice over internet protocol ( voip ) client functions 305 . additionally , the soft mobile phone client 101 may use the sim card 103 included with the wireless connectivity 309 . for this purpose a software interface 311 may be provided . alternatively , if the sim card 103 is remotely located , for example in a computer , then an external interface 301 , for example , a low pin count ( lpc ) bus , direct connection with the sim or pci bus , may be provided . additionally , a sim may not be a physical device such as a card , but rather sim functionality implemented in machine readable instructions that is executed on a trusted processor in the pc card 300 or the computer . while an external or software sim 103 is not shown for the sake of simplicity , such configurations and the communications between the enhanced cellular pc card 300 and the sim card 103 via the computer bus or other internal or external pc card interfaces falls within the intended scope of this specification . a policy 315 may interface with both the soft mobile phone client 101 as well as the wireless connectivity 309 through software 319 , 317 , respectively . the policy 315 may be included in the enhanced cellular pc card 300 provided via the sim card 103 , provided by the operator or in any other configuration that enables the policy to be utilized by the wireless connectivity 309 and the soft mobile phone client 101 . the policy may be initially configured or modified by the operator using , for example , a firmware over the air ( fota ) process . the purpose of this policy 315 is to define a set of rules and provide coordination between the two points of connectivity 101 , 309 . for example , the policy 315 may dictate that when the soft mobile phone client 101 sees wifi ® internet connectivity , voice and data calls should be established through this path and the wireless connectivity 309 component should be put into an idle or sleep state . in another embodiment , the policy configuration may be to let the network set the default configuration , but include options for the user to set preferences including , but not limited to , uma / gan off , default to cellular even when alternative ip connectivity is available ( or vice versa ), alert the user of the network being used , remember settings for each network , ( for example , when a traveler returns to a hotel with poor wifi reception , not to try connecting again or alert the user to the previous settings ), recognize other voip services on the computer , for example , through vonage ™ or skype ™ and , when detected , alert or allow the user to change the preferred connection to the cellular operator . the connection manager 413 may be used to provide user defined aspects of the policy configuration . in one embodiment , the wireless connectivity 309 and soft mobile phone client 101 combination in the pc card 300 do not include any other connectivity mechanism other than the rf module 205 . in this embodiment , alternate ip connectivity , for example , via a hard - wired internet connection , wifi ®, wimax , bluetooth ®, and the like , require such capabilities to be provided via the computer . for example , this functionality may be embedded in the computer or it may be available via another peripheral device inserted into the computer . in general , a pc card may be a multi - mode device that includes other wired or wireless ip connectivity ( i . e . wimax or wifi ® may be implemented on the same pc card as the soft mobile phone client and wireless connectivity utilizing the rf 205 , as 203 , and nas 111 ). in such a case , the pc card will have internal hardware or software interfaces to the other ip connectivity as well as , if required , hardware and software interfaces to the pc platform . thus the ip connectivity may be through the computer or the pc card . similarly , part or all of the connection manager 413 software may reside on the pc card and other subsystems ( e . g . audio ) may also reside on the pc card . for simplicity , the description treats a pc card that does not include other wired or wireless ip connectivity , any part of the connection manager , or other subsystems , but such configurations fall within the scope of this specification . fig4 shows a functional block diagram utilizing this arrangement in a phone system 400 , where the enhanced cellular pc card 300 , in concert with a personal computer 409 into which it is inserted , may offer a complete voice service to the end user . typical pc operating systems 411 , such as windows ®, provide well defined application programming interfaces ( apis ) 403 that enable access to internet connectivity , audio subsystems , wifi ®, wimax as well as other subsystems within the computer . these subsystems may be accessed directly via the soft mobile phone client 101 in the enhanced cellular pc card 300 or via a connection manager 413 or driver function through connections 415 . similarly communications 417 may be enabled between wireless connectivity 309 , policy 315 and the soft mobile phone client 101 in the enhanced pc card 300 and the apis 403 , and the operating system 411 in the computer 409 . the enhanced cellular pc card 300 provides the voip client 305 , which may optionally include a phone graphical user interface ( gui ) implemented in a software module 401 a , and uma / gan 113 functionality . the pc 409 provides key i / o functions 407 required to complete a phone system 400 . optionally , the connection manager 413 may include a gui implemented in software 401 b that is capable of generating a gui interface on the pc 409 display . from an end user perspective , the system 400 would operate as follows : upon connection of the enhanced cellular pc card , the gui functionality would automatically be launched . typically , if the gui 401 a is in the enhanced cellular pc card 300 , this would be the case . by way of example , the gui 401 a may be a graphical representation of a cellular phone . this may automatically appear on the pc 409 display or may be discretely concealed in an icon on a toolbar that must be clicked to launch . alternatively , if the gui 401 b is part of the connection manager 413 , for example , as an application running on the os 411 in the pc 409 then a manual action by the end user may be required to launch the gui 401 b . with the gui 401 b launched and internet connectivity available ( wired or wireless ) via the pc 409 , the end user may proceed to make phone calls utilizing the method described below . while aforementioned gui is provided by way of example , one skilled in the art will recognize that other means for initiating or terminating a call may be used , such as text entry , software configured to automatically dial , or a handset or other peripheral that allows dialing or initiation and / or termination of a phone call . referring to fig5 , a method of making a voip phone call utilizing an enhanced cellular pc card 500 is described . the enhanced cellular pc card is first connected to the computer through a compatible interface ( block 501 ). the compatible interface may be usb , express card , mini card , or any interface capable of supporting data communications between the enhanced cellular pc card and the computer . when the enhanced cellular pc card is connected to the computer , the gui interface is launched in block 503 . the graphical user interface enables the user to operate the computer as if it were a phone . the graphical user interface may be a representation on the computer display of a cellular phone , or simply a dial pad , voice dialer or other type of display for placing or receiving a call . the graphical user interface may reside on the enhanced cellular pc card , in which case the act of connecting the card to the computer may automatically launch the gui . alternatively , the gui may reside within the connection manager software of the computer &# 39 ; s operating system , in which case the graphical user interface may be launched manually by the user at the computer . the voip client then checks to see if there is internet connectivity ( block 505 ). internet connectivity may be provided by the enhanced pc modem card &# 39 ; s radio frequency ( rf ) wireless capabilities , or alternatively , may be provided through another connection to which the computer has access , such as a hard wired network , or a wifi ® connection to which the computer has access by a wireless transceiver located somewhere other than the enhanced cellular pc modem card . if internet connectivity is available , the existing connection to the internet is used ( block 506 ). if no internet connectivity is detected , the cellular wireless capability of the enhanced cellular pc card is activated and a connection with the internet is established . once internet connectivity is established , the soft mobile client establishes the voip communication through the internet connection and provides voice calling via the soft mobile phone client , and the internet connection ( block 509 ). fig5 is an example of a selected policy , but other policies may result in different options , such as using a traditional switched circuit voice connection if one is available . although a uma / gan based soft mobile phone client approach may be used , additional approaches may be utilized . for example , a soft mobile phone client based upon the ieee 802 . 21 standard may be used . alternatively , the mobile phone soft client may use information associated with the policy to utilize aspects of the 802 . 21 standard . other protocols that enable voip , for example , session initiation protocol ( sip ) may be used . this configuration of wireless connectivity , soft mobile client , and policy may present a compelling offering to cellular operators as it provides the ability to market a single pc product , and maintain a good degree of control and manage the use of all wireless connectivity means collectively available in the enhanced cellular pc card and the computer into which the enhanced cellular pc card is inserted . although features and elements are described above in particular combinations , each feature or element can be used alone without the other features and elements or in various combinations with or without other features and elements . the methods or flow charts provided herein may be implemented in a computer program , software , or firmware incorporated in a computer - readable storage medium for execution by a general purpose computer or a processor . examples of computer - readable storage mediums include a read only memory ( rom ), a random access memory ( ram ), a register , cache memory , semiconductor memory devices , magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks , magneto - optical media , and optical media such as cd - rom disks , and digital versatile disks ( dvds ). suitable processors include , by way of example , a general purpose processor , a special purpose processor , a conventional processor , a digital signal processor ( dsp ), a plurality of microprocessors , one or more microprocessors in association with a dsp core , a controller , a microcontroller , application specific integrated circuits ( asics ), field programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ) circuits , any other type of integrated circuit ( ic ), and / or a state machine . a processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a wireless transmit receive unit ( wtru ), user equipment ( ue ), terminal , base station , radio network controller ( rnc ), or any host computer . the wtru may be used in conjunction with modules , implemented in hardware and / or software , such as a camera , a video camera module , a videophone , a speakerphone , a vibration device , a speaker , a microphone , a television transceiver , a hands free headset , a keyboard , a bluetooth ® module , a frequency modulated ( fm ) radio unit , a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) display unit , an organic light - emitting diode ( oled ) display unit , a digital music player , a media player , a video game player module , an internet browser , and / or any wireless local area network ( wlan ) or ultra wide band ( uwb ) module . | 7 |
fig1 a shows a non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure 1000 may comprise of a lip 1100 , a leading portion 1200 , a body portion 1300 , a trailing portion 1400 and at least one hook 1450 . each of said components being directly and / or indirectly engageable in such a way so as to provide a customizable fishing lure . for example , a first connection mechanism 1710 may be provided so as to engage lip 1100 to the leading portion 1200 . similarly , a second connection mechanism 1720 may be used to engage trailing portion 1400 to body portion 1300 . as may be appreciated by one skilled in the art , fishing lure 1000 may be constructed in a variety of ways when a variety of said components are provided . fig1 b shows an exploded view of fishing lure 1000 from fig1 a . as can be seen , first connection mechanism 1710 may comprise of a male connection portion 1710 a and a female connection portion 1710 b . similarly , said second connection mechanism 1720 may comprise of a male connection portion 1720 b and a female connection portion 1720 b . fig1 c shows the underneath view of fig1 a and fig1 d shows the underneath said of fig1 b . fig2 a shows another non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure 2000 may comprise of a lip 2100 , a leading portion 2200 , a body portion 2300 , a trailing portion 2400 and at least one hook 2452 . each of said components being directly and / or indirectly engageable in such a way so as to provide a customizable fishing lure . for example , a first connection mechanism 2710 which may allow lip 2100 to be engaged to leading portion 2200 , second connection mechanism 2720 may allow body portion 2300 to be engaged to trailing portion 2400 and a third connection mechanism 2730 which may allow leading portion 2200 to be engaged to body portion 2300 . accordingly , fishing lure 2000 provides yet an additional variable ( i . e ., third connections mechanism 2300 ) to give the fishing angler additional customizable configurations . additionally , fishing lure 2000 is shown with an optional second hook 2450 to provide yet another optional configuration . fig2 b shows an underneath perspective view of fishing lure 2000 from fig2 a . fig2 c - 2 f provide exploded views of fishing lure 2000 . fig3 a shows yet another non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure 3000 may comprise of a lip 3100 , a leading portion 3200 , a body 3300 , and a trailing portion 3400 . each of said components being directly and / or indirectly engageable in such a way so as to provide a customizable fishing lure . said lip 3100 may comprise a male connection 3710 a which is adapted to mate with a female connection portion 3710 b ; of course , one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of such mating connections may be incorporated . in addition , fishing lure 3000 may include a cavity portion 3800 to provide yet additional configuration options for the angler . said cavity portion may be used to house a variety of elements which will be discussed later in greater detail . fig3 b shows a perspective view of fishing lure 3000 . fig3 c shows an underneath , perspective view of fishing lure 3000 , wherein lip 3100 has not yet been inserted into leading portion 3200 . fig3 d shows an upper , perspective view of fishing lure 3000 , wherein lip 3100 is not yet been inserted into leading portion 3200 . fig3 d shows a side elevational view of fishing lure 3000 , wherein lip 3100 has been inserted into leading portion 3200 . fig3 f shows an upper , perspective view of lip 3100 . fig3 g shows an underneath perspective view of lip 3100 . fig3 h shows a right side elevational view of lip 3100 . fig3 j shows a front elevational view of lip 3100 . fig3 k shows a top view of the lip 3100 . said lip 3100 shown having a paddle - shaped design , although a wide variety of designs are contemplated herein . fig3 l shows a cross - sectional view of lip 3100 from fig3 k , wherein the male connection portion 3710 a may be further appreciated by one skilled in the art . fig3 m shows a front elevational view of fishing lure 3000 wherein lip 3100 having been inserted into leading portion 3200 . fig3 n shows a cross - sectional view taken a long line a - a of fig3 m . as can be seen , lip 3100 having a male connection portion 3710 a may be inserted and releasably engaged to leading portion 3200 and mated with female connection portion 3710 b . fig3 p shows a front elevational view of fishing lure 3000 wherein lip 3100 has not yet been inserted . fig3 p is provided to give further appreciation of the female connection portion 3710 b . female connection portion 3710 b may be further appreciated within cross - sectional view in fig3 q which is taken along cross - sectional line b - b within fig3 p . fig4 a shows yet another non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure 4000 may comprise of a lip 4100 , a leading portion 4200 , a body portion 4300 , and a trailing portion 4400 . each of said components being directly and / or indirectly engageable in such a way so as to provide a customizable fishing lure . said lip 4100 may be moved inwardly and outwardly from leading portion 4200 in such a manner as to change the amount of surface area exposed externally which may alter the movement properties of lure 4000 . for example , the more that said lip 4100 is externally exposed , the deeper that said lure 4000 may dive into the water upon being moved within the water . of course , one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of such inward / outward movement may be incorporated . further , one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of changing the amount of exposed surface area , pitch or angle may also be incorporated . accordingly , fig4 a and 4 b show a lever 4712 which may be actuated to cause stop 4714 to engage or disengage a first engaging surface 4717 so as to permit or inhibit the movement of said lip 4100 . as can be appreciated in fig4 c and 4 d , the lever mechanism 4710 may include a fulcrum 4713 that permits the actuation of lever 4712 . in addition , a second engaging surface 4719 may be include and adapted to engage with said first engaging surface 4717 to provide additional structural integrity and engagement locking . referring now to fig4 e and 4 f , said first engaging surface 4717 and said second engaging surface 4719 are shown to have mating grooves ; however , one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of mating surfaces may also be incorporated . additionally , fishing lure 4000 may also comprise a first connection mechanism 4720 which may be provided so as to engage leading portion 4200 to body portion 4300 and / or a second connection mechanism 4730 which may be provided so as to body portion 4300 to trailing portion 4400 . as may be appreciated by one skilled in the art , fishing lure 4000 may be constructed in a variety of ways when a variety of said components are provided . fig5 a - 5 c show a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 5000 may comprise of a ruder portion 5100 , a locking portion 5710 a , a reservoir inlet 5990 , a reservoir 5994 and a reservoir outlet 5992 . said lip 5000 may be filled with a substance ( e . g ., fragrant solution ) by introduction through reservoir inlet 5990 , temporary storage in reservoir 5994 and ultimate dispensing through reservoir outlet 5992 for dissemination into the water for attracting fish . locking portion 5710 a may be adapted to engage with the leading portion ( or like portion ) of the fishing lure . one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of shape , size , design , engagement , etc . may be incorporated . fig6 a - 6 c show a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 6000 may comprise of a ruder portion 6100 , a locking portion 6710 a , a reservoir 6994 and a reservoir elements 6990 . said reservoir 6994 may be occupied with said reservoir elements 6990 so as to provide altering properties of said lip 6000 . for example , reservoir elements 6990 may be round weights that are permitted to move about within said reservoir 6994 , wherein such movement causes the fishing lure to alter its overall movement . causing the fishing lure to move in such a manner may result in more life - like movement or minimally in a non - traditional manner that may attract fish . in another example , the inclusion of free moving components ( e . g ., glass beads , ceramic balls , plastic pellets , etc .) may contact each other and / or the inner walls of cavity 6994 causing the production of sound . this emitted sound can attract fish to the lure . locking portion 6710 a may be adapted to engage with the leading portion ( or like portion ) of the fishing lure . one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of shape , size , design , engagement , etc . may be incorporated . fig7 a - 7 c show a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 7000 may comprise of a ruder portion 7100 , a locking portion 7710 a , an illumination element 7290 , a power source 7294 and a source - to - illumination connection 7292 . said illumination element 7290 may be adapted to provide illumination which is visible to fish and thus attract them . said power source 7294 may be adapted to be disposable and / or replaceable . locking portion 7710 a may be adapted to engage with the leading portion ( or like portion ) of the fishing lure . one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of shape , size , design , engagement , etc . may be incorporated . in addition , one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of level , color , flashing , continuance , etc . for the illumination may be incorporated . fig7 d shows a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 7300 may comprise of a ruder portion 7305 , a locking portion 7310 a and a fracture section 7320 . locking portion 7310 a may be adapted to engage with the leading portion ( or like portion ) of the fishing lure . fracture section 7320 may be adapted so as to allow a ruder front portion 7305 f of the ruder portion 7305 to be broken away . for example , if the ruder front portion 7305 f were to get caught in underwater weeds , excess retraction force ( e . g ., pulling harder on the fishing rod ) may be exerted to cause rude portion 7305 to break along fracture section 7320 ; thus , ruder front portion 7305 f will be left stuck in the weeds while the remainder portion of the fishing lure may be retrieved . once retrieved , the broken lip may be replaced with a new lip . while this embodiment shows fracture section 7320 is shown as a fracture line , one skilled in the art would appreciate that obvious variations of shape , size , location , etc . may be incorporated . fig7 e shows a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 7400 may comprise of a ruder portion 7405 , a locking portion 7410 a and a pivoting section 7406 . locking portion 7410 a may be adapted to engage with the leading portion ( or like portion ) of the fishing lure . pivoting section 7406 may be adapted so as to allow a front portion of the ruder portion 7405 to be pivoted , as for example , between ruder portion positions 7405 a and 7405 b . such pivoting motion may provide more life - like lure retrieving motions or other desirable motions . fig7 f shows a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 7500 may comprise of a curved ruder portion 7505 and a locking portion 7510 . lip 7500 is provided to illustrate the various shapes and configurations of lips in accordance with the present invention , as appreciated by one skilled in the art . fig7 g shows a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 7600 may comprise of a flat portion 7605 and a locking portion 7610 . this particular lip 7600 may be used to plug the otherwise opening within the fishing lure in such a way to provide a lip with minimal exposure . when lip 7600 is used to plug said opening , the fishing lure can be retrieved with minimal resistance in the water , thus allowing said lure to raise more towards the top of the water . fig7 h and 7 i show a non - limiting , exemplary lip embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , lip 7700 may comprise a first lip portion 7705 a , a second lip portion 7705 b and a locking portion 7710 a . lip 7700 is adapted to be retrieved on a non - linear path back to the angler or fishing pole . such non - linear retrieve may be desirable , for example , when trolling . as can be appreciated from fig7 i , which is taken along cross - sectional line a - a within fig7 h , the first lip portion 7705 a may be tapered to increase drag on its side of lip 7705 as compared to the drag imparted on second lip portion 7705 b , thus causing lip 7700 to deflect on an angle when pulled through the water . with the teachings herein , one skilled in the art would appreciate that other lip designs causing differing drag may be used to cause the lure to retrieve in a non - linear manner . while the above embodiments have illustrated a variety of lip design in accordance with the present invention , one skilled in the art would appreciate additional lip designs which would be in keeping with the teachings of the present invention . for instance , the lips may vary in a variety of physical characteristics which may alter the fishing lure &# 39 ; s performance . for example , the lip may be made of a substantially heavy material so as to cause the fishing lure to dive deeply into the water . in another example , the lip may have a particular color ( s ) to match the desired fishing conditions ( e . g ., an injured fish ; fish spawning , etc .). in another example , the lip may be made to look like other body segments , for example , legs of a frog or transforming tadpole . while the above embodiments have been shown to have their connection portions exposed ( as exemplified in fig8 a ), one skilled in the art would appreciate that said connection portions may be substantially covered by connection covers 2750 , 2752 , as exemplified in fig8 b . for example , connection covers 2750 , 2752 may be constructed of a thermoplastic elastomer or any like material that has flexible properties . in addition , said connection covers may be made to appear as fish - like features including , but not limited to , gills , scales , injured portions , etc . . . . . further , said connection covers may be made to extend beyond the perimeter of the fishing lure so as to appear as fins or the like . still further , it should be noted that any section of the customizable fishing lure can be produced using molding techniques that incorporate multiple materials of construction . the combination of materials ( plastics , rubber , metal , ceramic , etc .) using molding techniques known in the art ( insert molding , co - molding , etc .) may allow optimization of the aesthetics , security of part fitment , scent retention , flexibility or optical qualities of the part ( s ). fig9 shows a non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure system embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure system 8000 may comprise of at least one fishing lure 8102 , at least one lip 8203 and a package 8300 . in addition , fishing lure system 8000 may also comprise a communication 8600 which describes recommendations for combining fishing lures and lips for targeted fishing . fig9 shows a first fishing lure 8102 , a second fishing lure 8104 and a third fishing lure 8106 , wherein at least one of said lures is different from another . for example , lure 8106 is smaller than 8104 which is smaller than lure 8102 . labels 8302 , 8304 , 8306 which may be used to emphasis the difference between said lures . similarly , fig9 shows a first plurality of first lips 8203 , a second plurality of second lips 8205 and a third plurality of third lips 8207 , wherein at least one of said lips is different from another lip . for example , first lips 8203 are smaller than second lips 8205 which are smaller than third lips 8207 . labels 8403 , 8405 , 8407 may be used to emphasis the difference between said lips . lastly , package 8300 may also comprise of a panel 8500 having at least one hole 8502 which permit said package to be displayed on a peg board type display within a retail store . fig1 a and 10 b show a non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure system embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure system 9000 may comprise a fishing lure 9300 having an extendable lip 9202 a , a backpanel 9100 and a package cover 9200 . referring now to fig1 a , extendable lip 9202 a is shown in a retracted position , wherein the amount of exposed lip surface area is minimized . referring now to fig1 b , extendable lip 9202 b is shown in an extended position , wherein the amount of exposed lip surface area is maximized . fishing lure system 9000 allows the shopping customer to feel and extend the lip prior to purchasing ; such a point - of - sale interaction should result in increased sales of said fishing lure systems . lastly , fishing lure system 9000 may also comprise of a backpanel 9502 having at least one hole 9504 which permits said package to be displayed on a peg board type display within a retail store . fig1 shows a non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure retail display embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure retail display 9600 may comprise at least one fishing lure 9602 having an extendable tether 9612 , at least one lip 9622 and a communication 9650 which describes recommendations for combining fishing lures and lips for targeted fishing . fig1 shows a first fishing lure 9602 , a second fishing lure 9604 and a third fishing lure 9606 , wherein at least one of said lures is different from another . for example , lure 9606 is smaller than 9604 which is fatter than lure 9602 . tethers 9616 , 9614 , 9612 may be attached to said lures , respectively . similarly , fig1 shows a first lips 9622 , a second lip 9624 and a third lip 9626 , wherein at least one of said lips is different from another lip . for example , first lip 9622 is smaller than second lips 9624 which are smaller than third lip 9626 . tethers 9632 , 9634 , 9634 may be attached to said lips , respectively . as is illustrated , first lip 9622 can be moved from an initial position 9622 a to an engaged position 9622 b , wherein said tether 9632 can be extended from an initial position 9632 a to an engaged position 9632 b . fig1 shows a non - limiting , exemplary fishing product recommendation system having a user input interface embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , user input interface 9700 may be take a variety of forms including , but not limited to , an internet website , kiosk , point - of - sale communication and computer software . said interface 9700 may comprise of a communication 9710 which is directed at acquiring information to assist in a product recommendation 9720 or assistance . for example , communication 9710 may comprise of a variety of questions used to identify the recommend fishing lure system for the desired fishing experience . with said recommendation , the consumer can better select the right fishing lure system within the retail store . additionally , the consumer may be able to use such interface on the internet and then have the recommend products delivered . even further , after returning from the fishing trip , the angler can record which lures did better than others so as to track performance . the angler may also indicate which lures were lost so that a new product order may be initiated . with the teachings of this disclosure , one skilled in the art would appreciate other variations directed at achieving the overall result of educations , assisting and selling to the others . while particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described , it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . it is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention . for example , one skilled in the art would appreciate that many of the disclosed features illustrated within the body of the fishing lure may also be applied to other segments of the lure , as exampled in fig1 a - c . more specifically , fig1 a shows the inclusion of rattles in each of the segments . fig1 b shows the inclusion of weights in each of the segments . fig1 c shows the inclusion of fluorescent materials in each of the segments . further , if each segment were made via a process that allowed a cavity within the part , a variety of other elements may be utilized including , but not limited to , sound producing mechanisms , light emission , or weight / weight differential mechanisms . for example , one skilled in the art would appreciate that the segments of the fishing lure may be produced from one or more materials incorporating varying rigidity , flexibility , weight and / or buoyancy . further , materials that exhibit ecological advantages , such as polylactic acid ( pla ) that will biodegrade overtime if lost into the water , may be incorporated . even further , materials that are made from post consumer recycle substances may be incorporated as such fact is often deemed desirable to the common nature - loving angler . for example , one skilled in the art would appreciate that the segments may be engaged in a variety of configurations . for example , hooks may be placed on a variety of locations ( trailing portion , body , leading portion , etc .). for example , male and female connections may be reversed . further , other suitable types of connections may be used to engage segments . for example , one skilled in the art would appreciate that the segments may be of varying sizes , lengths and designs . for example , the lip may be designed to extend beyond the leading portion , extend equal to the leading portion and / or extend short of the leading portion . fishing lures with such varying lips are often referred to as different types of bait ( e . g ., poppers having short lips to cause the lure to remain on the surface or “ pop ” via the trapping of air between an upwardly exposed “ cup shaped ” lip and the water surface ; crank baits having longer lips to cause the lure to dive , etc .). further , one skilled in the art would appreciate that the benefits of the present invention may be applied to other lures used in fishing ; for example , lures commonly referred to as jig or spinner lures . see fig1 a - 14 c for non - limiting , exemplary embodiments . the lures in fig1 a - 14 c comprise a leading portion 9802 , a trailing portion 9804 and a connection mechanism 9806 which releasably engages said leading portion and said trailing portion . despite the often different fisherman and / or fishing conditions between traditional crank bait and jigs , the embodiments of the present application demonstrate how the benefits of the present invention may be appreciated in a variety of lure types . for example , one skilled in the art would appreciate that a variety of connection mechanisms may be used in keeping with the teachings of the present invention . for example , fig1 a - 15 b show a non - limiting , exemplary embodiment of a fishing lure having a trailing portion and body connection mechanism which allows swivel or pivoting motion during travel through water . more specifically , fig1 a shows said embodiment in a pre - engaged position and fig1 b shows said embodiment in an engaged position . said connection mechanism 9811 may be comprised of a first connection portion 9811 a and a second connection portion 9811 b that are releasably engageable so as to permit engagement and disengagement without the need of a special tool such as a screw - driver or pliers . fig1 c - 15 e show non - limiting , exemplary embodiments of first connection portions . fig1 - 17 show a non - limiting , exemplary fishing lure embodiment in accordance with the present invention . more specifically , fishing lure 9901 may comprise of a lip 9915 , a left body portion 9905 , a right body portion 9910 ( left and right body portions together being called fishing lure body 9902 ), a front eyelet 9920 to receive a hook , a mid eyelet 9922 to receive a hook , a rear eyelet 9924 to receive a hook , and an optional rubber gasket 9930 . each of said components being directly and / or indirectly engageable in such a way so as to provide a customizable fishing lure . as may be appreciated by one skilled in the art , fishing lure 9915 may be constructed in a variety of ways when a variety of said components are provided . fig1 a - 18 b show the left body portion 9905 with a fin 9906 that facilitates a subsequent connection to ridges 9911 of the right half body 9910 of fig1 a - 19 b by way of an ultrasonic weld or other like connection technologies . fig2 a shows a top view of the lip 9915 of fig1 . stem portion 9916 of lip 9915 is adapted to be inserted and rotated inside fishing lure body 9902 . the amount of rotation may vary , but it is preferred that the amount of rotation needed to lock lip 9915 into fishing lure body 9902 is no greater than 360 degrees and more preferably no greater than 90 degrees of rotation . protrusion portion 9917 is adapted to engage and lock lip 9915 into fishing lure 9902 . fig2 b shows a perspective , right - side view of the lip 9915 of fig2 a . fig2 c shows a bottom view of the lip 9915 of fig2 a . fig2 d shows a rear view of the lip 9915 of fig2 a . fig2 e shows a perspective , left - side view of the lip 9915 of fig2 a . fig2 f shows an elevational , right - side view of the lip 9915 of fig2 a . lip 9915 may be constructed as different sizes and / or weights . a kit could be provided with one or more fishing lure bodies 9902 and multiple lips 9915 wherein said lips have different physical properties ( e . g ., weights ) to provide the user with an array of different customizable lures . lip 9915 could be made to be porous so as to emit a liquid ( not shown ; fore example , a scent that attracts fish ) from inside the body 9902 . lips 9915 of varying physical characteristics could be distinguished from one another in various ways including , but not limited to , different colors , raised dots for tactile differentiation ; surface indicia (“ shallow ”, “ mid ”, “ deep ”). fig2 a shows a bottom view of the fishing lure body 9902 of fig1 with the lip 9915 is removed . fig2 b shows a rear , perspective view of the lip 9915 of fig1 that is adapted to be engaged with the fishing lure 9901 of fig2 a . fig2 a shows a front , elevational view of the fishing lure body 9902 and lip of fig1 wherein the lip 9915 is being positioned for subsequent engagement into the fishing lure body 9902 . fig2 b shows a front , elevational view of the fishing lure body 9902 and lip 9915 of fig1 wherein the lip 9915 has been inserted into the fishing lure body 9902 but not yet rotated into a locked position . fig2 c shows a front , elevational view of the fishing lure body 9902 and lip 9915 of fig1 wherein the lip 9915 has been inserted into the fishing lure body 9902 and rotated into a locked position ; fig2 a shows an elevational , right - side view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 a . fig2 b shows an elevational , right - side view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 b . fig2 c shows an elevational , right - side view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 c . fig2 a shows an close - up view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 a wherein keyway 9940 is adapted to receive , engage and lock lip 9915 into fishing lure body 9902 . fig2 b shows an close - up view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 b . fig2 c shows an close - up view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 c . fig2 a shows a cut - away view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 a wherein the lip is inserted but not yet rotated . fig2 b shows a cut - away view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 b wherein the lip 9915 is inserted and partially rotated to an interference point to provide the user with a signal that the rotation is near its completion and nearing to be locked into place . fig2 c shows a cut - away view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 c wherein the lip 9915 is inserted and rotated to a locked position . fig2 a shows a cut - away view of the left half body 9905 and lip 9915 of fig2 c wherein a gasket 9950 is used to further secure the connection between the lip and fishing lure body . fig2 b shows a perspective view of the lip 9915 and gasket 9950 of fig2 a . gasket 9950 may be optional used to provide greater resistance for improved force - fit connection of lip 9915 and fishing lure body 9902 . gasket 9950 may be constructed of rubber or any other suitable materials . fig2 shows a cut - away view of the left half body 9905 containing a reservoir element ( e . g ., ball bearing that may produce a wabble movement for the fishing lure ). left half body 9905 may comprise a raised internal portion 9965 that is adapted to temporarily contain at least one reservoir element 9960 until such time that said lip 9915 can be inserted to permanently contain one or more reservoir element 9960 . reservoir elements may include , but are not limited to , weights , glass beads , ceramic balls , plastic pellets and any combinations thereof . a significant benefit of the exemplary embodiment depicted in fig1 is that it does not require a squeezing action on the part of the user in order to engage or disengage the lip 9915 from the body 9902 . such squeezing action can be difficult to perform when the lure is wet , weather is cold ( especially with gloves ) and / or the sunlight is limited , especially when one considers that sharp hooks are part of the lure . further , this embodiment does not require the lip to be rotated more than 360 degrees which can also be difficult under similar circumstances . | 0 |
fig1 shows a driving range 10 that includes at least one hitting station 100 , at least one golf ball 110 , at least one golf club 120 , and a range surface 200 . the hitting station 100 is positioned at one end of the range surface 200 . it will be understood that a player 300 standing in the hitting station 100 may swing the golf club 120 to hit the golf ball 110 over and onto the range surface 200 . turning to fig2 , shown therein is the path that the golf ball 110 travels from the point of impact with the golf club 120 ( referred to as the origination point 160 ) to the point that the golf ball 110 initially impacts the range surface 200 ( referred to as the impact point 170 ). the path the golf ball 110 travel from the origination point 160 to the impact point 170 is referred to as the flight path 130 . the path that the golf ball 110 travels from the impact point 170 to the point it comes to rest on the range surface 200 ( referred to as the resting point 180 ) is referred to as the ground path 140 . the total travel path 150 refers to the complete path that the golf ball 110 travels after the origination point 150 to the resting point 180 , and is equivalent to the combination of the flight path 130 and the ground path 140 . fig2 and 3 depict the flight path 130 , ground path 140 and total travel path 150 of a golf ball 110 . turning back to fig1 and 2 , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , therein depicted is a preferred embodiment of a multiple sensor tracking system specially configured to track the total travel path 150 of the golf balls 110 used at a driving range 10 and to display that total travel path 150 to the player 300 . the multiple sensor tracking system preferably includes a plurality of sensors 410 , 420 , and 430 , a display 450 , and a computer having a processor and a database . each sensor in the plurality of sensors is configured to record certain parameters about the total travel path 150 . such parameters may include , without any limitation , the detection of the moment of impact , the origination point 150 , the launch angle of the flight path 130 , side spin of the golf ball 110 , vertical spin of the golf ball 110 , initial location of the golf ball 110 , the impact point 160 , speed / velocity of the golf ball 100 on the flight path 130 , the three - dimensional coordinates of the flight path 130 , the three - dimensional coordinates of the ground path 140 , and the resting point 180 . in addition , certain sensors may be configured to detect other parameters related to the golf swing of the player 300 , including but not limited to the club path and the club speed / velocity . it will be understood that by those skilled in the art that there are numerous types of sensors and technologies available for the detection of parameters , including for example and without limitation , infrared beam sensors , radar sensors , pressure sensors , sound sensors , laser sensors , and cameras ( both infrared and visible light ). it will be further understood that certain sensors are capable of detecting a subset of the total parameters available about the total travel path 150 . for example , infrared beam sensors are particularly well - suited for detecting the moment of impact , but are not able to detect or otherwise determine the side spin of the golf ball 110 , the impact point 170 , or other similar parameters . in contrast , sophisticated camera sensors are available that are well - suited to determine the parameters related to the flight path 130 , such as direction , speed and the impact point 170 , but are not as accurate at determining parameters associated with the ground path 140 , such as the resting point 180 . by way of further example , radar sensors are particularly well suited to detect the side spin and vertical spin of the golf ball 110 on the initial flight path 130 , as well as the club path and club head speed , but unable to determine parameters associated with the ground path 140 . in addition to being configured to detect certain parameters , each sensor type also has a field of detection . the field of detection is the general area in front of the sensor from which the sensor can detect parameters . it will be understood that the field of detection can be adjusted for each sensor type , but may be restrained by the particular technology used to detect parameters . furthermore , the position of each sensor may affect its field of detection . for example , fig2 depicts a sensor 410 positioned in the back of a hitting station 100 , with a field of detection 411 . in such a position the sensor &# 39 ; s 410 view of the flight path 130 can be obscured by the golfer , or the divisions between each of the hitting stations 100 . such obstructions often adversely impact a sensor &# 39 ; s ability to detect parameters . a key improvement of the invention is the placement of other sensors in the plurality of sensors such that their respective fields of detection 411 , 421 , and 431 are not similarly obstructed . it will be therefore understood that such placements can thereby ensure a high probability that the combined fields of detection 411 , 421 , and 431 provide for an uninterrupted view of the total travel path ( 150 ). for example , in the preferred embodiment depicted in fig2 , the fields of detection 411 , 421 and 431 for each of the sensors 410 , 420 and 430 respectively are shown to overlap , yet cover different areas where the golf ball 110 might travel on the total travel path 150 . it will be understood that numerous embodiments of the multiple - sensor tracking system are possible by including different types of sensors 410 , 420 , 430 in the plurality of sensors , and positioning those sensors at different places within the driving range 10 . fig2 depicts one such preferred embodiment . it will be further understood that a driving range 10 may include a plurality of hitting stations 100 arranged in a curve around an end of the range surface 200 , as depicted in fig4 . a first - type sensor 410 is positioned at the back of each of the hitting stations 100 . in this embodiment , the first - type sensor 410 uses radar to detect club path , club face angle , launch angle , side spin , vertical spin and initial velocity . a second - type sensor 430 is positioned at another end of the range surface 200 , and is generally positioned to face a plurality of hitting stations 110 , as shown in fig4 . the second - type sensor 430 has a narrower field of detection 431 and is thus used to detect parameters related to the ground path 140 . in this embodiment , the second - type sensor uses narrow - angle cameras to detect the three - dimensional coordinates of the ground path 140 and the speed / velocity of the golf ball 110 . it will be understood that while only one sensor 430 is depicted in this embodiment , several second - type sensors 430 could be used in combination to detect parameters for ground paths 150 that occur in different places on the range surface 200 . in the depicted embodiment , two third - type sensors 430 are positioned at opposite ends of the plurality of hitting stations 100 . the third - type sensors are configured to face inwards towards the range surface 200 and have overlapping fields of detection 421 . such overlapping fields of detections 421 are either necessary for certain types of sensors , or can be optionally employed to improve the accuracy of the detected parameters . turning to fig3 and 4 , depicted therein are alternate preferred embodiments of the multiple - sensor tracking system wherein the first - type sensors 410 of the first preferred embodiment depicted in fig1 and 2 have been replaced with a fourth - type sensor 460 . it will be understood that in the depicted alternative preferred embodiments , the fourth - type sensor 460 is configured to be a simple infrared directional trip sensor . such sensor 460 includes a beam emitter and a beam detector positioned on opposite sides of the hitting station 100 . in the simplest embodiment , the beam emitted of sensor 460 sends an infrared light beam to the other side of the hitting station 100 where it is detected by the beam detector . it will be further understood that when the golf ball 110 is hit it will travel between the beam detector and the beam emitter of sensor 460 , and will thereby interrupt the infrared light beam being detected by the beam detector . in this manner , sensor 460 is able to identify when the flight path 130 begins , but is unable to detect other more advanced parameters associated with the total travel path 150 . the database of the computer stores all parameters necessary for the multiple - sensor tracking system , which may include the size , shape and location of the hitting station , the location of each of the sensors in the plurality of sensors , the parameters that each of the sensors in the plurality of sensors can detect , the location and boundaries of the range surface 200 , and the number , expected distance and trajectory of shots hit with the selected golf club 120 . such parameters are retrieved by the processor as needed to operate the multiple - sensor tracking system . it will be understood that by using multiple sensors 410 , 420 , and 430 ( or alternatively 460 , 420 and 430 ), the multiple - sensor tracking system is able to capture certain desired parameters of the total travel path 150 . because the sensors 410 , 420 and 430 may detect the same parameters , a method is necessary to determine which parameters should be chosen to depict the total travel path 150 on the display 450 . fig5 depicts a method for making such determinations . the method of fig5 begins in step 500 when the golf ball 110 is struck by the golf club 120 . the moment of impact is potentially detected by sensor 410 in step 504 ( or alternatively by sensor 460 as described above ). if sensor 410 detects the moment of impact , processing is transferred to step 506 . in step 506 , the computer uses the launch angle , initial velocity and origination position to estimate three - dimensional coordinates of the flight path 130 and an estimated impact point 170 . in the first preferred embodiment , the launch angle , initial velocity and origination position are all parameters that can be detected by sensor 410 . processing is then passed to step 508 . the purpose of step 508 is to determine if the sensors 420 have detected a golf shot that corresponds to the golf shot that was detected by the sensor 410 from step 504 . this is done by comparing the estimated three - dimensional parameters from step 506 with the actual three - dimensional parameters detected by the sensors 420 . it will be understood that in the typical driving range 10 there may be several different golf shots being tracked at any given time , such as those depicted in fig4 . in the preferred embodiment , sensors 420 may detect actual three - dimensional parameters for many if not each flight path 130 associated with each such golf shot . accordingly , in step 508 , the computer first collects the actual three - dimensional parameters associated with each flight path 130 that was detected by sensors 420 during the time window when sensor 410 captured the parameters that were processed in step 506 . the particular duration of the time window may depend on the types of sensors used , the weather conditions , the particular arrangement of the plurality of the hitting stations 100 on the driving range 10 , the size and shape of the range surface , the positioning of the plurality of sensors , or any other condition that might effect the amount of time that a golf ball 110 could be expected to travel in each of the respective fields of detection 411 , 421 , 431 . after capturing the actual three - dimensional parameters of the flight path 130 for the appropriate time window , the computer then compares such actual three - dimensional parameters for each flight path 130 with the estimated three - dimensional coordinates of flight path 130 and determines if any of the actual three - dimensional parameters correspond to the estimated three - dimensional parameters . such correspondence may be immediately apparent because the actual three - dimensional coordinates overlap a portion of the estimated three - dimensional coordinates . alternatively , where the actual three - dimensional coordinates do not begin with actual origination position , the computer can calculate an estimated origination position 160 by extrapolating the three - dimensional parameters of the flight path 130 backwards . the estimated origination positions 160 ( and actual origination positions 160 detected by the sensors 420 to the extent they exist ) for each of the flight paths 130 are then compared to the actual origination position 160 detected by the sensor 410 . if a corresponding actual / estimated origination position 160 detected by sensors 420 is found for the actual origination position 160 detected by sensor 410 is found , then processing proceeds to step 510 . if no corresponding actual / estimated origination position 160 is detected by sensors 420 , then processing proceeds to step 514 . in step 514 the flight path 130 is depicted on the display 450 using the three - dimensional parameters detected by sensor 420 . in step 510 the flight path 130 is depicted on the display 450 using the three - dimensional parameters detected by sensor 410 , or where sensor 410 did not detect three - dimensional parameters for the entire flight path 130 , the computer will estimate any missing three - dimensional parameters by extrapolating the detected three - dimensional parameters along a parabolic curve . processing is then transferred to step 516 wherein sensor 430 potentially detects parameters associated with the ground path 140 of the golf ball 120 . if sensor 430 detects parameters associated with the ground path 140 , then in step 520 , the total travel path 150 is depicted as continuing from the depicted flight path 130 using the parameters for the ground path 140 detected by sensor 430 . it will be understood that in a typical driving range 10 , sensor 430 may detect parameters for the ground path 140 of many different golf shots ( as shown in fig4 ). accordingly , in step 516 the computer will attempt to align the parameters for the ground path 140 with the corresponding flight path 130 . this is accomplished by taking the three - dimensional parameters used to depict the flight path 130 and calculating an estimated impact point 170 . if sensor 430 detects parameters for the ground path 140 that correspond to the estimated point of impact , then processing proceeds to step 520 . if sensor 430 does not detect parameters that correspond to the estimated impact point 170 , then processing proceeds to step 518 . in step 518 , the computer calculates parameters for the ground path 140 and depicts that ground path 130 on the display 450 . this calculation is done by using the parameters used to depict the flight path 130 , which may include an actual / estimated speed / velocity and direction as well as parameters that describe the effect of the friction between the range surface 200 and the golf ball 130 . in step 520 , the ground path 130 is depicted on the display 450 using the actual parameters for the ground path 130 that were detected by sensor 430 . if sensor 410 fails to detect the moment of impact in step 504 , then processing moves to step 512 wherein sensor 420 potentially detects parameters associated with the flight path 130 . if sensor 410 fails to detect the moment of impact , but sensor 420 detects parameters associated with the flight path 130 , then processing is transferred to step 514 . if sensor 410 fails to detect the moment of impact and sensor 420 fails to detect any parameters associated with the flight path 130 , then processing returns back to step 500 . it is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description , together with details of the structure and functions of various embodiments of the invention , this disclosure is illustrative only , and changes may be made in detail , especially in matters of structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the teachings of the present invention can be applied to other systems without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention . | 6 |
monte carlo tracks each discrete particle history exactly and develops a stochastic result using hundreds of millions ( if not billions ) of exact particle histories ( e . cashwell & amp ; c . everett , the practical manual on the monte carlo method for random walk problems , pergamon press ( 1959 )). the present invention inverts this process by defining discrete particles that occupy computer memory in a detailed phase space — essentially representing millions of distinct phase space particle count values . stated otherwise , the present invention exactly and efficiently computes distributed phase space discrete particle transport to local surfaces , function coefficients and volumes , reducing the results of these calculations to a multiplication field appropriate for each surface , function coefficient and volume . the approximation involved in the calculation is the assumption that the increment of the discrete particle itself is truly constant . thereafter , “ exact ” calculations are used to determine generalized field transport multipliers in a local area to create continuity , with extensions to a generalized area . discrete particles emanating from surfaces and volumes are directly “ wired ” to lvg neighboring surfaces , function coefficients and volumes through multiplier , voxel pointer pairs — to provide a near exact local solution of particle transport ( the assumption being the constancy of the discrete particle itself ). the lvg provides a local exact solution that reduces the particle count contribution from a local reference voxel volume or surface to external voxel volumes and surfaces . this provides the accuracy required to tackle three - dimensional problems , as opposed to imbedded invariants methods that break down past one dimension . the lvg multiplier field greatly reduces ray effects as particles are properly distributed in a local system . those particles that are not distributed within the lvg are attenuated and emanate from the lvg surface . the distribution of particles emanating from a surface may be explicitly tracked either through a direct tally process or function deposition in a least squares sense to determine the angular distribution at the surface interface . in a similar fashion , function coefficient tallies may be used with complex interaction models to allow for high order particle scattering , for example anisotropic p 5 . a ray set concept is introduced to the phase space of the discrete particles to provide accurate lvg - to - lvg surface interface transport of particles , further improving accuracy . the computer memory system is then swept , allowing discrete particles to conceptually travel from surfaces to surfaces , from surfaces to volumes , from volumes to surfaces and from volumes to volumes in an abstract sense using the transport multiplier / pointer system ( fig7 block 4 ). any number of possible interaction models ( for example , simple nuclear particle mono - energetic isotropic scatter , or multigroup , anisotropic scatter ) are then employed to adjust particle interaction within volumes and make appropriate phase space adjustment to continue particle transport sweeps ( fig7 blocks 4 , 5 and 6 ). the instant invention can itself be used to create an appropriate interaction model . by decoupling interaction from multiple collision transport , exact direct local analytic solutions along ray paths through voxels are possible . the interaction model then serves to produce new voxel discrete particle sources for further discrete particle transport sweeps . thus by employing exact transport solutions of approximate discrete particles , high accuracy is achieved through the use of many phase space particles . single multipliers are employed within the lvg , providing direct non - stochastic results very quickly . the fundamental difference between this method and a classic green &# 39 ; s function approach [ r . d . lawrence and j . j . doming , a nodal green &# 39 ; s function method for multidimensional diffusion calculations , nuclear science and engineering 76 , 218 – 231 ( 1980 )] is that a green &# 39 ; s function solves a boundary value problem either over the entire time domain and all scattering interactions moments , and is therefore constrained to boundary conditions . whether one solves a 1 - d or multidimensional green &# 39 ; s function response , the green &# 39 ; s function describes all events that occur between two points over time . in the present invention , the one - dimensional first flight collision solution is a transport solution with a vacuum boundary that is irrelevant in terms of time . as a result , there is no approximation ; it is a true transport solution . an outer iteration and separate interaction model account for scattering interactions and reaction rate / transient variables . the green &# 39 ; s function approach creates a full matrix response that includes scatter and as a result approximations such as modified diffusion theory must be made . what the present invention and green &# 39 ; s functions share is location coupling . however , the present invention provides far greater accuracy by separating out the scatter component in a separate time and scattering iteration . the use of discrete particle definitions completely differentiates the present system from all prior art . furthermore , the reduction of ray set data to form memory pointer / multiplier pairs is also unique to the instant invention , as is the use of ray sets δ to provide extensions for accurate lvg - to - lvg particle transport . the figures contained herein sequentially describe the invention and the manner in which it may be utilized to overcome the problems in the prior art . set forth below is a description and explanation of each figure . this figure presents a simple depiction of a finite incremental surface traversed by a representative particle on a particular ray . ray tracing from volumes to surfaces may deposit particles uniformly on the smallest incremental surface . rays emanating from surfaces may be assumed to proceed from the surface center , losing some information . alternatively , in a pre - compute variant of the instant invention , surface distribution of rays may be uniform across the surface . the angular representation of particles across rays may be explicit for all angles for each incoming ray set . alternatively , particles from volumes to surfaces may be deposited to function coefficients constructed from a least squares error matrix to provide for surface data compression ( see fig6 description ). as an alternative refinement to the present invention , function coefficients may also be used to determine detailed spatial particle distributions across a single surface , sub - surface or plurality of surfaces . these methods are discussed in greater detail in the fig6 description . this figure graphically illustrates the voxel and grid system concept . voxels may be regular or irregular in shape , as depicted . voxels may be of a homogenous material , or they may be bounded surfaces with heterogeneous sub - voxels within a larger system of grids . in the latter case , the voxel response is specified by the surface interface . a heterogeneous voxel may be generated by the present invention , and embedded into a grid system . in such a case the surface surrounding the embedded voxel acts as an interface between that voxel and the remaining grid system . furthermore , the embedded voxel may be composed of sub - voxels with like or differing angular ray set distributions ( see fig6 description ). when sub - voxels or a single voxel are used in such a manner , that sub - system is considered a local voxel group , lvg as defined above . this figure shows representative rays emanating from a surface point on a 2d plane . each ray is traced with coupling multipliers associated with the source surface . the appropriate integration kernel is applied for each ray trace to accumulate surface to position multipliers in this depicted case . this figure illustrates that multiple rays with identical angle and surface state values δs and δω , may emanate from sub - surfaces following various paths through a system of voxels . these pathways are combined to form single multipliers from the surface to each surrounding node , though many rays may emanate from the surface . the combination of multiple rays to a single multiplier greatly improves processing time without sacrificing accuracy . pre computation of sets of rays traversing a regular system of voxels may be used to improve processing speed in regular systems ( see fig7 ). this figure illustrates the bounding of a group of voxels to form a local voxel group . it is preferable in this 2d depiction , that the inner group of voxels is completely isolated from the outer group . in such a case , ray tracing and coupling from within the lvg terminates on the bounding surfaces , and ray tracing from outside the lvg terminates on the boundary . this isolation provides a practical mechanism for changing out individual voxels or voxel groups to arbitrary resolution . it is preferable to maintain a consistent ray set angular dependence within and without a ray - set if enough memory exists to do so . alternatively , one may map differing angular ray - set distributions from within and without the lvg boundary . as a further refinement , one may utilize direct function coefficient deposition to provide a generalized δω translation mechanism ( described below ). this figure illustrates the data relationship of the pointer / multiplier pairs and sets of the present invention . in the present invention , the pointer within the pointer / multiplier table refers to either a remote voxel interaction score terminal , a discrete surface terminal or a set of function coefficient terminals . as a preferred embodiment of the present invention , referential hash tables may be used as illustrated in this figure to reference particular ray sets with pointers on a grid position basis . there are various ways of accomplishing this particular task , and a variety of data structures may be used . depicted in this figure is the preferable light memory footprint data structure containing ray - set indices associated with particular remote pointers . the value of this preferred embodiment is that one can quickly change out remote voxel interaction points , surfaces and functions with a minimum of processing steps when reference is made to ray - set indices . for example , when changing out a particular position interaction point , all pointers associated with that point are identified , and all ray sets from all positions passing through that point are recomputed to affect the material property change . use of hashing techniques as depicted , relating ray sets to terminal pointers , speeds processing of the material change out . the pointer transport multiplier table of the present invention can be established using a ray tracing technique from particular points within voxels or surfaces of voxels . such a ray tracing technique can take two forms , generalized with established angular sets or point to point . it may also be accomplished using a pre - computed representative ray - set scheme ( see fig7 detail ). in both the point to point and pre - computed cases , uniform distribution of points within voxels and surfaces are used in combination with an appropriate angle distribution p ( ω ) are used to accumulate the representative ray set multipliers . angular weights are back calculated as discussed in the description of fig7 for these examples . for the forward ray - tracing technique , from a voxel interaction point , transport multipliers are accumulated by using a number of points within each voxel representing the interactions within the voxel . each point is given both a spatial weight , representing the volume represented by the point , and a position . judicial selection of positions and weights is used to minimize mathematical operations associated with each point . for each ray trace , the unique direction of the ray is ascertained and the ray is further weighted by the solid angle represented by the particular ray . in general , this is found as w δω = sin ( θ ) δθδφ / 4π as decomposed in polar , azimuthal spherical coordinate form where w δω represents the discrete angular weight . the problem appropriate integration kernel is applied representing attenuation through the system of voxels to further reduce the multiplier weights . in all cases , the transport multipliers are accumulated for each representative ray or a set of representative rays ( fig3 ) tracing through the system of voxels . weighting for both discrete surfaces and single voxel interaction points for accumulation uses the straightforward single collision integration kernel as accumulated on each ray trace pathway . as a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the transport / multiplier system of fig6 is typically generated with a hash table referring to the pointers for fast access . the multipliers are simply accumulated as a function of ray set and starting point . the functional coefficient deposition is a preferred embodiment of the present invention that may be generated in a number of ways and has two modes of use . each deposition to a functional coefficient is accumulated through the weighting of both the straightforward single collision integration kernel and an appropriate functional weight for each ray - set contributing to the coefficient . function coefficient deposition may be predetermined in the pre - compute option , and the weights are generally computed only once for any given grid system . to accumulate a functional coefficient , the preferred method is to compose a least squares error matrix which is the inverse of the curvature matrix ( see p . r . bevington , data reduction and error analysis for the physical sciences , page 153 , mcgraw hill book company , ( 1969 ) library of congress catalogue number 69 - 16942 ) associated with each ray set angle that contributes to a set of coefficients . it is well known in mathematics that given an orthogonal function , one can generate a coefficient matrix relating particular independent parameter sample points ( such as indexed representative ray set direction parameters ) using a least squares approach . this represents the weighting appropriate to deposit a particular sample function point to a particular coefficient . consider for example the well - known case of a spherical harmonic basis function : y 1m ={( 21 + 1 )/ 4π ( 1 − m )!/( 1 + m )! p 1m ( cosθ ) e imφ } 1 / 2 where p 1m ( cosθ ) is an associated legendre polynomial and i in the above polynomial represents an imaginary number . the construction of an angular function representing particle tallies as a function of discrete bins is f ( θ , φ )= σ 1 σ m c 1m × y 1m ( θ , φ ) where formally the summation of 1 is from 0 to ∞ and the summation of m is from − 1 to + 1 . as it is known before hand all possible sample point independent parameters ( these are discrete ray set values of angles or direction cosines ), one constructs a least squares weighting matrix by linearizing the coefficient matrix c 1m to a convenient form c j . one then constructs a coefficient weight matrix over i raysets as : wij = ∑ k ( y t y ) - 1 y t where w ij represents the weight appropriate for each ray set direction i for j , x linearized coefficients and where y = y 00 1 y 00 2 y 00 3 … y 00 n y 1 ( - 1 ) 1 y 1 ( - 1 ) 2 y 1 ( - 1 ) 3 … y 00 n … y lm 1 y lm 2 y lm 3 … y lm n y 00 i = y 00 ( θ i , ϕ i ) with each function evaluated at each i point from 1 to n . the k summation reducing the symetric square coefficient matrix is possible because the evaluation of the function in the transport sweep is always performed at known points . the resulting weighting matrix is used to modify transport multipliers for each ray accumulated to function - coefficient pointer / transport multiplier terminals c j . these linearized coefficients correspond to c 1m so that the function f ( θ , φ ) can be re - constructed with least squares fitting accuracy . the weights , w ij do not depend on actual values of f ( θ , φ ) but rather the known sample points θ i , φ i associated with each particular rayset contributing to n transport multipliers associated with the linearized function coefficients . the function is fully constructed in the transport problem sweep : c j = ∑ v t v * ∑ i g iv * w ij where v represents each voxel contributing to a particular terminal , g iv is the contribution from voxel v to the tally where the coefficients are accumulated , and the summation over all relevant n angles was computed as part of the transport multiplier process in a setup calculation ( fig7 block 2 or 2 a ). the summation over each v voxel with t v initial tally score at a voxel volume location is made during the transport sweep ( fig7 block 4 ). thus given a scattering or source tally at a location , and the computed transport multipliers represented by the coefficients compress the operations and explicit tally angles required from n ( summation over i ) explicit angular sets to smaller number of coefficients ( for example , there may be 4000 angles on a side for an extreme ray effect problem , but only 36 coefficients for a p 5 surface harmonic approximation ). or it may represent the compression from n surfaces to coefficients or other functional state values of interest . it must be remembered that while a function is being used for data compression , it is formally a function of discrete tallies . actual transport multipliers still proceed from surfaces using an explicit fine - grained discrete tally ray - set structure . the function only serves to translate ray set angular systems at a surface boundary , or compress data . for the example case of a solid spherical harmonic function , the utility and first mode of use is obvious . rather than depositing to a single interaction tally within a voxel , appropriate only for modified p 1 scattering the spherical harmonics function form allows for higher order anisotropic p n scattering in any given interaction voxel . it is traditional to use spherical harmonics functions of this sort for higher order scattering computation . high order double differential scattering data comes in forms that are readily amenable for use with such a representation . the second mode of use of this embodiment is as a data compression scheme for surfaces . this alleviates the need for thousands of individual ray set accumulators on lvg surfaces to exactly represent the angular deposition distribution from voxels to surfaces . rather than having a huge number of individually tracked i ray sets accumulate at a boundary , one only needs c j coefficients , which aggregate many different i ray set angles . in so compressing the deposition to the c j coefficients , in general fewer multiplication operations are required to construct an accurate surface shape and fewer memory locations are required to store pointer multiplier pairs . in addition to data compression , this functional form also serves to permit translation of one set of angular sets to another set at the surface interface . an lvg surface that completely isolates an lvg or heterogeneous voxel from the general system can utilize differing angular discretization schemes . for example , one may use a point - to - point system for the outside grid system , and a ray - tracing technique or pre - computed model either inside the isolated lvg . one can also use the same system of computing discrete angles , but have differing angular sets orders . for example , one may have hundreds of ray set angles on the outside of a system , and thousands of discrete angles used in the inside of the isolated lvg . the functional forms permit translation across the boundaries through functional interpolation . in all instances , the functions are used to re - compute angular tallies over each ray set solid angle direction . one set of functional coefficients is used from the inside out , and another set from the outside in along the lvg surface boundary . while this is one preferred form of use of the functional coefficients , this does not preclude other function deposition techniques . in the method described above , any orthogonal function may be used , and specific experiments using surface harmonics , which are related to spherical harmonics , as well as general orthogonal polynomials have been carried out . additionally , one may use b - splines with pre - computed bezier points to affect data compression and translation . wavelets might also be employed to improve data compression accuracy ( see y . nievergelt wavelets made easy birkhauser ( 1999 ) isbn 0 - 8176 - 4061 ). though generation of coefficients is different , the approach is still one of depositing transport multipliers to a coefficient system . such a method may have advantages in reducing the coefficients associated with tally function reconstruction . however the solid spherical harmonic or surface harmonic functional forms are preferred for data consistency , historic and theoretical reasons . it is consistent with the forms used in double differential scattering cross sections allowing for simple resolution of scattering through consistent orthogonal functions . fig7 presents a general flow diagram description of an algorithm for the present invention . each process or flow block is described below . a . physical system database ( fig7 . block 0 ) modeling of the transport of particles requires some specification of material and geometry layout associated with the transport medium . such physical system input is usually obtained from a database . b . grid construction ( fig7 . blocks 1 – 1 a ) consider for example a grid system of voxels . the grid overlays a physical system being modeled with material compositions within each voxel . converting a graphic image of a physical system into voxels forms the grid system . alternatively , specific input of a voxel grid system can be entered into the system ( fig7 , 1 a ). grid construction must consider variations in material composition . at the most basic level , when a single voxel encompasses multiple media , some form of homogenization must be applied . this may vary from a simple volume weighted scheme to a flux - volume weighting scheme . such methods are well known in the art . the present invention may be used to generate a complex voxel of heterogenous sub - voxels . for imrt 3drtp , the physical system is a 3d human model comprising tissue and bone as well as any metallic insert tabs and prosthesis . a grid system overlays the representation of the body and any material properties within , such as gamma ray homogenized macroscopic x - sections . this grid system may come from commercial 3d graphics package information converted to a suitable grid system . preferably , such a grid system is irregular forming about bone and tissue to maximize accuracy by minimizing the need to homogenize voxel material . c . ray set lvg construction — overview ( fig7 . blocks 2 a – 5 ) one may generate ray sets inline ( fig7 , 2 ) or in a pre - constructed manner ( fig7 , 2 a and 2 ai ). inline ray set / lvg construction is most appropriate for irregular grids . pre - computed ray set geometric properties used in lvg construction are most appropriate for fast computation of regular systems . a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes all forms of ray set lvg construction as options within the computer . pre - computed ray set geometries are preferred for analogue control systems . core to ray set modeling is the use of a single in - voxel interaction per interaction sweep . for each ray , the collided and un - collided particle density is used to determine the number of particles interacting , and hence subject to the interaction model ( fig7 , 5 ), or continuing to traverse to lvg surface boundary for further particle transport ( fig7 , 4 ). one may generate a ray set through a stochastic process for single collision interaction modeling ( cashwell et al ., supra ). one may also use direct integration of particle distributions over appropriate solid angle domains to directly compute appropriate ray set geometry factors . these factors may be analytically , semi - analytically or stochastically derived as part of a pre - computation ( fig7 , 2 ai ). they are then used with the appropriate discrete angular group δω frequencies associated with a particular representative ray , the individual length of representative ray within traversed voxels , and the appropriate single interaction particle transport kernel to compute lvg volume interaction and surface multipliers ( fig7 , 2 a ). alternatively , one may utilize a technique similar to the discrete transfer method to determine ray sets passing through an lvg emanating from reference voxel surface or volume ( lockwood et al ., supra ; cumber , supra ). the major differences between such an approach within the context of the present invention is that rays emanating from volumes are not represented solely from the centroid . most importantly , it is preferred to consider only the first flight interaction through the lvg , and use the separate interaction model to handle scattering . the present invention considers radiation transport in a forward direct approach with an iterative approach to handle particle scattering . these differences contribute to a significant improvement in accuracy . one may use a point - to - point method for surface - to - surface transport coupling that is similar to dtm , however , a pure ray tracing technique with predefined ray set angular groups provides excellent results and allows for simplified embedding of invariant voxel groups within a larger system . furthermore , the present invention provides for direct transmission to general function coefficients with the merits of the approach as discussed in the fig6 description . finally , the present invention accumulates 1d ray set results in transport multipliers , greatly improving computational performance . one may also use standard analytic direct solutions of appropriate particle transport equations for inline ( fig7 , 2 ) computation of discrete particle lvg transport multipliers . a preferred method is to utilize stochastic methods with extremely large sample sizes for large regular polyhedron grid systems with many surfaces and overlay ray set lengths upon lvgs . for irregular grids , one preferred method is to establish a large number of points within a reference voxel volume or upon a voxel surface as centers of finite surfaces δs and sub - surfaces . one then computes the representative ray set with a point - to - point method . in the point to point method , the applicable angular distribution , particularly for the im within voxel volumes and cosine for surfaces , is factored into the associated fractions of representative rays traveling from the reference point to lvg surface point based on the solid angles formed by the set of all points from the reference voxel surface or volume . in the forward ray - trace method , a sufficiently large number of solid angle discrete groups is used to alleviate the need for surface p ( ω ) distribution assumptions . d . pre - computed ray set ( fig7 . block 2 ai ) for the pre - computed ray set option , the following equations describe the processes involved for computing frequency and voxel length . the frequency associated with a particle ray set over a subsurface , sub - angular group is given as : f i , j ( δ s i , δ ω j ) = ∫ δ si ∫ δωj p ( ω ) ∂ ω ∂ s ∫ s ∫ ω ∂ ω ∂ s where p ( ω ) is the particle distribution appropriate for particles streaming through the applicable surface within the solid group δω j . note that different levels or collision moments of p ( ω ) are possible . near particle source distributions p ( ω ) are appropriate for the interaction model under consideration ( e . g . flat voxel volume distribution , isotropic ). relatively far from attenuated distributed sources , p ( ω ) would represent a cosine distribution normal to δs . δs i and δω j represent ray set bounded surfaces and angular groups appropriate for δ — the applicable ray set . f ij ( δs i , δω j ) represents the indexed appropriate frequency of particles traversing a particular ray set . we now consider an average ray length within a ray set , δ , within voxel i as : δ r l , i , j ( δ s i , δ ω j ) = ∫ δ si ∫ δωj r 1 ( ω , s ) p ( ω ) ∂ ω ∂ s ∫ δ si ∫ δω l p ( ω ) ∂ ω ∂ s where δr l , i , j ( δs i , δω j ) is the voxel and path dependent average ray length . the solution of these integrals , even for two - dimensional tessellations is often non - trivial . there are frequently complex dependencies between δs δω and δ . as such , the most general approach to solving pre - computed ray set frequencies and lengths is monte carlo . while this reverts to a stochastic process , one must remember that the computation is off - line and does not involve attenuation — hence material properties are irrelevant . the geometric properties obtained are later combined with material properties to determine transport multipliers ( fig1 ). therefore , the results are extremely accurate as billions of particle rays can be generated without collisions and properties can be averaged to effectively solve the above integrals . the results are also generic and applicable for a particular p ( ω ) with the modeled grid geometry irrespective of material . fig8 presents a simple monte carlo algorithm for computing ray sets for use in the present invention as a detail of fig7 , block 2 ai . a geometric local voxel group is setup ( fig8 , b 1 ). there are no material properties associated with the voxel as only geometric properties associated with rays are being generated . a pre - calculation is carried out to determine appropriate multiple representative rays associated with particular voxel pathway ray sets ( fig8 , b 2 – b 5 ). one generates a source particle using the p ( ω ) distribution appropriate for the reference voxel surface or volume ( fig8 , b 2 ). most conveniently , canonical u , v and w direction cosines are generated for cartesian 3d coordinates . use of local voxel volume source p ( ω ) distributions are specific to each ray set library , and several distributions may be used in actual computations . such sets represent distance moments , the first distance moment being from source ( including im source ) to lvg surface boundary . the second from lvg surface to far surface and so on . hence several outputs of fig8 may be used in fig7 processing . for imrt 3drtp , as well as other particle transport , a preferred embodiment of the instant invention in the pre - compute mode uses a two set distribution moment approach , considering source and scattered particles from voxel volumes with their particular distribution as one set . those particles emanating through an lvg surface are cosine distributed within angular groups δω and form the second moment set . however , as mentioned previously in the fig6 description , one can use the pre - computed set for nodes on one side of an lvg boundary , and totally different scheme , such as ray - tracing or point - to - point ray sets on the other side of a boundary . this type of an approach may be preferable when assumptions regarding p ( ω ) are inadequate . the source particle is next projected to the lvg boundary along a particular voxel pathway ( fig8 , b 3 ). the particle history is stored in accordance with a ray set representing the pathway and limiting path lengths are determined to appropriately develop representative rays for the ray set ( fig8 , b 4 ). after a pre - calculation minimum tally is achieved ( fig8 , b 5 ), appropriate voxel path dependent , ray set representative ray length bounds are developed ( fig8 , b 6 ). in a simple case , scoring bins are established based on an even bin distribution between the longest and shortest ray length in the pre - calculation . association of ray set scores and scoring bins is most effectively accomplished by constructing a unique hash string associated with a particular particle ray set . again , ray sets thus defined may include explicit angular groups , δω as well as values indicating projected lvg boundaries for both the local reference system and , most importantly , a surface referenced lvg adjacent system . this latter value is used for coupling lvgs at surfaces . the source particle , particle projection and scoring procedures are repeated ( fig8 , b 7 – b 9 ), this time scoring in finer detail representative rays within ray sets developed in the preliminary calculation . if additional unique ray set pathways are found , these are scored as well without multiple rays composing the set and saved for later fine - grained ray calculations . as a practical matter , this is often the case with many angular groups and large 3d geometries , even with 10 9 pre - calculation particle histories . upon receipt of a tally signal or predetermined count ( fig8 , b 10 ), pre - computed ray set properties are saved to a database , computer file or other storage medium ( fig8 , b 11 ). this particular process can be re - started for fine - grain , higher resolution calculations at a future time . this provides extremely high statistical accuracy for the geometric ray set properties ( fig8 , b 12 ). fig9 represents output for a particular ray set of the fig8 process for a flat source node emitting from a surface . this output was generated using prototype code of the present invention . line output of fig9 is described below . there can be from a few dozen to tens or even hundreds of thousands of ray sets depending upon the specification of size , angular groups and geometry . this is the 12927 th ray set in a 6 3 , 8 angular group system . the 10 represents the number of voxels traversed . [ 0 ][ 0 ][ 0 ] represents the angular group in terms of u , v and w cosine angle groups . line 2 reflects the hash code used to differentiate this particular ray set . the use of hash codes ( or alternatively binary trees ) provides an efficient mechanism to track ray sets . the direction cosines are provided [ 0 ][ 0 ][ 0 ] followed by two entries of 336 . this value represents the unique lvg exit surface point coordinate . as it happens , this value is also the same for the adjacent lvg exit surface coordinate when the local exit surface is used as a reference for an adjacent lvg system . the values that follow are pairs representing the voxel and exiting surface index , 1 thru 6 for cubic voxels ( note that one may have 24 , 54 or more surfaces for regular cubic voxels ). lines 3 and 4 provide the lvg surface exits for convenience . line 5 represents the average path length ( based on a unit 1 cubic voxel ) divided by the count of particles ( not used ). this is followed by the longest and shortest ray within the ray set , and finally the frequency of the ray set rays as sampled from p ( ω ). lines 6 – 15 provide the detailed pathway , each voxel per line of the average representative ray in [ i ][ j ][ k ] coordinates followed by the emergent side , followed by the average length traversed in each voxel . line 16 specifies that there are 3 representative rays for the set — similar in concept to 3 panel integration . line 17 provides information for the first panel , panel 0 , followed by the average ray length to lvg boundary , maximum length and minimum length . line 18 is a continuation of the above with the relative frequency of the representative ray within the ray set , followed by the upper length interval used . lines 19 – 28 supply the panel representative ray lengths for the pathway . lines 29 – 40 and 41 – 52 repeat the above sequence for panel 0 for the other two panels , 1 and 2 respectively . this completes the information for the 3 panel representative ray set . while monte carlo is generally the preferred method for complex geometries , other methods of solving the geometric integrals presented above for ray set frequency and voxel traversal length may be employed provided that such methods are capable of providing data similar to that of fig9 for the pre - compute process . pre - compute material specific lvg construction ( fig7 . block 2 a ) given the output presented in fig9 for average ray sets and using the material properties provided in fig7 , step 1 or 1 a for the general grid system , the specific lvg multipliers can be constructed . fig1 presents a block diagram of this process . the first step in processing a reference voxel position ( fig1 , b 1 ) is to allocate or reallocate a transmission accumulator ( fig1 , b 2 ). the accumulator is a function of each ray set δ as well as all explicit state particles that are affected by particle - material interaction such as energy δe . the next step is to allocate terminal memory for the reference voxel position ( fig1 , b 3 ). a terminal is defined as a pointer to a voxel lvg memory location either representing a discrete particle on the surface or an interaction tally within a voxel volume , and a transport multiplier from the reference to the terminal location . the terminals may also be functions of δ as well as other material state variables . following this allocation , terminal discrete particle memory pointer keyed hash tables are created for accumulating multiplier values by referencing terminal positions of the lvg ( fig1 , b 4 ). finally , one walks through each ray set grid position system , starting from the reference voxel position , to compute and accumulate discrete particle multipliers from the reference to the lvg terminals ( fig1 , b 5 ). the hash table aids in quickly identifying the proper bin for accumulating the multiplier at a walked position . the transmission accumulator is used to tally the integration kernel transmitted values to each voxel . applying the integration kernel to the ray set length , δr l , i , j ( δs i , δω j ), and beginning with a transmission accumulator initially set to the fraction of particles traversing the ray , f ij ( δs i , δω j ), one accumulates collision values for voxel volumes for use in the im and transmission values for lvg surfaces . the final summation from the reference position to final position is the transport multiplier . as an example , for a gamma ray attenuation in imrt , a transmission multiplier at the voxel surface would be f * σe − δr * μ , where the summation ( σ ) is carried out for each voxel on the path to the surface . the variable f is the fraction traversing the particular ray as defined above , δr is each voxel path length and μ is the appropriate attenuation factor based on voxel material . there are multipliers for every material phase space state such as energy . for surface lvg points , ray sets or angular groups may be used with unique multipliers to improve accuracy . the result for each position , ray set , angular group and material state is a linear array of pointer - multiplier pairs where the pointer references an lvg particle count address in computer memory ( see fig6 ). other storage schemes for pointer and multipliers such as two synchronized arrays are also possible . with these multipliers established , one only needs to sweep through the reference discrete particle &# 39 ; s lvg array to transport the particle to its lvg neighbor . in one embodiment of the instant invention , it is better from a memory utilization standpoint to simply have a vector of multipliers that are properly ordered to correspond to lvg terminal location sweeps . instead of pointer , multiplier pairs , the multipliers are arranged in a single vector that corresponds to pointer arithmetic utilized in the sweep . this is most easily accomplished for interior lvgs that do not include boundaries . it is important to note that the pre - computed geometric property lvg construction process does not need to be carried out at every point in the grid system . pattern matching of material indices within the grid can be applied to identify systems where the same multipliers may be used , and simple pointer arithmetic applied to translate the lvg array values to other identical material locations . ( see j . karkkainen & amp ; e . ukkonen , two - and higher - dimensional pattern matching in optimal expected time , 29 siam j . comput ., 571 – 589 ( 1999 ) for examples of efficient multi - dimensional pattern matching algorithms .) for regular grid systems where pre - computed lvg geometric systems are applicable , some form of pattern matching to speed up computations is preferred , as long as material compositions within the grid are not highly differentiated . likewise , pattern matching is a preferred embodiment of the present invention for use in imrt 3drtp when regular grids are used . a . inline ray set lvg construction ( fig7 . block 2 ) the preferred method for calculating discrete particle transport multipliers from reference positions in irregular grid systems throughout a single lvg is to utilize a point - to - point methodology somewhat similar to the ray layout of the discrete transfer method . the goal of the inline lvg construction is to assemble a ray set based computation of the discrete particle transport multiplier directly . as the spatial distribution of the source discrete particle is constant , and the pathway to the other discrete particle space is known , any direct conventional radiation transport method can be applied to compute the transport multiplier on a unit discrete source basis ( see , e . g ., bellman et al ., an introduction to invariant imbedding , siam ( 1992 ); a . shimizu , development of angular eigenvalue method for radiation transport problems , 37 j . nuclear science and technology , 15 – 25 ( 2000 ); olvey et al ., accuracy comparisons for variational r , t and t 1 response matrix formulations , 14 annals of nuclear energy , 203 – 209 ( 1987 ); sternick et al ., the theory & amp ; practice of intensity modulated radiation therapy , advanced medical publishing , 37 – 49 ( 1997 )). use of these constructions on a one - time basis necessitates the use of a large number of angular groups to mitigate ray effects . a conventional ray tracing technique can be used in such an approach , and there are times when it is necessary to do so . however , it is preferable to retain the ray set concept in preference to angular groups to link lvg surfaces even for arbitrary or irregular grid systems . whether using the point - to - point method or conventional ray tracing , the algorithm is practically the same and is presented in fig1 . the first step is to allocate memory for surfaces . for the point - to - point method , the angular distributions must be computed associated with the centers of surfaces . if one is using a ray tracing technique , the angle system is predefined . in both instances , the relative solid angle area represented by a ray is used to determine initial weighting for volume to surface coupling . surface to surface coupling is on a per ray - set basis and does not require special weighting unless function coefficients are used as the end points . following block b 1 , ray - tracing and point - to - point methods are identical . in fig1 block 2 , one begins by tracing rays from volumes to surfaces and accumulating point multiplier pairs . a representative ray trace routine , fig1 b 3 is used for this process utilizing the appropriate integration kernel . following the coupling of volumes to surfaces , one then couples surfaces to volumes and surfaces to surface in the step represented by fig1 block 4 . with surfaces , there each ray set may be individually tracked to provide fine grained detail for further transmission , and this is preferable when memory allows . when memory is constrained , one may use function coefficients to serve as surface termination points to condense data and reduce memory requirements . however , accuracy will suffer as precise angular information is lost on the boundary . b . initial discrete particle input ( fig7 . block 3 ) we now consider that at voxel boundaries we may have an initial condition of discrete particles specified with appropriate state variables . a discrete particle count spans the entire voxel surface from which it emanates . coincidentally or alternatively , initial conditions can also be provided as the number of source particles emanating from voxel volumes given as a source particle count . however , these values can be converted to an initial discrete particle count on the source voxel surfaces . for imrt 3drtp , the initial conditions for modeling scattered radiation within tissue proceed from a primary direct ray calculation ( fig7 , b 9 a ). the interaction rate and possibly angular information is recorded for the first collision of the ray within voxels . this value is then used to construct an initial gamma ray discrete particle count . it is also possible to use the present invention in total with a surface discrete particle count and cosine distance moment , although it is preferable to explicitly model true rays entering a system using a representative ray approach directly . the interaction model of the present invention can then be used to model scattered radiation serving as a source for further particle transport . function coefficient deposition as described in fig6 may be used to handle higher order scattering interactions . c . discrete particle transport sweep ( fig7 . block 4 ) once the initial source conditions have been specified for discrete particles , whether through block 3 or 9 a , one can proceed with the transport sweep . during the particle sweep , particles are transported to voxel discrete particle tallies for interaction model computation as well as lvg surface boundaries for further transport . this comprises simply sweeping through each discrete particle location with non - zero count as a reference . at each reference , one sweeps through the linear system of lvg terminal - multiplier pairs , applying each multiplier to the reference discrete particle count to accumulate fractional particle counts at the terminal discrete particle pointer locations . this computation may be carried out until one reaches an internal convergence where most non - interacting particles are swept from the system . variation of the internal convergence method may be needed for transient problems where the discrete time state epoch δt cannot be ignored . additionally , such a method might be preferable depending on the computation cost associated with the im . the transport sweep , however , may be performed for reference lvgs without internal convergence . in this case , the im is applied immediately after particles are transported to lvg boundaries . for imrt 3drtp , it is preferable to sweep through local lvg terminals and compute further scatters using the im as one iterative sweep system . a . interaction model ( fig7 . block 5 ) the interaction model receives terminal discrete particle tallies with appropriate state variables and generates new discrete particles either on voxel surfaces or from within the voxel itself , depending on model type preference . the present invention can be used to generate an interaction model for a relatively large voxel , which is a preferred embodiment of the system . this methodology is described below along with a simple collision probability approach to creating a valid interaction model . complex collision probability methods have been employed for some time . marleau et al . provide examples related to the use of these methods in neutron calculations ( analytic reductions for transmission and leakage probabilities in finite tubes and hexahedra , 104 nucl . sci . & amp ; eng ., 209 – 216 ( 1990 ); a transport method for treating three dimensional lattices of heterogeneous cells , 101 nucl . sci . & amp ; eng ., 217 – 225 ( 1989 )). these can be readily adapted for generalized particle transport in connection with the present invention . one may use function coefficient deposition as previously described to create spherical harmonics functions representing the angular particle distribution . these may be used in turn with high - order double differential cross sections to compute detailed angular scatter information . the goal of an interaction model is to compute the disposition of particles after a collision . this includes computation of collision parameters of the primary interacting particle after collision , changes in state , as well as generation of secondary particles with new state variables . for optics , radar , sonar and radiative heat transfer , relatively simple computation of primary particle post - collision parameters is required . for nuclear radiation processes , secondary radiation such as recoil electrons from compton scattering or additional neutrons from fission processes must be generated by the interaction module . for imrt 3drtp , gamma interactions result in photoelectric absorption and generation of photoelectrons at low γ energy . compton scattering with both scattered photons of reduced energy as well as recoil secondary electrons should be modeled at intermediate γ energies . for very high γ energies above 1 . 02 mev , pair production processes may also be modeled . for processes involving nuclear fission in critical systems , a special model is required that multiplies each generational infinite multiplication factor with the overall system eigenvalue to determine local source strength . assuming a single non - leakage parameter can be used for each voxel , this is a trivial model as is illustrated herein . as mentioned above , a simple collision parameter approach can be used for an interaction model . in this approach , one uses the ratios of macroscopic cross sections to determine the disposition of particles colliding within the voxel . in order to apply such a model , there should be on average less than one collision per voxel volume . for radiation transport , ideally this criteria can be met by the limiting state mean free path 1 / σ & gt ; d c , where σ represents the least material state total or transport macroscopic cross section and d c represents the largest possible path length across a voxel . however , practical experience has shown that such a criteria can be significantly relaxed ( see fig1 1 aii scattering results and description ). in this simple model , a non - leakage probability is computed and applied to all scattered and secondary particles emanating from each voxel . this probability may be obtained by assuming a flat distribution and computing the particles that exit with integration kernel attenuation . other methods discussed in the literature can also be used . in order to speed convergence in this model , each successive generation of interacting particles within a voxel is subject to this same non - leakage probability . fig1 illustrates a simple flow diagram of such a model . inputs to this model include those depicted in fig7 , block 4 as well as possible initial condition inputs from fig7 , block 9 a . grid initialization may incorporate a pre - calculation of material parameters for voxels useful for the interaction model . this includes non - leakage probability for each state ( such as energy ), particle absorption fractions , state transfer fractions and transmission fractions . there are two approaches that one can take with regard to non - leakage and transmission . the first approach is to assume that all scattered particles appear both inwardly and outwardly directed on the voxel surface . a preferred approach is to account for further in - scatter within a voxel using the non - leakage probability , referred to as p n1 . consider a particle that scatters from state energy group g to g ′ in a simple energy transfer model . we use σr gg ′ to represent the scatter / removal macroscopic cross section from group g to g ′ and σt g to represent the total macroscopic cross section of the voxel material . a particle that scatters ( and hence has been tallied as a collision ) has for its first collision a probability of σr gg ′ / σt g of scattering to group g ′. however , a particle has a probability of σr gg / σt g to scatter in - group . for subsequent collisions , we have : σr gg / σt g * p n1 * σr gg ′ / σt g subsequent in - voxel scatter transfer to g ′ followed by , σr gg / σt g 2 * p n1 2 * σr gg ′/ σt g and so on for each subsequent generation . it can be readily verified that as p n1 is less than 1 . 0 , and all transfer probabilities are less than 1 . 0 , the total number of particles in all generations that transfer from group g to g ′ within such a voxel is given by : for time eigenvalue problems , one should multiply p n1 by the problem eigenvalue λ . for fission problems , group dependent infinite multiplication factor ( k ? ) represents the ratio of particles produced to particles removed . it may replace or augment scatter moments as described above for sub - critical voxels . various schemes for incorporating fission are possible . alternatively , one may take a scatter or fission generational approach to p n1 , such that different values of p n1 might be appropriate for different collision moments . however the 1 / σ & gt ; d c collision criteria should be sufficient to limit the need to use scatter transmission moments within voxel volume interaction models . proceeding with the first inline process , one establishes a voxel position ( fig1 , b 1 ). one then obtains a given state tally ( fig1 , b 2 ). interaction tallies may be functions of all discrete particle state values as previously discussed . for each state discrete particle , interaction parameters are applied . the first voxel transmission process considers the process of scattering given a discrete particle interaction tally with state values ( fig1 , b 3 ). for p n scattering , the angular group of incoming rays as scored by the interaction tally is considered in the voxel discrete particle response with an appropriate scatter p ( ω ). tally entrance surface δs i may also be considered when determining voxel discrete particle transmission through other discrete surfaces . however , for a preferred embodiment of the present invention , namely , use of a simple effective single collision voxel model with isotropic scatter , only the first interaction moment is treated in this detail . this is due to the complexities of multiple scatters and the relatively low statistical number of subsequent scatter . for higher order scatter interactions , a function coefficient approach is used to determine the angular particle distribution , and this may be used to compute complex in - voxel scattering . however , such complexity is not required for most modeling tasks , it is considered better to simply use smaller voxel sizes than deal with such complex operations . one then moves from voxel transmission to final voxel volume tallies of processes such as absorption , scatter and energy deposition ( dose ) as appropriate ( fig1 , b 4 ). following this process , for all other states , one determines the in - voxel scatter contribution to voxel volume tallies ( fig1 , b 5 ). one then computes the secondary transmission of in - voxel scattered discrete particles ( fig1 , b 6 ). finally , one loops through all - particle states and positions as needed to complete the im sweep . for 3drtp imrt , the above model with scatter represents a preferred , simple radiation model . however , this model can also be used in another calculation to determine larger voxel volume imbedding invariants as described herein . depending on the application , one may pre - compute voxel volume interactions using various methods known in the art . however , for subsequent voxel discrete particle transmission , it is necessary to properly disposition particles leaving the voxel in appropriate ray set states when this is used as an explicit particle state value . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the invention itself can be used to generate imbedding invariants that are used for voxel volume interaction modeling so that one is not limited to small voxels , and the criteria as defined above , namely , 1 / σ & gt ; d c is met . as with lvg ray set properties , this operation may be performed off - line as a pre - compute , or inline after material and grid properties have been established . in either case , all that is needed is to establish an initial boundary condition on a set of voxels . for this model however , all voxels combined to create a larger voxel should be within reference lvgs . one subdivides the grid system and solves discrete particle transport across a grid system tracking collision moment responses explicitly . surface to volume information is retained for use in embedding the lvg into a larger system . several surfaces may be combined to create a large voxel entrance surface as well as exit surfaces . discrete particle density is evenly distributed across these surfaces to form the appropriate integrated voxel system response to external entrance particles . ray tracing or point - to - point methods may be employed from the center of sub - surfaces to determine transport in the embedded system . alternatively , a pre - compute method may also be used . void voxels may also be used for entrance and exit to allow for ray set initial conditions and ray set based scoring . voids serve to provide distance moment groupings of ray sets . in such a mode , the can be used to reduce the number of explicit angular groups required for modeling within the lvg . on the input side , they serve to cause particle streaming associated with far distant moment lvg ray sets . on the output side , they are used to compute exit ray sets . initial discrete particle groupings for all un - collapsed state groups must be explicitly modeled ( see fig7 , block b 9 a ). for problems that involve fission , explicit system responses as a function of collision time epoch must be utilized . the converged infinite system response may be determined after at least one and usually after several explicit generational responses have been determined . in no case may the group of voxels in a fissile system form a local critical system ( bellman , supra ). finally , data associated with the grouped voxels is saved for use either in later calculations as part of a pre - compute , or for use in the existing calculation . the present invention solves particle transport as an impulsive initial value problem as opposed to a boundary value problem for non - fissile particle transport . for fissile particle transport , a generational eigenvalue can be computed based on generational fission changes . when eigenvalue is combined with relative reaction rate criteria , convergence to an acceptable solution can be established . an absolute in - system particle count relative to the initial discrete particle input can be used to determine convergence , along with a computation of the ratio of residual interaction tally to total interaction tally on a voxel volume basis . following convergence , results should be re - normalized to reflect the residual scattered or secondary im particles that were not transported out of the system as part of the sweep . this is particularly important for problems where voxel invariant responses are being determined for incorporation into broader problem solutions . f . result database storage ( fig7 . block 7 ) results of calculations are preferably stored in a conventional relational or object database . ray set data can also be stored in this manner . this is a preferred mode of storage in the instant invention . g . optimization / design engine ( fig7 . block 8 a ) as mentioned previously , the present invention is ideal for automated design and / or treatment planning optimization . block 8 a represents a design optimization based on results of the present invention , in which the exact specification is outside of the invention . for imrt 3drtp , the storage results of the instant invention are utilized , and simulated reasonable external rays are generated in order to maximize the dose to target tumors while minimizing the dose to healthy tissue . the present invention can be used to generate survey initial computations , allowing for relatively fast rejection of incident radiation that does not contribute significantly to dosing the tumor . additionally , the present invention is ideal for modeling scattered radiation contribution to off - target healthy tissue . commercially available optimization engines may be utilized to select the optimal beam configuration and particle intensity using the computational results of the invention . h . initial particle distribution ( fig7 . block 9 a ) as mentioned previously , the results of an optimization engine specify an initial test particle distribution . for radiation pencil beams , the preferred modeling procedure is to model rays directly and use the interaction model ( fig7 , block 5 ) to determine an initial particle distribution associated with scattered radiation . such initial radiation beams must have knowledge of the grid system . this may entail reconstruction of lvgs for certain specialty cases . pencil beams may be modeled using representative rays . for imrt 3drtp , a direct ray beam calculation , using the present invention to compute scattered radiation effects , is preferable for direct radiation dose to target tissue . this figure shows the preliminary problem setup for a regular geometry utilizing the pre - compute option . the prototype used for this problem utilized fig7 blocks 1 a , 2 a 1 , 2 a , 3 , 4 , 6 and 7 . specific results for this problem setup are depicted in fig1 . other prototypes demonstrated the im aspects of the present invention in following figures . in the fig1 preliminary problem , particles stream through the near side shaded duct entrance in an off - cosine source distribution . the specific source distribution streaming through the otherwise perfectly shielded side had a source distribution of isotropic particles uniformly distributed over a 10 × 10 × 10 cm 3 adjacent source voxel that of itself had no attenuation . the duct system represents has a cross section 10 cm high and wide , and extends through the 60 × 60 × 60 cm 3 system . other source particles do not stream in from boundaries and scattering is not modeled in order to maximize ray effect error . boundary conditions on all sides are a perfect vacuum . a standard total particle attenuation cross section of 0 . 1 cm − 1 is used and is similar to international benchmark problems , with the exception that there is no reflection of particles about three of the problem axes . selected results comparisons for this problem setup are presented in fig1 . preliminary planer interaction rate results . this graphic depicts the results of the present invention ( middle values ) compared to a high particle count monte carlo ( top values ) with percent relative differences ( low cell percentage values ) for each 10 3 cell . results are presented for a plane between 40 and 50 cm above the source plane . one cell with 0 . 0 interactions represents the void duct while the shaded cell represents the maximum error for the plane . it is typical that direct solutions are as much as 20 % to 40 % off at such distances with other prior art direct methods . the signal is a few ten thousandths of the original source at these distances for an extreme ray - effect streaming problem . it should also be noted that the present invention processes multiple source distributions for this or other problems over a thousand times faster than monte carlo , making it ideal for design problems and 3drtp imrt . the monte carlo code used was of the inventor &# 39 ; s construction , and when used to compute a base case on the same computer proved to be 1000 times slower than the present invention . fig1 , 16 , and 17 present results against a standard international reference benchmark , using the inline ray option . fig1 shows current prototype results of the present invention against a standard international benchmark problem . the prototype includes a simple interaction model , and uses variable rectangular parallelepiped voxels . it utilized an algorithm fully utilizing fig7 blocks 1 a , 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , and 6 . the reference problems and result comparison has been taken from “ 3d radiation transport benchmarks for simple geometries with void region ” published in a special issue of the journal progress in nuclear energy , volume 39 number 2 issn 0149 - 1970 ( 2001 ). the specific problem modeled from the benchmark is problem number 1 . this problem consists of a 200 × 200 × 200 cm 3 on a side cube of dark absorbing material with a 100 × 100 × 100 cm 3 central void . in the center of the void is a 20 × 20 × 20 cm 3 source consisting of dark material . the problem is solved in two modes . the total macroscopic cross section for the void region is 10 − 4 cm − 1 while the dark absorber cross section is 0 . 1 cm − 1 . this problem is extremely difficult for a direct method , as the material is dark , there is little or no scatter , and the problem size is large for the cross sections used . the problem is solved in two modes . in the first mode , 1 ai , the problem both regions are pure absorbers . in the second mode , problem 1 aii , both regions have 50 % scattering such that the both the absorption and scatter cross sections are 0 . 5 × 10 − 4 cm − 1 and 0 . 05 cm − 1 respectively for both the void and dark regions . the source rate in the center block is uniformly 1 particle cm − 3 - s − 1 . a single referential axis is provided for comparison . the coordinate system extends from − 100 cm to + 100 cm for each direction . compared with the present invention are respected nuclear transport codes such as tort , ardra and event . other codes such as penntran did not publish exact numbers , however from the graphics provided in the journal , in all cases it appears that the present invention provides superior results . either the exact analytic flux was used for comparison or the gvmp monte carlo code ( a variant of mcnp ). the monte carlo code was run for 378 , 000 seconds to obtain the 1 aii results presented ( see fig1 ). as the present invention does not compute flux directly , a small node size of 2 × 2 × 2cm 3 was utilized to reconstruct the flux rate . this is an additional source of error for the present invention as the node average flux is reported compared to the point fluxes computed by other codes . for fig1 scattering , the entire system was completely coupled in the present invention . the scatter problem required the modeling of fewer nodes as there was an effective vacuum boundary condition about the nodal axis . the scatter problem required full modeling of all nodes in problem 1 . node sizes were varied from the smallest 2 × 2 × 2cm 3 to 20 × 20 × 20cm 3 nodes distant from the measurement axis . this was consistent with the methodologies used for the other codes . ray tracing was used for these particular results , and this required the modeling of 9978 solid angles . the present invention was run with the distinct setup and execution modes separate . the setup was complete such that given any source distribution , the execution time was a small fraction of the original time . fig1 results present the present invention with an lvg approach breaking the reference benchmark problem in two . fig1 provides machine time comparisons . this figure shows the effect of an lvg surface cut in problem 1 ai . as this problem has no scattering , a surface is particularly problematic to model . the surface selected was at 50 cm at the void / absorber interface . three different surface results are presented . the first surface result presents no surface cut . the second presents 4 sub - surfaces per side ( an input to the prototype ) with ray sets explicitly tracked through the surface . the surface cut utilized a 6 th order surface harmonics function coefficient fit per cut side . results are shown for after the cut for the cut cases , as the results prior to the cut are identical . with the lvg surface and only 4 sub - surfaces , adequate results were obtained . a 6 th order surface harmonic function with 57 coefficients determined using the techniques described in fig6 , provides good agreement as well . additional sub - surfaces can be utilized to improve results further . the surface harmonic function was of the form : f ( μ , ϕ ) = a 0 + ∑ m { a m p m ( μ ) + ∑ n p mn ( μ ) * [ b m , n * cos ( n ϕ ) + c m , n * sin ( n ϕ ) ] } where the summation of m is from 1 to 6 , the summation of n is from 1 to m , p m ( μ ) represents a legendre polynomial and p mn ( μ ) an associated legendre polynomial . the cosine normal to the surface is given by μ , while φ is the azimuthal angle . the coefficients , a , b and c were linearized and fit in accordance with the methodology presented in fig6 . this figure shows the timing results comparison for fig1 and 16 . the present invention was run on an inexpensive pc processor . the clock speed of the present invention machine was higher than other cases , making timing comparisons difficult . the present invention setup time is a one - time cost for any source distribution optimization problem ( such as those in 3d imrt ). as such , this computational time is used once to couple the entire system . following this coupling , the execution times are presented and even for a tightly converged scatter problem are significantly faster than the setup time . even the setup times for the present invention were better than those of the comparison direct methods and significantly faster than monte carlo . this data , along with the fig1 results indicate a 1000 fold improvement in speed through use of the present invention . while the above - described invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various alterations in form and detail may be made therein and various application employed , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 0 |
referring now to fig1 a load center monitor 10 is shown typically enclosed in a circuit breaker housing of standard configuration including connection to the main and neutral wires of a power distribution system . also shown by way of example , in dashed lines , is a panel 16 for supporting and / or enclosing the load center monitor ( lcm ) 10 . the connection of the main power line is shown at terminal 12 and the exemplary pigtail connection of the neutral power line is shown at line 14 . the lcm 10 has several input / output ports or output terminals as follows : a user port 20 is provided for connecting the lcm 10 to and from a first remote terminal . a service port 22 is provided for connecting the lcm 10 with a second remote terminal . a communication port 24 interconnects the lcm 10 with a communication bus 26 . connected to the communication bus 26 of the lcm 10 is a plurality of de breakers , each one being indicated by the reference numeral 40 and each de breaker 40 being connected in parallel to the communication bus 26 . each de breaker 40 is identified by a unique address assigned by the lcm 10 to be described in detail hereinafter . each of the de breakers 40 is an electronic circuit breaker of the type described in the co - pending patent application &# 34 ; entitled &# 34 ; circuit breakers with integrated control features .&# 34 ; the de breakers 40 function according to one or more programmed trip profiles stored in the de breaker memory . the trip profile is primarily for tailoring the response parameters of the individual de breaker to the load current that flows in the circuit protected by that particular de breaker . the response parameters are in the form of data constants , which represent current and time values , weighting factors and the like and are stored in one or more tables of the memory in each de breaker . these data constants can be dynamically changed on a continuous basis by the de breaker itself or by the lcm 10 . typically , this dynamic change or updating of the breaker tipping response parameters is performed on command from the lcm 10 or even an external computer ; however , the de breaker itself can change the trip profile data constants under certain conditions . in addition to the normal load current response mode of the individual de breaker , and the arcing response mode that will be described with respect to fig7 b hereinbelow , the de breaker has a third operational mode . this operational mode is the ground fault circuit interrupting mode in which the de breaker is responsive to a leakage current condition between the hot and the neutral line of a particular branch circuit to which a number of devices may be connected . the operation of this response mode was also thoroughly described in the previously mentioned u . s . pat . no . 5 , 875 , 087 , entitled &# 34 ; circuit breaker with integrated control features &# 34 ;. also shown connected to the lcm 10 is a diagnostic output 28 for connection to a test terminal , primarily for use during manufacturing . ports 20 , 22 , 24 and 28 may conveniently be modular telephone receptacles , for example . the lcm 10 further includes alarm output 32 which may also be a modular telephone receptacle , and a visible indicator 34 , which may include one or more light emitting diodes or other display . the visible indicator 34 may be mounted on the same surface of the lcm 10 as the user port . notice that both of these features are shown on the left hand border of fig1 to be visible to one who is facing a panel that includes the lcm 10 and an array of circuit breakers installed in a standard service box of an electrical distribution system . the other ports and outputs are arranged on the lcm 10 so as to be accessible when the panel supporting the lcm 10 and the other circuit breakers in the system are accessible from the backside of the panel 16 . the user port 20 and the service port 22 provide for connection to the lcm &# 39 ; s 10 signal processor with an external data - monitoring and / or data control system . this arrangement of communication ports 20 and 22 allows continuous readout of the lcm &# 39 ; s 10 internal data . moreover , the external controller can communicate with the de breakers in the system using the lcm 10 to relay the data in both directions . in a preferred embodiment , the user port 20 and the service port 22 may be serial i / o ports and implemented according to the eia rs - 232c asynchronous interface protocol . other data communication standards and protocols may , of course , be used depending on the circumstances of a particular application . although user port 20 and service port 22 in the preferred embodiment are essentially identical , they can be defined differently depending on the application . included among the applications user port 20 or service port 22 can be used for are , for example , obtaining data from the memory within the lcm 10 or giving commands to the lcm 10 for control and reconfiguration purposes . continuing with fig1 communication bus 24 can be either an i / o serial port such as the user port 20 or service port 22 or a low speed communication port , such as defined by the industry standard i 2 c protocol for interconnecting integrated circuits with each other . in this case , the integrated circuit or the microprocessor in the lcm 10 may be connected over the communication bus 24 to any of the de breakers 40 connected to communication bus 26 . communication bus 26 is preferably a bi - directional bus that enables data communication between any de breaker 40 and the lcm 10 . in the preferred embodiment , communication bus 26 is a three - wire bus including two data lines , local bus 1 and local bus 2 , and a third return line . in operation , a specific communication protocol has been devised for the use of this bus according to programs stored within the lcm 10 . the operation of this protocol will be described hereinafter . the de breakers connected to communication bus 26 are described in the co - pending patent application entitled &# 34 ; circuit breakers with integrated control features &# 34 ;, which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . moreover , conflicts between the individual de breaker 40 units connected to communication bus 26 are resolved by a unique addressing scheme described hereinbelow in conjunction with fig4 and tables a and b in which addresses are assigned automatically when a new de breaker is installed and connected to communication bus 26 . the diagnostic output 28 is the output of an internal pulse with modulator within the lcm 10 . this pulse width modulated ( pwm ) output may be connected to a digital circuit analyzer or a test terminal for obtaining data from status registers or data related to certain operating parameters within the lcm 10 . for example , the average value of the pwm output may be used for diagnostic purposes to monitor data values inside the cpu of the lcm 10 with , for example , an oscilloscope or digital analyzer . the visible indicators 34 , implemented for example in the preferred embodiment by multiple color ( e . g ., red , green ) light - emitting diodes , are used to indicate the status of the system including the de breakers 40 and the lcm 10 . these colors are incorporated in one assembly in the preferred embodiment for convenience , but in principle , they may be in separate packages or may be different colors . further , the status indication displayed by the visible indicators 34 may be programmed to indicate other functional status information . typically , the green led flashes every two seconds in the preferred embodiment when the lcm 10 and all the associated de breakers 40 are operating normally . when one of the de breakers 40 trips , the red led flashes in various code patterns to indicate the nature of the problem detected by the lcm 10 . it should not be construed that the visible indicator 34 is limited to the use of leds . on the contrary any display configuration suited to the application may be used in the present invention . the external alarm connected 32 provides a connection for an external alarm . this terminal includes a power driver output to drive an external alarm such as an audible beeper or buzzer . the external alarm may be a dedicated unit or a feed to a general purpose emergency or security alarm system . this could be an rf wireless connection to a fire department , for example . this driver can be isolated or non - isolated from the ac line for safety purposes . the external alarm can likewise be driven in a coded pattern to provide specific information regarding the event causing the alarm . pre - recorded voice messages for specific conditions , stored with the lcm 10 or a remote terminal , may also be activated during operation of the external alarm function . lcm 10 further includes a power reset button 36 for operating a resettable fuse connected between the main terminal 12 and the power supply of the lcm 10 . a clear button 38 is also provided on the lcm 10 for clearing an audible alarm indication activated by the lcm 10 , for selecting operating modes of the lcm 10 , and for initiating a self - test routine during servicing . referring now to fig2 the lcm 10 is shown in a block diagram schematic including central processing unit or cpu 76 along with its associated non - volatile memory 70 , a power supply 54 , and the various communication ports described hereinabove . also shown is circuitry for the diagnostic output 28 , the external alarm 32 and the visible indicators 34 . power for the lcm 10 is provided by main power line 12 , shown connected to node 50 via resettable fuse 36 . a resistor 56 is connected between node 50 and pin rc5 of cpu 76 . pin rc5 is further connected to ground through resistor 58 . all operations include cpu 76 are synchronized with the ac line frequency ( 50 hz or greater ) through the coupling from node 50 . resistors 56 and 58 provide this synchronizing signal at a logic level input to the cpu 76 . pin rc5 is further connected inside cpu 76 to a zero - crossing detector . further connected to node 50 is the input line to the power supply 54 . the output of power supply 54 supplies a + 5 volt dc voltage to operate the circuits in the lcm 10 . the connection between the neutral power line 14 , which in the illustrative embodiment may be a pigtail lead , and the ground circuit of the lcm 10 is also shown in fig2 . the lcm 10 the associated real time clock ( rtc ) and non - volatile memory (&# 34 ; nvram &# 34 ;) 70 is connected to the cpu 76 through a pair of data buffers 72 and 74 , each via an 8 - bit bus , which are used to store the complete 12 - bit address for the 8k byte rtc / nvram chip 70 . the memory portion of rtc / nvram 70 is provided primarily for storing data from the de breakers and other data which is not critical to the operation of the lcm 10 . although shown for the preferred embodiment , the use of data buffer 72 and the data buffer 74 in discrete forms is not essential . in other implementations , data buffers 72 and 74 may be integrated within the rtc / nvram chip 70 itself . the cpu 76 in the preferred embodiment is an 8 - bit microcontroller such as a pic 16c73a manufactured by microchip technology , inc . the cpu 76 communicates with the rtc / nvram 70 through the array of data lines shown in fig2 as rb0 through rb7 . these lines are connected respectively to data buffer 72 and data buffer 74 and therethrough to the rtc / nvram 70 . in operation , the rtc portion of rtc / nvram 70 is provided to time - stamp the data downloaded from the de breakers 40 and stored in the nvram for historical and analysis purposes . time - stamped data is particularly useful when reconfiguring trip profiles for extended power outages , to accommodate the extremely high peak inrush currents flowing in a large number of incandescent lamps whose filaments have cooled substantially since the power outage occurred . various control lines connecting the cpu 76 to the rtc / nvram 70 include connections to i / o terminal ra0 , ra2 through ra3 , ra4 , and ra5 of cpu 76 . several of these lines , for example ra4 , the clock line to data buffer 74 , include pull - ups to the + 5 volt power supply . similarly , the control lines connected to i / o ports ra2 , ra3 and ra0 are connected through respective pull - up resistors to the + 5 volt power supply . the operating frequency of the microprocess or central processing unit 76 shown in fig2 may be controlled by a crystal or ceramic resonator or some other means of frequency control such as a capacitor combined with a resistor or even an inductor . in the preferred embodiment , crystal 68 operates at a frequency of 8 . 0 mhz . the terminals of crystal 68 are connected to the terminals labeled osc1 and osc2 on cpu 76 . a brown - out detector 60 is connected between the vdd terminal and the vpp or master clear terminal ( a reset pin ) of cpu 76 . in operation , brown - out detector 60 generates a reset signal during any period that the voltage input to power supply 54 falls below a predetermined level . the reset connection between brown out detector 60 and the vpp terminal of cpu 76 is coupled through resistor 62 . a third terminal of the brown - out detector 60 is connected to system ground . the brown - out detector 60 used in this illustrative embodiment may be a max889 manufactured by maxim integrated products , inc . the vss terminal of cpu 76 is connected to system ground . a capacitor 66 is connected between the vdd terminal and the vss terminal of cpu 76 . the vdd terminal of cpu 76 is also connected to the output of power supply 54 . the dc power for this microprocessor cpu 76 , is developed from the ac powerline at line 12 via resettable fuse 36 and power supply 54 . the power supply 54 operates as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 875 , 087 incorporated hereinabove by reference and entitled &# 34 ; circuit breaker with integrated control features &# 34 ; and will not be described further herein . the input / output communication ports of the lcm 10 will now be described . user port 20 , shown in fig2 at connector j1 , has three wires connected to the cpu 76 through a dual opto - coupler for isolating the communication port from the circuitry within the cpu 76 . the incoming receive line labeled rx is connected to pin 1 of opto - isolator 104 and exits from output pin 2 of opto - isolator 104 to connect to a common terminal which is connected in turn to the - 12 volt line at pine 3 of j1 , the user port 20 . terminals 1 and 2 of the opto - isolator 104 are connected to the anode and cathode respectively of the internal light - emitting diode , i . e ., the input side of opto - isolator 104 . the output side , which is an optically operated transistor is connected to terminals 8 and 7 of opto - isolator 104 with the collector of the output transistor connected to terminal 8 and the emitter connected to terminal 7 of the opto - isolator 104 . the collector of the output transistor at terminal 8 connects to the rc3 / scl pin of cpu 76 . this is the receive input line for the user port 20 . the return side of the output of the transistor at pin 7 of opto - isolator 104 is connected to the rc2 / pwm terminal of cpu 76 . a pull - up resistor is connected from pin 8 of opto - isolator 104 to the + 5 volt supply . the output or transmit line tx of user port 20 begins at pin rc4 / sda of cpu 76 and is connected through a series resistor to pin 3 of opto - isolator 106 to the anode of the light - emitting diode within the opto - isolator 106 . the cathode of the light - emitting diode in opto - isolator 106 connects to a common line connected to pins 4 and 7 of opto - isolator 104 and 106 and the rc2 input pin of cpu 76 . the output of opto - isolator 106 is an optically operated transistor with the collector at pin 6 and the emitter at pin 5 . pin 5 is connected to the - 12 volt common line to the user port 20 and pin 6 , the output of the transmit line , is connected to terminal 4 of j1 of user port 20 . the - 12 volt line of the io port is connected to terminal 3 of j1 of user port 20 . service port 22 is similar to user port 20 in that it includes a connector j2 having terminals 1 , 3 and 4 . the receive line rx at terminal 1 of j2 of the service port 22 is connected to pin 1 of opto - isolator 100 which is the anode of the light - emitting diode within opto - isolator 100 . the return path , that is the - 12 volt line , is connected to terminal 2 of opto - isolator 100 and to terminal 3 of j2 of the service port 22 . the receive output of opto - coupler 100 is at terminals 8 and 7 with terminal 8 connected to the internal transistor of opto - isolator 100 and terminal 7 of opto - isolator 100 connected to the rc3 / scl pin of cpu 76 . the return side of the receive line from the output of opto - isolator 100 at pin 7 , which is connected internally to the emitter of the internal transistor , is connected to the collector of transistor 90 and from there through resistor 92 to the + 5 volt supply . the emitter of transistor 90 is connected to ground . the base of transistor 90 is connected through series resistor 94 to node 88 and , in turn , to the output pin rc2 / pwm of cpu 76 . transistor 90 selects which is the two i / o ports , user port 20 or service port 22 , will be active . continuing with the service port 22 shown in fig2 the outgoing transmit line tx outputs from the collector of the internal transistor of opto - isolator 102 . the emitter of the internal output transistor is connected to the - 12 volt line which connects to pin 3 of connector j2 . the outgoing transmit line tx at pin 6 of opto - isolator 102 is connected to terminal 4 of connector j2 . the outgoing transmit line for the service port 22 begins at pin rc4 / sda of cpu 76 and continues through a series resistor to pin 3 of opto - isolator 102 , which is the anode of the internal light - emitting diode of opto - isolator 102 . the return side of the input connection to opto - isolator 102 at pin 4 , the cathode of the light - emitting diode within opto - isolator 102 is connected to the collector of transistor 90 . it will be appreciated from the above description that both of the output terminals of the incoming receive lines of user port 20 and service port 22 are connected together to a pull up resistor to the + 5 volt supply and to the rc3 / scl pin of cpu 76 . also connected to this pin is pin 6 of a 1k × 8 eeprom 108 which is provided for storing information critical to the operation of the lcm 10 . such information includes data that must be retained in the event of a complete power failure . pin 5 of eeprom 108 is connected to pin rb7 on cpu 76 . pins 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 of eeprom 108 are connected to ground and pin 8 of eeprom 108 is connected to the + 5 volt supply . various configuration parameters for the lcm 10 system may be saved in eeprom 108 for shifting into the cpu &# 39 ; s memory when called upon by a step in one of the operating program routines . eeprom 108 may further hold the primary addresses of each de breaker 40 as they are assigned by the lcm 10 as well as parameter settings and trip profiles of the individual de breakers 40 connected to the communication bus 26 . as shown , eeprom 108 may also be accessed through either user port 20 or service port 22 . it will also be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that other data storage configurations may be used to satisfy the functions supplied by eeprom 108 . continuing with fig2 for the lcm 10 , there is connected to pin rc0 of cpu 76 the anode of a red light - emitting diode through a resistor . similarly , there is connected to pin rc1 of cpu 76 the anode of a green light - emitting diode through a resistor . while the colors red and green are shown in the illustrative embodiment , other or additional colors may be employed and the choice of red and green is not intended to be limiting . the cathodes of both the red and the green light emitting diodes used as the visible indicator 34 are connected to ground . the signal at pin rc0 of cpu 76 is also connected through resistor 122 to the base of transistor 120 . the emitter of transistor 120 is connected to ground . transistor 120 is a driver transistor for operating an internal audible alarm such as buzzer 30 and / or for driving an external alerting signal through terminal 4 of connector j3 , thus providing the audible alarm 32 shown in fig2 . the collector terminal of transistor 120 includes buzzer 30 which is connected through diode 130 and resistor 128 in series to the + 5 volt supply . resistor 126 is connected across buzzer 30 . buzzer 30 may be an audible annunciator having the appropriate sensitivity and output characteristic . in operation , when the line from pin rc0 of cpu 76 is active , the red light - emitting diode of visible indicator 34 will flash , the driver transistor 120 will turn on to operate the buzzer 30 and provide a signal at terminal 4 of connector j3 to operate the external audible alarm 32 . an intelligent alarm may be provided by utilizing driver transistor 120 in a pulsed mode for sending an encoded message . also connected from the output terminal of collector terminal of transistor 120 is a reverse - biased rectifier 132 connected to ground and a transient absorbing device 134 connected to ground . associated with the audible alarm provided by the illustrative buzzer 30 are functions for clearing the audible alarm and for setting various operating and test modes of the lcm and the de breaker 40 using a clear button 38 connected to cpu 76 provided therefor . pressing the clear button 38 may be used to clear the alarm until a service person responds to the alarm . in operation , the alarm may be set in a mode to reactivate the alarm after specified intervals wherein the intervals may be adjusted for example , as to duration , volume , pitch or repetition rate , corresponding to various levels of urgency associated with or conditions which triggered the alarm . further , the clear button 38 may be pressed to initiate a self - test routine during servicing . continuing further with fig2 for lcm 10 , the pwm output of cpu 76 is provided at pin rc2 . this pin rc2 is also connected to node 88 which is coupled through resistor 80 and resistor 84 to the pwm output 28 . connected from the junction of resistor 80 and resistor 84 is a capacitor 82 connected to ground ; similarly , from the junction of the pwm output 28 and resistor 84 is a capacitor 86 also connected to ground . the combinations of resistor 80 and capacitor 82 and resistor 84 and capacitor 86 form a low pass filter of the pwm output to the diagnostic output 28 . in operation , cpu 76 shown in fig2 is programmed according to flow - charts to be described hereinafter , to store time - stamped data supplied by individual de breakers 40 in the non - volatile memory portion of rtc / nvram 70 . thus data logging information is retained in the non - volatile memory 70 even when there is no ac power for the lcm 10 . further , the eeprom 108 is available for storing the various configuration parameters for both the lcm 10 and the connected de breakers 40 as well as the primary addresses of the individual de breakers connected to communication bus 26 . the use in the preferred embodiment of eeprom 108 for storage of configuration parameters and primary addresses is not intended to be limited ; this data may also be stored in non - volatile memory , for example . thus it is one of the principal functions of cpu 76 to obtain and store the data logging information from the de breakers in the system for later use in analysis or remote control operations to be described hereinbelow . another principal function of cpu 76 is to perform parameter analysis of the time - stamped data stored in the non - volatile memory 70 to modify by adaptively reconfiguring the trip profiles of individual de breakers as necessary according to conditions experienced by that individual de breaker , and to report the evaluation of such data for use by personnel maintaining the system . yet another function of the cpu 76 in lcm 10 is to control or participate in the remote control of and / or reconfiguration of the data logging , analysis or adaptive reconfiguration of the lcm / de breaker network comprising of the lcm 10 and associated plurality of de breakers 40 in an electrical power distribution system . among the status indicators provided by the lcm 10 are the previously mentioned audible alarm provided by buzzer 30 , the visible indicator 34 provided , for example by the red and green light - emitting diodes , and the signal provided by driver transistor 120 to the external alert terminal 32 . the alarm indications provided by these three outputs provides information on the status of the lcm 10 and any of the associated de breakers 40 . continuing with the operation of the lcm 10 , another principal function of the lcm 10 is the remote data logging of de breaker 40 status and ac power line or load circuit status and line transients as well as other conditions on the ac power line network into which the lcm 10 is connected . for example , all data inside the cpu 76 is accessible by a remote control system for monitoring of lcm 10 data and the status of individual de breakers 40 . during the data collection activity , there is no compromise of the de breaker &# 39 ; s normal ability to detect circuit overloads and arcing . if several de breakers 40 , for example , are indicating a particular condition at the same time , the lcm 10 can use the commonality to detect problems that originate closer to the power source , such as a loose connection between the breaker box and the distribution transformer . thus , by remote control , data logging information and status information may be obtained through either the user port 20 or the service port 22 . further , the remote units communicating through either of these ports may issue commands to the lcm 10 to respond appropriately to conditions that are reported to the remote controller over the user port 20 or the service port 22 . such monitoring activity may be the result of normal service routines performed on the system or , in the case of an emergency , queries can be made over the communication ports to obtain information related to an existing or a potential emergency situation . similarly , the data acquisition properties of a lcm 10 can be used to analyze and monitor information supplied by the de breakers 40 and issue various alarms or alert notices to the remotely located terminals . moreover , upon a command from one of the remote terminals over one of the communication ports such as the user port 20 or the service port 22 , a command for providing adaptive control of an individual de breaker 40 in the network of circuit breakers connected to the communication port 24 can be used to adjust the response or trip profile of the individual de breakers 40 to conditions existing on the power line on the branch circuit protected by that individual de breaker 40 . continuing with the operation of lcm 10 shown in fig2 it has been described previously how transistor 90 operates as an enabling switch for user port 20 and service port 22 . this transistor may be operated by a control bit output from cpu 76 at pin rc2 . this single bit may be generated to control communication on either port by selecting the port to be used . moreover , this same bit may be programmed as the output of the pulse width modulator ( pwm ). in such case , the output of the pulse width modulator at pin rc2 of cpu 76 may be coupled to the pulse width modulator output 28 for conveying diagnostic data to a manufacturing terminal to monitor data values inside the cpu 76 . yet another important principal feature of the lcm 10 shown in fig2 is the re - configureability that is available because of the programmability of cpu 76 . as previously described , a microcontroller such as the pic 16c73a manufactured by microchip technology , inc ., is used for maximum versatility . this device can be programed after assembly and even modified by remote control for special requirements . thus , different characteristics may be programmed into the cpu 76 of the lcm 10 , both when the unit is manufactured and also in the field by remote control action through either one of the remote i / o communication ports , user port 20 or service port 22 . this re - configureability may be important when adapting the trip profile of individual circuit breakers on a particular branch circuit to particular kinds of appliances or other loads . trip profiles having differing characteristics for turn - on surge current and overload characteristics , such as electric motor stalling and inductive switching are just two of the illustrative examples of the many characteristics that can be adopted . these differing characteristics of the kinds of loads that are attached to individual branch circuits in an electrical power distribution system are described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 875 , 087 entitled circuit breaker with integrated control features filed on aug . 8 , 1996 as ser . no . 08 / 695 , 076 which was incorporated in its entirety by reference herein . yet another feature available because of the presence of the programmable microcontroller as used for cpu 76 is the ability to perform automatic self - tests at regular time intervals , update those results and store those results in the non - volatile memory 70 at periodic intervals . for example , in the preferred embodiment , the automatic self - test routine may be performed every nine minutes , or at other selected intervals , upon a command from a remote controller system through user port 20 or service port 22 . as will be described hereinbelow , the automatic self - test routine can provide information about a number of hardware or software operating parameters that exist in a lcm / de breaker system . referring now to fig3 there is shown a block diagram of a de breaker of the type used in conjunction with the lcm 10 of the present invention . each de breaker 40 of the type shown in the preferred embodiment of fig3 includes a cpu 376 connected to a plurality of sense inputs , a serial i / o communication port , a power supply and a non - volatile memory 35 sufficient to store basic configuration parameters and addresses with are entered during manufacturing . the incoming main power line 312 is connected to a node 313 and further to the input of a circuit breaker 318 . the output of circuit breaker 318 is further connected to a node 319 and therefrom to the input of the current sense circuit 324 of the de breaker . the output terminal of the current sense circuit 324 is connected to the load terminal 352 . the neutral power line at line 314 is connected to the ground terminal of the de breaker and also to the ground terminal of the power supply 354 and cpu 376 within the de breaker . ac voltage is supplied to power supply 354 from node 313 . the output of power supply 354 is supplied on line 356 to the vdd terminal of cpu 376 shown in fig3 . node 313 at the input to circuit breaker 318 is connected through line 334 to the first voltage sense input of cpu 376 . a second voltage sense input to cpu 376 is provided from the neutral side of breaker trip solenoid 316 via line 320 . the purpose of providing two voltage sense inputs will be described hereinafter . it will be appreciated , however , that the first voltage sense input is responsive to voltage changes that occur upstream from the de breaker 40 , that is , changes such as voltage dropouts which will affect all de breakers in the system . the second voltage sense input is also responsive to upstream voltage charges as long as the breaker has not tripped . since both voltage inputs are responsive to the voltage on the ac power line and are connected to opposite sides of the breaker trip solenoid 316 , sensing both lines 320 and 334 allows for testing the solenoid coil in breaker trip solenoid 316 . moreover , the first voltage sense line 334 may also be used to sense conditions on the upstream side of the de breaker even after it has tripped . circuit breakers 318 , which is of the type of circuit breaker described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 875 , 087 filed aug . 8 , 1996 , entitled &# 34 ; circuit breaker with integrated control features &# 34 ;, includes a trip override feature which is supplied by breaker trip solenoid circuit 316 shown in fig3 of the present application . the output of breaker trip solenoid circuit 316 is applied through control path 342 to operate the solenoid contacts to cause circuit breaker 318 to trip immediately upon an appropriate trip signal supplied by cpu 376 . a trip signal is provided over line 340 from cpu 376 to the input of the breaker trip solenoid circuit 316 . continuing with fig3 showing the block diagram of a de breaker 40 , an output for each of the visible indicators , a red light - emitting diode 370 and a green light emitting diode 372 is provided . each of these light emitting diode ( led ) visible indicators 370 and 372 are provided outputs by cpu 376 to provide visual indicators of conditions within the cpu 376 of a de breaker 40 . cpu 376 further has an input line 322 which connects the output of the current sense circuit 324 to cpu 376 , to provide an input for sensing the load current by the cpu 376 . there is further provided the output of temperature sense unit 326 through line 328 to another input of cpu 376 for monitoring the temperature of the de breaker 40 . there is yet another set of lines denoted as program lines 322 between program jumper set 330 and cpu 376 . the program jumper set 330 provides for programming various functions of the cpu 376 in response to particular circumstances of the installation in which the de breaker 40 shown in fig3 is used . there is also shown in fig3 the serial i / o coupler connected to cpu 376 through line 350 . line 350 enables bi - directional data communication between cpu 376 and a compatible terminal connected to the communication bus represented by the receive , the transmit and the common lines attached to the serial i / o coupler 352 . in the typical installation , the three - wire bus connected to the output of serial i / o coupler 352 provides a bi - directional communication path between the de breaker 40 and the cpu 376 in the lcm 10 of the present invention . continuing with fig3 other features of the de breaker 40 include first , storage capacity within cpu 376 for storing predetermined performance parameters . the controller within cpu 376 compares outputs of current sense unit 324 , the temperature sense unit 326 , and the voltage sense units through lines 320 and 334 to generate control signals when these parameters exceed the predetermined operating thresholds . second , the input / output port provided by the serial i / o coupler 352 enables communication with a computer external to the de breaker 40 . this allows information to be transmitted to and from the external computer . the controller within cpu 376 is therefore operable to receive data from the serial input / output port 352 regarding new desired operating relationships or trip profiles for storage in the memory within cpu 376 . for example , data can be uploaded from the de breaker to the external or remote computer or new trip profiles for the operation of the circuit breaker can be downloaded from the external or remote computer . moreover , remote control of the de breaker can be used to override the trip mechanism in the de breaker and trip the circuit breaker in certain conditions . for example , in the event of fire conditions detected within the building that houses the lcm 10 and its associated de breakers 40 , a command can be issued to the lcm 10 and , in turn , to the de breaker 40 to trip a particular branch circuit in the vicinity of the detected fire hazard . further , remote control can be used to disable the trip override feature in a de breaker so that it will operate as a conventional , thermally operated circuit breaker , for example during maintenance . continuing further with fig3 a zero - crossing detector within cpu 376 makes use of inputs provided by both the current sense circuit 324 and the second voltage sense input . voltage dividers ( not shown in fig3 ) reduce the input voltage to a level within the ratings of the zero crossing detector circuits within cpu 376 . the zero - crossing detector can determine , from the waveforms present at these two inputs to cpu 376 , the phase angle of the current to the load relative to the voltage supply to the load , thus determining the type of load that is connected to load terminal 352 . thus , characteristics peculiar to the particular load can be known and the trip profile for an individual de breaker adapted to the particular load . furthermore , within an individual de breaker , a memory contains a family of trip point profile curves . thus , the trip point profile curve needed for a particular kind of load can be retrieved from the family of trip point profile curves stored in memory . theses trip profiles are selectable either by the user or as a function of the measured parameters determined by the de breaker 40 from inputs provided by the current sense input 324 , temperature sense input 326 or the first and second voltage sense inputs through lines 334 and 320 . continuing with the operation of the de breaker shown in fig3 the de breaker 40 is programmed , in effect , to take a snapshot of multiple data values at the end of each half cycle of the incoming ac power line signal . this data will be saved in the memory buffer of the de breaker 40 within cpu 376 until the breaker 40 has a chance to offload the data to the lcm 10 . in normal operation , the lcm 10 can collect the data for an individual de breaker 40 during one full ac cycle . in operation , the cpu 376 shown in fig3 receives voltage sense inputs from a first input connected to the incoming ac supply voltage and also from a second input connected to the neutral side of the breaker trip solenoid 316 . the first voltage sense input thus detects voltage drop outs which may be caused by arcing across an open circuit or a loose connection in the upstream circuit or across the hot and neutral wires in the upstream circuit . such a condition would affect all the de breakers 40 served by the malfunctioning power line . the response of the lcm 10 to upstream arcing and voltage drop outs is described in conjunction with fig7 b . in another fault condition , suppose the lcm 10 receives data from all de breakers 40 , having the same time stamp values , that arcing or drop outs are indicated downstream because the de breaker 40 current sense inputs detect a current drop - out . the lcm 10 interprets this condition as a loose or open connection in the neutral wire and accordingly activates an alarm as described in conjunction with fig7 b . it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the concept of the lcm 10 and de breaker 40 network or system illustrated herein may also be applied to dc circuits as well as to ac circuits . in ac circuits the power line frequency provides a convenient reference for synchronizing the operation performed by the lcm 10 and the de breakers 40 . however , in a dc circuit system , the choice of synchronizing reference is up to the designer to select one appropriate for the application . reference timing may , of course , be supplied by a system oscillator or some other stable source provided for this purpose . this completes the detailed description of the principle structural features of the lcm 10 and the de breakers 40 intended to be used therewith . the remaining detailed description will address two major areas . first , the communication between the lcm 10 and the de breakers 40 will be described in conjunction with fig4 . this description will include the automatic address assignment routine for the individual circuit breakers , the communication protocol and arbitration used to operate the intercommunication between these two units , and the processing of parametric data saved by the lcm 10 . second , the program operating routines for the lcm 10 will be described with the aid of fig5 , 7 and 8 . additional mechanical features of the lcm 10 and de breakers 40 system will be described in conjunction with fig9 and 11 . preparatory to the description of fig4 it will be helpful to describe the basis for the timing used by both the communication protocol and the a / d converters in the de breakers 40 . in both cases , these timing frequencies are keyed to the ac line frequency . for example , the sampling rate of the a / d converters is 1 / 16 of the period of 1 / 2 cycle of the 60 hz power line frequency . this calculation works out to 1 / 16 × 8 . 33 milliseconds or approximately 520 microseconds for the duration of a sampling interval . the 520 microsecond interval is also the length of a communication data byte which is transmitted between the lcm 10 and a de breaker 40 . as is well known , an individual data byte consists of a start bit , 8 data bits , a parity bit and a stop bit for a total of 11 bits . in operation , 16 data samples are acquired for an individual de breaker 40 during a half cycle of the 60 cycle ac line frequency . this sampling rate is synchronized by the zero - crossing detector in the microcontroller , cpu 376 . the first sample begins at the zero - crossing , the eighth sample occurs at the ac line waveform peak , and the sixteenth sample occurs just prior to the next zero - crossing . these and other sample positions will become important during the description of the program flow charts to be described hereinbelow . responsive to the ac line frequency and the sampling rate are two 8 - bit counter timers used to determine the timing of certain events . the so - called two - second timer , to be discussed hereinbelow , counts to 256 times the duration of 1 / 2 cycle of the ac waveform or 2 . 13 seconds . similarly , the so - called nine - minute timer , also to be discussed hereinbelow , counts to 256 times the duration of the two - second timer , or approximately 9 . 1 minutes . the two - second timer is used to control the flash repetition rate of the visible leds . the nine - minute timer is used to control the lcm 10 self - test program repetition rate . referring now to fig4 there is shown an example of the communication protocol for data communication between a lcm 10 and a de breaker 40 when data is being downloaded from a de breaker 40 to the lcm 10 . in fig4 the lower line is a time line with equally spaced intervals beginning with t 0 . each interval represents the sampling period of 520 microseconds . above the lower horizontal time line are two sequences of pulses . the upper row of pulses illustrates the data bytes transmitted by the lcm 10 which are transmitted at approximately 1 , 040 microsecond intervals . the sequence of pulses below the upper row of pulses represents the data bytes transmitted by an individual de breaker 40 . notice that these pulses are transmitted at equally spaced alternate intervals with respect to the lcm 10 data byte transmissions . fig4 thus shows that individual data bytes are alternately transmitted by first the lcm 10 , then the de breaker 40 with which it is communicating , and so on . this particular illustrative example of the communication protocol was designed using the eia standard no . rs - 232c for serial binary data interchange . however , other schemes are possible . for example , the i 2 c bus , which is a trademark of phillips corporation , could also be used to implement the communication bus for data communication between the lcm 10 and a smart breaker such as the de breaker 40 of the present invention connected to the communication port of the lcm 10 . the present invention disclosed herein , however , is not limited by this particular illustrative example . each of the data byte pulses shown in fig4 includes a complete data byte consisting of a start bit , 8 data bits , a parity bit and a stop bit . referring further to fig4 each of the pulses shown in both of the sequences of data bytes are identified with the name of the data byte being transmitted . theses identities correspond with the names shown in table a hereinbelow and will be used to describe a typical example of data communication between a lcm 10 and de breaker 40 connected to the communication port of the lcm 10 . further , just to the left of each data byte pulse in fig4 is shown a numeral indicating the position in the sequence of pulses of that particular data byte pulse . these numerals correspond to the numerals that appear in table a . table a______________________________________communication protocol______________________________________1 . lcm 10 sends address ( 8 bits ). 2 . de breaker 40 receives address and sends a random number 0 - 255 . 3 . lcm 10 receives the number 4 . de breaker 40 receives the and echoes back its complement . echo and sends its address as an &# 34 ; ok &# 34 ; code . 5 . lcm 10 receives the &# 34 ; ok &# 34 ; and 6 . db breaker 40 receives the op then sends an op code . code . if this is a datalog command , breaker sends the byte count . 7 . lcm 10 receives the byte count 8 . db breaker 40 receives the and echoes its complement . complement of the byte count and begins sending data one byte at a time . 9 . lcm 10 receives a data byte and echoes its complement . ______________________________________ in the above example shown in table a , if the lcm 10 detects an error at steps 5 , 7 , or 9 , it will disable itself for 50 milliseconds . if , on the other hand , a breaker detects an error at steps 4 , 6 , or 8 , it will reassign itself a random address address between 128 and 255 according to a procedure to be described hereinbelow and then disable itself for a random number of half - cycles . in operation , table b shown below presents a numerical example of the data bytes that are transmitted between the lcm 10 and the de breaker 40 that corresponds with the data byte pulse trains shown in fig4 . there are two conditions for the transmission of data byte information between a lcm 10 and a de breaker 40 . the first condition occurs when the breaker address is unique , that is , there is not a conflict on the data bus with another de breaker 40 having the same address . the second case occurs when the breaker address is not unique ; that is , there are two or more de breakers 40 active which have the same address . in such case , the lcm 10 will automatically assign a new address for a particular de breaker 40 that experiences a conflict with another de breaker 40 on the data bus . the first breaker assigns itself a new random address between 128 and 255 and programs its delay time for a value of 16 to 47 half - cycles . similarly , the second breaker also assigns itself a new random address between 128 and 255 and programs its delay time for a value of 16 to 47 half - cycles . the meaning of these statements will become clear after the automatic address assignment feature for the de breaker 40 is described . table b______________________________________numerical examplesfunction lcm breaker______________________________________1 . breaker address is unique : brk . sub .-- adr 0x03random . sub .-- num 0x51random . sub .-- num 0xafbrk . sub .-- adr 0xfdlog . sub .-- command 0x96byte . sub .-- count 0x10byte . sub .-- count 0xf0data1 0x23data1 0xdddata2 0x82data2 0xe7data16 0x66data16 0x9aacknowledge 0xc52 . breaker address is not unique : brk . sub .-- adr 0x03random . sub .-- num . sub .-- 1 0x51random . sub .-- num . sub .-- 2 0x72random . sub .-- num 0xb0 ( logic 0 overrides a logic 1 ) ______________________________________ breaker . sub .-- 1 assigns itself a new random address between 128 and 255 and programs its delay time for a value of 16 to 47 halfcycles . breaker . sub .-- 2 assigns itself a new random address between 128 and 255 and programs its delay time for a value of 16 to 47 halfcycles . continuing with fig4 each of the de breakers 40onnected to an lcm 10 is assigned a unique address . the addresses can be assigned when the de breaker 40 is manufactured , or the address can be assigned automatically after the de breaker 40 is installed in a system with a lcm 10 . thus , in a system including a plurality of de breakers 40 connected to the communication port of a lcm 10 , each de breaker 40 in a panel will have a unique address . in the illustrative example given below , the range of addresses is zero to 127 . at the factory , individual de breakers 40 will be assigned temporary numbers in the range of 128 to 255 . a value with bit 7 turned on indicates , for example , that the breaker has not been installed in a panel with a lcm 10 , before being assigned a permanent address between 0 an 127 . however , during the installation process , which may require resolution of address conflicts , individual de breakers 40 may be assigned temporary addresses between 128 and 255 by the lcm 10 . there are 8 conditions which governs the assignment of address numbers to individual de breakers 40 by the lcm 10 . each can be described in successive paragraphs 1 - 8 . ______________________________________case 1 : a new de breaker 40 is installed in an existing panel . in this case , the lcm 10 finds the new de breaker 40 during a scan of all possible addresses between 0 and 255 . the new de breaker 40 is then assigned an unused number between 0 and 127 . case 2 : several new de breakers 40 are installed in an existing panel . some of these addresses may be in conflict . in this situation , when conflicts are encountered , the de breakers 40 involved will assign themselves new , temporary random addresses in the range of 128 to 255 . this reassignment continues until no conflicts exist . when the situation where no conflicts exist is reached , the lcm 10 will assign new permanent addresses in the range of 0 to 127 to each of the de breakers 40 . case 3 : a used de breaker 40 is installed in an existing panel . when a data conflict is noticed while communicating with a parti - cular address , the two conflicting de breakers 40 involved will reassign themselves random , temporary addresses between 128 and 255 . these addresses may still be in conflict , in which case the reassignment continues for addi - tional cycles . after conflicts have been eliminated , the lcm 10 will assign new addresses just as in case 3 above . case 4 : several used de breakers 40 are installed in an existing panel . the conflicts will be resolved just as in case 2 above . case 5 : a new lcm 10 is installed in a panel . the lcm 10 will scan all addresses and make an internal list . case 6 : a used lcm 10 is installed in a panel . the internal address list is not valid in this situation . the lcm 10 will scan the list of stored addresses first . addresses corresponding to de breakers 40 that don &# 39 ; t exist will be deleted . then , all the other addresses will be scanned , looking for new de breakers 40 . this time , it is assumed there are no conflicts because only the lcm 10 has been changed . case 7 : a de breaker 40 is removed from a panel . the lcm 10 notices the de breaker 40 is not responding . it then blinks its red light and beeps until the lcm &# 39 ; s 10 clear button is pressed . then , the de breaker 40 is deleted from the active list . case 8 : the lcm 10 is removed from a panel or a used de breaker 40 is installed in a panel without a lcm 10 . in this case , after ten minutes without being logging by an lcm 10 , a de breaker 40 with a valid address . blinks its red led with a special code indicating a communication failure . this led continues to blink until an lcm 10 is installed . ______________________________________ communication between the lcm 10 and de breakers 40 will now be described . the lcm 10 is the master and will initiate all data transactions . it begins by first sending an 8 - bit address databyte . when a de breaker 40 or several de breakers 40 responds , that de breaker 40 will send an 8 - bit random number obtained from an internal free - running counter . since the oscillators in the de breakers 40 are not synchronized , their counter data will generally be different . however , there is a 1 in 256 chance that they will be the same . next , the lcm 10 receives the data byte and sends back its two &# 39 ; s compliment for the de breaker 40 to verify that it is unique . if a conflict exists , one or more of the de breakers 40 will respond as though the data is in error . in that case , the de breaker 40 will reassign itself a new temporary address in the range of 128 to 255 using a number from the free - running counter . the de breakers 40 will also be looking for conflicts during the transmission of data log information . each data byte sent by a de breaker 40 will be echoed back by the lcm 10 . if a de breaker 40 notes an error , it will reassign itself a new address . if , later , the lcm 10 notes that the de breaker 40 is missing , the de breaker 40 will be located when the lcm 10 scans the data bus looking for new de breakers 40 . if a de breaker 40 formerly had a valid address , if will send that address to the lcm 10 first ( otherwise it sends a zero ), so that lcm 10 can update its table and merge the new data with the old data for that de breaker 40 . the foregoing description provided information on the communication protocol used in the lcm 10 network system with a plurality of de breakers 40 to illustrate how information is exchanged between the lcm 10 and the de breakers 40 connected to the communication port of that lcm 10 . the principle purpose of this communication protocol is , however , to send parametric data from individual de breakers 40 in response to a command from the lcm 10 . an example of the protocol for transferring this data is given in table c below . table c presents an example of intercommunication between the lcm 10 and a de breaker 40 in much the same pattern that was illustrated in table a . in fact , a generalization can be drawn in the following way . if data is being transmitted from a de breaker 40 to a lcm 10 , the lcm 10 echoes the data byte transmitted by the de breaker 40 . similarly , if data is being transmitted from the lcm 10 to a de breaker 40 , the de breaker 40 echoes the data byte transmitted by the lcm 10 . table c______________________________________parametric data protocol example______________________________________1 . lcm 10 sends command 0x6d 2 . breaker echoes - 0x6d3 . lcm 10 sends byte count 4 . echo - byte count5 . lcm 10 sends register address to 6 . echo - addressput the data7 . lcm 10 sends data byte 8 . echo - data9 . lcm 10 sends ack 0xd9______________________________________ in the present embodiment , there are defined 22 bytes for de breaker 40 parameters that can be saved by a lcm 10 . these bytes are defined in table d below . table d__________________________________________________________________________breaker parameters saved by lcm__________________________________________________________________________data record format : 22 bytes total 1 . 6 bytes : datetime : date and time this record was saved . year , month , day of month ( dom ), hour , minute , second 2 . 1 byte . my . sub .-- adr breaker id number . 3 . 1 byte : log . sub .-- code record . sub .-- type : 1 = standard periodic datalog . 2 = delta . sub .-- i & gt ; min . sub .-- delta . sub .-- i . ( significant load current change ) 4 = delta . sub .-- v & gt ; min . sub .-- delta . sub .-- v . ( significant line voltage change ) 8 = breaker status change . ( tripped ; or self - test failure ) 16 = ac main power turned on / off . note : record . sub .-- type may have more than one bit on at a time . 4 . 1 byte max . sub .-- arc maximum value of the arc . sub .-- accumulator during the data log interval . 5 . 1 byte : iavg2 value in the current averaging digital capacitor which has a time constant of 2 seconds . 6 . 1 byte : ipkcycle max value of current during this half - cycle . 7 . 1 byte : iprevpk max value of current during the previous half - cycle . 8 . 1 byte : imax . sub .-- log peak current found during this logging interval . 9 . 1 byte : i . sub .-- soak2 soak current value when this record was stored . time constant is 68 seconds . 10 . 1 byte : ig . sub .-- peak peak current since main ac power was turned on . 1 byte : vac max line voltage found during last half - cycle . 1 byte : arc . sub .-- accum present accumulated value found in arc register . 0 - 255 . 1 byte : gfi . sub .-- pp ground fault current ,, peak to peak . 1 byte : flagbreaker . sub .-- status : an 8 bit flag word that shows whether the breaker is tripped or if the self - test has failed . ( bit . sub .-- 0 = lsb . ) bit . sub .-- 4 = 1 =& gt ; trippedbit . sub .-- 5 = 1 =& gt ; self - test min current & gt ; 20 amps . bit . sub .-- 6 = 1 =& gt ; self - test 100 amp reading was low . bit . sub .-- 7 = 1 =& gt ; self - test triac trip signal nonfunctional . 1 byte : trip code : this byte is set to a coded value when a trip occurs , indicating whatcaused the breaker to trip . number of failurered lbd code sentflashes to lcm 10 description ( 1 ) 129 communication failure ( 1 ) 131 manual trip . ( 1 ) 133 iavg greater than triplimit . ( 2 ) 135 arc detected . ( 3 ) 137 manual test button pressed longer than 2 seconds . ( 4 ) 139 external trip command via rs232 . ( 5 ) 141 adc reading greater than trip . sub .-- immed value . ( 6 ) 143 hissing arc . ( 7 ) 145 gfci trip . ( 8 ) 147 high current arc detected . ( 10 ) 151 excessive contact temperature . ( 11 ) 153 overflow from iavg2 during current averaging . ( 12 ) -- invalid trip code . 1 byte : resp . sub .-- modebreaker . sub .-- mode : a number from 0 . . . 3 indicating the mode switchsettings : 11 = standard response curve . 10 = response curve 2 . 01 = response curve 1 . 00 = response curve 0 . 1 byte : versionprogram version : a number indicating the software version . __________________________________________________________________________ referring now to fig5 there is illustrated a flow chart for the main lcm 10 program . this program is initiated at a function block 502 which follows power - up of the lcm 10 system . function block 502 performs initialization of data registers and i / o ports in the lcm 10 following power up . following initialization , the flow proceeds to function block 504 where the system waits for a zero - crossing of the ac line waveform . a zero - crossing signal is responsive to the arrival of a zero - crossing event at pin rc5 of cpu 76 in the lcm 10 . it will be appreciated at this point that the zero - crossing event is the data event for the operation of the programs within the lcm 10 as was previously discussed in conjunction with fig2 and fig4 . following the zero - crossing event , the flow proceeds to function block 506 to execute a sub - routine for sending data to a computer ( computer ) connected to one of the i / o ports of the cpu 76 in the lcm 10 . as was described previously , a computer can be connected to either the user port 20 or the service port 22 . data communications with a computer on either of these i / o ports may typically be using the rs 232c standard for serial binary data interchange . typically , data is sent from the lcm 10 to the computer on request or in response to a command from the remote computer . thereafter , the flow proceeds to function block 508 to read data from a computer . data being read from a remote computer may be in the form of commands to execute certain operations or from data being downloaded from the computer to the lcm 10 . this functional block 508 will be described in greater detail in conjunction with fig6 to be described hereinbelow . previously , it was described that the sampling clock rate was synchronized with the zero - crossing periods , that is , with the intervals between zero - crossings of the ac line waveform . for example , the sampling rate was shown to be 16 samples taken every half - cycle of the ac line waveform . the timing of numerous events in the main program sequence is related directly to which particular sample is being output at a given instant . there is a counter in the lcm 10 which keeps track of the number of samples that have transpired since the last zero - crossing . thus , at various points within the main program , there will be a function block that will identify a particular sample count . returning now to the fig5 description , the flow proceeds from function block 508 to function block 510 where the system checks to see if the sample count is equal to eight . this sample count value is important because it occurs at the peak value of the incoming ac line waveform that is monitored at pin rc5 at cpu 76 which is the input to the zero - crossing detector . if the sample count value is eight , that is the answer to the question is a &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; or a yes , the flow proceeds to function block 512 where the lcm 10 will read the ac line polarity . if the sample count is not eight , then the flow proceeds from function block 510 along the line labeled &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; for no to the following function block 514 . a no response in block 510 means that the sample count is not eight and it is not at a peak value of the ac waveform . function block 514 similarly checks to see if the sample count is equal to thirteen . the value 13 for the sample count signifies that a zero - crossing event is approaching within a few count values . if the sample count does equal thirteen , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 516 to read the day and time from the realtime clock . this step in the main lcm 10 program takes approximately 100 microseconds . if the sample count value was not thirteen in function block 514 , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line where it joins with the output of function block 516 to enter the next function block 518 in which the buzzer status is checked . at function block 518 , if data is present in the buzzer status register , then the program routine will be interrupted and will process the data that is present in that register . otherwise , if there is no data in the buzzer status register , then flow will proceed with the main routine and enter step 520 . at step 520 , the lcm 10 program will clear the watchdog timer . as is well known in the art , a watchdog timer provides a means of exiting a program and restarting at the initialization step if for some reason the microprocessor is hung up in the routine at some point . in the preferred embodiment of the lcm 10 in this illustrative example , the time value of the watchdog timer is set to at least one sampling cycle , that is , approximately 16 times the 520 microsecond sampling interval for a total of 8 . 33 milliseconds which is the interval between zero lines of the ac wave line . other intervals may be used , of course , but it will be appreciated that this value for the watchdog timer is a convenient one in this particular application . thus , the purpose of function block 520 is to clear whatever value of time is in the watchdog timer counter , and proceed to the following function block 522 . proceeding with fig5 in function block 522 , a step is provided to check the data from the de breaker 40 . if data is present in the data buffer that was input from the de breaker 40 , the main program will be interrupted and the lcm 10 will process the data in the data buffer . if there is no data from a de breaker 40 in the data buffer , the main program will not be interrupted and the program will then flow to function block 524 . in function block 524 , the routine increments the sample counter from the current value . following function block 524 , the program will flow to function block 526 , where the program checks to see if the sample count value is equal to sixteen . a sample count value of sixteen means that the sampling cycle has reached the end of a sampling cycle in that particular interval between zero - crossings . therefore , the zero - crossing event will follow immediately upon the end of the sixteenth sample . if the result of the test in function block 526 is &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; or yes , then the sample count is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. if the result of the sample count test is in functional block 526 &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; or no , then the flow proceeds to function block 530 , where the program will wait until the end of the sample interval before it flows back to function block 506 or the send data to computer function block . it will be appreciated that if the sample count has not yet reached sixteen , then the program routine must return to an earlier point in the program so that the next sample interval may be accomplished . if , on the other hand , the sample count was sixteen and flow proceeded to function block 528 where the sample count was reset to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, then flow proceeds further to the function block 532 . the purpose of function 532 is to increment the two second counter in the lcm 10 . the purpose of the two second counter is to control the led flashing rate that is part of the visible and audible alarm operation within the lcm 10 . this function block 532 will be described in greater detail in conjunction with fig8 . returning to function block 522 where the program checked data from the de breaker 40 , this step is described in further detail in fig7 and will be described hereinbelow . referring now to fig6 there is illustrated a flow chart depicting the remote data read routine . this routine begins with function block 508 , part of fig5 entitled read data from computer . during this step , flow proceeds to function block 602 , where the sample count is checked for a value of &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. if the value is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 604 . at function block 604 , the program shifts any received data left by one place . if the result of the sample count check is not &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to function block 606 , to return to the main program at function block 510 . returning now to the remote data read routine of fig6 when the data received has been shifted left by one place , the program then flows to function block 608 where the routine enters the new data in the least significant bit ( lsb ) buffer 609 . as is well understood by those skilled in the art the most significant or the highest valued bit is the left most bit in a binary data word ; similarly , the least significant or smallest valued bit being the right - most bit of an 8 - bit word . thus , in function block 608 , the new data is entered into the lsb buffer 609 ; that is , the current bit is entered into the right - most position . as other bits are entered , the current bit is shifted to a more significant position . following entry of the new data into the lsb 609 , flow proceeds to function block 610 . the remaining steps contained in fig6 are concerned with determining whether , first , the data buffer contains a command and , second , whether the command is a valid command . referring again to fig6 beginning with function block 610 in which the system checks the data buffer for a &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. if the data buffer is equal to all &# 34 ; 0 &# 39 ; s &# 34 ;, i . e ., a computer is not present on either of the i / o ports of the lcm 10 , then a non - operative condition ( no -- op ) exists and the program will jump ahead to function block 638 . thus , if the data buffer is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, then operation flows along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line indicating a no -- op condition to function block 638 . if , however , there is data in the data buffer , that is it is not &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to function block 614 , where the system determines whether or not the remote computer is sending an enable bit to the lcm 10 . thus the program executes the step of remote ena = 1 . when a remote computer sends the code interpreted as an enable bit , it is in effect saying to the lcm 10 &# 34 ; i am enabling you to receive a command .&# 34 ; the purpose of the enable command is to prepare the lcm 10 to read data from the external remote computer via one of the i / o ports . this step is a procedural redundancy in the main program routine to make sure that noise on the data line , which may exist from time to time , it not interpreted as data from the remote computer . if the system determines in function block 614 that there is not an enable bit from the remote computer present on the i / o , then the program will flow to function block 618 where the system checks to see if the data buffer contains an enable command . if an enable command is present in the buffer then the system in function block 620 checks to see if the remote enable value is equal to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. if the value is equal to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; then the data bit count is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; in function block 622 . if the data buffer does not contain an enable command , the flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to function block 622 where the data bit count is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and flow proceeds to function block 624 . function block 624 depicts the flow returning to the main program at functional block 510 shown in fig5 . returning now to function block 614 in fig6 the remote data reed routine , if it was determined that the remote enable bit has a value of one , that is there is an enable bit from the remote computer , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to optional function block 616 where the data bit counter is incremented by one step . following function block 616 the program then proceeds to function block 626 where the system checks to see if the data bit count is equal to eight . if the data bit count is not equal to eight , which means that there is not a complete byte in the data bit counter , the flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to return to the main program in function block 510 in fig5 . if the data bit counter is full , that is there are eight bits present , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 628 where the system checks to see whether the command that is present there in the data bit counter is a valid command . if the system determines that the command that is present in the data bit counter is a valid command at function block 628 , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 632 , where the system executes the command . following the execution of the command , the program flows to function block 634 where the program returns to the main routine in fig5 at function block 510 . if the command is found to be invalid in function block 628 , the program flows along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line function block 638 , where the system will clear the remote enable data from the data bit counter . if will be recalled from the previous function block 610 , if the data buffer was found to be &# 34 ; 0 ,&# 34 ; then the program will flow along the no -- op line directly from function block 610 to function block 638 where the data bit counter is cleared of any data indicating a remote enable bit . the program then flows to function block 640 where the data bit counter is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; thereafter flowing to function block 642 where the data buffer is also set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and thereafter returning to the main program at step 510 . referring now to fig7 a , there is illustrated a flow chart for the de breaker data read routine . this program is initiated at function block 522 shown in fig5 labeled check data from breaker . the purpose of this step is to check data , whether there is data in the buffer ; then the main program routine is interrupted in order to process the data . that is , the system will go to function block 702 . if there is no data present in the data buffer from the de breaker 40 then the program will flow to function block 524 in the main routine . returning to fig7 a , the flow then proceeds next to the function block 702 in which the system checks to see if the delay time is complete . the delay time is an operation performed by the lcd 10 to , in effect , tell any other de breakers 40 that are connected to the communication port to stay off the line , that is to just listen to the lcm 10 so that the lcm 10 has time to initiate communication by sending an address to the de breaker 40 with which it wishes to communicate . in the preferred embodiment of lcm 10 of the present invention , the value of the delay timer is set to at least several times the sampling interval . in this particular illustrative example , the value of the delay timer is set to approximately 100 times the sampling interval , or approximately 100 milliseconds . in function block 702 , if the delay time is not complete , flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to function block 706 where the delay timer is decremented by one step . thereafter flow proceeds to function block 708 in which the program returns to the main program , that is , to function block 524 in the main program shown in fig5 . if , however , the delay time is complete , that is , the entire delay timer sequence has timed out then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line from function block 702 to function block 704 where the program checks for the presence of an action flag . the action flag in the present embodiment of the lcm 10 is defined to have two different bytes of data . in other words , each of the sixteen bits of data in the action flag register is defined to indicate what happens in the next step in a particular part of the routine . in other words , at selected points within the program routine , an action flag bit indicates the position of that point in the sequence . it is used for monitoring the action of the program or for trouble shooting . when the system has checked the action flag in the de breaker data read routine , the program then flows to function block 710 to check whether a data byte is available . function block 710 tests whether a data bit has been received by the de breaker 40 in the hardware register in either the lcm &# 39 ; s microcontroller or in the de breaker &# 39 ; s 40 microcontroller . if this bit tests affirmative , then the program flows along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 714 where the lcm 10 will echo the data that is present in the data buffer register . if a data byte is not available then flow proceeds from function block 710 to function block 712 where the system will decrement a retry counter and the flow thereafter proceeds to function block 720 . in function block 720 , the system checks whether the retry counter value is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. if the value is not &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; then the system returns to function block 524 . if the retry counter is equal to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; no further effort will be made to determine if a data byte is available and the program flows along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line from function block 720 to function block 728 . there the system clears all action flags and flows to block 730 where the system will set the delay timer and return to the main program in function block 726 . returning to function block 710 , if it was determined that a data byte is available , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; to function block 714 where the lcm 10 will echo the data to the de breaker 40 . the program will then flow to function block 716 , where the system asks if the command is complete . if the command is not complete , the program flows along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to function block 724 where the lcm 10 will set the flag for the next action . thereafter , the program will flow to function block 726 , where the de breaker data read routine returns to the main program , that is function block 524 shown in fig5 . returning to function block 716 , if the command is found to be complete , then the program flows along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 718 where the lcm 10 will execute the command followed by clearing the action flags in function block 728 and setting the delay timer in function block 730 . thereafter , the program will flow to function block 726 where the de breaker data read routine returns to the main program . referring now to fig7 b , the program flow for reducing the arc sensitivity of an individual circuit breaker will now be described . in a network of de breakers 40 connected to a common power line source , arcing of conductors in the main power line circuit can lead to inconsistent performance of individual circuit breakers . arcing can also be a fire hazard which must be eliminated and / or made known to emergency personnel . in some situations arcing may be a normal operating characteristic of a load deice , to the arc sensitivity of the de breaker 40 needs to be revised to accommodate that characteristic . the lcm 10 of the present invention , when connected in a network comprised of a plurality of de breakers 40 , is programmed to analyze data from these individual de breakers 40 to determine if an arc indication from several de breakers 40 requires a change in the arc sensitivity of the breakers in the system . the program routing in the lcm 10 for accomplishing this purpose is illustrated in fig7 b . the flow in fig7 b begins with block 718 entitled execute . command . it will be recalled that block 718 is one of the blocks illustrated in the flow chart of fig7 a . the program flow to execute a command from the de breaker 40 begins with block 732 which checks the arc level . if there is no arcing level indicated , then flow proceeds to block 734 where the system checks other commands , and thereafter returns to the main program in block 736 . if , however , the system , when checking the arc level , indicates that an arc level is present , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line from block 732 to block 738 where the de breaker 40 which is indicating the presence of an arc is tested by the lcm 10 to see if that de breaker 40 is conducting a current which is greater than a predetermined value of the minimum arcing current , i arc min . this test is performed to determine whether the current level is large enough to make a meaningful measurement . if it is not , the flow proceeds along the end line to block 740 and returns to the main program in fig7 a . if , however , the arcing current measured by the individual breaker is above the minimum level necessary for making a meaningful measurement , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to block 742 . the purpose of block 742 , is to normalize the arc indication from the individual de breaker that is reporting an arc . the lcm 10 performs this normalization by dividing a quantity stored in memory representing an integrated sum of the arcing events time the average de breaker 40 load current by the average de breaker 40 load current . this normalized value is called &# 34 ; arc meas &# 34 ; for arc measure . after dividing the quantity breaker arc by a quantity breaker current load in the individual circuit breaker , the lcm 10 uses the resulting value for arc measure and the flow proceeds to block 744 where the measured value is compared with a value for the maximum arc measure . if this value is not greater than arc measure maximum , then flow proceeds along the end line to block 746 where the value for arc measure is compared with the minimum arc measure value stored in memory . if the value of arc measure is less than the minimum arc measure value , then the flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to block 752 . if the value of arc measure is not less than the minimum value of arc measure , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to another block 748 , where the minimum value for an arc measured is set equal to the arc measure value . returning to block 744 , if the test performed there to determine whether the arc measure value exceeds the maximum arc measure value , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to block 750 where the maximum arc measure value is set equal to the arc measure value received from the breaker . the flow in fig7 b thereupon proceeds along a line to block 752 . the purpose of block 752 is to collect the data from individual de breakers 40 that are reporting arcing and to collect the results of the tests that measure the value of the measured arc and compare it to the minimum and maximum values . block 752 in the program routine uses this information to analyze the arcing status of all the individual breakers in the system and ignore any arcing unless several de breakers 40 are reporting arcing . the reasong for this is that , unless arcing occurs in more than a minimum number of breakers , the arcing phenomenon or condition is not an upstream condition and no action to reduce the arc sensitivity of any of the breakers in the system is warranted . thus , if the number of breakers reporting arcing is not greater than or equal to the minimum number established as a triggering point , then flow proceeds from block 752 along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to block 754 where the program operation returns to the main program . if , however , the number of breakers that are reporting arcing is greater than or equal to the minimum number , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to block 756 where the lcm 10 checks the range of arcing values that have been reported by the individual de breakers 40 in the system . this test compares the difference between the arc measure maximum and minimum values described hereinabove and compares it with an arc measure limit value . if the range of measured arcing values is greater than the limit value , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to block 760 . if , however , the measured range of arcing values is not greater than the limit value , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to block 758 . in the block 758 , the measured range of arcing values is called the &# 34 ; arc response &# 34 ; and it is determined that it is normal in block 758 . thereupon , flow proceeds to block 762 . if , however , the range of arcing values is greater than the limit value measured in block 756 , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to 760 where the arc response is determined to be low , meaning that the breaker sensitivity should be reduced in order to avoid nuisance tripping at that individual breaker . following this determination , flow proceeds to block 762 . in block 762 , the lcm 10 checks to see if the arc response level has changed . if the answer to that comparison is &# 34 ; no &# 34 ;, then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to the return block 764 . if , however , the arc response has changed , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to block 766 . here the lcm 10 updates the arc sensitivity in the breakers by sending the arc response value to all breakers in the system . all breakers in the system receive this updated arc sensitivity because arcing in a upstream condition will effect all breakers , therefore all breakers should receive the updated arc sensitivity information . the purpose of the program routine illustrated in fig7 b , is to determine the most appropriate arcing response of all of the individual de breakers 40 in the system connected to the lcm 10 . this arcing response determination is an independent function of the lcm 10 and is not associated with the adaptive updating of the data constants that make up the trip profile that is stored in the memory of the individual de breakers 40 . continuing further with fig7 b , the program routine described hereinabove is an example of the kind of analysis functions performed in the lcm 10 previously described . also , previously described were functions performed by the lcm 10 in which the lcm 10 adaptively reconfigures the trip profiles in individual de breakers 40 . it will be appreciated that , since the trip profiles referred to control the operation of the de breaker 40 during the normal current overload mode , the adaptive reconfiguration function performed by the lcm 10 applies to the current overload mode . referring now to fig8 there is illustrated the audible and visible indicator routine . this program routine is initiated at the function block 532 shown in fig5 where the system increments the two second counter . as was explained previously , the two second counter is used to time the flashing rate for the visible and audible indicators . thus , in function block 532 the program flows to function block 802 shown in fig8 where the system makes a determination as to whether two seconds have elapsed . if two seconds have not yet elapsed then flow proceeds along &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to function block 804 , where the routine returns to the main program at function block 504 shown in fig5 . if , however , two seconds have elapsed then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 806 where the system determines if nine minutes have elapsed . if nine minutes have elapsed , then the flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 810 where the system performs the self - test routine . this is the function of the nine minute timer , to determine when the self - test routine should be performed in the system . upon completion of the self - test routine in function block 810 , the program flows to function block 808 where the system determines whether or not the green led has been enabled . returning to function block 806 , if nine minutes have not elapsed then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to function block 808 where the system determines whether the green led has been enabled . if in function block 808 , the system determines that the green led has been enabled , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 812 where the system will turn on the green led to indicate when the lcm 10 and all the associated de breakers 40 are operating normally . if the green led was not enabled in function block 808 , then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; to function block 814 where the system determines whether or not the red led has been enabled . if in function block 814 the red led has been enabled then flow proceeds along the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; line to function block 816 where the system acts to turn on the red led and the audible alert or buzzer . the meaning of the red led is that a de breaker 40 has tripped and the flashing pattern of the led transmits a coded message to indicate the nature of the problem that occurred at that particular de breaker 40 . simultaneously , with the flashing of the red led , the audible alarm or buzzer will also be activated to provide an audible alert that a problem exists with one of the de breakers 40 . following the application of a bit in either function block 812 , turning on the green led , or in function block 816 , turning on the red led and the audible alert , the program then flows to function block 818 where the routine returns to the main program . similarly , if in function block 814 , the test to determine if the red led was enabled is negative , flow then proceeds along the &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; line to the return function block at function block 818 where the audible and visible indicator routine returns to the main program . referring now to fig9 there is illustrated a load center monitor 10 and circuit breaker 40 installed in an electrical service panel . referring now to fig1 there is illustrated a pictorial view of a load center monitor depicting access buttons and communication ports . the clear and read buttons , led status indicators , the user communication port , the neutral pigtail lead , the communications port for connecting the monitor 10 to the breakers 40 in a system . a diagnostic port and a service port is also provided . referring now to fig1 , there is illustrated a breaker system including a load center monitor connected via the communication port to four breakers 40 . although the preferred embodiment has been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . | 7 |
referring to fig1 , a pool filter 10 has a skimmer inlet housing 12 and a skimmer filter chamber 14 . the skimmer inlet housing 12 has a primary opening flange 16 bearing a primary lid 18 , preferably at the top of the skimmer inlet housing 12 . the skimmer inlet housing 12 also includes a weir door 20 , disposed in a weir housing 22 , which is generally incorporated into and a part of the skimmer inlet housing 12 , and a primary portal 24 , which includes a lock down ring 26 , acting much like a retaining ring . because the skimmer inlet housing 12 is vertically elongated , along with the weir door 20 , the filter can accommodate a greater span of water levels as evaporation occurs , avoiding the need for refilling the pool frequently . still referring to fig1 , the skimmer inlet housing 12 is connected to the elongated skimmer filter chamber 14 by the primary portal 24 . preferably , the primary portal 24 is below the weir door 20 to prevent air from entering the pool pump lines ( not shown ) attached to the filter 10 , and is disposed directly below the primary opening flange 16 . the skimmer filter chamber 14 includes an elongated skimmer filter basket 28 and a filter bag 30 ( not shown in this view ) lining the skimmer filter basket 28 . ideally the primary portal 24 and skimmer filter basket 28 are smaller than the primary opening flange 16 such that with the primary opening flange 16 disposed directly above the primary portal 24 , the skimmer filter basket 28 may be easily removed from the filter 10 for cleaning . at the bottom of the skimmer filter chamber 14 , a primary outlet 32 leads to the pool pump ( not shown ). in one embodiment the primary outlet 32 is adapted for two inch suction . referring to fig2 , a perspective view of the skimmer inlet housing 12 is shown . to ensure an accurate installation prior to pouring a concrete or similar pool foundation ( not shown ) the skimmer inlet housing 12 includes slots 34 for rebar ( not shown ) and holes 36 for wiring the rebar to the skimmer inlet housing 12 . also shown in fig2 is the weir housing 22 which is incorporated as a part of the skimmer inlet housing 12 . the weir housing 22 terminates in a face frame 38 which holds the weir door 20 ( not shown in this view ) in place . the skimmer inlet housing 12 also includes an overflow outlet 40 to prevent pool overflows , and a primary equalizer port 42 for connecting to a drain inlet housing 44 ( not shown in this view ). referring to fig3 , another embodiment of the filter 10 having both skimming and drain suction functions is shown . in this embodiment , the filter 10 includes the skimmer inlet housing 12 and skimmer filter chamber 14 , but also includes apparatus for drain filtration , including a drain inlet housing 44 , and a drain filter chamber 46 . notably , in embodiments where only a skimming function is needed , the primary equalizer port 42 will be capped . in embodiments such as the illustrated embodiment , where both skimming and drain suction functions are needed , the primary equalizer port 42 will connect to the drain inlet housing 44 using an equalizer line 48 , discussed below , which connects to a secondary equalizer port 50 on the drain inlet housing 44 . still referring to fig3 , the drain inlet housing 44 has a secondary opening flange 52 bearing a secondary lid 54 , preferably at the top of the drain inlet housing 44 . the drain inlet housing 44 also includes a secondary portal 56 , which includes a lock down cap 58 . the lock cap 58 may include an optional vacuum port 60 for easily attaching a pool vacuum hose ( not shown ). the lock down cap 58 may also be exchanged for the lock down ring 26 for vacuuming through the skimmer inlet housing 12 . still referring to fig3 , like the skimmer inlet housing 12 , the drain inlet housing 44 includes a secondary portal 56 disposed directly below the secondary opening flange 52 . an elongated drain filter chamber 46 includes a drain filter basket 62 lined with a filter bag 30 ( not shown in this view ). also , like the skimmer inlet housing 12 , the secondary portal 56 and drain filter basket 62 are smaller than the secondary opening flange 52 such that with the secondary opening flange 52 disposed directly above the secondary portal 56 , the drain filter basket 62 may be easily removed from the filter 10 for cleaning . at the bottom of the drain filter chamber 46 , a secondary outlet 64 , preferably adapted for two - inch suction leads to the pool pump ( not shown ). still referring to fig3 , the drain inlet housing 44 includes a water fill inlet 66 , allowing it to connect to a water source ( not shown ) for re - filling a pool ( not shown ) as water evaporates . at the bottom of the drain inlet housing 44 , a drain inlet 68 allows water from a main drain line ( not shown ) to enter the drain inlet housing 44 and proceed to the drain filter basket 62 . to account for the extra space taken up by the drain inlet 68 , a spacer 70 may be included between the lock down cap 58 and drain filter basket 62 . in one embodiment , the spacer 70 may include spacer ports 72 for closing off the drain inlet 68 . still referring to fig3 , stabilizing pipes 74 are disposed between the skimmer inlet housing 12 and drain inlet housing 44 , and the skimmer filter chamber 14 and drain filter chamber 46 , linking and holding them firmly together . there is no water flow between the stabilizing pipes 74 . the equalizer line 48 which connects the skimmer inlet housing 12 and drain inlet housing 44 also helps anchor them together . the purpose of the equalizer line 48 is to maintain the water level in the drain inlet housing 44 , thereby preventing a loss of prime if the pool drain ( not shown ) becomes obstructed . fig4 shows a perspective view of the drain inlet housing 44 , including a stabilizer pipe fitting 76 , drain inlet 68 and secondary equalizer port 50 . referring to fig5 . 1 and 5 . 2 , the elongated nature of the filter assembly is shown , with a filter basket 28 lined by a filter bag 30 ( fig5 . 2 ). the skimmer filter basket 28 , which as mentioned may be identical to the drain filter basket 62 ( not shown ) for economy , comprises an elongated basket structure to maximize the surface area of the skimmer filter basket 28 and provide for longer filter runs , avoiding the need for frequent filter backwashing or full - scale cleaning . in the illustrated embodiment , the skimmer filter basket 28 includes a cylindrical wall 78 with a dome cap 80 . at the top of the skimmer filter basket 28 , a lower lip 82 and upper lip 84 are disposed for engaging the primary portal 24 , and preventing the skimmer filter basket 28 from being drawn into the skimmer filter chamber 14 . the elongated filter assembly has a length dimension l that is substantially greater than the diameter dimension d . the ratio of length l to diameter d should be at least 2 : 1 . the ratio can be increased depending on filtered water flow characteristics and the quantity of particles within the water . for example , for higher flow rates and greater quantities of particulates , the length l can vary from twice the diameter d to five times or greater the diameter d . in the example embodiment illustrated in fig5 , the length l is greater than three times the diameter d . in this way , maximum filtering area is achieved while the diameter d is sufficiently small to fit through the primary opening flange 16 . still referring to fig5 , the skimmer filter basket 28 has a mesh surface 86 covering the cylindrical wall 78 , dome cap 80 or bottom , and even extending into an area between the lower lip 82 and upper lip 84 . since the mesh surface 86 is typically weaker than a solid surface , ribs 88 are incorporated into the skimmer filter basket 28 , running along its length and around its circumference . a filter bag 30 , in one embodiment capable of filtering to 300 microns or less , is adapted to fit inside the skimmer filter basket 28 , and pulled against the mesh surface 86 under suction . referring specifically to fig5 . 1 , the skimmer filter basket 28 ideally also includes a zinc anode 116 for electrolysis to preserve metal filter components , and a handle 118 for easily removing the skimmer filter basket 28 when cleaning is occasionally necessary . referring to fig6 , in some embodiments , the filter 10 may also be equipped to incorporate an ozone unit ( not shown ). in this configuration , a pool inlet fitting 90 , preferably about 1½ inches in diameter , leads to a vertical pvc pipe 92 , also preferably about 1½ inches in diameter . an ozone stone 94 is placed at the bottom of the vertical pvc pipe 92 , and connected to an ozone source ( not shown ). a customary connection might incorporate ¼ inch flexible tubing . the top of the vertical pvc pipe 92 terminates in a two port ozone adapter 96 incorporated into the bottom of the skimmer inlet housing 12 . referring to fig7 , a perspective view of the two port ozone adapter 96 is shown along with an ozone bubble plate 98 . the bubble plate 98 includes perforations 100 which allow ozone - bearing water and ozone gas to rise through the vertical pvc pipe 92 and enter the skimmer inlet housing 12 where it can mix with and purify water being drawn through the filter 10 . referring to fig6 and 7 , preferably , a one inch pvc pipe to house ozone tubing 102 also connects to the two port ozone adapter 96 , providing a path for the flexible ozone tubing ( not shown ) from the skimmer inlet housing 12 back to the ozone unit ( not shown ). by constructing the one inch pvc pipe to house ozone tubing 102 to be higher than the overflow outlet 40 in the skimmer inlet housing 12 , ( hartford loop ) the amount of water in the ozone tubing is minimized . referring to fig8 , an exploded view of a filter 10 is shown . in this view , the components of the weir door 20 are shown . the enlarged weir housing 22 extends from the skimmer inlet housing 12 and is large enough to allow the weir door 20 to swing approximately ninety degrees without obstruction . clips 104 incorporated into the weir door 20 and weir housing 22 create a hinged connection . to ensure that the weir door 20 remains near the surface of the water , a weir door cap 106 is placed on the weir door 20 with an air - tight seal , thereby creating a float . the face frame 38 covers the weir door 20 to engage the surface of a pool ( not shown ). still referring to fig8 , the skimmer filter basket 28 and drain filter basket 62 each nest in a primary threaded collar 108 and secondary threaded collar 110 , respectively . the primary threaded collar 108 engages the lock down ring 26 to anchor the skimmer filter basket 28 in place , and the secondary collar 110 engages the lock down cap 58 to anchor the drain filter basket 62 in position . also shown are a primary bag collar 112 which is sandwiched between the lock down ring 26 and the upper lip 84 of the skimmer filter basket 28 , and a secondary bag collar 114 sandwiched between the spacer 70 and the upper lip 84 of the drain filter basket 62 . in order to use the pool filter 10 , a user will first decide whether only skimming activity is needed or both skimming and draining . while the pool filter 10 is designed modularly , such that skimming - only installations ( discussed below ) are possible , for purposes of illustration , a complete skimming and drain pool filter is discussed . installation of the pool filter 10 ideally occurs during construction of a swimming pool . after the pool has been designed and excavated , the skimmer inlet housing 12 is placed in the desired position adjacent the side of the pool . to ensure an accurate installation , prior to pouring the pool foundation rebar will be attached to the skimmer inlet housing 12 using the slots 34 and wire wrapped around the rebar and through the holes 36 to hold the skimmer inlet housing 12 in place . the weir housing 22 extends from and is incorporated into the skimmer inlet housing 12 . with the skimmer inlet housing 12 in place , the weir housing 22 and its face frame 38 which holds the weir door 20 in place will be disposed at the edge of the pool wall . by masking the face frame 38 , the area around it can be plastered or tiled as desired , once the foundation is poured . prior to pouring the foundation , however , the drain inlet housing 44 will be connected to the skimmer inlet housing 12 . also , for stability , the drain filter chamber 46 depending from the drain inlet housing 44 will be attached to the skimmer filter chamber 14 which depends from the skimmer inlet housing 44 . both attachments may be accomplished using the stabilizing pipes 74 . an additional attachment between the skimmer inlet housing 12 and drain inlet housing 44 is the equalizer line 48 , which adds stability , although that is not its primary purpose . additional attachments that may be necessary before pouring the pool foundation include the overflow outlet 40 , if desired , from the skimmer inlet housing 12 to a suitable overflow source , a water source attaching to the water fill inlet 66 to provide a way of refilling the pool out - of - sight , attaching a main drain line coming from the drain at the bottom of the pool to the drain inlet 68 , and most importantly , attaching the primary outlet 32 from the skimmer filter chamber 14 and secondary outlet 64 from the drain filter chamber 46 , both of which lead to the pump which drives debris into the pool filter 10 . other attachments may include connecting the two port ozone adapter 96 and bubble plate 98 to the skimmer inlet housing , and connecting a pool inlet fitting 90 to the vertical pvc pipe 92 for ozonation . an ozone stone 94 is placed in the vertical pvc pipe 92 with a line running through the pvc pipe to house ozone tubing 102 to an ozone source . ideally , the ozone source may be installed near the pump or in an adjacent out - of - the - way place . with all of the attachments in place , the pool foundation poured , and the pool plastered and / or tiled as desired , the pool filter 10 may commence operation . when the pump is activated , suction draws water out of the primary outlet 32 and secondary outlet 64 . water is consequently drawn into the skimmer inlet housing 12 through the weir door 20 and weir housing 22 . and water is drawn into the drain inlet housing 44 through the drain inlet 68 . the equalizer line 48 ensures water on top of the lock down cap 58 to prevent loss of prime in the drain inlet housing 12 . water travels through the primary portal 24 and spacer 70 , into the skimmer filter chamber 14 and drain filter chamber 46 , respectively . there , it is drawn through the skimmer filter basket 28 and drain filter basket 62 , and through the filter bags 30 lining them . any debris , from leaves drawn in by the skimmer to small particulates drawn in from the drain are retained in the filter bags , which may have a porosity of 300 microns or smaller . since the skimmer filter basket 28 and drain filter basket 62 are extremely elongated , they may collect substantial debris before any measurable drop in performance is detected . furthermore , since the skimmer inlet housing 12 may draw in more debris than the drain inlet housing 44 , the skimmer filter basket 28 may be easily removed and cleaned independently of the drain filter basket 62 . to clean the skimmer filter basket 28 , a user simply opens the primary lid 18 , thereby gaining access to the skimmer filter chamber 12 . reaching down through the skimmer filter chamber 12 , the user unlocks the lock down ring 26 , perhaps by rotating a threaded connection , removes the lock down ring 26 and draws the skimmer filter basket 28 and attendant filter bag 30 from the skimmer filter chamber 14 . a similar action is used to clean the drain filter basket 62 by accessing it through the secondary lid 54 , unlocking the lock down cap 58 , and removing the spacer 70 if necessary . once debris from the filter bags 30 has been discarded and new or perhaps cleaned filter bags 30 installed , the skimmer filter basket 28 and drain filter basket 62 are inserted into the skimmer filter chamber 14 and drain filter chamber 46 , and locked in place . during this process , suction from the pump , prevents the filter bags 30 from floating out of the baskets 28 , 62 . as the pool filter 10 operates , ozone from an ozone source may be pumped through the pvc tube , through the two port ozone adapter 96 and down to an ozone stone 94 at the bottom of the vertical pvc pipe 92 . ozone bubbles through the ozone stone 94 , rising , and with the intake action of the weir housing 22 , drawing pool water through the pool inlet fitting 90 . the ozone bubbles , travelling through the vertical pvc pipe and bubble plate 98 , act to disinfect the water , killing microorganisms . on occasion , manual vacuuming of the pool may be desired . this is easily accomplished using the optional vacuum port 60 in the lock down cap 58 . if maximum vacuum suction is desired , a user can stop the flow through the drain inlet 68 . in such an arrangement , water from the equalizer line still travels into the drain filter chamber 46 , thereby preventing air in the system and a loss of prime . an automatic water fill system is contemplated . if an automatic water fill is not available or malfunctions , the weir housing 22 is designed to accommodate a six - inch weir door 20 , which will allow up to six inches of evaporation before the pool filter 10 ceases to operate . likewise , if the water fill system malfunctions and remains on , the overflow outlet 40 in the skimmer inlet housing 12 prevents the pool from overflowing . in an installation where drain filtering is not necessary , the stabilizing pipes 74 may be omitted , and the primary equalizer port 42 capped . in this manner , the skimmer inlet housing 12 and skimmer filter chamber 14 work alone to pre - filter the pool . in such an instance , a water fill inlet 66 may be included on the skimmer inlet housing 12 along with the overflow outlet 40 . in this manner , the filling and overflowing , manual vacuuming , and ozone saturation functions can still be performed . since the pool filter 10 with regular cleaning will prevent the intrusion of particulate matter over 300 microns into the main pool filter , it is anticipated using the pool filter 10 will avoid the necessity of cleaning a main filter , greatly reducing the cleaning cycle . | 1 |
the present invention is based upon an analysis of link adaptation within a retransmission environment . the present invention departs significantly from traditional link adaptation schemes for wireless data services , which neglect retransmissions and ultimately produce an erroneous link adaptation framework that produces instability , misallocation of bandwidth and poor system performance . the retransmission model underlying the present invention generated two critical discoveries that significantly shaped the present invention . first , the threshold values for a link adaptation system using a retransmission model can be derived from the no - retransmission model thresholds . the retransmission thresholds are obtained by shifting the throughput characteristic curves for the no - retransmission model by an amount relating to the difference between the signal to interference ratio generated by the base offered traffic , sir 0 , and the resulting signal - to - interference ratio generated due to the base traffic plus retransmissions , sir . second , the retransmission model revealed that there should be no transmission at all below a base threshold sir ( referred to herein as the “ no - transmission ” or “ mode 0 ” threshold ). transmitting below this “ no - transmission ” threshold produces system instability such that excessive retransmissions result causing unbounded delay and almost zero throughput at the receiver . this instability is a product of the retransmission environment itself and is not analyzed or accounted for in conventional link adaptation systems . the complex analysis and insights underlying the retransmission model are an essential underpinning of the present invention and are outlined below . this analysis was summarized from j . chuang , x . qiu , “ an improved link adaptation algorithm and its implementation requirements ”, presented at smg2 edge ad hoc on edge physical / link layer issues in london , aug . 12 - 13 , 1998 , and “ link adaptation in wireless data networks for throughput maximization under retransmissions , at & amp ; t technical memorandum , ha6132000 - 980714 - 06tm , july 1998 , also submitted to ieee icc &# 39 ; 99 , jun . 6 - 10 , 1999 . in one embodiment of the present invention , the retransmission model was derived and analyzed using the modulation / coding schemes outlined in edge . however , this analysis would apply to any modulation / coding framework . thus , link adaptation threshold values in a retransmission environment for any modulation / coding architecture can be derived using the framework outlined herein . recently , for example , new modulation schemes were proposed , and the methodology outlined herein can be applied to them . furthermore , this same embodiment relied primarily upon an infinite retransmission model , an assumption that packets would be retransmitted until success . however , the basic analysis presented herein can be used for a retransmission model based upon any arbitrary number of retransmissions ( e . g ., a one retransmission model or a two retransmissions model ). fig1 depicts the large - scale architecture of a wireless communications system according to one embodiment of the present invention . transmitter 100 communicates with receiver 105 through communications channel 104 . transmitter 100 contains transceiver 115 , data module 125 , modulator / encoder 110 , controller 122 and antenna 140 . controller 122 calculates modulation / encoding scheme 150 from quality measure 155 sent from receiver 105 and transmits this information to modulator / encoder 110 . modulation / encoding scheme 150 is used by modulator / encoder 110 to modulate and encode data retrieved from data module 125 . the modulated / encoded data is sent to transceiver 115 for transmission through antenna 140 onto communications channel 104 . receiver 105 contains decoder 120 , controller 122 , transceiver 115 and antenna 140 . transceiver 115 is coupled to antenna 140 and communications channel 104 from which data is received . data is sent from transceiver 115 to decoder 120 , which is controlled by controller 122 . decoder 120 outputs decoded data 152 and quality measure 155 , which might for example be the current bler or sir at the receiver . quality measure 155 is transmitted back to transmitter 100 through communications channel 104 . fig2 depicts the architecture of a link adaptation system consisting of a set n of modulation / coding schemes 210 according to one embodiment of the present invention . each scheme n ∈ n ( 210 ) is characterized by a set of performance attributes 220 that may include , for example , the radio interference rate r n 225 and bler n characteristic 227 where n ∈ n depicts the particular link adaptation mode 210 . bler n characteristic 227 is a function relating the bler to the sir at the receiver 105 for each mode 210 . for example , fig3 depicts bler as a function of sir for the eight transmission modes 210 in edge . a wireless transmission model 240 is associated with the entire link adaptation scheme and is used to derive a throughput characteristic 250 as a function of sir for each mode 210 . a threshold level 260 is derived for each mode 210 from the set of throughput characteristics 250 in the link adaptation system . for each mode 210 , the threshold level 260 corresponds to the range of sir over which that mode 210 produces the highest throughput among all modes 210 in the link adaptation scheme . the set of threshold values 260 dictate the selection of a mode 210 based upon real - time measurement of the sir at the receiver 105 . the wireless environment model 240 , which comprises a mathematical and conceptual framework for the wireless transmission environment , is a critical component in determining the set of threshold values 260 for each mode 210 . the throughput characteristic 250 of each mode 210 is derived from wireless environment model 240 and the performance attributes 220 unique to each mode ( i . e . r n and bler n characteristic where n ∈ n ). for example , using a no - retransmission environment model , the throughput s is equal to the probability that a block is transmitted correctly ( 1 - bler n ) multiplied by the actual data transmission r n where sir 0 is the signal - to - interference ratio for the base offered traffic of the system without taking into account any retransmissions . based upon the no - retransmission environment model 240 as codified in equation ( 1 ) and the bler / sir relationship depicted in fig3 , fig4 depicts a set curves relating the sir 0 for the offered traffic to the throughput for each mode 210 using the edge modulation / coding architecture . however , the curves depicted in fig4 are erroneous in a retransmission environment ( such as that required for data services ). in fact , using such a link adaptation scheme in a retransmission environment will actually reduce system performance and result in instability in the system . for example , in edge , in the range of sir for which ecs - 6 is chosen , the average bler is higher than 65 %, meaning that 65 % of packets require retransmission . as a result of this bler , the load in the system and the interference in the system will be increased substantially . the increase of interference will further lower the sir and cause even more retransmissions until either the system reaches the steady state if it exists , or the system becomes unstable resulting in a throughput of zero . the realization that the traditional no - retransmission model 240 could not adequately capture the behavior of the retransmission environment led to a complex and detailed analysis of an infinite retransmission environment underlying the present invention . to develop a conceptual and mathematical model to account for infinite retransmissions required analysis of the traffic load in a communications system operating in a retransmission environment . ρ 0 represents the average offered traffic in the communications system neglecting retransmissions . however , the actual load in a transmission system will be higher , represented by ρ , the amount of traffic in the system including base offered traffic and retransmission traffic . thus , the total load considering retransmissions ρ will be the offered load ρ 0 plus the amount of traffic generated by retransmissions . p n represents the probability of using a particular modulation / coding mode n ∈ n , where σ n ∈ n p n = 1 . for the first retransmission , the additional traffic will be the offered traffic ρ 0 multiplied by the probability of choosing mode n ( n ∈ n ) 210 multiplied by the bler for mode n 210 summed over all modes n ( n ∈ n ) 210 . the same relationship will apply for the second retransmission except that the bler term will be of second order due to the two retransmissions . if a user does not change the modulation / coding scheme until the current packet is successfully transmitted , in the steady state , the load in the transmission system under the assumption of infinite retransmissions is given generally by : ∑ n ∈ n ρ 0 p n 1 - bler n ( 3 ) using a first order approximation , assuming that the total interference i is a linear function of the load ρ , the interference can be described as : i = ∑ n ∈ n i 0 p n 1 - bler n ( 4 ) where i 0 is the interference at the receiver 105 if erroneous packets are discarded ( i . e ., no retransmissions ). therefore , in the steady state , the sir at a particular link is : sir = sir 0 ∑ n ∈ n p n 1 - bler n ( 5 ) where sir 0 is the sir at a link receiver 105 without considering retransmissions . thus , the sir at the receiver 105 is the sir of the offered traffic ( i . e . without retransmissions ) plus an additional factor c ( ρ ) ( herein referred to as the “ sir margin ”) corresponding to a reduction in sir at each receiver link 105 due to retransmissions relating equation ( 1 ) to the preceding analysis , in the steady state , the throughput using the infinite retransmission model 240 is : according to one embodiment of the present invention , the determination of c ( ρ ) was simplified by making the assumption that all users in the system use the same modulation / coding scheme n ( nån ) 210 , i . e ., p n = 1 , when the sir margin of mode n ( n ∈ n ) 210 is considered . without this assumption , evaluation of c ( ρ ) proved to be highly complex since c ( ρ ) is a function of both { p n } and { bler n } where { p n ) is a function of the offered load ρ 0 and many other parameters such as the propagation environment . using this analysis , the determination of the sir margin was greatly simplified since c ( ρ ) is reduced to a function of bler n alone which itself is a function of sir ( see fig3 ). predictions based upon this assumption have corresponded very closely with measured experimental results . thus , using the assumption that interaction between different modes can be decoupled , the sir at each receiver link 105 is : assuming that there is a well defined bler n characteristic for a given mode 210 and provided with sir 0 , sir and c ( ρ ) can be obtained analytically by solving equation ( 10 ). according to one embodiment of the present invention , the following steps describe a method to evaluate c ( ρ ): 1 . for different values of sir 0 , the curves y = sir 0 + c ( ρ ) and y = sir are plotted as a function of sir . 2 . for a given value of sir 0 , the intersection of the curves y = sir 0 + c ( ρ ) and y = sir yields the sir that satisfies equation ( 10 ). the sir margin can then be calculated as : 3 . if y = sir 0 + c ( ρ ) and y = sir do not intersect for a given sir 0 , then there is no sir that satisfies equation ( 10 ) and the system is not stable under this offered load . fig5 depicts an example of the determination of c ( ρ ) using the above steps for edge mode ecs - 5 ( 210 ). points of intersection ( 510 ) of the line y = sir ( 530 ) and y = sir 0 + c ( ρ ) ( 540 ) represent stable solutions for the infinite retransmission model 240 . c ( ρ ) can be calculated by finding the difference between sir and sir 0 at any of these intersection points . for instance , following the steps outlined above , based upon the data in fig5 , c ( ρ ) is approximately − 2 db for sir 0 = 6 db . once c ( ρ ) is calculated according to the above - mentioned steps , it is possible to calculate the threshold values 260 for a link adaptation system based upon an infinite transmission model 240 by simply shifting the throughput characteristic curves 250 derived for the no - retransmission model 240 ( e . g ., fig4 ). this is evident from equation ( 9 ) which is of the same form as equation ( 1 ) except for the additional term c ( ρ ), the amount by which sir is reduced due to retransmissions ( c ( ρ )= sir − sir 0 ). therefore , the thresholds for the no - retransmission model 240 should be increased approximately by − c ( ρ ) in order to obtain the thresholds for the infinite transmission model 240 . fig6 depicts the derived throughput characteristics for the edge modes 210 using the infinite retransmission model 240 as outlined herein . the threshold values for this infinite retransmission model are obtained by finding the mode 210 that produces the highest throughput over the entire sir range . as described earlier , other retransmission models such as one - retransmission or two - retransmissions can be analyzed using a similar framework . see j . chuang , x . qiu , “ an improved link adaptation algorithm and its implementation requirements ”, presented at smg2 edge ad hoc on edge physical / link layer issues in london , aug . 12 - 13 , 1998 , and “ link adaptation in wireless data networks for throughput maximization under retransmissions ”, at & amp ; t technical memorandum , ha6132000 - 980714 - 06tm , july 1998 , also submitted to ieee icc &# 39 ; 99 , jun . 6 - 10 , 1999 . analysis of the infinite retransmission model produced a further critical discovery that in a retransmission environment there exists a cutoff sir 0 , below which there should be no transmissions at a transmitter 100 . if a transmitter 100 is operating with sir below this cutoff threshold , transmitting will result in system instability , close to zero throughput and waste of bandwidth resources . for example , an examination of fig5 reveals that there is no stable solution for equation ( 9 ) if sir 0 is below approximately 4 db . this is apparent by noting that none of the curves y = sir 0 + c ( ρ ) ( 540 ) below sir 0 = 4 db ( marked with ‘ x ’) intersect the line y = sir ( 530 ). because sir is a function of sir 0 , this means that there is a minimum sir threshold 260 below which system behavior will become unstable . for example , for the 4 db value of sir 0 from fig5 , the corresponding minimum sir threshold 260 was determined to be approximately 9 db ( see fig6 ( 610 )). the discovery of this minimum sir threshold 260 led to a new no - transmission mode ( or mode 0 ) for link adaptation systems . this mode 0 ( cutoff threshold ) is the sir level at a link receiver 105 below which transmission should cease at the corresponding transmitter 100 . if transmissions continued below the mode 0 threshold 260 , system instability and near zero throughput would result at the link receiver 105 . thus , transmitting below mode 0 wastes bandwidth and system resources and produces near zero throughput . this no - transmission mode is different from conventional admission control , which is performed only once upon admitting a user . mode 0 is part of the continuous link adaptation process . fig7 depicts the operation of a no - transmission mode ( mode 0 ) according to one embodiment of the present invention . at time 710 , the sir at the link receiver 105 exceeds the cutoff threshold . thus , at time 710 , the corresponding transmitter 100 is transmitting using the appropriate mode x 210 for the current sir in the link adaptation system . at time 720 , the sir at link receiver 105 falls below the cutoff threshold and the transmitter 100 enters mode 0 ending transmission . at time 730 , however , the sir at link receiver 105 again exceeds the mode 0 cutoff threshold and the transmitter 100 begins transmitting using the appropriate mode y 210 for the current sir . fig8 is a flowchart that depicts a set of steps that may be implemented at a wireless transmitter to utilize a no - transmission mode and perform link adaptation according to one embodiment of the present invention . in step 805 , the procedure is initiated . in step 820 , a signal quality value is measured at a receiver . the signal quality value may be a sir , bler or any other value corresponding to the suitability of the signal for reception . in step 830 , the signal quality value is compared to a no - transmission threshold value . if the signal quality value is less than the no - transmission threshold (‘ yes ’ branch of step 830 ), the receiver ceases transmission to the receiver ( step 840 ). otherwise (‘ no ’ branch of step 830 ), link adaptation is performed . in particular , in step 850 a best link adaptation mode is selected ( e . g ., a mode that maximizes some performance measure such as throughput ). in step 860 , a modulation and / or coding scheme is adjusted at the transmitter to conform to the best link adaptation mode selected in step 850 . the procedure ends in step 870 . | 7 |
fig1 shows the principle of an electronic device for the production of color separations in which a circuit 14 is drawn upon for the refinement of the line recording according to the invention . such a device consists of a scanning cylinder 1 which bears the half tone information 2 . a further scanning cylinder 3 bears the line information 4 . on a further cylinder 5 , the combined color - corrected and rastered output product 6 is recorded in the form of a color separation for the further processing for the production of the form . this can occur , for example , by means of light beams on light - sensitive film . all three cylinders 1 , 3 , 5 are driven with the same speed of rotation by a motor 7 . arranged in front of the cylinder 1 is a scanning element 9 for the scanning of the half tone information 2 , arranged in front of the cylinder 3 is a scanning element 10 for the scanning of the line information 4 . in front of the recording cylinder 5 there is arranged a recording element 12 . the scanning elements 9 and 10 as well as the recording element 12 by means of the spindle 13 which is driven by the motor 11 carry out a forwarding motion axial to the cylinders . from the interplay between rotary movement , forwarding movement and a clock pulse generator 8 arranged with the cylinder 1 , 3 , 5 on the same shaft , there results the scanning raster and the half tone recording raster . besides the raster clock pulse , the clock pulse generator 8 also generates a pulse which indicates the beginning of each circumferential line . both clock pulses are supplied via lines 20 or , respectively , 21 to a multiplier 19 which prepares the clock pulse for a raster computer 17 in which , corresponding to the scanning values of the half tone raster 9 , form and size of the raster points to be recorded are generated . the scanning values from the scanning element 9 first pass through an analog color computer 15 which undertakes the color correction . the raster computer 17 operates digitally . therefore , the values corrected in the color computer 15 are first digitalized in an analog - digital transducer 16 . the raster clock pulse from line 20 as well as the clock pulse for the line beginning from line 21 are further also fed to the circuit 14 of which a circuitry example is explained more precisely with the use of fig4 . in modern electronic devices for the production of color separations , size and form of the half tone raster points are generated in the raster computer 17 and recorded by means of several separately drivable writing beams , as for example , is described in german pat . no . 2 , 107 , 738 and german pat . no . 1 , 901 , 101 which corresponds to u . s . pat . no . 3 , 657 , 472 . because of the complicated and varied structure of the half tone raster points , as a rule thereby the number of the writing beams in a scanning line width is higher than would be necessary for the inventive refinement of the line reproduction . the circuit 18 in which raster information and line information converge in an advantageous manner thus contains logic switching elements which , in the case of blending in of line information , combine the writing beams in groups , for example , three groups for two writing beams each or two groups for three writing beams each . also , reversible grouping is possible for different uses . fig2 and 3 clarify with differently shaped contours 51 how the refinement of the line recording comes about . here for example , within a writing line width b there are arranged three recording beams which can be driven separately . thereby , the individual beams in an advantageous manner can consist of groups of combined recording beams , of a multi - beam recording device for the depiction of half tone raster points , as is described for example in german pat . no . 2 , 107 , 738 . these recording beams can for example , be driven three times by the circuit 14 onto the length of a half tone raster point interval l in circumferential direction so that in a raster mesh b × l , nine fields can be acted upon separately . one recognizes that the contour forms 51 selected randomly as an example in fig2 and 3 are refined by means of specific point patterns within each raster field b × l in the sense of the invention . in fig2 also for the clarification , three light modulators 50 and the light source 49 are drawn in . with the use of fig4 an example is described for the circuit 14 ( fig1 ) for the obtaining of the point patterns from the items of information of the specific surroundings of the point in the case of line recording . the circuitry example again proceeds from the assumption that a raster mesh ( b × l in fig2 ) is sub - divided into 3 × 3 individual fields . the principle manner of operation is the following : the line information from the line scanner 10 ( fig1 ) proceeds via line 22 and a demultiplexer 25 into a quadruplex reciprocal memory 23a - d which stores the value in each case of four consecutive scanning lines in such a manner that in each memory portion , there is one scanning line . three portions of the memory hold the surrounding information of the point to be evaluated in readiness , while in the fourth portion , the next scanning line is written in . the information of the surroundings of the point , which is available in the three memories in each case loaded with neighbouring image lines , is associated via read - only memory 39 with a specific pattern of the point to be written by the recording element 12 . the read only memory 39 is programmed such that this point pattern is optimally appropriate to the contour detected by the scanning and its reproduction is refined in the inventive form . a line counter 24 , ( for example sn 74293 of the firm texas instruments ) controls via 2 - bit line 41 the cyclic change - over of the reciprocal memory 23a - d ( for example 4 x semi 4200 of the firm electronic memories and magnetics ), whereby via a demultiplexer 25 ( for example sn 74139 of the firm texas instruments ) it determines into which portion of the reciprocal memory the line information is read in . it further controls the reading pulse which comes from the control unit via line 42 , which it switches on via a further demultiplexer 26 ( for example sn 74130 of the firm texas instruments ) corresponding to the reciprocal memory . simultaneously , the line counter 24 via three subtractors 27 ( for example , s . n . 7482 of the firm texas instruments ) which constantly substract by 1 , 2 or , respectively 3 and via a multiplexer 34 ( for example , sn 74153 of the firm texas instruments ) make available the addresses for those lines from which read - out is permitted . the address counter 28 ( for example 3 x sn 74293 of the firm texas instruments ) which is driven via line 20 by the clock pulse generator 8 ( fig1 ) with the scanning pulse , together with an adder 29 ( for example 3 x sn 74283 of the firm texas instruments ), which constantly adds by 1 and a subtractor 30 ( for example 3 x sn 74283 of the firm texas instruments ) which constantly subtracts by 1 prepares the three point addresses from which read - out can occur . the controlling is laid out for linear program flow and consists of a program counter 31 ( for example , sn 7492 of the firm texas instruments ) and a programmable memory 32 ( for example 2 x sn 74188 of the firm texas instruments ). this contains the micro - program for the controlling , whose pulse diagram is depicted in fig5 . the clocking of the control unit occurs with a multiplying of the sanning frequency ( here , for example , by 12 times ), which is generated via a frequency multiplier 33 in pll circuit ( for example , described in rca application report ican 6101 ). the factor 12 makes available to the control unit 12 program steps for the duration of a scanning clock pulse . in the course of these program steps , the control unit via line 43 ( 2 bits ) connects via the multiplexer 34 , one after the other , the three reciprocal memory portions , which just contain the complete neighbouring line information , via a further multiplexer 35 ( for example sn 74153 of the firm texas instruments ) to a shift register 36 ( for example 3 x sn 7495a ) and within each line via line 44 ( 2 bit ) via a multiplexer 37 ( for example 3 x 74153 of the firm texas instruements ) selects three points so that at the input of the shift register 36 , one after the other , nine items of point information appear . the control unit via line 45 for each point information delivers a pulse which causes the shift register to shift so that after the nine shifts , the information is present in parallel at the output of the shift register . via line 46 , the control unit provides to a postconnected register 38 ( for example , 2 l x sn 74174 of the firm texas instruments ) with a charge pulse so that the 9 bit information is taken over into the register 38 in order there to be ready for the next - following scanning duration for the generation of the point pattern , while the shift register 36 becomes free for the collecting of the next information . the information stored in the register 38 together with a 2 bit item of information , which comes via line 48 from the control unit , forms the address for the programmable memory 39 . thereby , for the duration of the writing clock pulse for an entire point ( b × l ), the address portion which comes from the register 38 remains constant while the address portion which comes from the control unit via line 48 is reversed within a point three times . thus , the point to be written is resolved also in circumferential direction in three lines , whereby the refinement becomes effective also in circumferential direction . after intermediate storage by means of a pulse on line 47 in a further register 39a ( for example type 74175 sn 74175 of the firm texas instruments ), a drive signal for the circuit 18 ( fig1 ) stands ready at its outputs 40a - c . for the program example stated , in fig5 for the clarification , a pulse diagram is stated which shows the timerelated course of the output pulses from the programmable memory 32 . program counter 31 operates in conjunction with the other units to control how the individual program steps are to occur . the following operation occurs with the circuit of fig4 . each basic timing signal from line 20 at which a basic timing signal occurs is converted into 12 intermediate timing signals by the pll circuit 33 . the program counter 31 divides the output clocks by the pll circuit into blocks of respectively 12 subclocks and it counts up from 1 through 12 each time and then again counts from 1 through 12 . the output clocks of the program counter 31 serve as input addresses for the memory 32 , i . e ., the addresses 1 , 2 , etc ., through 12 successively are supplied to the memory 32 . the signals illustrated in fig5 for the lines 42 through 48 which correspond to the individual program steps 1 through 12 are deposited in the memory 32 . when the program counter 31 , for example , supplies the address 1 , then the signals of the first column of fig5 are emitted to the corresponding output lines . upon application of address 2 , the signals of the second column are read out , etc . the sequence of how the individual program steps are then executed with the assistance of the multiplexers 34 and 37 is as described above . fig6 shows an example of the circuit 18 ( fig1 ) which unites raster signals and refined line signals before the recording in a suitable manner . here as example again one proceeds from the fact that six recording beams are present . these can for example be light beams which , modulated by light modulators 50 ( fig2 ), record on light - sensitive film . the light modulators are controlled via the six lines 58a - f . these lines are outputs of six or gates 57a - f , at whose inputs the raster information from the output lines 53a - f of the and gates 56a - f and the inventively refined line information from the lines 40a - c ( fig4 ) converge . the raster information in each case stands at an input of the and gates 56a - f ; the other inputs lie parallel on line 54 . depending upon which logic signal is adjacent to line 54 , according to the invention the raster information is either suppressed or not during the writing of a refined line pattern . two electronic change - over switches 52 , here depicted for the sake of simplicity as mechanical switches , can change the grouping of the six recording signals 57a - f by means of driving of the switches 52 via line 55 selectively in three groups for each two neighbouring recording beams or in two groups for each three neighbouring recording beams . although the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments , it is not to be so limited as changes and modifications can be made which are within the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . | 7 |
the transfer controller with hub and ports architecture is optimized for efficient passage of data throughout a digital signal processor chip . fig1 illustrates a block diagram of the principal features of the transfer controller with hub and ports . it consists of a system of a single hub 100 and multiple ports 111 through 115 . at the heart of the hub is the transfer controller with hub and ports hub control unit 109 which acts upon request and status information to direct the overall actions of the transfer controller . the transfer controller with hub and ports functions in conjunction with , first , a transfer request bus having a set of nodes 117 which bring in transfer request packets at input 103 . these transfer request bus nodes ( tr nodes ) individually receive transfer request packets from transfer requesters 116 which are processor - memory nodes or other on - chip functions which send and receive data . secondly the transfer controller uses an additional bus , the data transfer bus having a set of nodes 118 , to read or write the actual data at the requester nodes 116 . the data transfer bus carries commands , write data and read data from a special internal memory port 115 and returns read data to the transfer controller hub via the data router 150 function at inputs 104 . the transfer controller has , at its front - end portion , a request queue controller 101 ( also commonly referred to as the queue manager of this invention ) receiving transfer requests in the form of transfer request packets at its input 103 . the queue manager prioritizes , stores , and dispatches these as required . the queue manager connects within the transfer controller hub unit 100 to the channel request registers 120 which receive the data transfer request packets and process them . in this process , it first prioritizes them and assigns them to one of the n channel request registers 120 , each of which represent a priority level . if there is no channel available for direct processing of the transfer request packets , it is stored in the queue manager memory ( usually a ram ) 102 . the transfer request packet is then assigned at a later time when a channel becomes available . the channel registers interface with the source 130 and destination 140 control pipelines which effectively are address calculation units for source ( read ) and destination ( write ) operations . outputs from these pipelines are broadcast to m ports through the transfer controller ports i / o subsystem 110 which includes a set of hub interface units , which drive the m possible external ports units ( four such external ports are shown in fig1 as 111 through 114 ). the external ports units ( also referred to as application units ) are clocked either at the main processor clock frequency or at a lower ( or higher ) external device clock frequency . if a port operates at its own frequency , synchronization to the core clock is required . as an example of read - write operations at the ports , consider a read from external port node 112 followed by a write to external port node 114 . first the source pipeline addresses port 112 for a read . the data is returned to the transfer controller hub through the data router unit 150 . on a later cycle the destination control pipeline addresses port 114 and writes the data at port 114 . external ports as described here do not initiate transfer requests but merely participate in reads and writes requested elsewhere on the chip . read and write operations involving the processor - memory nodes ( transfer requesters ) 116 are initiated as transfer request packets on the transfer request bus 117 . the queue manager 101 processes these as described above , and on a later cycle a source pipeline output ( read command / address ) is generated which is passed at the internal memory port to the data transfer bus 118 in the form of a read . this command proceeds from one node to the next in pipeline fashion on the data transfer bus . when the processor node addressed is reached , the read request causes the processor - memory node to place the read data on the bus for return to the data router 150 . on a later cycle , a destination pipeline output passes the corresponding write command and data to the internal memory port and on to the data transfer bus for writing at the addressed processor node . the channel parameter registers 105 and port parameters registers 106 hold all the necessary parametric data as well as status information for the transfer controller hub pipelines to process the given transfer . both pipelines share some of the stored information . other portions relate specifically to one pipeline or the other . the transfer controller with hub and ports introduced several new ideas supplanting the previous transfer controller technology . first , it is uniformly pipelined . in the previous transfer controller designs , the pipeline was heavily coupled to the external memory type supported by the device . in the preferred embodiment , the transfer controller with hub and ports contains multiple external ports , all of which look identical to the hub . thus peripherals and memory may be freely interchanged without affecting the transfer controller with hub and ports . secondly , the transfer controller with hub and ports concurrently executes transfers . that is , up to n transfers may occur in parallel on the multiple ports of the device , where n is the number of channels in the transfer controller with hub and ports core . each channel in the transfer controller with hub and ports core is functionally just a set of registers . these registers track the current source and destination addresses , the word counts and other parameters for the transfer . each channel is identical , and thus the number of channels supported by the transfer controller with hub and ports is highly scalable . thirdly , the transfer controller with hub and ports includes a mechanism for queuing transfers up in a dedicated queue ram . fig2 illustrates from a higher level an overview of a multiprocessor integrated circuit employing the transfer controller with hub and ports of this invention . there are four main functional blocks . the transfer controller with hub and ports 220 and the ports , including ports external port interface units 230 to 233 and internal memory port 260 , are the first two main functional blocks . though four external port interface units 230 , 231 , 232 and 233 are illustrated , this is an example only and more or less could be employed . the other two main functional blocks are the transfer request bus 245 and the data transfer bus ( dtb ) 255 . these are closely associated functional units that are but not a part of the transfer controller with hub and ports 220 . transfer request bus 245 is coupled to plural internal memory port nodes 270 , 271 and 272 . though three internal port nodes 270 , 271 and 272 are illustrated , this is an example only and more or less could be employed . each of these internal memory port nodes preferable includes an independently programmable data processor , which may be a digital signal processor , and corresponding cache memory or other local memory . the internal construction of these internal memory port nodes 270 , 271 and 272 is not important for this invention . for the purpose of this invention it sufficient that each of the internal memory port nodes 270 , 271 and 272 can submit transfer requests via transfer request bus 245 and has memory that can be a source or destination for data . transfer request bus 245 prioritizes these packet transfer requests . transfers originating from or destined for internal memory port nodes 270 , 271 or 272 are coupled to transfer controller with hub and ports 220 via data transfer bus 255 and internal memory port master 260 . fig2 highlights the possible connection of data transfer bus 255 to multiple internal memory port nodes 270 , 271 and 272 and the possible connection of multiple transfer request nodes to transfer request bus 245 . fig3 illustrates a transfer request bus at the major block level . the processor - cache internal memory port nodes of fig2 are shown as requestor nodes 270 , 271 and 272 of fig3 . other additional requestor nodes 313 through 319 are shown in fig3 . upstream request signals 320 , 322 , 325 , and 326 , local request signals 334 , and 335 , stall signals 330 and 337 , and token signals 323 , 327 and 329 are identified in fig3 and these will now be described . a transfer request ( e . g . 320 , 322 , 325 , 334 , or 335 ) consists of one or more n bit word transfer request packets . these transfer request packets are always originated and propagated back to back on the tr bus . in other words , a local request 334 can stall and preempt an upstream request 325 only when the first upstream packet arrives . after the first packet has gone through a tr node , the local request can be injected only at the end of the upstream packet transfer . the tr node , in its simplest form , multiplexes between dispatching one of local or upstream requests and stalling the other one . the frequency and scaling requirements of the architecture require the stall signal to be pipelined from one tr node to another . this requires the tr nodes to have local storage so that upstream request during stall propagation will not be lost . the stall to the local requester is also pipelined , requiring local storage for these requests as well . a node having an upstream request and a local request collide causes stalls . on a collision if the tr node does not have the token , it will pass the upstream request and stall the local request . if the tr node has the token , it will pass the local request and stall the upstream request . the upstream stall ripples up until it hits a tr node with no upstream request at that node . in order to guarantee against starvation of getting a local request onto the tr bus , a token is passed downstream from node to node to give priority to the next local request for that node over the incoming upstream request . when a node receives the token , it can stall and buffer the incoming upstream request and pass its local request to the downstream node . the token passing protocol is detailed below for all possible operating scenarios : if a tr node 302 has no local request pending or arriving in the same clock as the token arrives , then the token ( see active token 323 ) is passed on to the next downstream node 302 in the very next clock . assume a tr node 302 has a local request pending or arriving in the same clock as the actual token 323 arrives , and there is no upstream request 343 . then the token is passed onto the next downstream node 301 in the same cycle as the first transfer request packet of local request . note that if there is a downstream stall 331 coming back , then the token is held at the tr node until the stall goes away and the transfer of first local transfer request packet can be initiated . yes local request , first transfer request packet of upstream request , token in assume a tr node 302 has a local request 342 pending or arriving in the same clock as the actual token 323 arrives and also the first transfer request packet of upstream request 343 arrives in the same clock . then the token is passed onto the next downstream node 301 in the same cycle as the first transfer request packet of local request 342 , and the upstream request 343 is stalled . yes local request , second transfer request packet of upstream request , token in assume a tr node 302 has a local request 342 pending or arriving in the same clock as the actual token 323 arrives and also that the second transfer request packet of the upstream request 343 arrives in the same clock . then the token is held till the upstream request passes through , and is then passed onto the next downstream node 301 in the same cycle as the first transfer request packet of local request 342 . to summarize , the transfer request node implements the operations illustrated in table 1 . refer to fig4 for the detailed diagram of the transfer request bus node . the implementation shown is the heart of this invention . before describing how the elements of the transfer request bus node accomplish the desired behavior of table 1 and the four operating scenarios described above , it should be noted that there are two additional busses not shown in fig3 . one of the two additional buses runs upstream and parallel to the tr bus is the requestor acknowledge bus qack shown in fig4 as 413 . this bus sends the requestor id of those transfer requests ( mapped to the priority bits of the request and the requester id of the unit submitting the request ) which have been accepted by the transfer controller for servicing . this allows the local node to increment its counter of reserved space , so it may issue more transfer requests . the qack bus is simply passed on to the local node so it that may decide based on the counter value , priority information , and requestor id information what operations will proceed next . the format of the qack is , in the preferred embodiment : the second additional bus , also runs upstream and parallel to the tr bus and is referred to as the request completed bus , qcomp ( see 414 of fig4 ). this request completed bus sends the report code ( as specified in the tr parameters ) with a valid bit on completion of the request by the i / o subsystem . the qcomp bus is simply passed on to the local node so it may test the information contained and take the appropriate action . the report word portion of qcomp can be encoded to carry relevant information about a transfer request completion . the format of the qcomp , in the preferred embodiment is as follows : acknowledgement of completion of the transfer request may be used in control of local processor functions . the report word may indicate any exceptions or special conditions or the like . the basic tr protocol involves sending requests , and responding to stalls , while not losing any of the data . the basic mechanism of the local node interface to the tr node ( to the tr bus ) is to set local request 406 ‘ high ’ whenever data is sent , and hold the same data if a stall is received on the next cycle . if there is no stall , then local request remains ‘ high ’, and the next data is sent to the tr node , until the entire transfer request has been sent , and then local request is set ‘ low ’. ( 1 ) local request 406 must be ‘ high ’ when data is being sent to the tr node ; ( 2 ) once a request ( local or upstream ) is initiated , the entire transfer request data ( two 68 - bit data words ) must be sent to the tr node in successive cycles ( disregarding stalls ); ( 3 ) when a node receives a stall , the data sent last cycle must be resent that cycle as well ; ( 4 ) there is no guarantee about when a stall may come , so it must be comprehended in either case , whether it occurs both before , between , or after the two 68 bit words are transferred ; ( 5 ) there are no restrictions on how many transfer requests can be sent successively , although they may be stalled . the heart of the tr node control is the finite state machine which accepts the upstream token input 404 , the upstream request input 402 , and the downstream stall input 410 . each of these signals is registered , the upstream token input in register 431 , the upstream request input in register 432 and the stall input in register 438 . the finite state machine control block 400 , keeps track of the number of each type of inputs in it &# 39 ; s counters and generates the control signals for the multiplexers and registers for the tr node datapath . the datapath in tr node is primarily devoted to multiplexing and holding the incoming upstream transfer request packets 405 and local transfer request packets 401 and also holding outgoing downstream transfer request packets 411 in case of a downstream stall . the transfer request packets are 68 bit wide data words . register 433 is used to register the incoming local request packet 401 and drives it through the output multiplexer 423 as downstream data 411 to the downstream node . also in case of a stall , register 433 recirculates and holds the local request packet 401 which has arrived . similarly register 434 keeps track of the upstream transfer request packets 405 . register 437 holds and recirculates the outgoing transfer request packets 411 in case of a downstream stall . the other paths simply involve registering and forwarding the qack ( register 435 ) and qcomp busses ( register 436 ). downstream qack input is labeled 413 and upstream qack output is labeled 415 . downstream qcomp input is labeled 414 and upstream qcomp output is labeled 416 . fig5 illustrates the waveform diagram showing a simple request with a stall and no token present at the local tr node . during time interval 500 both a local transfer request packet 401 and an upstream transfer request packet 405 are present but a downstream stall input 410 has also been received . during time interval 501 the downstream stall input is registered in finite state machine block ( 400 in fig4 ) and is output as an active upstream stall output 403 . also during time interval 501 an active local stall output 407 is generated . the downstream transfer request packet output 411 will hold and recirculate data n as shown in fig5 . the local transfer request packet input 401 with data l 2 and upstream transfer request packet input 405 with data u 2 will hold their data until the downstream transfer request packet output 411 completes processing of the respective inputs . note that recirculation of input local data l 2 and upstream data u 2 takes place in registers 433 and 434 of fig4 respectively and recirculation of output downstream data n takes place in register 437 . with no active token present at this node , the local stall output 407 persists until all upstream requests are cleared . the upstream stall output 403 however goes inactive in time interval 502 allowing the upstream requests to be completed . during time intervals 502 and 503 the upstream transfer request packet 405 data u 1 and data u 2 are cleared and passed on as downstream transfer request packets 411 . during time interval 503 no upstream request is present and the local stall 407 becomes inactive at the beginning of time interval 504 . during time intervals 504 and 505 , the local stall output 407 being inactive , the local requests data l 1 and data l 2 are passed downstream . fig6 illustrates the waveform diagram showing a simple request with a stall but with an active token present at the node . during time interval 600 both a local transfer request packet 401 and an upstream transfer request packet 405 are present but a downstream stall input 410 has also been received . with an active upstream token input 404 present at this node , the local stall output 407 persists for only through time interval 601 . during time interval 602 the local transfer request packet data l 1 receives priority and is processed and shows as an output downstream transfer request packet 411 during time interval 602 . the upstream transfer request packet data u 1 is recirculated in register 434 until the local transfer request packet has been processed . during time interval 603 the processing of the local request packet completes with the downstream transfer request packet output 411 being data l 2 . during time intervals 604 and 605 the processing of the upstream transfer request packet data u 1 and data u 2 resumes producing the downstream transfer request packet outputs data u 1 and u 2 respectively . this invention has been described in conjunction with the preferred embodiment in which the requests are for data transfer . those skilled in the art would realize that this type request is not only type that can be serviced by this invention . this invention can be used to connect and prioritize any data processing function that can be requested by plural requesters and is serviced by a central application unit . | 6 |
in the following description , for purposes of explanation , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the invention . it will be apparent , however , to one skilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , structures , devices , systems and methods are shown only in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the invention . reference in this specification to “ one embodiment ” or “ an embodiment ” means that a particular feature , structure , or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention . appearances of the phrase “ in one embodiment ” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment , nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments . moreover , various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others . similarly , various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not other embodiments . broadly , embodiments and techniques of the present invention disclose or relate to systems and methods for circulating or agitating the medium , liquid , fluid or water in an algae cultivation pond . while there are various mechanisms to circulate or agitate the medium ( e . g ., impellers , propellers , water jets ) a preferred mechanism is to periodically generate a propagating surface wave . in a preferred implementation , a propagating wave travels the length of the pond . it was found that a propagating wave adequately circulates the medium in the pond and does not appreciably disturb or inhibit growth of the algae . in fact , circulation of the medium by propagating waves was found to be preferable to other means of circulation . fig1 shows a perspective view of a single algae cultivation pond 100 ( herein “ pond ”) according to one implementation of the invention . with reference to fig1 , a pond 100 is at least partially filled with a cultivation medium ( e . g ., water , water - based solution of algae feeding nutrients ) 102 . the medium 102 is prevented from escaping the pond 100 by a liner 104 spread over the bottom and sides of the pond 100 . the liner 104 also facilitates harvesting of the algae ( not shown ) as described in more detail below . at or near a proximal side or edge 106 of the pond 100 , an agitator 108 is installed or placed in the pond 100 . the agitator may be maintained in place such as with permanent , temporary , moveable or removable anchors 110 . the anchors 110 are optional . in one implementation , the agitator 108 is made of an inexpensive , flexible polyvinyl or plastic material . in this implementation , the agitator 108 is an inflatable bladder . intermittently , the agitator 108 is caused to generate a traveling or propagating wave 112 that travels the length or width 114 of the pond 100 to a distal side or edge 116 of the pond 100 . in one implementation , the propagating wave 112 is created as follows . the agitator 108 is partially or fully submerged in the pond 100 , and the agitator 108 is rapidly filled or pulsed with air through a hose or air duct 118 . a fast - acting damper ( not shown in fig1 ) may provide air to the air duct 118 . in one exemplary implementation , the damper is charged or pressurized to 25 - 30 inches water column ( 62 - 75 mbar ). in response to the pulse of air , the agitator 108 rapidly floats to the surface of the pond 100 and emerges there . the movement of the agitator 108 through the vertical distance 120 creates a propagating wave 112 . the agitator 108 is allowed to deflate and re - submerge into pond 100 to await another inflation cycle . in a preferred implementation , several inflations are performed per minute . accordingly , several propagating waves 112 may be incident in the pond 100 at any given time depending on the dimensions of the pond 100 and other conditions . in an example of such implementation , a 12 - inch ( 30 cm ) diameter bladder or agitator 108 at rest is deflated such that about 24 inches ( 61 cm ) of its diameter is deflated or collapsed . the result is about a 12 - inch ( 30 cm ) diameter partially or fully submerged agitator 108 , or about a six - inch ( 15 cm ) diameter partially or fully submerged agitator 108 . when pulsed with air , the bladder or agitator 108 is again inflated and displaces about 0 . 75 cubic feet ( ft 3 ) of water for each running foot of agitator corresponding to about 0 . 07 cubic meters of water for each meter of agitator . after causing a pulse or relatively rapid inflation , another fast acting damper ( not shown ) is used to deflate the agitator 108 . in addition to ( or in place of ) a deflating damper , deflation vents or vent holes may installed in the agitator 108 or inflatable portion of the agitator 108 . in one implementation , one or more deflation vents are located along a bottom edge of the agitator 108 so as to encourage draining of any water that enters the agitator 108 . even with some water entering the agitator 108 , inflation and deflation of the agitator 108 causes substantial and sufficient agitation so as to create a propagating wave that travels all or substantially all of the length or width 114 of the pond 100 . alternatively , other movements and other means may be used to cause a propagating wave 112 . for example , the agitator 108 may remain inflated and may be rapidly moved downward or pulsed rapidly in a horizontal or other direction ( s ) ( not shown ) to cause the propagating wave 112 . in yet another alternative example , instead of using air to inflate the agitator 108 , a series of cables or cords are used to provide a pulsing motion to the buoyant agitator 108 . in yet another alternative , the agitator 108 is made of two or more materials such as one or more foam portions and one or more hollow or inflatable portions . an air pump would then only need to fill or partially fill a smaller volume to cause the agitator 108 to float to the surface of the pond 100 . in any event , the agitator 108 may be made of other materials ( e . g ., wood , straw , composite , dried and treated algae , metal , foam polymer ). with reference to fig1 , algae cultivation preferably includes a nutrient line 122 at or near the distal edge 116 of the pond 100 . the nutrient line 122 preferably runs along substantially all or a substantial part of the length or side 124 of the pond 100 . in a preferred implementation , the length 124 of the pond 100 is substantially larger than the width 114 of the pond 100 . nutrients ( not shown ) are released into the medium 102 over the course of time . nutrients may be intermittently supplied , or may be continuously fed to the medium 102 . nutrients or a nutrient - enriched flow is provided to the nutrient line 122 through a nutrient supply 126 . the nutrient line 122 may require an intake line ( not shown ) that draws medium 102 from the pond 100 and recycles it to the pond 100 . a nutrient line 122 alternatively may deliver a variety of materials not traditionally considered as “ nutrients ” or fertilizers for algae including carbon dioxide or other off gases from power plants , or other gaseous or liquid based materials from production or processing facilities . by delivering materials to algae ponds , materials can be sequestered or captured by algae or other organism cultivated in ponds . while a single nutrient line 122 is shown , multiple nutrient lines may be provided . one or more nutrient lines may be arranged in or around the pond 100 in a variety of ways conforming to the needs of the algae , environment and pond 100 . fig2 shows a profile or lateral cross - sectional view of an algae cultivation pond 100 and exemplary agitation mechanism according to one implementation of the invention . the elements shown in this view are not drawn to scale but are shown for illustration purposes only . ( the same applies to the other figures .) the width 114 and pond 100 are cut to show that the width 114 and pond 100 are not limited in size relative to the length ( not shown ) of the pond 100 or consistent with other typical algae ponds . with reference to fig2 , an agitator 108 is located at the proximal edge 106 of the pond 100 such as by one or more anchors 110 . the proximal depth 202 of the pond 100 ( or , more accurately , the depth of the medium 102 near the proximal end 106 ) as measured at or near the proximal edge 106 is preferably larger or deeper than a distal depth 204 . however , the proximal depth 202 and the distal depth 204 may be the same or about the same . as a specific example , a proximal depth 202 could be about 20 inches ( 51 cm ) and a distal depth 204 could be about 12 inches ( 30 cm ). in this example , for a round - shaped agitator 108 , a diameter 208 of the agitator 108 could be about 12 inches ( 30 cm ). propagating waves 112 originate at and travel from the proximal edge 106 to or toward the distal edge 116 . in one example , propagating waves are generated by a generally rapid and generally vertical movement of the agitator 108 shown by a distance 120 in fig2 . as viewed along the width 114 of the pond 100 , the bottom of the pond 100 is preferably substantially smooth to encourage recycle 206 of flow of medium 102 and nutrients ( not shown ) from the area near the nutrient line 122 . in one implementation , leveling machinery is used to create a substantially smooth pond bottom that has little or no slope . in another implementation , a slight slope is provided to each pond with a proximal depth 202 being greater than a distal depth 204 . nutrients may be carried from the distal end 116 toward the proximal 106 in a counter - current fashion in the pond 100 as shown by the arrows in fig2 . thus , nutrients may travel by diffusion and circulation of the medium 102 . the propagating waves 112 are useful for more than dispersing nutrients . first , the propagating waves 112 agitate the surface of the medium 102 . such agitation encourages exchange of oxygen , nitrogen and carbon dioxide with the ambient air . carbon dioxide is generally absorbed by the algae and oxygen is released into the medium 102 and ultimately the ambient air . second , the propagating waves 112 agitate the medium 102 . as algae captures light at the surface of the pond 100 , the algae grows . the agitation of the medium circulates growing algae to other depths of the medium 102 thereby allowing the algae to grow to a greater depth than would normally grow without agitation , which , in turn , causes increased growth of biomass over a same amount of time as compared to a stagnant pond or one that is agitated with impellers or propellers . third , the propagating waves 112 promote dispersion of nutrients along the width 114 of the pond 100 . without propagating waves 112 , nutrients generally have to be introduced at a substantially greater number of locations in each pond 100 or in a more cumbersome fashion . a first pond 100 is separated from neighboring ponds 212 by berms 210 . the width of each berm 210 may be selected based on convenience when harvesting algae from a series of neighboring ponds 100 and 212 , or the width of each berm 210 may be uniform . fig3 shows an overhead view of an algae cultivation pond and exemplary agitation mechanism according to an alternative implementation 300 of the invention . with reference to fig3 , an agitator 108 is placed at an arbitrary distance along the width 114 of the pond ; in fig3 , the agitator 108 is shown located somewhat toward the proximal edge 106 of the pond . the agitator 108 is placed at an arbitrary angle 302 as measured between a line parallel with the proximal side 106 of the pond and the agitator 108 . a first end 304 of the agitator 108 is located a first distance 306 from the proximal edge 106 of the pond . a second end 308 of the agitator 108 is located a second distance 310 from the proximal edge 106 of the pond . in this example , propagating waves 112 are directed to both the proximal edge 106 and the distal edge 116 of the pond . the alternative arrangement may reduce the amount of equipment needed to supply propagating waves 112 to the pond , or may reduce the number of ponds ( not the surface area of cultivation or volume of media 102 ) needed to cultivate a desired amount of algae . this alternative arrangement may allow the ponds to be of other than rectangular shape , or may allow for increased propagation of waves or some other benefit . the alternative arrangement may provide needed flexibility based on construction , harvesting or other considerations or restrictions . in an alternative implementation , the agitator 108 may occupy substantially all of the length 124 of the pond 100 as shown in fig1 , 3 . in another implementation , the agitator 108 merely occupies a portion of the length 124 of the pond . in yet other implementation , the agitator 108 is broken into several portions or units ( not shown in fig1 , 3 ). each agitator unit may operate independently of other agitator unit ( s ), or may act in concert or coordination with other agitator unit ( s ). for example , each unit may operate in sequence to cause a rolling wave or wave that travels in a direction that is not substantially parallel to the width 114 or length 124 of the pond 100 . alternatively , the units may operate in sequence starting at a middle portion of the length 124 of the pond 100 and ending at the edges of the pond — a v - shaped wave may be created and propagated . in yet another alternative implementation , waves of different magnitudes may be generated over time . for example , propagating waves 112 may be created in a pattern or rhythm such as two waves of relatively small magnitude followed by two waves of relatively large magnitude . in this example , perhaps the waves of relatively small magnitude fail to reach the distal edge 116 of the pond 100 , but the waves of relatively large magnitude do so . in yet another variation of propagating waves 112 , as the algae biomass increases over time , the magnitude of propagating waves 112 is increased as needed or as measured ( e . g ., in real time ) to ensure that the propagating waves 112 reach the distal end 116 of the pond 100 or detectably reach a point of measurement along the length 114 of the pond 100 . in such a scenario , a propagating wave magnitude sensor ( not shown ) relays feedback to the control system of the actuator of the agitator 108 so that a proper or desired magnitude of propagating wave 112 is delivered at any given time . propagating waves 112 may be varied in frequency depending on a variety of factors including , but not limited to , time of day , day versus night , width of the pond , density of algae , strain or type of algae , depth of water in the pond , age of the inflatable agitator . in the implementation shown in fig3 , a bridging section 312 may connect agitators 108 in neighboring ponds . that is , compressed air may be passed into the agitators 108 of neighboring ponds at substantially the same time , or that agitators 108 of neighboring ponds may be actuated at substantially the same time or through the same actuation or mechanism . fig4 shows an overhead view 400 of an algae cultivation system including a set of algae cultivation ponds and a system of agitation mechanism ( s ) for production of algae on an industrial scale according to one implementation of the invention . with reference to fig4 , a first array 402 and a second array 404 of cultivation ponds 100 are evident . as one example of the arrangement of ponds , each of the ponds may be about 40 feet ( 12 meters ) in width 114 . given that each pond 100 is about 1 mile long ( 1 . 6 km ), about 120 ponds may be placed side by side in a square mile with about 4 feet ( 1 meter ) of berm 210 between neighboring ponds 100 . during algae cultivation , propagating waves 112 are capable of traveling from one edge of these mile - long ponds to the other . other arrangements are possible . for example , ponds 100 may be about ¼ mile ( 0 . 4 km ) long . one disadvantage of such an arrangement would be the requirement for four times the number of agitators 108 and increased amount equipment needed to actuate the agitators 108 . an industrial scale compressor 406 provides air through ducts 408 to agitators 108 . control equipment such as valves , computers , actuators and the like are not shown in fig4 . however , it is to be understood that such are used to operate the agitators 108 and other components of the system . for example , dampers ( not shown ) provide pulses of air to agitators 108 . in a first array or set of ponds 402 , the agitators 108 are operated in synchronization with each other . this is evident by the propagating waves 112 shown at about the same position in each of the ponds 100 at a given instant of time . in this implementation , air is introduced into each inflatable portion of the agitators 108 at about the same time . this may be accomplished by connecting neighboring agitators 108 with each other so that only one or just a few ducts 408 are needed to actuate agitators in the ponds 100 in the first array 402 . in another implementation , in the second array 404 of ponds , the agitators 108 are operated ( one or more at a time ) in series according to a control scheme . for example , each of the agitators 108 receives a pulse of air from the compressor 406 in turn . this is evident by the propagating waves 412 shown at different positions in each of the ponds 100 at the given instant of time . this scheme would require a damper for each agitator or group of agitators 108 receiving a pulse of air . the scheme in the second array 404 provides a more balanced load on the compressor 406 and related equipment . the air compressor 406 , ducts 408 and various equipment could be sized depending on a variety of factors including ( but not limited to ): the number of propagating waves desired each hour for each pond , the desired size of propagating wave in each pond , the length or width of each pond or the array of ponds , the number of agitators operating in tandem or synchronization , the ambient temperature , the amount of algae biomass in each pond , and the energy source used to compress the air . in one implementation , an air compressor 406 is sized to supply enough compressed air for operating agitators 108 in both the first array 402 and second array 404 . in one implementation , an algae cultivation and harvesting system comprises a central facility for growth media preparation , one or more feed canals a set of pulse agitated cultivation ponds 402 and one or more harvest canals . the growth media for the algae may be enriched with carbon dioxide . there are many sources of carbon dioxide . a predominant source of the carbon dioxide may be a gaseous exhaust of an industrial scale fermentation , industrial combustion gaseous exhaust , or may be taken from a source of geologically - derived carbon dioxide , or any combination of such sources such as a combination of gaseous exhaust of an industrial scale fermentation , geological carbon dioxide , and gaseous exhaust from an industrial combustion . the algae cultivation system shown in fig4 preferably includes pulsed agitation predominantly across the respective short dimension of each pond 100 . during cultivation , it may become necessary to include a source of makeup water . this makeup water may be derived from various sources including from : oil and gas production water , saline aquifers , inland saline lakes , sea water , surface fresh water , and fresh water aquifers . the algae cultivation system such as the one shown in fig4 may produce a wet algal cake or a dry algal powder . the algae cultivation system or facility may an algal product into two or more commodities . alternatively , the cultivation facility may use fermentation to separate starch and sugar from protein , oils , or from the protein and oils . the ponds 100 of the algae cultivation system may be covered , lined , or covered and lined . the pulse agitation sub - system 406 , 408 ( and other parts not shown in fig4 ) may include a source of compressed air , ducts to distribute the compressed air , and control dampers . the in - pond agitators may take the form of ballasted floating bladders . fig5 shows a flowchart 500 of one implementation of a method for causing agitation ( e . g ., propagating wave ) in an algae cultivation pond . with reference to fig5 and as explained at least in reference to fig4 , a compressor may compress air or other gas 502 . when desired , a damper is actuated 504 and an inflatable portion or portions of an agitator are inflated 506 . the action of pulsing or relatively rapidly inflating the agitator 506 causes a propagating wave in the growth medium of an algae pond . the propagating wave travels in the algae pond . before a next pulsing , the agitator is deflated 508 . deflation allows the agitator to sink back into the pond or otherwise configure itself to a starting or ready position . it is through intermittent or cyclical application of pulses of compressed air or gas that propagating waves are introduced into a pond and thereby improves or encourages growth of algae . fig6 shows a flowchart of one implementation of a method for cultivating algae according to the invention . with reference to fig6 , algae may be cultivated by supplying growth medium to a recess 602 . the recess may or may not be lined or enclosed . generally , a recess is a pool , pond , furrow , channel , tube or canal formed specifically for the purpose of cultivating algae . nutrients and other materials may be supplied to the growth medium 604 , either before , during or after algae is supplied to the growth medium and recess 606 . these first steps 602 , 604 and 606 ) may be performed in any order , all at once , intermittently , or continuously . at some point in time , propagating waves are generated in the growth medium 608 . the propagating waves may be generated frequently or infrequently , but at least frequently enough to provide improved growing conditions over those associated with a non - agitated growth medium . when it is time for algae harvesting , the growth medium in the recess is drained 610 , and the algae is dried or allowed to dry 612 . in preparation for another batch of algae , the dried or partially dried algae is removed from the recess 614 . the process or method for cultivating algae may then be repeated . unless stated otherwise , or found in conflict , the following language provides at least one meaning of the terms used herein to describe and explain the invention . algae medium refers to the liquid , fluid , water and the like refer to the liquid medium resident in ponds for algae or biomass cultivation . an example of an algae medium is found in fig1 as 102 . an algae cultivation pond or reservoir has been referred herein to an open recess in which a liquid medium for algae or biomass cultivation is disposed . however , the concepts described apply equally well to all sizes , shapes and arrangements of equipment and materials . for example , propagating waves may be applied from a nano - scale up to and including ponds and reservoirs that are miles in length . although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments , it will be evident that the various modification and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit of the invention . in an area of technology such as this , where growth is fast and further advancements are not easily foreseen , the disclosed embodiments may be readily modifiable in arrangement and detail as facilitated by enabling technological advancements without departing from the principals of the present disclosure . | 2 |
this invention is directed to compounds of formula i above . the invention is particularly directed to compounds as follows , where : r 3 , when it is lower alkyl , is methyl , ethyl , propyl , or butyl , or r 4 , when it is lower alkyl , is methyl or ethyl ( especially compounds where r 3 and r 4 are both so defined ), or r 1 , when substituted , is substituted with halo , lower alkyl , or —( r 5 ) n — c ( o )— or 6 , or compounds where any two or more , or all , of these conditions are met . for any compound of this invention where r 1 , r 2 , or r 3 are not specified , it is preferred that the variable is as described in this paragraph . certain preferred compounds of formula i include a compound where r 1 is substituted or unsubstituted thiazolyl ( compound a ). among the embodiments of compound a are those compounds where r 1 is thiazolyl substituted with halo , lower alkyl , or —( r 5 ) n — c ( o )— or 6 , and especially with —( r 5 ) n — c ( o )— or 6 . ( compound a - 1 ). in compound a - 1 , it is preferred that r 2 is cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl . it is also preferred that r 3 is cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl . it is preferred that r 4 is hydrogen . it is especially preferred that r 2 and r 3 are cyclohexyl . in preferred embodiments of compound a - 1 , r 2 and r 3 are cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl , and r 4 is hydrogen ( compound a - 1a ). in one embodiment of compound a - 1a , n is 0 ( e . g ., the thiazolyl is substituted with — c ( o )— or 6 ). examples of such compounds are in such a compound , r 2 and r 3 may both be cyclohexyl , for example ( s , s )- 2 -[[ 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidin - 1 - yl ] propanoyl ] amino ] thiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid methyl ester . in another embodiment of compound a - 1a , r 5 is — c ( o )— or lower alkyl ( e . g ., the thiazolyl is substituted with — c ( o )— c ( o )— or 6 or - lower alkyl - c ( o )— or 6 ). in addition , in such compounds r 2 and r 3 may be cyclohexyl . examples of such compounds are in another embodiment of compound a1 , r 2 is cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl ( compound a - 1b ). in one embodiment of compound a - 1b , r 3 is substituted or unsubstituted phenyl and r 4 is hydrogen . examples of these compounds are in another embodiment of compound a - 1b , at least one of r 3 and r 4 are lower alkyl . examples of such compounds are in yet another embodiment of compound a - 1b , r 3 is naphthyl and r 4 is hydrogen . an example of such a compound is ( s , s )- 2 -|| 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 2 , 5 - dioxo - 4 -( naphthalen - 2 - yl ) methylimidazolidin - 1 - yl ] propanoyl ] amino ] thiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid methyl ester . in another embodiment of compound a - 1b , r 3 and r 4 together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl ring containing 5 to 7 carbon atoms . an example of such a compound is ( s )- 2 -[[ 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -( 2 , 4 - dioxo - 1 , 3 - diazaspiro [ 4 . 4 ] non - 3 - yl ) propanoyl ] amino ] thiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid methyl ester . and in another embodiment of compound a - 1b , r 3 is an unsubstituted five - or six - membered aromatic heterocyclic ring having one or two heteroatoms selected from nitrogen , oxygen , and sulfur . an example of such a compound is ( s , s )- 2 -[[ 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 2 , 5 - dioxo - 4 -( thiophen - 2 - yl ) methylimidazolidin - 1 - yl ] propanoyl ] amino ] thiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid methyl ester . in one embodiment of compound a ( a compound of formula i wherein r 1 is substituted or unsubstituted thiazolyl ), r 1 is unsubstituted thiazolyl ( compound a - 2 ). it is preferred that r 2 and r 3 are cyclohexyl and r 4 is hydrogen . an example of such a compound a - 2 is ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidin - 1 - yl ]- n -( thiazole - 2 - yl ) propanamide . in other preferred compounds of formula i , r 1 is substituted or unsubstituted pyridine ( compound b ). it is preferred that r 2 is cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl , especially cyclohexyl . it is also preferred that r 3 is cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl , especially cyclohexyl . it is preferred that r 4 is hydrogen . in one embodiment of compound b , r 2 is cyclohexyl . in such a compound where r 2 is cyclohexyl , it is preferred that r 3 is cyclohexyl and r 4 is hydrogen ( compound b - 1 ). in one embodiment of compound b - 1 , r 1 is substituted pyridine . preferably the pyridine is substituted with —( r 5 ) n — c ( o )— or 6 , especially where n is 0 and r 6 is lower alkyl , such as methyl ( e . g ., methoxycarbonyl ). examples of such compounds are in another embodiment of compound b - 1 , r 1 is unsubstituted pyridine . an example of such a compound is ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidin - 1 - yl ]- n -( pyridin - 2 - yl ) propanamide . in the compound of formula i the “*” and “**” illustrate the two separate asymmetric centers . the ( s ) enantiomer at the position designated by “**” is preferred . however the compounds of this invention may be pure ( r )( r ), pure ( s )( s ), pure ( r )( s ), pure ( s )( r ) or any mixture of pure enantiomers . as used throughout this application unless otherwise specified , the term “ lower alkyl ” includes both straight chain and branched chain alkyl groups having from 1 to 6 or 1 to 7 carbon atoms , such as methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , preferably methyl and ethyl . unless otherwise specified , propyl is taken to include both forms of propyl ( e . g ., isopropyl , n - propyl ) and butyl is taken to include all forms of butyl ( e . g ., isobutyl , n - butyl , tert - butyl ). preferred at r 3 is methyl , ethyl , propyl , or butyl . preferred at r 4 is methyl or ethyl . the term “ cycloalkyl ring ” may be a ring of from three to seven carbon atoms , but preferably from five to seven carbon atoms , especially cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , cyclobutyl and cyclopropyl . the more preferable cycloalkyl groups contain from 5 to 6 carbon atoms , e . g ., cyclopentyl and cyclohexyl , and cyclohexyl is most preferable . as used herein , “ perfluoro - lower alkyl ” means any lower alkyl group wherein all of the hydrogens of the lower alkyl group are substituted or replaced by fluoro . among the preferred perfluoro - lower alkyl groups are trifluoromethyl , pentafluoroethyl , heptafluoropropyl , etc . as used herein , “ lower alkyl thio ” means a lower alkyl group as defined above where a thio group is bound to the rest of the molecule . similarly “ perfluoro - lower alkyl ” thio means a perfluoro - lower alkyl group as defined above where a thio group is bound to the rest of the molecule . as used herein , “ lower alkyl sulfonyl ” or “ lower alkyl sulfinyl ” means a lower alkyl group as defined above where a sulfonyl or sulfinyl group is bound to the rest of the molecule . similarly “ perfluoro - lower alkyl sulfonyl ” means a perfluoro - lower alkyl group as defined above where a sulfonyl group is bound to the rest of the molecule . when r 3 and r 4 together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl ring containing five to seven carbon atoms , this includes the ring carbon atom and the methylene linking the ring carbon atom and r 4 such that if r 3 and r 4 are each methylene , cyclobutyl is formed . if r 3 is methylene and r 4 is ethylene , cyclopentyl is formed , etc . as used herein , the terms “ halogen ” or “ halo ” unless otherwise specified , designates all four halogens , i . e . fluorine , chlorine , bromine and iodine . r 1 is , and r 3 can be any five - or six - membered aromatic heterocyclic ring containing from one to three , preferably from one to two , heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of sulfur , oxygen or nitrogen . any such five - or six - membered aromatic heterocyclic ring can be used in accordance with this invention . among the preferred rings for r 1 are thiazole and pyridine ( especially pyridine ), and a preferred ring for r 3 is thiophene . r 1 , and r 3 when r 3 is a heterocyclic ring , is connected to the remainder of the molecule of formula i through a ring carbon atom . when r 1 is substituted as described in formula i , the substituent is on a ring carbon atom . r 1 is preferably monosubstituted , but may be di or tri substituted . a preferred substituent , especially for pyridine , is lower alkoxy ( preferably methoxy ) carbonyl . as used herein the term “ aryl ” signifies an aromatic hydrocarbon ring having six or ten carbon atoms such as phenyl or naphthyl . the compounds of this invention may be produced by the reaction schemes provided below . the term “ resin ” designates any conventional polymer resin which has suitable characteristics for use in solid phase peptide synthesis . a resin with the suitable characteristics is inert , physically stable , insoluble in inorganic solvents , and has a linker functionality which is labile under known chemical conditions . preferred are polystyrene resins having chemically labile functional linkers such as trityl resins and especially wang resins . the term “ amino protecting group ” designates any conventional amino protecting group which can be cleaved to yield the free amino group . the preferred protecting groups are the conventional amino protecting groups utilized in peptide synthesis . especially preferred are those amino protecting groups which are cleavable under treatment with secondary dialkyl amines . a particularly preferred amino protecting group is 9h - fluoren - 9 - ylmethoxy carbamate . “ orthogonal ” is the term used to describe the relationship of the amino protecting group to the resin . the resin and the amino protecting group must be compatible , in that the resin - peptide bond and the amino protecting group should not labile under the same conditions . during synthesis of a given compound , one should be able to cleave the amino protecting groups off the compound while leaving the compound attached to the resin . in other words , the conditions under which the amino protecting group comes off the compound should not also cause the compound to come off the resin . it is preferred that the amino protecting group be cleavable under basic or weakly acidic conditions , because the preferred wang - type resins are cleavable under strongly acidic conditions ( i . e . about ph 0 to about ph 1 ) a skilled person will readily be able to determine the necessary conditions to select an orthogonal amino protecting group — resin set . the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable salts ” as used herein include any salt with both inorganic or organic pharmaceutically acceptable acids such as hydrochloric acid , hydrobromic acid , nitric acid , sulfuric acid , phosphoric acid , citric acid , formic acid , maleic acid , acetic acid , succinic acid , tartaric acid , methanesulfonic acid , para - toluene sulfonic acid and the like . the term “ pharmaceutically acceptable salts ” also includes any pharmaceutically acceptable base salt such as amine salts , trialkyl amine salts and the like . such salts can be formed quite readily by those skilled in the art using standard techniques . in accordance with this invention , the compounds of formula i are produced by the following reaction schemes . any compound of formula i may be produced as shown in reaction scheme 1 . the compounds of formula i - a are produced as shown in reaction scheme 2 . reaction scheme 3 shows how to produce n - fmoc - aminothiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid , which is compound 3 of scheme 2 where pg is the protecting group fmoc . wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 are as previously described and pg 1 and pg 2 are amine protecting groups which may or may not be equivalent , that are removable under conditions compatible with the linker - o bond . wherein r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 6 are as previously described and pg , pg 1 and pg 2 are amine protecting groups which may or may not be equivalent , that are removable under conditions compatible with the linker - o bond and where the ring a represents a five or six membered heteroaromatic ring having one , two or three hetero atoms selected from nitrogen , oxygen or sulfur . the synthesis of the compounds of this invention may be carried out by a procedure whereby each amino acid in the desired sequence is added one at a time in succession to another amino acid or residue thereof or by a procedure whereby peptide fragments with the desired amino acid sequence are first synthesized conventionally and then condensed to provide the compound . such conventional procedures for synthesizing the novel compounds of the present invention include for example any solid phase peptide synthesis method . in such a method the synthesis of the novel compounds can be carried out by sequentially incorporating the desired amino acid residues one at a time into the growing peptide chain according to the general principles of solid phase methods [ merrifield , r . b ., j . amer . chem . soc . 1963 , 85 , 2149 - 2154 ; barany et al ., the peptides , analysis , synthesis and biology , vol . 2 , gross , e . and meienhofer , j ., eds . academic press 1 - 284 ( 1980 ); bunin , b ., combinatorial index , academic press ( 1998 )]. common to chemical syntheses of peptides is the protection of reactive side chain groups of the various amino acid moieties with suitable protecting groups , which will prevent a chemical reaction from occurring at that site until the protecting group is ultimately removed . usually also common is the protection of the alpha amino group of an amino acid or fragment while that entity reacts at the carboxyl group , followed by the selective removal of the alpha amino protecting group and allow a subsequent reaction to take place at that site . while specific protecting groups are mentioned below in regard to the solid phase synthesis method , it should be noted that each amino acid can be protected by any protective group conventionally used for the respective amino acid in solution phase synthesis . for example , alpha amino groups may be protected by a suitable protecting group selected from aromatic urethane - type protecting groups , such as benzyloxycarbonyl ( z ) and substituted benzyloxycarbonyl , such as p - chlorobenzyloxycarbonyl , p - nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl , p - bromobenzyloxycarbonyl , p - biphenyl - isopropoxycarbonyl , 9 - fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl ( fmoc ) and p - methoxybenzyloxycarbonyl ( moz ); aliphatic urethane - type protecting groups , such as t - butyloxycarbonyl ( boc ), diisopropylmethoxycarbonyl , isopropoxycarbonyl , and allyloxycarbonyl . in the present case , fmoc is the most preferred for alpha amino protection . guanidino groups may be protected by a suitable protecting group selected from nitro , p - toluenesulfonyl ( tos ), z , pentamethylchromanesulfonyl ( pmc ), adamantyloxycarbonyl , and boc . pmc is the most preferred for arginine ( arg ). the solvents dichloromethane , dimethylformamide ( dmf ) and n - methylpyrrolidinone and toluene may be purchased from fisher or burdick and jackson and may be used without additional distillation . trifluoroacetic acid was purchased from halocarbon or fluka and used without further purification . diisopropylcarbodiimide and diisopropylethylamine ( dipea ) was purchased from fluka or aldrich and used without further purification . 1 - hydroxybenzotriazole ( hobt ) may be purchased from sigma chemical co . and used without further purification . protected amino acids , unless otherwise specified , are generally preferably of the l configuration and may be obtained commercially from bachem , advanced chemtech , or neosystem . such amino acids may also be chemically synthesized using any one of several well known methods of amino acid synthesis . the configuration of the amino acids 5 and 7 used to prepare a given compound of this invention will determine the configuration of the ** and * positions respectively of formula i . therefore , it is useful to select the amino acid configuration with the desired final configuration in mind . l amino acids have the ( s ) absolute configuration and d amino acids have the ( r ) absolute configuration . compounds of this invention may be prepared using solid phase synthesis following the principles and general methods described by merrifield or by bunin , although other equivalent chemical synthesis known in the art could be used as previously mentioned . solid phase synthesis is commenced from the c - terminal end of the peptide by coupling a n - protected amino acid to a suitable resin . such a starting material can be prepared by attaching an n - protected amino acid by an ester linkage to a p - benzyloxybenzyl alcohol ( wang ) resin , or by an amide bond between an fmoc - linker , such as p -[( r , s )- α -[ 1 -( 9h - fluoren - 9 - yl )- methoxyformamido ]- 2 , 4 - dimethyloxybenzyl ]- phenoxyacetic acid ( rink linker ) to a benzhydrylamine ( bha ) resin . preparation of the hydroxymethyl resin is well known in the art . wang resin supports are commercially available and generally used when the desired peptide being synthesized has an ester or a substituted amide at the c - terminus . to form the starting resin bound amino acid , a fmoc n - protected amino acid is activated by the formation of a mixed anhydride which in turn couples with the hydroxymethyl resin though an ester bond . several reagents are used to form mixed anhydrides in which the carbonyl group originating from the c - terminal amino acid is preferentially activated to nucleophilic attack by the hydroxymethyl residues in the wang resin , through either electronic or steric effects . for example , appropriate compounds used in the formation of the mixed anhydrides are trimethylacetyl chloride , 2 , 6 - dichlorobenzoyl chloride and 2 , 4 , 6 - trichlorobenzoyl chloride , preferably 2 , 6 - dichlorobenzoyl chloride . subsequently , the amino acids or mimetics are then coupled onto the wang resin using the fmoc protected form of the amino acid or mimetic , with 2 - 5 equivalents of amino acid and a suitable coupling reagent . after each coupling , the resin may be washed and dried under vacuum . loading of the amino acid onto the resin may be determined by amino acid analysis of an aliquot of fmoc - amino acid resin or by determination of fmoc groups by uv analysis . the resins are carried through one or two cycles to add amino acids sequentially . in each cycle , the n - terminal fmoc protecting group is removed under basic conditions from the resin bound amino acid . a secondary amine base such as piperidine , piperazine or morpholine , preferably piperidine ( 20 - 40 % v / v ) in an inert solvent , for example , n , n - dimethylformamide is particularly useful for this purpose . following the removal of the alpha amino protecting group , the subsequent protected amino acids are coupled stepwise in the desired order to obtain an n - fmoc protected peptide - resin . the activating reagents used for coupling of the amino acids in the solid phase synthesis of the peptides are well known in the art . for example , appropriate coupling reagents for such syntheses are [( benzotriazol - 1 - yl ) oxy ] tris ( dimethylamino ) phosphonium hexafluorophosphate ( bop ), [( benzotriazol - 1 - yl ) oxy ] tris ( pyrrolidino )- phosphonium hexafluorophosphate ( pybop ), o -( 1h - benzotriazole - 1 - yl )- n , n , n ′, n ′- tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate ( hbtu ), and diisopropylcarbodiimide ( dic ), preferably hbtu and dic . other activating agents as described by barany and merrifield [ the peptides , vol . 2 , j . meienhofer , ed ., academic press , 1979 , pp 1 - 284 ] may be utilized . the couplings are conveniently carried out in an inert solvent , such as n , n - dimethylformamide or n - methylpyrrolidinone , preferably n - methylpyrrolidinone , optionally in the presence of a substance that minimizes racemization and increases the rate of reaction . among such substances are 1 - hydroxybenzotriazole ( hobt ), 3 , 4 - dihydro - 3 - hydroxy - 4 - oxo - 1 , 2 , 3 - benzotriazine ( hoobt ), 1 - hydroxy - 7 - azabenzotriazole ( hoat ), and n - hydroxysuccinimide ( iiosu ). in the present instance , hobt is preferred . the protocol for a typical coupling cycle is as follows ( method b ): solvents for all washings and couplings may be measured to volumes of , for example , 10 - 20 ml / g resins . coupling reactions throughout the synthesis may be monitored by assays , such as the kaiser ninhydrin test , to determine extent of completion [ kaiser et at . anal . biochem . 1970 , 34 , 595 - 598 ]. when the requisite number of amino acid units have been assembled on the resin , the n - terminal fmoc group may be cleaved using steps 1 - 4 of method b and the deprotected amine is reacted with phosgene or a phosgene equivalent to form an isocyanate . the reagent of choice in this transformation is trichloromethyl chloroformate ( diphosgene ). the reaction is carried out in an inert solvent , for example dichloromethane , in the presence of a proton acceptor . when a suspension of the resin bound isocyanate is heated , cyclization occurs wherein the isocyanate moiety condenses with the nitrogen of the neighboring amide group to form a 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidine ring . the compounds may be cleaved from the resin by the following procedure , conditions which also remove other protecting groups if they are present . the peptide - resins are shaken in a mixture ( 1 : 1 ) of trifluoroacetic acid in dichloromethane , optionally in the presence of a cation scavanger , for example ethanedithiol , dimethylsulfide , anisole or triethylsilane , at room temperature for 60 min . the cleavage solution may be filtered free from the resin , concentrated to dryness , and the product then used per se in subsequent transformations as shown in reaction scheme 1 and reaction scheme 2 . compounds of formula 1 can be prepared by the methods outlined in reaction scheme 1 and reaction scheme 2 . reaction scheme 2 is a general procedure that can be used to prepare all compounds embodied by formula 1 , but in the present case , it is particularly useful in the preparation of compounds where r 1 is varied while r 2 and r 3 are limited to cycloalkyl and r 4 is hydrogen . reaction scheme 1 is used in the preparation of compounds of formula i - a . in reaction scheme 2 , an n - protected - amino acid 3 ( see reaction scheme 3 ) is converted to a mixed anhydride on treatment with 2 , 6 - dichlorobenzoyl chloride in the presence of wang resin 2 and a proton acceptor , such as triethylamine , diisopropylethylamine or pyridine , preferably pyridine to give the resin bound amino acid of structure 4 . the reaction is conveniently carried out in an inert solvent for example n , n - dimethylformamide or n - methylpyrrolidinone , preferably n - methylpyrrolidinone at from zero degrees to room temperature , most conveniently at room temperature . the conversion of 4 to the resin bound compound of structure 6 can be achieved by using the protocol outlined in method b . thus after n - deprotection of the resin bound amino acid of structure 4 with piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide , the product is then acylated with the n α - protected amino acid of structure 5 in the presence of diisopropylcarbodiimide and hobt in n - methylpyrrolidinone . the deprotection and n - acylation is carried out at a temperature between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature . by using the coupling cycle described above for the conversion of 4 to 6 the n α - protected amino acids of structure 7 is incorporated into the resin bound compound of structure 6 . thus compounds of structure 6 are sequentially deprotected with piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide and then coupled with compounds of structure 7 in the presence of diisopropylcarbodiimide and 1 - hydroxybenzotriazole in n - methylpyrrolidinone at a temperature between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature to afford the resin bound compounds of structure 8 . the n - terminus protecting group pg 2 in the compounds of structure 8 was removed on treatment with a secondary amine base , preferably piperidine in an inert solvent ( preferably n , n - dimethylformamide ) and then was reacted with phosgene or a phosgene equivalent reagent , to ultimately yield in a two step sequence , the 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidines of structure 10 . the reaction to give the intermediate isocyanate 9 is conveniently carried out using trichloromethyl chloroformate ( diphosgene ) in an inert solvent , for example , a halogenated hydrocarbon in the presence of a proton acceptor , for example , pyridine , triethylamine or diisopropylethylamine , preferably diisopropylethylamine at a temperature between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature . the thermally induced cyclization of the intermediate isocyanates is performed by heating a suspension of the resin bound isocyanates of structure 9 in an inert solvent , for example toluene , at a temperature of from between 50 ° c . and the reflux temperature of the mixture , preferably at about 70 ° c . to give the resin bound compounds of structure 10 . cleavage of the assembled peptidic residue 10 from the solid support to give the acids of structure 11 is achieved by shaking a suspension of 10 in a strong acid , for example methanesulfonic acid , hydrofluoric acid or trifluoroacetic acid , preferably trifluoroacetic acid optionally in the presence of a cation scavenger and an inert co - solvent , for example dichloromethane . the reaction is conveniently run at a temperature between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature . to complete the synthesis , the acid of structure 11 is reacted with an alcohol ( r 6 oh ) to form the ester 1 . the esterification can be accomplished using many of the methods well known to those of average skill in the field of organic chemistry . the conversion is conveniently carried out using a coupling reagent , for example one of the many useful carbodiimides , preferably the water soluble 1 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl )- 3 - ethylcarbodiimide , optionally using r 6 oh or a mixture of r 6 oh and a inert co - solvent , e . g ., dichloromethane , as the reaction medium . the reaction is run at a temperature between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature . in a similar fashion , reaction scheme 1 , the n α - protected amino acids of structure 5 is converted to a mixed anhydride on treatment with 2 , 6 - dichlorobenzoyl chloride in the presence of wang resin 2 and a proton acceptor , such as triethylamine , diisopropylethylamine or pyridine , preferably pyridine to give the resin bound amino acid of structure 12 . the reaction is conveniently carried out in an inert solvent for example n , n - dimethylformamide or n - methylpyrrolidinone , preferably n - methylpyrrolidinone at from zero degrees to room temperature , most conveniently at room temperature . the conversion of 12 to the resin bound compound of structure 13 can be achieved by using the protocol outlined in method b . thus after n - deprotection of the resin bound amino acid of structure 12 with piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide , the product is then acylated with the n α - protected amino acid of structure 7 in the presence of diisopropylcarbodiimide and hobt in n - methylpyrrolidinone . the deprotection and n - acylation is carried out at a temperature between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature . the n - terminus protecting group pg 2 in the compounds of structure 13 was removed on treatment with a secondary amine base , preferably piperidine in an inert solvent , preferably n , n - dimethylformamide and then was reacted with phosgene or a phosgene equivalent reagent , to ultimately yield in a two step sequence , the 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidines of structure 15 . the reaction to give the intermediate isocyanate 14 is conveniently carried out using trichloromethyl chloroformate ( diphosgene ) in an inert solvent , for example , a halogenated hydrocarbon in the presence of a proton acceptor , for example , pyridine , triethylamine or diisopropylethylamine , preferably diisopropylethylamine at a temperature between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature . the thermally induced cyclization of the intermediate isocyanates is accomplished by heating a suspension of the resin bound isocyanates of structure 14 in an inert solvent , for example toluene , at a temperature of from between 50 ° c . and the reflux temperature of the mixture , preferably at about 70 ° c . to give the resin bound compounds of structure 15 . cleavage of the peptidic residue 15 from the solid support to give the acids of structure 16 is achieved by shaking a suspension of 15 in a strong acid , for example methanesulfonic acid , hydrofluoric acid or trifluoroacetic acid , preferably trifluoroacetic acid optionally in the presence of a cation scavenger and an inert co - solvent , for example dichloromethane . the reaction is conveniently run at a temperature of between about zero degrees and about room temperature , preferably at about room temperature . reaction of the acid 16 with r 1 — nh 2 to form the amide of formula 1 can be carried out under the coupling conditions previously described . the preferred coupling reagent in this instance is hbtu . the reaction is carried out in the presence of a tertiary amine base , such as triethylamine or diisopropylethylamine , preferably diisopropylethylamine in an inert solvent , for example n , n - dimethylformamide or n - methylpyrrolidinone , preferably n - methylpyrrolidinone at from zero degrees to room temperature , most conveniently at room temperature . reaction scheme 3 outlines the preparation of the intermediate n - fmoc - 2 - aminothiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid 3 . initially 9 - fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chloride ( 18 ) is reacted with potassium thiocyanate in an inert solvent , preferably ethyl acetate at a temperature of between zero degrees and 5 ° c . then the reaction is allowed to proceed at a temperature of from zero degrees to 40 ° c ., preferably at room temperature to furnish n - fmoc - thiocyanate ( 19 ). treatment of 19 with a solution of ammonia in an inert solvent , for example methanol or ethanol , preferably methanol at a temperature of from zero degrees to room temperature , preferably zero degrees afforded n - fmoc - thiourea 20 . in the final step , the thiourea 20 is then reacted with bromopyruvic acid to form the thiazole of structure 3 . the reaction is conveniently carried out if an inert solvent , such as a cyclic ether , for example tetrahydrofuran or dioxane , preferably dioxane at a temperature of from 40 ° c . to the reflux temperature of the mixture preferably at about 70 ° c . all of the compounds of formula i which include the compounds set forth in the examples , activated glucokinase in vitro by the procedure of example a . in this manner , they increase the flux of glucose metabolism which causes increased insulin secretion . therefore , the compounds of formula i are glucokinase activators useful for increasing insulin secretion . these examples are provided in illustration and are not intended to limit the invention in any way . analytical high performance liquid chromatography was ( hplc ) was conducted on a hewlett - packard 1090 system with ultraviolet ( uv ) detection system at 214 nm using an es industries c 18 column ( 30 × 3 . 2 mm ). preparative hplc separations were carried out using a shimazu vp series system interfaced with a perkin - elmer sciex mass spectrometer detector ( pe sciex 150ex ) using a ymc c 18 column ( 2 × 5 cm ). to a suspension of potassium thiocyanate ( 8 . 55 g , 88 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 100 ml ) cooled to 0 ° c . was added dropwise a solution of 9 - fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl chloride ( 20 . 7 g , 80 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 100 ml ) over a period of 15 min . the resulting suspension was allowed to warm to ambient temperature overnight with stirring . the formed solid was filtered off and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to afford an orange oil . without further purification , the oil was dissolved in ethanol ( 50 ml ) and treated by dropwise addition with a cold solution of ammonia in ethanol ( 7n , 91 ml , 637 mmol ). a precipitate formed upon addition of the ammonia solution . the suspension was stirred vigorously at 0 ° c . for 15 min and then the solids were filtered off , washed with cold ethanol ( 3 × 20 ml ) and dried to afford n - fmoc - thiourea ( 16 . 8 g , 70 %) as an off - white solid : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 16 h 14 n 2 o 2 s ( m + ) 298 . 0776 , found 298 . 0770 . a solution of n - fmoc - thiourea ( 5 . 96 g , 20 mmol ) in dioxane ( 40 ml ) was treated with bromopyruvic acid ( 3 . 34 g , 20 mmol ). the reaction mixture was refluxed for 1 h , then the precipitated solids were recovered by filtration and washed with diethyl ether ( 3 × 20 ml ) to afford n - fmoc - 2 - aminothiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid ( 7 . 1 g , 97 %) as a white solid : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 19 h 14 n 2 o 4 s ( m + ) 366 . 0674 , found 366 . 0679 . step ( i ). a mixture of n - fmoc - 2 - aminothiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid ( 6 . 0 g , 16 . 5 mmol ), 2 , 6 - dichlorobenzoyl chloride ( 7 . 9 ml , 55 mmol ) in n - methylpyrrolidinone ( 50 ml ) was added into a fritted polypropylene column charged with wang resin ( midwest bio - tech , 10 g , 11 mmol ). after the suspension was shaken for 5 min , pyridine ( 6 . 2 ml , 77 mmol ) was added slowly and the resulting dark mixture was shaken overnight at ambient temperature . the mixture was then filtered and the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 100 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 100 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 100 ml ) and dried in vacuo . step ( ii ). to the resin product of the previous step ( 3 g , 2 . 31 mmol ) was added 20 % piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide ( 25 ml ). the reaction mixture was shaken at ambient temperature for 30 min . the mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 30 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 30 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 30 ml ). the resin was then suspended in n - methylpyrrolidinone ( 10 ml ) and n - fmoc - 3 - cyclohexyl - l - alanine ( 2 . 7 g , 6 . 93 mmol ), diisopropylcarbodiimide ( 1 . 09 ml , 6 . 93 mmol ) and hobt ( 0 . 936 g , 6 . 93 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was shaken at ambient temperature overnight and filtered . the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 100 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 100 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 100 ml ) and dried in vacuo . step ( iii ). to the resin product of the previous step ( 200 mg , 0 . 14 mmol ) was added 20 % piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide ( 5 ml ) and the reaction mixture was shaken at ambient temperature for 30 min . the mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 10 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 10 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 10 ml ). the resin was then suspended in n - methylpyrrolidinone ( 2 ml ) n - fmoc - 2 - amino - 2 - methylpropanoic acid ( 136 mg , 0 . 42 mmol ), diisopropylcarbodiimide ( 65 μl , 0 . 42 mmol ) and hobt ( 57 mg , 0 . 42 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was shaken at ambient temperature overnight and filtered . the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 10 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 10 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 10 ml ) and dried in vacuo . step ( iv ). to the product of the previous step ( 0 . 14 mmol ) was added 20 % piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide ( 5 ml ) and the reaction mixture was shaken at ambient temperature for 30 min . the mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 10 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 10 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 10 ml ). the resin was then suspended in dichloromethane ( 2 ml ) and treated with diisopropylethylamine ( 73 μl , 0 . 42 mmol ). the reaction mixture was then cooled to 0 ° c . and diphosgene ( 50 μl , 0 . 42 mmol ) was added dropwise . the resulting mixture was allowed to warm to the ambient temperature and was stirred for 3 h . the mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with dichloromethane ( 3 × 10 ml ) and dried in vacuo . the resin was then suspended in toluene ( 2 ml ) and stirred reaction mixture was heated at 70 ° c . for 4 h . the cooled resin mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with dichloromethane ( 3 × 10 ml ). cleavage from the support was effected by treatment with 50 % trifluoroacetic acid in dichloromethane ( 3 ml ) for 1 hr . concentration of the filtrate yielded a brown solid . step ( v ). without further purification , the solid from step ( iv ) was dissolved in methanol ( 1 ml ) and then treated with 1 -( 3 - dimethylaminopropyl )- 3 - ethylcarbodiimide ( 40 mg , 0 . 21 mmol ). the mixture was stirred at ambient temperature overnight and then was concentrated in vacuo . the resulting oil was triturated with 99 / 1 dichloromethane / methanol ( 3 × 5 ml ) and filtered through a silica gel plug . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to afford ( s )- 2 -[[ 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -( 4 , 4 - dimethyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidin - 1 - yl ) propanoyl ] amino ] thiazole - 4 - carboxylic acid methyl ester ( 18 mg ) as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 19 h 26 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 423 . 1702 , found 423 . 1701 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 - cyclohexyl - l - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure . the title compound was obtained as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 34 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 491 . 2328 , found 491 . 2323 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 -( naphthalen - 2 - yl )- l - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure . the title compound was obtained as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 28 h 30 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 535 . 2015 , found 535 . 2035 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 -( 4 - chlorophenyl )- d - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure . the title compound was obtained as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 27 n 4 o 5 scl ( m + ) 519 . 1469 , found 519 . 1466 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - l - tyrosine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure . the title compound was obtained as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 28 n 4 o 6 s ( m + ) 501 . 1808 , found 501 . 1815 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 1 - aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 21 h 28 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 449 . 1859 , found 449 . 1853 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 -( 3 - hydroxyphenyl )- l - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 28 n 4 o 6 s ( m + ) 501 . 1808 , found 501 . 1816 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 -( 4 - fluorophenyl )- dl - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 27 n 4 o 5 sf ( m + ) 503 . 1764 , found 503 . 1776 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 -( thiophen - 2 - yl )- l - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 22 h 26 n 4 o 5 s 2 ( m + ) 491 . 1423 , found 491 . 1425 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except ( r )- n - fmoc - 2 - aminopentanoic acid was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 20 h 28 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 437 . 1859 , found 437 . 1850 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - l - phenylalanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 28 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 485 . 1859 , found 485 . 1857 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 - cyclopentyl - l - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in step ( iii ) of the procedure : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 23 h 32 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 477 . 2172 , found 477 . 2170 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 - cyclopentyl - l - alanine was the amino acid incorporated in both step ( ii ) and step ( iii ) of the procedure . the title compound was obtained as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 22 h 30 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 463 . 2015 , found 463 . 2023 . the compound was prepared as described in example 3 , except n - fmoc - 3 - cyclopentyl - l - alanine and n - fmoc - 3 - cyclohexyl - l - alanine were the amino acids incorporated in step ( ii ) and step ( iii ) of the procedure respectively : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 23 h 32 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 477 . 2172 , found 477 . 2164 . step ( i ). a mixture of n - fmoc - 3 - cyclohexyl - l - alanine ( 3 . 47 g , 8 . 8 mmol ), 2 , 6 - dichlorobenzoyl chloride ( 3 . 2 ml , 22 mmol ) in n - methylpyrrolidinone ( 20 ml ) was added into a fritted polypropylene column charged with wang resin ( midwest bio - tech , 4 g , 4 . 4 mmol ). the suspension was shaken for 5 min , then pyridine ( 2 . 5 ml , 30 . 8 mmol ) was then added slowly and the resulting dark mixture was shaken overnight at ambient temperature . the mixture was then filtered and the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 30 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 30 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 30 ml ) and dried in vacuo . step ( ii ). to the resin product of step ( i ) was added 20 % piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide ( 25 ml ) and the reaction mixture was shaken at ambient temperature for 30 min . the mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 30 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 30 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 30 ml ). the resin was then suspended in n - methylpyrrolidinone ( 10 ml ) and n - fmoc - 3 - cyclohexyl - l - alanine ( 5 . 2 g , 13 . 2 mmol ), diisopropylcarbodiimide ( 2 . 1 ml , 13 . 2 mmol ) and hobt ( 1 . 8 g , 13 . 2 mmol ) were added . the resulting mixture was shaken at ambient temperature overnight and filtered . the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 30 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 30 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 30 ml ) and dried in vacuo . step ( iii ). to the resin product of step ( ii ) was added 20 % piperidine in n , n - dimethylformamide ( 25 ml ) and the reaction mixture was shaken at ambient temperature for 30 min . the mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with n , n - dimethylformamide ( 3 × 30 ml ), methanol ( 3 × 30 ml ), dichloromethane ( 3 × 30 ml ). the resin was then suspended in dichloromethane ( 20 ml ) and treated with diisopropylethylamine ( 2 . 3 ml , 13 . 2 mmol ). the reaction mixture was then cooled to 0 ° c . and diphosgene ( 1 . 6 ml , 13 . 2 mmol ) was added dropwise . the mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature with stirring for 5 h , then was filtered and the resin was washed with dichloromethane ( 3 × 30 ml ) and dried in vacuo . the resin was then suspended in toluene ( 20 ml ) and the stirred mixture was heated at 70 ° c . for 4 h . the cooled resin mixture was filtered and the resin was washed with dichloromethane ( 3 × 30 ml ). cleavage from the support was effected by treatment with 50 % trifluoroacetic acid in dichloromethane ( 30 ml ) for 1 hr . concentration of the filtrate yielded a brown solid . it was then purified by reversed phase hplc to afford ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidin - 1 - yl ] propanoic acid ( 850 mg ) as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 19 h 30 n 2 o 4 ( m + ) 350 . 2205 , found 350 . 2204 . step ( iv ). a solution of ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidin - 1 - yl ] propanoic acid [ step ( iii ); 25 mg , 0 . 071 mmol ] in n - methylpyrrolidinone ( 1 ml ) was treated with diisopropylethylamine ( 19 μl , 1 . 065 mmol ) and hbtu ( 29 . 3 mg , 0 . 078 mmol ). the reaction mixture was then treated with 2 - aminothiazole ( 7 . 2 mg , 0 . 071 mmol ) and stirred at ambient temperature overnight . the reaction mixture was then diluted with water ( 2 ml ) and extracted with ethyl acetate ( 2 × 3 ml ). the combined organic layers were dried over magnesium sulfate , filtered , and concentrated in vacuo . the product was purified by using flash chromatography ( merck silica gel 60 , 230 - 400 mesh , 99 / 1 dichloromethane / methanol ) to furnish ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidin - 1 - yl ]- n -( thiazol - 2 - yl ) propanamide ( 27 mg , 88 %) as a white foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd . for c 22 h 32 n 4 o 3 s ( m + ) 433 . 2273 , found 433 . 2270 . by using the conditions described in step ( iv ) of example 17 , ethyl 2 - amino - 4 - thiazoleglyoxylate was condensed with ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidinyl ] propanoic acid [ example 17 , step ( iii )] to give the title compound as a colorless foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd . for c 26 h 36 n 4 o 6 s ( m + ) 533 . 2434 , found 533 . 2431 . by using the conditions described in step ( iv ) of example 17 , ethyl 2 - amino - 4 - thiazoleacetate was condensed with ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidinyl ] propanoic acid [ example 17 , step ( iii )] to give the title compound as a colorless foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd . for c 26 h 38 n 4 o 5 s ( m + ) 519 . 2641 , found 519 . 2620 . by using the conditions described in step ( iv ) of example 17 , 2 - amino - 5 - methylpyridine was condensed with ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidinyl ] propanoic acid [ example 17 , step ( iii )] to give the title compound as a colorless foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd . for c 25 h 36 n 4 o 3 ( m + ) 441 . 2866 , found 441 . 2869 . by using the conditions described in step ( iv ) of example 17 , methyl 6 - aminonicotinate was condensed with ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidinyl ] propanoic acid [ example 17 , step ( iii )] to give the title compound as a colorless foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 26 h 36 n 4 o 5 ( m + ) 485 . 2764 , found 485 . 2768 . by using the conditions described in step ( iv ) of example 17 , 2 - amino - 5 - chloropyridine was condensed with ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidinyl ] propanoic acid [ example 17 , step ( iii )] to give the title compound as a colorless foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 33 n 4 o 3 cl ( m + ) 461 . 2319 , found 461 . 2321 . by using the conditions described in step ( iv ) of example 17 , 2 - aminopyridine was condensed with ( s , s )- 3 - cyclohexyl - 2 -[ 4 -( cyclohexyl ) methyl - 2 , 5 - dioxoimidazolidinyl ] propanoic acid [ example 17 , step ( iii )] to give the title compound as a colorless foam : ei - hrms m / e calcd for c 24 h 34 n 4 o 3 ( m + ) 427 . 2709 , found 427 . 2706 . glucokinase assay : glucokinase ( gk ) was assayed by coupling the production of glucose - 6 - phosphate to the generation of nadh with glucose - 6 - phosphate dehydrogenase ( g6pdh , 0 . 75 - 1 k units / mg ; boehringer mannheim , indianapolis , ind .) from leuconostoc mesenteroides as the coupling enzyme ( scheme 2 ). recombinant human liver gk1 was expressed in e . coli as a glutathione s - transferase fusion protein ( gst - gk ) [ liang , y ., kesavan , p ., wang , l ., niswender , k ., tanizawa , y ., permut , m . a ., magnuson , m ., and matschinsky , f . m . variable effects of maturity - onset - diabetes - of - youth ( mody )- associated glucokinase mutations on the substrate interactions and stability of the enzyme . biochem . j . 309 : 167 - 173 , 1995 ] and was purified by chromatography over a glutathione - sepharose 4b affinity column using the procedure provided by the manufacturer ( amersham pharmacia biotech , piscataway , n . j .). previous studies have demonstrated that the enzymatic properties of native gk and gst - gk are essentially identical ( liang et al , 1995 ; neet , k ., keenan , r . p ., and tippett , p . s . observation of a kinetic slow transition in monomeric glucokinase . biochemistry 29 ; 770 - 777 , 1990 ). the assay was conducted at 25 ° c . in a flat bottom 96 - well tissue culture plate from costar ( cambridge , mass .) with a final incubation volume of 120 μl . the incubation mixture contained : 25 mm hepes buffer ( ph , 7 . 1 ), 25 mm kcl , 5 mm d - glucose , 1 mm atp , 1 . 8 mm nad , 2 mm mgcl 2 , 1 μm sorbitol - 6 - phosphate , 1 mm dithiothreitol , test drug or 10 % dmso , 1 . 8 unit / ml g6pdh , and gk ( see below ). all organic reagents were & gt ; 98 % pure and were from boehringer mannheim with the exceptions of d - glucose and hepes that were from sigma chemical co , st . louis , mo . test compounds were dissolved in dmso and were added to the incubation mixture minus gst - gk in a volume of 12 μl to yield a final dmso concentration of 10 %. this mix was preincubated in the temperature controlled chamber of a spectramax 250 microplate spectrophotometer ( molecular devices corporation , sunnyvale , calif .) for 10 minutes to allow temperature equilibrium and then the reaction was started by the addition of 20 μl gst - gk . after addition of enzyme , the increase in optical density ( od ) at 340 nm was monitored over a 10 minute incubation period as a measure of gk activity . sufficient gst - gk was added to produce an increase in od 340 of 0 . 08 to 0 . 1 units over the 10 minute incubation period in wells containing 10 % dmso , but no test compound . preliminary experiments established that the gk reaction was linear over this period of time even in the presence of activators that produced a 5 - fold increase in gk activity . the gk activity in control wells was compared with the activity in wells containing test gk activators , and the concentration of activator that produced a 50 % increase in the activity of gk , i . e ., the sc 1 . 5 , was calculated . all of the compounds of formula i described in the synthesis examples had an sc 1 . 5 less than or equal to 30 μm . | 2 |
embodiments of the present disclosure may allow older - style transponders to have the ability to verify the altitude and reply codes being sent to air traffic control ( atc ) without having to be replaced by a modern transponder . more specifically , if an aircraft is equipped with an older - style mode c transponder , a transponder monitoring device ( referred to herein as the transmon ) may be installed as the control input for a transceiver , such as an ads600 - b . the transmon is a standalone device that may monitor transponder transmissions through a shielded rf coupler connection to an aircraft &# 39 ; s transponder antenna coaxial cable . the transmon device may be attached to the existing transponder antenna coaxial cable of a mode c transponder to pick up altitude , reply codes and / or identity information , decode the information , and transmit it digitally for use by a transceiver , such as an ads600 - b , or another separate external monitor ( e . g ., existing efis , mfd , pfd or purpose - built display ). it should be appreciated that monitoring of old - style transponders and altitude encoders connected to old - style transponders may be performed in a variety of manners without departing from the present disclosure . these techniques may include , but are not necessarily limited to , direct , simple monitoring ; direct , complex monitoring ; and indirect , complex monitoring . each of these techniques may be described in more detail below . in an embodiment of the present disclosure , a direct , simple monitoring technique may be employed as depicted in fig2 a . using this technique , the transmon device may be connected to an ads - b transceiver , such as an ads600 - b , and the ads - b transceiver may be connected to an instrument panel dedicated read - out . in another embodiment of the present disclosure , a direct , complex monitoring technique may be employed as depicted in fig2 b wherein the transmon device may be connected to an ads - b transceiver , and the ads - b transceiver may be connected to a multi - function display ( mfd ), a primary flight display ( pfd ) or another electronic flight instrument system ( efis ). the mfd , pfd or efis may be programmed to show the mode a and mode c codes that may be transmitted by the transmon device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure . in a further embodiment of the present disclosure , an indirect , complex monitoring technique may be employed as depicted in fig2 c . this embodiment of the present disclosure takes into account the situation wherein an ads - b transceiver may form part of an faa ads - b system . when the ads - b transceiver is part of such a system , the faa may send back traffic targets for ads - b equipped aircraft . when a transmon device is employed with the ads - b transceiver , a traffic target may be received for an aircraft in which the ads - b transceiver and the transmon device are installed . once the traffic target has been received , the associated mode a and mode c codes may be displayed from the faa ads - b transmitted message , and this information may be presented to a pilot so that he / she may cross - check the information against what is being shown on a transponder . while various monitoring techniques have been described , it should be appreciated that other monitoring techniques may be utilized without departing from the present disclosure . further , more or fewer devices / mechanisms may be utilized for monitoring without departing from the present disclosure . a means for monitoring the transponder transmissions according to embodiments of the present disclosure is through use of the transmon device via a shielded rf coupler as depicted in fig1 . receiving and decoding the timing bits may be accomplished by programmable hardware and / or software . the software may provide the mechanism to transmit the data digitally out of the transmon device . by virtue of the direct shielded connection of the rf coupler to the transponder antenna cable , no transmissions of other transponders would be received . in embodiments of the present disclosure , a transponder may transmit both mode a ( reply ) and mode c ( altitude ) codes in response to it being interrogated . the data output from the transponder may remain in the same format regardless whether the transponder is transmitting reply or altitude codes . to distinguish between reply or altitude codes , one has to know what type of interrogation that the transponder received and is replying to ( i . e ., mode a or mode c ). because the encoder feeds into the transponder as well as into the transmon device via an rf coupler , it can distinguish whether a mode a code is actually a mode a code and not a mode c code . this may be helpful insofar as when the transponder transmits either a mode a or c code , the format of the data is the same , but the transmon device can cross check using the encoder data . the transmon device does not listen to what interrogations the transponder is receiving because it would not know if it was intended for this specific transponder or for a transponder on another aircraft . accordingly , the transmon device must be clever to distinguish between the altitude code and the reply code and vice versa . because there is no difference in the output format between the mode a and the mode c codes , the transmon device may determine what is received based on several factors . the transmon device monitors the data being transmitted by the transponder . the transmon device may use a shielded “ antenna ” ( wire ), acting as an rf coupler , so that only certain transponder transmissions may be received . the transmon device does not disturb the existing transponder system so it may reduce costs . in one scenario , various a , b , c , and d bits may be transmitted by the transponder , and as such , 4096 possible codes may be emitted . mode a ( reply ) codes may use all 4096 possible codes while mode c ( altitude ) codes may require only 1280 codes . in this scenario , any code received by the transmon device that is not a valid altitude code may be considered a squawk code . the 1280 codes represent altitudes from − 1200 to 126 , 700 in 100 - foot increments [ 126 , 700 −(− 1200 )= 128 , 000 / 100 = 1280 ]. certain ads - b products ( such as the universal access transceivers [ uat ]) can only be used up to a certain altitude ( such as 18 , 000 feet ). accordingly , the altitude codes may be limited to those that would realistically be transmitted by the transponder , when a uat ads - b device is installed in an aircraft , so 1280 codes may be limited to 212 codes that may represent − 1200 up to 20 , 000 feet [ 20 , 000 −(− 1200 )= 21 , 200 / 100 = 212 ]. the final determinate to distinguish whether the transponder code is a squawk or an altitude code is to cross - check against the aircraft &# 39 ; s altitude encoder . the federal aviation administration ( faa ) requires that both the transponder and ads - b radios utilize the same altitude encoder . if the transponder code has not been ruled to be a squawk code by the above procedures , then a check of the altitude encoder against the code should identify whether it is an altitude code ( i . e ., it matches ) or a squawk code ( i . e ., does not match ). by using these procedures , the faa may be more likely to certify the transmon device . in another embodiment of the present disclosure , the output of the altitude encoder may be used to cross check to ensure that the mode a code is indeed the mode a code and not a c code that maps to an a code . it should be appreciated that embodiments of the present disclosure may provide the ability to discern a mode a from a mode c code without interrogating the transponder . this is a departure from previous devices that may interrogate a transponder in order to discern the mode a or mode c code received from the transponder . it also should be appreciated that different methods may be used to discern the mode a ( squawk ) from the mode c ( altitude ) codes , including using the altitude encoder connected to a transmon device to cross - check the altitude code coming from the received reply . if the altitude code matches with what the altitude encoder has read , then the code received is identified as an altitude mode c reply code , and any different code would be confirmed as a squawk mode a reply code . however , in some embodiments of the present disclosure , the altitude encoder cross - check mode may be eliminated but the two reply codes may still be accurately discerned . this may save the cost of installing a device to monitor the altitude encoder by the transmon device in certain aircraft . in another method , the two codes may be discerned by understanding how radars work . radars are all programmed to interrogate more mode a reply codes than mode c reply codes . using this information , if two different reply codes both map to an altitude , and an altitude cross - check is not used , then a situation may arise wherein the correct mode a may not be discerned from the mode c . however , by knowing that the radar interrogates mode a more times than mode c , the reply codes may be accurately identified . in embodiments of the present disclosure , an interrogated pressure altitude ( y ) over time ( x ) may be calculated for transceiver transmissions , such as for an ads - b transmitter , as depicted in fig3 . an atcrbs radar may interrogate a transponder and may provide pressure altitude output for air traffic control . the atcrbs may interrogate an aircraft transponder approximately every 12 seconds . it should be appreciated that the atcrbs may interrogate an aircraft transponder at predetermined points in time without departing from the present disclosure . it should further be appreciated that the atcrbs may interrogate an aircraft transponder for more or less than approximately every 12 seconds without departing from the present disclosure . it should be appreciated that the atcrbs may calculate a rate of climb ( roc ) by calculating a change of altitude between successive radar interrogations . the roc may be calculated by dividing time between successive interrogations and a change in altitude ( e . g ., δ altitude / time between interrogations ), wherein time between interrogations may typically be measured in seconds . this process may break down when using the interrogated transponder pressure altitude for ads - b . the ads - b transceiver output typically transmits aircraft information each second , and the atc may compute roc every second , expecting that ads - b transmitted pressure altitude may be updated every second . as the transponder interrogated pressure altitude may change every 12 seconds , the ads - b output transmitter may end up sending “ stale ” data for 11 out of 12 seconds , updating with the current pressure altitude once each 12 seconds . in embodiments of the present disclosure , corrected interrogated pressure altitude ( y ) may be calculated over time ( x ), as depicted in fig4 . a transceiver , such as an ads - b , may be a gps - based system and may include an ads - b output transmitter that may transmit an aircraft &# 39 ; s gps position and altitude . the gps may be utilized by the transceiver and may update the aircraft &# 39 ; s position in space at least every second . it should be appreciated that aircraft position may be updated any number of seconds using the gps without departing from the present disclosure . by using the gps altitude to correct the transponder pressure altitude , an accurate 1 - second updated pressure altitude may be transmitted via the output transmitter . it should be appreciated that utilizing an altitude sensor onboard a universal access transceiver ( uat ) or a transceiver may also update aircraft position in space at least approximately every second , even if a gps is not utilized . it should be appreciated that aircraft position must be updated any number of seconds using the altitude sensor without departing from the present disclosure . the gps altitude may be utilized to correct the pressure altitude provided by the transponder . it should be appreciated that a corrected pressure altitude may be accurate when the altitude is updated by the gps . the corrected pressure altitude may be transmitted via the transceiver output , such as , ads - b out . the atcrbs may interrogate a transponder , and a transponder monitoring device , such as transmon , may receive the transponder interrogated pressure altitude ( tipa ) or a first transponder interrogated pressure altitude . concurrently , the transceiver gps altitude or subsequent position may be saved approximately every second and may be designated by gpsa ( n ). it should be appreciated that the transceiver gps altitude or subsequent position gpsa ( n ) may be determined at any desired time increments without departing from the present disclosure . when the gps altitude is recorded at the same time as the atcrbs interrogates the transponder , this gps altitude or initial position may be designated by gpsa ( 0 ). during periods of time between the atcrbs transponder interrogations , the transceiver may transmit the corrected pressure altitude which may be calculated by adding the tipa and gpsa ( n ) and subtracting the gpsa ( 0 ) [ corrected altitude pressure = tipa + gpsa ( n )− gpsa ( 0 )]. for example , an aircraft may climb or ascend at a rate of 1000 feet per minute . before the aircraft ascends , the atcrbs radar may interrogate the transponder and the connected pressure altitude encoder which may provide a pressure altitude of 1000 feet . if the gps altitude or the initial position is approximately 900 feet , then the gps altitude may increase by a climb or ascend rate of approximately 1000 feet per minute or 17 feet per second . the transceiver may transmit the corrected pressure altitude , t ( n ), [ t ( n )= tipa + gpsa ( n )− gpsa ( 0 )] which may be approximately 1000 feet at zero seconds [ t ( 0 )= 1000 feet + 900 feet − 900 feet = 1000 feet ], 1017 feet at 1 second [ t ( 1 )= 1000 feet + 917 feet − 900 feet = 1017 feet ], 1033 feet at 2 seconds [ t ( 2 )= 1000 feet + 933 feet − 900 feet = 1033 feet ], etc . it should be appreciated that the pressure altitude and the gps altitude may be provided in any desired units of measurement . although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims . moreover , the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process , machine , manufacture , composition of matter , means , methods and steps described in the specification . as one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure , processes , machines , manufacture , compositions of matter , means , methods , or steps , presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present disclosure . accordingly , the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes , machines , manufacture , compositions of matter , means , methods , or steps . | 6 |
the structure and method of fabrication of the present invention is applicable to a cable supporting and spacing device employing a solid plastic - like body , made from a plastic material , such as polypropylene foam , of the rigid variety , being substantially devoid of voids or cavities . such plastic material should possess good weathering characteristics , be resistant to ultraviolet rays , and be usable in a wide spectrum of ambient temperatures . in general , such solid plastic block should be provided having a pair of opposed troughs , each being located on opposite surfaces of the block , and each extending substantially parallel to each other and the longitudinal axis of the block , so as to form in cross section , a concave - like elongated pair of channels . one of the trough - like channels should have a smaller opening than the other , so that the smaller mouthed trough is useful in engagement with a small diameter supporting cable , such as a galvanized multi - strand bare steel wire assembly . the lowermost trough , when the device is positioned in a use position , contains a wider mouth opening of its trough or channel , than the uppermost trough . the operating cable or conduit , supported by the present invention , resides in the lowermost trough , such that the lowermost cable has its longitudinal axis extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the lowermost trough and parallel to the uppermost trough whose longitudinal axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the supporting wire , partly nestled therewithin . a series of block - like devices are installed along a free run of supporting cable and useful or conduit or operating cable , so as to suspend the operating cable substantially parallel and directly below the supporting cable . in order to secure the assembly of a portion of the uppermost cable , and the block , to a portion of the lowermost cable , a metallic or other bendable - like band is employed . here , the band has provided , at one end , a belt - loop - like opening , fabricated from a rigid material . the belt - loop - like opening extends parallel to the width of the band and normal to the longitudinal axis thereof . the belt - loop - like opening has a width equal to or greater than the remaining width portions of the band , such that the free end of the band may be inserted into the belt - loop - like fitment and so that the end of the band carrying the loop - like end thereon may be positioned anywhere along the length of the remaining portions of the band when the free end of the band is passed through the loop - like opening and the band is pulled taut . in this position , the band portion extending outwardly from a closed loop formed by the band , may be bent so as to preclude the loop - like section of the band formed thereby , from enlarging . it is in such position that the band engages a small portion of the length of the supporting cable , two opposed faces of the block , and a small portion of the operating cable . the free end of the band may be bent backwards on the portion of the band encircling the two wire - like structures and the block . the two portions of the band engaging the opposed pair of faces of the block , should be positioned in juxtaposed spaced - apart relationship , and located parallel to one another , provided that both pairs of opposed lateral surfaces of the block , contacting the band portions , are in two planes -- parallel to one another . if desired , one or both of such opposed faces of the block , adapted to contact portions of the closed loop portion of the band , when tightened , may be grooved . when so grooved , the portion of the block having such a groove receives a portion of the band contacting the base of the groove . the groove is provided having a width somewhat larger than the width of the band , so that the band is positioned within the groove , prohibiting the band from side to side motion , as well as permitting the longitudinal axis of the band to be positioned other than transverse to the longitudinal axis of the block . in utilizing one or two band receiving grooves , the block is further secured against accidental dislodgment during the assembly process , thereby insuring that the entirety of the length of the block is positioned under the band and facilitating the tightening process of the band , at a selected location along the length of the operated cable and its supporting cable . the present invention also provides for at least two hook - like devices , which are positioned on one of the opposed lateral surfaces of the block , at locations along the line extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the block . part of each of the hook - like devices extend over the area adapted for receiving the metallic band . the hook - like portions of the apparatus extend slightly over opposed marginal edges of the metallic band , facilitating the insertion of the metallic band by a simple application of an inward directed force , applied manually to the surface of the metallic band positioned between the pair of projections , when the metallic band is placed over the hook - like projections . a snap - in effect takes place , engaging the band then in contacting relationship with the portion of the block designed to receive the band when tightened . the hook - like projections may be positioned so as to have their hook - like ends extending over the groove that may be located in one or both sides of the body . in those cases where no groove is employed , the hook - like end of the projections is positioned at a location on one or both opposed side surfaces of the body , so as to substantially center the band along the length of the body . such pair of opposed surfaces extend substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body and may extend intermediate the uppermost and lowermost supporting and supported cable receiving trough - like grooves . in an alternate embodiment , the band itself may be provided having a pair of notches located on opposed marginal edges thereof , at opposite locations , adjacent the free end of the band . in such construction , the band may be attached to the block by simply positioning the notch bearing portions of the band over the hook - like pair of projections . a modest force applied to the outside surface of the band causes the band to communicate with one of the side surfaces of the body , without requiring any flexure of the band . lateral displacement of the band , disposing the pair of notches out of alignment with the two hook - like projections , prevents the band from accidental dislodgment thereafter . this arrangement may be employed for blocks that are provided with band receiving grooves or for blocks that do not utilize such grooves . the modified band , containing the pair of notches , after engagement with two hook - like projections on one opposed side surface of the block , may be manipulated so as to position the opposed notch - bearing portions of the band , located near its free end , so as to be over another pair of hook - like projections , located on the opposed side surface of the block . in such application , the band will ultimately reside in two captured positions , on opposite sides of the block and may not be removed therefrom excepting by positioning the notches at the locations of the pairs of hook - like projections . the projections may be shaped so as to resemble an l - shaped body , the free leg of which is chamfered on its uppermost and endmost surfaces , facilitating the easy insertion and hence -- the difficult removal of the band under the hook - like end of such projection . alternatively , a disc - like projection may be employed , simulating a flat disc residing on a post . the uppermost edge of the flat disc , adjacent the perimeter of the disc , is chamfered , again facilitating the easy insertion and difficult removal of the band adapted to be captured under the lateral surface of the disc - like structure and the solid plastic body . alternatively , the hook - like projection may be resemble a semi - circular plate portion secured to a post portion , where the uppermost marginal edge of the semi - circular disc portion is chamfered . all of the aforementioned chamfered hook - like projections may be utilized on opposed side surfaces of a body , wherein such body is provided with or without a groove . now referring to the figures , and more particularly to the embodiment illustrated in fig1 showing the present invention 10 comprising body 12 to which is attached strap or band 14 . end 16 of band 14 is attached to loop 18 , in which portion 20 , of band 14 , passes . portion 20 of band 14 resides over portion 22 , of band 14 , which is located adjacent end 16 of the band . surfaces 24 and 26 of body 12 are disposed opposite one another . uppermost trough 28 extends parallel to longitudinal axis 30 of body 12 . lowermost trough 32 also extends parallel to longitudinal axis 30 . body 12 , as shown , is fabricated from a solid material , as by foam in place molding techniques . band 14 , in the regions depicted by 34 and 36 form a closed loop , engaging a portion of supporting cable 38 and a portion of supported cable 14 , as well as encircling body 12 . supporting cable 38 , as shown , may be fabricated from a group of solid steel cables , plated to resist rust and oxidation . the uppermost edges of the clamped portion of supporting cable 38 are forced downwardly into trough - like groove 28 , by band 14 . similarly , the uppermost portions of supporting cable 40 are pushed into the narrowest regions of trough - like groove 32 by band 14 . as can be seen , both trough - like grooves 28 and 32 are provided having open mouth portions 42 and 44 respectively , each being substantially larger than required for cable 38 and supported cable 40 . this is so , to permit larger diameter supporting cables 38 and larger diameter supported cables 40 over those shown , to be utilized by the same apparatus . block 12 is provided having groove 46 disposed in side face 24 . hook - like projections 48 extend over the open mouth region 50 , of groove 46 , and over portions of band 14 , preventing the release of band 14 from groove 46 . free end 52 of band 14 extends outwardly from the loop - like receiving portion 18 , located at end 16 of band 14 . free end 52 may be bent upwardly , away from open mouth portion 44 of lowermost trough - like groove 32 , preventing lowermost supported cable 40 , as well as uppermost supporting cable 38 from their locked - in positions in their respective trough - like grooves . fig2 illustrates base 54 of groove 46 partially concealed by hook - like projections 48 . dotted lines 56 delineate the base of trough - like groove 28 . similarly , dotted lines 58 delineate the base of trough - like groove 32 . as shown in fig3 block 12 is provided having a groove 46 located in opposed side faces 24 and 26 , each being provided with a pair of projections 48 . as can be seen in fig4 projections 48 are provided having a ramped - like surface 60 disposed on its outermost surface extending at an angle relative to opposed sides 24 and 26 , of projections 48 . notch 62 is adapted to receive portions of band 14 , shown in fig1 therewithin . fig5 illustrates block 12a , an alternate embodiment of block 12 , shown in fig1 . such block is provided having uppermost trough - like groove 64 and lowermost trough - like groove 66 . dotted lines 68 depict a band receiving groove 70 , located in opposed side wall 72 . opposite side wall 74 is provided with outstanding hook - like projection 76 , shown partially capturing a portion of band 14a therewithin . fig6 illustrates two hook - like projections 76 located on surface 74 of block 12a . dotted lines 78 depict the base of the trough - like groove 64 . dotted lines 80 depict the base of trough - like groove 66 , shown in fig5 . fig7 illustrates base 82 of groove 70 , as viewed from the side of block 12a having opposed side wall 72 . the lowermost broken away portion 84 , of band 14a , is shown extending below body 12a . fig8 illustrates a typical side wall , herein shown as surface 74 . l - shaped projection 86 extends outwardly from surface 74 and is provided having a chamfered surface 88 extending between outermost surface 90 of the l - shaped hook - like projection 86 and the lowermost surface 92 , of the free leg of such projection . cavity 94 , so formed , permits the introduction of a portion of band 14a , therewithin , and for retention in cavity 94 by having a marginal edge of band 14a displaced downwardly , along ramp surface 88 , and followed by such marginal edge being captured within cavity 94 . fig9 illustrates an alternate embodiment of a surface mounted projection 95 , similar to projection 86 , and serving the same purpose . chamfered edge 98 extends around the plate - like perimeter of projection 95 and provides a hook - like shape 100 , by the overhang of the disc - like portion over post - like portion 102 . as can be seen , post - like portion 102 may be mounted to an outside surface 74a , of a side surface of block 12a , which is provided with an elongated groove 104 . such elongated groove is provided having side wall 106 . side wall 106 may be equal to or lesser than the thickness of a band , not shown , utilizable for insertion under the disc - like portion of hook - like projection 95 and for capturing on engaging surface 108 -- the base of groove 104 . fig1 illustrates a semi - circular disc - like portion 110 of hook - like projection 112 , being supported on post - like portion 114 . surface 74 and undersurface 116 , of disc - like portion 110 , form opposed lateral surfaces for retaining a portion of band 14a , not shown , thereinbetween . the band portion , not shown , cannot move unlimitedly in the direction of arrow 118 , before same is stopped by post portion 114 . fig1 illustrates block 12b , being a variant of block 12 , shown in fig1 . block 12b is identical in all respects to block 12 , excepting that projections 48a are devoid of the ramp - like surfaces , disposed adjacent to outermost surfaces 24 , shown in fig4 as surface 60 . in fig1 , projections 48a are simply rectangular in shape , extending partly over groove 46 . band 14a , shown in fig1 , is different from band 14 , as shown in fig1 in that free end 120 is shown having ramped - like edges 122 and is provided with notches 124 disposed opposite one another on opposed marginal edges 126 of band 14a . notches 124 are provided having an open mouth portion 129 and a base portion 128 . open mouth portion 129 and base portion 128 are designed to be longer than length 130 of projections 48a . in all other respects block 12b and band 14a are equivalent to block 12 and band 14 -- shown in fig1 for the side 24 . fig1 illustrates block 12a , showing projection 48a being depicted by dotted lines 48b . side face 26 is shown devoid of projections but is provided having groove 46 . groove 46 is provided for side face 24 . band 14a is shown having its free end 120 and its broken end 132 located a distance away from surface 24 . by moving band 14a , in the direction of arrows 134 , it can be seen that band 14a communicates with surface 136 of projection 48a . by approximate alignment , in the direction of arrows 138 , band 14a may have the base of notches 124 , shown as solid lines 128 , aligned outwardly from the ends of projection 48a -- depicted in fig1 by dotted lines 48b . when this occurs , continued moving force , exerted in the direction of arrows 134 , permits innermost surface 140 , of band 14a , to contact base surface 54 of groove 46 . in such position , not shown , by a movement of band 14a , in the direction of arrow 142 , the band becomes locked in by projections 48a and base surface 54 within groove 46 . fig1 illustrates block 12a , showing band 14a in upside down relationship to band 14a , as shown in fig1 . in this position , it can be seen that notches 124 are aligned with projections 48a . band 14a can then be moved in the direction of arrow 144 , if desired . the direction of inserting band 14a , as shown in fig1 , ends up in the configuration of band 14a , as shown in fig1 . fig1 illustrates how projections 48a may be utilized when it is desired to install band 14a in an opposite direction . block 12a , depicted in fig1 , 12 and 13 , may be equipped , as desired , with another pair of projections 48a , disposed on opposite side face 26 , if desired . if such be the case , band end 120 , of band 14a , may be installed in projections 48a associated with side face 26 , by overalignment , over projections 48a , not shown , followed by an inward force directed in the area intermediate notches 124 . alternatively , for the second groove associated with side face 26 , free end 120 of band 14a may be threadingly engaged beneath projections 48a . one of the advantages of the present invention is a cable supporting and spacing device which is easy to install , in field applications , without the use of tools and without requiring the installer to perform complicated manual maneuvers during the installing process . another advantage of the present invention is an inexpensive cable supporting device which is capable of maintaining the spacing insulated block in a defined parallel arrangement with the two cables associated therewith , before and during the installing process . still another advantage of the present invention is a cable spacing device employing two smooth trough - like surfaces to engage opposed cables and conductors , thereby eliminating sharp edge contact with the cables . yet another advantage of the present invention is a unitary cable supporting and spacing device which positions its associated encircling band automatically at the correct location , insuring that the spacer and the cables are disposed in parallel relationship at all times . a further advantage of the present invention is a cable supporting and spacing device which can be easily molded , inexpensively manufactured , and is not fragile in its construction . thus , there is disclosed in the above description and in the drawings , an embodiment of the invention which fully and effectively accomplishes the objects thereof . however , it will become apparent to those skilled in the art , how to make variations and modifications to the instant invention . therefore , this invention is to be limited , not by the specific disclosure herein , but only by the appending claims . | 7 |
a preferred embodiment of the invention can be seen in fig1 in which a perspective overall view of the apparatus 10 can be seen . the apparatus includes various sub - systems including a vacuum frame 20 , a power supply 30 , a filter assembly 40 , a light head 50 , and an integrator 60 . the various subsystems will be discussed in turn . the assembly 10 includes a base 11 from which uprights 12 extend supporting the light hood 50 which in turn supports the filter assembly 40 . a chest of drawers 13 is provided in which exposure materials can be stored for ready accessibility . a curtain rod 14 is provided supporting a curtain 15 which can be closed to exclude ambient light from the vacuum frame 20 . base 11 also supports power supply 30 . the vacuum frame 20 can be any of various types known in the art , although a particularly preferred embodiment is the structure disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 754 , 309 , referred to above . the entire disclosure thereof is incorporated herein by reference . controls for the operation of the vacuum frame are included in the integrator 60 or may be automated , as disclosed further in this discussion . the power supply 30 may be seen generally in fig8 and electrically in fig2 and 3 . the power supply includes components for monitoring and adjusting line voltage and providing desired lamp open circuit voltage , current limiting impedances an scr assembly for lamp dimming , ac capacitors for power factor correction , a control board for logic and power control , and an interface board for data collection and user interfacing . power supply 30 includes a connection 301 to an external ac power source . in the embodiment depicted , that is a 220 volt , 3 - wire source . the power is supplied through a circuit breaker 302 to the control board 303 . it is also applied to center of transformer 304 . the voltage is applied at 305 and 306 as can be seen in fig3 on the board 303 , to comparators 307 and 308 . they also receive a sample voltage reference . the output of the comparators is used to set a flip flop 312 which in turn controls a relay driver 313 . relay 309 ( fig2 ) switches the line voltage from the 230 volt tap of transformer 304 to the 210 volt tap if the voltage sensed in comparators 307 and 308 suggest that the voltage is too high . conversely , if the voltage is too low , it will retain the voltage at the 230 tap . a capacitor 310 is provided to reduce arcing of the relay and to provide a source of energy during commutation of the relay . relay 309 can be conservatively sized , because of the capacitor 310 . although the foregoing example was described with respect to a 230 volt 3 - wire supply , other similar arrangements can be used with other supplies . the main contactor for the lamp 501 is driven by a contactor driver 318 which in turn is controlled by and - gate 315 . and - gate 315 requires high inputs from delay 314 , the power &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; switch 316 and interlock 317 to enable the contactor driver 318 . interlock 317 detects the presence of a protective pane in the light head , as will be discussed further . thus , the pane must be in place and the power on and the line voltage set in order to operate the main contactor . the power &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; signal 316 may be derived from the memory set in the integrator discussed below . an additional delay 314 is interposed and feeds and - gate 315 along with the power &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; switch 316 and the line from interlock sensor 317 , also seen on fig5 . the contactor actuation allows power flow from the mains to the lamp . the lamp 501 is typically a gaseous discharge lamps which starts with an extremely high voltage pulse , typically 10 kilovolts . after a current is struck , the lamp voltage drops to approximately 30 volts and then slowly increases to its nominal voltage . the voltage drop across the lamp 501 is sensed and applied to a summing differential amplifier 319 , a comparator 320 and another summing differential amplifier 321 . a reference voltage comparable to the operating voltage of the lamp 501 as warmed up is also applied to the comparator 320 . the output of comparator 320 goes low when the lamp voltage reaches its operating voltage and is applied to the summing differential amplifier 319 so that when the lamp voltage is at its operating voltage , the lamp voltage and the sensed lamp current 322 are multiplied in multiplier 323 . that product is applied to a further summing differential amplifier 324 along with the output of the comparator 320 and a signal 325 indicative of desired power level to operate the lamp 501 as recorded in the integrator discussed further with respect to fig9 . the stability of the closed loop feedback circuitry is maintained with compensation unit 326 . this signal is applied to a gate driver 327 of the lamp scr &# 39 ; s 328 . that is , the gate driver 327 controls the firing angle of the scr &# 39 ; s 328 in the forward and reverse directions to control the amount of power going to the lamp 501 . the circuit works to keep the power supplied to the lamp constant at the set point , regardless of voltage changes . the power monitoring to the lamp is achieved by obtaining the average and comparing it with a reference from an integrator to shift the phase of the firing angle of the silicon control rectifier . the reference is fed with a pulse width modulated signal . no direct electrical connection is needed because the signal is electrically isolated and sent through an optical coupling . the power supply to the lamp includes a inductor l - 1 which is parallel with the scr to maintain the current to the lamp at at least 10 % of maximum . during the starting process , it is undesirable to operate the lamp in a constant power mode , since the demand for current would be beyond the limits of the lamp . to circumvent this situation , a constant offset is added to the lamp voltage to operate the lamp in a constant current mode . after the lamp voltage exceeds the warmup reference as noted by the comparator 320 , the constant offset is removed and the lamp is allowed to operate in a constant power mode under the control of the summing differential amplifier 324 serving as an error amplifier . the sample lamp voltage as applied to the summing differential amplifier 321 converts the voltage according to an inverse relationship to control a blower driver 329 to control the triac to the blowers 330 in the head as shown in fig2 . a motor speed control circuit suitable for use as the blower control is described in a copending application of ira pitel filed on even date herewith and entitled &# 34 ; burst voltage motor speed control &# 34 ;. the entire disclosure thereof is incorporated herein by reference . that circuitry has the power controlled by short bursts of an integral number of fundamental cycles &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; and a short number of cycles &# 34 ; off &# 34 ;. the voltage burst is initiated at strategic points in the cycle to minimize the electrical and mechanical transient response . this minimizes power loss and abrupt torque changes . by providing the blower control as responsive to lamp voltage , it is also responsive to lamp temperature . thus , controlling the blower speed with the lamp voltage allows the lamp to remain at higher temperatures during an idle state and to rapidly set maximum luminous intensity during normal full output state . that is , the lamp can have its power reduced between illumination cycles . however , the temperature will remain near its desired level because the fan speed will be reduced if the voltage drops , so that the temperature will not drop too far during off cycles . the blower driver 329 is also controlled by the error amplifier 321 to operate the blower on high speed when the power &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; switch 316 is switched off . this permits rapid cooling of the lamp so that if lamp changing is the reason for turning off the power , it can be changed as quickly as possible . also , if it is desired to restart the lamp , rapid cooling brings its temperature back down to the range in which it can be restarted . the shutter 502 shown in fig5 and 6 in the light head 50 is driven by a motor 503 in response to signals from the control board 303 . a shutter enable signal 331 is applied with the interlock signal 317 and the inverse of the warmup complete signal from comparator 320 in an and - gate 330 . that signal is applied to a delay 332 to permit time for the lamp power to increase to its operating level and for lamp operating temperature to increase to its desired level before opening the shutter . upon expiration of that delay , that signal and the shutter sense signal 504 indicative of a closed shutter are applied to and - gate 333 which sets a flip flop 334 applying to or - gate 335 . the output of or - gate 335 is applied to and - gate 336 which also receives the delay signal from delay 314 indicative that the tap change has been completed . the and - gate output is applied to the shutter motor drive 337 to drive a triac 338 to drive the shutter motor 503 . the motor will drive the shutter until a cam on the shutter senses the full open position and reverses shutter sense 504 , which resets the flip flop 334 to stop the motor . it also resets flip flop 337 . upon receipt by the reset flip flop 337 of a set signal from and - gate 338 of signals inverse to those applied to and - gate 333 , the motor is again driven to shut the shutter . the inverse signal from and - gate 338 will be applied to flip flop 337 when a shutter close signal is applied to shutter line 331 . upon extinguishing the power &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; signal 316 , an inverse signal is applied to three minute timer 339 through not - gate 340 . that signal is applied to and - gate 341 along with the interlock sense 317 . when both interlock and the inverse signal from the timer 339 are low , the output of and - gate 341 is applied through data selector 342 to close the shutter . this prevents access to the lamp when interlock senses that the protective pane is out of place or while the power is on , or for three minutes thereafter , in order to prevent accidental touching of the extremely hot lamp or the energized electrodes . fig2 and 8 also illustrate a very convenient feature of the invention -- chainable control lines . the control unit , in large part the power supply of fig8 controls various remote units such as the filter assembly 40 and the light head 50 and does so with cabling with is conveniently installed by a customer on his or her own premises . it has been found in the past that such cabling can be confusing to novices , and the present invention provides a fail - safe way to provide such cabling . first , as can be seen in fig8 there are four physically identical but electrically different pin sockets 343 . identical pin sockets are provided on the remote units to be controlled and cabling is provided to extend between the pin sockets 343 and the remote sub - system unit to be controlled . thus , any cable can be used to extend from the pin sockets 343 to the pin sockets on the remote unit . if , however , the remote unit is improperly selected , nothing undesirable will happen . the reason for this is that only one of the leads of each of the pin sockets 343 is provided with a connection to an associated signal or power source . a similar configuration is use in the subsystem unit . thus , by making the connections in the main unit and subsystem units in the factory so that they agree with each other , but not with any other unit , a mistake in connecting pin sockets with the cables will not result in any electrical connection being made . the user will find his error by the non - functioning of the equipment and be able to readily reconnect the units as designed . further , this principle may be generalized for remote unit connections as seen in fig2 . a plurality of connections are provided between the power supply and the filter unit and also the apc 1 board in the apc1 assembly . the apc 1 board is provided with dipswitches which can be selectively actuated to make a desired one of the leads active . thus , the signal derived from the power supply by the apc1 assembly from this connection can be used to switch on or off the input power from a 120 volt source to a vacuum pump . that is , the control signals are used to actuate or not , as desired , the power to the vacuum pump . also can be seen in fig8 the hours used on any particular lamp can be recorded in a readable fashion on a lamp power reader 344 . the reading can be reset to zero with a reset button 345 when a lamp is changed so that an accurate reading of the age of the lamp in use can be determined . the lamp idle power ( i . e . the power supplied to the lamp to keep it hot during non - use ) can also be selected using a selector switch 346 . the electronic circuitry of the control board can be used to reduce the duty cycle of the scr &# 39 ; s 328 from full power ( i . e . 7500 watts ) to lesser values in increments of 100 watts by selectively gating the scr &# 39 ; s to make them conductive for that portion of the sinusoidal power input cycle as needed to achieve the desired power to the lamp . the power monitoring circuitry as disclosed maintains the power supplied to the lamp at the desired value . referring now to fig4 there is shown in a perspective view , partially broken away , the filter assembly including a housing 401 . housing 401 has a plurality of ( at least three ) pairs of opposed channels 402 . the channels 402 on one side of the housing 401 are provided with a pair of pulleys 403 and 404 , a movable frame 405 and a cable 406 . the cable is preferably an aircraft cable such as is used to operate the control surfaces of aircraft , although any suitable cable could be substituted . each frame 405 can removably support a filter 404 . it does so by receiving an edge of the filter in an inwardly facing channel of the frame which also has a spring . the filter can be pressed against the spring and have its opposing edge inserted into an opposing channel so that the relaxation of the compression of this spring will lock the filter in place between the opposed channels of the frame 405 . each of the frames 405 can be independently positioned in alignment with the light head 50 . alternatively , multiples of them can be positioned simultaneously to achieve the filtering of the light emanating from head 50 as desired . the housing 401 is also provided with limit switches 407 at opposed ends of the housing , one for each end of the opposed pair of channels . upon closing of the limit switch 407 by the positioning of its associated frame 405 thereagainst , the position of the frame can be sensed electrically . with reference to fig4 a , the operation of the positioning of the filters can be better seen . the cable 406 includes in its length a spring 409 . also , the cable 406 is wrapped once around a sheave driven by a motor 410 . thus , the energization of the motor in one direction will rotate the sheave and drive the cable 406 , which in turn moves the frame 405 . when the frame 405 reaches an extended position , to either side of the frame 405 , the associated limit switch 409 is closed . the sensing of the closure of such switch stops the motor and holds the frame in position . when it is desired to move the frame the opposite direction , the motor is reversed and the frame moves until the other of the limit switches 407 for that frame senses the reaching of the frame at its most extended position . the presence of spring 409 in the cable line limits the tension in the cable . thus if a person &# 39 ; s hand is in the way of the frame , the cable can slip around the rotating sheave 408 and not crush the hand . similarly , if for some reason the motor becomes inoperative , the reduced tension in the cable permits the frame 405 to be moved by hand with the cable merely slipping around the motionless sheave . the light source for the apparatus 10 is included in the light head 50 as seen in fig5 and 7 . it includes a housing 505 having mounted on either end ( only one is shown in fig5 ), a cooling blower 330 mounted so that its discharge is somewhat at an angle to the axis of lamp 501 . the lamp 501 is supported in a conventional lamp support 507 affixed to a reflector 508 , all of which are affixed in turn to a bearing 509 having a passageway aligned with the length of the lamp 501 . the bearing 509 is affixed to end wall 510 of the light chamber . the housing 505 has mounted in it a main reflector 511 of a dimpled specular material . the reflector is supported in opposite channels 512 , 513 of the housing 505 . the channels are provided with side openings 514 , to chambers 515 which in turn have openings 516 through which hot air may escape . thus , the air forced axially along the lamp 501 at an angle from the blower 330 swirls around the lamp 501 in a helical pattern to provide effective , uniform cooling and then passes outward into the interior of the main reflector 511 , out through openings 514 , 516 . it can also pass in the space between the housing 505 and the main reflector 511 to chamber 515 and out the opening 516 . the use of the helical or cyclonic air flow obtained by the use of the present invention reduces the power demands on the blower motors . thus , instead of needing conventional 750 cfm motors , a 300 cfm rated motor suffices to adequately cool the lamp . also , the helical airflow assures more even exposure , more uniform temperature over the lamp and , therefore , less preferential depositing of dopants . the end result is longer useful lamp life . as noted above in the power supply discussion , the blower speed is desirably controlled to maintain the lamp temperature at a desired set point by correlating blower speed with the voltage across the lamp , which is indicative of lamp temperature . bearings 509 support the end faces of shutter 502 by outward engagement with roller bearings 518 , 519 , 520 . roller bearings 520 ( one in each end of the shutter ) are supported in the shutter 502 by compression springs 521 while the other roller bearings are at fixed positions . the shutter thus is supported by the bearing 509 , but has some free movement because of the spring 521 . this movement is necessary to accommodate changes in dimensions caused by the extreme heat environment to which the components will be exposed . the shutter relationship to the lamp can be seen better in fig7 in which the bearing 509 is shown secured to an end wall 510 of the housing 505 . the reflector 508 is shown secured to the bearing 509 and having the lamp support 507 supported thereon . to one end of shutter 502 is affixed a cam ring 522 having a cam 523 as a portion thereof . the cam ring 522 has a shutter position switch 504 adjacent thereto supported in the housing so that , upon rotation of the shutter , the cam 523 can actuate the shutter position switch 504 . the actuation of switch 504 sends the signal to the and - gate 333 and flip - flop 334 referred to with respect to fig3 . affixed to the other end of the shutter 502 is a gear 524 about which a chain is applied to be driven by the shutter motor 503 actuated by triac 338 referred to with respect to fig3 but not shown herein . the mechanical apparatus of fig7 is thus controlled by the electronics of fig2 and 3 . the shutter 502 is made of a steel base with a black ceramic coating . the black ceramic coating is provided because of the extreme range of temperatures to which the shutter is exposed being in close proximity to the high temperature lamp . the black ceramic does not deteriorate at the range of temperatures and therefore maintains its light - absorbing power long after previously used materials would have deteriorated . blackened portions 517 of such ceramic coating are preferably affixed to the reflectors 511 and 508 proximate the mid - portion of the lamp 501 to attenuate the reflected light in that region since the mid - portion of the lamps tend to be hot spots . the absorption of light by the blackened portion 517 compensates for the hot spots . opposed channels 520 and 521 formed in the head across from one another selectively support pane 522 , typically of a material which filters out dangerous uv - b rays . the pane 522 is secured in position by a leaf spring ( not shown ) in one of the channels , which urges the pane to stay in place until the spring is compressed for pane removal . the presence of the spring is sensed by a switch 317 which generates the interlock signal referred to in connection with the power supply discussion . fig9 shows the keyboard 601 of the integrator 60 of fig1 . the details of the integrator circuit and its programming will be dispensed with in the interest of clarity and brevity , particularly since those of ordinary skill in the art can readily come up with such details once the mode of operation as disclosed herein is made known to them . as can be seen in fig2 the data entered on keyboard 601 is applied to a digital board 602 and from there to an analog board 603 . one of the main features of the keyboard and digital board are the input and storage of programs for the sequencing of the operation of the entire apparatus . the keyboard 601 includes a first group of function keys 604 , a second group of function keys 605 , a group of numeric keys 606 , a plurality of signal lights 607 , and readouts 608 . the keys and lights can be used to program routines for operation of the apparatus and store them in memory and then , as desired , selectively operate the equipment according to a recorded memory sequence . programming is initiated by pressing the key labelled &# 34 ; m - set &# 34 ;. then a numeric program number from 1 to 99 is entered via the numeric keypad followed by the &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ; key to store the program number which is displayed at the memory readout . this number can then be used to recall and act on information in the memory location entered . the &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ; button stores program information that has been selected in a program function via the numeric keypad . upon pressing the &# 34 ; focus &# 34 ; button , the signal light labelled &# 34 ; exposure &# 34 ; under the phrase &# 34 ; program sequence &# 34 ; will illuminate , the shutter will open and the exposure lamp will illuminate to the wattage previously selected on the pwr - set mode . this function permits photocell ( i . e . photocells 21 , 22 , and 23 of fig1 ) calibration to a specific wattage . if no wattage is selected , the exposure lamp will automatically illuminate to 500 watts . to turn off the focus mode , press cancel . upon selecting the function key &# 34 ; esp - set &# 34 ;, the expose signal light on the memory signal light panel will flash . the operator is then able to select an exposure in units from 00 . 1 to 999 . thus , this gives the operator extended flexibility in selecting exposure time . upon pressing the pwr - set function button , the signal light labelled &# 34 ; power &# 34 ; on the memory signal light panel will flash . the operator is then able to make a power selection by entering the desired wattage in kilowatts via the numeric keypad . after the desired wattage has been selected , the &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ; key is pressed to store this value . during program operation , the power selected in the power set mode is the data entered on the power set line 325 of fig3 . by pressing the &# 34 ; delay &# 34 ; function button , the delay signal light on the memory signal light panel flashes and the operator is able to select a specific vacuum delay time from 00 . 1 to 999 seconds . the &# 34 ; inspect &# 34 ; button is used in conjunction with the delay mode . by pressing the &# 34 ; inspect &# 34 ; button , the inspect signal light on the memory signal light panel illuminates . this enables the operator to inspect the vacuum chamber evacuation before the exposure starts . to continue the exposure , the operator must press &# 34 ; start &# 34 ;. if a problem is found with the vacuum chamber evacuation , &# 34 ; cancel &# 34 ; may be pressed and the program returns to the beginning of the exposure program and the vacuum pump is shut off . the &# 34 ; cancel &# 34 ; button can be used to cancel exposure before it is complete . to reset the integrator after an exposure program is completed as well as to reset the count mode and the focus mode , when they are selected . the &# 34 ; start &# 34 ; button is used to initiate exposure programs and to reset the integrator after the exposure program is completed . by pressing the &# 34 ; 1 / 10 &# 34 ; button , the operator can select an exposure setting or delay time to tenths of units or seconds . that is , when &# 34 ; 1 / 10 &# 34 ; is depressed , a decimal point of a numeric value being changed moves one digit to the left . upon pressing the &# 34 ; count &# 34 ; button , the operator can see the sum of completed exposures from all exposure programs . to retain the total memory after inquiry , press &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ;. to reset the count to zero , press &# 34 ; cancel &# 34 ;. pressing the &# 34 ; lock &# 34 ; function key illuminates the &# 34 ; lock &# 34 ; signal light on the constant signal light panel . this will disable the numeric keys as well as the filter key , the time / integrate / quartz key , the output key and the a - step key . these keys can be unlocked by pressing &# 34 ; lock &# 34 ; a second time . by pressing the &# 34 ; m - step &# 34 ; key , the operator will be able to sequentially scroll through the program channels and program number will be displayed on the readout 608 . by pressing &# 34 ; a - step &# 34 ; once , the &# 34 ; auto &# 34 ; step function is activated , and the &# 34 ; a - step &# 34 ; signal light on the memory signal light panel will illuminate . this function allows the operator to make the integrator proceed to the next consecutive exposure program channel when it completes an exposure program that has a step function selected . by pressing the &# 34 ; a - step &# 34 ; button once more , the continuous vacuum function will be activated and the &# 34 ; cont vac &# 34 ; signal light on the memory signal light panel will also illuminate . this continuous vacuum function allows the operator to maintain a vacuum drawdown between auto step exposures . thus , if desired , the same negative and light sensitive material could be used with two different filter settings or power exposures or whatever is required to expose the materials . pressing the &# 34 ; filter &# 34 ; function key selects a filter or combination of filters that can be stored in an exposure program . upon execution of the exposure program , the appropriate filters will move into position before the exposure begins . by repeatedly pressing &# 34 ; filter &# 34 ;, the operator can select the desired combination of filters . assuming the filters are identified as filters a , b and c , logic pattern for filter selection is : a ; b ; c ; ab ; ac ; bc ; abc . during the selection process , the appropriate signals lights for the selected filter will illuminate on the memory signal light panel . exposures may need to be changed due to variables in film speed , chemistry , number of overlays , or as an option by the user . these changes are known to the art as compensations , and the present invention permits compensation to be accomplished in percentages or log density . upon selecting the &# 34 ; comp - set &# 34 ; function key , the &# 34 ; comp &# 34 ; signal light on the memory signal light panel flashes and the readout reads . 00 . the &# 34 ; density &# 34 ; signal light also illuminates . by pressing the &# 34 ;% d &# 34 ; button , the signal light display will read 00 . and the % signal light will illuminate . note that the % and &# 34 ; density &# 34 ; signal lights are located on the constants signal light panel . a compensation value may be entered via the numeric keypad by entering the digits and then depressing &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ;. when a compensation has been entered , the &# 34 ; comp - led &# 34 ; on the memory signal light panel will remain illuminated along with either the &# 34 ;%&# 34 ; or &# 34 ; density &# 34 ; signal light on the constants signal light panel . to clear a compensation value , select &# 34 ; comp &# 34 ; and enter &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; as a value , then press &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ;. while in the compensation mode , whether it be &# 34 ;%&# 34 ; or &# 34 ; density &# 34 ;, depressing the &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; button switches the entered compensation value to a minus value . once the compensation mode has been selected , the % density mode of compensation can be selected by pressing the &# 34 ;% d &# 34 ; button . this converts the value shown in the readout from a % to a density . for example , if 0 . 4 is entered as a density and the &# 34 ;% d &# 34 ; button pressed , the value changes to 10 %, with &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ; showing in the readout display . then , pressing &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ; adds the selected value to the exposure program . thus , if a 10 second exposure is programmed and &# 34 ; start &# 34 ; is pressed , the count will begin at &# 34 ; 11 &# 34 ; so that the exposure is 10 % greater than was originally programmed . while still in the compensation mode , if the &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; button has been pressed , the example exposure would have started at &# 34 ; 9 &# 34 ;, 10 % less than the selected exposure . upon initially powering up the apparatus , the &# 34 ; integrate &# 34 ; mode will be automatically selected as indicated by illumination of the &# 34 ; integrate &# 34 ; signal light on the memory signal light panel . the &# 34 ; integrate &# 34 ; function provides consistent exposures by compensating for power fluctuations as well as lamp deterioration . it does so by evaluating the light as actually received on the vacuum frame 20 , particularly as measured by photocells 21 , 22 , 23 and identified in the keyboard as probes a , b , and c . the &# 34 ; integrate &# 34 ; mode of operation allows the operator to select light units of up to 999 units , by tenths of a unit if necessary . the invention permits the integration mode to be selected for each exposure . thus , by pressing the &# 34 ; t / i / q &# 34 ; button once , the quartz mode will be selected and both the &# 34 ; time &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; integrate &# 34 ; signal lights on the memory signal light panel will be illuminated . the quartz function is designed to be used in conjunction with a quartz halogen light source . in the quartz mode , the electronics continuously samples the voltage to the lamp and integrates it and selects the exposure to terminate when a desired integrated value is reached . if the voltage is low , the length of the exposure will be extended to compensate for the relative dimness of the lamp . the inverse is true if the voltage is high . by pressing &# 34 ; t / i / q &# 34 ; button once more , the time mode will be selected and the &# 34 ; time &# 34 ; signal light on the memory signal light panel will be illuminated . in the &# 34 ; time &# 34 ; function , the operator selects exposure times in seconds from a tenth of a second up to 999 seconds . in the &# 34 ; integrate &# 34 ; mode , the exposure is calibrated using the light impacting on one of the probes . the &# 34 ; probe &# 34 ; button allows the operator to select which of the three probes is to be used as the reference to be integrated . upon initial power - up , the integrator automatically selects &# 34 ; probe a &# 34 ; and the probe a signal light on the memory signal light panel is illuminated . by pressing the &# 34 ; probe &# 34 ; button once , &# 34 ; probe b &# 34 ; is selected and its signal light is illuminated . a third pressing results in the selection of &# 34 ; probe c &# 34 ; and illuminating of its associated signal light . the &# 34 ; save &# 34 ; button actuates a function to save all specific information that has been selected for the exposure program . when building an exposure program , &# 34 ; save &# 34 ; must be pressed before leaving the program channel or the information entered will be lost . when the &# 34 ; dim &# 34 ; button is pressed , all of the signal lights on the integrator extinguish ; pressing that button again reilluminates all signal lights appropriate for the stage of operation . this provides reduced illumination for particularly sensitive materials . the control panel is also provided with a vacuum regulator to control the level of vacuum in the exposure chamber and a vacuum gauge to measure the same . a vacuum switch is provided to provide for manual operation . also provided is a safe light switch which can be used to switch on and off a safe light as desired . the &# 34 ; power &# 34 ; switch on the keyboard is used to operate the control circuit , generating the power set signal 316 and discussed with respect to fig3 . those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to use the foregoing discussion of the functioning desired for the keyboard operation of the programmable features to devise suitable specific circuits using widely commercially available circuit components to carry out these functions . actuation of a particular program is accomplished by pressing the &# 34 ; m - set &# 34 ; key and a corresponding numeric value corresponding to the program number desired to be operated , followed by the &# 34 ; enter &# 34 ; key and the &# 34 ; start &# 34 ; key . during the programming of the data in a memory location , the signal light associated with the function being programmed flashes on and off to provide a prompt to the programmer of what value is being set at a particular time . similarly , during program actuation , the program sequence lights illuminate ( unless the dim mode is selected ), corresponding to the portion of the program operating at the time . the present invention has been found to improve the productivity of workers making exposures of negatives by 50 - 100 %, due to the flexibility of capabilities built into the unit , and its easy programmability and rapid adjustment from one set of operating conditions to another . three levels of protection from line voltage fluctuation are provided in this system : line voltage tap select ; integration of the light according to the desired mode ; and use of the actual power to the lamp being used to modulate the power supply to the lamp . this redundant level of protection provides maximum control over the actual exposure made . the selectability of powers output from the light permits a wide range of emulsions of light sensitive material to be used . these advantages provide accurate control and optimum productivity to provide those of ordinary skill in the art with a unique tool . various modifications to the foregoing will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art , which modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the invention as enumerated in the claims . | 6 |
describing now the drawings , in the exemplary embodiment according to fig1 the current regulator 1 and the voltage regulator 2 , connected to not particularly illustrated but conventional actual value transmitters and adjustment or positioning devices which have been merely schematically indicated by the arrows j act and u act , are selectively connected via switch means 3 to a current - reference or set value transmitter 4 and a voltage - reference value transmitter 5 , respectively , or with a control computer 6 . the positioning or adjustment device connected to the current regulator 1 acts upon a suitable electrode raising and lowering or elevational positioning device for actuating the self - consumable electrode for regulating or adjusting the lowering or immersion speed thereof , whereas the positioning or adjustment device connected to the voltage regulator 2 acts upon the tap of a regulating transformer supplying power to the electroslag - remelting apparatus which is of conventional design and therefore here not further illustrated in the drawings . the control computer 6 is connected with a resistance computer 7 and with a power value transmitter 8 to which there are connected the signal mixers or circuit sections . this control computer 6 supplies the current regulator 1 and the voltage regulator 2 with the required power value and the respective set or reference current and voltage values j &# 39 ; ref and u &# 39 ; ref which are dependent upon the resistance value delivered by the resistance computer 7 . in the control computer 6 there are arranged the appropriate adjustable limiter means or the like for setting the upper and lower thresholds of the bath active power . the portion or part of the signal delivered by the power value transmitter 8 to the control computer 6 is adjustable by means of the signal mixer 12 , 13 and to which there is connected the positioning or adjustment magnitude output 14a of the melting rate regulator 14 . by means of the signal mixer 12 , 13 there is adjusted or set the regulation and control proportion or part ( r / c ). with a control proportion or part of 100 % the signal of the power value transmitter 8 is fully effective in the control computer 6 and vice versa . the resistance value computer or resistance computer 7 is connected by means of the lines 4a and 5a with the current and voltage reference value transmitters 4 and 5 , respectively , and calculates from the values received therefrom a base value r o of the resistance . this resistance base value r o is corrected in accordance with a signal delivered by a position regulator 9 and can be inputted by means of a switch 10 . the position regulator 9 , in turn , is connected with a reference or set value transmitter 11 for the electrode immersion weight and immersion depth ( position ) and an actual value transmitter , merely schematically indicated by the arrows labelled weight act and position act at the left side of the position regulator 9 , for the actual - immersion weight and immersion depth ( position ) of the electrode . from these values there is calculated the weight of the immersed portion or part of the electrode , which is compared with the set or reference values , and in the event of a deviation there is altered the quotient of u ref and j ref , while the product is maintained constant . furthermore , the positioning regulator 9 is provided with a correction logic and computer unit or device , which evaluates both of the actual melting rates from the weight and length measurement and upon exceeding a certain differential value carries out corrections , for instance by maintaining the last determined value . the melting rate regulator 14 receives its set or reference value -- the reference melting rate mr ref -- from a melting rate transmitter 15 and its actual value from a melting rate computer 16 . by differentiating or difference forming within finite time intervals of the preferably directly determined melting weight of the electrode this melting rate computer 16 delivers a signal which preferably corresponds to the actual melting rate ( mr act ). in fig2 there are schematically illustrated various possibilities of arranging the measuring devices for determining the lowering or immersion path of the self - consumable electrode . arranged at a cable winch platform 17 is a cable winch 18 or equivalent structure and its drive 19 as well as a cable guide roll 20 . guided over this cable guide roll 20 is a cable 23 which is attached to an electrode carriage or slide 21 , this cable 23 or the like serving for displacing the electrode carriage 21 along the guide column 22 . furthermore , there are arranged upon the cable winch platform 17 or , as indicated by phantom or broken lines , upon a carrier arm or bracket 100 connected to the guide column 22 measuring value transmitters 24 for monitoring the displacement or adjustment movements of the electrode . these measuring value transmitters 24 are connected to the electrode carriage 21 by means of measuring chains 25 which advantageously extend exactly in vertical direction , so that due to rotation of a sprocket wheel or gear of the measuring value transmitter 24 meshing with the measuring chain 25 through the same angular amount corresponds to the same changes of the elevational position of the electrode . with respect to the various possible installation or mounting locations of a measuring value transmitter 24 , designated by reference numerals i , ii and iii , the installation location i delivers the most accurate measuring values , since according to this technique the measuring chain 25 practically extends along the lengthwise axis 26 of the electrode . therefore , the bending of the electrode carriage or slide 21 , which is reduced during the course of melting of the electrode , is not a factor which is incorporated into the measuring result , whereas this is the case to an increasing extent when the measuring value transmitters 24 are mounted at locations ii and iii . fig3 schematically illustrates the possibilities of arranging force - measuring value pick - ups or receivers . in an arrangement wherein the cable 23 is guided in a substantially pulley - block - like fashion a pick - up or receiver for the force - measuring values , constructed as a tension - force measuring cell 27 , can be directly built into or otherwise incorporated in the cable run ( arrangement iv ) kept at a fixed point . such tension - force measuring cell 27 equally can be arranged at a location where it picks - up or detects half the weight of the electrode carriage 21 together with the electrode 28 , apart from the negligible weight of the cable run and the friction forces between the electrode carriage 21 and the guide column 22 , and which weight , of course , changes during lowering of the electrode 28 and the electrode carriage 21 . it is possible , of course , to tare the weight part of the electrode carriage 21 by means of a subsequently arranged suitably structured evaluation circuit and from the corrected signal there can be formed the time differential or the difference within finite but very small time intervals . in contrast thereto , a tension - force measuring cell 27 remains uninfluenced by the changing weight of the cable if it is interposed , as with the mounting location v , between the loose or dancer roll 102 of the pulley - block - like cable guide and the electrode carriage 21 . however , in this case the tension - force measuring cell 27 must take - up the full weight of the electrode carriage 21 with the electrode 28 . at this installation or mounting location v the pick - up for the measuring values equally must take - up a great tare weight , i . e . the electrode carriage or slide 21 . on the other hand , at the installation or mounting locations vi there are provided pressure measuring cells 27 &# 39 ; which are supported at the electrode carriage 21 and carry a weighing platform 29 at which there is supported , in turn , the electrode 28 . this results in a comparatively smaller tare weight than with the mounting locations iv and v . furthermore , there is omitted the effects of frictional forces between the electrode carriage 21 and the guide column 22 . in fig4 to 15 there are schematically illustrated various possibilities of supporting and establishing electrical contact for the electrode 28 and which equally affect to a greater or lesser degree the measuring or measurement result of the direct weight measurement of the electrode 28 for determining the actual melting rate . with the embodiment according to fig4 and 5 , shown in elevational and plan view , respectively , the contact jaws 30 are secured to a pressing device while interposing suitable insulation 31 . this pressing or contact device essentially is composed of two levers 34 which are operatively interconnected by means of a hydraulic cylinder unit 32 or equivalent structure and hinged to a rocker bearing arrangement 33 . the rocker bearing arrangement 33 allows for a pivoting movement of the swivel or pivot levers 34 about the lengthwise axis of the rocker bearing arrangement 33 which is secured to the electrode carriage or slide 21 . by means of a lifting hydraulic unit or system 35 mounted at the electrode carriage 21 the electrode 28 can be lifted off from its support at the electrode carriage 21 by means of the cable 23 and the thereto attached insulated grasping hook 27 or the like . at the cable 23 there is arranged a tension - force measuring cell 27 . this lifting - off action is necessary in order to eliminate force shunts or by - pass paths caused by an electrode head resting upon the electrode carriage or slide 21 . the raising and lowering of the electrode 28 itself is performed by means of the electrode carriage or slide 21 . the indicated weighing platform with the measuring cells 27 &# 39 ; for pressure or compressive forces constitutes an alternative to weighing by means of measuring cells responsive to tension or traction forces . when suspending the electrode 28 the pressure - force measuring cells 27 &# 39 ; must be relieved . the current infeed lines 36 are directly connected to the contact jaws 30 and are preferably extremely flexible . with this embodiment the weight measurement of the electrode 28 is only influenced by a very small tare weight , because the weight of the contact jaws 30 together with the portions of the lever 34 facing the contact jaws 30 roughly corresponds to the weight of the hydraulic cylinder 32 together with the portions of the levers 34 which are hinged thereto . however , frictional forces occurring at the hinges of the pressing or contact device enter the weight measurement . with the embodiment according to fig6 and 7 there are welded to the head of the electrode 28 flexible copper bands or strips 36 &# 39 ;. these copper bands or strips 36 &# 39 ; can be connected to the contact jaws 30 which can be closed by means of the hydraulic cylinder 32 &# 39 ;. these contact jaws 30 are seated upon insulation 31 arranged at the electrode carriage or slide 21 . the current infeed lines 36 to the contact jaws 30 can be rigid or stiff because they do not affect the measurement . just as was the case for the embodiment according to fig4 and 5 , the electrode 28 is suspended at an insulated hook 37 . by means of a cable provided with a tension - force measuring cell this hook 37 is connected to the lifting hydraulic unit or system , or else is supported upon a weighing platform 29 . this results in a very small tare weight , i . e . the hook 37 , the cable or the weighing platform 29 , a part of the weight of the copper bands 36 &# 39 ; and the protection cabinet or box 38 enclosing the same . however , due to heating the copper bands 36 &# 39 ; are subject to unavoidable alterations in their flexural or bending strength which are incorporated into the measurement . yet , this embodiment affords the advantage of an especially small tare weight and an exceedingly simple construction . fig8 and 9 illustrate further embodiments , wherein the tare load acting upon the pick - ups or receivers for the force measuring values is very small . this enables selecting force - measuring pick - ups or receivers which have a correspondingly small measuring range , and thus , beneficially respond more sensitively to force changes . with this embodiment the electrode 28 is provided with an armature rod 39 which penetrates through a bushing or sleeve element 40 which is supported at the electrode carriage or slide 21 . the contact jaws 30 engage at this sleeve element 40 which is connected to the electrode 28 by means of copper bands or strips 36 &# 39 ;, which are enclosed by means of a protection cabinet or box 38 . with this embodiment the electrode 28 is weighed by a weight - measuring device which engages thereat by means of an insulated hook and contains a tension - force measuring cell . the raising and lowering of the electrode 28 is performed by means of the electrode carriage or slide 21 , at which there are supported the sleeve element 40 and the contact jaws 30 . by virtue of this construction the measurement is no longer affected by the weight of the protection cabinet or box 38 , since the latter is supported at the sleeve element 40 . with the embodiment according to fig1 and 11 the lifting and lowering device -- provided with the force - measuring device 27 or 27 &# 39 ; and formed either by the separate lifting hydraulic unit or system 35 or by the cable winch of the electrode carriage , not illustrated in fig1 and 11 --, in the event there are used a weighing platform 29 and pressure - force measuring cells 27 &# 39 ;, engages at the contact jaw 30 &# 39 ;. this contact jaw 30 &# 39 ; is supported upon the weighing platform 29 or the electrode carriage , respectively , so as to be insulated either by means of the insulation 31 or directly by means of the electrode carriage . the contact jaw 30 &# 39 ; is provided with a self - adjusting surface which extends , for instance , in a substantially cone - shaped fashion and in which there are arranged contact blocks 41 . this self - adjusting surface of the contact jaw 30 &# 39 ; is provided with a slot 42 which substantially corresponds in size to the diameter of the rod of the electrode 28 . through this slot 42 there can be laterally inserted the rod of the electrode 28 which is provided , for instance , with a substantially conical head , which thus can be seated in the substantially cone - shaped contact jaw 30 &# 39 ;. if the weight of the electrode 28 is not sufficient for achieving a faultless electrical contact in the contact jaw 30 &# 39 ;, then there can be attained an increase in the contact pressure exerted by the conical head of the electrode 28 upon the contact blocks 41 of the contact jaw 30 &# 39 ; by means of the clamping arms 44 which are actuatable by means of the hydraulic cylinder means or unit 43 . the contact jaw 30 &# 39 ; beneficially is attached to the lifting hydraulic system 35 by means of a cardan - joint suspension through the tension - force measuring cells 27 , or supported at the weighing platform 29 . to increase the measuring precision it is beneficial , with the embodiment under discussion , to use extremely flexible copper bands or strips for the current supply . a similar embodiment is portrayed in fig1 and 13 , but instead of one cone - shaped contact jaw 30 &# 39 ; here there are employed two contact jaws 30 between which the head of the electrode 28 can be clamped . these contact jaws 30 are provided with two substantially cylindrical surfaces and are movable towards each other by means of two hydraulic cylinders 32 &# 39 ;. when using tension - force measuring cells 27 , wherein one of them may be found to be sufficient , as shown by referring to fig1 , the cables connected to these measuring cells or this measuring cell 27 as the case may be , engage at a holder or support 45 which guides the contact jaws 30 . connected to this holder or support 45 are the hydraulic cylinders 32 &# 39 ;. if there are employed pressure - force measuring cells 27 &# 39 ; the same can possibly engage directly at or be supported at the holder 45 . in the embodiment according to fig1 and 15 the head of the electrode 28 is provided with an axial non - circular bore 50 and two non - circular bores 49 extending transversely with respect to the axial bore 50 . at this head of the electrode 28 there engages the insulated hook of the weight measuring device which is provided with here not particularly illustrated tension - force measuring cells . in the embodiment under discussion the contact jaws 30 &# 34 ; are pierced by a traction rod 47 provided with a hammer head 46 and impacted by a suitable spring 48 . this spring 48 is arranged in a housing 51 and can be compressed , for load - relieving the traction rod 47 , by means of a sleeve element 52 and a rocker 53 . furthermore , there is arranged at the housing 51 a pivoting or turning device 54 which is connected to the traction rod 47 and allows pivoting the same through an angle of 90 °, so that the traction rod 47 can be inserted into the non - circular bores 49 and thereafter pivoted , so that following release of the spring 48 the hammer head 46 of the traction rod 47 bears against the inner wall of the bore 50 and presses the contact jaws 30 &# 34 ; against the head of the electrode 28 , while the contact jaws 30 &# 34 ; are only loosely guided by the base plate 55 . with this embodiment there is ensured for a reliable self - clamping electrical contact action , wherein force shunts or by - pass paths are avoided with respect to the weight measurement . fig1 illustrates an alternative to directly weighing the electrode . here the entire ingot or block is weighed and through the increase in the block weight there is determined the molten block weight . the weighing device is formed by weight measuring cells arranged below the cooled block or ingot carriage . with lifting molds there occur considerable force shunts between the block and the mold , so that the weighing result is distorted or falsified . for this reason either the mold carriage has to be weighed , analogous to the electrode carriage in fig3 or better still the mold itself is weighed by means of weight measuring cells . consequently , the measuring values are : g bo block or ingot weight after the last electrode , g . sub . σ momentary indicated apparent ingot or block weight , g s slag weight and g mold momentary appararent weight of the lifting mold . thus , the momentary melting weight g g of the electrode is : wherein t is the reference to taring to zero of the empty mold and ingot or block carriage . with this arrangement the expenditure is greater than with the arrangements discussed above , but there is afforded the advantage of avoiding the affects of the current infeed lines . while there are shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention , it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims . | 2 |
a preferred embodiment of the present invention is outlined in fig1 . it consists of several fundamental steps where : step 100 entails the application of electrodes on a subject &# 39 ; s scalp . this requires a practical method to hold the electrodes in place on the scalp so as to make good electrical contact . typically this is accomplished with manually attached electrodes with adhesives or caps / cap - like structures that fit over a subject &# 39 ; s scalp that integrate or have adapters for the electrodes ; a number of these are commercially available . a conductive medium is also generally required for the conductance of electrical signals between the scalp and electrodes ; typically the conductive medium is the same as the adhesive used , although it can be separate . the positions of the electrodes may be known to assist in the localization calculations , or generalized electrode positions based on ratios or morphological features of the scalp , such as the 10 - 20 system , may be utilized . the electrodes may also be placed symmetrically , or asymmetrically , around the subject &# 39 ; s head and different caps with varying numbers of electrodes and electrode spacing may also be utilized . custom electrodes may also be utilized with varying geometrical shapes and configurations . step 200 entails the connecting of the electrodes to the eeg amplifier / recorder that digitizes signals obtained from electrodes placed on a subject &# 39 ; s scalp . the particular setup used in the demonstrated reduction to practice includes a twente medical systems international ( tmsi ) refa32 digital eeg recorder . step 300 entails the receiving of electrical signals from the subject by the eeg amplifier / recorder . step 400 entails the capturing of relevant electrical signals by a computer , from the eeg amplifier / recorder . this is a multi - step process as the signal that is output by the amplifier / recorder is unusable in its raw state . it is at this point data may be subjected to near real - time component and feature isolation and artifact ( noise ) removal , such as those generated by movement , interfering electric fields , and what is known as the ‘ dc - offset ’ ( the potential difference , or voltage , resulting from the interface between scalp and electrode which is far larger in magnitude than any of the relevant electrophysiological signals ). the filters may include , but are not limited to ; low , high , band - pass , or band - stop filtering , discrete fourier analysis , kalmann filtering , z or hilbert transforms , or similar analytical filtering or spectral analysis techniques known to those skilled in the art . for example , dc - offset would be removed using a frequency filter such as the fast fourier transform ( fft ), or windowed sinc filter to remove all very low frequencies , typically below 0 . 1 hz . eeg data filters generally operate by transforming the most recently acquired eeg signal ( or frames , where the number of frames acquired per second is equal to the sampling frequency of the eeg amplifier / recorder ) by a process specific to the particular filter in question ; for example , the windowed sinc filter , designed to isolate or remove a range of frequencies would involve convolving the most recent segment of eeg frames acquired from the recorder with the filter kernel ( generated from the specified parameters of high and low ends of a frequency range along with the intention to band - pass or band - stop those frequencies ). it is noted that dc - offset removal may not be required if another filter operates on the data such that the removal would be superfluous ; an example of this would be a band - pass filter between 8 and 12 hz , as all & lt ; 0 . 1 hz frequencies would be removed inherently . it is also during this step that the electrical signals ( either pre - or post - filtering ) may be recorded to random access memory , onto an external media such as a cd , dvd or cassette , or onto a hard drive . the particular setup used in the demonstrated reduction to practice includes an intel pentium iv - 2 . 4 ghz desktop computer with 1 gb of ram . the software utilized by the demonstrated reduction to practice is designed in a way that multiple filters can run in tandem on the same set of data , and the filters exist as dynamic linked libraries such that they can be expanded and upgraded independently of the main program ( hereafter defined as plugin architecture ); the software can also record pre - and post - filtered electrical signals to random access memory , hard disk , or both . step 500 entails the use of a computer in processing the captured electrical signals from step 400 , transforming it into localized electrical activity represented within three - dimensional space using a mathematical procedure , or combination of procedures . fig2 expands on this step when using inverse solution approximation algorithms for localization . at this point , the localized electrical activity data can optionally be filtered , e . g . for statistics , near - real time diagnostics , state changes . this also utilizes plugin architecture . after the transformation , the data can optionally be displayed on a monitor in near - real time . near - real time recording and 3d localization of electrical activity is accomplished by the continuous capture and processing of eeg data ( steps 300 - 500 ; a loop of operation ) until the termination of the procedure . localization of electrical activity utilizing an inverse solution approximation — fig2 fig2 depicts the transformation of electrical signals captured and processed by the computer , from the eeg amplifier / recorder into a 3d solution space utilizing an inverse solution approximation . the inverse solution approximation involves a transformation matrix that converts electrical signals into localized electrical activity confined to a solution space , representing the volume and shape of the cerebral cortex . localization is accomplished by multiplication of each new frame of captured eeg data ( e ) by a transformation matrix ( t ) that is generated by the inverse solution approximation algorithm in use to yield the array of voxels containing localized electrical activity ( v ). voxels are defined as discrete units of volume within the solution space and they contain the localized electrical activity for that particular region of the cerebral cortex . the localized electrical activity for each voxel is represented as a three - dimensional vector with an x , y and z component . the demonstrated reduction to practice currently implements the inverse solution approximation algorithm known as loreta , details of which can be found in : pascual - marqui r d , michel c m , lehmann d . low resolution electromagnetic tomography : a new method for localizing electrical activity in the brain . international journal of psychophysiology 1994 , 18 : 49 - 65 . any appropriate inverse solution approximation algorithm could be used ; other possibilities include but are not limited to : hamalainen m s , ilmoniemi r j ( 1984 ): interpreting measured magnetic fields of the brain : estimates of current distributions . technical report tkk - f - a559 . helsinki : helsinki university of technology . ii ) l1 minimum norm , also known as the selective minimum norm , inverse solution : matsuura k , okabe y ( 1995 ): selective minimum - norm solution of the biomagnetic inverse problem . ieee trans biomed eng 42 : 608 - 615 . backus g , gilbert f ( 1968 ): the resolving power of gross earth data . geophys j r astron soc 16 : 169 - 205 . grave de peralta menendez r , gonzalez andino s l ( 1999 ): backus and gilbert method for vector fields . hum brain mapp 7 : 161 - 165 . fuchs m , wagner m , kastner j . boundary element method volume conductor models for eeg source reconstruction . clin neurophysiol 2001 ; 112 : 1400 - 7 . andino s . electrical neuroimaging based on biophysical constraints . neuroimage 2004 ; 21 : 527 - 39 . r . d . pascual - marqui , standardized low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography ( sloreta ): technical details . methods & amp ; findings in experimental & amp ; clinical pharmacolgoy 2002 , 24d : 5 - 12 . author &# 39 ; s version , details of which can be found at liu h , schimpf p h , dong g , gao x , yang f , gao s ieee trans biomed eng . 2005 october ; 52 ( 10 ): 1681 - 91 . standardized shrinking loreta - focuss ( sslofo ): a new algorithm for spatio - temporal eeg source reconstruction . the demonstrated reduction to practice also currently implements a solution space of 2394 voxels available in the public domain , based on the mni - 305 template of neuroanatomical data from the montreal neurological institute ( mni ), based on the averaging of 305 mri scans of human brains . this solution space is first described in : a . c . evans and d . l . collins and s . r . mills and e . d . brown and r . l . kelly and t . m . peters , “ 3d statistical neuroanatomical models from 305 mri volumes ”, proc . ieee - nuclear science symposium and medical imaging conference , 1813 - 1817 , 1993 . any appropriate cortical solution space could be used ; other possibilities include but are not limited to : a ) the international consortium for brain mapping 152 brain average ( icbm152 ): evans , a . c ., collins , d . l ., et al ., three - dimensional correlative imaging : applications in human brain mapping . in : huerta , m . ( ed . ), functional neuroimaging : technical foundations . academic press , san diego , pp . 145 - 162 , 1994 . b ) talairach space : talairach , j ., tournoux , p ., co - planar stereotaxic atlas of the human brain . thieme , new york , 1988 c ) the pediatric solution space in development at the pediatric data center at the mni d ) an individualized solution space derived from a subject &# 39 ; s own mri or ct scan . the basic display result using the mni 305 solution space is demonstrated in fig5 a . first successful reduction to practice of the present invention — fig3 fig3 depicts the first successful reduction to practice of the present invention . the hardware utilized at the time was the tmsi refa32 digital eeg recorder connected to a 19 electrode (+ 1 ground ) neuroscan cap , and an intel pentium iv - 2 . 4 ghz desktop computer with 1 gb of ram , although we have later successfully included the use of 32 (+ 1 ground ) medcat silver chloride ( agcl ) sintered ring electrodes . the demonstrated reduction to practice utilizes custom - written software by the inventors . the software written to implement the methods of this invention is designed to : a . display both near - real time and pre - recorded data using three - dimensional cubes ( known as voxels ) projected onto a two - dimensional display surface ( i . e . the screen ), and can freely be manipulated in ways that allow for the visualization of any region , whether on the surface or buried within the rest of the grey matter . this is true three - dimensional near - real time manipulation of the cortex . b . use the opengl library to display the three - dimensional graphics , although other three - dimensional application programming interfaces may be supported in the future . c . be programmed in c ++ and speed - optimized to allow fast user responsiveness and the execution of many potential data filters and display windows . d . display multiple windows corresponding to different points of view of the cortex ( vantage points ), display options , or sets of data filters . e . handle far larger data - sets than similar non - real - time methods found in prior art ; the amount of data that can be analyzed is solely limited by the amount of memory of the computer the analysis is performed on . f . run on any computer that can run microsoft windows ™, although the responsiveness is dependant on both the speed of the video card and microprocessor within the computer ; other operating systems may be supported in the future . g . be intuitive and easy to use , extending its accessibility to individuals without developed computer skills . fig4 - 6 depict three groups of tools that allow the human operator to manipulate and display localized electrical activity within the solution space comprised of voxels . they are a selection of independent tools whose use is not required for the function of the present invention ; they serve to facilitate analysis and interpretation . these tools may be utilized alone or in any combination . group 1 : tools to manipulate the graphical display and analysis of voxels — fig4 fig4 depicts diagrams that demonstrate the various ways by which the voxels that comprise the solution space can be displayed . generally , each voxel within the solution space utilized is displayed using 3d graphics , as a discrete cube ( 6 sided polygons ) within each voxel &# 39 ; s own assigned position as determined by the solution space model used . each solution space may be given its own display window , or superimposed onto an existing window . fig4 a depicts the solution space comprised of voxels in three points of view , drawn as a 3d array of cubes ; front ( left ), top ( middle ), and right ( right ) views . fig4 b depicts the tool for near - real time translucent visualization of displayed voxels ; on the left is the solution space with the tool enabled , whereas the solution space on the right has the tool disabled . the purpose of this tool is to allow the operator to visualize activity occurring at all depths . this is useful for viewing the entire cortex at a glance , as it will reveal all inner activity with the same weighting as any surface activity , and instantly reveal any significant deeper signals . this is achieved by means of drawing all voxels with additive blending , that is , instead of replacing the pre - existing pixels of the 2d projection plane ( i . e . the screen ) of the 3d solution space ( that is subsequently rendered to the screen ), we add the pixel values of the current object drawn closer to the viewing plane to the pre - existing pixels . for example , if there was a voxel with a value of 100 , and we drew a new voxel that would partially or completely occlude the underlying voxel , with a value of 50 , the resulting area where the two voxels overlap would have a value of 150 . if additive blending was not used that area would have a value of 50 , and the new voxel would have partially or completely replaced the color value of the deeper voxel depending on the spatial arrangement of the two voxels . fig4 c depicts the tool for near - real time spatially filtered data on the basis of regions of interest ( roi ). this is useful in such applications as when the operator is interested in only one region of the cortex . such areas may be deep inside the cortex thus making it desirable to filter out regions that are not of interest while the near - real time display or analysis is being generated . we achieved roi filtration by implementing a spatial filter that takes a single 3d coordinate selected by the user and then only processes those voxels that are within the spherical boundary defined by the user as a radius from that central coordinate . fig4 d depicts the tool for near - real time spatially filtered data on the basis of neuroanatomical information . this is useful as there is a massive amount of scientific literature on the subject of what is called functional localization , with a great deal known about the function of many regions of the brain . there is a need in research and in clinical work to be able to focus on a region of interest , so as to be able to later correlate findings made by imaging or analysis with what is known about a particular neuroanatomical region . we achieved this spatial filtering by assigning each voxel multiple description fields by which they could be identified as being part of a series of neuroanatomical regions , and then only displaying those voxels that are members of the neuroanatomical region in question . in the implementation demonstrated , the neuroanatomical classifications of each voxel originate from a table generated by the montreal neurological institute based on the solution space currently utilized by the software and described previously ( mni - 305 ). fig4 e depicts the tool to control the display of voxel size . this enables reductions in voxel size to allow for visualization of buried features . this is useful when looking at 3d images the cortex and when it is desirable to look at underlying voxels while preserving their colorimetric values that may be lost using other tools ( e . g . the translucent visualization tool ). this method essentially shrinks the displayed size of each voxel , effectively creating gaps in between the voxels , allowing for the visualization of deeper voxels . we achieved this by adding a scale parameter s within the voxel drawing function that draws 3d cubes of a length , width , and height of the standard voxel size , v * s . the variable s , unless otherwise specified by this tool has a value of one ( 1 ). fig4 f depicts the tool for visualization of voxel outlines in a disabled state , since this tool is especially useful in delineating the boundaries between individual voxels as can clearly be seen in every figure of this section . this was achieved by drawing a series of 12 lines , forming a wire - frame cube of a slightly larger size than the solid polygons comprising the voxels . the x , y and z axes , further described in fig6 e , are labeled in this figure to orient the reader . fig4 g depicts the tool for the near - real time selective display of cortical shells to view buried visual features . this is useful for removing surface features that may otherwise occlude the visualization of significant events deeper within the cortex . we achieve this by means of assigning each voxel within the solution space a shell number , of an integer type , based on its distance from the center of the solution space . only those voxels that have a shell number matching the range of shells to be displayed are then displayed on the screen . the demonstrated implementation of this tool divides the cortex into five distinct shells . group 2 : tools to analyze and graphically display localized electrical activity — fig5 fig5 depicts diagrams that demonstrate the various ways by which the electrical activity within each voxel can be represented graphically . as mentioned in fig2 , the inverse solution approximation algorithms output 3 values for each voxel of the solution space , for each given instance in time ; an x - component ( x ), a y - component ( y ), and a z - component ( z ) of a vector indicating the amount ( magnitude ) of electrical activity and a direction in which this electric activity is moving . generally , there are two approaches to represent this electrical activity ; displaying within each voxel , the magnitude ( m ; defined as the square root of the sum of the components squared ; m =√( x 2 + y 2 + z 2 )) of the electrical activity vector ( defined as current density ) of that voxel as a shade of color , increasing in intensity as electrical activity increases ; and secondly , displaying the magnitude and direction of the electrical activity vector as a line with a distinct direction and magnitude emanating from the center of each voxel . fig5 a depicts the electrical activity of each voxel within the entire solution space as shades of color . this represents the magnitude , or amount , of electrical activities occurring within the solution space . fig5 c depicts the first 54 voxels of the solution space , represented in the same way , for increased clarity . this essentially represents the amount of each current density in each voxel as the color of the voxel . this is useful as the operator needs a convenient method of continuously visualizing the level of electrical activity in a voxel or a set of voxels without having to resort to looking at tables and numbers from which these activity levels are internally derived . this is also very useful as a shortcut to help the viewer to recognize such patterns as “ hot spots ” of high activity and hot clusters , cold spots and cold clusters and current density gradients from one voxel to another . we achieved this by multiplying the value of the current density at each instant by a user - adjustable scalar ( referred herein as the display gain ) that is then used as a parameter by the voxel drawing function to determine its displayed color . in the current implementation reduced to practice , a bright blue shade indicates high levels of electrical activity , and darker blue shades , lower levels ; other single color shades or false - color spectra are easily possible . fig5 b depicts the electrical activity of each voxel within the entire solution space as a combination of shades of colors and lines . the lines represent both the magnitude and direction of the electrical activities within the solution space while the shades represent only the magnitude , as shown in fig5 a and 5c . the lines protruding from the voxels shown in fig5 b directly represent the vectors of electrical activity . fig5 d depicts the first 54 voxels of the solution space , represented in the same way , for increased clarity . we achieved this by drawing a line from the center of the voxel ( c ) to the center of the voxel plus the voxel &# 39 ; s electrical activity vector ( v ) multiplied by a scalar ( s ) ( referred herein as the vector gain ); in symbolic form this means drawing a line from c to c + v * s . there are several ways to further display these vectors of electrical activity . in the current implementation reduced to practice , the vector is drawn in white . fig5 e depicts the electrical activity vectors as two - tailed entities for purposes such as the facilitation of the correlation between voxels and their nearby electrode positions . this is accomplished by drawing a second line from c to c − v * s for each voxel . in this drawing , the thicker lines represent vectors in the opposite direction to the electrical activity while the thinner lines represent the true vectors ; in addition , only the first 54 voxels of the solution space are represented for increased clarity . in the current implementation reduced to practice , the true vector is drawn in red , while the negative vector is drawn in blue . fig5 f depicts only the directional ( angular ) information of the electrical activity vectors in the first 54 voxels of the solution space . this is accomplished by normalizing each vector to a length of one by dividing each vector component by the magnitude of the vector ; x ′= x / m , y ′= y / m , z ′= z / m . fig5 g depicts the use of thresholds to limit the display of electrical activity to only those in a top percentage group , selected by the user . the top - left panel of fig5 g depicts 100 % of the electrical activity , the top - right depicts the top 50 % of activity , and the bottom - middle depicts only the top 25 % of electrical activity within the solution space . fig6 depicts diagrams that demonstrate the various ways by which the graphical displayed results can be further modified . fig6 a depicts the utilization of multiple display windows . this is useful for examining several sources of data , or several aspects of a single recording at once . we achieve this by means of instantiating a number of new memory buffers and display windows corresponding to the number of windows desired to be displayed . the example depicted in this figure demonstrates the usage of multiple display windows to display the same data whose original eegs have been filtered with multiple frequency parameters in near - real time ; the top left image has been filtered between 1 - 3 hz , top right 4 - 7 hz , bottom left 8 - 12 hz , bottom right 12 - 16 hz . in addition to displaying the contents of multiple results in separate windows , they can be displayed in a single window , where each display result has a different color - key ; this has also been reduced to practice but for practical reasons , cannot easily be depicted in the diagrams . these powerful features are very useful for such applications as sleep medicine and the monitoring of neurology patients . fig6 b depicts the tool for mouse - controlled free rotation . this is useful as the operator can in near - real time simultaneously observe the shifts in the electrical activity and perform mouse controlled free rotation manipulations of the display so as to observe all angles of the 3d cerebral cortex . this gives the operator the power to see the cortex from any angle and not be restricted to fixed views such as front , back , bird &# 39 ; s eye and side views ( which is a drawback of tomography ). we achieved this by generating a standard 3d rotation matrix from variables specifying the degrees of rotation around each of the 3 axes , x , y , and z , then using that matrix in successive transformations , in a manner well known to those skilled in the art . fig6 c depicts the tool for mouse - controlled brain panning . this is useful as it allows free movement outside and even inside the solution space to allow for the visualization of tiny areas within the cerebral cortex . we achieved this by generating a 3d translation vector from variables specifying the operator &# 39 ; s ‘ camera ’ position in each of the 3 axes , x , y , and z , then using that vector in successive transformations , in a manner well known to those skilled in the art . fig6 d depicts the tool for the display of electrode positions . this allows the operator to visualize , relative to the solution space , where the electrodes that collect the raw electrical signals have been placed . this is useful as it allows the operator to correlate the contribution of a particular electrode to the observed electrical activity . this was accomplished by drawing spheres at the 3d coordinates of the electrodes utilized by the present invention , transformed to the solution space coordinate system , dependant on which solution space is utilized . fig6 e depicts the tool to mark axes . this is useful as when the cortex is imaged on a screen the operator can easily be disoriented and not know what part of the cortex they are looking at . this is especially true when the cortex is being rotated frequently by the mouse - controlled free rotation tool . we therefore have implemented a method to draw the x , y , and z axes of the cortex so as to aid the operator in knowing where up , down , left , right , front and back are . this was accomplished by drawing 3 lines , all originating from the center of the 3d solution space , and terminating at boundaries slightly larger than the dimensions of the solution space . at the line termini , text identifiers of each axis (“ x ”, “ y ”, and “ z ”) are drawn . fig6 f depicts the tool to simultaneously display and navigate through eeg and 3d images . this is useful as people in the eeg field often have a considerable knowledge of cortical activity based on wave forms and spikes visible on eeg . we have observed in our own experience that there is a synergistic effect in making near - real time eeg and near - real time 3d cortical imaging visible to the operator simultaneously . we have implemented this in a manner which time locks the eeg signal display and the corresponding 3d images so as to allow the operator to correlate the two , and this feature is available in near - real time . this has been reduced to practice as part of the invention &# 39 ; s custom software , as shown in this figure . fig6 g depicts the tool for the near - real time display of the name , location , and current density of a voxel . this is accomplished by drawing the number , numerical value of the current density , location in the solution space , and neuroanatomical regions of a selected voxel into a window for the current instance in time . fig6 h depicts the tool for the alphanumeric display of a predetermined list of voxels in near - real time . the voxel number , hemisphere ( side ), the associated brodmann area ( a neuroanatomical classification system based on human brain histology developed by korbinian brodmann in 1909 ), major anatomical region , minor anatomical region , the magnitude of the electrical activity ( current density ) at the current instant in time , and the x - component , the y - component , and the z - component of electrical activity vector at the current instant in time are all displayed as alphanumeric text in a window . this is accomplished by drawing the values for these aforementioned fields that already exist in memory from preceding calculations or stored tables , as text in the window . fig7 - 15 depict flowcharts that describe the steps involved in the utilization of the present invention and its intended applications . the solid boxes represent required steps , while the dashed boxes represent optional steps . the arrows represent sequential orders of execution beginning with the steps connected to the tail ends of the arrows , then ending with the heads of the arrows . hollow diamond shapes with solid borders represent decision steps , and the filled octagons represent termination steps , where operation of the present invention ceases . smaller symbols that appear inside steps are represented as follows ; solid triangle for a step requiring the human operator to interpret a result or alert ; solid square for a step requiring the human operator to select a parameter or purpose ; and a solid diamond for a step requiring the human operator to setup an apparatus . a preferred embodiment of the present invention and its particular applications — fig7 fig7 depicts a master flowchart for the 8 applications of the present invention along with steps that are required for all 8 , and optional steps that are application specific pertaining to analysis , and setup of the application . fig7 a describes an extended scheme by which the present invention operates in a preferred embodiment , whereas fig1 depicted the most basic embodiment . steps 100 - 500 in fig7 a are identical to those in fig1 , hence do not need to be described again . however , following step 500 , the present invention may optionally be involved in executing a particular application ( listed in fig7 b , and further described in fig8 - 15 ), chosen by the human operator , as depicted by step 714 . the execution of a particular application may involve the further spatial filtering of voxels , by which only those voxels that are deemed by the application to be relevant or of interest are included in subsequent calculations , as depicted by step 716 . step 718 depicts the optional step where only voxels exceeding or falling within a certain threshold of electrical activity would be included in subsequent calculations ; for example , only those voxels that are in the bottom 50 % of electrical activities at the present time would be included in further steps . step 720 - 724 refers to the optional display and manipulations of the voxels and localized electrical activity , as previously described in fig4 - 6 . at this point , the displayed voxels and localized electrical activity may optionally then be incorporated into the final presentation method , described further below and depicted in step 712 . alternatively , instead of graphically displaying the localized electrical activity , as in steps 720 - 724 , the localized electrical activity may be displayed as alphanumeric text , as demonstrated in fig6 h and depicted in step 736 , followed by the optional incorporation into the final presentation method , depicted by step 712 . step 710 depicts the optional acquisition of signals in near - real time from other devices , such as those that capture video , audio , physiological parameters , or information from remote locations ( as in the case of telemedicine ), which could then further contribute to the function and operation of the invention . step 70 depicts the setting up of the other devices or effectors involved in the acquisition of additional signals , manipulating the environment , or functioning as transmitters to remote locations . this is further elaborated upon in fig7 c . step 712 entails a final presentation method to present results to the human operator of the invention , which generally may be any one or combination of the items below : i ) a single screen display with one window , ii ) a single screen display with multiple windows , iii ) a multiple screen display with single windows , iv ) a multiple screen display with multiple windows , v ) an audio speaker . the selection of the type of final presentation method will depend on the particular application of the present invention . following step 712 , the human operator may interpret the results presented using the final presentation method and then act accordingly , depending on the intended application for the present invention , as depicted in step 734 . step 730 follows step 400 , the capturing of electrical signals ( eeg signals , since they originated from the cerebral cortex ) from the amplifier / recorder , and it depicts the optional further processing of the eeg signals , that extends beyond the filtering described in step 400 ; this may include examining the signals for certain features or thresholding activity originating from within any or all electrodes . step 732 follows step 730 , in that the eeg signals may then be displayed on a screen , and optionally further incorporated into the final presentation method in step 712 . this has been reduced to practice as part of the invention &# 39 ; s custom software , as shown in the right panel of fig6 f . this was accomplished by drawing onto the display each electrode name on the screen in a vertical list , and for each electrode , drawing lines connecting each data point ( with each point representing the electrical potential read from the electrode and captured with the computer from the amplifier / recorder at that time in the y axis and the time of capture in the x axis ), preceding the present time . stimulation of the subject , depicted in step 726 , may also be an optional step during the operation of the present invention ( depicted as leading into step 300 , the start of the near - real time loop of operation ) as it may be a relevant requirement of the chosen application of the present invention . this stimulation may be performed in several ways : a ) auditory stimulation , such as the playing of sounds or audio recordings with a speaker , or live in the subject &# 39 ; s environment , b ) visual stimulation , such as the presentation of images , c ) tactual stimulation , such as light touch , or mechanical stimulation , d ) olfactory stimulation , such as the presentation of smell , e ) internal chemoreceptor stimulation , such as the alteration of blood ph . f ) thermal stimulation , such as the presentation of a cold stimulus , g ) nociceptive stimulation , such as the presentation of a painful mechanical stimulus , h ) proprioceptive stimulation , such as the disruption of self - awareness , i ) equilibrioceptive / vestibular system stimulation , such as the disruption of the inner - ear fluid to upset balance , and j ) stimulations which evoke a specific emotion using a complex sensory stimulus and cognitive stimulation including the presentation of an idea or words or presentation of any cognitive stimulus such as one that evokes a mental change such as the recall of a memory . fig7 b lists the eight particular applications of the present invention , and serves as an index for which figure further explains each application . each application originates from fig7 a , step 714 , which calls for the execution of a particular application , decided by a human operator . the applications and their associated figures are as follows : a ) researching — fig8 , b ) diagnosing — fig9 , c ) monitoring — fig1 , d ) treating — fig1 , e ) lie detecting — fig1 , f ) educating the brain — fig1 , g ) entertaining — fig1 , and h ) effecting an industrial process — fig1 . fig7 c depicts the setup and utilization of the other devices or effectors mentioned in fig7 a , steps 70 and 710 . some particular applications may require or may benefit from additional information that supplements the subject &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity . for example , in the case of sleep medicine it is relevant to collect physiological signals from a subject , such as those from an oxygen monitor , to determine the breathing status of the subject . some particular applications may require transmitters and receivers to send and receive a subject &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity between remote locations , such as in the case of telemedicine , where the human operator that would interpret a subject &# 39 ; s condition may be located hundreds of kilometers away . step 738 depicts the setup of a transmitter and receiver for the purpose of telemedicine . the transmitter could be anything capable of sending a signal with sufficient bandwidth to capture the near - real time localized electrical activity data . this could be performed over a private network , the internet , or through wireless transmission of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths similar to those use by radio or television broadcasts . the transmitter would be located at the site where the subject is located and connected to the present invention . the receiver would be at a remote location and would use the same medium of communication that the transmitter would use , and it would be connected to an alternate ‘ remote site ’ embodiment of the present invention where the receiver would generate the electrical activity signals as opposed to a computer transforming electrical signals captured from an eeg amplifier / recorder . step 740 depicts the operation of the aforementioned transmitters and receivers . data would be transmitted at the subject site prior to fig7 a step 710 , and the data would be received at the remote site before fig7 a step 710 in the ‘ remote site ’ embodiment of the present invention . steps 742 - 748 depict the setup , capturing , recording and playing of an audio signal . the audio signal capturing device , such as a microphone connected to a soundcard in a computer , would be connected in step 742 following fig7 a step 70 . during the operation of the present invention , audio signals may then be captured for use by the present invention in fig7 a step 710 as depicted in step 744 , recorded as in step 746 , or played as in step 748 . audio signals may be recorded to random access memory , on an external media such as a cd , dvd or cassette , or onto a hard drive . playing of the audio signal could be integrated with the final presentation method in fig7 a step 712 , or accomplished using a standalone loud - speaker or equivalent . steps 750 - 756 depict the setup , capturing , recording and playing of a video signal . the video signal capturing device , such as a digital camera or camcorder connected to a video card in a computer , would be connected in step 750 following fig7 a step 70 . during the operation of the present invention , video signals may then be captured for use by the present invention in fig7 a step 710 as depicted in step 752 , recorded as in step 754 , or displayed as in step 756 . video signals may be recorded to random access memory , on an external media such as a cd , dvd or cassette , or onto a hard drive . displaying of the video signal could be integrated with the final presentation method in fig7 a step 712 , or accomplished using a standalone monitor or equivalent . steps 758 - 764 depict the setup , capturing , recording and playing of physiological signals . examples of physiological signal capturing devices include : a ) electrooculogram , b ) electromyogram , c ) electrocardiogram , d ) strain gauges , e ) piezoelectric bells , f ) inductive plethysmography , g ) impedance gauge , h ) pneumograph , i ) endoesophageal pressure monitor , j ) air flow thermistor , k ) pneumotachograph , l ) oxygenator , m ) body position monitor , n ) vibration monitor , o ) end tidal co2 monitor , p ) transcutaneous co2 monitor , q ) esophageal ph monitor , penile r ) tumescence monitor , s ) galvanometer , t ) sphygmomanometer , and u ) heart rate monitor . any one of these devices , or any combination of them may be connected to the present invention in step 758 following fig7 a step 70 . during the operation of the present invention , physiological signals may then be captured for use by the present invention in fig7 a step 710 as depicted in step 760 , recorded as in step 762 , or displayed as in step 764 . physiological signals may be recorded to random access memory , on an external media such as a cd , dvd or cassette , or onto a hard drive . displaying of the physiological signals could be integrated with the final presentation method in fig7 a step 712 , or accomplished using a standalone monitor or equivalent . fig8 depicts how the present invention may be utilized to discover a wide variety of information and insight on the involvement of the cerebral cortex by its localized electrical activity through conducting research in near - real time . this research will generate quantitative datasets on normal and abnormal conditions , disorders , and states . examples of these datasets include : i ) brain disorders , ii ) changes in the conditions of subjects with brain disorders , iii ) normal brain processes , iv ) characterization of the synergy between functional elements of the brain ( i . e . areas of the brain that work together to perform a function ), v ) cortical targets for treating diseases , vi ) lying , vii ) telling the truth , viii ) thoughts and ideas , ix ) feelings and emotions , x ) sensations , xi ) beliefs , xii ) predispositions , xiii ) planning , and xiv ) psychological states of mind . in order to perform many of the particular applications of the present invention listed in fig7 b , including diagnosing , monitoring ( especially for an improvement or deterioration ), treating , lie detecting , educating the brain , entertaining and effecting an industrial purpose , it will be necessary to first conduct research on subjects to establish parameters such as : i ) what is normal , to provide a basis of comparison towards , ii ) what is abnormal ( i . e . the signature or pattern of a particular condition , disorder or state ), iii ) thresholds , that when exceeded or have fallen below , signify something important , and iv ) correlations between two or more variables , so that if one variable changes or can be changed , the response of the other , or others , can reliable be predicted . there are two ways to establish these parameters , as mentioned by the decision step 802 ; autonomously and non - autonomously . an autonomous way of establishing parameters involves the processing of the localized electrical activity information by algorithms , without human involvement , whereas the non - autonomous establishment of these parameters initially involves a human operator observing gross phenomena , which is step 808 . the observation of gross phenomena , depicted by step 808 , means that there are changes that are noticeably visible to the operator of the present invention . one important type of observable gross phenomena is a correlation such as when the operator can see a noticeable change in a subject &# 39 ; s near - real time localized electrical activity and other cues such as gross deflections on the simultaneous near - real time eeg signals or physiological signals . these changes would be observed using the final presentation method and initial interpretation mentioned in fig7 a step 734 . however , there may other cues involved that are not related to the collection of signals , such as gross facial expressions as well as audible utterances , and gestures . after forming a judgment as to the occurrence of a correlation , the operator may use the present invention to deconstruct the associated 3d signal . for example , if one sees an interesting feature on eeg and associated localized electrical vectors that point away from that electrode &# 39 ; s position adjacent to the solution space , then one can play back the display in slow - motion and perform simultaneous viewing so as to isolate precisely which vectors are most responsible for the observation of gross phenomena . this may require the utilization of a number of the tools or procedures described in this document as well as any sort of stimulus previously mentioned . if the parameters mentioned in section [ 00099 ] are to be established autonomously , then the decision in step 804 must be made ; is the parameter going to involve a comparison , or will it depend on a correlation ? if the answer is yes , then the generation of normative datasets and abnormal datasets must occur ( steps 812 and 814 ). if the answer is no , then correlative datasets must be generated ( step 806 ). calculating statistical norms requires normal data . step 812 depicts the generation of normative data for the purpose of establishing a statistical norm . this entails the near - real time collection of localized electrical activity from a number of subjects that are healthy and are not afflicted by the condition , state or disorder that the particular research application is attempting to identify . it is possible to accomplish this in a way such that as the present invention is operating , the normative dataset would continually be added to , if the data is being stored in near - real time , either in the form of captured electrical signals , localized electrical activity , or processed localized electrical activity . in addition this same method can be utilized to generate a normative dataset for a patient &# 39 ; s own healthy state . generating an abnormal dataset , as mentioned in step 814 , requires a similar procedure with the exception that subjects are now required to be afflicted or expressing the condition , state or disorder that the research application is attempting to identify . it is possible to generate both normative and abnormal datasets in near - real time on the basis of the following items : i ) * average or standard deviation of the current density for each voxel over time , ii ) * average or standard deviation of the x , y , and z components of the localized electrical activity vectors for each voxel over time , iii ) * average or standard deviation of the localized electrical activity vector rotation over time , iv ) * average rate of change of items i - iii above ( i . e . velocity ), v ) median or mode of the current density for each voxel over time , vi ) median or mode of the x , y , and z components of the localized electrical activity vectors for each voxel over time , vii ) median or mode of the velocity of electrical activity vector rotation over time , viii ) average rate of change of items v - vii above ( i . e . velocity ), ix ) average acceleration ( i . e . rate of change of velocity ) of items i - vi above , and x ) average counts for a specific current density pattern in time such as the number of occurrences or frequency of spikes ( a sudden increase in current density ) over time . note : on items marked with an asterisk (*), the present invention has reduced to practice via the custom software . the near - real time averaging of values and calculation of standard deviations was accomplished by continuously adding the values in question ( i . e . current densities , electrical activity vectors , or electrical activity directions ) ( v ) into an memory buffer over time ( v ) and then dividing by the number of instances in time , or frames that have elapsed ( n ). in addition , the standard deviation ( s ) at any given moment can be obtained by the following well - known formula : s =√( σ ( v − v ) 2 /( n − 1 )). alternatively , averaging in near - real time over a period of time for any sort of item mentioned can be accomplished by calculating a weighted average between the previously calculated average and the current value . for example , if the invention has been operating for 1000 instances in time , or frames , to calculate the average at frame # 1001 , one would add the value at the current time , frame # 1001 , divided by 1001 , to the previous average calculated over the past 1000 frames multiplied by 1000 / 1001 . calculating the change or instantaneous velocity of a vector component , angle , or current density was accomplished by taking the difference between the value at the current frame and the value at the previous frame . calculating the rotation of the electrical activity vectors was accomplished by normalizing the vector by its magnitude , as previous described in fig5 f . once the datasets have been generated , comparisons can take place , as denoted by step 816 , to ask such questions as : i ) are these abnormal datasets significantly different from what is known to be normal ? ii ) is this subject with the condition , state or disorder that the research application is attempting to characterize the same as all the other abnormal datasets ? iii ) is this subject really normal ? to answer the above questions , statistical tests between the two datasets have to be performed . it is possible to use tests such as t - tests and its derivatives , poisson tests , x 2 tests , analysis of variance ( anova ), topographical analysis of variance ( tanova ), multiple analysis of variance ( manova ), general linear model ( glm ) tests , statistical parametric mapping ( spm ) and statistical non - parametric mapping to do this . the results of these tests could then be presented using the final presentation method , fig7 a step 712 . both t - tests and poisson tests have been reduced to practice by the present invention via the custom software . this was accomplished utilizing techniques known to those skilled in the art . to generate a correlative dataset , a similar approach to the generation of a normative or abnormal dataset can be undertaken , only that instead of establishing a comparison , a correlation between two or parameters would be generated instead , as mentioned in step 806 . based on the correlative data generated , thresholds can then be defined . for example , in section [ 00026 ] it was mentioned that alcohol intoxication exhibited increased theta activity ; if one were to measure a subject whose level of intoxication was steadily increased through the consumption of a certain fermented hops and barley containing beverage and the subject &# 39 ; s captured electrical signals were filtered for the theta range of frequencies then processed into localized electrical activity , one could plot a correlation between frontal lobe theta band localized electrical activity and level of intoxication in near - real time . one could also repeat this in a number of subjects to build a correlative index with a higher statistical power . the results of these correlative studies could then be presented using the final presentation method , fig7 a step 712 . in the context of the above example , if one were to then finally examine and interpret the correlative data , one could determine a quantitative threshold based on the theta band localized electrical activity defining at what level of activity a subject would be considered to be legally intoxicated . an additional important step in these aforementioned methods of research is the utilization of a stimulus applied to a subject to test for a response . this is encompassed by fig7 a step 726 . the present invention has been designed to perform this type of research . research into the mechanism of action of drugs and into the discovery of characteristics of lying may be performed using this method . fig9 depicts how the present invention can be utilized to diagnose the wide variety of brain disorders mentioned in section [ 00026 ]. the research application described in fig8 is very important in establishing the diagnostic parameters , patterns and datasets required for the use of this invention in diagnosis , hence many of the methods utilized by this application are similar if not identical to those in the researching application . the present invention has three principle methods to diagnosing brain disorders . two are autonomous and one is not , with the differences between the two approaches described previously in fig8 . step 902 is where the decision to use an autonomous method is made , and the particular choice depends on the suspected brain disorder or provisional diagnosis made by a clinician . this decision may not require human choice as it may be predetermined depending on the disorder . the non - autonomous method is based on observation for known characteristics , as depicted in step 912 . observation in this case means that the human operator is utilizing the final presentation method and interpretations thereof from fig7 a step 734 , with all necessary potential signals ( fig7 c ), and tools for manipulating electrical activity ( fig4 - 6 ) at the operator &# 39 ; s disposal to make a diagnosis based on the operator &# 39 ; s own experience in utilizing the present invention and interpreting for the particular brain disorder or brain disorders to be diagnosed in the patient . at this point the operator can then issue a diagnosis , as depicted in step 914 , followed by the termination of the operation of the present invention as the procedure has been completed . the autonomous methods are further divided into comparative and non - comparative methods at the decision made in step 904 . this decision may not require human choice as it may be predetermined depending on the disorder . step 906 represents the autonomous comparative method where the patient &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity is processed as mentioned in fig8 and compared to either the patient &# 39 ; s own normal dataset , or a normative dataset that is a statistical norm for healthy individuals not suffering from the patient &# 39 ; s suspected condition . the comparison would be performed utilizing a number of statistical tests , described in fig8 . step 910 represents the autonomous non - comparative method where the patient &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity is processed as mentioned in fig8 and relevant activity assessed to see if it is crossing over or under a threshold derived from either the patient &# 39 ; s own correlative dataset , or a correlative dataset from a number of patients . upon the completion of either autonomous test , a result or an alert would be indicated in step 908 , which could be interpreted by the operator either before or after integration into the final presentation method ( fig7 a step 712 ). fig1 depicts how the present invention can be utilized to monitor the wide variety of monitorable conditions that consists of the brain disorders and conditions mentioned in sections [ 00026 - 00027 ]. monitoring provides a flow of information in near - real time either locally to an observer that is in the presence of the patient or to a remote observer , by means of telemedicine techniques . monitoring can be achieved using of audio , visual , or mechanical alarms as opposed to display monitors , and when alarms are involved , a visual display monitor may not be required . many of the methods utilized by this application are similar if not identical to those in the researching and diagnosing applications . step 1002 is describes the situation wherein a decision to use an autonomous method is made , and the particular choice depends on the patient &# 39 ; s monitorable condition . this decision may not require human choice as it may be predetermined depending on the monitorable condition . the non - autonomous method is based on observation for known characteristics , as depicted in step 1012 . the operator performs this observation utilizing the tools and methods of the invention in addition to drawing upon the experience of the operator in recognizing changes in the monitorable condition . when a change is observed , the operator can then issue an alert , as depicted in step 1014 , followed by the termination of the operation of the present invention as the procedure has been completed . the autonomous methods are further divided into comparative and non - comparative methods at the decision made in step 1004 . this decision may not require human choice as it may be predetermined depending on the monitorable condition . step 1006 represents the autonomous comparative method where the patient &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity is processed as mentioned in fig8 and compared to either the patient &# 39 ; s own normal dataset , or a normative dataset that is a statistical norm for healthy individuals that are not exhibiting the patient &# 39 ; s monitorable condition . the comparison would be performed utilizing a number of statistical tests , described in fig8 . step 1010 represents the autonomous non - comparative method where the patient &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity is processed as mentioned in fig8 and relevant activity assessed to see if it is crossing over or under a threshold derived from either the patient &# 39 ; s own correlative dataset , or a correlative dataset from a number of patients . upon the completion of the autonomous test , a result or an alert indicating a chance in condition would be indicated in step 1008 , which could be interpreted by the operator either before or after integration into the final presentation method ( fig7 a step 712 ), or interpreted by the patient if a portable embodiment of the invention is utilized . fig1 depicts how the present invention can be utilized to treat the wide variety of treatable conditions that consists of the brain disorders and treatable conditions mentioned in sections [ 00026 - 00028 ]. in general , the role of the present invention in the realm of treatment is to serve as a guidance system to help target a particular treatment . this would be accomplished by using the present invention to isolate a target region or a target electrical activity pattern which is characteristic of a treatable condition . subsequently a corrective action is taken using any of a number of treatment modalities , described below . many of the methods utilized by this application are similar if not identical to those in the researching , diagnosing , and monitoring applications . step 1102 is where decision to use an autonomous method is made , and the particular choice depends on the patient &# 39 ; s treatable condition . this decision may not require human choice as it may be predetermined depending on the treatable condition . the non - autonomous method is based on observation for known characteristics , as depicted in step 1106 . the operator performs this observation utilizing the tools and methods of the invention in addition to drawing upon the experience of the operator in recognizing regions or activities as potential targets in the treatable condition , as shown in step 1112 . the autonomous methods are further divided into comparative and non - comparative methods at the decision made in step 1104 . this decision may not require human choice as it may be predetermined depending on the treatable condition . step 1110 represents the autonomous comparative method where the patient &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity is processed as mentioned in fig8 and compared to either the patient &# 39 ; s own normal dataset , or a normative dataset that is a statistical norm for healthy individuals that are not exhibiting the patient &# 39 ; s treatable condition . the comparison would be performed utilizing a number of statistical tests , described in fig8 . step 1108 represents the autonomous non - comparative method where the patient &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity is processed as mentioned in fig8 and relevant activity assessed to see if it is crossing over or under a threshold derived from either the patient &# 39 ; s own correlative dataset , or a correlative dataset from a number of patients . upon the completion of the autonomous test , regions or activities would be identified as potential targets for the treatable condition , as shown in step 1112 . when a target has been identified , the operator can then proceed with administering a treatment , as depicted by step 1114 , such as a non - invasive treatment with a transcranial magnetic stimulation ( tms ) device , or an entrainment device . entrainment devices are used to attempt to modify the electrical activity in the patient &# 39 ; s brain , generally to bring about a beneficial effect . such devices may stimulate the patient visually , acoustically or via another sensory modality . tms devices utilize magnetic fields to modify the patient &# 39 ; s brain electrical activity . at this point the results of the treatment may be observed using the final presentation method ( fig7 a step 712 ) for effectiveness . in addition , the operator may want to refer the patient for a surgical intervention , such as the implantation of a stimulatory or inhibitory device to invasively treat the target . at this point the operation of the present invention will terminate as the procedure has been completed . fig1 depicts how the present invention can be utilized to detect whether a subject is lying or telling the truth . in order to develop this application , signature patterns for localized near - real time electrical activity indicative of lying and truthfulness may be identified through research trials utilizing the present invention and methods previously described in fig8 . to elaborate , the trials may involve generating datasets from subjects who are instructed to lie or instructed to tell the truth and who comply with this request while connected to the present invention . these datasets of truths and lies may later be used when testing future subjects for lying and may serve as a basis for comparison . the first specific step in the lie detecting application is the decision step 1202 asking whether to use an autonomous method . the answer depends on the results of the research trial into the most accurate determining test for truthfulness . if the trial indicates that the non - autonomous method is ideal ( akin to how polygraphs are still completely human - interpreted ), then steps 1204 - 1208 will commence afterwards ; otherwise , steps 1210 - 1212 will . the subject would then be stimulated , as previously described in fig7 step 726 , where in this case , the stimulus could be in the form of a question that would elicit a response from the subject , which may or may not be a truthful one . it may also involve other forms of stimulation such as showing someone an object . in some instances no question is asked and the subject &# 39 ; s electrical activity is studied for known indicators of lying . step 1204 is an optional step that involves the observation of a single or any combination of additional near - real time signals from other signal acquisition devices such as those previously described in fig7 c . each of these signals may have characteristic markers for lying including previously known physiological markers for lying , video markers for lying ( such as facial expressions and gestures ), or near - real time audio markers of lying . step 1206 involves the observation for known characteristics utilizing interpretation of the final presentation method from fig7 a step 734 . the human operator may utilize any single tool or combination of tools for manipulating electrical activity ( fig4 - 6 ) to assist in the isolation of the localized activity specific to lying and truthfulness . based on the observations from step 1206 , the human operator would then form an opinion on lying . at this point the application would be complete , and the operation of the present invention terminated . if the autonomous method of determining truthfulness was demonstrated to be ideal , then step 1210 would execute , the subject &# 39 ; s localized electrical activity would be compared , using the previously described statistical tests , to the subject &# 39 ; s own baseline ( normal truthful state ), or a baseline generated from a number of healthy truthful subjects in an identical way that the normative dataset would be generated from fig8 . at this point , a result or alert on the subject &# 39 ; s truthfulness would be indicated by the statistical test utilized , and incorporated into the final presentation method in fig7 a step 712 . fig1 depicts how the present invention can be utilized to educate the subject &# 39 ; s own brain such that the condition , disease or performance of the subject &# 39 ; s brain would improve . it is possible to use the present invention to educate people to modulate their cortical activity by using the results presented using the final presentation method as a form of biofeedback so as to teach the brain to work more effectively or to reduce the occurrence of an ineffective or abnormal state or process . step 1302 is the first step in this application , which is to identify an objective for correction or improvement , i . e . the subject ( or the subject with the assistance of a therapist ) must opt either to train a desirable electrical activity to occur , or to decide to train an undesirable activity so that it does not occur . for example , if a subject has difficulty concentrating , then the subject may want to improve on the ability to suppress alpha - band electrical activity located in the posterior of the cerebral cortex . a system of rewards and punishments may be used to encourage desirable patterns and discourage unwanted patterns . the subject then has the choice in decision step 1304 , to look at raw data only , or data that has been processed in an assistive manner . raw data in this case is defined as localized electrical activity that has not had any algorithms such as those mentioned in fig8 performed on the data . if the subject chooses to observe raw data only , then the subject may choose to interpret it then examine it using the final presentation method , which would involve fig7 a step 734 , or the subject could remain passive and just examine it without application - specific interpretation by proceeding to fig7 a step 712 . if the subject chooses to observe the localized electrical activity that has been computationally assisted via a previously described algorithm , then the algorithm would provide the necessary evidence , especially if there had been a research trial completed on the particular objective for correction or improvement . the subject would then examine the computationally assisted localized electrical activity using the final presentation method , which would involve fig7 a step 712 . at this point , the subject would then attempt to enact a mental change to attempt to achieve the objective . fig1 depicts how the present invention may be utilized to entertain the subject . entertaining is defined as the enjoyment or excitement obtained by a subject upon seeing a display of his or her own electrical activity . step 1402 is a decision step asking whether the entertainment application involves autonomous algorithms to process the localized electrical activity . if the application does not involve autonomous processing , then the subject would then watch his or her own localized electrical activity utilizing the final presentation method , in fig7 a step 712 . if the application does involve autonomous processing , then the subject would be able to utilize algorithms such as those previously described to recognize patterns automatically which can then in turn be utilized to manipulate a game character or visually entertaining display which ultimately is presented using the final presentation method to display a visual change in the character ( fig7 a step 712 ). in this instance the character may be an image of a person or an object . there are a number of options as to which localized signals are harnessed to manipulate the character . the movement of the character on the screen could be linked to electrical activity with is non - volitional , in which case the movement of the figure would be under involuntary control . however , if volitional signals from the motor cortex were localized and captured , then it is possible to have the characters moving according to the volition of the operator . methods of effecting an industrial purpose utilizing the present invention — fig1 fig1 depicts how the present invention may be utilized to effect an industrial purpose . it is possible to isolate localized electrical activity emanating from a subject and then to capture it and activate a change in the environment using an effector . effectors can be mechanical , as in the case of a robotic arm ; physical as when causing changes in temperature : or chemical , whereby a chemical changes are produced . step 1402 is when an effector would be setup , leading into fig7 a step 70 , when other devices are to be setup . step 1404 entails the use of algorithms to autonomously recognize certain patterns and capture them so as to activate an external effector to produce a tangible effect on the surrounding environment . examples include industrial processes to control an external mechanical device , such as an assembly arm , or other industrial robots . the method of pattern recognition may involve one of the previously described algorithms or approaches , specifically from fig8 , but it also may require the development of new algorithms to account for the fine control that may be required of certain effectors . in order for the environmental manipulation to be planned and meaningful volitional signals emanating from the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex , and especially the areas of the brain involved in voluntary motor control will likely need to be isolated , then captured , and finally utilized to activate an effector in step 1406 . in addition , it is possible to add a transmitter , which is in turn connected to a receiver and finally connected to a remote effector in order to produce an industrial change in the environment at a remote location . an alternate embodiment of the invention is directed towards a method of performing near - real time three - dimensional display and analysis with multiple forms of near - real time statistical analysis and quantification using state of the art components including a customized solution space ( based on the subject &# 39 ; s own cerebral cortex isolated from his or her own mri or other appropriate brain imaging methodology , using accepted techniques currently in use ), an electrode digitizer ( a device that accurately measures the electrode positions on the subject &# 39 ; s scalp in 3d space ), ultrahigh sampling eeg amplifiers / recorders (& gt ; 20 khz , so as to sample the cortical activity with great rapidity to allow for generating as many pictures of the cortex as possible per second ); the most accurate inverse solution approximations which would allow for the display of voxels with the highest possible spatial resolution despite computational expense ; the fastest computers available on the market ; and large and / or multiple high resolution screens . this embodiment would be especially useful for imaging changes occurring over extremely short time intervals , and in which multiple forms of analysis are needed to clarify the cortical activity . in one embodiment of the present invention , data generated using an inverse solution is analyzed by a microcomputer which identifies specific danger signals . this microcomputer is in turn connected to an alarm such as a bell which alerts medical personnel to possible danger to the patient . this embodiment can be without the use of imaging or the display of localized electrical activity . this embodiment represents a portable version of the invention . an alternate embodiment of the portable invention entails integration with telemedicine methods including transmitters and receivers so that the signals and data are communicated to a second location where clinicians can view and interpret the data for a patient that is remote to them . ambulatory monitoring of persons that are conscious and can walk may be performed using miniature amplifiers . another embodiment of the invention is directed at a method of monitoring electrical activity in sleep and as an aid in the quantification and analysis of sleep stages and as an aid to the diagnosis of sleep disorders . in this embodiment , it is possible to perform near - real time three - dimensional display and analysis of known clinically important waveforms and frequency bands including alpha , beta , delta and theta within sleep activity in separate windows on a screen or screens simultaneously , by combining elements of the present invention with existing techniques involving physiological monitoring devices of parameters that are used in the field of sleep medicine such as oxygenation , or heart rate , it is possible to create an improved form of polysomnography . the present invention should not be considered limited to the particular examples described above , but rather should be understood to cover aspects of the invention as fairly set out in the attached claims . various modifications , equivalent processes as well as numerous structures to which the present invention may be applicable will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art to which the present invention is directed upon review of the specifications . | 6 |
fig1 shows a filtering device 100 which consists substantially of a housing 20 and a screen plug 10 . the particularly cylindrical screen plug 10 is movably mounted in a screen plug bore 27 of the housing 20 . on the inlet side of the housing 20 , an inlet opening 23 is provided , which branches into two housing inlet channels 21 , 22 . each housing inlet channel 21 , 22 is in connection with a screen cavity 13 , 14 in the screen plug 10 , when the screen plug 10 is in the production position depicted in fig1 . on the other side of the housing 20 , an outlet opening 26 is provided , at which the two housing outlet channels 24 , 25 join . the housing outlet channels 24 , 25 each are in connection with the clean side of the screen cavities 13 , 14 . within the screen cavities 13 , 14 , screen elements 13 . 1 are inserted . behind the screen elements 13 . 1 , viewed in the throughflow direction , the screen cavity 11 in each case narrows to a funnel area 11 . 6 . whereas in conventional filtering devices , a screen plug outlet channel usually starts directly from the tip of the funnel area 13 . 1 , in the filtering device 100 according to the invention a screen plug outlet channel 11 is provided with an inlet area 11 . 1 which is directly adjacent to the funnel area 11 . 6 . the inlet zone 11 . 1 is delimited by a flank 11 . 4 which starts approximately from the tip of the conical funnel area 11 . 6 and from there extends over some distance toward a second flank 11 . 5 . the second flank 11 . 5 extends approximately in the extension of the lateral delimitation of the screen cavity 11 and thus approximately parallel to the center axis of the screen cavity 11 . at a deflecting point 11 . 3 , the screen plug outlet channel 11 is deflected by an angle of 90 ° or also less , and transitions into an outlet zone 11 . 2 . in the outlet zone 11 . 2 , the screen plug outlet channel 11 then extends farther as a groove , which is preferably configured approximately in the shape of a keyway , and finally transitions into the housing outlet channel 24 . the same holds for the other screen cavity 12 on the right side of the filtering device 100 with a screen plug outlet channel 12 shown in fig1 , which also has an inlet zone 12 . 1 , a deflecting point 12 . 3 , and an outlet zone 12 . 2 . in the represented embodiment example , the outer flanks 11 . 5 , 12 . 5 of the inlet zone 11 . 1 , 12 . 1 extend in each case parallel to the direction of flow , and the inclined flanks 11 . 4 , 12 . 4 extend from inside to outside in the represented embodiment example , wherein “ inside ” is defined as the center line which extends between the screen cavities 13 , 14 , and thus also , in the production position shown , centrally through the inlet opening 23 and the outlet opening 26 . whereas in fig1 the inlet zones 11 . 1 , 12 . 1 have a triangular appearance , in a transverse cross - sectional plane through the screen plug 10 , as represented in fig2 , they appear only as a thick disk which is adjacent to the funnel area 11 . 6 . the operation of the filtering device according to the invention is explained below : during normal production operation according to fig1 , the two screen cavities 13 , 14 are located before the inlet channels 21 , 22 . on the outlet side , the openings of the outlet zones 11 . 2 , 12 . 2 are also located before the openings of the outlet channels 24 , 25 . the melt is able to flow uniformly through the two screen cavities 13 , 14 , and the flow distribution indicated by the arrows becomes established . in the case of soiling of a screen cavity — as shown in fig3 — the screen plug 10 can be withdrawn from the housing 20 until one of the screen cavities 14 is in a position that is freely accessible outside of the housing 20 . there , the screen cavity 14 including the outlet zone 12 . 2 can be cleaned without effort . the screen element 12 . 7 is also freely accessible , so it can be taken out and replaced . in the mean time , the melt , as before , is able to flow through the housing inlet channel 22 into the screen cavity 13 , and from there it can flow off again through the housing outlet channel 25 , so that the production operation does not have to be interrupted . after the screen cavity 12 has been cleaned and optionally provided with a new screen insert , the screen plug 10 is again moved back into the housing 20 , but at first not yet into the production position according to fig1 , but rather into a position shown in fig4 , in which a gradual filling of the previously cleaned screen cavity 12 with the melt and simultaneous ventilation of the screen cavity 12 occur . in this position , the screen cavity 14 is in connection with the housing inlet channel 22 only by a very small connection site 14 . 2 , so that only a greatly slowed melt flow into the screen cavity 14 is possible . consequently , the melt can accumulate in the screen cavity 14 and displace the air contained therein . in the upper area of the screen plug , a ventilation groove 14 . 3 is provided . in fact , said ventilation groove is not located , as indicated here , in the cross - sectional plane through the center axis , but above said plane , on the cylindrical jacket of the screen plug . therefore , it is indicated in fig4 only by the dashdotted line . rising air can flow out of the bore 14 . 4 , and it reaches the groove 14 . 3 which extends outside of the housing edge of the housing 20 , so that air can escape there . after the preflooding of the screen cavity 12 and the ventilation , the screen plug 10 is then moved back into the production position shown in fig1 . the groove 14 . 3 is then located again entirely within the housing 20 , and it is thus sealed off in the housing bore 27 . in fig5 , an additional embodiment of a filtering device 100 ′ is represented . the housing design of the housing 20 corresponds to the above - described embodiment . additional backwash bores 28 are provided only beneath the screen plug 10 ′. the screen plug 10 ′ is also largely similar to the screen plug 10 of the first embodiment . the design , which is essential for the invention , of the screen plug outlet channel with an inlet zone 11 . 1 ′ and an outlet zone 11 . 2 ′ corresponds to that of the first embodiment . the difference is that , besides the screen cavities 13 ′, 14 ′, a backwash opening 15 ′ is provided in each case , which has to be brought to correspond with the backwash bores 28 in the housing 20 . in the position shown in fig5 , a normal production operation occurs . the two screen cavities 13 ′, 14 ′ are supplied through the housing inlet channels 21 , 22 . from the production position according to fig5 , the screen plug 10 ′ can be moved sideways out of the housing 20 , so that one of the screen cavities , in this case the right screen cavity 14 ′, is completely cut off from the housing inlet channels 21 , 22 . the melt can now flow through the left screen cavity 13 and the screen plug outlet channel 11 thereof into the inlet channel 24 , and then again through the outlet channel 25 into the right screen cavity 14 ′, because there is no longer any pressure applied to the soiled side of the screen cavity 14 ′. instead , in this position , there is a connection to the backwash bore 15 ′ on the soiled side of the screen cavity 14 ′. the melt can flow through said connection to the backwash bore 28 in the housing , and from there it reaches the outer side of the housing 20 . coarse soiling particles that adhere to the soiled side of the screen element 13 . 1 can be detached by backwashing in a manner which in itself is known . in the second embodiment of a filtering device 100 ′, the screen plug 10 ′ can be moved even farther out of the housing 20 , so that a screen replacement analogous to the position in fig3 is possible . similarly , a ventilation and preflooding of the clean screen cavity is possible analogously to the procedure described in fig4 . a third embodiment of a filtering device 200 is represented in fig7 a , 7 b and 8 . it comprises two identical screen plugs 210 , 210 ′, which can be shifted independently of each other via the hydraulic cylinders 231 , 232 in a housing 220 . each screen plug 210 , 210 ′ has , as can be seen in fig7 a and 7 b , two screen cavities 213 , 214 , 213 ′, 214 ′ next to each other and , moreover , as can be seen again in the cross section according to fig8 , again the same number of screen cavities on the rear side , so that the filtering device 200 has a total of eight screen cavities . in fig7 a , the production position is shown in a side view on the filtering device 200 , in which the two screen plugs 210 , 210 ′ are positioned in such a manner that there is flow through all the screen cavities 213 , 214 , 213 ′, 214 ′. the fluid flows through an inlet opening 223 at the top in the housing into housing inlet channels 221 , 222 that branch off from said housing , into the screen cavities 213 , 214 , 213 ′. 214 ′, each of which has at least one filter element that is not shown here . in the flow direction behind the filter elements , in each case — as also in the embodiments according to fig1 - 6 — a funnel area is present , in which the fluid collects , and is led to an inlet zone 211 . 1 , 212 . 1 of a screen plug outlet channel 211 , 212 which starts in an edge region of the given screen cavity 213 , 214 , 213 ′. 214 ′. adjacent to this there is in each case , in the screen plug outlet channel 211 , 212 , a deflecting point 211 . 3 , 212 . 3 , wherein a transition into the outlet zone 211 . 2 , 212 . 2 occurs . the latter extends parallel to the center axis of the screen plugs 210 , 210 ′, until they open into the v - shaped mutually separated housing outlet channels 224 , 225 . the housing outlet channels 224 , 225 lead to a common outlet opening 226 at the bottom on the housing 220 . fig7 b shows a situation in which the upper screen plug 210 is in a so - called screen replacement position . here , the screen cavity 213 which is visible on the left outside and the associated screen cavity of the same pair are positioned on the rearward side of the screen plug 210 outside of the housing 220 . the screen cavities 213 can be cleaned , and the filter elements contained therein can be removed . the right screen cavity 214 , on the other hand , has a connection to the left housing outlet channel 224 and can thus continue to be fully used . fig8 shows a cross section along the dashdotted line in fig7 a , which extends through the inlet and the outlet openings 223 , 226 . the screen cavities 214 , 214 ′ which are visible in fig7 a and 7 b from the side have , on the other side of the screen plugs 210 , 210 ′, counterpieces in the form of screen cavities 216 , 216 ′. the broken lines indicate the course of the housing inlet channels 221 , 221 ′ and the housing outlet channels 225 . in order to be able to supply a total of eight screen cavities of the filtering device 200 , four vertical housing inlet channels 221 , 221 ′ are provided , which first branch away from the inlet opening 223 , and then lead downward on both sides of the screen plugs 210 , 210 ′, wherein they tangentially intersect the screen cavities 214 , 216 , 214 ′, 216 ′. at the same time , four housing outlet channels 225 are provided , which branch off in the longitudinal direction from an outlet opening 226 ( see fig7 a , 7 b ) or open into said opening , and which also strut apart height - wise ( see fig8 ) in such a manner that they cut the upper screen plugs 210 at the bottom and the bottom screen plugs 210 ′ at the top . in this representation , one can clearly see the groove - shaped outlet zones 212 . 2 , 212 . 2 ′, which are in connection with the housing outlet channels 225 . | 1 |
the first embodiment of the monitoring device and antenna combination of the present invention is depicted in fig1 - 4 and is indicated generally by the numeral 10 . in accordance with one of the objectives of the invention , monitoring device and antenna combination 10 includes a dipole antenna 12 that is connected to a monitoring device 14 . dipole antenna 12 is mounted on a pneumatic tire 16 in a manner that maximizes the probability of desirable signal propagation through the tire sidewall 18 . pneumatic tire 16 includes a bead ring 20 from which sidewall 18 extends outwardly substantially radially . a package of reinforcing cords 22 extends around bead ring 20 and radially outward through sidewall 18 . reinforcing cord package 22 may be fabricated from a variety of materials and disposed in a variety of orientations in sidewall 18 . in large , off - the - road tires , reinforcing cord package 22 may include a plurality of metal reinforcing cords 24 that each extend radially outward through sidewall 18 . cords 24 are thus closer together adjacent bead ring 20 that at the outer radius of sidewall 18 . tire 16 further includes an innerliner 26 positioned on the inside surface of tire 16 . innerliner 26 may be significantly thicker in off - the - road tires than it is in passenger car tires . as is known in the art , pneumatic tire 16 is mounted on a rim and has a pressurized inner chamber when in use . monitoring device and antenna combination 10 are disposed in this pressurized chamber as shown in fig1 . monitoring device 14 may include a board 30 upon which a pair of batteries 32 , a central processing unit ( cpu ) 34 , and at least one sensing element 36 are mounted . various other elements may also be positioned on board 30 . this specific configuration of monitoring device 14 is not to limit the scope of the invention as numerous monitoring device configurations will function with the present invention . antenna 12 is in electrical communication with sensing element 36 such that the information gathered by sensing element 36 can be transmitted by antenna 12 outside of tire 16 . components 30 , 32 , 34 , and 36 are all encapsulated by an encapsulation material 38 to form an encapsulated monitoring device 40 . encapsulation material 38 provides protection to components 30 , 32 , 34 , and 36 . encapsulation material 38 may be a suitable epoxy or other material that is substantially rigid after it has encapsulated the components . dipole antenna 12 includes a first antenna element 50 and a second antenna element 52 that extend away from each other . each element 50 and 52 may be preferably fabricated from a round metal wire although different materials may be used without departing from the concepts of the invention . dipole antennas are known in the art and may have various configurations , any of which may be used with the present invention . each antenna element 50 and 52 is connected to and is in electrical communication with sensing element 36 by a suitable connector 54 that may be one of a variety of connectors known in the art . antenna 12 is disposed in an attachment patch 60 that is used to mount encapsulated monitoring device 40 on innerliner 26 . attachment patch 60 includes a foot portion 62 that extends away from encapsulated monitoring device 40 . antenna 12 is preferably located in foot portion 62 . encapsulated monitoring device 40 is mounted on attachment patch 60 by a suitable connector , such as an adhesive that is known in the art . similarly , attachment patch 60 is mounted on innerliner 26 by a suitable connector , such as an adhesive , that is known in the art . as may be seen in fig1 and 2 , antenna 12 is arranged and configured with respect to tire sidewall 18 such that antenna 12 is above bead ring 20 and substantially perpendicular or orthogonally oriented to reinforcing cords 24 . in accordance with one of the objectives of the invention , locating antenna 12 substantially perpendicularly to reinforcing cords 24 maximizes the probability of desirable signal propagation through tire sidewall 18 . when monitoring device and antenna combination 10 is used with another tire that has reinforcing cords 24 that are biased , antenna 12 is turned so that antenna 12 remains substantially perpendicular to reinforcing cords 24 . it has been found that the signal propagation pattern from radial dipole antenna 12 provides a good probability of signal propagation through sidewall 18 . fig2 depicts three monitoring device and antenna combination 10 locations as shown at 10 a , 10 b , and 10 c . each combination 10 a , 10 b , and 10 c includes an antenna 12 a , 12 b , and 12 c connected to an encapsulated monitoring device 40 a , 40 b , 40 c . the curvature of each antenna 12 a , 12 b , and 12 c matches its location with respect to sidewall 18 such that the curvature of antenna 12 is substantially equal to the radius of curvature of sidewall 18 . the dipole antenna , which is mounted to the tire at one of a plurality of radius distances defined by the sidewall , has a radius of curvature that is substantially equal to the radial distance where the dipole antenna is mounted . as such , the radius of curvature of antenna 12 a is less than the radius of curvature of antenna 12 b and both radii of curvatures for antennas 12 a and 12 b are less than the radius of curvature for antenna 12 c . by matching the radius of curvature of antenna 12 a with its location on tire sidewall 18 , each intersection of antenna 12 with a reenforcing cord 24 is substantially perpendicular or orthogonal . the first alternative embodiment of the invention is depicted in fig5 and 6 . the components of the first alternative embodiment are substantially the same as described above and the same numbers are used to refer to the same elements . in this embodiment , patch 60 includes a groove 70 into which antenna 12 is placed when encapsulated monitoring device 40 is attached to attachment patch 60 . groove 70 properly positions antenna 12 with respect to attachment patch 60 so that a person installing attachment patch 60 and encapsulated monitoring device 40 will know that antenna 12 is oriented in a certain manner with respect to patch 60 . after antenna 12 is disposed within groove 70 and encapsulated monitoring device 40 is securely to attachment patch 60 , a covering material 72 is positioned over antenna 12 and groove 70 to cover antenna 12 from the inside of tire 16 . covering material 72 also holds antenna 12 in position . covering material 72 preferably may be an epoxy but may be other materials that are known in the art . the second alternative embodiment of the invention depicted in fig7 where antenna 12 is embedded within innerliner 26 . in this embodiment , antenna 12 is positioned within innerliner 26 during the fabrication of tire 16 such that antenna 12 is substantially perpendicular to reinforcing cords 24 . tire 16 is then cured with antenna 12 which is held in innerliner 26 . monitoring device 14 is then connected to antenna 12 at a later time by known means . a third alternative configuration of the monitoring device and antenna combination of the present invention is depicted in fig8 and is indicated generally by the numeral 100 . the antenna 102 of configuration 100 includes first antenna element 50 and second antenna element 52 of radial - dipole antenna 12 discussed above . antenna 102 further includes a third antenna element 104 that is spaced from first and second antenna elements 50 and 52 . third antenna element 104 is connected to first and second elements 50 and 52 by a pair of end elements 106 that are substantially semi - circular . in accordance with the objectives of the present invention , antenna elements 50 , 52 , and 104 are oriented substantially perpendicular to the lines of electrical interference in sidewall 18 . a fourth alternative embodiment of the monitoring device and antenna combination of the present invention is depicted in fig9 and is indicated generally by the numeral 110 . combination 110 includes substantially the same elements as combination 100 disclosed above . the only difference is that the end elements 112 of radial dipole antenna 114 are each substantially perpendicular to the end portions of antenna elements 50 , 52 and 104 . in accordance with the objectives of the present invention , radial dipole antenna 114 is positioned to be substantially perpendicular to the lines of electrical interference in sidewall 18 . accordingly , the improved - radial dipole antenna and tire tag combination is simplified , provides an effective , safe , inexpensive , and efficient device which achieves all the enumerated objectives , provides for eliminating difficulties encountered with prior devices , and solves problems and obtains new results in the art . in the foregoing description , certain terms have been used for brevity , clearness , and understanding ; but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art , because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed . moreover , the description and illustration of the invention is by way of example , and the scope of the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described . having now described the features , discoveries , and principles of the invention , the manner in which the radial dipole antenna and tire tag combination is constructed and used , the characteristics of the construction , and the advantageous new and useful results obtained ; the new and useful structures , devices , elements , arrangements , parts , and combinations are set forth in the appended claims . | 7 |
fig1 illustrates a laminated rotor core 100 for use with the present invention . the laminated rotor core 100 is preferably used in a squirrel cage rotor of an induction motor for a compressor . the laminated rotor core 100 is formed or assembled by stacking a plurality of laminations 102 . the number of laminations required to assemble the laminated rotor core 100 is dependent upon the thickness of the laminations 102 and the desired height of the laminated rotor core 100 . in one embodiment of the present invention , the thickness of the laminations can range from about 0 . 015 inches to about 0 . 025 inches and is preferably 0 . 022 inches thick for a standard application and 0 . 018 inches thick for a “ low loss ” application . fig2 illustrates a top view of a lamination 102 . each lamination 102 that is assembled into the laminated rotor core 100 preferably has a central aperture or bore 104 . the central bore 104 of the laminated rotor core 100 is configured to receive the shaft of the motor upon complete assembly of the motor . in addition , each lamination 102 preferably has a plurality of rotor slots or apertures 106 . the rotor slots 106 are preferably completely enclosed by the outer circumference of the laminated rotor core 100 , i . e ., they are closed rotor slots . it is to be understood that apertures 106 , while being referred to as rotor slots and shown as circular apertures in the figures can have any desired shape including oval , circular , rectangular , irregular or any other suitable shape . the plurality of rotor slots 106 are positioned circumferentially about the center axis a of the lamination 102 . the plurality of rotor slots 106 are preferably positioned equidistant and / or equiangular to one another about the axis a . the shape , number and size of the rotor slots 106 are dependent on the particular configuration of the motor and rotor cage used . in one embodiment of the present invention , the number of rotor slots ( and bars ) can range from about 20 to about 40 and is preferably 34 bars for a high torque application and 28 bars for a high performance application . furthermore , each rotor slot 106 is positioned a distance “ d ” from the outer circumference of the lamination 102 . the distance “ d ” corresponds directly to the bridge thickness of the lamination 102 and laminated rotor core 100 . to obtain optimal motor performance , the bridge thickness “ d ” should be as small or thin as possible while still maintaining the structural integrity of the rotor during operation of the motor . for example , for a laminated rotor core 100 having an outer diameter of 2 . 6 inches , the bridge thickness is preferably between about 0 . 01 inches and about 0 . 02 inches wide . the preferred bridge thickness “ d ” can vary depending on the configuration and size of the motor . finally , it is to be understood that the lamination 102 can include additional features which are not shown for simplicity . the laminations 102 are preferably formed from a magnetic material such as iron or steel by an extrusion or pressing operation of one or more steps . once the extrusion operation is complete , the laminations 102 will preferably have a top view similar to the top view of fig2 . after the laminations 102 are extruded , they are stacked or assembled to obtain the laminated rotor core 100 . during the assembly operation , the laminations 102 are preferably aligned and / or oriented to obtain a central bore 104 which extends substantially longitudinally and coaxially through the laminated rotor core 100 and to obtain rotor slots 106 which extend substantially longitudinally and coaxially through the laminated rotor core 100 , i . e ., the rotor slots 106 have a skew of 0 degrees . in another preferred embodiment , the laminations 102 can be oriented to obtain rotor slots 106 that extend longitudinally through the laminated rotor core 100 with a skew of 2 - 15 degrees and preferably between about 4 - 12 degrees . the embodiment of the laminated rotor core 100 that does not have a skew of the rotor slots 106 can be used for a three phase application and the embodiment of the laminated rotor core 100 that has a skew of the rotor slots 106 can be used for a single phase application . in a preferred embodiment of one process of the present invention , laminations 102 are formed or extruded with a bridge thickness “ d ” that provides for optimal performance of the motor , and are then assembled together to form the laminated rotor core 100 . the laminated rotor core 100 is placed in a mold of a casting or injection molding apparatus ( not shown ). once the laminated rotor core 100 is placed in the mold , both radial forces and pressure and axial forces and pressure are applied to the laminated rotor core 100 by the mold and / or casting or injection molding apparatus to hold or secure the laminated rotor core 100 in position for the casting or injection molding operation and to prevent the molten material used in the casting or injection molding process , preferably aluminum or aluminum alloy , from leaking or seeping between the stacked laminations 102 of the laminated rotor core 100 . upon being secured in the mold of the casting or injection molding apparatus , the laminated rotor core 100 is now ready for the commencement of the casting or injection molding operation to manufacture some or all of the rotor cage . the casting or injection molding apparatus includes a system or device for casting , injecting or introducing the rotor bars into the rotor slots 106 of the laminated rotor core 100 and preferably a mold or cast for casting , injecting or introducing end rings to connect the ends of the rotor bars . the application of both the radial and axial forces to the laminated rotor core 100 during the casting or injection molding operation prevents the leaking or seeping of the molten material between the stacked laminations 102 even though the laminations 102 and laminated rotor core 100 have a “ thin ” bridge thickness “ d ” for optimal performance of the motor . fig3 and 4 illustrate schematically two embodiments for applying the axial and radial forces to the laminated rotor core 100 . in fig3 , the laminated rotor core 100 is held in position by one or more axial force members 302 and one or more radial force members 304 . the axial force members 302 are configured and disposed to apply an axial force f a , as shown in fig3 , to the top and bottom of the laminated rotor core 100 to axially compress the laminated rotor core 100 and laminations 102 without interfering with the casting operation . in addition , the axial force members 302 are configured and disposed to preferably apply the axial force f a about substantially the entire circumference of the laminated rotor core 100 , although the axial force f a can be applied to selected segments of the laminated rotor core 100 . similarly , the radial force members 304 are configured and disposed to apply a radial force f r , as shown in fig3 , to the sides or outer perimeter of the laminated rotor core 100 to radially compress the laminated rotor core 100 and laminations 102 without interfering with the casting operation . in addition , the radial force members 304 are configured and disposed to preferably apply the radial force f r about substantially the entire outer perimeter of the laminated rotor core 100 , although the radial force f r can be applied to selected segments of the laminated rotor core 100 . in fig4 , the laminated rotor core 100 is held in position by two or more “ l ”- shaped force members 402 . the “ l ”- shaped force members 402 are configured and disposed to apply both an axial force f a , as shown in fig4 , to the top and bottom of the laminated rotor core 100 to axially compress the laminated rotor core 100 and laminations 102 without interfering with the casting operation and to apply a radial force f r , as shown in fig4 , to the sides or outer perimeter of the laminated rotor core 100 to radially compress the laminated rotor core 100 and laminations 102 without interfering with the casting operation . in addition , the “ l ”- shaped force members 402 are configured and disposed to preferably apply the axial force f a and the radial force f r about substantially the entire circumference and outer perimeter of the laminated rotor core 100 , although the axial force f a and the radial force f r can be applied to selected segments of the laminated rotor core 100 . in this embodiment of the present invention , any suitable type of casting or injection molding apparatus and / or mold can be used for the casting or injection molding of the rotor cage so long as the casting or injection molding apparatus and / or mold can apply both an axial force or pressure and a radial force or pressure to the laminated rotor core at the same time during the casting operation . finally , while not described herein , the remaining process steps for the manufacture of the rotor and motor would be completed as is well known in the art . in another preferred embodiment of the present invention , the laminated rotor core 100 is assembled using the laminations shown in fig5 - 7 . fig5 illustrates a top view of the lamination 500 of this embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig5 , lamination 500 has a central bore 502 and a plurality of rotor slots 504 , similar to the lamination 102 described above . however , in contrast to the lamination 102 of fig2 , the lamination 500 , as shown in greater detail in fig6 , has a countersink or groove portion 506 and a collar or lip portion 508 adjacent to each rotor slot 504 . the countersink portion 506 is preferably disposed on one planar side of the lamination 500 and is preferably a channel or groove in the side of the lamination 500 that is open to the rotor slot 504 and substantially circumferentially encloses or surrounds the rotor slot 504 . the collar portion 508 is disposed opposite the countersink portion 506 on the other planar side of the lamination 500 and is preferably an extension or projection extending from the other planar side and circumferentially enclosing or surrounding the rotor slot 504 . preferably , the countersink portion 506 and the collar portion 508 are substantially coaxial to the center axis of the rotor slot 504 . as shown in fig7 , when assembling the laminated rotor core 100 with laminations 500 , the collar portions 508 of each lamination 500 are preferably configured to mate with or fit in the countersink portions 506 of adjacent laminations 500 , such that an interference fit or connection is formed between the two . the countersink portions 506 and the collar portions 508 are preferably configured and disposed on the lamination 500 such that a substantially cylindrical rotor slot 504 is produced as shown in fig7 , which rotor slot 504 is similar to the rotor slot 106 of lamination 102 . when assembled , the countersink portion 506 and the collar portion 508 form a liquid barrier between a spacing 510 between the laminations 500 and the rotor slots 504 . the liquid barrier formed by the countersink portion 506 and the collar portion 508 is used to prevent the molten material used to cast the rotor bars from leaking or seeping between the laminations 500 during the casting operation . while the countersink portion 506 and the collar portion 508 are shown with surfaces that are substantially parallel or perpendicular to the central axis of the rotor slot 504 , the surfaces of the countersink portion 506 and the collar portion 508 can have any type of surface including angled or curved surfaces so long as the countersink portion 506 and the collar portion 508 can be fit together to form an interference fit and the rotor slot 504 is not altered . furthermore , the depth of the countersink portion 506 is substantially equal to the height of the collar portion 508 . however , it should be noted that slight differences in the depth and height of the countersink portion 506 and the collar portion 508 may be accommodated for in the casting operation when the laminated rotor core 100 is axially compressed . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the height of the collar portion 508 ( or the depth of the countersink portion 506 ) is between about 10 % and about 30 % of the thickness of the lamination . the process of manufacturing a laminated rotor core 100 with laminations 500 will now be described . to begin , laminations 500 are produced by an extrusion or stamping process with a bridge thickness “ d ” that provides for optimal performance of the motor , and then the laminations 500 are assembled together to form a laminated rotor core 100 . the laminated rotor core 100 is positioned in a mold of a casting or injection molding apparatus ( not shown ) and secured or held in place . the securing and holding of the laminated rotor core 100 can be accomplished using techniques that are known in the art or by the technique described above that applies both radial forces and pressure and axial forces and pressure are applied to the laminated rotor core 100 . upon being secured in the mold of the casting or injection molding apparatus , the laminated rotor core 100 is now ready for the commencement of the casting or injection molding operation to manufacture some or all of the rotor cage . the casting or injection molding apparatus includes a system or device for casting , injecting or introducing the rotor bars into the rotor slots 504 of the laminated rotor core 100 and preferably a mold or cast for casting or injection molding end rings to connect the ends of the rotor bars . the presence of the countersink portions 506 and the collar portions 508 form a barrier in the rotor slots 504 to prevent the leaking or seeping of the molten material from between the stacked laminations 502 even though the laminations 502 and laminated rotor core 100 have a “ thin ” bridge thickness for optimal performance of the motor . while the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof . therefore , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention , but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims . | 8 |
referring first to fig1 a refrigerated container 10 is shown which has associated therewith an integrated electrically operated refrigeration system , comprising several components 12 , and , a controlled atmosphere system , a part of which 14 is shown . the refrigeration system 12 and the controlled atmosphere system are mounted at one end of the container and are adapted to regulate the temperature , and the atmosphere , respectively within the container 10 . with reference to fig2 the refrigeration system 12 comprises a vapor compression refrigeration system which is well known in the prior art for such application . briefly , the system includes an electrical power cord 16 , providing electrical power to a refrigeration system controller 18 . the controller 18 is preferably a programmed microprocessor which is adapted to receive inputs from the system operator and from various sensors in the refrigeration system and thereby control the operation of the refrigeration system components , in a manner which is well known in the art . the refrigeration system comprises a refrigeration circuit including an electrically driven compressor 20 communicating in turn with an evaporator coil 22 , and a condenser coil 24 . appropriate evaporator fans 26 are provided to recirculate the atmosphere within the container 10 over the evaporator coil 22 and into the container where it is appropriately circulated and returned to the evaporator coil for further cooling , again as is conventional . a condenser fan 28 is provided to direct a cooling flow of atmospheric air over the condenser coil 24 to facilitate rejection of heat removed from the container 10 . the refrigeration system controller 18 operates the various components , to maintain a selected set point temperature within the container as is conventional . the controlled atmosphere system 14 is illustrated in more detail in fig3 . the basic components of the controlled atmosphere system are an air compressor 30 , a filter 32 , an air heater 34 , a nitrogen separation membrane 36 , a system of metering valves 38 , gas sensors 40 and a controller 50 . the purpose of the controlled atmosphere system is to control the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide inside the refrigerated container 10 to change the rate of ripening of produce stored in the container . the system controls the amount of oxygen ( o 2 ) and carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) by replacing it with nitrogen generated from the membrane 36 . with continued reference to fig3 when the controlled atmosphere system 14 is running , air 44 from outside the container enters the compressor 30 through a dust filter 46 . the atmospheric air is then compressed to a high pressure by the compressor 30 . the high pressure air is then filtered by the particulate filter 32 to remove moisture and dirt before passing to the air heater 34 . a normally closed drain valve 48 is provided on the filter 32 . the drain valve 48 is adapted to be electrically opened when energized by the controlled atmosphere system controller 50 . the controller is programmed to periodically open the drain value 48 , for a short time , to remove residue which may build up in the filter 32 . high pressure air from the filter 32 passes to the air heater 34 where it is heated to the optimum operating temperature for the membrane 36 being used in the system . as indicated in the drawing the heater output is controlled to 55 ° c ./ 131 ° f . this is the optimum operating temperature for a membrane separator 36 available as a model 4241 permeator from a company known as medal membrane separation systems dupont airliquide . the controlled atmosphere controller 50 receives inputs from a temperature sensor 52 and controls energerization of a heater switch 54 to maintain the temperature of the compressed air leaving the air heater . the warmed , high pressure air passing from the heater 34 enters the membrane 36 , where it is separated into high purity nitrogen , which passes from the nitrogen outlet 56 , and oxygen / and other gases which are passed to the oxygen outlet 58 . the rate of separation occurring in the membrane separator 36 depends on the flow of air through the membrane . this flow rate is controlled by the pressure in the nitrogen outlet 56 . the higher the pressure in the nitrogen outlet 56 , the higher the nitrogen purity generated , and the lower the flow rate of nitrogen . the membrane 36 is capable of generating nitrogen purity levels greater than 99 percent . as the pressure in the nitrogen outlet 56 falls , the purity level of the nitrogen falls , and the flow rate increases . the nitrogen enriched gas passing from the membrane through the outlet 56 passes to the flow control valves 38 . the oxygen / other gasses from the oxygen outlet 58 are exhausted to the outside air . the pressure on the nitrogen outlet 56 of the membrane 36 is regulated by the aforementioned flow control valves 38 . to control the percentage of nitrogen present in the container , the controller 50 is programmed to cycle the flow control valves 38 to increase or decrease the amount of nitrogen in the container as required . the controller 50 may also add co 2 from an external co 2 source 65 if desired . the controller 50 monitors the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the container , using oxygen and carbon dioxide gas concentration sensors 40 via a sample line 64 . periodic calibration of the sensors to correct drifts with time and temperature require sampling outside air via line 66 . in normal operation , following loading of the container , and connection of the power cord 16 to an appropriate power source the refrigeration system controller 18 is energized and programmed to a desired set point temperature for the load . at the same time the controller 50 for the controlled atmosphere system is energized and set for the desired oxygen and carbon dioxide ranges for the load . with both the refrigeration system 12 and the controlled atmosphere system 14 energized and suitably programmed the refrigeration system will begin immediate operation according to its programmed operation . the controlled atmosphere system 14 however , will begin operation only when a controlled atmosphere enable switch 70 located in the refrigeration controller 18 is closed . the enable switch 70 is closed by the refrigeration system controller 18 when it determines that the operating conditions of the refrigeration system , and conditions within the refrigerated container 10 are such that it is acceptable to allow the controlled atmosphere machine to operate . the system described above in connection with figure is representative of a typical prior art system and is meant to give an understanding of the overall principals of operation of such a system . looking now to fig4 a schematic diagram of a controlled atmosphere system according to the present invention as installed in a container refrigeration unit will now be described in detail . for reference purposes it should be understood that the broken lines in the schematic are used to generally define different parts of the refrigerated / controlled atmosphere refrigeration container unit and thus are useful in describing the location of various components with respect to these parts of the unit . first the enclosed portion defined by the broken line 68 on the left hand portion represent the interior of the refrigerated container box 10 . the portion to the right of the interior of the box , identified by numeral 70 , represents the evaporator section of the combined refrigeration / controlled atmosphere unit mounted to the end of the container . it should be appreciated that the atmosphere in the evaporator section 70 is the same as the atmosphere within the container box as the circulating fans 26 of the refrigeration unit 12 recirculate the air between these sections . the right hand portion of the schematic as defined by the lines 72 is the condenser section of the combined container refrigeration controlled atmosphere unit . it will be appreciated that the condenser section is in direct contact with the normal atmosphere , with the condenser section 72 and the evaporator section 70 are separated by a substantially fluid tight barrier represented by line 74 . the system of fig4 will be described using the reference numerals used in fig3 where appropriate . looking now at fig4 in detail the intake air filter 46 is located in the condenser section 72 so as to receive outside atmospheric air . an appropriate inlet conduit 76 is in fluid communication with a two cylinder air compressor 30 which has an outlet conduit 78 for high pressure compressed air discharged therefrom . an overtemperature switch 80 is provided on the air compressor motor to direct a signal to the controlled atmosphere controller 50 should the compressor reach an unsafe temperature . the outlet conduit 78 from the compressor communicates with a tortuously shaped condensing coil 81 which serves to cool the high pressure high temperature air discharged from the compressor and to condense moisture contained therein to a liquid state . from the condensing coil 81 conduit 82 passes from the evaporator section through barrier 74 into the condenser section 72 . located in the conduit 82 is a schrader valve 84 which facilities servicing of the system as for example conducting a pressurized leak check . also located in conduit 82 is a pressure relief valve 86 designed to protect the air compressor should a high back pressure develop in the system which could damage the compressor 30 . downstream from the pressure relief valve 86 , in conduit 82 , is the air filter 32 for filtering the high pressure air discharged from the compressor 30 . in the preferred embodiment this filter is actually two separate filters , a primary discharge air filter 90 for large contaminants and a secondary discharge air filter 92 for fine particulate contaminants . each of the filters 90 and 92 is provided with a filter media which is replaceable on a periodic schedule . each filter 90 , 92 is also provided with a drain solenoid valve 94 . these electrically operated valves are normally closed and are adapted to be periodically opened by the controlled atmosphere controller 50 on a periodic schedule , for a short period of time , to remove residue built up in the filter . conduit 96 communicates the outlet of filter 92 with the inlet of the air heater 34 . as previously discussed the air heater is controlled by the system controller 50 to maintain the optimum temperature for the membrane separator 36 utilized in the system . heater operation is controlled by the system controller by way of a program which uses inputs from the desired set point temperature and from an air temperature sensor 52 which is located in the conduit 100 which communicates the outlet of the air heater 34 with the inlet of the membrane 36 . air heater temperature control inputs from the controller 50 cycle a solid state heater switch 54 located adjacent to the heater . as will be seen , the heater 54 is on whenever the compressor 30 is on . as shown in fig1 , the actual heater control output is determined by a &# 34 ; fuzzy logic &# 34 ; algorithm 156 which responds to inputs from the sensor 52 as shown at step 158 . as previously described the membrane separator 36 has an oxygen outlet 58 which extends from the separator through the barrier 74 to discharge oxygen and other gases to the outside atmosphere . the nitrogen outlet 56 also extends through the barrier 74 into the condenser section 72 where it communicates with the flow control or metering valve system 38 . located in the nitrogen outlet conduit 56 is a pressure transducer 98 which provides a pressure input to the controlled atmosphere controller 50 . an air pressure gage 102 is also illustrated in the nitrogen outlet line 56 to provide a visual reading of nitrogen pressure in the outlet line 56 . the flow control valve system 38 comprises three separate metering devices arranged in a parallel fluid flow relationship . as will be seen , these devices cooperate to control the flow of nitrogen to a nitrogen delivery line 106 which passes through the barrier 74 into the evaporator section 70 . the nitrogen delivered by line 106 is then circulated by the fans 26 of the refrigeration system to the interior 68 of the container box 10 . a flow meter 108 is shown in the nitrogen delivery line which will provide a visually perceptible reading of the nitrogen flow from the flow control valve system 38 to the container . the flow control valve system comprises two solenoid valves designated a and b and a fixed orifice 104 , which in the preferred embodiment is a capillary tube . the flow control solenoid valves a and b are normally closed and are selectively opened and closed in response to the control algorithm from the controlled atmosphere system controller 50 to adjust the purity of nitrogen generated by the membrane 36 . in the preferred embodiment , with both valves a and b open , flow is through all three metering devices and the membrane will produce an output of approximately 15 percent oxygen and 85 percent nitrogen . this is defined as the low purity , high flow condition . with one valve , ( a or b ) open the system will produce approximately 5 percent oxygen and 95 percent nitrogen . this is defined as the medium purity , medium flow condition . with both valves a and b closed , the system will produce approximately 0 . 5 percent oxygen and 99 . 5 percent nitrogen . this is defined as the high purity , low flow condition . as will be seen , the control algorithm uses this for the system oxygen value as its primary control input . also located in the evaporator section 70 , above the circulating fan 26 , are the gas sensors 40 . the sensors include an oxygen sensor 110 which is used to measure the concentration of oxygen inside the container . the oxygen sensor used in a preferred embodiment of the system is a galvanic fuel cell . when a gas sample is passed through the galvanic cell , oxygen reacts with the cell to produce a small voltage . the voltage output is directly proportional to the oxygen concentration . the controller 50 converts the voltage output to a percent oxygen readout on the digital display which will be described hereinbelow . a model ke - 50c galvanic cell oxygen sensor available from the japan storage battery company , ltd . is used in a preferred embodiment of the system . also included is a co 2 sensor 112 which is used to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide inside the container . the co 2 sensor is what is known as a non dispersive infrared ( ndir microbench co 2 sensor , available as part number 032 from sensors inc . the co 2 sensor has an internal temperature sensor which generates a signal which is also delivered to the controller . the sensor generates a signal which is converted by the controller 50 to a percent co 2 readout on the digital display . the o 2 and co 2 sensors 110 , 112 are in serial fluid flow relationship in a gas sampling line 114 . downstream from the sensors is a discharge line 115 open to the evaporator section of the unit , while upstream is a gas sample filter 116 . four electrically actuated solenoid valves may be selectively actuated to provide the desired gas sample flow to the inlet line 118 to the sensors 40 . a first solenoid valve 118 is located in an air sample line 120 which is adapted to deliver a sample of the warm air from the inlet line 100 to the membrane 36 . a capillary tube or other pressure drop device 123 is provided in this line as the air supply line is at high pressure . a second solenoid valve 122 is positioned in a nitrogen sample supply line 124 which communicates with the nitrogen delivery line 106 . a third solenoid valve 126 is located in a calibration gas delivery line 128 . the calibration gas delivery line communicates with a suitable gas fitting 130 located on the outside of the condenser section 72 . it is adapted to be connected with a calibration gas tank 131 which contains a calibration gas made up of 5 percent co 2 and 95 percent nitrogen . for safety purposes a pressure relief valve 132 is provided in the calibration gas line 128 . finally the fourth solenoid valve 134 is located in the sample line 64 which is adapted to deliver a sample of the gas within the container 10 to the gas sensors . it should be appreciated that each of these solenoid valves is selectively actuated by the control atmosphere system controller 50 . in a like manner , the outputs from the o 2 sensor 110 and the co 2 sensor 112 are delivered to the system controller to monitor the operation and performance of the system as will be appreciated . with continued reference to fig4 the system is provided with a co 2 supply system generally identified by reference numeral 65 . the system includes a co 2 delivery line 138 which has a normally closed electrically actuated solenoid valve 140 positioned therein . a pressure relief valve 142 is also provided in the co 2 supply line 138 . in the illustrated embodiment two locations for co 2 supply bottles are shown . the first is in the interior 68 of the container box wherein a co 2 bottle 144 is shown in communication with an appropriate fitting 146 and a supply line 148 to the co 2 system . a second co 2 bottle 150 located outside of the entire unit communicating through a fitting 152 and a line 154 to the co 2 system 65 . the co 2 supply system is physically separate from the rest of the controlled atmosphere system and is actuated as needed by the control atmosphere controller 50 by selective actuation of the solenoid valve 140 . located within the interior 68 of the container 10 is a door safety interlock solenoid 156 . this solenoid is associated with an interlock mechanism which will prevent the doors to the container form being opened when the oxygen level in the container falls below a predetermined value . in order for the integrated refrigeration / controlled atmosphere system to operate according to the present invention it is necessary that the controller 18 of the refrigeration system and the controller of the controlled atmosphere system 50 be able to communicate electronically with one another . one example of such communication is the over riding control of the refrigeration controller 18 by the enable switch 70 , briefly described hereinabove , which is the subject of a co - pending application . this relationship between the controllers 18 and 50 is shown schematically in fig5 wherein the solid arrows 155 interconnecting the controllers and electronic data recorder 156 are meant to illustrate the ability of these components to electronically communicate with one another . the data recorder 156 serves to periodically record , for future reference , information from both the refrigeration controller and the controlled atmosphere controller . information recorded from the refrigeration controller typically includes temperature of supply and return air being circulated . information recorded from the controlled atmosphere controller includes o 2 and co 2 levels , the result of pre - trip tests , alarm activity , and the state of the enable switch 70 . for convenience in understanding the role of the controlled atmosphere controller 50 in controlling all of the components of the system illustrated in fig4 fig6 generally illustrates the controller 50 and the inputs and outputs thereto / therefrom . each of the inputs is identified and the corresponding reference numeral in fig4 is also used . the container atmosphere temperature input is derived from a temperature sensor 157 , not previously mentioned , located within the enclosed space 68 of the container 10 . the key pad 160 inputs will be described below in connection with fig7 . all of the other inputs have been discussed above in connection with the description of the system shown in fig4 . the outputs from the controlled atmosphere controller 50 are likewise each described along with the relevant reference numeral used in fig4 . again each of these components has been described previously and will not be further elaborated upon at this time . fig7 illustrates the appearance of the key pad 160 which provides operator inputs to the controller 50 . most of the input buttons on the key pad 160 are not necessary to an understanding of the present invention and will not be described herein . when deemed necessary for a full understanding of a function , the buttons will be described at that time . fig8 represents the display 170 of the controlled atmosphere controller 50 . across the top of the display are a series of seven indicator lights 174 useful in conveying information to the operator during operation of the system . at the bottom of the display are two alphanumeric lcd visual display regions . the left hand display 171 and the right hand display 173 are useful in conveying information to the operator as will be appreciated . operation of the controlled atmosphere control algorithm which is shown generally as reference numeral 160 in fig9 will be described in connection with the actual operation of the system as described in detail hereinabove . briefly , repeating what was mentioned above , with the refrigeration system 12 and the controlled atmosphere system 14 energized and suitably programmed the refrigeration system will begin immediate operation according to its programmed operation . the controlled atmosphere system 14 however , will begin operation only when the controlled atmosphere enable switch 70 in the refrigeration controller 18 is closed . as previously indicated , the enable switch 70 is closed by the refrigeration system controller 18 when it determines that the operating conditions of the refrigeration system , and conditions within the refrigerated container 10 are such that it is acceptable to allow the controlled atmosphere machine to operate . such conditions will be referred to in connection with the description of the various subsystems of the control algorithm for the system . assuming now that the refrigeration and controlled atmosphere systems are energized and that the controlled atmosphere system has been suitably programmed through keyboard 162 to set the desired setpoints to control oxygen within the range of 1 % to 15 % and carbon dioxide within a range of 0 to 25 %. the controlled atmosphere control 18 then continuously monitors the input from the controlled atmosphere enable switch 70 . if this switch 70 is closed the controlled atmosphere system will operate , if it opens , the system will immediately enter a stand - by mode . at this time the stand - by light 162 on the display 170 will be illuminated . when in the stand - by mode , the controlled atmosphere control 50 continuously monitors the status of the controlled atmosphere enable input 71 . all outputs from the controller 50 as illustrated in fig6 are turned off , and the display 171 , 173 is blank . on the other hand , when the ca control indicates , through the signal 71 , that the controlled atmosphere system may operate the system operates according to the main controlled atmosphere algorithm 160 of fig9 . the air heater control system 164 has already been briefly described hereinabove , and , as indicated is used to maintain the temperature of the air leaving the heater 34 at 55 ° c . the heater is on whenever the compressor 30 is operating . looking now to the compressor control system 166 and the flow control system 168 . the operation of these systems according to the control algorithms illustrated in fig1 and 12 respectively will now be described . looking first at fig1 the control logic for the compressor control system 166 is entered at point 170 wherein the inquiry is made as to whether the ca enable switch 70 is closed . if the switch is not closed , at step 172 , no further action will be taken and the system will remain in stand - by until it is determined that the ca enable switch is closed at which point the logic will pass via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 174 to evaluate the o 2 and co 2 concentrations at steps 176 and 178 respectively . in each of these comparison steps the actual gas concentration is compared to a control band above and below the setpoint programmed into the controller for the particular gas . with reference to step 176 , when the controller determines that the co 2 level is above the control band the ca air compressor 30 will be started at step 180 , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 182 . if step 178 indicates that the oxygen level is either above or below , i . e . &# 34 ; outside &# 34 ; the control band the air compressor 30 will be started , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 184 . if neither of the conditions of step 176 or 178 are met the controller will loop , following the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branches , 186 , 188 respectively until the conditions of steps 172 , 176 and 178 result in starting of the ca air compressor at 180 . once the decision has been made to start the air compressor at 180 the system again evaluates , at step 190 the status of the enable switch 70 . if the enable switch is open the compressor is stopped , at step 200 , via the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 192 . if the enable switch is closed the controller then evaluates the oxygen level at step 194 . if the o 2 level is within the control band the controller then evaluates , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 195 , the co 2 level at step 196 . if the co 2 level is below the setpoint the controller stops the compressor , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 198 , at step 200 . this is done because operation of the compressor has no effect on &# 34 ; raising &# 34 ; the co 2 level within the container . upon stopping the compressor , at step 200 , the controller returns via 202 to the entry point 170 of the compressor control algorithm . it should be appreciated that , following starting of the compressor at step 180 , the status of the ca enable switch 70 is continuously evaluated via the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branches 204 and 206 respectively of steps 194 and 196 by returning to step 190 . as a result the air compressor 13 stopped at step 200 , via the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 192 , at any time that the ca enable switch 70 is opened and the controller 50 places the controlled atmosphere system into a stand - by mode . whenever the compressor 30 is actuated as described above , the flow control valve system , previously described , operates , according to its control algorithm 168 , to bring the oxygen level and the carbon dioxide level to their programmed setpoints . before describing this program and the operation of the flow control valves , several general principles of the operation of the system will be restated . first , the algorithm uses the oxygen value as its primary control input . secondly , when the oxygen requirement is met , the algorithm then attempts to control co 2 . second , it will be recalled that co 2 concentration is increased by opening the co 2 solenoid valve 140 , which adds co 2 from an external tank 146 or 150 . co 2 concentration is reduced by adding nitrogen from the membrane to displace the co 2 in the container 10 . it will be seen that the control algorithm will maintain the oxygen level within the control band until the co 2 level is at or below the set level . it will be noted however that the co 2 control does not become active until the oxygen setpoint is achieved . flow control algorithm 168 will first be described , and then the specific programming of the controller for adding nitrogen , at the three different levels of purity , will be described in connection with different setpoint ranges as shown in fig1 and 14 . looking now at fig1 the o 2 / co 2 flow control algorithm is entered at point 208 and the controller evaluates at step 210 whether the oxygen level in the container is at the programmed setpoint . if it is , the controller moves through the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 212 to ask , at step 214 , whether the co 2 level is at or below the programmed setpoint . if it is not the controller moves through the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 216 to step 218 where , if the compressor 30 is not already running it is started and the co 2 level is reduced by adding nitrogen to the container thereby displacing co 2 . this condition is illustrated in the left hand portion of the graph shown in fig1 . with the compressor operating to decrease the co 2 level the controller moves to step 220 where , if the co 2 level is at the programmed setpoint , it moves through the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 222 to stop the air compressor at 224 and returns to the beginning 208 of the flow control algorithm . if the co 2 level , at step 220 , is not at setpoint the controller moves through the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 226 returning to the starting point 208 . returning back to step 214 , if the co 2 level is at or below setpoint the controller moves through the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 228 to stop the compressor at step 230 , and , to increase the co 2 level by adding co 2 as at step 232 . the addition of co 2 as previously described and as illustrated in the right hand portion of fig1 is achieved by the controller opening the co 2 valve 140 until the co 2 value reaches setpoint at which time the co 2 valve 140 is closed . returning to step 210 , if the o 2 level is not at setpoint the controller moves through the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 234 to step 236 where the controller asks whether the o 2 level is within the control band of the programmed o 2 level . if the o 2 is in the control band the controller then moves through the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 238 of step 236 to step 218 . at step 218 the system will operate to control the o 2 level and as previously described the co 2 control system will also be active . if at step 236 it is determined that the o 2 level is not within the control band the controller will move through the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 240 to step 242 and commence oxygen control by adding nitrogen with the co 2 control system not enabled . during such operation the controller continues to evaluate via branch 244 , the oxygen and co 2 levels relative to their setpoints and control bands to determine the best mode of operation of the system . with reference now to fig1 and 14 , the operation of the system illustrated in fig4 to establish the desired oxygen level within the container and to maintain it within the control band by adding nitrogen to the container will be described . it will be recalled that the system is operable at three different nitrogen purity levels . the first , with both valves a and b open produces 15 % oxygen and 85 % nitrogen . this has been defined as the low purity , high flow condition . the second with one valve ( a or b ) open , is the medium purity , medium flow condition with 5 % oxygen and 95 % nitrogen being produced . third , with both valves a and b closed in the high purity , low flow condition the system produces 0 . 5 % oxygen and 99 . 5 % nitrogen . looking now at fig1 the operation of the controller to operate the valves in response to the sensed oxygen level within the container is shown for setpoints between 0 % and 5 % oxygen . this drawing illustrates operation of the system to bring the oxygen level down from the approximately 20 . 8 % oxygen contained in atmospheric air to the desired setpoint value . looking at &# 34 ; time 0 &# 34 ; the system begins operation with the compressor operating and both valves a and b open , and operates , as seen at segment 246 , until the oxygen level has been brought down to approximately 15 %. at that point valve b is closed and the system moves to the medium purity , medium flow condition as represented by segment 248 until the oxygen level reaches the 5 % value . at that point valve a is closed , and the system operates as represented by segment 250 , in the high purity , low flow condition until it reaches the lower end 252 of the control band . at that time control valve a is again opened and the system returns , as represented by segment 254 , to a medium purity , medium flow condition until the upper range of the control band is reached , as at 256 , whereupon valve a is again closed and the system returns to high purity , low flow . such alternating opening and closing of valve a continues in order to maintain the oxygen level within the container within the control band . fig1 illustrates the operation of the system where the oxygen setpoint is between 5 % and 15 %. as in the lower setpoint situation described in fig1 , the system begins operation in the low purity , high flow mode with valves a and b open as indicated by segment 258 in fig1 . again , when the sensor determines that the oxygen level has reached 15 % valve b is closed and it shifts to the medium purity , medium flow condition as indicated at segment 260 . valve b is then alternately opened and closed as the oxygen value hunts between the set value within the control band . it should be appreciated that , regardless of the oxygen setpoint and the mode of operation , while step 242 of fig1 is being carried out the controller , via branch 244 is continuously evaluating the o 2 value to determine the optimum system mode of operation . referring now to fig9 and 16 , the automatic compensation and calibration of the oxygen sensor 110 is also programmed into the controlled atmosphere controller 50 and is referred to in the main algorithm as reference numeral 266 . as previously mentioned , the oxygen sensor 110 is used to measure the concentration of oxygen within the container 10 . opening of the sample valve 134 will allow atmosphere from the container to pass over the sensor 110 . as previously noted , the oxygen sensor 110 produces a small voltage output which is directly proportional to the oxygen concentration of the gas it is sensing . the microprocessor of the controlled atmosphere controller 50 converts the voltage output to a percent oxygen readout which is shown on the digital display 173 . the microprocessor is programmed with the sensor specifications for a range of oxygen measurements from 0 to 20 . 9 %, and the expected rating for this range of oxygen levels . the span of the oxygen sensor is defined as the difference between the voltage reading from the oxygen sensor at its maximum level less the reading at its minimum level . the span and linearity of the oxygen sensor are sensitive to temperature and aging . as an example , the span with time may decrease to the point where the sensor is not capable of producing a voltage output which matches the sensor specification for 20 . 9 % oxygen . to compensate for this the controlled atmosphere controller 50 is programmed as illustrated in fig1 . the oxygen sensor compensation and calibration program 266 is entered at point 268 where the controller 50 first ascertains the temperature of the air returning from the interior of the container as measured by temperature sensor 158 , at step 270 . if this temperature is below 5 ° c ., the output of the sensor is compensated at step 272 using a compensation curve , which has been programmed into the controller 50 . if the air temperature is not below 5 ° c . the controller moves through the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 274 . from step 272 , or from the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 274 , the controller then considers whether one or the other of two events 276 or 278 have occurred . accordingly , two hours after power has been turned on to the ca system , as at step 276 , or after 24 hours have elapsed since the last calibration , as at step 278 , the span of the oxygen sensor will be calibrated by passing outside air ( 20 . 8 % oxygen ) through the oxygen sensor 110 . as indicated this occurs whenever the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch of step 276 or 278 , collectively 280 , is followed . before initiating the test the controller ascertains , at step 282 , whether the controlled atmosphere compressor 30 is on . operation of the compressor is necessary in order to get a reliable air sample for the calibration and therefore if it is not on the controller will pass through the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 284 until the compressor is activated . when the compressor is on calibration is initiated via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 286 at step 288 where the controller closes the nitrogen valve 122 , the sample valve 134 and calibration gas valve 126 , and opens the air valve 118 to thereby provide a flow of outside air across the sensor . the output is then sensed and compared , at step 290 , to determine if it is within the expected range of the sensor . if it is , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 292 , the value is recorded at step 294 and is used to set the span of the oxygen sensor , and the system returns , via 296 , to the starting point 268 . if in step 290 the sensor is not within the expected range the controller passes , via the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 298 , to display a &# 34 ; fault &# 34 ; result , at step 300 , on the display 171 . the system will then use the previous o 2 sensor span value , as at step 302 , and return to start 268 . referring now to fig1 , the span and zero point of the carbon dioxide sensor 112 are sensitive to temperature and thus the controller is programmed , as shown in this figure , to compensate and / or calibrate the co 2 sensor in a manner which will now be described . the co 2 sensor temperature compensation / calibration algorithm 304 is shown generally as it relates to the other control algorithms continuously operating in the controlled atmosphere system in fig9 and in detail in fig1 . the co 2 sensor algorithm 304 is entered at 306 and at step 308 the controller determines using the input from the co 2 sensors 112 internal temperature sensor whether the sensor temperature is less than 25 ° c . if it is , the controller will move through the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 309 to step 310 where the output of the co 2 sensor is compensated using a temperature compensation curve which is programmed into the ca controller 50 . from the temperature compensation step 310 , or via the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 312 of step 308 , the controller then determines whether one or more of three conditions exist which will result in co 2 sensor calibration . these events , as indicated at steps 314 , 316 and 318 are : &# 34 ; is it two hours after system start &# 34 ;? &# 34 ; has there been a 5 ° c . change since last calibration &# 34 ;?, or &# 34 ; has it been 24 hours since the last calibration &# 34 ;?, respectively . a yes answer to any of these inquiries results in moving , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 320 , to initiation of co 2 , sensor calibration at step 322 . a &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; result to each of the inquiries 314 , 316 and 318 results in a return to the start 306 via the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branches 324 . co 2 sensor calibration is initiated by determining at 322 whether the ca compressor 30 is on to assure a reliable flow of gas through the co 2 sensor 112 . if the compressor is not on the test will not continue as evidenced by the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 326 result . assuming the compressor is on the controller next opens the nitrogen solenoid valve 122 , and closes the air , sample and calibration gas solenoids 118 , 134 and 126 . the controller also closes both nitrogen flow control valves a and b . the controller then goes into a nine minute delay period to allow system conditions to stabilize with the highest purity nitrogen passing over the co 2 sensor , all as indicated at step 328 . following the nine minute delay the co 2 sensor is read , and , if it is the first calibration attempt , as at step 330 , the first zero point value is stored , and , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 332 , the controller shifts the system into a normal control mode of operation as at 336 for fifteen minutes . a counter within the controller 50 is set at &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ; at this time . after the fifteen minutes of normal control operation the controller returns to step 328 and 330 where it generates a second zero point value which is compared to the first zero point value at step 338 . if at step 338 the controller finds that both zero points are within 50 m v of each other , the second determined zero point is stored , via the &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; branch 340 , at step 342 . the control then returns to the start point 306 via branch 344 and the new zero value is used until the control decides that compensation or calibration is again necessary . if , at step 338 the second zero value is not within 50 m v of the first value the controller moves through the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch to step 348 wherein the counter 334 number is reduced by one and the new count is evaluated . if the new count is not &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ; the control passes , via the &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; branch 350 , to step 336 and the process continues until a new zero value is determined , or , until the count at step 348 equals &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ;. at this point the controller will move through the y branch 350 from step 348 and display a fault , as at 352 , on the controller display 171 . the controller 50 will then use the previous valid carbon dioxide zero point as at step 354 for system control . in the preceding description , on several occasions the alarm / fault system generally identified by reference numeral 356 in fig9 has been referred to . this system , programmed into the controlled atmosphere controller 50 is used to detect major faults in the system and to shut the system down or put it into a safe operating mode if one occurs . it also accumulates the amount of operating time for the system . after fixed operating intervals the control will display at 171 , a service alarm , indicating it is time to service certain components of the unit . specifically , a service alarm appears upon 5000 lapsed hours for the filters 90 and 92 and a compressor service alarm appears at 14 , 000 hours . after servicing the unit , the operator resets the timer for the particular component using the keyboard 162 . other features of the alarm / fault system 356 include the following : ( 1 ) monitoring the status of the compressor overtemperature switch 80 . if this switch opens the compressor 30 will be shut down and the display will indicate a fault . ( 2 ) monitoring of the status of the system fuse ( not shown ) and should it open the system will enter a stand - by mode as indicated by illumination of the light 162 on the display 170 . ( 3 ) monitoring the status of the heater overtemperature switch 99 . if this switch opens , the heater 34 will be shut down and the display 171 will indicate a fault . ( 4 ) monitors the output of the oxygen sensor 110 and the co 2 sensor 112 . if these sensors read outside their expected range as described above or fail to calibrate , the control will indicate a fault on the display 170 . | 5 |
a block diagram of an exemplary system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig1 . the system preferably includes a memory 102 for storing test data . the memory 102 is accessible from a processor 104 . processor 104 receives inputs from input devices 106 , such as a keyboard and mouse . processor 104 also produces outputs which are displayed on an output device 108 , which can be a monitor or printer , for instance . the memory 102 preferably stores test data to be evaluated , but may store other information , such as program instructions for executing a program in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . data can be entered into memory 102 through user input devices 106 , or alternatively , optional lab equipment 110 can automatically store test results . processor 104 executes a set of machine instructions adapted to evaluate the test data stored in memory 102 . the test data relates to test results obtained using various testing methods on a common set of donors , as will be explained in greater detail below . the data includes at least one and preferably two results per subject using the reference ( control ) methods , and at least one result for each evaluation method . processor 104 is adapted to perform a series of calculations which determine if the evaluation test methods are clinically equivalent to the reference method or methods . the calculations and steps performed by the processor to make this determination will be described in greater detail below . an exemplary set of data associated with two reference test method results and one result from each of two evaluation test methods per subject is reproduced in appendix a . these data , as shown , are preferably stored in a spreadsheet program , such as microsoft ™. excel . as shown , the data are stored in cells of a table identified by columns and rows . rows 2 - 4 of the exemplary table contain information about the test , including the test name , the units appropriate to the results of each test , and user - defined limits of equivalence ( acceptable bias ) for each test . as shown the limits can be expressed in exact quantities , such as 2 mmol / l for sodium , or in percentages , such as 10 % for ast . as further shown in the table of appendix a , row 6 contains labels for f each of the columns of data in rows 7 and above . column a contains donor numbers , column b contains the main variable in the testing methods ( the blood collection tube type ), column c contains results of the tests for sodium , column d contains results of the tests for ast , and column e contains results of the tests for triglycerides . there were three types of blood collection tubes used in this study , serum , sst .™., and sst ii .™. as can further be observed from the exemplary table of appendix a , specimens from 30 donors were tested , and each donor was tested for three analytes , sodium , ast , and triglycerides . for each donor , four blood specimens were drawn , two with the serum type tube , and one each with the sst .™. and sst ii .™. tubes , with each of the three analytes being measured in each specimen . two specimens were drawn with the serum tube , which in this case was considered to be the reference or control method . one specimen was drawn with each of the two evaluation devices . thus there were twelve results ( 4 for each analyte ) for each donor . tube type is the main variable in the exemplary test methods , but it should be understood that any variable could be evaluated , and blood collection tube type is chosen and discussed herein simply as an example . the serum tube was the reference or control device . the first evaluation device in this example was a blood collection tube labeled sst .™., and the second evaluation device was a blood collection tube labeled sst ii .™. the user interface will now be described in connection with fig2 , which is a screen shot of a user interface according to an embodiment of the invention . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , a graphical computer interface such as the one shown in fig2 is provided . the invention is embodied in a computer program which acts as a plug - in to microsoft .®. excel . of course it will be understood by those of skill in the art that the invention could be programmed as an independent software application running on a personal computer , or embedded in hardware , or implemented in any other suitable manner . when the plug - in is activated , the user interface 200 shown in fig2 is presented . the user interface 200 allows for the user to identify parts of a table , such as the spread sheet shown in appendix a , which are related to reference and evaluation test methods , and to choose certain available options for the type of evaluation to be performed , as well as the types of outputs desired . the user then uses a mouse or other suitable input device to identify the corresponding portions of the table which contain the information needed by the program to perform the necessary calculations and generate the desired output . for example , a portion of the user interface 200 is labeled “ study information ” 202 . this portion includes experiment name 204 , analyte names 206 , and analyte units 208 . the user has the option of typing the cell range corresponding to “ experiment name ” directly into the space provided for in the user interface at 204 , or to click a button 210 allowing the user to use a mouse to identify the corresponding cell range within the excel worksheet . since the experiment name in this example is “ anaplot test ” at cell a6 of the table in appendix a , cell a6 would be identified by the user in field 204 of the user interface . similarly , cells c6 - e6 would be identified as corresponding to the “ analyte names ” at 206 of the user interface 200 . cells c4 - e4 would be identified as corresponding to “ analyte units ” 208 in the user interface 200 . a type of mean difference limit calculation is selected using the user interface 200 at 212 . the choices are replicated control calculation 214 , bland altman 216 , given variability 218 , and no control limits 220 . only one of the four selection can be selected . also , a choice between constant cv 222 and constant sd 224 is provided in this section 212 . the types of mean difference limit calculations will be discussed in further detail below . a portion of the user interface 200 is provided to allow for the selection of desired outputs 226 . the possible selections preferably include confidence limits for bias 228 , mean difference plot 230 , chevron plot 232 , correlation plot 234 , and data in appendix 236 . a checkbox for each type of output to be included is provided , and selecting any of the output types will cause the output to be included in the report generated by the system . the clinical criteria for bias limits 238 can also be set , either by entering the criteria directly in the space provided , or by referring to cells in a table which contain the clinical criteria for bias limits , such as an excel worksheet . a section of the interface 200 is provided for identifying certain relevant data 240 . the data identified in this section includes a donor id column 242 , a cont / eval id column 244 , and a data range 246 . in the present example , donor id column would refer to column a of the table reproduced in appendix a . this is the column of data containing donor ids . cont / eval id column 244 refers to the column in the table which contains the names of the reference and evaluation variables for each donor . in this example , column b of the table in appendix a would be identified . column b contains the labels for the blood collection tubes used in each test ( serum , sst .™., and sst ii .™.). the data to be evaluated , including reference data and evaluation data as appropriate , are identified in the data range 246 field . in this example , columns c , d , and e are identified as corresponding to the test results for both the reference and evaluation tests . these columns contain the actual test data for the three analytes tested , and for each of the 30 donors . the interface 200 also includes a field for control id 248 and evaluation id 250 . a “ select all but control ” button 252 is provided . finally , an “ ok ” button 254 , a “ cancel ” button 256 , an “ add comparison ” button 258 and a “ restore prior values ” button 260 are provided . the method according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in connection with the flowchart of fig3 . at step 300 a reference method is conducted . observations from the reference method are recorded at 302 . the reference method forms the basis for comparison to the evaluation method . preferably , the reference method is performed at least twice , and observations of both reference methods are recorded . in this manner , the variability between successive runs of the same method can be measured . at step 304 , the evaluation method is performed , and observations are recorded at 306 . preferably , the observations are recorded into a table , such as a microsoft .®. excel worksheet , to facilitate accessing the data for calculations to be performed by the statistical analysis program . more than one evaluation method may be performed and recorded . advantageously , according to an embodiment of the present invention , any number of evaluation methods can be evaluated simultaneously . at 308 the statistical analysis program is started . preferably , this produces an interface as described above in connection with fig2 . various data are identified in the user interface 200 at 310 . preferable , the data identified in the user interface 200 include the donor id &# 39 ; s associated with the data , the control / evaluation ids , and the columns of data for the tests performed . a sample table of data is provided at appendix a . also in the interface 200 , the types of mean difference limit calculations desired are selected 312 . the types available are replicated control calculation 214 , bland altman 216 , given variability 218 , and no control limits 220 . also to be selected are constant cv 222 or constant sd 224 . if replicated control calculation 214 is selected , the statistical program calculated the acceptable variability in the evaluation data based on the variability between the at least two sets of reference data . bland altman 216 selects a bland altman mean difference calculation . given variability 218 allows the user to select the acceptable variability . finally , no control limits 220 allows the user to select a set of calculations without control limits . at step 314 , the user selects the desired set of outputs to be generated . these selections are available at 226 of the user interface 200 . the user &# 39 ; s choices comprise confidence limits for bias 228 , mean difference plot 230 , chevron plot 232 , correlation plot 234 , and data in appendix 236 . examples of each type of data will be described in greater detail below . once all data have been identified , and calculations and outputs have been selected , the user selects the “ ok ” button 254 at step 316 to begin the calculations selected . a series of equations appropriate to the various selections available to the user are shown at appendices b and c . appendix b shows the set of equations associated with determining the slope and intercept in a correlation plot 234 . different equations are provided for different combinations of calculation type , and the kind and number of reference and evaluation data sets , as well as the type of variation selected . appendix c shows the set of equations used to generate chevron plot data . the chevron plot will be described in greater detail below in connection with fig4 . at step 318 , the system determines based on statistical analysis , whether the evaluation data indicates that the evaluation method is clinically equivalent to the reference method or methods . finally , at step 320 the selected outputs are generated , along with conclusions reporting whether the evaluation method is clinically equivalent or not . various outputs will now be described . the outputs described were based on the sample data provided in the table of appendix a . a complete sample report is reproduced in appendix d , and this report includes each of the types of outputs to be described in the foregoing description , for each of the three analytes tested in the reference and evaluation methods shown in appendix a . for brevity , the outputs will each be described once in connection with one of the three analytes , ast . fig4 illustrates the confidence limits for bias output , selected by checking confidence limits for bias 228 in the user interface 200 . the output shown in fig4 corresponds to the analyte ast which was tested for each donor and for each reference and evaluation test method . the 95 % confidence interval for bias gives a feasible range of possible values for the average bias or difference between results obtained using a reference method or device and an evaluation method or device . thus , if the 95 % confidence interval for bias in ast between sst .™. and serum tubes is ( 5 %, 8 %), then there is 95 % confidence that the true difference is somewhere between 5 % and 8 %. the confidence interval for each of the evaluation methods , sst .™. and sst ii .™., are shown to be well within the 10 % limits designated , indicating equivalence between the evaluation and reference devices . fig5 illustrates a mean difference plot generated by the program according to an embodiment of the present invention . data for each of the evaluation methods , sst .™. and sst ii .™., are plotted . each point represents a difference between the result observed using the reference method and the result observed using the evaluation method . fig6 illustrates a chevron plot generated by the program according to an embodiment of the present invention . the chevron plot is a measure of bias ( accuracy ) and precision . each evaluation experiment is plotted . evaluation methods with a combination of good accuracy , and good precision are preferred . regions are designated as “ good ”, “ satisfactory ”, “ unsatisfactory ” and “ poor ” so that the user can easily see which classification applies to each of the evaluation methods . of course , it will be understood that while the chevron plot is the preferred manner of presenting accuracy and precision data , any graphical or non - graphical method of presenting accuracy and precision data is considered to be within the scope of the present invention . fig7 and 8 illustrate correlation plots generated according to an embodiment of the present invention . fig7 correlates reference ( serum ) results with the first evaluation method ( sst .™.). fig8 correlates reference results with the second evaluation method ( sst ii .™.). regression is performed on the data and a regression line is plotted . an ideal line with slope equal to 1 and intercept equal to zero is also produced for comparison . a sample report generated by the system according to an embodiment of the invention is reproduced in appendix d . the report includes the various outputs selected in the user interface 200 as described above for each analyte tested . also , the report includes conclusions about the clinical equivalence of the evaluation methods for each of the analytes evaluated . in this manner , new test methods ( including existing test methods with new components , such as blood collection tubes , chemical reagents or analytical instruments ), can be evaluated , and a lab can quickly and definitively determine that test results using the new method are clinically equivalent to previous test results . if the new method is shown not to be clinically equivalent , steps can be taken to correct the problem . while the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications , numerous modifications or variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and equivalents thereof . | 6 |
in the following description , reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and which illustrate several embodiments of the present inventions . it is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and operational changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present inventions . as shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration , some aspects of the present inventions are directed to a drive mechanism for an infusion pump for medication or other fluids . in preferred embodiments , a releasable coupler couples an in - line drive to a plunger or piston of a reservoir to dispense fluids , such as medications , drugs , vitamins , vaccines , hormones , water or the like . however , it will be recognized that further embodiments of the invention may be used in other devices that require compact and accurate drive mechanisms . in addition , other embodiments use a telescoping drive member ( or lead screw ) to minimize the packaging dimensions of the drive mechanism and the overall configuration of the medication pump . still further , a ventilation feature using hydrophobic materials or a relief valve can be employed to equalized any pressure differentials which might otherwise exist between the atmosphere and the interior of the pump housing . as a back up to this ventilation feature , a threaded attachment permits a secure coupling between the reservoir piston and the in - line drive . fig4 shows a side plan , cut - away view of an infusion pump drive mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the inventions , in which a housing 401 , containing a lower section 402 for a power supply 420 and electronic control circuitry 422 , accommodates a driving device , such as a motor 403 ( e . g ., a solenoid , stepper or d . c . motor ), a first drive member , such as an externally threaded drive gear or screw 404 , a second drive member , such as an internally threaded plunger gear or slide 405 , and a removable vial or reservoir 406 . the reservoir 406 includes a plunger or piston 407 with o - rings or integral raised ridges for forming a water and air tight seal . the reservoir 406 is secured into the housing 401 with a connector 431 which also serves as the interface between the reservoir 406 and the infusion set tubing ( not shown ). in a preferred embodiment , the reservoir piston 407 is coupled to the plunger slide 405 by a releasable coupler . in the illustrated embodiment , the coupler includes a female portion 424 which receives a male portion 426 carried by the plunger slide 405 . the female portion 424 is positioned at the end face 428 of the piston 407 and includes a threaded cavity which engages the threads of a male screw extending from the end 430 of the plunger slide 405 . while preferred embodiments of the present inventions are directed to disposable , pre - filled reservoirs , alternative embodiments may use refillable cartridges , syringes or the like . the cartridge can be pre - filled with insulin ( or other drug or fluid ) and inserted into the pump . alternatively , the cartridge could be filled by the user using an adapter handle on the syringe - piston . after being filled , the handle is removed ( such as by unscrewing the handle ) so that the cartridge can be placed into the pump . referring again to fig4 as the drive shaft 432 of the motor 403 rotates , the drive screw 404 drives the plunger slide 405 directly to obtain the axial displacement against the reservoir piston 407 to deliver the predetermined amount of medication or liquid . when using a dc or stepper motor , the motor can be rapidly rewound when the reservoir is emptied or as programmed by the user . a sealing device , such as an o - ring seal 409 is in contact with the plunger slide 405 thus allowing it to move axially while maintaining a water resistant barrier between the cavity holding the reservoir 406 and the motor 403 . this prevents fluids and other contaminants from entering the drive system . an anti - rotation key 410 is affixed to the plunger slide 405 and is sized to fit within a groove ( not shown ) axially disposed in the housing 401 . this arrangement serves to prevent motor and plunger slide rotation which might otherwise result from the torque generated by the motor 403 in the event that the friction of the o - ring seal 409 is not sufficient alone to prevent rotation . the motor 403 is a conventional motor , such as a dc or stepper motor , and is journal mounted in the housing 401 by a system compliance mounting 412 . a system compliance mount can be useful in aiding motor startup . certain types of motors , such as stepper motors , may require a great deal of torque to initiate rotor motion when the rotor &# 39 ; s initial at - rest position is in certain orientations with respect to the motor &# 39 ; s housing . a motor which is rigidly mounted may not have enough power to develop the necessary starting torque . including system compliance mounting permits the motor housing to turn slightly in response to high motor torque . this alters the orientation between the rotor and the housing such that less torque is required to initiate rotor motion . a compliance mount can include a rubberized mounting bracket . alternatively , the mounting could be accomplished using a shaft bearing and leaf spring or other known compliance mountings . fig5 shows a perspective view of the in - line drive mechanism of fig4 outside of the housing . the plunger slide 405 ( internal threads not shown ) is cylindrically shaped and has the screw - shaped male portion 426 of the coupler attached to one end thereof . the anti - rotation key 410 is affixed to the opposite end of the slide 405 . the drive screw 404 is of such a diameter as to fit within and engage the internal threads of the plunger slide 405 as shown in fig4 . a conventional gear box 501 couples the drive screw 404 to the drive shaft 432 of the motor 403 . fig4 and 6 show the infusion pump assembly with the plunger slide 405 in the retracted position . the reservoir 406 which may be full of medication or other fluid is inserted in a reservoir cavity 601 which is sized to receive a reservoir or vial . in the retracted position , the plunger slide 405 encloses the gear box 501 ( not visible in fig6 ) while the drive screw 404 ( not visible in fig6 ) remains enclosed within the plunger slide 405 but is situated close to the coupler . the motor 403 may optionally include an encoder ( not shown ) which in conjunction with the system electronics can monitor the number of motor rotations . this in turn can be used to accurately determine the position of the plunger slide 405 thus providing information relating to the amount of fluid dispensed from the reservoir 406 . fig7 a and 7 b show the infusion pump assembly with the plunger slide 405 in the fully extended position . in this position , the plunger slide 405 has withdrawn from over the gear box 501 and advanced into the reservoir 406 behind the reservoir piston 407 . accordingly , the plunger slide 405 is sized to fit within the housing of the reservoir 406 , such that when the reservoir piston 407 and the plunger slide 405 are in the fully extended position as shown , the reservoir piston 407 has forced most , if not all , of the liquid out of the reservoir 406 . as explained in greater detail below , once the reservoir piston 407 has reached the end of its travel path indicating that the reservoir has been depleted , the reservoir 406 may be removed by twisting such that the threaded reservoir piston 407 ( not shown in fig7 b ) disengages from the male portion 426 of the coupler . in a preferred embodiment , the motor drive shaft 432 , gear box 501 , drive screw 404 , and plunger slide 405 are all coaxially centered within the axis of travel 440 ( fig4 ) of the reservoir piston 407 . in certain of the alternative embodiments , one or more of these components may be offset from the center of the axis of travel 440 and yet remain aligned with the axis of travel which has a length which extends the length of the reservoir 406 . fig8 is a cut away perspective view of an anti - rotation device . the anti - rotation key 410 consists of a ring or collar 442 with two rectangular tabs 436 which are spaced 180 ° apart . only one tab is visible in fig8 . the ring portion 442 of the key 410 surrounds and is attached to the end of the plunger slide 405 which is closest to the motor . disposed in the housing 401 are two anti - rotation slots 434 , only one of which is visible in fig8 . the anti - rotation slots 434 are sized to accept the rectangular tabs of the key 410 . as the plunger slide 405 moves axially in response to the motor torque as previously described , the slots 434 will permit the key 410 to likewise move axially . however the slots 434 and the tabs 436 of the key 410 will prevent any twisting of the plunger slide 405 which might otherwise result from the torque generated by the motor . fig9 illustrates a split lead - screw ( or plunger slide ) design in accordance with an embodiment of the present inventions . the use of a split lead - screw or telescoping lead screw allows the use of an even smaller housing for the drive mechanism . a telescoping lead - screw formed from multiple segments allows the pump to minimize the dimensions of the drive mechanism , in either in - line or gear driven drive mechanisms . in preferred embodiments , an interior shaft 901 is rotated by a gear 906 which is coupled to a drive motor ( not shown ). this in turn extends a middle drive segment 902 by engaging with the threads of an internal segment 904 . the middle segment 902 carries an outer segment 903 forward with it in direction d as it is extended to deliver fluid . when the middle segment 902 is fully extended , the internal segment 904 engages with a stop 905 on the middle segment 902 and locks it down from pressure with the threads between the middle and internal segments . the locked middle segment 902 then rotates relative to the outer segment 903 and the threads between the middle segment 902 and the outer segment 903 engage to extend the outer segment 903 in direction d to its full length . the use of multiple segments is not limited to two or three segments ; more may be used . the use of three segments reduces the length of the retracted lead - screw portion of the drive mechanism by half . in alternative embodiments , the outer segment may be connected to the motor and the inner segment may be the floating segment . in preferred embodiments , o - rings 907 are used to seal each segment relative to the other and to form a seal with the housing to maintain water sealing and integrity . as previously noted , the construction of these pumps to be water resistant can give rise to operational problems . as the user engages in activities which expose the pump to varying atmospheric pressures , differential pressures can arise between the interior of the air tight / water - resistant housing and the atmosphere . should the pressure in the housing exceed external atmospheric pressure , the resulting forces could cause the reservoir piston to be driven inward thus delivering unwanted medication . on the other hand , should the external atmospheric pressure exceed the pressure in the housing , then the pump motor will have to work harder to advance the reservoir piston . to address this problem , a preferred embodiment of the inventions includes a venting port which resists the intrusion of moisture . referring to fig7 b , venting is accomplished through the housing 401 into the reservoir cavity 601 via a vent port 605 . the vent port can be enclosed by a relief valve ( not shown ) or covered with hydrophobic material . hydrophobic material permits air to pass through the material while resisting the passage of water or other liquids from doing so , thus permitting water resistant venting . the preferred embodiment uses a hydrophobic material such as gore - tex ®, ptfe , hdpe , uhmw polymers from sources such as w . i . gore & amp ; associates , flagstaff , az ., porex technologies , fairbum , ga ., or dewal industries , saunderstown , r . i .. it is appreciated that other hydrophobic materials may be used as well . these materials are available in sheet form or molded ( press and sintered ) in a geometry of choice . referring to fig1 a - 10 c , preferred methods to attach this material to the housing 401 include molding the hydrophobic material into a sphere 1001 ( fig1 a ) or a cylinder 1002 ( fig1 b ) and pressing it into a cavity in the pre - molded plastic housing . alternatively , a label 1003 ( fig1 c ) of this material could be made with either a transfer adhesive or heat bond material 1004 so that the label could be applied over the vent port 605 . alternatively , the label could be sonically welded to the housing . in either method , air will be able to pass freely , but water will not . in an alternative embodiment ( not shown ), the vent port could be placed in the connector 431 which secures the reservoir 406 to the housing 401 and which also serves to secure and connect the reservoir 406 to the infusion set tubing ( not shown ). as described in greater detail in copending application ser . no . 09 / 428 , 818 filed contemporaneously herewith ( attorney docket no . 0059 - 0307 ), which application is incorporated by reference in its entirety , the connector and infusion set refers to the tubing and apparatus which connects the outlet of the reservoir to the user of a medication infusion pump . an advantage of placing the vent port and hydrophobic material in this location , as opposed to the housing 401 , is that the infusion set is disposable and is replaced frequently with each new reservoir or vial of medication . thus new hydrophobic material is frequently placed into service . this provides enhanced ventilation as compared with the placement of hydrophobic material in the housing 401 . material in this location will not be replaced as often and thus is subject to dirt or oil build up which will retard ventilation . in yet another alternative embodiment however , vent ports with hydrophobic material could be placed in both the pump housing and in the connector portion of the infusion set . regardless of the location of the vent port , there remains the possibility that the vent port can become clogged by the accumulation of dirt , oil , etc . over the hydrophobic material . in another feature of certain embodiments of the present invention , the releasable coupler can act to prevent unintentional medication delivery in those instances when the internal pump housing pressure exceeds atmospheric pressure . referring to fig1 , the coupler includes threads formed in a cavity within the external face of the reservoir piston 407 . the threaded cavity 424 engages the threads of the male portion 426 which in turn is attached to the end 430 of the plunger slide 405 . this thread engagement reduces or prevents the effect of atmospheric pressure differentials acting on the water resistant , air - tight housing 401 ( not shown in fig1 ) from causing inadvertent fluid delivery . the threads of the male portion 426 act to inhibit or prevent separation of the reservoir piston 407 from the plunger slide 405 which , in turn , is secured to the drive screw 404 ( not shown in fig1 ) by engagement of the external threads of the drive screw 404 with the internal threads of the plunger slide 405 . as a result , the coupler resists movement of the reservoir piston 407 caused by atmospheric pressure differentials . when the reservoir 406 is to be removed , it is twisted off of the coupler male portion 426 . the system electronics then preferably cause the drive motor 403 to rapidly rewind so that the plunger slide 405 is driven into a fully retracted position ( fig4 and 6 ). a new reservoir 406 , however , may not be full of fluid . thus the reservoir piston 407 may not be located in the furthest possible position from the reservoir outlet . should the reservoir piston 407 be in such an intermediate position , then it may not be possible to engage the threads of the male portion 426 of the coupler ( which is in a fully retracted position ) with those in the female portion 424 of the coupler in the reservoir piston 407 upon initial placement of the reservoir . in accordance with another feature of certain embodiments , the illustrated embodiment provides for advancement of the plunger slide 405 upon the insertion of a reservoir into the pump housing . the plunger slide 405 advances until it comes into contact with the reservoir piston 407 and the threads of the coupler male portion 426 of the coupler engage the threads in the female portion 424 in the reservoir piston 407 . when the threads engage in this fashion in the illustrated embodiment , they do so not by twisting . rather , they rachet over one another . in the preferred embodiment , the threads of the coupler male portion 426 have a 5 start , 40 threads per inch (“ tpi ”) pitch or profile while the threads of the coupler female portion 424 have a 2 start , 40 tpi pitch or profile as illustrated in fig1 . thus these differing thread profiles do not allow for normal tooth - to - tooth thread engagement . rather , there is a cross threaded engagement . the purpose of this intentional cross threading is to reduce the force necessary to engage the threads as the plunger slide 405 seats into the reservoir piston 407 . in addition , the 2 start , 40 tpi threads of the coupler female portion 424 are preferably made from a rubber material to provide a degree of compliance to the threads . on the other hand , the 5 start , 40 tpi threads of the male coupler portion 426 are preferably made of a relatively hard plastic . other threading arrangements and profiles could be employed resulting in a similar effect . if on the other hand , the threads had a common thread pitch with an equal number of starts given the same degree of thread interference ( i . e ., the od of the male feature being larger than the od of the female feature ), then the force needed to insert the male feature would be pulsatile . referring to fig1 a , as each thread tooth engages the next tooth , the insertion force would be high as compared to the point where the thread tooth passes into the valley of the next tooth . but with the cross threaded arrangement of the preferred embodiment , not all of the threads ride over one another at the same time . rather , they ratchet over one another individually due to the cross - threaded profile . this arrangement results in less force required to engage the threads when the plunger slide moves axially , but still allows the reservoir to easily be removed by a manual twisting action . while the advantage of utilizing a common thread pitch would be to provide a maximum ability to resist axial separation of the reservoir piston 407 from the plunger slide 405 , there are disadvantages . in engaging the threads , the peak force is high and could result in excessive delivery of fluids as the plunger slide 405 moves forward to seat in the cavity of the reservoir piston 407 . as described in greater detail in copending application ser . no . 09 / 428411 filed contemporaneously herewith ( attorney docket no . 0059 - 0308 ), which application is incorporated by reference in its entirety , the pump may have an occlusion detection system which uses axial force as an indicator of pressure within the reservoir . if so , then a false alarm may be generated during these high force conditions . therefore , the insertion force profile is preferably more flat than that shown in fig1 a . to accomplish this , the cross threading design of the preferred embodiment causes the relatively soft rubber teeth of the female portion 424 at the end of the reservoir piston 407 to rachet or swipe around the relatively hard plastic teeth of the coupler resulting in a significantly lower insertion force for the same degree of thread interference . ( see fig1 b ) this is due to the fact that not all of the thread teeth ride over one another simultaneously . moreover , the cross - sectional shape of the threads are ramped . this makes it easier for the threads to ride over one another as the plunger slide is being inserted into the reservoir piston . however , the flat opposite edge of the thread profile makes it much more difficult for the plunger slide to be separated from the reservoir piston . referring to fig1 and 12 , the 5 start , 40 tpi ( 0 . 125 ″ lead ) thread profile of the coupler male portion 426 was chosen in consideration of the thread lead on the preferred embodiment of the connector 431 . the connector 431 is secured into the pump housing with threads 433 ( fig7 b ) having a 2 start , 8 tpi ( 0 . 250 ″ lead ) profile . therefore the 0 . 250 ″ lead on the connector is twice that of the reservoir piston 407 which is 0 . 125 ″. this was chosen to prevent inadvertent fluid delivery during removal of the reservoir from the pump housing , or alternatively , to prevent separation of the reservoir piston 407 from the reservoir 406 during removal from the pump housing . when the connector 431 is disengaged from the pump , the connector 431 as well as the reservoir 406 will both travel with the 0 . 250 ″ lead . since the threaded coupler lead is 0 . 125 ″, the plunger slide 405 will disengage somewhere between the 0 . 125 ″ lead of the threaded coupler and the 0 . 250 ″ lead of the infusion set 1103 . therefore , the rate that the reservoir piston 407 is removed from the pump is the same down to half that of the reservoir 406 / connector 431 . thus any medication which may be present in the reservoir 406 will not be delivered to the user . additionally , the length of the reservoir piston 407 is sufficient such that it will always remain attached to the reservoir 406 during removal from the pump . although the preferred embodiment describes the plunger slide 405 having a coupler male portion 426 with an external thread lead that is different from the connector 431 , this is not necessary . the thread leads could be the same or of an increment other than what has been described . the 2 start thread profile of the coupler female portion 424 on the reservoir piston 407 of the preferred embodiment provides another advantage . some versions of these reservoirs may be designed to be filled by the user . in such an instance , a handle ( not shown ) will need to be screwed into the threaded portion of the reservoir piston 407 in order for the user to retract the reservoir piston 407 and fill the reservoir . the number of rotations necessary to fully insert the handle depends upon the distance the handle thread profile travels to fully engage the reservoir piston 407 as well as the thread lead . for example , a single start , 40 tpi ( 0 . 025 ″ lead ) thread requires 4 complete rotations to travel a 0 . 10 ″ thread engagement . however , a 2 start , 40 tpi ( 0 . 050 ″ lead ) thread only requires 2 complete rotations to travel the 0 . 10 ″ thread engagement . therefore , an additional advantage of a 2 start thread as compared to a single start thread ( given the same pitch ) is that half as many rotations are needed in order to fully seat the handle . in alternative embodiments which are not shown , the end of the plunger slide 405 may include a detente or ridge to engage with a corresponding formation in the reservoir piston 407 to resist unintended separation of the plunger slide 405 from the reservoir piston 407 . in other embodiments , the plunger slide 405 is inserted and removed by overcoming a friction fit . preferably , the friction fit is secure enough to resist movement of the reservoir piston 407 relative to the plunger slide 405 due to changes in air pressure , but low enough to permit easy removal of the reservoir 406 and its reservoir piston 407 from the plunger slide 405 once the fluid has been expended . in other embodiments , the detente or ridge may be spring loaded or activated to grasp the reservoir piston 407 once the drive mechanism has been moved forward ( or extended ), but is retracted by a switch or cam when the drive mechanism is in the rearmost ( or retracted ) position . the spring action could be similar to those used on collets . in other embodiments of the inventions , the threaded coupler may be engaged with the threaded cavity of the reservoir piston by twisting or rotating the reservoir as it is being manually placed into the housing . as set forth above , the reservoir piston 407 is made of rubber . in the illustrated embodiment , an insert 1201 ( fig1 ) which is made of hard plastic may provided in the upper portion of the reservoir piston 407 . the insert 1201 provides stiffness to the rubber reservoir piston 407 . this reduces undesirable compliance which is associated with the reservoir . without the insert 1201 , the flexibility in the reservoir piston 407 due to its rubber composition could cause it to deform under varying reservoir fluid back pressures . this deformation could in turn vary the internal volume of the reservoir 406 . such variances may adversely affect the controlled delivery of the fluid from the reservoir 406 via the infusion set to the user . it can be appreciated that the design of fig4 - 12 results in an arrangement where ; the plunger slide 405 is reliably but releasably coupled to the drive screw 404 . when it is time to replace the reservoir 406 , it can be detached from the male end of the coupler without affecting the plunger / drive screw engagement . moreover in the preferred embodiment , the plunger slide 405 is shaped as a hollow cylinder with internal threads . thus it completely encircles and engages drive screw 404 . when the plunger slide 405 is in a relatively retracted position , it encloses any gears which couple the motor 403 with the drive screw 404 thus achieving an extremely compact design . alternative embodiments include an arrangement where the plunger slide 405 encloses the motor 403 itself . a vent port covered with hydrophobic material as well as a threaded coupler provide redundant means for permitting exposure of the pump to changing atmospheric pressures without the unintended delivery of medication . while the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present inventions , it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof . the accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present inventions . the presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the inventions being indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description , and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein . | 8 |
the indefinite articles “ a ” and “ an ” and the numeric expression “ one ” used herein are intended to describe a copper clad laminate and a method for manufacturing the same of the present invention in terms of elements and compositions for illustrative sake and general conceptual description of the present invention . furthermore , the indefinite articles “ a ” and “ an ” and the numeric expression “ one ” used herein may imply “ at least a / an ” and “ at least one ” as needed , whereas any ensuing singular noun used herein may imply the corresponding plural noun unless otherwise specified . where quantity , concentration or any value or parameter is expressed by a range , a preferred range , an upper limit , and / or a lower limit , it must be interpreted as falling within the range between the upper limit or preferred value and the lower limit or preferred value , regardless of whether the range is disclosed . moreover , unless otherwise specified , in case a range of values is disclosed herein , the range of values must cover its endpoints as well as all the integers and fractions which fall within the range of values . according to the present invention , a numeric value must be interpreted in a way to demonstrate the precision attributable to the significant figures thereof , provided that the objectives of the invention are achievable . for instance , the number 40 must be interpreted to cover the range from 35 . 0 to 44 . 9 , and the number 40 . 0 must be interpreted to cover the range from 39 . 50 to 40 . 49 . changchun epoxy resin ( model no . cne - 200elf and be501 , purchased from chang chun plastics co ., ltd . ), a curing agent which is dicyandiamide ( dicy ), a flame retardant agent which is 9 , 10 - dihydro - 9 - oxa - 10 - phosphaphenanthrene - 10 - oxide ( dopo ) and a solvent which is dimethylformamide ( dmf ). the aforesaid raw materials are commercially available as they can be directly purchased from the market , and they need not be purified before direct use . in an embodiment of the present invention , the present invention provides a halogen - free flame - retarded curing agent which demonstrates enhanced thermal stability and chemical stability and is capable of high flame retardation and curing . the flame - retarded curing agent is a translucent brownish - yellow solid produced by mixing dopo and dicy at 100 c .˜ 140 c .° for 6 hours and then cooling the mixture until its temperature drops to the room temperature . the chemical structure of the compound contained in the resultant flame - retarded curing agent ( dopo - dicy ) is expressed by at least one of the formulas ( 1 ) through ( 3 ) as follows : the amide group of the flame - retarded curing agent ( dopo - dicy ) is highly hygroscopic and thus absorbs water readily when kept in an atmospheric environment . the high water content of the flame - retarded curing agent ( dopo - dicy ) leads to the uneven thermal curing of the flame - retarded curing agent ( dopo - dicy ) and the epoxy resin during a subsequent process of lamination of a copper clad laminate ( ccl ). hence , before it is put to use , the flame - retarded curing agent ( dopo - dicy ) must be dried until its water content is reduced to 800 ppm or lower . in an embodiment of the present invention , the base fabric for use in the copper clad laminate comprises a cyclic olefin copolymer ( coc ) fabric which is produced by winding coc fiber with polyvinyl alcohol ( pva ) fiber to form a core - spun yarn , warping and beating - up the core - spun yarn to produce a plain woven fabric with a gauge of 50 × 37 pieces / inch and a thickness of 0 . 2 mm , then rinsing the woven fabric in hot water at 80 c .° and for 30 minutes , and eventually removing the pva fiber to finalize the coc fabric . both the warp and weft of the coc fabric are formed from coc fiber . the coc fiber has a low dielectric constant , and thus the coc fabric has a low dielectric constant too . referring to fig1 , a copper clad laminate 1 of the present invention comprises a plurality of prepregs 12 and a copper clad 11 disposed on the prepregs 12 , wherein the prepregs 12 are stacked up and are each formed from resin and base fabric . the base fabric for use in the prepregs 12 either comprises coc fabric and glass fiber fabric or comprises coc fabric . furthermore , regarding their quantity , the prepregs are provided in the number of 4 to 12 , for example . referring to fig2 through fig6 , there are shown schematic views of a copper clad laminate according to embodiment 1 through embodiment 5 of the present invention , respectively , wherein the copper clad laminate comprises seven prepregs . referring to fig2 , highest and lowest prepregs 221 of a copper clad laminate 2 are made from coc fabric , whereas five intermediate prepregs 222 of the copper clad laminate 2 are made from glass fiber fabric . referring to fig3 , highest and lowest prepregs 322 of a copper clad laminate 3 are made from glass fiber fabric , whereas five intermediate prepregs 321 of the copper clad laminate 3 are made from coc fabric . referring to fig4 and fig5 , prepregs made from coc fabric alternate with prepregs made from glass fiber fabric . fig4 shows that highest and lowest prepregs 421 are made from coc fabric . fig5 shows that highest and lowest prepregs 522 are made from glass fiber fabric . referring to fig6 , all the prepregs , that is , prepregs 621 , of a copper clad laminate 6 are made from coc fabric . moreover , to contrast with the copper clad laminates in the above embodiments , the present invention further provides a comparative embodiment in which a copper clad laminate has all its base fabric made from glass fiber fabric , though its other constituent materials and build - up structure are identical to their counterparts in the above embodiments . the glass fiber fabrics are commercially available products on an electronic basis ( product no . 7628 ) with a gauge of 44 × 33 pieces / inch and a thickness of 0 . 18 mm . during the manufacturing process of the copper clad laminates , the resin in the embodiments and the comparative embodiment of the present invention is a mixture of ingredients whose proportions are appropriately controlled to control the extent of curing . experiments are conducted , using different resin formulas and proportions shown in table 1 , wherein , during the experiments , the copper clad laminates are subjected to a hot pressing pressure of 20 kg / cm 2 , at a hot pressing temperature of 185 c .°, and for a hot pressing duration of 2 hours to identify the best resin formula . cne - 200 , which is the model number for epoxy resin , dissolves in acetone to achieve a solid content of 70 %, and can be purchased from the market . 2 - mi denotes 2 - methyl imidazole which is a curing promoter administered at a usage unit of 0 . 05 phr . dopo - dicy denotes the flame - retarded curing agent of the present invention . dmf denotes dimethylformamide . given the optimal curing time of 180 seconds during the manufacturing process of the copper clad laminates , table 1 shows that the gel time of formula 1 approximates to 180 seconds . hence , the copper clad laminates are manufactured in accordance with resin formula 1 . afterward , the copper clad laminate manufacturing process begins with formula 1 and involves dissolving the flame - retarded curing agent ( dopo - dicy ) in dmf , mixing them with epoxy resin and a filler , thinning the mixture with acetone until the viscosity of the mixture is appropriate so as to form a varnish , confirming the gel time at an electric hot plate of 170 c .°, setting the impregnation time to two - thirds of the gel time , performing impregnation of the varnish at the room temperature and in the presence of the base fabric , bake drying the impregnated varnish at 165 c .° with a hot air oven to produce prepregs , stacking 7 prepregs and 1 oz of copper clad at 185 c .° to perform thermal curing and lamination thereon under a hot pressing pressure of 20 kg / cm 2 , wherein its temperature - rising process takes place step by step : raising the temperature from 35 c .° for 11 minutes , heating , after the temperature has reached 85 c .°, for another 20 minutes without raising the temperature , raising the temperature from 85 c .° for 45 minutes until the temperature reaches 185 c .°, and heating at 185 c .° for 120 minutes . upon completion of the temperature - rising process , the thermal curing and lamination process is finished . understandably , according to the present invention , in an embodiment for use in an equivalent change , the temperature at which the thermal curing and lamination process takes place ranges between 175 c .° and 200 c .°. coc fabric differs from glass fiber fabric in terms of thermal expansion coefficient , and thus the present invention is exemplified by two different base fabrics illustrated with embodiment 1 through embodiment 4 . as a result , upon completion of the thermal curing and lamination process , warpage happens to the copper clad laminate , causing a difference of at least 3 mm between the height of the center of the laminate and the height of the periphery of the laminate . furthermore , in embodiment 5 , warpage does not happen to the copper clad laminate , because its base fabric is always coc fabric . hence , in embodiment 1 through embodiment 4 , after the temperature of thermal curing and lamination has reached 185 c .°, an annealing process begins ; in other words , the thermal curing and lamination process will stop , only if a cooling process follows the temperature - rising process . table 2 enumerates the differences between the height of the center of the laminate and the height of the periphery of the laminate in embodiment 1 through embodiment 4 , wherein the annealing processes are performed at different temperatures , respectively , for 30 minutes . as shown in table 2 , when the annealing temperature increases to 100 c .°, only the copper clad laminate of embodiment 1 meets the requirement of height evenness , whereas warpage still happens to the copper clad laminates in embodiments 2 , 3 , 4 . at the annealing temperature 120 c .°, the copper clad laminates in embodiment 1 through embodiment 4 meet the requirement of height evenness , as table 2 shows that they have a height difference of 0 mm . the result of table 2 indicates that , to meet the requirement of height evenness of copper clad laminate , it is necessary that an annealing process must be performed at 120 c .° for an additional period of 30 minutes in the case of copper clad laminates which comprises coc fabric and glass fiber fabric . the annealing temperature for a copper clad laminate depends on how many prepregs of the copper clad laminate are stacked up and how the prepregs are stacked up . hence , according to the present invention , in an embodiment for use in an equivalent change , the annealing temperature is 90 c .° ˜ 150 c .°, and the annealing duration is adjustable according to the annealing temperature . regarding the measurement of high flame retardation of copper clad laminates of the present invention , the flame retardation level of the copper clad laminates is determined by ul - 94 standard . according to the present invention , a derivative ( dopo - dicy ) of dopo is added to epoxy resin to function as a curing agent for the epoxy resin , enhance the flame retardation capability and thermal stability of the epoxy resin , and , more importantly , prevent environmental pollution which might otherwise arise from the use of bromide epoxy resin and occur in the course of the use and recycling thereof . due to the reduction in the cross - linking density of the cured epoxy resin as a result of the introduction of a phosphorus - containing flame retardant , td decreases but remains higher than 300 c .° and thus meets the thermal stability requirement (& gt ; 288 c .°) of copper clad laminates . during the heating process , the phosphorus - containing residual of the phosphorus - containing group of the resin is conducive to the enhancement of the flame retardation of the laminates . table 4 enumerates the measured flame retardation - related data of the copper clad laminates manufactured from resins with different phosphorus content in the embodiments , to allow persons skilled in the art to gain insight into the flame retardation capability of a flame - retarded curing agent of the present invention and prove that the flame - retarded curing agent of the present invention is effective in achieving flame retardation . as indicated by table 4 , when phosphorus content exceeds 13000 ppm , the laminate ( embodiment 5 ) manufactured solely from coc fabric has a flame retardation level of ul - 94 v0 . referring to fig2 through fig5 for the way of stacking up glass fiber fabric and coc fabric and table 4 , the required phosphorus content is much higher for the laminate enclosed by coc fabric than for the laminate enclosed by glass fiber fabric , so is it when coc fabric accounts for more than 50 % of the composition of the copper clad laminate . it is because the degradation of the phosphorus - containing group in the phosphorus - containing epoxy resin is conducive to increasing the degradation temperature , and a carbonized substance encloses the laminate to function as a flame retardation layer , thereby enhancing flame retardation . according to the present invention , physical properties , such as electrical properties , of the copper clad laminates are measured by a dielectrometer . coc fabric has a low dielectric constant ( do of about 2 . 3 and a low dissipation factor ( d f ) of about 0 . 00007 . the electrical properties of the copper clad laminates of the present invention are measured according to different ways of stacking up the glass fiber fabric and coc fabric . table 3 shows the data related to the analysis of the electrical properties of the copper clad laminates in the embodiment 1 through embodiment 5 and the comparative embodiment . referring to table 3 , where the dielectric constant is measured by a ipc - tm - 650 test standard method , the dielectric constant of the copper clad laminate of embodiment 5 is , from 1 mhz to 5 ghz , lower than the dielectric constant of the copper clad laminate of the comparative embodiment , with a maximum difference of 2 . 1 . referring to table 3 , the copper clad laminate will have a low dielectric constant , provided that the base fabric of the highest prepreg and the base fabric of the lowest prepreg are the coc fabrics , for example , in embodiment 1 ( fig2 ) and embodiment 3 ( fig4 ); hence , the dielectric constant of a copper clad laminate is correlated with the position of the coc fabric - made base fabric at the copper clad laminate , but is not correlated with the proportion of coc fabric in the copper clad laminate . furthermore , as indicated by the data pertaining to the dissipation factor of the copper clad laminates and shown in table 3 , among the copper clad laminates in embodiments 1 - 5 , the copper clad laminate in embodiment 5 has the least dissipation factor and has the obviously lowest dissipation factor of 0 . 0004 at high frequency compared with the dissipation factor of 0 . 035 in the comparative embodiment . the dissipation factor of the copper clad laminates correlates with the proportion of coc fabric in the copper clad laminates . referring to table 3 , at a frequency of 5 ghz , the copper clad laminate made solely from coc fabric ( as in embodiment 5 ) has the least dissipation factor ( 0 . 0004 ), embodiment 2 ( fig3 ) comes second , embodiment 3 ( fig4 ) comes third , and the copper clad laminate made solely from glass fiber fabric ( as in comparative embodiment ) has the largest dissipation factor ( 0 . 035 ). in conclusion , the dielectric constant of a copper clad laminate depends on the position of coc fabric at the copper clad laminate , whereas the dissipation factor of a copper clad laminate correlates with the proportion of coc fabric in the copper clad laminate . the present invention is disclosed above by preferred embodiments . however , persons skilled in the art should understand that the preferred embodiments are illustrative of the present invention only , but should not be interpreted as restrictive of the scope of the present invention . hence , all equivalent modifications and replacements made to the aforesaid embodiments should fall within the scope of the present invention . accordingly , the legal protection for the present invention should be defined by the appended claims . | 1 |
a combustion - operated setting tool 10 according to the present invention , which is shown in fig1 - 2 , includes a one - or multi - part housing generally designated with a reference numeral 11 , and a drive 12 located in the housing 11 and driven by an air - fuel mixture . with the drive 12 , a fastening element , such as nail , bolt , etc . can be driven in a workpiece . the fastening elements can , e . g ., be stored in a magazine secured on the setting tool 10 . the drive 12 includes , among others , a combustion chamber 15 and a guide cylinder 13 which adjoins the combustion chamber 13 and in which a setting piston 14 is axially displaceable . the combustion chamber 15 , which defines a combustion chamber axis a , is limited , in its initial position shown in fig1 , circumferentially by a combustion chamber sleeve 28 and axially , at its first end , by the setting piston 14 and an annular combustion chamber wall 29 and , at its second end , by a combustion chamber rear wall 30 formed as a cylinder head . a ventilator 16 , which is provided in the region of the second axial end 32 and is driven by a motor 17 , serves both for producing a turbulent flow regime of the air - fuel mixture located in the closed combustion chamber 15 and for flushing the open combustion chamber 15 with fresh air after completion of a setting process . the motor 17 is supported on the combustion chamber rear wall 30 that serves for closing of the axially displaceable combustion chamber sleeve 28 . as shown in fig1 , a trigger switch 19 is arranged on a handle 18 of the setting tool 10 . the trigger switch 19 actuates , via control electronics , an ignition device 26 having an ignition element such as , e . g ., a spark plug , located in the combustion chamber 15 , when the setting tool 10 is pressed against a workpiece and , thereby , a press - on switch 24 , which is located in the region of the muzzle 27 of the setting tool 10 produces an actuation signal . the setting tool 10 can be operated with fuel gas or vaporizable liquid fuel available in a fuel reservoir 20 such as , e . g ., fuel can . a fuel conduit 22 connects the fuel reservoir 20 with a fuel inlet 23 of the combustion chamber 15 . in the fuel conduit 22 , a metering device 21 such as , e . g ., metering valve , is located . the metering device 21 controls the fuel supply into the combustion chamber 15 . for supplying electrical consumers such as , e . g ., the ignition device 26 and the motor 17 with electrical energy , there is provided an electrical power source 40 such as , e . g ., an accumulator . the control electronics 25 controls both the ignition device 26 and the metering valve 21 . the control electronics 25 has , e . g ., one or several microprocessors for processing data and for controlling different electrical functions of the setting tool . the control electronics 25 is connected with the power source 40 by an electrical conductor 44 . the control electronics 25 is connected with a first sensor , which is formed as a flue gas sensor 31 ( such as , e . g ., a lambda probe ), and a second sensor formed as a temperature sensor 32 . both the flue gas sensor 31 and the temperature sensor 32 are located in the combustion chamber and transmit , during the operation of the setting tool 10 , corresponding measurement data to the control electronics data to the control electronics 25 via corresponding electrical data conductors 41 , 42 . the flue gas sensor 31 is in fluid communication with the flue gases produced by combustion of fuel in the combustion chamber 15 . alternatively , the flue gas sensor 31 can be located , e . g ., in the exhaust or in the flushing chamber of the setting tool 10 . the measurement with the flue gas sensor takes place after combustion , preferably , before the combustion chamber 15 or the combustion space opens to the environment , and fresh air can enter the combustion chamber . the measurement function of the flue gas sensor 31 is controlled by the control electronics 25 and is effected , e . g . with a time - delay with regard to actuation of the trigger switch 19 or with regard to ignition pulse produced by the control electronics 25 . however , the control electronics 25 can control the flue gas measurement dependent on combustion pressure in the combustion chamber or dependent on the position of the combustion chamber sleeve 28 relative to the housing 11 . a timewise control dependent on the metering signal is also possible . if the flue gas sensor 31 is formed as a lambda probe , then the control electronics 25 can determine a metered amount of fuel , which is to be metered by the metering device 21 , for the next setting process dependent on an amount of an unconnected oxygen available in the flue gas . the metering is so selected by the control electronics 25 that lambda ratio equals one ( lambda ration is the ratio of air to fuel , at a stoichiometric fuel ratio [ lambda ]= 1 , the air amount in the combustion chamber is precisely the amount necessary for a complete combustion of the fuel ). thereby , the entire amount of oxygen , which is contained in the combustion chamber , is completely consumed during a following combustion . as a result , the resulting flue emission of an undesirable flue gas components is very small . in order to more rapidly reach the optimal operational temperature of the flue gas sensor 31 , it is combined with thermal element 33 . the thermal element 33 is likewise , controlled by the control electronics 25 and is supplied with electrical energy from the power source 40 . an electrical conductor 43 connects the thermal element 33 with the control electronics 25 . for a temperature compensation of the flue gas sensor 31 , the temperature sensor 32 is located in the immediate vicinity of the flue gas sensor 31 . a suitable software , which is contained in the control electronics 25 , or the control routine compensates the deviations of the flue gas sensor 31 at changing measurement temperatures sensed by the temperature sensor 32 . the temperature sensor 32 also provides for turning the thermal element 33 off by the control electronics 25 after the operational temperature of the flue gas sensor 31 has been reached . it is to be noted that when the flue gas sensor 31 is formed as a lambda probe , it includes , in addition to a measurement sensor located in the combustion chamber , also a measurement sensor for the environmental air for determining a reference air value . alternatively , instead of being formed as a lambda probe , the flue gas sensor 31 can be equipped with means for measuring reaction products of combustion such as carbon monoxide ( co ) or carbon oxide ( co 2 ) so that an optimal air ( or oxygen )- fuel ratio and , thereby , a necessary amount of fuel can be determined by the control electronics 25 based on content of such reaction products in the flue gas . the flue gas sensor 31 can also be equipped for measurement of a fuel component such as , e . g ., fuel gas isobutan that often forms a fuel component . for calculation of a metering time necessary for metering a necessary amount of fuel with the control electronics 25 , other operational parameters such as fuel level in the fuel reservoir 20 , gas pressure in the fuel reservoir 20 , temperature of the fuel reservoir 20 , voltage of the electrical power source 40 , environment temperature , and temperature of the combustion chamber 15 can be taken into account . for measuring these parameters , corresponding sensors are provided on the setting tool 10 . the setting tool , which is shown in fig2 , differs from the setting tool 10 shown in fig1 , in that the flue gas sensor 31 and the thermal element 33 are mounted not in or on the combustion chamber 15 but rather in or on an exhaust 35 of the setting tool 10 . the temperature sensor 32 can remain , as shown , in the combustion chamber 15 or , alternatively , also be located in the exhaust 35 . otherwise , the explanations given with respect to fig1 are valid for the setting tool 10 shown in fig2 ; therefore , with regard to the reference numerals not specifically mentioned above , a corresponding description made with reference to fig1 applies in its entirety . though the present invention was shown and described with references to the preferred embodiments , such are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as a limitation thereof and various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art . it is therefore not intended that the present invention be limited to the disclosed embodiments or details thereof , and the present invention includes all variations and / or alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims . | 1 |
reference will now be made in detail to preferred embodiments of the present invention , examples of which 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 . the exemplary embodiment will be described in the context of a system for processing aerial imagery with enhanced 3d & amp ; nir imaging capability especially for crop management , but those skilled in the art will recognize that the teachings of the exemplary embodiment can be applied to other applications including aerial surveying . the present solution offers a semi - automated image collection process , which begins with the planning of a collect over an area of interest . the area of interest may be defined by one or more environmental systems research institute ( esri ) shape files that circumscribe the area of interest , or by a defined geographic location or other point of reference in combination with a desired radius or distance from this point . a pilot is engaged to fly the collect and is provided with a flight plan in the form of a collection box to overfly containing the area of interest . in many cases , several collects are planned for one flight and the pilot flies from one collection box to the next . the collect flight is computer - guided and image acquisition is automated as described below . the payload requires a gps receiver , but otherwise no inertial measurement capabilities or imu , and is well suited for flight in a manned general aviation aircraft or a uav . at least one and preferably two payload cameras are mounted inside the aircraft and pointed out of an optical port in the floor , or alternatively mounted externally in pods specially designed to accommodate cameras on planes lacking optical ports . the payload camera may comprise either a consumer market digital single lens reflex camera , a near - infrared ( nir ) camera , and / or a consumer slr modified for acquisition of nir imagery . fig1 illustrates an exemplary two camera airborne imaging payload . camera 110 is a consumer grade digital single lens reflex camera such as a nikon ™ d5100 16 . 2mp cmos digital slr camera with 18 - 55 mm f / 3 . 5 - 5 . 6 af - s dx vr nikkor ™ zoom lens . camera 112 is a comparable camera for near - infrared ( nir ) imagery , and indeed may be an identical camera to the first that has been modified for acquisition of nir as set forth in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 911 , 517 to hunt et al . issued mar . 22 , 2011 . in addition , a standard gps receiver 40 is used , and this may be any consumer or oem receiver with a serial output , such as a garmin gps - 35lvc ™ gr - 213u gps receiver . the cameras 110 , 112 and gps receiver 40 are connected to an avionics box 30 which is in turn connected to a tablet pc 20 ( or laptop pc ). the tablet pc 20 runs pilot interface software for guiding the collect over the area of interest based on the gps 40 data . fig2 is a block diagram of the payload of fig1 . the avionics box 30 contains a microprocessor that runs a firmware program to record the gps 40 time and position once each second ( gps top - of - second ) and communicates this data to the tablet pc 20 ( or laptop ) in serial messages sent over an rs - 232 or other digital interface . the tablet pc 20 uses these messages to drive the pilot &# 39 ; s display and to record a flight log . whenever the plane is within the collection box , the flight control software on the tablet pc 20 sends a serial command to the avionics box 30 to enable camera triggers . the avionics box 30 includes a counter that increments with each top - of - second gps pulse , and when the counter reaches a preset value , the camera ( s ) 110 , 112 are triggered , a photo is taken , and the counter resets . user controls are provided at the tablet pc 20 to program the number of seconds between photos . in operation , the laptop 20 guides the pilot to fly the collection plan to collect imagery over a large collect area , while the avionics box 20 controls the cameras 110 , 112 and furnishes telemetry from gps 40 including time , latitude and longitude of each photo for guidance and post - flight processing . fig3 shows a screen capture from the pilot &# 39 ; s interface display on the tablet pc 20 in the cockpit . the aircraft 2 is represented near the center of the display at the geographical site reported by the gps receiver 40 . given the above - mentioned collect of an area of interest , the collection box is represented by a blue box 102 that circumscribes the collection area , and box 102 is plotted with several flight lines 104 (“ rasters ”). the rasters 104 are calculated and plotted in real time by the tablet pc 20 . the spacing between rasters 104 is calculated in accordance with a predefined altitude so that all the ground between different rasters 104 will be photographed and that photos from adjacent rasters 104 will overlap . importantly , the software automatically orients the rasters 104 so that the direction of flight is either towards or away from the sun at the time of the collect . a solar ephemeris inside the flight control software calculates the position of the sun in the sky using the position and time from the gps 40 . the tablet pc 20 determines the solar ephemeris using the time when the aircraft arrives in the vicinity of the collect , calculates the direction of flight toward and away from the sun , and automatically orients the rasters 104 in parallel paths of alternating direction . this helps to improve tile boundary continuity in the mosaics as there is generally a strong dependence on reflected light intensity according to whether sunlight is reflected towards the camera ( s ) 110 , 112 in the forward - scatter or away from the camera ( s ) in the back - scatter geometry . in general , when flying towards or away from the sun , scattering differences will create a noticeable seam between pictures belonging to the same raster in a mosaic . however , decreasing the time between successive photos brings seams closer together , which diminishes the difference in scattering across each seam for a smoother transition . the pilot interface display software tracks the aircraft 2 position . the current - heading line 107 is color - coded to indicate current heading and the checkerboard gives scale . the pilot interface display updates in real time using the latest gps 40 information . as the aircraft 2 flies along a raster 104 , the camera ( s ) 110 , 112 are repetitively triggered at the beginning of each gps 40 cycle . typically , the flight plan will require a photo every 1 , 2 , or 3 seconds in order to collect photos with significant overlap along the raster 104 and the avionics box 30 synchronizes the camera 110 , 112 shutters to the gps 40 signal , firing periodically but each time at the “ top - of - the - second .” camera shutter triggering is automatically suppressed outside of the collection area 102 , after which the pilot breaks off the flight line , turns around , and heads into the next raster 104 . the pilot interface display software offers the pilot cues such as “ true - heading ” directional vector 107 for aligning the flight path with the intended raster 104 , and numerical readouts including heading 121 , lateral displacement 122 , ground speed 123 , and gps altitude 124 , all of which help to maintain proper heading , altitude and ground speed . tracks actually flown are shown in serrated lines 109 . if the pilot fails to fly a sufficiently precise flight path along a raster 104 ( within predefined error tolerances ) the pilot interface display software designates the raster 104 for reflight . the pilot , after landing the plane or uav , subjects the collect including photos and flight log ( with recorded shutter times and gps positions of the aircraft during flight ) to a multi - step process that begins with local pre - processing and upload to a cloud - based network , followed by a one or two - pass processing in the cloud - based network . the cameras 110 , 112 are equipped with secure digital ( sd ) cards , which are taken out of the cameras and inserted into a local pc computer to facilitate pre - processing and upload . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating the steps of photo pre - processing and cloud - based network upload . at step 200 the collected photos are transferred from the sd cards from cameras 110 , 112 in uncompressed “ raw ” format to a local computer . at step 210 the collected photos are processed into tagged image file format ( tiff ) format using an open source software program called dcraw . the conversion to tiff may be done on a local computer or in the cloud . when the raw files from the nir camera 112 are processed to tiff it is important , for agricultural applications , to apply a white balance calibration , the calibration parameters being specific to the particular camera used . the white balance calibration is applied at step 240 . at the same time , at step 220 , the flight log file ( with recorded shutter times and gps positions of the aircraft during flight ) is input at step 230 , to extract the gps locations for the aircraft 2 and to construct a local reference frame for the aircraft at its location for each photo in which to orient the camera ( s ) 110 , 112 . the local reference frame is defined by the aircraft position and velocity vectors , which are respectively approximately parallel to the aircraft yaw and roll axes . at step 250 the tiff format photos are uploaded to the cloud computing network 50 if not already existing there . at steps 260 - 280 necessary data from public sources is uploaded , including a digital elevation model ( dem ) for the area of interest at step 270 , the height of geoid above the wgs 84 ellipsoid at step 260 , and any reference imagery or survey markers at step 280 . in addition , default camera calibration parameters specific to the camera - lens combinations in use by cameras 110 , 112 are uploaded at step 290 . fig5 illustrates a suitable cloud computing network 50 with an attached cloud data store 52 . any number of cloud computing nodes 54 may be connected in the cloud computing network 50 , each running cloud computing services 53 in accordance with the present invention . a local network 58 is in communication with the cloud computing network 50 . end users 59 in local network 58 access cloud - based applications 53 from their local computers through a web browser or a light - weight desktop or mobile application , using a standard i / o - devices such as a keyboard and a computer screen in order to upload all of the foregoing tiff format photos , flight log , public source data and calibration data to the cloud computing network 50 . once uploaded , the collective data is subjected to a one or two - pass image registration process described below . fig6 ( a ) is a flow chart illustrating the first - pass steps of the image registration process , beginning with the now - uploaded tiff images at step 251 . at step 255 , the tiff images are linked to create a large set of image tie - points ( itps ). one of the cloud - based applications 53 is an automated image tie - point registration module . itp module 53 uses an automated tie - point process to do an approximate registration between pairs of photos . image - to - image tie - point registration is well known and generally involves the identification of many image tie - points . the present approach works with image pairs . one image is designated as the “ home frame ” and small templates called “ chips ” are extracted from it . a match for each chip is searched for in the other photo ( called the “ target frame ”). the present invention uses a novel “ accelerated ” multi - resolution matching method as described below . when a match is successful , we know that an object in the chip centered at a specific pixel location ( row 1 , column 1 ) within the home frame is found at ( row 2 , column 2 ) within the target frame . this correspondence between ( row 1 , column 1 ) and ( row 2 , column 2 ) is a tie point . since the orientation between photo 1 and photo 2 can be arbitrary , the first photo is remapped (“ pre - rectified ”) into the geometry of the second as the chips are extracted . therefore , the chips are as they would appear were they acquired from the vantage point of the second photo . the linking of images 255 by tie points is highly parallelized within the cloud computing network 50 . two problems arise with the foregoing approach . the first problem is that knowledge of all twelve states ( three position and three orientation states per image ) associated with each image pair is required for pre - rectification . the second problem is that image matching must face an added complication in that perspective changes from image - to - image . in each pair of images , three dimensional objects are being viewed on the ground from two distinct vantage points . this can make the appearance of the object change and compromise the ability of algorithms such as normalized cross correlation to find matches . to overcome both problems , a multi - resolution matching method is used . the registration software module ( resident on one or more computing nodes 54 of fig5 ) loads the first and second images to be registered . fig7 is a detailed illustration of one stage of the present multi - resolution matching method . the stages are stacked with n = 0 on the bottom , followed by n = 1 , and progressing up to a top stage . stage n works with imagery with its resolution reduced by 2 n binning relative to the original image . at left , the home frame is read into memory . at the right , the target frame is read in . at steps 102 , 108 both are iteratively binned two fold , progressing stage - by - stage up to the top . the first iteration of matching starts at the top stage with a very low resolution , e . g ., 32 × 32 binning , where arrays of 32 × 32 pixels have been binned into a single larger pixel , greatly reducing the overall number of pixels . this aggregation greatly reduces the processing time but degrades resolution . chips are extracted from the home frame at step 103 on a regular grid and reprojected from the perspective of the home frame into the perspective of the target frame in a pre - rectification step 105 relying on the three position and three orientation states for each frame . an accelerated normalized cross - correlation ( ncc ) algorithm 106 finds itp matches for each chip in the target frame . when successful , the itps are saved and used to re - navigate the target frame at step 111 , which allows for a more accurate pre - rectification in the stage below . processing terminates at stage zero . fig8 pictorially illustrates how this works in practice over an orange grove in california . matches between frame pairs ( left and right , e . g ., 1992 and 1993 ) are attempted at each site marked . the quality of the result is graded and color - coded , with the best indicated by purple , followed by blue , green and red . higher quality purple and blue sites are considered adequate for navigation purposes , although a few matches may be cast out in statistical outlier editing during the navigation step 111 . the starting resolution ( bottom right ) is that of 32 × 32 binning . at this scale , no matches are found in this illustration . next , 16 × 16 binned - resolution is attempted ( middle right ). best results are obtained at 8 × 8 and 4 × 4 binning . perspective change between pictures interferes with effective matching at 2 × 2 and 1 × 1 binning in this illustration . the ncc algorithm first normalizes the chip template t ( x , y ) by subtracting its mean and dividing by its standard deviation , so that the result { circumflex over ( t )}( x , y ) has zero mean and unit variance . the normalized cross - correlation for the chip over the image i ( x , y ) is ordinarily calculated at all possible shifts ( u , v ) according to the formula : in the formula , the notation ī u is the mean value of the image pixels underneath the chip when offset by ( u , v ). acceleration of the ncc algorithm is accomplished by first sorting the { circumflex over ( t )}( x , y ) in descending order by absolute value . those that are early in the sorted list are the most important contributors in the formula . at each ( u , v ), a partial calculation is made with a subset of the sorted list to predict the value of the full precision calculation . in almost all cases , the predicted value of c ( u , v ) will be small and it is not worth completing the calculation to full precision ; however , when the prediction is large , the calculation is completed to full precision . all successfully matched itps are collected from all the stages of the multi - resolution matching process for all frames linked by tie points . fig9 shows a practical illustration with eight rasters . the gps location for the aircraft at each frame is plotted next to a frame number . purple links indicate that a large number of itps were found and blue links indicate that an adequate number were found . the entire collection of itps are input into a navigation process 256 , which estimates a set of six states for each frame plus common states to represent the camera calibration ( focal length and optical distortion ). fig1 plots a typical set of state solutions . state estimation uses a conventional nonlinear weighted least squares estimation method so the states solved for are the optimal ones to describe the complete set of itp measurements . roll ( r ), pitch ( p ), and yaw ( y ) states orient the camera . position states represent corrections to the gps along the x - axis ( direction of flight ), y - axis ( along wing ), and z - axis ( vertical ) of the local reference frame . not shown are the camera calibration states for one camera . green symbols are in an earth fixed frame , whereas blue symbols are in the local reference frame for each state . individual itp measurements are more heavily weighted in the least squares estimation if made at a finer resolution . itps are also two - dimensional measurements , so that the direction parallel to the baseline between the two aircraft positions can be down - weighted relative to the orthogonal direction , which is beneficial because this direction along the baseline is affected by parallax . at step 229 each uploaded image is ortho - rectified to a map projection ( e . g ., utm ) in accord with the state solution . an orthorectified image is one that has been geometrically corrected (“ orthorectified ”) such that the scale of the photograph is uniform , meaning that the photograph can be considered equivalent to a map . every pixel of an orthorectified image of the earth corresponds to a view of the earth surface seen along a line perpendicular to the earth . an orthorectified image also comprises metadata referencing any pixel of the orthorectified image to a point in the geographic coordinate reference system . each remapped frame is prepared as a geotiff ( tiff file extended to include geographic referencing metadata tags ). the georegistration of the collect can be checked in step 231 by comparing the locations of fixed landmarks seen in reference imagery or positions of aerial surveying targets versus their locations seen in the geotiffs . deviations in geo - registration of landmarks , if deemed too large , can be corrected in an optional second pass as shown in fig6 ( b ) . the landmark measurements from the quality control step 231 are added as itps between the reference imagery and the image frames containing the landmarks . the navigation step 256 and remapping step 230 are repeated and georegistration quality is re - verified in step 231 . the remapped photos cover the entire collect with great redundancy ( i . e ., significant overlap between photos so that the same point on the ground is covered multiply ). thus , a single pixel can be chosen from each image pair to represent each point on the ground , or alternatively , mosaic pixel values can be blended from two or more pixels . either way , the process will create a single two - dimensional mosaic as shown in fig1 ( a & amp ; b ). fig1 ( a ) is a sample mosaic from camera 110 , while sample 11 ( b ) is from nir camera 112 . note that renderings 11 ( a , b ) lose their 3d information . in order to restore 3d , the present process rasterizes the two remapped photos and determines the overlaps between successive ones . overlapping pairs of successive images ( stereo pairs ) are rendered for the left and right eye using 3d enabled graphical display technology to present the user with a 3d mosaic . the parallax between stereo pairs gives the height above the digital elevation model used in remapping . we can measure heights of objects from this residual parallax . either 2d or 3d mosaics can be converted into normalized differential vegetation index ( ndvi ) products , as seen in fig1 ( c ) . ndvi is a measure of plant cover and plant health . a green ndvi is possible with a one - camera payload as follows : e . g ., the difference between the nir and green responses divided by their sum . a red ndvi is possible with the two - camera payload as the difference between red and green divided by their sum . fig1 ( c ) shows both red ndvi ( red ) and green ndvi ( green ) overlaid . it should now be apparent that the above - described system provides a turnkey solution for collecting and processing aerial imagery at far lower cost and reduced computer overhead , allowing geolocation of each pixel to high accuracy and generating uniquely processed 3d nir imagery for diagnosis of plant health . deployed as a cloud - based software as a service ( saas ) the system allows uav and manned aircraft pilots to upload and manage their image processing through a web based interface . the foregoing disclosure of embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed . many variations and modifications of the embodiments described herein will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the above disclosure . the scope of the invention is to be defined only by the claims , and by their equivalents . | 6 |
a beam of neutral atoms or molecules each having a magnetic dipole moment m d is propagatable along the z axis of a cartesian coordinate system . if a homogeneous magnetic field h is applied in the y direction , the torque expressed by the equation : influences each beam particle . it is known from atomic physics that the magnetic dipole moment is a function of the angular momentum of the electron shell j according to the equation : and that the torque d effects precession of j and m d around the y - axis . the precessional frequency is defined by the equation : in equations ( 2 ) and ( 3 ), μ b = magneton ; h = h / 2π ( h = planck &# 39 ; s constant ), m e = electron rest mass , and g j = landes &# 39 ; g - factor . given such precession , only the y - component of the dipole moment m d remains constant with time . this y - component of the dipole moment m d is related to the magnetic quantum number m j by the equation : wherein the magnetic quantum number m j may assume a total of 2j + 1 values where j is the total angular momentum quantum number of the electron shell . in order that the y - component of the dipole moment , m dy , is of the same size for all beam particles , all beam particles must exhibit the same magnetic quantum number m j . other quantum states can be stripped , for example , with a stern - gerlach separator . when the particles are aligned as described above , only the chronologically constant component m dy of the dipole moment need be considered for the beam deflection and beam focusing , because the transit time τ is large in comparison to the precessional period t p , according to the relationships : which can be achieved by means of a sufficiently high b - field . in equation ( 5 ), l is the beam length and v is the velocity of the beam particles . the force f exerted on magnetic dipole particles in a magnetic field h is expressed by the equation : ## equ1 ## requiring the magnetic field h to have a gradient for deflecting the dipole particle in the direction of the magnetic dipole moment m d . in the simplest case , such a gradient may be selected to be a constant . quadrupole fields having the following configuration exhibit such a constant field gradient : ## equ2 ## in the above equations constituting ( 7 ), ψ is the scalar magnetic potential and ψ 2c ( z ) and ψ 2s ( z ) are field coefficients which are not dependent on x or y . using the expression m d = m dy e y , and substituting the magnetic field h from equation ( 7 ) into equation ( 6 ) for the force f , the following expression for the force f derives : ## equ3 ## the quadrupole field b according to equation ( 7 ) causes deflection of neutral particles exhibiting a magnetic moment m d = m dy e y both in the y - direction and in the x - direction . by superimposing the quadrupole field which causes deflection in the x - direction and the quadrupole field which effects deflection in the y - direction , deflection of the neutral particles , which essentially exhibit only a y - component of the magnetic dipole moment , can be accomplished in any desired direction . the deflection direction having a deflection angle θ a is determined by the ratio of the field coefficients ψ 2c / ψ 2s from equation ( 7 ) as follows : ## equ4 ## the magnitude of the deflection coordinate r a =√ x a 2 + y a 2 is proportional to √ ψ2c 2 + ψ2s 2 . the generation of an azimuthally rotatable quadrupole field which is variable in intensity utilizing a magnetic six - pole or eight - pole lens is described in greater detail below in connection with fig1 and fig2 . although neutral particles exhibiting a magnetic dipole moment can be focused by means of six - pole magnets , such focusing is generally convergent in only one section and is divergent , i . e ., &# 34 ; defocusing &# 34 ; in another section . because the magnetic dipole moments of the beam particles in the sample embodiment discussed herein are aligned in the y - direction by the external magnetic field h , the six - pole field for focusing the beam particles should be of the form : is allocated . the following motion equation can then be derived utilizing equation ( 10 ): ## equ5 ## in equation ( 12 ), m denotes the mass of a neutral particle , and t designates time . applying the chain rule for derivatives , t can be eliminated from equation ( 12 ) as follows : ## equ6 ## wherein v denotes the particle velocity . the following two orbital equations can then be derived : ## equ7 ## analysis of the equations designated ( 13 ) shows that when the coefficient ψ 3s is greater than zero , focusing occurs along the x - section and diverging or defocusing occurs in the y - section ; however , when the coefficient ψ 3s is less than zero , defocusing occurs in the x - section and focusing occurs in the y - section . additionally , the paraxial orbital equations for a neutral particle exhibiting a magnetic dipole moment designated at ( 13 ) exhibit the same shape in a six - pole field as the paraxial orbital equations of a charged particle in a quadrupole field . the paraxial orbital equations of a charged particle in a quadrupole field are described in the text &# 34 ; quadrupoles in electron lens design ,&# 34 ; p . w . hawkes , academic press ( 1970 ). this means that all laws known from quadrupole optics can be fully transferred for focusing neutral particles in the embodiment disclosed herein . stigmatic imaging with neutral particles can be achieved with a pair of six - pole magnets , of which one six - pole magnet has a coefficient ψ 3s greater than zero , and the other of which has a coefficient ψ 3s less than zero . in such an embodiment , however , the two primary enlargements v x and v y are no longer variable without changing the subject - to - lens distance , the image distance , or the distance between the pair of six - pole lenses . if a trio of six - pole lenses is employed , stigmatic imaging can be achieved and the quotient v y / v x of the two primary enlargements can be varied within certain limits by changing the six - pole lens strengths without deteriorating the stigmatic image plane . utilizing four six - pole lenses , it is possible to separately change the primary enlargements v y and v x within certain limits without losing stigmatic imaging in the fixed image plane . the magnetic induction b necessary for alignment of the neutral particle beam has the relation : ## equ8 ## wherein u b is the kinetic energy of the neutral particle expressed in volts and m is the mass of the neutral particle . utilizing arsenic as an example in equation ( 14 ), which has an atomic weight of 74 . 9 and a lande factor g j = 2 ( because of ground energy level 4 s 3 / 2 ), and assuming a beam length l = 0 . 2 m and a voltage ub = 2 kv , the magnetic induction b must be significantly greater than 0 . 3 gauss , which is relatively easy to achieve . the equation for computing the maximum possible beam deflection , neglecting the fringe field , is : ## equ9 ## for the deflection y a according to the fundamental calculation . in equation ( 15 ), l indicates the path length along which the magnetic induction b influences the neutral particles and l indicates the distance which the neutral particles traverse after influence of the magnetic induction up to the location at which the deflection y a is measured . the following exemplary calculation can be undertaken to determine the maximum deflection y a . assume ψ 2c is the quadrupole coefficient of a magnetic field b expressed as follows : if a value of 20k gauss is assumed for the fringe field strength at the pole pieces of the magnetic lens , a value of 2 kv is assumed for the kinetic energy of the neutral particles , a value of 4 mm is assumed for the spacing of the pole pieces of the magnetic lens , a value of 200 mm is assumed for the path length of the neutral particles within the influencing range of the magnetic induction , and a value of 500 mm is assumed for l up to the z coordinate of that plane in which the deflection y a is measured , and further assuming a value 3 / 2 for the magnetic quantum number m j and a value of 2 for the lande factor g j , the deflection | y a | is approximately 5 μm . in practice , because of the small raster field of the beam deflection lens , a laser - controlled mechanically movable specimen table is required for the workpiece . a magnetic six - pole lens which may be employed in a beam lens for varying the beam cross - section is shown in fig1 . the magnetic six - pole lens is disposed in the x - y plane and has a yoke jo with six pole pieces 1 through 6 each having an excitation winding e . the following currents flow in the excitation windings e of the individual pole pieces : ## equ10 ## half the distance between the pole pieces 1 through 6 is referenced a . the azimuthal angle θ is measured from the positive x - semiaxis proceeding toward the positive y - semiaxis . the winding currents are proportional to the coefficients of the scalar magnetic potential , that is , the winding currents having a specific index are respectively proportional to the coefficient ψ having the same index . the scalar magnetic potential ψ is then of the following form : ## equ11 ## in the sample embodiment , the magnetic induction and the magnetic field of a magnetic six - pole lens as shown in fig1 are composed of three terms : a dipole field far in the y - direction alignment of the beam particles , a quadrupole field for beam deflection variable in strength and azimuthal position , and an azimuthally fixed six - pole field for beam focusing as derived and specified above : ## equ12 ## a magnetic eight - pole lens which can be employed in the vario - shaped beam deflection lens disclosed herein is shown in fig2 . the magnetic eight - pole lens shown in fig2 is again disposed in the x - y plane , and has a yoke jo and eight pole pieces 1 through 8 , each having an excitation winding e . the following winding currents flow into the excitation windings e of the pole pieces 1 through 8 : ## equ13 ## the winding currents i i for the windings shown in fig2 have the same relationship to the scalar magnetic potential and to the magnetic induction and to the magnetic field as the corresponding winding currents for the six - pole arrangement shown in fig1 . the component currents proportional to i is generate a dipole field for alignment of the magnetic dipole moment of the beam particles in the y - direction . the component currents proportional to i 2c or i 2s generate a quadrupole field for deflection of the atom beam in the x - and y - directions which is adjustable in strength and azimuthal position . the component currents proportional to i 3s generate a six - pole field fixed in azimuthal position by means of which the particle beam can be focused in one section and defocused in the other section . a schematic representation for a vario - shaped beam deflection lens for neutral particles is shown in fig3 a and fig3 b . fig3 a shows a section in the x - z plane and fig3 b shows a section in the y - z plane . a neutral particle beam n traverses a beam diaphragm f and is caused thereby to expand conically in the z - direction exhibiting an angle α . the neutral particle beam n then traverses a system s consisting of at least two lenses l , which may be six - pole lenses as shown in fig1 or eight - pole lenses as shown in fig2 . as indicated by the dashed lines , the system s may be comprised of three such lenses or four such lenses as well without departing from the inventive concept disclosed and claimed herein . the nondeflected shaped particle beam probe su is conically focused on a subject , such as a workpiece . the angles of this cone in the two sections are β x and β y respectively . the two primary enlargements v x and v y are also indicated according to the relationships v x = α / β x and v y = α / β y . the deflected shaped beam probe sg can exhibit any designed deflection coordinates x a , y a . although modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art , it is the intention of the inventor to embody within the patent warranted hereon all changes and modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of his contribution to the art . | 6 |
hereinafter , exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with respect to the accompanying drawings . in describing the present invention , if it is determined that the detailed description of a related known function or construction renders the scope of the present invention unnecessarily ambiguous , the detailed description thereof will be omitted . fig3 is a diagram showing an architecture of 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks according to the present invention . the architecture of the add - drop benes networks includes an input stage 210 having eight input ports , an input connection stage 220 for connecting output signals of the input stage 210 , an add connection stage 230 for connecting the input connection stage and connecting the inputs of the eight add ports , a drop connection stage 240 for connecting the outputs of the add connection stage 230 , outputting some outputs to a next stage , and outputting some outputs to drop ports , an output connection stage 250 for connecting some outputs of the drop connection stage 240 to an output side , and an output stage 260 for outputting the outputs of the output connection stage 250 to output ports . in the 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks having such an architecture , 2 × 2 switches located at an intermediate stage of the 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks are replaced with four 2 × 2 switches . since the replaced four 2 × 2 switches are connected to the switches of other stages and are connected to other add - drop ports , 8 × 8 benes networks , in which a total of eight add - drop ports is included , are implemented in view of the overall network . the present invention is not limited thereto and is applicable to n × n benes networks . in the implementation of the add - drop function of the n × n benes networks , the number of 2 × 2 switches of the intermediate stages is increased to four . accordingly , in the method of implementing the n × n add - drop benes networks , a total of n ( log 2 n + 1 ) 2 × 2 switches is required . a table for comparing the number of 2 × 2 switches necessary for the existing n × n benes networks , the number of 2 × 2 switches necessary when using 2n × 2n benes networks in order to implement n × n benes networks , and the number of 2 × 2 switches necessary for n × n add - drop benes networks using the method suggested by the present invention is shown in fig4 . in the benes networks , with respect to time slot - based packets in which different input ports have different output ports as the destinations , physical connections of all input - output pairs can be performed using a looping algorithm . in the add - drop benes networks of the present invention , when an add - drop function is implemented by a relatively small number of 2 × 2 switches , the ratio of 2 × 2 switches per port is smaller than that of the existing benes networks and thus a degree of freedom for the physical connection between the ports is decreased . accordingly , an algorithm for the add - drop benes networks and an add - drop looping algorithm require an additional limitation , as compared with the looping algorithm used in the existing benes networks . the add - drop looping algorithm processes the time slot - based packets , and requires an add function from the add ports and a function for transmitting contention packets or loss packets to drop ports in addition to the physical connection of the input - output pairs . the add - drop looping algorithm extracts packets to be dropped from the packets input during the time slot and arranges the packets in a last portion thereof . after the connection between the inputs and the outputs , which are not dropped , is performed using the existing looping algorithm , packets to be transmitted to the drop ports are processed by checking the states of the switches of the intermediate stage . when the number of packets to be dropped is n , n switches of 2 × 2 switches of a log 2 n - th stage are in an idle state and one of two switches of a ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage connected thereto is also in an idle state . after the packets to be dropped arrive at the 2 × 2 switches of the log 2 n - th stage in the idle state , the current switch state is determined so as to be connected to the 2 × 2 switches , which are not in the idle state , of the switches of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage . since the connection state is determined in advance such that the 2 × 2 switches which are not in the idle state are connected to the output ports , the packets which arrive at the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage through the above process are dropped . if all the switches of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage connected to the 2 × 2 switches of the log 2 n - th stage in the idle state are in the idle state , the states of the 2 × 2 switches of the log 2 n - th stage are determined to arrive at any of the 2 × 2 switches . the current switch states of the switches of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage , the subsequent states of which have not been determined , are determined such that the input packets are dropped . the add function may be performed before the packets to be dropped are processed . however , in the present invention , the add function has been performed after the drop function , for simplicity . if the output ports which are the destinations of the packets to be added are occupied by the connection of the input and output packets , which is performed in advance , the packets are not added and wait for a next time slot . if the output ports of the packets to be added are not occupied by other packets , the packets may be added . at this time , an algorithm for determining the add ports is necessary . the packets to be added should necessarily pass through the switches in the idle state out of the 2 × 2 switches of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage . due to the characteristics of the architecture of the add - drop benes networks , the 2 × 2 switches of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage are not connected to all the output ports , odd - numbered 2 × 2 switches from the top in the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage are connected to first to n / 2 - th output ports , and even - numbered 2 × 2 switches are connected to ( n / 2 + 1 )- th to n - th output ports . accordingly , the packets to be added are added to the adequate add ports according to the numbers of the output ports which are the destinations of the packets to be added . at this time , in a state in which it is determined whether or not the 2 × 2 switches of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage of the add - drop benes networks are in the idle state , if the output ports of the add packets are between 1 and n / 2 , any one of the odd - numbered switches of the switches in the idle state of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage is arbitrarily selected and any one of the 2 × 2 switches of the log 2 n - th stage connected to the 2 × 2 switches in the idle state of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage is arbitrarily selected so as to select the add ports connected thereto . if the output ports of the add packets are between n / 2 + 1 to n , any one of the even - numbered switches of the switches in the idle state of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage is arbitrarily selected and any one of the 2 × 2 switches of the log 2 n - th stage connected to the 2 × 2 switches in the idle state of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage is arbitrarily selected so as to select the add ports connected thereto . the connection of the input - output pairs in the add - drop benes networks , the drop function and the add function may be performed by the add - drop looping algorithm process , without causing a problem . an example of the time slot - based input - output pair of the 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks is shown in fig5 a . here , the numbers of the input ports and the output ports denote the numbers of the 2 × 2 switches . in the input stage 210 of fig3 , an upper input port of an uppermost 2 × 2 switch has a number 1 and a lower input port thereof has a number 2 . in the output stage 260 , an upper output port of an uppermost 2 × 2 switch has a number 1 and a lower output port thereof has a number 2 . when the packets in one time slot have properties of the input / output ports of ( 6 -& gt ; 3 ), ( 3 -& gt ; 7 ), ( 1 -& gt ; 6 ), ( 8 -& gt ; 3 ), ( 2 -& gt ; 6 ), ( 7 -& gt ; 5 ), ( 4 -& gt ; 7 ) and ( 5 -& gt ; 8 ), since the output port having the number 3 is occupied by the ( 6 -& gt ; 3 ) packet , the ( 8 -& gt ; 3 ) packet is dropped . similarly , the ( 2 -& gt ; 6 ) and ( 4 -& gt ; 7 ) packets are dropped and the algorithm rearranges the packets to be dropped . in the add function , when the packets having the output ports having the numbers 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 as the destinations are added , since the output port having the number 3 is occupied by the ( 6 -& gt ; 3 ) input - output pair in advance , the packet having the output port having a number 3 cannot be added and waits for a next time slot , and only the packets having the output ports having the numbers 1 , 2 and 4 are added . the add - drop looping algorithm is used for the add - drop function and the connection of input - output packets in the time slot shown in fig5 a , and the processes thereof in the 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks are shown in fig5 b , 5 c and 5 d . an example of the input - output connection of the add - drop looping algorithm in the 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks is shown in fig5 b . on the basis of the rearranged packets , packets which are not dropped , that is , ( 6 -& gt ; 3 ), ( 3 -& gt ; 7 ), ( 1 -& gt ; 6 ), ( 7 -& gt ; 5 ) and ( 5 -& gt ; 8 ), are connected using the looping algorithm . an example of the drop function of the add - drop looping algorithm in the 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks is shown in fig5 c . in order to drop the packets to be dropped , that is , ( 8 -& gt ; 3 ), ( 2 -& gt ; 6 ) and ( 4 -& gt ; 7 ), the states of the switches are determined such that the packets arrive at the switches in the idle state of the 2 × 2 switches in the log 2 n - th stage and the current switch states of the log 2 n - th stage are determined so as to be connected to the switches , which are not in the idle state , of the 2 × 2 switches of the ( log 2 n + 1 )- th stage . since the input ports are connected to the output ports in advance , the newly input packets to the switches which are not in the idle state are connected to the drop ports . an example of the add function of the add - drop looping algorithm of the 8 × 8 add - drop benes networks is shown in fig5 d . for the add function , the packet having the output port of the number 3 as the destination out of the standby packets cannot be added in this time slot , because the output port 3 is occupied in advance . only the packets having the output ports of the numbers 1 , 2 and 4 can be added in this time slot . since the numbers of all the output ports are equal to or less than 4 , the add function is performed through the odd - numbered switches , that is , the third , fifth and seventh switches out of the 2 × 2 switches in the idle state in the fourth stage . since the third switch of the four stage is connected to the third and fourth switches of the third stage , the packets to be added through the third switch of the fourth stage use the add port connected to the third or fourth switch of the third stage . similarly , the packets to be added using the fifth switch of the fourth stage use the add port connected to the fifth or sixth switch of the third stage , and the packets to be added using the seventh switch of the fourth stage use the add port connected to the seventh or eighth switch of the third stage . in fig5 d , the add packets having the output port having the number 1 are added through the third switch of the third stage and the third switch of the fourth stage , the add packets having the output port having the number of 2 are added through the fifth switch of the third stage and the fifth switch of the fourth stage , and the add packets having the output port having the number of 4 are added using the seventh switch of the third stage and the seventh switch of the fourth stage . accordingly , it can be seen that the add - drop looping algorithm is operated in the add - drop benes network without causing a problem . an example of an application of the add - drop benes networks having the add - drop function is shown in fig6 . however , the present invention is not limited thereto and is applicable to all the cases in which the add - drop function is necessary . in the present embodiment , the application of the add - drop benes networks for controlling the packets due to contention and loss in the networks , which includes add - drop benes networks , an optical / electrical converter , an electrical / optical converter , an electrical buffer and an electrical switch , is shown . if packets of different input ports have the same output port as the destinations during the same time slot , since only one of the packets can arrive at the output port , it is determined that contention between the packets occurs . the packet which cannot arrive at the output port due to the contention should be controlled in the benes networks . in the add - drop benes networks , the contention packet is sent to the drop port , is subjected to optical / electrical conversion , and is buffered by the electrical buffer . after buffering , the packet is allocated to the electrical buffer again by the electrical switch , is buffered until the output port which is the destination of the original packet enters the idle state , is subjected to the electrical / optical conversion when the output port enters the idle state , is added by the add port , and is sent to the original destination . although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications , additions and substitutions are possible , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims . | 7 |
referring now to fig2 , there is shown a patch antenna 200 that may be used in a mobile device , such as a cellular phone . a patch antenna 200 comprises two conducting plates , 10 and 12 , sandwiching a dielectric material 14 , and may be built in a similar way as a parallel plate capacitor . in the case of an antenna , the bottom conducting plate 10 may be referred to as the “ ground plate ”, and the top conducting plate 12 may be referred to as the “ patch ”. the patch 12 may comprise a thin metal foil such as copper or aluminum and may be smaller than , and centered over , the ground plate 10 . an antenna feed 16 may connect to one side of the patch 12 . the ground plate 10 , the patch 12 , and feed 16 may be made of the same conducting material . the dielectric material 14 may be , for example silicon , alumina , or a printed circuit board laminate such as fr - 4 . while the patch may be any shape , for simplicity of illustration it is shown as a square or rectangular . the size of the patch 12 may be chosen relative to the frequency in which the antenna is to operate where antenna bandwidth is proportional to the antenna volume , length ( l )× width ( w )× height ( h ), ( l × w × h ). antenna efficiency and quality or “ q - factor ” are two metrics for qualifying the antenna design . antenna efficiency may be designated by the symbol “ μl ”, where q equals power radiated / input power . the q - factor is generally understood to mean the ratio of the stored energy to the energy dissipated per radian of oscillation and may be used to describe antennas and other inductive or capacitive devices . for patch antennas the q - factor depends on several factors which are determined not only by the materials in the antenna ( metals and dielectrics ) but also geometry of the antenna and its surrounding environment . according to embodiments of the invention , the center frequency of an antenna may be tuned such as by using a variable mems capacitor or varactor . as shown in fig3 , an antenna may be tuned to the center frequencies of the tx and rx ranges for either the gsm 850 or gsm 900 bands . as shown , for gms 850 the center frequency for tx is 836 . 5 mhz and the center frequency for rx is 881 . 5 mhz . similarly , for the gsm 900 band , the center frequency for tx is 897 . 5 mhz and the center frequency for rx is 942 . 5 mhz . for example , by changing a capacitive load , a single antenna may be tuned to a variety of center frequencies even in different bands . further , the tuning may be adjusted dynamically to maintain tuning locked on the center frequency even as the capacitive loading due to the environment changes ( e . g ., as the antenna is moved and repositioned during use ). referring now to fig4 , there is shown an exemplary tunable antenna design in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . the antenna 20 may be a patch antenna as discussed above . the antenna 20 may include the bottom plate or “ ground ” plate 10 and a top conducting plate or “ patch ” 12 . the patch 12 may comprise a thin metal foil such as copper or aluminum and may be smaller than , and centered over , the ground plate 10 . an antenna feed 16 may connect to one side of the patch 12 . an antenna switch filter ( asf ) module 22 switches the antenna 20 between a low noise amplifier ( lna ) 24 for transmission ( tx ) and a power amplifier ( pa ) 26 for reception ( rx ). the asf module 22 , lna 24 , and pa 26 may comprise a front end module of a cell phone for example or other wireless device . as previously noted , the antenna 20 may be initially tuned to various center frequencies as well as adjusted in real time to maintain a desired center frequency by adjusting the capacitive load to compensate for environmental loading . fig4 shows two types of variable capacitive modules 30 and 32 , discussed in greater detail below , for altering the capacitive load to the antenna . the variable capacitive module , 30 or 32 , connects between the ground plate 10 and patch 12 of the antenna 20 . a controller 34 connects to the capacitive module , 30 or 32 , to select a proper capacitance to initially tune the antenna 20 to a desired center frequency such as , for example , those shown in fig3 . a feedback loop 36 comprising a sensor 38 that measures the radiated power , which may be a pick - up coil or directional coupler , and a power detector 40 , continuously measures the near field radiated power from the antenna 20 to provide the appropriate tuning corrections . the controller 34 may use a fourier transform to correlate the detected near field to a far field measurement to closely approximate the current tuning frequency of the antenna 20 . alternatively the power delivered to the antenna 20 ( which is not necessarily the same amount that is radiated ) may be used to approximate the radiated power to simplify the monitoring . for example , the power amplifier 26 may provide a signal that is proportional to delivered power . the controller 34 may then compare this to the desired tuning frequency for the antenna 20 to determine a drift from the desired center frequency . the controller 34 may then adjust the capacitive load via the variable capacitive module 30 or 32 . the appropriate capacitance of the variable capacitive module 30 or 32 to produce the desired tuning of the antenna 20 may be calculated by the controller 34 or accomplished by , for example , a look - up table 42 within the controller 34 . thus , as the antenna 20 is constantly detuned due to external factors such as repositioning of the host wireless device with respect to the surrounding environment , embodiments of the invention may continuously compensate in real time to keep the antenna 20 tuned to a desired center frequency . still referring to fig4 , various variable capacitor schemes may be used . in one embodiment , the variable capacitor module 30 comprises a bank of high - q capacitors , 50 , 52 , 54 , and 58 connected in parallel , each of which may have a different fixed capacitive value . each of the capacitors 50 , 52 , 54 , and 58 may be switched on or off by a mems switch 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 , or 68 , respectively . a mems switch may be preferred to a solid state - switch since solid state switches are generally non - linear devices which create undesirable frequency sidebands which can interfere with other wireless devices . as shown , the variable capacitor module 30 comprises a bank of five fixed capacitors 50 - 58 and associated mems switches 60 - 68 . the capacitors 50 - 58 may for example have values of 1 pf ( picofarad ) to 5 pf , respectively . by selecting one of more of the mems switches to close , a wide range of variable capacitance values may be realized to keep the antenna 20 tuned to a desired center frequency . this is of course by way of example only as more or less than five capacitors may be used and the capacitive value of each may comprise different values than those offered . in another embodiment , the variable capacitive module 32 may comprise a variable mems parallel plate capacitor 70 where one plate is made to move to change the capacitance value . variations of suitable variable mems capacitors may be found with reference to u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 355 , 534 to ma et al . and 6 , 593 , 672 to cheng et al . as shown the variable capacitor 70 may comprises a fixed charge plate 72 , a movable charge plate 74 disposed above the fixed charge plate 72 by spacers 75 . a stiffener 76 may be affixed to the movable charge plate 74 . in operation , when an actuation voltage is applied to the variable mems capacitor , such as by the controller 34 , the moveable charge plate 72 is caused to flex in a downward direction , illustrated by dashed lines as movable charge plate 74 ′. in this manner the mems capacitor may produce a continuous range of variable capacitance values the proper value of which may be selected to tune the antenna 20 to the desired center frequency . according to embodiments of the invention , the antenna 20 may be switched to multiple desired center frequencies and thereafter continuously monitored and tuned to maintain the desired frequency to facilitate higher antenna efficiency . power may be efficiently radiated under changing environmental conditions as opposed to being dissipated promoting longer battery life and improved range . the above description of illustrated embodiments of the invention , including what is described in the abstract , is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed . while specific embodiments of , and examples for , the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes , various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention , as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize . these modifications can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description . the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims . rather , the scope of the invention is to be determined entirely by the following claims , which are to be construed in accordance with established doctrines of claim interpretation . | 7 |
illustrated in fig1 through 3 is a corner of a dmos device 10 in accordance with a first embodiment of this invention . as illustrated , the device 10 is equipped with a field limiting ring defined by an array of field limiting cells 14 . the field limiting ring completely circumscribes a number of &# 34 ; active &# 34 ; cells 12 located in an interior region of the surface of the device 10 . as used herein , the term &# 34 ; active cell &# 34 ; is intended to denote a transistor device , and to distinguish these cells from the field limiting cells 14 . in the context of a dmos device , the active cells 12 are metal - oxide - semiconductor field - effect transistors ( mosfet ). while the primary function of the field limiting cells 14 is to form an isolating barrier between the active cells 12 and the perimeter of the device 10 , it will become apparent that the field limiting cells 14 also contribute to the forward current conduction in the device 10 , and are therefore are also &# 34 ; active &# 34 ; in this respect . as seen in fig1 which represents a corner of the device 10 , gate contact cells 16 are provided along the edges of the device 10 and corner cells 18 are located in the corner of the device 10 . a single field limiting cell having a relatively large radius extends arcuately through the corner cell 18 shown in fig 1 . the active , field limiting , gate contact and corner cells 12 , 14 , 16 and 18 are illustrated with upper layers ( a dielectric layer 42 and metallization layers 44 and 46 of fig2 and 3 ) omitted to illustrate the cells and their construction . the surface seen in the plan view of fig1 is primarily a polysilicon layer 40 . numerous openings 28 are formed in the polysilicon layer 40 , exposing an underlying substrate ( an epitaxial layer 32 of fig2 and 3 ). the openings 28 also form bridges 20 between each pair of adjacent field limiting cells 14 . the bridges 20 serve to electrically interconnect the active cells 12 within the interior region of the device 10 with the gage contact cells 16 in the exterior region of the device 10 . as such , the bridges 20 serve to bring the gate signal from the gate contact cells 16 to the active cells 12 . the bridges 20 are a critical feature of this invention , in that their widths must be controlled in order to enable the creation of the field limiting ring of the invention , as will be explained below . centrally located in the openings 28 of the active cells 12 are source contacts 26 , and centrally located in the openings 28 of the field limiting cells 14 are source contacts 24 . gate contacts 22 are shown within each of the gate contact cells 16 through which electrical contact is made with the polysilicon layer 40 . as is conventional , the contacts 22 and 26 enable electrical contact with the gate and source terminals of the device 10 , respectively . unique to the present invention , the contacts 24 enable the field limiting cells 14 to contribute to the current conduction through the device 10 in the on - state , as will also be explained below . fig2 illustrates in cross - section , from left to right , a gate contact cell 16 , a field limiting cell 14 and an active cell 12 of the device 10 . fig2 further illustrates the device 10 as being formed on a substrate 30 on which the epitaxial layer 32 is grown by any suitable method . in the context of the n - channel dmos device 10 shown , the substrate 30 is heavily doped n - type , enabling the substrate 30 to serve as a drain terminal for the device 10 . the epitaxial layer 32 is lightly - doped n - type . a first dielectric layer 38 , such as silicon dioxide , is formed over the surface of the epitaxial layer 32 . a thin layer of gate oxide 38a is formed over the active cells 12 , while a thicker layer of field oxide 38b may be formed around the device periphery . this is followed by the formation of the polysilicon layer 40 , illustrated in fig2 as being composed of two tiers 40a and 40b , thereby forming a two tier polysilicon field plate . a first tier 40b is located above the gate oxide 38a . in the on - state , the first tier 40b provides for the formation of a channel at the surface of an underlying p - well region 34 , in the off - state , the first tier 40b provides a field - plate over the edge of the p - well diffusion , which serves to reduce the electric field in this area and thus increases the breakdown voltage of the device 10 . the second tier 40a of the polysilicon layer 40 provides further electric field reduction , thereby further increasing the breakdown voltage of the device 10 . in addition , the first tier 40b forms the bridges 20 between each adjacent pair of field limiting cells 14 and the gates for each of the active cells 12 . as can be seen from fig1 the width of the first tier 40b between each pair of adjacent openings 28 of the active cells 12 is larger than the widths of the bridges 20 . the openings 28 in the polysilicon layer 40 are shown in fig2 as extending through the dielectric layer 38 to the epitaxial layer 32 . located beneath each opening 28 and within the epitaxial layer 32 is an n + source region 36 within a p - well 34 . as is conventional , the wells 34 and source regions 36 are formed by ion implantation through the openings 28 , with the wells 34 being laterally diffused to extend beneath the adjacent portions of the polysilicon layer 40 . as such , the wells 34 of the field limiting cells 14 diffuse laterally beneath their bridges 20 . the openings 28 are subsequently filled by a second dielectric layer 42 , such as a low temperature oxide ( lto ), which overlays the polysilicon layer 40 . openings are then formed in the second dielectric layer 42 through which the contacts 22 , 24 and 26 are formed by a gate metallization 44 and a source metallization 46 . notably , the source metallization 46 includes projections 48 which extend into the epitaxial layer 32 , thus directly contacting the wells 34 and source regions 36 of the active and field limiting cells 12 and 14 . this feature reduces the gain of the npn transistor formed by each of the active cells 12 . the structure portrayed in fig2 illustrates the operation of the device 10 . in the on - state , a positive voltage is applied to the polysilicon layer 40 through the gate contact 22 formed by the metallization 44 , such that the first tier 40b of the polysilicon layer 40 acts as a gate over the p - well 34 of each active and field limiting cell 12 and 14 . as a result , the surface of each p - well 34 inverted , creating a channel in the p - well 34 through which electrons can laterally flow from the n + source region 36 ( the source terminal of the device 10 ) to the epitaxial layer 32 , and thereafter downward through the epitaxial layer 32 to a drain terminal formed by the substrate 30 . in view of the above , it can be appreciated that each of the field limiting cells 14 are electrically connected to the source metallization 46 , such that the field limiting cells 14 are active during the on - state and can therefore contribute to forward current conduction when the device 10 is in the on - state . as a result , the field limiting ring of the present invention makes more efficient use of the surface area of the device 10 . fig3 illustrates a row of field limiting cells 14 , and therefore a segment of the field limiting ring of this invention . as shown in fig3 the field limiting ring is formed by the merger of the p - wells 34 of the field limiting cells 14 . in this manner , the p - wells 34 form a continuous equipotential ring that prevents the high electric fields that can be present when such a ring is interrupted or forms a sharp corner . for the same reason , the field limiting ring is continuous through the corner cell 18 and maintains a large radius of curvature . in order to assure that the wells 34 of the field limiting cells 14 will merge , the widths of the bridges 20 between each adjacent pair of field limiting cells 14 must be carefully sized . in practice , limiting the width of each bridge 20 to be not more than about 1 . 6 times greater than the final juncture depth of each adjacent well 34 enables adjacent wells 34 to merge beneath their shared bridge 20 during diffusion of the wells 34 . openings 28 having a dimension aligned with the field limiting ring of about sixteen micrometers and bridges 20 having a width of about four micrometers have been found to achieve the desired results of this invention . in this scenario , a well junction depth of about 2 . 5 micrometers would be required to obtain a lateral diffusion of about two micrometers for each of the wells 34 of the field limiting cells 14 . in accordance with this invention , the above structure is achieved by a process which completely eliminates the requirement for separate masking , implanting and diffusion steps for forming the field limiting ring . specifically , each of the openings 28 are formed simultaneously through the dielectric and polysilicon layers 38 and 40 . the openings 28 corresponding to the field limiting cells 14 are aligned so as to form the bridges 20 and locate the field limiting ring . the openings 28 corresponding to the active cells 12 are disposed within the interior region , with the polysilicon layer 40 forming a gate terminal between each adjacent pair of these openings 28 . the wells 34 for both the active and field limiting cells 12 and 14 are then simultaneously formed by an implant technique through each of the openings 28 and a subsequent diffusion . in this manner , the implants are self - aligned by the openings 28 , as is conventional with dmos devices . during diffusion , each pair of wells 34 separated by a bridge 20 diffuse together to form the continuous , equipotential field limiting ring , while the wells 34 of the active cells 12 remain isolated from the wells 34 of their adjacent active cells 12 . the n + source regions 36 are then implanted through each of the openings 28 and diffused , followed by deposition and etching of the second dielectric layer 42 and the metallization 44 and 46 . a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 and 5 , which illustrate a dmos device 110 employing a second field limiting ring . the second field limiting ring is composed of a number of field limiting cells 50 . in contrast to the field limiting cells 14 of the first field limiting ring , the field limiting cells 50 are not electrically connected to the source metallization 46 . this configuration is shown in fig5 which illustrates in cross - section , from left to right , a field limiting cell 50 , a field limiting cell 14 and an active cell 12 of the device 110 of fig4 . as with the field limiting cells 14 , the field limiting cells 50 are delineated by bridges 120 formed by openings 128 in the first tier 40b of the polysilicon layer 40 . as before , p - wells 34 formed beneath the openings 128 are diffused together to form a continuous equipotential ring . accordingly , the bridges 120 must be narrow enough to allow the wells 34 of the field limiting cells 50 to merge . as is apparent from fig5 the field limiting cells 50 are formed simultaneously with the active and field limiting cells 12 and 14 . the device 110 can be provided with multiple field limiting rings , each of which can be formed in accordance with the above as a fully integrated step of the dmos process . in the off - state , each successive ring serves to further reduce the electric field and thereby increase the breakdown voltage of the device 110 . however , because the field limiting cells 50 are not electrically connected to the source metallization 46 , these cells 50 are not capable of contributing to forward current conduction when the device 110 is in the on - state . from the above , it can be seen that a significant advantage of the present invention is that a semiconductor device can be provided with a field limiting ring whose process is fully integrated with the formation of the active cells of the device . the field limiting ring is formed by a number of field limiting cells whose wells are laterally diffused to form a continuous equipotential ring between interior and exterior regions of the device . advantageously , the field limiting cells of this invention are configured to conduct current during the on - state , and are therefore able to improve the on - state performance and area efficiency of the device . another advantage of this invention is that the process does not require masking , implanting and diffusion steps for the sole purpose of forming one or more field limiting rings . as a result , the process of this invention can be performed at a lower cost than prior art processes which require separate masking , implanting and / or diffusing steps to form a field limiting ring . while our invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment , it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art for example , by modifying the layout of the gate contact , field limiting and active cells , using alternative materials to form the device , and forming other types of active devices . accordingly , the scope of our invention is to be limited only by the following claims . | 8 |
[ 0016 ] fig1 depicts a high level block diagram of a multiple user information distribution and delivery system 100 . the overall system comprises a data storage , retrieval and distribution system 102 , and a data delivery network 104 and a plurality of client terminals 106 . generally , the client terminals 106 contain network interface circuits that communicates with the system 102 through the communications network 104 , e . g ., a hybrid fiber - coax ( hfc ) network , telephone lines , and the like . the data link from the data distribution system to the network interface circuitry is typically a high speed , time - division - multiplexed channel or packet based digital network . the interface circuitry demultiplexes the data from these channels and the client terminals are sent serial data streams that they had previously requested from the data distribution system 102 . additionally , the client terminals 106 control , via command links , the data flow and the type of data that they each receive . the data distribution system 102 processes commands received from a plurality of users , then interprets and implements the commands . the data delivery network 104 could be created and operated by the local telephone system , the is local cable company , or some other service provider organization . the inventive data distribution system 100 sends data to the data delivery network 104 in a compatible data format to facilitate distribution of data to the proper client terminals . one illustrative example of a use for the inventive data distribution system 100 is within a video - on - demand ( vod ) system . although , in the broadest sense , the inventive data distribution system can distribute any type of digital data , e . g ., audio information , video information , textual information , graphics , and the like , to simplify the description of the invention , the following discussion will focus upon using the invention within a vod system having a large number of users being supplied audio - visual data . in a vod system , the users generally have “ set top ” interface units ( client or user terminals ) that enable each user to select a video program such as a movie or other multimedia program and control playback of that program using video tape player - like control functions . specifically , a user can play , pause , stop , fast - forward , fast - fast - forward , reverse , and fast - reverse the program at any time . the data distribution system rapidly processes and implements each user command . importantly , every user of the system can simultaneously utilize the same control features on any number of programs . thus , each user views their set top unit as a video tape player capable of accessing a large database of video programming . the data storage , retrieval and distribution system 102 contains certain apparatus and concomitant methods for interacting with the user and implementing the user commands with unnoticeable delay , i . e ., relatively low latency . typically , once the command has been implemented , the requested data is transmitted onto one of a plurality of user networks by the distribution center in a multiplexed format . network interface units , within the data delivery system , demultiplex the data streams and extract the data for the appropriate user . the data may be sent in digital format or , in some cases , converted to an analog signal for use by the user . an example of a data distribution system can be found in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 671 , 377 , issued sep . 23 , 1997 and commonly assigned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 253 , 375 , issued jun . 26 , 2001 , both of which are herein incorporated by reference . [ 0021 ] fig2 depicts a high level block diagram of the multiple user data storage , retrieval and distribution system 102 shown in fig1 . the system contains a mass storage device 202 , a host computer 200 , a digital information server 202 , a network interface module 204 and an additional data source 224 , such as a mass storage device . in general , a plurality of users ( not shown ) are sent , via the network 104 , multiplexed serial information . the users control the operation of the system 102 via a command link . the command link is assumed to be embedded within the full - duplex user connection to the network 104 . the command link could be a separate communication channel such as ethernet , telephone line , and the like . the specific implementation of the command link is typically defined by the data delivery system . each command from the command link is interpreted by the network interface module 204 . the network interface module 204 formats the commands ( data requests ) such that the server can retrieve the requested data . using the command link , the user has the capability of selecting a video program , e . g ., a selected multimedia program , and thereafter starting , stopping , pausing , reversing , and fast - forwarding the video program . in other words , the vod system provides to each user functions that are similar to those available on a conventional video cassette player . the server 202 comprises a plurality of processor subsystems 206 where each comprise a processor ( p ) 208 , solid state memory 210 , a disk array 212 , and processor support circuits 214 . the processor subsystems 206 are coupled to one another by various input / output buses 222 a and 222 b . the subsystems 206 are all coupled through a bus 222 a to the host computer 200 . the support circuits 214 may include well known circuitry such as bus interface circuits , cache , clocks , data registers and the like . the disk array 212 may contain one or more disk drives for storing data 216 , e . g ., movies or other multimedia assets . in accordance with the present invention the solid state memory 210 stores search tools 218 ( e . g ., a search engine and / or programming guides ) and frequently used data 230 ( e . g ., video chips ). since the disk drive arrays 212 have limited storage , an additional data source 224 is provided . the source 224 may be a magneto - optical drive array , a data delivery network , a live feed from one or more television networks , and the like . in operation , when a user requests information , e . g ., a selected multimedia stream , the server 202 retrieves the information from the disk array 212 . the user performs information selection through a graphical interface known as a search engine or program guide . the search engine is known as a navigator that is implemented as a series of “ applet ” programs and concomitant graphics that are sent from the server 202 to the user terminals . these applets produce a menu structure that enables the user to interact with the system . a detailed disclosure of such a navigator is disclosed in commonly assigned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 200 , 335 , issued mar . 27 , 2001 , and incorporated herein by reference . the server 202 contains two forms of local memory ( a disk drive array 212 and dynamic random access memory ( dram ) 210 ) that respectively store the selectable information and the applets . to facilitate rapid access and distribution of search engine applets , these applets are stored in dram 210 . these applets are recalled on a regular basis and transmitted to the user terminals to facilitate selection of the information . an example of a parallel processor based server is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 671 , 377 , issued sep . 23 , 1997 which is incorporated herein by reference . [ 0027 ] fig3 depicts a flow diagram showing a process 300 used to input data and search tools into the server 202 . the process 300 starts at step 302 and proceeds to step 304 . at step 304 , the server inspects the incoming bitstream to identify search tool components and general data , e . g ., movies . the search tool information contains various files , graphics , video and audio that are labeled in the bitstream as belonging to the search tool . the identified data is stored at step 306 in a disk drive or drives . if the data is striped across one or more disk drives , the server facilitates the striping process . the search tool components are stored , at step 308 , in dram . if data striping is used , as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 671 , 377 , the search tool components are striped across the processor subsystems and their respective dram in the same manner as the data is striped onto the disks . the data input routine 300 stops at step 310 . [ 0028 ] fig4 depicts a flow diagram showing a process 400 used to retrieve data / search tools from the server . the process begins at step 402 and proceeds to step 404 . at step 404 , the process queries whether the requested information is stored in dram . if the query is negatively answered , the process proceeds to step 406 where the data is retrieved from disk . the process 400 then ends at step 410 . if the query at step 404 is affirmatively answered , the information is retrieved , at step 408 , from dram . the process ends at step 410 . the information stored in dram is rapidly accessed with very little latency . as such , the information includes material that users frequently request such as search tools and frequently viewed video clips . by storing this frequently used information in dram rather than bulk storage ( e . g ., disk drive storage ), the information can be rapidly retrieved for transmission to users . [ 0030 ] fig5 depicts an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein the frequently used data is stored in a select number of solid state dram rather than distributed across all of the drams . specifically , server 500 comprises a plurality of processor subsystems 502 1 through 502 n that are organized into parity groups 504 1 through 504 m . each parity group contains a plurality of processor subsystems 502 , e . g ., five . each processor subsystem 502 comprises a processor 510 , a disk - based storage device 506 , and solid state dram 508 . using five subsystems in a parity group as an illustrative example , the group 504 1 comprises four processor subsystems 502 1 through 502 4 that handle data as described with respect to fig2 and the processor subsystem 502 5 handles parity processing . the parity bits of the data stored in the disk storage of subsystems 502 1 through 502 4 are stored on the disk storage 506 of subsystem 502 5 . since the parity processor subsystems are not used as often as the other data subsystems , the frequently used data 220 and / or search tools 218 are stored in dram 508 of the parity processor subsystems 502 5 , 502 10 , etc . as with the previous embodiment , the data is striped across the drams , in this case , striped across the parity drams only . the i / o buses 220 a and 220 b facilitate data storage and command implementation as described above . although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein , those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings . | 8 |
this disclosure describes a number of embodiments of one or more optical transmission systems and elements . within this disclosure , the term “ optical ” indicates electromagnetic range at or near optical frequencies ; this includes visible light and so - called “ near - visible ” light such as near infrared , infrared , far infrared and the near and far ultra - violet spectra . the preferred operating range is around 1 . 5 micron . the transmitter and receiver block diagrams are shown in fig2 ( a ) and ( b ) for the preferred embodiment of the communication link . at the transmitter 1 the data 2 and 3 enter the system for each orthogonal polarization , named v ( vertical ) and h ( horizontal ), but can be any other orthogonal polarization pair such as rhc / lhc . the data is forward error correction ( fec ) encoded , any suitable fec code or algorithm known in the art may be used , for example reed - solomon code . as it is shown in fig2 , fec encoder 4 and 5 encode electrical waveform before it is converted to an optical signal . alternatively fecs may operate on directly on optical signals in v and h polarizations . fec is used to correct the transmission impairments . fec operation is based on transmission of parity information , and it works fine for recovering from individual errors occurred during the transmission . however , it does not recover information when burst - errors occur . the interleavers 6 and 7 serve to stretch the burst - errors by interleaving fec codes resulted in their independent impairments . next a group of data bit is mapped onto a symbol bit in symbol mappers 8 and 9 . for example , four data bits are mapped onto a complex constellation of 2 4 = 16 point , each point is represented by two digital signed value : real and imaginary . the digital complex signals 10 and 11 named sig_in_v and sig_in_h respectively enter into a digital polarization controller unit 12 . in one embodiment , it performs a rotation transform function outputting two signals 13 and 14 : sig_out_v and sig_out_h . the transform function is implemented by digital multiplier and adder normally implemented in fpga or in asic , the digital polarization rotation function is represented by the matrix multiplication : in another embodiment , the controller 12 performs bit cross scrambling . the data from v and h part are cross scrambled randomly , the function select randomly either d_out_v = d_in_v ; and d_out_h = d_in_h ; ( straight connect ) or d_out_v = d_in_h ; and d_out_h = d_in_v ( cross connect ). the function is implemented by a digital mux function in fpga or in asic . the in and out signals not necessarily need to be complex signal or even bipolar signal , they can be any type of modulation signal including amplitude shift keying ( ask ) or on off keying ( ook ). the output signals 13 and 14 are digital to analog converted in dacs 15 and 16 . the electric signals 17 and 18 modulate in the optical modulators 21 and 22 optical laser beams 19 and 20 from the laser light source 21 . optical signals are shown by bold arrows . the two optical modulated signals 23 and 24 are combined in an polarization combiner 25 then amplified 26 and thru an optional dwdm sent to the fiber plant . the receiver part 30 is presented in fig2 ( b ). modulated optical beam 31 after demultiplexing and amplification in 32 is split by a polarization recovery unit 33 into v and h polarized beams 34 and 35 . each polarized signal is optically demodulated in detectors 36 and 37 . these detectors can be of any kind , however in the preferred embodiment they are coherent detectors . incoming light 34 and 35 is mixed with local oscillator beams 38 and 39 emitted by a local oscillator light source 40 . the local oscillator beams have the same polarization state as the incoming signals . then electrical demodulated signals 41 and 42 are converted to digital signals 43 and 44 by corresponding adcs 45 and 46 . digital polarization controller 47 performs the signal transformation . in one embodiment , it rotates the signal polarization in the opposite direction compared to the transmitter rotation with exactly same random modulation as in the transmitter part and in time sync with the transmitter , taking into account total system and fiber plant propagation time , the implementation is identical to the transmitter part . the random modulation rate should have a short coherency time in at least order of magnitude shorter than the interleaving depth time in order to evenly randomize the mixing of the two polarizations in each fec block . some random function have a tendency to have a long repetition period where the same random sequence is repeated again , this period should be an order of magnitude longer than the interleaver &# 39 ; s depth and fec block length . an alternative to random polarization is to use a periodical modulation rotation , for example increment / decrement polarization rotation phase by a constant value each time interval , in this case the period of rotation should several order of magnitude shorter than the interleaver &# 39 ; s depth and preferably the fec block should be a whole number of complete rotation period . in another embodiment , the digital signals 43 and 44 are cross scrambled in the opposite direction with exactly same random sequence as in the transmitter part and in time sync with the transmitter so same bit return to their original place , the implementation is identical to the transmitter part . the random sequence rate should have a short coherency time in at least order of magnitude shorter than the interleaving depth time in order to evenly randomize the mixing of the two polarizations in each fec block . some random function have a tendency to have a long repetition period where the same random sequence is repeated again , this period should be an order of magnitude longer than the interleaver depth and fec block length . an alternative to random scrambling sequence is to use a periodical scrambling sequence , for example each even symbol connect straight and each odd symbol connect across , in this case the period of sequence should be several order of magnitude shorter than the interleaver &# 39 ; s depth and preferably the fec block should be a whole number of complete sequence period . the digital polarization rotator output sig_out_v 49 and sig_out_h 48 are digitized / demapped in the symbol demappers 50 and 51 , deinterleaved in de - interleavers 52 and 53 and fec decoded in fec decoders 54 and 55 to output information data bits 56 and 57 in each polarization . assuming two symbols to be encoded a = b 1 + jb 2 and c = b 3 + jb 4 ; where b 1 , b 2 , b 3 and b 4 are polar bit taking value +/− 1 . straight forward encoding in the transmitter for two polarizations is : v = a ; h = b . other alternatives are : all these encoding may be interleaved ( round robin ) yielding the same or better effect as polarization rotation while keeping initial phase of phy untouched ( code frame synchronization is done later ( phy acquisition independent ) and is much simpler . the polarization change have a correlation time defined as the time the absolute value of the autocorrelation function of the polarization vector fall to below 0 . 1 , let define it as t if the interleaving depth time of an fec block is longer than correlation time we can assume the bit in that fec block are scrambled enough , in average are suffering from all polarization or insensitive to some specific polarization pdl . for a signal at rate r bit / sec , fec block length of n bit and interleaving depth ( length ) of m , number of polarization that one fec function is applied is either k = 1 in method 1 or k = 2 for method 2 , then t should be 1 / t & gt ;= r /( k * n * m ). fig3 ( a ) and ( b ) shows the probability that the horizontal and vertical snr , respectively , to be above a certain value . simulation for pdl over a 2000 km link ( 25 segments ) shows 0 . 22 db average signal to noise loss however 1 % of all snr can loss more than 1 . 0 db , simulation done for pdl of 0 . 3 db std per segment and 20 db ( 100 ) original snr w / o pdl . the reason for that small loss is most of pdl do not cause loss of ortogonality between h and v polarization on average , noise has very small covariance between polarization : 3e − 3 . this description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed , and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in the light of the above teaching . the described embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto . | 7 |
in fig1 the numeral 10 generally designates a rolling rotor motor which has a plurality of windings with six , 11 - 1 to 6 , being illustrated . power from power supply 12 is supplied to windings 11 - 1 to 6 by power switch module 14 under the control of switching logic module 16 . referring to fig2 it will be noted that the power supply 12 is connected to windings 11 - 1 to 6 through switches 14 - 1 to 6 which are controlled by switching logic module 16 . switch 14 - 1 is illustrated as solenoid actuated but any suitable power switching may be employed . switches 14 - 1 to 6 , as illustrated in fig3 can be actuated in an &# 34 ; on at off &# 34 ; mode wherein the shutting off of power to one winding coincides with the supplying of power to the next winding . alternatively , as illustrated in fig4 switches 14 - 1 to 6 can be actuated in an &# 34 ; on before off &# 34 ; mode wherein power is supplied to a winding for a short period of time after power is supplied to the next winding . in fig5 the rolling rotor motor 10 of fig1 and 2 is seen to include a fixed stator 20 with windings 11 and an external annular rotor 21 surrounding stator 20 . motor 10 is located in shell 30 of hermetic scroll compressor 40 . shell 30 is made up of upper section 30 - 1 , middle section 30 - 2 and lower section 30 - 3 which are secured together in any suitable fashion such as by welding . secured to the ends of rotor 21 are flanged annular extensions 22 and 23 , respectively , which are movable with rotor 21 as a unit . annular flanges 22 - 1 and 23 - 1 coact with shoulders on middle section 30 - 2 to axially position rotor 21 within shell 30 . stator 20 has a pair of axial extensions having end plates 24 and 25 , respectively , defining bearing plates . extensions 22 and 23 are movable with rotor 21 , as a unit , and with end plates 24 and 25 , define protective housings or covers for windings 11 . end plates 24 and 25 are fixedly supported to upper shell section 30 - 1 and to lower shell section 30 - 2 respectively as shown in fig6 . fixed scrolls 42 and 43 having wraps 42 - 1 and 43 - 1 respectively , are secured to upper section 30 - 1 and lower section 30 - 3 , respectively . wrap 44 - 1 of orbiting scroll 44 operatively engages wrap 42 - 1 of fixed scroll 42 and is supported by end plate 24 . similarly , wrap 45 - 1 of orbiting scroll 45 engages fixed scroll 43 and is supported by end plate 25 . a first series of circumferentially spaced pivoted links 48 are fixedly supported and pivoted with respect to shell 30 but each simultaneously engages both orbiting scroll 44 and extension 22 . similarly , a second series of circumferentially spaced pivoted links 49 are fixedly supported and pivoted with respect to shell 30 but each simultaneously engages both orbiting scroll 45 and extension 23 . the mass of rotor 21 and extensions 22 and 23 , will be equal to the sum of the masses of the orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 . if just one orbiting scroll 44 was present , then rotor 21 , and extension 22 would have the same mass as orbiting scroll 44 . in operation , as the magnetic field moves about the stator 20 through the selective activation of some of the windings , as described above , annular rotor 21 tends to follow the magnetic field and coacts with the stator 20 . the annular rotor 21 thus tends to rotate about the stator 20 together with extensions 22 and 23 . as extensions 22 and 23 move with the rotor 21 they act on links 48 and 49 , respectively , causing orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 to be shifted so that they are 180 ° out of phase with the rotor 21 and the center of gravity of the orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 represented by c - c is on the opposite side of the centerline a - a of stator 20 than that of the integral member defined by rotor 21 , and extensions 22 and 23 represented by b - b . thus , the unit can be dynamically balanced with the correct selection or design of the parts using standard moment of inertia equations to balance the rotor 21 and its associated parts with the orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 . if the axis b - b of rotor 21 coincided with a -- a , links 48 and 49 would be parallel to a - a and b -- b and orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 would not be out of phase with respect to rotor 21 but the scrolls 42 - 45 would not function to compress gas . additionally , some type of anti - rotation device is necessary to maintain the proper orientation between the fixed and the orbiting scrolls . also , it should be noted that the unrestrained movement of rotor 21 is to roll around stator 20 and this will result in a relative rotary movement between extensions 22 and 23 and links 48 and 49 , respectively . as best shown in fig5 and 7 , orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 each have one or more holes 44 - 2 and 45 - 2 , respectively , formed therein and of a diameter equal to the diameter of the orbit of orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 plus that of pins 34 and 35 , respectively . pins 34 and 35 are fixedly located in end plates 24 and 25 , respectively , and extend into and coact with recesses 44 - 2 and 45 - 2 in orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 . since the gas loads change with the compression process , there will be unbalance at some time since the centers of gravity do not accommodate these changes . however , the initial selection of the centers of gravity can chose some stage of the compression stroke at which balance is established . if a liquid slug , for example , was in the trapped volume of the compressor , its incompressibility would create an excess pressure . the orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 can move away from the fixed scrolls 42 and 43 thereby unsealing the trapped volume and permitting the orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 to override the liquid slug , grit , etc . rotor 21 will be moved away from the stator 20 due to the coaction of linkages 48 and 49 when the orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 move away from the fixed scrolls 42 and 43 . for compressor operation , refrigerant at suction pressure is supplied from the refrigeration system ( not illustrated ) to the interior of shell 30 and refrigerant at discharge pressure is supplied to the refrigeration system ( not illustrated ) via lines 37 and 38 , respectively in the conventional manner for a scroll compressor . specifically as the magnetic field moves about the stator 20 annular rotor 21 together with extensions 22 and 23 roll around stator 21 . as extensions 22 and 23 move they coact with links 48 and 49 which tend to maintain orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 180 ° out of phase with the rotor 21 and orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 coact with fixed scrolls 42 and 43 , respectively , in the normal coaction of a scroll compressor . orbiting scrolls 42 and 43 thus function as counterweights with respect to the rotor structure to thereby provide a dynamic balance . pins 34 and 35 coact with recesses 44 - 2 and 45 - 2 to restrict relative movement between orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 and plates 24 and 25 , respectively , to an orbiting motion which , in turn , restricts relative motion between orbiting scrolls 44 and 45 with fixed scrolls 42 and 43 , respectively , to orbiting motion . although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described , other changes will occur to those skilled in the art . for example , rotor 21 can be held to an orbiting motion and both extensions 22 and 23 and links 48 and 49 can be used when only a single orbiting scroll is used provided the mass of the orbiting scroll is equal to the combined mass of the rotor 21 and extensions 22 and 23 . it is therefore intended that the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims . | 5 |
a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in fig1 & amp ; 3 . the disc replacement prosthesis of the present invention is an implantable intervertebral disc replacement prosthesis 50 containing a flexure 100 which has an axis 103 . the flexure 100 is formed from a solid piece of material in which a blind hole is bored defining an axial cavity 105 which extends along the axis 103 . in this embodiment , a helical slit 101 is cut in the perimeter surface , with the axis of the helix approximately coincident with axis 103 of disc member 50 , so that the perimeter surface resembles a helical coil or spring . the disc replacement of the present embodiment further comprises a lower disc support 102 housed in the axial cavity 105 , and an upper disc support 104 housed in the axial cavity 105 , with the lower and upper disc supports communicating with one another to provide support to the disc . the lower and upper disc supports also act as bearing elements , and may communicate in a ball - and - socket type arrangement . these elements ( i . e . the lower and upper disc supports ) communicate to act as a transferor of axial compression loads . lower disc support 102 may or may not be rigidly attached to flexure 100 . upper disc support 104 may be rigidly attached to the flexure 100 by press - fit , retaining ring , pins , welds or some other means , and also forms the upper surface of the disc member all embodiments of the present invention are to be made from a surgically implantable biocompatible material . the preferred material for the flexure 100 should possess high fatigue strength such as titanium , titanium alloy , or stainless steel . the material for the upper and lower disc supports 104 and 102 should possess excellent wear resistance and compressive strength . ceramics , titanium , titanium alloy , stainless steel , cobalt chrome , composites , or polymers should preferably be used for these elements . alternatively , a biocompatible material with a wear reducing coating could be used . for example , a titanium nitride coating may be used on the supports or the flexure . attachment of the disc member 50 to the adjacent vertebrae should involve both immediate and long - term fixation . immediate fixation can be achieved with a mechanical bone attachment means . for example , the upper and / or lower surfaces may include mechanical elements such as teeth 108 . also , the entire superior and inferior surfaces , including teeth 108 can be coated with a bone ingrowth inducing osteoconductive substance such as sintered beads or sintered wires or an osteoinductive coating such as hydroxyapatite for long - term fixation . osteoinductive and osteoconductive coatings have been used extensively in joint replacement for many years and have been proven to be effective . the flexure 100 allows the disc member 50 to react to bending loads by flexing . the geometry of helical slit 101 can determine the stiffness of flexure 100 and therefore the stiffness of disc member 50 . for example , to produce a more flexible implant the thickness of helical slit 101 can be increased so that less material of flexure 100 remains . also the number of coils will determine the stiffness of the flexure . the spring action of flexure 100 will allow rotation and will have an inherent torsional stiffness that is also determined by the geometry of helical slit 101 . the range of motion of disc member 50 is determined by the point at which flexure 100 bottoms out ( the point at which a bending load causes adjacent coils to come into contact ). the range of motion is determined by the space between the coils , which is equivalent to the thickness of helical slit 101 multiplied by the number of coils . therefore helical slit 101 can be tailored to match the mechanical and kinematical characteristics of a normal disc at any level in the spine . the instantaneous axis of rotation ( iar ) is a parameter that characterizes how one body rotates with respect to another body ( or a fixed point ) in planar motion . normal spinal motion can be characterized as planar ( 2 d ) for pure flexion - extension . fig4 demonstrates the general method of determining the iar of the motion of a body from two positions . translation vectors a 1 , a 2 and b 1 , b 2 are drawn from points before the motion to corresponding points after the motion . the intersection of the perpendicular bisectors of these translation vectors is the iar of the motion . the preferred embodiment of the present invention incorporates a mobile iar . the ball - and - socket arrangement of the preferred embodiment of fig1 , & amp ; 3 may comprise a lower disc support 102 having a convex surface , and an upper disc support 104 having a surface suitable for receiving and communicating with the convex surface of lower disc support 102 . the convex surface of lower disc support 102 may vary . for instance , it may range from a partial hemisphere to a full hemisphere or it may be an elongated element with a rounded or partially rounded end . motion at the interface between lower disc support 102 ( as seen in fig2 ) and upper disc support 104 has an iar at the center of the radius of the bearing surface of lower disc support 102 . however , this embodiment also allows translation between lower disc support 102 and flexure 100 . the combination of rotation and translation allows a range of possible jar &# 39 ; s . fig5 is a cross - sectional view of a motion segment including a superior vertebra 200 , ivd 204 and an inferior vertebra 202 . the iar for adjacent vertebrae in the normal lumbar spine has been shown to be located on or near the superior endplate of the inferior vertebra 202 of a motion segment , as shown . fig6 shows the same cross - section of the spine as fig5 , but with placement of disc member 50 . in order to prevent unnatural loading of the facet joints 206 , the correct iar must be maintained . the mobile iar described above may allow correct iar of motion between superior vertebra 200 and inferior vertebra 202 after implantation of disc element 50 . fig7 and 8 show an alternative embodiment where approximately horizontal perimeter slits 152 have been cut into flexure 150 instead of a helical - type slit . preferably , the slit is substantially at a right angle to the axis of the disc member . the orientation of the slits is such that at least one slit is opened and at least one slit is closed under the action of bending loads imposed at any plane through the axis of the disc member . in the embodiment depicted in the drawings , each slit terminates in a hole or a perimeter opening 154 , with a diameter that is larger than the thickness of the slit to reduce stress concentration . preferably , the perimeter opening is circular - shaped . the depth , thickness and number of the perimeter slits 152 as well as the size of perimeter opening 154 determine the stiffness of the disc member . the thickness and number of perimeter slits 152 determine the range of motion of the prosthesis . disc 50 can be made into a variety of shapes , as long as the spirit of the invention is not adversely affected . that is , the disc prosthesis of the present invention may have a surface ( such as , for example , the upper surface or the lower surface ) that is flat , convex in shape or is otherwise shaped to fit the cavity of a vertebral endplate . furthermore , from a top ( superior - to - inferior ) view , disc member 50 may be of a variety of shapes : for example circular , kidney - shaped , or oval - shaped . fig9 shows an alternative embodiment of a disc 51 of the invention in which flexure 160 is oval shaped . teeth 168 and upper disc support 164 are similar to those described above . multiple alternative embodiments are also shown . a cross sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a disc 52 of the invention is shown in fig1 that has a fixed iar at the center of the radius of hemispherical lower disc support 205 . the flexure 100 and the upper disc support 104 are also shown . fig1 shows a cross sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a disc 54 of the invention in which the iar has been shifted down and left , demonstrating that the iar can be tailored to match the iar of a healthy disc simply by altering the radius of curvature and the center of the radius of curvature of partial hemispherical lower disc support 305 . upper disc support 304 has been made to communicate with partial hemispherical disc support 305 . the flexure 100 is also shown . fig1 shows angulated disc member 56 with angulated flexure 400 and augmented lower disc support 405 and augmented upper disc support 404 . the angle θ incorporated into angulated disc member 56 is meant to maintain the natural lordosis of the lumbar or cervical spine or the natural kyphosis of the thoracic spine . this angle could be matched to any lordosis or kyphosis of a disc level being replaced . fig1 shows a disc 58 of the present invention with the addition of a lower seat member 510 communicated with the axial cavity of flexure 100 . in the case that a metal material is used for flexure 100 and a harder ceramic material is used for shortened lower disc support 505 , lower seat member 510 could also be made of ceramic so that all elements experiencing sliding contact would gain the advantage of low wear ceramic on ceramic contact . the upper disc support 104 is also shown . another alternative embodiment of the disc 60 of the present invention is pictured in fig1 . a concave recess is created in flexure 600 which is meant to communicate with a flanged lower disc support 605 . in this way , the upper disc support is incorporated into flexure 600 . flexure 600 may be rigidly attached to flange 610 of flanged lower disc support 605 by weld , pins , retaining ring or some other means . another alternative embodiment of the disc 60 is pictured in fig1 . a spring element 700 is a conventional helical spring made by forming a wire into a helix . flanged upper disc support 704 and flanged lower disc support 705 are made to communicate with each other and to communicate with spring 700 . spring 700 may be rigidly attached to either or both flanged upper disc support 704 or flanged lower disc support 705 . another alternative embodiment if the disc 64 of the present invention is pictured in fig1 . flexure 800 incorporates a protuberance 805 which serves as a lower disc support . upper disc support 104 is made to communicate with protuberance 805 . therefore , the lower disc support is incorporated into flexure 800 . the disc prosthesis of the present invention may be inserted into the spine using standard medical procedures . for example , see benzel , spine surgery : techniques , complication avoidance , and management , 1999 , the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference . particularly see benzel , at section 11 , pages 142 - 192 . additionally , when inserting the disc prostheses of the present invention , the prosthesis may be inserted so that the lower disc support is superior to ( from a top view ) to the upper disc support . in other words , the disc prosthesis of the present invention mat be used such that , when looking at the spine , the upper disc support as described herein is on the bottom and the lower disc support is on top . all cited patents and publications referred to in this application are herein expressly incorporated herein by reference . this invention thus being described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 0 |
a preferred embodiment of the present invention incorporates moveable arms , a retractable electrode , tubes surrounding the electrode , and an inert ionizable gas such as argon to provide a single device capable of performing both traditional lletz surgery and argon plasma ( or beam ) coagulation . a preferred embodiment will be described in connection with fig1 - 7 . the device has a cylindrical or tubular body 110 having a collet , handle , plug or other means 120 . for lletz surgery , it may be preferable for the body 110 to be rigid or semi - rigid , but for other types of surgery , such as endoscopic or laparoscopic surgery , the body 110 may be flexible . the body 110 further has means for connecting the device to an electrosurgical generator and a source of an inert , ionizable gas such as argon . the means for connecting to the electrosurgical generator and / or argon gas may be through or part of the collet , handle or plug 120 or may be otherwise . the collet 120 is displaced from the distal end of the body 110 by a distance sufficient for the collet 120 to remain outside the patient &# 39 ; s body and be accessible to the surgeon during surgery . at the distal end of the body 110 , there are two adjustable or moveable arms 150 that are connected to the body 110 via a hinge 530 , hinges or other means that would permit the arms to rotate toward and away from each other in a plane . each arm 150 is connected to a collet 130 by a rod , wire or other means 170 . when the collet 130 is moved by the surgeon along the length of the body 110 by means of rotating the collet or otherwise , the rods 170 pull the arms 150 apart or push them together depending on which direction the collet 130 is moved . in an embodiment in which wires 170 are used rather than rods , the arms 150 may be biased toward one position , such as together , and the surgeon may used the collet 130 to pull the arms 150 apart via the wires 170 . within the body 110 , there is a channel 220 , within which there is a wire 210 for conducting electricity . the wire is formed of a conductive material , but preferably is formed from tungsten or tungsten and molybdenum . the channel may be formed integral with the body or may be a flexible plastic tube . the channel extends along the length of the body 110 at least from the collet or plug 120 to the distal end of the body , where the channel or tube splits into two channels , one along each arm . the channel along the arms may be formed integral with the arms or may be attached to the arms . for example , the channel 220 and the split channels along the arms may all be formed of flexible tubing that is attached or connected to the arms 150 . the wire 210 within the channel 220 likewise extends along the length of the body form the collet or plug 120 to the distal end of the body 110 . at or near the distal end of the body 110 , the wire 210 has a loop 160 that extends through the split channels at the arms 150 . the wire 210 is movable within the channel 220 via collet , handle , or plug 120 . when the arms are in a position extending away from one another such as is shown in fig1 - 2 , the loop 160 at the distal end of the wire 210 has an appearance and use similar to a conventional lletz device . when the arms are closed , however , the loop 160 may be withdrawn as shown in fig3 - 4 such that argon gas may flow down the channel 220 and may be sued to perform argon plasma coagulation by electrifying the wire 210 while argon gas is flowing through the tube . the preferred embodiment may further have enclosure means on the arms 150 or the split channels for enclosing the loop 160 during argon plasma coagulation as shown in fig5 and 6 ( a )-( d ). in a preferred embodiment , the enclosure means on each arm or split channel has a tubular portion 510 and a half - cylinder portion 520 . when the arms 150 are moved together and the wire is withdrawn , the semi - cylinder portions 520 for a channel such that the loop 160 is approximately 1 mm inside the end of the channel . the enclosure means may be formed as part of the arms 150 , part of the split channel , or as attachments to either the arms or the split channels . the enclosure means preferable is formed from a heat resistant material such as a ceramic material . in other embodiments , the collet , handle or plug 120 may be combined with the collet 130 such that the wire 210 moved out or in along with the movement of the arms 150 out or in . further , the device may include safety means to prevent or prohibit the flow of argon gas while the arms are in the extended lletz position . in still other embodiments , the invention may have one moveable arm that extends away from or together with either a fixed arm or the body 110 . other embodiments adapt the present invention for minimally invasive surgery such as laparoscopy or endoscopy . such adapted embodiments may be used or adapted to be used with any device for minimally invasive surgery , such as a colonoscope , laparoscope , thoroscope , etc . in such embodiments , the body 110 may be flexible and of a length and a diameter to permit the device to be inserted into the particular scope far enough that the distal end of the device extends out of the distal end of the scope . for example , the diameter would be small enough to be inserted into the working channel of an endoscope . such a diameter may be 5 mm or less depending on the type of endoscope . to insert the device into the scope , the surgeon or other operating room personnel would place the arms in the “ in ” or “ together ” position and then insert the distal end of the device into an opening in a channel in the scope . the elongated body 110 of the device would then be fed into the scope until the distal end of the device protrudes from the channel opening at the distal end of the scope . once outside the distal end of the scope , the arms may be opened for electrocautery or “ scooping ” of tissue or the arms may remain or be closed for performing argon plasma coagulation . the device may be manipulated within the endoscope , i . e ., moved in and out of the channel or rotated within the channel , by any means , such as by holding a portion of the body , collet or handle that is outside the opening at the proximal end of the endoscope . while the foregoing embodiments have been described as having a pair of moveable arms , an alternative embodiment would have only one moveable arm . such an embodiment would be akin to having a pair of arms one of which either is integral with the channel in the body or remains substantially parallel to the channel in the body while the other arm is moveable away from the body . such alternate embodiment will be apparent to those of skill in the art from the foregoing disclosure . the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed , and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto , and their equivalents . the entirety of each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by reference herein . | 0 |
in the three different embodiments illustrated respectively in fig1 - 3 , the paper machine headbox includes a base 10 on which there is mounted a frame beam 14 to which different components of the headbox are fixed . thus the rear wal of the frame beam 14 has connected thereto a distribution header 13 of the headbox , this distribution header 13 being in itself known and providing for distribution of the pulp stock suspension flow which travels as indicated at f in from the distribution header means 13 through a turbulence section 15 of the headbox , this section 15 forming a turbulence passage means which in itself is known and includes a plurality of parallel flow passages each being of a relatively small cross section and each communicating at its rear end with the distribution header means 13 and at its front end with the upper surface of the wall 18a which forms a substantially horizontal apron board extending across the entire width of the machine and forming the lower limiting surface of the slice means . the slice means 19 is defined between the upper surface of the wall 18a and the lower surface of the wall 20a of a light - weight upper lip frame 20 of the headbox , the lower surface of the wall 20a and the upper surface of the wall 18a converging toward each other to define the slice through which the pulp suspension flows as indicated at f out onto the wire 12 which travels around the schematically illustrated breast roll 11 , the web w forming on the wire 12 in a well known manner as shown schematically . the slice means 19 further includes a transversely extending strip 22 forming the upper lip of the slice means and situated directly in front of the upper lip frame 20 of the slice means . this strip 22 which forms the upper lip of the slice is capable of being independently adjusted by a separate adjusting means 22 &# 39 ; indicated by the vertical double - headed arrow just in front of the strip 22 . thus the strip 22 can be adjusted independently of the upper lip frame 20 , and for this purpose the means 22 &# 39 ; includes in a known way a number of fine adjusting spindles carried by the structure 21 and operatively connected with the strip 22 . thus the several adjusting spindles for adjusting the strip 22 are distributed across the front of the vertical wall 21 in side by side relation transversely of the machine in the cross - machine direction . the lip portion of the headbox includes the lower lip beam 18 whose upper wall 18a forms the apron board as referred to above , this lower lip beam 18 being hollow and of a substantially triangular cross section . the rear vertical wall 18b of the beam 18 is fixed directly to the front wall of the frame beam 14 of the headbox . the hollow , light - weight upper lip frame 20 includes in addition to its lower wall 20a , the bottom surface of which determines the upper limit of the slice 19 , upwardly extending walls 20b which extend upwardly from the front and rear edge regions of the lower wall 20a . this upper lip frame 20 has a rear edge region pivotally connected by a transverse pivot structure 23 to the frame of the headbox . moreover , the upper lip frame 20 has the vertically extending portion 20c in front of which the fine adjusting spindles for the strip 22 are located . a construction of this latter type is shown , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 976 , 539 , which illustrates how it is possible to prevent deflections of the upper lip frame 20 from being transferred to the structure which carries the strip 22 . it is thus possible when utilizing the present invention to provide an upper lip frame 20 which has a comparatively light - weight construction and relatively small dimensions . according to the present invention an air - tank means 24 which in itself is of a known construction has been operatively connected with the slice means 19 . the air - tank means 24 has an internal space v filled with air under pressure , this gas which is under pressure in the interior space v serving to damp in a known way those pressure disturbances which occur in the pulp suspension flow f . the air tank means 24 extends traversely across the entire width of the headbox and at its upper region has supporting flanges 25 which are respectively situated in the planes which extend longitudinally in the machine direction . the air - tank means 24 has a lower wall portion 17 which at its outer region at the bottom of the flanges 25 is fixed to the turbulence section 15 of the headbox , this lower wall portion 17 extending inwardly beyond the flanges 25 toward the left , as viewed in fig1 - 3 , to terminate in fig1 and 2 somewhat beyond the left end of the turbulence passage means 15 while in fig3 the lower wall portion 17 of the headbox terminates in a front edge which is approximately at the left end of the turbulence passage means 15 . of course at the inner edges of the flanges 25 the air - tank means 24 has a wall forming part of the cylinder , for example , and extending upwardly from the lower wall portion 17 rearwardly of the front edge thereof then around to terminate over the upper lip frame 20 . the loads which are applied to the lower wall portion 17 of the air - tank means 24 are transmitted to the frame beam 14 through a supporting plate 16 which extends substantially vertically through the turbulence passage means 15 , this supporting plate 16 being formed with perforations so that the pipe assembly which forms the turbulent section 15 passes through the supporting plate 16 . in the embodiments of fig1 and 2 , it will be seen that the lower wall portion 17 of the air - tank means 24 terminates in a front edge which is spaced rearwardly from the rear end region of the upper lip frame 20 , where the pivot 23 is located , so that this rear edge region of the upper lip frame 20 and the front edge of the lower wall 17 define between themselves an aperture or gap 28 which is of a substantially constant width and which extends transversely across the entire headbox . through this aperture 28 it is possible for the pulp suspension flow to communicate with the space v in the interior of the air - tank means so that in this way the pulp suspension flow will be exposed to the influence of the air under pressure in the space v . in the embodiments of fig1 and 2 there is a direct contact between the air pressure in the air - tank means 24 and the pulp suspension , the latter extending upwardly through the aperture 28 and having an upper surface s of relatively large area in contact with the air under pressure in the space v . in fig1 and 2 the elevation of the surface s of the pulp suspension is determined by an overflow weir . thus in fig1 the overflow weir 26a includes a wall extending upwardly and rearwardly from the front edge of the lower wall portion 17 of the air - tank means 24 , this upwardly and rearwardly inclined wall of the illustrated weir 26a being connected at its upper edge to a downwardly and rearwardly inclined wall which directs the pulp suspension which overflows the weir to an outlet pipe 27 forming an overflow pipe communicating with the interior of the tank 24 behind the weir 26a and directing the overflow back into circulation after the pulp suspension has travelled over the top edge of the weir 26a . it will be noted that in fig1 a wall 20b of the upper lip frame 20 is inclined forwardly and upwardly from the rear edge of the upper lip frame where the pivot 23 is located , so that the upwardly and rearwardly inclined wall of the weir 26a and the upwardly and forwardly inclined wall 20b of the upper lip frame 20 converge in a downward direction toward the gap 28 . in the embodiment of fig2 the air - tank means 24 also has a wall which is inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the front edge of the lower wall 17 , but in this case this upwardly and rearwardly inclined wall forms an extension of the cylindrical wall portion which extends around toward the front of the air - tank over the upper lip frame 20 . in this case the upper lip frame 20 has its lower wall 20a extending rearwardly behind the rear vertically extending wall 20b and terminating in the pivot 23 . in this case the overflow weir 26b includes a wall which extends upwardly and fowardly from the rear edge of the upper lip frame 20 where the pivot 23 is located , and the overflow is also directed to the pipe 27 which returns the overflowing pulp stock back into circulation . thus the embodiment of fig2 also has a weir 26b determining the elevation of the surface s , but in this case the weir is operatively connected with the lip frame 20b , and it will be seen that in fig2 also the upwardly and forwardly inclined wall of the weir 26b and the upwardly and rearwardly inclined wall extending from the front edge of the lower wall portion 17 of the tank 24 converge downwardly toward the gap 28 . in the embodiment of fig3 there is no direct communication between the pulp suspension and the air under pressure in the air - tank means 24 . instead with this embodiment there is a deflectable wall means 30 which has an upper surface contacting the air under pressure in the air - tank means 24 and a lower surface contacting the pulp suspension so that it is through the deflectable wall means 30 that the air under pressure acts on the pulp suspension in the slice means 19 . in the particular example illustrated in fig3 the deflectable wall means 30 is in the form of a stretchable resilient diaphragm made , for example , of rubber , this diaphragm 30 extending across the entire width of the headbox and being fluid - tightly fixed along its entire periphery to the opposed sides of the headbox as well as at its rear edge to the front end or edge of the lower wall portion 17 of the air - tank while at its front edge the diaphragm 30 is fixed in a fluid - tight manner to the rear edge of the upper lip frame 20 . thus through this deflectable wall means 30 it is possible to achieve the vibration - damping communication between the pulp suspension and the air under pressure . instead of using at the space between the rear edge of the upper lip frame 20 and the front edge of the lower wall portion 17 a resilient stretchable disphragm 30 , it is also possible to use a hinged plate or other equivalent pressure - transmission members as shown , for example , in u . s . patent applications ser . nos . 839 , 502 and 839 , 503 . as has been indicated above , the upper lip frame 20 is of a comparatively light - weight construction and is permitted to undergo deflections in a comparatively free manner . since furthermore the surface area dimensions of the pressure loads acting on the upper lip frame 20 , both horizontally and vertically , are relatively minor , the loads imposed by the pressure of the pulp stock on the upper lip frame 20 can be made relatively minor . the deflections caused by such loads are not permitted to extend up to the edge strip 22 , so that in this way a comparatively simple construction is achieved . as is illustrated in fig1 - 3 , the lower front edges of the flanges 25 are fixed to a transversely extending front wall of the air - tank means 24 , and this transversely extending front lower wall of the air - tank means 24 , is fixed in a fluid - tight manner to a transversely extending rear edge region of a resilient stretchable strip 29 of rubber or the like , the front edge region of this strip 29 being fluid - tightly fixed to the upper lip frame 20 , while the opposed side edge regions of the strip 29 are fluid - tightly fixed to the opposed side walls of the air - tank means 24 and the opposed ends of the upper lip frame 20 , so that in this way the connection between the air - tank means 24 and the upper lip frame 20 is such that this upper lip frame is relatively free to find its own particular position with respect to the air - tank means 24 . of course the invention is not to be narrowly confined to the details presented above by way of example only and which may vary within the frame of the inventive concept defined by the claims which follow . | 3 |
the invention will now be elucidated by the following non - restrictive examples . thin films of mg 55 ti 30 al 15 , mg 60 ti 30 al 10 , mg 68 ti 22 si 10 and mg 69 ti 21 al 10 were prepared by means of high vacuum deposition ( base pressure 10 − 7 mbar ). the thin films , with a thickness of 200 nm ( nominally ), were deposited on quartz substrates ( 20 mm diameter ), which were thoroughly cleaned beforehand using an in - house procedure . cap layers of 10 nm pd were deposited on top of the thin films in order to protect the films against oxidation and to catalyze hydrogen absorption and hydrogen release . uniformity of composition throughout the entire film was checked by means of rutherford backscattering spectroscopy ( rbs ), which showed that the deposition rates of the individual elements were controlled well . furthermore , x - ray diffraction was used to identify the crystallographic phases of the as - deposited films . calculations of the hydrogen content in the thin films are solely based on the rbs measurements , of which the accuracy is around 1 %. it should be noted that no correction is made for the pd cap layer , as the amount of hydrogen in the pd can never account for a deviation of this value that exceeds 3 %. electrochemical measurements were performed using a three - electrode electrochemical cell , thermostated at 298 k by means of a water jacket surrounding the cell , filled with 6 m koh electrolyte in which the thin film acted as working electrode ( active surface area of 3 cm 2 ). the thin films were contacted with a silver wire , which was attached using a conductive adhesive . a chemically inert isolating lacquer was applied to the contacts and the edges of the substrate shielding them from the electrolyte . the potential of the working electrode was measured with respect to a hg / hgo reference electrode filled with 6 m koh solution . this reference electrode was placed very close to the working electrode in order to minimize the ohmic drop caused by the electrolyte . the counter electrode , a palladium rod , was placed in a separate compartment in the cell and care was taken that the total area in contact with the electrolyte was sufficiently large . the compartments , which held both the working and counter electrode , were separated by means of fritted glass . in a separate setup the counter electrode was pre - charged with hydrogen ( pdh x ). the total amount of charge needed to extract all the hydrogen from this palladium rod far exceeded the charge needed to fully hydrogenate the thin film working electrode . this ensured that during the electrochemical experiments no oxygen was produced at the palladium counter electrode . argon gas , which was first led through an oxygen scrubber , was used before and during the measurements in order to de - aerate the setup . galvanostatic intermittent titration technique ( gitt ) was used to measure the electrochemical response that is related to the hydrogen insertion into and hydrogen extraction from the alloy . after each current pulse , the thin film was allowed to equilibrate for 1 hour . the current applied during each pulse was 100 ma / g . coulomb counting was used to determine the gravimetric storage capacity . the effect of the ti - content on the rate capability of mg y ti ( 1 - y ) alloys with 0 . 50 ≦ y ≦ 1 . 0 upon discharging the fully hydrogenated film with a high rate ( 1000 ma / g ; curve ( a )) and subsequently low rate current ( 100 ma / g ; curve ( b )) is depicted in fig1 , showing discharge capacities ( qd ) for mg y ti ( 1 - y ) electrodes with varying composition . comparable results are obtained for alloys wherein magnesium is partially replaced with an element capable of forming a covalently bound hydride , such as aluminium , for instance the alloys mg 55 ti 30 al 15 , mg 60 ti 30 al 10 , mg 68 ti 22 si 10 and mg 69 ti 21 al 10 . a similar compositional dependence of the discharge capacity ( qd ) for mg y sc ( 1 - y ) alloys was found in the paste . there , it was argued that the crystal structure of the hydride induces the hydrogen transport characteristics to change dramatically . in more detail , it was found that materials with an mg - content in the range of 0 ≦ mg ≦ 80 mol . % have a cubic , fluorite - structure . by increasing the mg - content beyond 80 mol . %, the kinetics of the hydride decomposition reaction decreases dramatically to very low q d values for pure mg . strikingly , in line with this observation the crystallographic structure was found to change from fluorite to the mg - familiar rutile - structure . the favourable fluorite structure of the mgsc hydride most likely originates from the fact that the face - centred cubic ( fcc ) structure of sch 2 is retained even when sc is partially substituted by mg . as tih 2 is also known to have a fcc - structure , the close analogy between mgsc and mgti alloys indicates that again the fluorite structure of mgtih x compounds is retained up to 80 mol . % mg . the main disadvantage of pure mgti hydrides is their low hydrogen partial pressure ( approx . 7 × 10 − 7 bar ). in order to increase the hydrogen partial pressure , the addition of an element which does not form an extremely stable hydride was included within the mgti lattice . furthermore to retain the high gravimetrical energy density of mgti alloys only light - weight elements are promising substitutes . one of the elements satisfying the requirements is al ( heat of formation — 4 kj / mol h for alh 3 ). fig2 shows the xrd spectrum of an as - deposited 200 nm thick mg 55 ti 30 al 15 thin film with 10 nm pd . it shows that a solid solution of ti in mg was formed with a preferential orientation in the [ 002 ] direction indicates to a single - phase crystalline alloy . in accordance with these observations , the xrd spectrum of the mgtisi compound also points to the formation of a single - phase crystalline alloy , however , in this case a somewhat lower intensity was found and hence the relative peak intensity w . r . t . pd decreases causing more pd planes to appear in the xrd spectrum . both xrd spectra show a decreasing lattice constant of the unit cell in comparison with mgti alloys by addition of al and si . the isothermal curves corresponding to the mg 69 ti 21 al 10 ( curve ( a )) and mg 68 ti 22 si 10 ( curve ( b ) alloys are depicted in fig3 . the measurements show a gravimetrical storage capacity of 6 . 03 wt % for the mg 69 ti 22 al 10 compound . a gravimetrical storage capacity of 4 . 53 wt % is obtained for the mg 68 ti 21 si 10 alloy . additionally , a very high hydrogen partial pressure , viz . 0 . 45 bar for mg 69 ti 21 al 10 and 0 . 24 bar for mg 68 ti 22 si 10 on average , is obtained up to approximately 2 . 2 wt % h and 1 . 44 wt % h , respectively . in comparison , mischmetal - based ab 5 compounds ( curve c ) as applied in commercially available nickel metal hydride batteries , are characterized by a high hydrogen partial pressure up to approximately 1 . 1 wt % hydrogen ( top axis corresponds to curve ( c )). the equilibrium curves of mg 55 ti 30 al 15 ( curve ( a )) and mg 60 ti 30 al 10 ( curve ( b ) alloys are depicted in fig4 . from the measurements it follows that the gravimetric capacities of mg 55 ti 30 al 15 and mg 60 ti 30 al 10 are 4 . 14 and 5 . 22 wt . % h , respectively . additionally , a very high hydrogen partial pressure , viz . 0 . 16 bar for mg 55 ti 30 al 15 and 0 . 40 bar for mg 60 ti 30 al 10 on average , is obtained during 1 . 7 wt . % h . as is shown , it is possible to increase the hydrogen partial pressure of mgti alloys by the addition of al . based on the findings discussed above , also b , c and si could be used for a similar effect . the heat of formations of the hydrides and the atomic radii of the elements mentioned in this invention disclosure are listed in tab . 1 . the hydrogen storage materials according to the invention such as the examples mg 55 ti 30 al 15 , mg 60 ti 30 al 10 , mg 68 ti 22 si 10 and mg 69 ti 21 al 10 , are suitable for various applications , for instance as an electrochemically active material in for instance fuel cells , or in media for the storage of hydrogen gas . | 7 |
[ 0021 ] fig1 illustrates the sliding door panel 12 . fig2 illustrates applicants &# 39 ; novel pocket door 10 which includes a sliding door panel 12 . fig3 a and 3b illustrate two positions of applicants &# 39 ; novel pocket door 10 . the first position illustrated in fig3 a is the closed position and prevents the passage of an occupant through the door opening . if a blowout or sudden decompression occurs to create a pressure gradient across sliding door panel 12 , then applicants &# 39 ; closed novel pocket door will rotate out of the sliding plane into a rotation plane about a primary axis 20 and , if the door strikes an obstruction ob , fold in the manner illustrated in fig3 b as it pivots along a secondary axis 30 , the secondary axis parallel and spaced apart from the primary axis 20 and laying between a first section 14 and a second section 16 of the door . [ 0023 ] fig4 and 6 all illustrate various views of the novel pocket door 10 including sliding door panel 12 with a novel hinge 34 between a first section 14 and a second section 16 . an overview of the accompanied drawings should provide a general understanding of the structure of applicants &# 39 ; novel pocket door 10 . turning now to fig1 it is seen that applicants &# 39 ; novel pocket door 10 may be comprised of a sliding door panel 12 . the sliding door panel 12 may include a multiplicity of sections , here first section 14 and second section 16 . the sections would typically be similar in height and thickness as illustrated in the accompanied drawings . furthermore , as is illustrated here , secondary axis 30 is seen to be about halfway between the primary axis and the leading edge of the door . however , it may be at any point between the primary axis and the leading edge of the door . indeed , the point at which the secondary axis is placed may depend upon where the obstruction is that requires the fold . further , although two sections are illustrated , requiring a secondary axis 30 , the specification anticipates that there may be a tertiary axis and three sections , or even more . the number of additional axis would depend on the requirements of the door and the environment in which the door is installed . [ 0026 ] fig2 illustrates the sliding panel 12 comprised of first section 14 and second section 16 . reference is made to also to fig4 and 5 that illustrate that first section and second section both may be similarly constructed and having a pair of parallel coplanar section walls 14 b and 16 b spaced apart from the second pair of coplanar adjacent section walls 14 c and 16 c . these may be made from foam core honeycomb composite construction known in the art . sliding panel door 12 typically has a leading edge 12 a and a trailing edge 12 b . the door moves between a first position and a second position . a first bulkhead pocket door wall 22 is spaced apart and parallel to a second bulkhead pocket door wall 24 to create a pocket 26 there between . the pocket door normally moves between an open and a closed position , the closed position illustrated in fig3 a and the open position not illustrated but known in the prior art and the position in which the pocket door is substantially enclosed in the pocket between first bulkhead wall 22 and second bulkhead wall 24 . the position illustrated in fig3 b is the rotated position , obtainable upon blowout with the door in the closed position if the door strikes an obstruction ob , as illustrated by the dotted lines in fig3 b . turning back to fig4 and 5 , and with reference to fig6 it is seen that an novel hinge 34 is provided between door sections 14 and 16 where a hinge bracket 14 a which includes a member spaced across between the two walls of the sections as set forth in fig6 and 7 and legs , legs typically imbedded within the composite comprising the section walls , the two hinge brackets facing one another when the door is in the normal position ( either open or closed ) and rotating out of flush alignment as the door goes into a folded position . turning now to fig4 , 6 , 6 a and 6 b for details of applicants &# 39 ; novel hinge , it is seen that hinge 34 includes an elongated shaft 36 , the shaft having a coil spring 46 wound around a portion thereof , the shaft having a removed end on which is received an adjustable spring retaining nut 38 as well as , optionally , a spacer 48 . the shaft may have a threaded portion for receiving the nut and adjustably selecting the tension in the spring so as to adjustably set the tension at which the door will begin to fold . the general construction of the hinge is to bias a folding section connector link or pin 42 which will float , connected pivotally at the near end of the shaft , thus securing the first door section 14 and pivotally connected to pin anchor 40 which is anchored tightly into second section 16 . the effect of using section connector link or pin 42 pivotally mounted at either end to the two adjacent door sections is to allow them to pivot with respect to one another while remaining engaged to one another . through the use of a bias shaft 36 and bias coil spring 46 which is connected at one end to a housing 50 fixed adjacent hinge bracket 14 , the effect is to bias section connector pin 42 to the left as illustrated in fig4 so as to hold flush against one another the inside faces of hinge bracket 14 a and hinge bracket 16 a . this holds the two door sections in a coplanar position . by threading down adjustable spring retaining nut 38 , one can increase the torque required to pull the doors out of coplanar alignment . shaft housing 50 includes a housing bore 50 a for receiving the near end of shaft 36 . furthermore , the near end or shaft 36 defines a tongue 36 a that has a rounded nose 36 b . cutout adjacent the tongue is a notch 36 c . with reference to fig5 fig6 a and 6b , it is also seen that door connector pin has , where it is pivotally mounted to the near end of the shaft , a similarly dimensioned tongue 42 a with a rounded nose 42 b and a notch 42 c such that when the two are layed together , the shaft diameter is reflected in the coupling created and , note that the dimensions , at least diameter is the same as the near end of shaft 36 . moreover , these dimensions are designed for snug receipt into bore 50 a of the housing 50 . the length of door section connector pin 42 is such that when the doors are in a flush position as illustrated in fig4 the joint portion where the tongue of the connector pin and the tongue of the shaft join will be within the bore holding the doors in a flush or coplanar position . when torque is applied to overcome resistance of the spring , edge - to - edge pivoting along mutual edges of hinge bracket 14 a and hinge bracket 16 a will pull the near end of the shaft out of the housing and allow the door connector pin to rotate at both points of articulation . further , with slots 52 cut into walls adjacent the hinge brackets , the connector pin 42 may pivot to hold the doors adjacent one another . this is done by providing the slots and further providing a distance between connector pin mounting pins 44 ( one at the shaft end and one at the anchor end ) such that the distance between adjacent pins 44 along the connector pin 42 is just slightly larger than the thickness of a door . drop down panels 32 maybe provided that are secured within pockets along the lower edge of each door segment and are either biased through the use of a spring , depressed against the floor of the cabin or , simply under the weight of the panels will lie against the floor of the cabin . drop down door sections 32 can slide up and down vertically within each of the door segments . after the door panel 12 is manufactured , veneer or fabric 54 may be stretched across outer walls 14 b , 14 c , 16 b and 16 c so that the seam created at the secondary axis 30 is invisible . a very thin veneer of wood may be used , in which case a very careful slice , such as with a razor or scalpel , may be executed in the veneer right where the edges of hinge brackets 14 a and 16 a meet . this will prevent the veneer from shattering in case the panel moves to a folded position . applicant &# 39 ; s novel hinge 34 mounted along a secondary axis 32 may be used in conjunction with a similar set of hinges at the primary axis with a tension set in the spring to first allow release along the primary axis and secondarily to allow release along the secondary axis . applicant &# 39 ; s secondary axis 30 with its novel breakaway hinge 34 may also be used with the novel pullout hinge featured in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 989 , 808 , the specification and drawings which are incorporated herein by reference . although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments , this description is not meant to be construed in a limited sense . various modifications of the disclosed embodiments , as well as alternative embodiments of the inventions will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon the reference to the description of the invention . it is , therefore , contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention . | 4 |
referring to fig1 a and 2 , an embodiment of a distribution system 10 for controlling and distributing the flow of liquid , gaseous , and particulate solid substances is shown including distribution medium 22 and containment layer 24 . distribution medium 22 includes a first principle side facing an inflow of substance and a second principle side facing containment layer 24 . containment layer 24 is designed to substantially prevent substance from flowing to an intended destination until distribution medium 22 is substantially filled with substance . in some embodiments , distribution system 10 can be utilized to fabricate composite materials . system 10 includes mold 12 and mold surface 14 . for purposes of illustration a flat mold surface 14 is shown , however , mold surface 14 can be curved , can include a moving conveyor belt , or any other surface for evenly distributing resin over one or more layers of material 16 a through 16 d to form lay - up 16 . in some embodiments , peel ply layers 18 a , 18 b can be positioned adjacent one or both of the outer sides of lay - up 16 . peel ply layers 18 a , 18 b are typically made of a porous material to allow resin to easily pass through without bonding to mold surface 14 or containment layer 24 as resin - impregnated lay - up 16 equilibrates into its final state . in other embodiments , peel ply layers 18 a , 18 b may not be included . in some embodiments , outer sheet 26 , also referred to as a vacuum bag , includes inlet port 28 positioned adjacent distribution system 10 and sealed at its marginal edges 30 to mold surface 14 by sealant tape 32 or other suitable means to form chamber 34 . an example of a sealant tape 32 that can be utilized is tacky tape ™ manufactured by schnee - moorehead , irving , tex . vacuum outlet port 35 can be installed between mold surface 14 and marginal edge 30 of outer sheet 26 for drawing a vacuum in chamber 34 . in some embodiments , substance enters inlet port 28 , while a vacuum is drawn from outlet port 35 . the vacuum causes outer sheet 26 to collapse down around distribution medium 22 . without distribution medium 22 , it would be difficult to evenly distribute resin over lay - up 16 , and substance starved areas or even voids could be created in the cured lay - up 16 . with substance distribution medium 22 , however , resin can flow evenly lay - up 16 , greatly reducing the chance of forming voids and the like in the final product . [ 0024 ] fig1 b shows another embodiment of distribution system 10 that include vacuum outlet ports 35 ′ in mold 12 . outlet ports 35 ′ can be positioned in one or more locations in mold 12 . portions of outlet ports 35 ′ extending from mold 12 can be fitted to a vacuum source to draw outer sheet 26 to collapse around distribution medium 22 and lay - up 16 . in some embodiments , one or more outlet ports 35 ′ are positioned around the periphery of lay - up 16 in areas where there are likely to be gaps between lay - up and outer sheet 26 . as many inlet ports 28 and outlet ports 35 ′ as necessary can be utilized , thereby enabling distribution system 10 to be utilized to fabricate components in a variety of shapes and sizes . further , a combination of one or more outlet ports 35 ( fig1 a ) and outlet ports 35 ′ can be utilized in the same distribution system 10 . lay - up 16 can comprise one or more layers of material , such as woven fiberglass , graphite or other composite reinforcement material . peel plies 18 a and 18 b can be made of a material such as coated fiberglass , which is porous to resin so that resin can easily pass through without bonding to mold surface 14 or containment layer 24 as the resin cures . a suitable peel ply material is release ease 234tfp , manufactured by airtech products , incorporated , huntington beach , calif . in some embodiments of distribution system 10 , a material suitable for use as outer sheet 26 is impregnated nylon , which can be obtained from numerous suppliers such as the previously mentioned airtech products . when the substance being distributed is resin , distribution medium 22 can be comprised of any suitable material . for example , a knitted mono - filament uv stabilized high density polyethylene can used as distribution medium 22 , such as commercially available solarguard ™ manufactured by roxford fordell company , greenville , s . c . anther suitable product for distribution medium 22 is colbond 7004 manufactured by colbond , incorporated , enka , n . c . colbond 7004 is a random orientated , heat fused mono - filament material . referring to fig1 a and 3 , in other embodiments , temperature sensitive containment layer 24 a has a melting point such that containment layer 24 a dissolves or melts after substance is at least partially distributed in distribution medium 22 . once containment layer 24 a melts , the substance can flow to its intended destination . distribution system 10 can include means for applying heat to temperature sensitive containment layer 24 a . heating can be done either directly by means such as raising the ambient temperature , blowing heated air , conducting electricity through a metallic frame , chemical reaction , or other suitable means . heat can also be applied to substance containment layer 24 a by heating the substance before , during , or after the substance contacts containment layer 24 a . other materials that dissolve can be used for containment layer 24 a in addition to , or instead of , containment layers 24 a that dissolve when heated . in some embodiments , a temperature sensitive containment layer 24 a includes a meltable substance layer 36 and porous veil material 37 . an example of a suitable material for temperature sensitive containment layer 24 a for use with resin is blue max tak tu on reemay ( a polyester non - woven veil ), manufactured by the blue max company , anaheim , calif . the blue max tak tu material is a low temperature melting resin 36 that is applied to a porous veil material 37 . referring to fig4 another embodiment of containment layer 24 b includes a plurality of holes 40 in a heat shrinkable material . holes 40 are a size such that substance will not readily flow there through at ambient temperatures . upon heating , the material of containment layer 24 b will shrink , causing holes 40 to increase in size , shown in dotted lines and indicated by numeral 40 ′, allowing substance to flow from substance distribution medium 22 . a suitable heat shrinkable material for use with resin substances includes intercept shrink film manufactured by fpm , incorporated , brownstone , me . referring to fig1 and 5 a , in some embodiments , containment layer 24 c is a porous film 42 includes a plurality of holes or very closely spaced perforations 44 . the size of the perforations is selected to prevent or greatly reduce substance flow through substance containment layer 24 c . holes 44 having a size such that substance will not flow there through when a vacuum is drawn to outlet port 35 at a first rate and will flow there through when a vacuum is drawn from outlet port 35 at a higher second rate . calculating the size of holes 44 in substance containment layer 24 c can be accomplished as follows . for a layer of substance above substance containment layer 24 c , the hydrostatic pressure at the layer is by the equation : the “ excess pressure ” developed by the surface tension of the substance and the openings ( perforations ) in substance containment layer 24 c can be expressed as : the governing equation for substance containment sets the hydrostatic pressure equal to the excess pressure : properties of a typical resin , such as derakane 411 c - 50 resin by dow chemical company , midland , mich . are : the maximum perforation size that overcomes the hydrostatic pressure is then : using a typical thickness of a substance distribution medium , where the substance is resin , the substance height becomes 0 . 00635 m ( 0 . 25 in ) and the maximum perforation size is : for thicker substance distribution mediums , the maximum perforation size will decrease . perforations larger than this maximum value may not contain the substance during infusion . similarly , the minimum perforation size can be estimated by equating the excess pressure to the sum of the hydrostatic pressure and the vacuum pressure in the bagged assembly : where pv will be on the order of one atmosphere . at sea level , pv is approximately 100 kilopascals ( kpa ) and dominates the left side of the equation above . the minimum perforation size is then estimated by : perforations smaller than this minimum value may not permit substance to pass through the substance containment layer 24 c under vacuum pressure . the substance containment layer 24 c perforation size is then bounded by : a suitable material for containment layer 24 c for use with resin substances is easy gardner tree wrap having round holes with a 0 . 015 inch diameter or easy gardner weed block with square holes of a similar size . both of these materials are manufactured by easy gardner , incorporated , waco , tex . this method of calculation can also be used to design the perforations for temperature sensitive containment layers 24 b ( fig4 ). in still other embodiments of distribution system 10 ( fig1 ), containment layer 24 can be comprised of a layer of perforated material including a plurality of embossed holes . sufficient pressure can be applied to containment layer 24 to cause the perforations to release and allow the substance to flow once it is distributed in distribution layer 22 . distribution system 10 can be modified to include means for applying pressure to the substance in distribution layer 24 to induce tearing of the holes in containment layer 24 . such means include physically applying pressure to the substance , applying vacuum pressure , such as by drawing a vacuum on chamber 34 , or other suitable means . containment layer 24 can also be configured to tear upon application of sufficient weight of the substance . distribution medium 22 can be configured to allow sufficient substance to accumulate to apply the required weight to containment layer 24 . other embodiments include containment layer 24 fabricated from materials whose porosity properties change under application of different rates of vacuum , different rates of atmospheric pressure , and varying heat . substances that can be distributed with distribution system 10 include any amounts of liquid , solid , and / or gaseous substances . distribution layer 22 can be fabricated from any suitable material or combination of materials , and can include grids or other suitable openings to distribute the substance . various embodiments can include two or more distribution systems 10 that are configured to allow substances to be combined automatically at desired pre - selected time intervals , or upon application of means to at least partially remove containment layer 24 to allow the substance to flow toward its intended destination . for example , containment layer 24 in one distribution system 10 can be configured to release the substance when activated by an operator . the distributed substance can flow onto and chemically react with another substance in a second distribution system 10 . containment layer 24 can be configured to release the combined substances either manually or automatically once the chemical reaction is complete . distribution medium 22 can be configured to accumulate all or a portion of the substance to be distributed by increasing the depth of the grid , including side walls around the perimeter of distribution medium 22 , or other suitable structure . further , distribution system 10 can be oriented to allow substance to flow in any desired direction . additionally , the substance can be forced to flow in any desired direction through the use pressure , pumps , or other suitable mechanism for inducing flow through distribution medium 22 . while the present disclosure describes various embodiments , these embodiments are to be understood as illustrative and do not limit the claim scope . many variations , modifications , additions and improvements of the described embodiments are possible . for example , those having ordinary skill in the art will readily implement the structures and methods disclosed herein , and will understand that any process parameters , materials , and dimensions are given by way of example only . the parameters , materials , and dimensions can be varied to achieve the desired structure as well as modifications , which are within the scope of the claims . variations and modifications of the embodiments disclosed herein may also be made while remaining within the scope of the following claims . in the claims , unless otherwise indicated the article “ a ” is to refer to “ one or more than one ”. | 1 |
turning now to fig1 and 2 which show a prior art for a tiled display 40 having a plurality of tiles 16 a - 16 b each with circuits 26 and drive circuits 22 and pixel electrodes 104 or 304 , formed on a back plate 18 . it is understood that the drive circuits 22 , circuits 26 and pixel electrodes 104 or 304 for each tile 16 a - 16 b exist in the same circuit layer . it is further understood that the circuit 26 includes the thin film transistors and associated capacitors . the pixel aperture ratio is limited by the space required for the circuits 26 and , furthermore , the drive circuits 22 extend beyond the area defined by the outermost pixels on each tile . alternately , the drive circuits 22 are separate discrete components that are interconnected to the tile using tape automated bonding or other means . the horizontal pitch 80 between adjacent pixels on adjacent tiles , across a seam , is substantially equivalent to the horizontal pixel pitch 80 on a single tile . additionally , the vertical pixel pitch 82 and the horizontal pixel pitch 80 are substantially the same for all tiles in the display . the vertical pixel length 84 and horizontal pixel length 78 are used in conjunction with the vertical pixel pitch 82 and the horizontal pixel pitch 80 to calculate the aperture ratio using the following equation : ( 84 × 78 )/( 82 × 80 )= aperture ratio . referring to fig3 - 5 , an emissive tiled display 42 is comprised of two or more emissive tiles 20 a - d arrayed , or tiled , together to provide a monolithic seamless display . the stacking of the circuits 26 and drive circuits 22 ( see fig5 ) under the pixels on each tile allows for pixels 300 to be positioned near the edge of tiles 20 a - 20 d with the distance from the outermost pixel edge to the tile edge at most equal to one - half the space between pixels 300 . furthermore , the integration of the drive circuits 22 onto each tile reduces the number of external signal connections ( not illustrated in this embodiment ) needed . the stacking of the drive circuits 22 under the pixels allows for the external signal connections to be made in the limited space at the edge of the tile 20 , or alternately , through vertical connections 36 to the back of the tile 20 . furthermore , a conductor can be provided along a tile edge to an adjacent tile for the purpose of carrying electrical signals out to the edge of a perimeter tile . the vertical 76 and horizontal pitch 72 between adjacent pixels on adjacent tiles , across a seam , is substantially equivalent to the vertical 76 and horizontal 72 pixel pitch on a single tile . additionally , the vertical 76 and horizontal 72 pixel pitch is substantially the same for all tiles in the display . the vertical pixel length 74 and horizontal pixel length 62 are used in conjunction with the vertical pixel pitch 76 and the horizontal pixel pitch 72 to calculate the aperture ratio using the following equation : ( 74 × 62 )/( 76 × 72 )= aperture ratio . the preferred embodiment of emissive tiles for use in the tiled emissive display is shown in fig5 - 7 . fig5 shows a composite view of an emissive multilayer tile 20 from the tiled display shown in fig3 . fig . 6 shows the drive circuits 22 and the circuits 26 that are located on the same plane on the tile 20 and are electrically connected by connectors 24 . the tile 20 does not have to be transparent but may be any material compatible with tft processing including , but not limited to , glass and co - fired ceramic . the pixel electrodes 304 are located above the circuits 26 and separated by insulating layers 60 and 66 shown in cross - sections fig1 - 13 . fig7 shows the circuits 26 connected to the pixel electrodes 304 by means of an additional layer containing a plurality of conductors 28 shown between the insulating layers 60 and 66 in fig1 - 14 . also shown in these figures are the components of the tft circuits : source 30 , insulating layer 58 , gate insulator 64 , anisotropic silicon 68 , and drain 70 . it is the preferred embodiment that the drive circuits 22 and circuits 26 are contained in an area defined by the outermost pixels wherein drive circuits 22 and circuits 26 do not extend past the outermost pixels . it is understood that each circuit 26 is not necessarily located directly under the corresponding pixel electrode 304 . the circuits 26 are electrically connected to the pixel electrode 304 through vertical connections and interconnections 28 . although the drive circuits 22 and circuits 26 are under the pixel array , the connections to the drive circuits , as shown in fig5 , can be made through vertical connections 36 that extend to the backside of the tile 20 . alternately , the external interconnections to the drive circuits 22 can extend to one or more edges of the tile 20 , beyond the outermost pixel . in another embodiment , the drive circuits 22 are integrated on a separate layer under the circuits . as shown in fig8 , circuits 26 reside above the drive circuits 22 and are separated from the drive circuits by an insulating layer . the pixel electrodes 304 are located above the circuits 26 , separated by another insulating layer . the interconnections 24 from the drive circuits 22 to the circuits 26 and from the circuits 26 to the pixel electrodes 304 are made using vertical connections 36 . furthermore , a layer containing a plurality of conductors 28 can be used to connect the circuits 26 to the pixel electrodes 304 . external signal connections to the drive circuits can be made along one or more edges of the tile 20 , or through vertical connections 36 to the backside of the tile 20 and on to the drive circuits through drive circuit signal connections 32 . in another embodiment , as shown in fig9 and 10 , the drive circuits 22 are integrated on the backside of the tile 20 . the drive circuits 22 are electrically connected to the topside circuits 26 through the tile 20 using vertical connections 36 . it is understood that double side tft processing is required on the tile . furthermore , a layer containing a plurality of conductors 28 can be used to connect circuits 26 that are offset from the pixels electrodes 304 to the pixel electrodes 304 . external signal connections to the drive circuits 22 can be made to the backside of the tile 20 . fig1 shows the cross - section of the multilayer emissive tile 20 . in this embodiment , the drive circuits 22 and circuits 26 are electrically connected to the pixels 300 through the conductor layer 28 . as shown in fig1 , the display includes a cover plate 52 and the display is viewed through the cover plate 52 . the cover plate 52 is a transparent substrate and includes , but is not limited to , glass and plastic . it is understood that a material 56 that has matching index of refraction to the cover plate 52 can be used to fill any gaps between the pixels 300 and the cover plate 52 . this material can also provide moisture and oxygen protection . in the preferred embodiment the cover plate 52 includes a polarization layer 50 to increase the contrast ratio of the display . in another embodiment , as shown in fig1 , the cover plate 52 includes a color filter array 54 . the patterned color filter array 54 is aligned with the pixel array . when a color filter array 54 is employed on the cover plate 52 the pixels 300 are understood to be white light - emitting . furthermore , the light - emitting layer 308 can be a continuous coating as shown . the cover plate 52 is bonded to the emissive tile 20 by means including , but not limited to , adhesive , metal and solgel . a desiccant can be positioned in or near the seals between the tile 20 and the cover plate 52 . furthermore , an oxygen getter can be positioned in or near the seals between the tile 20 and the cover plate 52 . in a further embodiment , the tiles are positioned between the cover plate 52 and a back plate 18 . the tiles can be affixed to either the cover plate 52 or back plate 18 . the back plate 18 does not need to be transparent . additionally , electrical connections can be made from the tile to the back plate 18 . in a further embodiment , the cover plate 52 and back plate 18 are sealed around the perimeter enclosing the tile array within . in a further embodiment , a desiccant may also be positioned in or near any of the seals previously described . alternately , an oxygen getter is positioned in or near any of the seals previously described . the present invention is applicable to emissive displays , and is particularly suitable for , but not limited to , use in organic electroluminescent displays . fig1 and 15 describe examples of pixels with organic electroluminescent materials . a light - emitting layer of an organic electroluminescent tile comprises a luminescent or fluorescent material where electroluminescence is produced as a result of electron - hole pair recombination in this region . in the simplest construction of a light - emitting pixel 100 , as shown in fig1 , the light - emitting layer 108 is sandwiched between pixel electrode 104 that is an anode and the cathode 106 . the light - emitting layer 108 is a pure material with a high luminescent efficiency . a well known material is tris ( 8 - quinolinato ) aluminum , ( alq ), which produces excellent green electroluminescence . the simple pixel structure 100 can be modified to a multilayer structure in which an additional electroluminescent layer is introduced between the hole and electron - transporting layers to function primarily as the site for hole - electron recombination and thus electroluminescence . in this respect , the functions of the individual organic layers are distinct and can therefore be optimized independently . thus , the electroluminescent or recombination layer can be chosen to have a desirable el color as well as high luminance efficiency . likewise , the electron and hole transport layers can be optimized primarily for the carrier transport property . in a preferred embodiment , the pixel 100 is described as a multilayer organic device that emits light from the top . as shown in fig1 , the multilayer organic device 300 has a substrate 302 on which is disposed a light reflective conductive anode 304 . the anode 304 comprises two layers including a light reflective conductive metal layer 304 a and a thin transparent layer of a conductive high work function material 304 b . an organic light - emitting structure 308 is formed between the anode 304 and a cathode 306 . the cathode 306 is composed of two layers including a thin transparent conductive layer of a low work function material 306 a and a transparent conductive layer such as indium tin oxide 306 b . the organic light - emitting structure 308 is comprised of , in sequence , an organic hole - transporting layer 310 , an organic light - emitting layer 312 , and an organic electron - transporting layer 314 . when an electrical potential difference ( not shown ) is applied between the anode 304 and the cathode 306 , the cathode will inject electrons into the electron - transporting layer 314 , and the electrons will migrate across layer 314 to the light - emitting layer 312 . at the same time , holes will be injected from the anode 304 into the hole - transporting layer 310 . the holes will migrate across layer 310 and recombine with electrons at or near a junction formed between the hole - transporting layer 310 and the light - emitting layer 312 . when a migrating electron drops from its conduction band to a valence band in filling a hole , energy is released as light , and is emitted through the light - transmissive cathode 306 . 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 with the spirit and scope of the invention . | 7 |
preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings . an electric power supplier is used in a state where it is connected to a target device to be connected . explanations will now be made to an electric power supplier according to the first embodiment of the present invention . a personal computer , including the electric power supplier and an information processing unit connected to the electric power supplier installed therein , will now specifically be described by way of example . [ 0073 ] fig1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a personal computer 100 , in which the electric power supplier according to the first embodiment is installed . this personal computer 100 briefly includes an information processing unit 120 and an electric power supplier 140 . the information processing unit 120 has the structure for realizing an information processing function which is fundamental to a general - purpose computer . the electric power supplier 140 supplies each section , such as a bus , etc ., included in the information processing unit 120 with electric power . the supplying of the electric power toward the information processing unit 120 is shown and represented by three arrows in fig1 . as illustrated in fig1 the information processing unit 120 comprises a memory 121 , an input / output control section 122 , a display section 123 , an external memory 124 , an operational input section 125 , and a processor 126 . the memory 121 includes a rom ( read only memory ), ram ( random access memory ), etc ., and stores program data or any other various data . the input - output control section 122 includes a dma ( direct memory access ) controller . the memory 121 , input / output control section 122 , and processor 126 are connected with each other through a bus , and can send and receive data to and from one another . the input / output control section 122 controls the display section 123 , the external memory 124 , and the operational input section 125 , so as to input and output various information . the display section 123 has an lcd ( liquid crystal display ) plate and a driving circuit , etc ., for example , and display various data . the external memory 124 includes an hdd ( hard disk drive ), a cd - rom read circuit , or the like , and stores program data and any other various data . the operational input section 125 has a keyboard , etc ., and sends various instructions to the processor 126 . the processor 126 has a cpu ( central processing unit ), and controls each section included in the information processing unit 120 , as will specifically described below . the processor 126 supervises the state of the operational input section 125 through the input / output control section 122 . the processor 126 reads out program data and various data from the memory 121 or external memory 124 , in accordance with the operational state of the input / output control section 122 . the processor 126 executes various information processing , based on the read data from the memory 121 or external memory 124 , and controls the display section 123 to display information corresponding to the executed information processing . as shown in fig2 the electric power supplier 140 includes an ac - dc converter 141 , a dc - dc converter 142 , a fuse 143 , a switching device 144 , a battery 145 , and a current control circuit 146 . the ac - dc converter 141 converts , for example , a commercial source voltage to a direct - current voltage of 19 v ( volts ), and outputs the converted direct - current voltage . the dc - dc converter 142 is connected to the ac - dc converter 141 , and is a load which absorbs power from the ac - dc converter 141 . the dc - dc converter 142 converts an output voltage value of the ac - dc converter 141 to a plurality of direct - current voltage values . to be more specific , connected to the dc - dc converter 142 is the information processing unit 120 . the dc - dc converter 142 converts an output voltage of the ac - dc converter 141 to three direct - current voltages of , for example , 5 . 0v , 3 . 3v , 1 . 5v , and supplies the sections inside the information processing unit 120 with their corresponding one of the converted direct - current voltages . the fuse 143 is , for example , of a current - fusing type . one end of the fuse 143 is connected to an output end of the ac - dc converter 141 , and the other end thereof is connected to an input end of the dc - dc converter 142 . the switching device 144 includes a p - channel type mosfet ( metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor ). in this specification , the switching device 144 is hereinafter referred to as an fet 144 . the source ( s ) of the fet 144 is connected to the other end of the fuse 143 . a control voltage is sent from an output end of the current control circuit 146 to the gate ( g ) of the fet 144 . the drain ( d ) of the fet 144 is connected to the battery 145 , as will more specifically be described later . in the case where the fet 144 is in an on state , a current flows between the source and drain of the fet 144 , and a current flows from the ac - dc converter 144 to the battery 145 . in the state where the fet 144 is in an off state , no current flow between the source and drain of the fet 144 , the battery 145 is electrically disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 . the battery 145 is a load which absorbs power from the ac - dc converter 141 . in the case where commercial electric power is suspended to be sent to the ac - dc converter 141 , the battery 145 functions as a back - up power source for supplying electric power to the information processing unit 120 . the battery 145 includes a charge control circuit 150 , a charge circuit 151 , and a secondary battery 152 . in the case where the charge control circuit 150 is in the on , the charge control circuit 150 controls the charge circuit 151 to charge the secondary battery 152 with electricity . as the secondary battery 152 , any one of , for example , a lithium ion battery , a nickel - cadmium battery , a nickel - hydrogen battery , etc . can be employed . when the battery 145 functions as a back - up battery , it supplies each section inside the information processing unit 120 with electricity charged in the secondary battery 152 through the dc - dc converter 142 . the current control circuit 146 discriminates whether the current flowing through the fuse 143 is an overcurrent . in the case where it discriminated that the current is an overcurrent , the current control circuit 146 controls the fet 144 to reduce the amount of current flowing through the fuse 143 . in particular , the current control circuit 146 detects a voltage across the fuse 143 , and amplifies the detected voltage . the current control circuit 146 compares the value of the amplified voltage with a predetermined threshold value , and generates a control signal s 1 corresponding to a result of the comparison . in this case , the threshold value is set to a value larger than the value of the amplified voltage across the fuse 143 in the case where a rated current of the ac - dc converter 141 flows through the fuse 143 . the current control circuit 146 generates a control signal s 1 at a low level , in the case where the value of the amplified voltage is lower than a threshold value , and generates a control signal s 1 at a high level , in the case where the value of the amplified voltage is higher than a threshold value . then , the current control circuit 146 supplies the gate of the fet 144 with the generated control signal s 1 . if the electric power supplier 140 supplies the information processing unit 120 with driving electricity , and if the information processing unit 120 executes various processing operations , the personal computer 100 executes fundamental information processing , likewise any other general - purpose computers . generally , the electric power supplier 140 operates in the manner described below . the ac - dc converter 141 converts a commercial source voltage of ac100v to a direct - current voltage of dc19v , for example . after this , the ac - dc converter 141 provides the direct - current voltage to the dc - dc converter 142 and battery 145 . the dc - dc converter 142 converts an output voltage ( 19v ) of the ac - dc converter 141 into three direct - current voltages of 5 . 0v , 3 . 3v , 1 . 5v , and supplies each section inside the information processing unit 120 with their corresponding one of the three direct - current voltages . the ac - dc converter 141 converts a commercial source voltage into a direct - current voltage , and outputs the converted direct - current voltage . upon this , a current flows through the fuse 143 , and a voltage drop is generated between both ends of the fuse 143 . the current control circuit 146 detects the voltage across the fuse 143 , amplifies the detected voltage , and compares the value of the amplified voltage with a threshold value . the current control circuit 146 generates a control signal s 1 in accordance with a result of the comparison , and supplies the gate of the fet 144 with the generated control signal s 1 . the fet 144 will be in an on or off state , in accordance with the supplied control signal s 1 . in the case where , for example , the processor 126 or external memory 124 inside the information processing unit 120 is to consume relatively a large amount of electric power , a current having a value higher than a rated current value of the ac - dc converter 141 flows through the fuse 143 . in such a case , the electric power supplier 140 operates as described below . the current control circuit 146 discriminates that the value of the amplified voltage is higher than a threshold value , generates a control signal s 1 at a high level , and supplies the gate of the fet 144 with the generated control signal s 1 . because the fet 144 will be in an off state in response to the supplied control signal s 1 , no current flows between the source and drain of the fet 144 . in addition , the battery 145 is electrically disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 . hence , the ac - dc converter 141 supplies only the dc - dc converter 142 with a direct - current voltage . this prevents a state wherein the ac - dc converter 141 is over loaded . while this state continues for a predetermined period of time , the amount of electric power consumed by the processor 126 or external memory 124 is reduced . along with the reduction in the amount of consumed electric power , the current flowing through the fuse 143 is reduced , and the value thereof is returned to a value which is equal to or lower than the rated current value of the ac - dc converter 141 afterwards . in the case where the current , whose value is equal to or lower than the rated current value of the ac - dc converter 141 , flows through the fuse 143 , the electricity power supplier 140 operates in the manner described below . the current control circuit 146 discriminates that the value of the amplified voltage is lower than a threshold value , generates a control signal s 1 at a low level , and supplies the gate of the fet 144 with the generated control signal s 1 . because the fet 144 will be in an on state in response to the supplied control signal s 1 , a current flows between the source and drain of the fet 144 . the ac - dc converter 141 supplies the dc - dc converter 142 and battery 145 with a direct - current voltage . in the battery 145 , the charge control circuit 150 controls the charge circuit 151 to charge the secondary battery 152 with electricity . even if the battery 145 is electrically disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 , while the secondary battery 152 of the battery 145 is charged with electricity , as long as the disconnection period is only a short period of time , the secondary battery 152 will not badly be effected . in the above - described embodiment , the current control circuit 146 generates the control signal s 1 , based on the value of the both - end voltage of the fuse 143 . however , the current control circuit 146 may generate the control signal s 1 , based on both of the value of the both - end voltage of the fuse 143 and the charge state of the secondary battery 152 . explanations will now be made to thus structured electric power supplier according to the second embodiment . [ 0097 ] fig3 is a block diagram showing the structure of an electric power supplier 240 according to the second embodiment . the electric power supplier 240 according to the second embodiment is installed in a personal computer , and has substantially the same structure as that of the electric power supplier of the first embodiment , so the same reference numerals as affixed to the same component elements . a battery 245 has a detection signal generation circuit 153 , in addition to the structure of the battery 145 described in the first embodiment . the detection signal generation circuit 153 detects whether the secondary battery 152 is fully charged with electricity , generates a detection signal s 2 , and sends the generated signal to the current control circuit 146 . the detection signal generation circuit 153 usually generates a detection signal s 2 at a low level , and generates a detection signal s 2 at a high level when the secondary battery 152 is fully charged with electricity . when the value of the amplified both - end voltage is larger than a predetermined value , and when the detection signal s 2 at a high level is supplied , the current control circuit 146 generates a control signal s 1 for controlling the fet 144 . in the case where the detection signal generation circuit 153 generates a detection signal s 2 at a high level , the battery 245 can electrically be disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 . hence , in the case where the detection signal s 2 is at a high level , it is meant that the ac - dc converter 141 is electrically disconnected from the battery 245 . according to this embodiment , a direct - current voltage is stably supplied to the information processing unit 120 . at the same time , while the secondary battery 152 is charged with electricity , the battery 245 is electrically disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 . in the above - described embodiments , the electric power supplier detects whether the ac - dc converter 141 is over loaded , based on the current flowing through the fuse , and the ac - dc converter 141 is electrically disconnected from the battery 145 . however , the component element for detecting the state wherein the ac - dc converter 141 is over loaded is not limited to the fuse . explanations will now be made to the third embodiment of the present invention , which has another component element for detecting the above state . [ 0104 ] fig4 is a block diagram showing the structure of an electric power supplier 340 according to the third embodiment of the present invention . the electric power supplier 340 is installed in a general - purpose personal computer . the direct - current voltage which is output from the ac - dc converter 141 includes frequency components which are caused by , for example , various noise , etc . in order to remove such noises , the electric power supplier 340 includes a noise filter . in place of the fuse , the electric power supplier 340 has substantially the same structure as that of the first embodiment , except that a coil included in the noise filter is used for detecting the state in which the ac - dc converter 141 is over loaded . hence , the same reference numerals are affixed to the component elements . a coil 343 forms a noise filter , together with a capacitor 347 , and has a function as resistance for a current including the frequency components . one end of the coil 343 is connected to an input terminal of one end of the current control circuit 346 . while the other end of the coil 343 is connected to an input terminal of the other end of the current control circuit 346 and to the source of the fet 144 . the capacitor 347 is connected to the other end of the coil 343 and a ground line . the current control circuit 346 detects and amplifies the voltage generated between both ends of the coil 343 , and compares the amplified voltage value with a predetermined value . under the same comparison condition performed in the first embodiment , the current control circuit 346 generates a control signal s 1 at a high or low level . according to the above structure , the electric power supplier 340 according to this embodiment , can be operated likewise the first embodiment . the electric power supplier 340 can attenuate noises to be transmitted to the information processing unit 120 connected to the electric power supplier 340 , through the noise filter . the structures of the electric power supplier and personal computer , in which the electric power supplier is installed , are not limited to those described in the above embodiments . a circuit which can electrically be disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 may be prepared outside the electric power supplier . explanations will now be made to an electric power supplier having such a structure , according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention . [ 0110 ] fig5 is a block diagram showing the structure of a personal computer in which an electric power supplier 440 according to the fourth embodiment is installed . this personal computer 400 briefly includes an information processing unit 420 and the electric power supplier 440 . the information processing unit 420 has substantially the same structure as that of the information processing unit 120 of the first embodiment , except that the information processing unit 420 includes two auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b . the electric power supplier 440 has substantially the same structure as that of the electric power supplier 140 of the second embodiment , except that the electric power supplier 440 individually supplies the auxiliary power supplying section 427 a , 427 b , and any other sections included in the personal computer 400 with electricity . each of the auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b , which are shown in fig5 has a secondary battery , and provides each section included in the information processing unit 120 with electricity , when electricity stops to be supplied from the electric power supplier 440 . each of the auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b detects the electricity charged - level of the secondary battery in its corresponding auxiliary power supplying section , generates binary - level detection signals s 2 a and s 2 b of high or low , and supplies the electric power supplier 440 with the generated signals . when a current having a current value which is higher than the rated current value of the ac - dc converter 141 flows through the fuse 143 , the electric power supplier 140 electrically disconnects at least one auxiliary power supplying section 427 from the ac - dc converter 141 , thereby to stably supply any other sections included in the information processing unit 420 with electricity . the electric power supplier 440 has the structure shown in fig6 . the same reference numerals are affixed to the same component elements as those of the first embodiment . as seen from fig6 the dc - dc converter 142 is connected to any sections inside the information processing unit 420 other than the auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b . the ac - dc converter 141 is connected to each of the auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b inside the information processing unit 420 , through transmission paths of fets 444 a and 444 b . the current control circuit 446 has two detection - signal input terminals . sent to the two detection - signal input terminals are detection signals s 2 a and s 2 b from the respective auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b . the current control circuit 446 has two control - signal output terminals , and sends control signals s 1 a and s 1 b to the gates of the fets 444 a and 444 b corresponding to the auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b , respectively . according to the above - described structure , in the case where the detection signal s 2 a at a high level and the control signal s 2 b at a low level are sent respectively from the auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b to the current control circuit 446 , the electric power supplier 440 operates in the manner as will be described below the current control circuit 446 amplifies a voltage across the fuse 143 , compares the amplified voltage with a threshold value . in the case where it is determined that the value of the amplified voltage generated between both ends of the fuse 143 is higher than the threshold value , the current control circuit 446 generates a control signal s 1 a at a high level and a control signal s 1 b at a low level . after this , the current control circuit 446 sends the control signal s 1 a at a high level to the gate of the fet 444 a and a control signal s 1 b at a low level to the gate of the fet 444 b . in response to the sent control signal s 1 , the fet 444 a is off , and the ac - dc converter 141 does not send a direct - current voltage to the auxiliary power supplying section 427 a . in response to the sent control signal s 1 , the fet 444 b is on , and the ac - dc converter 141 sends a direct - current voltage to the auxiliary power supplying section 427 b . hence , the voltage output from the ac - dc converter 141 is sent to the dc - dc converter 142 and auxiliary power supplying section 427 b . similarly , in the case where detection signals s 2 a and s 2 b at a high level are sent from the auxiliary power supplying sections 427 a and 427 b to the current control circuit 446 , the voltage output from the ac - dc converter 141 is sent only to the dc - dc converter 142 . according to this embodiment , the electric power supplier 440 can stably supply each fundamental section inside the information processing unit 420 with electricity , when the ac - dc converter 141 is over loaded . in addition , the electric power supplier 440 can continuously send electricity to any one of the auxiliary power supplying sections which is not fully charged with electricity . various embodiments and changes may be made thereonto without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention . in the above explanations , the current control circuit 146 generates a control signal s 1 , in accordance with whether the value of the voltage across the fuse 143 is higher or lower than the threshold value . the present invention is not limited to this method . for example , the current control circuit 146 may generate the control signal s 1 , in accordance with the difference , between the detected voltage and the threshold value , and an integrated result of the difference , and a differentiated result of the difference , under the control of a pid ( proportional integration and differential ) control program stored therein . in the above - described embodiments , the explanations have been made to the battery circuit inside the electric power supplier or the auxiliary power supplying section inside the information processing unit , as one electrically disconnectable from the ac - dc converter 141 . however , such a circuit which can be electrically disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 is not limited to the above . any circuit , other than the main circuit , such as the cpu or memory of the information processing device , etc ., may electrically be disconnected from the ac - dc converter 141 . for example , the personal computer may have the structure , wherein the backlight of the lcd ( liquid crystal display ) is electrically disconnected from the ac - dc converter . in this case , at the time a current whose current value exceeds the rated current value of the ac - dc converter 141 flows through the fuse 143 inside the electric power supplier , the electricity is temporarily suspended to be sent thereto . in the above - described embodiments , the current control circuit of the electric power supplier has determined whether the ac - dc converter is over loaded , based on the voltage across the fuse , or the coil forming the noise filter . however , the component element for detecting the current output from the ac - dc converter is not limited to the fuse or coil . for example , the element component for detecting the current output from the ac - dc converter may be a current transformer . in this case , the primary coil of the current transformer is formed in the voltage supply line for connecting the ac - dc converter and the dc - dc converter . the current control circuit is connected to the secondary coil of the current transformer , and detects whether the current flowing through the primary coil is an overcurrent . in the above - described embodiments , the switching element 144 has been described as the p - channel type mosfet . however , the switching element 144 may be a pnp - type bipolar transistor or any other device . in the case where the value of the amplified voltage is higher than a predetermined value , the current control circuit 146 has been described as one generating a control signal s 1 at a high level . however , when the value of the amplified voltage is higher than a predetermined value , the current control circuit 146 may generate a control signal s 1 at a low level , and when the value of the amplified voltage is lower than the predetermined value , the current control circuit 146 may generate a control signal s 1 at a low level . in this case , the switching device 144 is formed of an n - channel type mosfet , for example . the battery 145 has been explained as one usually generating a detection signal at a low level , and generating a detection signal at a high level when the secondary battery reaches a predetermined charged - electricity level . however , when the battery generates a detection signal at a high level and when the secondary battery reaches a predetermined charged - electricity level , the battery may generate a detection signal at a low level . in the above - described embodiments , the electric power supplier has been explained as one installed in a personal computer . however , the electric power supplier may be installed in a portable information terminal , a information processing device , or the like . further , the electric power supplier is not limited to one installed in the target electric device , and thus can externally be prepared on the electric device . the above - described embodiments are intended to illustrate the present invention , not to limit the scope of the present invention . the scope of the present invention is shown by the attached claims rather than the embodiments . various modifications made within the meaning of an equivalent of the claims of the invention and within the claims are to be regarded to be in the scope of the present invention . this application is based on japanese patent application no . 2000 - 141225 filed on may 15 , 2000 , and including specification , claims , drawings and summary . the disclosure of the above japanese patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . | 8 |
fig1 is an exploded view of part of a door latch and striker combination showing only those components thereof which relate to an understanding of the present invention , but which does not include other springs , gears , cams , levers , pivots and other linkages which are common to such latches and are well known to those skilled in the art . more specifically , fig1 shows a latch 2 having a plastic housing 4 secured to a metal frame member 6 . the housing 4 houses a fork - bolt type latch - bolt 8 adapted to rotate about an outboard end 10 of a bushing 12 which seats in an aperture 14 in the housing 4 . the housing 4 also houses a detent 16 which pivots about the outboard end 18 of bushing 20 fitted into opening 22 in housing 4 . the detent 16 includes a shoulder 24 which is engageable with a shoulder 26 on the inboard leg of the latch - bolt 8 throat 28 to locate the latch - bolt in a fully latched position . clockwise rotation of the detent 16 permits clockwise rotation of the latch - bolt 8 to permit unlatching of the latch 2 . the plastic housing 4 includes an opening 30 which receives an insert 32 having a surface 34 thereon . when the insert 32 is positioned in the opening 30 , the upper surface 34 on the insert 32 and undersurface 36 of the opening 30 define a generally bell - shaped mouth adapted to receive a complementary - shaped crossbar 38 which is riveted onto the distal ends of the trailing leg 40 and leading leg 42 of a striker 44 , which will be described in more detail hereinafter . the frame 6 also includes a bell - shaped opening 46 which receives the leading leg 42 and trailing leg 40 of the striker 44 when the wedge - shaped crossbar 38 is positioned in the opening 30 in the housing 4 , thus permitting the throat 28 of the latch - bolt 8 to engage the leading leg 42 ( i . e ., when latched ) to secure the door firmly to the surrounding doorframe . fig2 depicts a loop - type striker 48 comprising a base 50 having holes 52 and 54 therethrough for mounting the base 50 to a vehicle doorframe ( not shown ). the base 50 includes a mesa 56 which in turn supports a first leg 58 ( hereafter &# 34 ; leading &# 34 ; leg ) and a second leg 60 ( hereafter &# 34 ; trailing &# 34 ; leg ). the leading leg 58 has a first end 62 mounted to the top 64 of the mesa 56 and a distal end 66 remote from the first end 62 . similarly , the trailing leg 60 has a first end 68 adjacent the top 64 of the mesa 56 and a distal end 70 remote from the first end 68 . a crossbar 72 is riveted to the distal ends 66 and 70 of the leading and trailing legs 58 and 60 respectively heading over the distal ends 66 and 70 to provide a leading head 71 and trailing head 73 which hold the crossbar 72 to the legs 58 and 60 . a shoulder 74 stands above the trailing head 73 to prevent sheet metal 76 ( in phantom ) from the door ( moving from left - to - right in the figure ) from catching or hanging up on the outboard face 78 of the trailing head 73 . in accordance with the present invention , a ramp 80 is formed ( preferably stamped ) in the gap 82 between the heads 71 and 73 such that the elevated end 84 of the ramp 80 is adjacent the leading head 71 . as the sheet metal 76 moves from left - to - right , passed the trailing head 73 , it engages the ramp 80 and is cammed up and over the leading head 71 so as to prevent it from catching on the inboard face 86 of the leading head . alternatively rather than being stamped , a ramp in the form of a discrete insert could be secured to , or insert molded to ( i . e ., in the case of a plastic ramp ), the crossbar 72 . while the invention has been disclosed primarily in terms of certain specific embodiments thereof it is not intended to be limited thereto but rather only to the extent set forth hereafter in the claims which follows . | 8 |
an ebpvd apparatus 10 in accordance with this invention is schematically depicted in fig1 in which various components and features of the apparatus 10 are represented . the apparatus 10 is particularly intended for depositing a ceramic tbc on a superalloy component intended for operation within a thermally hostile environment . notable examples of such components include the high and low pressure turbine nozzles and blades , shrouds , combustor parts and augmentor hardware of gas turbine engines . while the advantages of this invention will be described with reference to depositing a tbc on such components , the teachings of this invention can be generally applied to a variety of coating materials and components . [ 0018 ] fig1 represents a coating process in which a ceramic coating is being deposited on one or more turbine blades 20 . turbine blades and other gas turbine engine components are typically formed of nickel - base or cobalt - base superalloys . prior to coating with the apparatus 10 , the surfaces of the components 20 are typically provided with an aluminum - containing bond coat , as known in the art . also prior to depositing the tbc , the surface of the bond coat can be grit blasted to clean its surface and produce an optimum surface finish required for depositing columnar ebpvd ceramic coatings . an alumina scale is then formed on the bond coat at an elevated temperature to promote adhesion of the tbc . the alumina scale , often referred to as a thermally grown oxide , or tgo , develops from oxidation of the aluminum - containing bond coat either through exposure to an elevated temperature prior to or during deposition of the ceramic coating , or byway of a high temperature treatment specifically performed for this purpose . while various materials could be used as the coating material , a preferred material for tbc on gas turbine engine components is zirconia ( zro 2 ) partially or fully stabilized by yttria ( e . g ., 3 %- 20 %, preferably 4 %- 8 % y 2 o 3 ), though yttria stabilized with magnesia , ceria , calcia , scandia or other oxides could be used . the coating operation within the apparatus 10 continues until the desired thickness for the coatings is obtained . for purposes of illustrating the invention , the ebpvd apparatus 10 is shown as including a preheat chamber 12 and a coating chamber 14 . however , the apparatus 10 could have any number of coating and preheat chambers , and will typically include one or more loading chambers through which the components 20 are initially loaded before being introduced into the preheat and coating chambers 12 and 14 . as known in the art , a loading chamber would be aligned with the preheat chamber 12 , and the components 20 loaded on a rake 18 that transfers the components 20 into the preheat chamber 12 and then the coating chamber 14 . with additional loading and preheat chambers , multiple loading and preheating stages can occur simultaneously while components 20 are being coated within the coating chamber 14 . according to a preferred aspect of this invention , multiple loading and preheat chambers are provided in accordance with commonly - assigned u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 624 , 809 to bruce et al ., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference . as is conventional , the preheat and coating chambers 12 and 14 are maintained at a subatmospheric pressure , preferable at a vacuum level of about up to 20 mbar in accordance with commonly - assigned u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 621 , 422 to rigney et al . a pumping system 16 , which may include mechanical , cryogenic and / or diffusion pumps of types known in the art , is employed to evacuate the preheat and coating chambers 12 and 14 ( and the loading chamber ). the desired deposition pressure is obtained by evacuating the preheat and coating chambers 12 and 14 , and then introducing an inert gas ( such as argon ) and , optionally , oxygen into the chambers 12 and 14 until the targeted process pressure is obtained . the preheat chamber 12 is shown as being equipped with a preheating element 22 that serves to heat the components 20 before being transferred into the coating chamber 14 , where coating is performed . the components 20 are preferably preheated to a temperature of higher than 1000 ° c ., such as about 1100 ° c ., which allows for cooling of the components 20 from the time they leave the preheat chamber 12 until the deposition process starts in the coating chamber 14 . coating deposition occurs by melting and evaporating an ingot 24 of the desired ceramic material with an electron beam 32 produced by an electron beam ( eb ) gun 30 . the eb gun 30 is represented as being equipped with a deflection device 34 to appropriately deflect and focus the beam 32 of electrons on the upper surface of the ingot 24 . the deflection device 34 can be of any suitable type , such as an electrostatic or electromagnet device . intense heating of the ceramic material by the electron beam 28 causes the surface of the ingot 24 to melt , forming a molten ceramic pool 36 from which molecules of the ceramic material evaporate , travel upwardly , and then deposit on the surfaces of the components 20 , producing the desired ceramic coating whose thickness will depend on the duration of the coating process . as indicated in fig1 the rake 18 can be rotated to promote the uniformity of the coatings deposited on the components 20 . while a single ingot 24 , gun 30 and beam 32 are shown in fig1 it is within the scope of this invention that the ebpvd apparatus 10 could be equipped with multiple ingots and eb guns , and that all ingots could be evaporated simultaneously or in any groupings at any given time . during a given coating campaign , multiple coating operations are performed with different sets of components 20 , with the coating operations being performed one after the other without interrupting the operation of the eb gun 30 . as a result , the molten pool 36 of ceramic material is continuously maintained during the successive coating operations , and as a result the temperatures of the ingot 24 and the coating chamber 14 continuously rise throughout the successive coating operations of the campaign . in the past , component surface temperatures during the first coating operation of a coating campaign would be near the lower limit identified for acceptable coatings , e . g ., about 925 ° c . for ysz , and the campaign would be terminated following a later coating operation in which surface temperatures are near some preestablished upper limit , e . g ., about 1125 ° c . for ysz on superalloy components . in contrast to previous practices , the ebpvd apparatus 10 is shown in fig1 to include several features that , alone or in any combination , can be used to maintain a relatively low temperature within the coating chamber 14 , and therefore lower and more consistent component surface temperatures during the deposition process . according to a particularly preferred aspect of the invention , the surface temperatures of components 20 coated during a coating campaign is maintained at a temperature of not higher than about 1000 ° c . in an investigation leading up to the present invention , nickel - base superalloy components were coated with 7 % ysz by ebpvd in which six process parameters were varied to determine their effect on the thermal conductivity of the deposited coatings : component surface temperature , chamber pressure , rotation of the components , gas flow , gas composition and deposition evaporation ) rate . of these , surface temperature was found to have a significant effect on coating conductivity . for example , the coefficients of thermal conductivity of 7 % ysz deposited on components with surface temperatures of about 1000 ° c . averaged about 1 . 45 w / m • k , which was about 20 % lower than the coefficient of about 1 . 80 w / m • k measured for identical coatings deposited under identical conditions but on components whose surface temperatures were about 1100 ° c . surprisingly , the reduced thermal conductivities exhibited by these coatings persist even after being subjected to temperatures sustained by components in the hot gas path of a gas turbine engine . in the investigation , after a thermal treatment of about two hours at about 1200 ° c ., the thermal conductivities of those components coated at about 1000 ° c . increased to an average thermal conductivity of about 1 . 68 w / m • k , or an increase of about 16 %. under the same treatment , those components coated at about 1100 ° c . increased to an average thermal conductivity of about 2 . 05 w / m • k , or an increase of about 13 %. from this investigation , it was concluded that surface temperatures below 1100 ° c ., and more preferably at or below 1000 ° c ., was preferred when depositing ysz as a thermal barrier coating . one technique for maintaining acceptable low component surface temperatures is to equip the coating chamber 14 with a heating element 40 positioned above the components 20 . the heating element 40 can be of any suitable type , such as an externally - powered radiant heating device or a reflector plate that radiates heat emitted by the molten pool 36 of the ingot 24 back toward the components 20 . according to this aspect of the invention , the heating element 40 is operated to have a decreasing heating effect on the components 20 as successive coating operations of a campaign are performed , during which time the temperature within the coating chamber 14 continuously rises as a result of heating of the interior of the chamber 14 by the electron beam 32 , the molten pool 36 of coating material , etc . if in the form of an externally powered device , the element 40 can be operated at a relatively high level at the beginning of a campaign , during which the temperature of the coating chamber 14 is relatively low , after which the heat output of the element 40 is gradually reduced during the course of the campaign . alternatively or in addition , the heating element 40 can be positioned relatively close to the components 20 with an actuator 26 to maximize heating of the components 20 at the beginning of a campaign , and then moved away from the components 20 as the temperature within the coating chamber 14 rises during the campaign to reduce heat transfer from the element 40 to the components 20 . the latter technique is also effective if the heating element 40 is in the form of a simple reflector plate . alternatively or in addition , if a reflector plate is used , a coolant can be caused to flow through the heating element 40 as the temperature within the coating chamber 14 rises during the campaign to reduce the temperature of the heating element 40 and therefore reduce the amount of heat radiated from the element 40 to the components 20 . in each case , the components 20 can be readily brought to an acceptable minimum deposition temperature at the start of a campaign , while attainment of the maximum allowed temperature of 1000 ° c . is delayed to maximize the length of the coating campaign . another feature for achieving a more consistent component surface temperature of not higher than about 1000 ° c . during the deposition process is through the placement of reflectors 42 near the crucible 38 . the reflectors 42 are depicted as being plates that can be coated with a ceramic or other suitable reflective material , though the reflectors 42 could be a ceramic or ceramic - coated granular material , or for convenience , pieces of an ingot of the same material as the ingot 24 . due to their proximity to the crucible 38 , the reflectors 42 are at a very high temperature during the coating process , and therefore radiate heat upward toward the components 20 . the reflectors 42 are shown as being supported on plates 44 that are preferably fluid - cooled so as not to appreciably radiate heat to the components 20 . the temperature of the reflectors 42 , and therefore the amount of heat radiated by the reflectors 42 , are inherently at a maximum toward the end of a coating campaign . according to the invention , the temperatures of the reflectors 42 can be minimized toward the end of the campaign by increasing the flow rate of coolant through the plates 44 , thereby absorbing heat at a greater rate from the reflectors 42 during a coating operation at the end of the campaign as compared to the rate of heat absorption during a subsequent coating operation at the beginning of the campaign . alternatively or in addition , the reflectors 42 can be positioned closer to the components 20 during the first coating operation of a campaign , and then removed from the coating chamber 14 or repositioned farther from the components 20 later during the campaign to reduce the amount of radiant heating of the components 20 attributable to the reflectors 42 . the reflectors 42 can be used alone or in conjunction with the heating element 40 to regulate the temperature of components 20 being coated within the coating chamber 14 during an ongoing campaign . another technique by which the surface temperatures of components can be maintained within the desired temperature range during a coating campaign is through the operation of the eb gun 30 . for example , the eb gun 30 can be operated at a higher power level during the first coating operation of a campaign , and subsequently at successively lower power levels as required during the campaign to reduce heating of the components 20 attributable to the eb gun 30 and the molten pool 36 of ceramic material maintained by the electron beam 32 . alternatively or in addition , the eb gun 30 can be operated to project the electron beam 32 over a larger surface area of the ingot 24 ( molten pool 36 ) at the beginning of a coating campaign and successively smaller surface areas during the course of the campaign . if the reflectors 42 are formed of a material with a sufficiently high melting temperature , the electron beam 32 or a separate beam ( not shown ) could be projected onto the reflectors 42 to further promote radiant heating by the reflectors 42 at the beginning of a campaign . the operation of the eb gun 30 can be used alone or in conjunction with one or more of the other techniques . in view of the above , the present invention provides several techniques that can be used alone or in combination so that the combined heat transfer from the coating chamber 14 ( i . e ., surfaces of the chamber 14 ) and the ingot ( i . e ., the molten pool 36 ) to the components 20 occurs at a higher heat transfer rate during the first coating operation of a coating campaign than during later coating operations of the same coating campaign , with the intent that the surface temperatures of the components 20 processed during the campaign are not higher than about 1000 ° c . while the ceramic coating ( tbc ) is deposited on the components 20 . according to a preferred aspect of the invention , the result is a tbc with a reduced and more stable coefficient of thermal conductivity . while the invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment , it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art . accordingly , the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims . | 2 |
[ 0024 ] fig1 , and 3 illustrate a preferred optical fiber winding system 10 in accordance with the present invention , wherein optical fiber 8 is drawn directly from an optical fiber preform or draw blank in an optical fiber draw process . as illustrated in fig1 the major components of the system include a screening section 12 , where the fiber is proof tested , and a winding section 14 , where the fiber is wound onto a fiber storage spool 15 . the fiber is mechanically stressed a desired amount ( i . e ., proof tested ) while traveling through screener section 12 which is illustrated in fig1 and 2 . the fiber is then wrapped directly onto spool 15 in fiber winder section 14 , illustrated in fig1 and 3 . spool 15 preferably is a shipping spool which is either to be shipped directly to a customer , which may be a purchaser of optical fiber and / or a cable manufacturing plant to be cabled directly without having to be respooled onto another fiber storage spool . in this way , from the time the fiber is first drawn into an optical fiber until the fiber is cabled into an optical fiber cable , the fiber may be stored on a single storage spool , without having to endure transfer to successive storage spools , between the time at which the fiber is manufactured and the time the fiber is shipped to a customer , to enable various testing procedures . a preferred optical fiber storage spool which may be used in accordance with the invention is illustrated in fig6 a and 6b , which show , respectively , side and bottom views of preferred shipping spool 15 . as shown in fig6 the spool 15 includes a primary barrel portion 60 , and lead meter barrel portion 62 , and an angled slot 64 through which fiber can be fed during the winding process from the lead meter portion 64 to the primary barrel portion 62 , or vice versa depending on desired winding techniques . such spools are described further , for example , in u . s . patent ser . no . 09 / 438 , 112 , filed nov . 10 , 1999 , titled system and method for providing under - wrap access to optical fiber wound onto spools , which claims the benefit of u . s . provisional application no . 60 / 114 , 516 , filed dec . 30 , 1998 , and no . 60 / 115 , 540 , filed jan . 12 , 1999 , the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , the fiber is fed onto spool 15 beginning at lead meter barrel portion 62 . when a desired amount of fiber has been stored on the lead meter portion 62 , the fiber is then fed through the slot and onto primary barrel portion 60 , and a desired amount of fiber is then wound onto primary barrel portion 60 . once the spool is full and / or a desired amount of fiber is contained within the primary barrel portion 60 , the fiber is cut , e . g . between the fiber winding system and the fiber screening system and rotating turret 40 indexes 180 degrees to provide another empty storage spool 15 onto which fiber can again be wound . the previously filled spool is then removed , and an empty spool loaded in its place , and so forth , so that when the newly provided empty spool is filled , the next spool will ready , and so forth . one reason shipping spool 15 is preferred is that fiber may be stored on spool 15 in a manner which enables access to both ends of the fiber . because the spool enables access to both ends of the fiber , optical and other testing can be conducted on the fiber which is stored on spool 15 after the fiber draw and winding process , without having to remove the entire length of fiber from the spool or rethread the fiber onto a different spool . the system also includes aspirator 16 , illustrated in fig1 and 2 , which is used to remove scrap fiber from the process as well as to facilitate automated threading of the fiber onto the various components of the system at the beginning of the draw operation or after a fiber break , of after the fiber is intentionally cut , as will be further described below . as can be seen in fig1 and 2 , aspirator 16 consists basically of a cylindrical tube such as a vacuum hose , and is movably attached to vertical support member 17 along which the aspirator can be moved in an upward or downward path . such aspirators can , for example , use compressed air to provide the sucking force needed to suck fiber into aspirator 16 . preferably the compressed air has a velocity which is high enough to provide sufficient tension to capture and control movement of the fiber throughout the winding system as it is being rethreaded , as well as to convey away any scrap fiber . vertical support member 17 is in turn movably mounted on transverse support member 18 , which in turn is movably mounted on main aspirator support frame 19 . in this way the aspirator can be moved in 3 dimensions , e . g ., the aspirator can be moved closer to or further away from screener section 12 by the sliding of transverse support member 18 along the main support frame 19 . the aspirator 16 can also be moved transverse to the main support frame ( toward or away from the back of the machine system , i . e ., parallel to the axis of the indexing spool winding 40 ) by sliding of the vertical suport member 17 along transverse support member 18 . operation of the fiber winding system in accordance with the present invention is preferably controlled via a computer control system , which may be programmed to respond to various inputs , which may be either automatically sent from the winding system or manually inputted by a machine operator . during the fiber draw operation , an optical fiber draw blank ( also known as an optical fiber preform ) is mounted in a draw furnace ( not shown ), and the temperature in the furnace is raised to a temperature suitable for drawing optical fiber from the preform . as can be seen in fig2 screener section 12 includes a pair of capstan assemblies 20 and 24 , each of which consist of a large capstan wheel and a belt which is in engagement with a portion of the circumference of the large capstan wheel . the belt is also supported by three smaller wheels , which are positioned so that the belt is held firmly against the larger capstan wheels . as used generally herein , capstan refers to such capstan assemblies as are illustrated in fig2 although alternative capstan assemblies could also be employed without detracting from the spirit of the invention . optical fiber 8 is pulled from the drawblank during the fiber draw operation by belted capstan 20 , also known as and referred to herein as the tractor capstan , illustrated in fig2 . the speed of belted capstan 20 can be controlled by suitable control means to achieve a desired speed for drawing the fiber . as shown in fig2 in the embodiment illustrated , the fiber exits tractor capstan 20 and wraps 180 degrees around turnaround pulley 22 . turnaround pulley 22 has a recessed groove around its periphery within which the fiber 8 is retained . turnaround pulley 22 is connected to a load cell which monitors the amount of tension applied onto the turnaround pulley by the passing fiber , and thus monitors the amount of tension being imparted to the fiber . from turnaround pulley 22 , the fiber enters belted screener capstan 24 . in the embodiment illustrated the screener capstan 24 is electronically “ slaved ” to tractor capstan 20 so that at all times it rotates slightly faster than tractor capstan 20 . the speed differential between screener capstan 24 and tractor capstan 20 is maintained at a magnitude , which causes a desired amount of strain within the fiber . the strain imparted to the fiber is directly proportional to the tensile stress in the fiber . any tension present in the fiber prior to entering the tractor capstan 20 is added to the tension caused by the differential speed of the two capstans 20 and 24 . depending on the speed at which the fiber is being drawn , the incoming tension during a normal blank run can vary by as much as 30 kpsi . consequently , in a preferred embodiment , feedback from the load cell of the turnaround pulley 22 is used to adjust the differential speed of the screening capstan 24 so that a sufficient screening tension is maintained consistently throughout drawing of the entire optical fiber blank into optical fiber . during the fiber draw process , fiber exits screener capstan 24 in screening section 12 and proceeds to winding section 14 , which is illustrated in fig3 . in the embodiment illustrated , the fiber leaves screening capstan 24 in fig2 at an angle which is approximately 30 degrees to the manufacturing plant floor , and proceeds to the winding section 14 illustrated in fig3 . at winding section 14 , the fiber 8 is wound through four process pulleys 30 a - 30 d before being wound onto fiber storage spool 15 . in the embodiment illustrated , the first three process pulleys 30 a - 30 c are disposed substantially within the same plane as the incoming fiber , in this case 30 degrees relative to the plant floor . the fiber wraps 90 degrees around the first pulley 30 a and then 180 degrees around second pulley 30 b , which is a dancer pulley . dancer pulley 30 b is attached to a pivot arm 32 . such dancer pulley mechanisms are described further , for example , in u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 390 , 866 , filed september 7 , titled passive tension regulator , the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference . from dancer pulley 30 b , the fiber wraps 90 degrees around third pulley 30 c and then around fourth pulley 30 d , whose axis of rotation is perpendicular to that of the first three pulleys 30 a - 30 c . the fiber wraps approximately 45 degrees around the fourth pulley 30 d and then continues to the take up spool 15 . pulley 30 d is oriented to redirect and guide fiber 8 onto take up spool 15 . the third and fourth pulleys 30 c and 30 d are both mounted on traversing carriage 34 which traverse back and forth parallel to the axis of the take up spool 15 during the fiber winding operation to result in uniform winding of the fiber onto spool 15 . carriage 34 moves back and forth along a support bar ( not shown ), reciprocating parallel to the axis of spool 15 . the movement of carriage 34 is preferably controlled via computer . during the winding of the fiber onto spool 15 , a constant torque is applied to the dancer pivot arm 32 in a direction which is opposite , or away from , first pulley 30 a . such a torque may be provide , for example , via a hydraulic air cylinder attached to dancer pivot arm 32 . the torque applied to dancer pivot arm 32 and the speed with which the spool is rotated are controlled so as to wind the fiber onto the spool with a uniform winding tension applied to the fiber . the angular position of dancer arm 32 is monitored and employed in conjunction with a control computer to control the rotating take up speed of the spool 15 . a sensor senses the angular position of the second pulley 30 b . in a preferred embodiment , the sensor is an rvdt . the position of the second or dancer pulley 30 b is used to determine the difference between the speed at which the optical fiber is being supplied from screener section 12 and the speed at which the optical fiber is being wound on a spool . the speed at which the spool 15 is rotating can then be adjusted according to the speed of the optical fiber being supplied from screener section 12 , so that the fiber is wound under the spool 15 with a uniform amount of tension . the vertical position of the second pulley 30 b is also used to detect a break in the optical fiber , as the load cell attached to the second pulley 30 b will register zero load when the optical fiber breaks . as illustrated in fig1 winder section 14 includes two independent spindles which each retain a take up spool 15 . the spindles are mounted 180 degrees apart on an indexing turret 40 . winding of fiber only occurs to the spindle that is in the upper position . the lower position is used to hold an empty spool that is ready in the event of a fiber break . the breaks that occur during a fiber draw operation can be broken down into two basic categories , pre - screener breaks , which are breaks that occur in the fiber before the fiber has reached the screener capstan 24 , and post - screener breaks , which are breaks that occur in the fiber after the fiber has passed the screener capstan 24 . by monitoring the load cells attached to turnaround pulley 20 and the position of dancer arm 32 , the control computer can control operation of the winding system and react to breaks which occur at various points in the winding operation . for example , when a pre - screener break occurs , the load cell on turnaround pulley 22 will almost immediately register zero load . consequently , when the computer senses that the load at turnaround pulley is zero , the computer initiates a control sequence for rethreading of the fiber through the screener capstan as well as the remainder of the winding system . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , several simultaneous fiber threading actions occur at the screening section and at the winding section of the machine when a pre - screener break is detected . the actions at the screener section will be described first , followed by the winder section description . in normal operational mode , while fiber is being drawn and wound onto spool 15 , the nozzle of aspirator 16 is positioned adjacent the fiber path as it exits tractor capstan 20 traveling toward winder section 14 . when a fiber break occurs between the tractor and screener capstan , the fiber down stream of the break is pulled through the four remaining process pulleys downstream and onto the take up spool . the computer immediately detects the fiber break via the turnaround pulley load cell , registering zero load . with nothing to guide it , fiber exiting the tractor capstan is pushed out from the capstan in a straight line . aspirator 16 may be positioned such that the fiber streaming from the tractor capstan will be sucked into the nozzle of the aspirator 16 , as illustrated in fig4 a . alternatively , aspirator 16 can be positioned at a location which is remote from the path of the fiber , and after a fiber break occurs , the aspirator can be moved into a position in which it collects the fiber . high pressure air is supplied to the aspirator 16 from an electronically controlled proportional air valve , and the pressure to aspirator 16 creates a vacuum at the aspirator nozzle , and the vacuum pulls the fiber into the aspirator 16 . the fiber exits the aspirator into a fiber collection can . the amount of time between a prescreener break and acquisition of the fiber by the aspirator is only a fraction of a second due to the fact that the aspirator is positioned nearly in line with the path of the fiber during normal winding operation . of course , the aspirator could be positioned further away from the path of the incoming fiber and the aspirator vacuum increased until such time as the fiber is captured by the aspirator . consequently , almost immediately after a prescreener break occurs , the fiber is being sucked into aspirator 16 . the aspirator is then moved in accordance with the invention to facilitate rethreading of the fiber through the screener capstan . as illustrated in fig1 the aspirator is movable along three motorized linear axes 17 , 18 and 19 ( and thereby is movable in three dimensions ) to facilitate threading of the entire machine . the screener capstan rethreading sequence is illustrated with reference to fig1 and 4a - 4 e . it should be noted that fig4 a - 4 e are only schematic , and actual relative dimensions have been altered to facilitate illustrations of the invention . once fiber 8 is acquired by aspirator 16 , a rethreading sequence is initiated to rethread the turnaround pulley 22 and the screener capstan 24 . to accomplish this , the aspirator may be positioned or moved to be positioned essentially in line with fiber exiting the tractor capstan , as illustrated in fig4 a , so that the aspirator begins to collect the fiber exiting the capstan 24 . the aspirator is then moved along transverse support member 18 to guide the fiber onto the groove of turnaround pulley 22 and wrap the fiber around 90 degrees of turnaround pulley 22 , as illustrated in fig4 b . threading of the final 90 degrees of turnaround pulley 22 and the screener capstan is preferably done using a guide finger system 44 , as shown in fig2 . guide finger system 44 consists of at least one , and preferably a pair of guide fingers 45 a and 45 b . these finger - like guide fingers do not grasp the fiber , but rather enable the fiber to slide around their outer periphery and into the aspirator , where it is continuously discarded . this process facilitates rethreading of the fiber while the fiber continues to be drawn during the fiber draw operation . the guide fingers may be for example , a pair of cylindrical metal tubes which may or may not be rotatable around their axis to facility transport of the fiber over the surface of the guide fingers . the guide fingers are moved up and down via z - axis support bars 46 and back and forward ( left and right ) along x - axis support member 47 , by pneumatic slides . the second guide finger 45 b also has a pneumatic slide 48 that allows motion in and out ( y axis ). the guide fingers 45 a and 45 b are in the z - up , x - forward ( toward the winder section ), and y - in position , as illustrated in fig2 prior to the initiation of the rethreading sequence . once the aspirator has threaded 90 degrees of turnaround pulley 22 , the guide fingers are moved to the z down position so that both guide fingers are behind the line of fiber going into the aspirator from the turnaround pulley , as illustrated in fig4 b . the guide fingers 45 a and 45 b are then moved toward the x - back ( away from the winder section ) position so that threading of the screener capstan can take place . as the guide fingers 45 a and 45 b are moved in this manner , guide finger 45 a engages fiber 8 and moves it toward screener capstan 24 . at the same time , guide fingers 45 a and 45 b are moving to rethread the screener capstan 24 , aspirator 16 begins moving toward the winder section 14 to begin rethreading of winder section 14 , as illustrated in fig4 c . this action allows for faster rethreading of the entire system as two portions of the machine , the screener section 12 and the winder section 14 , are being threaded simultaneously . guide fingers 45 a and 45 b continue until first guide finger 45 a is adjacent screener capstan 24 , at which point the fiber path is almost 180 degrees around turnaround pulley 22 , 180 degrees around first guide finger 45 a , and into the aspirator which is still moving to a position behind the fiber take up spool 15 as illustrated in fig4 d . at this point , the second guide finger 45 b moves to the y - out position i . e ., toward screener capstan 24 , as illustrated in fig4 e . guide finger 45 b urges the fiber into the area of the screener capstan where the belt and the capstan meet . the screener capstan may also be provided with one or more nubs or snagger hooks that are positioned on the outer diameter of the capstan . as the capstan rotates , the nubs can help urge the fiber into the area where the belt and capstan meet . once the fiber is captured between the belt and capstan , the fiber is carried around the capstan , below and out of engagement with the first guide finger 45 a as it is carried around the screener capstan . at this point guide finger 45 b retracts , and the threading of screener section 12 is complete , with the fiber traveling around turnaround pulley 22 and screener capstan 24 . the result is that the turnaround pulley 22 and screener capstan 24 are threaded without breaking the line of fiber , which is traveling into the aspirator . guide fingers 45 a and 45 b are then returned to the y - in , z - up , and x - forward positions . threading of the winder section 14 preferably takes place simultaneous with the threading of the screener section 12 . thus , referring to fig3 when a pre - screener break is detected by the turnaround pulley 22 load cell , the first actions of winder section 14 occur simultaneously to facilitate threading of the winding section by the aspirator . in fig3 a pair of rotatable fiber storage spools 15 are mounted 180 degrees apart on turret 40 . in the embodiment illustrated , only one of the spools 15 is visible , and is collecting fiber being supplied via the fiber draw process . the other fiber storage spool 15 is positioned 180 degrees , or directly underneath the spool 15 which is visible . the other spool 15 is empty and ready to be moved into position to receive fiber from the fiber draw process . also visible in fig3 is dancer platform 56 , upon which dancer pulley 32 is mounted . dancer platform 56 is movable along a transverse slide ( not shown ), from the closed position illustrated , in which dancer pulley 32 is engaging fiber 8 and forcing fiber 8 to take a serpentine path , to an open position , in which dancer pulley 32 is moved and positioned on the other side of the path of fiber 8 . in fig3 dancer pulley 32 is shown in the closed position . likewise , pulley 30 c is mounted on a traverse ( not shown ), which is capable of moving pulley 30 c into and out of engaging position with the path of fiber 8 . as mentioned above , while the guide fingers 45 a and 45 b are moving the fiber 8 toward screener capstan 24 to thread the screener 24 , aspirator 16 and thus fiber 8 are simultaneously moved toward the winding section 14 . at the same time , three things preferably occur simultaneously : ( 1 ) the winder turret 40 indexes 180 degrees so that a new empty fiber storage spool 15 is in place for winding ; ( 2 ) the new spool 15 begins rotating slightly faster than the linear speed of the incoming fiber ; and ( 3 ) the pulley 30 a , dancer pulley 30 b and pulley 30 c are moved on their respective traverse slides into an open position ( as shown in fig5 a ) to enable threading of the fiber 8 through winder section 14 . for this to occur pulley 30 c is moved along its own pneumatic slide toward a position outboard of the fiber path . the dancer stops 33 come together to hold the dancer arm 32 in a fixed position , and the dancer slide ( not shown ) moves the dancer platform 34 toward the inboard position of the path to be taken by the fiber . pulley 30 a is moved along pneumatic slide 57 to a position outboard of the path to be taken by the fiber . as can be seen in fig3 the winder section was designed so that the aspirator 16 can pass freely above all of the winder components while fiber is being pulled into the aspirator nozzle . the aspirator 16 moves to a position that is above and behind the take up spool 15 . aspirator 15 then moves downward , guiding the fiber 8 onto the fourth process pulley 30 d . the aspirator continues moving down until the line of fiber coming from pulley # 4 is tangent to the barrel of the take up spool . at this point the winding section is as illustrated in fig5 a . when the aspirator has threaded fiber 8 onto the pulley 30 d and the fiber is tangent to the barrel of the spool 15 , pulleys 30 a , 30 b , and 30 c are moved to their normal run position . thus , as illustrated in fig5 b , pulleys 30 a and 30 b move into contact with the fiber . the dancer slide then moves the dancer pulley 30 b toward a position which is outboard of the path of the fiber . this action brings the fiber path to its normal running position illustrated in fig5 b , namely , approximately 90 degrees around pulley 30 a , 180 degrees around pulley 30 b , 90 degrees around pulley 30 c and approximately 15 degrees around pulley 30 d . the dancer stops are moved to their run position and the dancer is forced to the outboard stop . spool 15 is then traversed to bring the fiber into contact with a snagger tooth 58 , which is present on the flange of spool 15 . the fiber is wedged into the snagger and cut , separating the fiber from the aspirator and beginning the winding of the fiber onto spool 15 . the dancer is initially pulled toward the inboard position of the winder due to the over spinning of the take up spool . the speed of the rotation of the take up spool 15 may be controlled by the dancer position and the speed adjusted so that the dancer arm is pulled to a nominal running position . the aspirator then moves back to the staged position , which is proximate to in line with the fiber exiting the tractor capstan . the spool that was taking up fiber before the break is automatically unloaded from the bottom of the winder turret 40 , and a new empty spool is loaded into the spindle . the machine is then ready for the next fiber break event . cases also exist where the fiber is broken somewhere between the screener capstan and the take up spool . the first case may be when the take up spool is full . a second case occurs when the fiber is detected that is out of specification ( e . g . the diameter is too large or too small ). in either of these two cases , an automatic fiber cutter 36 intentionally cuts the fiber . such a mechanical cutting device may be positioned , for example , just before the fiber enters the first process pulley 30 a . a third case of a post screener break occur when something unexpected causes the fiber - to break ( stray fiber , nicked process pulley , etc . . . . ) after the screener capstan 24 . the only difference in the threading sequence between a post screener break and a pre - screener break is that the screener section does not need to be rethreaded . in the case of a post screener break , the fiber is carried out of the screener capstan in a straight line . the aspirator is moved to a position adjacent the screener capstan so that the fiber can be captured by its vacuum . once captured , the machine goes through the winder section threading sequences described above , as if it were a screener break , except that no actions need be performed to thread the screener capstan since it is still threaded . a control system for controlling the winding apparatus 10 to perform the abovementioned threading and winding operations is preferably also provided . the control system preferably includes a programmable logic controller to control the operation of the various sequence of events , monitor all of the sensors ( e . g ., the load cell on turnaround pulley 20 and the load applied by the fiber to dancer 34 ). the logic controller may also be used to control air cylinders which are used to move various components ( e . g . pulleys 30 a - 30 c ) into position , as well as to communicate with a motion control computer . the motion control computer preferably controls and monitors the moving mechanisms such as aspirator 16 , guide fingers 45 a and 45 b . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . thus , it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents . | 2 |
an overall system diagram of a first embodiment is shown in fig1 . the system includes a conventional internet web site 101 and an internet browser program 102 operated by a user ( who is not shown in the figure ). it should be understood that when implemented on the internet , the system would generally include many such web sites and many such browsers . the system also includes a central server 104 which includes data bases 104 a and 104 b . finally the diagram shows a web site 105 which includes information of particular interest to the user of browser 102 . note , in an internet implemented system there would be a relatively large number of web sites 105 , each having information for particular users that have particular sets on interest and characteristics . the browser 102 includes a watermark reading plug in program . if a web page or a file is sent to browser 102 which contains a watermark , the watermark is detected and read by the watermark reading program in browser 102 . co - pending application ser . no . 09 / 571 , 422 filed may 15 , 2000 which is incorporated herein by reference describes such a program . the flow diagram in fig2 illustrates the operation of the system . the process starts when browser 102 requests a file from web site 101 . the file can be a text file , an audio file or an image file . the file stored on web site 101 includes collateral data . this data may be in the form of a watermark in an image or audio file or as meta data in any type of file . the simplest situation is if the requested web page contains a watermarked image . it should however be noted that the invention can work with other types of collateral data transferred from server 101 to browser 102 , such as for example , when audio data is transferred . as indicated by blocks 202 and 203 , the file is sent to the browser and the browser extracts the collateral data from the file . if the data is in the form of a watermark in an image file or in audio data , the browser would utilize a plug - in which can read the watermark and extract the collateral data . the details of the watermark reading program per se are known in the art and are not part of the present invention . the collateral data extracted by the watermark reading program includes the url of central server 104 and an identifier of the file or image that contained the watermark . first data base 104 a is interrogated to find information concerning the organization that registered the particular watermark . this is similar to the process described in co - pending application ser . no . 09 / 571 , 422 filed may 15 , 2000 . central server 104 also includes a second data base 104 b which is indexed according to globally unique identifiers ( guids ). these identifiers allow the system to track references that come from a particular browser 102 without obtaining or using the actual name or e - mail address of the user . such globally unique identifiers ( guids ) are in widespread use by firms that provide advertisements on the world wide web . for example see an article in the magazine pc world june 2000 , page 103 to 108 entitled “ privacy 2000 in web we trust ”. the data base 104 b includes information relevant to each guid . the information in data base 104 b is acquired in a conventional manner . the data base 104 a and 104 b also includes a list or data base of alternate sites 105 . the data bases 104 a and 104 b include for each site listed , the characteristics of the users that the site owner would like to reach and the identifiers from watermarks . thus when the collateral data in a particular image causer browser 102 to contact central server 104 , the central server 104 makes two matches . first the identifier in the watermark is matched to registered identifiers to identify which particular image or web page contained the watermark . second , from the guid the server can determine the characteristics of the user . these two sets of information are used to determine the alternative site to which the user is directed . the following is a very simple example which illustrates the operation of the system . assume that the guids identify only three characteristics of users that are designated “ characteristic one ”, “ characteristic two ” and “ characteristic three ”. also assume that the watermarks read by browser 102 have only three different identifiers designated identifier a , identifier b and identifier c . the alternative site 105 to which the user would be directed would be determined by server 104 from the information in data bases 104 a and 104 b as shown by the following table . the point is that server 104 has available two sets of information . the first identifies the image or file from which the collateral data was obtained and the second is the characteristics of the user . these two bits of information can be combined as shown above to select an appropriate site ( above identified as sites s 1 to s 9 ) to which the user should be directed . it is specifically noted that in any practical situation there will be many more identifiers and many more characteristics or more probably combinations of characteristics . furthermore , many different combinations might point to the same web site . as shown above each different combination pints to a different web site s 1 to s 9 . finally as indicated by block 206 in fig2 , data from the selected alternate web site 105 is sent to the browser 102 . the net result of the process is that the user who requests a web page or file from web site 101 will also receive certain collateral data which may be in the form of a watermark in the web page or file . this collateral data results in a request to server 104 which using the guid of browser 102 and information from the watermark , locates an appropriate alternate web site 105 . information from the selected alternate web site 105 is then sent to browser 102 . an alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in fig3 . this alternate embodiment of the invention utilizes some of the components from the media bridge technology commercially available from digimarc corporation , tualatin oreg . with the media bridge technology , one can capture a digital image and read a digital watermark which is included in the image . the digital image can be captured with a commercially available pc camera . in the embodiment shown in fig3 , a pc camera 301 a located in a hand held device 301 captures images , which can , for example , be the front page of magazines 302 a to 302 x . the hand held device includes a watermark reading program 301 b and a data base 301 c that stores data concerning the user &# 39 ; s personal preferences . the hand held device 301 also includes a wireless internet connection which can connect to a web sites 303 . each of the magazine front page images 302 a to 302 x includes a digital watermark which specifies a particular url . the camera 301 a reads the watermarks in the images , 302 a to 302 x , obtains the information from the watermark and contacts one of the web sites 303 a to 303 x . the particular web sites contacted depends upon the information read from the watermarks . each web site includes an expanded index of the information in the associated magazine . this index is sent to handheld device 301 . the hand held device 301 compares the information in the expanded magazine indexes to the information in the data base 301 c and informs the user which particular magazine has articles which match the personal preferences stored in data base 301 c . thus a user can scan a rack of magazine covers with device 301 . device 301 reads the url specified by the watermark on each magazine cover and then obtains an index of the particular magazines from a remote data base . the index is compared to the users personal preferences stored in hand held device 301 and the user is informed as to which magazine matches the stored preferences . it is noted that the designations 302 a to 302 x and 303 a to 303 x is used to illustrate that the number of magazines and the number of associated web sites is an arbitrary number suited to a particular application . the designations are meant to illustrate that there is one web site 303 ( or one web page ) for each magazine cover 302 . it is noted that as new issues of the various magazines appear , the information in web sites 303 a to 303 x change . each magazine therefore has an identifier which directs the system to a particular web site . the web site will have the current information for that magazine . the present embodiment goes to a different web site for each magazine index . it noted that the various magazine indexes could be stored as different web pages on a single web site . in an alternate embodiment , the watermarks on the magazine images includes coded information about the content of the magazines . the hand held device can then compare the magazine content to the stored preferences and indicate a match without accessing a web site . in another alternate embodiment , the content can be stored in the hand held device and periodically synchronized with a remote source . it should be specifically noted that while the foregoing specification focuses on applications employing digital watermarking , the present invention can alternatively employ other data encoding techniques , including 1 d and 2d barcodes , magnetic ink character recognition ( micr ), optical character recognition ( ocr ), optical mark recognition ( omr ), radio frequency identification ( rf / id ), uv / ir identification technologies , data glyphs , organic transistors , magnetic stripe , etc ., depending on the particular application requirements . co - pending application ser . no . 09 / 571 , 422 filed may 15 , 2000 describes a system that reads collateral data and which has a router and registration data base to determine an appropriate url when a particular object is viewed . the content of application ser . no . 09 / 571 , 422 filed may 15 , 2000 is hereby incorporated herein by reference . the present invention can be applied as an extension of the system shown in application ser . no . 09 / 571 , 422 filed may 15 , 2000 . fig4 illustrates another alternate embodiment of the present invention . with the system shown in fig4 , there is equipment 401 at a remote location connected to equipment 402 which is at a central location . a user operates an originating device 412 at the remote location . the originating device 412 includes a pc camera 412 a which can acquire an electronic image of a printed advertisement 429 . the originating device 412 includes a watermark reading program 412 b and an internet browser 412 c . the collateral data read from the electronic image generated by camera 412 a is used to generate a url which directs the browser 412 c to server 414 via the internet 432 . when server 414 receives a request from originating device 412 , it uses the guid information to interrogate a data base 418 which contains information about users . the server 414 also interrogates a registration data base 417 which contains information relevant to the particular collateral data read from the object 429 . these two sets of information are combined as illustrated by the simple example in table 1 above . the sever can therefore respond to a request from originating device 412 by directing the browser 412 c to a web site ( not shown in fig4 ) which is determined by both the collateral data in the object 429 and the user &# 39 ; s characteristics and preferences in data base 418 . the content of data base 418 can be generated in any of the ways known in the art for obtaining information about particular users . it should be noted that as used herein the term “ user characteristics ” means any information about a user &# 39 ; s characteristics , preferences , interests , patterns or habits . furthermore , the term “ user ” in general means the person that operates or utilizes a particular terminal or system . it is noted that in some embodiments , the system has two data bases , one of which has information relative to the user and one of which has information concerning the detected collateral data . while such embodiments have two data bases , it should be understood that these two data bases can be implemented as and considered to be a single data base . thus , as used herein the term data base can be understood to mean a single data base or combination of multiple databases . it should also be noted that the invention may be extended to other forms of media data such as audio and video data . for example , as a user listens to music or watches a video , digital watermarks imperceptibly embedded in the audio or video carry collateral data used to interrogate data bases and retrieve information pertinent to the particular listener or viewer . alternative implementations of the invention use fingerprints of the content , such as a hash of perceptually relevant features of the content , to derive a content identifier from which information particular to the user can be fetched and returned . while digital watermarks embed auxiliary data imperceptibly in the content by subtly modifying it , fingerprints are dynamically derived from the content and do not require embedding of auxiliary data . both digital watermarks and fingerprints can be used in combination to look up related information and to find information particular to the user . while the invention has been shown and described with respect to several different embodiments , it is noted that many other changes in form and detail can be made without departing from the sprit and scope to the invention . | 6 |
the microorganism used for the production of aerocavin and aerocyanidin is aeromonas caviae sc 14 , 030 . a subculture of the microorganism can be obtained from the permanent collection of the american type culture collection , rockville , md . its accession number in the repository is a . t . c . c . no . 53434 . in addition to the specific microorganism described and characterized herein , it should be understood that mutants of the microorganism ( e . g ., mutants produced through the use of x - rays , ultraviolet radiation , nitrogen mustards , etc .) can also be cultivated to produce aerocavin and aerocyanidin . isolation of aeromonas caviae sc 14 , 030 from a water sample ( in this instance obtained in allamuchy mountain state park , new jersey ) in which it is present can be accomplished by plating the sample onto an agar of the following composition : ______________________________________tryptone 10 . 0 gglucose 5 . 0 gbile salts # 3 ( difco laboratories ) 1 . 5 gagar 15 . 0 gdistilled water to 1 , 000 mlcycloheximide ( 1 % aqueous solution )* 10 . 0 ml______________________________________ * filter sterilized and added to the medium that has already been adjusted to ph about 6 . 7 and sterilized by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 30 minutes . after 48 - 72 hours incubation at about 25 ° c ., the colonies of aeromonas caviae sc 14 , 030 are isolated from the plated sample . the isolated colonies are picked off onto an agar medium composed of : ______________________________________yeast extract 5 . 0 gglucose 5 . 0 gmgso . sub . 4 . 7h . sub . 2 o 0 . 1 gfeso . sub . 4 . 7h . sub . 2 o 0 . 1 gsoil extract filtrate * 200 . 0 mlagar 17 . 5 gtap water 800 . 0 ml______________________________________ * soil extract filtrate is made by bringing to a boil a suspension of soil in tap water ( 1 : 2 , v / v ) and then allowing to simmer for about 60 minutes . after cooling , the extract is filtered through cheesecloth , then centrifuged to remove most of the remaining solids and finally filtered through whatman 4 filter paper . the resulting liquid is sterilized by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes . the medium is sterilized in an autoclave at 121 ° c . for 30 minutes . aeromonas caviae sc 14 , 030 is a gram negative rod , motile by means of monotrichous , polar flagella . lateral to sub - polar flagella are occasionally seen . the organism is cytochrome oxidase positive and metabolizes glucose fermentatively without production of gas . it is resistant to the vibrostat 2 , 4 - diamino - 6 , 7 - diisopropylpteridine and is dn - ase positive . these characteristics place the organism in the genus aeromonas . the culture , aeromonas caviae , sc 14 , 030 , matches the description of aeromonas caviae in those key characteristics that serve to differentiate this species from aeromonas hydrophilia and aeromonas sobria , the two other members of this genus that are motile , i . e ., being positive for esculin hydrolysis and for 1 - arabinose utilization . acetoin production , production of gas from glucose and production of hydrogen sulfide from cysteine are all negative . aeromonas caviae , sc 14 , 030 is , therefore , identical to aeromonas caviae and is so identified , in accordance with the description of aeromonas caviae by m . popoff ( bergey &# 39 ; s manual of systematic bacteriology , vol . 1 . eds . n . r . krieg and j . g . holt , williams and wilkins , baltimore , md ., pgs . 546 - 547 , 1984 ). the antibiotics aerocavin and aerocyanidin can be produced by cultivating aeromonas caviae a . t . c . c . no . 53434 at , or about , room temperature ( 25 ° c .) under submerged aerobic conditions in an aqueous nutrient medium containing an assimilable source of carbon and an assimilable source of nitrogen . the fermentation is carried out until substantial antibiotic activity is imparted to the medium , usually about 18 to 48 hours , preferably about 24 hours . the isolation procedure can be monitored by conventional means of paper disc - agar diffusion assay using , for example , staphylococcus aureus fda 209p . additionally , aerocyanidin can be monitored colorimetrically by the sievert - hermsdorf method ( p . a . s . smith , &# 34 ; the chemistry of open - chain organic nitrogen compounds &# 34 ;, benjamin , n . y ., 1965 ; vol . 1 , p . 225 ) which gives a blue color with isocyanides . samples to be tested , 0 . 1 ml , can be added to 0 . 9 ml of a reagent prepared by mixing equal portions of a 1 mg / ml solution of 3 , 3 &# 39 ;, 5 , 5 &# 39 ;- tetramethybenzidine in methanol : acetic acid , 9 : 1 , v / v and a 3 mg / ml solution of cupric acetate monohydrate in water . the increase in absorption at 370 nm relative to a blank prepared from ethanol and the reagent is proportional to the quantity of aerocyanidin present . aerocavin can be separated from the fermentation medium and purified using art - recognized techniques . for example , the broth can be centrifuged to remove the cells of the producing microorganism . the supernate , adjusted to a ph of about 5 with an acid ( e . g ., hydrochloric acid ) can be extracted with ethyl acetate , and the extract concentrated in vacuo to a syrup . the syrup can be chromatographed on a column of silicic acid with solvents , e . g ., hexane - chloroform , chloroform and finally , chloroform - methanol . the bioactive fractions , detected by conventional means of paper disc - agar diffusion assay against staphylococcus aureus or staphylococcus epidermidis , can be combined , concentrated in vacuo , and the residue chromatographed on a sephadex lh - 20 * column prepared and subsequently eluted with a solvent mixture of chloroform : methanol : heptane , 1 : 3 : 6 ( v / v / v ). active fractions can be pooled , concentrated in vacuo , and further purified by chromatography on cellulose with heptane and heptane - ether . rechromatography of the pooled , active fractions on cellulose affords highly purified aerocavin that crystallizes after concentration of the active eluate . an alternative technique for separating aerocavin from the fermentation medium , and one which yields aerocyanidin as well as aerocavin , comprises first adjusting the ph of the fermentation broth to 6 and centrifuging to remove cells and other particulate matter . the clear supernate can be extracted with ethyl acetate and the resulting organic layer , containing the antibiotic activity , can be concentrated in vacuo to a residue that can then be subjected to distribution in hexanes , toluene , methanol , water , 3 : 3 : 4 : 2 . methanol can be removed from the lower phase by concentration in vacuo , resulting in an aqueous solution containing the antibiotic activity . the mixture of antibiotics can be extracted into ethyl acetate and then purified by countercurrent chromatography in hexanes , ethyl acetate , methanol , water , 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 . during the course of this procedure , aerocyanidin is separated from aerocavin . the fractions containing each of the antibiotics can be pooled . the fractions containing aerocyanidin can be further purified by reverse - phase chromatography on a macroporous styrene - divinylbenzene polymer with a linear gradient of acetonitrile in water . extraction of the combined active fractions with ethyl acetate followed by concentration in vacuo gives aerocyanidin as a colorless crystalline solid . the fractions containing aerocavin can be purified as described above . aerocavin and aerocyanidin are acidic substances that form salts with various organic and inorganic bases . pharmaceutically acceptable salts are preferred , although other salts are also useful , e . g ., in the isolation of the antibiotics . salts of the antibiotics form an integral part of this invention and are readily prepared using art - recognized techniques . exemplary salts include ammonium salts , alkali metal salts ( e . g ., sodium and potassium salts ), alkaline earth metal salts ( e . g ., calcium and magnesium salts ) and other salts with organic bases such as dicyclohexylamine , benzathine , hydrabamine and n - methyl - d - glucamine . the following examples further illustrate the preparation of aerocavin and aerocyanidin . yeast extract , glucose , soil extract , salts , agar slants were seeded with aeromonas caviae , a . t . c . c . no . 53434 , incubated overnight at 25 ° c . and used to inoculate 100 ml portions of an aqueous medium contained in 500 ml erlenmeyer flasks . the composition of the germination medium was : ______________________________________yeast extract 4 . 0 gmalt extract 10 . 0 gdextrose 4 . 0 gdistilled water to 1000 ml______________________________________ the medium , adjusted to ph 7 . 3 , was sterilized at 121 ° c . and at 15 lbs . steam pressure for 15 minutes prior to use . the inoculated germination flasks were incubated at 25 ° c for approximately 24 hours on a rotary shaker , operating at 300 rpm with a 2 inch stroke . a 1 % ( v / v ) transfer was made from the germination flasks to 100 ml portions of a medium of the following composition contained in 500 ml erlenmeyer flasks : ______________________________________yeast extract 10 . 0 gmalt extract 10 . 0 gpeptone 1 . 0 gdextrose 20 . 0 gdistilled water to 1000 ml______________________________________ the medium , adjusted to ph 7 , was sterilized at 121 ° c . and at 25 lbs . steam pressure for 15 minutes prior to use . the inoculated flasks were incubated at 25 ° c . for about 24 hours on a rotary shaker operating at 300 rpm with a 2 inch stroke . the contents of the flasks were pooled and the pooled broth centrifuged , yielding approximately 160 liters of broth supernate , ph 6 . 6 . the supernate , adjusted to ph 5 . 5 with 6n hydrochloric acid , was extracted with two 80 liter portions of ethyl acetate . the extracts were pooled and then concentrated in vacuo at a temperature equal to or less than 40 ° c . to yield 14 . 6 grams of a syrup . the 14 . 6 grams of syrup was charged onto a silicic acid column ( 2 . 5 cm × 54 cm ) packed in hexane : chloroform , 1 : 1 ( v / v ). elution of the column was begun with 500 ml of hexane : chloroform , 1 : 1 ( v / v ) and followed by elution with 500 ml of hexane : chloroform , 1 : 2 ( v / v ), 3 liters of chloroform and finally with 500 ml of chloroform : methanol , 99 : 1 ( v / v ). the active fractions were collected , pooled and concentrated in vacuo giving 4 g of residue . this residue , dissolved in 20 ml of a solvent consisting of methanol : chloroform : heptane , 1 : 3 : 6 ( v / v / v ) was then chromatographed on a sephadex lh - 20 column ( 2 . 5 cm × 50 cm ) packed in the same solvent . this same solvent was used to elute the bioactive material , which was collected and concentrated in vacuo giving a residue of 1 . 1 g . the residue , dissolved in 20 ml of heptane , was placed onto a cellulose column ( whatman cf 11 , 2 . 5 cm × 28 cm ) packed in heptane . the column was eluted with 500 ml portions of heptane followed by heptane : ether , 1 : 1 ( v / v ). the concentrate of the pooled , active fractions was rechromatographed on a cellulose column ( whatman cf11 , 2 . 5 cm × 25 cm ) packed in petroleum ether ( 35 °- 60 ° c .). elution of the column with 500 ml portions of petroleum ether , petroleum ether : heptane , 1 : 1 ( v / v ), heptane , heptane : ether , 1 : 1 ( v / v ), and finally ether resulted in the activity being recovered . the pooled , active fractions were concentrated in vacuo , and the residue 0 . 2 g , was dissolved in a small volume of heptane : ethyl acetate , 9 : 1 ( v / v ), from which crystalline aerocavin ( 100 mg ) was obtained . aerocavin was found to be a colorless acidic substance with empirical formula c 27 h 44 o 6 , mw 464 ( high resolution fab mass spectometry ) and melting point of 127 ° c . ; uv max in meoh 220nm ( e 1 cm 1 % 250 ); [ α ] d 22 =+ 25 . 1 ° ( c = 0 . 9 , methanol ; 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ) ε0 . 87 ( 3h , t , j = 6 . 8 hz ), 1 . 26 ( ca . 13h ), 1 . 45 ( ca . 3h , m ), 1 . 49 ( 3h , s ), 1 . 60 ( 1h , ddd , j = 2 . 6 , 8 . 6 , 14 . 6 hz ), 1 . 88 ( 2h , m ), 2 . 02 ( 1h , dd , j = 11 . 7 , 11 . 7 hz ), 2 . 22 ( 1h , dd , j = 3 . 4 , 12 . 0 hz ), 2 . 25 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 3 hz ), 2 . 50 ( 2h , m ), 2 . 58 ( 1h , ddd , j = 4 . 4 , 13 . 2 , ca . 18 . 4 hz ), 3 . 13 ( 1h , d , j = 15 . 2 hz ), 3 . 20 ( 1h , d , j = 15 . 2 hz ), 3 . 66 ( 1h , m ), 3 . 88 ( 1h , m ), 4 . 01 ( 1h , dd , j = 8 . 5 , 13 . 2 hz ), 5 . 11 ( 1h , m ), 5 . 26 ( 1h , m ), 5 . 26 ( 1h , ddd , j = 4 . 7 , 8 . 0 , 17 . 0 hz ), 5 . 37 ( 1h , ddd , j = 5 . 2 , 8 . 7 , 14 . 0 hz ), 5 . 76 ( 1h , s ), 6 . 02 ppm ( 2 to 3h , broad s ); 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ) ε 14 . 0 , 16 . 4 , 22 . 6 , 25 . 4 , 29 . 2 , 29 . 5 ( 3c ), 30 . 9 , 31 . 8 , 34 . 6 , 37 . 1 , 38 . 4 , 39 . 5 , 44 . 8 , 49 . 4 , 65 . 6 , 69 . 1 , 70 . 9 , 120 . 6 , 124 . 9 , 125 . 6 , 129 . 2 , 133 . 7 , 152 . 1 , 165 . 2 , 174 . 0 ppm ; ir ( kbr ) 3450 , 3025 , 2955 , 2927 , 2856 , 1721 , 1699 , 1649 , 1377 , 1235 , 1187 , 1156 , 1119 , 1062 , 965 cm - 1 . the antibiotic was substantially soluble in methanol , acetone , ethyl acetate , less soluble in heptane and insoluble in water . the minimum inhibitory concentration ( mic ) of aerocavin was determined by an agar dilution technique . the test organisms were prepared from frozen stocks and diluted to give a final level of 10 7 cfu / ml ( cfu is colony forming units ). aerocavin was dissolved in the appropriate diluent at a concentration of 1 , 000 μg / ml . two fold dilutions were made in yeast beef broth ( difco ), resulting in a range from 1 , 000 μg / ml to 0 . 5 μg / ml . a 1 . 5 ml sample of each dilution was placed into individual petri dishes to which 13 . 5 ml of k - 10 agar * was added . the final drug concentration in the agar ranged from 100 μg / ml to 0 . 05 μg / ml . organism growth control plates containing agar only were prepared and inoculated before and after the test plates . the organisms were applied to the surface of each plate with the denley multipoint inoculator ( which delivers approximately 0 . 001 ml of each organism ) resulting in a final inoculum level of 10 4 cfu on the agar surface . the plates were incubated at 37 ° c . for 18 hours and the mic &# 39 ; s then determined . the mic is the lowest concentration of compound inhibiting growth of the organism . ______________________________________organism sc no . * mic ( μg / ml ) ______________________________________staphylococcus aureus 1276 6 . 3staphylococcus aureus 2399 6 . 3staphylococcus aureus 10016 3 . 1 ( tetracycline . sup . r )** staphylococcus aureus 9593 6 . 3 ( penicillin . sup . r ) staphylococcus aureus 10820 3 . 1 ( erythromycin . sup . r ) staphylococcus epidermidis 9052 6 . 3staphylococcus epidermidis 10547 3 . 1 ( penicillin . sup . r ) escherichia coli 8294 100 . 0escherichia coli 10857 12 . 5pseudomonas aeruginosa 9545 25 . 0acinetobacter calcoaceticus 8333 12 . 5______________________________________ * sc no . is the number in the microorganism collection of e . r . squibb & amp ; sons , inc ., princeton , new jersey . **(. sup . r ) indicates that the organism is resistant to the antibiotic named . ______________________________________yeast extract 5 . 0 gglucose 5 . 0 gmgso . sub . 4 . 7h . sub . 2 o 0 . 1 gfeso . sub . 4 . 7h . sub . 2 o 0 . 1 gsoil extract filtrate * 200 . 0 mlagar 17 . 5 gtap water 800 . 0 ml______________________________________ * soil extract filtrate is made by bringing to a boil a suspension of soil in tap water ( 1 : 2 , v / v ) and then allowing to simmer for about 60 minutes . after cooling , the extract is filtered through cheesecloth , then centrifuged to remove most of the remaining solids and finally filtered through whatman 4 filter paper . the resulting liquid is sterilized by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 20 minutes . were seeded with aeromonas caviae a . t . c . c . no . 53434 , incubated overnight at 25 ° c . and used to inoculate 100 ml portions of an aqueous medium contained in 500 ml erlenmeyer flasks . the composition of the medium was : ______________________________________tryptone 5 . 0 gmalt extract 3 . 0 gglucose 10 . 0 gyeast extract 3 . 0 gdistilled water to 1000 ml______________________________________ the medium was sterilized at 121 ° c . and at 15 lbs . steam pressure for 15 minutes prior to use . the inoculated flasks were incubated at 25 ° c . for about 24 hours on a rotary shaker operating at 300 rpm with a 2 inch stroke . growth from these flasks was then used to inoculate 100 ml portions of fresh medium of the same composition contained in 500 ml erlenmeyer flasks . these flasks were also incubated at 25 ° c . on a rotary shaker with the same conditions as just described for the preceding stage . this growth was then used as the source of inoculum ( 1 . 5 %, v / v ) for 250 liters of medium in a 300 liter stainless steel vessel . the medium had the following compositions : ______________________________________tryptone 5 . 0 gmalt extract 3 . 0 gcerelose hydrate 11 . 0 gucon lb 625 0 . 5 mldistilled water to 1000 ml______________________________________ the medium was sterilized at 121 ° c . and at 15 lbs . steam pressure for 30 minutes prior to use . the fermentation proceeded for 24 hours at 25 ° c ., with an agitation rate of 130 rpm , an airflow of 10 cfm and a pressure of 10 psig . at the completion of the fermentation , the broth was harvested . the ph was adjusted to 6 by the addition of 3 m phosphoric acid , chilled to 11 ° c . and centrifuged to remove cells and other particulate matter . the clear supernate was placed directly into a vessel containing ethyl acetate , 125 liters , while stirring . the organic and aqueous phases were separated by centrifugation and the clear supernate , 58 liters , was concentrated in vacuo at ≦ 20 ° c . to 2 liters . solids that formed during the concentration were removed by filtration . the clear filtrate was then washed with 2 liters of sodium 0 . 1 m phosphate buffer , ph 6 . 0 , followed by three 800 ml portions of water . the ethyl acetate layer , 1 . 6 liters , was concentrated in vacuo to give a residue , 87 g , that was subjected to a 2 funnel , 3 transfer countercurrent distribution in hexanes , toluene , methanol , water , 3 : 3 : 4 : 2 , v / v / v / v , 850 ml per phase , with the lower phase being the mobile phase . after completion of the distribution , the lower phases were pooled and methanol removed by concentration in vacuo . the resulting aqueous solution was extracted with ethyl acetate , 350 ml , and the organic phase separated and then concentrated in vacuo to give a residue , 4 . 1 grams . the residue was dissolved in 10 ml each of the upper and lower phases of a partition system composed of hexanes , ethyl acetate , methanol , water , 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 , v / v / v / v , and chromatographed in this solvent system on a high - speed countercurrent chromatograph ( p . c . inc ., potomac , md .) operated at 800 rpm using a multilayer teflon tubing ( 1 . 6 mm , i . d .) coil with a volume of 330 ml . the system was eluted with the upper phase at 4 ml per minute . aerocyanidin emerged between 250 and 370 ml . the fractions containing aerocyanidin were combined , washed with an equal volume of water , and the aqueous phase back - washed with ethyl acetate . the organic solvent pool , 250 ml , was concentrated in vacuo to a residue , 669 mg . the residue was mixed with 10 ml of acetonitrile : water , 3 : 7 , v / v , and the resulting turbid mixture was placed onto a 2 . 5 × 20 cm column of mci gel chp20p resin * packed in acetonitrile : water , 3 : 7 , v / v . the column was eluted at 2 ml per minute with a linear gradient ranging from 30 to 70 % acetonitrile in water over a volumn of 2 . 2 liters . aerocyanidin eluted between 700 and 760 ml . the active fractions were pooled and the pool was diluted with water , 60 ml . the diluted pool was extracted twice with ethyl acetate . the two ethyl acetate extracts were combined and the pool washed twice with water . the resulting ethyl acetate solution , 170 ml , contained 138 . 4 mg of aerocyanidin . aerocyanidin was stored in this solution at 4 ° c . since the antibiotic is less stable in the solid state . a small sample , when concentrated to dryness in a nitrogen stream , gave a crystalline residue that melted at 59 ° to 62 ° c . the highest melting point observed for material obtained by the above procedure was 63 . 5 ° to 65 . 5 ° c . aerocyanidin was found to be a colorless , acidic substance , [ α ] d 23 =- 20 ° ( c = 0 . 5 , methanol ), 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ) δ1 . 2 to 1 . 75 ( 16h ), 1 . 76 ( 3h , s ), 2 . 34 ( 2h , t , j = 7 . 3 , 7 . 3 hz ), 2 . 84 ( 1h , d , j = 8 . 1 hz ), 3 . 66 ( 1h , td , j = 8 . 0 , 8 . 0 , 4 . 5 hz ), ca . 6 . 8 ppm ( 2h , broad ); 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ) δ22 . 1 , 24 . 6 , 24 . 6 , 29 . 0 , 29 . 1 , 29 . 2 , 29 . 3 , 29 . 3 , 34 . 0 , 34 . 6 , 64 . 8 , 65 . 2 ( broad ), 69 . 6 , 161 . 0 , 179 . 6 ppm ; ir ( kbr ) 2971 , 2934 , 2916 , 2853 , 2142 , 1712 , 1114 , 1086 , 886 , 810 cm - 1 ; mass spectrum ( fab ) 284 . 1866 [ calc &# 39 ; d for c 15 h 26 no 4 ( m + h + ): 284 . 1862 ], uv ( methanol ) end absorption . using the methodology described for the determination of the biological activity of aerocavin , the biological activity of aerocyanidin was determined . the results of the agar dilution assays are : ______________________________________organism sc no . mic ( μg / ml ) ______________________________________staphylococcus aureus 1276 & lt ; 0 . 05staphylococcus aureus 2399 & lt ; 0 . 05staphylococcus aureus 2400 & lt ; 0 . 05streptococcus faecalis 9011 0 . 2streptococcus agalactiae 9287 & lt ; 0 . 05micrococcus luteus 2495 0 . 4escherichia coli 8294 & gt ; 50 . 0escherichia coli 10896 25 . 0escherichia coli 10909 1 . 6klebsiella aerogenes 10440 & gt ; 50 . 0klebsiella pneumoniae 9527 & gt ; 50 . 0proteus mirabilis 3855 1 . 6salmonella typhosa 1195 25 . 0shigella sonnei 8449 25 . 0enterobacter cloacae 8236 50 . 0pseudomonas aeruginosa 8329 & gt ; 50 . 0______________________________________ | 2 |
in the method of this invention , filter cake formed on the walls of a subterranean borehole is removed by contacting the filter cake with a breaker fluid comprising a persulfate . filter cakes are tough coatings that reduce the permeability of formation walls . formed during the drilling stage to limit losses from the well bore and protect the formation from possible damage by fluids and solids within the well bore , filter cake layers must be removed from the hydrocarbon - bearing formation so that the formation wall is restored to its natural permeability to allow for hydrocarbon production or cementing . filter cakes are typically formed with polymers that encapsulate particles or solids which form a bridge over the pores of the formation . drill - in fluids , including any bridging agents and polymers , especially polysaccharides , contained within the drilling fluid are well known in the art . in one preferred method of this invention , removing filter cake from a subterranean borehole , comprises drilling the borehole with a drill - in fluid comprising a polymer to form a filter cake . preferably , the borehole is drilled while circulating a mud therein which comprises a polymer . the polymer is selected from a water soluble organic polymer , a water dispersible organic polymer , a water soluble bio - polymer , a water dispersible bio - polymer and combinations thereof . for example , the polymer selected can be a cationic starch , a anionic starch or a nonionic starch . optionally , the drill - in fluid comprises finely divided solids dispersed therein to form a filter cake on surfaces of the borehole . other additives can be used for stabilizing and viscosifying . when the bore hole is ready for production , the filter cake must be removed to allow for permeability of the formation walls . to remove the filter cake , the filter cake is contacted with a mixture of a persulfate salt in a variable density brine . in one aspect , the persulfate salt mixture can further comprise a surfactant and / or a chelating agent . preferably , the persulfate salt is ammonium persulfate . alternatively , the persulfate salt is selected from an alkali metal persulfate , an alkaline earth metal persulfate and combinations thereof . the alkali metal persulfate can be selected from potassium persulfate , sodium persulfate , lithium persulfate and combinations thereof and the alkaline earth metal persulfate can be selected from calcium persulfate , magnesium persulfate , and combinations thereof . in one aspect the effective concentration of persulfate ranges from about 1 lb / bbl to about 50 lbs / bbl , preferably from about 4 lb / bbl to about 48 lbs / bbl . break time can be controlled by the concentration of the persulfate oxidizer within the brine and also varies with downhole temperature . increasing the concentration or at higher downhole temperatures results in increased oxidation activity . the variable density brine can be selected from nh 4 cl , nacl , kcl , cacl 2 , zncl 2 , and combinations thereof and , with these chloride brines , can have a density varying within a range of from about 8 . 3 lbs / gal . to about 12 . 8 lbs / gal , preferably within a range of from about 8 . 5 lbs / gal . to about 10 . 4 lbs / gal . downhole temperatures differ according to the depth and location of the formation . the filter cake removal fluid of this invention is optimally used at lower downhole temperatures . in one preferred method , the mixture is allowed to remain at the downhole temperatures ranging from 65 ° f . to 165 ° f . for a period of time effective to degrade the polymer filter cake , ranging from about 3 . 5 to about 48 hours or more , depending on the state of well operations at the time . more preferably , the temperature ranges from about 70 ° f . to 160 ° f . and the period of time the mixture remains in contact with the filter cake is at least 4 hours . the decomposed filter cake can then be flushed away with a low concentration organic or non - organic acid as commonly known in the art to increase permeability . in an alternative embodiment of this invention , the method of removing filter cake from a subterranean borehole comprises contacting the filter cake with a mixture of a persulfate salt in a variable density bromide or chloride brine . the brine can be selected from nh 4 cl , nh 4 br , nacl , nabr , kcl , kbr , cacl 2 , cabr 2 , zncl 2 , znbr 2 , and combinations thereof . in this preferred method , the mixture is allowed to remain at the downhole temperatures below 104 ° f ., preferably within a range of 65 ° f . to 104 ° f ., for a period of time effective to degrade the polymer filter cake . the persulfate salt is selected from ammonium persulfate , an alkali metal persulfate , an alkaline earth metal persulfate and combinations thereof . the density , however , varies within a range of from about 8 . 3 lbs / gal . to as high as about 18 lbs / gal . if a bromide brine is used . a preferred composition for a filter cake removal fluid can comprise a solution of a persulfate salt in a brine , the concentration of persulfate effective for oxidation at temperatures between 65 ° f . to 180 ° f ., preferably , between 65 ° f . to 165 ° f . preferably concentration of persulfate ranges from about 1 lb / bbl to about 50 lbs / bbl , preferably from about 4 lbs / bbl to about 48 lbs / bbl , and more preferably , the concentration ranges from 16 lbs / bbl to 48 lbs / bbl . the solution of a persulfate salt in a brine can have a density within a range of about 8 . 3 lbs / gal to about 12 . 8 lbs / gal . the persulfate salt is preferably selected from ammonium persulfate , an alkali metal persulfate , an alkaline earth metal persulfate and combinations thereof . preferably , the steps for this preferred method include : installing gravel pack screens and tool assemblies into the borehole . thereafter introducing sand in a non - viscosified carrier into the borehole ; and introducing a filter cake removal fluid in the well bore , in contact with a subterranean formation containing the hydrocarbons to be produced , for a duration effective to substantially remove the filter cake in the vicinity of the subterranean formation . the filter cake removal fluid preferably comprises a solution of a persulfate salt in a brine having a density within a range of about 8 . 3 lbs / gal to about 12 . 8 lbs / gal and the persulfate is effective for oxidation at temperatures between 65 ° f . to 165 ° f . fluid loss pills can be used to form the filter cake . in an alternative method of removing filter cake from an existing subterranean borehole in which a fluid loss pill is used , the method comprises placing a fluid loss pill into the borehole , the fluid loss pill having a polymer to form a filter cake . in this method the polymer is selected from a water soluble organic polymer , a water dispersible organic polymer , a water soluble bio - polymer , a water dispersible bio - polymer and combinations thereof . the filter cake is contacted with a mixture of a persulfate salt in a variable density brine . the persulfate is preferably selected from ammonium persulfate , alkali metal persulfate , alkaline earth metal persulfate and combinations thereof and the brine can be selected form nh 4 cl , nacl , kcl , cacl 2 , zncl 2 , and combinations thereof . in this method the mixture is allowed to remain at the downhole temperatures ranging from 65 ° f . to 165 ° f . for a period of time effective to degrade the polymer filter cake . alternatively the brine is selected from nh 4 cl , nh 4 br , nacl , nabr , kcl , kbr , cacl 2 , cabr 2 , zncl 2 , znbr 2 and combinations thereof and allowing the mixture to remain at the downhole temperatures ranging from 65 ° f . to 104 ° f . for a period of time effective to degrade the polymer filter cake . in another aspect , the mixture of persulfate salt in a variable density brine further comprises a chelating agent . high permeability , soft sandstone formations , often found in horizontal drilling , generally require some form of barrier for hole stability . gravel packing is used to improve hole stability in these conditions . during the practice of this invention one method of removing filter cake from a subterranean borehole , comprises drilling the borehole while circulating a mud therein which comprises a polymer , the polymer is selected from a water soluble organic polymer , a water dispersible organic polymer , a water soluble bio - polymer , a water dispersible bio - polymer and combinations thereof . following the drilling of a well , when fluid losses are acceptable for the proposed pumping pressures , gravel or sand packing can begin . first the drill - in fluid is displaced with a first clear fluid , which is otherwise similar to the drilling fluid . the well bore is maintained in a slightly overbalanced state . gravel pack screens and tool assemblies are run into the bore . during this stage , it is desirable to maintain the filter cake with as little fluid loss to the production formation as possible . following displacement of the drilling fluid , the well is gravel packed . in a preferred procedure , the gravel , preferably sized sand , about 20 - 30 u . s . mesh , is placed into a nonviscosified carrier , such as a brine . advantageously , the method of this invention comprises the simultaneous application of persulfate with the gravel pack . at the same time , or at a later time , persulfate can be added to the gravel pack . alternatively , persulfate can be added independently of the gravel pack and also used in systems that do not employ gravel packing . as the low viscosity fluid cannot transport a significant amount of solids , the sand concentrations are usually from about 60 g / l to 360 g / l and pump rates approach 1 m 3 / min . the hydrostatic overbalance that arises from the pumping pressure necessary to achieve these rates is desirable since the overbalance holds the filter cake in place . a filter cake removal fluid is then introduced in the wellbore , in contact with a subterranean formation containing the hydrocarbons to be produced , for a duration effective to substantially remove the filter cake in the vicinity of the subterranean formation . preferably , the filter cake removal fluid comprises a solution of a persulfate salt in a brine having a density within a range of about 8 . 3 lbs / gal to about 12 . 8 lbs / gal and effective for oxidation at temperatures between 65 ° f . to 165 ° f . the non - viscosified carrier for the sand can comprise the filter cake removal fluid . in the practice of this invention , other additives , such as clay treating additives , ph control agents , lubricants , non - emulsifying agents , iron control agents and the like can be included within the filter cake removal fluid or gravel pack fluid as desired . the following examples illustrate the use of persulfate salt in the breaking of filter cakes containing different polymers in different brines at relatively low temperatures . examples at four different temperatures are provided . tables illustrate the increase in break time achievable either by an increase in temperature ( table 1 ) or by an increase in breaker ( persulfate ) concentration ( tables 2 & amp ; 3 ). formulation # component ( quantities in grams / liters ) 1 2 3 water 419 . 14 419 . 1 419 . 14 nacl ( sg = 1 . 199 ) brine 621 . 42 621 . 4 621 . 42 cationic starch 13 . 70 — — anionic starch — 13 . 70 — nonionic starch — — 13 . 70 sodium thiosulfate 0 . 71 0 . 71 0 . 71 magnesium oxide 2 . 86 2 . 86 2 . 86 xanthan biopolymer 3 . 42 3 . 42 3 . 42 sized calcium carbonate # 1 * 42 . 86 42 . 86 42 . 86 sized calcium carbonate # 2 ** 42 . 86 42 . 86 42 . 86 shale stabilizer ( proprietary glycol blend ) 30 . 86 30 . 86 30 . 86 the nacl brine was a stock commercial product marketed by tetra technologies , inc . the cationic starch ( hps ) was cross - linked and commercially available from tetra technologies , inc . the other two starches available commercially were also cross - linked . the sodium thiosulfate and magnesium oxide were usp grade . the xanthan biopolymer is available from several suppliers . the sized calcium carbonate is available from tetra technologies under the trade designation tetra payzone ® carb - prime , and tetra payzone ® carb - ultra , respectively . the breaker or clean - up fluid for the examples below was a solution of ammonium persulfate ( 1 - 48 lb / bbl ) in a sodium chloride or bromide brine ( 1 . 162 g / ml ). break time was controlled by variation of breaker temperature of concentration as illustrated in tables 1 - 3 below . the following mixing procedure was followed for all laboratory tests . after the addition of the starch ( and before addition of the next ingredients ), the mixture was sheared with a high - shear ( silversen type ) mixer for 30 seconds , and then mixed at 500 rpm using a low - shear servodyne unit for 30 minutes . this shearing process is intended to simulate mixing with a high shear centrifugal pump , and then the slow mechanical rolling of a field mixing unit . the shearing / mixing procedure was repeated after the addition of the next three ingredients , the thiosulfate , magnesium oxide and xanthan . a third mixing for 30 minutes was run after adding the carbonates . rheological properties were then measured ( heating only the sample used for testing to 120 ° f . ), and the samples were “ hot - rolled ” at 149 ° f . in a baroid roller oven for 16 hours . after the ‘ hot rolling ’, the theological properties were again measured at 120 ° f ., and the samples were then tested for “ filter cake removal ” in the following manner . the permeability of a 10 - or 5 - microns ceramic disk was first determined in both directions of flow at 35 kpa and ˜ 68 ° f . f . next , a filter cake was built using a standard high temperature , high pressure cell ( hthp cell ). the 10 - or 5 - microns ceramic disk was used as the filtering medium with the cell filled with the test drill - in fluid . the filter cake preparations were run at test temperature over 24 hours , with a squeeze pressure of 2100 kpa applied to the fluid . the filtrate was collected and measured during this time . a filter cake was produced that had an initial spurt fluid loss as the filter cake is building , but then had a rapid decline as the filter cake limited further fluid loss . at the end of the cake building time ( 24 hrs ), the cell was cooled and the pressure released . the remaining fluid was drained from the cell , and the filter cake which had been formed was examined visually for uniformity . visually , the amount of corrosive by - products was less as compared to other breaker systems . following the visual examination , the breaker fluid was added to the hthp cell and the cell was pressurized ( usually to 700 pa ) and the temperature adjusted . after the breaker fluid had broken through the filter cake , the fluid , if any remained , was removed from the cell , and tests to establish the recovery of the permeability of the ceramic disk were performed . this part of the testing was run in the normal direction , with the disk ( and filter cake on it ) at the cell bottom and the treating fluid carefully poured in on top of it . this fluid was injected in the same direction as the drill - in fluid to simulate the injection of a clean - up fluid in field practice . consequently the permeability determined in this direction is called the recovered injection permeability . the test is repeated in the opposite direction , again at 35 kpa and ambient temperature (˜ 65 - 70 ° f . f ). this flow was in the production direction of an actual well and is called the recovered production permeability . a filter cake as described above was prepared using formulation # 1 . the cake was prepared over 24 hrs using a 1 . 16 g / ml nacl brine and 700 kpa differential pressure . after 4 hours , less than 4 ml of filtrate had been produced and the injection permeability was essentially zero . a breaker fluid was applied at 67 ° f . f and 700 kpa ( 32 lb / bbl ammonium persulfate ). the treating fluid broke through in 24 hours flowing at about 3 ml / hr . after about 2 hours additional time , the flow rate had increased to about 5 ml / min , and the test was terminated after 120 ml of the breaker fluid had been passed through the cell . the cell was allowed to cool and pressure was released . the filter cake was visually inspected and found to be composed of discrete carbonate particles with no evidence of starch or polymer . a recovered permeability test was run in the injection direction , with 3 % recovered permeability . recovered permeability testing in the production direction gave 64 % of the original permeability recovered . an acid flush ( 5 % solution of hcl in 1 . 162 g / ml nacl ) was poured into the cell and the cell was sealed to allow the acid to leak through by self generated pressure . this process was intended to simulate the spotting ( but not injection ) of acid in a balanced hydrostatic condition . immediately , the acid started to break through , and after ˜ 20 minutes all of the acid had passed through . the recovered permeability was 98 % in the production direction and 95 % in the injection direction . a test similar to that in example 1 was run , except formulation # 2 with an anionic starch rather than a cationic one was used . the total fluid loss was about 30 ml in 24 hrs . after 24 hrs the cell was opened and emptied of the drill - in fluid . breaker solution ( 120 ml ), same as that used in example 1 ( 32 lb / bbl persulfate salt ), was added to the cell . the breaker fluid started to break through in 24 hours with a flow rate of ˜ 3 . 0 gram / hr . the breaker treatment was terminated after 34 hrs , during which time 64 % of the breaker fluid had passed through the cell . the cell was allowed to cool and pressure was released . the filter cake was visually inspected and found to be composed of discrete carbonate particles with no evidence of any remaining starch or polymer . a recovered permeability examination run in the injection direction gave only 3 % recovered permeability . in the production direction , however , 66 % of the original permeability was recovered . the remaining filter cake was then treated with acid as in example 1 ( 5 % hcl in 1 . 162 g / ml nacl ). the recovered permeabilities were 97 % in the production direction and 95 % in the injection direction . using formulation # 3 , with a nonionic starch , filter cake build - up and treatment soaks were performed in the same manner as for examples 1 and 2 . treatment with the breaker fluid ( 32 lb / bbl persulfate salt ) used in examples 1 and 2 at ˜ 68 ° f . gave 5 % recovered permeability in the injection direction and 62 % in the production direction without acid treatment . using formulation # 1 , a filter cake was prepared at 104 ° f . and 2100 kpa . the breaker fluid ( 24 lb / bbl persulfate salt ) was applied as in previous examples but at 104 ° f . and 700 pa . the breaker fluid started to break through in 15 hours , flowing at about 2 . 5 gram / hr . after an additional 10 hours , the breaker treatment was terminated after 56 % of the treating fluid had been displaced through the cell . as in the previous example , the remaining filter cake was found to be composed of discrete carbonate particles with no evidence of starch or polymer . recovered permeabilities were 20 % in the injection direction and 78 % in the production direction . the recovered permeabilities after acid treatment were 100 % in both directions . using formulation # 1 a filter cake was prepared at 140 ° f . and 2100 kpa by the procedure described previously . the breaker fluid ( 24 lb / bbl breaker ) was applied to the filter cake at 135 ° f . and 700 kpa . after one hour the breaker fluid started to slowly break through , flowing at about ˜ 0 . 02 gram / min . after an additional 40 minutes , 137 ml of the fluid had passed through the cell and the run was terminated . inspection of the filter cake revealed the presence of only carbonate , no starch or polymer . recovered permeabilitites were 3 % and 54 % in the injection and production directions , respectively . treatment of the remaining cake with acetic acid ( 10 wt % in 1 . 162 g / ml nacl ) gave recovered permeabilities of 30 % and 64 % in the injection and production directions . using a modified formulation # 1 in which sodium bromide replaced sodium chloride , a filter cake was prepared at 158 ° f . and 2100 kpa by the procedure described previously . the breaker fluid ( 48 lb / bbl breaker in 1 . 162 g / ml nabr ) was applied to the filter cake at 158 ° f . and 700 kpa . after 4 . 25 hours the fluid had broken completely through the cake . inspection of the filter cake revealed the presence of only carbonate , no starch or polymer . recovered permeabilitites were 48 % and 81 % in the injection and production directions , respectively . treatment of the remaining cake with acetic acid ( 10 vol . % in 1 . 162 g / ml nabr ) gave recovered permeabilities of 100 % in both the injection and production directions . examples 7 - 9 were run with formulation # 1 at varying concentrations of breaker at 100 ° f ., and examples 10 and 11 at 160 ° f . see table 1 . a filter cake was prepared using formulation # 1 as described previously . an initial soak of 24 hours was tried using the filter cake was treated with a nacl brine ( 1 . 16 g / ml ) containing no breaker ( 0 . 0 lb / bbl ammonium persulfate ) at room temperature ( 65 ° f .- 70 ° f .) and 700 kpa differential pressure for 24 hrs . fluid loss was less than 4 ml up to 4 hours . after that time there was no more fluid loss and the injection permeability was essentially zero . the cell was loaded again with sodium bromide brine ( 1 . 16 g / ml ) and examined for 4 more hours . no additional breakthrough of fluid was noted . similar examination with a calcium chloride brine ( 1 . 16 g / ml ) for an additional 4 hours gave no fluid loss . the recovered permeability in both the injection and production directions was less than 2 %. the foregoing description is illustrative and explanatory of preferred embodiments of the invention , and variations in the size , shape , materials and other details will become apparent to those skilled in the art . it is intended that all such variations and modifications which fall within the scope or spirit of the appended claims be embraced thereby . | 2 |
many models orient from an observer &# 39 ; s point of study toward a subject . an important distinction of a nuanced or complex emotional experience is how contained they remain internally in the observed from beginning to between transitions or regardless of any outward acts they may inspire . in preferable embodiments , a non - transitory computer readable medium 1010 , a system with a memory 805 850 or a machine with a memory 920 , comprises either data structures , program instructions , or both for carrying out the methods and maintaining representations as described herein . because a component to a preferable embodiment of the present invention defines a representation of an immersive subjective experience first person , ideally , the present invention could first orient from the subject &# 39 ; s own sense of self outward through defined sensory spaces representing physical structures and distantly further into the illusory . fig1 is a third person depiction of a hierarchy of coordinate systems representing immersive first - person experiences of emotion as characterized in this example as a generic emotion sensation matrix with virtual defined sensory space 210 . the representation of emotion experience and component sensations may or may not feel in relation to center of consciousness 100 or attention — where center of one &# 39 ; s thoughts or feelings originate — in a preferable embodiment of the present invention . fig2 is a third person depiction representing one or more member of a hierarchy of coordinate systems characterized in this example as a virtual defined sensory space in the shape of a human head in a preferable embodiment of the present invention . for humans , center of consciousness 100 or attention can originate from the center of one &# 39 ; s thoughts or feelings . if aware of it at all , for hearing or visually dominant individuals , their perception may feel seated near the center of their head or forward into their line of vision . for people with closed eyes , vision impairment , kinesthetic dominant or emotive individuals , the idea of themselves may occasionally or consistently reside lower down toward the neck or into their body &# 39 ; s torso from the throat , heart , or gut . in modeling a recollection of the past , vision for the future , an altered state experience , psychological event , or abnormality , it is possible that sense of self may feel fully disassociated from the defined sensory spaces and , instead , seem outside or distantly located away into the illusory 140 . a preferable embodiment of the present invention would allow for stylistic representations of the emotion component sensations , defined and illusory 140 , and accommodate authentically for representing an entire static or dynamic experience as a biological model would with its virtually located representations of physical structures as what could be preferably characterized as a defined sensory space 210 acting as a bridge to perception . neuro - linguistic programming , an approach to communication , personal development , and psychotherapy , was created by richard bandler and john grinder in california , united states in the 1970s . bandler teaches how , as humans , when we experience an emotion or feeling , the sensations of that event can typically be located in a specific area of the body . from this study of neuro - linguistic programming , an individual &# 39 ; s body has been described as not separate from the brain but an extended part of the brain . as one example of a therapeutic case study , when an individual reports that they are frustrated , important questions to ask the subject may begin with , “ where ? where does the feeling start ? where do you feel it first in your body ? where does it move to ?” as observable in a moment of introspection , feelings are mobile and cannot remain static because they are always moving somewhere and in some direction . furthermore , with how the sensations of emotion seemingly move , you can use your imagination to move them faster . you can imagine slowing the emotion sensations down . you can also move the emotion sensations forward or backward . from this ability to identify our feelings and imagine them toward change , these immersive first - person sensations of emotion are not outside of our control . in fact , with influencing our experience of emotion one can mindfully identify and select their feelings . one can identify and leverage the sensations of feeling and emotion by first recognizing where in a subject &# 39 ; s body the feeling starts and where it goes to . discover the direction it spins inside the subject &# 39 ; s body and have them imagine the sensation spinning faster and faster for feelings to intensify . from this , we can gain greater control over our brains to both create powerful feelings inside us and model representations of the experience of emotion in a hierarchy of coordinate systems . in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , representations of first - person immersive emotion experiences and the component sensations that may define them could be at least characterized as known 120 or the sensations , feelings , and experiences that a subject is aware of ; understood 110 or the sensations , feelings , and experiences that a subject can identify and possibly understand as experiencing ; and ambient 130 or the sensations , feelings , and experiences that weave together and fill in remaining space of the subjective self &# 39 ; s fabric of reality . preferably , known 120 , understood 110 , ambient 130 or other sensations , feelings , and experiences may or may not relate to symbols or commonly accepted labels used by the subject &# 39 ; s peers or contemporaries . representations of known 120 , understood 110 , or ambient 130 sensations , feelings , and experiences , in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , may or may not hold a logical , direct , or indirect relationship with additional ambient 130 , known 120 , or understood 110 sensations , feelings , and experiences . preferably , known 120 can become understood 110 or ambient 130 ; understood 110 can blend or fade with known 120 or become ambient 130 ; and ambient 130 can act as the canvas on which the known 120 and understood 110 are painted . while in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , representations of ambient 130 , known 120 , and understood 110 sensations , feelings , and experiences may or may not act as a precursor , catalyst , result , or consequence of states , transitions , experiences , or other events or qualities concurrently , simultaneously , or sequentially before , during , or after being active or inactive . a preferable embodiment of the present invention could relate the representing characterizations of known 120 , understood 110 , and ambient 130 sensations , feelings , and experiences on a case appropriate scale ranging from likely , possible , or unlikely results of any combination of input and output data , emotion or self - concept data , or belief or preconception sets of rules . because of how a preferable implementation of these methods , systems , computer readable medium , and machine promote internal dialog with other states and systems within a model or available to a subject &# 39 ; s cognition , preferable alignment or calibration of what could be preferably characterized as a dynamic emotion sensation matrix could base its account from a representation of that center of subjective understanding as it relates to itself internally , its sensations of emotion , and its surrounding environment . a preferable embodiment of the present invention could support one or more dynamic emotion sensation matrix representation areas and their counterpart ( s ) concurrently , simultaneously , or sequentially as stand - alone units , grouped , or as parts of a whole . a preferable embodiment of the present invention could allow for measures and increments suited toward resolution granularity appropriate for the application of these methods , systems , computer readable medium , and machine needs , capabilities , or context . fig3 is a flow chart example for defining a representation of an immersive first - person experience of emotion characterized in this example as one or more emotion sensation instance ( s ), one or more emotion sensation event ( s ), and one or more emotion sensation experience ( s ) for modeling in a preferable embodiment of the present invention . while a preferable embodiment of the present invention could , through a graphical user interface , visually model the representations of sensations a subject experiences as guided or reported from introspection , one embodiment of the present invention could also gather data for model input from devices or computing environments measuring brain activity , vital statistics , heart rate , respiration , skin temperature , skin conductance , blood oxygenation , blood volume pulse , temperature , visual or electronic indicators , or state attributes throughout the nervous system , muscular system , lymphatic system , or endocrine system . with gathered data as raw or with translation , a preferable embodiment of the present invention could define data representations of a subject &# 39 ; s emotional state ( s ) for modeling , recreating , maintaining , or archive . fig4 illustrates an example for how representations of immersive first - person emotion experiences , in this example characterized as emotion experience components , relate to each other in a preferable embodiment of the present invention . a preferable embodiment of the present invention would structure complete representations of emotion experiences first from basic building block coordinate locations in the sensory spaces 410 . for the purpose of this disclosure of invention , a preferable characterization of a designated single coordinate location relating to emotion sensation in any available spaces could be an emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 , 420 , 560 , 640 . combined , in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , these emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 coordinate locations could be vectored , grouped , ordered , sequenced , or timed to complete what could be characterized as an emotion sensation event 240 , 430 , 570 , 650 . preferably , it is with the combination of emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 coordinate locations or their associations toward acting as emotion sensation event ( s ) 240 concurrently , simultaneously , or sequentially located throughout the sensory spaces that first define the tapestry of a greater emotion experience 350 , 440 , 580 , 655 and its transitions in the framework of emotion relevant sensory space . once an emotion sensation event 240 has been defined from component emotion sensation instance ( s ) 230 , 250 , a preferable embodiment of the present invention would allow for other types of properties , settings , or attributes to be applied or edited visually , programmatically , or through the dynamic or static recalculation or manipulation of values corresponding or otherwise . fig5 is a schematic illustration of an example system architecture for incorporating representations of immersive first - person emotion experiences , in this example characterized as emotion experience 440 , and component data with other data , calculation , or processing from application , system , or instance relevant computing environments in a preferable embodiment of the present invention fig6 is a schematic illustration of an example system architecture for incorporating representations of personality or disposition components 660 with emotion experience 440 processing in a preferable embodiment of the present invention . a preferable embodiment of the present invention could implement a visual design interface for editing the location or properties of instances , events , or other representing members from internal and third person perspectives . preferable features of a visual design interface for tasks like data entry , modeling , or editing could include paint brushes , erasers , vector or line drawings , selection , layers , and other tools similar to a graphic design or photo editing software application . preferable parameters like direction , velocity , acceleration or decay rate , width , depth into defined sensory space ( s ) or distance out toward the illusory 140 , thickness , strength or intensity , temperature and texture , or the types of sensations the emotion events yield — cool breeze to needles , tension or release , a weighted feeling pulling down or an increasingly rapid rushing sensation up , the air off of a hot prairie fire blowing below your skin , or other case appropriate analogy , metaphor , or mixes relating the external to the internal and the internal experience to its meanings or symbolisms for any or known 120 , understood 110 , or ambient 130 sensation ( s ) but now as location , state , property , or attribute data — could be defined to configure components of a preferable representing model for an emotion experience 350 , 440 , 580 , 655 . much like how emotion can trigger or evolve to other emotion experiences in biological models like humans or other species such as canines , a preferable embodiment of the present invention could model what could be ideally characterized as a representation of an emotion experience transition 450 independently or in concert with other data , calculation , or processing from application , system , or instance relevant computing environments . fig7 is a flow chart example of how incoming data can be filtered by representations of preconception 720 , belief 730 , and construct 740 items in one embodiment of the present invention . a preferable embodiment of the present invention could model representing emotion experience transitions 450 like the excitement of a subject moving toward an outcome and the sudden disappointment of receiving that result . preferably , input data could filter through representations of any subject &# 39 ; s self - concept 740 , preconceptions 720 , or belief 730 data constructs to dynamically guide representations of emotion experience transitions 450 like anger turning to sadness or a subject &# 39 ; s fear releasing into gratitude . from the result of modeling representations of emotion experiences as data values throughout static or dynamic sensory spaces , a preferable embodiment of the present invention could concurrently , simultaneously , or sequentially interact with other applications , systems , devices , or instance relevant computing environments to include subjective experience or emotion data enhanced interpretation to computer environment activity like processes , data storage , calculations , decision models , or learning strategies 530 , 620 . in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , implementation and integration of these systems , methods , data , calculation , or processing from application , system , or instance relevant computing environments could be performed or managed on a case by case basis with or without any or all available devices , components , or applications which perform the recited functions . in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , a data model or structure could include one or more of the following to depict what could be characterized as a representation of defined sensory space 210 , 410 , 550 , 630 : preferably , one spatial unit identifier value preferably named space_unit_id to depict the identity of a unique designated building block unit 220 of defined sensory space 210 . preferably , one identifier value preferably named space_id to depict identity of any set defined sensory space 210 that this unique unit of designated defined sensory space 220 contributes to . preferably , three spatial coordinate values preferably named space_coord_x , space_coord_y , and space_coord_z to depict spatial locations for this designated building block unit . preferably , zero , one , or more property values to depict the group , order , kind , type , property , settings , or status this unit contributes with in the defined sensory space 210 . preferably two date values preferably named space_date_begin and space_date_end to depict any start date or end date values for scheduling . preferably , zero , one , or more community identifier value ( s ) preferably named community_space_id to depict identity of the community within an environment universe of application , system , or instance relevant computing environments that this space may contribute to . preferably , defined sensory space 210 items can be a member of or parent to other defined sensory space 210 items . data : emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 , 420 , 560 , 640 in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , a data model or structure could include one or more of the following to depict what could be characterized as a representation of an emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 , 420 , 560 , 640 : preferably , one designated spatial unit emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 identifier value preferably named instance_id to depict an identity of a unique emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 unit . preferably , one event identifier value preferably named event_id to depict identity of any available event that this unique instance contributes to . preferably , three spatial coordinate values preferably named instance_coord_x , instance_coord_y , and instance_coord_z to depict spatial locations for this unit in a defined sensory space 210 or out into the illusory 250 . preferably , zero , one , or more property values to depict any vector information , group , order , kind , type , property , settings , or status this unit contributes with . preferably , two date values preferably named instance_date_begin and instance_date_end to depict any start date or end date values for scheduling . preferably , emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 items can be a member of or parent to other emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 items . in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , a data model or structure could include one or more of the following to depict what could be characterized as a representation of an emotion sensation event 240 , 430 , 570 , 650 : preferably , one emotion sensation event 240 identifier value preferably named event_id to depict an identity of a unique emotion sensation event 240 or a grouping of emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 . preferably , zero , one , or more property value ( s ) to depict any vector information , kind , type , property , settings , or status this unit or grouping ( s ) contributes with . preferably , two date values preferably named event_date_begin or event_date_end to depict any start date or end date values for scheduling . preferably , emotion sensation event 240 items can be a member of or parent to other emotion sensation event 240 items . in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , a data model or structure could include one or more of the following to depict a representation of an emotion experience 440 , 580 , 655 : preferably , one emotion experience identifier value preferably named experience_id to depict an identity of a unique emotion sensation experience : one or more as a grouping of emotion sensation event 240 or one or more unique emotion sensation instance 230 , 250 . preferably , zero , one , or more property value ( s ) to depict the group , order , kind , type , property , settings , or status this unit or grouping ( s ) contributes with . preferably , two date values preferably named experience_date_begin and experience_date_end to depict any start date or end date values for scheduling . preferably , emotion experience items can be a member of or parent to other emotion experience items . in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , a data model or structure could include one or more of the following to depict what could be characterized as a representation of an emotion experience transition 450 : preferably , one emotion transition identifier value preferably named transition_id to depict an identity of a unique transition between emotion sensation experiences , emotion sensation events 240 , or unique emotion sensation instance ( s ) 230 , 250 . preferably , zero , one , or more property value ( s ) to depict the group , order , kind , type , property , settings , or status of this transition within the sensory space . preferably two date values preferably named transition_date_begin and transition_date_end to depict any start date or end date values for scheduling . preferably , emotion experience transition 450 items can be a member of or parent to other emotion experience transition 450 items . in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , a data model or structure could include one or more of the following to depict what could be characterized as a representation of a construct with data that , preferably , could hold representation to subjectively held ideas like self - concept 740 , preconceptions 720 , or belief 730 : preferably , one construct identifier value preferably named construct_id to depict an identity of a unique construct . preferably , zero , one , or more property value ( s ) to depict the group , order , kind , type , property , weight , settings , or status of this construct within the sensory space . preferably two date values preferably named construct_date_begin and construct_date_end to depict any start date or end date values for scheduling . preferably , construct items can be a member of or parent to other construct items . data : community ; in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , a data model or structure could include one or more of the following to depict what could be characterized as a representation of a community . data that , preferably , could represent groups of defined sensory space 210 within an environment universe of application , system , or instance relevant computing environments : preferably , one community identifier value preferably named community_id to depict an identity of a unique community . preferably , zero , one , or more property value ( s ) to depict the parent , group , order , kind , type , property , settings , or status of this community within an environment universe of application , system , or instance relevant computing environments . preferably two date values preferably named community_date_begin and community_date_end to depict any start date or end date values for scheduling . preferably , community items can be a member of or parent to other community items . worlds await exploration and a history full of disclosures relevant to the areas of processing , interpreting , or incorporating modeled representations of emotion and subjective experience data prepares to be written . when interpreting or processing items in a virtual representation of subjective emotion experience 655 as a component to other data , calculation , or processing from application , system , or instance relevant computing environments 620 , in a preferable embodiment of the present invention , it could be beneficial to use the analogy of a wall in how the known 120 , understood 110 , and ambient 130 emotion sensations as a subject experiences them can often act as the only perceptible division between the idea of a subject &# 39 ; s self and the external . therefore , a preferable embodiment of the present invention could be viewed as a virtual container , a vehicle for transport , a complimentary feedback system , or a series of filters for other systems and methods relevant to data , calculation , processing or learning algorithms that may or may not occur within . | 6 |
a simplified block diagram is illustrated in fig1 in which the structure and the operation of the pulse shaper are set forth . the data for the baseline pulse voltage , the voltage amplitude , and the rise and fall times for the leading and trailing edges of the pulses arrive over a data bus dab at preparation inputs of flip - flop memories 3 , 4 , 7 and 8 . four mutually - independent transfer clocks ut load the data into the corresponding flip - flop memories . the outputs of the flip - flop memories 3 , 4 , 7 and 8 respectively drive a digital / analog converter 1 , 2 , 5 and 6 , whereby the digital / analog converters 1 and 2 , for generating the amplitude and the base line pulse voltage generate respective binarily - graduated constant currents at their outputs and the digital / analog converters 5 and 6 determine the rise and fall times for the leading and trailing edges of the pulse . with the assistance of a resistor r169 , a current - proportional voltage amplitude is generated at the output of the digital / analog converter 2 , the voltage amplitude being supplied to an operational amplifier op8 . the base line voltage is emitted at the output of the operational amplifier op8 , which serves as an impedance converter . a current - proportional voltage likewise arises at a resistor r77 which is disposed at the output of the digital / analog converter 1 , the voltage controlling a constant current source comprising an operational amplifier op1 and a transistor t25 . the constant current generated at the collector of the transistor t25 flows through a resistor r82 . since the resistor r82 is connected at one side with the line for the base line voltage , its voltage drop is added , floating with respect to the base line voltage . an operational amplifier op6 , which is likewise connected as an impedance converter , senses this voltage and forms the amplitude voltage therefrom . by way of this circuit arrangement it is achieved that the programmed amplitude voltage always remains constant relative to the baseline voltage , i . e . when the baseline voltage changes , then the amplitude voltage also changes absolutely by the same amount . by way of a pair of zener diodes zd4 / dz3 or zd2 / zd1 , the base line voltage is applied to a wheatstone bridge 9 comprising a plurality of resistors r51 , r52 / r53 , r54 and r144 , r145 / r143 , r146 . in fig1 and 2 , the voltage in the diagonal branch of the wheatstone bridge 9 is tapped across a pair of operational amplifiers op12 / op10 or , respectively , op5 / op2 , whereby the operational amplifier op12 together with a transistor t65 and a operational amplifier op2 together with the transistor t23 respectively form a constant voltage source , the operational amplifier op10 with a transistor t71 and the operational amplifier op5 together with a transistor t24 , by contrast , operates as a constant current source by way of resistors of digital / analog converters 5 , 6 for the leading and trailing edges of the pulses . it is achieved by the above measures that the constant current at the collectors of the transistors t24 or , respectively , t71 change only with respect to the shift voltage u hub , but are not influenced by the variation of the base voltage u baseline . this is advantageous because , given variation of the shift voltage , the edge current should behave proportionally to the shift voltage according to where t f1 is the edge duration , c t is the capacitance of the capacitor c t and j fl is the charge current , if one wishes to obtain a shift - independent edge duration of the pulse . the basic value of the current - defining resistance r vfl / r rfl therefore , is set by the digital / analog converters 5 , 6 ; the shift - dependent current control occurs by way of the diagonal bridge voltages of the wheatstone bridge 9 to be described in greater detail below . pairs of transistors t67 / t68 and t27 / t28 form two differential current switches which are respectively supplied on their emitter side by way of the transistors t71 and t24 with the shift - dependent constant current . the transistors t68 and t28 are alternately driven via a trigger pulse aj , so that current flows either across the transistors t68 or across the transistor t28 . this current charges a capacitor c t until one of two amplitude limiting diodes d12 or d34 becomes conductive and diverts the current towards constant voltage sources comprising components t70 / op9 or , respectively , t30 / op7 . the above constant voltage sources are controlled across the resistors r89 and r148 directly by the pulse base voltage u baseline or , respectively , shift voltage u hub . further , the error of the amplitude limiter voltage caused by the parasitic forward voltage of the limiter diodes d12 and d34 is identified by way of pairs of diodes d33 and d11 and is compensated by the operational amplifiers op7 or , respectively , op9 . this is possible because , in the final analysis , the same current flows through the diodes d33 and d11 as flows through the limiter diodes d12 and d34 , the same forward voltage thus also occurs given diodes of the identical type . while by - passing the diodes d12 and d34 , the transistors t67 and t27 see to it that the constant voltage sources with the transistors t30 or , respectively , t70 are always loaded with the same current during the switching intervals as in the limiting case . by so doing , undesired voltage fades given load jumps are largely avoided due to the finite internal resistance at the constant voltage sources with the transistors t30 and t70 . the pulse shaper signal e1 which has been completely edited as to its pulse parameters and as it arrives at the input of the output stage , now lies at the capacitor c t . the output stage , for example , represents a bipolar voltage follower having the voltage transformation ratio 1 : 1 . when the trigger pulse is reversed ( see fig2 ), and when an input b58 is ` 1 ` and and input b59 is ` 0 `, then there applies ## equ1 ## b t . sbsb . 1 = gain of the transistor t 1 j c ( t 2 )= 0 , because the transistor t 2 is not conducting ## equ2 ## b t . sbsb . 43 = gain of the transistor t 43 j c ( t 42 )= 0 because the transistor t 42 is not conducting by way of the voltage drop at a pair of resistors r83 / r84 or , respectively , r132 / r133 , the above collector currents j c supply the differential drive signal for the transistors t26 , t27 , t28 , t29 or , respectively , t66 , t67 , t68 , t69 . the voltage drop at the resistors r47 and r136 forms the offset . the transistors t26 and t29 or , respectively , t66 and t69 respectively together form a differential current switch whose collector current is determined by the relationships : ## equ3 ## the collector currents j c of the transistors t26 and ( t66 ) cause a voltage drop at the resistors r85 and r134 , the voltage drop serving to generate an additional , dynamic cut - off voltage ( addition of the collector currents of the transistors t26 / t27 or , respectively , t66 / t67 ) at the diodes d12 and d34 in the case of transfer . were this measure not undertaken , then , in the limiting case , the respectively saturated , conductive limiting diode d12 or d34 , given slow edge rise times ( δ small reversal currents for the capacitor c t ), would more quickly discharge the capacitor c t in the first moment upon transfer than is desired by means of the programmed reversal current , which would lead to a non - linear edge shape . the semiconductor combination t27 / t28 and t67 / t68 is respectively interconnected with the transistors t24 and t74 to form a cascade stage , so that the following collector voltage derives : the transistors t24 and t71 respectively form constant current sources whose collector currents are determined by the relationships : ## equ4 ## thereby : b t . sbsb . 24 = gain of the transistor t 24 ; u op2 3 = input voltage at the operational amplifier op2 pin 3 ; u op5 3 = input voltage at the operational amplifier op5 pin 3 ; and r vfl = program resistance of the digital - to - analog converter 5 . ## equ5 ## thereby : b t71 = gain of the transistor t71 ; u op12 3 = input voltage at the operational amplifier op12 pin 3 ; u op10 3 = input voltage at the operational amplifier op10 pin 3 ; and in the above equations , the differential voltages u op2 3 - u op5 3 or , respectively , u op12 3 - u op10 3 are respectively automatically followed independently of the shift , in contrast thereto , the programmable resistors r vfl and r rfl must be externally pre - set by the program as quasi - static basic values . it is guaranteed by means of this re - adjustment that the edge current changes in the same measure relative to the shift voltage according to the relationship as already mentioned , the outputs of the digital / analog converter 5 , 6 function as resistors for the leading edge or , respectively , trailing edge programming . since the programming occurs over ten bits , each digital / analog converter , abbreviated as dau , contains 10 binarilly - staggered resistance values dau 5 : r 7 / r 11 / r 15 / r 19 / r 23 / r 27 / r 31 / r 35 / r 39 / r 43 dau 6 : r 94 / r 98 / r 102 / r 106 / r 110 / r 114 / r 118 / r 122 / r 126 / r 130 , dau 5 : t 4 / t 6 / t 8 / t 10 / t 12 / t 14 / t 16 / t 18 / t 20 / t 22 dau 6 : t 45 / t 47 / t 49 / t 51 / t 53 / t 55 / t 57 / t 59 / t 61 / t 63 . further , each of the two digital / analog converters must be constructed floating because of the readjustment . this occurs by means of the transistors : dau 5 : t 3 / t 5 / t 7 / t 9 / t 11 / t 13 / t 17 / t 19 / t 21 dau 6 : t 44 / t 46 / t 48 / t 50 / t 52 / t 54 / t 56 / t 58 / t 60 / t 62 . which respectively function as power source switches and thus reshape the ov - related input level of the ttl drive logic into a current shift of constant magnitude with , for example , ## equ6 ## where u tt1 ` 1 ` is the control voltage for a ttl circuit when the input is a binary &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. this current serves as the base current for the transistor t4 , so that the transistor t4 becomes saturated and becomes conductive except for the residual voltage u ce . in the cut - off case , the resistors r4 and r6 clear the base charges in that they clamp the bases of the transistors t3 and t4 to emitter potential . the level converters of the remaining digital / analog converter bits operate analogously . the digital / analog converters for the basic voltage 2 and for the shift voltage 1 exhibit a current source output whose output currents are binarilly weighted . since the current source outputs must be loaded toward 0 volts , on the one hand , and , on the other hand , the currents must be converted into voltages with the necessary d . c . offset , it is necessary to insert a pair of operational amplifiers op1 or , respectively , op8 , whose output voltage behaves as follows : u aop 1 = j adau · r 78 +( 12 · r 78 )/ r 76 where j adau is the output current from the converter 1 , and ## equ7 ## where i adau is the output current from the converter 2 . the output voltage of the operational amplifier op8 can be directly employed as the pulse basic voltage , since the operational amplifier op8 simultaneously operates as an impedance converter and the output voltage is therefore sufficiently loadable . the output voltage of the operational amplifier op1 serves as the control voltage for the constant current source comprising the operational amplifier op3 and the transistor t25 , for whose output current there applies : ## equ8 ## thereby : u k 1 = output voltage of a constant voltage source k1 u op3 3 = input voltage at the operational amplifier op3 pin 3 the collector current j c of the transistor t25 flows through the resistor r82 which is in turn connected to the pulse basic voltage . the voltage at the input of an operational amplifier op6 is thus determined by the expression the operational amplifier op6 operates as a voltage follower and an impedance converter ; its output generates the shift voltage . the output voltage of the constant voltage source k1 can be slightly changed by a potentiometer p1 , whereby there is a possibility of setting the d . c . offset of the shift voltage relative to the pulse basic voltage . basic voltage and shift voltage control two wheatstone bridges whose diagonal voltages behave as follows : ## equ9 ## the above voltages respectively serve as guidance voltages for the edge current sources . the effects of temperature of the components are compensated by the arrangement of the components in a bridge circuit since the guidance voltages arise differentially . by way of the resistors r89 and r148 , respectively , the pulse voltage and the shift voltage directly control a respective constant voltage source comprising the components op7 / t30 or , respectively , op9 / t70 . these two voltage sources generate the limiting voltages for the amplitude limiting diodes d12 and d34 . after the limiter current either flows across the resistor r85 and the diode d12 , or across the resistor 134 and the diode d34 , there occurs an error with respect to the limiting voltage of : this error is compensated in that the same error voltage drop is intentionally generated at the resistor / diode combinations r44 / d11 or , respectively , r131 / d33 ( the same limiter current flows through these components ), and is communicated in equiphase to the inputs of the operational amplifier op9 or , respectively , op7 by an inverse feedback , via the resistors r87 / r88 or , respectively , r142 / r149 . the operational amplifiers thereby automatically adjust the respective limiting voltage by the amount of the error . the capacitors c4 , c5 , c6 , c10 , c11 , c12 , c13 , c14 serve for frequency compensation ; they prevent an oscillation given re - programming of the limiting voltages . the guidance voltages for the power supply of the output stage are tapped behind the zener diodes zd2 and zd4 . fig3 and 4 illustrate the digital portion 3 , 4 , 7 , 8 of the pulse shaper . the parameter data arrive in parallel at the preparation inputs of the d - flip flops j7 , j8 , j10 - j18 via the inputs a3 - a12 , b41 , b46 , b49 - b54 , b56 , b57 and by way of the inverter gates j2 , j3 , j4 , j19 , j23 , j24 . a transfer clock ( at the inputs a14 , a15 , b47 , b48 ) now controls ten repective parallel clodk inputs of the above d - flip - flops by a power inverter , the outputs of the d - flip - flops leading directly to the corresponding dau &# 39 ; s in the analog portion . so that the parameter data are properly accepted into the flip - flops , it is necessary that the respective transfer clock be no narrower than 20 ns and that a minimum preparation time of 20 ns of the parameter data with respect to the negative edge of the transfer clock not be fallen below . the change - over of the output resistance occurs via a relay i driven by the flip - flop j20 . given simultaneous activation of elembf21 - n and relrtakt - n , the flip - flop j20 is set , which effects the output resistance ≦ 3ω . given simultaneous activation of elembf22 - n and relrtakt - n , the flip - flop j20 is reset , whereby the output resistance 100ω is switched on . the pulse shaper output is fundamentally switched on or off with the relay ii via the flip - flop j20 . for this purpose , either elembf21 - n and relrtakt - n must be activated , which means connection of the pulse shaper output , or elembf24 - n and relrtakt - n must be activated , which means disconnection of the pulse shaper output . both flip - flops j20 are reset independent of the programming by a reset signal relrueck1 - p , i . e . the pulse shaper output resistance δ100ω and the pulse shaper output are switched off . the output pulse is distributed to five mutually independent output pins a50 , b11 , a58 , a55 and b10 by the relays iii , iv , v , vi and vii . the above relays are controlled by the flip - flops j5 and j6 , whereby the flip - flops j5 ( d - flip - flop ) accept the information of elembf - 21n - elembf - 24n via the transfer clock zelrtakt - n , in contrast whereto the flip - flops j6 is set or , respectively , reset by elembf19 - 9 , or respectively , elembf20 - n in coincidence to relrtakt - n . further , the flip - flop j6 can also be reset independently of the programming via relrueck2 - p . although i have described my invention by reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof , many changes and modifications of the invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . i therefore intend to include within the patent warrented hereon all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of my contribution to the art . | 7 |
in one narrower aspect , the invention involves a blend of at least two such elastomers which have crystalline melting points at least 25 ° c . apart , in which a compatibilizing agent is present which acts to permit smooth melt processing of the two elastomers at one common temperature . the two elastomers comprise a major portion of the blend , i . e ., over 50 % by weight . the compatibilizer is a polyester thermoplastic elastomer composition containing an antioxidant , such as a secondary aromatic amine . the compatibilizer of choice is &# 34 ; hytrel g - 30hs &# 34 ; available from the dupont company . the secondary aromatic amine in this formulation is apparently carried by a soft polyester thermoplastic elastomer , and apparently has some amide polymer contained in it . the amount of the compatibilizer present in the blends should be at least 1 percent by weight , and should range between 1 and 10 percent , preferably 2 - 5 percent . the blends can contain other additives , e . g . colorants , such as carbon black , pigments , stabilizers and the like . the thermoplastic polyester elastomers are available from several sources . the ones used in the examples were obtained from the dupont company under the trademark &# 34 ; hytrel &# 34 ; thermoplastic polyester elastomers . in general thermoplastic polyester elastomers are prepared from terephthalic acids or esters , a polyalkylene ether glycol , such as poly ( tetramethylene ether ) glycol and lower alkyl diols , such as 1 , 4 - butanediol . in general the elastomer chain has two types of recurring units , one type composed of the terephthalic acid and the glycol and the other of the terephthalic acid and the diol . by being able to blend and extrude or injection mold various polyester elastomers , a blend of desired properties can be obtained in the extrudate . in cable jacketing applications where the jacket must be both hard and flame retardant , the preferred blend of thermoplastic copolyester elastomers will be between 2 - 35 percent by weight of a hard elastomer having a durometer d hardness of at least 55 , and between 65 - 98 percent by weight of a mixture of a softer elastomer having a durometer d hardness of less than 50 that contains a flame - retardant . the softer polymer component also contains the compatibilizer which is premixed with the softer polymer in amounts of 1 - 10 percent by weight of the compatibilizer and 99 - 90 percent of the softer elastomer to make a total of 100 percent . this premixing can be carried out by melt processing , preferably by melt extrusion . in one preferred embodiment , the major elastomer in the blend will be a hard thermoplastic polyester elastomer having a durometer d hardness of at least 60 and the other will be a softer thermoplastic copolyester elastomer having a durometer hardness of less than 50 . in a more preferred embodiment , the hard elastomer is hytrel ® 7246 having a durometer hardness of 70d and the soft elastomer is hytrel htr 8088 having a nominal durometer hardness of 46d . in these embodiments , the blend is useful as a protective coating or jacketing around electrical cables or wires , as for example , round cable , ribbon cable or the like . once the premix is prepared , it is dry - blended with the other elastomer or elastomers by a suitable method , e . g ., drum rolling , or the like . the resulting blend can then be melt processed by extrusion or injection molding . melting points can be determined by differential scanning calormeter at the endotherm peaks . durometer d hardness can be measured as described in astm - 2240 - 85 using a pacific transducer corp . model h 3061 . 9 . 4 pounds ( 4 . 2 kg ) of a soft thermoplastic polyester elastomer ( hytrel ® htr 8068 which has a melting point of 169 ° c . and nominal durometer d hardness of 46d and which contains a flame - retardant was mixed by hand with 0 . 6 pounds ( 0 . 27 kg ) of a compatibilizing composition containing an antioxidant ( hytrel g30hs ) and then pelletized together through a one inch ( 2 . 54 cm ) extruder . 8 . 5 pounds ( 3 . 85 kg ) of the mixture was then mixed by hand with 1 . 2 pounds ( 0 . 54 kg ) of a hard thermoplastic polyester elastomer ( hytrel 5556 which has a melting point of 201 ° c . and a durometer d hardness of 55 ) which had been premixed by hand with 0 . 3 pounds ( 0 . 13 kg ) of a thermoplastic polyester elastomer containing carbon black ( hytrel 40cb ). the mixture so obtained was then extruded on a 1 1 / 2 inch ( 3 . 81 cm ) entwistle extruder onto an electrical cable . the extrudate was uniform in appearance and had good abrasion resistance . in this example , soft hytrel htr 8068 containing fire retardant and hytrel stabilizer g - 30hs were pelletized in the amounts shown in table 1 on a 1 inch ( 2 . 5 cm ) killian extruder . then hard hytrel 7246 and hytrel color concentrate were pelletized on the same extruder in the amounts shown in table 1 . the two pelletized mixtures were then extruded on a 1 1 / 2 inch ( 3 . 81 cm ) entwistle extruder onto a 1 inch ( 2 . 54 cm ) wide electrical cable . extrusion conditions are provided in table 2 . the cable was coated with polyurethane ( estane - 5703 ) adhesive prior to extrusion . table 1______________________________________soft hytrel 8086 6 . 9120 ( pounds ) heat stabilizer hytrel 30hs 0 . 2880 ( pounds ) hard hytrel 7246 0 . 6590 ( pounds ) color concentrate 40cb 0 . 1410 ( pounds ) hard hytrel / color concentrate % 9 . 1______________________________________ table 2______________________________________zone - 1 207 ° c . zone - 2 211 ° c . zone - 3 218 ° c . zone - 4 222 ° c . zone - 5 226 ° c . zone - 6 227 ° c . zone - 7 230 ° c . screw speed rpm 30______________________________________ abrasion resistance , flame retardancy and static dissipation were all good values , and the extruded polyester elastomer blends were all uniform in appearance with no discernable lumps . | 2 |
as noted above , compounds for inhibiting or preventing melanin formation in skin have been discovered for the treatment of various melanin - associated conditions . for example , the compound can be used as a “ vanity ” product , to lighten the skin of an individual , especially of dark skinned individuals . alternatively , the compound can be used to reduce uneven pigmentation marks and surface color irregularities , or to diminish pigmented skin blemishes such as freckles and age spots and hyperpigmentation - related medical conditions such as melasma , ochronosis , and lentigo . the compounds can also be used to lighten hair when applied to skin containing pigmented hair follicles , and to lessen postinflammatory hyperpigmentation resulting from trauma or invasive surgery from a face lift , laser treatment , or cosmetic surgery . the active or functional compounds can also be used to reduce skin pigmentation in normal skin adjacent to areas affected by vitiligo , thereby diminishing the contrast in color between normal and vitiligo affected skin . the invention thus provides a method for lightening mammalian skin that includes applying or otherwise administering an effective treatment amount of an active skin - lightening compound selected from a benzimidazole , a phenylthiourea , a phenylthiol , a bi - or multicyclic phenol , thiopheneamine , a benzothiamide , a phenylamine , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof , optionally in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier , to a mammalian subject in need thereof . the invention also includes a pharmaceutical composition for topical or general systemic administration , including oral , intradermal , transdermal , occlusive patch , intraveneous , and parenteral formulations , that includes an effective pigment inhibiting amount of the compound . the present invention is principally concerned with compositions that inhibit mammalian tyrosinase activity , and which thus have medicinal and / or cosmetic value . however , the present invention can also extend to compounds that inhibit melanin formation within melanocytes through mechanisms other than tyrosinase activity . many of the compounds also possess other activities that are beneficial when integrated into the compositions of the present invention . for example , many of the compounds also absorb uv light , and can thus be used to block the harmful effects of the sun &# 39 ; s rays . some of the compounds also possess antioxidant properties , and thus can inhibit oxidative damage to the skin , or contribute to the stability of the formulation . furthermore , although unrelated to skin pigmentation per se , some of the compounds of the present invention may also inhibit tyrosine hydroxylase ( th ). this enzyme is structurally dissimilar from tryosinase , but also catalyzes the formation of dopa from tysosine . th is critical for the formation of catecolamines . therefore , some of the compounds of the present invention which coincidentally inhibit th activity may have utility in reducing catecholamine biosynthesis , for instance for use as inhibitor “ probes ” in laboratory experiments where reduction in catacholamine pools is desirable . [ 30 - 32 ] in a first principal embodiment the compounds of the present invention are benzimidazolethiol and phenylthiourea related compounds represented by the following formula ( i ): a . r 1 is h or a valence for bonding ; d . r 4 , r 5 , r 4 , and r 7 are independently cr 8 , or n ; e . r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nhso 2 — c 1 - 3 alkyl , ( vii ) — nhco — c 1 - 5 alkyl , ( viii ) oxime , ( ix ) hydrazine , ( x ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) hso 2 , ( xii ) hso 3 , ( xiii ) thio - c 1 - 5 alkyl , ( xiv ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xv ) h 2 po 3 , ( xvi ) thiol , ( xvii ) — coor 9 , ( xviii ) c 1 - 5 alkynyl , or ( xix ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy ; g . r 10 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; i . r ′ is cr 8 , c ( r 8 ) 2 , n or nh , and forms a bond with r ″; ii . 1 or 2 of r 5 and r 6 are n or cor 10 other than coh , the remainder of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 and r 7 being ch ; and j . when r ″ is ch , r ′ is ch 3 or nh 2 . a first series of subembodiments of the first principal embodiment is defined when r 1 , r 2 , and r ′ are as defined above , r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently cr 8 , r ″ is ch , and : 1 ) r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 ) r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) cn , ( v ) — or 9 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xi ) c 1 - 3 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl , — c 1 - 3 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 3 thioether , or c 1 - 3 alkoxy , 3 ) r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) or 9 , ( viii ) — n 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; 4 ) r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 5 ) r 8 is or 10 or or 9 ; or 6 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , c ( cf 3 ), and c ( chchbr ). a second series of subembodiments of the first principal embodiment is defined when r 1 , r 2 , and r ′ are as defined above , r ″ is ch , and : 1 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( vii ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) — or 9 , ( iv ) — oh , ( v ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( vi ) thiol , or ( vii ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; 3 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 4 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is or 9 , and 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; or 5 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , c ( cf 3 ), and c ( chchbr ), and 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch . a third series of subembodiments of the first principal embodiment is defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is ch , and : 1 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 2 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 3 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vii ) — oh , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 4 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl , or 10 , or or 9 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 5 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchpbr ), 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; and r ′ is nh 2 ; 6 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , and r ′ is ch 3 ; 7 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is ch 3 ; 8 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vii ) — oh , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is ch 3 ; 9 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from c 8 , r 8 is r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is ch 3 ; 10 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ), 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is ch 3 ; a fourth series of subembodiments of the first principal embodiment is defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is c , r ′ is n or nh , and : 1 ) 1 or 2 of r 5 and r 6 are cor 10 other than coh , the remainder of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 being ch ; 2 ) 1 or 2 of r 5 and r 6 are cor 9 other than coh , the remainder of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 being ch ; 3 ) 1 or 2 of r 5 and r 6 are n , the remainder of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 being ch ; 4 ) r 5 is cor 9 other than coh , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 5 ) r 6 is cor 9 other than coh , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; or 6 ) r 5 and r 6 are cor 9 other than coh , and r 4 and r 7 are ch . a fifth series of subembodiments of the first principal embodiment are defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is c , r ′ is ch or ch 2 , and : 1 ) 1 or 2 of r 5 and r 6 are cor 10 other than coh , the remainder of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 being ch ; 2 ) 1 or 2 of r 5 and r 6 are cor 9 other than coh , the remainder of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 being ch ; 3 ) 1 or 2 of r 5 and r 6 are n , the remainder of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 being ch ; 4 ) r 5 is cor 9 other than coh , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 5 ) r 6 is cor 9 other than coh , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; or 6 ) r 5 and r 6 are cor 9 other than coh , and r 4 and r 7 are ch . a first series of preferred species of the first principal embodiment are defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is c , r ′ is nh or n , and : 1 ) r 5 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 2 ) r 6 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 3 ) r 5 and r 6 are coch 3 , and r 4 and r 7 are ch ; a second series of preferred species of the first principal embodiment are defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is ch , r ′ is nh 2 , and : 1 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 2 ) r 4 is cch 3 , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 3 ) r 5 is cch 3 , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 4 ) r 6 is cch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 5 ) r 7 is cch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 6 ) r 4 is coch 3 , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 7 ) r 5 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 8 ) r 6 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 9 ) r 7 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 10 ) r 4 is cf , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 11 ) r 5 is cf , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 12 ) r 6 is cf , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 13 ) r 7 is cf , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 14 ) r 4 is coh , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 15 ) r 5 is coh , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 16 ) r 6 is coh , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 17 ) r 7 is coh , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 18 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 are r 7 are cch 3 , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 19 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 are r 7 are coch 3 , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 20 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 are r 7 are cf , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; or 21 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 are r 7 are coh , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; a third series of preferred species of the first principal embodiment are defined when r ″ is ch , r ′ is ch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are as defined in any one of the second series of preferred species . in a second principal embodiment the compounds of the present invention are benzimidazoles and phenylthiourea related compounds represented by the following formula ( ii ): 1 ) r 1 is h ; 2 ) r 2 is selenium ; 3 ) r ″ is c or ch ; 4 ) when r ″ is c , r ′ is c ( r 8 ) 2 or nr 3 , and forms a bond with r ″; 5 ) when r ″ is ch , r ′ is ch 3 or nh 2 ; 6 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently cr 8 , or n ; 7 ) r 3 is ( i ) substituted or unsubstituted alkyl , alkenyl , aryl , or heterocycle , ( ii ) — c 1 - 5 alkoxy , ( iii ) — oh , ( iv ) hydrogen , ( v ) c ( o )— c 1 - 3 alkyl , or ( vi ) —( ch 2 ) 1 - 5 c ( o ) nr 9 r 10 ; 8 ) r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nhso 2 — c 1 - 3 alkyl , ( vii ) — nhco — c 1 - 5 alkyl , ( viii ) oxime , ( ix ) hydrazine , ( x ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) hso 2 , ( xii ) hso 3 , ( xiii ) thio - c 1 - 5 alkyl , ( xiv ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xv ) h 2 po 3 , ( xvi ) thiol , ( xvii ) — coor 9 , ( xviii ) c 1 - 5 alkynyl , or ( xix ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy ; 9 ) r 9 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and 10 ) r 10 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh . a first series of subembodiments of the second principal embodiment are defined when r 1 , r 2 , r ′ and r ″ are as defined above , r 4 , r 5 , r 6 and r 7 are cr 8 , and : 1 ) r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy ; 2 ) r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 9 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xi ) c 1 - 3 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl , — c 1 - 3 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 3 thioether , or c 1 - 3 alkoxy ; 3 ) r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; 4 ) r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 5 ) r 8 is or 10 or or 9 ; or 6 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ). a second series of subembodiments of the second principal embodiment is defined when r 1 , r 2 , r ′ and r ″ are as defined above , and : 1 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( vii ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) — or 9 , ( iv ) — oh , ( v ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( vi ) thiol , or ( vii ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; 3 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 4 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is or 9 , and 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; and 5 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ), and 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch . a third series of subembodiments of the second principal embodiment are defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is c , and : 1 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , and r ′ is nr 3 ; 2 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nr 3 ; 3 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — r 9 , ( vii ) — oh , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nr 3 ; 4 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nr 3 ; 5 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ), 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; and r ′ is nr 3 ; 6 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 7 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 8 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vii ) — oh , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 9 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 10 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ), 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; r ′ is nr 3 ; and r 3 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 11 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 12 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 13 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vii ) — oh , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 14 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; or 15 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ), 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; r ′ is nr 3 , and r 3 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl . a fourth series of subembodiments of the second principal embodiment is defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is ch , and : 1 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 2 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) ( n , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 3 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vii ) — oh , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 4 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is nh 2 ; 5 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ), 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; and r ′ is nh 2 ; 6 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , and r ′ is ch 3 ; 7 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , r ′ is nr 3 , and r ′ is ch 3 ; 8 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from cr 8 , r 8 is ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vii ) — oh , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is ch 3 ; 9 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from c 8 , r 8 is r 8 is c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 , 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch , and r ′ is ch 3 ; and 10 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are independently selected from ch , c ( oh ), c ( sh ), cnh 2 , c ( ch 3 ), c ( och 3 ), cf , ccf 3 , and c ( chchbr ), 2 or 3 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; and r ′ is ch 3 . a first series of preferred species of the second principal embodiment are defined when r 1 and r 2 are as defined above , r ″ is c , r ′ is nh , and : 1 ) r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 2 ) r 4 is cch 3 , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 3 ) r 5 is cch 3 , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 4 ) r 6 is cch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 5 ) r 7 is cch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 6 ) r 4 is coch 3 , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 7 ) r 5 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 8 ) r 6 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 9 ) r 7 is coch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 10 ) r 4 is cf , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 11 ) r 5 is cf , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 12 ) r 6 is cf , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 13 ) r 7 is cf , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 14 ) r 4 is coh , and r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 15 ) r 5 is coh , and r 4 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 16 ) r 6 is coh , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 7 are ch ; 17 ) r 7 is coh , and r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch ; 18 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 are r 7 are cch 3 , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 19 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 are r 7 are coch 3 , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; 20 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 are r 7 are cf , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; or 21 ) 2 of r 4 , r 5 , are r 7 are coh , and 2 of r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are ch ; a second series of preferred species of the second principal embodiment are defined when r ″ is ch , r ′ is nh 2 , and r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are as defined in any one of the first series of preferred species . a third series of preferred species of the present invention are defined when r ″ is ch , r ′ is ch 3 , and r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , and r 7 are as defined in any one of the first series of preferred species . in a third principal embodiment the compounds of the present invention are phenylthiol , phenylamine , and multicyclic - phenolic related compounds of the following structure ( iii ): 1 ) r 1 is ( ch 2 ) n sr 7 , ( ch 2 ) n nr 7 , or or 7 ; 2 ) n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 , 3 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nhso 2 — c 1 - 3 alkyl , ( vii ) — nhco — c 1 - 5 alkyl , ( viii ) oxine , ( ix ) hydrazine , ( x ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) hso 2 , ( xii ) hso 3 , ( xiii ) thio - c 1 - 5 alkyl , ( xiv ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xv ) h 2 po 3 , ( xvi ) thiol , ( xvii ) — coor 9 , ( xviii ) c 1 - 5 alkynyl , or ( xix ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , 4 ) alternatively , r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , pyridine , — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen , and —( ch ) n ″ — xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is as defined above ; 5 ) r 7 is ( i ) substituted or unsubstituted alkyl , alkenyl , aryl , or heterocycle , ( ii ) — c 1 - 5 alkoxy , ( iii ) hydrogen , ( iv ) c ( o )— c 1 - 3 alkyl , or ( v ) —( ch 2 ) m c ( o ) nr 9 r 10 ; 6 ) r 9 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 7 ) r 10 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 8 ) m is 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , or 5 ; and 9 ) provided that when r 1 is or 7 , r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , pyridine , — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen , and —( ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is as defined above . a first series of subembodiments of the third principal embodiment are defined when r 1 is ( ch 2 ) sr 7 , n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 but preferably 0 , and : 1 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined above , and r 7 is hydrogen , c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh , or c ( o ) c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 2 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined above , and r 7 is hydrogen , c 1 - 3 alkyl , or c ( o ) c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 3 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined above , and r 7 is hydrogen ; 4 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( xi ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , or ( xiv ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy , or ( xv ) — nhco — c 1 - 5 alkyl ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 5 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 9 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xi ) c 1 - 3 acyloxy , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiii ) coor 9 , ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl , — c 1 - 3 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 3 thioether , or c 1 - 3 alkoxy , or ( xv ) — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 6 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( v ) — or 9 , ( viii ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( xii ) thiol , ( xiv ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 , or ( xv ) — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 7 ) r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from c 1 - 3 alkyl , or 9 , or — nhco — ch 3 aryl ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 8 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , pyridine , — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen , and —( ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is as defined above ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi — nr 9 r 10 , ( vii ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 9 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , pyridine , — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen , and — ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is as defined above ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( vii ) c 1 - 3 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl , — c 1 - 3 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 3 thioether , or c 1 - 3 alkoxy , and r 7 is as defined above ; 10 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , pyridine , — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen , and —( ch ) n — x — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is as defined above ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) — or 9 , ( iv ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( v ) thiol , or ( vi ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 11 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , pyridine , — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen , and —( ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is as defined above ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 12 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , and pyridine ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( vii ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 13 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , and pyridine ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( vii ) c 1 - 3 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl , — c 1 - 3 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 3 thioether , or c 1 - 3 alkoxy ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 14 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , or pyridine ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) — or 9 , ( iv ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( v ) thiol , or ( vi ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 15 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from phenyl , cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl , pyrrole , furan , thiophene , pyrazole , or pyridine ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 16 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( vii ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 17 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( vii ) c 1 - 3 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl , — c 1 - 3 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 3 thioether , or c 1 - 3 alkoxy ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 18 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) — or 9 , ( iv ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( v ) thiol , or ( vi ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 19 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from — x —( ch 2 ) n ′ — x — wherein n ′ is 1 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 20 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from —( ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 10 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 10 , ( vii ) c 1 - 5 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 5 alkyl , — c 1 - 5 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 10 , c 1 - 5 thioether , or c 1 - 5 alkoxy ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 21 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from —( ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) no 2 , ( iv ) — cn , ( v ) — or 9 , ( vi ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( vii ) c 1 - 3 acyloxy , ( viii ) thiol , ( ix ) coor 9 , or ( x ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl , — c 1 - 3 alkenyl , aryl , heteroaryl , or heterocycle , optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , c ( o ) h , coor 9 , c 1 - 5 acyloxy , halogen , nr 9 r 9 , c 1 - 3 thioether , or c 1 - 3 alkoxy ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 22 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from — ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from ( i ) hydrogen , ( ii ) halogen , ( iii ) — or 9 , ( iv ) — nr 9 r 9 , ( v ) thiol , or ( vi ) — c 1 - 3 alkyl or alkenyl optionally substituted with one or more of — oh , — sh , halogen , or nh 2 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; 23 ) ( a ) r 3 and r 4 , or r 4 and r 5 , combine to form a fused ring - structure which is cycloalkyl , aryl , or heterocyclic selected from —( ch ) n ″ xh — wherein n ″ is 2 and x is nitrogen , sulfur , or oxygen ; and ( b ) the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are independently selected from c 1 - 3 alkyl or or 9 ; and r 7 is as defined above ; a second series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is ( ch 2 ) n sr 7 , n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 , r 7 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh , or c ( o ) c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . a subset of the second series of embodiments is defined when r 1 is sr 7 , r 7 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh , or c ( o ) c 1 - 3 alkyl ; r 4 , is — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . a third series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is ( ch 2 ) n sr 7 , n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 , r 7 is c 1 - 3 alkyl , or c ( o ) c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . preferably , r 4 , is — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . a fourth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is ( ch 2 ) n sr 7 , n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 , r 7 is hydrogen ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . preferably , r 4 , is — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . a fifth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is sr 7 , r 7 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . preferably , r 4 , is — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . a sixth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is sr 7 , r 7 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . preferably , r 4 , is — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . a seventh series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is sr 7 , r 7 is hydrogen ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . preferably , r 4 , is — nhco — c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . an eighth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is ( ch 2 ) n nhr 7 , n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 , r 7 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . a ninth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is ( ch 2 ) n nhr 7 , n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 , r 7 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . an tenth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is ( ch 2 ) n nhr 7 , n is 0 , 1 , 2 , or 3 , r 7 is hydrogen ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . an eleventh series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is nhr 7 , r 7 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . a twelfth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is nhr 7 , r 7 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . a thirteenth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is nhr 7 , r 7 is hydrogen ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 4 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . an fourteenth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is or 7 , r 7 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 8 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . a fifteenth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is or 7 , r 7 is c 1 - 3 alkyl ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 8 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . a sixteenth series of subembodiments is defined when r 1 is or 7 , r 7 is hydrogen ; and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of the 8 th through 23d subembodiments of the first series of subembodiments . a first series of species of the second principal embodiment are defined when r 1 is sh or sc ( o ) ch 3 , and : 1 ) r 2 is och 3 , and r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 2 ) r 3 is och 3 , and r 2 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 3 ) r 4 is och 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 4 ) r 5 is och 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 6 are ch . 5 ) r 6 is och 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 5 are ch . 6 ) 2 of r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are och 3 , and the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch . 7 ) r 2 is sch 3 , and r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 8 ) r 3 is sch 3 , and r 2 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 9 ) r 4 is sch 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 10 ) r 5 is sch 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 6 are ch . 11 ) r 6 is sch 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 5 are ch . 12 ) 2 of r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are sch 3 , and the remainder of r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , and r 6 are ch . 13 ) r 2 is nhc ( o ) ch 3 , and r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 14 ) r 3 is nhc ( o ) ch 3 , and r 2 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 15 ) r 4 is nhc ( o ) ch 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 5 and r 6 are ch . 16 ) r 5 is nhc ( o ) ch 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 6 are ch . 17 ) r 6 is nhc ( o ) ch 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 5 are ch . a second series of preferred species are defined when r 1 is nh 2 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of species 1 - 17 of the first series of preferred embodiments . a third series of preferred species are defined when r 1 is nhc ( o ) ch 3 , and r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 and r 6 are as defined in any one of species 1 - 17 of the first series of preferred embodiments . in a fourth principal embodiment the compounds of the present invention are defined by structures ( iv ) or ( v ): 1 ) r 1 , r 2 , and r 3 are independently ( i ) substituted or unsubstituted alkyl , alkenyl , aryl , or heterocycle , ( ii ) hydrogen , ( iii ) c ( o )— c 1 - 3 alkyl , or ( iv ) —( ch 2 ) 1 - 5 c ( o ) nr 9 r 10 ; 2 ) r 9 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 3 ) r 10 is hydrogen , or c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 4 ) y and y ′ are independently oxygen or sulfur , 5 ) x is oxygen , sulfur , or nitrogen ; and 6 ) r 4 is c 1 - 5 alkyl , optionally substituted by — oh , or nr 9 r 9 . a first series of subembodiments of the fourth principal embodiment are defined by structure ( iv ) when y and y ′ are as described above , and : 1 . r 1 is hydrogen , and r 2 and r 3 are c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; and 2 . r 1 is hydrogen , and r 2 and r 3 are hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl . a second series of subembodiments of the fourth principal embodiment are defined by structure ( v ) when : 1 . x is sulfur , r 1 is hydrogen , and r 2 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; 2 . x is sulfur , r 1 is hydrogen , and r 2 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl ; 3 . x is sulfur , r 1 is hydrogen , r 2 is c 1 - 5 alkyl optionally substituted with — oh ; and r 4 is unsubstituted ( ch 2 ) 1 - 5 ; or 4 . x is sulfur , r 1 is hydrogen , r 2 is hydrogen or c 1 - 3 alkyl , and r 4 is unsubstituted ( ch 2 ) 1 - 3 . preferred species are defined for structure ( iv ) when y is sulfur , y ′ is oxygen , r 1 and r 2 are hydrogen , and r 3 is methyl , and for structure ( v ) when x is sulfur , r 4 is ethylene and r 1 and r 2 are hydrogen . the compounds of this invention can be optionally substituted with substituents that do not adversely affect the activity of the compound as a skin lightener . nonlimiting examples of substituents include , but are not limited to , alkyl ( including lower alkyl ), heteroalkyl , aryl , heterocyclic ( including heteroaryl and heterocycloalkyl ), halo , hydroxyl , carboxyl , acyl , acyloxy , amino , alkylamino , arylamino , alkoxy , aryloxy , alkylthio , alkylamido , nitro , cyano , sulfonic acid , sulfate , phosphonic acid , phosphate , or phosphonate , either unprotected , or protected as necessary , as known to those skilled in the air , for example , as taught in greene , et al ., protective groups in organic synthesis , john wiley and sons , second edition , 1991 . it will be understood that the present invention also covers “ prodrugs ” for such compositions , and pharmaceutically acceptable salts and esters thereof . in the present invention , one or all of three in vitro bioassays can be utilized to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of candidate skin - lightening compounds . the three bioassays characterize the compounds with regard to mammalian tyrosinase enzyme inhibition ( cell free ), pigmentation in melanocyte cultured cells , and cytotoxicity of mammalian cultured cells . both cell - based pigmentation and cell - free enzymatic assays have been developed [ 5 , 6 , 25 ] using the mammalian melanocyte cell line , mel - ab , a c57bl / 6 mouse - derived cell line that produces high levels of melanin . [ 21 ] a distinct advantage of this approach is that humans share substantial sequence similarities in their genes ( dna ) and proteins ( such as tyrosinase ) with mice , relative to non - mammalian species ( e . g ., mushrooms ). so , mouse mel - ab melanocytes can serve as adequate surrogates for human melanocytes for many pharmacologic purposes . these adherent murine melanocytes are grown on tissue culture plastic in medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum , 12 - o - tetradecanoylphorbol - 13 - acetate ( tpa ) to stimulate cell division via down - regulation of protein kinase c , [ 22 , 23 ] and cholera toxin to stimulate adenylate cyclase activity in the absence of α - msh . [ 15 , 24 ] cellular lysates of mel - ab cells may be used as tyrosinase enzyme preparations . multi - well plate assays have been validated [ 5 , 6 , 25 ] for enzyme inhibition ( e . g ., dopa oxidation by colorimetric measurement or radiolabeled substrate incorporation into melanin ) and for pigmentation assays on cultured mel - ab cells . after 4 days of treatment of cultured cells , melanin content is determined using a spectrophotometer at 400 + nm . [ 6 , 25 ] this assay can detect an apparent loss in pigmentation resulting from either inhibition of de novo synthesis ( e . g . via inhibition of tyrosinase , or the adenylate cyclase pathway , or another pathway ) or a cytostatic / cytotoxic mechanism . it is therefore a broad primary screen . it is used in parallel with the tyrosinase enzymatic assay to determine whether an inhibitor of pigmentation at the cellular level is acting primarily at the enzyme level . to determine cytotoxicity , crystal violet or other staining methods may be used to quantify adherent cell numbers following a period of treatment by an agent hq is typically used as a positive control in the assay , since it exhibits an ic 50 in the low micrograms per milliliter range on mel - ab culture using this assay , albeit owing to cytotoxicity and not inhibition of pigmentation per se . [ 6 ] it should be noted that many inhibitors identified in cell - free enzymatic assays might have subsequent difficulties with toxicity or delivery in melanocyte cell - based assays . therefore , all three in vitro assays in combination provide an excellent characterization of candidate skin lightening compounds . a distinct advantage of the screening systems ( developed by the inventors of the present invention ) is the focus on mammalian tyrosinase , as opposed to non - mammalian enzymes often used by other investigators , such as mushroom tyrosinase . since the biochemical and pharmacologic characteristics of an enzyme or isozyme can vary dramatically between species of organisms ( e . g ., due to dissimilarities in primary , secondary , and tertiary structure ), it is highly preferable that candidate topical skin lighteners intended for human use be discovered based on their biochemical action against a mammalian source of the enzyme . mushroom tyrosinase ( and in some instances plant polyphenol oxidases ) has been used in the vast majority of prior inhibitor studies . [ 28 , 29 ] yet fungal tyrosinase exhibits substantial dissimilarities from mammalian tyrosinase ( s ), and is viewed as a substantially inferior strategy for pharmacologic screening . thus , the methods reported by the inventors of the present invention for screening against mammalian tyrosinase or within melanocytes is highly preferred over other possible screening strategies . [ 5 , 6 , 25 ] the substrate kinetic “ affinity ” of mammalian tyrosinase for l - tyrosine is approximately k m = 600 μm . a potentially effective candidate skin lightening agent is considered to be desirable , active , and / or functional if it renders 50 % inhibition of mammalian tyrosinase enzyme activity , at concentrations below half the enzyme &# 39 ; s “ affinity ” for tyrosine in cell - free enzyme extracts ( ic 50 ≦ 300 μm ) and pigment production in melanocyte cell cultures ( ic 50 ≦ 300 μm ). in preferred embodiments the agent has an ic 50 against tyrosinase in cell - free enzyme extracts of less then 200 , 100 , 50 , or 25 μm , and / or an ic 50 against pigment production in melanocyte cell cultures of less than 200 , 100 , 50 , or 25 μm . in addition , it is desirable for the compounds to exhibit minimal cytotoxicity , e . g ., thus retaining viability of 50 % or more of the cultured cells ( ic 50 ≧ 300 μm ), as evidenced by adherent cell number . in preferred embodiments the agent exhibits toxicity at greater than 500 , 750 , or 1000 μm . curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ] reports that methyl gentisate is an “ effective ” candidate skin - lightening agent based on in vitro bioassays , because it has an ic 50 of 11 . 2 ± 4 ( ug / ml ) against tyrosinase activity in cell - free assays , an ic 50 of 30 . 9 ± 5 ( ug / ml ) in melanocyte cell cultures , and melanocyte cytotoxicity ic 50 of 118 . 7 ± 12 ( ug / ml ). methyl gentisate thus poses a standard , against which the efficacy and cytotoxicity of other tyrosinase inhibiting compounds can be evaluated . by contrast to mg , hydroquinone is an inferior standard , exhibiting potent cytotoxicity and minimal enzymatic inhibition . [ 5 , 6 , 25 ] significantly , many of the particular compounds of this invention are comparable to or a more effective candidate skin lightening agents than methyl gentisate . thus , in another embodiment the invention provides methods for inhibiting pigment production that includes administering an effective treatment amount of a pigment inhibiting compound wherein ( i ) the compound inhibits tyrosinase activity equivalent to or greater than methyl gentisate in cell - free enzyme extracts from mammalian melanocyte or melanoma cells , when evaluated using either a colorometric dopa oxidation or a radiolabeled tyrosine or dopa substrate assay as described in curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ], or ( ii ) the compound inhibits de novo pigment production ( synthesis and / or accumulation ) equivalent to or greater than methyl gentisate when evaluated in cultured mammalian melanocyte or melanoma cells . curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ]. in a preferred embodiment the toxicity of the compound in mammalian melanocyte , melanoma , or other cell cultures is equivalent to or less than the toxicity of methyl gentisate . curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ]. in another embodiment computer - based molecular orbital predictions can aid in the understanding and predictability of structure - activity relationships , such that other effective compounds can be identified and evaluated . see sakurada , j ., et al ., “ kinetic and molecular orbital studies on the rate of oxidation of monosubstituted phenols and anilines by horseradish peroxidase compound ii .” biochemistry 29 : 4093 - 4098 ( 1990 ) [ 26 ]. the following definitions and term construction are intended , unless otherwise indicated : specific and preferred values listed below for radicals , substituents , and ranges , are for illustration only ; they do not exclude other defined values or other values within defined ranges for the radicals and substituents . alkyl , alkoxy , alkenyl , alkynyl , etc . denote both straight and branched groups ; but reference to an individual radical such as “ propyl ” embraces only the straight chain radical , a branched chain isomer such as “ isopropyl ” being specifically referred to . the term alkyl , as used herein , unless otherwise specified , refers to a saturated straight , branched , or cyclic , primary , secondary , or tertiary hydrocarbon of c 1 to c 10 , and specifically includes methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , cyclopropyl , butyl , isobutyl , t - butyl , pentyl , cyclopentyl , isopentyl , neopentyl , hexyl , isohexyl , cyclohexyl , cyclohexylmethyl , 3 - methylpentyl , 2 , 2 - dimethylbutyl , and 2 , 3 - dimethylbutyl . when the context of this document allows alkyl to be substituted , the moieties with which the alkyl group can be substituted are selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl , amino , alkylamino , arylamino , alkoxy , aryloxy , aryl , heterocycle , halo , carboxy , acyl , acyloxy , amido , nitro , cyano , sulfonic acid , sulfate , phosphonic acid , phosphate , or phosphonate , either unprotected , or protected as necessary , as known to those skilled in the art , for example , as taught in greene , et al ., protective groups in organic synthesis , john wiley and sons , second edition , 1991 , hereby incorporated by reference . the term lower alkyl , as used herein , and unless otherwise specified , refers to a c 1 to c 4 saturated straight , branched , or if appropriate , a cyclic ( for example , cyclopropyl ) alkyl group , including both substituted and unsubstituted forms . unless otherwise specifically stated in this application , when alkyl is a suitable moiety , lower alkyl is preferred . similarly , when alkyl or lower alkyl is a suitable moiety , unsubstituted alkyl or lower alkyl is preferred . the terms alkenyl and alkynyl refer to alkyl moieties , including both substituted and substituted forms , wherein at least one saturated c — c bond is replaced by a double or triple bond . thus , ( c 2 - c 6 ) alkenyl can be vinyl , allyl , 1 - propenyl , 2 - propenyl , 1 - butenyl , 2 - butenyl , 3 - butenyl , 1 - pentenyl , 2 - pentenyl , 3 - pentenyl , 4 - pentenyl , 1 - hexenyl , 2 - hexenyl , 3 - hexenyl , 4 - hexenyl , or 5 - hexenyl . similarly , ( c 2 - c 6 ) alkynyl can be ethynyl , 1 - propynyl , 2 - propynyl , 1 - butynyl , 2 - butynyl , 3 - butynyl , 1 - pentynyl , 2 - pentynyl , 3 - pentynyl , 4 - pentynyl , 1 - hexynyl , 2 - hexynyl , 3 - hexynyl , 4 - hexynyl , or 5 - hexynyl . the term “ alkylene ” refers to a saturated , straight chain , divalent alkyl radical of the formula —( ch 2 ) n —, wherein n can be 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , or 10 . as used herein , with exceptions as noted , “ aryl ” is intended to mean any stable monocyclic , bicyclic or tricyclic carbon ring of up to 8 members in each ring , wherein at least one ring is aromatic as defined by the huckel 4n + 2 rule . examples of aryl ring systems include phenyl , naphthyl , tetrahydronaphthyl , and biphenyl . the aryl group can be substituted with one or more moieties selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl , amino , alkylamino , arylamino , alkoxy , aryloxy , alkyl , heterocycle , halo , carboxy , acyl , acyloxy , amido , nitro , cyano , sulfonic acid , sulfate , phosphonic acid , phosphate , or phosphonate , either unprotected , or protected as necessary , as known to those skilled in the art , for example , as taught in greene , et al ., protective groups in organic synthesis , john wiley and sons , second edition , 1991 . the term heterocycle or heterocyclic , as used herein except where noted represents a stable 5 - to 7 - membered monocyclic or stable 8 - to 11 - membered bicyclic heterocyclic ring which is either saturated or unsaturated , including heteroaryl , and which consists of carbon atoms and from one to three heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of n , o , s , and p ; and wherein the nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms may optionally be oxidized , and the nitrogen heteroatom may optionally be quaternized , and including any bicyclic group in which any of the above - defined heterocyclic rings is fused to a benzene ring . the heterocyclic ring may be attached at any heteroatom or carbon atom which results in the creation of a stable structure . nonlimiting examples of heteroaryl and heterocyclic groups include furyl , furanyl , pyridyl , pyrimidyl , thienyl , isothiazolyl , imidazolyl , tetrazolyl , pyrazinyl , benzofuranyl , benzothiophenyl , quinolyl , isoquinolyl , benzothienyl , isobenzofuryl , pyrazolyl , indolyl , isoindolyl , benzimidazolyl , purinyl , carbazolyl , oxazolyl , thiazolyl , isothiazolyl , 1 , 2 , 4 - thiadiazolyl , isooxazolyl , pyrrolyl , quinazolinyl , cinnolinyl , phthalazinyl , xanthinyl , hypoxanthinyl , thiophene , furan , pyrrole , isopyrrole , pyrazole , imidazole , 1 , 2 , 3 - triazole , 1 , 2 , 4 - triazole , oxazole , isoxazole , thiazole , isothiazole , pyrimidine or pyridazine , and pteridinyl , aziridines , thiazole , isothiazole , 1 , 2 , 3 - oxadiazole , thiazine , pyridine , pyrazine , piperazine , pyrrolidine , oxaziranes , phenazine , phenothiazine , morpholinyl , pyrazolyl , pyridazinyl , pyrazinyl , quinoxalinyl , xanthinyl , hypoxanthinyl , pteridinyl , 5 - azacytidinyl , 5 - azauracilyl , triazolopyridinyl , imidazolopyridinyl , pyrrolopyrimidinyl , pyrazolopyrimidinyl , adenine , n6 - alkylpurines , n6 - benzylpurine , n6 - halopurine , n6 - vinypurine , n6 - acetylenic purine , n6 - acyl purine , n6 - hydroxyalkyl purine , n6 - thioalkyl purine , thymine , cytosine , 6 - azapyrimidine , 2 - mercaptopyrmidine , uracil , n5 - alkyl - pyrimidines , n5 - benzylpyrimidines , n5 - halopyrimidines , n5 - vinyl - pyrimidine , n5 - acetylenic pyrimidine , n5 - acyl pyrimidine , n5 - hydroxyalkyl purine , and n6 - thioalkyl purine , and isoxazolyl . the heteroaromatic and heterocyclic moieties can be optionally substituted as described above for aryl , including substituted with one or more substituents selected from hydroxyl , amino , alkylamino , arylamino , alkoxy , aryloxy , alkyl , heterocycle , halo , carboxy , acyl , acyloxy , amido , nitro , cyano , sulfonic acid , sulfate , phosphonic acid , phosphate , or phosphonate , either unprotected , or protected as necessary , as known to those skilled in the art , for example , as taught in greene , et al ., protective groups in organic synthesis , john wiley and sons , second edition , 1991 . the heteroaromatic can be partially or totally hydrogenated as desired . as a nonlimiting example , dihydropyridine can be used in place of pyridine . functional oxygen and nitrogen groups on the heteroaryl group can be protected as necessary or desired . suitable protecting groups are well known to those skilled in the art , and include trimethylsilyl , dimethylhexylsilyl , t - butyldi - methylsilyl , and t - butyldiphenylsilyl , trityl or substituted trityl , alkyl groups , acyl groups such as acetyl and propionyl , methanesulfonyl , and p - toluenesulfonyl . the term acyl refers to a carboxylic acid ester in which the non - carbonyl moiety of the ester group is selected from straight , branched , or cyclic alkyl or lower alkyl , alkoxyalkyl including methoxymethyl , aralkyl including benzyl , aryloxyalkyl such as phenoxymethyl , aryl including phenyl optionally substituted with halogen , c 1 to c 4 alkyl or c 1 to c 4 alkoxy , sulfonate esters such as alkyl or aralkyl sulphonyl including methanesulfonyl , the mono , di or triphosphate ester , trityl or monomethoxytrityl , substituted benzyl , trialkylsilyl ( e . g . dimethyl - t - butylsilyl ) or diphenylmethylsilyl . aryl groups in the esters optimally comprise a phenyl group . the term “ lower acyl ” refers to an acyl group in which the non - carbonyl moiety is lower alkyl . the term alkoxy , as used herein , and unless otherwise specified , refers to a moiety of the structure — o - alkyl , wherein alkyl is as defined above . precursor : mono - or multiple - substituted benzene . most are commercially available or can be easily prepared from commercial compounds . the definition of benzene ring substituents r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 is given in formulas ( i ) and ( ii ) in section of summary of the invention . reactants : nitric acid , zinc , hydrochloric acid , carbon disulfide , methyl isothiocyanate , thiourea , sulfur , sodium diethyldithiocarbamate , selenourea . references : saxena , d . b . ; khajuria , r k ; suri , o . p . synthesis and spectral studies of 2 - mercaptobenzimidazole derivatives . j . heterocycl . chem ., 19 , 681 - 683 , ( 1982 ). the 1 , 2 - phenylenediamine derivatives ( v ) can be prepared by twice nitration / reduction reactions on substituted benzene ( i ), some substituents may need protection under above reaction conditions . cyclization of ( v ) with cs 2 , or ch 3 ncs , or thiourea , or s , or ( c 2 h 5 ) 2 ncs 2 na can give the desired 2 - mercaptobenzimidazole derivatives ( vi ). reaction of ( vi ) with r 5 x ( r 5 can be alkyl or acyl group ; x is cl , br , i ) can produce alkylated products ( viii ). 2 - benzimidazoline - selenium derivatives ( viii ) and ( ix ) can be synthesized similarly by reacting selenourea with ( v ). precursor : substituted benzene . most are commercially available or can be easily prepared from commercial compounds . the definition of benzene ring substituents r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 5 is given in formulas ( i ) and ( ii ) in section of summary of the invention . references : rasmussen , c . r ; villani , f . j ., jr . ; weaner , l . e . ; reynolds , b . e . ; hood , a . r ; hecker , l . r —; nortey , s . o . ; hanskin , a . ; costanzo , m . j . ; et al . improved procedures for the preparation of cycloalkyl -, and arylalkyl -, and arylthioureas . synthesis , 6 , 456 - 459 , ( 1988 ). various arylthiourea compounds ( iv ) can be prepared by reaction of corresponding aniline ( iii ) with nh 4 scn or kscn in aqueous hcl solution . alkylation of ( i ) by r 6 x ( r 6 can be alkyl or acyl group ; x is cl , br , i ) can yield monoalkylated product ( vi ). by replacing kscn with ksecn , the selenium analogous ( v ) can also be prepared . precursor : substituted benzene . most are commercially available or can be easily prepared from commercial compounds . the definition of benzene ring substituents r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 5 is given in formulas ( i ) and ( ii ) in section of summary of the invention . reactants : chlorosulfonic acid , dichlorodimethylsilane , zinc , cl ( ch 2 ) n cl ( n is 1 - 3 ), aluminum chloride , thiourea , sodium hydroxide . references : uchiro , h . ; kobayashi , s . non - aqueous reduction of aromatic sulfonyl chlorides to thios using a dichlorodimethylsilane - zinc - dimethylacetamide system . tetrahedron lett ., 40 , 3179 - 3182 , ( 1999 ). substituted arylsulfonyl chlorides ( i ) can be easily prepared from substituted aromatic compounds ( i ) by reaction with excess chlorosulfonic acid . reduction of ( ii ) with dichlorodimethylsilane / zinc will give desired phenylthiole derivatives ( iii ). the substituted phenylalkyl mercaptans ( vi ) can be prepared from the corresponding chloro compounds ( v ) which can be obtained from alkylation reaction of ( i ) ( friedel - crafts reaction ). both thiole compounds ( iii ) and ( vi ) can react with alkyl halide r 6 x to form the corresponding sulfides ( iv ) and ( vii ). precursor : substituted benzene . most are commercially available or can be easily prepared from commercial compounds . the definition of benzene ring substituents r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 5 is given in formulas ( i ) and ( ii ) in section of summary of the invention reactants : nitric acid , zinc , hydrochloric acid , br ( ch 2 ) n br ( n is 1 - 3 ), aluminum chloride . the preparation of products ( ii ), ( iv ) and ( v ) is same as described previously . reaction of ( v ) with alkyl amine r 6 nh 2 ( r 6 is hydrogen or alkyl ) can give arylalkylamine derivatives ( vi ). precursor : substituted thiophene . most are commercially available or can be easily prepared from commercial sources . the definition of ring substituents r 1 , r 2 and r 3 is same as that given in formulas ( i ) and ( ii ) in section of summary of the invention . reactants : butyllithium , cl ( ch 2 ) n nme 2 ( n is 1 - 3 ), ethyl chloroformate . references : hallberg , a . ; gronowitz , s . on the reaction of some thienyllithium derivatives with 1 - chloro - 2 - dimethylaminoethane . chem . scr ., 16 , 42 - 46 , ( 1980 ). reaction of substituted thiophene with butyllithium can yield 2 - thienyllithium salt ( ii ), protection may be necessary for some substituents . substituted 2 - thiophenealkylamine ( iii ) can be prepared by reaction of ( a ) with 1 - chloro - 2 - dimethylaminoalkane . the products ( iii ), ( v ) and ( v ) can be converted to each other by alkylation / dealkylation reactions using alkyl halide r 4 x and clco 2 et , respectively . precursor : substituted benzene . most are commercially available or can be easily prepared from commercial compounds . the definition of benzene ring substituents r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 4 and r 5 is given in formulas ( i ) and ( ii ) in section of summary of the invention references : sastry , s . ; kudav , n . a . one - step synthesis of aromatic thio amides : reaction of aromatic compounds with potassium thiocyanate in polyphosphoric acid or sulfuric acid . indian j . chem ., sect b , 18b , 455 , ( 1979 ). benzothioamide derivatives ( ii ) can be prepared from substituted benzene ( i ) in one single step by reaction with kscn in polyphosphoric acid or sulfuric acid . the alkylated product ( iii ) can be obtained by using alkyl halide r 6 x ( x is cl , br , i ). in one embodiment , a compound of this invention is applied or administered to the skin during an appropriate period and using a sufficient number of dosages to achieve skin lightening . the concentration of active compound in the composition will depend on absorption , inactivation , and excretion rates of the compound as well as other factors known to those of skill in the art . it is to be noted that dosage values will also vary with the severity of the condition to be alleviated . it is to be further understood that for any particular subject , specific dosage regimens should be adjusted over time according to the individual need and the professional judgment of the person administering or supervising the administration of the compositions , and that the concentration ranges set forth herein are exemplary only and are not intended to limit the scope or practice of the claimed composition . the active ingredient may be administered as a single dose , or may be divided into a number of smaller doses to be administered at varying intervals of time . topical and other formulations of these active and / or functional compounds are of utility in lightening skin pigmentation in humans and other animals . these formulations may be useful for pure cosmetic purposes , simply to obtain a lighter skin color for perceived beautification . the formulations also have medicinal value and can , for example , decrease hyperpigmentation of melasma , age spots , freckles , and other skin blemishes . the compounds of this invention act primarily by inhibiting mammalian melanocyte tyrosinase , the rate - limiting enzyme in the production of melanin from tyrosine and dopa . some compounds also absorb ultraviolet radiation ( uvr ), and may thus protect skin from uvr and photoaging . in addition , some compounds may be antioxidants that protect skin from oxidative damage , and / or may prevent oxidative decomposition of product formulations . if desirable these formulations could also be used to reduce pigmentation in hair , albeit during the biosynthesis of hair , by blocking pigment production within the melanocytes of hair follicles . the formulations would likely not affect the already emerged pigmented portions of hair , unlike a bleaching agent . the formulations useful in the present invention contain biologically effective amounts of the functional and / or active compound ( s ). a biologically effective amount of the active compound is understood by those skilled in the art to mean that a sufficient amount of the compound in the composition is provided such that upon administration to the human or animal by , for example , topical route , sufficient active agent is provided on each application to give the desired result . however , the biologically effective amount of the active compound is at a level that it is not toxic to the human or animal during the term of treatment . by a suitable biologically compatible carrier , when the compound is topically applied , it is understood that the carrier may contain any type of suitable excipient in the form of cosmetic compositions , pharmaceutical adjuvants , sunscreen lotions , creams , and the like . in one embodiment the active compound is administered in a liposomal carrier . the active compound is administered for a sufficient time period to alleviate the undesired symptoms and the clinical signs associated with the condition being treated , or to achieve the level of desired skin lightening . the individual dosage , dosage schedule , and duration of treatment may be determined by clinical evaluations by those of skill in the art . solutions or suspensions for topical application can include the following components : a sterile diluent such as water for injection , saline solution , fixed oils , polyethylene glycols , glycerin , propylene glycol or other synthetic solvents ; antibacterial agents such as benzyl alcohol or methyl parabens ; antioxidants such as ascorbic acid or sodium bisulfite ; chelating agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ( edta ); buffers such as acetates , citrates or phosphates ; and agents for the adjustment of tonicity such as sodium chloride or dextrose . ph can be adjusted with acids or bases , such as hydrochloric acid or sodium hydroxide . suitable vehicles , carriers , or formulations for topical application are known , and include lotions , suspensions , ointments , oil - in - water emulsions , water - in - oil emulsions , creams , gels , tinctures , sprays , powders , pastes , and slow - release transdermal or occlusive patches . thickening agents , emollients , and stabilizers can be used to prepare topical compositions . examples of thickening agents include petrolatum , beeswax , xanthan gum , or polyethylene glycol , humectants such as sorbitol , emollients such as mineral oil , lanolin and its derivatives , or squalene . a number of solutions and ointments are commercially available , especially for dermatologic applications . the compounds can be provided in the form of pharmaceutically - acceptable salts . as used herein , the term “ pharmaceutically - acceptable salts or complexes ” refers to salts or complexes that retain the desired biological activity of the parent compound and exhibit minimal , if any , undesired toxicological effects . examples of such salts are ( a ) acid addition salts formed with inorganic acids ( for example , hydrochloric acid , hydrobromic acid , sulfuric acid , phosphoric acid , nitric acid , and the like ), and salts formed with organic acids such as acetic acid , oxalic acid , tartaric acid , succinic acid , malic acid , ascorbic acid , benzoic acid , tannic acid , pamoic acid , alginic acid , polyglutamic acid , naphthalenesulfonic acids , naphthalenedisulfonic acids , and polygalacturonic acid ; ( b ) base addition salts formed with polyvalent metal cations such as zinc , calcium , bismuth , barium , magnesium , aluminum , copper , cobalt , nickel , cadmium , and the like , or with an organic cation formed from n , n - benzylethylene - diamine or ethylenediamine ; or ( c ) combinations of ( a ) and ( b ); e . g ., a zinc tannate salt or the like . the compounds can be modified in order to enhance their usefulness as pharmaceutical compositions . for example , it is well know in the art that various modifications of the active molecule , such as alteration of charge , can affect water and lipid solubility and thus alter the potential for percutaneous absorption . the vehicle , or carrier , can also be modified to enhance cutaneous absorption , enhance the reservoir effect , and minimize potential irritancy or neuropharmacological effects of the composition . see , in general , arndt , et al . [ 27 ]. thus , the invention provides various formulations as topical skin lighteners containing the active and / or functional compounds described above . the invention further provides formulations as topical anti - oxidants containing the active and / or functional compounds described above . in still another embodiment the invention provides formulations as topical sunscreens containing the active and / or functional compounds described above . such formulations can be made in combination with other active and / or functional ingredients used in skincare products ( e . g . organic or inorganic sunscreen , antioxidant , anti - inflammatory , anti - erythema , anti - biotic , antimicrobial , humectant , or other ingredients ). other ingredients can be formulated with the compounds to augment their effect , including but not limited to vitamin c , vitamin e , magnesium ascorbyl phosphate , aloe vera extract , and retinoic acids . in addition , alpha - hydroxy acids can be included to speed up the skin lightening process by exfoliating surface colored skin . the compounds of the present invention can also be formulated for alternative routes of administration other than topical application , including but not limited to general systemic , oral , intradermal , transdermal , occlusive patches , intravenous , or parenteral administration , and pharmaceutical compositions known generally to those skilled in the art . the compounds can also be formulated along with other active and / or functional ingredients used in skincare products , depending on the intended use of the formulation . for example , the compounds can be formulated with organic or inorganic sunscreens , an antioxidant , an anti - inflammatory , an anti - erythema , an antibiotic , an antimicrobial , a humectant , or other ingredients . the active and / or functional compounds described above may also be of use in inhibiting tyrosinase - like enzymes from non - mammalian species , for instance for use in the food science industry for the inhibition of enzymatic browning . [ 28 , 29 ] inhibition of plant polyphenol oxidases by agents described here may coincidentally have activity against these non - mammalian enzymes . suitable formulations for spraying or treatment of fruits are known generally to those skilled in the art treatment by these formulations containing the enzyme inhibitors of the present invention might improve shelf life of plant or fungal foods . a first class of compounds based upon the template compound benzimidazolethiol ( lower left structure ) were tested for tyrosinase inhibition , cell culture pigment inhibition , and toxicity , by methods described in curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ]. results of the tests are given in table 1 . a second class of compounds based upon the template compound benzenethiol were tested for tyrosinase inhibition , cell culture pigment inhibition , and toxicity , by methods described in curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ]. results of the tests are given in table 2 . a third class of compounds based upon the template compound phenylthiourea ( lower left structure ) were tested for tyrosinase inhibition , cell culture pigment inhibition , and toxicity , by methods described in curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ]. results of the tests are given in table 3 . a fourth group of miscellaneous compounds of diverse structure were also tested for tyrosinase inhibition , cell culture pigment inhibition , and toxicity , by methods described in curto , e . v ., et al . ( 1999 ) [ 25 ]. results of the tests are given in table 4 . throughout this application , various publications are referenced . the disclosures of these publications in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference into this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention . 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 . 1 . hearing v j jr ., “ monophenol monooxygenase ( tyrosinase ): purification , properties , and reactions catalyzed .” methods enzymol 142 : 154 - 165 , 1987 . 2 . spritz r a et al ., “ genetic - disorders of pigmentation ,” adv hum genet 22 : 1 - 45 , 1994 . 3 . frenk e , “ treatment of melasma with depigmenting agents .” melasma : new approaches to treatment , pp . 9 - 15 . martin dunitz ltd ., london , 1995 . 4 . dooley t p , “ is there room for a moderate level of regularity oversight ?” in : drug discovery approaches for developing cosmeceuticals : advanced skin care and cosmetic products ( ed . hori w ), chap . 1 . 4 . international business communications , southborough , mass ., 1997 . 5 . dooley t p , “ topical skin depigmentation agents : current products and discovery of novel inhibitors of melanogenesis .” j . dermatol . treat . 8 : 275 - 279 , 1997 . 6 . dooley t p , et al ., “ development of an in vitro primary screen for skin depigmentation and antimelanoma agents .” skin pharmacol . 7 : 188 - 200 , 1994 . 7 . morse j l ( ed . ), “ an abridgment of the new funk & amp ; wagnalls encyclopedia ,” the universal standard encyclopedia , vol , 10 , pp . 3662 - 3663 . unicorn , n . y ., 1955 . 8 . budavari s ( ed . ), “ gentisic acid ,” merck index , 11 th edn , abstract no . 4290 , p . 688 . merck & amp ; co ., rahway , n . j ., 1989 . 9 . j - hua l , et al ., “ direct analysis of salicylic acid , salicyl acyl glucuronide , salicyluric acid and gentisic acid in human plasma and urine by high - performance liquid chromatography .” j . chromatogr . [ b ] 675 : 61 - 70 , 1996 . 10 . glatt h r , et al ., “ multiple activation pathways of benzene leading to products with varying genotoxic characteristics .” environ health perspect 82 : 81 - 89 , 1989 . 11 . glatt h r , “ endogenous mutagens derived from amino acids .” mutat res . 238 : 235 - 243 , 1990 . 12 . la du b n , “ alcaptonuria and ochronotic arthritis .” mol . biol . med . 8 : 31 - 38 , 1991 . 13 hearing v j , “ mammalian monophenol monooxygenase ( tyrosinase ): purification , properties , and reactions catalyzed .” methods enzymol . 142 : 154 - 65 , 1987 . 14 . spritz r a , et al ., “ genetic disorders of pigmentation .” adv . hum . genet . 22 : 1 - 45 , 1994 . 15 . hadley m e et al , “ melanotropic peptides for therapeutic and cosmetic tanning of the skin .” ny acad . sci . 680 : 424 - 39 , 1993 . 16 . sakai c et al , “ modulation of murine melanocyte function in vitro by agouti signal protein .” embo j . 16 : 3544 - 52 , 1997 . 17 . dooley t p , “ recent advances in cutaneous melanoma oncogenesis research .” onco . res . 6 : 1 - 9 , 1994 . 18 . bernmaman o , et al ., “ treatment and camouflaging of pigmentary disorders .” clin . dermatol . 6 : 50 - 61 , 1998 . 19 . zaumseil r - p , et al ., “ topical azelaic acid in the treatment of melasma : pharmacological and clinical considerations .” in : castanet j , frenk e , gaupe k et al ( eds ) melasma : new approaches to treatment . martin dunitz : london , pp 1640 , 1995 . 20 . schallreuter k u , “ epidermal adrenergic signal transduction as part of the neuronal network in the human epidermis .” j . invest dermatol . 2 : 3740 , 1997 . 21 . bennett d c , et al ., “ a line of non - tumorigenic mouse melanocytes , syngeneic with the b16 melanoma and requiring a tumour promoter for growth .” int . j . cancer 349 : 414 - 18 , 1987 . 22 . dooley t p et al ., “ polyoma middle t abrogates tpa requirement of murine melanocytes and induces malignant melanoma .” oncogene 3 : 531 - 6 , 1988 . 23 . brooks g et al ., “ protein kinase c down - regulation , and not transient activation , correlates with melanocyte growth .” cancer res . 51 : 3281 - 8 , 1991 . 24 . o &# 39 ; keefe e , et al ., “ cholera toxin mimics melanocyte stimulating hormone in inducing differentiation in melanoma cells .” proc . natl . acad . sci . usa 71 : 2500 - 4 , 1974 . 25 . curto , e . v ., et al ., “ inhibitors of mammalian melanocyte tyrosinase : in vitro comparisons of alkyl esters of gentisic acid with other putative inhibitors .” biochem . pharmacol . 57 : 663 - 672 , 1999 . 26 . sakurada , j ., et al ., “ kinetic and molecular orbital studies on the rate of oxidation of monosubstituted phenols and anilines by horseradish peroxidase compound ii .” biochemistry 29 : 4093 - 4098 , 1990 . 27 . arndt , et al ., “ the pharmacology of topical therapy ”, dermatology in general medicine , 1987 ; t . b . fitzpatrick , a . z . eisen , k . wolff , i . m . freedberg and k . f . austen , eds ., 3d ed ., mcgraw hill , inc ., new york , pp . 2532 - 2540 . 28 . lee , c . y . and whitaker , j . r . ( eds .) enzymatic browning and its prevention . pub . american chemical society , washington , d . c ., 1995 . 29 . lerch , k “ tyrosinase : molecular and active - site structure .” in lee , c . y . and whitaker , j . r . ( eds .) enzymatic browning and its prevention . pub . american chemical society , washington , d . c ., pp . 64 - 80 , 1995 . 30 . mishima , h ., et al ., “ fine structural demonstration of tyrosinase activity in the retinal pigment epithelium of normal and ptu - treated chick embryos .” albrecht von graefes arch . klin . exp . ophthalmol . 211 : 1 - 10 , 1979 . 31 . deja , t . p ., et al ., “ demonstration of tyrosinase in the adult bovine uveal tract and retinal pigment epithelium .” invest opthalmol . vis . sci . 17 : 511 - 514 , 1978 . 32 . higashi , y ., et al ., “ inhibition of tyrosinase reduces cell viability in catecholaminergic neuronal cells .” j . neurochem . 75 : 1771 - 1774 , 2000 . | 0 |
referring now to the drawings and , first , particularly to fig1 there is shown therein , in a diagrammatic view , a portion of a copy transfer device . this device has transport media 1 and 2 , which are formed as conveyor belts 3 and 4 . because fig1 is shown diagrammatically , the conveyor belts 3 and 4 are merely suggested in the drawing . in a first segment 5 , they are disposed parallel to one another , in a side - by - side arrangement . located thereon , likewise side by side and one after the other in rows , are products 6 and 7 , respectively , provided with a cross - fold . these products 6 and 7 arrive from a non - illustrated folder which has two feed paths . the conveyor belts 3 and 4 may have approximately the same width as the products 6 and 7 ( as shown ) or may be substantially narrower . preferably , there is one narrow belt in each side region of the products 6 and 7 . the conveyor belts 3 and 4 are formed as endless loops ; they operate on the principle of a run or strand , such as of a conveyor belt . by non - illustrated conventional means , the conveyor belts 3 and 4 are placed in the desired form for forming a transport path with straight and curved regions . for example , suitable slide ways may be provided , along which the conveyor belts 3 and 4 travel . various constructions of this kind are known from the prior art , so that this aspect need not be addressed in further detail . the arrows 8 indicate the direction of motion of the conveyor belts 3 and 4 . it is apparent that the conveyor belt 3 is moving along a path of motion 9 which has a rectilinear course . within the first segment 5 , the conveyor belt 4 likewise extends along a straight path parallel to the path of motion 9 of the conveyor belt 3 . in a second segment 10 , the conveyor belt 3 traverses a looping path 11 ; that is , the products 7 resting thereon execute a loop - the - loop motion wherein , upon arriving from the direction of the conveyor path 9 , they first rise and assume an upside down position in which they move counter to the motion of the path of motion and then , upon leaving the upside down position , they execute a downward motion . because the conveyor belt 4 in segment 10 has a continuous lateral offset , so that at the end of the looping path 11 it is congruent with and above the conveyor belt 3 , the products 6 and 7 are transferred to coinciding positions ; this means that they are located in congruent fashion , one above the other , in a third segment 12 adjoining the second segment 10 , and their folds are likewise congruently one above the other . by suitable means , the conveyor belt 4 which remains located between the products 6 and 7 in the third segment 12 is then removed , so that the products 6 and 7 are stacked directly on one another . if the conveyor belt 4 is realized as two thin belts located in the side regions of the products , this conveyor belt 4 can be removed by spreading apart the belts , thus releasing the product 7 . alternatively , it is also possible , for example , to reverse the conveyor belt 4 around a deflection roller , so that the product 7 slides downward from the belt and rests in congruent fashion on the product 6 . in fig2 a flapping - motion version is presented , which means that the products 6 and 7 are placed one on the other by a flapping motion . in principle , the same remarks made hereinabove regarding the exemplary embodiment of fig1 apply to this exemplary embodiment as well . however , the distinction exists that the two conveyor belts 3 and 4 , in the region where the copies are transferred , extend parallel and rectilinearly to one another in a side by side arrangement . while the product 6 remains lying on the conveyor belt 3 with its position unchanged , the product 7 is folded about a side edge extending in the direction of the path of motion 9 , by suitable means , such as a slide way , not shown , or moving conveyor means . a 180 ° flapping or hinged motion occurs so that the two products 6 and 7 rest on one another in congruent fashion . the cross - fold of the two products 6 and 7 is located either at the leading edge or the trailing edge of these products , which assures that the folds rest on one another after the flapping motion , as well . in the course of the flapping motion , assurance must be provided that the product 7 is moved far enough towards the product 6 that the side edges of the two products 6 and 7 coincide . the possibility exists , for example , of forming a transverse groove , in particular with a concave bottom , on the transfer device in the region of the opposed side edges of the products 6 and 7 ; the two side edges of the two products 6 and 7 enter this groove and as a result slide together and meet one another . the result is that a clean , congruent stacked position is attained . alternatively , it is possible for the product 6 to be folded as well ( not shown ), for example , for both products 6 and 7 each to be erected by a 90 ° motion , whereupon in this erected position they face one another in congruent fashion . thereafter , in the course of further transport or conveyance , the two products are folded or flapped together jointly , preferably through 90 °, in order to place them in a horizontal lying position . in the exemplary embodiment of fig3 a double inversion or turning action is explained . once again , the comments regarding the exemplary embodiments of fig1 and 2 apply accordingly wherever features which are in common with all of the embodiments exist . as in the exemplary embodiment of fig1 the conveyor belt 3 extends unchanged along a rectilinear path of motion 9 . in a first segment 13 , the conveyor belt 14 extends parallel to the conveyor belt 3 , in a side by side arrangement . a second segment 14 then follows , in which a double inversion or turning motion is carried out . in a third segment 15 , the conveyor belt 4 extends above and congruent with the conveyor belt 3 . further details of the double inversion or turning motion is offered hereinafter . located above the conveyor belt 4 in the second segment 14 is an inversion or turning bar 16 , which extends obliquely at an angle to the direction of the path of motion 9 . a second inversion or turning bar 18 , which extends parallel to the inversion bar 16 , is located above the conveyor belt 3 , likewise in the second segment 4 . the conveyor belt 4 , coming from below , wraps around the first inversion bar 16 and is thereby deflected transversely , preferably at an angle of 90 °, to the path of motion 9 . this takes place in a plane that is located higher than the level of the conveyor belts 3 and 4 in the region 13 . next , the conveyor belt 4 is then guided about the second inversion bar 18 in such a way that , once again , a 90 ° deflection takes place ; that is , the conveyor belt 4 is deflected downwardly and simultaneously back again in the direction of the path of motion 9 , so that the two conveyor belts 3 and 4 are located one above the other in congruent fashion . because of the oblique inversion or turning bars 16 and 18 , the direction of motion of the conveyor belt 4 is changed , preferably by 90 °, each time . at the same time , however , two 180 ° inversions of the belt 4 itself take place ; that is , the products 7 located on the belt 4 are inverted by 180 ° at each inversion bar 16 and 18 , so that a total motion of 360 ° occurs . the result is that the products 7 have the same position in the third segment 15 as in the first segment 13 , but are now located above and congruent with the products 6 . in the course of the further motion , the products 6 and 7 are then stacked on one another and can then be delivered jointly to a longitudinal folder . if the individual products 6 and 7 , respectively , follow one another too closely on the conveyor belts 3 and 4 , it is then possible for every other product arriving from the cross - folder to be diverted by a suitable shunt , and in this way for a further system to be created in which the two products 6 and 8 move side by side at half the frequency . in such a case , also , suitable provisions for bringing the products together should be made , in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of fig1 or 3 . the foregoing is a description corresponding in substance to german application p 43 32 516 . 5 , dated sep . 24 , 1993 , the international priority of which is being claimed for the instant application , and which is hereby made part of this application . any material discrepancies between the foregoing specification and the aforementioned corresponding german application are to be resolved in favor of the latter . | 1 |
one embodiment of the present invention is based on the use , as an associative monomer , of a compound the structure of which satisfies the following formula ( i ): m and n are integers of less than 150 , at least one of which is non - zero , a and b designate alkyl groups which are different one from another , and having 2 to 4 carbon atoms , where group ao preferentially designates ethylene oxide , and group bo preferentially designates propylene oxide , r designates a linear or branched alkyl group containing 8 to 20 carbon atoms , and preferentially a linear alkyl group having 9 to 12 carbon atoms . such compounds have been identified as surfactants , and can be obtained by alkoxylation of an alkyl phenol and hydrogenation of the product obtained . reference may notably be made to the document u . s . pat . no . 6 , 111 , 146 which describes their synthesis . the resulting compounds are designated by the expression “ alkyl cyclohexanol alkoxylates ”. it is important to add that the final structure is not that of an alkyl phenol , and that the resulting product will not be categorized as such . the associative thickening agents which result from the polymerization of this monomer of formula ( i ), of at least one polylakylene glycol and at least one polyisocyanate , have no alkyl phenols ; in an unexpected and particularly advantageous manner , they enable a water - based paint to be thickened to a level of viscosity at least equal to that provided by heurs of the prior art containing alkyl phenols . it is even demonstrated that it is possible to obtain for the invention a rheological profile similar to that proposed by the products of the state of the art for alkyl phenols . a product has therefore successfully been developed which is at least equivalent , and which overcomes the problem relating to the use of alkyl phenols . thus , another object of the invention are hydrosoluble polyurethanes containing the following monomers : a ) of at least one polyalkylene glycol , and b ) of at least one polyisocyanate , and c ) of at least one monomer of formula ( i ) m and n are integers of less than 150 , at least one of which is non - zero , a and b designate alkyl groups which are different one from another , and having 2 to 4 carbon atoms , where group ao preferentially designates ethylene oxide , and group bo preferentially designates propylene oxide , r designates an alkyl group , whether linear or branched , containing 8 to 20 carbon atoms , and preferentially a linear alkyl group having 9 to 12 carbon atoms . when a polymer like the hydrosoluble polyurethanes above are referred to as containing a monomer or monomers , one of skill in the art understands that the monomer ( s ) is ( are ) present in the polymer in their polymerized form . however , for ease of reference the phrase containing the ( respective ) monomer or the like is used as shorthand . “ polyalkylene glycol ” is understood to mean a polymer of an alkylene glycol derived from an olefinic oxide . the polyalkylene glycol according to the present invention is , for example , polyethylene glycol , polypropylene glycol , polybutylene glycol or a polyalkylene glycol containing a proportion of an ethylene - oxy group and / or a proportion of a propylene - oxy group and / or a proportion of a butylene - oxy group . the polyalkylene glycol according to the present invention can , for example , include a dominant proportion of an ethylene - oxy group in association with a secondary proportion of a propylene - oxy group . specific examples of alkylene glycol polymers include : polyalkylene glycols having an average molecular weight of 1 , 000 , 4 , 000 , 6 , 000 , 10 , 000 and 20 , 000 g / mol ( in the case of polyethylene glycol called peg - 1000 , peg - 4000 , peg - 6000 , peg 10000 and peg 20000 ); polyethylene polypropylene glycols having a percentage of ethylene oxide of between 20 and 80 % by weight and a percentage of propylene oxide of between 20 and 80 % by weight . “ polyisocyanate ” is understood to mean a compound which includes at least 2 functional isocyanate groups — n ═ c ═ o . the manufacture of these polyurethanes , which belong to the family of heur - type thickening agents , is within the skill of the skilled man in the art , who can refer to the teaching of the documents cited above as the technological background of the present invention . according to one embodiment of the present invention , these polyurethanes result from the condensation of , expressed as a % by weight of each of the monomers , where the sum of these %&# 39 ; s is equal to 100 %: a ) 75 % to 99 . 5 % of at least one polyalkylene glycol , b ) 0 . 5 % to 10 % of at least one polyisocyanate and c ) 15 % to 99 . 5 % of at least one monomer of formula ( i ). according to one embodiment of the present invention , the polylakylene glycol constituting the polyurethane is polyethylene glycol , according to another embodiment of the present invention , this is a polyethylene glycol of molecular mass of between 2 , 000 g / mole and 20 , 000 g / mole , for example between 8 , 000 g / mole and 15 , 000 g / mole , or for example between 8 , 000 g / mole and 12 , 000 g / mole . according to one embodiment , the polyisocyanate constituting the polyurethane according to the invention is chosen from among toluene diisocyanate and its dimers and trimers , 1 , 4 - butane diisocyanate , 1 , 6 - hexane diisocyanate , isophorone diisocyanate , 1 , 3 - and 1 , 4 - cyclohexane diisocyanate , 4 , 4 ′ diisocyanatodicyclohexylmethane , 1 - methyl - 2 , 4 - diisocyanatocyclohexane and its blend with 1 - methyl - 2 , 6 - diisocyanatocyclohexane , the biuret of hexamethylene diisocyanate and its dimers and trimers and their blends . another object of the present invention are aqueous compositions containing water , at least one polyurethane according to the invention , together with at least one surfactant , and possibly at least one additive chosen from among a biocide , a solvent , an anti - foaming agent , a ph regulator , a coalescence agent , or their blends . a “ biocide ” is understood to mean a chemical substance intended to destroy , repel or make harmless harmful organisms , to prevent their action , or to oppose them in any other manner , through a chemical or biological action . a “ surfactant ” or “ surfactant agent ” is understood to mean a non - ionic molecule consisting of at least a hydrophilic part and of at least a hydrophobic part . an “ anti - foaming agent ” is understood to mean a substance or a formulation intended to destroy air bubbles within a homogenous or heterogeneous liquid medium ( or at its surface ), or to prevent their formation . a “ ph regulator ” or “ ph regulating agent ” is understood to mean a chemical compound which enables the ph to be adjusted to the expected value . for example , the ph regulating agent can increase the ph ; this is the case with bases , such as naoh . alternatively , the ph regulating agent can reduce the ph ; this is the case with acids . a “ coalescent agent ” is understood to mean an agent used in paints which enables the minimum film formation temperature ( mfft ) of paint to be reduced to a temperature suitable for the desired condition ( s ) of application ( for example a tmff of 5 ° c . for outside application ). as an example of a coalescent agent according to the invention , propylene glycol , butyl glycol , 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethyl - 1 , 3 - pentanediol monoisobutyrate or 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethyl - 1 , 3 - pentanediol diisobutyrate may be cited . according to one embodiment , the aqueous compositions of the invention contain , expressed as a % by weight of each of their constituents , where the sum of these % s is preferably equal to 100 %: 1 ) 5 % to 45 % of at least one polyurethane according to the invention , 2 ) 5 % to 30 % of at least one surfactant , 3 ) 25 % to 75 % of water , 4 ) 0 to 5 % of at least one additive chosen from among a biocide , a solvent , an anti - foaming agent , a ph regulator , a coalescence agent and their blends . another object of the present invention consists in the use of the said polyurethanes and of the said compositions , as thickening agents in aqueous formulations , where the said formulations are for example chosen from among water - based paints , lacquers , varnishes , paper coatings , cosmetic formulations and detergent formulations . another object of the present invention lies in the aqueous formulations containing the thickening agents or polyurethanes and the compositions according to the invention , where the said formulations are for example chosen from among water - based paints , lacquers , varnishes , paper coatings , cosmetic formulations and detergent formulations . a final object of the present invention consists of a method for preparing a polyurethane according to the invention , consisting of a condensation of its different constituents . the following examples enable the invention to be better understood , without however limiting its scope . this example illustrates the manufacture of a water - based paint , in which a thickening agent of the prior art containing an alkyl phenol having 15 carbon atoms and a thickening agent according to the invention , the r group of which is a linear alkyl chain having 9 carbon atoms , are used : the corresponding hydrophobic group therefore contains 15 carbon atoms in this case . this test illustrates the prior art . this corresponds to the use of an aqueous composition with 17 . 5 % by dry weight of a polymer containing grafted alkyl phenols , which is acrysol ™ sct - 275 sold by the company dow ™. this test illustrates the prior art . this corresponds to the use of an aqueous composition containing 17 . 5 % by dry weight of a polymer consisting of , expressed as a % by weight of each of its monomers : a ) 75 % of polyethylene glycol of molecular mass by weight equal to 10 , 000 g / mole , b ) 5 % of isophorone diisocyanate , c ) 15 % by weight of a monomer of formula ho —( oe ) n - r where oe is ethylene oxide , n is equal to 25 and r is the alkyl phenol group having 15 carbon atoms . this test illustrates the invention . this corresponds to the use of an aqueous composition containing 17 . 5 % by dry weight of a polymer consisting of , expressed as a % by weight of each of its monomers : a ) 75 % of polyethylene glycol of molecular mass by weight equal to 10 , 000 g / mole , b ) 5 % of isophorone diisocyanate , c ) 15 % by weight of a monomer of the following formula where m = 0 and n = 25 and r designates the linear alkyl group having 9 carbon atoms . in each of the tests no . 1 to 3 , 70 . 6 grams of mowilith ™ ldm 1871 , 193 . 8 grams of bipermuted water and 32 grams of the composition to be tested are introduced into the beaker . the ph is adjusted by using ammonia ( 28 %) to a value of between 8 . 6 and 8 . 9 . at 25 ° c ., the brookfield ™ viscosity at 10 and 100 revolutions per minute ( μ bk10 and μ bk100 ) and the stormer ™ viscosity ( μ s ) of the paint are measured . m and n are integers of less than 150 , at least one of which is non - zero , a and b designate alkyl groups which are different one from another , and having 2 to 4 carbon atoms . r designates a linear or branched alkyl group containing 8 to 20 carbon atoms . 2 — a polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , wherein the ao group designates ethylene oxide , and the bo group designates propylene oxide . 3 — a polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , wherein r designates a linear alkyl group having 9 to 12 carbon atoms . 4 — a polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , wherein the polyalkylene glycol is polyethylene glycol . 5 — a polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , wherein the polyalkylene glycol is a polyethylene glycol of molecular mass by weight of between 2 , 000 g / mol and 20 , 000 g / mol . 6 — a polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , wherein the polyalkylene glycol is a polyethylene glycol of molecular mass by weight of between 8 , 000 g / mol and 15 , 000 g / mol . 7 — a polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , wherein the polyisocyanate is selected from the group consisting of toluene diisocyanate and its dimers and trimers , 1 , 4 - butane diisocyanate , 1 , 6 - hexane diisocyanate , isophorone diisocyanate , 1 , 3 - and 1 , 4 - cyclohexane diisocyanate , 4 , 4 ′ diisocyanatodicyclohexylmethane , 1 - methyl - 2 , 4 - diisocyanatocyclohexane and its blend with 1 - methyl - 2 , 6 - diisocyanatocyclohexane , the biuret of hexamethylene diisocyanate and its dimers and trimers , and mixtures thereof . 8 — a polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , wherein the hydrosoluble polyurethane does not comprise an alkyl phenol . 9 — an aqueous composition comprising water , a hydrosoluble polyurethane according to embodiment 1 , and a surfactant . 10 — an aqueous composition according to embodiment 9 , further comprising an additive selected from the group consisting of a biocide , a solvent , an anti - foaming agent , a ph regulator , a coalescence agent , and mixtures thereof . 11 — a composition according to embodiment 9 , comprising , expressed as a % by weight of each of its constituents , where the sum of these % s is equal to 100 %: 1 ) 5 % to 45 % of said polyurethane , 2 ) 5 % to 30 % of said surfactant , 3 ) 25 % to 75 % of water , and 4 ) 0 to 5 % of at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a biocide , a solvent , an anti - foaming agent , a ph regulator , a coalescence agent , and mixtures thereof . 12 — a method for thickening an aqueous formulation , comprising incorporating the hydrosoluble polyurethane of embodiment 1 in said aqueous formulation . 13 — the method according to embodiment 12 , wherein aqueous formulation is selected from the group consisting of water - based paints , lacquers , varnishes , paper coatings , cosmetic formulations and detergent formulations . 15 — a method for preparing a hydrosoluble polyurethane of embodiment 1 , comprising condensing a ), b ), and c ). as used herein the terms composed of , contains , containing , and terms similar thereto , when referring to the ingredients , parts , reactants , etc ., of a composition , component , etc ., to method steps , etc ., mean , in their broadest sense , “ includes at least ” ( i . e ., comprises ) but also include within their definition all those gradually restricted meanings until and including the point where only the enumerated materials or steps are included ( e . g ., consisting essentially of and consisting of ). the above written description of the invention provides a manner and process of making and using it such that any person skilled in this art is enabled to make and use the same , this enablement being provided in particular for the subject matter of the appended claims , which make up a part of the original description . as used herein , the phrases “ selected from the group consisting of ,” “ chosen from ,” and the like include mixtures of the specified materials . the term “ mentioned ” notes exemplary embodiments , and is not limiting to certain species . as used herein the words “ a ” and “ an ” and the like carry the meaning of “ one or more .” all references , patents , applications , tests , standards , documents , publications , brochures , texts , articles , etc . mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference . where a numerical limit or range is stated , the endpoints are included . also , all values and subranges within a numerical limit or range are specifically included as if explicitly written out . the above description is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention , and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements . various modifications to the preferred embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . thus , this invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown , but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein . in this regard , certain embodiments within the invention may not show every benefit of the invention , considered broadly . | 2 |
referring now to the drawings and to fig1 and 2 , in particular , an upright water extraction cleaning machine 12 is shown which comprises a base assembly 14 , an upper housing 16 pivotally mounted to the base assembly 14 , a handle 18 extending upwardly from the upper housing 16 , and a tank assembly 20 mounted to and supported by both the handle 18 and upper housing 16 . the base assembly 14 comprises a foot or base member 24 , a pair of rear wheels 26 , 28 mounted to the rear of the foot member 24 , and a recovery tank 30 removably supported on the foot member 24 . a pair of over - center latches 32 are provided , one on each side of the foot member 24 , and are adapted to cooperate with a pair of projections 34 ( fig1 ), one provided on each side of the recovery tank sidewall for locking the recovery tank 30 to the foot member 24 . a handle 36 is pivotally mounted to the recovery tank 30 for carrying the tank . as described further below , the tank assembly 20 comprises a clean water tank 42 and a detergent tank 44 which nests inside the front surface of the clean water tank 42 . a pair of over - center latches 46 are provided , one on each side of the sidewall of the upper housing 16 . the latches 46 are adapted to cooperate with a pair of projections 48 ( fig5 ), one of which is provided on each of the sidewalls of the clean water tank 42 , for locking the tank assembly 20 to the upper housing 16 and handle 18 . an accessory hose storage rack 50 is mounted to the rear surfaces of the handle 18 and upper housing 16 . the rack 50 includes an upper portion 51 and a lower portion 53 and is adapted to support and store an accessory hose 52 when the hose is not in use . an accessory hose mounting member 62 is mounted on one end of the hose 52 and is received in a c - shaped clip 66 provided on the upper end of the rack 50 . the flexible body of the hose 52 is wrapped around the upper and lower portions 51 , 53 of the storage rack 50 . a grip tube 64 is mounted on the other end of the hose 52 and is snapped into the c - shaped clip 66 integrally molded into the rack 50 . in this position , the entire length of the accessory hose 52 is supported on the rack 50 and is easily transported with and stored on the cleaning machine 12 . preferably , the accessory hose 52 remains on the rack at all times , except when the hose 52 is in use . a double c - shaped clip 67 ( fig2 ) can be provided at one or more locations to clamp adjacent portions of the hose 52 together when the hose is stored on the machine . the double c - shaped clip 67 can be removed from the hose when the hose is unwrapped for use . the grip tube 64 of the accessory hose 52 is adapted to receive cleaning tools such as the upholstery tool 68 shown in fig1 and 2 . however , any number of a variety of cleaning tools can be received on the grip tube 64 such as a crevice spray tool as seen in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 574 , 769 which is expressly incorporated herein by reference or , alternatively , a window washing tool as seen in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 683 , 608 which is also expressly incorporated herein by reference . a closed loop grip 58 is provided at the terminal end of the handle 18 and a trigger 60 is pivotally mounted to the handle 18 inside the closed loop grip 58 . as described further below , the trigger 60 is used to control the distribution of cleaning solution from the base assembly 14 . a releasable latch 40 is mounted to the base assembly 14 and is adapted to retain the handle 18 and upper housing 16 in the upright , stored position as seen in fig1 and 2 . the handle 18 can be tilted rearwardly by grasping the handle 18 and depressing the latch 40 relative to the base assembly 14 . with the latch 40 depressed , the handle is then tilted rearwardly with respect to the base assembly 14 . a three - position electrical switch 54 is mounted to the rear of the handle 18 . the three positions of the switch are as follows : ( a ) all systems off , ( b ) the “ pre - treat ” position in which both the cleaning solution pump and agitation brush are on but the vacuum motor is turned off , and ( c ) the “ cleaning position ” in which the vacuum motor , agitation brush , and cleaning solution pump are all on . an electrical cord 56 extends outwardly from the upper housing 16 and is electrically connected to the three - position switch 54 . a pair of opposed cord wraps 70 , 72 are provided on the upper and lower portions 51 , 53 of the storage rack 50 for containing the electrical cord 56 when the machine 12 is not in use . a large number of the operative components of the machine 12 are mounted to or provided inside the upper housing 16 and handle 18 . as noted previously , the tank assembly 20 is supported on the handle 18 and upper housing 16 . a vacuum motor 74 and impeller fan 76 are mounted in the round , bulbous lower portion of the upper housing 16 . the upper portion of the upper housing supports a large number of components of the water distribution system such as the solution pump mixing valve which will be described in greater detail , below . [ 0047 ] fig3 shows the pivot mounting and locking assembly of the upper housing 16 to the base assembly 14 . in this side - elevational view , the wheel 26 is shown in phantom lines to reveal the pivot mounting and locking assembly of these two elements . the pivot mounting itself is identical for both the right and left sides of the upper housing 16 , and therefore , only the left side will be described in detail . the foot or base member 24 includes an upwardly extending rear support member 80 with a semi - circular bearing surface 82 integrally formed therein . a substantially circular boss 84 extends outwardly from the sidewall 86 of the upper housing 16 and is adapted to be received in the bearing surface 82 . a retention member 88 having an integrally molded substantially semi - circular bearing surface 90 formed therein is adapted to be secured to the top surface of the support member 80 , thereby capturing the outwardly extending boss 84 of the upper housing 16 between the opposed semi - circular bearing surfaces 82 , 90 . the a projection 92 formed on the retention member 88 fits within a groove of the foot member 24 . the rear portion 89 of the retention member can be secured to the foot member 24 through a screw - type fastener 91 passing through the projection 92 and into the foot member 24 . a front portion 96 of the retention member 88 has a pair of tabs 102 ( only one of which is shown ) extending downwardly therefrom . a free end of each tab 102 includes a barb 104 that snaps within a corresponding groove ( not shown ) in the foot member 24 to secure the front portion 96 of the retention member 88 to the foot 24 . referring now to fig3 and 3a , a locking assembly 105 is preferably located on the left side of the cleaning machine 12 , although it is to be understood that the locking mechanism can alternatively or in addition be arranged on the right side . the locking assembly 105 includes a foot engagement section 107 and a stem 109 formed integrally with the foot engagement section 107 . a pivot pin 101 extends through a tab 111 on the retention member 88 and the stem 109 to pivotally attach the foot engagement section 107 to the base member 24 . a flat spring 113 is integrally formed with the stem 109 with a free end 127 thereof abutting an upper surface of the retention member rear portion 89 . the spring 113 biases the foot engagement section 107 toward the front portion 96 . a locking extension 115 includes a flat locking surface 117 and a bearing surface 119 . the base member 24 includes a semi - cylindrical laterally extending protrusion 125 which is located on the side wall 86 with a flat locking surface 121 and a curved bearing surface 123 . in the normally upright position , as shown in fig3 the flat locking surfaces 117 , 121 abut each other or are in close proximity to each other . if a user attempts to rotate the handle 18 with respect to the foot member 24 , the locking surfaces 117 , 121 engage and prevent relative rotation of the handle and foot member . when the foot engagement portion 107 is depressed , as shown in phantom line , the locking extension 115 rotates away from the protrusion 125 until the locking surfaces are no longer in facing relationship . in this position , the handle 18 can be rotated with respect to the base member 24 . when the handle is rotated to the upright position , the bearing surface 119 engages the bearing surface 123 to rotate the foot engagement portion 107 against the bias of spring 113 until the locking extension 115 is clear of the protrusion 125 and the locking surfaces 117 , 121 are again in facing relationship . as described further below in relation to fig9 the preferred embodiment of the cleaning machine 12 incorporates a rotatably mounted agitation brush which receives the force of rotation from a brush motor mounted to the foot member 24 . in any position other than the off position for the switch 54 , electrical current is supplied to the brush motor for rotating the agitation brush . however , when the accessory hose 52 is being utilized , or when the handle 18 is merely in the upright position and the switch is in either the pretreat or cleaning position , it is undesirable to permit continued rotation of the agitation brush . therefore , an interrupt switch 98 is provided in the electrical circuit between the brush motor and the source of electricity . the switch 98 is mounted to the foot member 24 and adapted to cooperate with a projection 100 extending outwardly from the front , bottom surface of the upper housing 16 . in the position as shown in fig3 the projection 100 bears against the switch 98 , thereby opening the electrical circuit between the source of electricity and the agitation brush . therefore , the brush will not rotate , regardless of the position of the three - position switch 54 . upon rearward titling movement of the handle 18 and upper housing 16 relative to the base assembly 14 , the projection 100 will pivot out of contact with the interrupt switch 98 mounted on the foot member 24 . once the projection 100 has moved out of contact with the switch 98 , then the switch 98 will assume a closed position and complete the circuit between the source of electricity and the brush motor , assuming that the three - position electrical switch 54 is in any position other than off . alternatively , the relative position of the switch and projection can be reversed so that the switch is mounted on the upper housing and selectively contacts a projection mounted on the foot member 24 . instead of the projection 100 , a spring and biased pin can be mounted to the upper housing or foot member 24 in order to provide additional travel for actuating the switch 98 . when the pin is mounted to the foot member , the switch is preferably mounted to the upper housing . in an alternative arrangement , the switch 98 can be replaced by an on / off switch that is mounted at a convenient location on the cleaning machine 12 for actuation by a user . with the upper housing 16 and handle 18 pivotally mounted to the base assembly 14 , the water extraction cleaning machine can be used in a manner similar to an upright vacuum cleaning machine . in other words , the operator can grasp the closed loop grip 58 and manipulate the base assembly 14 forward and backward over the surface being cleaned . with reference now to fig3 b , a pivot mounting and locking assembly 105 ′ according to a second embodiment is illustrated , wherein like parts in the previous embodiment are represented by like numerals . as with the assembly 105 , the assembly 105 ′ is preferably located on the left side of the cleaning machine 12 , although it is to be understood that the locking mechanism can alternatively or in addition be arranged on the right side . the locking assembly 105 ′ includes a foot engagement section 107 ′ and a stem 109 ′ formed integrally with the foot engagement section 107 ′. as in the previous embodiment , a pivot pin 101 extends through a tab 111 on the retention member 88 and the stem 109 ′ to pivotally attach the foot engagement section 107 ′ to the base member 24 . a flat spring 113 ′ is integrally formed with the stem 109 ′ with a free end 127 ′ thereof abutting an upper surface of the retention member rear portion 89 . the spring 113 ′ biases the foot engagement section 107 ′ toward the front portion 96 . a lever arm 115 ′ is integrally molded with , or otherwise rigidly attached to the stem 109 ′ and extends outwardly and downwardly therefrom . a pin 155 projects from the outer free end 157 of the lever arm 115 ′ and rides in a slot 159 of a locking plate 161 . the locking plate 161 is pivotally attached to the base member 24 through a pivot pin 163 and includes a hook - shaped locking portion 165 with an inner hook surface 169 . the base member 24 includes a cylindrical laterally extending protrusion 125 ′ which is located on the side wall 86 . in the normally upright position , as shown in fig3 b , the inner hook surface contacts an outer surface of the protrusion 125 ′ to prevent relative rotation of the handle and foot member . when the foot engagement portion 107 ′ is depressed , as shown in phantom line , the pin 155 rides in the slot 159 of the locking plate 161 and forces the locking plate to pivot in a direction opposite to the pivoting direction of the foot engagement portion 107 ′. the hook - shaped locking portion 165 rotates away from the protrusion 125 ′ until it is clear of the protrusion . in this position , the handle 18 can be rotated with respect to the base member 24 . the locking plate then rotates to its original position under bias from the spring 113 ′. when the handle is rotated to the upright position , the inner surface 169 catches the protrusion 125 ′ and forces the plate ( and foot engagement portion ) to rotate against the bias of the spring 113 ′ until the protrusion 125 ′ is seated in the hook - shaped locking portion 165 . [ 0056 ] fig4 is a schematic representation of the cleaning solution distribution system for the preferred embodiment of the cleaning machine . generally , clean water and detergent are drawn from the respective tanks 42 , 44 to a mixing valve 110 through the operation of a pump 112 . the pump 112 then conducts the pressurized cleaning solution to spray nozzles 114 provided on the base assembly 14 or to the trigger valve 108 of the accessory hose 52 through an accessory hose solution tube mounting 116 provided on the front wall of the upper housing 16 and an accessory hose tube connector 106 mounted on the end of the hose 52 opposite the cleaning tool 68 . turning now to the specific structure of the cleaning solution distribution system , as seen in fig4 - 6 , both the clean water tank 42 and the detergent tank 44 include one - way valve mechanisms 122 on the bottom surfaces thereof which cooperate with tank seat assemblies 150 provided on the upper surface of the upper housing 16 to control the flow of fluid from the tank to the other components of the distribution system . the structure of the one - way valves 122 and tank seat assemblies 150 is identical , and therefore , only the structure of the clean tank valve 122 and seat assembly 150 will be described in detail . the bottom wall of the clean tank 42 has a downwardly extending threaded boss 118 with an aperture extending therethrough . a threaded cap 120 is rotatably received on the boss 118 , and mounts a one - way valve member 122 enclosing the aperture of the boss . the valve member 122 comprises a hollow valve body 124 having a downwardly extending connector boss 126 with a fluid flow aperture 128 extending therethrough . a flexible rubber seal 130 fits around the boss 126 and is adapted to engage an inner surface 151 of the tank seat assembly 150 when the valve member is installed thereon . a gasket 132 , a release rod or plunger 138 and a compression spring 136 are located within the valve body 124 and held in position by a spring housing 134 . a lower end of the spring housing 134 can be securely attached to the inside of the hollow valve body through ultrasonic welding , adhesives , or other well known means . the spring housing 134 preferably has a plurality of apertures 144 to permit the flow of fluid from the tank therethrough . a screen 146 is attached to an upper end 148 of the spring housing 134 to filter out large particles of foreign material that may be present in the fluid . an outer shoulder 145 on the valve body receives an annular gasket 147 that seals around the lower edge of the boss 118 of each tank . the release rod 138 has an annular flange 140 that seats against the gasket 132 under a biasing force from the spring 136 to prevent the flow of fluid from the tank when it is separated from the tank seat assembly 150 . preferably , the bottom of the release rod 158 is flush with the bottom of the connector boss 126 , or slightly thereabove to prevent inadvertent valve opening when the tank is placed right side up on a surface . the tank seat assembly 150 comprises a seat member 152 having a substantially circular flange 154 extending upwardly and downwardly from a base plate 156 . a central projection 158 extends upwardly from the base plate 156 , and a plurality of fluid apertures 160 are formed in the base plate 156 intermediate the central projection 158 and the circular flange 154 . a reservoir 162 is mounted to the seat member 152 beneath the fluid apertures 160 , and a conventional hose mounting 164 extends outwardly from the reservoir 162 . a conventional hose 166 is mounted to the hose mounting 164 and fluidly connects the reservoir to the mixing valve 1 10 which is then fluidly connected to the pump 112 . the preferred embodiment of the seat assembly 150 also includes a one - way umbrella valve 167 to prevent the back flow of solution from the reservoir 162 past the base plate 156 , which may occur when the liquid level in one supply tank is higher than the liquid level in the other supply tank . the one - way valve comprises an elastomeric umbrella valve member 168 having a central stem 170 extending from one side thereof which is received in an appropriate aperture 172 of a support disc 174 . the disc 174 is supported in a suitable recess 176 provided in the seat member 152 . the disc 174 has a plurality of flow apertures 178 provided therein , all of which are adapted to be covered by the umbrella valve 168 . when either positive fluid pressure is exerted on to the top surface of the umbrella valve 168 , or negative fluid pressure is created in the reservoir 162 positioned beneath the valve member 168 , then the outer radius of the body of the umbrella valve 168 will deflect downwardly to permit the flow of fluid from the seat member 152 to the reservoir 162 . as described further below , the tanks are received on the handle 18 and upper housing 16 by vertical movement of the tank assembly 20 with respect to the upper housing 16 . eventually , the one - way valves 122 of the tanks will be telescopically received inside the tank seat assemblies 150 so that the central projection 158 extends upwardly through the boss 126 of the one - way valve a sufficient distance to dislodge the rod 138 from the aperture 128 , thereby permitting the flow of fluid through the one - way valve and into the tank seat assembly 150 . when the tank is lifted vertically with respect to the upper housing 16 , the central projection 158 will be telescopically removed from the aperture 128 , and the spring 136 will bias the rod 138 of the one - way valve back into sealing position to prevent the inadvertent flow of fluid through the one - way valve . the tank assembly 20 is configured for easy refilling of the tanks and securing the tanks to the upper housing 16 and handle 18 . the clean water tank 42 has an integrally molded carrying handle 184 and a cap 186 closing a fill opening aperture 188 formed on the top wall of the tank . a protrusion 187 is integrally molded with the bottom of the clean water tank and fits within a corresponding depression ( not shown ) in the upper housing 16 . the outer wall of the protrusion facilitates alignment of the tank assembly 20 with the upper housing 16 . the inner volume of the protrusion can be filled with detergent that will be mixed in a predetermined ratio when the tank 42 is subsequently filled with water , in the event that the detergent tank 44 and mixing valve are not used . the cap 186 can be quickly and easily removed for filling the tank 42 with clean water . as noted above , the clean water is discharged through the boss 126 and one - way valve mechanism 122 provided on the bottom wall of the clean water tank 42 . a vent opening 182 extends through the upper wall of the tank 42 to allow entry of air when water is removed from the tank from the valve mechanism 122 . if the plunger 138 becomes stuck during operation , the vent opening 182 prevents siphoning if liquid should leak past the plunger . the detergent tank 44 nests into a recess 190 accessible through the front wall 192 of the clean water tank 42 . preferably , the recess 190 is formed in the front , bottom edge of the clean water tank and is defined by a pair of opposed sidewalls 194 , a rear wall 196 , and a top wall 198 . a pair of substantially horizontal projections 200 are provided on the sidewalls 194 of the recess 190 . these projections 200 are adapted to cooperate with a pair of substantially complimentary grooves 202 formed in the sidewalls 204 of the detergent tank 44 for mounting the tanks to one another . the detergent tank 44 is removed from the clean water tank 42 by sliding the detergent tank 44 forward , parallel to the axis of the projections 200 and grooves 202 , until the detergent tank 44 is removed from the recess 190 . the detergent tank 44 must be refilled by unscrewing the cap 120 of the one - way valve assembly and removing the valve member 122 to permit refilling of the tank 44 through the boss aperture . the detergent tank 44 has an umbrella valve 203 ( fig5 ) that fits within a venting aperture 205 on the tank 44 to prevent fluid leakage when the tank is inverted for refilling . the umbrella valve 203 is preferably similar in construction to the one - way umbrella valve 167 in fig6 . once the tank 44 has been refilled , the one - way valve member 122 and cap 120 are replaced , the tank 44 is inverted , and then slid into the recess 190 of the clean water tank 42 . as noted briefly above , the tank assembly 20 is preferably slidably mounted to the handle 18 . the rear wall of the clean water tank 42 includes a u - shaped groove 210 which is substantially complementary to the front portion of the handle 18 . the groove 210 is defined by a pair of opposed sidewalls 212 and a front wall 214 . the sidewalls 212 include a pair of linear grooves 216 which are complementary to a pair of linear projections 218 formed on sidewalls 220 of the handle 18 . the handle projections 218 extend only a portion of the length of the handle 18 . the tank assembly 20 is slidably received on the handle 18 by positioning the tank assembly 20 vertically above the upper housing 16 so that the projections 218 and grooves 216 are aligned with one another . then the tank assembly 20 is lowered so that the tank assembly 20 is slidably received on the handle 18 and the grooves 216 receive the projections 218 . the tank assembly 20 is fully received on the handle 18 when the one - way valve assemblies of the tanks 20 engage the seat assemblies 150 provided on the top wall of the upper housing 16 . the tank seat assemblies 150 are not rigidly mounted horizontally in order to allow alignment of the two tank outlets , which would otherwise cause leaks . once the tank assembly is in this position , the latches 46 can then be pivoted onto the projections 48 for locking the tank assembly 20 to the handle 18 and upper housing 16 . returning to the solution flow schematic diagram seen in fig4 the mixing valve 110 is positioned intermediate the tank seat assemblies 150 and the solution pump 112 . preferably , the mixing valve is a variable mixing valve 110 to accommodate differing mixtures of detergent and clean water . as seen in fig4 , and 8 , the variable mixing valve 110 comprises a valve body 230 having a clean water inlet 232 which is fluidly connected to the clean water tank seat assembly 150 by the hose 166 and a detergent inlet 236 which is fluidly connected to the detergent tank seat assembly 150 by a hose 238 . a solution outlet 240 is also formed on the valve body 230 and is adapted to conduct the clean water and detergent mixture from the mixing valve 110 to the pump 112 through a hose 242 . the valve body is formed from an end cap 244 , a central body portion 246 , and an end inlet member 248 mounted to the end of the central body portion 246 opposite the end cap 244 . a plunger 250 extends through an aperture in the end cap 244 such that a shaft 251 of the plunger 250 is received inside the central body portion 246 and the end inlet member 248 and a portion of the shaft extends outwardly from the end cap 244 . a cam follower 252 is formed at the outer end of the shaft 251 and is adapted to ride along a contoured cam surface 272 of a cam 270 , as seen in fig7 . a plunger head includes a collar 254 that is positioned along the length of the shaft of the plunger 250 and has an annular groove 256 formed therein that receives an o - ring 258 . the collar 254 and o - ring 258 are adapted to create a fluid seal inside the circular valve body and in cooperation with the central body portion define a mixing chamber 260 therein . an o - ring 262 is provided in the central body portion 246 immediately adjacent the end inlet member 248 . the o - ring 262 cooperates with the plunger 250 to effectively seal the end inlet member 248 and detergent inlet 236 from the mixing chamber 260 , depending upon the axial position of the plunger 250 within the valve body 230 . the plunger 250 forms a valve stem 263 at one end with a tapered groove 264 which extends along the surface of the plunger valve stem 250 , preferably passing through the end wall of the plunger 250 , and is tapered so that the groove 264 has a greater cross - sectional area immediately adjacent the end than it does a spaced distance therefrom . the valve stem 263 is positioned in the detergent inlet 236 opening to control the flow of detergent therethrough . the purpose of the tapered groove 264 is to accommodate varying flow rates of detergent through the opening in the detergent inlet 236 into the mixing chamber 260 of the valve body 230 . a control knob 266 is mounted on the front wall 268 of the upper housing 16 for controlling the water / detergent ratio in the cleaning solution delivered to the pump 112 . the cam 270 is mounted to the rear surface of the knob 266 , and the cam 270 is positioned so that the terminal end of the plunger 250 bears against the contoured surface 272 of the cam 270 . fig7 and 8 depict the two extreme ranges of solution mixtures in the preferred embodiment of the cleaning machine 12 . fig7 shows the plunger 250 extended outwardly from the valve body 230 the maximum distance . in this position , the maximum length of the tapered groove 264 is extended into the mixing chamber 260 of the valve . therefore , the maximum amount of detergent will be drawn into the mixing chamber 260 and ultimately discharged to the pump 112 . [ 0072 ] fig8 depicts the other extreme position in which the plunger 250 is positioned so that the entire length of the tapered groove 264 is withdrawn from the mixing chamber 260 so that there is no fluid flow communication between the detergent inlet 236 and the mixing chamber 260 . therefore , only clean water will be directed to the pump 112 . as is evident , the contoured surface 272 of the cam 270 permits an infinite number of detergent to water mixing ratios between the two extremes shown in fig7 and 8 . in the preferred embodiment , the knob 266 and cam 270 are received in only one of three positions , the water only or “ rinse ” position as seen in fig8 a maximum detergent to water mixing ratio as seen in fig7 or a standard mixing ratio half - way between the extremes shown in fig7 and 8 . in use , the knob 266 is intended to be positioned at the standard mixing ratio position for the vast majority of cleaning operations . when a high traffic or heavily stained area is encountered , the knob 266 can be rotated to the maximum detergent position as seen in fig7 . if a final clean water rinsing operation is desired , then the knob 266 can be rotated to the water only position as seen in fig8 . the incorporation of the variable mixing valve 110 permits varying the water / detergent mixture ratios to accommodate a wide variety of cleaning situations . with reference again to fig4 and as noted above , the pump 112 is positioned downstream from the variable mixing valve 110 . when the pump 112 is energized and primed , the pump 112 will draw fluid from the mixing valve 110 and tank seat assemblies 150 at the prescribed ratio . although different pump types can be used , the pump 112 preferably does not self - prime . some means , therefore , should be incorporated to assist priming of the pump 112 . the fluid flow system in fig4 includes a pump priming valve 280 which is preferably mounted vertically above the pump 112 , the tank seat assemblies 150 in the base of the handle 18 , and the water level in the tank 42 . the pump priming valve 280 includes an inlet port 282 that is fluidly connected to the outlet of the pump 112 and a fluid outlet port 284 that is fluidly connected to the impeller fan chamber of the vacuum motor 74 ( fig2 ), or a portion of the recovery tank that is exposed to vacuum pressure . the pump priming valve 280 comprises a hollow valve body having an inner chamber 286 . preferably , a small shoulder 292 with a central aperture 294 is formed inside the valve body . an elongate plunger 290 having a conical rubber sealing tip 296 is received for reciprocal movement inside the ball chamber . the priming valve 280 may also include a vent aperture ( not shown ) to prevent potential siphoning . in operation , the pump 112 will be primed with the fluid from the solution tanks by turning the pump 112 on and the vacuum motor 74 on . the vacuum motor 74 will exert negative pressure on the fluid outlet of the pump 112 through the pump priming valve 280 thereby drawing any air out of the pumping chamber ( not shown ) between the pump inlets and the solution tanks therethrough . the air will be drawn through the pump priming valve 280 into the vacuum impeller fan chamber or into the recovery tank 30 . preferably , the weight and dimensions of the plunger 290 is coordinated with the amount of negative air pressure applied to the pump priming system from the vacuum motor so that the negative air pressure applied to the fluid chamber 286 is insufficient , by itself , to draw the plunger 290 upwardly and seal the outlet of the pump priming valve . as the vacuum motor 74 operates to draw the air from the system , it is likely that some fluid will enter the pump priming valve 280 . preferably , the size of the elongated fluid chamber 286 is dimensioned to accommodate a sufficient amount of fluid to permit full priming of the pump 112 . eventually , the fluid level will rise inside the pump priming valve 280 and fluid will enter the ball chamber 286 . the plunger 290 is preferably formed of a material and dimension such that the fluid alone does not cause the plunger to rise in the chamber . however , the combined pulling force from the negative air pressure and the pushing force from the rising liquid inside the chamber acting on the plunger causes the plunger to rise until the sealing tip 296 bears against the shoulder 292 and seals the aperture 294 to prevent solution from flowing therefrom . once this seal has established , the pump should be sufficiently primed for normal operation . following the pump priming valve 280 , the pressurized solution is simultaneously directed to the accessory hose solution tube mounting 116 and a conventional trigger valve 300 . as seen in fig4 and 5 , the trigger valve 300 is positioned in the base of the handle 18 immediately below the bottom end of an actuator rod 302 . the rod 302 extends upwardly to pivotally interconnect with the trigger 60 provided in the closed loop grip 58 of the handle 18 . in the preferred embodiments , multiple actuator rods 302 are interconnected to traverse the distance between the trigger 60 and the trigger valve 300 . upon squeezing of the trigger 60 relative to the closed loop grip 58 , the actuator rods 302 are displaced downwardly to squeeze the plunger 304 of the conventional trigger valve 300 and permit the flow of fluid therethrough . with the trigger valve 300 in the open position , pressurized fluid flows through a conventional conduit 306 to a pair of spray tips 114 mounted to the foot member 24 immediately adjacent the agitation brush . preferably , the spray tips 114 are adapted to create a fan - shaped spray pattern which traverses substantially the entire width of the agitation brush and suction nozzle opening . turning now to the fluid recovery system , the vacuum motor 74 and impeller fan 76 generate negative air pressure which is communicated from the upper housing 16 to the base assembly 14 for recovery of used solution and dirt . as shown in fig9 and 10 , the working air flow path for on - the - floor cleaning begins at the suction nozzle opening 316 provided at the front , forward edge of the base assembly 14 . preferably , the suction nozzle opening is defined by a front plate member 318 and a rear plate member 320 which are mounted to one another and which also define the initial working air flow conduit 322 . the suction nozzle opening 316 extends the entire width of the base assembly 14 and the plate members 318 , 320 . a pair of sidewalls 324 are integrally formed into the rear plate member to define the sides of the initial flow conduit . preferably , the sidewalls 324 taper upwardly and inwardly ( see fig1 ). the initial flow conduit 322 terminates at an outlet 326 positioned along the top edges of the plate members and sidewalls . in view of the fact that the sidewalls of the flow conduit taper upwardly and inwardly , the length of the outlet of the initial suction flow conduit is less than the length of the suction nozzle opening and the width of the base assembly 14 . preferably , an elastomeric gasket 328 is mounted to the top edges of the front and rear plates 318 , 320 and surrounds the outlet 326 . from the initial flow conduit 322 , the air / water / debris mixture flows into recovery tank 30 which is an assembly of a bottom member 308 and a top member 310 having a top wall 364 , a pair of sidewalls 366 , and a rear wall 368 . the working air flows from the initial flow conduit 322 to an intermediate working air flow conduit 330 which is defined by a depression 332 formed in the top wall 364 of the recovery tank 30 and a cover plate 336 secured thereto . the depression 332 comprises a bottom wall 338 and a pair of opposed sidewalls 340 . preferably , the sidewalls 340 initially taper inwardly from the inlet 342 of the intermediate working air conduit a short distance and then ultimately extend parallel to one another approaching the outlet 344 of the intermediate working air conduit 330 . preferably , the cover plate 336 is formed of a transparent , plastic material , and the top wall 364 and sidewalls 346 of the recovery tank 30 are formed of a smokey , translucent material . utilizing these materials and the structure of the intermediate flow conduit 330 , the user can easily observe the dirt and water passing up through the intermediate flow conduit 330 and also easily observe the fluid level inside the recovery tank 30 . the outlet 344 of the intermediate flow conduit 330 is positioned immediately adjacent an air / water separator baffle 350 which is integrated into the recovery tank 30 and is formed by a downwardly extending rear wall 352 , a pair of parallel , downwardly extending sidewalls 354 , and a bottom wall 356 extending forwardly from the rear wall 352 . a sealing pocket 429 is integrally formed along the rear wall 352 . with this structure , the working air flow enters the hollow interior of the recovery tank 30 and is immediately redirected approximately 180 ° to travel forwardly and downwardly into the tank interior away from the tank outlet 382 . the water and dirt will enter the air / water separator baffle 350 and strike the various walls of the baffle 350 and fall downwardly into the tank . in addition to the redirection of the working air flow as it enters the tank 30 , the effective cross - sectional area of the working air conduit is dramatically increased as the air / water mixture passes from the intermediate working air conduit into the air / water separator baffle and the recovery tank . this sudden increase in cross - sectional area results in a significant drop in velocity for the working air , thereby assisting in the separation of dirt and water from the air . a fluid containment baffle 370 is mounted inside the hollow interior of the recovery tank 30 and is intended to prevent excessive sloshing of the recovered dirt and liquid and also contain any foam generated inside the tank . the baffle 370 comprises a front , downwardly extending portion 372 and a rear downwardly extending portion 374 which are spaced from one another but interconnected to one another by multiple stringers 376 . the stringers 376 and edges of the front 372 and rear portions 374 define fluid apertures 378 therebetween . preferably , the baffle 370 is mounted to the rear wall 368 , sidewalls 366 , and top wall 364 of the top member 310 a spaced distance from the bottom member 308 . preferably , the fluid flow apertures 378 are positioned immediately below the air / water separator 350 so that as the dirt and water drop therefrom , they pass through the apertures 378 into the lowermost portion of the recovery tank 30 . the front 372 and rear 374 portions of the baffle 370 are contoured to prevent excessive sloshing of the recovered liquid during movement of the cleaner 12 . for example , when the user is moving the base assembly 14 forward and then reverses the direction and pulls the base assembly 14 rearwardly , the water and dirt present within the tank will surge toward the front of the recovery tank 30 . the water will strike the sloping top wall 364 of the recovery tank 30 and be deflected rearwardly . any water which may be deflected upwardly will strike the downwardly extending front portion 372 of the baffle 370 and , therefore , be deflected downwardly to the lowermost portion of the recovery tank 30 . the downwardly extending rear portion 374 of the baffle 370 will similarly deflect fluid downwardly . the baffle 370 serves to prevent excessive sloshing of fluid in the tank and also provides the added benefit of containing any foam which may build up in the tank beneath the baffle 370 spaced away from the air / water separator baffle 350 and fluid outlet . an air flow outlet stand pipe 380 is integrally formed into the bottom member 308 and is provided at the rear of the recovery tank 30 . the stand pipe extends upwardly to a point adjacent the uppermost portion of the recovery tank 30 , opposite the outlet of the air / water separator baffle 350 . in addition , an inlet opening 382 of the stand pipe 380 is positioned vertically above the baffle 370 . with this structure , the substantially dry air exiting the air / water separator 350 will pass around the bottom 356 and sidewalls 354 of the air / water separator 350 and through the inlet opening 382 of the stand pipe 380 whereas the dirt and water will fall through the baffle apertures 378 into the lowermost portion of the recovery tank 30 . a manifold chamber 384 is formed at the bottom of the stand pipe 380 and defined by the bottom member 308 and the foot member 24 . preferably , an elastomeric gasket 388 is mounted to the top of the manifold chamber 384 to create a substantially air - tight seal between the bottom of the stand pipe 380 and the manifold chamber 384 . the manifold chamber 384 is shown integrally molded to the base member 24 . preferably however , the manifold chamber 384 is formed separately from the base member 24 and includes downwardly extending hooks ( not shown ) that engage with cantilevered arms ( not shown ) on the base member 24 . the hooks are shaped to contact an upper surface of the arms and flex the arms downwardly when the manifold chamber 384 is installed . a locking surface ( not shown ) on the hooks then engages a lower surface of the arms to lock the manifold chamber 384 to the base member 24 . a flexible conduit hose 386 extends from one end of the manifold to the impeller fan chamber mounted in the lower portion of the upper housing 16 . in view of the fact that the upper housing 16 pivots with respect to the foot member 24 and recovery tank 30 , the conduit 386 is preferably formed of a pliable , yet durable material . a float 390 is provided inside the recovery tank 30 to prevent overfilling of the recovery tank 30 with fluid . the float 390 comprises a buoyant base 392 and a closure plate 394 interconnected to one another by a support plate 396 . the closure plate 394 is dimensioned to fully seal the inlet opening 382 of the stand pipe 380 and prevent the flow of air or liquid therethrough . the float 390 is limited primarily to vertical movement with respect to the recovery tank 30 , with the closure plate positioned above the fluid containment baffle 370 and the buoyant base 392 positioned below the fluid containment baffle 370 . the fluid containment baffle 370 also includes an aperture 398 through which the stand pipe 3 80 extends . in addition , a narrow slot 400 is also provided in the rear portion 374 of the fluid containment baffle 370 through which the support plate 396 of the float 390 extends . in the assembled position , the closure plate 394 is positioned above the fluid containment baffle 370 and the buoyant base 392 is positioned below the baffle 370 . movement of the float is constrained because the buoyant base is captured in a float cage defined by the front wall 402 of the stand pipe 380 , a pair of l - shaped walls 404 , 406 ( fig1 ) extending up from the bottom member 308 , a substantially planar wall 408 extending upwardly from the bottom member 308 intermediate the two l - shaped wall members 404 , 406 and the rear portion 374 of the fluid containment baffle 370 . multiple slots 412 or fluid flow apertures are provided between the wall members 404 , 406 , 408 and the stand pipe 380 so that fluid will quickly and easily flow into the float cage defined by these elements . as the fluid within the tank and the float cage rises , the float 390 will also rise until eventually , the closure plate 394 nears the inlet opening 382 of the stand pipe 380 . the closure plate 391 is sufficiently drawn against the stand pipe opening 394 by the suction from the vacuum motor 74 to close the air flow therethrough as illustrated by the phantom lines in fig9 . once this happens , the pitch of the operating vacuum motor 74 is sufficient to warn the user that the recovery tank 30 is full and must be emptied . the cover plate 336 has a triangular - shaped accessory hose flow aperture 422 and a lock aperture 428 . a cover closure cap 420 has a spring arm 446 with a barb 448 which seats beneath the wall of the cover plate 336 at the lock aperture 428 when the cover cap 420 is seated over the aperture 428 . a pair of retaining projections 423 extend rearwardly from a front edge of the aperture 422 into recesses 425 in a depending flange 421 of the cover cap 420 when the cover cap 420 is seated over the aperture 428 . the cap 420 can thus pivot about the projections 423 as the cap is fastened over and removed from the aperture 422 . the recovery tank 30 is quickly and easily emptied by first tilting the handle 18 and upper housing 16 rearwardly . then , the latches 32 are disengaged from the projections 34 on the recovery tank 30 . the user grasps the handle 36 and merely lifts the tank 30 from the foot member 24 and transports it to an appropriate site for emptying the tank 30 . the tank 30 can also be removed from the foot member 24 without tilting the handle 18 and upper housing 16 . in any event the tank 30 can then be emptied by removing a cap 414 mounted to the drainage aperture 416 provided on the rear wall 368 of the tank 30 . once the tank 30 has been emptied , the cap 414 is replaced , the tank 30 is lowered down onto the foot member 24 , and finally , the latches 32 are snapped over the projections 34 to lock the tank to the base assembly 14 . as seen in fig2 the entirety of the accessory hose 52 is contained on the accessory hose storage rack 50 when the cleaning machine 12 is used for on - the - floor cleaning or when the machine is being stored . when it is desired to use the accessory hose 52 , the user unsnaps the grip tube 64 from the c - shaped clip 66 of the hose rack 50 and unwinds the hose therefrom and then removes the accessory hose mounting member 62 from its corresponding c - shaped clip on the storage rack 50 . next , the user removes the cap 420 ( fig1 ) from the recovery tank cover plate 336 , exposing the accessory hose flow aperture 422 and inserts the accessory hose mounting member 62 therein . the mounting member 62 comprises an elbow - shaped rigid conduit 424 which receives the flexible hose on one end thereof and a triangular shaped mounting plate 426 on the other end thereof . as seen in fig1 and 12 , the accessory hose flow aperture 422 is preferably formed directly above the air / water separator baffle 350 when the cover plate 336 is mounted to the top member 310 of the recovery tank 30 . the lock aperture 428 is also formed in the cover plate 336 , directly adjacent the accessory hose flow aperture 422 . the accessory hose mounting member 62 comprises a flange 430 which extends downwardly from the triangular support plate 426 . the flange 430 is substantially complementary to the inside edge of the aperture 422 and is adapted to be snugly received therein . a baffle wall 432 extends downwardly along the front edge of the triangular flange 422 and has a recess 432 a which receive the projections 423 . the baffle 432 extends substantially the entire width of the intermediate working air conduit 330 and extends downwardly a sufficient distance to contact the bottom wall 338 of the conduit to thereby effectively seal the intermediate flow conduit 330 from the air / water separator baffle 350 and the vacuum motor 74 . therefore , substantially all of the working air drawn into the recovery tank 30 comes from the accessory hose 52 when the accessory hose 52 is mounted to the base as illustrated in fig1 . the accessory hose mounting member 62 is retained in the aperture 422 by a u - shaped spring arm 434 which is received in the lock aperture 428 and a sealing pocket 429 located immediately below the aperture 428 . the sealing pocket 429 is integrally formed with the rear wall 352 of the baffle 350 and includes a front wall 431 and a pair of side walls 433 extending between the front wall 431 and the baffle rear wall 352 . the spring arm 434 comprises a pair of opposed legs 436 , 438 connected to each other through a central bight portion 435 . the leg 436 extends downwardly from the triangular - shaped support plate . a locking barb 440 is provided on the outside edge of the free leg 438 and a projection 442 is provided at the terminal end of the free leg 438 . in use , the bight portion of the u - shaped arm 434 is initially inserted into the lock aperture 428 . as the spring arm 434 is received in the aperture 428 and sealing pocket 429 , the locking barb 440 bears against one edge of the aperture 428 , thereby flexing the free leg 438 inwardly toward the other leg 436 . eventually , the locking barb 440 will drop below the inside edge of the cover plate 336 at the aperture 428 and the resilient u - shaped spring arm 434 will spring outwardly to seat the barb beneath the cover plate 336 edge . the edge of the cover plate 336 at the aperture 428 will be captured between the outer projection 442 and the locking barb 440 of the spring arm 434 . when the user desires to remove the accessory hose mounting member 62 from the aperture 422 , the user squeezes the free leg 438 toward the inner leg 436 a sufficient distance to bring the locking projection 440 out of contact with the aperture edge . then , the user lifts the mounting member 62 a sufficient distance to withdraw the spring arm 434 , triangular - shaped flange 430 and baffle 432 from the aperture 422 . finally , the user repositions the cap 420 in the aperture 422 thereby effectively sealing the aperture 422 . as seen in fig9 and 10 , the structure of the cap 420 is quite similar to the accessory hose mounting member 62 in that it includes an identical spring arm 446 and a substantially complimentary triangular flange extending downwardly therefrom . one key distinction is that the cap 420 does not include the downwardly extending baffle wall which seals the intermediate working air flow path 330 . the preferred embodiment of the cleaning machine 12 includes a rotatively mounted agitation brush which is adapted for easy and instantaneous vertical adjustment . as seen in fig9 and 13 , the agitation brush assembly comprises a brush dowel 450 fixedly mounted on a shaft 452 . the ends of the shaft 452 are received in bearings 454 which in turn are press - fit into inwardly extending bosses 456 provided on a pair of opposed articulating arm members 458 . alternatively , stub shafts ( not shown ) can extend from the arm members 458 and the shaft 452 can be replaced with bearings similar to 454 for rotational installation of the dowel 450 on the arm members 458 . each arm member 458 comprises a back plate 460 with a pivot pin 462 provided at the rear of the plate 460 and a limit arm 464 provided at the front of the plate 460 . in addition , a laterally extending belt guard 466 is preferably integrally formed with the articulating arm 458 . the belt guard 466 extends laterally inwardly enough to cover the drive belt 468 in the assembled position . the belt guard 466 protects the belt 468 from threads and other foreign material becoming lodged therein and also protects the carpet or other surface positioned below the base assembly 14 from the rotating belt 468 . the drive belt 468 extends around a pulley 470 mounted at one end of the brush dowel 450 and a drive shaft and pulley 472 of the brush motor 474 . the pivot pins 462 of the arm member 458 are captured between a bearing surface 476 integrally formed into the bottom of the foot member 24 and a retaining member 478 having a bearing surface 480 formed thereon . the pivot pin 462 is captured between the bearing surfaces 480 , 476 of the retaining member 478 and the foot member 24 . the retaining member 478 is secured to the foot member 24 by a conventional fastener , such as a screw 482 . the limit arms 464 provided at the front of the retaining members 478 are preferably integrally molded with the retaining members and are adapted to limit the downward movement of the brush assembly relative to the foot member 24 . each limit arm 464 has a forwardly extending barb 484 provided at the terminal end of the arm 464 . in the operative position , the barb 484 is positioned above a rearwardly extending projection 486 provided on the foot member 24 . as seen in fig9 as the agitation brush assembly extends further and further downward , the barb 484 on the end of the limit arm 464 will contact the projection 486 and prevent any further downward movement . with this floating agitation brush assembly , the cleaning machine 12 according to the invention can almost instantaneously adapt to varying carpet naps or other inconsistencies on the surface being cleaned . the brush arms also allow the rotating brush to drop below the normal floor plane to provide contact with the floor when a bare floor cleaning attachment raises the suction nozzle opening height from the floor . as an alternative to the floating , rotatably mounted agitation brush as seen in fig9 and 13 , a floating strip agitation brush 490 could be incorporated in the cleaning machine 12 , as seen in fig1 . the floating strip agitation brush 490 is easily adapted for incorporation into the cleaning machine 12 . in this embodiment , the strip brush 490 comprises a linear brush body 492 with bristles 494 extending downwardly therefrom and a pair of integrally molded arms 496 . each of the arms 496 is formed by a pair of opposed plates 498 , 500 and a pivot pin 502 extending between the rear most edge of the opposed plates 498 , 500 . the pivot pins 502 in this embodiment are secured to the foot member 24 in the same manner as the pivot pins 462 shown previously in fig1 . namely , the pivot pins 502 are captured between the bearing surface 476 of the foot member 24 and the bearing surface 480 formed on the retention member 478 which is securely fastened to the foot member 24 by conventional fasteners 482 . with this structure , the strip brush 490 can move vertically in response to changes in the carpet nap or other inconsistencies in the surface being cleaned . as described above with respect to fig1 the accessory hose solution tube mounting 116 is used primarily for connecting an accessory nozzle , such as found in the upholstery tool 68 in order to provide cleaning solution to the surface being cleaned . it is contemplated , however , that an elongate spray wand can be provided as an accessory attachment for the solution tube mounting 116 . the detergent tank 44 could hold an insecticide solution that is mixed with water or other liquid from the clean water tank 42 in an adjustable ratio for the treatment of fleas or ticks , as an example . in use , the vacuum motor 74 and the brush motor 474 would be turned off , with the solution pump 112 turned on to deliver the insecticide solution to a surface . alternatively , the clean water tank 42 could hold the insecticide solution or some other solution that is to be directly applied to a surface . the water extraction cleaning machine according to the invention overcomes several of the problems of the prior art . namely , the cleaning machine is easily adapted for a variety of cleaning operations . for example , the detergent to water mixture ratio can be altered nearly instantaneously . in addition , the height of the agitation brush with respect to the suction nozzle opening changes immediately in response to changes in the carpet nap and other inconsistencies in the surface being cleaned . the cleaning machine according the invention also provides easy and convenient means for filling and emptying the clean water and detergent tanks . similarly , the recovery tank can be quickly and easily removed for emptying or cleaning . finally , the accessory hose intended for use with the cleaning machine according to the invention is preferably stored on the machine at all times when not in use . this minimizes the storage space required for the machine and accessories and simultaneously ensures that the user has all attachments and accessories contained on the machine , regardless of where the machine is being used . reasonable variation and modification are possible within the spirit of the foregoing specification and drawings without departing from the scope of the invention . | 1 |
as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art , embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a system , method or computer program product . accordingly , embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment , an entirely software embodiment ( including firmware , resident software , micro - code , etc .) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “ circuit ,” “ module ” or “ system .” furthermore , embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer usable program code embodied in the medium . any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readable medium ( s ) may be utilized . the computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be , for example but not limited to , an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system , apparatus , device , or propagation medium . more specific examples ( a non - exhaustive list ) of the computer - readable medium would include the following : an electrical connection having one or more wires , a portable computer diskette , a hard disk , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ), an optical fiber , a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cdrom ), an optical storage device , a transmission media such as those supporting the internet or an intranet , or a magnetic storage device . note that the computer - usable or computer - readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium , upon which the program is printed , as the program can be electronically captured , via , for instance , optical scanning of the paper or other medium , then compiled , interpreted , or otherwise processed in a suitable manner , if necessary , and then stored in a computer memory . in the context of this document , a computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be any medium that can contain , store , communicate , propagate , or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . the computer - usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer - usable program code embodied therewith , either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave . the computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium , including but not limited to wireless , wireline , optical fiber cable , rf , etc . computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages , including an object oriented programming language such as java , smalltalk , c ++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages , such as the “ c ” programming language or similar programming languages . the program code may execute entirely on the user &# 39 ; s computer , partly on the user &# 39 ; s computer , as a stand - alone software package , partly on the user &# 39 ; s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server . in the latter scenario , the remote computer may be connected to the user &# 39 ; s computer through any type of network , including a local area network ( lan ) or a wide area network ( wan ), or the connection may be made to an external computer ( for example , through the internet using an internet service provider ). the present invention is described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods , apparatus ( systems ) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention . it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams , and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams , can be implemented by computer program instructions . these computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer , special purpose computer , or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine , such that the instructions , which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus , create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . these computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer - readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner , such that the instructions stored in the computer - readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . the computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . the present invention relates to identifying a set of data items based on both relevance and diversity . in embodiments of the invention , these data items are selected based on a graph of a larger set of data items , and embodiments of the invention provide a scalable algorithm ( linear with respect to the size of the graph ) that generates a provably near - optimal top - k ranking list . in embodiments of the invention , this algorithm has a clear optimization formulation , finds a provable near - optimal solution , and enjoys linear scalability . table i lists the main symbols used in this description of the invention . in the description below , we consider the most general case of directed , weighted , irreducible unipartite graphs . we represent a general graph by its adjacency matrix . in practice , we store these matrices using an adjacency list representation , since real graphs are often very sparse . we represent a general graph by its adjacency matrix . following the standard notation , we use bold upper - case for matrices ( e . g ., a ), bold lower - case for vectors ( e . g ., a ), and calligraphic fonts for sets ( e . g ., i ). we denote the transpose with a prime ( i . e ., a ′ is the transpose of a ). for a bipartite graph with adjacency matrix w , we can convert it to the equivalent uni - partite graph : we use subscripts to denote the size of matrices / vectors ( e . g ., a n × n means a matrix of size n × n ). when the sizes of matrices / vectors are clear from the context , we omit such subscripts for brevity . also , we represent the elements in a matrix using a convention similar to matlab , e . g ., a ( i , j ) is the element at the i th row and j th column of the matrix a , and a (:, j ) is the j th column of a , etc . with this notation , we can represent a sub - matrix of a as a ( i , i ), which is a block of matrix a that corresponds to the rows / columns of a indexed by the set i . in the description below , we focus on personalized pagerank since it is one of the most fundamental ranking methods on graphs , and has shown its success in many different application domains in the past decade . formally , it can be defined as follows : where p is an n × 1 personalized vector ( p ( i )≧ 0 , σ i = 1 n p ( i )= 1 ). sometimes , we also refer to p as the query vector , c ( 0 & lt ; c & lt ; 1 ) is a damping factor ; a is the row - normalized adjacency matrix of the graph ( i . e ., σ j = 1 n a ( i , j )= 1 ( i = 1 , . . . , n ); and r is the n × 1 resulting ranking vector . note that if p ( i )= 1 / n ( i = 1 , . . . , n ), it is reduced to the standard pagerank ; if p ( i )= 1 and p ( j )= 0 ( j ≠ i ), the resulting ranking vector r gives the proximity scores from node i to all the other nodes in the graph . in order to simplify the description of our upcoming method , we also introduce matrix b : where 1 1 × n is a 1 × n row vector with all elements set to 1s . intuitively , the matrix b can be viewed as the personalized adjacency matrix that is biased towards the query vector p . in turns out that the ranking vector r defined in eq . ( 1 ) satisfies r = br . in other words , the ranking vector r is the right eigenvector of the b matrix with the eigenvalue 1 . it can be verified that b is a column - wise stochastic matrix ( i . e ., each column of b sums up to 1 ). by perron - frobenius theorem , it can be shown that 1 is the largest ( in module ) simple eigenvalue of the matrix b ; and the ranking vector r is unique with all non - negative elements since the graph is irreducible . aspects of the invention provide ( 1 ) a goodness measure to quantify the quality of a given top - k ranking list that captures both the relevance and the diversity ; and ( 2 ) given the goodness measure , an optimal or near - optimal or near - optimal algorithm to find a top - k ranking list that maximizes such goodness measure in a scalable way . with the above notations and assumptions , these problems can be formally defined as follows : given : a large graph a n × n , the query vector p , the damping factor c , and a subset of k nodes s ; output : a goodness score f ( s ) of the subset of nodes s , which measures ( a ) the relevance of each node in s with respect to the query vector p , and ( v ) the diversity among all the nodes in the subset s . given : a large graph a n × n , the query vector p , the damping factor c , and the budget k ; find : a subset of k nodes s that maximizes the goodness measure f ( s ). an aspect of an embodiment of the invention is to define a goodness measure to quantify the quality of a given top - k ranking list that captures both the relevance and the diversity . we first discuss some design objective of such a goodness measure ; and then present a solution followed by some theoretical analysis and discussions . as said before , a good diversified top - k ranking list should balance between the relevance and the diversity . the notion of relevance is clear for personalized pagerank ,— larger value in the ranking vector r means more relevant with respect to the query vector p . on the other hand , the notion of diversity is more challenging . intuitively , a diversified subset of nodes should be dis - similar with each other . take the query ‘ find the top - k conferences for dr . y . from the author - conference network ’ as an example . dr . y yu is a professor at a university , and his recent major research interest lies in databases and data mining . he also has broad interests in several related domains , including systems , parallel and distributed processing , web applications , and performance modeling , etc . a top - k ranking list for this query would have high relevance if it consists of all the conferences from databases and data mining community ( e . g ., sigmod , vldb , kdd , etc .) since all these conferences are closely related to his major research interest . however , such a list has low diversity since these conferences are too similar with each other ( e . g ., having a large overlap of contributing authors , etc .). therefore , if we replace a few databases and data mining conferences by some representative conferences in his other research domains ( e . g ., icdcs for distributed computing systems , www for web applications , etc . ), it would make the whole ranking list more diverse ( e . g ., the conferences in the list are more dis - similar to each other ). furthermore , if we go through the ranking list from top down , we would like to see the most relevant conferences appear first in the ranking list . for example , a ranking list in the order of ‘ sigmod ’, ‘ icdcs ’, ‘ www ’ is better than ‘ icdcs ’, ‘ www ’, ‘ sigmod ’ since databases ( sigmod ) is a more relevant research interest for dr . y , compared with distributed computing systems ( icdcs ), or web applications ( www ). in this way , the user can capture dr . y &# 39 ; s main research interest by just inspecting a few top - ranked conferences / nodes . this suggests the so - called diminishing returns property of the goodness measure — it would help the user to know better about dr . y &# 39 ; s whole research interest if we return more conferences / nodes in the ranking list ; but the marginal benefit becomes smaller and smaller as we go down the ranking list . another implicit design objective lies in the algorithmic aspect . the proposed goodness measure should also allow us to develop an effective and scalable algorithm to find an optimal ( or at least near - optimal ) top - k ranking list from large graphs . to summarize , for a given top - k ranking list , we aim to provide a single goodness score that ( 1 ) measures the relevance between each individual node in the list and the query vector p ; ( 2 ) measures the similarity ( or dis - similarity ) among all the nodes in the ranking list ; ( 3 ) exhibits some diminishing returns property with respect to the size of the ranking list ; and ( 4 ) enables some effective and scalable algorithm to find an optimal ( or near - optimal ) top - k ranking list . let a be the row - normalized adjacency matrix of the graph , b be the matrix defined in eq ( 2 ), p be the personalized vector and r be the ranking vector . for a given ranking list s ( i . e ., s gives the indices of the nodes in the ranking list ; and | s |= k ), a goodness measure in an embodiment of the invention is formally defined as follows : we can also represent f ( s ) by using the matrix a instead : f ( s ) = 2 ∑ i ∈ s r ( i ) - c ∑ i , j ∈ s a ( j , i ) r ( j ) - ( 1 - c ) ∑ j ∈ s r ( j ) ∑ i ∈ s p ( i ) where c is the damping factor in personalized pagerank , and 1 1 ×| s | is a row vector of length | s | with all the elements set to 1s . it can be shown that it is equivalent to eq . ( 3 ). notice that the goodness measure in eq . ( 3 ) is independent of the ordering of the different nodes in the subset s . if we simply change the ordering of the nodes for the same subset s , it does not affect the goodness score . however , as discussed below , we can still output an ordered subset based on the diminishing returns need when the user is seeking a diverse top - k ranking list . let us analyze how the proposed goodness measure of eq . ( 3 ) meets the design objective discussed above . there are two terms in eq . ( 3 ), the first term is twice the sum of the ranking scores in the ranking list . for the second term , recall that b can be viewed as the personalized adjacency matrix with respect to the query vector p , where b ( i , j ) indicates the similarity ( i . e ., the strength of the connection ) between nodes i and j . in other words , the second term in eq . ( 3 ) is the sum of all the similarity scores between any two nodes i , j ( i , j ∈ s ) in the ranking list ( weighted by r ( j )). therefore , the proposed goodness measure captures both the relevance and the diversity . the more relevant ( higher r ( i )) each individual node is , the higher the goodness measure f ( s ). at the same time , it encourages the diversity within the ranking list by penalizing the ( weighted ) similarity between any two nodes in s . the measure f ( s ) of eq . ( 3 ) also exhibits the diminishing returns property , which is summarized in theorem 1 below . the intuitions of theorem 1 are as follows : ( 1 ) by p1 , it means that the utility of an empty ranking list is always zero ; ( 2 ) by p2 , if we add more nodes into the ranking list , the overall utility of the ranking list does not decrease ; and ( 3 ) by p3 , the marginal utility of adding new nodes is relatively small if we already have a large ranking list . theorem 1 . diminishing returns property of f ( s ). let φ be an empty set , i , j , r be three sets s . t ., i ⊂ j , and r ∩ j = φ . the following facts hold for f ( s ): proof of p1 . it is obviously held by the definition of f ( s ). proof of p2 . let t = j \ i . substituting eq . ( 3 ) into f ( j )− f ( i ) and canceling the common terms , we have recall that the matrix b is a column - wise stochastic matrix ( i . e ., each column of b sums up to 1 ). the first half of eq . ( 4 ) satisfies the last equality in eq . ( 6 ) is due to the fact that r = br , and each element is r is non - negative . putting eq . ( 4 )-( 6 ) together , we have that f ( j )≧ f ( i ), which completes the proof of p2 . proof of p3 . again , let t = j \ i . substituting eq . ( 4 ) into ( f ( i ∪ r )− f ( i ))−( f ( j ∪ r )− f ( j )) and canceling the common terms , we have therefore , we have that f ( i ∪ r )− f ( i )≧ f ( j ∪ r )− f ( j ), which completes the proof of p3 . in eq . ( 3 ), the coefficient ‘ 2 ’ balances between the relevance ( the first term ) and the diversity ( the second term ). if we change the coefficient ‘ 2 ’ to a parameter w , we have the following generalized goodness measure : we have the following corollary for this generalized goodness measure . it says that as long as the weight w ≧ 2 , the generalized goodness measure g ( s ) still exhibits the diminishing returns property . this gives our method extra flexibility if the user wants to put more emphasis on relevance for some applications . corollary 2 . generalized goodness measure . let φ be an empty set : i , j , r be three sets s . t . i ⊂ j , and r ∩ j = φ . for any w ≧ 2 , the following facts hold for g ( s ): p3 : g ( s ) is submodular , i . e ., g ( ∪ )− g ( )≧ g ( ∪ )− g ( ). in this section , we address problem 2 . here , given the initial query vector p and the budget k , we want to find a subset of k nodes that maximizes the goodness measure defined in eq . ( 3 ). we would like to point out that although we focus on eq . ( 3 ) for the sake of simplicity , the proposed algorithm can be easily generalized to eq . ( 7 ) where the user wants to specify the weight w for the relevance . problem 2 is essentially a subset selection problem to find the optimal k nodes that maximize eq . ( 3 ). theorem 1 indicates that it is not easy to find the exact optimal solution of problem 2 — it is np - hard to maximize a monotonic submodular function if the function value is 0 for an empty set . for instance , a straight - forward method would take exponential enumerations to find the exact optimal k nodes , which is not feasible in computation even for a medium size graph ( e . g ., with a few hundred nodes ). we can also formulate problem 2 as a binary indicator vector ( x ( i )= 1 means node i is selected in the subset s , and 0 means it is not selected ). problem 2 can be expressed as the following binary quadratic programming problem : subject to : x ( i ) ∈ { 0 , 1 } ( i = 1 , … n ) ∑ i = 1 n x ( i ) = k ( 8 ) where d =( b − 2i n × n ) diag ( r ), i n × n is an identity matrix of size n × n , and diag ( r ) is a diagonal matrix with r ( i , i )( i = 1 , . . . , n ) being the diagonal elements . fig1 ( a ) shows an algorithm used in an embodiment of the invention , and fig1 ( b ) illustrates the operation of this algorithm . with reference to fig1 ( a ), in step 1 of the algorithm , we compute the ranking vector r ( e . g ., by the power method , etc .) then after some initializations ( steps 2 - 5 ), we select k nodes one - by - one as follows . at each time , we compute the score vector s in step 7 . then , we select one node with the highest score in the vector s and add it to the subset s ( steps 8 - 9 ). after that , we use the selected node to update the two reference vectors u and v ( steps 10 - 11 ). note that ‘{ circle around ( x )}’ denotes the element - wise product between two matrices / vectors . intuitively , the score vector s keeps the marginal contribution of each node for the goodness measure given the current selected subset s . from step 7 , it can be seen that at each iteration , the values of such marginal contribution either remain unchanged or decrease . this is consistent with p3 of theorem 1 — as there are more and more nodes in the subset s , the marginal contribution of each node is monotonically non - increasing . it is worth pointing out that we use the original normalized adjacency matrix a , instead of the matrix b in alg . 1 . this is because for many real graphs , the matrix a is often very sparse , whereas the matrix b might not be . to see this , notice that b is a full matrix if p is uniform . in the case b is dense , it is not efficient in either time or space to use b in alg . 1 . in alg . 1 , although we try to optimize a goodness measure that is not affected by the ordering of different nodes in the subset , we can still output an ordered list to the user based on the iteration in which these nodes are selected — earlier selected nodes in alg . 1 are placed at the top of the resulting top - k ranking list . this ordering naturally meets the diminishing returns need when the user is seeking for a diverse top - k ranking list as we analyzed above . in the discussion below , we analyze the optimality as well as the complexity of algorithm 1 . this discussion shows that this algorithm leads to a near - optimal solution , and at the same time it enjoys linear scalability in both time and space . the optimality of algorithm 1 is given in lemma 1 , below . according to this lemma , this algorithm is near - optimal — its solution is within a fixed fraction ( 1 − 1 / e ≈ 0 . 63 ) from the global optimal one . given the hardness of problem 2 , such near - optimality is acceptable in terms of optimization quality . lemma 1 . near - optimality let s be the subset found by alg . 1 : | s |= k ; and s *= argmax | s |= k f ( s ). we have that f ( s )≧( 1 − 1 / e ) f ( s *), where e is the base of the natural logarithm . proof . let t be the subset found at the end of the t th ( t = 1 , . . . , k − 1 ) iteration of alg . 1 . at step 7 of the ( t + 1 ) th iteration , for any node i ∉ t , we have that for any node i ∉ t , plugging eq . ( 3 ) into f ( t ∪{ i })− f ( t ) and canceling the common terms , we have that therefore , we have that s ( i )= f ( t ∪{ i })− f ( t ). in other words , at step 8 of each iteration of alg . 1 , we always select a node with the highest marginal increase of the goodness measure . by theorem 1 , the goodness measure f ( s ) is a non - decreasing submodular function with f ( φ )= 0 . according to a . krause and c . guestrin , beyond convexity — submodularity in machine learning , ( in icml , 2008 ), we have that f ( s )≧( 1 − 1 / e ) f ( s *), which completes the proof . the time complexity of the proposed dragon is given in lemma 2 . according to lemma 2 , our dragon has linear time complexity with respect to the size of the graph . therefore it is scalable to large graphs in terms of computational time . lemma 2 . time complexity . the time complexity of alg . 1 is o ( m + nk ). we would like to point out that the alg . 1 can be further sped up . firstly , notice that the o ( m ) term in lemma 2 comes from computing the ranking vector r ( step 1 ) by the most commonly used power method . there are a lot of fast methods for computing r , either by effective approximation or by parallelism . these methods can be naturally plugged in alg . 1 , which might lead to further computational savings . secondly , the o ( nk ) term in lemma 2 comes from the greedy selection step in steps 6 - 12 . thanks to the monotonicity of f ( s ) as we show in theorem 1 , we can use the similar lazy evaluation strategy as j . leskovee , a . krasue , c . guestrin , c . faloutsos , j . m . vanbriesen , and n . s . glace , cost - effective outbreak detection in networks , ( in kdd , pages 420 - 429 , 2007 ), to speed up this process , without sacrificing the optimization quality . the space complexity of alg . 1 is given in lemma 3 . according to lemma 3 , alg . 1 has linear space complexity with respect to the size of the graph . therefore it is also scalable to large graphs in terms of space cost . lemma 3 . space complexity . the space complexity of alg . 1 is o ( m + n + k ). in the discussion below , we provide empirical evaluations for algorithm 1 . these evaluations mainly focus on ( 1 ) the effectiveness and ( 2 ) the efficiency of algorithm 1 . we use the dblp publication data to construct a co - authorship network , where each node is an author and the edge weight is the number of the co - authored papers between the two corresponding persons . overall , we have n − 418 , 236 nodes and m = 2 , 753 , 798 edges . we also construct much smaller co - authorship networks , using the authors from only one conference ( e . g ., kdd , sigir , sigmod , etc .). for example , kd is the co - authorship network for the authors in the ‘ kdd ’ conference . these smaller co - authorship networks typically have a few thousand nodes and up to a few tens of thousands edges . we also construct the co - authorship networks , using the authors from multiple conferences ( e . g ., kdd - sigir ). for these graphs , we denote them as sub ( n , m ), where n and m are the numbers of nodes and edges in the graph , respectively . there is a damping factor c to compute the personalized pagerank , which is set to be c = 0 . 99 . in the discussion herein , we use the power method to compute the pagerank . we adopt the same stopping criteria as [ h . tong , c . faloutsos , and j .- y . pan , fast random walk with restart and its applications . in icdm , pages 613 - 622 , 2006 . ]: either the l 1 difference of the ranking vectors between two consecutive iterations is less than a pre - defined threshold ( 10 − 9 ), or the maximum number of iteration steps ( 80 ) is reached . there are no additional parameters in alg . 1 . for the remaining parameters of those comparative methods , they are set as in their original papers , respectively . for the computational cost and scalability , we report the wall - clock time . all the experiments ran on the same machine with four 2 . 5 ghz amd cpus and 48 gb memory , running linux ( 2 . 6 kernel ). for all the quantitative results , we randomly generate a query vector p and feed it into different methods for a top - k ranking list with the same length . we repeat it 100 times and report the average . there does not appear to be any universally accepted measure for diversity . in [ q . mei , j . guo , and d . r . radev , divrank : the interplay of prestige and diversity in information networks . in kdd , pages 1009 - 1018 , 2010 . ], the authors suggested an intuitive notion based on the density of the induced subgraph from the original graph a by the subset s . the intuition is as follows : the lower the density ( i . e ., the less 1 - step neighbors ) of the induced subgraph , the more diverse the subset s . here , we generalize this notion to the t - step graph in order to also take into account the effect of those in - direct neighbors . let sign (.) be a binary function operated element - wise on a matrix , i . e ., y = sign ( x ), where y is a matrix of the same size as x , y ( i , j )= 1 if x ( i , j )& gt ; 0 , y ( i , j )= 0 otherwise . we define the t - step connectivity matrix c t as c t = sign ( σ i = 1 t a i ). that is , c t ( i , j )= 1 ( 0 ) means that node i can ( cannot ) reach node j on the graph a within t - steps / hops . with this c t matrix , we define the diversity of a given subset s s eq . ( 12 ). here , the value of div ( t ) is always between 0 . 5 and 1 — higher means more diverse . if all the nodes in s are reachable from each other within t - steps , we say that the subset s is the least diverse ( div ( t )= 0 . 5 ). on the other extreme , if all the nodes in s cannot reach each other within t - steps , the subset s is the most diverse ( div ( t )− 1 ). for the task of top - k ranking , the notion of diversity alone , though important , might not be enough for the information need . for example , if we simply randomly select k nodes as the top - k ranking list , these k nodes might not be connected with each other at all given that the length of the ranking list k is usually much smaller than the number of nodes n in the graph . therefore , it has a high diversity . however , it is unlikely that such a ranking list can well fit the user &# 39 ; s information need since each of them might have very low relevance score . in other words , a diversified top - k ranking list should also have high relevance . that said , we will mainly focus on evaluating how different methods balance between the diversity and the relevance . notice that the relevance score for each individual node is often very small on large graphs ( since the l 1 norm of the ranking vector is 1 ). to make the two quantities ( diversity vs . relevance ) comparable with each other , we need to normalize the relevance scores . let ŝ be the top - k ranking list by the original personalized pagerank , we define the normalized relevance score for a given subset s (| s |= k ) s eq . ( 13 ). since the personalized pagerank always gives the k most relevant nodes , the rel defined in eq . ( 13 ) is always between 0 and 1 — higher means more relevant . let us start with an illustrative example to gain some visual intuitions . in fig2 , we show a fictitious co - authorship network 20 , where each node corresponds to an author ( e . g ., john , smith , etc . ), and the edge weight is the number of the co - authored papers . there are three communities in this network ( e . g ., dm , db and ir ). from fig2 , we can see that node 1 has very strong connections to the dm community . in other words , sm might be his / her major research interest . in addition , s / he also has some connections to the ir and db communities . given the budget k = 3 , personalized pagerank returns all the three nodes ( nodes 2 , 3 and 5 ) form dm community which is consistent with the intuition since personalized pagerank solely focuses on the relevance . in contrast , alg . 1 returns nodes 2 , 6 and 10 , each of which is still relevant enough to the query node 1 . at the same time , they are diversified from each other , covering the whole spectrum of his / her research interest ( dm db , and ir ). we also conduct case studies on real graphs . we construct a co - authorship networks from sigir ( the major conference on information retrieval ) and icml ( the major conference on machine learning ). we issue a query to find the top - 10 co - authors for prof . yy . the results are shown in table iii . we compare it with the original personalized pagerank . yy is a professor , and she has broad interest in information retrieval and machine learning . from fig2 , we have the following observations . firstly , both alg . 1 and personalized pagerank share the same authors for the top - 3 returned authors , indicating that alg . 1 also captures those highly relevant authors with respect to the querying author . secondly , alg . 1 returns a more diverse list of authors . for example , although ex 7 is not a co - author of yy , they share a lot of research interest in information retrieval , and have a lot of indirect connections through other ir people . in contrast , the existence of some authors in the ranking list by personalized pagerank is somehow redundant , in terms of helping the user to understand prof . yy &# 39 ; s whole collaboration network . for example , consider prof . agh . although , he has a lot of co - authored papers with yy , they are also co - authored with rv . therefore , given that jz and rj are already in the ranking list , his existence does not provide much marginal information about yy &# 39 ; s collaboration network . as a quantitative indicator , the average degree of induced subgraph by alg . 1 is only 2 . 8 , which is much lower ( i . e ., more diverse ) than that by personalized pagerank . finally , notice that for some authors , although they show up in both lists , their positions in the ranking list are different . for example , jyn shows at the 4 th and the 8 th positions in the two ranking lists , respectively . this is because jyn makes the top - 4 authors more diverse compared with thp , although its individual relevance score is lower than the latter . we compare alg . 1 with arw and rrw , both of which also aim to improve the diversity of personalized pagerank . we skip the comparison with mmr for brevity since it has been shown that its performance is not as good as rrw for the graph - type data . for rrw , it has two variants based on different approximation methods it actually uses : the one based on the cumulative estimation ( referred to as ‘ rrw - a ’) and the other one based on the pointwise estimation ( referred to as ‘ rrw - b ’). first , let us compare how different methods balance between the relevance and the diversity . fig3 shows the results on the nips co - authorship network . we test with different budgets ( k = 10 , 20 , 30 , 40 , 50 , 100 ). in fig3 ( a ), div ( 1 ) means that we only consider 1 - step neighbors to measure the diversity ( i . e ., setting t = 1 in eq . ( 12 )). in fig3 ( b ), div ( 2 ) means that we consider both 1 - step and 2 - step neighbors ( i . e ., setting t = 2 in eq . ( 12 )). we only present the results by rrw - a since rrw - b gives similar results . from fig3 , we can see that all the three methods are effective to improve the diversity . the alg . 1 achieves a better balance between the relevance and the diversity . for arw , although it gives the highest diversity score , its ( normalized ) relevance score is too low — only about half of the other two methods . this is because in arw , only the first node is selected according to the relevance ; and all the remaining ( k − 1 ) are selected by diversity . as for rrw - a , both its relevance and diversity scores are lower than alg . 1 . it is interesting to notice from fig3 ( b ) that the diversity of rrw - a drops a lot when it is measured by within 2 - step neighbors ( i . e ., div ( 2 )). this is consistent with the intuition of rrw . in rrw ( both rrw - a and rrw - b ), it achieves the diversity by encouraging 1 - step neighboring nodes to compete with each other . consequently , the density of its within 1 - step induced subgraph might be low ( i . e ., high diversity ), but it is not necessarily the case for the within t - step ( t ≧ 2 ) induced subgraph . in order to test how the overall performance of different methods varies across different data sets , we take the average between relevance and diversity scores . the results are presented in fig4 ( a )- 4 ( d ), using four different co - authorship networks ( sigmod , nips , sigir , siggraph ). for the space limitation , we omit the results when the diversity is measured by within 1 - steps neighbors , which is similar as the results by within 2 - steps neighbors . it can be seen that alg . 1 consistently performs the best . in the discussion below , we evaluate the effectiveness and the efficiency of algorithm 1 in terms of maximizing the goodness measure f ( s ). we compare it with the exponential enumeration and the binary quadratic programming methods discussed above . we also compare it with two other heuristics . the first method ( referred to as ‘ heuristic1 ’) starts with generating a candidate pool ( e . g ., the top 10 × k most relevant nodes ), picks one seed node , and then repeatedly adds the most dis - similar ( measured by a ) node into the ranking list from the candidate pool . the second method ( referred to as ‘ heuristic2 ’) also starts with generating a candidate pool , puts all the nodes from candidate pool in the list , and then repeatedly drops a most similar ( measured by a ) node from the list . first , let us evaluate how the different methods balance between the optimization quality ( measured by f ( s ) and the speed ( measured by wall - clock time ). fig5 shows the results from the co - authorship network of nips and kdd conferences with the budget k = 20 , where f ( s ) is normalized by the highest one among different methods . it can be seen that alg . 1 is the best — it leads to the highest optimization quality ( i . e ., highest f ( s )) with the least amount of wall - clock time . notice that the y - axis is in logarithm scale . we also conducted experiments on the co - authorship network constructed from multiple conferences . fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ) show the results on these data sets with the budget k = 20 . here sub ( n , m ) means a co - authorship network with n nodes and m edges . we stop the program if it takes more than 100 , 000 seconds ( i . e ., more than 1 - days ). in fig6 ( a ), the results from using algorithm 1 , heuristic 1 , heuristic 2 , lin - qp and lte - bip are shown at 60 a , 60 b , 60 c , 60 d and 60 e respectively . in fig6 ( b ), the results from using algorithm 1 , heuristic 1 , heuristic 2 , lin - qp and lte - bip are shown at 62 a , 62 b , 62 c , 62 d and 62 e respectively . it can be seen from fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ) that alg . 1 is consistently best across all the different data sets — it leads to the highest optimization quality ( i . e ., highest f ( s ) for ‘ lin - qp ’ is missing for sub ( 24k , 114k ) because it fails to finish within 100 , 000 seconds . this indicates that it is not feasible for large graphs . for the smaller graphs , ‘ lin - qp ’ leads to slightly lower f ( s ) than alg . 1 ; but it requires 3 - 5 orders of magnitude wall - clock time . for all the other comparative methods , they lead to worse optimization quality with longer wall - clock time . we also evaluate the scalability of alg . 1 . when we evaluate the scalability with respect to the number of the nodes in the graph , we fix the number of edges and vice versa . the results in fig7 ( a ) and 7 ( b ) are consistent with the complexity analysis discussed above — alg . 1 scales linearly with respect to both n and m , which means that it is suitable for large graphs . a computer - based system 100 in which embodiments of the invention may be carried out is depicted in fig8 . the computer - based system 100 includes a processing unit 110 , which houses a processor , memory and other systems components ( not shown expressly in the drawing ) that implement a general purpose processing system , or computer that may execute a computer program product . the computer program product may comprise media , for example a compact storage medium such as a compact disc , which may be read by the processing unit 110 through a disc drive 120 , or by any means known to the skilled artisan for providing the computer program product to the general purpose processing system for execution thereby . the computer program product may comprise all the respective features enabling the implementation of the inventive method described herein , and which — when loaded in a computer system — is able to carry out the method . computer program , software program , program , or software , in the present context means any expression , in any language , code or notation , of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following : ( a ) conversion to another language , code or notation ; and / or ( b ) reproduction in a different material form . the computer program product may be stored on hard disk drives within processing unit 110 , as mentioned , or may be located on a remote system such as a server 130 , coupled to processing unit 110 , via a network interface such as an ethernet interface . monitor 140 , mouse 150 and keyboard 160 are coupled to the processing unit 110 , to provide user interaction . scanner 180 and printer 170 are provided for document input and output . printer 170 is shown coupled to the processing unit 110 via a network connection , but may be coupled directly to the processing unit . scanner 180 is shown coupled to the processing unit 110 directly , but it should be understood that peripherals might be network coupled , or direct coupled without affecting the performance of the processing unit 110 . while it is apparent that the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objectives discussed above , it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art , and it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and embodiments as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention . | 6 |
the invention , shown in various embodiments of fig1 - 9 is a disposable non - invasive patch for detection of intermittent cardiac abnormalities . the patch 10 is thin , flat , and flexible for placement on the chest area 2 of a person 1 whose heart is being examined for possible abnormality . the sensor patch relies on a surface electrocardiogram ( ecg ) for detecting and analyzing non - invasively the electrical activity of the heart . the smart patch is fully self - contained and self - powered . the patch analyzes the ecg for an extended period of time depending on the application . patterns of ecg abnormalities are recorded automatically and a report is generated by the patch and transmitted to a reporting device directly . the sensor patch is low cost for disposable applications and self - administration . referring to the embodiment of fig2 and 3 , the sensor patch 10 comprises three ecg electrodes 21 , 22 , and 23 , an ecg amplifier 31 , a processor 33 , and a battery 35 . the processor 33 is typically a microprocessor or a digital signal processor for performing numerical computation on data obtained from an analog - to - digital converter 32 . the sensor patch 10 also incorporates a memory 34 , referring generally here to all types of solid - state memory for storage of program data and acquired ecg data . a record switch 50 allows the user to record a cardiac event whenever felt . the electronic assembly of the patch is formed of a flexible circuit substrate 20 with trace extensions to the electrodes 21 , 22 , 23 , and to the battery 35 . conductive gel 25 , 26 covers the electrodes 21 , 22 , respectively , as well as the other electrode not shown in the view of fig3 . the conductive gel 25 and 26 contacts the person &# 39 ; s skin directly to conduct surface ecg potentials to the electrodes and subsequently to the ecg amplifier 31 . the electrodes may be pre - gelled as shown or alternately made for dry contact ( not shown ) with electrodes directly contacting the skin . a non - conductive pad 27 electrically separates the electrodes and may comprise an adhesive gel , i . e . hydrogel , for enhancing adhesion of the patch 10 to the skin . the non - conductive pad 27 may also be made of soft low - durometer rubber or elastomeric material . the patch 10 also comprises a thin substrate 28 for providing structural support . the substrate 28 is made of soft flexible sheath material , such as polyurethane , cotton , cloth or made from the same material as the pad 27 . the thickness of the patch device 10 ( not shown to scale for clarity ) is preferably in the range of 1 . 5 and 2 . 5 mm , but preferably no more than 3 mm . non - conductive waterproof adhesive 39 present at the perimeter of the interior side of the patch prevents water entry and provides long term adhesion to the skin . the waterproof skin adhesive 39 prevents contamination of electrodes thus maintaining long - term integrity of the skin - electrode electrical conductivity . this is critical for providing long term function of the monitor patch while allowing the user to be exposed to water such as during bathing and swimming . the substrate 28 , adhesive 39 and other materials used in the design of the patch are preferably air permeable with respect to the skin in order to prevent moisture accumulation and contamination due to perspiration . anti - microbial and anti - bacterial agents are preferably incorporated in the design of the patch , particularly at the skin contact areas , to prevent contamination of the patch and infection of the skin during the extended wear of the device . in the preferred embodiments , the patch is self - adhered . a porous and / or air permeable waterproof cover 29 protects the outer surface of the patch from external water exposure while allowing drying of the skin . in the embodiments of fig2 - 3 , the extended wear heart monitor patch 10 comprises three ecg electrodes for placement on the heart area 3 as shown in fig1 . the electrodes are arranged to provide a modified three - lead configuration with the electrodes 21 , 22 , 23 representing right arm ( ra ), left arm ( la ) and left leg ( ll ) leads as in standard ecg instrumentation . this configuration results in standard , direct lead measurements lead - i , lead - ii , lead - iii . other electrode placements and lead configurations are possible . for example , fig4 - shows a band - shaped patch 11 with a two - electrode embodiment , e 1 and e 2 , for sensing the surface ecg . a multi - color led 40 is used to indicate heart activity and event detection . the invented patch is particularly suited to detect infrequent and rare events such as atrial fibrillation and syncope . these events often elude conventional ecg instruments . since the invented patch is waterproof and can be worn continuously , even during showering and swimming , cardiac events are readily detected and documented . the detection occurs automatically and optionally manually . automatic detection and recording occurs by continuously monitoring and analyzing ecg data by the processor 33 . manually recording is provided by an optional switch 50 , which is activated when the patient becomes aware of a cardiac episode . the activation of the switch 50 triggers a recording session of a predetermined length , for example 3 minutes prior activation plus 2 minutes post activation . this method ensures detection and recording of even the most transient episodes such as syncope , which is accompanied by a temporary loss of consciousness . real - time ecg analysis in the invention performed by the processor 33 allows for automatic detection of cardiac abnormalities . these events can be detected by comparing the characteristics of sensed ecg with predetermined limits and patterns . for example , shifts in certain segments of the ecg , such as the st - segment , qt interval and qrs width , can be used to determine and record a cardiac event . by focusing on recording mostly cardiac events , memory size is reduced for producing smaller and more wearable device than those of conventional monitors . the detection of a heart abnormality is indicated by a optional indicator . in the embodiment shown in fig1 - 3 , a light emitting diode ( led ) indicator 36 is provided . the indictor many be multi - colored to indicate different levels of indication . for example , a blinking green led light can indicate a normal heart function and while a red led light indicates a cardiac event condition . the led can also be used to indicate proper path operation during the collection of ecg data . for example , the led can be flashing in synchrony with qrs pulses upon proper placement of the smart patch and upon detection of ecg signals . other possible indicators include audible transducers , such as a buzzer ( not shown ) or a speaker ( not shown ; and other visual indicator types , such as a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) 38 as shown in fig5 . the advantage of an lcd indicator is to communicate more clearly the operation of the patch and condition detected . a key feature of the invention in the preferred embodiment is integrating in a single low cost patch the combination of ecg analysis and detection of cardiac events . fig5 shows a 4 - electrode embodiment of the patch including a right leg ( rl ) electrode . fig6 & amp ; 7 show a nine - electrode patch 12 arranged in a “ c ” configuration . the electrodes are arranged to obtain modified twelve - lead measurements , excluding the v 6 lead . this and other multi - lead configurations provide multi - axis or vectorcardiograph capability for improved diagnostics . the electrodes 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 offer bipolar frontal plane ecg ( lead - i , ii , and iii ) while electrodes 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , and 49 offer unipolar precordial ecg , generally representing the horizontal plane , for leads v 1 , v 2 , v 3 , v 4 , and v 5 , respectively . the “ c ” patch encompasses the left breast 6 having an upper segment 42 , lower segment 43 , and sternum segment 44 . the “ c ” patch 12 is particularly suitable for fitting on a female 5 as shown in fig7 . these and other electrode configurations are possible , as will become obvious to those skilled in the art of ecg measurements . because the electrodes are integrated within the patch of the invention , motion artifact is significantly reduced when compared to standard ecg with separate electrodes and cabling . furthermore , the integrated patch allows for inconspicuous , convenient long - term ambulatory applications . multi - lead patch configurations are particularly suited for diagnostic monitoring extended beyond 24 to 48 hours offered by conventional holter monitors . this is possible by the present invention for at least three reasons . first , the invented patch is flexible and more comfortable to wear . second , there is no need for large memory used for continuous recording in holter monitors , since only relevant ecg data is recorded . third , the patch is waterproof thus can be worn continuously without removal . signal processing by processor 33 is particularly suited for performing signal averaging to enhance certain details of the sensed ecg . signal - averaged ecg involves the averaging of a large number of ecg periods , particularly for qrs , st or qt segments , to enhance the detection of small fluctuations . a unique feature of the present invention is the wireless transmission of preformatted report to a reporting device such as a printer or a wireless network . this allows for generation of a cardiac test report 53 without resorting to any specialized instruments . fig8 shows the invented patch 10 having an infrared led 37 for sending infrared signal 52 to a printer 51 for printing a cardiac report 53 . many standard printers are currently equipped with wireless sensors and respond to standard wireless protocols , such as irda ( infrared data association ). an optocoupler tranceiver , incorporating an infrared led and an optocoupler sensor , allows for bi - directional wireless communication of the patch with a reporting device . similarly , using radio frequency ( rf ) transmitter ( not shown ), a report can be sent to a wireless printer or wireless network using standard rf protocols such as bluetooth ® and ieee802 ®. with this method , a user or clinician can place the patch in proximity to a wireless reporting device for obtaining a cardiac report 53 . this report is generated internally by the processor 33 and sent wirelessly , either automatically when in proximity to a reporting device , or manually by activating a switch . for example by incorporating a reed - switch in the patch ( not shown ), which can be activated by a magnet placed in proximity to the patch when printing or reporting is desired . the cardiac report in this preferred embodiment is automatically generated and formatted by the processor 33 of the invented patch . prior art reporting involves transmission of either raw ecg data or summary data for graphical formatting by a computer or microprocessor based device prior to sending to a printer or a display device . the invented patch performs the analysis and formatting of results internally and sends directly to a generic printer or a generic internet browser such as microsoft ® internet explorer . in the later case , a capture screen is sent to the browser application by the invented patch . once the capture screen is loaded , a report can then be printed or relayed to a medical monitoring station via the internet . the ability to generate a cardiac report wirelessly and directly to a generic reporting device , as provided by the present invention in a preferred embodiment , simplifies the delivery of heart health care services . for example , an individual suspecting a cardiac abnormality , can purchase a disposable ecg patch and generate a report using standard printer available in most homes . a report can also be generated and broadcast to a wireless network . to ensue privacy , an access code can be provided with each patch for entering into the capture screen prior to viewing , printing , or forwarding to remote monitoring station . similarly , non - cardiac medical practice , such as primary physician , family physician , nursing center , etc . can not perform a basic cardiac test and obtain a report without resorting to any specialized instruments or training . ecg data can also be sent to a remote location via standard trans - telephonic methods ( not shown ) whereby a telephone line adapter device can be used to send translate ecg reports from the patch to the telephone line . the adapter unit can communicate wirelessly to the patch via infrared or rs signals and subsequently dial the reporting center and transmit the cardiac report thereto . an ecg report may also be retrieved by an interrogation device as shown in fig9 ( not to scale ). in this example , optical signal 19 representing ecg data from an infrared led 37 incorporated within the disposable patch 10 is sent to an optical receiver 18 incorporated in the interrogation wand 16 of the external interrogation device 15 . the activation of the data transmission is preferably automatic . for example , a magnetic field 14 from a magnet 17 within the interface 16 triggers an activation sensor 41 , i . e . a reed - switch , to initiate the ecg data transmission . activation can also be by manual means , such as by pressing an electromechanical switch ( not shown ) incorporated onto the flexible substrate 20 . the wireless transmission of cardiac data may be accomplished in numerous ways and methods known in the field of medical devices and wireless data transmission . this includes optical means as shown above , radio frequency ( rf ), magnetic , ultrasonic , and acoustic transmission . inductive coupling through a coil ( not shown ) can also be used to transmit data , as well as for powering the patch externally during the transmission . although the invention is described herein with reference to the preferred embodiment , one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other applications may be substituted for those set forth herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . accordingly , the invention should only be limited by the claims included below . | 0 |
it has been found that commercially available spray dryer nozzles , geometries , and circulation patterns can be used in methods of producing powders with high volatile retention and high flavor intensity , even when drying for an extended amount of time . in particular , when a conventional spray dryer is used with an inlet temperature of less than 100 ° c . and a dew point − 10 ° c . to 5 ° c ., higher levels of volatile compounds can be retained . because of the increased efficiency of the method described herein , drying of flavor compositions containing volatile compounds can be achieved at relatively low temperatures compared to conventionally used methods . the resulting spray - dried flavor composition has high intensity flavor and has a high flavor / fragrance quality that is authentic to the natural source . surprisingly , these flavor compositions maintain high flavor intensity and flavor / fragrance quality in various end - use applications after long - term storage . the invention also provides a stable spray - dried flavor composition produced by spray drying a flavor that that contains volatile compounds in a spray dryer having an inlet temperature of less than 100 ° c . and an air inlet dew point − 10 ° c . to 5 ° c ., wherein the volatile compounds are present in the spray - dried flavor composition in an amount that is at least 20 % of the volatile compounds originally contained in the flavor . for the purpose of this invention stability is defined as a flavor quality and intensity that remains acceptable for use in end use applications . preferably , a stable spray - dried flavor composition has a shelf - life of up to three years depending on storage conditions . consumer data , as demonstrated in the examples herein , showed statistically significant preference for the flavors composition of the present invention . the consumer preferred quality of the flavor composition is further supported by the attributes selected by consumers to describe the flavor quality of the prototypes . therefore , the present invention is a spray - dried flavor composition and a method for producing such a composition . in accordance with the present invention , a spray - dried flavor composition containing one or more volatile compounds is produced by spray drying a flavor in a spray dryer with an inlet temperature of less than 100 ° c . and a dew point − 10 ° c . to 5 ° c . so that a dry powder is obtained . in certain embodiments , the resulting spray - dried composition is further dried in a fluidized bed . as a result of the instant method , the spray - dried flavor composition retains at least 20 % of the volatile compounds originally contained in the flavor . unless otherwise specified , a flavor of the invention is a flavor that contains one or more volatile compounds . a variety of flavors can be used in accordance with the present invention . flavor may be chosen from synthetic flavor and flavoring aromatics , and / or oils , oleo resins and oil extracts derived from plants , leaves , flowers , fruits , and combinations thereof . representative flavor oils include , but are not limited to , spearmint oil , cinnamon oil , peppermint oil , clove oil , bay oil , thyme oil , cedar leaf oil , oil of nutmeg , oil of sage , and oil of bitter almonds . also useful are artificial , natural or synthetic fruit flavors such as vanilla , chocolate , coffee , cocoa and citrus oil , including lemon , orange , grape , lime and grapefruit , and fruit essences including apple , pear , peach , strawberry , raspberry , cherry , plum , pineapple , apricot and so forth . these flavors can be used individually or in admixture . the volatile compounds of the instant flavor may include , but are not limited to , acetaldehyde , dimethyl sulfide , ethyl acetate , ethyl propionate , methyl butyrate , and ethyl butyrate . flavors containing volatile aldehydes or esters include , e . g ., cinnamyl acetate , cinnamaldehyde , citral , diethylacetal , dihydrocarvyl acetate , eugenyl formate , and p - methylanisole . further examples of volatile compounds that may be present in the instant flavor oils include acetaldehyde ( apple ); benzaldehyde ( cherry , almond ); cinnamic aldehyde ( cinnamon ); citral , i . e ., alpha citral ( lemon , lime ); neral , i . e ., beta citral ( lemon , lime ); decanal ( orange , lemon ); ethyl vanillin ( vanilla , cream ); heliotropine , i . e ., piperonal ( vanilla , cream ); vanillin ( vanilla , cream ); alpha - amyl cinnamaldehyde ( spicy fruity flavors ); butyraldehyde ( butter , cheese ); valeraldehyde ( butter , cheese ); citronellal ( modifies , many types ); decanal ( citrus fruits ); aldehyde c - 8 ( citrus fruits ); aldehyde c - 9 ( citrus fruits ); aldehyde c - 12 ( citrus fruits ); 2 - ethyl butyraldehyde ( berry fruits ); hexenal , i . e ., trans - 2 ( berry fruits ); tolyl aldehyde ( cherry , almond ); veratraldehyde ( vanilla ); 2 , 6 - dimethyl - 5 - heptenal , i . e ., melonal ( melon ); 2 - 6 - dimethyloctanal ( green fruit ); and 2 - dodecenal ( citrus , mandarin ); cherry ; or grape and mixtures thereof . the composition may also contain taste modulators and artificial sweeteners . the physical , chemical , and odor properties of selected volatile compounds are presented in table 1 . the instant invention is particularly useful in processing flavors with volatile compounds having a boiling point of less than 200 ° c ., less than 150 ° c ., less than 120 ° c ., less than 100 ° c ., less than 80 ° c ., less than 60 ° c ., less than 40 ° c ., less than 20 ° c ., or less than 0 ° c . using such flavors , higher levels of volatile compounds are retained , which results in a sensory perceivable difference over conventional drying processes . in certain embodiments , the invention further includes the use of a carrier material to enhance processing productivity and flavor intensity . such carriers can include any sugar , sugar derivatives , modified starch , proteins , celluloses , salts , dextrins , gums , sugar alcohols , polyols , peptides , acids , carbohydrates or hydrocolloids . particular examples of suitable materials include sugars such as sucrose , glucose , lactose , levulose , trehalose , fructose , maltose , ribose , dextrose , isomalt , sorbitol , mannitol , xylitol , lactitol , maltitol , pentatol , arabinose , pentose , xylose , galactose ; hydrogenated starch hydrolysates ; maltodextrins or dextrins ( soluble fiber ); hydrocolloids such as agar or carrageenan ; gums ; polydextrose ; proteins such as soy and whey protein isolates and hydrolyzates , and sodium caseinates ; and derivatives and mixtures thereof . the carrier can be selected based upon , amongst other factors , the desired flavor , authentic taste and intensity to be achieved . in some embodiments , the flavor and optional carrier material are dissolved or emulsified in a solvent and subsequently spray - dried . in some embodiments , the solvent is water . in other embodiments , the solvent is not water . in yet further embodiments , the solvent is a volatile solvent . in still other embodiments , the solvent is a mixture of water and a volatile solvent . as is known in the art , a volatile solvent is a nonaqueous liquid with solvent properties with the characteristic of evaporating readily at room temperature and atmospheric pressure . volatile solvents of particular use in accordance with the present invention include , but are not limited to , ethanol , ethyl acetate , acetone . flavor emulsions can be prepared according to standard preparation procedures . briefly , the practice involves dispersing and dissolving the dry carrier materials in solvent until free of lumps . when using water as the solvent , it may be desirable to warm the water ( e . g ., to approximately 50 ° c .) prior to adding the carrier material . the flavor is then added under constant agitation until a homogeneous mixture is obtained . the emulsion may be further subjected to high shear or homogenized to reduce oil droplet size prior to spray drying . in certain embodiments , the emulsion contains between 40 % and 70 % dry solid material ( including the flavor ), or more preferably between 55 % and 65 % dry solid material ( including the flavor ). the amount of dry solid material can be adjusted by using more or less water depending on the solubility of the carrier material and various factors related to efficient operation of the spray dryer . for example , the type and amount of carrier , amount of water , and / or amount of flavor can be adjusted so that the resulting emulsion has a viscosity suitable for feeding into a spray dryer to provide liquid droplets having a mean particle size ( mean volume diameter ) of between 10 μm and 200 μm . for example , when using spray nozzles , such as a three - fluid nozzle and a four - fluid nozzle , the viscosity of the feed slurry is preferably 500 cps or less , preferably 200 cps or less , and more preferably 80 cps or less . for a rotary atomizer ( rotary disk ), the viscosity is preferably 70 , 000 cps or less . moreover , the feed slurry ( i . e ., emulsion ) can be heated ( e . g ., to near the inlet temperature ) or cooled ( e . g ., to 15 ° c .) immediately before adding it to the spray dryer to modify fluidity . in addition , certain flavors , especially those that are more water - soluble , act as plasticizers thereby making processing more difficult due to stickiness . in this respect , the ratios of carrier materials can be modified . therefore , various factors can be appropriately selected or modified for use in combination with different spray dry apparatuses . in addition to the flavor and carrier material , an emulsifier or surfactant can also be used in the production of the instant spray - dried flavor composition . examples of suitable emulsifiers or surfactants include , but are not limited to , lecithins , sucrose esters , proteins , gums , soap - bark extract , saponins , and the like . moreover , a variety of solvents can be used in the instant spray - dried flavor composition . such solvents include , volatiles and nonvolatiles but are not limited to alcohol ( e . g ., ethanol ), ethyl acetate , acetone , triglycerides , vegetable oils , animal fats , and triacetin . commercially available spray dryers can be used as in the practice of the present invention . for example , a spray dryer with a vertical parallel flow function can be used . the spray dryer should be a system with a dehumidifying and drying function . for example , a spray dryer capable of blowing a high volume of desiccated air with a dew point of less than 5 ° c . is particularly preferable . for a spray dryer with no dehumidifying and drying function , the spray dryer is inevitably arranged with a dry dehumidifier , e . g ., a honeycomb - type rotary dehumidifier ( e . g ., nichias corporation or sweden proflute corporation ). suitable spray dryers include the micromist spray dryer and the hybrid granulator series manufactured by fujisaki electric co ., ltd . ; the fluidized spray dryer fsd with internal fluid bed as manufactured by niro corporation ; the fluid granulation spray dryer and l - 8 type spray dryer manufactured by ogawara ( japan ); the dl - 21 type and gb - 21 type spray dryers manufactured by yamato scientific co ., ltd ., and anhydro spray bed dryer manufactured by spx corporation . in particular embodiments , the spray dryer is capable of generating liquid droplets ( particles ) having a mean particle size ( mean volume diameter ) of between about 10 μm to about 200 μm . specifically , it is preferred to carry out spray drying with a spray dryer with a spray nozzle capable of generating a large volume of liquid droplets having a mean particle size of between about 10 μm to about 200 μm , preferably about 20 μm to about 150 μm , and more preferably about 30 μm to about 100 μm . when the liquid droplets are dried , a dry powder having a mean particle size ( mean volume diameter ) of about 10 μm to about 100 μm is preferred for retention of the flavor oil . among the operation conditions of the spray drying apparatus , in certain embodiments the outlet temperature of the spray drying apparatus is between 20 ° c . and 60 ° c ., preferably 30 to 60 ° c ., and more preferably 40 to 60 ° c . for the purposes of this invention , the outlet temperature of the spray dryer means the product temperature of the dry powder in the vicinity of the powder collection part of the spray dryer . for the spray dryer of the vertical parallel flow type , the outlet temperature means the temperature ( exhaust gas temperature ) at the exhaust part thereof . in other embodiments of this invention , the average inlet air temperature of the spray drying apparatus is less than 100 ° c . in certain embodiments , the average inlet air temperature of the spray drying apparatus is in the range of 40 ° c . to 99 ° c ., more preferably 60 ° c . to 99 ° c . and most preferably 80 ° c . to 99 ° c . for the purposes herein , the average inlet air temperature is a sum total of all inlet air streams , e . g ., main chamber inlet air and the inlet air to the fluid bed ( s ). as a particular feature of the instant invention , it is desirable that production parameters including temperature , pressure and humidity , are controlled to achieve an air inlet dew point in the range of − 10 ° c . to 5 ° c . in particular embodiments , the air inlet dew point of the spray drying apparatus is 5 ° c . or less , preferably 0 ° c . or less , more preferably is − 5 ° c . or less , and most preferably − 7 . 5 ° c . or less . as is known in the art , dew point temperature is a function of air temperature and % rh and can be determined using a psychrometric chart or calculator . dew point temperature is important as it corresponds directly to the actual amount of water in the air on a mass basis . once the spray - dried flavor composition is dried or partially dried in the spray drier , the resulting powder can be used in the production of food product , pharmaceuticals , consumer products and the like . alternatively , particular embodiments feature the additional step of further drying the spray - dried flavor composition in a fluid - bed chamber attached at the outlet of the spray dryer . accordingly , certain embodiments feature the use of an integrated fluid - bed spray dryer to produce the instant spray - dried flavor composition . this secondary drying can , e . g ., further remove entrapped solvent , residual moisture , and / or water of molecular hydration , to provide a composition of powder particles with significantly lower moisture content that is stable in storage , e . g ., for extended periods at ambient temperatures . in accordance with this embodiment , the temperature of the air supplying the fluid - bed unit is maintained at or below the outlet temperature of the spray dryer in order to maintain the benefit of volatile flavor retention . thus , the inlet temperature of the fluid - bed unit is between 40 ° c . and 99 ° c ., preferably 50 to 95 ° c ., and more preferably 60 to 90 ° c . ; and the inlet dew point is in the range of - 10 to 5 ° c . in some embodiments , the fluid - bed has a single zone . in other embodiments , the fluid - bed unit has one , two , three or more zones , wherein each zone has a different temperature and air flow rate . in certain embodiments , the fluid - bed unit has three zones , each varying in temperature by at least 10 ° c . in particular embodiments , the fluid - bed unit has three zones , each varying in temperature by 10 ° c . to 20 ° c . by way of illustration , dry powder from a spray dryer with an outlet temperature of 60 ° c . could have a first fluid - bed zone at 60 ° c ., a second bed zone of 45 ° c . and a third zone of 25 ° c . secondary drying can continue , e . g ., for about 5 minutes to about 5 hours , or about 10 minutes to about 1 hour , and most preferably about 20 to 40 minutes until residual moisture is reduced to a desired level . in particular embodiments , secondary drying continues until the residual moisture of the powder particles is below 5 percent . as used herein , “ dry ,” “ dried ,” and “ substantially dried ” encompass those compositions with from about 0 % to about 15 % water . preferably , the instant composition will have a water activity of 0 . 1 to 0 . 6 , or more desirably 0 . 2 to 0 . 5 , and most preferably from 0 . 2 to 0 . 4 wherein said levels of dryness can be achieved with or without secondary drying . drying can also occur in the total or partial absence of ambient air . in this respect , drying can occur in the presence of co 2 or other drying gases ( e . g ., nitrogen ). accordingly , in particular embodiments , the air of the spray dryer is partially or wholly composed of carbon dioxide or nitrogen . in accordance with this embodiment , partial carbon dioxide or nitrogen is intended to mean a level in the range of 80 - 99 % carbon dioxide and / or nitrogen . once the spray - dried flavor composition reaches the desired level of dryness , it can be used in a variety of consumer , food , or pharmaceutical products . in particular , the instant spray - dried flavor composition finds application in gums , confections , oral care products , beverages , snacks , dairy products , soups , sauces , condiments , detergents , fabric softeners and other fabric care products , antiperspirants , deodorants , talc , kitty litter , hair care and styling products , personal care products , air fresheners , cereals , baked goods and cleaners . in specific embodiments , the instant spray - dried flavor composition is used in flavoring chewing gum and beverages . additionally , the spray - dried powder may be further processed by extrusion , coating , agglomeration , blending , compaction to impart additional functionality or benefits . while the instant invention is described in terms of the spray drying technique , the instant invention can employ other drying technologies or processes wherein the use of low humidity and temperature conditions result in improved product quality through volatile retention . other modifications of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art . such modifications are understood to be within the scope of this invention . as used herein , all percentages are weight percent unless otherwise noted , l is understood to be liter , kg is understood to be kilogram , and g to be gram . in addition , the amounts , sizes , temperatures and percentages provided herein are understood to include exact numbers and approximations . the following examples are provided as specific embodiments of the present invention . a comparison between modified formulas and conventional control formulas was conducted . exemplary control and modified formulas of dry flavor powders are listed in table 2 . control powders were produced by a conventional process conditions and modified powders were produced by the instant modified process ( fig5 ), according to the conditions listed in table 3 . in both cases , a conventional spray dryer without an integrated fluid - bed was used . using gc - fid ( gas chromatography - flame ionization detector ) analysis , the volatile profile of the orange flavor formulations in example 1 was determined . this analysis indicated that the retention of specific volatile materials for the modified powder compared to the level in the emulsion were approximately 72 %, 75 %, and 52 % for ethyl propionate , ethyl butyrate , and acetaldehyde , respectively . table 4 indicated the ratio of volatiles retained in the modified powder in comparison to the control powder . sensory tests showed benefit of the modified powder over the control powder in a beverage tasting solution ( significantly greater overall aroma and orange flavor ; fig1 ) and in chewing gum ( significantly greater orange flavor intensity at the 30 and 60 second intervals ; fig2 ) . using gc - fid analysis , the volatile profile of the berry flavor formulations in example 1 was determined . this analysis indicated that the retention of specific volatile materials for the modified powder compared to the level in the emulsion were approximately 24 %, 35 %, and 87 % for dimethyl sulfide , ethyl acetate , and ethyl butyrate , respectively . table 5 indicated the ratio of volatiles retained in the modified powder in comparison to the control powder . sensory tests showed benefit of the modified powder over the control powder in a beverage tasting solution ( significantly greater berry aroma and flavor , among others ; fig3 ) and in chewing gum ( significantly greater berry flavor intensity at the 30 and 60 second intervals ; fig4 ). to determine the effect of dryer process temperatures on the physical properties and flavor quality of a citrus flavor , different spray dryer air inlet and outlet temperatures were utilized . the resulting volatile compound content , and flavor strength and aroma as determined by an expert panel are presented in table 6 . in addition to the above results , both spray - dried compositions exhibited free - flowing properties after 7 weeks at 40 ° c . in a closed container . these results indicate that an air inlet temperature below 100 ° c . reduces loss of volatile flavor compounds , provides improved sensory intensity , while maintaining water activity of the product at a level that prevents caking when exposed to above ambient temperatures . the stability of apple and mint flavors in chewing gum were evaluated . flavor compositions were spray - dried in accordance with the instant method , incorporated into chewing gum , and the stability of the flavor was evaluated by an expert panel after storage at 32 ° c . for 2 or 12 weeks or 21 ° c . for 12 weeks . the results of prototype apple - flavored gum , as compared to a control , are presented in table 7 and fig6 . the control samples were spray dried flavors processed using conventional drying conditions . the analysis presented in table 7 indicates that the apple flavor produced by the instant method was as stable as a conventional spray - dried composition at 21 ° c . ( 12 weeks ) or 32 ° c . ( 12 weeks ). however , the impact of the apple flavor produced by the instant method was stronger after storage at 32 ° c . for 12 weeks than that of the conventional spray - dried composition stored at 21 ° c . for 12 weeks . the results of prototype mint - flavored gum , as compared to a control , are presented in table 8 . the analysis presented in table 8 indicates that the mint flavor produced by the instant method was as stable as a conventional spray - dried composition at 21 ° c . ( 12 weeks ) or 32 ° c . ( 12 weeks ). however , the impact of the mint flavor produced by the instant method was stronger after storage at 32 ° c . for 12 weeks than that of the conventional spray - dried composition stored at 21 ° c . for 12 weeks . overall , the results of this analysis indicated that the desirable sensory attributes of apple and mint flavors were better maintained in chewing gum using the prototype flavor over 12 weeks at 32 ° c . the stability of raspberry flavor in powdered soft drink mix was evaluated . a raspberry flavor composition was spray - dried in accordance with the instant method , incorporated into a powdered soft drink mix , and the stability of the flavor was evaluated by an expert panel after storage for 8 weeks at 38 ° c . the results of the prototype soft drink mix containing the instant spray - dried flavor composition , as compared to a control , are presented in table 9 . the control sample was a spray dry flavor processed using conventional drying conditions . spray - dried flavor compositions , prepared in accordance with the instant method , were incorporated into savory broths and attributes of the broths were assessed by a panel of consumers . the attributes of the prototype broths , as compared to a control , are presented in table 10 . the control broths were prepared from spray dry flavors processed using conventional drying conditions . consumer data showed statistically significant preference for the prototype flavors . this is further supported by the attributes selected by consumers to describe the flavor quality of the prototypes . the stability of various flavor prototypes in high barrier packaging ( freshtek ) was assessed after storage for 6 , 12 , or 18 weeks at 40 ° c . the attributes of the prototype powders are presented in table 11 . | 0 |
fig1 illustrates an exemplary computer system 10 . the system 10 includes a workstation 12 having a keyboard 14 and cursor control device 16 , which is shown in the form of a mouse . the workstation 12 is connected to a scanner 18 , a printer 19 , and a multi - function device 20 . the multi - function device 20 may be an aio device as described above . alternatively , the multi - function device 20 may be a device that combines only printing and scanning functionality and no other . in addition , although shown as a peripheral connected to the workstation 12 , the multi - function device 20 could operate as a stand - alone device . for example , using the scanning functionality of the multi - function device 20 , a user could scan an image into the memory ( discussed below ) of the multi - function device 20 and then print multiple copies of that image using the printing components of the device 20 . none of these acts would require interaction with the workstation 12 . as should also be apparent , the system 10 could be configured to include multiple workstations , scanners , multi - function devices , and other devices not shown . routers , switches , or network connections allowing the scanners , multi - function devices , and other components to communicate with the multiple workstations could also be included . in addition , the various connections between elements of the system 10 could include both wired and wireless connections as well as local area network and wide area network connections . fig2 illustrates an interface or operator panel 30 for the multi - function device 20 . the operator panel 30 includes a graphical display 32 , and a keypad 34 having a variety of input buttons . the keypad 34 includes a cursor control portion having a decrement or left arrow button 36 , an options button 37 , an increment or right arrow button 38 , and a select button 39 . the keypad 34 also includes a number of copies button 40 , a reduce / enlarge button 41 , and a copy quality button 42 . in addition , the keypad 34 includes two start copy buttons : a color copy button 43 and a black and white copy button 44 . the keypad 34 also includes a photo control section 49 having a photo options button 50 and a photo copy button 52 . adjacent the photo control section 49 is a scanning control section 54 having a destination selection button and 55 and a start capture button 57 . finally , the keypad 34 includes a fax control section 59 with a start fax button 61 and a device control section 63 having a stop / clear button 65 and a power button 67 with an indicator led 69 . in the example shown in fig2 , the graphical display 32 is a 2 line by 16 characters / line alphanumeric panel . graphical displays of different sizes , particularly larger displays , could be used in place of the display shown . in one embodiment , the multi - function device 20 may be configured such that , at power up , the display 32 generates a default message such as the following : in the discussion that follows , reference will be made to the exemplary display on the graphical display 32 based on the following key : the left arrow character , , will be represented with a left arrow , & lt ;; the right arrow character , , will be represented with a right arrow , & gt ;; a double slash , //, is used to indicate a division of the text on line 1 of the 2 line display from the text on line 2 of the exemplary display ; and left and right brackets , [ and ], surround any variable value in the menu setting . for example , the default message shown above may , using the key above , be written as : if a user pushes or selects the destination selection button 55 in the scanning control section 54 , a message is displayed in the graphical display 32 prompting the user to select a destination for images that are scanned when the start capture button 57 ( which is labeled as “ start scan ” in fig2 ) is pressed . when the destination selection button 55 ( which is labeled as “ e - mail file software ” in fig2 ) is selected , the graphical display 32 displays the following : where the text in the “ programmed capture - to destination ” field encompasses the last selected destination . for example , the graphical display could present the following information : in one embodiment of the invention , the multi - function device 20 may be configured so that a list of programmed capture - to destination applications is loaded in a menu associated with the destination selection button 55 . loading of the menu may occur , for example , automatically at the time the driver software for the multi - function device is installed on the workstation 12 . it is also possible that the list could be manually updated using , for example , interface screens generated by the driver software . some exemplary destination options that could be included are “ e - mail ,” “ file ,” and “ software .” as should be apparent , the “ e - mail ” option allows a user to designate an e - mail program as a destination . the “ file ” option allows a user to designate a file as a destination . and , the “ software ” option allows the user to designate a program , which may be loaded on the workstation , as a destination . in one embodiment , the “ e - mail ” option may be a default option . in addition to the “ e - mail ,” “ file ,” and “ software ” options , additional destination options may be provided . these options may be “ global ” functions . as used herein , “ global ” means that the selected option or function applies to all situations or jobs . in addition , “ global ” functions may be referred to as those functions that may be executed when the device 20 is operated in a stand - alone manner . for example , a “ software ” destination may be associated with an application program that is available only on the workstation 12 . under such circumstances the “ software ” destination is unavailable when the device 20 is operating in a stand - alone mode . although not a requirement , many of the exemplary “ global ” functions are not dependent on the device 20 communicating with the workstation 12 . whether global or not , the additional options may include “ watermark ,” “ header / footer ,” “ border / frame ,” and “ fax / coversheet .” as with the “ e - mail ” and other options discussed above , the additional options are associated with destinations that generally correspond to their names . for example , selection of the “ watermark ” option designates a scanned image as one that will be used as a watermark . once the driver and the destination menu are loaded , any additional destination options such as those that the user manually enters or those that are automatically downloaded by the installed driver when the multi - function device 20 is connected to a workstation 12 or another device capable of providing additional destination options are included in the destination menu . these additional destinations may be downloaded from the workstation 12 to the device 20 via a string of characters . additional destination options may include microsoft paint , microsoft word , microsoft excel , and microsoft powerpoint software ; other drawing , word processing , spreadsheet or presentation programs , clipboard applications ; and custom applications . the left arrow button 36 and right arrow button 38 are used to scroll through or display the destination options . when a desired destination option is displayed on the display 32 , the user may activate the select button 39 . the destination selection button 55 is disabled when scanning commences and during print jobs . the device 20 may be designed so that pressing the select button 39 causes the graphical display 32 to read : in one embodiment of the invention , the device 20 may be programmed or otherwise configured to display only those destination options that are available . thus , for example , when the device 20 is disconnected from the workstation 12 ( or operating in stand - alone mode ) it may be configured to display only the destination options that are independent of the workstation or other external devices . in one embodiment , these options include the global capture - to destination options . unless an error or prohibited condition exists , when the start capture button 57 ( labeled as “ start scan ” in fig2 ) is activated , a scan or capture is initiated . the destination of the data that is captured during the operation is the destination that has been selected by the user from the destination list displayed on the display 32 . generally , the scan is performed in accordance with current scan settings programmed into the device 20 . these settings may be default settings set at the time of manufacture or settings modified by the user . conditions under which a scan operation might be prohibited include selection of a destination that requires interaction with the workstation 12 or other external devices when the device 20 is operating in a stand - alone mode . the device 20 may be configured such that when a prohibited or error condition occurs an appropriate error message is displayed . for example , if a user presses the start capture button 57 in a case where an application on the workstation 12 is the destination and the device 20 is disconnected from the workstation or the workstation is not on , an error message such as fig3 illustrates hardware 71 that may be used in the multi - function device 20 or another peripheral such as the scanner 18 or printer 19 . in the exemplary configuration shown , the hardware 71 includes a display and keyboard module 73 , an i / o module 75 , a processor 77 , and a memory module 79 . the memory module 79 may contain non - volatile memory such as one or more forms of rom , ram or media cards , one or more disk drives , other memory , or combinations of the foregoing . fig4 illustrates the possible contents of the memory module 79 or a portion thereof . as illustrated in fig4 , the memory module 79 contains software . the software is illustrated as having four portions : a user interface 83 , an image capturer 85 , an image processor 87 , and a print engine 89 . in various implementations , the software may be configured in such a way that it does not include four distinct portions . functional features could be combined in a variety of ways . however , in at least some embodiments , the user interface 83 includes instructions for generating output on the display 32 , the image capturer 85 includes instructions for capturing data from a capture device such as an array of charge - coupled devices (“ ccd ”) or contact image sensor (“ cis ”) or the like . the image processor 87 may include instructions for processing image data such as combining foreground and background images and the print engine 89 may include instructions for converting data into a format that is suitable for use by a printer . the memory module 79 is not limited to the components listed and may contain other applications and data used to support the multi - function device 20 . software used in devices such as the device 20 , scanner 18 , and printer 19 to carry out basic operations such as scanning , printing , and faxing is well known and , therefore , not described . fig5 represents a diagram of a non - volatile memory portion 91 of the memory module 79 . the memory portion 91 contains locations for varying types of stored data . a background section 93 holds background objects or images and a program section 95 holds application programs such as the user interface 83 , the image capturer 85 , the image processor 87 , and the print engine 89 . the memory module 79 may contain more designated sections to store data although it is not required . fig6 and fig6 a illustrate an exemplary background data or image capture process carried out by the device 20 when a user selects a global capture - to function . as may be seen by referring to fig6 , the process begins at block 100 where any required hardware and software initializations are performed to calibrate and prepare the system for use . the graphical display 32 is initially in a default condition , as shown in block 102 . the processor 77 ( executing the software described above ) periodically queries or scans the operator panel 30 to determine whether a button is pressed or selected ( block 104 ). if a button is not selected , the processor 77 continues to display the default screen on the graphical display 32 ( block 102 ). if a button is selected , the processor 77 determines whether the destination selection button 55 is pressed ( block 106 ). if the destination selection button 55 is pressed , the processor 77 directs the graphical display 32 to display the most recently selected capture - to destination ( block 108 ). the processor 77 then inquires as to whether the left arrow button 36 or the right arrow button 38 is pressed ( block 110 ). if either button is pressed the processor 77 instructs the graphical display 32 to display the previous or next capture - to destination from the preprogrammed list of destinations as indicated in block 112 , and the processor 77 continues to check for further input from the operator panel 30 ( block 110 ). if neither the left arrow button 36 or the right arrow button 38 is pressed , the processor 77 determines whether the select button 39 is pressed ( block 113 ). if the select button 39 is pressed the processor 77 sets the capture - to destination to the destination currently displayed on the graphical display 32 , as indicated in block 114 . the process proceeds to block 116 where the graphical display 32 presents the message : the processor 77 then displays the default message , as shown in block 102 . if the select button 39 is not pressed the processor simply displays the previously set capture - to destination ( block 108 ). if the destination selection button is not pressed the processor 77 determines whether the start capture button 57 is pressed , as shown at block 118 . if the start capture button 57 is pressed , the processor 77 disables the destination selection button 55 ( block 120 ) and causes the display of the currently selected capture - to destination on the graphical display 32 ( block 122 ). the processor 77 must then decide , depending on the chosen capture - to destination , how to process and where to export or save the captured image . the processor 77 first inquires as to whether the capture - to destination is set to “ watermark ” ( block 124 ). if “ watermark ” is the selected capture - to destination , the image capturer 85 captures the image ( block 126 ), and the image processor 87 crops or otherwise processes the image as needed ( block 128 ). although not shown in fig6 , the program may be adapted to allow the user to select the masked intensity of the image , such as 5 %, to be used for the watermark . the processor 77 then stores the captured image in the background section 93 of the memory portion 91 of the memory module 79 . finally , the processor 77 enables the destination selection button 55 ( block 132 ) and then resumes displaying the default message ( block 102 ). if a “ watermark ” destination is not the selected capture - to destination , the processor 77 determines whether the capture - to destination is a “ header / footer ” destination , as shown in block 134 of fig6 a . if the capture - to destination is a “ header / footer ” destination , the image capturer 85 attains the header and footer section from the provided image , for example , the top one inch and bottom one inch of the image ( block 136 ). although not shown in fig6 a , the program may be adapted to allow the user to select the amount of the image to be used for the header and footer sections . since only the header and footer of the provided image will be reproduced on subsequent output , only the header and footer sections of the provided image need to be captured . it would also be possible to capture the entire image and process it later on to obtain the header and footer sections . the captured image is then stored in the background section 93 of the memory portion 91 of the memory module 79 ( block 138 ). generally , images associated with a function other than the “ watermark ” destination are stored at full or 100 % intensity . finally , the processor 77 enables the destination selection button 55 ( block 132 ), and returns to displaying the default message ( block 102 ). if a “ header / footer ” destination is not the selected capture - to destination , the processor 77 determines whether a “ border / frame ” destination is the selected capture - to destination ( block 140 ). if the selected capture - to destination is a “ border / frame ” destination , the image capturer 85 acquires the circumference of the image , for example the top one inch , bottom one inch , left one inch , and right one inch of the presented image ( block 142 ). since only a border or frame of the provided image will be added to future output , only the area corresponding to that area needs to be captured and retained . again , although not shown in fig6 a , the program may be adapted to allow the user to select the amount of the image to be used for the border / frame sections . the processor 77 then stores the captured image in the background section 93 of the memory portion 91 of the memory module 79 ( block 144 ). finally , the processor 77 enables the destination selection button 55 ( block 132 ), and returns to displaying the default message ( block 102 ). one use for the “ border / frame ” feature is to scan a return address to be used in printing information on an envelope . if a “ border / frame ” destination is not the selected capture - to destination , the processor 77 inquires as to whether a “ fax / coversheet ” destination is the selected capture - to destination ( block 146 ). if a “ fax coversheet ” destination is the selected capture - to destination , the processor 77 instructs the image capturer 85 to secure the upper portion , for example the upper 33 %, of the imported image ( block 148 ). only the upper section needs to be attained and saved since it will be used as a fax coversheet added with upcoming output . next , the processor 77 enables the destination selection button 55 ( block 132 ), and displays the default message ( block 102 ). finally , if a “ fax coversheet ” destination is not the selected capture - to destination , it is assumed that the captured image will not be processed and stored in the background section 93 of the memory portion 91 of the memory module 79 of the multi - function device 20 . the processor 77 , however , must first check if the multi - function device 20 is attached to a workstation 12 or a device with an appropriate interface ( block 152 ). if no connection is available , the message will be displayed on the graphical display 32 ( block 158 ), and the processor 77 will enable the destination selection button 55 ( block 132 ) and again display the default message ( block 102 ). if the multi - function device 20 is connected to a workstation 12 or a device capable of interfacing to a workstation , the captured image , captured by the image capturer 85 at block 154 , will be stored or exported to the specified capture - to destination as shown in block 156 . after storing the image , the processor 77 will enable the destination selection button 55 ( block 132 ) and return to block 102 where the processor 77 displays the default message again ( block 102 ). the capture - to destinations where the multi - function device 20 stores and uses the captured image as background indicia for forthcoming output are not limited to the ones presented . other destination formats may be created and added as needed . referring now to fig7 , the process for producing output commences with a start block 160 . the graphical display 32 displays a default message and the processor 77 awaits instruction either from the operator panel 30 , the workstation 12 , or any other device with an appropriate interface . the processor 77 continually checks for output requests , as shown at block 162 . if no request is found , the processor 77 continues to display the default message on the graphical display 32 ( block 160 ). if a request is found , the processor 77 first disables the destination selection button 55 ( block 163 ) and proceeds to determine if background indicia have been specified for all output . at block 164 the processor 77 examines the selected capture - to destination and first checks if it is set to a “ watermark ” destination . if the selected capture - to destination is a “ watermark ” destination the processor 77 merges the requested output with a lower masked intensity version , such as 10 %, of the image stored in the background section 93 of the memory portion 91 of the memory module 79 ( block 166 ). the reduced intensity allows the stored image to appear as a watermark embedded with the requested output that is created as shown in block 168 . alternatively at block 170 , the processor 77 queries whether the selected capture - to destination is set to a “ header / footer ” destination . if the processor 77 finds the selected capture - destination to be set to a “ header / footer ” destination , the output is reduced to fit and centered within the stored “ header / footer ” image ( block 172 ). the device 20 , as shown at block 168 , then produces the combined output . if the selected capture - to destination is not set to a “ watermark ” or a “ header / footer ” destination , the processor 77 checks if the capture - to destination is set to a “ border / frame ” destination ( block 174 ). if this is the case , the sent output is reduced to fit , centered , within the stored “ border / frame ” image ( block 176 ). the final output is then produced at block 168 . if the capture - to destination has not been set to any of the previously checked destinations , the processor 77 checks if the capture - to destination is set to a “ fax / coversheet ” destination ( block 178 ). if the capture - to destination is indeed set to a “ fax / coversheet ” destination the processor 77 scales the requested output to 66 % the original size and merges it , centered , below the “ fax / coversheet ” indicia stored in the background section 93 of the memory portion 91 of the memory module 79 ( block 180 ). the “ fax / coversheet ” image combined with the original output is then created at block 168 . although 33 % and 66 % of the page size are exemplary embodiments for providing the facsimile transmission information and the information to be faxed , respectively , other proportions may be used . for example , the typical transmission information found on a fax coversheet , such as sender and recipient names , telephone numbers , facsimile numbers , date and number of pages can be placed in a header or footer or in a region smaller than 33 % of the height of the page with the other information to be sent being correspondingly scaled to fit on the remainder of the page . finally , if no matching capture - to destination has been discovered of those previously listed , it is assumed that no background image is to be combined or merged with the desired output . the output is simply produced at block 168 . after any output is produced , with background images or without , the processor 77 enables the destination selection button 55 ( block 182 ) and returns to displaying the default message ( block 160 ). once a capture - to destination requiring the addition of background indicia has been set , all future output may contain , in addition to the original data , the stored background in a format designated by the specific capture - to destination value , until either a settings timeout occurs , which cancels all non - default programmed settings , or a capture - to destination is chosen which does not require the addition of a stored background image to all outputs . a “ cancel background ” capture - to destination may also be added to the list of possible destinations that the user can select by using the destination selection button 55 . the multi - function device 20 may also have a reset option which would clear any saved background images . in another embodiment of the invention , a set of peripherals , not housed in the same device , could be configured to perform similar capture - to functionality otherwise provided by the multi - function device 20 . the scanner 18 and the printer 19 illustrated in fig1 could be organized in such a way that the printer 19 could receive and store images captured by the scanner 18 , and the printer 19 could use the saved images as background indicia . any device that can output images capable of being captured by another device , such as a workstation or a digital camera , could replace the scanner 18 . any device that creates output and is capable of holding received data in memory could replace the printer 19 , including a fax machine and a photocopier . the functionality to create , process , and use background images in both the stand - alone multifunction device 20 embodiment and the embodiment utilizing the coupling of a number of single - operation devices , such as the scanner 18 and the printer 19 , configured to operate like the multifunction device 20 , could be implemented in software , hardware , or a combination thereof . various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims . | 7 |
fig1 shows the holder 1 of the fastening device . the holder 1 consists of an essentially rectangular plate , articulated into a middle segment 2 and two end segments 3 forming the narrow ends . the end segments 3 are each attached to the middle segment 2 by a blunt - edged elevated step 4 on top of the holder 1 . consequently , the top of the middle segment 2 , viewed from above , lies deeper than the adjacency surfaces 5 , formed by the tops of the end segments 3 , for the cable tree to be fastened to the holder 1 . the steps 4 facing each other on top of the holder 1 correspond to back - to - back steps 6 on its under side . opposed to the steps 6 , there are projections 7 configured at the outer corners of the end segments 3 . the steps 6 and the projections 7 serve to secure the lateral position of tapes slung or wound about the cable tree and around the end segments in order to fasten the former . for better adaptation of the holder 1 to the peripheral contour of a cable tree 29 , the end segments 3 and the middle segment 2 are provided with a curvature concave upwards , whose axis of curvature lies on the longitudinal centerline of the holder 1 . for fastening the holder 1 , the middle segment 2 on its under side comprises two spring fingers 8 projecting downward . the fingers 8 are arranged symmetrical to a longitudinal median plane dividing the holder 1 , and at their opposed sides , they each have a catch 9 with a locking surface 10 facing the middle segment 2 and a ramp surface 11 turned away from the middle segment 2 . the fingers 8 together form a first coupling part 12 of a two - part snap coupling . the fingers 8 are elastically deformably connected to the middle segment 2 of the holder 1 . as may be seen in fig3 , the middle segment 2 comprises four parallel slits 13 piercing it completely . the slits 13 form two outer webs 14 and a middle web 15 . a finger 8 is attached to each of the outer webs 14 . the webs 14 form elastically deformable elements that yield springingly when a force bringing them closer to each other is applied to the free ends of the fingers 8 . this makes possible a springing compression of the fingers 8 for plugging the snap coupling together . fig2 shows a fastening element 16 intended for connecting the holder 1 to a part , in particular of sheet metal , not shown in detail . the fastening element 16 has a holding pin 17 insertable in an opening of a part and there retainable by means of a catch element 18 . on the holding pin 17 , a plate - like flange 19 is arranged . the flange 19 serves to support the fastening element 16 in the part . it may in addition be provided with an annular sealing lip 20 of softer material , in order to be able to tightly close the opening in the part that receives the holding pin . on the side away from the holding pin 17 , a rectangular frame 22 is fastened to the flange 19 by means of two struts 21 , said frame extending essentially in a plane parallel to the flange 19 . the frame 22 forms the second coupling part of the two - part snap coupling 23 . the struts 21 are arranged on the longer sides of the frame 22 . the frame 22 comprises a rectangular framed opening 24 . the width of the framed opening 24 is smaller than the distance between the struts 21 . in this way , on the under side of the longer sides 25 of the frame 22 , towards the flange 19 , an adjacency surface 26 is formed , receding in the manner of an undercut relative to the framed opening 24 and intended for adjacency of the locking surfaces 10 with the catch projections 9 of the fingers 8 . the width of the framed opening 24 corresponds substantially to the distance between the sides , turned away from each other , of the fingers 8 of the holder 1 . in the framed opening 24 , symmetrical with respect to the center of the opening , projections 27 are attached to the sides 25 , their distance being somewhat greater than the width of the fingers 8 measured in a lengthwise direction of the holder 1 . on their outer sides turned away from each other , the legs 25 bear parallel ledges 28 , whose spacing corresponds essentially to the width of the middle segment 2 of the holder 1 . the ledges 28 are intended to secure the holder 1 against rotation . for assembly with the fastening element 16 , the holder 1 is placed on the frame 22 with longitudinal axis oriented parallel to the latter , and pressed against the fastening element 16 by fingers 8 turned towards the framed opening 24 . the fingers 8 thus slide over the sides 25 by the ramp surfaces 11 of the catches 9 , and are thereby pressed together . as soon as the holder 1 reaches the position shown in fig4 and rests on the frame 22 , the sides 25 release the catches 9 , whereby the latter snap into the locking position shown in fig4 , in which their locking surfaces 10 rest against the adjacency surfaces 26 and fix the holder 1 to the fastening element 16 . the ledges 28 thus laterally embrace the middle segment 2 and thereby secure the holder 1 against rotation . the holder 1 may be connected to the fastening element 16 either centrally or , insofar as the length of the framed opening 24 permits , eccentrically . if the holder , as shown in fig3 and 4 , is mounted centrally , then it is secured in that position by bearing of the fingers 8 on the projections 27 . by a force acting on the holder 1 in lengthwise direction , however , the supporting resistance of the projections 27 can be overcome , and the holder 1 shifted relative to the fastening element 16 . in this way , deviations of location between the position of the holder 1 on a cable tree and the opening in the part accommodating the fastening element 16 can be compensated . | 1 |
the drift pin cap 10 of the present invention is best shown in fig1 and 2 as including a generally cylindrical cap body 12 having a height of approximately two to three inches ( 2 ″ to 3 ″) and an outer diameter of approximately two and one - half inches ( 2½ ″). in the preferred embodiment the drift pin cap 10 would be constructed of uhmw polyethylene (“ uhmw ”). uhmw is a lightweight and long wearing polyethylene material that is ideal for this particular application and although the friction - reducing properties of the material have been known , the use of the material in the apparatus and method of the present invention has not been taught or suggested to the inventor &# 39 ; s knowledge . the uhmw material has additional properties which lend themselves to use in the present invention , such as it being relatively easy to work with , i . e . requires no special handling techniques , and can be manufactured to meet the shapes and sizes which are preferred in the present invention . ultra high molecular weight polyethylene ( uhmw ) is light weight ( ⅛ the weight of mild steel ), high in tensile strength , and as simple to machine as wood . uhmw is self - lubricating , shatter resistant , long - wearing , abrasion and corrosion resistant . of course , there may be other such durable and easily worked materials with similar splaying , fracturing , and splintering preventing qualities which are not presently known , but are to be understood as being included in the present disclosure . the lower end of the cap body 12 of the drift pin cap 10 is referred to as the pin insertion end 14 . formed adjacent to the pin insertion end 14 and extending into the cap body 12 is a pin receiving cavity 16 . the pin receiving cavity 16 is formed by boring a polygonal , cylindrical , hemispherical , rectangular , square or triangular hole into the cap body 12 approximately one to two inches ( 1 ″ to 2 ″) in depth and approximately one and one - half inches ( 1½ ″) in diameter , depending on the diameter and shape of the striking end of the drift pin . the pin receiving cavity 16 is of generally smaller diameter than that of the cap body 12 and would preferably be formed via the use of a drill bit or like device , although it may be formed by injection molding process or other such production methods , any of which would be suitable for use with the present invention . the operation of the pin receiving cavity 16 may be understood upon reference to fig1 and 2 in which the pin receiving cavity 16 accepts the upper end 102 of the drift pin 100 and the diameter of the pin receiving cavity 16 creates a tight fit around the upper end 102 of the drift pin 100 thus preventing the drift pin cap 10 from becoming dislodged upon impact of the driving device such as a sledge hammer ( not shown ). of course , the drift pin 100 shown in fig1 is not drawn to scale and should be understood to be only representative of the placement of the drift pin cap 10 on the drift pin 100 . located at the upper end of the cap body 12 of the drift pin cap 10 is the striking surface 18 . in the preferred embodiment , the striking surface 18 is a generally flat surface adapted for receiving impact from a driving device and transferring the impact force through the drift pin cap body 12 into the drift pin 100 thereby driving the drift pin into the holes on the joint bar ( not shown ) and aligning the rail holes ( not shown ). although fig1 shows the striking surface 18 as being generally smooth and flat , it should be noted that the striking surface 18 may be slightly rounded or may be pebbled , scored or the like resulting in increased friction between the driving device and the striking surface 18 . formed between the striking surface 18 and the cap body 12 is an upper circumferential chamfer 20 . the upper circumferential chamfer 20 is approximately one - sixteenth inches ({ fraction ( 1 / 16 )}″) in width and is formed through beveling or sanding the edge formed between the striking surface 18 and the cap body 12 thereby decreasing the angle between the striking surface 18 and the outer side wall of the cap body 12 . the upper circumferential chamfer 20 improves upon the prior art in that the upper circumferential chamfer 20 will decrease the amount of damage to the drift pin cap 10 resulting from an off - center strike by the driving device upon the striking surface 18 . fig3 and 4 disclose a second preferred embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the pin insertion end 14 of the drift pin cap 10 ′ is tapered and the tapered portion is approximately five - eights inches ( ⅝ ″) in length . the tapered portion of the pin insertion end 14 permits additional distortion of the side wall of the drift pin cap 10 ′ to facilitate a snugger fit of the drift pin cap 10 ′ on the drift pin 100 . fig5 represents a third preferred embodiment of the present invention . in the embodiment of fig5 , the drift pin cap 10 ″ has a height of approximately seven inches ( 7 ″) and further includes a cap neck 13 formed between and connecting the pin insertion end 14 and the striking surface 18 of the drift pin cap 10 ″. the cap neck 13 is approximately three inches ( 3 ″) in height and has a diameter of approximately two and one - half inches ( 2½ ″). the cap neck 13 allows the operator to easily grasp and manipulate the drift pin cap 10 ″ and drift pin 100 . adjacent to and below the cap neck 13 is the pin insertion end 14 . in this embodiment , the pin insertion end 14 is preferably a circumferential bulbous ring of approximately one inch ( 1 ″) in height , approximately three inches ( 3 ″) in diameter , and would include a connecting shoulder 17 between cap neck 13 and pin insertion end 14 which extends at an angle of approximately one hundred degrees ( 100 °). formed adjacent to the pin insertion end 14 and extending into the cap neck 13 is the pin receiving cavity 16 . the pin receiving cavity 16 in this embodiment is deeper than in the previous embodiments due to the elongated cap neck 13 . the pin receiving cavity 16 is formed as per the previous embodiments , via drilling or manufacture , but the length of the cap neck 13 allows for a deeper hole , approximately three inches ( 3 ″), creating the pin receiving cavity 16 . the pin receiving cavity 16 of this embodiment can , therefore , accept a longer portion of the upper end 102 of the drift pin 100 thereby increasing the stability of the drift pin cap 10 on the drift pin 100 . on the upper end of the cap neck 13 is formed the cap head 17 . the cap head is approximately two inches ( 2 ″) in height and has a diameter of approximately three inches ( 3 ″). atop the cap head 17 is the generally flat striking surface 18 . the cap head 17 creates a striking surface 18 that is approximately less than three inches ( 3 ″) when the circumferential chamfer 20 is formed . the method of the present invention is generally as follows . the operator of the device would first position the drift pin cap 10 atop the drift pin 102 inserting the upper end 102 of the drift pin 102 into the pin receiving cavity 16 thereby forming a snug fit between the upper end 102 of the drift pin 100 and the pin receiving cavity 16 . the operator would place the drift pin cap 10 and drift pin 102 in the desired position aligning the drift pin 100 within the joint bar holes into which the drift pin 100 is to be driven . the operator would then swing a driving device such as a sledgehammer as to impact the striking surface 18 of the drift pin cap 10 and drive the drift pin 100 into the holes on the joint bar thereby aligning the holes in the rails ( not shown ). the operator would impact the striking surface 18 of the drift pin cap 10 as many times as necessary to align the rail holes . the operator would remove the drift pin 100 and drift pin cap 10 from the joint bar and rail holes and insert the track fastening device ( not shown ). the present invention is composed of polyethylene which is superior to the metal in that the polyethylene is not as malleable and does not deform to the extent of metal . the rigidity of the polyethylene and the upper circumferential chamfer 20 of the drift pin cap 10 prevents even an off - center impact upon the striking surface 18 from damaging the drift pin cap 10 . as a result , the drift pin cap 10 will prevent the collision between the driving device and the metal drift pin thus resulting in no shrapnel being emitted which could injure the operator . likewise , the drift pin cap 10 does not disintegrate like the rubber used in caps in the prior art . the drift pin cap 10 will remain in its general form thus eliminating the contact between the driving device and the drift pin resulting in little or no shrapnel . another improvement the current invention displays over the prior art is its recoil preventing qualities due to its polyethylene composition . the present invention absorbs the energy created by the driving device impacting the striking surface 18 thereby lessening the recoil that has been seen in the rubber and metal materials used in the prior art . as a result of the recoil preventing qualities the operator is at less risk of becoming injured due to recoil of the driving device . the shape and design of the present invention also decreases the possibility of the cap 10 becoming dislodged and causing injury to the operator . the pin receiving cavity 16 of the drift pin cap 10 , as seen in fig1 and 2 , is created as to fit snugly around the upper end 102 of the drift pin 100 thus decreasing the possibility of the drift pin cap 10 from becoming dislodged . in fact , it is intended that the drift pin cap 10 will remain snugly atop the drift pin 100 during the useful life of the drift pin 100 . additionally , the outer diameter of the drift pin cap 10 can protect an operator &# 39 ; s hands from being struck by the driving device . the operator may place his hand under the pin insertion end 14 of the present invention and the diameter of the drift pin cap 10 will partially protect the hand by deflecting the driving device . it is to be understood that numerous modifications , additions , and substitutions may be made to the present invention which are intended to fall within the broad scope of the above description . for example , the exact shape , size , and construction materials used in the present invention may be modified and / or changed so long as the functionality of the invention is not impaired or degraded . additionally , the broad scope of the present invention is contemplated to cover its use in conjunction with other applications . for example , the present invention may be modified to fit stakes , spikes , dowels , chisels , wedges or the like to be driven in a plurality of substrates such as dirt , concrete , gravel , or like substrates . in fact , although the present invention has been described as a “ drift pin cap ”, it should be noted that it will likely be referred to in connection with whatever tool it is being used with , for example , if it were to be used with a wedge , it might be referred to as a “ wedge cap ,” a “ stake cap ” if used with a stake , and so on . in such applications , it may be necessary to attach the cap to the tool by a strap or clamp , or by gluing or epoxying the cap thereto , although such application would be understood by one skilled in the prior art . furthermore , the polyethylene component of the present invention is found to be superior to other materials used in the industry and is particularly well - suited for uses described by this invention . there has therefore been shown and described a drift pin cap and method for using same 10 which accomplishes at least all of its intended purposes . | 8 |
in a preferred arrangement , the capture means comprises a pair of jaws able to move between a closed position sufficient to hold the capsule and a spread position to release the capsule . the pair of jaws is preferably openable elastically by spreading them apart by means of a nose that activates said jaws by a relative movement of said nose with respect to a spreading area of the jaws . the jaws preferably offer bearing surfaces on which the capsule can at least partly rest , to enable it to be transferred without damaging it . in a preferred embodiment , the pair of jaws is mounted so as to be rotatable so that it can move between the storage system and the brewing system . in order to allow precise coordination between the capture means and the brewing system , the pair of jaws is able to move relative to the nose to release the capsule by the thrust of at least one thrust member moving in combination with a moving part of the brewing system when the brewing means closes around the capsule . in a preferred configuration , the used capsule is removed after brewing by the same capture means as was used to place the capsule in the brewing system . for this purpose the jaws are openable in an ejection area after the contents of the capsule have been brewed , and after the capture means has been moved to an intermediate area between the brewing area and the loading area . the spreading apart of the jaws in the ejection area to release the used capsule is preferably effected by cam means which is operatively associated with the nose for spreading apart the jaws in the ejection area to release the used capsule by moving the nose . such a cam means is operable cyclically according to the movement of the capture means and its position . this simplifies the control of the opening and closing of the jaws . the invention also relates to a method of selecting and loading a capsule that includes contents for the preparation of a drink in a brewing system from a storage area comprising several sets of capsules . one aspect of this method comprises capturing a capsule individually from a set , moving the capture means between the storage area and the brewing system in to at least two positions , including a first or reception position in which the capsule can be held and supported by the capture means for transfer , and a second or release position in which the capture means can be opened to release the capsule from the capture means into the brewing system ; and releasing the capsule into a brewing system for brewing of its contents . another aspect of the method comprises selecting and capturing one capsule from one of the sets of capsules , transferring the selected and captured capsule to a brewing system , releasing the capsule into the brewing system , closing the brewing system around the capsule , and brewing the contents of the capsule in the brewing system . the method is characterized in that the capsule is captured and then released into the brewing system , the latter being able to close around the capsule . in one preferred embodiment , the capsule is released into the brewing system via capture means in a movement of disengagement that causes no mechanical interaction between the brewing system and the capture means . the capsule is preferably released by the capture means by deposition of the capsule onto a reception part of the brewing system resulting from a movement of vertical approach and lateral disengagement of the capture means . this gives precise positioning of the capsule in the brewing system allowing an autonomous brewing system to close around the capsule . in another preferred embodiment , the used capsule is recovered , transferred to an ejection area , and released again . in addition , the capsule in the brewing system is coordinated with the closure of the system and , in reverse , the recovery of the used capsule from the brewing system is coordinated with the re - opening of the brewing system . the brewing device according to the invention shown in fig1 is a machine for dispensing coffee and / or other drinks for preparing drinks by brewing a food substance contained in capsules with preinserted ingredients . the device comprises a cabinet 10 of both attractive and functional shape which contains the essential elements of the brewing , selection and actuation system of the device . at the back of the cabinet is a storage system 2 with a plurality of tubes 20 , 21 , 22 and 23 containing sets of capsules for brewing . the front of the cabinet is a service area 11 comprising a stable support 12 for holding one or more receptacles for collecting the drink . a control panel 13 is provided at the front of the cabinet and has drink - selecting buttons corresponding to the different choices of capsules available in the storage device . some buttons may also correspond to certain possible mixtures obtained by means of more than one selected capsule . the device is supplied with electricity by an electric power line 15 and with water by a water pipe 16 . referring to fig2 to 5 , the device according to the invention comprises a main base 30 on which is mounted a storage system 2 in the form of a carousel comprising several refilling tubes 20 - 23 standing vertically and arranged together in a closed orbital arrangement . each tube forms a vertically oriented internal space suitable for housing a set of capsules stacked freely on top of each other in the refilling tube . the refilling tubes may be connected to each other to form a relatively rigid assembly when the carousel is rotated . for this purpose each tube is connected longitudinally on either side to its neighboring tubes by connecting webs 24 . as shown in fig5 , the refilling tubes are connected together at their lower base by a central connection means 25 which extends downwards by a central axial rod 26 connected rotationally to the base 30 . drive means 27 are used to turn the central shaft 26 . these means may include , as shown in fig5 , meshing wheels 270 , 271 and an electric motor 272 , the latter being connected to the base 30 . in one possible variation , the drive means may include a cam of the geneva wheel mechanism type whose function is to produce one precise rotation per quarter of a revolution of the refilling tubes . to make the assembly stable and keep the capsules in the tubes in the storage position , a tube supporting means 28 is provided on which the central connection means 25 rests . the tube support means 28 is a stationary supporting plate mounted on the main base 30 by spacer means ( not shown ). the central shaft of the carousel 26 passes in a sliding manner through the supporting plate 28 to allow the carousel , that is the assembly formed by the refilling tubes 20 - 23 and their connection means 25 , 26 , to be rotatable about a central vertical axis o relative to the supporting plate 28 , which is stationary relative to the base 30 . the refilling tubes 20 - 23 can therefore be moved about a circular path i orbiting about the axis o as shown schematically in fig6 . the tubes are thus able to move between a configuration in which the capsules are supported by the supporting plate 28 and a preselection configuration corresponding to a recess 29 formed in the supporting plate 28 , which recess 29 intersects a given arc of the orbital path i . the recess 29 thus provides a lower opening in the supporting plate 28 for one of the set of refilling tubes — which happens to be tube 22 in the example of fig6 . fig5 to 8 illustrate the capture means 4 used to capture a preselected capsule in the storage system 2 . the expression “ preselected capsule ” means a capsule 90 at the bottom of the tube positioned over the recess 29 . the capture means 4 comprises a shut - off plate 40 with an opening 41 of sufficient size for a capsule situated over it to pass freely through it . below this plate 40 is a hinged component that can adopt at least two positions , including a retention position for retaining the capsule and a release position for releasing the capsule . such a component is preferably a pair of jaws 42 which moves integrally with the shut - off plate about a central axis of rotation o ′ parallel with and offset from the axis o of the carousel . for this purpose the jaws 42 and the plate 40 are mounted on a central rod 46 . the shut - off plate and the jaws are rotated by means of a drive assembly comprising a motor 43 which drives by means of a belt 44 a central pinion 45 which in turn is integral with the rod 46 , as shown in fig3 . it will be understood that the capture means 4 , intentionally simplified in fig6 , can travel around a second circular path i ′ which intersects the first circular path i of the storage system 2 . more exactly , the essential capture components which are the opening 41 and the jaws 42 move together along the path i ′ in such a way that at the moment of capture they lie in the recess 29 of the tube supporting plate 28 . for this purpose the shut - off plate 40 covers the recess 29 , thereby holding back the stack of capsules in the tube in position in the recess 29 until the moment when its discrete opening 41 is aligned with the preselected tube , that is to say in the intersection of the orbital paths i - i ′. the capture system 4 will now be described in more detail . as shown in fig8 , the jaws 42 of this system are held closed by a spring 47 . the spring acts in compression on the opposing parts 420 , 421 of the gripping members 422 , 423 of the jaws in such a way as to push these members towards each other and thus offer a supporting ledge 48 for the capsule 90 . beneath the jaws 42 are actuating means 5 for opening and closing the jaws . the actuating means slide up and down inside a casing 54 mounted on the base 30 ( visible in fig5 and 7 ). the rod 46 is itself mounted rotatably in the base of the casing at one end and extends upwards to participate in driving the brewing device as will be explained below . the jaws 42 are kept pressed against the underside of the shut - off plate 40 by a compression spring 59 housed in the casing . due to the compression of the spring and in the absence of a reverse load pushing on the jaws , the jaws 42 remain effectively in contact with the shut - off plate 40 . as will be explained below , a pushing force on the jaws 42 is then used to open the jaws under certain conditions . the actuating means 5 for actuating the capsule capture system comprises a tubular component or cylinder 50 guided translationally up and down a cylindrical base 49 of the jaws by a tongue - and - groove guidance means 51 . the cylinder 50 is therefore able to move translationally up and down the lower base 49 of the jaws but is prevented from rotating relative to it . the top of the cylinder ends in a nose 52 which is aligned between the jaws 42 as shown in fig9 . the nose 52 acts on a spreading zone 424 of the jaws at the base of the jaws . at the other end of the cylinder , the cylinder engages with the casing by means of a cam mechanism 55 that enables the cylinder 50 to move up and down in a cyclical manner with each revolution of the capture means 4 about the rod 46 of axis o ′. the mechanism 55 comprises a cam surface 56 formed within the tubular section of the cylinder and acted upon by a fixed radial pin 57 inside , and integral with , the casing 54 . the cam surface 56 possesses a recessed part 580 as shown in fig8 in which the pin 57 applies no pressure , and a relief part 581 opposite the recessed part 580 in which the pin does apply pressure . when the cylinder is turned so that the recessed part 580 is over the pin 57 , the cylinder remains in the down position and its nose 52 applies no spreading force on the jaws , so they remain closed . this position corresponds to the capsule capture position of fig7 and 8 and also to the transfer position . on the other hand , when the cylinder is turned so that the relief part is in contact with the pin 57 , the cylinder is pushed up by the pressure of the pin on the relief part so that the nose exerts a spreading force on the jaws . this position corresponds to the situation of ejection of a capsule after brewing as will be explained later in detail . as shown in fig3 to 5 , the device is provided with a brewing system 7 situated on the opposite side of the rotational rod 46 of axis o ′ of the capture means from the storage system 2 . the brewing system is provided with a brewing assembly composed of a brewing head or moving block 70 . the block 70 is formed of an open cavity 79 , also referred to as the “ bath ”, comprising spikes for piercing the capsule and a hot - water inlet ( not shown ). the brewing system 7 also possesses a stationary extraction base 71 comprising a brew dispensing member 72 . this member 72 , as known per se , is mounted directly on the base 30 . it possesses a pressure distributing plate 74 necessary for opening the capsule and a pipe 75 through which the liquid brew flows out . the block 70 moves translationally up and down both the rod 46 and also an additional rod 86 . a central motor 76 mounted on a frame 78 connected to the rods 46 , 86 opens and closes the block 70 relative to the stationary brewing member 72 via a gear system 77 designed to distribute the driving forces of the motor on both sides of the rods 46 , 86 . lastly , the brewing device 7 comprises thrust members 790 , 791 connected to the lower part of the moving frame 78 , its purpose being to open the jaws 42 when the latter are moved with a capsule into the brewing device to release their capsule . for this purpose the thrust members 790 , 791 have the structure of rods , each of which is designed to apply a force to one of the jaws as the upper brewing subassembly 70 descends to close the capsule from the top . it is to be observed that the shut - off plate 40 contains holes 401 , 402 visible in fig2 allowing the thrust members 790 , 791 to pass through it . the thrust members 790 , 791 act on the jaws in such a way as to coordinate their opening with the closing of the brewing device triggered by the descent of the moving brewing block 70 . at the bearing end of each thrust member 790 , 791 there is advantageously a small wheel oriented in the direction of the opening / closing movement of the jaws so that the jaw movement is not impeded . the invention will now be described in its operation in order to explain more clearly the role of each component and the manner in which these components interact . the consumer chooses a drink by pressing one of the buttons on the control panel 13 of the main cabinet of the device ( fig1 ). the signal corresponding to the selection is sent to a central control system ( not shown ) of the device , which processes this signal and orders the storage system 2 to move . the identification of the tube corresponding to the selection can be processed in a variety of different ways . in a preferred embodiment , identification is by an electronic code carried on each tube which is readable by a reader within the device . the code may be a bar code , a radio frequency code (“ rfid ”), or any other equivalent coding means capable of holding identification information about the type of capsules contained in the tube . another means of identification may be a system for identifying colors by means of one or more color sensors located where the tubes pass . the tubes may be transparent and may contain colored capsules which are identified by the sensors as the tube passes by . a simpler means of identification would be to initialize the tubes and then count ahead by means of a counter . the identification means may also include microswitches or electromagnets for stopping the motor . the carousel is turned by the motor 272 controlled by the controller until the moment when the identified and selected tube arrives at the point of intersection i - i ′. the controller stops the motor and the selected tube is in the preselection position . if the choice corresponds to a capsule corresponding to a tube already in the preselection position , the controller recognizes this fact and the motor 272 is not started . 2 . capturing a capsule and transferring it to the brewing system : in the next step , the capture system 4 is moved in response to a command from the controller from an ejection position , which will be detailed below , to a position in which the capsule situated inside the preselected tube is captured . for this purpose the controller starts the motor 43 which then drives the shut - off plate 40 and the jaws 42 together to the capture position . the capture position corresponds to the position in which the discrete opening 41 of the shut - off plate 40 coincides vertically with the bottom opening of the preselected tube . once in this position , the controller stops the motor 43 . the bottommost capsule 90 inside the tube falls under gravity through the opening and is caught by the contact edges 48 on the pair of jaws 42 situated beneath it . the jaw is in this case in the closed position . for this purpose the cylinder 50 is in the down position as shown in fig8 , the recessed part 580 of the cam surface being turned towards the fixed pin 57 inside the casing . it should be noted that the space between the jaws and the shut - off plate 40 is just sufficient for the thickness of one capsule . the other capsules situated inside the tube are thus still stacked on top of the captured capsule . the shut - off plate 40 acts as a separator after rotation between the captured capsule and the rest of the stack contained inside the tube . it would be conceivable to add an additional separator to allow the descent of the selected capsule through the shut - off plate without having to support the weight of the whole stack . this facilitates the descent and reduces the risk of blockage . the next step is to transfer the capsule captured by the jaw to the brewing system . for this purpose the capture system 4 is rotated again by the motor 43 under the command of the controller . fig1 to 12 illustrate the step of releasing a capsule into the brewing system . the capsule is moved by the jaws 42 until it is over the stationary lower brewing block 71 . the motor 43 is then stopped . the motor may be stopped by microswitches or any equivalent means familiar to those skilled in the art . the controller then causes the upper moving brewing block 70 to descend by starting the motor 76 . the rotation of the motor shaft turns the gears 77 which then move the block 70 down the rods 46 , 86 which are threaded for at least part of their length in order to engage with screwthreads in the bores of the side gears . the descent of the moving block 70 causes the thrust rods 790 , 791 to pass through the holes 401 , 402 in the shut - off plate until the jaws 42 come open . when the jaws are thus acted upon by the bearing members 790 , 791 , they move down away from the supporting plate 40 and into contact with the nose 52 of the actuating means 5 . the jaws are pushed down , compressing the spring 59 inside the casing . the contact of the jaws against the nose has the effect of opening them and therefore releasing the capsule into the extraction device as shown diagrammatically in fig1 and 12 . the release occurs as the jaws 42 move vertically towards the bearing surfaces 710 of the fixed lower brewing block 71 . the jaws 42 therefore move both down a and apart b enabling them to disengage from the brewing block as shown in fig1 . the closure of the brewing system by the block 70 thus occurs simultaneously with the movement of the jaws . it should be observed that the dimensions of the moving block 70 allow it to pass through the opening 41 in the shut - off plate without difficulty . it should also be observed that the jaws 42 are pushed in the direction a until their contact surface 48 is below the contact plane p of the capsule corresponding to the reception surface 710 of the lower block . the jaws are now in the waiting position until brewing is completed . the capsule is now gripped between the upper moving block 70 and the lower stationary block 71 . the capsule preferably has lateral edges which are gripped at the interface between the two brewing blocks . the capsule is therefore taken over entirely by the brewing system without significant mechanical interaction between the capsule and the capture means at this stage . the brewing system can be made completely leaktight by a sealing means such as o - rings or the like ( not shown ). the process of brewing the contents of the capsule is known per se . there is no need to describe the principle in detail . a detailed description of the brewing principle will be found in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 826 , 492 , 5 , 649 , 472 and 5 , 762 , 987 , as preferred examples . the teaching of these patents is introduced in relation to the manner of brewing in the present application to the extent necessary by reference thereto . 5 . recapturing the capsule from the brewing system , and transferring and ejecting it : once the brewing procedure is over , the used capsule is recovered by the jaws 42 due to the opening of the moving brewing block 70 . the controller starts the motor in the opposite direction of rotation of the gears 77 , causing the moving block 70 to move upwards . in the reverse of the closing process , the movement of the block 70 carries the thrust rods 790 , 791 upwards , removing the pressure from the jaws . the jaws move back into position underneath the shut - off plate due to the elastic relaxation of the compression spring 59 acting on the jaws . the upward movement of the jaws in the opposite direction to direction a , combined with their closing movement in the opposite direction to direction b , as in fig1 , picks up the edges of the capsule , captures it and lifts it off the lower brewing block 71 . the next step is to transfer the used capsule to an ejection area . the ejection of the capsule is illustrated in fig1 to 15 . for this purpose the controller starts the motor 43 , which rotates the capture system 4 away from the brewing area 7 towards the ejection area 8 of the system . when the opening 41 of the shut - off plate is vertically over this area , indicated in the example illustrated by an opening 80 in the main frame 30 , the motor 43 stops . in the transfer towards this zone , the rotation about the axis o ′ leads the cylinder 50 to rise due to the contact created between the stationary pin 57 and the relief portion 581 of the cam surface as shown in fig1 . as it rises , the nose 52 of the cylinder pushes the jaws apart , dropping the capsule 20 . a collecting box can advantageously be placed in the device below the ejection area . the capsule is thus removed after its contents have been brewed without it being necessary to extract it from the brewing system either manually or by an ejection system built into the brewing system . in this configuration the capture system is ready to be used in a new selection cycle . the invention described above in relation to a preferred embodiment can encompass numerous variants and modifications within the reach of those skilled in the art , without thereby departing from the scope of the claims which follow . | 0 |
fig2 shows a user equipment ue in the form of a wireless communication device 20 , for example a radiotelephone , a pda or laptop , arranged to operate in accordance with the 3gpp wireless communication standard . the wireless communication device 20 includes an antenna 21 , a receiver 22 , a first processor 23 , a second processor 24 and an output device 25 . the antenna 21 is coupled to the receiver 22 , which are arranged to receive a wideband code division multiple access wcdma rf wireless communication signal that is in accordance with the 3gpp standard , as is well known to a person skilled in the art . the received signals that are generated by the receiver 22 are provided to the first processor 23 in the form of a stream of data samples ( i . e . a data sequence ). the first processor 23 is arranged to despread , descramble , demodulated and decode the stream of data samples to recover the original information generated by the transmitting device , for example a base station , as described below . although the first processor 23 and receiver 22 are shown to form separate logical elements they can also be combined to form a single element . alternatively , a single processor could perform the functions of the first processor 23 and second processor 24 . upon successful decoding of a hs - scch ( i . e . the successful decoding of the codeword corresponding to the estimate of the 8 information bits that forms the first part of the hs - scch ) the decoded information bits are provided to the second processor 24 to allow recovery of data transmitted on the hs - dsch . the second processor 24 is coupled to an output device 25 . the wireless communication device 20 will typically include other well known features , which are well known to a person skilled in the art and as such will not be describe any further for the purposes of the present embodiment . as shown in fig3 , the first processor 23 includes a despreading and descrambling module 30 coupled to a decoder 31 where the decoder 31 includes a correlator 32 , a selector 33 , a comparator 34 and an optional memory element 35 . the despreading and descrambling module 30 is arranged to despread and descramble the received stream of data samples to generate the sequence of 40 samples corresponding to the 40 - bit codeword generated by the transmitting element in the transmitting device , as described above . the module may include additional processing to improve the receiver performance in the presence of a multipath channel , as is well known to a person skilled in the art . in contrast to the prior art technique of decoding in which a received data sequence is processed in accordance with the viterbi or yi algorithm , the present decoder 31 , as described in detail below , operates on the basis of comparing a received sequence with all possible 40 - bit transmitted codewords . for the purposes of the present embodiment in which only 8 unique information bits are encoded and transmitted in the first part of a hs - scch , only 2 8 = 256 possible codewords could be applicable / intended for a specific ue . accordingly , a data sequence received by the decoder 31 via the despreading and descrambling module 30 is correlated using the correlator 32 with codewords that could be intended for the ue , which as stated above for the purposes of the present embodiment will be 256 codewords . as such , for the present embodiment the correlator 32 includes a bank of 256 parallel correlators ( not shown ) where each one of the bank of 256 correlators correlates one of the 256 possible codewords with the received data sequence . although the current embodiment describes the use of a correlator 32 having a bank of 256 parallel correlators , alternative correlators could be used , for example a single correlator in which serial correlations are performed . additionally , codewords having more or less than eight information bits could also be decoded where the number of correlations to be performed would vary accordingly . for example , for a codeword corresponding to 6 information bits only 2 6 ( i . e . 64 ) correlations would need to be performed for each received data sequence . coupled to the correlator 32 is a memory 35 for storing the 256 possible codewords where the 256 possible codewords are computed offline and stored in the memory 35 prior to operation of the decoder 31 . alternatively , other means for providing the possible codewords to the correlator 32 are possible , for example a codeword generator ( not shown ) that is arrange to generate the codewords in a similar fashion to the codeword generator in the transmitting device , as described above . as each codeword is represented by 40 bits ( i . e . 5 bytes ) and the memory is arranged to store 256 codewords , the memory 35 will typically be required to store at least 1280 bytes of information . accordingly , the size of the memory 35 will typically be dependent upon the number of possible codewords that could be intended for a ue . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , 256 correlations are performed for each received sequence . therefore , the total number of operations performed by the correlator 32 is in the order of 10 , 751 ( i . e . 256 × 40 = 10 , 240 operations of sign change and accumulate , plus 511operations of compare and store ). in comparison , more than 28 , 672 operations would be required to perform decoding using the yi algorithm ( the basic viterbi algorithm for decoding the rate ⅓ , constraint length 9 convolutional code requires ( 2 × 256 × 3 + 256 )× 16 operations ). the number of operations to be performed by the decoder 31 will vary according to the number of correlations that need to be performed . however , the number of operations to be performed using the yi algorithm will vary in a different proportion with the number of information bits . as such , there will be a threshold , for the number of codeword information bits , that will determine whether decoding via correlation of codewords or by the use of the yi algorithm will result in fewer operations when performing decoding . in the present embodiment , where part 1 of the hs - scch has 8 information bits the number of correlations is fixed at 256 , and consequently the present embodiment has a computational advantage over the yi algorithm . however , the decoder 31 could be arranged to switch between decoding via correlation of codewords , as described herein , and a viterbi based algorithm , such as the yi algorithm , based upon the number of received data samples , corresponding to a codeword , that need to be decoded . the correlator 32 is arranged to generate an output value for each correlation where the output value is indicative of the likelihood that the codeword being correlated with the received sequence is the transmitted codeword . for the purposes of the present embodiment , the output value generated by each one of the bank of 256 correlators are related to the natural logarithm of the probability of the correlated codeword being the particular codeword that was transmitted by the transmitting device , conditioned to the received data sequence . in the present embodiment , the selector 33 is arranged to receive each of the correlation output values and select the two largest correlation values ( i . e . the two values that correspond to the two most likely transmitted codewords ). the selector 33 is then arranged to subtract the second largest correlator output value from the largest output value to produce a resulting value where the resulting value provides an approximation to the log likelihood ratio for the specific codeword that produced the largest correlation output value when correlated with the received data sequence . the resulting value ( i . e . the approximation of the log likelihood ratio ) is provided to the comparator 34 for comparison with a threshold value to provide a decoding reliability indicator . the threshold value is selected to provide an indication of the likelihood that the codeword that has been correlated with the received sequence to produce the largest correlation output value ( i . e . the most likely transmitted codeword ) is the same as the actual transmitted codeword , i . e . that a successful decoding has occurred . as such , the probability of correctly identifying whether a successful decoding has been performed is dependent on the setting of the threshold value . for example , if the threshold value is set too high then only a subset of possible successful decodings will be identified . however , if the threshold value is set too low then unsuccessful decodings may inadvertently be identified as successful decodings . as such , the setting of the threshold value is dependent upon the acceptable error rate for the decoder 31 . for example , fig4 provides an illustration of the detection probability ( i . e . the y axis ) and false alarm probability ( i . e . x axis ) performance obtained with the present embodiment of the invention . the present embodiment has the same detection probability / false alarm probability performance as that demonstrated using the prior art yi algorithm technique while , as stated above , using considerably fewer operations for decoding a codeword containing information bits less than a given number . if the comparator 34 makes a determination that the calculated approximation of the log likelihood ratio is greater than the specified threshold value ( i . e . a successful decoding has been deemed to have occurred ), the 8 information bits that correspond to the codeword having the largest correlator output value are provided to the processor 24 for processing the appropriate data transmitted on the hs - dsch . if the comparator 34 makes a determination that the calculated approximation of the log likelihood ratio is less than the specified threshold value ( i . e . an unsuccessful decoding has occurred ) the wireless communication device 20 continues to monitor the hs - scch channels without attempting to receive data over the hs - dsch . we note that , in an alternative implementation of the present invention , the detection process may be based on more than two and up to all correlation values produced by the correlator 32 . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed subject matter may be modified in numerous ways and may assume embodiments other than the preferred forms specifically set out as described above , for example the decoding of channels other than hs - dsch and hs - scch could be performed and the decoding could be performed on data transmitted according to wireless communication standards other than 3gpp . | 7 |
a description of the two - mask igfet process follows . an igfet fabrication process with only two masking steps is achieved by using a first masking - etching step to simultaneously define gate , source and drain regions and a second masking - etching step merging the operations for opening of contact holes with the formation of an interconnection pattern . referring to fig1 a and 1b , a semiconductor substrate 1 is of a first conductivity type doping having at least one planar surface . the doping should be p type if n channel igfets are desired and conversely n type for p channel igfets . for illustrative purposes , the disclosure herein is directed towards fabricating n channel igfets ; however , it is recognized that the disclosed techniques can also be applied to the fabrication of p channel igfets . a suitable doping density for the substrate is 5 × 10 15 cm - 3 . a thick layer 2 of silicon oxide is grown on the surface of the semiconductor substrate to about 6500 angstroms by means of thermal oxidation or other methods well known in the art . a first mask is next used with conventional photolithographic and etching techniques to open windows 4 , 6 and 8 for the source , gate and drain regions , respectively . an alternative technique starts by successively forming layers of silicon oxide and nitride on the wafer . a first mask is then used such that subsequent etching leaves nitride portions wherever windows 4 , 6 and 8 are desired . these nitride portions function as oxidation masks which localize the growth of the thick oxide layer 2 to the field regions of the structure . with this alternative technique , the threshold voltage of the field region can be raised by a pre - oxidation blanket implant of p - type ions blocked out from gate , source and drain regions by the nitride layers . in either approach , these windows must expose the surface of the substrate 1 so that gate - quality thin oxide layers can be grown therein , with layer 10 eventually forming the gate structure and layers 12 and 14 covering the regions wherein source and drain regions are to be formed . in order to stabilize both thin and thick oxide , a thin layer of phosphosilicate glass ( psg ) is deposited during the growth of the thin oxide layer . a blanket ion - implant can be performed at this stage to adjust the threshold voltage associated with layer 10 . fig2 shows a layer of polysilicon 16 disposed over the entire surface . this layer does not have to be excessively thick or heavily doped since its sheet resistance will be lowered by the subsequent formation of a metal silicide layer . a thickness in the range from 2000 angstroms to 5000 angstroms suffices . thereafter , another layer 18 , suitable for a diffusion or ion - implantation mask , is deposited such as silicon nitride . clearly , the thickness of layer 18 depends on its use , masking ion - implantation calling for the largest thickness of about 2000 angstroms . both layers 16 and 18 can be deposited by a number of methods such as chemical vapor deposition , evaporation or sputtering which are well known in the art and a detailed discussion of which is not deemed necessary . the wafer is then ready for a second masking and associated etching operations . if conventional wet methods are used to etch the aforementioned layers 16 and 18 , an additional top - lying oxide layer to function as an etching mask during the stripping of nitride layer 18 is needed to avoid photoresist adhesion problems . these problems are eliminated if plasma or reactive ion etching methods are used . for convenience , these methods will be referred to as dry etching . this technique not only simplifies the process of etching nitride layer 18 and polysilicon layer 16 but also produces minimal undercutting . the latter feature is of interest to the disclosed invention to prevent the formation of voids when contacts are made to diffused regions by replacing the etched layers 12 and 14 with a silicide layer . thus , dry etching is preferably used after the second masking operation . the second masking produces a pattern on a top lying photoresist layer , not shown in fig3 a . the pattern is disposed over the field regions and extends over regions 4 , 6 and 8 which are completely encompassed if they are to become part of gate regions or partially overlapped if they are located over intended source and drain regions . with this photoresist pattern covering nitride layer 18 , the wafer is ready for placement in a vacuum chamber where a flourine based plasma etches both the nitride layer 18 and the polysilicon layer 16 . the remaining double - layered pattern is shown in fig3 a and 3b as forming gate electrode 20 and interconnections 22 and 24 . this pattern can be better appreciated by referring to fig3 c where for the sake of clarity the nitride layer 18 is not shown . the interconnection line 19 partially covers the thin oxide layer 11 , overlying a portion of the substrate wherein a drain region will be formed , and extends over the thick oxide layer 2 to form the gate electrode 20 of the two adjacent devices defined by gate regions 6 and 7 . the intersection of interconnection lines 22 and 24 with the thin oxide regions 12 and 14 respectively define windows 26 and 28 shown in fig3 b . doping impurities are subsequently deposited through windows 26 and 28 and silicide contacts are formed therein , afterwards . the unmasked thin oxide regions 30 and 32 are first stripped by dry etching if the doping impurities for the subsequent diffusion are deposited by thermal means . if they are ion - implanted , it is advantageous to keep layers 30 and 32 to minimize the occurrence of channeling . after deposition of n - type impurities , a drive - in cycle forms source regions 34 and 35 , drain regions 36 and 37 and crossunder 38 which are shown by fig4 a and 4b . crossunders such as 38 are formed by merging the nearest edges of at least two adjacent diffused regions . thus , crossunder 38 is formed by merging the nearest edges of the diffused source regions 34 and 35 . the availability of diffused crossunders enhances the wiring density of the top - lying interconnection grid by permitting the layout of lines along intercepting directions as illustrated by lines 19 and 22 of fig3 b and 3c . a crossunder must be long enough to accommodate about twice the minimum pitch used to layout minimum width polysilicon lines . this pitch is mainly determined by photolithographic resolution and etching tolerances . for a dry - etched 2 . 5 - micrometer - wide line such as 19 , the diffused regions 34 and 35 must be driven in to a depth between 5 and 6 micrometers to form crossunder 38 and overlap the nearest edges of the gate thin oxide region 10 . the first mask positions gate region 6 with respect to source and drain windows 4 and 8 and gate region 7 with respect to source and drain windows 3 and 9 so that a minimum overlap is obtained between layer 10 and regions 34 and 36 . the drive - in cycle is done in a nonoxidizing ambient to avoid growing a thick oxide layer on the exposed polysilicon sidewalls 40 and contact regions 26 and 28 . next , all of the remaining nitride layer 18 and doped glass and / or oxide layers covering contact windows 26 and 28 are respectively etched using warm phosphoric acid and reactive plasma . the wafer is now ready for deposition of a layer of silicide forming metal such as platinum , palladium or hafnium at least twice as thick as the thin oxide layers 12 and 14 . any one of the well known methods such as electron beam or filament evaporation can be used to deposit metal layer 42 as shown in fig5 which is then annealed sufficiently long at the temperature required to completely transform the original metal layer 42 into a stable platinum silicide layer 44 . as fig5 shows , since the metal layer 42 is thicker than the thin oxide layers 12 and 14 , a silicide layer 44 in fig6 is obtained which bridges the gap between the surface of the source - drain regions 34 and 36 and the polysilicon sidewalls 46 . formation of voids between silicide layer 44 and the thin oxide sidewalls 48 is prevented by using dry - etching techniques which produce little undercutting of the thin oxide layers 12 and 14 . preferred metals for layer 42 are platinum , palladium and hafnium since their reactions with silicon are self - limited to the exposed silicon surfaces , leaving unreacted the portion of the metal layer 42 covering exposed oxide surfaces 40 . a 1000 angstrom thick platinum layer requires annealing at 700 ° c . for 15 minutes to form a 2000 angstrom thick platinum silicide layer . the unreacted metal covering the thick oxide layer 2 is then removed by a maskless etch in hot aqua regia which does not attack oxide layer 2 or silicide layer 44 . the sheet resistance of the polysilicon lines is reduced down to the range between 1 and 4 ohms per square . the completed device structure with interconnections is shown in fig6 . the completed structure has self - alignment features which follow from using a single mask to simultaneously define more than one device region . the first mask defines regions for the gate 6 , source 4 and drain 8 , so that the thin oxide gate region 10 is self - aligned with respect to the windows for the source 26 and drain 28 and the respective diffused regions 34 and 36 deposited therethrough . however , since the gate electrode 20 is defined with the second mask , some area - consuming tolerance must be allowed in order to insure its alignment with respect to the gate thin oxide region 10 . interconnections 22 and 24 are self - aligned with respect to their corresponding contact windows 26 and 28 since they are all defined by the second mask . as explained in connection with fig4 b , the relative position between the windows for the gate 6 , source 4 and drain 8 , is determined by the length of the crossunder 38 which restricts the reduction in device area that can be realized through self - alignment . these restrictions can be removed by substituting crossunders with a second interconnection level to match and surpass the wiring density obtained with the former . to realize this interconnection enhancement , the process must be expanded by two masking operations and the metal silicide layer 44 must be stable under the hot processes conventionally used to deposit an intermediate insulating layer supporting the second interconnection level . one such method is chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ) which calls for temperatures between 750 ° and 800 ° c . in addition , this may be followed by a phosphosilicate glass ( psg ) deposition for oxide stabilization at temperatures between 750 ° and 900 ° c . hafnium and platinum silicide have been shown to be stable for annealing cycles at these temperatures . the structure of fig7 has been fabricated following the steps leading to fig6 except that merged diffusions have not been used to form crossunders . the process is then continued by forming a layer 50 of cvd oxide over the wafer and toped by psg . a third mask is used with conventional etching to open via holes 52 which expose the silicide layer 44 wherever it is to be contacted by the second interconnection level . next , a low temperature deposition is made to form an aluminum layer which comes into contact with silicide layer 44 through via holes 52 . a subetch operation then yields a second interconnection level pattern 54 . the process is completed with the usual aluminum annealing . the structure of fig7 possesses two features which promote the efficient use of wafer area . first , the absence of crossunders permits full utilization of self - alignment between source , gate and drain windows to reduce device area and second , the silicide layer 44 lowers the sheet resistance of polysilicon lines 16 by at least a decade so that first level interconnection lines can be made narrower than the plain polysilicon lines used by the prior art . these features can be employed by efforts directed toward reducing device size and interconnection linewidths ; goals which lead to both high circuit density and manufacturing yield . another approach to enhancing device and wiring density of the structure of fig6 is to use continuous diffused lines for a first interconnection level instead of crossunders . this approach requires modifications of the two - mask process revolving around the addition of one extra mask ; hence it is referred to as the three - mask process . the following description of the preferred embodiment primarily dwells upon the dissimilarities between the two processes . to emphasize their similarities the numeral designations are repeated except for distinguishing primes . the additional mask is used for a first masking - etching operation on the thick oxide layer 2 &# 39 ; which yields the structure of fig8 . this structure has windows 4 &# 39 ; and 8 &# 39 ; which define source and drain regions , as in fig1 . however , window 4 &# 39 ; defines in addition to a source , a first level interconnection pattern as will become apparent in fig1 . these windows expose the substrate 1 &# 39 ; for the deposition thereon of n - type impurities which are then thermally driven in to form source , drain and interconnection regions 34 &# 39 ;, 36 &# 39 ; and 37 , respectively . simultaneously with this drive - in cycle , the oxide is reformed in the openings 4 &# 39 ; and 8 &# 39 ; to obtain a planar surface as discussed by u . s . pat . no . 3 , 899 , 372 assigned to the same assignee as that of the present invention . next , a second masking operation is used in conjunction with conventional etching techniques to open the windows shown in fig9 which locate the gate region 6 &# 39 ; and contact windows 26 &# 39 ; and 28 &# 39 ; for the source and drain , respectively . in addition , a contact window 29 for the substrate 1 &# 39 ; can also be opened , an option not available with the two - mask process . in fig1 , layers of thin oxide 10 &# 39 ;, 12 &# 39 ;, 14 &# 39 ; and 15 are respectively grown in these openings followed by the deposition of polysilicon layer 16 &# 39 ; over the wafer . since all required diffused regions have already been formed , nitride layer 18 of the two - mask process can be dispensed with . at this stage of the process , the structure of fig1 is about equivalent to that of fig2 a for the two - mask process except for the absence of diffused regions in the latter . it follows then that the remaining process steps , leading to a second interconnection level consisting of polysilicon - silicide lines and gate electrodes , are the same as those used for the two - mask process . the completed structure is shown in fig1 . because of the additional masking step , the gate region 10 &# 39 ; is not self - aligned with respect to windows for the source 4 &# 39 ; and the drain 8 &# 39 ;, as in the two - mask case . however , self - alignment between the silicide - polysilicon lines and contact holes to the diffused drain region 36 &# 39 ; and interconnection level 37 is preserved . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiment 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 . | 7 |
fig1 and 2 are simulated electrocardiograms illustrating operation of the device as it operates to determine whether a pacing regimen is likely to successfully terminate a tachycardia . r - waves 10 and 12 , indicative of the ongoing tachycardia are separated by an interval t1 , corresponding to the rate of the detected tachycardia . a short series of anti - tachycardia pacing pulses 14 and 16 are delivered , separated by intervals t2 , which are determined as a function of the duration of intervals t1 separating preceding r - waves during the tachycardia . in order to determine whether a series of overdrive pacing pulses separated by intervals t2 is likely to be effective , the device waits after delivery of the second pulse 16 and measures the time t3 to the next spontaneous r - wave 18 . either immediately following spontaneous r - wave 18 , or following a short sequence of additional spontaneous r - waves 20 and 22 , the device delivers a second series of a greater number of anti - tachycardia pacing pulses 24 , 26 , 28 and 30 separated by intervals t2 . the device then suspends delivery of the anti - tachycardia pacing pulses and measures the return cycle t4 . depending upon the relationship of return cycle t4 and t3 , the device then either continues delivery of pacing pulses separated by intervals t2 or switches to different therapy . in particular , if return cycle t4 is not greater than return cycle t3 , by a pre - defined increment e . g . & gt ; 0 to 200 ms , a new anti - tachycardia pacing pulse regimen may be initiated preferably having an inter - pulse interval somewhat less than t2 . the new pacing therapy may be initiated immediately or following a few spontaneous depolarizations in order that the inter - depolarization intervals of the tachycardia can be re - measured . alternatively , charging of the high voltage output capacitors of the device may be initiated in order to allow delivery of a cardioversion shock . if the second return interval t4 is greater than return interval t3 by the defined increment , the device resumes delivery of anti - tachycardia pacing pulses separated by time intervals t2 . the device may then simply deliver the entire programmed number of anti - tachycardia pacing pulses for the pacing regimen . if the pacing regimen as programmed extends over or a relatively large number of pulses , the device may optionally measure the return cycle an additional time , repeating the process described above , prior to delivery of the entire programmed number of pacing pulses or initiating deliver of a new therapy . fig3 is a block , functional diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a cardioverter / pacemaker according to the present invention . as illustrated , the device is embodied as a microprocessor based stimulator . however , other digital circuitry embodiments and analog circuitry embodiments are also believed to be within the scope of the invention . for example , devices having general structures as illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 251 , 624 issued to bocek et al ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 209 , 229 issued to gilli , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 407 , 288 , issued to langer et al , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 662 , 688 , issued to haefner et al ., u . s . pat . no . 5 , 855 , 893 , issued to olson et al ., u . s . pat . no . 4 , 821 , 723 , issued to baker et al . or u . s . pat . no . 4 , 967 , 747 , issued to carroll et al ., all incorporated herein by reference in their entireties may also be usefully employed in conjunction with the present invention . similarly , while the device of fig3 takes the form of a ventricular pacemaker / cardioverter , the present invention may also be usefully be employed in a device having atrial pacing and cardioversion capabilities . fig3 should thus be considered illustrative , rather than limiting with regard to the scope of the invention . the primary elements of the apparatus illustrated in fig3 are a microprocessor 100 , read only memory 102 , random access memory 104 , a digital controller 106 , input and output amplifiers 110 and 108 respectively , and a telemetry / programming unit 120 . read only memory stores the basic programming for the device , including the primary instruction set defining the computations performed to derive the various timing intervals employed by the cardioverter . random access memory 104 serves to store variable control parameters , such as programmed pacing rate , programmed cardioversion intervals , pulse widths , pulse amplitudes , and so forth which are programmed into the device by the physician . random access memory 104 also stores derived values , such as the stored time intervals separating tachyarrhythmia pulses and the corresponding high rate pacing interval . reading from random access memory 104 and read only memory 102 is controlled by rd line 146 . writing to random access memory 104 is controlled by wr line 148 . in response to a signal on rd line 146 , the contents of the random access memory 104 or read only memory 102 designated by the then present information on address bus 124 are placed on data bus 122 . similarly , in response to a signal on wr line 148 , information on data bus 122 is written into random access memory 104 at the address specified on the address bus 124 . controller 106 performs all of the basic control and timing functions of the device . controller 106 includes at least one programmable timing counter , initiated on ventricular contractions , and timing out intervals thereafter . this counter is used to generate the basic timing intervals referred to above and to measure intervals ending in intrinsic depolarizations . on time out of the pacing escape interval or in response to a determination that a cardioversion or defibrillation pulse is to be delivered , controller 106 triggers the appropriate output pulse from output stage 108 , as discussed below . following generation of stimulus pulses controller 106 generates corresponding interrupts on control bus 132 , waking microprocessor 100 from its sleep state , allowing it to perform any required mathematical calculations , including all operations associated with evaluation of return cycle times and selection of anti - tachyarrhythmia therapies according to the present invention . the timing counter in controller 106 also times out a ventricular refractory period , as discussed below . the time intervals which the timing counter in controller 106 counts prior to time - out are controlled via data from ram 104 , applied to the controller 106 via data bus 122 . controller 106 also generates wake - up interrupts for microprocessor 100 on the occurrence of sensed ventricular contractions . on occurrence of a sensed ventricular contraction , in addition to an interrupt indicating its occurrence placed on control bus 132 , the then current value of the timing counter within controller 106 is placed onto data bus 122 , for use by microprocessor 100 in determining whether a tachyarrhythmia is present and for determining the intervals separating individual tachyarrhythmia beats . output stage 108 contains a high output pulse generator capable of generating cardioversion pulses of at least 0 . 1 joules , to be applied to the patient &# 39 ; s heart via electrodes 134 and 136 , which are typically large surface area electrodes mounted on or in the heart or located subcutaneously . other electrode configurations may also be used , including three or more electrodes arranged within and around the heart . typically the high output pulse generator includes high voltage capacitor , a charging circuit and a set of switches to allow delivery of monophasic or biphasic cardioversion or defibrillation pulses to the electrodes employed . output circuit 108 also contains a pacing pulse generator circuit which is also coupled to electrodes 138 , 140 and 142 , which are employed to accomplish ventricular cardiac pacing by delivery of pulses between electrode 138 and one of electrodes 140 and 142 . electrode 138 is typically located on the distal end of an endocardial lead , and is typically placed in the apex of the right ventricle . electrode 140 is typically an indifferent electrode mounted on or adjacent to the housing of the cardioverter defibrillator . electrode 142 may be a ring electrode located on an endocardial lead , located slightly proximal to the tip electrode 138 , or it may be a far field electrode , spaced from the heart . output circuit 108 is controlled by control bus 126 , which allows the controller 106 to determine the time , amplitude and pulse width of the pulse to be delivered and to determine which electrode pair will be employed to deliver the pulse . sensing of ventricular depolarizations is accomplished by input amplifier 110 , which is coupled to electrode 138 and one of electrodes 140 and 142 . signals indicating both the occurrence of natural ventricular contractions and paced ventricular contractions are provided to the controller 106 via bus 128 . controller 106 passes data indicative of the occurrence of such ventricular contractions to microprocessor 100 via control bus 132 in the form of interrupts , which serve to wake up microprocessor 100 , so that it may perform any necessary calculations or updating of values stored in random access memory 104 . optionally included in the device is a physiologic sensor 148 , which may be any of the various known sensors for use in conjunction with implantable stimulators . for example , sensor 148 may be a hemodynamic sensor such as an impedance sensor as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 865 , 036 , issued to chirife or a pressure sensor as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 330 , 505 , issued to cohen , both of which patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties . alternatively , sensor 148 may be a sensor of demand for cardiac output such as an oxygen saturation sensor as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 176 , 137 , issued to erickson et al . or a physical activity sensor as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 428 , 378 , issued to anderson et al ., both of which patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties . sensor processing circuitry 146 transforms the sensor output into digitized values for use in conjunction with detection and treatment of arrhythmias . external control of the implanted cardioverter / defibrillator is accomplished via telemetry / control block 120 which allows communication between the implanted cardioverter / pacemaker and an external programmer . any conventional programming / telemetry circuitry is believed workable in the context of the present invention . information entering the cardioverter / pacemaker from the programmer is passed to controller 106 via bus 130 . similarly , information from the cardioverter / pacemaker is provided to the telemetry block 120 via bus 130 . fig4 a and 4b are functional flow charts illustrating the operation of the device shown in fig3 . these flow charts are intended to illustrate the functional operation of the device , and should not be construed as reflective of a specific form of software or hardware necessary to practice the invention . it is believed that the particular form of software will be determined primarily by the particular system architecture employed in the device and by the particular detection and therapy delivery methodologies employed by the device , and that providing software to accomplish the present invention in the context of any modern implantable anti - tachycardia pacemaker or implantable pacemaker / cardioverter , given the disclosure herein , is well within the abilities of one of skill in the art . fig4 a is a functional flow chart illustrating the over - all operation of the device in conjunction with practicing the present invention . at 200 , the device detects the occurrence of a tachycardia and it determines the first inter - pulse interval t2 for the first scheduled anti - tachycardia pacing regimen . this interval may be a percentage of the average interval separating the spontaneous depolarizations during detected tachyarrhythmia , e . g . about 90 %. the device then delivers a sequence of n pulses at 204 , where the value of n may be , for example , two to four pulses . at 206 , after delivery of the nth pulse , the return cycle is measured . while it is not believed likely that the tachycardia has terminated , the device nonetheless checks at 208 to determine if it has terminated . detection of termination of the tachycardia may occur , for example in response to a measured return cycle of greater than a defined duration or in response to a measured return cycle of greater than a defined duration followed by one or more spontaneous r - waves separated by intervals greater than the defined duration . if the tachycardia has terminated , the device returns to normal operation . if the return interval is not indicative of termination of tachycardia , the device delivers a sequence of n + x pulses at 212 , where x is typically 1 to 3 . the device checks again at 214 to determine whether the tachycardia has terminated . if not , the device compares the measured return cycle to the previously measured return cycle . in the event that the return cycle has increased or increased by more than a preset increment , for example 0 to 200 milliseconds , the device delivers the entire series of pulses programmed for the pulse regimen at 222 . if the device then detects termination of the tachycardia at 224 , the device returns to normal operation at 228 . if termination is not detected at 224 , the device schedules the next available therapy , which may be a new pacing regimen or a cardioversion pulse and returns to normal operation at 228 to await re - detection of the tachycardia or detection of termination of the tachycardia . in the event that following delivery of the series of n + x pulses , an increased return cycle is not detected at 216 , the device checks at 218 to determine whether a delivery of a subsequent series of anti - tachycardia pacing pulses is consistent with the programming . additionally or alternatively , if the device includes a hemodynamic sensor , delivery of a subsequent set of anti - tachycardia pacing pulses may be prevented in response to detection of hemodynamic compromise . if a subsequent series of pacing pulses is not to be delivered , a cardioversion shock or other therapy may be scheduled at 226 . if the device programming and / or the hemodynamic sensor allows , however , the device may proceed directly to deliver pacing pulses according to the next scheduled pacing pulse regimen , having modified pulse parameters , in this case an reduced inter - pulse interval as defined at 220 . the device may either simply deliver the entire series of pacing pulses as programmed for the next scheduled pacing regimen or , as illustrated , may attempt to determine whether pacing pulses according to the new regimen are likely to terminate the tachycardia as a prerequisite to delivery of the entire pacing regimen . fig4 b illustrates alternative methods of operation according to the present invention . in a first alternative , following a determination that the required increase in return cycle did not occur at 216 ( fig4 a ), the device delivers a series of n + y pulses at 230 , where y has a value greater than x , and checks for termination of the tachycardia at 232 , returning to normal operation at 228 ( fig4 a ). if the tachycardia has not terminated , the device checks at 234 to determine whether the required increase in return cycle length has occurred . if so , the device delivers the entire pacing regimen at 222 ( fig4 a ). if not , the device will check at 218 ( fig4 a ) to determine whether a subsequent pacing regimen is to be delivered . in a second alternative embodiment , the step of delivering n + y pacing pulses at 230 may occur following a determination that the required increase in return cycle did occur at 216 ( fig4 a ). | 0 |
while the description sets forth various embodiment specific details , it will be appreciated that the description is illustrative only and should not be construed in any way as limiting the invention . furthermore , various applications of the invention , and modifications thereto , which may be apparent to those who are skilled in the art , are also encompassed by the general concepts described herein . for example , any of the structures in the devices illustrated or described in the patent documents incorporated herein by reference may be combined with or used instead of the structures disclosed herein . fig1 illustrates a male luer connector 10 with a luer end 12 and a luer lock 14 approaching a female connector 16 . the female connector 16 has a proximal end 18 , a distal end 20 , with a male luer 22 on its distal end . the distal end 20 may further include a luer lock . the female connector 16 includes a housing 24 . fig2 illustrates a perspective view of the female connector 16 . the proximal end 48 of a flexible element 26 is illustrated . the flexible element 26 may include an orifice 27 that is normally closed until a distally directed force is applied to flexible element 26 . fig3 illustrates a perspective view of the connector 16 in which the male luer 22 on the distal end 20 of the connector is visible . fig4 is an exploded perspective view of the connector 16 of fig2 . some of the internal components of connector 16 are illustrated , such as flexible element 26 and rigid element 28 . in some embodiments of the assembled configuration , an inner rigid element 30 is provided and can fit within a cavity 32 inside of flexible element 26 . orifice 27 is shown closed in this exploded perspective view . in some embodiments , orifice 27 is open when flexible element 26 is separate from housing 24 . in some embodiments , contact between the inner cavity of the housing 24 and portions of the proximal end 48 of flexible element 26 upon insertion of flexible element 26 into housing 24 may cooperate to substantially close orifice 27 such that the fluid flow path through connector 16 is impeded . fig5 illustrates a perspective view of rigid element 28 having a proximal end 31 and a distal end 33 . distal end 33 may include radially projecting elements 35 . radial elements 35 interact with corresponding features in the internal wall of housing 24 to secure rigid element 28 within housing 24 upon assembly of the connector 16 . radial elements 35 extending along the longitudinal axis of connector 16 may interact with housing 24 to inhibit rotation of rigid element 28 inside of housing 24 when connector 16 is manipulated , for example when a female connector is attached to the distal end 20 of connector 16 . in some embodiments , inner rigid element 30 has multiple openings . for example , openings 34 can be used to permit fluid to flow into an internal passage or fluid - flow path 36 inside of inner rigid element 30 . in some embodiments , two openings 34 are disposed on opposite sides of inner rigid element 30 . additional openings similar to opening 34 can also be provided . in some embodiments , an opening can be provided at the proximal end 31 of inner rigid element 30 . in some embodiments , one or more of openings 34 and 38 are combined ( i . e ., the same openings ( s ) are configured to receive fluid and to receive one or more protrusions 52 ( see fig7 a ). inner rigid element 30 may be blunt , pointed , opened - ended , closed - ended , or shorter or longer , or wider or narrower than shown here . inner rigid element 30 may have many different shapes . for example , it may be configured as a tube - like structure as shown , configured as a sleeve with one or more longitudinal openings or slits extending partially along the length of the sleeve or along the entire length of the sleeve , or the inner rigid element 30 may be eliminated entirely . inner rigid element 30 may be in a fixed position inside of the housing 24 or it may be moveable or floating inside of the housing 24 . in the absence of inner rigid element 30 , one or more fluid openings may be provided at or near a distal region of the cavity inside the housing to convey fluid within the housing cavity to the male end of the connector . in some embodiments , one or more openings 38 are provided in inner rigid element 30 , and may be located in a direction distal from opening 34 . as will be described below , in some embodiments , opening 38 is intended to receive a protrusion on an internal surface of flexible element 26 when the connector 16 is in the closed configuration ( see fig8 a ). in some embodiments , opening 38 is adapted to receive fluid flow . where opening 38 is used to facilitate fluid flow through inner rigid element 30 , opening 34 may or may not be included . fig6 a and 6b illustrate orthogonal cross - sections of rigid element 28 taken in a vertical plane . in some embodiments , as illustrated , the proximal edges 40 , 42 of openings 34 , 38 can be flat and substantially horizontal , and the distal edges 44 , 46 of openings 34 , 38 can be slanted or beveled . as illustrated , the fluid - flow path 36 may extend from the proximal end of the inner rigid element 30 along a generally axially - oriented linear path to the male end 22 . in some embodiments , as illustrated , the fluid - flow path 36 in the distal region of the inner rigid element 30 is generally non - tortuous ; for example , the fluid - flow path 36 may not turn in a direction that is perpendicular to or substantially non - parallel with the axis of the inner rigid element 30 , and / or it may not include fluid - exiting side openings in the distal region of the inner rigid element 30 . such a fluid - flow path may provide a higher fluid flow rate and create less turbulence in the fluid flow ( which can be especially advantageous when the fluid includes blood cells ). fig7 a and 7b illustrate orthogonal cross - sections of flexible element 26 taken in a vertical plane . flexible element 26 can be longitudinally compressed and / or moved by a force applied to the proximal end 48 toward the distal end 50 . a plurality of inwardly projecting elements 52 are provided in an internal cavity 32 of flexible element 26 . in some embodiments , there is one such protrusion 52 . in the illustrated embodiment , there are two protrusions 52 . in some embodiments , there can be multiple openings 38 , some of which can be positioned along different regions of inner rigid element 30 , and there can be additional corresponding protrusions 52 that can be designed to selectively fit within or be withdrawn from one or more openings 38 . in some embodiments , as shown , the internal edges or faces 53 of the opposing protrusions 52 can be positioned and oriented to contact each other and / or be close to each other when the connector 16 is in a substantially closed position . the protrusions 52 can extend into the inner rigid element 30 at an intermediate position within the fluid - flow path 36 of the inner rigid element 30 . in some embodiments , the wall of the inner rigid element 30 is not positioned between the opposing edges or faces 53 of the protrusions 52 in the substantially opened position . openings 38 can have a variety of different shapes and sizes . for example , one or more of openings 38 can be round , square , rectangular , trapezoidal , elliptical , etc . opening 38 can be larger than opening 34 . in some embodiments , opening 38 can be approximately at least one - fifth , one - quarter , one - third , one - half , or more of the length of inner rigid element 30 . protrusions 52 can also have a variety of different shapes and sizes , which may correspond to or be different from the shapes and / or sizes of openings 38 . as shown , the protrusions 52 can be substantially planar . in some embodiments , the volume of the one or more protrusions 52 can be approximately equivalent to or greater than the volume in the proximal region of the connector adapted to receive the luer 12 . in some embodiments , upper or proximal edges 54 of protrusions 52 can be slanted and / or beveled . similarly , lower or distal edges 56 of protrusions 52 can be also slanted and / or beveled . slanting or beveling these surfaces may facilitate fluid flow through the connector 16 and may minimize turbulence in the fluid flow . in general , the shape , materials , and structure of rigid element 28 and flexible element 26 can be selected to allow protrusions 52 to be positioned within openings 38 when the connector is closed , and protrusions 52 can be completely or partially withdrawn from openings 38 when the connector is opened . when the connector 16 is in the substantially closed position , the inward protrusions 52 function so as to reduce the fluid space within the connector 16 and the fluid flow path as compared to when the connector 16 is in the substantially open position . in some embodiments , flexible element 26 can be made of silicon , and the remaining components of connector 16 can be made of a polymer material such as polycarbonate . a proximal region 58 of flexible element 26 can include a portion with an increased wall thickness or a structure ( or materials of composition ) that contribute to the proximal region 58 being stiffer or harder than the portion of the flexible element 26 that flexes during compression . by providing increased stiffness or hardness for the proximal region 58 , there is a lower likelihood that fluid within the valve will be forced back into the fluid path 32 inside of flexible element 26 as flexible element 26 expands to its original height when the valve is closed . moreover , in some embodiments , a proximal portion 60 of fluid pathway 32 inside the flexible element 26 has a horizontal cross - sectional area that is substantially less than the horizontal cross - sectional area of a region in the fluid path 36 of element 28 , so that fluid flow out of the distal end of the connector is encouraged and retrograde fluid flow toward the proximal end of the connector is discouraged . in some embodiments , orifice 27 extends along an axis substantially perpendicular to inward projections 52 , as shown in fig7 a . in other embodiments , orifice 27 extends along substantially the same plane as projections 52 . as shown in fig7 a and b , proximal portion 60 may include a non - rotationally symmetrical cross - sectional diameter . in some embodiments , the proximal portion 60 has smaller cross - sectional diameter in the plane perpendicular to orifice 27 and a larger cross - sectional diameter in the plane of orifice 27 . in some embodiments , portions of proximal portion 60 have a substantially rectangular cross - sectional area . fig8 a illustrates a vertical cross - section of the male luer 10 and female connector 16 illustrated in fig1 . in fig8 a and 8b , a portion of rigid element 28 is positioned within the internal cavity 32 of flexible element 26 . inward protrusions 52 are positioned within openings 38 , and more particularly , in the fluid flow path through connector 16 . fluid flow within connector 16 is substantially occluded . the proximal end 48 of flexible element 26 may be swabbable with antiseptic in a sweeping motion across the proximal end 18 of the connector 16 , and the proximal end 48 may extend above the housing , may be substantially flush with the housing , or may be recessed within the housing . fig9 a and 9b illustrate an embodiment of the female connector 16 after it is connected to the male luer connector 10 in orthogonal vertical cross - sections . in some embodiments , flexible element 26 can be compressed and / or moved by a distally directed force applied by the male luer 12 . as shown , a portion of inner rigid element 30 can extend in a proximal direction beyond orifice 27 during compression . in some embodiments , inner rigid element 30 does not extend further in a proximal direction than the proximal end 48 of the flexible element 26 when compressed . in some embodiments , orifice 27 may automatically open to allow fluid flow through the connector 16 upon insertion of the male luer connector 10 into connector 16 . in fig9 a and 9b , the medical connector 16 is substantially open to fluid flow between the male luer 10 and the distal end 20 of the female connector 16 . as shown in fig9 a , the protrusions 52 can be partially or completely withdrawn from the openings 38 so that the volume inside of the fluid path 36 during the open stage of the connector 16 is substantially larger than the fluid volume inside of the fluid path 36 when the connector 16 is closed ( see , e . g ., fig8 a ). this can diminish , or eliminate , retrograde fluid flow from the patient toward the proximal end 18 of the connector 16 , or even produce a positive flow of fluid upon closure in the direction of the distal end 20 of the connector 16 and toward the patient . in some embodiments , proximal region 58 resists compression to a greater extent than a region on flexible element 26 positioned distal from the region 58 during the insertion of the mail luer connector 10 into the female connector 16 . proximal region 58 can substantially maintain its height , before and after compression and / or movement , as fluid flow is enabled through the connector 16 , which may reduce any vacuum effect in this portion of flexible element 26 . the foregoing description is provided to illustrate certain examples . the inventive concepts , principles , structures , steps , and methods disclosed herein can be applied to the devices and methods disclosed in the attached patents and in many other types of medical connectors . | 0 |
referring to the drawings , a hydraulic cylinder drive system 10 forms a constant delivery pump used to provide a pressurized supply of abrasive , compressible fluid material , typically cement , plaster , mortar or the like , from a reservoir or hopper 12 to an outlet 14 . material delivered to the outlet 14 is normally directed to a spray nozzle for distribution to a desired surface , such as a building wall . the system 10 includes a primary hydraulically driven pumping unit defined by a primary material cylinder 16 have a feed line 18 in communication within hopper 12 and an interior volume a at a head of the cylinder 16 . a first one - way check valve 20 is positioned in feed line 18 between hopper 12 and primary material cylinder 16 . the check valve 20 is a conventional mechanical design having a ball 22 movable between a stop 24 and a seat 26 . the check valve 20 allows flow of material from hopper 12 into material cylinder 16 through the line 18 , but blocks flow in the reverse direction . a primary piston unit 28 has a material piston adapter 30 with a material piston 32 movable within the interior of primary material cylinder 16 , and a hydraulic cylinder rod 34 with a second piston 36 opposite material piston 32 that is movable within an interior of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . as will be appreciated , piston adapter 30 , hydraulic cylinder rod 34 , and pistons 32 , 36 move back and forth in sealed relationship within primary material cylinder 16 and primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . primary piston unit 28 has a particular stroke length as determined by the lengths of primary material cylinder 16 and primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . one end of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 is provided with a hydraulic line 40 connected to a primary hydraulic pump for supplying and returning hydraulic fluid relative to a source . flow of hydraulic fluid through feed line 40 is separately controlled . the system 10 further includes a secondary hydraulically driven pumping unit defined by a secondary material cylinder 42 having a feed line 44 in communication with an interior volume b at a head of cylinder 42 . the feed line 44 is further in communication with the line 18 extending from the primary material cylinder 16 . a second one - way check valve 46 is positioned in line 44 between primary material cylinder 16 and the secondary material cylinder 42 . the check valve 46 is a conventional design like check valve 20 having a ball 48 movable between a stop 50 and a seat 52 . the check valve 46 allows flow from line 18 into line 44 , the secondary material cylinder 42 and outlet 14 , but prevents flow back into line 18 . it is important to note that secondary material cylinder 42 has a length that is shorter than the length of primary material cylinder 16 , and that interior volume b of secondary material cylinder 42 is less than interior volume a of primary material cylinder 16 . interior diameters of the material cylinders 16 and 42 are substantially equal . a secondary piston unit 54 has a material piston adapter 56 with a material piston 58 movable within the interior of secondary material cylinder 42 , and a hydraulic cylinder rod 60 with a hydraulic cylinder piston 62 opposite material piston 58 that is movable within an interior of a secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 . piston adapter 56 , hydraulic cylinder rod 60 and pistons 58 , 62 move back and forth in sealed relationship within secondary material cylinder 42 and secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 . secondary piston unit 54 has a particular stroke length as determined by the length of secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 . it is a key feature of the invention that the stroke length of secondary piston unit 54 is less than the stroke length of primary piston unit 28 . secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 has a length which is shorter than the length of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 , and an interior volume which is less than the interior volume of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 . diameters of the hydraulic cylinder pistons 36 , 62 are substantially equal . one end of secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 is provided with a hydraulic line 66 connected to a primary hydraulic pump for supplying and returning hydraulic fluid relative to the source . a rod side of secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 is hydraulically connected with a rod side end of primary hydraulic cylinder 38 by means of a common line 68 . a further hydraulic line 70 is connected to line 68 and to a secondary hydraulic pump for supplying and returning hydraulic fluid relative to the rod side of hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 . proximity sensors 72 a , 74 a are positioned adjacent the material cylinders 16 , 42 to detect the fully extended position of piston units 28 , 54 therein and signal a change in direction for both piston units . alternatively , proximity sensors 72 b , 74 b are positioned adjacent the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 to detect the fully extended position of piston units 28 , 54 therein and signal a change in direction for both piston units . detection of piston location and signaling direction change may be done by a means other than a proximity sensor , whether electrical , mechanical or hydraulic in nature . it is another key feature of the present invention that the diameter of the hydraulic cylinder rod 34 in primary hydraulic cylinder 38 is greater than the diameter of the hydraulic cylinder rod 60 of the secondary hydraulic cylinder 64 as will be fully appreciated below . operation of the system 10 as described above is as follows referring first to fig1 . material to be pumped is placed in the hopper 12 . a primary hydraulic pump is connected to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 64 via line 66 causing secondary piston unit 54 to extend . the hydraulic connection 68 from the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 64 to the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 38 causes primary piston unit 28 to retract . the retraction of piston unit 28 causes material to be drawn into primary material cylinder 16 from the hopper 12 past ball 22 and seat 26 and through line 18 . at the full extension of piston unit 54 , the proximity sensor 74 a or 74 b signals a change in direction for stroking the piston units 28 , 54 . referring now to fig2 , the primary hydraulic pump flow changes from being directed to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 64 to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 38 . piston unit 28 extends causing approximately half the material within material cylinder 16 to be pumped out of the outlet 14 , while the other half is pumped into material cylinder 42 as piston unit 54 is retracted . retraction is caused due to the common line 68 from the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 38 to the rod side of hydraulic cylinder 64 . retraction is further assisted by the action of pumping material from material cylinder 16 to material cylinder 42 . the retraction of piston unit 54 causes material to be drawn into material cylinder 42 from material cylinder 16 past the ball 48 and seat 52 and through line 44 . at the full extension of piston unit 28 , the proximity sensor 72 a or 72 b signals the change in direction for the piston units 28 , 54 . the primary hydraulic pump flow changes from being directed to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 38 to the piston side of hydraulic cylinder 64 . piston unit 54 extends causing its full volume of material in material cylinder 42 to be pumped out the outlet 14 . material is prevented from back flowing into line 18 by check valve 46 . the piston unit 28 is simultaneously retracted . the above steps are repeated to provide a substantially continuous flow of material to the outlet 14 . during operation , piston units 28 , 54 fully extend and retract on each alternating stroke with piston unit 28 having a longer stroke length than the piston unit 54 . the common line 68 establishes a master - slave relationship and allows for transfer of fluid between the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 upon reciprocation of piston units 28 , 54 . when pumping from material cylinder 16 , approximately one - half the volume is pumped into material cylinder 42 and the other half is pumped out to outlet 14 . when pumping from material cylinder 42 , its full volume is pumped out the outlet 14 . piston units 28 , 54 have an equal extension speed . hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 have equal diameter pistons 36 , 62 . the piston units 28 , 54 are alternately driven by the same primary hydraulic pump . however , piston units 28 , 54 have an unequal retraction speed . each piston unit 28 or 54 must reach the fully retracted position at approximately the same time or before the other piston unit 28 or 54 is fully extended . the longer stroke piston unit 28 retracts at a faster speed than the piston unit 54 extends . piston unit 54 retracts at a slower speed than piston unit 28 extends . this is accomplished by the rods 34 , 60 having unequal rod diameters such that that the diameter of rod 34 is greater than the diameter of rod 60 . this is further accomplished by making the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 with equal rod - side volumes . retraction speed of the secondary piston unit 54 may be increased with the addition of material pressure being pumped from the primary piston unit 28 . the piston units 28 , 54 fully extend and fully retract on each alternate stroke due to the proximity sensors 72 a , 72 b , 74 a , 74 b which signal the change of direction of the stroking for piston units 28 , 54 upon their full extension . the secondary hydraulic pump supplies additional hydraulic oil between hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 via lines 68 , 70 to ensure full retraction of piston units 28 , 54 occurs before the change of signal is actuated . material output rate is infinitely variable by controlling the primary pump flow delivered to hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 . material is pumped at equal material pressure from both material cylinders 16 , 42 due to the fact that material cylinders 16 , 42 have equal bore diameters , hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 have equal diameter pistons 36 , 62 and the hydraulic cylinders 38 , 64 are driven at the piston side by the same primary hydraulic pump . maximum material pressure is accurately limited by a corresponding maximum hydraulic pressure setting at the primary hydraulic pump . the present invention thus provides a positive displacement hydraulic cylinder drive system wherein a partial volume a and volume b of material are pumped on each alternating , unequal length stroke of coordinating piston units 28 , 54 to continuously pump material to the outlet 14 . in contrast with the prior art , the system 10 reduces the number of components required ( minimizing the number of check valves ), eliminates the need for complex drive systems and separate mechanical pressure limiting devices as encountered in mechanical systems , and allows a greater control of the maximum pressure of the material cylinders . it should be understood that the hydraulic system 10 can be either an open loop or a closed loop system . for the purpose of detecting and signaling change of direction of the piston units , the type , the amount and / or location of the proximity sensor may vary . also , the change in direction could be detected alternately using hydraulic pressure signals and correspondingly piloted valves . various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention . | 5 |
the present invention provides a digital latching micro - regulator including a bi - stable latching valve for accurately controlling fluid flow on demand . the present invention will be described below relative to an illustrative embodiment . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a number of different applications and embodiments and is not specifically limited in its application to the particular embodiments depicted herein . the present invention provides a bi - stable latching valve for selectively blocking fluid flow through a channel . the valve is positioned in a channel to selectively block liquid flow through the channel . as shown in fig1 the bi - stable latching valve 10 of the present invention comprises a substrate 20 having an inlet port 22 and an outlet port 24 formed therein in fluid communication with a channel through which liquid flows . the substrate 20 is preferably formed of glass or plastic , though other materials may be used . the bi - stable latching valve 10 further includes a valve seat 30 cooperating with the substrate to define a valve chamber 26 in communication with the inlet port 22 and the outlet port 24 for containing a volume of fluid . the valve seat 30 selectively blocks the inlet port 22 to regulate the flow of fluid into the chamber 26 . the position of the valve seat 30 controls the fluid flow into the chamber 26 . the position of the valve seat 30 is controlled by an actuator assembly 50 . the actuator assembly can comprise any suitable structure for selectively operating or moving the valve seat 30 to block the inlet port 22 or the outlet port 24 . according to one embodiment , the actuator assembly includes a cantilever beam 40 hinged to the substrate 20 , an actuator 52 , and a latching mechanism 60 . the position of the valve seat 30 is determined by the position of the cantilever beam 40 . the valve seat 30 is connected to the cantilever beam 40 , which is in turn connected to the actuator 52 . the actuator 52 can comprise any suitable structure for moving the valve seat 30 between an open position for allowing fluid to enter or exit the chamber , and a closed position . examples of suitable actuators include mechanical , electrical , electromechanical , and magnetic devices . according to a preferred embodiment , the actuator 52 is a piezoelectric element . the cantilever beam 40 is hinged at a first end 41 to the glass substrate 20 and rotates about the fixed hinge under the control of the actuator 52 to move the valve seat 30 between the open and closed positions . when the cantilever beam 40 is lowered , the beam pushes the valve seat 30 into a closed position , thereby blocking the inlet port and preventing fluid flow into the chamber . when the cantilever beam 40 is raised , the valve 30 is moved to an open position to allow fluid flow through the chamber 26 . the cantilever beam 40 is driven by the piezoelectric element 52 , which selectively applies a driving force to the beam 40 . the bi - stable latching valve 10 further includes a latching mechanism 60 for selectively latching or holding the beam 40 in a selected position . the latching mechanism can include any suitable mechanical , electrical , electromechanical or magnetic structure suitable for latching the beam 40 . the latching mechanism 60 , according to a preferred embodiment , comprises a permanent magnet 62 and a permalloy element 46 disposed on a free end 44 of the beam 40 . the permanent magnet 62 is attached to the glass substrate 20 opposite the permalloy element 46 and is configured to attract the permalloy element 46 . the magnetic attraction between the permanent magnet and the permalloy element is effective to latch , i . e . to retain , the valve element in a closed position to prevent fluid flow through the bistable latching valve 10 . as shown in fig2 a and 2 b , the valve seat 30 is cylindrical in shape and includes a rim 38 about the circumference of the valve seat 30 , which defines the valve chamber 26 . the rim 38 cooperates with the glass substrate 20 to fluidly seal the valve chamber 26 . the valve chamber communicates with the inlet port 22 and the outlet port 24 . the valve seat 30 is preferably formed of a flexible material , such as silicone rubber , though one skilled the art will recognize that alternate materials may be used . the valve seat 30 further comprises a membrane portion 32 , a first protrusion 34 for contacting the cantilever beam 40 and second protrusion 36 for selectively blocking the inlet port 22 to prevent the flow of fluid through the valve chamber 26 , thereby blocking fluid flow through the associated channel . the second protrusion blocks the inlet port 22 when the cantilever beam depresses the valve seat 30 by pushing on the first protrusion 34 . one skilled in the art will recognize that the valve seat 30 is not limited to a cylindrical shape , and that any suitable shape may be utilized . the operation of the bi - stable latching valve 10 is illustrated in fig3 a - 3 b and fig4 a - 4 b . the bi - stable latching valve 10 switches between two stable states : an on state , which allows the flow of liquid through the valve chamber and an off state , which prevents the flow of liquid through the valve chamber . the state of the bi - stable latching valve 10 is controlled by the driving force on the cantilever beam 40 by the actuator 52 and the magnetic latching force created by the permanent magnet 62 on the beam free end . according to the illustrative embodiment , the bi - stable latching valve only requires power to switch between the two stable states and does not otherwise require power to operate . [ 0024 ] fig3 a illustrates the bi - stable latching valve 10 in an off state , where the second protrusion 36 of the valve seat 30 blocks the inlet port 22 so that fluid is prevented from flowing through the valve chamber 26 . in the off state , the latching mechanism 60 latches the cantilever beam 40 in the closed position by securing the permalloy element 46 to the permanent magnet 60 . as shown , when the attractive force of the magnet pulls the cantilever beam towards the magnet , causing the cantilever beam to push the valve into the closed position , such that the first protrusion blocks the inlet port . the valve maintains the closed position until activated . to open the bi - stable latching valve and allow fluid flow , a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 52 using a controller ( not shown ). the applied voltage causes the piezoelectric element to compress , applying an opposite force on the cantilever beam in the direction away from the magnet . if the force generated is sufficient to overcome the magnetic attraction between the magnet and the permalloy , the magnet releases the permalloy element and the cantilever beam raises , pulling the valve seat 30 clear of the inlet port 22 . as shown in fig3 b , fluid flows through unobstructed inlet port 22 into the valve chamber and out of the valve chamber via the outlet port . the bi - stable latching valve 10 remains in the on state , as shown in fig4 a , until the controller subsequently actuates the piezoelectric element 52 by applying a second voltage . the second voltage causes the piezoelectric element to expand , which applies a driving force on the cantilever beam 40 , pushing the beam towards the magnet 60 . the lowered beam in turn applies a force to the valve seat 30 , which shifts into a closed position , blocking the inlet port . when the permalloy element 46 is brought close to the magnet 62 , a magnetic latching force generated by the magnet latches the beam 40 into the closed position until a subsequent actuation of the piezoelectric element 52 . the bi - stable latching valve 10 may be employed in a valve architecture to provide binary addressable flow control using digital latching . as shown in fig5 multiple bistable latching valves may be connected to channels 550 of specific flow conductance that vary according to a pre - determined ratio to provide a micro - regulator 500 . each bi - stable latching valve 10 can be set to an on or off state as described previously , allowing or blocking flow through its associated flow channel 550 . the bi - stable latching valves are selectively activated in various combinations to provide a number of discrete flow conductance states through the micro - regulator 500 . the net flow through the micro - regulator is therefore determined by the sum of the flows through the open bi - stable latching valves 10 . the number of discrete flow conductance states is determined by the number of bi - stable latching valves in the system and the flow conductance ratios between the channels . a typical example of a 4 - bit micro - regulator system is illustrated in fig5 . the individual channels 550 a , 550 b , 550 c and 550 d in the system have flow conductance ratios of 1 : 2 : 4 : 8 , thus providing 16 discrete net flow conductance states . for example , a first flow conductance state may be provided by opening all of the bi - stable latching valves 10 a - 10 d to allow flow through all of the channels 550 a , 550 b , 550 c and 550 d . a second flow conductance state is achieved by closing the first bi - stable latching valve 10 a , while leaving the remaining bi - stable latching valves 10 b , 10 c , 10 d open , allowing fluid flow through the channels 550 b , 550 c and 550 d only . a third conductance state is achieved by closing the first and second bi - stable latching valves 10 a , 10 b while leaving the remaining bi - stable latching valves 10 c , 10 d to allow flow through the associated channels 550 c and 550 d , and so on . this allows flow rates to be controlled to a 6 . 67 % precision . higher precision can be obtained by increasing the number of bits in the system — for example an 8 - bit system has 128 discrete states , achieving less than 1 % precision in the flow rate control . one skilled in the art will recognize that any suitable bi - stable valve for selectively blocking liquid flow through a channel may be used in the flow regulating system 500 of fig5 to provide variable flow resistance . the micro - regulator 500 may have any suitable number of channels arranged in any suitable configuration and having any suitable flow resistance to achieve a system having variable flow resistance , wherein the flow resistance depends on the state of the bi - stable valves . the manufacturing process for the bi - stable latching valve 10 of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention is efficient , economical and simplified . the valve seat 30 may be formed by surface micromachining of a substrate , followed by deposition of silicone rubber , the permalloy element 46 and polysilicon . the substrate 20 is etched to form a channel and then drilled to form the inlet port 22 and the outlet port 24 . the cantilever beam 40 may be attached and hinged to the glass substrate through means known in the art . the permalloy element may be bonded to the beam and the permanent magnet 62 may be bonded to the substrate through means known in the art . the piezoelectric element 52 or other actuator for driving the cantilever beam 40 may be attached to the beam through any suitable means . the present invention has been described relative to an illustrative embodiment . since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . it is also to be understood that the following claims are to cover all generic and specific features of the invention described herein , and all statements of the scope of the invention which , as a matter of language , might be said to fall therebetween . | 8 |
fig1 is a top view showing , in stylized form , a mosfet power chip 10 having current and voltage sensing capabilities . for simplicity , bond pads and external connections are not shown . a major part 15 of the chip area is devoted to the main transistor switch , designated t 1 . a pair of smaller areas 17 and 18 are devoted to second and third transistors defining first and second current mirror transistors designated t 2 and t 3 . according to well known power mosfet practice , each of the transistors is actually implemented as a number of small mosfet cells 20 . in operation , the current mirror cells tend to carry more current per cell than the main transistor cells carry per cell . the reason for this is that the mirror region has a higher periphery - to - area ratio than the main transistor . the current through the peripheral cells can spread laterally beyond the cell boundaries and thus sees less ohmic resistance than the current through interior cells . for example , with a dual row of mirror cells and cell count ratio of 1000 : 1 , it is observed that the current ratio is about 700 : 1 . in the illustrative embodiment , main transistor t 1 has 10 , 000 cells , current mirror transistor t 2 has 10 cells , and current mirror transistor t 3 has two cells . in some applications , current mirror transistor t 3 might contain only one cell . fig2 is a circuit schematic of chip 10 . the cells in main transistor t 1 are connected in parallel with their gates in common , their sources in common , and their drains in common . similarly , each of current mirrors t 2 and t 3 , contains a plurality of cells connected in parallel . for the present application , the three transistors have their drains commonly connected to a node d and their gates commonly connected to a node g . transistors t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 have separate source nodes s 1 , s 2 , and s 3 . current mirrors in the prior art have had a problem with crosstalk . in order for a current mirror to provide a reliable signal , it is important that the mirror cells &# 39 ; sources be isolated from the main switch cells &# 39 ; sources . fig3 is a cross - sectional view showing portions of adjacent main transistor and current mirror cells , and the problem associated therewith . the chip is formed on an n + substrate 22 having a common drain connection 23 on the bottom side . an n - epitaxial (&# 34 ; epi &# 34 ;) layer 25 is deposited on the top side of the substrate . a cell 27 of the main transistor comprises a p / p + body 30 formed in epi layer 25 and an n + source region 32 formed within the perimeter of body 30 . the portion of body 30 adjacent the surface and between the source region and the n - epi defines a channel region 35 . a polysilicon gate 37 overlies the channel region and is separated from it by a thin layer 38 of gate oxide . a metal connection 39 connects source region 32 to a source node ( not shown ). the mirror cell is similarly configured , and primed reference numerals are used to show its corresponding elements . in operation , a potential applied to gate 37 causes inversion of the material in channel region 35 to provide a current path between source region 32 and drain 23 . however , the potential on the gate also causes an accumulation region 40 to form between cells . thus , main transistor channel region 35 , accumulation region 40 , and current mirror channel region 35 &# 39 ; provide a continuous path between main transistor source region 32 and current mirror transistor source region 32 &# 39 ;. while this would not be a problem between adjacent main cells , it can be a problem with current mirror cells and adjacent main cells . the resistance can be quite low and therefore can lead to crosstalk between the current mirror and the main switch , thus affecting the accuracy of the sensing . fig4 is a cross - sectional view showing the region between main transistor t 1 and current mirror t 2 according to the present invention . isolation is provided by a row of isolation cells 50 , each comprising a p / p + body 52 , formed in the same manner as p / p + bodies 30 and 30 &# 39 ;. however , the isolation cells are formed without an n + source . this is accomplished simply during the manufacturing process by blocking the n + diffusion in isolation cells 50 so that no source regions are formed . body 52 is preferably tied to the source potential . fig5 is a top plan view illustrating an alternative technique for isolating main transistor t 1 and the current mirror t 2 . instead of individual cells for isolation , a continuous guard ring 55 is used . guard ring 55 may have the same p / p + doping profile and width as isolation cells 50 , but it need not . in any event , it extends around the mirror cells , designated 57 , to isolate them from the main cells , designated 58 . if the mirror is at the edge of the active chip area , the guard ring need not extend all the way around . multiple guard rings can also be used . the guard ring ( s ) are preferably tied to the source potential . fig6 is a schematic illustrating circuit connections for sensing current , voltage , temperature , and power . the sensing entails measuring voltage drops across resistors connected to source nodes s 2 and s 3 . the resistors may be off the chip , or may be formed on the chip ( e . g . polysilicon ). current sensing is done in the manner of the prior art in that a resistor r 2 is connected between first current mirror source node s 2 and a common circuit node to which main transistor source node s 1 is connected . resistor r 2 is a relatively low value resistor , compared to the on - resistance of transistor t 2 , but still orders magnitude above the value of the power resistors that are necessary when current mirror techniques are not used . for current sensing , the current mirror should have enough cells to provide an adequate representation of the whole chip . the current flowing in main transistor t 1 is determined on the basis of the ratio , designated b 12 , of the current through main transistor t 1 to the current through current mirror transistor t 2 , the value of resistor r 2 , and the voltage appearing across resistor r 2 as follows : equation 1 follows from ohm &# 39 ; s law and equation 2 follows from the current mirror ratio , and substitution of equation 1 . voltage sensing is accomplished by connecting a resistor r 3 having a value substantially greater than the on - resistance of current mirror transistor t 3 . since current mirror transistor t 3 contains so few cells and therefore conducts so little current , with the high resistance in series , the voltage across resistor r 3 will , to a great degree of accuracy , be equal to the voltage on the drain of transistor t 3 and , hence , on the drain of main transistor t 1 . it should be noted that isolating the current mirror in the manner shown in fig4 is not always necessary , and indeed may be dispensed with in the voltage sensing application where so little current is flowing . thus , the voltages appearing across resistors r 2 and r 3 are representative of the current through main transistor t 1 and the voltage across main transistor t 1 . the temperature of the chip may be determined by calculating the on - resistance of the chip and correlating that value with the known temperature dependence of the on - resistance . the on - resistance is readily calculated as follows ; where the v d and i 1 are the voltage and current in the main transistor as determined on the basis of the current mirror sensings . for power mos devices , r on increases with temperature in a very well known way which may be approximated by the following equation : where r on ( t ) is the on - resistance at temperature t , r 25 is the on - resistance at 25 ° c ., and a is the temperature dependence coefficient . the parameter a varies based on the voltage rating of the device , but for a given device type is almost constant with at most slight variations due to processing tolerances . for example , for 900 volt devices , a = 0 . 01 /° c . equation 4 can be rearranged to yield temperature as a function of the measured value of r on and the parameters r 25 and a as follows : this may be illustrated with a specific example where the chip is characterized as follows : n 1 = 10 , 000 ; n 2 = 10 ; n 3 = 2 ; b 12 = 700 ; b 13 = 3000 r 25 = 0 . 5 ohm ; a = 0 . 01 /° c . where n l , n 2 , and n 3 are the numbers of cells in transistors t 1 , t 2 , and t 3 , respectively . assume that a load and power supply are connected to the common drain node d and that the external resistances are as follows : consider first a situation where the following voltages are measured across resistors r 2 and r 3 : the power being dissipated in the chip is given by the product of current and voltage , which at 65 ° c . equals 8 . 75 watts and at 125 ° c . equals 12 . 25 watts . note that in the examples , the on - resistances for the main transistor are 0 . 7 ohm at 65 ° c . and 1 ohm at 125 ° c . therefore , the on - resistances for transistor t 2 are 490 ohm and 700 ohm and those for transistor t 3 are 2100 ohm and 3000 ohm . the resistance values for r 2 and r 3 need only satisfy the requirements that r 2 be substantially less than the on - resistance of transistor t 2 and that r 3 be substantially greater than the on - resistance of t 3 . fig7 is a schematic illustrating circuit connections for sensing current , voltage , temperature , and power for an embodiment of the chip that contains a main transistor t 1 &# 39 ; and a single current mirror transistor t 2 &# 39 ;. as in the case of the embodiment of fig1 , and 6 , the main transistor and current mirror transistor have a common drain connection d &# 39 ;. the source s 1 &# 39 ; of main transistor t 1 &# 39 ; is connected to a common circuit node . the source node s 2 &# 39 ; of current mirror transistor t 2 &# 39 ; is coupled to the common circuit node through a resistor r 3 &# 39 ; and through the series connection of a low voltage analog switch sw and a resistor r 2 &# 39 ;. resistor r 2 &# 39 ; has a resistance substantially less than the on - resistance of transistor t 2 &# 39 ;. resistor r 3 &# 39 ; has a resistance substantially greater than the on - resistance of transistor t 2 &# 39 ;. when switch sw is open , source node s 2 &# 39 ; is coupled to the common node only through high value resistor r 3 &# 39 ;, in which case the voltage at the source node , designated v 3 &# 39 ;, is approximately equal to the voltage at drain node d &# 39 ;, as described above in connection with fig6 . when switch sw is closed , the resistance to ground is the parallel combination of resistors r 2 &# 39 ; and r 3 &# 39 ; which is approximately equal to the resistance of r 2 &# 39 ;. therefore , the voltage v 2 &# 39 ; at the switch provides a measure of the current flowing through current mirror transistor t 2 &# 39 ; and hence main transistor t 1 &# 39 ;. each of resistors r 2 &# 39 ; and r 3 &# 39 ; and switch sw can be a discrete component off the chip , or can be integrated on the chip . in conclusion , it can be seen that the present invention provides an improved current mirror construction for a power transistor wherein one or more current mirrors are integrated onto the same chip as the main transistor . suitable connections to the source node permit accurate current and voltage sensing , from which other valuable information ( temperature , power , on - resistance ) may be obtained . while the above is a complete description of the preferred embodiment in the present invention , various modifications , alternative constructions , and equivalents may be employed . therefore , the above description and illustrations should not be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention which is defined by the appended claims . | 7 |
the vehicle braking installation depicted in fig1 and noted overall by the reference 10 is designed in the form of a braking installation using external energy , connected to all the wheel brake cylinders , and of an emergency braking installation using muscle power , connected by two independent brake circuits i and ii to the front wheel brake cylinders of the vehicle . in fig1 the brake circuits are depicted diagrammatically using hydraulic circuitry symbols : the external - energy brake circuit has , as its external energy source for service braking , a hydraulic pump 12 the intake of which is connected to a hydraulic fluid supply tank 14 . the hydraulic pump 12 is driven by an electric motor 16 . the delivery side of the hydraulic pump 12 is connected to a hydraulic accumulator 18 which delivers brake fluid under pressure for service braking , it being possible for a pressure - limiting valve ( not depicted ) to be connected between the intake and delivery pipes of the hydraulic pump 12 to limit the maximum delivery pressure of the hydraulic pump 12 . wheel brake cylinders 20 are connected to the delivery pipe of the hydraulic pump 12 and to the hydraulic accumulator 18 via an inlet valve 22 allowing pressure in the cylinders 20 to increase . to drop the braking pressure in the wheel brake cylinders 22 [ sic ], an outlet valve 24 is provided which places the wheel brake cylinder 20 in communication with the supply tank 14 . any given braking pressure can thus be obtained in the wheel brake cylinders 20 using the inlet valve 22 and the outlet valve 24 , controlled appropriately by a computer ( not depicted ) which also controls the operation of the pump motor 16 and which receives signals that represent the pressure in the wheel brake cylinders , these signals being delivered by pressure sensors 26 , and signals representing the pressure in the hydraulic accumulator 18 , delivered by a pressure sensor 28 . in the event of failure of the braking installation using external energy , so to obtain emergency braking using muscle power , the brake circuits i and ii are connected independently of one another , each by means of a shut - off valve 30 , to a tandem master cylinder 32 on which the feed tank 14 is mounted and with which the brake master cylinder 32 communicates directly . the shut - off valve 30 is a twoway , two - position solenoid valve which is open in the position of rest , and which is also controlled by the computer . during operation in service braking mode using external energy , the shut - off valve 30 is closed , that is to say that , from the hydraulic point of view , the brake master cylinder 32 is isolated from the vehicle braking installation . during service braking using external energy , the brake master cylinder 32 acts as a sensor of the reference value for the hydraulic pressure in the wheel brake cylinders 20 , it being necessary for this pressure to be controlled by the computer . for this , the master cylinder 32 is equipped with a sensor 34 which senses the travel of the pedal 36 which actuates the master cylinder , and with a sensor 38 which detects actuation of this pedal 36 , a sensor 40 being connected to the primary brake circuit to detect the pressure in the master cylinder , the signals provided by the sensors 34 , 38 and 40 being delivered to the computer . as an alternative , provision could be made for the sensor 38 also to detect the force exerted by the driver of the vehicle on the pedal 36 . the vehicle braking installation 10 is actuated using the brake pedal 36 , which actuates a control rod 42 of the brake master cylinder 32 , this rod itself actuating a primary piston 44 sliding in a bore 45 formed inside the brake master cylinder 32 . upon a service braking action using external energy caused by actuation of the brake pedal 36 , the shut - off valves 30 are closed , and this means that brake fluid cannot be delivered from the master cylinder into the brake circuits i and ii . in order that the driver of the vehicle should , however , experience the usual sensation of actuating the brake pedal 36 , characterized by a given travel of the pedal 36 in relation with the pressure generated in the hydraulic circuit , and therefore with the feeling of slowing the vehicle down , a brake actuation simulator 46 is connected to the primary brake circuit i of the brake master cylinder 32 . as can best be seen in fig2 the brake actuation simulator 46 comprises a simulator body 48 in which there is formed a bore 49 where a simulator piston 50 can slide in a sealed manner . the body 48 may be arranged in the form of a cartridge to be screwed into the master cylinder or , as has been depicted in fig2 be of a single piece with the body of the master cylinder . the simulator piston 50 is subject to the action of a compression spring 52 which also bears on a cap 54 secured to the simulator body 48 , and within the bore 49 it delimits a simulation chamber 56 . the way in which the braking installation just described functions will now be explained briefly , assuming that all the components are operational . under this assumption , the shut - off valves 30 are energized by the computer each time the sensor 38 detects actuation of the brake pedal 36 , which means that these valves 30 prevent communication between the master cylinder and the rest of the braking installation . when the driver of the vehicle actuates the brake pedal 36 , the control rod 42 actuates the primary piston 44 of the master cylinder which then generates an increase in pressure in the primary working chamber 58 situated between the primary piston 44 and a secondary piston 60 itself also sliding in the bore 45 and delimiting therein a secondary working chamber 59 . this increase in pressure is communicated to the simulation chamber 56 and is exerted on the simulator piston 50 , which then moves against the action of the compression spring 52 . more specifically , and as can best be seen in fig2 and 3 , the secondary piston 60 is formed with a part 62 for sliding and guidance in the bore 45 , for example by means of two lands 64 and 66 fitted with sealing cups . the secondary piston 60 is also formed with a land 68 , of a diameter more or less equal to that of the bore 45 , and fitted with an o - ring seal 70 . the bore 45 is also formed , at the front end of the primary working chamber 58 , with a peripheral groove 72 , so that in the position of rest , the groove 72 lies facing the land 68 of the secondary piston 60 . the simulation chamber 56 also opens out into the bore 45 downstream of the groove 72 , via an opening 74 . when the pressure increases in the primary working chamber 58 , brake fluid can thus be delivered to the simulation chamber 56 , passing over the o - ring seal 70 and through the opening 74 . this then allows the primary piston 44 to move . the stroke 34 , actuation or force 38 and pressure 40 sensors then emit signals which are supplied to the computer which in turn controls the motor 16 of the pump 12 and the solenoid valves 22 and 24 in order to generate , within the wheel brake cylinders 20 , an increase in pressure which corresponds to the signals received from these sensors , and therefore a braking action which is in relation with the action of the driver of the vehicle on the brake pedal . when one of the components of the braking installation experiences a failure , this is detected by the computer which then commands the deenergizing of the shut - off valves 30 , which return to their position of rest depicted in fig1 and therefore allow communication between the master cylinder 32 and the rest of the braking installation . in this failure situation , when the driver of the vehicle actuates the brake pedal 36 , the control rod 42 actuates the primary piston 44 of the master cylinder which then generates an increase in pressure in the primary working chamber 58 situated between the primary piston 44 and the secondary piston 60 . as the shut - off valves 30 are then open , the pressure exerted on the secondary piston 60 generates on the latter a force which makes it move forward . in this movement , the land 68 moves and the o - ring seal 70 comes into contact with the bore 45 , thus closing the communication between the primary working chamber 58 and the simulation chamber 56 . the primary piston 60 then in turn causes an increase in pressure in the secondary working chamber 72 situated between it and the closed end of the bore 45 . this increase in pressure is then communicated to the wheel brake cylinders by the hydraulic circuits i and ii . it can therefore indeed be seen that in this failure situation , the simulation chamber is taken out of the circuit , which means that all of the brake fluid from the primary and secondary chambers of the master cylinder is used to effect emergency braking using muscle power . all of the muscle power of the driver of the vehicle is thus used for emergency braking without this power being dissipated into other devices such as the travel simulator 46 . the master cylinder is of a particularly simple design , which guarantees that it will be reliable and ensures a low manufacturing cost . fig4 and 5 respectively illustrate first and second alternative forms of a second embodiment of the invention . just like in the first embodiment , the simulation chamber 56 has an inlet orifice 74 which opens into the bore 45 , and means of selective communication are provided for connecting the simulation chamber 56 to the primary working chamber 58 when the secondary piston 60 is in its position of rest and for isolating the simulation chamber 56 from the primary working chamber 58 when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest , that is to say if a component of the braking installation should fail . more specifically , these means of selective communication essentially comprise ( fig4 and 5 ) an axial hole 601 and a radial hole 603 , both made in the secondary piston 60 , and a plunger of elongate shape 80 which rests on a pin 90 passing across the bore 45 so as to remain stationary with respect to the bore 45 . the plunger 80 is mounted so that it can slide in the axial hole 601 of the secondary piston 60 , this axial hole having an inlet 602 which opens into the primary working chamber 58 . the radial hole 603 in the secondary piston 60 has an outlet 604 which permanently communicates with the simulation chamber 56 and which is selectively placed in communication with the inlet 602 of the axial hole 601 . finally , the plunger 80 interacts with the axial hole 601 to form , at least with it , a hydraulic valve that allows the outlet 604 of the radial hole 603 to be isolated from the inlet 602 of the axial hole 601 when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest . in the first alternative form ( fig4 ), the plunger 80 has a blind axial hole 801 and a radial passage 802 which communicates with this blind axial hole 801 . the radial passage 802 , which forms a first seat for the hydraulic valve , is placed facing the radial hole 603 of the secondary piston 60 when this piston is in its position of rest . by contrast , when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest , the radial passage 802 finds itself shut off by the axial hole 601 of the secondary piston 60 , which itself forms a second seat for the hydraulic valve , thus preventing brake fluid from flowing into the simulation chamber if a component of the braking installation should fail . in the second alternative form ( fig5 ), the inlet 602 of the axial hole 601 in the secondary piston 60 bears an annular seal 605 which forms a first seat for the hydraulic valve . thus , when the secondary piston 60 is moved away from its position of rest , the annular seal 605 is shut off by the plunger 80 which itself forms a second seat for the hydraulic valve , so that any flow of brake fluid into the simulation chamber is prevented if a component of the braking installation should fail . | 1 |
referring to fig1 and fig2 the die means 1 consists mainly of a holding ring 3 of a redrawing die 2 , a first spacer 4 , a holding ring 6 of a first ironing die 5 , a second spacer 7 , a holding ring 9 of a second ironing die 8 , a third spacer 10 , and a holding ring 12 of a third ironing die 11 . a numeral 13 denotes a nozzle for a cooling lubricant 14 , and 15 denotes a discharge hole for the cooling lubricant injected through the nozzle 13 . as shown in fig3 the die means 1 is placed on two pieces of rails 17 fixed on a housing 16 and pushed by a leaf spring 19 fixed on a cover 18 which is installed hingedly on the housing 16 , thus being supported at three points . a base plate 20 which is fixed on the housing 16 receives a stripper 21 having fingers ( not shown ) for stripping out an ironed can body from the punch 40 . a cylinder plate 23 is fixed on the housing 16 with a bolt 24 . there is formed an annular air cylinder 25 in the cylinder plate 23 along a flange 3a of the redrawing die holding ring 3 , and as shown in fig2 and fig4 an annular piston 26 with an o - ring 27 is enclosed in the air cylinder 25 so that it comes in contact with an end surface 3a &# 39 ; of the flange 3a . a pressure air is supplied to the air cylinder 25 through a hole 28 and a piping ( not illustrated ). the holding rings 3 , 6 , 9 , 2 and the spacers 4 , 7 , 10 are pushed and so fastened to the base plate 20 by the annular piston 26 . demounting or remounting of the holding rings or the spacers can be done far easily as compared with a conventional case wherein the fastening is done with bolts or the like , by opening the cover 18 and depressurizing the air cylinder 25 to release the annular piston 26 from pushing and fastening . a given length and a plurality of pins 29 extending axially ( 3 pieces in case of the drawing ) are fixed on the annular piston 26 . the function of the pins 29 will be described later . a cup holder 31 is fixed on the cylinder plate 23 with bolts 35 . as shown in fig1 and fig5 the cup holder 31 is of a short cylindrical form with a feed side a open , and its inside diameter is specified to be almost equal to an outside diameter of the drawn cup 32 to be held therein and redrawn . a numeral 33 denotes a nozzle for injecting a cooling lubricant 34 onto the outside of the sidewall portion of the drawn cup 32 . as will be apparent from fig1 and fig5 the outside 23a of the cylinder plate 23 on the feed side a of the drawn cup 32 is formed so as to be of the same plane as the outside 3b of the redrawing die holding ring 3 which is on the same plane as the outside 2a of the redrawing die 2 . the drawn cup 32 can therefore be fed smoothly . in case the outside 2a of the redrawing die and the outside 3b of the redrawing die holding ring are aligned with the end surface 3a &# 39 ; of the flange 3a so as to simplify the structure of the redrawing die holding ring 3 , since the drawn cup 32 will be afloat axially when it comes near the redrawing die 2 , the drawn cup 32 comes to bounce due to the pressures of the cooling lubricant injected through the nozzle 33 and of air blown out of a hole 42 of the punch 40 which will be described later , the center thereof is dislocated , and thus the drawn cup 32 tends to be crushed by a retainer pad 43 described later . however , such a trouble will not be caused in the case of this embodiment . then , the drawn cup 32 is guided by a cage 36 ( refer to fig1 ) to descend on gravity in the direction indicated by an arrow b , and after reaching the position indicated in fig1 and fig5 it is fed in the direction indicated by an arrow c by a shuttle 37 and placed on the redrawing die 2 . the punch 40 is fixed on the nose of the ram 41 , and the ram 41 is reciprocated axially by a crank mechanism ( not illustrated ). a hole 42 passes through the punch 40 and the ram 41 , and pressure air is blown out of the punch nose at all times through the hole 42 . the pressure air is so fed as to make the ironed can body easily come out of the punch 40 in the stripper 21 . a hollow cylindrical retainer pad 43 functions to prevent wrinkles from arising on the drawn cup 32 during redrawing and is specified to have the inside diameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of the punch 40 , and the outside diameter a little smaller than the inside diameter of the drawn cup 32 . the retainer pad 43 is fixed on a sliding portion 44a of an annular air cylinder 44 via its flange 43a . a supporting portion 44b of the annular air cylinder 44 is fixed on a support wing 45 , and the sliding portion 44a is adapted to be slidable along a bushing 46 of the supporting part 44b . the pressure air is supplied into the annular air cylinder 44 through a piping ( not illustrated ) by way of a hole 47 . the support wing 45 is reciprocated axially at a given timing by a cam mechanism ( not illustrated ) driven by a crank mechanism ( not illustrated ) which drives the ram 41 . the height of the pin 29 is specified so that the end surface 29a of the pin 29 will be engaged with the flange 43a of the retainer pad 43 , when the clearance between the outside surface 2a of the redrawing die 2 and the nose surface 43b of the retainer pad 43 is kept preferably at about ( 0 . 5 ˜ 0 . 9 )× t ( t being a thickness of the bottom of the drawn cup 32 ), thus leaving the above clearance not less than the above value . therefore , at the end of the redrawing step , the earings 32a ( fig5 ) of the drawn cup 32 will never be thinner than the value ( 0 . 5 ˜ 0 . 9 )× t or so , and thus the fragments mentioned above can be prevented from generating . further , with the height of the pin 29 as above , the above clearance will not develop greater than the thickness t of the bottom of the drawn cup 32 due to the engagement of the pin 29 with the flange 43a , and , therefore , the retainer pad 43 will be left powerful enough to suppress occurrence of the wrinkles . redrawing - ironing and particularly redrawing are carried out on the above apparatus as follows : first , the drawn cup 32 which have descended on gravity by way of the cage 36 shown in fig1 is placed on the redrawing die 2 by the shuttle 37 . at this point of time , the punch 40 and the nose of the retainer pad 43 are positioned rightward from the cup holder 31 so as not to prevent feeding of the drawn cup 32 , as shown in fig5 . subsequently , a support wing 45 goes leftward , the nose surface 43b of the retainer pad 43 comes in contact with the inside of the drawn cup 32 , and thus the inside is pushed under air pressure by the annular air cylinder 44 ( the state given in fig2 ). at this point of time , there is left a clearance of about ( 0 . 1 ˜ 0 . 5 )× t between the pin 29 and the flange 43a . the punch 42 then goes leftward to redraw , and at the point of time when the drawn cup ( not illustrated ) has passed the redrawing die 2 , the end surface 29a of the pin 29 is engaged with the flange 43a . the ironing process then ensues . the advantage that the pin 29 is fixed directly on the annular piston 26 is as follows : the die holding rings 3 , 6 , 9 , 12 and the spacers 4 , 7 , 10 are often replaced owing to wear and failure of the dies . however , a dimensional accuracy of the thickness of each holding ring and spacer is about 0 ˜+ 0 . 02 mm . therefore , a dispersion at about + 0 . 02 mm × 7 maximum ( 7 being a total number of the holding rings and spacers )=+ 0 . 14 mm will arise on overall thickness of the die means 1 . in case the pin 29 is fixed on the annular piston 26 , the dispersion will not affect the clearance between the outside surface 2a of the redrawing die and the nose surface 43b of the retainer pad when the pin 29 is engaged with the flange 43a . however , in case the pin 29 is fixed on the housing 16 , or the cylinder plate 23 , or the cup holder 31 , the above dispersion will be influential directly to the above clearance . since the thickness t of the bottom of the drawn cup 32 is usually about 0 . 3 ˜ 0 . 4 mm , if the above clearance is set at 0 . 3 mm × 0 . 5 = 0 . 15 mm to a specific die means 1 when the thickness t is 0 . 3 mm , then a replacement of the die means may cause the above clearance to be 0 . 15 mm - 0 . 14 mm = 0 . 01 mm owing to the above dispersion . when the clearance is such small as above , there may arise the trouble that the earings 32a of the drawn cup 32 are extended thin and broken into fragments . as described above , in case the die means is fastened by the annular piston , the die holding rings and spacers can be replaced very easily . further , in case the pin for preventing the clearance between the redrawing die and the retainer pad from being less than a given value is fixed on the annular piston , the above earings trouble will not be incurred from a fluctuation of an overall thickness of the die means due to the above replacement . | 1 |
referring to fig1 a preferred embodiment of an article removal alarm system 10 of the present invention includes a base unit 14 having an ultrasonic transmitter ( not shown in fig1 ) operative to transmit an ultrasonic signal through a meshed cover 16 . the ultrasonic signal will typically be transmitted continuously throughout the area surrounding the base unit 14 . mounted upon the base unit 14 may be a small notepad ( not shown ) or the like . the article removal system 10 also includes a portable unit 18 having a housing 22 adapted to hold a pen 23 or other writing instrument . in this regard the housing 22 defines a small circular aperture 24 through which protrudes a tip 26 of the pen 23 . the housing 22 includes a first compartment 30 in which is disposed the pen 23 ( shown in phantom ), and a second compartment 34 designed for enclosure of an ultrasonic receiver module 38 and battery 40 ( both also shown in phantom ). a cylindrical wire screen or mesh 44 , interposed between first and second sections 30 and 34 of the housing 22 , allows the ultrasonic signal transmitted by the base unit 14 to reach the ultrasonic receiver module 38 . when the pen 23 is not being used , the portable unit 18 may be placed within a receptacle 41 defined by the base unit 14 . alternately , the ultrasponic signal from the base unit 14 may reach the receiver module 38 through an end aperture ( not shown ) defined by housing 22 . the ultrasonic receiver module 38 includes a threshold circuit ( not shown ) operative to produce a predefined voltage output level when the detected ultrasonic signal from the base unit 14 falls below a predetermined level . in the exemplary embodiment this results in actuation of an audible alarm within the portable unit 18 , it being understood that other alarm indications ( e . g ., flashing light ) could also be provided . the threshold circuit is set to generate the predefined voltage output level , and hence trigger the audible alarm , upon movement of the portable unit 18 beyond a predetermined distance ( e . g ., 15 feet ) from the base unit 14 . because the signal transmitted by the base unit 14 is ultrasonic , movement of the portable unit 18 which causes it to become separated from the base unit 14 by a wall or door will also generally result in actuation of the audible alarm . hence , movement of the portable unit 18 immediately outside of a room within which is disposed the base unit 14 will tend to trigger the alarm . since it will typically be desired that users of the pen or other instrument within the portable unit 18 remain within the same room as the base unit 14 , the use of ultrasonic energy is seen to advantageously enable detection of movement of the portable unit out of an enclosed area . this contrasts with monitoring systems employing rf energy , which are relatively insensitive to movement of a monitored object beyond walls and doors . fig2 provides a block diagram of the ultrasonic receiver module 38 and an audible alarm unit 70 . the receiver module 38 includes an ultrasonic microphone 54 for generating an electrical signal in response to ultrasonic signal energy received from the base unit 14 . the electrical signal is amplified within an amplifier chain 58 , and provided to a threshold detector 62 . when the magnitude of the amplified electrical signal produced by the amplifier chain 58 falls below an adjustable threshold , the output of the threshold detector 62 changes to a predefined level . a delay filter 66 is designed to prevent spurious changes in the output of the threshold detector 62 , occurring in response to brief interruption of the received ultrasonic signal , from triggering an audible alarm unit 70 . after passing through the delay filter 66 , the filtered electrical signal is amplified by a second stage amplifier 68 prior to being supplied to the audible alarm unit 70 . as is indicated by fig2 the audible alarm unit 70 includes an active rc oscillator 74 designed to oscillate at a predefined frequency ( e . g ., 4 khz ) when the output of the threshold detector 62 changes to the requisite predefined level . an audio transducer 78 functions to generate an audible signal in response to oscillation of the active rc oscillator 74 . fig3 provides a detailed schematic representation of the receiver module 38 and audible alarm unit 70 . in the embodiment of fig3 the threshold detector 62 comprises an npn transistor q4 having a base terminal biased at approximately one - half of the available voltage supply . the resistance of a threshold adjustment resistor ( r adj ) may be adjusted in order to alter the threshold received signal level at which the alarm unit 70 is actuated . the collector of npn transistor q4 is operatively coupled to the base of a pnp transistor q5 used to implement the second stage amplifier 68 . as is indicated by fig3 the collector of the pnp transistor q5 drives one input of a first 80 of four nor gates ( 80 , 82 , 84 , 86 ) included within a standard 74hc02 integrated circuit ( i . c .) used to realize the active rc oscillator 74 . turning now to fig4 in an exemplary implementation the ultrasonic transmitter within the base unit 14 includes a crystal - controlled oscillator 90 tuned to oscillate at a predefined ultrasonic frequency ( e . g ., 40 khz ). the crystal - controlled oscillator 90 is coupled to a first port of a first nand gate 92 included within a standard 4 - input 74hc00 i . c . 94 . a pair of output nand gates ( 96 , 98 ) of the 4 - input 74hc00 i . c . 94 are seen to drive an ultrasonic transducer 99 responsible for transmitting the ultrasonic energy received by the portable unit 18 . referring now to fig5 in an alternately preferred embodiment of an article removal alarm system 100 of the present invention the base unit ultrasonic transmitter is included within a personal electronic device 110 . the personal electronic device 110 may comprise , for example , a personal digital assistant or the like having a user interface responsive to a user input utensil such a stylus . such a user interface could comprise , for example , a touch - sensitive or light - sensitive interface screen 112 . the ultrasonic transmitter may be realized as in fig4 but will transmit ultrasonic energy from within a housing 120 of the electronic device 110 through a meshed aperture 130 . the system 100 also includes a portable unit 140 having a housing 142 adapted to hold a stylus 152 or other user input utensil designed for utilization with the interface screen 112 . the housing 142 defines a small circular aperture 158 through which protrudes a tip 160 of the stylus 152 . the housing 142 includes a first compartment 170 in which is disposed the stylus 152 , and a second compartment 174 designed for enclosure of an ultrasonic receiver module 178 and battery 180 . a cylindrical wire screen or mesh 184 , interposed between first and second sections 142a and 142b of the housing 142 , allows the ultrasonic signal transmitted by the ultrasonic transmitter within the electronic device 110 to reach the ultrasonic receiver module 178 . the ultrasonic receiver module 178 is designed to operate in a manner substantially identical to that of the receiver module 38 ( fig1 and 2 ). that is , an audible alarm circuit within the portable unit 140 will generate an audible alarm when the ultrasonic energy received by the receiver module 178 falls below a predetermined threshold . the previous description of the preferred embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention . the various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without the use of inventive faculty . thus , the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein . | 6 |
it is explained about an embodiment of the present invention by referring to the drawings . fig1 is a schematic diagram of a general fluorescent x - ray analysis apparatus . in fig1 , a primary x - ray 6 from an x - ray generation unit 1 is irradiated to a sample 2 , and a fluorescent x - ray 7 deriving from an element in the sample is induced in the sample 2 and entered into an x - ray detector 3 . in the detector 3 , an electric signal by the x - ray occurs and , by the fact that this signal is converted in a waveform adjuster 4 into a waveform whose wave height is proportional to an energy , it becomes possible to measure an energy of the x - ray and its number ( intensity ). information of that energy and intensity is displayed as a spectrum 5 . fig2 is one explaining a calculation method of the detection lower limit in the present invention . in the present invention , a relation among the detection lower limit , the background intensity , the measurement time and the sensitivity is made one shown by an expression of fig2 . in other words , the detection lower limit is made one changing only by the measurement time , the background intensity and the sensitivity . fig3 is one in which one part of the spectrum 5 in fig1 has been enlarged . a solid line 8 denotes the spectrum of the sample whose concentration of cd is already known , and a peak 10 is a peak of cd . this solid line 8 is made a basic spectrum . first , the background intensity of cd is calculated . from a relation among that background intensity , a gross intensity and the concentration of cd , the sensitivity is calculated by an undermentioned expression ( 1 ). as one example of method of calculating the background intensity , although there is such a method that the x - ray intensity outside a base of the peak is calculated and , from an intensity information in its both sides , there is made a function that y = ax + b to thereby make its area integral into the background , there is no problem if it is other effective method . by the expression of fig2 , if the measurement time is appointed , it becomes possible to find the detection lower limit in the basic spectrum . in other words , it becomes possible to calculate the measurement time for achieving the necessary detection lower limit . a dotted line 9 in fig3 is a spectrum in a case where a coexisting element 11 of sb has been contained in a large amount . if a concentration of cd is the same as the sample whose cd concentration , the basic spectrum of which has been obtained , is already known , although an area intensity in which the background of a peak portion has been subtracted is equal in both , the area intensity of a background portion changes by an existence / nonexistence of sb 11 . if sb is contained in the large amount , the background in a position of an energy of cd increases . even in this case , by calculating the background intensity in a position of cd of the spectrum of the dotted line 9 , renewing the background intensity substituted to the expression of fig2 and , as to a value of the sensitivity , substituting that of the basic spectrum , it becomes possible to calculate the measurement time for achieving the necessary detection lower limit . fig4 is one in which a cd periphery between the spectrums in fig1 has been enlarged , and denotes the spectrum of the cd periphery when the sample size has changed . the solid line 8 is the sample whose concentration of cd is already known , and this is made the basic spectrum . it is constituted by the cd peak 10 and a scattered ray intensity portion 13 . an alternate long and short dash line 12 shows a cd peak 10 ′ and its scattered ray intensity 13 when the sample size became large . if the sample size becomes large from a state of the basic spectrum , even as to the sample of the same cd concentration , the intensity of the fluorescent x - ray of cd becomes large . in other words , the sensitivity coefficient becomes large . further , accompanying this , the intensity of the background in an energy position of cd and the intensity of the scattered ray in the cd periphery become large as well . if the concentration of cd in the sample is constant , when the sample size has changed , a ratio in which the fluorescent x - ray intensity of cd and the background intensity and the scattered ray intensity 13 in the position of cd change is constant in some degree . therefore , by measuring the ratio in which the scattered ray intensity 13 has changed , it becomes possible to calculate , similarly to the basic spectrum , the measurement time for achieving the necessary detection lower limit by multiplying that ratio by the sensitivity coefficient and the background intensity . in other words , even if the sample size has changed , it becomes possible to absorb a change in the detection lower limit due to that change by altering the measurement time . for example , if it is assumed that the scattered ray intensity of the periphery has become α times , since the background intensity becomes α times , and the sensitivity becomes α times , unless the measurement time is changed , the detection lower limit becomes reciprocal times of a square root of α with respect to the state of the basic spectrum . whereupon in order to make the detection lower limit constant , it becomes possible by making the measurement time into reciprocal times of α . further , in a system for keeping the detection lower limit constant with respect to the above change of the sample size , the detector 3 , which becomes possible to be caused to correspond also to a change of the intensity of the primary x - ray 6 in fig1 , in the fluorescent x - ray analysis apparatus in fig1 has generally a limit in the x - ray intensity obtainable in a unit time . therefore , in a case where , as the coexisting element in the sample , there exists high concentration one , in order to prevent its fluorescent x - ray from entering into the detector in a large quantity , there emerges a necessity for lowering an output of the x - ray tube 1 . if it is supposed that a ratio by which the output of the x - ray tube has been changed in order to prevent a change in the detection lower limit due to the lowering is β , it becomes possible to make the detection lower limit constant by making the measurement time into reciprocal times of β . | 6 |
the catheters employed in the practice of the present invention are most conveniently constructed as over - the - wire balloon catheters of conventional form for use in angioplasty , except that the balloon has a stepped compliance curve . however it should be understood that the present invention can be applied , in addition to over - the - wire catheters , to fixed - wire catheters , to shortened guide wire lumens or single operator exchange catheters , and to non over - the - wire balloon catheters . furthermore this invention can be used with balloon catheters intended for use in any and all vascular systems or cavities of the body . referring to fig1 - 5 , the process of the invention is illustrated by these figures . in fig1 a catheter 10 carrying a balloon 12 on the distal end thereof has been inserted over guide wire 13 into a vessel 14 and fed to a lesion 16 where it is used to predilate the lesion to a predetermined diameter , typically about 2 . 5 mm . in the process of the invention , balloon 12 is made of a high strength polymer , such as pet and has a stepped compliance curve , the predilation diameter is below the transition region on that curve and the desired final dilated diameter , typically 2 . 75 - 4 . 0 mm , lies on the portion of the curve above the transition region . after the predilation the balloon is deflated and the catheter 10 is removed from the vessel 14 . the next step is to deliver the stent to the lesion . in a first embodiment of the process , a separate stent delivery catheter of any conventional type is used to deliver the stent to the lesion , install the stent in place across the lesion , and further dilate the lesion to a larger diameter , typically 2 . 75 - 4 . 0 mm . the delivery catheter is then withdrawn to leave the stent 17 in place across the dilated lesion , as shown in fig2 . occasionally as indicated in fig2 the stent is not fully seated or can move somewhat after installation if the installation process is discontinued at this point . to assure that the stent is firmly seated in the lesion so that it cannot move and to additionally reduce occurances of restenosis and thrombus formation , in this embodiment of the inventive process , after the delivery catheter has been removed , catheter 10 is reinserted and expanded to a retouch pressure , typically above 9 atm and preferably in the range of 12 - 20 atm . alternatively , catheter 10 may be employed as a delivery catheter . in the specific embodiment illustrated in fig3 - 4 , an unexpanded stent 18 has been mounted on the catheter 10 over balloon 12 after catheter 10 has been used to predilate the lesion and has been removed from the lesion . catheter 10 is then reinserted into the vessel 14 and located across the lesion ( fig3 ). balloon 12 is then reinflated as shown in fig4 to expand and install the stent 18 and to dilate the lesion . the pressure employed is one which inflates the balloon to a diameter above the transition region and therefore the same balloon as used in predilation can be used to deliver the catheter and dilate the lesion . further , because the balloon 12 follows a low compliance curve above the transition region , the pressure can safely be increased above 12 atm so as to firmly seat stent 18 without having to undergo “ retouch .” typically the balloon 12 will be capable of inflation to at least as high as 20 atm . fig5 depicts the stent 18 in place after high pressure dilation . a similar result is obtained if the catheter 10 is used for predilation and for “ retouch ” but not for stent installation . it should be noted that the specific configuration of the stents 17 and 18 is not critical and two different configurations have been depicted merely to indicate that different configurations may be employed in either embodiment of the inventive installation process . the particular configurations employed may be reversed or another stent configuration , including balloon expandable stents and self - expandable stents , may be substituted without departing from the invention hereof . thus unlike the prior art methods for accomplishing the same sequences of predilation , stent delivery / dilation and high pressure seating or “ retouch ,” a separate catheter is not required to be used in the final high pressure seating step from the catheter used in the predilation step . this significantly reduces the cost of the procedure , since the catheter costs are a significant part of the overall cost of the procedure . the stepped compliance curve balloons should be made of a thermoplastic polymer material which has a high strength , and gives a low compliance balloon at pressures above about 15 atmospheres . for purposes of this application “ low compliance ” is considered to correspond to a diameter increase of no more than 0 . 1 mm per increased atmosphere of pressure , preferably less than 0 . 06 mm / atm . suitably the balloon polymer is poly ( ethylene terephthalate ) ( pet ) of initial intrinsic viscosity of at least 0 . 5 , more preferably 0 . 7 - 0 . 9 . other high strength polyester materials , such as poly ( ethylene napthalenedicarboxylate ) ( pen ), nylons such as nylon 11 or nylon 12 , thermoplastic polyimides and high strength engineering thermoplastic polyurethanes such as isoplast 301 sold by dow chemical co ., are considered suitable alternative materials . desirably the balloon is blown in a way which will give a wall strength of at least 18 , 000 psi , preferably greater than 20 , 000 psi . techniques for manufacturing balloons with such wall strengths are well known . after being blown , the balloon is provided with a stepped compliance curve by annealing the balloon for a short time after blowing at a pressure at or only slightly above ambient and at a temperature which causes the blown balloon to shrink . the process is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 348 , 538 . however , the balloons of the invention are desirably constructed with a greater difference between the low pressure and high pressure linear regions of the compliance curve so that the transition between the two regions results in a step - up of diameter of the balloon of at least 0 . 4 mm . this is accomplished by blowing the balloon to the larger diameter and then shrinking to a greater extent than was done in the specific illustrative examples of u . s . pat . no . 5 , 348 , 538 . the amount of shrinkage is controlled by the pressure maintained in the balloon during annealing and the temperature and time of the annealing . for a balloon made from 0 . 74 intrinsic viscosity pet , the blowing pressure is suitably in the range 200 - 400 psi , and temperature is suitably in the range of 90 - 100 ° c ., and the annealing pressure is in the range of 0 - 20 , preferably 5 - 10 psi at 90 - 100 ° c . for 3 - 10 seconds . in a further aspect of the invention , the balloons employed in the inventive process are configured so that a first portion of the body of the balloon has a stepped compliance curve and the remainder of the balloon has an unstopped compliance curve , the low pressure regions of the compliance curves of both the first portion and the remainder portion ( s ) being generally collinear . by this means the length of the balloon which will expand and seat the stent will be smaller than the length which is used to accomplish predilation . since many stents are in the 7 - 10 mm length range whereas predilation balloons are desirably 15 - 20 mm or even longer , this shorter configuration for the portion which will step - up to a larger diameter (“ hyper - extend ”) is desirable so that the hyper - extension will not overlap tissue which is unreinforced by the stent . two balloons of this preferred configuration are shown , mounted on catheters , in fig6 and 8 . in fig6 the balloon 30 is shown in its fully expanded high pressure configuration , mounted on a catheter 28 . as shown schematically in fig7 this balloon is blown in a mold of the general shape of the balloon in fig6 and then the annealing step is performed on the enlarged portion 32 by dipping the balloon in the direction indicated by arrows 36 to level a in a bath of heated water or other suitable heated fluid while the balloon is pressurized at low pressure , for instance 0 - 10 psi , so that only portion 32 is annealed . after annealing portion 32 will be shrunken so that , the configuration of the balloon will be substantially linear and will expand generally linearly until pressurized above about 8 - 12 atm . at higher pressures , the portion 34 of balloon 30 will continue to expand along the same generally linear curve but portion 32 will rapidly expand until the balloon configuration is restored to shape shown in fig6 after which the expansion profile of portion 32 will level out again to a non - compliant curve but at a substantial increase in absolute diameter relative to the diameter of portion 34 . balloons of this configuration , have been used to produce compliance curves as shown in fig1 . it should be understood that while fig6 shows portion 32 of balloon 30 mounted distally on catheter 28 , balloon 30 may instead be mounted with portion 34 mounted distally without departing from the invention hereof . if the balloon of fig6 is used to deliver and install the stent , the catheter 28 will have to be backed up a short distance to center portion 32 under the stent after expansion of balloon 30 sufficiently to bring it into contact with the lesion but before the balloon portion 32 is fully expanded to fully dilate the lesion and set the stent . this can be accomplished by providing marker bands ( not shown ) on the portion of the catheter shaft under the balloon to indicate the proximal and distal boundries of portion 32 . in the alternate embodiment of fig8 the balloon 40 , mounted on catheter 38 , has a hyper - extensible portion 42 located centrally on the balloon body . the balloon is mounted on the catheter at balloon end regions 41 , 43 , located on opposite ends of the balloon body . therefore , after installation of the stent , the high pressure stent setting step can be performed immediately without repositioning the catheter and without risking damage to tissue unreinforced by the stent . this balloon is blown in a mold having a configuration which is substantially the shape shown in fig8 . to anneal and shrink portion 42 to the diameter of portions 44 , 46 , heating during annealing may be confined to the central portion 42 , suitably by heating with a hot air stream , using baffles to protect the end regions 44 , 46 from the air stream . alternatively , as shown schematically in fig9 the balloon 40 is dipped in the direction of arrows 47 to level a in a heated bath to fully immerse portions 42 and 46 , until portion 42 has reached the diameter of portion 44 . at this point portion 46 will be shrunk to a diameter less than portion 44 . balloon 40 is then dipped into a heated bath in the direction of arrows 49 to level b so that only portion 46 is immersed and then portion 46 is reblown to the diameters of portion 44 and shrunken portion 42 . this reblowing step may be accomplished either with the aid of a mold or by free - blowing . referring now to the graph shown in fig1 , in which pressure in atmospheres is plotted on the x - axis and balloon diameter in millimeters is plotted on the y - axis . the compliance curves of several balloons have been manufactured in accordance with 5 , 348 , 538 and useful in the practice of this invention have been plotted on this graph and compared to a conventional 3 . 5 mm angioplasty balloon q of the same pet material . the stepped compliance curve balloons , x , y and z , plotted on this graph had nominal diameters prior to being , shrunk of 3 . 0 , 3 . 5 and 4 . 0 millimeters , respectively . fig1 is a graph of the compliance curves of a balloon of the type shown as balloon 30 in fig6 . curve 11 a is the compliance curve of portion 32 of balloon 30 and curve 11 b is the compliance curve of the portion 34 of balloon 30 . the balloon was made from pet of 0 . 74 intrinsic viscosity and , after blowing had a body wall thickness of 0 . 0013 inches . portion 32 thereof was annealed by dipping in a 95 ° c . water bath for 5 seconds , while pressurized at 10 atm pressure , to shrink portion 32 to the diameter of portion 34 . the balloon was then mounted on a catheter and the compliance curve obtained by incrementally inflating the balloon until burst , measuring the diameter of both portions 32 and 34 at each incremental pressure . with regard to definitions , fig1 can be referred to for illustration of what is meant by “ generally linear ” with reference to the portions of curve 11 a between 3 and 10 atm and again between about 13 and 26 atm . curve 11 b is considered generally linear through out its entire length . “ generally collinear ” is considered to encompass divergences between two curves of no more than about 0 . 2 atm , preferably less than 0 . 15 mm divergence between the two curves . curves 11 a and 11 b are “ generally collinear ” in the range from 3 atm to about 10 atm . the invention may also be practiced by use of dual layer balloons such as described in co - pending u . s . application ser . no . 08 / 243 , 473 , filed may 16 , 1994 now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 447 , 497 as a continuation of now abandoned u . s . application ser . no . 07 / 927 , 062 , filed aug . 8 , 1992 , incorporated herein by reference , and in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 358 , 487 , incorporated herein by reference . suitably both balloons of the dual layer balloons are low compliance balloons designed with the outer balloon portion larger by at least 0 . 25 mm than the inner portion and the inner balloon designed to burst at a pressure below about 15 atm so that the compliance curve follows the inner balloon portion until it reaches burst diameter and then , after the inner balloon bursts , the outer balloon becomes inflated and can be expanded to a larger diameter than the burst diameter of the inner balloon . although the present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments , it is anticipated that alterations and modifications thereof will no doubt be come apparent to those skilled in the art . it is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as covering all such alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 0 |
referring to fig1 - 3 , a portable cryogenic cooling apparatus is shown generally at 10 . a schematic of a pipe and instrument diagram is shown in fig3 for the embodiment shown in fig1 and 2 . the apparatus 10 includes a dolly 12 or similar type of wheeled platform having a plurality of sidewalls 14 arranged to provide an open ended side 16 in which a liquid cryogen tank 18 or vessel can be disposed . liquid nitrogen ( lin ), liquid carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) or liquid hydrogen can be stored in the tank 18 . by way of example only , lin will be referenced herein , but other cryogens such as for example liquid co 2 can be used as well . the tank 18 may be removably mounted to the dolly 12 . a forklift bracket 20 or stanchion is provided at an underside of the dolly 12 so that forklift arms ( not shown ) or tongs can be releasably engaged to the forklift brace to deposit the apparatus 10 in a compartment space 15 , truck or other container , and remove the apparatus from same . upon placement of the apparatus 10 in the truck or container , such as shown in fig5 , the dolly 12 can be moved upon wheels 22 or casters to a select position in the truck . a handle 26 extends from one of the sidewalls 14 to maneuver the dolly 12 . a heat exchanger 28 is mounted to the dolly such as for example above the tank 18 . the heat exchanger has one end of its coil 29 in communication with a pipe 31 to the lin in the tank 18 , while an opposite end of the coil extends to be in communication with an exhaust pipe 30 from the heat exchanger . the exhaust pipe 30 may be manufactured from a flexible material for example . at least one fan 32 is operatively associated with the heat exchanger 28 to draw the atmosphere in the space 15 across the heat exchanger coil for reducing the temperature of the space . a process logic controller ( plc ) 34 includes a human machine interface ( hmi ) 36 therein and a temperature control sensor 38 . a control valve 40 controls the amount of liquid nitrogen that is removed from the tank 18 to the coil of the heat exchanger 28 . the plc 34 interconnects the fans 32 , the temperature sensor 38 and the control valve 40 , as shown by broken lines 41 , to adjust the amount of nitrogen necessary to be removed from the tank 18 through the coil 29 of the heat exchanger 28 to meet the demands to reduce the temperature of the compartment space 15 . the tank 30 can , be way of example only , have a capacity of 200 liters ( approximately 53 gallons ). the exhaust pipe 30 can be manufactured from a flexible hose to vent nitrogen gas from the heat exchanger 28 to an area external from the compartment space 15 . an alarm ( not shown ) will signal a driver or user of the apparatus 10 , or for that matter anyone in the compartment space 15 , should for some reason nitrogen gas enter the compartment space and displace the breathable oxygen to a level insufficient to support life . the tank 18 can be filled either from a small liquid nitrogen delivery vehicle ( not shown ), or the user or customer of the apparatus 10 can use a small ( perhaps on - site ) cryogenic vessel having volume of for example 3 , 000 liters ( approximately 793 gallons ), mounted on a skid to top - up the tank . a pipe 54 is provided to introduce the liquid cryogen from the remote source ( not shown ) into the tank 18 . a battery pack 42 is self - contained and connected to the fans 32 and the controller 34 , as shown by broken lines 43 to provide power for the fans and the controller . the pack 42 may be removable mounted to the dolly 12 . the battery pack 42 may be of the rechargeable type or alternatively , the battery pack or the apparatus 10 may be connected directly to the vehicle electronics or work off a main power supply through an auxiliary socket ( not shown ). the total weight of the apparatus 10 may be for example approximately 150 kilograms ( approximately 331 pounds ), with the system manufactured from stainless steel and composite material such as carbon fiber . the apparatus 10 is a closed , indirect system for providing chilling or freezing to the products ( not shown ) in the compartment space 15 . that is , none of the liquid or gaseous nitrogen contacts the products , as said nitrogen gas is vented or exhausted external to the compartment space 15 . the tank 18 can be insulated with for example vacuum jacketing . the heat exchanger 28 may also include a heater 44 which , during maintenance , can be used to melt and remove condensate that has frozen to the coils of the heat exchanger . since the heater 44 , shown for example in fig3 , will draw too much power to run continuously , the heater is run only when condensate accumulating on the coil of heat exchanger 28 renders the heat exchanger inoperative or inefficient , or when the apparatus 10 is removed from the compartment space 15 . in order to fill the tank 18 with the liquid cryogen , air or other gas must be displaced or removed from within the tank . therefore , an exhaust line 60 or pipe having a valve therein is in communication with an interior of the tank 18 as shown in fig3 to remove displaced air in the tank therefrom . another line 62 or pipe is in communication with the line 60 which is connected to a pressure relief valve 56 which will open when the pressure of air or gas within the tank 18 reaches a certain limit . the lines 60 , 62 are connected to a line 64 or pipe which extends to and is in communication with a further line 68 or pipe to exhaust the cryogenic gas from the compartment space 15 . another line 57 or pipe branches off from the pipe 31 , and such line 37 has a pressure relief valve 58 . a line 66 or pipe extends from the pressure relief valve 58 and is in communication with the line 68 so that gas from the line 31 can ultimately also be exhausted from the compartment space 15 as shown in fig3 . the line 68 is in communication with the exhaust pipe 30 downstream of a valve 33 , which valve is disposed in the exhaust pipe 30 for exhausting the cryogenic gas from the heat exchanger 28 . referring to fig4 , another embodiment of the portable cryogenic cooling apparatus is shown generally at 100 . the apparatus 100 includes the elements described above with respect to the embodiment of fig1 and 2 , and also includes a hydrogen fuel cell 50 which is connected to the fans 32 , as shown by the broken lines 45 , to power same . hydrogen gas for the fuel cell 50 is provided from the liquid hydrogen in the tank 18 . a pipe 46 or conduit has one end 47 in fluid communication with the tank 18 , and an opposite end 48 in fluid communication with the fuel cell 50 . the fuel cell 50 reduces the load on the battery pack 42 . in fig5 , either one or both of the portable cryogenic cooling apparatus 10 , 100 can be moved or positioned by being rolled into a container or housing mounted to a truck . the container or housing may be movably mounted to the truck . in this manner of construction , a container may be removed from the truck , with the apparatus 10 , 100 disposed therein , and loaded aboard a ship or barge for transport to a remote location , or stored as is aboard the ship or barge . when the apparatus 10 , 100 is disposed within the container at the select position , wheel locks ( not shown ) on the dolly 12 are actuated and / or the apparatus is lashed with known gear to an underlying surface to prevent movement of the apparatus within the container . the portable cryogenic cooling apparatus embodiment 10 , 100 described herein can be removably disposed within a shipping or truck , container upon very short notice . the apparatus is closed , i . e . a closed , indirect cryogen system such that none of the cryogen , such as liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide , contacts the product , such as food products that are being chilled or frozen , or electronic equipment that is cooled , by airflow 52 . the apparatus 10 , 100 can be lifted into the container or on to the vehicle by a forklift and then further wheeled into the container to a select position . exhaust from the apparatus 10 , 100 is vented through the vehicle &# 39 ; s rear door or through a port or hole provided in a side wall of the container . the apparatus 10 , 100 can be used in work spaces where cooling is required for personnel or computer equipment . the apparatus can also be used where temporary cooling or chilling is required for other sensitive equipment . the cryogen used with the apparatus can be liquid hydrogen . hydrogen gas can be used with the embodiment of fig4 to provide the necessary gas for the hydrogen fuel cell 50 to power the battery pack 42 for the fans 32 of the heat exchanger 28 . it will be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary , and that one skilled in the art may make variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . all such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as described and claimed herein . further , all embodiments disclosed are not necessarily in the alternative , as various embodiments of the invention may be combined to provide the desired result . | 5 |
as is the case with many inventions , the present invention for high - power surface emitting lasers and fabrication methods thereof is subject to a wide variety of embodiments . however , to ensure that one skilled in the art will fully understand and , in appropriate cases , be able to practice the present invention , certain preferred embodiments of the broader invention revealed herein are described below and shown in the accompanying drawing figures . with this in mind , and looking more particularly to the drawings , fig3 depicts steps in a process of hpsel production under the present invention with the removal of the growth substrate and its replacement with a conductive plate , such as a metal plate , which serves both as an electrode and as a structural support for the grown epitaxial structure of the laser . in the first stage , the epi structure of the surface emitting laser ( sel ) is grown on a substrate 30 . the structure should contain multiple quantum wells ( qw ) in a gain region 32 and a distributed bragg reflector ( dbr ) structure as a mirror stack 34 . under this structure , the composition of the layers and their thicknesses depend on the desired wavelength . as an example , qws for 850 nm are made with gaas and interleaved with algaas barrier layers . for 780 nm , both kinds of layers are made with algaas alloys having different percentages of al . still further , qws for 670 nm contain a gainp alloy with algainp barriers . of course , one skilled in the art may conceive of alternative materials and desired wavelengths that each would be well within the scope of the present invention . on top of the epi structure , one extra layer 36 is grown . in this case , it is made with alas and is used for the selective oxidation that follows . as one knowledgeable in the art will appreciate , the selective oxidation procedure is very well developed for the purpose of current confinement in conventional vcsel production . under this practice , a central area , which is also indicated at 36 , of the layer can be left as the only conductive portion while the layer &# 39 ; s peripheral parts 38 become dielectric . in a further step , a plate 42 , which ideally is relatively thick ( about 1 mm ) and formed from a conductive material , such as metal , is attached to the wafer by use of , for example , solder 40 as a conductive adhesive and by heating to an elevated temperature , such as about 300 ˜ 400 ° c . advantageously , that temperature range is low enough to keep the epi structure intact . after bonding to the metal plate 42 , the wafer is affected by a chemical and mechanical planarization ( cmp ) process during which the substrate 30 is significantly thinned and polished . preferably , the substrate remnant 44 will be reduced to or formed with a thickness of only some microns such that it will be sufficiently transparent to light emitted by the laser . an annular electrode 58 is deposited on the remnant 44 of the substrate 30 through a mask ( not shown ). under this construction , supplying voltage between electrodes 42 and 58 produces the current flow indicated in fig3 . only the central small part of the thick electrode 42 will produce current because the oxidation process described above insulates the peripheral parts 38 . the proposed design solves the problem of the absorption of laser light by the substrate because it eliminates the substrate from the structure . the metal plate 42 is used as a structural support for the epitaxial layers and as an electrode . this design has a further advantage compared to the prior art . the thick electrode 42 positioned in the vicinity of the dbr structure 34 can effectively dissipate the heat produced mainly in the dbr structure 34 thereby serve as a heat sink . in addition , the device shown in fig3 produces more favorable current distribution in the gain area than did the prior art . one can see in fig3 that the shape of the electrically pumped region of the gain area 32 , provided by the current flow , is annular as compared to the circular shape in fig1 . this is accomplished by a significantly reduced distance between electrodes 42 and 58 in the design of fig3 while the diameters of the annular electrodes 42 and 58 are close in both cases . fig4 shows a preferred sequence of steps in a process for producing a top - emitting hpsel when the substrate is not located on the path of generated light . the making of a small electrode positioned in the vicinity of the active medium is achieved by making a hole through the substrate and plating that hole with a metal . there , the epi structure of a sel with a desired wavelength is grown on a semi - insulating ( undoped ) substrate 30 . as compared to the design of fig3 , dbr layers 34 are grown below the gain structure 32 , and an additional etch - stop layer 60 ( usually alas ) is grown first in the epi structure . the annular electrode 58 is deposited on the gain layers 32 . then , a support layer 54 , which may be made with a polymeric material , such as apiezon w , is attached to the top of the epitaxial film . the substrate 30 is significantly thinned , such as by a cmp process , so that the thickness of its remnant 44 is about 150 μm . a hole 62 with a diameter preferably equal to the required diameter of the circular electrode is made through the thinned substrate by a selective etching procedure . after that , metal is deposited onto the bottom and side walls of the hole 62 to provide the ohmic contact with the sel structure . the hole is then filled with metal 64 with a plating process . a metal cylinder 64 provides the current supply to the sel structure from its top surface only because it is surrounded by the insulating substrate 44 . this design advantageously provides current confinement as well as the oxide layer 38 does in the design shown in fig3 . the electrical contact of electrode 64 is provided by attachment of the sel structure to the printed circuit board ( pcb ) 68 with conductive adhesive 66 , such as a solder . after that , the layer 54 as a mechanical support is not needed . therefore , it is removed with a solvent , such as trichloroethylene . fig5 depicts a process of secondary gain generation through optical pumping in the devices shown in fig3 and 4 . as compared to fig2 , the photons generated by current in the annular area 22 propagate both to the central and the peripheral parts of the quantum wells . therefore , due to optical pumping , they provide more uniform gain distribution in the area 20 than in prior art designs . this is illustrated in the inset of fig5 . with this , a higher efficiency of single - mode beam lasing can be achieved in the design according to the present invention . advantageously , the present inventors have further discovered that the problem of laser light absorption by the growth substrate can be solved in an alternative manner to the substrate removal process disclosed above . the growth substrate can be replaced with a plate made with semiconductor material , which will serve as a structural support and as a conductive material to provide the desired electrical gain activation . the electrode can be deposited on that new substrate . if the energy bandgap of the new substrate material is sufficiently broad , it will be transparent to laser light . gap is a good candidate for the material of the new or replacing substrate because it does not absorb light with a wavelength longer than 600 nm . as a result , it is transparent to the emission of all sels known to date . still further methods and structures for substrate replacement in hpsel design have been employed by the present inventors and are within the scope of the present invention . for example , fig6 demonstrates a further practice of the invention based on wafer fusion . this procedure is broadly used in making 1 . 3 ˜ 1 . 5 μm vcsels where ingaasp quantum wells structure are bonded to gaas / algaas dbr layers . recently , this process was successfully developed for the replacement of gaas with gap for a bottom - emitting vcsel . this process also can be used for making a short - wavelength hpsel . first , the epi structure of a sel with a desired wavelength is grown on the substrate 30 . as compared to the design of fig3 , dbr layers 34 are grown below the gain structure 32 and an additional oxide layer 36 is grown first in the epi structure . wafer fusion is carried out by placing new wafer 48 on atop the gain structure 32 in a pressure fixture and keeping them in a dry nitrogen atmosphere for a sufficient length of time , such as 2 hours , at an elevated temperature , such as about 500 - 600 ° c . after they are bonded together , the original substrate 30 is thinned , such as to a ˜ 10 μm thickness , by , for example , mechanical polishing and reactive ion etching . selective oxidation of the layer 36 is conducted to provide the current confinement . the electrode 46 is deposited on the remnant 44 of the original substrate , and the annular electrode 58 is deposited on the surface of new substrate 48 . still another contemplated way to replace the substrate is what may be called a lift - off technique , which is schematically presented in fig7 . the grown epi structure is similar to that shown in fig3 . however , the structure of fig7 additionally contains what may be called a released layer 50 ( usually alas ), which will be destroyed later during the actual lift - off procedure . after the aforedescribed oxidation to providing confinement of current from the peripheral parts 38 , the growth substrate 30 is replaced with a new substrate 48 . there are several ways to carry out the lift - off process that would be known to one of skill in the art . one such way is schematically depicted in fig7 for making a hpsel . first , a support layer 54 , which may be made with a polymeric material such as apiezon w , is attached to the top of the epitaxial film by use of adhesive 52 . a uniformly thin channel is formed between the epitaxial film and the substrate 30 by , for example , using hydrofluoric acid ( 10 %) to etch the release film 50 . internal tension of the support layer 54 due to heat curing causes compression under the film 50 thereby effectively lifting the edges and creating a concave curvature in the film 50 . in this way , gaseous products of the etching reaction can escape from the channel . the rest of the film 50 can then be etched away freeing the epitaxial film from the substrate 30 . the released epitaxial film is adhered to a new substrate 48 with adhesive 56 or direct optical contact via strong van der waals forces . the support layer 54 along with adhesive 52 is removed with a solvent , such as trichloroethylene . after the lifting - off procedure , the electrode 46 is deposited on the oxide layer , and the annular electrode 58 is deposited on the new substrate 48 . from the foregoing , it will be clear that the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments that merely exemplify the broader invention revealed herein . certainly , those skilled in the art can conceive of alternative embodiments . for instance , those with the major features of the invention in mind could conceive of or craft embodiments that incorporate those major features while not incorporating all of the features included in the preferred embodiments . accordingly , it will be clear that those with major features of the invention in mind could craft embodiments that incorporate those major features while not incorporating all of the features included in the preferred embodiments . therefore , the following claims are intended to define the scope of protection to be afforded the inventors . those claims shall be deemed to include equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention . it must be further noted that a plurality of the following claims may express certain elements as means for performing a specific function , at times without the recital of structure or material . as the law demands , these claims shall be construed to cover not only the corresponding structure and material expressly described in this specification but also equivalents thereof . | 7 |
fig1 shows the preferred embodiment of the driver alarm 11 -- of the invention as installed in an automobile 13 . the driver alarm 11 includes a pressure transducer 15 adapted to fit around the steering element , in this case a steering wheel 17 . the transducer 15 could be designed to fit along the gripping surface of a motorcycle handlebar or other steering element as well . the transducer 15 is attached by clips 18 that do not compress the transducer 15 . if the driver alarm 11 is incorporated into the vehicle as part of the original equipment , the transducer 15 could be partially inset into a channel ( not shown ) with integral retainers formed in the steering wheel 17 . the pressure transducer 15 is shown in cross section in fig2 . a center conductor 19 is surrounded by a compressible conductive foam 21 . the foam 21 is made from the same material used to protect static - sensitive electronic components during transport . surrounding the foam 21 is a flexible conductive shield 23 made in a manner known in the art for coaxial cable . a flexible , waterproof outer cover 25 protects and contains the other elements . while a coaxial configuration of the elements is shown , other configurations are possible , such as flat strip having two parallel conductors separated by a layer of the conductive foam 21 . compressing the foam 21 causes the resistance of the foam 21 between the points of compression to decrease . the electrical resistance of the transducer 15 , as measured between the center conductor 19 and the conductive shield 23 , will therefore vary with the amount by which the transducer 15 is compressed . the total change in resistance will in turn depend on both the magnitude of the pressure and the percentage of the total length of the transducer 15 that is gripped . the transducer 15 will have a maximum value of resistance when the steering wheel 17 is not being gripped . although a transducer using a variable resistance mechanism is disclosed , other methods known in the art for developing a variable pressure signal 27 , shown in fig3 are also acceptable . one such method is the use of a sealed air tube as shown in the gerger patent , in conjunction with a solid - state piezoresistive pressure transducer . another method is the use of a coaxial cable with an easily deformable solid or foam dielectric , the varying capacitance of the cable providing the pressure signal returning to fig1 the display means for the driver alarm is a display unit 29 attached to the steering wheel 17 . the unit 29 has a number of light emitting diodes ( led &# 39 ; s ) 31 that indicate the driver &# 39 ; s level of drowsiness as determined by the driver alarm 11 . the led &# 39 ; s 31 may be configured in a three color triad to simulate a stoplight as shown , or as a bar graph or other means as desired . as shown in fig3 the pressure signal 27 from the transducer 15 is sent to an analog - to - digital convertor ( a / d ) 33 , which digitizes the pressure signal 31 and transmits it to a control unit 35 via a data bus 37 . the data bus 37 contains circuitry that provides bidirectional serial communication between the elements on the steering wheel 17 and the control unit 35 . 1he data bus 17 also provides power to the components on the steering wheel 11 . when grounding is available on the steering wheel 17 , then a single wire such as the ` hot ` wire leading to the horn contacts ( not shown ) in the steering wheel 17 may be used in the data bus 37 . when a single wire is used , data is impressed over the battery voltage . the direct current power and the data signal , which is alternating current , are then separated at the receiving end of the data bus 37 before being used . the control unit 35 is the control means for the driver alarm 11 and includes a data interface 39 , a microcontroller 41 , and a power switch 43 that supplies power to the data interface 39 and microcontroller 41 . the data interface 39 converts data from the data bus &# 39 ; s serial format to the microcontroller &# 39 ; s parallel format and vice versa . the alarm means 45 for the driver alarm 11 is an electroacoustic transducer such as a buzzer . the alarm means 45 may be packaged in a box with the control unit 35 for convenience or physically separate to allow installation of the alarm means 45 in a desired location . a speed sensor 47 , of the type used in cruise control devices , measures vehicle speed . the speed sensor 47 develops a speed signal 49 that is used by the microcontroller 41 to determine when to bypass activation of the alarm . the speed signal 49 is a series of pulses , compatible with the logic levels in the microcontroller 41 , whose frequency is proportional to vehicle speed . the microcontroller 41 performs several functions . it monitors the signals from the pressure transducer 15 and the speed sensor 47 . it calculates the likelihood that the driver is falling asleep and activates the alarm means 45 . it also creates a display signal 51 , corresponding to an arbitrary scale of driver drowsiness , that is sent to the display unit 27 . drive electronics ( not shown ) in the display unit 29 decode the signal 51 and drive the appropriate led &# 39 ; s 31 . when the power switch 43 is turned on , the microcontroller 41 starts to measure the frequency of the speed signal 49 , determines the vehicle speed , and compares this value to a threshold value held in a nonvolatile memory ( not shown ), which may be located in the microcontroller 41 itself . while the vehicle speed is less than the threshold value , the alarm means 45 is disabled . this prevents the alarm from sounding if the car is parked or in city traffic . upon power up , the microcontroller 41 also begins measuring the signal from the pressure transducer 15 . during roughly the first fifteen seconds of operation , the microcontroller 41 keeps track of the highest and lowest measured pressure values . these values are stored in the microcontroller &# 39 ; s 41 memory registers for reference , and represent the highest and lowest normal values of hand grip pressure . these values allow the microcontroller 41 to set a baseline of operation and allow the driver alarm 11 to adjust itself to each individual driver . after the values are stored , the microcontroller 41 calculates an alarm point corresponding to a grip pressure at a safe margin below the lowest normal hand grip pressure value . if the hand grip pressure drops below this alarm point , the microcontroller 41 instantly activates the alarm means 45 . in addition , the microcontroller 41 can monitor the transient behavior of the pressure signal 27 , and determine the driver &# 39 ; s state of drowsiness in the same manner used in the art for monitoring steering wheel oscillations . the driver alarm 11 can thus respond to slow deterioration in driving response as well as a sudden loss of hand grip pressure . minor refinements to operation and setup of the driver alarm 11 are necessary when the device is installed as an add - on item rather than being designed into the car as original equipment . such things as setting the low speed threshold , and compensating for the value of the pressure signal 27 when there is no hand grip pressure , can be accomplished by means known in the art . the driver alarm 11 of the invention has several advantages over the prior art . the driver alarm operates with a minimum of interference with normal driving . because it adjusts to each driver &# 39 ; s particular gripping pressure , it does not require the driver to grip the wheel in an unusual manner , thus reducing fatigue . it can respond rapidly to a sudden loss of hand grip pressure , yet still respond to slow deterioration in driving response as the driver slowly becomes drowsy . the invention has been shown in only one embodiment . it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited , but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention . | 6 |
fig1 shows in perspective view an egg carton 10 according to one embodiment of the invention . the carton 10 , having general overall dimensions of length l , width w and height h , is comprised of a lid 20 connected via a hinge 12 to a base tray 30 , the tray comprising a plurality of egg receiving cells 40 arranged in a matrix . the carton 10 is typically integrally molded from a sheet of polystyrene foam which is formed into an end product having the components described herein via conventional molding processes , e . g ., pressing a foam sheet between male and female dies to form shaped lid and base portions and then removing ( trimming ) any remaining portions of the sheet to form an integral carton . the formation and structure of components such as the hinge 12 , base locking nubs 14 , associated lid flap and locking apertures 16 , cells 40 and the like are shown and described in the prior art such as in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 012 , 583 and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 494 , 164 the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein . as shown in fig1 - 2 the lid 20 has a generally flat ( planar ) upper surface 21 and a peripheral sidewall 23 extending downwardly to a peripheral lower edge 25 that mates with a peripheral upper edge 27 of the base tray . the lid 20 top wall is molded to include a recessed trough 50 disposed at and along a centerline c 1 transverse to length l of the carton 10 . a pair of bosses 70 are provided , one at each end of the trough 50 , the bosses having a preselected contour , e . g ., size , shape , height p , geometry and / or configuration . the bosses are formed in the lid 20 as protrusions that extend axially a above the planar surface 21 of the lid 20 by a distance p ( see fig5 ) which is preferably a minimum of about 3 / 16 inches . the elongated trough 50 is disposed along the width w of the carton between the bosses 70 , and in the embodiment shown , the ends of the trough 50 terminate in the bosses 70 which , as shown , are disposed with their outermost edges 76 adjacent the lengthwise edges 22 of the lid 20 . the trough 50 is formed within the body of the lid 20 as a generally elongated rectangular depression within the body of the planar surface 21 having elongated continuous walls 51 that extend axially a downwardly and below the planar surface 21 by a distance t , ( see fig1 ), in the opposite axial direction from the upward axial distance of projection p of bosses 70 ( see fig5 ). the walls 51 of the trough 50 preferably extend axially downwardly toward the tray 30 a sufficient distance t to enable the walls 51 to reinforce the lid and / or to laterally engage and act as a barrier or wall to protect eggs that are deposited within those cells 136 , 138 that are immediately adjacent the lengthwise centerline c 1 ( or widthwise centerline c 2 if the trough is aligned along the length ) of the tray . thus by extending a sufficient distance t from the top 21 downwardly toward the tray 30 , the walls 51 can reinforce the lid ( increase the mechanical strength of the carton ), and in particular reinforce the bosses ( to facilitate stacking without undue movement of the cartons with respect to one another ) and / or engage and prevent eggs in the two rows of cells immediately adjacent the centerline ( c 1 ) from moving laterally within the tray 30 . as shown , the bosses 70 are disposed at and along about the centerline c 1 of the length of the carton 10 . alternatively , the bosses 70 and the trough 50 could be formed and disposed at and along about the centerline c 2 of the width w of the carton 10 , the location of such bosses 70 a being shown in schematic in fig2 . in such an embodiment , the trough 50 can be formed in and extend between bosses 70 a along the centerline c 2 of the width w . as shown the tray portion 30 of the carton 10 comprises a series of egg receiving cells 40 each formed to receive and accommodate a single egg . each of the cells 40 is formed with a side wall 139 ( see fig8 ) having an inner receiving surface 140 contoured to receive the ovoid shape of an egg . the side wall 139 extends upwardly to define an open top and , where there is an adjoining cell joins with the sidewall 139 of the adjoining cell 106 , with the two side walls 139 cooperatively defining a cell junction 142 ( see fig8 ). the cell junction 142 has generally at least one rounded shoulder which blends into a raised upper edge . the upper edge is flexible to respond to pressure applied by packaged eggs and provides protection therefor . preferably , the carton comprises an even number of cells ( for example 2 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 10 , 12 , etc .) serially interconnected either widthwise or lengthwise such that the bosses 70 or 70 a can be positioned at about the center line or point between two adjacent cells while simultaneously being disposed at about the centerline c 1 or c 2 of either the length l or width w of the carton 10 along which an even number of cells are serially interconnected in a straight sequence . in the embodiment shown in fig1 - 10 , the carton 10 comprises 6 rows of 4 cells extending along the width w , or 4 rows of 6 cells extending along the length l of the carton 10 . typical other cell matrix formats are 2 × 4 , 3 × 6 , 3 × 4 , 4 × 4 , 4 × 6 , 5 × 6 and 6 × 6 . by way of example only , the polystyrene foam 4 × 6 matrix carton shown in fig1 - 10 is designed to hold 24 extra large eggs , and is about 8 inches in width , about 11⅝ inches in length , and about 2¾ inches in height ; each boss is about 1 inch long and about ½ inch wide and about 3 / 16 inches deep ; the trough is about 5¾ inches long and about ¾ inches wide ( at the top end ) and about 1⅛ inches deep ; the base tray is about 1½ inches deep ; the lid is about 1½ inches deep ; and each cell ( at the top edge ) is about 1⅞ inches in length and 1⅞ in width . this is given by way of example only and is not meant to be limiting . as shown in fig6 , the carton 10 has corner cells 135 , exterior cells 138 and interior cells 136 , the exact positioning of which results in recesses 175 , 176 , 178 formed between the exterior surfaces of the cells 135 , 136 , 138 on the bottom face 90 of the carton 10 having configurations peculiar to the precise position of the various cells 135 , 136 , 138 . generally , the contour of the bottom outside cell surfaces 155 , 156 , 158 ( of cells 135 , 138 , 136 respectively ) are similar to each other such that the recesses 175 , 176 , 178 formed between adjacent cell outside surfaces 155 , 156 , 158 are similar in contour . the contour of the upper or outside surfaces of the bosses 70 , 70 a ( e . g ., the size , shape , height , width , depth and / or configuration of the bosses 70 or 70 a ) are selected and formed to be complementary to the contour of at least two of the recesses 175 , 176 , 178 such that each of the bosses 70 or 70 a can be readily inserted into a recess . preferably , the contour of the bosses 70 , 70 a are formed to be complementary to the contour of those recesses that are formed between the outside surfaces of two adjacent outside cells 138 , and more particularly the recesses 178 that are formed between the adjacent sidewall surfaces 158 a of two adjacent exterior cells 138 that are also disposed immediately adjacent or straddle the centerline c 1 of the length l ( or c 2 of the width w ) of the carton 10 along an outer lengthwise edge 13 ( or widthwise edge 17 ) of the tray 10 . fig2 shows this arrangement , where the arcuate sidewall contours 70 c of the bosses are aligned to engage the outer circular contours of the two adjacent exterior cell sidewalls 138 to resist longitudinal and lateral movement therebetween . in this embodiment , the four corners 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ( see fig2 ) of the boss 70 provide four potential points of engagement with the adjacent cells 158 ( defining the recess 178 ) to effectively limit / resist both longitudinal and lateral movement between the stacked cartons . this is further illustrated in fig7 - 9 where the two bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) are formed and disposed in predetermined positions on the top surface 21 of the lid 20 that match and are complementary in position to the positions on the bottom 90 of the carton 10 of at least two recesses , such as recesses 178 a 1 and 178 a 2 . by such complementary positioning of at least two recesses 178 a 1 and 178 a 2 , the two bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) can be readily inserted into these two recesses such that one carton 10 u can be stacked on top of another 10 l carton ( as shown in fig7 ) rendering the two cartons aligned and resistant to lateral lat and / or longitudinal long movement relative to each other by virtue of the two separate bosses 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 being engaged or engageable against the bottom outside surfaces 158 a 1 , 158 a 2 of the adjacent cells 138 a 1 , 138 a 2 that form the recesses when the two stacked cartons 10 u , 10 l are moved laterally lat and / or longitudinally long relative to each other . in alternative embodiments , one or more additional bosses ( in addition to the pair show in fig1 ) may be provided to lie within other recesses , between either exterior or interior cell walls . alternatively , the pair of bosses may be provided not on a centerline . preferably at least two bosses are provided adjacent or along opposing side edges of the carton , either the lengthwise or widthwise edges . in one embodiment , a first pair of bosses is provided adjacent or along the lengthwise edges and a second pair of bosses is provided adjacent or along the widthwise edges . as shown in fig8 - 9 , the outside surface contour of the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) is smooth and is preferably formed with sloped outer surfaces 70 c and / or smooth curvilinear or curved outer edges 70 d that are configured so as to readily slide against the bottom outside surfaces 158 , 158 a of the cells if and when the boss surfaces 70 c , 70 d may come into contact with the outside surfaces 158 , 158 a of the cells 178 , particularly when the bottom 90 of one carton 10 u is mechanically positioned above and lowered onto the top side of another carton 10 l . during such stacking and lowering process the user / operator ( and / or machine ) performing the stacking will attempt to mechanically align the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) with the recesses 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 for insertion of the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) within a pair of complementarily positioned recesses , 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 . such mechanical alignment by the user cannot be perfect and the sloped , curved and curvilinear surfaces 70 c , 70 d , 158 , 158 a serve to facilitate insertion of the bosses into the complementary recesses and thus result in better longitudinal and lateral alignment of two cartons 10 u , 10 l during the stacking process . the side wall 139 in each of the cells extends downwardly to a base wall 144 . in one embodiment , the base wall 144 is formed with a flat interior bottom surface 150 and a flat annular exterior bottom surface 152 , the annular surface 152 having a central raised button portion 154 defined therein ( see fig9 ). the raised button portion 154 may be formed by densifying the polystyrene material of the base wall 144 . the cells 135 , 136 , 138 are collectively formed such that the exterior bottom surfaces 152 of all of the cells 135 , 136 , 138 of one carton 10 u are substantially co - planar to form a substantially stable planar bottom surface pb ( see fig7 ), that can readily engage and mate with the flat planar top surface 21 of another carton 10 l when the one carton 10 l is mechanically stacked or deposited on top of another carton 10 u . by force of gravity g ( see fig9 ), the bottom surfaces 152 bear against top surface 21 to provide a degree of stability against lateral lat and longitudinal long movement due to friction between surface 21 and surfaces 152 . to provide further stability against lateral lat and / or longitudinal long movement , the bosses 70 ( or 70 a ) most preferably are formed with an outside upper surface contour that are complementary ( conform ) to the contour of the complementary recesses 178 a 1 , 178 a 2 into which the bosses are intended to be inserted . such complementary contouring of the bosses to the intended complementary recesses enables the bosses to project into and reside within the depth of the complementary recesses when the bottom surfaces 152 of the bases 144 of the cells 135 , 136 , 137 engage the top surface 21 . if and when a carton 10 u moves laterally lat or longitudinally long relative to carton 10 l , the outside surfaces 70 c , 70 d of the bosses will contact , engage and interfere with the bottom outside surfaces 158 , 158 a of the cells 178 thus preventing the upper stacked carton 10 u from moving or otherwise becoming not aligned on top of the lower disposed carton 10 l . as shown in fig7 - 9 , surfaces 70 c are formed to be complementary in contour to the surfaces 158 a , surfaces 70 c having a partial egg - shape similar to the partial egg - shape of surfaces 158 a . as shown in fig1 , in one embodiment a method and system is provided for stacking cartons 10 on the top planar surface 210 of a readily transportable pallet 200 ( typically via forklift or crane 300 ) without the necessity of enclosing the stacked cartons 10 , 10 l , 10 u within a container such as a box or cage or the like . as shown , the cartons 10 are stacked vertically in series in direct top 21 to bottom pb contact with each other , one on top of each other in collective depths of preferably 3 - 6 cartons . slip sheets 250 are preferably disposed between stacks of 3 - 6 cartons in vertical depth . the slip sheets 250 typically comprise a flexible sheet of paper , plastic or cloth that can be deposited on top of and extend across the top surfaces 21 of a horizontal layer of multiple side - by - side horizontally arranged cartons 400 , typically anywhere from about 2 to about 10 cartons horizontally across . as described above , the coplanar bottom surfaces 152 of the cartons 10 form a planar bottom surface pb which collectively among multiple cartons stacked at the same vertical level form a planar bottom pb 2 such that when multiple cartons 10 are deposited side - by - side 400 on a slip sheet 250 , the friction between pb 2 and the slip sheet 250 provides an additional stability against lateral lat and longitudinal long movement relative to the cartons on which they are stacked . in another embodiment , shown in fig1 , a stack 410 of cartons 10 is disposed on a pallet 412 and the stacked cartons are wrapped in plastic film 414 ( around the perimeter of the stack ). the film provides the only outer packaging supporting the stack of egg cartons on the pallet . the stackable egg cartons of the present invention can , if desired , also be packaged in existing standard master corrugated containers , such as one - half and full cases , plastic and wire baskets , and carts . for example : ( a ) a corrugated paper container ( case ), where a full case typically holds 30 - dozen 2 × 6 egg cartons , and a half case holds 15 - dozen 2 × 6 egg cartons ; ( b ) plastic and metal grid baskets where each basket ( a half case ) typically holds 15 - dozen 2 × 6 egg cartons ; ( c ) milk crates , where each crate typically holds between 12 - dozen jumbo 2 × 6 egg cartons ( for jumbo size eggs ) and 15 - dozen regular egg cartons , ( for medium , large and / or extra large eggs ); and ( d ) racks designed to be wheeled or slid into grocery store display cases , where each rack typically holds between 240 to 360 2 × 6 egg cartons . in another alternative embodiment shown in fig1 - 13 , an egg carton 10 ′ is the same as the egg carton 10 of fig1 , the only difference being the pair of bosses 70 ′ are moved outwardly along the centerline c 1 of the lid 20 ′. here the outer edges 76 ′ of the bosses 70 ′ reside beyond the lengthwise ( or alternating widthwise ) edges 22 ′ of the carton . as shown in fig1 - 13 , the bosses 70 ′ are supported by an outwardly angled portion 24 ′, extending away from the upper lid surface 21 ′, of the lid sidewall 23 ′. this angled support portion 24 ′ extends further toward the periphery of the adjacent egg carton cell bottoms 158 ′ to provide enhanced support and stability . here the more vertically disposed angled portion 24 ′ is disposed at a angle x of 172 ° with respect to the sidewall 23 ′. in various embodiments , the plastic egg carton is made of a thermoplastic which is foamed or unfoamed , and comprises one or more of polystyrene , polyester ( e . g ., polyethylene terephithlate ( pet ), polyolefin ( e . g ., polyethylene ( pe ), polypropylene ( pp )), and poly ( lactic acid ) ( pla ), including homopolymers , copolymers , mixtures and blends thereof , and including virgin and reclaimed materials . it is to be understood that the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention . | 8 |
an embodiment of the invention is illustrated and described herein . fig1 is a front view of an embodiment of housing 10 of a room pressure monitor 20 in a servicing position . housing 10 may be a polycarbonate , plastic , or other known material . housing 10 has an internal volume 35 shaped and sized to receive components 85 and has a front mounting flange ( or collar ) 15 used for positioning the housing 10 in a desired plane when mounted . attached by hinge 40 along a top portion of housing 10 is a display module 45 that supports an active electronic display 50 . the term “ display ” is used herein to refer to an active electrical component that responds to an electronic signal and provides a visual or other humanly perceptible output , and it may include printed circuit board elements , thin film transistors ( tft ), a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) or other desired type of input / output that may be interactive and communicate with components 85 either wirelessly or by a flex cable ( not shown ). the term “ display module ” is used herein to refer to the mechanical support structure to which the “ display ” is mounted . display 50 can attach to display module 45 by screws , spring clips or other such fasteners 55 such that display 50 can be replaced in the field by simply removing fasteners 55 and unplugging a flex cable , for example . if the display includes a circuit board separate from an output screen , each of these may be secured to the display module separately or the screen may be secured to the board with the board being secured to the display module , and each may be replaced separately as needed . because display 50 and display module 45 are independent of housing 10 , an advantage of an embodiment of the present invention is that a display 50 larger than housing 10 may be used . this overcomes a problem of prior art devices where all of the instrument constituents had to fit within the specialized fitting ( housing ), thus mandating the use of relatively large specialized enclosures and / or undersized displays . it is a further embodiment of the invention that display 50 remains functional while display module 45 is rotated about hinge 40 , in order to permit use while accessing internal housing 35 for field calibration , firmware upgrades , etc . accordingly , display module 45 can rotate approximately 180 ° from a lowermost operating position as shown in fig2 to an uppermost maintenance position as shown in fig1 . an intermediary of these two positions is shown in fig5 . a mechanism may be used to selectively restrain movement of display module 45 and / or to hold it in a selected position , for instance when accessing operating components 85 . such mechanisms may include a detent , ratchet , pin , friction joint , pressure cylinder or any other known mechanism for selectively restraining motion . in other embodiments display module 45 may be hinged on other locations of housing 10 or attached by a slide or swivel in order to provide access . additionally , hinge 40 can be coupled to a slide , swivel , or combinations thereof . mounting flange ( or collar ) 15 can be secured to practically any surface by glue , solder , nails , screws or the like , or it may be secured to a standard electrical rough - in box ( as shown in see fig5 ). collar 15 may have oversized openings 25 formed there through to accept screws 130 and provide a high degree of adjustment for positioning housing 10 relative to an affixing structure . as shown in fig1 , depressions 135 may be formed on the backside of module 45 that correspond to locations of the screws 130 so that when module 45 is in a lowermost shipping or operating position , heads of screws 130 do not interfere with module 45 , hinge 40 or cover 60 . hole 165 corresponds to hole 160 and may be used to fixedly connect module 45 to housing 10 during shipping , handling or installation . fig2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention when instrument 20 is assembled for shipping ( or in optional operating mode ). screw 170 is shown connecting holes 160 and 165 thereby joining module 45 with housing 10 for keeping pressure monitoring instrument 20 safe during packaging , shipping and / or use . fig3 represents the appearance of monitor 20 to an end user when cover plate 60 is attached . as shown , cover plate 60 installs over housing 10 and / or display module 45 and furnishes a clean , flush mounting with no visible fasteners . further , cover plate 60 protects against ingress / egress of gas , particles , or unwanted debris or other forms of contamination . attachment of the cover is illustrated in fig4 , which is a partial perspective view of an embodiment of the invention sectioned along a horizontal plane showing pawl 65 engagement with housing 10 . as shown , a cover plate 60 includes pawl 65 extending rearward from and generally perpendicular to a plane of the cover plate 60 . a receiving opening 70 is formed on housing 10 that is shaped and positioned to receive pawl 65 , such that movement of pawl 65 into opening 70 deflects pawl 65 causing it to snap into a flush or mated position . prior to engaging with housing 10 , pawl 65 may bypass display module 45 or pass through opening 75 formed in display module 45 in various embodiments . in the embodiment illustrated , two pawls 65 are formed on opposite sides of cover plate 60 and engage with a series of notches 80 formed in corresponding openings of housing 10 . as shown , cover plate 60 may be attached to housing 10 with display module 45 in an operating position by inserting pawl ( s ) 65 through the corresponding opening ( s ) 75 , 70 until pawl 65 engages the plurality of notches 80 in sequential order as the cover 60 is moved toward the housing 10 . as cover plate 60 is further urged toward display module 45 , pawl 65 will engage with the next notch in series 80 . ideally , the process continues until movement of the pawl 65 toward the housing 10 is restricted at an installed position when the first and second seals are seated and the cover plate 60 is secured against the instrument mounting surface ( item 150 of fig5 ) and cover plate 60 can be urged no closer to display module 45 . there is a spring action from the pawl 65 which secures cover plate 60 in place without need for additional fasteners . furthermore , the range of engagement of pawl 65 with series of notches 80 allows cover plate 60 to be held flush with a surface even if the installation of housing 10 and / or front mounting flange or collar 15 is not in a perfect plane parallel to mounting surface 150 . in an embodiment illustrated by fig4 , a seal such as gasket 110 is interposed between cover plate 60 and display 50 ( or optionally between the cover 60 and the display module 45 , not shown ) and another seal such as gasket 120 is interposed between cover plate 60 and a mounting surface 150 about a perimeter of the cover for protection against contamination ingress into the housing 10 . interposed gaskets 110 , 120 ensure protection against dust and water spray ingress to a degree sufficient to achieve an ingress protection rating such as ip 54 even if there is some unevenness in the mounting surface 150 . acceptable gaskets may include 35 durometer closed cell foam or molded elastomeric materials as are typically used in sealing applications . gasket 120 may further provide for correction of misalignment between housing collar 15 and mounting surface 150 by filling any space that may exist there between . since the display 50 may also function as a touch screen input device , the cover plate 60 includes a window aligned with the display 50 when in its installed position to allow for tactile contact with the display . typically the window is simply an opening , thus requiring gasket 110 to prevent the ingress of contaminants . however , one may appreciate that depending upon the functionality of the display 50 , in certain embodiments the window may be a transparent material that is permanently attached to and sealed against the cover 60 , thereby eliminating the need for gasket 110 . cover plate 60 may be formed of plastic , sheet metal , or other relatively flexible material . removal of plate 60 may be facilitated by a slight bending such that the pawl 65 is at least partially disengaged from the series of notches 80 and allows plate 60 to be removed from receiving opening 70 and / or display module opening 75 . as shown in fig4 , a user could push against the front of plate 60 with a thumb at the location of the arrow in fig4 to slightly bend cover plate 60 inward at that location , thereby rotating pawl 65 causing it to disengage and lift away from the series of notches 80 . grasping of cover plate 60 for removal may be facilitated by forming finger indentations 140 on the edge of the cover plate 60 or by slots formed for a tool such as a flat blade screwdriver . even if pawl 65 is not lifted completely away from series of notches 80 , any degree of disengagement of pawl 65 from the notches 80 would reduce the force necessary to pull cover plate 60 away from the surface 150 . since calibration of monitor 20 and operating components thereof may involve access to internal volume 35 , the present invention provides access to and optimal use of internal volume 35 . an embodiment of the invention therefore includes using wall ( s ) of housing 10 to serve as additional or optional paths for communicating with operating components 85 or display 50 . fig4 illustrates an embodiment where a subsurface channel ( s ) 90 is formed within a wall of housing 10 . subsurface channel 90 may be produced when fabricating housing 10 by known processes such as injection molding or by mechanical material removal such as drilling . as shown , subsurface channel 90 may be used as part of a flow path for delivery of measured room pressure to a sensor 85 or for additional wiring or other uses . in one embodiment , an input fluid connection 95 may be provided by forming a threaded hole 100 part - way through housing 10 from the rear portion . threaded hole 100 could be in fluid communication with subsurface channel 90 and may be supplied with working fluid via input fluid connection 95 . an outlet from subsurface channel 90 , optionally surrounded by a gasketed seal 115 , may further be formed to open into housing 10 and used for delivering working fluid to a pressure sensor 85 . because there is no flow requirement for such a pressure measuring working fluid , the size of subsurface channel 90 may be small . working fluid may be delivered to any location about housing 10 . consequently , the use for internal tubing is greatly reduced if not eliminated within internal volume 35 , thereby saving valuable interior space . in order to eliminate the need of having a custom fitting or losing operating components during installation of the custom fitting , an embodiment of the invention includes housing 10 connected to a universal electrical box , such as typically provided during building construction rough - in . as shown in fig5 , housing 10 may mount to an opening of a surface 150 and connect to a rough - in box 145 , such as a known double deep triple ganged box , by screws 130 that connect with screw receiving ports 155 on the box flange or by other means such as clips or ties . in this embodiment , the triple ganged box 145 provides anchoring support for instrument 20 as well as industry standard attachment points 147 for access to power , wiring and / or other components as necessary . unlike prior art devices where a surface mounted instrument is mounted within a specialized fitting , the device of fig5 can be installed into a readily available “ off the shelf ” roughed - in triple ganged box 145 . this allows the installer to run all of the wiring and plumbing during the construction rough - in phase without having to purchase and store the room pressure monitor in advance of final installation . this saves the unit from being lost or damaged on site . housing 10 is able to fit within a typical rough - in box 145 without restricting the size of display 50 . furthermore , the installation can be made flush to surface 150 with interior 35 sealed from the external environment in spite of some imprecision in the installation of rough - in box 145 due to the degrees of mounting freedom provided via screws 30 , 130 , oversized slots 25 , and gaskets 110 , 120 . a basic room pressure monitor may be designed for analog communication with other instruments and systems . in an analog installation , analog control signals are received from and sent to control hardware , and analog signals may operate a local display associated with the monitor . some time after installation of an analog room pressure monitor , the user or building owner may elect to install a digital communication network within the building to permit monitoring and control of the multiple sensors and equipment such as air flow control valves in the building . such digital communication networks are inherently more reliable and robust than analog communication systems . this modification necessitates upgrading the analog room pressure monitor to communicate over the digital network . such an upgrade may require the replacement of the room pressure monitor instrument , or if the instrument is so configured , by field installation of a digital communication board in the analog room pressure monitor and connection of that board to the digital communication network . fig6 illustrates certain elements of a room pressure monitor 200 according to the present invention , including the capability to communicate with other building system components according to a digital communication protocol over a digital communication network . the room pressure monitor 200 includes an electrical component board such as display board 202 and a connector board 204 that are electrically connected by a ribbon conductor 206 comprising a plurality of conductors 208 . the connector board 204 further connects to a digital communication board 210 through a pin / socket connector 212 , comprising pins on the digital communication board 210 received within sockets on the connector board 204 . although not illustrated in fig6 , the display board 202 includes analog and digital components for measuring and displaying the sensed room pressure and additional components ancillary thereto . in addition to providing electrical connectivity between the display board 202 and the digital communication board 210 , the connector board 204 includes power supply components for supplying power to the various elements of the room pressure monitor 200 . the connector board 204 further includes a connector 214 for connection to elements of the digital communication network . typically , the connector 214 comprises a three - pin connector : a first pin for carrying transmitted signals , a second pin for carrying received signals and a third ground pin . one skilled in the art will appreciate that conductors other than metal pins may be used to carry some or all of the signals described herein in certain embodiments , such as optical fiber signal conductors . in operation , pressure readings are supplied to the display board for processing and display . the pressure readings are also provided to the communication board 210 via the connector 212 . on the communication board the pressure values are properly formatted to the operative digital communication protocol or format . the digital communication output signal is then supplied to the connector 214 , via conductors of the connector 212 , the connector board 204 , the ribbon conductor 206 and the display board 202 . although the digital signal output connector 214 is present in the analog portion of the room pressure monitor , i . e ., on the connector board 204 , digital data communication does not begin until a digital communication board is plugged into the connector 212 and the board activated . one such digital protocol is know as bacnet , a data communication protocol developed for building automation and control networks under the auspices of the american society of heating , refrigeration and air - conditioning engineers ( ash rae ). another known digital protocol is the lonworks ® networking platform developed by the echelon corporation . according to one embodiment of the present invention , the room pressure monitor 200 may be provided with basic analog communication circuitry , i . e ., the display board 202 and the connector board 204 . the connector board 204 enables simple field connection of either a bacnet or lonworks ® communication board 210 to the connector 212 , i . e ., a communication board operative according to the bacnet protocol or a communication board operative according to the lonworks ® protocol . while the number and function of individual conductors within the connector 212 for proper functioning of bacnet and lonworks ® boards may be different , the present invention allows for a combination of those functionalities into the single connector 212 in order to preserve real estate on the connector board 204 . this may be accomplished in one embodiment by configuring the connector 212 with a sufficient number of pins such that while some pins perform the same function in both protocols , dissimilar functions can be accommodated on different pins so that some pins may remain unused by one protocol . furthermore , when a digital communication board 210 operative according to any selected protocol ( e . g ., bacnet and lonworks ®) is plugged into the connector 212 , a processor on the display board 202 may interrogate the digital communication board 210 via the ribbon conductor 206 and the connector board 204 . the processor recognizes that the communication board has been plugged into the connector and further determines the type of communication protocol operative on the communication board 210 . according to one embodiment , this may be accomplished automatically by measuring an electrical parameter value on the digital communication board 210 . the electrical parameter value may be determined from a component value such as a unique resistor value or by sensing a short circuit or a voltage value on the digital communication board 210 . different resistance values or voltages identify different digital communication protocols . according to another embodiment , this determination is accomplished with a user input that provides a protocol identifier via an i / o device . according to yet another embodiment , the processor determines the digital value ( a high or a low voltage ) on one or more pins of the connector 212 . these digital values are determined by the protocol operative on the digital communication board 210 . after the processor on the display board determines the operative digital communication protocol , the processor enables certain features of the operative communication protocol . for instance , the processor ensures that a unique identification code is appended to all lonworks ® communication signals and enables functions of the room pressure monitor that the communication protocol can accommodate . also , the display identifies the operative communication protocol under control of the processor on the display board . this single connector dual protocol functionality can be implemented not only on the connector 212 but also on the connector 214 so that the end user can access any available communication protocol via a single output connector , such as the common rs485 connector , typically provided at the rear of the instrument . furthermore , some or all input / output connectors may be color coded to facilitate rapid and error free field connection . this allows the user to add or change the protocol without the need to remove and rewire the room pressure monitor 200 . when the communication board is detected , the connector 212 is energized for activating and communicating with the digital communication board 210 . the outputs from the display board 202 , such as the room pressure reading , are supplied to the communication board 210 where the information is properly formatted according to the communication protocol associated with the communication board 210 . the analog outputs from the monitor may remain active after the digital communication board 210 has been plugged into the connector 212 . the external digital communication network will receive the digital data output signal from the instrument 200 and may also communicate to the instrument via the digital communications board 210 . for example , the network may interrogate the instrument 200 to determine the current value of pressure , temperature , relative humidity or other measured environmental parameter . the network may also read the measurement range of the instrument 200 , its serial number , alarm setpoint range , etc . if an alarm occurs , the alarm will be transmitted onto the network . the network supervisor can also write to the instrument 200 to reconfigure the unit remotely or to silence an alarm remotely . although the invention has been described with reference to the bacnet and lonworks ® digital communication protocols , those skilled in the art recognize that the teachings of the invention can be applied to other digital communication protocols and to other communication formats and hardware , such as optical communication over optical fibers . the features described herein simplify the installation and maintenance of surface mounting systems , such as room pressure monitors as sold by the assignee of the present invention . 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 . for example , these features may be embodied in instruments other than room pressure monitors , such as a temperature sensor , a humidity sensor , security systems , or other systems . 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 . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views , fig1 and 2 show a yard hydrant 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention . a valve housing ( 11 ) adapted to be connected at one end to a source of fluid under pressure at the bottom threads ( 11 tb ). a valve housing ( 11 ) has a first portion ( 11 a ) with a first inside diameter , a second portion ( 11 b ) with a second inside diameter that is larger than the first inside diameter ( 11 a ) and a third portion ( 11 c ) between the first and second portions with a third inside diameter that is larger than the second inside diameter . still looking at fig1 and 2 , a standpipe ( 12 ) having an upper and lower end with the lower end secured to the other end of the valve housing ( 11 ) at the threaded top portion ( 11 tt ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). a flow pipe ( 13 ) is concentrically disposed within the standpipe ( 12 ) and is reciprocal therein . a valve body ( 14 ) is disposed inside of the valve housing ( 11 ), the valve body ( 14 ) being closed at the bottom end ( 14 x ) thereof and having an open interior ( 14 i ) in fluid communication at all times with the flow pipe ( 13 ). the valve body ( 14 ) has a port ( 14 p ) in fluid communication at all times with an interior of the third inside portion ( 11 c ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). the valve body ( 14 ) has a first body portion ( 14 a ) with a first outside diameter that will fit in close sliding relationship with the first inside diameter of the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). a second body portion ( 14 b ) has a second outside body diameter that will fit in close sliding relationship with the second inside diameter of the second housing portion ( 11 b ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). similarly , a third body portion ( 14 c ) that has approximately the same outside diameter as the second outside body diameter of the second body portion ( 14 b ) is provided so that the second ( 14 b ) and third ( 14 c ) body portions can slide in close sealing relationship with the second inside housing portion ( 11 b ). the valve body ( 14 ) also has a fourth body portion ( 14 d ) located between the second ( 14 b ) and third ( 14 c ) body portions . this fourth body portion ( 14 d ) has an outside diameter which is less than the outside diameter of the second ( 14 b ) and third ( 14 ) body portions of the valve body ( 14 ). the valve body ( 14 ) is operatively attached to one end of the flow pipe ( 13 ) and by selective reciprocation of the flow pipe ( 13 ) as shown in fig1 and 2 . the valve body ( 14 ) has a closed position shown in fig1 for preventing fluid communication between the source of fluid under pressure at threads ( 11 t ) and the flow pipe ( 13 ) when the first portion ( 14 a ) of the valve body ( 14 ) is in the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). fig2 shows the valve body ( 14 ) in an open position when the first portion ( 14 a ) of the valve body ( 14 ) is raised out of the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ) to the third portion ( 11 c ) of the valve housing ( 11 ) to permit fluid communication from the source of fluid pressure to enter the third portion ( 11 c ) of the valve housing . from there to the fluid flows through port ( 14 p ) in valve body ( 14 ), from there to the open interior of the valve body ( 14 i ), from there to the open interior of the valve body ( 14 i ) and then on to the flow pipe ( 13 ). a hydrant head ( 16 ) operatively attached at one end thereof to the other end of the flow pipe ( 13 ) and in flow communication therewith . the hydrant head ( 16 ) has an outlet ( 16 b ) for directing flow from the flow pipe ( 13 ) from the hydrant inlet ( 16 a ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the open position thereof . the hydrant head ( 16 ) is slidably journalled on the upper end of the standpipe ( 12 ) as shown in fig1 and 2 so that movement of the hydrant head ( 16 ) in one direction acts to move the flow pipe ( 13 ) and valve body ( 14 ) to the open position to allow flow communication with the source of fluid under pressure as shown in fig2 and movement of the hydrant head ( 16 ) in the opposite direction acting to move the flow pipe ( 13 ) and valve body ( 14 ) to the closed position of the valve body to prevent fluid communication with the source of fluid under pressure is shown in fig1 . a drain port ( 11 d ) is in fluid communication with an inside part of the second portion ( 11 b ) of the valve housing ( 11 ) for permitting fluid communication between the inside of the valve housing ( 11 ) and the outside of the valve housing ( 11 ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the closed position of fig1 , thereby allowing fluid to drain from the hydrant head ( 16 ) and flow pipe ( 13 ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is closed . this is important to keep the water above the frost line from freezing in the wintertime . a shoulder ( 14 s ) on the second portion ( 14 b ) of the valve body ( 14 ) is in contact with a top portion ( 11 t ) of the first portion of the valve body ( 14 ) when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the closed position shown in fig1 . the first portion ( 14 a ) of the valve body ( 14 ) has two o - rings ( 14 as ) in respective annular grooves for sealing against a surface of the inside diameter of the first portion ( 11 a ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). the second portion ( 14 b ) of the valve body ( 14 ) has two o - rings ( 14 bs ) in respective annular grooves for sealing against a surface of the inside diameter of the second portion ( 11 b ) of the valve housing ( 11 ). looking again at fig1 and 2 , the yard hydrant ( 10 ) has a collar ( 17 ) rigidly fixed to the standpipe ( 12 ). a handle ( 18 ) is pivotally attached to the hydrant head ( 16 ) at pin ( 20 ). a link ( 19 ) is operatively pivotally attached at one end to a handle ( 18 ) at pin ( 21 ) and at another end thereof to the collar ( 17 ) at pin ( 22 ). the handle ( 18 ) has a first pivotal position ( fig1 ) corresponding to the closed position of the valve body ( 14 ) and a second pivotal position ( fig2 ) corresponding to the open position of the valve body ( 14 ). the handle ( 18 ) has a surface ( 18 c ) which is , when the valve is closed , in abutment with a surface ( 16 c ) on the hydrant head ( 16 ) for holding the handle ( 18 ) in the closed position shown in fig1 until the handle ( 18 ) is moved to the open position thereof as shown in fig2 . moving the handle ( 18 ) from the open position shown in fig2 to the closed position shown in fig1 causes the over center condition shown in fig1 to securely hold the handle ( 18 ) in the closed position until it is manually pivotally forced again towards the open position shown in fig2 . arrows shown in fig2 and 5 illustrate the flow of fluid such as water when the valve body ( 14 ) is in the raised / open position and the arrows in fig1 and 3 show the closed position of the valve but still allowing drainage of water from the hydrant head ( 16 ), flow pipe ( 13 ) and valve body ( 14 ) out through the drain hole ( 11 d ) to keep the hydrant from freezing in the wintertime when the hydrant is installed such that the valve housing ( 11 ) is in the ground below the frost line . in fig1 and 2 a locking hole ( 23 a ) in the hydrant head ( 16 ) aligns with a locking hole ( 23 b ) in the handle ( 18 ) in the closed position of fig1 , to permit a padlock or the like to pass through the aligned locking holes ( 23 a ) and ( 23 b ) if desired . obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described . | 8 |
a portable data storage device which is an embodiment of the invention is shown schematically in fig1 . the portable storage device includes a housing 1 which has a usb interface 3 . the usb interface may be electrically coupled to a serial bus ( typically a usb socket ) of an external device , such as a host computer 5 . the usb interface 3 may be a usb plug integral with the housing 1 , and for insertion into a socket of the host 5 . alternatively , in other embodiments , the usb interface 3 may be a socket for receiving a plug of a usb cable . the portable storage device further includes a usb controller 7 which controls the usb interface 3 . in use , the host 5 transfers data to and fro between itself and the portable data storage device . data transferred to the usb interface 3 from host computer 5 passes through the usb controller 7 to a master control unit 9 in the form of data packets . similarly , the interface controller 7 is arranged to send data it receives from the master control unit 9 through the interface 3 . the data packets have sizes which are multiples of 512 bytes . the master control unit 9 is connected to a bus 10 , which may for example be an 8 - bit bus . the bus 10 is further connected to an slc - type nand flash memory 11 , and an mlc - type nand flash memory 13 . each of these two memories may include one or more physically - separate integrated circuits . the memories 11 , 13 are arranged in blocks of pages . typically , a physical page of data consists of 2048 bytes . typically , a block of data in the slc memory unit 11 consists of 64 pages and a block of data in mlc flash memory unit consists of 128 pages . additionally , the master control unit 9 is connected to each of the flash memories 11 , 13 by a respective set of control lines 15 . each set of control lines transmits control signals referred to here as enable , ale , write and read signals . when the master control unit 9 is to write data to memory , it enables one of the two memories 11 , 13 by sending an enable signal to it ( thus , at most one of the two memories 11 , 13 is enabled at any one time ). at the same time , the master control unit 9 sends the enabled memory an ale signal and write signal . the master control unit 9 then writes address data and data to be stored to the enabled memory via 8 - bit bus . the memory unit 11 , 13 which is enabled stores the data in the location indicated by address data . the memory unit 11 , 13 which is not enabled takes no action . similarly , when the memory control unit is to read data from one of the memories 11 , 13 , it enables that memory 11 , 13 by using one of the control lines to send an enable signal to that memory . it then uses the other control lines to send the enabled memory the ale signal and the read signal , and sends address data to the enabled memory using the 8 - bit bus . the enabled memory 11 , 13 transmits over the bus 10 the data at the physical location corresponding to the address data . the algorithm performed by the embodiment will now be described . for simplicity we will assume that the slc - type nand flash memory unit 11 and mlc - type nand flash memory unit 13 have different respective address mapping tables which respectively map physical addresses within the respective memories 11 , 13 to logical addresses . these address mapping tables are typically stored in ram ( not shown ) within the portable data storage device , and together constitute a single master mapping table . in a typical example , data received from , or to be transmitted to , the host 3 is arranged in logical pages of size 512 bytes . however , as mentioned above , typically a physical page of data consists of 2048 bytes . typically , a block of data in the slc memory unit 11 consists of 64 pages and a block of data in mlc flash memory unit consists of 128 pages . referring to fig2 , and in particular fig2 ( a ), when portable data storage device is plugged into the host 3 an initialisation process begins ( step 21 ), which initialises the master control unit 9 and usb controller unit 7 , and in which the host 3 determines the id of the flash and its location and capacity . after the initialisation process , the master control unit 9 is ready to receive an instruction ( data packet ) from the host 3 ( step 23 ). once an instruction is received from the host 3 , the master control unit 9 determines whether the packet received is a read packet or a write packet ( step 25 ). if the data packet is a read packet , the master control unit 9 performs a calculation ( step 26 ), based on the logical address specified by the packet , to determine which of the memories 11 , 13 corresponds to the logical address . it then reads the data from the determined memory 11 , 13 at the address specified by the respective address mapping table ( step 27 ), and the method then terminates until the next packet is received ( this is represented in fig2 as the box “ 5 ”, which feeds back to the step 23 ). if , alternatively , the data packet is a write packet , the master control unit 9 performs a calculation ( step 28 ) to determine which memory 11 , 13 to write the page 1 to . after the type of nand flash memory 11 , 13 is selected , the master control unit 9 recalls the corresponding address mapping table from ram ( step 29 ), and uses it to locate the physical address corresponding to the logical address . the master control unit then determines whether the page at that physical address is erased ( step 30 ). if not , the master control unit performs an operation in which a new block is selected , pages of the old block preceding the page corresponding to the logical address are copied to the new block , and the data in the write packet is written to the page of new block corresponding to logical address ( step 31 ). the method then passes to the part of the flow diagram shown in fig2 ( c ). in step 36 it is determined whether the page just written to is the last page of the new block . if so , the memory mapping address table is updated and the old block is erased ( step 37 ), and the method terminates . conversely , if in step 36 the determination is negative , the method monitors whether another write packet in respect of the consecutively following page arrives within a predetermined interval ( step 38 ). if so , then the data for that page is written to the same new block ( step 39 ), and the method then passes back to step 36 . if not , then in step 40 the master control unit 9 will copy the succeeding page of the old block to the new block and then pass to step 37 to update the mapping table and erase the old block . the method then again terminates . returning to fig2 ( a ), if in step 30 the determination is positive , then a write operation is performed ( step 32 ) using an slc or mlc command depending on what type of flash is being written into . in this operation , the master control unit 9 sends an enable control signal to the selected nand flash memory 11 , 13 to chip enable the nand flash memory 11 , 13 to prepare for a write operation . then , the master control unit 9 sends data specifying the physical address in the nand flash memory 11 , 13 and the data to be written there . after a page is written to the flash memory 11 , 13 , the master control unit 9 will monitor incoming write packets from the host 5 ( step 33 ). if no write packet is received within a given time , then a step is performed of programming the written data into the flash ( step 34 ). ( the writing step 32 means the data is in the flash memory , but without the programming step 34 the data will lost if there is a power down . following the programming step 34 , the data will be able to survive a power down ). if however , at step 33 it is determined that a new packet has been received , the method passes to the part of the flow diagram shown in fig2 ( b ). in step 45 it is determined whether the new packet is a write packet . if not , the method passes back to step 34 . or , if so , the method determines ( step 46 ) whether the write operation which was performed in step 32 was to the last part of the physical page . if so , in step 47 a new page is selected . in any case , the corresponding physical address for the new write packet is determined from the appropriate address mapping table in step 48 . in step 49 it is determined whether the page having this physical address is erased . if not , a step 51 is performed which is equivalent to step 31 of fig2 ( a ), and the method then passes to the steps of fig2 ( c ). or , if so , a write operation ( step 50 ) is performed ( equivalent to that of step 32 of fig2 ( a )), and the method passes back to step 33 . as described above , the master mapping table ( i . e . the two address mapping tables ) determines the mapping between logical addresses and physical addresses . as mentioned above , a large block of the slc memory 11 typically has 64 pages , whereas a large block of the mlc memory 13 has 128 pages . in this case , the master mapping table is such that a sequence of logical addresses corresponds to two blocks of the slc memory 11 , then to one block of the mlc memory 13 , then to two blocks of the slc memory and so on . thus , if data is written to the successive logical addresses , then the master control unit 9 enables the slc flash memory 11 and sends a block of data to the memory 11 , and then the master control unit 9 enables the mlc flash memory unit 13 and sends two blocks of data to the memory unit 13 . this process is repeated until all the desired blocks of data have been sent to the respective flash memory units . in summary , i . if the data is being written to the slc flash memory 11 , the master control unit 9 will write two blocks into the slc memory 11 before switching to the mlc memory 13 . ii . if the data is being written to the mlc memory 13 , the master control unit 9 only writes one block . upon determining that the page just written to is the last page of the block , the master control unit 9 will enable the slc flash memory 11 for the next write operation . when , in steps 31 and 51 a new physical block is associated with a set of logical addresses , this done such that if a given set of logical addresses previously corresponded to slc memory then that continues to be true , and if the given set of logical addresses previously corresponded to mlc memory then that continues to be true . in other words , each of the address mapping tables is updated independently , without logical addresses being swapped between them . although only a single embodiment of the invention has been described in detail , many variations are possible within the scope of the claims , as will be clear to a skilled reader . | 6 |
the present disclosure provides a washing method using ionic liquids ( ils ) for making toner , such as , toner comprising an acrylate or a polyester , such as , a toner made by an emulsion aggregation method , such as , a low melt toner . in an embodiment , a method for processing a plurality of toner particles is disclosed including ( a ) contacting a slurry containing the plurality of toner particles with a first ionic liquid ( il ), ( b ) removing the liquid in the slurry to form a first wetcake , ( c ) optionally dispersing the first wetcake with a dispersing solution containing water or an aqueous solution , where the dispersing solution contains a second il , ( d ) if step ( c ) is practice , removing the dispersing solution to form a second wetcake , ( e ) contacting the first or second wetcake with water or an aqueous solution , and ( f ) removing the water or aqueous solution to form a dry mass , where the dry mass includes a plurality of il - contacted toner particles , and where the processing steps remove surfactants and ions from superficial or surface layers of the plurality of toner particles . in embodiments , the il swells the surfaces of the toner particles . in an embodiment , if the il is used in step ( a ), then a second il may not be necessary . alternatively , if the il is used in step ( c ), then the first il may not be necessary . the first and second il may be the same or different . in embodiments , a method of making toner particles is disclosed including aggregating dispersions comprising one or more resins , and , optionally , with other reagents , such as , pigments , surfactants , coagulants , aggregants , waxes , base and so on , mixing the resulting aggregation with water , contacting the slurry with a first il , removing the liquid to form a first wetcake , optionally dispersing the first wetcake with a dispersing solution containing water or an aqueous solution , where the dispersing solution includes a second il , if a second il is used , removing the dispersing solution to form a second wetcake , contacting the first or second wetcake with water or an aqueous solution ; and removing the water or aqueous solution to form a dry mass , where the resulting dry mass contains one or more toner particles . in embodiments , a toner particle obtained by washing with an il is disclosed , where the resulting il - washed toner contains lower surface concentrations of surfactants , surface additives and / or ions compared to water - only washed toner particles , and where the t g , rheology and melt flow index ( mfi ) of the il - washed toner particle remains unchanged or is improved or enhanced compared to water - only washed toner particles . as used herein , the term , “ latex ,” means a natural or synthetic polymerized monomer that may be emulsified with a surfactant . in the application , use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise . in the application , use of , “ or ,” means , “ and / or ,” unless stated otherwise . furthermore , use of the term , “ including ,” as well as other forms , such as , “ includes ,” and , “ included ,” is not limiting . for the purposes of the instant disclosure , “ toner ,” “ developer ,” “ toner composition ,” and “ toner particles ,” can be used interchangeably , and any particular or specific use and meaning will be evident from the context of the sentence , paragraph and the like in which the word or phrase appears . for the purposes of the instant application , “ about ,” is meant to indicate a deviation of 20 % or less of a stated value or a mean value . in embodiments , toner compositions of the present disclosure possess enhanced electrical properties , and in embodiments , for extended time periods compared to toner compositions not treated with an il . the il - treated toner compositions of interest , for example , comprise an increase in triboelectric charging values , and an increase in a ( t ) ( i . e ., charging ability ). ils are solvents composed of ionized species in contrast to traditional organic or aqueous solvents which often are molecular nonionics . ils are implemented as green reagents or solvents to replace common volatile or more toxic organic compounds . ionic liquids can comprise an organic cation , for example , created by alkylation of a compound , including , but not limited to , imidazoles , pyrazoles , thiazoles , isothiazoles , azathiozoles , oxothiazoles , oxazines , oxazolines , oxazaboroles , dithiozoles , triazoles , selenozoles , oxaphospholes , pyrroles , boroles , furans , thiophens , phospholes , pentazoles , indoles , indolines , oxazoles , isoxazoles , isotriazoles , tetrazoles , benzofurans , dibenzofurans , benzothiophens , dibenzothiophens , thiadiazoles , pyridines , pyrimidines , pyrazines , pyridazines , piperazines , piperidines , morpholones , pyrans , annolines , phthalazines , quinazolines and quinoxalines , and combinations thereof . the anionic portion of an il can be composed of an inorganic or organic moiety and can comprise halogens , bx 4 − , pf 6 − , asf 6 − , sbf 6 − , no 2 − , no 3 − , so 4 2 − , br 4 − , substituted or unsubstituted carboranes , substituted or unsubstituted metallocarboranes , phosphates , phosphites , polyoxometallates , substituted or unsubstituted carboxylates , triflates and noncoordinating anions ; and where x is halide and r includes , but is not limited to , hydrogen , alkyl , substituted alkyl , cycloalkyl , substituted cycloalkyl , heteroalkyl , heterocycloalkyl , substituted heterocycloalkyl , aryl , substituted aryl , heteroaryl , substituted heteroaryl , alkoxy , aryloxy , acyl , silyl , boryl , phosphino , amino , thio , seleno and combinations thereof . altering the combination of cations and anions enables control of the il to optimize the washing / pollutant removal process of interest . ils have a more complex solvent behavior compared with traditional aqueous and organic solvents because ils are salts and not molecular , nonionic solvents . types of interactions between ils and solutes include , dispersion , π , − π , n − π , hydrogen bonding , dipolar and ionic / charge - charge . in an embodiment , the cation can be derived from an organic compound . the organic compound can be aliphatic , cyclic or both . examples of heterocyclic groups include , but are not limited to , imidazoles , pyrazoles , thiazoles , isothiazoles , azathiozoles , oxothiazoles , oxazines , oxazolines , oxazaboroles , dithiozoles , triazoles , selenozoles , oxaphospholes , pyrroles , boroles , furans , thiophens , phospholes , pentazoles , indoles , indolines , oxazoles , isoxazoles , isotriazoles , tetrazoles , benzofurans , dibenzofurans , benzothiophens , dibenzothiophens , thiadiazoles , pyridines , pyrimidines , pyrazines , pyridazines , piperazines , piperidines , morpholones , pyrans , annolines , phthalazines , quinazolines , quinoxalines , quinolines , pyrrolidines , isoquinolines and combinations thereof . the anionic portion of the ionic liquid can comprise , for example , at least one of the following groups : halogens , bx 4 − , pf 6 − , asf 6 − , sbf 6 − , no 2 − , no 3 − , so 4 2 − , br 4 − , substituted or unsubstituted carboranes , substituted or unsubstituted metallocarboranes , phosphates , phosphites , polyoxometallates , substituted or unsubstituted carboxylates , triflates and noncoordinating anions ; and where x is halide and r is at least one member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen , alkyl , substituted alkyl , cycloalkyl , substituted cycloalkyl , heteroalkyl , heterocycloalkyl , substituted heterocycloalkyl , aryl , substituted aryl , heteroaryl , substituted heteroaryl , alkoxy , aryloxy , acyl , silyl , boryl , phosphino , amino , thio , seleno and combinations thereof . in an embodiment , the il is the commercially available , 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ( solvionic inc .). any resin may be utilized in forming a latex emulsion of the present disclosure . in embodiments , the resin may be a polyester resin , including the resins described in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 593 , 049 and 6 , 756 , 176 , the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . in embodiments , the resins may include an amorphous resin , a crystalline resin , and / or a combination thereof , as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 830 , 860 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in entirety . in embodiments , the toner particles can comprise acrylates , styrenes , styrene acrylates , styrene methacrylates , butadienes , isoprenes , acrylonitriles , acrylic acids , methacrylic acids , beta - carboxy ethyl acrylates , polyesters , a poly ( styrene - butadiene ), a poly ( methyl styrene - butadiene ), a poly ( methyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( ethyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( propyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( butyl methacrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( methyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( ethyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( propyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( butyl acrylate - butadiene ), a poly ( styrene - isoprene ), a poly ( methyl styrene - isoprene ), a poly ( methyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( ethyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( propyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( butyl methacrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( methyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( ethyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( propyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( butyl acrylate - isoprene ), a poly ( styrene - propyl acrylate ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate ), a poly ( styrene - butadiene - acrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butadiene - methacrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - acrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - methacrylic acid ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - acrylonitrile ), a poly ( styrene - butyl acrylate - acrylonitrile - acrylic acid ) or combinations thereof . in embodiments , the resin may be a polyester resin formed by reacting a diol with a diacid in the presence of an optional catalyst . for forming a crystalline polyester , suitable organic diols include aliphatic diols with from about 2 to about 36 carbon atoms , such as , 1 , 2 - ethanediol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , 1 , 5 - pentanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethylpropane - 1 , 3 - diol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 1 , 7 - heptanediol , 1 , 8 - octanediol , 1 , 9 - nonanediol , 1 , 10 - decanediol , 1 , 12 - dodecanediol and the like , including structural isomers . the diol may be , for example , selected in an amount of from about 40 to about 60 mole %, from about 42 to about 55 mole %, from about 45 to about 53 mole %, and a second diol can be selected in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 10 mole % and from about 1 to about 4 mole % of the resin . examples of organic diacids or diesters , including vinyl diacids or vinyl diesters , selected for preparing crystalline resins include oxalic acid , succinic acid , glutaric acid , adipic acid , suberic acid , azelaic acid , sebacic acid , fumaric acid , dimethyl fumarate , dimethyl itaconate , c is 1 , 4 - diacetoxy - 2 - butene , diethyl fumarate , diethyl maleate , phthalic acid , isophthalic acid , terephthalic acid , naphthalene - 2 , 6 - dicarboxylic acid , naphthalene - 2 , 7 - dicarboxylic acid , cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid , malonic acid and mesaconic acid , or a diester or anhydride thereof . the organic diacid may be selected in an amount of , for example , from about 40 to about 60 mole %, from about 42 to about 52 mole %, from about 45 to about 50 mole %, and a second diacid can be selected in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 10 mole % of the resin . examples of crystalline resins include polyesters , polyamides , polyimides , polyolefins , polyethylenes , polybutylenes , polyisobutyrates , ethylene - propylene copolymers , ethylene - vinyl acetate copolymers , polypropylenes , mixtures thereof , and the like . crystalline resins may be polyester based , such as , poly ( ethylene - adipate ), poly ( propylene - adipate ), poly ( butylene - adipate ), poly ( pentylene - adipate ), poly ( hexylene - adipate ), poly ( octylene - adipate ), poly ( ethylene - succinate ), poly ( propylene - succinate ), poly ( butylene - succinate ), poly ( pentylene - succinate ), poly ( hexylene - succinate ), poly ( octylene - succinate ), poly ( ethylene - sebacate ), polypropylene - sebacate ), poly ( butylene - sebacate ), poly ( pentylene - sebacate ), poly ( hexylene - sebacate ), poly ( octylene - sebacate ), poly ( decylene - sebacate ), poly ( decylene - decanoate ), poly ( ethylene - decanoate ), poly ( ethylene dodecanoate ), poly ( nonylene - sebacate ), poly ( nonylene - decanoate ), copoly ( ethylene - fumarate )- copoly ( ethylene - sebacate ), copoly ( ethylene - fumarate )- copoly ( ethylene - decanoate ), copoly ( ethylene - fumarate )- copoly ( ethylene - dodecanoate ), copoly ( 2 , 2 - dimethylpropane - 1 , 3 - diol - decanoate )- copoly ( nonylene - decanoate ), poly ( octylene - adipate ). examples of polyamides include poly ( ethylene - adipamide ), poly ( propylene - adipamide ), poly ( butylenes - adipamide ), poly ( pentylene - adipamide ), poly ( hexylene - adipamide ), poly ( octylene - adipamide ), poly ( ethylene - succinimide ), and poly ( propylene - sebecamide ). examples of polyimides include poly ( ethylene - adipimide ), poly ( propylene - adipimide ), poly ( butylene - adipimide ), poly ( pentylene - adipimide ), poly ( hexylene - adipimide ), poly ( octylene - adipimide ), poly ( ethylene - succinimide ), poly ( propylene - succinimide ) and poly ( butylene - succinimide ). the crystalline resin may be present , for example , in an amount of from about 1 to about 50 % by weight of the toner components , from about 5 to about 35 % by weight of the toner components . the crystalline resin can possess various melting points of , for example , from about 30 ° c . to about 120 ° c . or from about 50 ° c . to about 90 ° c . the crystalline resin may have a number average molecular weight ( m n ), as measured by gel permeation chromatography ( gpc ) of , for example , from about 1 , 000 to about 50 , 000 , from about 2 , 000 to about 25 , 000 , and a weight average molecular weight ( m w ) of , for example , from about 2 , 000 to about 100 , 000 , from about 3 , 000 to about 80 , 000 , as determined by gpc using , for example , polystyrene standards . the molecular weight distribution ( m w / m n ) of the crystalline resin may be , for example , from about 2 to about 6 or from about 3 to about 4 . examples of diols which may be utilized in generating an amorphous polyester include 1 , 2 - propanediol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 2 - butanediol , 1 , 3 - butanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , pentanediol , hexanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanediol , 2 , 2 , 3 - trimethylhexanediol , heptanediol , dodecanediol , bis ( hydroxyethyl )- bisphenol a , bis ( 2 - hydroxypropyl )- bisphenol a , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol , 1 , 3 - cyclohexanedimethanol , xylenedimethanol , cyclohexanediol , diethylene glycol , bis ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) oxide , dipropylene glycol , dibutylene , and combinations thereof . the amount of organic diols selected can vary , and may be present , for example , in an amount from about 40 to about 60 mole % of the resin , from about 42 to about 55 mole % of the resin , and from about 45 to about 53 mole % of the resin . polycondensation catalysts which may be utilized in forming either the crystalline or amorphous polyesters include tetraalkyl titanates , dialkyltin oxides such as dibutyltin oxide , tetraalkyltins such as dibutyltin dilaurate , and dialkyltin oxide hydroxides such as butyltin oxide hydroxide , aluminum alkoxides , alkyl zinc , dialkyl zinc , zinc oxide , stannous oxide , or combinations thereof . such catalysts may be utilized in amounts of , for example , from about 0 . 01 mole % to about 5 mole % based on the starting diacid or diester used to generate the polyester resin . in embodiments , an unsaturated amorphous polyester resin may be utilized as a resin . examples of such resins include those disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 063 , 827 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . unsaturated amorphous polyester resins include , but are not limited to , poly ( propoxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( ethoxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( butyloxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( co - propoxylated bisphenol co - ethoxylated bisphenol co - fumarate ), poly ( 1 , 2 - propylene fumarate ), poly ( propoxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( ethoxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( butyloxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( co - propoxylated bisphenol co - ethoxylated bisphenol co - maleate ), poly ( 1 , 2 - propylene maleate ), poly ( propoxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( ethoxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( butyloxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( co - propoxylated bisphenol co - ethoxylated bisphenol co - itaconate ), poly ( 1 , 2 - propylene itaconate ), and combinations thereof . an example of a linear propoxylated bisphenol a fumarate resin which may be utilized as a resin is available under the trade name sparii from resana s / a industrias quimicas , sao paulo brazil . other propoxylated bisphenol a fumarate resins that may be utilized and are commercially available include gtuf and fpesl - 2 from kao corporation , japan , and em181635 from reichhold , research triangle park , n . c ., and the like . suitable crystalline resins which may be utilized , optionally , in combination with an amorphous resin as described above , include those disclosed in u . s . patent application publication no . 2006 / 0222991 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . in some embodiments , a suitable crystalline resin may include a resin formed of ethylene glycol and a mixture of dodecanedioic acid and fumaric acid co - monomers . the amorphous resin may be present , for example , in an amount of from about 30 to about 90 % by weight of the toner components , or from about 40 to about 80 % by weight of the toner components . in embodiments , the amorphous resin or combination of amorphous resins utilized in the latex may have a t g of from about 30 ° c . to about 80 ° c . or from about 35 ° c . to about 70 ° c . in embodiments , the combined resins utilized in the latex may have a melt viscosity of from about 10 to about 1 , 000 , 000 pas at about 130 ° c . or from about 50 to about 100 , 000 pas . one , two , or more resins may be used . in some embodiments , where two or more resins are used , the resins may be in any suitable ratio ( e . g ., weight ratio ) such as for instance of from about 1 % ( first resin )/ 99 % ( second resin ) to about 99 % ( first resin )/ 1 % ( second resin ) or from about 10 % ( first resin )/ 90 % ( second resin ) to about 90 % ( first resin )/ 10 % ( second resin ). where the resin includes an amorphous resin and a crystalline resin , the weight ratio of the two resins may be from about 99 % ( amorphous resin ): 1 % ( crystalline resin ), to about 1 % ( amorphous resin ): 99 % ( crystalline resin ). in embodiments , the resin may be pre - blended with a weak base or neutralizing agent . the base may be a solid , thereby eliminating the need to utilize a solution . in embodiments , the resin and the neutralizing agent may be simultaneously fed through a co - feeding process . in embodiments , the neutralizing agent may be used to neutralize acid groups in the resins , so a neutralizing agent herein may also be referred to as a , “ basic neutralization agent .” any suitable basic neutralization reagent may be used in accordance with the present disclosure . suitable basic neutralization agents may include both inorganic basic agents and organic basic agents . suitable basic agents may include ammonium hydroxide , potassium hydroxide , sodium hydroxide , sodium carbonate , sodium bicarbonate , lithium hydroxide , potassium carbonate , combinations thereof and the like . suitable basic agents may also include monocyclic compounds and polycyclic compounds having at least one nitrogen atom , such as , for example , secondary amines , which include aziridines , azetidines , piperazines , piperidines , pyridines , bipyridines , terpyridines , dihydropyridines , morpholines , n - alkylmorpholines , 1 , 4 - diazabicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 2 ] octanes , 1 , 8 - diazabicycloundecanes , 1 , 8 - diazabicycloundecenes , dimethylated pentylamines , trimethylated pentylamines , pyrimidines , pyrroles , pyrrolidines , pyrrolidinones , indoles , indolines , indanones , benzindazones , imidazoles , benzimidazoles , imidazolones , imidazolines , oxazoles , isoxazoles , oxazolines , oxadiazoles , thiadiazoles , carbazoles , quinolines , isoquinolines , naphthyridines , triazines , triazoles , tetrazoles , pyrazoles , pyrazolines and combinations thereof . the monocyclic and polycyclic compounds may be substituted , and at any carbon position on the ring . in embodiments , an emulsion formed in accordance with the present disclosure may also include water , ( e . g ., de - ionized water ( diw or row )), in amounts of from about 30 % to about 95 % or from about 30 % to about 60 %, at temperatures that melt or soften the resin , from about 40 ° c . to about 140 ° c ., or from about 60 ° c . to about 100 ° c . the basic agent may be utilized as a solid , such as , for example , sodium hydroxide flakes , so that it is present in an amount of from about 0 . 001 % by weight to about 50 % by weight of the resin , from about 0 . 01 % by weight to about 25 % by weight of the resin , or from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 5 % by weight of the resin . as noted above , the basic neutralization agent may be added to a resin possessing acid groups . the addition of the basic neutralization agent may thus raise the ph of an emulsion including a resin possessing acid groups from about 5 to about 12 or from about 6 to about 11 . the neutralization of the acid groups may enhance formation of the emulsion . in embodiments , the process of the present disclosure may include a surfactant . one , two or more surfactants may be used . the surfactants may be selected from ionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants . anionic surfactants and cationic surfactants are encompassed by the term “ ionic surfactants .” in embodiments , the total amount of surfactant is present in an amount of from about 0 . 01 % to about 20 % by weight of the resin , from about 0 . 1 % to about 16 % by weight of the resin , or from about 1 % to about 14 % by weight of the resin . anionic surfactants which may be utilized include sulfates and sulfonates , sodium dodecylsulfate ( sds ), sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate , sodium dodecylnaphthalene sulfate , dialkyl benzenealkyl sulfates and sulfonates , acids such as abitic acid available from aldrich , neogen r ™, neogen sc ™ obtained from daiichi kogyo seiyaku , combinations thereof and the like . other suitable anionic surfactants include dowfax ™ 2a1 , an alkyldiphenyloxide disulfonate from the dow chemical company , and / or tayca power bn2060 from tayca corporation ( japan ), which are branched sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonates . combinations of these surfactants and any of the foregoing anionic surfactants may be utilized . examples of the cationic surfactants , which usually are positively charged , include , for example , alkylbenzyl dimethyl ammonium chloride , dialkyl benzenealkyl ammonium chloride , lauryl trimethyl ammonium chloride , alkylbenzyl methyl ammonium chloride , alkyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium bromide , benzalkonium chloride , cetyl pyridinium bromide , c 12 , c 15 , c 17 trimethyl ammonium bromides , halide salts of quaternized polyoxyethylalkylamines , dodecylbenzyl triethyl ammonium chloride , mirapol ™ and alkaquat ™, available from alkaril chemical company , sanizol ™ ( benzalkonium chloride ), available from kao chemicals , and the like , and mixtures thereof . examples of nonionic surfactants that may be utilized for the processes illustrated herein include , for example , polyacrylic acid , methalose , methyl cellulose , ethyl cellulose , propyl cellulose , hydroxy ethyl cellulose , carboxy methyl cellulose , polyoxyethylene cetyl ether , polyoxyethylene lauryl ether , polyoxyethylene octyl ether , polyoxyethylene octylphenyl ether , polyoxyethylene oleyl ether , polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate , polyoxyethylene stearyl ether , polyoxyethylene nonylphenyl ether , dialkylphenoxy poly ( ethyleneoxy ) ethanol , available from rhone - poulenc as igepal ca - 210 ™, igepal ca - 520 ™, igepal ca - 720 ™, igepal co - 890 ™, igepal co - 720 ™, igepal co - 290 ™, igepal ca - 210 ™, antarox 890 ™ and antarox 897 ™. other examples of suitable nonionic surfactants may include a block copolymer of polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide , including those commercially available as synperonic pe / f , in embodiments synperonic pe / f 108 . combinations of these surfactants and any of the foregoing surfactants may be utilized . the process includes mixing a composition , optionally , at an elevated temperature , containing a resin and other optional reagents as known in the art and as a design choice to form a latex emulsion . more than one resin may be utilized in forming the emulsion . a polyester resin may be an amorphous resin , a crystalline resin or a combination thereof . in embodiments , the resin may be an amorphous resin and the elevated temperature may be a temperature above the t g of the amorphous resin . in embodiments , the resin may be a crystalline resin and the elevated temperature may be a temperature above the melting point of the crystalline resin . in embodiments , the resin may be a mixture of amorphous and crystalline resins and the temperature may be above the t g of the mixture . the elevated temperature may be from about 30 ° c . to about 300 ° c ., from about 50 ° c . to about 200 ° c ., or from about 70 ° c . to about 150 ° c . mixing may be conducted in an extruder , i . e ., a twin screw extruder , a kneader , such as , a haake mixer , a batch reactor or any other device capable of mixing viscous materials , if needed . stirring , although not necessary , may be utilized to enhance formation of the latex . any suitable stirring device may be utilized . in some embodiments , the stirring may be at from about 10 revolutions per minute ( rpm ) to about 5 , 000 rpm , from about 20 rpm to about 2 , 000 rpm , or from about 50 rpm to about 1 , 000 rpm . the stirring need not be at a constant speed , and may be varied . for example , as heating of the mixture becomes more uniform , the stirring rate may be increased or decreased . once the resin and optional reagents , such as , a neutralizing agent and surfactant , are mixed and melted if necessary , the mixture then may be contacted with a solvent , such as , water , to form a latex emulsion . water may be added to form a latex with a solids content of from about 5 % to about 50 % or from about 10 % to about 40 %. while higher water temperatures may accelerate the dissolution process , latexes can be formed at temperatures as low as room temperature . in embodiments , water temperatures may be from about 40 ° c . to about 110 ° c . or from about 50 ° c . to about 100 ° c . contact between the water and the resin mixture may be achieved in any suitable manner , such as in a vessel or continuous conduit , or in a packed bed . in some embodiments , as the resin mixture travels down the extruder , water may be added at subsequent port ( s ). this may be advantageous so that the transition from a water in oil to an oil in water emulsion may be gradual , ensuring that the materials continue to mix rather than phase separate , and to optimize emulsion formation in the extruder . in embodiments , the ports may inject preheated de - ionized water into the extruder at rates of from about 40 g / min to about 400 g / min or from about 100 g / min to about 200 g / min . the product exiting from the extruder may include a stream of latex that is collected in a steam - traced tank with gentle agitation before being discharged for storage and later use in the aggregation / coalescence process described below . the emulsified resin particles in the aqueous medium may have a size of about 1500 nm or less , such as from about 10 nm to about 1200 nm or from about 30 nm to about 1000 nm . the coarse content of the latex of the present disclosure may be from about 0 . 01 % by weight to about 1 % by weight or from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 0 . 5 % by weight . the solids content of the latex of the present disclosure may be from about 5 % by weight to about 50 % by weight or from about 30 % by weight to about 40 % by weight . following emulsification , the emulsion may be cooled to room temperature , for example from about 20 ° c . to about 25 ° c . once the resin mixture has been contacted with water to form an emulsion as described above , the resulting latex then may be utilized to form a toner by any method within the purview of those skilled in the art . the latex emulsion may be contacted with a colorant , optionally in a dispersion , and other additives to form a toner by a suitable process , for example , by an aggregation and coalescence process . in embodiments , the optional additional ingredients of a toner composition including colorant , wax , and other additives , may be added before , during or after mixing the resin to form the latex emulsion of the present disclosure . the additional ingredients may be added before , during or after formation of the latex emulsion . various known suitable colorants , such as dyes , pigments , mixtures of dyes , mixtures of pigments , mixtures of dyes and pigments , and the like , may be included in the toner . in embodiments , the colorant may be included in an amount of , for example , from about 0 . 1 to about 35 % by weight of the toner , or from about 1 to about 15 % by weight of the toner , or from about 3 to about 10 % by weight of the toner , although the amount of colorant can be outside of those ranges . as examples of suitable colorants , mention may be made of carbon black like regal 330 ™ ( cabot ), carbon black 5250 and 5750 ( columbian chemicals ), sunsperse carbon black lhd 9303 ( sun chemicals ); magnetites , such as mobay magnetites mo8029 ™, mo8060 ™; columbian magnetites ; mapico blacks ™ and surface treated magnetites ; pfizer magnetites cb4799 ™, cb5300 ™, cb5600 ™, mcx6369 ™; bayer magnetites , bayferrox 8600 ™ 8610 ™; northern pigments magnetites , np604 ™, np608 ™; magnox magnetites tmb - 100 ™, or tmb - 104 ™; and the like . as colored pigments , there can be selected cyan , magenta , yellow , red , green , brown , blue or mixtures thereof . generally , cyan , magenta , or yellow pigments or dyes , or mixtures thereof , are used . the pigment or pigments can be used as water - based pigment dispersions . in general , suitable colorants may include paliogen violet 5100 and 5890 ( basf ), normandy magenta rd - 2400 ( paul uhirich ), permanent violet vt2645 ( paul uhlrich ), heliogen green l8730 ( basf ), argyle green xp - 111 - s ( paul uhlrich ), brilliant green toner gr 0991 ( paul uhlrich ), lithol scarlet d3700 ( basf ), toluidine red ( aldrich ), scarlet for thermoplast nsd ps pa ( ugine kuhlmann of canada ), lithol rubine toner ( paul uhlrich ), lithol scarlet 4440 ( basf ), nbd 3700 ( basf ), bon red c ( dominion color ), royal brilliant red rd - 8192 ( paul uhlrich ), oracet pink rf ( ciba geigy ), paliogen red 3340 and 3871k ( basf ), lithol fast scarlet l4300 ( basf ), heliogen blue d6840 , d7080 , k7090 , k6910 and l7020 ( basf ), sudan blue os ( basf ), neopen blue ff4012 ( basf ), pv fast blue b2g01 ( american hoechst ), irgalite blue bca ( ciba geigy ), paliogen blue 6470 ( basf ), sudan ii , iii and iv ( matheson , coleman , bell ), sudan orange ( aldrich ), sudan orange 220 ( basf ), paliogen orange 3040 ( basf ), ortho orange or 2673 ( paul uhlrich ), paliogen yellow 152 and 1560 ( basf ), lithol fast yellow 0991k ( basf ), paliotol yellow 1840 ( basf ), novaperm yellow fgl ( hoechst ), permanerit yellow ye 0305 ( paul uhlrich ), lumogen yellow d0790 ( basf ), sunsperse yellow yhd 6001 ( sun chemicals ), suco - gelb 1250 ( basf ), suco - yellow d1355 ( basf ), suco fast yellow d1165 , d1355 and d1351 ( basf ), hostaperm pink e ™ ( hoechst ), fanal pink d4830 ( basf ), cinquasia magenta ™ ( dupont ), paliogen black l9984 ( basf ), pigment black k801 ( basf ), levanyl black a - sf ( miles , bayer ), combinations thereof , and the like . other suitable water - based colorant dispersions include those commercially available from clariant , for example , hostafine yellow gr , hostafine black t and black ts , hostafine blue b2g , hostafine rubine f6b and magenta dry pigment such as toner magenta 6bvp2213 and toner magenta eo2 which may be dispersed in water and / or surfactant prior to use . specific examples of pigments include sunsperse bhd 6011x ( blue 15 type ), sunsperse bhd 9312h ( pigment blue 15 74160 ), sunsperse bhd 6000x ( pigment blue 15 : 3 74160 ), sunsperse ghd 9600x and ghd 6004x ( pigment green 7 74260 ), sunsperse qhd 6040x ( pigment red 122 73915 ), sunsperse rhd 9668x ( pigment red 185 12516 ), sunsperse rhd 9365x and 9504x ( pigment red 57 15850 : 1 , sunsperse yhd 6005x ( pigment yellow 83 21108 ), flexiverse yfd 4249 ( pigment yellow 17 21105 ), sunsperse yhd 6020x and 6045x ( pigment yellow 74 11741 ), sunsperse yhd 600x and 9604x ( pigment yellow 14 21095 ), flexiverse lfd 4343 and lfd 9736 ( pigment black 7 77226 ), aquatone , combinations thereof , and the like , as water based pigment dispersions from sun chemicals , heliogen blue l6900 , d6840 ™, d7080 ™, d7020 ™, pylam oil blue ™, pylam oil yellow ™, pigment blue 1 ™ available from paul uhlich & amp ; company , inc ., pigment violet 1 ™, pigment red 48 ™, lemon chrome yellow dcc 1026 ™, e . d . toluidine red ™ and bon red c ™ available from dominion color corporation , ltd ., toronto , ontario , novaperm yellow fgl ™, and the like . generally , colorants that can be selected are black , cyan , magenta , or yellow , and mixtures thereof . examples of magentas are 2 , 9 - dimethyl - substituted quinacridone and anthraquinone dye identified in the color index as ci 60710 , ci dispersed red 15 , diazo dye identified in the color index as ci 26050 , ci solvent red 19 , and the like . illustrative examples of cyans include copper tetra ( octadecyl sulfonamido ) phthalocyanine , x - copper phthalocyanine pigment listed in the color index as ci 74160 , ci pigment blue , pigment blue 15 : 3 , and anthrathrene blue , identified in the color index as ci 69810 , special blue x - 2137 , and the like . illustrative examples of yellows are diarylide yellow 3 , 3 - dichlorobenzidene acetoacetanilides , a monoazo pigment identified in the color index as ci 12700 , ci solvent yellow 16 , a nitrophenyl amine sulfonamide identified in the color index as foron yellow se / gln , ci dispersed yellow 33 2 , 5 - dimethoxy - 4 - sulfonanilide phenylazo - 4 ′- chloro - 2 , 5 - dimethoxy acetoacetanilide , and permanent yellow fgl . in embodiments , the colorant may include a pigment , a dye , combinations thereof , carbon black , magnetite , black , cyan , magenta , yellow , red , green , blue , brown , combinations thereof , in an amount sufficient to impart the desired color to the toner . it is to be understood that other useful colorants will be apparent based on the present disclosure . optionally , a wax also may be combined with the resin and a colorant in forming toner particles . the wax may be provided in a wax dispersion , which may include a single type of wax or a mixture of two or more different waxes . a single wax may be added to toner formulations , for example , to improve particular toner properties , such as , toner particle shape , presence and amount of wax on the toner particle surface , charging and / or fusing characteristics , gloss , stripping , offset properties and the like . alternatively , a combination of waxes can be added to provide multiple properties to the toner composition . when included , the wax may be present in an amount of , for example , from about 1 % by weight to about 25 % by weight of the toner particles or from about 5 % by weight to about 20 % by weight of the toner particles , although the amount of wax can be outside of those ranges . when a wax dispersion is used , the wax dispersion may include any of the various waxes conventionally used in emulsion aggregation toner compositions . waxes that may be selected include waxes having , for example , an average molecular weight of from about 500 to about 20 , 000 or from about 1 , 000 to about 10 , 000 . waxes that may be used include , for example , polyolefins such as polyethylene including linear polyethylene waxes and branched polyethylene waxes , polypropylene including linear polypropylene waxes and branched polypropylene waxes , polyethylene / amide , polyethylenetetrafluoroethylene , polyethylenetetrafluoroethylene / amide , and polybutene waxes such as commercially available from allied chemical and petrolite corporation , for example polywax ™ polyethylene waxes such as commercially available from baker petrolite , wax emulsions available from michaelman , inc . and the daniels products company , epolene n - 15 ™ commercially available from eastman chemical products , inc ., and viscol 550 - p ™, a low weight average molecular weight polypropylene available from sanyo kasei k . k . ; plant - based waxes , such as carnauba wax , rice wax , candelilla wax , sumacs wax and jojoba oil ; animal - based waxes , such as , beeswax ; mineral - based waxes and petroleum - based waxes , such as , montan wax , ozokerite , ceresin , paraffin wax , microcrystalline wax , such as , waxes derived from distillation of crude oil , silicone waxes , mercapto waxes , polyester waxes , urethane waxes ; modified polyolefin waxes ( such as , a carboxylic acid - terminated polyethylene wax or a carboxylic acid - terminated polypropylene wax ); fischer - tropsch wax ; ester waxes obtained from higher fatty acid and higher alcohol , such as , stearyl stearate and behenyl behenate ; ester waxes obtained from higher fatty acid and monovalent or multivalent lower alcohol , such as , butyl stearate , propyl oleate , glyceride monostearate , glyceride distearate , and pentaerythritol tetra behenate ; ester waxes obtained from higher fatty acid and multivalent alcohol multimers , such as , diethyleneglycol monostearate , dipropyleneglycol distearate , diglyceryl distearate , and triglyceryl tetrastearate ; sorbitan higher fatty acid ester waxes , such as , sorbitan monostearate , and cholesterol higher fatty acid ester waxes , such as , cholesteryl stearate . examples of functionalized waxes that may be used include , for example , amines , amides , for example aqua superslip 6550 ™, superslip 6530 ™ available from micro powder inc ., fluorinated waxes , for example polyfluo 190 ™, polyfluo 200 ™, polysilk 19 ™, polysilk 14 ™ available from micro powder inc ., mixed fluorinated , amide waxes , such as , aliphatic polar amide functionalized waxes ; aliphatic waxes consisting of esters of hydroxylated unsaturated fatty acids , for example , microspersion 19 ™ also available from micro powder inc ., imides , esters , quaternary amines , carboxylic acids or acrylic polymer emulsion , for example , joncryl 741υ , 89 ™, 130 ™, 537 ™, and 538 ™, all available from sc johnson wax , and chlorinated polypropylenes and polyethylenes available from allied chemical and petrolite corporation and sc johnson wax . mixtures and combinations of the foregoing waxes may also be used in embodiments . waxes may be included as , for example , fuser roll release agents . in embodiments , the waxes may be crystalline or non - crystalline . in embodiments , the wax may be incorporated into the toner in the form of an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of solid wax in water , where the solid wax particle size may be in the range of from about 100 to about 300 nm . in embodiments , toner particles may also contain other optional additives , as desired or required . for example , a toner may include positive or negative charge control agents , for example , in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 10 % by weight of the toner or from about 1 to about 3 % by weight of the toner . examples of suitable charge control agents include quaternary ammonium compounds inclusive of alkyl pyridinium halides ; bisulfates ; alkyl pyridinium compounds , including those disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 298 , 672 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety ; organic sulfate and sulfonate compositions , including those disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 338 , 390 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety ; cetyl pyridinium tetrafluoroborates ; distearyl dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate ; aluminum salts such as bontron e84 ™ or e88 ™ ( orient chemical industries , ltd . ); combinations thereof , and the like . flow aid additives may be used , which additives are on the surface of the toner particles . examples of such additives include metal oxides , such as , titanium oxide , silicon oxide , aluminum oxides , cerium oxides , tin oxide , mixtures thereof , and the like ; colloidal and amorphous silicas , such as , aerosil ™, metal salts and metal salts of fatty acids inclusive of zinc stearate , calcium stearate , or long chain alcohols , such as , unilin 700 , and mixtures thereof . a silica may be applied to the toner surface for toner flow , tribo enhancement , admix control , improved development and transfer stability , and higher toner blocking temperature . tio 2 may be applied for improved relative humidity ( rh ) stability , tribo control and improved development and transfer stability . zinc stearate , calcium stearate and / or magnesium stearate may optionally also be used as an external additive for providing lubricating properties , developer conductivity , tribo enhancement , enabling higher toner charge and charge stability by increasing the number of contacts between toner and carrier particles . in embodiments , a commercially available zinc stearate known as zinc stearate l , obtained from ferro corporation , may be used . the external surface additives may be used with or without a coating . each of the external additives may be present in an amount of from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 5 % by weight of the toner or from about 0 . 25 % by weight to about 3 % by weight of the toner , although the amount of additives can be outside of those ranges . in a related aspect , the toners may include , for example , from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 5 % by weight titania , from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 8 % by weight silica , and from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 4 % by weight zinc stearate . suitable additives include those disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 590 , 000 , 3 , 800 , 588 , and 6 , 214 , 507 , the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . the toner particles may be prepared by any method within the purview of one skilled in the art . although embodiments relating to toner particle production are described below with respect to an emulsion aggregation process , any suitable method of preparing toner particles may be used , including chemical processes , such as suspension and encapsulation processes disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 290 , 654 and 5 , 302 , 486 , the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . in embodiments , toner compositions and toner particles may be prepared by aggregation and coalescence processes in which smaller resin particles are aggregated to the appropriate toner particle size and then coalesced to achieve the final toner particle shape , size and morphology . a mixture may be prepared by adding a colorant and optionally a wax or other materials , which optionally also may be in a dispersion ( s ) including a surfactant , to the emulsion , which may be a mixture of two or more emulsions containing the resin . the ph of the resulting mixture may be adjusted by an acid such as , for example , acetic acid , nitric acid or the like . in one aspect , the ph of the mixture may be adjusted from about 2 to about 5 . additionally , the mixture may be homogenized . if the mixture is homogenized , homogenization may be accomplished by mixing at about 600 to about 6 , 000 rpm . homogenization may be accomplished by any suitable means , including , for example , an ika ultra turrax t50 probe homogenizer . following preparation of the above mixture , an aggregating agent may be added to the mixture . any suitable aggregating agent may be utilized to form a toner . suitable aggregating agents include , for example , aqueous solutions of a divalent cation or a multivalent cation material . the aggregating agent may be , for example , an inorganic cationic aggregating agent such as polyaluminum halides , such as , polyaluminum chloride ( pac ), or the corresponding bromide , fluoride , or iodide , polyaluminum silicates , such as , polyaluminum sulfosilicate ( pass ), or water soluble metal salts including aluminum chloride , aluminum nitrite , aluminum sulfate , potassium aluminum sulfate , calcium acetate , calcium chloride , calcium nitrite , calcium oxylate , calcium sulfate , magnesium acetate , magnesium nitrate , magnesium sulfate , zinc acetate , zinc nitrate , zinc sulfate , zinc chloride , zinc bromide , magnesium bromide , copper chloride , copper sulfate , and combinations thereof . in embodiments , the aggregating agent may be added to the mixture at a temperature that is below the t g of the resin . suitable examples of organic cationic aggregating agents include , for example , cationic surfactants as described above . other suitable aggregating agents also include , but are not limited to , tetraalkyl titinates , dialkyltin oxide , tetraalkyltin oxide hydroxide , dialkyltin oxide hydroxide , aluminum alkoxides , alkylzinc , dialkyl zinc , zinc oxides , stannous oxide , dibutyltin oxide , dibutyltin oxide hydroxide , tetraalkyl tin , combinations thereof and the like . where the aggregating agent is a polyion aggregating agent , the agent may have any desired number of ions present . for example , suitable polyaluminum compounds have from about 2 to about 13 or from about 3 to about 8 aluminum ions . the aggregating agent may be used in an amount of , for example , from about 0 . 1 % to about 10 % by weight , from about 0 . 2 % to about 8 % by weight or from about 0 . 5 % to about 5 % by weight , of the resin in the mixture . the particles may be permitted to aggregate until a predetermined desired particle size is obtained . samples may be taken during the growth process and analyzed , for example with a coulter counter , for average particle size . the aggregation thus may proceed by maintaining the elevated temperature , or slowly raising the temperature to , for example , from about 40 ° c . to about 100 ° c ., and holding the mixture at such temperature for a time of from about 0 . 5 hours to about 6 hours or from about hour 1 to about 5 hours , while maintaining stirring , to provide the aggregated particles . once the predetermined desired particle size is reached , the growth process is halted . the growth and shaping of the particles following addition of the aggregation agent may be accomplished under any suitable conditions . for example , the growth and shaping may be conducted under conditions where aggregation occurs separate from coalescence . for separate aggregation and coalescence , shearing conditions at an elevated temperature , for example of from about 40 ° c . to about 90 ° c . or from about 45 ° c . to about 80 ° c ., which may be below the t g of the resin , for example , can be practiced . once the desired final size of the toner particles is achieved , the ph of the mixture may be adjusted with a base to a value of from about 3 to about 10 or from about 5 to about 9 . the adjustment of the ph may be utilized to freeze , that is , to stop , toner particle growth . the base utilized to stop toner growth may include any suitable base such as , for example , alkali metal hydroxides , such as , for example , sodium hydroxide , potassium hydroxide , ammonium hydroxide , combinations thereof and the like . in a related aspect , ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid ( edta ) may be added to help adjust the ph to the desired values noted above . in embodiments , after aggregation , but prior to coalescence , a resin coating may be applied to the aggregated particles to form a shell thereover . any resin described above or as known in the art may be utilized as the shell . in embodiments , an amorphous polyester resin as described above may be included in the shell . in embodiments , the amorphous polyester resin may be combined with a different resin , and then added to the particles as a resin coating to form a shell . in embodiments , a crystalline polyester resin as described above or as known in the art may be used to form a shell . in embodiments , a crystalline resin may be utilized in combination with a different resin . multiple resins may be utilized in any suitable amounts , such as , a first amorphous polyester resin may be present in an amount of from about 20 % by weight to about 100 % by weight of the total shell resin or from about 30 % by weight to about 90 % by weight of the total shell resin . thus , a second resin may be present in the shell resin in an amount of from about 0 . 1 % by weight to about 80 % by weight of the total shell resin or from about 10 % by weight to about 70 % by weight of the shell resin . the shell resin may be applied to the aggregated particles by any method within the purview of those skilled in the art . in embodiments , the resins utilized to form the shell may be in an emulsion including any desired additive ( s ). the formation of the shell over the aggregated particles may occur while heating to a temperature of from about 30 ° c . to about 80 ° c . or from about 35 ° c . to about 70 ° c . the formation of the shell may take place for a period of time of from about 5 minutes to about 10 hours or from about 10 minutes to about 5 hours . following aggregation to the desired particle size and application of any optional shell , the particles then may be coalesced to a desired shape , the coalescence being achieved by , for example , heating the mixture to a temperature of from about 45 ° c . to about 100 ° c . or from about 55 ° c . to about 99 ° c ., which may be at or above the t g of the resins utilized to form the toner particles , and / or changing the stirring , for example to from about 100 rpm to about 1 , 000 rpm or from about 200 rpm to about 800 rpm . coalescence may be accomplished over a period of from about 0 . 01 to about 9 hours or from about 0 . 1 to about 4 hours . after aggregation and / or coalescence , the mixture may be cooled to room temperature , such as , from about 20 ° c . to about 25 ° c . the cooling may be rapid or slow , as desired . a suitable cooling method may include introducing cold water to a jacket around a reactor . after cooling , the toner particles optionally may be washed , for example , with water , and then dried . in various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure , wash fluid doped with an il is used to wash toner particles . washing removes undesired impurities such as , surfactants and residual metal ions retained on the toner particles from the formative processes . at the end of toner processing , before washing and drying , the overall pollutants , such as , surfactants and ions , are in the continuous aqueous phase ; are physically absorbed or adsorbed on the surface of the toner particles ; may be contained within the toner particles , although close to the particle surface ( superficial or surface layers ); or will be within and inside the toner particles . accordingly , the methods as disclosed herein provide an efficient washing process using ils as washing aid agents to remove as much of the pollutants as possible . ils of the present disclosure swell toner particle surfaces so that surface adsorbed and absorbed pollutants and those within superficial layers can be removed effectively , without the need for repeated water washes . ionic liquids often have slight a resin solubilizing or dissolving activity , while not wanting to be bound by theory , perhaps because of the ionic nature of ils , the acidic nature of some ils and so on . in any event , the il wash has a softening effect on the particles and enables a more thorough removal of pollutants from the particle surface , thereby , for example improving particle charge properties for imaging . in embodiments , methods according to the disclosure may be performed using any suitable horizontal filter press . in a related aspect , horizontal filtration systems such as those sold under the name larox pressure filter by larox corporation , jessup , md . and bethlehem tower filter by bethlehem corporation , easton , pa ., may be used . the resulting washed and dried toner particles can be formulated into a developer which can be used in an imaging device as known in the art . the following examples illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure . these examples are intended to be illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure . also , parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated . as used herein , “ room temperature ,” refers to a temperature of from about 20 ° c . to about 25 ° c . in a 20 gallon reactor , 14 parts latex a ( high molecular weight polyester amorphous latex at solids content 35 wt %) was combined with 14 parts latex b ( low molecular weight polyester amorphous latex at solids content 35 wt % made by solvent free process ), 4 . 7 parts latex c ( crystalline polyester latex at solids content 30 wt %), 5 . 8 parts wax ( at solids content 30 wt % with 2 . 5 pph tayca surfactant , based on the amount of dry pigment ), 6 . 7 parts cyan 15 : 3 pigment ( at solids content 17 wt % with 7 parts per hundred ( pph ) tayca surfactant based on the amount of dry pigment ) and 47 parts deionized water ( di ). the solution was adjusted to a ph of about 3 . 2 using 0 . 3m hno 3 . one part of a 10 % ( by weight ) aluminum sulphate solution in water was added under homogenization ( stirring ) at 2 , 000 rpm over a period of 5 minutes . the reactor then was stirred at about 50 rpm and was heated to about 48 ° c . to aggregate the toner particles . when the size of the toner particles reached 5 . 0 μm , a shell coating was added which consisted of 7 . 6 parts latex a , 7 . 6 parts latex b , 0 . 1 part dowfax surfactant and 100 parts di . the reaction was heated to 50 ° c . when the toner particle size reached 5 . 8 μm , the ph was adjusted to 5 . 0 using naoh . the reactor rpm then was decreased to 45 rpm followed by the addition of 0 . 7 parts edta versene 100 . the ph then was adjusted and maintained at 7 . 5 , and the toner was heated to 85 ° c . ( i . e ., the coalescence temperature ). when the coalescence temperature was reached , the ph was lowered to about 7 . 3 to allow for spheroidization ( coalescence ) of the toner . after about 1 . 5 to about 3 . 0 hours , when the desired circularity of about 0 . 964 was obtained , the toner was “ quenched ” to less than 45 ° c . through a heat exchanger . after cooling , the toner was washed ( see example 2 ), and then dried to a moisture content of below about 1 . 2 wt %. an acidic il , 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulphate , was used in the wash . the il is non - corrosive , easily recyclable and hydrophilic . the il swells the particle surface so that pollutants in the superficial layers of the toner particle surface can be removed . meanwhile , the il also can function as an acid to enhance tribo tuning . to remove the mother liquor , water or water containing 0 . 2 wt % of 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ( il ) were added to the slurry after cooling and wet sieving , and mixed for 40 minutes . the slurry then was pumped into a larox tank according to the manufacturer &# 39 ; s recommendations . after pressing under 2 bars , the liquid filtrate was removed and a wet cake was obtained . the wet cake was discharged and dispersed with 10 × di water based on the final dry toner under mixing for 40 minutes with ( 0 . 2 %) or without il . the slurry was pumped into the larox tank at a controlled rate and feed pumping pressure and de - watered before 11 × di water was pumped into the larox for dynamic washing . after dynamic washing , the toner cake was subjected to pressure at 8 bars followed by 600 seconds of air dry time . table 1 summarizes the results from the dynamic washing method in the presence ( cyan toner sample # 1 ) and absence ( comparison sample ) of il , 1 -( 4 - sulfobutyl )- 3 - methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate . the il - doped wash reduced residual surfactants and ions on the toner , which resulted in higher toner tribo . further , other toner properties showed no difference between the toner samples for t g , rheology or melt flow index , indicating that no agent residuals remain to effect potential negatives . it will be appreciated that several of the above - disclosed and other features and functions , or alternatives thereof , may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications . also various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives , modifications , variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art , which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims . unless specifically recited in a claim , steps or components of claims should not be implied or imported from the specification or any other claims as to any particular order , number , position , size , shape , angle , color or material . | 6 |
fig1 is an apparatus for measuring chromatic dispersion characteristic of optical fiber based on the pulse delaying method . the reference numeral 51 designates a laser pulse generating apparatus which generates nd - yag laser pulse in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm . the laser pulse emitted from such apparatus is output toward an optical beam splitter 53 passing through a quartz fiber 52 for raman oscillation . by the raman oscillation in the quartz fiber 52 , the light output therefrom includes light in the wavelengths ranging from 1 μm to about 1 . 6 μm . the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm among the output light is input , as the reference light , to a single mode fiber 54 for delaying the reference light signal and the light of other chromatics are input to a mono - chromatic meter 55 which can select the transmitting wavelength . the light in the wavelength selected by the mono - chromatic meter 55 is input to a single mode sample fiber 56 . the light output from the fibers 54 , 56 are converted to electrical signals by the photo - electric converters 57 , 58 , amplified by the amplifiers 59 , 60 and differences in incoming times of signals can be observed by a processing oscilloscope 61 . accordingly , a delay time of the light in the wavelength of 1 . 1 to 1 . 6 um to the reference light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 um can be measured by sequentially changing the transmitting wavelength in the mono - chromatic meter 55 and thereby the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber 56 can be obtained . in fig1 the numeral 62 designates a variable optical attenuator which can freely attenuate intensity of light passing through the sample fiber 56 ; 63 ( a - c ), an auto scanner controller , an auto scanner driver and controller for automatically controlling operations of mono - chromatic meter 55 and processing oscilloscope 61 ; 64 , a wavelength selection and transmitting filter which transmits only the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm . in such an apparatus for measuring chromatic dispersion characteristic in optical fiber , the length of sample fiber 56 should be in the order of kilometer in order to obtain a significant difference of the delay times of optical signals moreover , it is necessary to delay the reference optical signal in the same degree for confirming the relation with the reference signal on the processing oscilloscope 61 . therefore , it is essential to almost accurately match the length of single mode fiber 54 for delaying the reference optical signal with the length of sample fiber 56 . improvement of the apparatus shown in fig1 may be made with respect to the following points : ( 1 ) if the fiber 52 for raman oscillation is too short , sufficient raman oscillation is not carried out . therefore , the chromatic dispersion of sample fiber 56 cannot be measured . however , if the fiber 52 for raman oscillation is too long , the optical pulse in the output side may be deformed by the internal chromatic dispersion and thereby a measuring error of chromatic dispersion of sample fiber 56 may be generated . ( 2 ) if the light in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm output from the fiber 52 for raman oscillation is intensive , the raman oscillation is also generated within the sample fiber 56 and therefore a measuring error of chromatic dispersion may be generated . ( 3 ) for matching the reference optical signal with the output timing of the light emitted from the sample fiber 56 , the single mode fiber 54 is necessary in order to delay the reference optical signal . moreover , since the total length of single mode fiber 54 must be matched in high accuracy with the total length of sample fiber 56 , the manufacturing thereof is very difficult . a structure of the measuring apparatus having improved on these points is shown in fig2 . the laser pulse in the predetermined wavelength input to the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation generates the forward scattered light by raman oscillation and is then transmitted to the output end side . at the output end face , the light in the predetermined wavelength is reflected by the wavelength selection and reflection film 3 and is then reversely transmitted in the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation . therefore , the light in the predetermined wavelength is not emitted from the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation . this also generates the backward scattered light by raman oscillation at the time of reverse transmission in the fiber 2 . the light in the wavelength other than the predetermined one , namely the light generated by the raman oscillation passes through the wavelength selection and reflection film 3 and enters the sample fiber 4 . this light generates chromatic dispersion within the sample fiber 4 and is then output from the output end face . accordingly , the light output from the sample fiber 4 encodes all light in the wavelengths generated by the raman oscillation and this light is output with a delay of output timing due to the chromatic dispersion . a delay time of the light ( optical pulse ) output from the sample fiber 4 can be measured as a function of the time of the optical pulse wavelength by the delay time measuring means 20 . thereby , the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber 4 can be obtained . fig2 will be explained hereunder in further detail . in fig2 the reference numeral 1 designates a mode - locked nd - yag laser pulse generator which generates the laser pulse in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm . the laser pulse output therefrom is input to the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation made of quartz glass . as shown schematically n fig4 the forward scattered light in the wavelength ranging from 1 . 1 μm to about 1 . 6 82 m is generated by the raman oscillation within the optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation . as shown in fig3 the output end face of optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation is coated with the wavelength selection and reflection film ( interference film ) 3 which reflects the light in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm but transmits the light of other wavelengths . accordingly , the light obtained by the raman oscillation is output forward and only the light in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm is reflected and is reversely transmitted within the fiber 2 . as a result , as shown in fig5 the backward scattered light in the wavelength from 1 . 1 μm to 1 . 6 μm is generated by the raman oscillation of the reversely transmitted light of 1 . 06 μm and the light obtained by the raman oscillation may be intensified . in this case , since it is essential for the wavelength selection and reflection film 3 to transmit the light generated by the raman oscillation , it may be replaced with a selection and reflection film that reflects a range of wavelengths , for example , all light in the wavelengths under 1 . 06 μm . the single mode sample fiber 4 , for example , to be used for optical communication is connected to the output end of optical fiber 2 for raman oscillation through an optical connector 11 . the sample fiber 4 is a single mode optical fiber in the light , for example , of 3 km and a delay time measuring means 20 for measuring the delay time of the output optical pulse signal as the function of wavelength of optical pulse is connected to the output end thereof . more specifically , the light output from the sample fiber 4 enters first the optical beam splitter 21 . a part of the light having passed the optical beam splitter ( for example , 10 % of the entire part ) passes through the wavelength selection transmitting filter 22 which allows transmission of only the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm and enters the fiber 23 for transmitting the reference light , while the other greater part of light enters the mono - chromatic meter 24 which scans the wavelength of the transmitting light . the light in the wavelength selected to pass through the mono - chromatic meter 24 enters the fiber 25 for transmitting the light to be measured . the light output from the optical fibers 23 , 25 are respectively converted to electrical signals through the photo - electric converters 26 , 27 , amplified by the amplifiers 28 , 29 and are visually displayed on the processing oscilloscope 30 . accordingly , difference of incoming times of the light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm guided to the fiber 23 for transmitting the reference light and the light in respective wavelengths ranging from 1 . 1 to 1 . 6 μm can be detected . therefore , this structure requires only the very short length fibers 23 for transmitting the reference light and the fiber 25 for transmitting the light to be measured . it is also possible to employ the structure that the light output from the optical beam splitter 21 or mono - chromatic meter 24 is input in direct to the photo - electric converters 26 , 27 by omitting these fibers 23 , 25 . 31a , 31b and 31c designate respectively the autoscanner controller , autoscanner driver and controller for automatically controlling operations of monochromatic meter 24 and processing oscilloscope 30 . a delay time of light in each wavelength within the sample fiber 4 for the reference light in the wavelength of 1 . 3 μm may be measured as the function of wavelength by automatic scanning of the wavelength of the light passing through the mono - chromatic meter in the range from 1 . 1 μm to 1 . 6 μm . thereby , the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber 4 can be obtained . in this embodiment , the nd - yag laser beam in the wavelength of 1 . 06 μm has been used but the present invention does not limit the light source only to such laser beam and allows use of laser pulses in other wavelengths . as described previously , according to the apparatus for measurement of chromatic dispersion in an optical fiber shown in fig2 the laser pulse in the predetermined wavelength for causing the raman oscillation is reflected by the wavelength selection and reflection film and does not enter the sample fiber therefore , the sample fiber does not allow successive raman oscillation . in addition , the backward scattered light is generated within the optical fiber for raman oscillation with the laser pulse in the predetermined wavelength reflected by the waveform selection and reflection film . as a result , the raman oscillation beam having sufficient intensity can be generated only with a short length fiber and influence of chromatic dispersion in the fiber for raman oscillation can be lowered . accordingly , the chromatic dispersion characteristic of sample fiber can be measured very accurately . the light output from the sample fiber includes the light in various wavelengths generated by the raman oscillation and this light is output with delay of output time by the chromatic dispersion . therefore , it is no longer necessary to delay the optical pulse within the delay time measuring means and the apparatus can be more simply manufactured in comparison with a conventional apparatus . | 6 |
the present invention allows for proper connection of a coaxial cable to circuitry . the present invention allows for the concentricity of the coaxial cable connections to be maintained while the cable is affixed to a pcb , thus maintaining electrical characteristics of the connection . the present invention will also speed assembly time by making the antenna wire , formed from the coaxial cable , stay in the pcb during soldering . while the instant invention &# 39 ; s connections are not as inexpensive as un - terminated wire , the minor costs are recouped through improved assembly throughput and reduction in errors . the connection assemblies of the present invention can , in many embodiments , be formed by a low cost sheet metal stamping . the connection assemblies can be formed to mate with the end of the coaxial cable , either stripped or unstripped , and mate with a pcb with or without retention type contacts . in the various embodiments , the connections can be manufactured for less than us $ 0 . 01 , while a typical pcb connector is us $ 0 . 25 to us $ 0 . 50 , and another connector would be required on the antenna end to mate with it . ( all dollars amounts in u . s . dollars , circa 2004 ). the structure of a coaxial cable is illustrated in fig1 . the coaxial cable 100 has an outer jacket 101 that covers the underlying layers and acts to protect those underlying layers . immediately under the jacket layer 101 is a braided conductor layer 102 and can act as a shielding layer for signals traveling on the innermost conductor 104 . the innermost conductor 104 is separated from the braided conductor 102 by a core layer 103 , that electrically insulates the innermost and braided conductors . if the coaxial cable is “ unprepared ,” then the cable is cut so that each layer is accessible only through a cut end . if the cable is prepared , such as illustrated in fig1 , it has the layers stripped away in a stepped fashion , such that each layer is accessible laterally along the length of the cable . one embodiment of the connection assembly of the present invention is illustrated in fig2 . fig2 ( a ) illustrates the insulator body portion 202 of the connection assembly . that portion has cavity sections 210 that allow for other portions to be inserted . fig2 ( b ) illustrates a center connector node 204 , having cavity section 210 that is constructed to receive the innermost conductor 104 . the receiving end of the cavity section is fluted to facilitate the entry of the innermost conductor . the center connector node has a contact 215 that is electrically connected to the innermost conductor once it is introduced into the cavity . fig2 ( c ) illustrates the braid node 206 that has a similar structure as that of the center connector node . the braid node has a cavity 210 that is constructed to receive the stripped , braided portion of the prepared cable . the braid node also has a contact 215 that is electrically connected to the braided portion once it is introduced into the cavity . like the other node , the braid node has a fluted end of the cavity to facilitate entry of the braided portion . for proper connection to the prepared cable , the nodes 204 and 206 are inserted into cavities in the insulator body portion 202 , as illustrated in fig2 ( d ). thereafter , the prepared cable is inserted into the nodes and portion . the braided portion makes an electrically connection with one of the contacts and the innermost conductor makes an electrically connection with the other of the contacts . the cable with the connection assembly can then be brought to the circuitry , such as a pcb , where the contacts 215 are used to make an electrical connection between the circuitry and the cable . connection assembly facilitates this connection by having , for example , the contacts pass through holes in the pcb and then soldered to contact lines on the pcb . it should be noted that the connection assembly illustrated in fig2 is but one embodiment of the present invention . in one embodiment , both nodes , 204 and 206 , may be formed from sheet metal through a stamping process . the stamped shapes would be bent to form the shapes necessary to receive and connect to the innermost conductor and the braided conductor . the choice of the metal used for the nodes may be based on cost and ability to form a conductive connection . additionally , as illustrated in fig3 , the nodes may be formed from a single sheet or separately formed and attached to a common tab 308 . the connection assembly 300 has two nodes 304 and 306 , illustrated in fig3 ( a ), similar in form and function to that illustrated in fig2 . each node has a contact 310 that mates with a hole in a pcb used to receive that contact . the nodes 304 and 306 are attached to the breakaway tab 308 through “ mouse - bites ” or thin breakaway connections 309 . the number of breakaway connections is variable , depending on the material used to form the nodes and breakaway tab and how stiff the connection assembly needs to be to allow assembly . the connections to the tab 308 provide for the proper displacement of the contacts 310 from each other , as well as providing the proper fit for the prepared coaxial cable . fig3 ( b ) illustrates the connection assembly shown in fig3 ( a ) with the prepared coaxial cable 100 . the prepared cable is inserted into the connection assembly , where the breakaway tab 308 may be used to facilitate the entry of the prepared cable into the connection assembly . thereafter , as shown in fig3 ( c ), the breakaway tab 308 is separated from the nodes through the thin breakaway connections . the removal of the breakaway tab allows for the nodes 304 and 306 to be electrically isolated and the contacts 310 can then be used to make a connection to the proper circuitry . another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 ( a ). one key difference between this embodiment and the previously discussed embodiments is that the connection assembly maybe be used to facilitate a connection on an unprepared coaxial cable . this has a benefit in that prior to forming the connection , the cable need only be cut and stripping of the cable is not needed . this is additionally helpful in that the previously discussed embodiments require a degree of stripping of each layer , in order to be accommodated into the connection assembly . while there are many commercially known tools that can facilitate the precise stripping needed , it is still an extra step in the assembly process that can be obviated through the use of connection assemblies that mate with unprepared cables . the connection assembly illustrated in fig4 ( a ) is shown as it would be introduced to the unprepared cable 400 . a barrel portion 407 makes contact with the braided conductor of the cable and has a pointed edge 408 that assists in introducing that potion of the assembly into the cable . the barrel portion may achieve the physical connection through direct pressure of barrel portion into the cable end or through direct process with a twisting motion . the connection assembly also has a center portion 405 with a piercing center electrode 406 that is connected to the barrel portion 407 through a breakaway tab 410 . thus , at the same time barrel portion impinges on the braded conductor of the cable , the piercing center electrode makes contact with the centermost conductor of the cable . each of the barrel portion 407 and the center portion 405 has a contact 403 that engages a hole in the pcb . after the connections of the barrel portion and the piercing center electrode to their respective conductors have been made , the breakaway tab 410 is removed , as discussed with respect to fig3 . the cable can then be mounted to the pcb or other circuitry . another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig4 ( b ), which is a variation on the embodiment illustrated in fig4 ( a ). in this embodiment , the barrel portion 417 and the center portion 415 are attached to the breakaway tab 411 , and the piercing center electrode 416 and the contacts 413 remain the same as in the prior embodiment . in this embodiment , the barrel portion has pointed sections 418 that aid in introducing the barrel portion to the cable . also included are barbs 419 on the barrel portion that act to retain the barrel portion in the cable after it has been inserted . to assist in the formation of the contact , a tool may be used . one such tool is illustrated in fig5 , for the connection assembly discussed in the prior embodiment . it is noted that while the tool is illustrated as accommodating the connection assembly illustrated in fig4 , other tools having similar characteristics may be used with the connection assemblies of the other embodiments of the present invention . it should also be appreciated that several of the tools discussed below may be coupled together in the production process so that multiple cables may be prepared at the same time through automation . the tool 500 illustrated in fig5 has a slot portion 510 that receives the breakaway tab and a barrel cavity 520 that receives the central and barrel portions of the connection assembly . a slot 521 in the barrel cavity allows for the contacts of the connection assembly to be slidably received therein . the barrel cavity and slot portion are connected to the handle 450 through an extension 530 . the handle 540 may have grip portions 541 to assist the handle in being held and manipulated manually . fig5 ( b ) illustrates the introduction of a connection assembly 560 into the tool 500 . as discussed above , the breakaway tab is received in the slot portion and should allow the connection assembly to be received until a portion of the connection assembly sticks out beyond barrel cavity . the jacket of the cable can received between the barrel portion of the connection assembly 560 and the inner diameter of barrel cavity 520 once the barrel portion is forced into the unprepared cable . subsequently , after being introduced into the cable , the breakaway tab portion is removed to facilitate the isolated electrical connections . in addition , the present invention also seeks to provide retention of the contacts of the connection assembly once the contacts have been threaded through holes in a pcb . fig6 illustrates a cross - section of a pcb 610 , showing different types of contacts . the first contact is a straight contact 620 that passes through the pcb . the contact is then soldered or supplied with an electrical connection to the underside of the pcb to the predetermined circuitry . alternatively , the contact 630 can have a split portion 632 . the split portion is formed with a semi - pointed end that allows for the contact to pass through the through - hole in the pcb but resists having the split portion being pulled back through the through - hole . additionally , the contact 640 may have a bent portion 642 , that requires the connection assembly to be tipped or cantilevered with respect to the plane of the pcb to introduce the contact through a hole in the pcb . thereafter , the connection assembly is rotated and an addition contact is locked into place . the above - discussed configurations of the present invention have , in preferred embodiments , been discussed with respect to making contacts with circuitry via through - holes in a pcb , but the invention is not so limited . as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art , the above discussed connection assemblies and methods would be applicable to surface mount techniques as well . it should also be understood that the present invention is also applicable to use with connections facilitated through wash away spacers or connectors . it would also be within the scope of the invention to implement the disclosed elements of the invention as a production tool , such that multiple connections to cables may be formed at the same time and multiple connections to the proper circuitry . the production and assembly may also be automated and may be used to increase efficiency of assembly . the present invention allows for proper connection of a coaxial cable to circuitry . the present invention allows for the concentricity of the coaxial cable connections to be maintained while the cable is affixed to a pcb , thus maintaining electrical characteristics of the connection . the present invention will also speed assembly time by making the antenna wire , formed from the coaxial cable , stay in the pcb during soldering . while the instant invention &# 39 ; s connections are not as inexpensive as un - terminated wire , the minor costs are recouped through improved assembly throughput and reduction in errors . although the invention has been described based upon these preferred embodiments , it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain modifications , variations , and alternative constructions would be apparent , while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention . in order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention , therefore , reference should be made to the appended claims . | 7 |
[ 0010 ] fig1 shows a general view of a stereo camera system having a first camera 1 and a second camera 2 . both cameras are positioned in such a way that they image the same scene , but at a slightly different viewing angle . thus , both cameras ascertain images of the observed scene which they deliver via data lines 3 and 4 to an evaluation unit 5 . evaluation unit 5 is made up of several modules which , in the preferred exemplary embodiment , are designed as programs of a microprocessor or a plurality of microprocessors . for the detection of obstruction , each camera is provided with associated feature determining modules 6 and 7 , respectively , which ascertain at least one typical feature of the delivered image in each case . a comparison module 8 compares this at least one feature of the two images . if there are unacceptable deviations , if , in particular , the difference existing anyhow changes abruptly or if the deviation exceeds a predefined threshold , a fault signal is generated which is passed on to subsequent systems via data line 9 . in one exemplary embodiment , a delay element 10 is provided which generates a fault signal for other systems only when a certain number of comparing operations ascertain unacceptable differences between the two images , or if this result occurs with a certain frequency ( in the evaluation of sudden changes , when the change remains present over a certain length of time ). depending on the exemplary embodiment , primary or secondary image features are available as image features . an example of a primary image feature would be the comparison of the gray - scale values of individual pixels , a fault being detected when the difference in the gray - scale values in one or a predefined number of pixels changes abruptly , or when the difference exceeds a predefined threshold value . furthermore , the image difference may be ascertained by the determination of the correlation function of the images , an obstruction fault being detected in the case of a missing correlation , i . e . a corresponding pattern of the correlation function . this situation is determined with the aid of the magnitude and / or the form of the correlation function . secondary image features involve particularly the histograms of the gray - scale values of the two images , from which the fault signal is derived within the framework of the comparison operation , in the case of unacceptable differences . in this context , for instance , an abrupt change in the center of gravity of the histogram or in its shape , or the subsequently described feature vectors are evaluated . in the embodiment shown in the figure , the measurement of the image difference is performed via an extraction of image features . these image features are either the histograms of the gray - scale values of each respective image , or even a list of detected objects . the feature vectors obtained ( list of the objects , list of the gray - scale frequency , etc .) are then compared to one another in the comparing module and characterized by a measure of the difference . this measure of the difference is , in the simplest case , a distance measure between the two feature vectors or the scalar product of the two vectors . if this measure of difference of both image vectors and feature vectors exceeds a predefined threshold value which takes into consideration the image differences because of the different visual angles of the image sensors , an obstruction is detected . this detection is passed on , in a suitable manner , to the subsequent systems by the use of the generated signals together with the images . a typical situation in which obstruction is detected is the obstruction of one of the two cameras by a sufficiently large object . in this case , the image sensor system , or the image sensor system included in an overall system , signalizes a corresponding fault . the procedure described is not limited to the use of image sensor systems made up of two image sensors in a motor vehicle . rather , the procedure described , having the corresponding features , may also be used outside motor vehicle technology , and for systems having more than two cameras , in which the comparing of the images of each individual camera among one another is carried out . the assumption is only that the image sensors used record the same scene . | 7 |
with initial reference to fig4 , in the soil to be consolidated as the first step according to the method of the invention , generally referred to as t , there is provided a measurement device am in order to monitor the electrical resistivity of the soil in the predetermined volumes p thereof ( at least one volume ), before , after and preferably during the injections of expanding material . the expanding material , or an expanding resin , is the material preselected to consolidate the soil and is injected therein according to a known technique which is conventional in the field . in particular , the expanding resin is injected into the soil by means of suitable holes f which are provided at predetermined distances from each other . the resistivity is monitored within a significant volume v of the soil which it is desirable to consolidate , for example , under a foundation . the various single volumes are therefore portions of the significant volume . preferably , a type of resin used is a closed - cell polyurethane resin , both mono or multi - component , preferably having an expanding force greater than a minimum of 20 kpa and rate of reaction greater than a minimum of 15 seconds from the mixing of the product and under ambient temperature conditions of 25 ° c . for example , the measurement device of the electrical resistivity is a device for carrying out 3d tomography of electrical resistivity and includes electrodes e at the surface and / or in examination holes through the reference layer . the electrodes e are connected , for example , to a multi - channel georesistivity meter which allows a series of quadripolar measurements ( ab ; mn ) to be carried out by means of a progressive energization of an electrode pair ( ab ) and the resultant electrical potential to be determined at other pairs of poles ( mn ). the monitoring electrodes e are provided according to considered geometric configurations , in the region of the portions of soil to be consolidated . the electrodes , which are distributed at the surface or vertically at depth , are preferably arranged with constant spacing which is sufficient to ensure a correct coverage of all the soil being examined and which must contain the significant volume . according to a preferred example of the method of the invention , the electrodes e are positioned on the soil , remote , separated and spaced apart from the holes f which are intended for the injection tubes of the expanding resins in accordance with the desired precision and the geometrical extent being investigated . the measurements of resistivity are interpreted and processed in a suitable manner , including by means of methods and techniques which are known in the art . for example , the processing of the data progressively monitored is carried out by means of an electronic processor pc which is provided with processing software for the finite elements . an example of such software which is commercially available is a “ customized ” piece of software developed by geostudiastier s . r . l . ( livorno , italia ) on the basis of the software in collaboration with the americana ertlab ™ which is a 3d software for inversion of resistivity and induced polarization which represents an instrument for interpreting geoelectrical measurements . owing to a modelling algorithm using the hexahedral finite elements , ertlab is able to invert measurements which are acquired in contexts with complex topography . a group of inversion routines allows a robust and reliable interpretation of the land measurements , even in the presence of substantial levels of noise . the graphic environment of the software then allows a display of the results of the inversion by means of a complete series of graphic objects ( sections , iso - resistive surfaces , volumes , etc .). there is further provided a system for injection of the expanding resins . the injection system ( s ) can be provided on self - propelled means . the software has been modified suitably for the applicant with suitable routines capable of studying the electrical resistivity and in particular also receiving data of point - penetration resistance for the definition of the specific correlation of the site with the tomography of electrical resistivity . the pc for processing the data may be both positioned in the region of the soil to be consolidated , or remotely connected to the georesistivity meter , for example , by means of a wireless connection , preferably an internet connection . in a second step of the method of the invention , therefore , the device ap described above for the measurement of the electrical resistivity of the soil t to be consolidated carries out a first measurement thereof , for example , by means of monitoring before the injection . that measurement of the initial situation allows , by processing with mathematical algorithms simulating the data of electrical resistivity acquired , a tomography of the electrical resistivity to be obtained representative of the soil being investigated , owing to which it becomes possible to project in a considered manner the injections of expanding material . in particular , preferably what is projected is the number , the horizontal elevations ( x , y ) and vertical elevations ( z ) of the injection locations in the soil , the parameters of injection of the system , the type and characteristics of the products or the admixtures to be injected . all this can be obtained by means of the tomography of the initial electrical resistivity . there is further optionally carried out a penetrometric test before the injections for calibrating the geoelectric model of the site or for defining the local correlation of the site between the values of resistivity and those of mechanical resistance . therefore , with all the characteristics of the holes in the soil being established , as the third step of the method of the invention , those holes are produced in the soil , directed towards or positioned directly in the volumes of soil to be consolidated , in accordance with the anomalies measured such as , for example : cavities present , abnormal concentrations of interstitial water , excessively porous and poorly compacted volumes of soil , etc . the injection is carried out according to the prior art and , for example , injector tubes are preferably inserted in the above - mentioned holes f . according to another step of the method of the invention , the first step of the injection is therefore carried out . it is possible , as the first step of the injection , both to carry out a single injection in a single hole , and a plurality of injections in the sense of one injection for each of a plurality of holes , and a plurality of successive injections for each of a plurality of holes . the methods of injection are predetermined by the initial study of the soil in the second step of the method of the invention , and furthermore according to established sequences in accordance with the data which are periodically monitored and finalized in order to modify the chemico - physical characteristics of the lithologies to be consolidated , as set out below . according to a particular feature of the invention , the monitoring with the tomography of electrical resistivity geologically monitors the behaviour of the soil being examined before , during and after the injection operations so as to end the injection step at the appropriate time , as described below . in greater detail , during the injection step , and therefore the consolidation step , the monitoring system continues to measure in quasi - real time the variations of the electrical resistivity of the portions of soil involved in the treatment , allowing a continuous and direct comparison in situ , with the preceding readings being carried out and taken as a reference , in order to be able to calculate all the respective variations of the percentage of electrical resistivity . the data measured are processed using the software loaded in the pc described above . preferably , in an optional step there are also carried out directly on building sites graphic reconstructions ( tomography of the electrical resistivity ) in 4d ( x , y , z , t ) of the volumes of soil in the course of treatment according to the particular characteristics of the time . the graphic reconstruction on building sites is transmitted to the operators directly via images which are also volumetric on the pc so that the developments of the effects induced in the course of work of the injections in the soil are verified in a simple and intuitive manner by comparing the results with the images and the relevant measurements taken beforehand . the dedicated software is capable of extrapolating and graphically displaying the percentage variations of resistivity for each measurement taken at a specific location of the soil but at different times and in such a manner as to recognize any conditions of increase or decrease in the value of resistivity during the injections . on the basis of the comparisons between the measurements of electrical resistivity carried out at different and sequential times , an operator on the building site is in a position to correct and / or modify in the course of work the parameters of the project of the injection , by evaluating the last measurements carried out and intervening if necessary with subsequent injections which are more considered , acting on the operating parameters of the injection systems , such as : injection elevations , temperature , pressures , times , quantities of products injected , types of products of the injection , degree of any mixing , etc . therefore , there is substantially provided an injection step , which may or may not be interrupted , during which the mean electrical resistivity in the volume taken into consideration , or in a portion thereof which is selected , is always monitored . therefore , preferably according to the invention , there are displayed in the appropriate manner the values of resistivity of the soil and in particular the variation thereof : on the basis of the results measured , there is provision for carrying out the considered injections of the products required , in the measure and in the combinations specifically necessary for obtaining the effects sought which will be distributed geometrically in the soil both in accordance with the injection conditions and with the geolithological conditions of the medium in the consolidation step and which thereby will have to be constantly monitored by ert means . the injections ( or the injection ) will continue in that specific volume of soil which is a portion of the significant volume until the difference between the percentage variation of resistivity obtained in the last measurement carried out ( n ) and that at the stage carried out previously ( n − 1 ), demonstrates a tendency to settle at variations between ± 5 %, signifying that the consolidation has therefore reached its maximum level of improvement , in terms of the consolidation allowed by that soil . by way of example , fig3 shows a plurality of lines for showing the progressive development of a consolidation of the soil carried out by means of an injection of expanding resin . in particular , there have been examined the intermediate stages of percentage variation of resistivity δρ (%) mean within a cylindrical volume having a radius r = 0 . 5 m and having an axis of symmetry coincident with that of the two injections which are superimposed on the vertical axis . in that case , for example , the local result for a cohesive soil , the cylindrical volume having a variable radius ( r ) and having an axis of symmetry which is coincident with the vertical axis of injection ( z in ), shows mean percentage variations of electrical resistivity which decrease gradually if consideration is given to locations which are increasingly further away from the axis of injection , demonstrating that the most significant improvements are generally those closest to the injection location ( z in =− 1 . 50 m ), whilst , conversely , the variation decreases for locations which are increasingly further away . | 4 |
fig1 depicts a diagram of a partial floor plan 10 of a medical care facility . while the floor plan 10 used in the present disclosure is that of a medical care facility , it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited in geography to only medical care facilities , but may be any type of facility within which telemetry monitoring is implemented . these facilities may include a medical care facility such as a hospital or clinic , but may also include any other facilities implementing a telemetry system , including , but not limited to nursing homes , assisted living centers , or schools ; however , for the present disclosure the example of a medical care facility is used . the medical care facility includes a plurality of antennas 12 or other signal receiving devices that receive broadcasted telemetry signals from a remote unit ( not depicted ) worn by , or otherwise associated with , a patient or monitored subject 50 . the receiving range 14 of each of the plurality of antennas 12 defines a telemetry coverage area 16 . the receiving range 14 of each of the antennas 12 may be controlled or adjusted based on the antenna receiving strength or the transmission strength of the signals from the remote units . in an example , the same receiving range 14 may be achieved through the use of stronger antennas 12 and weaker transmission remote units as may be achieved through the use of weaker antennas 12 and stronger transmitting remote units . within the telemetry coverage area 16 , one or more of the antennas 12 receives a telemetry signal broadcasted by the remote unit ( not depicted ) associated with each of the patients . this telemetry signal may include measured physiological data , physiological data that is derived from the measured physiological data , or patient communications , such as patient initiated alarms or patient subjective physical assessments . the remote unit transmits a location signal that is used to identify the location of the patient within the medical care facility . the location signal may be one that is detected by one or more of the antennas 12 , in order to triangulate the remote unit associated with the patient . in an embodiment , at least three antennas receive a location signal for triangulation of the patient location ; however , this is not limiting on the number of antennas 12 distributed through the telemetry coverage area 16 or the overlap of the receiving ranges 14 of the plurality of antennas 12 . alternatively , the location signal may include information indicative of the location of the patient , such as positional coordinates as determined by a gps system within the remote unit . therefore , the location signal may either be indicative of the actual patient location , or may be a signal that is used to derive the location of the patient within the telemetry coverage area 16 . the telemetry coverage area 16 is defined by one or more antennas 12 which may be located on multiple floors within a medical care facility . as noted above , the telemetry coverage area 16 may have antennas 12 distributed to ensure overlap of the receiving ranges of multiple antennas 12 , which aids in patient triangulation . fig2 is a schematic diagram of a telemetry system 18 that may be implemented in a medical care facility . the telemetry system 18 includes the electrical hardware , software , and firmware components that operate the telemetry system 18 . a remote unit 20 is worn by , attached to , or otherwise associated with each of the patients ( not depicted ) that are being telemetrically monitored . the remote unit 20 transmits one or more signals that include telemetry and / or location information . these signals are received by the antenna 12 , of which a plurality are distributed throughout the medical care facility to define the telemetry coverage area 16 ( shown in fig1 ). however , for the sake of simplicity in fig2 , only a single antenna 12 is shown . each antenna 12 is associated with an amplifier 22 that amplifies the signal received from the remote unit 20 . although not depicted , the amplifier 22 may also include other forms of signal conditioning or processing , including , but not limited to , filtering and / or digitization . the signals from the amplifier 22 are transmitted to a remote closet 24 . the remote closet 24 collects all of the signals received by the plurality of antennas 12 in a defined area of the telemetry coverage area 16 . in one example , the medical care facility includes a telemetry coverage area 16 that expands to multiple floors of the medical care facility . in such an example , a remote closet 24 may be placed at each of the floors in order to collect and process the signals received by the antennas 12 on that floor . the remote closet 24 includes a multiplexer 26 that handles the transmission of the telemetry and location information for a plurality of remote units 20 transmitting to the remove closet 24 . the multiplexer 26 separates the lower frequency telemetry signals from the higher frequency location signals and directs the received signals for further processing . while the telemetry system 18 depicted in fig1 is a system that places the telemetry and location information on the same antenna 12 , this is not required , and instead of using the multiplexer 26 , separate antenna systems may be implemented to separately obtain the telemetry and location signals . from the multiplexer 26 , the telemetry information is provided to a telemetry remote hub 28 that prepares the telemetry information for transmission from the remote closet 24 to the main closet 30 that collects all of the information from the remote closets 24 distributed throughout the telemetry system 18 . the main closet 30 is centrally or otherwise conveniently located to receive the telemetry and location information from all of the remote closets 24 in the system 18 . the telemetry remote hub 28 may transmit the telemetry information to a telemetry base unit 32 in the main closet 30 that receives and processes the telemetry information . in an embodiment , the transmission of telemetry information from the telemetry remote hub 28 to the telemetry base unit 32 is performed by fiber optic transmission technology and the telemetry remote hub 28 and the telemetry base unit 32 perform the signal conditioning required for the optical fiber conversion necessary for the transmission . after the telemetry information is transmitted from the telemetry remote hub 28 to the telemetry base unit 32 , the telemetry base unit 32 processes the fiber optic signal to extract the telemetry information embedded thereon . the telemetry base unit 23 sends the telemetry information to a telemetry receiver 33 that receives the telemetry information and further directs the telemetry information to the telemetry server 40 . in the remote closet 24 , the separated location signals from the multiplexer 26 are provided to an access point 29 . the access point 29 measures the strength of the location signal from the base unit 20 received by one or more antenna 12 . in a telemetry system 18 wherein a plurality of antennas 12 are distributed throughout the telemetry coverage area , the signal strengths determined by the access point 29 can be used to triangulate the remote unit 20 as the varying signal strength from a plurality of antennas 12 may be used to determine the patient location with reference to each of the antennas receiving the location signal . the access point 29 of the remote closet 24 provides the location information , including the received signal strengths to the main closet 30 through any number of information transmission technologies , including wire , wireless , or fiber optic technologies . an access point ( ap ) controller 34 is connected to each of the access points 29 if a plurality of remote closets 24 exist in the telemetry system 18 . the ap controller 34 coordinates the transmission and reception of the location information from the access points 29 of each of the remote closets 24 . the location information is provided from the ap control 34 to a location services ( ls ) computer 36 . the ls computer includes computer readable code stored on a computer readable medium ( not depicted ) that embodies software as detailed further herein for calculating location information regarding a patient . software implemented by the ls computer 36 may also include software required to operate an advanced neural network ( ann ), as disclosed in embodiments herein . the ls computer 36 is further connected to a location database 38 that stores the location information from the ls computer 36 for later retrieval and reference by the software operating on the ls computer 36 in determining patient location information . the main closet 30 transmits both the telemetry information and the location information to a telemetry server 40 that coordinates the telemetry and location information with other patient , facility , and services information that is required for the operation of other features of the telemetry system 18 that are not central to the present disclosure . such additional telemetry system functionalities include patient medical history and electronic medical record ( emr ) access , clinical staff information , medical care facility availability , and facility capacity . the telemetry server 40 may also perform analysis of the received telemetry information , such as to process measured physiological data , derive additional physiological data from the measured physiological data , and / or apply institutional diagnostic rules such as to perform automatic or automated diagnostic tests . the telemetry server 40 transmits all of the telemetry information , and location information to the central station 42 . the central station 42 may otherwise be known as the telemetry command center , or “ war room .” the central station 42 is where one or more clinical staff are presented with the telemetry and location information for all of the patients currently under monitoring in the telemetry system . the telemetry information is presented to the clinical staff such that the clinical staff can remotely monitor the physiological condition of the telemetrically monitored patients depending upon changes in the monitored physiological condition of the remotely located patients , the clinical staff may electronically update a patient &# 39 ; s diagnosis or treatment regimen , or may initiate intervention by other clinical staff with the patient . in the event that physiological conditions indicate one or more alarm conditions , the clinical staff at the central station 42 may evaluate the alarm conditions and initiate the proper response based upon those conditions . while the above description of the telemetry system 18 has been made with respect to a large number of hardware components that operate software or firmware in order to form the functionality , data processing , and communication as disclosed above , it is understood to one of ordinary skill in the art that depending on the specific implementation of the telemetry system 18 individual components described herein may be combined into a single piece of hardware or may be implemented as a smaller module of a larger control system software . additionally , one of ordinary skill in the art would also recognize that the communication aspects disclosed herein are merely an exemplary embodiment and that the communication and data transmission would be modified to the specific needs of the telemetry system 18 implemented within a medical care facility . the telemetry system 18 can provide a cost effective and convenient way to monitor ambulatory patients . this benefits the patients as the ability of a recovering patient to move about the patient &# 39 ; s surroundings has been found to aid in recovery times ; however , while patients are recovering from illness or a medical procedure , they are at increased risk of being afflicted by a severe medical condition . examples of severe medical conditions include a heart attack or stroke . thus , these ambulatory patients still require constant monitoring . a problem arises if a telemetrically monitored patient moves outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 ( fig1 ), the telemetry system 18 both no longer receives the critical physiological data required to continuously monitor the patient , but also the location of the patient becomes unknown , putting the patient at risk of delayed clinician intervention or treatment , should the patient develop a serious medical condition . therefore , as disclosed further herein , the ls computer 36 may provide with the location information , a prediction if an ambulatory patient will move out of the telemetry coverage area 16 , thus causing telemetry signal dropout . alternatively , the prediction of patient destination may be created using a separate location prediction computer ( not depicted ). referring back to fig1 , the floor plan 10 of fig1 is also representative of an embodiment of the information displayed by a graphical display of the central station 42 . the central station 42 may present the patient location information graphically , such as using a floor plan representation , like fig1 , that indicates both the monitored patients and their potential destinations . alternatively , the central station 42 may present the patient location information and destination predictions in tabulative or textual formats . in still further embodiments , the destination prediction may only be presented as an alarm , when it is predicted that the probability of the patient leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 meets a predetermined threshold probability . in fig1 , a patient 50 is indicated by a graphical representation , such as an arrow , the arrow graphically represents both the location of the patient 50 within the floor plan 10 and also indicates the patient &# 39 ; s direction of travel . in alternative embodiments , it is understood that additional indications of other telemetrically monitored patients may be made on the same display . additionally , the patient speed may be indicated such as through the use of a tail ( not depicted ) or progressively fading indication of the patient 50 location at previous time intervals , such as two second intervals or one second intervals . as noted with respect to fig2 , a remote unit 20 is associated with the patient 50 . the remote unit 20 transmits its location information as picked up by one or more of the antennas 12 in the telemetry coverage area 16 . by monitoring this patient location information , the ls computer 36 can compute the patient &# 39 ; s location within the telemetry coverage area 16 , the speed that the patient is traveling , and the trajectory of the patient , or the direction the patient is traveling . the ls computer 36 records this information in a location database 38 for each of a plurality of monitored patients in the telemetry coverage area 16 . the data in a location database 38 includes not only current patients within the telemetry coverage area , but the location database 38 also stores the location information for previously telemetrically monitored patients in the telemetry coverage area 16 . computer 36 uses the previously recorded patient location information in the location database 38 to identify the instance rates of patients moving from a current location to a variety of destinations . these instance rates or probabilities may then be further detailed using artificial intelligence techniques such as artificial neural networks ( ann ) or fuzzy logic in order to correlate not only the patient location , but the calculated patient trajectory and speed to the previously recorded patient location information . ann or fuzzy logic implementations may be used to computer historical patient movement trends throughout the telemetry coverage area 16 . this allows for the destination predictions to be correlated to the location information presently received and computed for the monitored patient . therefore , the present telemetry system 18 provides improved prediction of patient destination using both currently measured and computed patient location information with historical patient movement trends obtained from the historical location information of other patients and / or the monitored patient in the same telemetry coverage area 16 . as noted above , the floor plan 10 of fig1 may represent an embodiment of the information presented by the central station 42 . in this example , a patient 50 is indicated as moving through the telemetry coverage area 16 in a hallway 52 . the location information transmitted by the remote unit 20 associated with the patient 50 received by the telemetry system 18 is used to determine the location , speed , and trajectory of the patient 50 . the ls computer 36 records the patient &# 39 ; s actual location and path in the location database 38 for reference in future destination determinations . the ls computer 36 also performs a current destination prediction . in this destination prediction , the ls computer 36 identifies by analyzing previous destinations of patients in the same telemetry coverage area 16 to determine historical patient movement trends and comprising these historical patient movement trends to the current received / measured / calculated location , trajectory , and speed of the patient 50 . in this example , the ls computer 36 identifies that there are five potential destinations of the patient 50 . these potential destinations are indicated on the floor plan 10 as destinations a , b , c , d , and e . the ls computer 36 further determinates a probability that the patient 50 will go to each of these destinations . as an example , the ls computer 36 may determine , based on the historical patient movement trends and the current location , trajectory , and speed of the patient 50 , that the following probabilities exist that the patient will move to each of the identified destinations : thus from the exemplary table above , it can be determined that the patient 50 has a 94 % probability of moving forward . the patient 50 also has a 60 % probability of moving to destination a , while only having a 22 % probability of moving outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 , to designated destination d . therefore , the patient 50 at the specified location , speed , and trajectory will be regarded as a 22 % risk for telemetry signal dropout based upon the patient leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 at destination d . the medical care facility may define its own alarm definitions for telemetry signal dropout risk as well as define the responses that are initiated by clinical staff at the central station 42 upon the meeting of these predefined probability criteria . some institutions may be highly risk adverse and therefore would desire to intervene any time the destination probability of the destination outside the telemetry coverage area 16 crosses a minimal threshold percentage . this threshold percentage may be relatively low , such as 10 - 20 % likelihood , or lower , based at the discretion of the medical care facility . alternatively , a progression of patient interactions may escalate as the probability that the patient will leave the telemetry coverage area 16 increases . these intervention escalations may begin with a page or other audible or textual alert that is sent to the remote unit 20 associated with the patient 50 . this may be escalated to the dispatch of clinical staff to the location of the patient 50 or to the patient &# 39 ; s predicted destination in order to intercept the patient 50 before the patient 50 leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 . it is further understood that in alternative embodiments some or all of these responses may be automated or automatedly initiated responses and do not require clinician action in order to initiate or carry out . the ls computer 36 ( fig2 ) may simplify the destination prediction by dividing the telemetry coverage area 16 into a plurality of destination areas . therefore , the ls computer 36 may more easily define historical patient movement trends through ann or fuzzy logic techniques . these or other data processing techniques may be used to process the large amount of stored patient location information . the division of the telemetry coverage area 16 into discrete destinations ( a , b , c , d , e ) help to identify a probability that the patient will enter one of these destinations . referring now to fig3 , it depicts the floor plan 10 with two different alternative locations , location 52 and location 54 , for the patient 50 to proceed from the location in fig1 . from both locations 52 and 54 , the patient 50 may move to the same five destinations a , b , c , d , and e . if the patient 50 moves to location 52 , as the patient 50 moves , the ls computer 36 continuously updates the destination prediction , taking into account the updated patient location , trajectory , and speed , as well as the historical patient movement trends stored in the location database 38 . in the present example , by the time the patient 50 moves to location 52 , the destination probabilities have changed to : by referencing the above table , it can be seen that as the patient 50 turned in the direction away from the telemetry coverage area 16 boundary and destination d , the probability that the patient would enter this destination is drastically reduced . the reduction in this destination probability of the destination d would be due to the fact that patients historically at location 52 on the trajectory and speed of patient 50 , rarely turn around and head out of the telemetry coverage zone 16 to destination d . however , in an alternative example , if the patient 50 moves from location in fig1 to location 54 depicted in fig2 , then as the patient moves between those two locations , the ls computer 36 will compute the new destination probabilities , such that by the time the patient 50 reaches location 54 , the destination probabilities are : by reference to the above table , it can be seen that by the time the patient 50 reaches location 54 , it becomes very likely that the patient 50 will leave the telemetry coverage area 16 and move to destination d . this escalation of the probability that the patient &# 39 ; s telemetry signal will be lost due to moving out of the telemetry coverage area 16 , may trigger an appropriate response from the clinical staff at the central station 42 . the clinical staff at central station 42 would dispatch clinical staff to location 54 or destination d in an attempt to first intercept the patient 50 before the patient leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 , or if the clinical staff response arrives too late , the patient 50 is recovered at or near destination d with minimal telemetry signal dropout . referring back to fig1 , if the patient 50 moves to destination d , both the patient &# 39 ; s telemetry signal and location signal would be lost . the patient would no longer appear on the floor plan 10 . in this instance , the ls computer 36 saves the patient location , trajectory , and speed at the time of the telemetry and location signal dropout . in an additional functionality of the ls computer 36 , the ls computer 36 uses patient location information stored in the location database 38 to additionally predict a destination outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 that the patient 50 may be most likely to be found . the patient location information used to determine probability of patient location outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 may be based upon reporting by clinical staff that find telemetry patients outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 . the reporting of clinical staff may be analyzed and compiled in order to determine probabilities of where patients leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 may be headed after signal dropout occurs . in fig1 , locations f and g represent two locations outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 that may be deemed as likely patient destinations outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 . locations f and g may be specific destinations of patients leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 due to features about these locations . for example , location f may be the site of a point of interest such as vending machines , or a fish tank that attract patients , while location g may be an outdoor park or sitting area . the ls computer 36 computes a probability determination for the likelihood that the patient leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 may be found at one of locations f or g . this probability may be similar to that previously calculated with respect to patient destination predictions . the calculated probability is transmitted to the central station 42 to be presented on a graphical display . thus , if the patient 50 leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 , the graphical display of the central station 42 may present an indication that there is a 25 % likelihood that the patient 50 is at destination f while there is a 50 % probability that the patient 50 is at destination g . the probabilities provided in this determination may or may not add up to 100 % due to rounding , or the consideration of other locations . for the sake of simplicity , in some embodiments , only those locations that are above a predetermined probability threshold are presented as likely options . alternatively , the system could present all the calculated probabilities . it is to be understood that the effectiveness of this type of location prediction outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 may be dependent upon a clinical staff reporting system , whereby the patient location information is collected that is indicative of where the clinical staff actually locate the patient 50 outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 . this type of reporting identifies the locations outside of the telemetry coverage area 16 where the patients are likely to go after telemetry signal dropout . in an additional aspect , the location database 38 keeps track of all interventions on patient movement . often , these are recorded by clinical staff after intervening on patient movement . if left unreported or unaccounted for , these interventions may skew the probabilities of the patients leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 , such as to under report the actual instance of patient signal dropout , in instances where no intervention is initiated . therefore , the ls computer 36 may credit an interaction as full or partial consideration that the patient left the telemetry coverage area . with respect to fig1 , in a still further embodiment , an exemplary table of destination probabilities presented by the central station 42 is : referring to the table above , based upon the location , trajectory , and speed of the patient 50 , and historical patient movement trends , the ls computer 36 may compute that the patient 50 is relatively unlikely to leave the telemetry coverage area 16 to go to destination d . in this instance , the patient 50 is likely to pass very close to the edge of the telemetry coverage area 16 and there is a potential for the patient to leave the telemetry coverage area 16 resulting in telemetry signal dropout . however , based upon the historical patient movement trends and the monitored patient location , trajectory , and speed , the ls computer 36 indicates to the clinical staff at the central station 42 a low probability that the patient will leave the telemetry coverage area 16 . therefore , no intervention , or a low intervention , may be initiated , thus conserving resources and not interrupting the ambulatory movement of the patient 50 or the current tasks being performed by clinicians . in embodiments of the telemetry system 18 , the ls computer 36 may further be communicatively coupled to a database of patient demographic information ( not depicted ), or alternatively , the location database 38 may also include patient demographic information that may be further used to increase the accuracy of the destination predictions of the telemetry system 18 . the stored demographic information may correlate the patient &# 39 ; s age , gender , or ethnicity with particular historical patient movement trends or behavior patterns . in one such example , referring to fig1 , if the patient 50 leaves the telemetry coverage area 16 by moving to destination d , if destination f represents a fish tank and destination g represents a sitting area or park , the ls computer 36 may determine that there is a correlation that patients below a certain age are more likely to go to location f , presumably to view the fish in the fish tank while patients above a certain age are move likely to be found at the sitting area g . in a still further embodiment of the telemetry system 18 , the location database 38 may also store the historical movement trends for each individual patient 50 separately from the group of all patients as a whole . thus , the ls computer 36 may use the specific movement history of each patient in order to more accurately predict where that patient is going . this additional personalized movement trend determination may help to reduce false positives , resulting in fewer interventions or intervention escalations , requiring the medical care facility resources and staff time . one such example of a personalized patient historical movement trend would be that if patient 50 every morning goes to location b for a particular treatment , therapy , or to visit another particular patient . despite the fact that the historical patient movement trends on a whole may indicate that a generic patient at the patient &# 39 ; s 50 location , trajectory , and speed is likely to leave the telemetry coverage area 16 and move to destination d , the probability of this particular patient 50 following that movement path is comparatively low . alternatively , the additional personalized movement trend determination may help to proactively warn clinicians of patients at greater risk of leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 than the general patient population . referring now to fig4 , fig4 depicts a floor plan 60 that is similar to the other figures , but depicts an alternative potential display presented by the central station 42 . if the destination predictions are presented by the central station 42 as merely numerical , textual or escalatory results , then the floor plan 60 of fig4 is a pictorial representation of the logic that may be used by the ls computer 36 in this embodiment . the floor plan 60 of fig4 is different from that depicted in fig1 in that the floor plan 10 of fig1 depicted only the nearest extrapolation of potential patient destination . therefore , in the embodiment of fig1 , the predictive capability of these destination predictions are limited to a next destination of the patient . however , additional warning time of potential telemetry signal dropout beyond a simple “ next destination ” may be provided in some embodiments . therefore , in the floor plan 60 of fig4 , additional destinations f - j are included in the floor plan 60 . these additional destinations extend from destination b and c in the original floor plan 10 . thus , the probability that the patient moves to any of destination f - j , would first require that the patient move through destination b or c . therefore , the probabilities of destinations f - j are a subset of the probability that the patient move to destinations b or c . in an embodiment of this patient destination prediction scheme , the destination probabilities may appear at : a feature of the embodiment of floor plan 60 is apparent from this example in that it may be noted that the patient 50 has a greater probability of leaving the telemetry coverage area 16 at destination j , causing telemetry and location signal dropout , than the much closer destination d . thus , clinical staff at the central station 42 are provided with a warning of a possibly counter intuitive destination prediction and may monitor the location of the patient 50 more closely , or provide the necessary intervention , or intervention escalation with respect to the more probable destination causing signal dropout . as stated previously , the embodiments of the floor plan 10 , 60 are merely exemplary as to the type of graphical presentation that may be made by the central station 42 to clinical staff . alternative to the graphical depiction of these figures , graphical indications that only focus on the possible patient point of departure from the telemetry coverage area 16 may be implemented . these embodiments may only track the location , speed , and trajectory of the patient 50 , while noting only those paths and probabilities that lead to telemetry signal dropout . alternatively , rather than specific patient vectors and discrete destination locations , a scatter plot or heat map or other type of graphical representation of probability may be used to graphically depict the likelihood that the patient 50 would move to a particular destination . finally , as mentioned above , the central station 42 may rather present the destination predictions in a more simplistic numeral or textural form such , as in the non - limiting example , the tables presented above , or may only be presented to the clinical staff at the central station 42 only upon meeting one or more probability thresholds for clinical staff intervention , or intervention escalation . this written description uses examples to disclose various embodiments , including the best mode , and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use these embodiments . the patentable scope is defined by the claims may extend to include other examples not explicitly listed that occur to those skilled in the art . such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims , or if they include equivalent elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims . various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated as being with in the scope of the following claims , particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter of the present disclosure . | 6 |
referring to fig3 a , a jacquard mechanism in accordance with the present invention is generally comprised of a fixed selector cam 1 , a movable selector cam 2 , and a driving mechanism adapted for driving the movable selector cam 2 . referring to fig1 the fixed selector cam 1 is mounted on the outside of the periphery of the cylinder of the circular knitting machine , having a plurality of tracks at the inner side 10 for the insertion of the needle butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 ( see also fig5 ). these tracks include a knitting track 4 for raising the knitting needle 3 to the knitting position and a welting track 5 for keeping the knitting needle 3 in the welting position . the knitting track 4 and the welting track 5 are recessed tracks formed in the inner side 10 of the fixed selector cam 1 . when a plurality of fixed cams 1 are arranged around the periphery of the cylinder of the circular knitting machine , the knitting tracks 4 and welting tracks 5 of the fixed cams 1 are respectively connected together . when the fixed cams 1 are moved relative to the cylinder of the circular knitting machine , the knitting needles 3 are moved up and down along the knitting tracks 4 or welting tracks 5 of the fixed cams 1 to push the thread through the fabric or to cast off a loop . the movable selector cam 2 moves vertically in a slot 11 at the outer side of the fixed selector cam 1 . fig3 a shows the movable selector cam 2 moved to the top side in the slot 11 of the fixed selector cam i . fig3 b shows the movable selector cam 2 moved to the bottom side in the slot 11 of the fixed selector cam 1 . when the movable selector cam 2 is moved in the slot 11 to a higher elevation above the position shown in fig3 b , a tucking track 6 is defined in the fixed selector cam 1 . the fixed selector cam 1 further comprises a vertical rail 110 disposed in the slot 11 for guiding the movement of the movable selector cam 2 . the movable selector cam 2 comprises a vertical sliding groove 23 at one side coupled to the vertical rail 110 of the fixed selector cam 1 , a sloping front surface 21 adapted for lifting the knitting needle 3 to the tucking position , a horizontal top surface 22 adapted for holding the knitting needle 3 in the tucking position as best seen in fig1 and 2 . when the movable selector cam 2 is lifted to the elevation of the tucking position , the horizontal top surface 22 and sloping front surface 21 of the movable selector cam 2 define with the projecting plate 12 of the fixed selector cam 1 a space for the butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 to pass . this space is the aforesaid tucking track 6 . referring to fig4 the fixed selector cam 1 and the movable selector cam 2 are arranged on a seat 13 , which is fixed to the frame of the circular knitting machine at a suitable location . the seat 13 is equipped with a driving mechanism for moving the movable selector cam 2 . this driving mechanism comprises a servo motor 8 , a cam wheel 80 coupled to the servo motor 8 , a crank 81 having one end coupled to the cam wheel 80 and an opposite end coupled to the movable selector cam 2 . through the control of a computer or digital controller , the servo motor 8 is turned to lift the movable selector cam 2 to the elevation of the tucking track 6 . a board 82 is coupled to the rear end of the output shaft of the servo motor 8 , having two wings 821 , 822 at two opposite ends spaced 180 ° from each other . a position detector 83 is installed in the back side of the servo motor 8 . when the cam wheel 80 is rotated through a half run , the wing 821 or 822 is moved to the position detector 83 , causing the position detector 83 to be induced . the position detector 83 can be a photoelectric element or any equivalent element adapted for detecting the position of the movable selector cam 2 . referring to fig5 when the jack 7 is not raised by the needle selector ( not shown ), the butts 71 , 72 of the jack 7 are spaced from the knitting control block 14 and tucking control block 15 , and the butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 is forced to move along the horizontal welting track 5 . on the contrary , when the jack 7 is raised by the needle selector to the tilted position shown in fig6 b , the upper butt 71 of the jack 7 is forced into engagement with the knitting control block 14 and lifted . when the jack 7 is lifted , the knitting needle 3 is simultaneously lifted to the knitting track 4 above the projecting plate 12 for further knitting operation . when the jack 7 is raised by the needle selector to the tilted position shown in fig7 b , the lower butt 72 of the jack 7 is forced into engagement with the tucking control block 15 and lifted . when the jack 7 is lifted by the tucking control block 15 , the movable selector cam 2 is simultaneously lifted to the position shown in fig3 a , and the butt 31 of the knitting needle 3 is simultaneously moved along the sloping front surface 21 and horizontal top surface 22 of the movable selector cam 2 into the tucking track 6 for tucking operation to finish the jacquard knitting action is completed . while only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described , it will be understood that various modifications and changes could be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention disclosed . | 3 |
the present invention is related to a light - emitting device capable of emitting a specified colored light , and particularly for a white colored led and the corresponding manufacturing method . in the following , the description will be mainly made for the white colored led . the specified colored led may be readily understood through the description for the white colored led since they are made in principle in a similar manner . in a preferred embodiment , the manufacturing method for a light - emitting device of a white colored light - emitting device ( led ) according to the present invention comprises the following steps . in appreciating the preferred embodiment , please refer directly to fig1 to 3 and 3 a . step 1 : forming a second mqw active layer over an upper side of a substrate , performed after a buffer layer is formed on said substrate , wherein the second mqw active layer is made of gan / ingan ( an alternating semiconductor layer structure familiar to those skilled in the art ), the substrate can be such as sapphire , silicon carbide ( sic ) and gallium nitride ( gan ) for the consideration that a gan based material is chosen thereon , wherein the second mqw active layer is chosen in terms of in dopant concentration so that a second light with a wavelength of 550 nm to 650 nm is emitted with the presence of an electric bias applied on the device . however , it does not mean the second light is excited directly by the applied voltage and it is actually excited by a first light , as will be described in more detailed through the following description . the buffer layer may be composed of some layers , such as a coarse grain nucleation layer made of gan and an undoped gan layer . the nucleation layer is a low temperature layer , i . e . formed under a low temperature condition , about 500 - 550 ° c . ; has a thickness of 200 - 400 å and will be referred to as an lt - gan layer herein . the undoped gan is a high temperature layer , formed under a temperature of 1020 - 1040 ° c . and has a thickness of 0 . 2 - 2 μm , and will be termed as an ht - gan layer . these buffer layers may be formed by molecular beam epitaxy ( mbe ), metal organic chemical vapor deposition ( mocvd ) and some other suitable technologies , currently in existence or set forth in the future . besides , the forming conditions of the second mqw active layer , gan layer and ingan layer may be chosen as long as the specific function , giving off a blue light , is achieved . in terms of forming technology , the gan and ingan layers in the mqw active layer may be produced through atomic layer epitaxy ( ale ) technology . step 2 : forming an n - gan based epitaxial layer over said second mqw active layer 12 , by such as mbe and mocvd . in forming such n - gan based epitaxial layer , the temperature is 1020 ° c .- 1040 ° c . and the formed thickness is 2 - 8 μm . step 3 : forming a first mqw layer over said n - gan based epitaxial layer , wherein said first mqw active layer emits a first light with a wavelength of 450 nm to 510 nm with the presence of the above - mentioned applied voltage . similar to the second mqw layer , the in concentration , process conditions and thickness of the first mqw layer are chosen so that the first mqw layer generates a first light with a wavelength of 450 nm - 510 nm . step 4 : forming a p - type distributed brag reflector ( dbr ) over said first mqw active layer . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the p - type dbr is algan / gan . the thickness is 0 . 1 - 0 . 5 μm and the process temperature is 960 - 1000 ° c . the reflectance of the dbr may be 50 - 80 %. step 5 : forming a p - gan based layer over said p - type dbr and etching away a portion of said n - gan layer , said first mqw active layer , said p - type dbr and said p - gan based layer whereby said n - gan layer has an exposing region and an n - type electrode may be disposed over said exposing region and a p - type electrode may be disposed over said p - gan layer . the p - gan based layer can be formed by such as mbe and mocvd , under the process conditions of a temperature of 1020 ° c .- 1040 ° c . and a thickness is 2 - 8 , m . on the other hand , the n - and p - type electrodes may each be formed by such as sputtering , vaporizing and e - gun technologies , and the adoptive electrode material may be well - conductive metal of all appropriate kinds , such as aluminum and copper , and may preferably have good light transparency ( to the light generated by the device ), such as thin ni / au layer . it is to be noted that although the formations of the electrodes 17 and 18 are absent from the recitation of this step and fig1 they are in effect successively formed . step 6 : coating a metal reflector over a bottom side of the substrate . the coating method may be such as sputtering , vaporizing and e - gun technologies . in undertaking the coating step , the bottom side of the substrate may be polished to a reduced thickness , 50 μm to 300 μm , and then coated with the metal reflector , from a larger thickness where the preceding 5 steps are executed . the metal reflector is made of a suitable metal so that a specified reflector , such as having a desired reflectivity , such as greater than 90 %, may be achieved and has a thickness of 50 å to 10 μm . in fig2 the light - emitting device 10 manufactured by the above - recited method of the present invention is shown . the device 10 comprises a resonant cavity structure 22 , a contact layer 16 , an n - type metal electrode 17 and a p - type metal electrode 18 , wherein said resonant cavity 22 formed in sequence by , from bottom to top , a metal reflector 19 , a substrate 10 ′, a buffer layer 11 , a second mqw active layer 12 , an n - gan based layer 13 , a first mqw active layer 14 and a p - type distributed bragg reflector ( dbr ) 15 , wherein the substrate 10 ′ may be such as sapphire , gallium nitride ( gan ) and silicon carbide ( sic ). the buffer layer 11 is provided as an intermediate layer of the substrate 10 ′ and the second mqw active layer 12 for some reasons , such as better lattice matching . as also described in the above , the buffer layer 11 may be composed of some layers . the contact layer 16 is a p - gan based layer and formed over said p - type dbr 15 for contact with a corresponding electrode 18 . the p - type metal electrode 18 is disposed over said p - gan layer 16 for electricity feed , while the n - type metal electrode 17 is disposed over an exposing region 13 a of the n - gan layer 13 . in fig3 and 3a , a particular example of the device depicted in fig2 is shown . as shown in fig3 the p - gan based layer 161 is heavily doped for better ohmic contact with the upper metal electrode and may be replaced by a p - ingan or a p - alingan layer . since the resonant cavity 22 is provided in the device 10 , the first light may move back and forth in the cavity 22 and excite the second mqw layer to generate the second light . therefore , the second light is generated not by the applied electric bias directly but by the first light that has been previously excited by the electric bias . in fact , the wavelengths of the first and the second lights may not be between 450 nm - 510 nm and between the 550 nm - 650 nm . the two lights , the first light and the second light , emitted by the two mqw active layers may be alternatively chosen as long as the two lights may mix into a white colored light . in addition to the above steps described in the preferred method embodiment , the method may add a step of coating a transparent contact layer ( tcl ) ( step 6 ′) with a suitable thickness over the contact layer , p - gan based layer 16 , succeeding to step 5 , as is defined as the second method embodiment according to the present invention with the other steps the same , and which is shown in fig5 . the second device embodiment according to the present invention corresponds to the second method embodiment , and which is provided schematically as fig6 . it is to be noted that the tcl 20 ′ is added in the device 20 and has a suitable thickness for compensating for the low mobility of the majority of carriers , holes , and uniformly spreading the electrical charges in the neighborhood of the p - type electrode to the entire contact layer , p - gan based layer 16 and thus promoting luminous efficiency of the device 20 . the so - called “ suitable thickness ” of the tcl 20 ′ means a thickness that may lead the tcl 20 ′ to be efficient in light extraction , which depends on the material adopted as the tcl 20 ′. the tcl 20 ′ comprises au / ni ( first formed with an au layer and then with a ni layer ) and other conductive and transparent materials ( transparent to a light having a wavelength ranging from 400 nm - 700 nm ). further , tcl 20 ′ may be a n - tcl or a p - tcl . for a specific device illustration , fig7 shows a particular example of the device of fig6 as the device 201 . as is with the p - gan based layer 371 of fig3 the p - gan based layer 161 is heavily doped for better ohmic contact with the upper metal electrode and may be replaced by a p - ingan or a p - alingan layer . further , the tcl may be subject to a surface treatment at its upper surface . the surface treatment is applied so as to minimize the portions of the generated light back into the light - emitting device . the surface treatment applied may be forming a roughened surface or particularly textured surface on the tcl surface . therefore , the third method embodiment , shown in fig8 according to the present invention is intended to cover this step , step 8 . the third device embodiment according to the present invention corresponds to the third method embodiment . the illustration for the particular textured surface is omitted in the drawings , but may be generally referenced to the label 21 in fig6 the second device embodiment of the present invention . the metal reflector is not the only choice for acting as the lower reflecting component for the resonant cavity . alternatively , an n - type dbr may be otherwise used as the lower reflecting component . the fourth to sixth embodiments of the present invention , an n - type dbr is used for the resonant cavity instead of the metal reflector used in the first three embodiments . in the fourth method embodiment shown in fig9 according to the present invention , step 1 a is included to form an n - type dbr over a substrate as the lower reflecting component and the step of formation of the metal reflector in the above embodiments is removed . at the time , the resonant cavity is bounded by the n - type dbr and the p - type dbr without a substrate disposed therein , which is otherwise adopted regime for the cavity structure . because the substrate is not layered in the resonant cavity , the substrate may be a material not transparent , such as silicon , in addition to the materials mentioned above for the substrate . the fourth device embodiment according to the present invention corresponds to the fourth method embodiment , and which is shown schematically as fig1 . further , fig1 and fig1 a are a particular example of the device of fig1 and provided herein for better understanding . in the case of n - type dbr used , the steps of forming a tcl and subjecting its surface to a surface treatment may also be added in the forming of the device , which are designated as the fifth and sixth method embodiments respectively , corresponding to fig1 and fig1 . the fifth and sixth device embodiments correspond to the fifth and sixth method embodiments . the former is shown in fig1 while the latter is omitted here for simplicity reason . the white colored led produced according to the present invention may be achieved by arranging the inventive light - emitting device with bonding wires for application of an electrical power and packaging the led , which is ordinary to those persons skilled in the art and will be omitted herein . with the white colored led provided by the present invention , a chromaticity diagram obtained therethrough is like the one shown in fig4 . when the first light generated by the first mqw active layer is set to have a wavelength of about 480 nm , and the second light generated by the second light a wavelength of about 580 nm , the points b ( corresponding to 480 nm ) and b ′ ( corresponding to 580 nm ) may connect into a line l 2 exactly crossing the white light area w . accordingly , the generated light resulted from mixing of the blue and yellow lights observed from the top of the p - gan based layer may exactly be deemed as a natural light . besides , formations of electrodes and the corresponding etching in the above - mentioned method embodiments are not detailedly given in the corresponding drawings and specification in the above method embodiments , yet they are necessary in providing the light - emitting device with exciting electricity and thus emitting lights , which is apparent to those skilled in the art . in fact , the electrodes are successively formed after the etching . in adding the electrodes , the p - type electrode may be directly or indirectly formed over the p - gan based layer by sputtering , vaporizing and e - gun technologies . however , the n - type electrode may not be directly provided on the entire n - gan based layer , which may violate the p - n junction structure . in this regard , an etching step , such as a dry etching , such as chlorine plasma etching , or other suitable etching technologies , may be conducted on a portion of the p - gan based layer , the p - type dbr and the first qwm layer so that a room of an exposing region of the n - gan based layer may be left for disposition of the n - type electrode . although the formation of electrodes and the accompanying etching can not be seen in the flowcharts in the drawings , they may be understood through , for example , the device structure 10 of fig2 . it is to be noted that it is easy for those skilled in the art to undertake a variation on the inventive structure with reference to the foregoing embodiments . for example , the layer number in the first and second qwm active layers may not be 2 but others and the corresponding emitted lights may mix into any color of light as long as its corresponding implementation may be put into effect . and thus , the light mixing may come in various ways and the mixed light may be some other colors . all these modifications are deemed within the spirit of the present invention provided the mechanism or principle of the white or other colored lights are similar . therefore , while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . on the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures , and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures . | 7 |
the prepolymers of component a ) which are essential to the invention are obtained in a manner well known per se to the person skilled in the art by reacting monomeric , oligomeric or polyisocyanates a1 ) with isocyanate - reactive compounds a2 ) in suitable stoichiometry with optional use of catalysts and solvents . in this way , nco - functional prepolymers having urethane , allophanate , biuret and / or amide groups can be prepared . suitable polyisocyanates a1 ) are all aliphatic , cycloaliphatic , aromatic or araliphatic di - and triisocyanates known per se to the person skilled in the art , it being unimportant whether these were obtained by means of phosgenation or by phosgene - free processes . in addition , the relatively high molecular weight secondary products of monomeric di - and / or triisocyanates having a urethane , urea , carbodiimide , acylurea , isocyanurate , allophanate , biuret , oxadiazinetrione , uretdione or iminooxadiazinedione structure , which are well known per se to the person skilled in the art , can also be used , in each case individually or as any desired mixtures with one another . preferred monomeric di - or triisocyanates which can be used as component a1 ) are butylene diisocyanate , hexamethylene diisocyanate ( hdi ), isophorone diisocyanate ( ipdi ), trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate ( tmdi ), and / or isocyanatomethyl - 1 , 8 - octane diisocyanate ( tin ). tin , tmdi and hdi are particularly preferred and hdi is very particularly preferred . oh - functional compounds having an oh functionality of , preferably , 1 . 9 to 2 . 01 , particularly preferably 2 . 0 , are used as isocyanate - reactive compounds a2 ) for the synthesis of the prepolymers . oligomeric or polymeric isocyanate - reactive compounds of the above mentioned functionality range are suitable for this purpose , such as low molecular weight short - chain aliphatic , araliphatic or cycloaliphatic diols , i . e . containing 2 to 20 carbon atoms . examples of such diols are ethylene glycol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol , dipropylene glycol , tripropylene glycol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , neopentyl glycol , 2 - ethyl - 2 - butylpropanediol , trimethylpentanediol , positional isomers of diethyloctanediol , 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , cyclohexanediol , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 1 , 2 - and 1 , 4 - cyclohexanediol , hydrogenated bisphenol a ( 2 , 2 - bis ( 4 - hydroxycyclohexyl ) propane ), 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 3 - hydroxypropyl 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 3 - hydroxypropionate . relatively high molecular weight aliphatic and cycloaliphatic polyols of the abovementioned functionality range , such as polyesterpolyols , polyetherpolyols , polycarbonatepolyols , hydroxy - functional acrylic resins , hydroxy - functional polyurethanes , hydroxy - functional epoxy resins or corresponding hybrids , are also suitable . for example , the difunctional polyadducts of ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , tetrahydrofuran , butylene oxide , and their mixed adducts and graft products , and the polyetherpolyols obtained by condensation of dihydric alcohols or mixtures thereof and the polyetherpolyols obtained by alkoxylation of dihydric alcohols , may be mentioned as such polyetherpolyols . preferred difunctional polyetherpolyols are poly ( propylene oxides ), poly ( ethylene oxides ) and combinations thereof in the form of random or block copolymers and mixtures thereof having a number average molar mass between 200 and 18 , 000 g / mol , particularly preferably having a number average molar mass between 600 and 8000 g / mol and very particularly preferably having a number average molar mass between 1000 and 4500 g / mol . poly ( propylene oxides ) of the abovementioned functionality range having number average molar masses between 650 g / mol and 4500 g / mol , particularly preferably having number average molar masses between 1000 g / mol and 4100 g / mol and very particularly preferably having number average molar masses between 1900 g / mol and 2100 g / mol are particularly preferably used as a2 ). in the prepolymer synthesis , isocyanate according to a1 ) is reacted with alcohol according to a2 ) in stoichiometric amounts for the urethanization , a urethane group forming . suitable alcohols in this case for the reaction with said di -, tri - and polyisocyanates are all oligomeric or polymeric , primary or secondary , difunctional alcohols of the abovementioned type . with regard to the urethane prepolymers , these are preferably ethanediol , di -, tri - or tetraethylene glycol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , di -, tri -, tetrapropylene glycol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , 1 , 3 - butanediol , 2 , 3 - butanediol , 1 , 5 - pentanediol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - dihydroxycyclohexane , 1 , 4 - dimethylolcyclohexane , 1 , 8 - octanediol , 1 , 10 - decanediol , 1 , 12 - dodecanediol , polyethylene glycol , polypropylene glycol , block polymers and / or copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide and / or other 1 - alkene oxides , poly ( thf ), polyester -, polycarbonate - and polyacrylatepolyols having number average molar masses of up to 10 , 000 g / mol and any desired mixtures thereof with one another . in the prepolymer synthesis , for allophanatization , first an isocyanate according to a1 ) is reacted with an alcohol according to a2 ) in a stoichiometric ratio to give a urethane , which is then reacted with a further isocyanate , an allophanate forming . in this case , all oligomeric or polymeric , primary or secondary , difunctional alcohols of the type described above are suitable as alcohols for the reaction with said di -, tri - or polyisocyanates to give urethane . for the further reaction to the allophanate , the monomeric di - or triisocyanates hdi , tmdi and tin are preferably added . preferred prepolymers are urethanes or allophanates obtained from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric isocyanate - reactive compounds , the prepolymers having number average molar masses of 200 to 10 , 000 g / mol and nco functionalities of 1 . 9 to 5 . 0 . urethanes having nco functionalities of 1 . 9 to 2 . 1 and number average molar masses of 650 to 8200 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols and allophanates having functionalities of greater than 2 . 0 to 3 . 2 or of 3 . 9 to 4 . 2 having number average molar masses of 650 to 8200 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols or any desired mixtures thereof , are particularly preferred . urethanes having nco functionalities of 1 . 9 to 2 . 1 and number average molar masses of 1900 to 4100 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols and allophanates having functionalities of greater than 2 . 0 to 3 . 2 or of 3 . 9 to 4 . 2 having number average molar masses of 1900 to 4100 g / mol , prepared from aliphatic isocyanate - functional compounds and oligomeric or polymeric polyols or any desired mixtures thereof , are very particularly preferred . the prepolymers described above preferably have residual contents of free monomeric isocyanate of less than 1 % by weight , particularly preferably less than 0 . 5 % by weight , very particularly preferably less than 0 . 2 % by weight . of course , component a ) may contain proportionately further isocyanates apart from the described prepolymers essential to the invention . aromatic , araliphatic , aliphatic and cycloaliphatic di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are suitable for this purpose . it is also possible to use mixtures of such di -, tri - or polyisocyanates . examples of suitable di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are butylene diisocyanate , hexamethylene diisocyanate ( hdi ), isophorone diisocyanate ( ipdi ), 1 , 8 - diisocyanato - 4 -( isocyanatomethyl ) octane , 2 , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate ( tmdi ), the isomeric bis ( 4 , 4 ′- isocyanatocyclohexyl ) methanes and mixtures thereof having any desired isomer content , isocyanatomethyl - 1 , 8 - octane diisocyanate , 1 , 4 - cyclohexylene diisocyanate , the isomeric cyclohexanedimethylene diisocyanates , 1 , 4 - phenylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 6 - toluylene diisocyanate , 1 , 5 - naphthylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 ′- or 4 , 4 ′- diphenylmethane diisocyanate , triphenylmethane 4 , 4 ′, 4 ″- triisocyanate or derivatives thereof having urethane , urea , carbodiimide , acyl urea , isocyanurate , allophanate , biuret , oxadiazinetrione , uretdione or iminooxadiazinedione structure and mixtures thereof . polyisocyanates based on oligomerized and / or derivatized diisocyanates , which were freed from excess diisocyanate by suitable processes , in particular those of hexamethylene diisocyanate , are preferred . the oligomeric isocyanurates , uretdiones and iminooxadiazinediones of hdi and mixtures thereof are particularly preferred . it is optionally also possible for the abovementioned isocyanate component a ) completely or proportionately to contain isocyanates , which are reacted completely or partly with blocking agents known to the person skilled in the art from coating technology . the following may be mentioned as an example of blocking agents : alcohols , lactams , oximes , malonic esters , alkyl acetoacetates , triazoles , phenols , imidazoles , pyrazoles and amines , such as , for example , butanone oxime , diisopropylamine , 1 , 2 , 4 - triazole , dimethyl - 1 , 2 , 4 - triazole , imidazole , diethyl malonate , ethyl acetoacetate , acetone oxime , 3 , 5 - dimethylpyrazole , ε - caprolactam , n - tert - butylbenzylamine , cyclopentanone carboxyethyl ester or any desired mixtures of these blocking agents . preferably exclusively the above - described prepolymers essential to the invention are used in a ). essentially all polyfunctional , isocyanate - reactive polyetherpolyols which preferably have on average at least 1 . 5 isocyanate - reactive groups per molecule can be used as component b ). isocyanate - reactive groups in the context of the present invention are preferably hydroxy compounds . suitable polyfunctional , isocyanate - reactive compounds of the abovementioned type are , for example , polyester -, polyether -, polycarbonate -, poly ( meth ) acrylate - and / or polyurethanepolyols , preferably hydroxy - functional polyetherpolyols . polyetherpolyols are optionally block polyadducts of cyclic ethers with oh - functional starter molecules . suitable cyclic ethers are , for example , styrene oxides , ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , tetrahydrofuran , butylene oxide , epichlorohydrin and any desired mixtures thereof . polyhydric alcohols having an oh functionality of 2 and primary or secondary amines and aminoalcohols can be used as starters . examples thereof are ethanediol , di -, tri -, tetraethylene glycol , 1 , 2 - propanediol , di -, tri - or tetrapropylene glycol , 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - butanediol , 1 , 3 - butanediol , 2 , 3 - butanediol , 1 , 5 - pentanediol , 1 , 6 - hexanediol , 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol , 1 , 4 - dihydroxycyclohexane , 1 , 4 - dimethylolcyclohexane , 1 , 8 - octanediol , 1 , 10 - decanediol , 1 , 12 - dodecanediol , trimethylolpropane , glycerol or any desired mixtures thereof with one another . such polyetherpolyols preferably have number average molar masses of 500 to 8500 g / mol , particularly preferably of 1000 to 6500 g / mol and very particularly preferably of 1900 to 4500 g / mol . the oh functionality is preferably 1 . 5 to 4 . 0 , particularly preferably 1 . 8 to 3 . 0 . in addition , aliphatic , araliphatic or cycloaliphatic di -, tri - or polyfunctional alcohols having a low molecular weight , i . e . having molecular weights of less than 500 g / mol , and having short chains , i . e . containing 2 to 20 carbon atoms , are also present as constituents of component b ). the use of pure hydroxy - functional polyetherpolyols is preferred . preferred compounds of component b ) are polypropylene oxides ), poly ( ethylene oxides ) and combinations thereof in the form of random or block copolymers , and block copolymers of propylene oxide and / or ethylene oxide . the proportion of ethylene oxide , based on percent by weight of the total product , is preferably less than 55 %, particularly preferably either between 55 % and 45 % or less than 30 % and very particularly preferably less than 10 %. difunctional polyetherpolyols based on propylene oxide and ethylene oxide , having a proportion of ethylene oxide of less than 10 % by weight , based on the total mass of the parent polyether , and a number average molar mass between 2000 and 4200 g / mol , are used as very particularly preferred compounds of component b ). the components a ) and b ) are used in the preparation of the photopolymer formulation in an oh / nco ratio to one another of , typically , from 0 . 9 to 1 . 2 , preferably from 0 . 95 to 1 . 05 . in component c ), urethane acrylates and / or urethane methacrylates having at least one aromatic structural unit and a refractive index of greater than 1 . 50 at 405 nm are used . urethane ( meth ) acrylates are understood as meaning compounds having at least one acrylate or methacrylate group , which additionally have at least one urethane bond . it is known that such compounds can be obtained by reacting a hydroxy - functional ( meth ) acrylate with an isocyanate - functional compound . examples of isocyanates which can be used for this purpose are aromatic , araliphatic , aliphatic and cycloaliphatic di -, tri - or polyisocyanates . it is also possible to use mixtures of such di -, tri - or polyisocyanates . examples of suitable di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are butylene diisocyanate , hexamethylene diisocyanate ( hdi ), isophorone diisocyanate ( ipdi ), 1 , 8 - diisocyanato - 4 -( isocyanatomethyl ) octane , 2 , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 4 , 4 - trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate , the isomeric bis ( 4 , 4 ′- isocyanatocyclohexyl ) methanes and mixtures thereof having any desired isomer content , isocyanatomethyl - 1 , 8 - octane diisocyanate , 1 , 4 - cyclohexylene diisocyanate , the isomeric cyclohexanedimethylene diisocyanates , 1 , 4 - phenylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 - and / or 2 , 6 - toluylene diisocyanate , 1 , 5 - naphthylene diisocyanate , 2 , 4 ′- or 4 , 4 ′- diphenylmethane diisocyanate , 1 , 5 - naphthylene diisocyanate , triphenylmethane 4 , 4 ′, 4 ″- triisocyanate and tris ( p - isocyanatophenyl ) thiophosphate or derivatives thereof having a urethane , urea , carbodiimide , acylurea , isocyanurate , allophanate , biuret , oxadiazinetrione , uretdione or iminooxadiazinedione structure and mixtures thereof . aromatic di -, tri - or polyisocyanates are preferred . suitable hydroxy - functional acrylates or methacrylates for the preparation of urethane acrylates are , for example , compounds such as 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylate , polyethylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylates , polypropylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylates , polyalkylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylates , polys - caprolactone ) mono ( meth ) acrylates , such as , for example , tone ® m100 ( dow , schwalbach , germany ), 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl ( meth ) acrylate , 3 - hydroxy - 2 , 2 - dimethylpropyl ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , 2 - hydroxy - 3 - phenoxypropyl acrylate , the hydroxy - functional mono -, di - or tetraacrylates of polyhydric alcohols , such as trimethylolpropane , glycerol , pentaerythritol , dipentaerythritol , ethoxylated , propoxylated or alkoxylated trimethylolpropane , glycerol , pentaerythritol , dipentaerythritol or the industrial mixtures thereof . 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate and poly ( c - caprolactone ) mono ( meth ) acrylates are preferred . in addition , are as isocyanate - reactive oligomeric or polymeric unsaturated compounds containing acrylate and / or methacrylate groups alone or in combination with the abovementioned monomeric compounds suitable . the epoxy ( meth ) acrylates known per se , containing hydroxyl groups and having oh contents of 20 to 300 mg koh / g or polyurethane ( meth ) acrylates containing hydroxyl groups and having oh contents of 20 to 300 mg koh / g or acrylated polyacrylates having oh contents of 20 to 300 mg koh / g or mixtures thereof with one another and mixtures with unsaturated polyesters containing hydroxyl groups and mixtures with polyester ( meth ) acrylates or mixtures of unsaturated polyesters containing hydroxyl groups with polyester ( meth ) acrylates can also be used . epoxy acrylates containing hydroxyl groups and having a defined hydroxy functionality are preferred . epoxy ( meth ) acrylates containing hydroxyl groups are based in particular on reaction products of acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid with epoxides ( glycidyl compounds ) of monomeric , oligomeric or polymeric bisphenol a , bisphenol f , hexanediol and / or butanediol or the ethoxylated and / or propoxylated derivatives thereof . furthermore , epoxy acrylates having a defined functionality , as can be obtained from the known reaction of acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid and glycidyl ( meth ) acrylate , are preferred . urethane ( meth ) acrylates of the abovementioned type , which have at least one aromatic structural unit , are preferably used . these urethane ( meth ) acrylates have refractive indices of , typically , greater than 1 . 50 , preferably greater than 1 . 55 and very particularly preferably greater than 1 . 58 at 405 nm . particularly preferred compounds to be used as component c ) are urethane acrylates and urethane methacrylates based on aromatic isocyanates and 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate , polyethylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylate , polypropylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylate , polyalkylene oxide mono ( meth ) acrylate and poly ( s - caprolactone ) mono ( meth ) acrylates . in a very particularly preferred embodiment , the adducts of aromatic triisocyanates ( very particularly preferably tris ( 4 - phenylisocyanato ) thiophosphate or trimers of aromatic diisocyanates , such as toluene diisocyanate ) with hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate are used as component c ). in a further very particularly preferred embodiment , adducts of 3 - thiomethylphenyl isocyanate with hydroxyethyl acrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate , 4 - hydroxybutyl acrylate are used as component c . for example , inhibitors and antioxidants , as described , for example , in “ methoden der organischen chemie [ methods of organic chemistry ]” ( houben - weyl ), 4th edition , volume xiv / 1 , page 433 et seq ., georg thieme verlag , stuttgart 1961 , are suitable as compounds of the component d ). suitable classes of substances are , for example , phenols , such as , for example , 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol , cresols , hydroquinones , benzyl alcohols , such as , for example , benzhydrol , optionally also quinones , such as , for example , 2 , 5 - di - tert - butylquinone , optionally also aromatic amines , such as diisopropylamine or phenothiazine . one or more photoinitiators are used as component e ). these are usually initiators which can be activated by actinic radiation and initiate polymerization of the corresponding polymerizable groups . photoinitiators are commercially distributed compounds known per se , a distinction being made between monomolecular ( type i ) and bimolecular ( type ii ) initiators . furthermore , depending on their chemical nature , these initiators are used for free radical , anionic ( or ), cationic ( or mixed ) forms for the abovementioned polymerizations . type ( ii ) initiators , such as the photoinitiator systems described in ep - a 0223587 and consisting of a mixture of an ammonium arylborate and one or more dyes , are used here . for example , tetrabutylammonium triphenylhexylborate , tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - fluorophenyl ) hexylborate and tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - chloro - 4 - methylphenyl ) hexylborate are suitable as ammonium arylborate . suitable dyes are , for example , new methylene blue , thionine , basic yellow , pinacynol chloride , rhodamin 6g , gallocyanine , ethyl violet , victoria blue r , celestine blue , quinaldine red , crystal violet , brilliant green , astrazon orange g , darrow red , pyronin y , basic red 29 , pyrillium i , cyanine and methylene blue , azure a ( cunningham et al ., radtech &# 39 ; 98 north america uv / eb conference proceedings , chicago , apr . 19 - 22 , 1998 ). preferred photo initiators e ) are mixtures of tetrabutylammonium tetrahexylborate , tetrabutylammonium triphenylhexylborate , tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - fluorophenyl ) hexylborate and tetrabutylammonium tris -( 3 - chloro - 4 - methylphenyl ) hexylborate ( component e1 )) with dyes , such as , for example , astrazon orange g , methylene blue , new methylene blue , azure a , pyrillium i , safranin o , cyanine , gallocyanine , brilliant green , crystal violet , ethyl violet and thionine ( component e2 )). the combination of one blue - sensitive , one green - sensitive and one red - sensitive dye ( e . g . astrazon orange g , ethyl violet and new methylene blue ) and one of the above mentioned borate salts is particularly preferred . optionally one or more catalysts may be used as compounds of component f ). these are catalysts for accelerating the urethane formation . known catalysts for this purpose are , for example , tin octanoate , zinc octanoate , dibutyltin dilaurate , dimethylbis [( 1 - oxoneodecyl ) oxy ] stannane , dimethyltin dicarboxylate , zirconium bis ( ethylhexanoate ), zirconium acetylacetonate or tertiary amines such as , for example , 1 , 4 - diazabicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 2 ] octane , diazabicyclononane , diazabicycloundecane , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethylguanidine , 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 - hexahydro - 1 - methyl - 2h - pyrimido ( 1 , 2 - a ) pyrimidine . dibutyltin dilaurate , dimethylbis [( 1 - oxoneodecyl ) oxy ] stannane , dimethyltin dicarboxylate , 1 , 4 - diazabicyclo [ 2 . 2 . 2 ] octane , diazabicyclononane , diazabicycloundecane , 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethylguanidine , 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 - hexahydro - 1 - methyl - 2h - pyrimido ( 1 , 2 - a ) pyrimidine are preferred . for the printing application , it is important to use additives g ) in order to achieve a printable composition which also gives a satisfactory printed image . these may be , for example , additives customary in the area of coating technology , such as solvents , plasticizers , levelling agents , antifoams or adhesion promoters . preferably used plasticizers are liquids having good dissolving properties , low volatility and a high boiling point . surface active compounds , such as , for example , polydimethylsiloxanes , can be used as levelling agents . it may also be advantageous simultaneously to use a plurality of additives of one type . of course , it may also be advantageous to use a plurality of additives of a plurality of types . the photopolymer formulations according to the invention have , in component a ), preferably at least 10 % by weight , particularly preferably at least 15 % by weight and very particularly preferably at least 20 % by weight , based on the photopolymer formulations , of the unsaturated urethanes c ) essential to the invention , as writing monomers . the proportion of these writing monomers c ), based on the total formulation , is , however , preferably not more than 70 % by weight , particularly preferably not more than 50 % by weight . in addition to establishing a suitable viscosity adapted to the chosen printing process , the surface tension of the photopolymer formulation should also be adapted for achieving a good printed image , in order to ensure the levelling and the stability of the printed image . this is achieved , for example , by the addition of suitable additives for separation , defoaming or levelling . these can be checked in series experiments by experiments familiar to the person skilled in the art using polyester - modified polydimethylsiloxanes , fluorine - modified polymers , foam - destroying polysiloxanes , hydrophobic solids and emulsifiers , polyether - modified polymethylalkylsiloxane or nonionic polyacrylate copolymers and can be optimized in line with the printing press . in each case 0 . 001 to 0 . 2 % by weight of the three dyes e2 ), which are tailored in the absorption spectrum to the red , green and blue laser wavelengths preferably , the polyurethane compositions according to the invention comprise 15 to 30 % by weight of the component a ) in each case 0 . 01 to 0 . 2 % by weight of the three dyes e2 ), which are tailored in the absorption spectrum to the red , green and blue laser wavelengths the polyurethane compositions according to the invention particularly preferably comprise 17 to 30 % by weight of the component a ) in each case 0 . 03 to 0 . 1 % by weight of the three dyes e2 ), which are tailored in the absorption spectrum to the red , green and blue laser wavelengths the present invention furthermore relates to the article which is obtained by printing onto a transparent substrate as support layer ( i ) with the prepolymer - based polyurethane formulation essential to the invention . preferred materials or material composites of the support layer ( i ) are based on polycarbonate ( pc ), polyethylene terephthalate ( pet ), polybutylene terephthalate , polyethylene , polypropylene , cellulose acetate , cellulose hydrate , cellulose nitrate , cycloolefin polymers , polystyrene , polyepoxides , polysulfone , cellulose triacetate ( cta ), polyamide , polymethyl methacrylate , polyvinyl chloride , polyvinyl butyral or polydicyclopentadiene or mixtures thereof . in addition , material composites , such as film laminates or coextrudates , can be used as support film ( i ). examples of material composites are duplex and triplex films having a composition according to one of the schemes a / b , a / b / a or a / b / c , such as pc / pet , pet / pc / pet and pc / tpu ( tpu = thermoplastic polyurethane ). pc and pet are particularly preferably used as support film ( i ). transparent supports ( i ) which are optically clear , i . e . not hazy , are preferred . the haze is measureable via the haze value , which is less than 3 . 5 %, preferably less than 1 %, particularly preferably less than 0 . 3 %. the haze value describes the fraction of transmitted light which is scattered in a forward direction by the sample exposed to light . thus , it is a measure of the opacity or haze of transparent materials and quantifies material defects , particles , inhomogeneities or crystalline phase boundaries in the material or its surface which adversely affect the transparency . the method for measuring the haze is described in the standard astm d 1003 . the support ( i ) preferably has a birefringence which is not too high , i . e . typically a mean optical retardation of less than 1000 nm , preferably of less than 700 nm , particularly preferably of less than 300 nm . the retardation r is the mathematical product of birefringence δn and the thickness of the support d . the automatic and objective measurement of the retardation is effected using an imaging polarimeter , for example from ilis gmbh , stainmatic ® m3 / m model . the retardation is measured in perpendicular incidence . the retardation values stated for the support ( i ) are lateral mean values . the support ( i ), including possible coatings on one or both sides , typically has a thickness of 5 to 2000 μm , preferably 8 to 300 μm , particularly preferably 30 to 200 μm and in particular 125 to 175 μm or 30 to 45 μm . the photopolymer layers ( ii ) applied by printing preferably have a total layer thickness , based on all photopolymer layers applied in layer ( ii ), of not more than 200 μm , particularly preferably 3 to 100 μm , very particularly preferably 15 to 60 μm . in addition to the constituents ( i ) and ( ii ), the film composite may have one or more covering layers ( iii ) on the photopolymer layer ( ii ) in order to protect it from dirt and environmental influences . plastics films or film composite systems , but also clear coats , can be used for this purpose . the film materials analogous to the materials used in the support layer are preferably used as covering layers ( iii ), said film materials having a thickness of , typically , 5 to 200 μm , preferably 8 to 125 μm , particularly preferably 20 to 50 μm . covering layers ( iii ) having as smooth a surface as possible are preferred . the roughness determined according to din en iso 4288 “ geometrical product specifications ( gps )— surface texture . . . ”, test condition r3z front and back , is used as a measure . preferred roughnesses are in the range of less than or equal to 2 μm , preferably less than or equal to 0 . 5 μm . pe or pet films having a thickness of 20 to 60 μm are preferably used as covering layers ( iii ); a polyethylene film of 40 μm thickness is particularly preferably used . further protective layers , for example a lower lamination of the support film ( i ), may be used . the printing process according to the invention for the production of films and coatings and the recording of visual holograms is preferably carried out in such a way that the synthesis components of the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , with the exception of component a ) are homogeneously mixed with one another , and component a ) is admixed only immediately before the application to the substrate or in the mould . all pump systems which are known to the person skilled in the art and in particular transport independently of counter pressure , with little pulsation and precisely are suitable for transport and the necessary accuracy for the metering . accordingly , a diaphragm pump , gear pumps , eccentric screw pumps ( mohno pumps ), peristaltic pumps and piston pumps are preferred . gear pumps and eccentric screw pumps ( mohno pumps ) are particularly preferred . preferred metered amounts are in the range from 2 ml / min to 1000 ml / min , particularly preferably in the range from 2 ml / min to 100 ml / min all methods and apparatuses known per se to the person skilled in the art from mixing technology , such as , for example stirred tanks or both dynamic and static mixers , can be used for mixing . however , apparatuses without dead spaces or with only small dead spaces are preferred . furthermore , methods in which the mixing is effected within a very short time and with very vigorous mixing of the two components to be mixed are preferred . in particular , dynamic mixers , especially those in which the components come into contact with one another only in the mixer , are suitable for this purpose . the temperatures during this procedure are 0 to 100 ° c ., preferably 10 to 80 ° c ., particularly preferably 20 to 60 ° c . if necessary , devolatilization of the individual components or the total mixture under reduced pressure of , for example , 1 mbar can also be carried out . devolatilization , in particular after addition of the component a ), is preferred in order to prevent bubble formation by residual gases in the media obtainable . before admixing of the component a ), the mixtures can be stored as a storage - stable intermediate product , optionally over several months . after the admixing of the component a ) of the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , a clear , liquid formulation is obtained which , depending on composition , cures at room temperature within a few seconds to a few hours . the ratio and the type and reactivity of the synthesis components of the polyurethane compositions is preferably adjusted so that the curing after admixing of the component a ) occurs within minutes to one hour at room temperature . in a preferred embodiment , the curing is accelerated by heating the formulation after the admixing to temperatures between 30 and 180 ° c ., preferably 40 to 120 ° c ., particularly preferably 50 to 100 ° c . the abovementioned adjustment with regard to the curing behaviour is easily possible for a person skilled in the art in the form of routine experiments within the abovementioned quantity range of the components and the synthesis components available in each case for choice , and in particular the preferred synthesis components . the polyurethane compositions according to the invention have viscosities at 25 ° c . of , typically , 10 to 100 , 000 mpa · s , preferably 100 to 20 , 000 mpa · s , particularly preferably 200 to 10 , 000 mpa · s , especially preferably 500 to 5000 mpa · s , immediately after complete mixing of all the components , so that they have very good processing properties even in solvent - free form . in solution with suitable solvents , viscosities at 25 ° c . of below 10 , 000 mpa · s , preferably below 2000 mpa · s , particularly preferably below 500 mpa · s , can be established . polyurethane compositions of the abovementioned type which cure with a catalyst content of 0 . 004 % by weight to 0 . 1 % by weight at 80 ° c . in less than 6 minutes have proved to be advantageous ; concentrations between 0 . 01 % by weight and 0 . 08 % by weight are preferred and concentrations between 0 . 03 % by weight and 0 . 06 % by weight are particularly preferred . all respective customary printing processes known to the person skilled in the art , such as , in particular , knife coating , casting , printing , screen printing , spraying or inkjet printing , are suitable for application to a substrate . preferred application methods are screen printing and inkjet printing . in general , printing processes are understood as meaning procedures and working methods for duplicating two - dimensional originals . in older printing processes , the printing ink is transferred from an original by a printing press onto the material on which printing is to be effected ; newer printing processes use digital printing systems for this purpose . the first - mentioned printing processes are divided into printing plate production and print run in the production phases . depending on the peculiarity of the printing plate , a distinction is made between different printing processes . in relief printing , all printing parts are raised in a plane , are inked and release the printing ink to the print medium . in letterpress printing , the printing plate consists of letters and / or machine composition lines , stereotypes and electrotypes ; in indirect relief printing ( letterset printing ), the printing plate consists of a generally etched , curved metal plate ( wrap - around plate ); in flexographic printing ( flexography , formerly aniline printing , aniline rubber - plate printing , rubber - plate printing ), the printing plate consists of flexible rubber or plastic . in planographic printing , printing and nonprinting parts of the printing plate are virtually in a plane . the printing plate is chemically treated so that it accepts ink only in the printing parts . in gravure printing , low - viscosity ink is introduced into the printing wells , and the surface of the printing plate is cleaned again by a doctor blade , whereupon the impression is produced ( rotogravure [ intaglio printing ], intaglio line printing , siderography , etc .). in screen printing , the printing ink is pressed through a template ( stretched screen , for example comprising man made silk , on a printing frame ) by means of a squeegee onto the print medium . in pad printing or indirect gravure printing , the original is transferred with the aid of a pad ( comprising porous silicone rubber ) from one surface ( generally a gravure printing plate ) onto another , for example cups , ballpoint pens , and can therefore also be applied into the depression of a deformed print medium . in stamping , the individual printing plates are pressed onto the print medium . in frottage , the marble , granite or limestone plate engraved with text serves as a block . a moist paper was placed over this lithographic printing plate and then pressed with cloth into the wells of the engraved texts , after which the paper was brushed with a tusche , the wells remaining white and legible , and a negative copy forming . in pigmentography , in contrast to pigment printing , soft - ground etching and screen printing processes are to be included at the end as an independent graphic arts process . in the printing technique brought into being by a1 bernstein in the usa in the 70s as trace print , the individual printing plates are cut and pierced in the positive - negative process , it being possible to print very fine lines and dots , in contrast to pochoir . in the printing process , printing ink , coloured pigments , are brushed through the printing screen by hand and are then fixed . bubble - jet printers produce tiny ink drops with the aid of a heating element which heats the water in the ink . this results in the explosive formation of a tiny vapour bubble , which , through its pressure , presses an ink drop out of the nozzle . two systems are used here : lexmark and hp in the deskjet series employs flat nozzle elements which substantially consist of two plates . the plate facing the paper contains a tiny nozzle bore , and the vapour bubble forms opposite this bore ( sideshooter ). the process is very simple to produce and is therefore economical but has the disadvantage of a limited lifetime of the printing heads . exchangeable printing heads are used in all of them . in its printers , canon operates with a bubble - jet technique in which the nozzles are present at right angles to the heating elements ( edgeshooter ). the process is very similar to the piezo process , except that the expulsion pressure is generated not by a piezoelectric element but by a vapour bubble . the individual heating element operates at a frequency up to 10 khz . piezo printers utilize the piezoelectric effect in piezoelectric ceramic elements to deform under electrical voltage in order to press printing ink through a fine nozzle . the ink forms drops , the drop volume of which can be controlled via the magnitude of the applied electrical pulse . the operating frequency of a piezo crystal ranges up to 23 khz . in valve printers , individual valves which open when a drop is to leave the nozzle are mounted on the nozzles . the present invention furthermore relates to the use of the imprinted articles according to the invention for recording visual holograms , for the production of optical elements , images and displays and a method for recording holograms using the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , and the media or holographic films obtainable therefrom . with the polyurethane compositions according to the invention , holograms for optical applications in the entire visible range and in the near uv range ( 300 - 800 nm ) can be produced by appropriate exposure processes . visual holograms comprise all holograms which can be recorded by methods known to the person skilled in the art , including , inter alia , in - line ( gabor ) holograms , off - axis holograms , full - aperture transfer holograms , white light transmission holograms (“ rainbow holograms ”), denisyuk holograms , off - axis reflection holograms , edge - lit holograms and holographic stereograms ; reflection holograms , denisyuk holograms , transmission holograms are preferred . optical elements , such as lenses , mirrors , deflecting mirrors , filters , diffusion screens , diffraction elements , light conductors , waveguides , projection screens and / or masks are preferred . frequently , these optical elements show a frequency selectivity depending on how the holograms were exposed and which dimensions the hologram has . in addition , holographic images or displays , such as , for example , for personal portraits , biometric representations in security documents , or generally of images or image structures for advertising , security labels , trade mark protection , trade mark branding , labels , design elements , decorations , illustrations , reward cards , images and the like , and images which can represent digital data , inter alia also in combination with the products described above , can also be produced by means of the polyurethane compositions according to the invention . holographic images may give the impression of a three - dimensional image , but they can also represent image sequences , short films or a number of different objects , depending on the angle from which they are illuminated , with which light source ( including moving ones ) they are illuminated , etc . owing to this variety of design possibilities , holograms , in particular volume holograms , constitute an attractive technical solution for the abovementioned application . desmodur ® xp 2599 is an experimental product of bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany , full allophanate of hexane diisocyanate on acclaim 4200 , nco content : 5 . 6 - 6 . 4 % polyol 1 ( acclaim ® 4200 ) is a polypropylene oxide having a number average molar mass of 4000 g / mol from bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany . urethane acrylate 1 is an experimental product from bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany , urethane acrylate based on 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate and tris ( p - isocyanatophenyl ) thiophosphate . fomrez ® ul28 : urethanization catalyst , dimethylbis [( 1 - oxoneodecyl ) oxy ] stannane , commercial product of momentive performance chemicals , wilton , conn ., usa ( used as 10 % strength solution in n - ethylpyrrolidone ). cgi 909 is an experimental product marketed in 2009 by ciba inc ., basel , switzerland . new methylene blue ( zinc - free ): dye from sigma - aldrich chemie gmbh , steinheim , germany . ethyl violet : dye from mp biomedicals llc , solon , ohio , usa . byk 310 : silicone - based surface additive from byk - chemie gmbh , wesel , germany ( solution about 25 % strength in xylene ), number average molar mass about 2200 g / mol . measurement of the diffraction efficiency de and refractive index contrast δn : the media according to the invention which were produced in the experimental section and comparative media were tested with regard to their holographic properties by means of a measuring arrangement according to fig1 : the laminating film is peeled off the film composite , and the photopolymer material is then laminated with glass so that the substrate film faces outwards . the beam of an he — ne laser ( emission wavelength 633 nm ) was converted with the aid of the spatial filter ( sf ) and together with the collimation lens ( cl ) into a parallel homogenous beam . the final cross sections of the signal and reference beam are established by the iris diaphragms ( i ). the diameter of the iris diaphragm opening is 4 mm the polarization - dependent beam splitters ( pbs ) split the laser beam into two coherent equally polarized beams . via the λ / 2 plates , the power of the reference beam was adjusted to 0 . 5 mw and the power of the signal beam to 0 . 65 mw . the powers were determined using the semiconductor detectors ( d ) with sample removed . the angle of incidence ( a ) of the reference beam is 21 . 8 ° and the angle of incidence ( β ) of the signal beam is 41 . 8 °. at the location of the sample ( medium ), the interference field of the two overlapping beams produced a grating of light and dark strips which are perpendicular to the angle bisectors of the two beams incident on the sample ( reflection hologram ). the strip spacing in the medium is ˜ 225 nm ( refractive index of the medium assumed to be ˜ 1 . 49 ). both shutters ( s ) are opened for the exposure time t . thereafter , with shutters ( s ) closed , the medium was allowed a time of 5 minutes for diffusion of the still unpolymerized writing monomers . the holograms written were now read in the following manner . the shutter of the signal beam remained closed . the shutter of the reference beam was opened . the iris diaphragm of the reference beam was closed to a diameter of & lt ; 1 mm . this ensured that the beam was always completely in the previously written hologram for all angles ( ω ) of rotation of the medium . the turntable , under computer control , covered the angle range from ω = 0 ° to ω = 20 ° with an angle step width of 0 . 05 °. at each angle approached , the powers of the beam transmitted in the zeroth order were measured by means of the corresponding detector d and the powers of the beam diffracted in the first order were measured by means of the detector d . the diffraction efficiency η was obtained at each angle ω approached as the quotient of : p d is the power in the detector of the diffracted beam and p t is the power in the detector of the transmitted beam . by means of the method described above , the bragg curve ( it describes the diffraction efficiency η as a function of the angle ω of rotation of the written hologram ) was measured and was stored in a computer . in addition , the intensity transmitted in the zeroth order was also plotted against the angle ω of rotation and stored in a computer . the maximum diffraction efficiency ( de = η max ) of the hologram , i . e . its peak value , was determined . it may have been necessary for this purpose to change the position of the detector of the diffracted beam in order to determine this maximum value . the refractive index contrast δn and the thickness d of the photopolymer layer were now determined by means of the coupled wave theory ( cf . h . kogelnik , the bell system technical journal , volume 48 , november 1969 , number 9 page 2909 - page 2947 ) from the measured bragg curve and the variation of the transmitted intensity as a function of angle . the method is described below : according to kogelnik , the following is true for the bragg curve η /( ω ) of a reflection hologram : η = 1 1 + 1 - ( χ / φ ) 2 sinh 2 ( φ 2 - χ 2 ) φ is the grating thickness , χ is the detuning parameter and ψ is the angle of tilt of the refractive index grating which was written . α ′ and β ′ correspond to the angles of α and β during writing of the hologram , but in the medium . δθ is the angle detuning measured in the medium , i . e . the deviation from the angle α ′. δω is the angle detuning measured outside the medium , i . e . the deviation from the angle α . n is the average refractive index of the photopolymer and was set at 1 . 504 . the maximum diffraction efficiency ( de = η max ) is then obtained for χ = 0 , i . e . δω = 0 , as : the measured data of the diffraction efficiency , the theoretical bragg curve and the transmitted intensity are as shown in fig2 plotted against the centred angle rotation ω - α - shift . since , owing to geometric shrinkage and the change in the average refractive index during photopolymerization , the angle at which de is measured differs from α , the x axis is centred around this shift . the shift is typically 0 ° to 2 °. since de is known , the shape of the theoretical bragg curve according to kogelnik is determined only by the thickness d of the photopolymer layer . an is subsequently corrected via de for a given thickness d so that measurement and theory of de always agree . d is now adapted until the angle positions of the first secondary minima of the theoretical bragg curve agree with the angle positions of the first secondary maxima of the transmitted intensity and additionally the full width at half maximum ( fwhm ) for the theoretical bragg curve and the transmitted intensity agree . since the direction in which a reflection hologram concomitantly rotates on reconstruction by means of an ω scan , but the detector for the diffracted light can detect only a finite angle range , the bragg curve of broad holograms ( small d ) is not completely detected in an ω - scan , but only the central region ( with suitable detector positioning ). that shape of the transmitted intensity which is complementary to the bragg curve is therefore additionally used for adapting the layer thickness d . for a formulation , this procedure was possibly repeated several times with different exposure times t on different media in order to determine the average energy dose of the incident laser beam at which de reaches the saturation value during writing of the hologram . the average energy dose e is obtained as follows : the powers of the part - beams were adapted so that the same power density is achieved in the medium at the angles α and β used . 0 . 1 g of 2 , 6 - di - tert - butyl - 4 - methylphenol , 0 . 05 g dibutyltin dilaurate ( desmorapid z , bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany ) and 213 . 07 g of a 27 % strength solution of tris ( p - isocyanatophenyl ) thiophosphate in ethyl acetate ( desmodur ® rfe , product of bayer materialscience ag , leverkusen , germany ) were initially introduced into a 500 ml round - bottomed flask and heated to 60 ° c . thereafter , 42 . 37 g of 2 - hydroxyethyl acrylate were added dropwise and the mixture was further kept at 60 ° c . until the isocyanate content had fallen below 0 . 1 %. thereafter , cooling was effected and the ethyl acetate was completely removed in vacuo . the product was obtained as a semicrystalline solid . for the production of the holographic media , the component c , the component d ( which may already have been predissolved in the component c ) and optionally the components g and f are dissolved in the component b , optionally at 60 ° c ., and thoroughly mixed . thereafter , the component e , in pure form or in dilute solution in nep , is weighed in in the dark or with suitable illumination and mixing is effected again . optionally , it is heated for not more than 10 minutes in a drying oven to 60 ° c . the mixture obtained can be devolatilized with stirring at & lt ; 10 mbar . the photopolymer formulation thus obtained is applied to the prepared screen for screen printing and then processed in a semiautomatic or fully automatic operation . for this purpose , the printing parameters , such as , for example , the squeegee speed , can be adapted to the printed image . the formulation is pressed through the template ( mesh ) by means of the squeegee onto the substrate to be printed on . thereafter , the screen is filled again by means of the flood squeegee and a new cycle is started . after the printing , the substrate is removed from the screen printing press and is dried . this can be carried out in the downstream tunnel drier or separately in a rack trolley or oven . the imprinted substrates are dried at about 80 ° c . and then covered with one of the abovementioned covering layers and packed in a light - tight packaging . the thickness d of the photopolymer layer is obtained from the coating parameters of the corresponding coating device which are known to the person skilled in the art . the following examples are mentioned for illustrating the method according to the invention but are not intended to be understood as being limiting . unless noted otherwise , all stated percentages of the photopolymers are based on percent by weight . 13 . 75 g of urethane acrylate 1 , then 0 . 028 g of fomrez ® ul 28 and 2 . 75 g of byk 310 and finally a solution of 0 . 825 g of cgi 909 , 0 . 028 g of new methylene blue , 0 . 028 g of ethyl violet and 0 . 028 g of astrazon orange g in 1 . 95 g of n - ethylpyrilidone were added stepwise in the dark to 26 . 1 g of polyol 1 and mixed so that a clear solution was obtained . thereafter , 9 . 45 g of desmodur ® xp 2599 were added at 30 ° c . and mixing was effected again . the liquid material obtained was then printed onto 175 μm thick polycarbonate film , dried for 10 minutes at 80 ° c . and laminated with a pe film . the above printable formulation was pressed through a screen comprising the fabric pes 80 / 55 pw ( vs - monoprint polyester ) on a semiautomatic screen printing press at - 80 p from esc . the open screen area in the case of this fabric is about 31 %. in the experiments , it was found that , in this set - up , a slower squeegee speed has produced a better printed image . however this must be viewed in isolation since this is dependent in each case on the entire interplay of the individual components ( squeegee rubber , squeegee angle , fabric type , etc .). it was also possible to produce functional patterns with a medium / faster squeegee speed with the at - 80 p . the following measured values for δn were obtained at the dose e : the values found for δn and the required dose show that the photopolymers according to the invention are very suitable as holographic media in the context of the above description . particularly good holographic media can be obtained if low squeegee speeds are set on a screen printing press . | 8 |
the present invention is based on the isolation of a mucin having a high molecular weight of 425 , 000 d from the sputum of a patient with cystic fibrosis . this protein may be responsible for the increased viscosity of the sputum since increasing its concentration results in a rise in viscosity . also , as in the case of the crude sputum , the viscosity of the purified mucin can be decreased by treatment with sulfhydryl reducing agents . similar results were also obtained with sputum obtained from patients suffering from pneumuccocal pneumonia , chronic bronchitis and the like . the biochemical effect of the reducing agents on sputum mucin viscosity is to split the molecule into a component which retains most of the carbohydrate and at least two small peptides having molecular weights of 65 , 000 daltons and 27 , 000 daltons . this structural change leads to a dramatic alteration of the rheological properties of the molecule . this alteration of the rheological properties of the molecule would allow the body to rid itself of the mucus secretions via the normal body processes . although we did find the use of sulfhydryl compounds to be very effective in reducing the mucus viscosity , the administration of sulfhydryl compounds to mammals has not proven to be a satisfactory method for treating mucin with sulfhydryl compounds to be administered either intravenously or orally . in particular , fairly large doses of the sulfhydryl compound must be given to compensate for the reaction of the free thiol with plasma and gastrointestinal proteins while enroute to the lungs and other organs where mucus impaction may have occurred . at the dosages which must be given , the sulfhydryl compounds can lead to toxic side effects . we have now discovered the problem which we encountered with the administration of sulfhydryl compounds to reduce mucin viscosity may be overcome by administering the compounds which are converted to sulfhydryl groups in vivo . suitable compounds include pharmaceutically acceptable thiosulfates , thiophosphates , disulfides and the like . the compounds which are suitable for use in the present invention are all characterized by containing a blocked sulfhydryl group wherein the blocking agent is removed in vivo to form a sulfhydryl group . suitable compounds include aminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , aminoalkylphosphorothioates , thiosulfatoalkylamines , phenalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , hydroxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , hydroxyaminoalkylphosphorothioates , alkoxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , cycloalkyloxyaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , phenoxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , cycloalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , cycloalkylalkylaminoalkylphosphorothioates , cycloalkylalkylaminoalkyldisulfides , phenoxyalkylaminoethyldisulfides , hydroxyalkylaminoalkyldisulfides , alkylamidiniumthiosulfates , acetamidine derivatives containing a blocked sulfhydryl group , arylalkylamidiniumthiosulfates , aminoalkylaminoalkylphosphorothioates , quinolyloxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , pyridyloxyalkylaminoalkylthiosulfuric acids , phenoxy - and phenylthioalkylamidiniumthiosulfates , cycloalkylamidiniumthiosulfates , and the like . in general , any compound containing a blocked sulfhydryl group which is pharmaceutically acceptable may be employed in the present invention provided its blocked sulfhydryl group is converted to the free sulfhydryl group in vivo . the following compounds are preferred for use in the present invention : 6 . ch 3 ( ch 2 ) 9 nhch 2 ch 2 sso 3 h 7 . ch 3 ( ch 2 ) 9 nhch 2 ch 2 spo 3 h 2 of these compounds , ( 11 ) is particularly preferred . this compound has been designated wr 2721 in toxological tests conducted at the walter reed army medical center . this compound has been proposed as a novel antiradiation drug and is the subject of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 892 , 824 . in the treatment of the present invention , the compound containing the blocked sulfhydryl group is administered to the patient at a dosage rate sufficient to reduce the mucin viscosity . dosage rates ranging from 1 mg / kg / day to an excess of 100 mg / kg / day have proven satisfactory . dosage rates in the order of from 5 to 50 mg / kg / day are preferably employed . a particularly preferred dosage rate involves the administration of 5 mg / kg four times a day . the compound may be administered either orally or intravenously in conjunction with a suitable pharmaceutical carrier . intravenous administration may involve the use of physiological saline solutions which may or may not contain a sodium carboxy methyl cellulose and if desired tween 80 ®. obviously , simple physiological saline solutions may be employed ; water alone can be used , or the like . in the preferred method the compound is administered orally with a suitable solid carrier . if desired , adjuvants such as buffers and the like may be employed . it may be embodied in suitable tablet form , such as a wr 2721 containing tablet provided with an enteric coating , mr 2721 being present in major or minor amount . it may also be administered in a suitable capsule , of gelatin or the like . u . s . pat . no . 3 , 892 , 824 reports on the toxicity of the compounds falling within formula i above . animal studies conducted on these compounds revealed ld 50 &# 39 ; s ranging from 450 mg / kg up to 1 , 300 mg / kg . for the compound identified as wr 2721 no toxicity problems were encountered at regular doses of up to 100 mg / kg / day in these toxological tests . in tests on wr 2721 for its possible side effects , dosages were given to human volunteers at rates of up to 30 mg / kg / day without any adverse effects being noted . for this reason compound wr 2721 is the preferred compound in view of the extensive pharmaceutical tests in connection with its use as an antiradiation drug which have been performed to date . having generally described this invention , a further understanding can be obtained by reference to certain specific examples which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified . mdp was prepared by boiling wr 2721 in 1 m hcl under nitrogen for five minutes . the solution was neutralized with sodium bicarbonate . sputa were obtained by postural drainage from a 7 - year old male patient with a confirmed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis . samples were collected in jars containing 0 . 5 ml of injectable gentamycin sulfate . upon receipt the samples were added to 0 . 1 ml of a 1 m sodium azide solution and processed within 24 hours of collection . a 10 - ml aliquot of whole cystic fibrosis sputum was applied to a column ( 4 × 70 cm ) of biogel a5m ( biorad corporation , richmond , ca ) equilibrated with 0 . 01 m phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ) containing 0 . 1 m nacl and 1 mm sodium azide and eluted with the same buffer . the material appearing in the void volume was pooled and designated component i . after isolation on biogel a5m , component i was passed successively through 0 . 8 , 0 . 5 and 0 . 22μ filters ( millipore corporation , bedford , ma ) to eliminate any possible bacterial contamination . component i was concentrated to 5 ml by volume dialysis in tubing of 5 / 8 &# 34 ; diameter ( sga scientific , bloomfield , nj ) and added to a final concentration of 4 % sds . this sample was washed through an amicon xm100a filter ( amicon , lexington , ma ) under n 2 pressure with 500 ml of 0 . 01 m phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ) containing 0 . 1 m nacl and 4 % sds . the material retained by the filter was designated component ia and was reconcentrated by vacuum dialysis for use in subsequent experiments . sds - polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis ( 5 - 16 % acrylamide ) was performed by the method of maizel , j . v . ( 1971 ) methods virol . 5 : 179 - 246 . gels were stained with either coomassie blue ; fairbanks , g ., t . l . steck , d . f . h . wallach , ( 1971 ) biochem . 10 : 2606 - 2617 ; or periodic acid - schiff reagent ; zacharias , r . j ., t . e . zell , j . h . morrison , j . j . woodlock , ( 1969 ) anal . biochem . 31 : 148 - 152 . sds - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed on component ia . the major constituent of component ia has an apparent molecular weight of 425 kd . a number of other constituents , one of which ( 60 kd ) is the main contaminant , remain after the amicon - sds diafiltration . efforts to remove these contaminants have not been successful . following treatment of component ia with reducing agents gel electrophoresis revealed several new coomassie blue staining bands at 65 kd ( 65 , 000 daltons ) and 27 kd . these peptides were apparently split from the large molecular weight mucin ( 425 kd ) since pas staining of another gel revealed a pas positive band in the same area as the original mucin . the viscosity of crude sputum specimens before and after the addition of sulfhydryl agents was measured in a 0 . 2 ml pipette by determining the time required for 0 . 08 ml to run out . purified mucin samples were concentrated by vacuum dialysis and dialyzed against 0 . 01 m phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 0 ) for several days . their viscosity was then measured using a beckman low - shear rotary viscometer ( model 250010 ). the viscosity of fibrinogen solutions of various concentrations was similarly measured . all viscometric studies were performed at room temperature . changes in viscosity with the addition of 5 mm dte were measured by adding 50 λ of a 500 mm aqueous solution of dte to 5 ml of sample . the relationship of protein concentration to viscosity is shown in fig1 for components i , ia and fibrinogen , a large molecular weight glycoprotein . the effect of 5 mm dte on whole sputum , component i and component ia is shown in fig2 . both purified mucin fractions behave like sputum with respect to viscosity changes upon addition of dte . changes in sputum viscosity upon the addition of various agents are shown in table i . of the sulfhydryl compounds tested , dte was the most efficacious in vitro . the oxidized forms of glutathione and lipoic acid were very much less active than their corresponding thiols , oxidized lipoic acid being totally ineffective in reducing sputum viscosity in vitro . since dte might be acting as a metal chelator , and as a result of early reports the high concentration of edta could reduce sputum viscosity , nonsulfhydryl chelators were assayed in this system and found to be without effect . addition of 5 mm mdp to cystic fibrosis sputum reduced the viscosity by 70 % in 15 minutes as shown in fig3 . the parent thiophosphate ( wr 2721 ) had no effect on sputum viscosity . table i______________________________________short - term viscosity changes ofwhole cystic fibrosis sputum1 mm agent minimum rel . timeadded viscosity * ( min . ) ______________________________________dte 21 % 10antabuse 50 % 10dimercaptosuccinate 50 % 15gsh 33 % 40gssg 67 % 15lipoate 100 % 60dihydrolipoate 36 % 10d - penicillamine 32 % 20wr 2721 30 % 15edta 100 % 60egta 100 % 60h . sub . 2 o . sub . 2 100 % 60______________________________________ * expressed as % of control viscosity . tissue concentrations of mdp were determined at various times after intraperitoneal and oral administration of wr 2721 to mice . lung and liver homogenates obtained by 5 minutes of hand douncing in 1 ml saline , or 1 mm thick tissue slices , were incubated with 1 mg / ml of wr 2721 at 37 ° c . aliquots were taken at various times for assessment of conversion to mdp . blood was obtained by retro - orbital puncture , the mice sacrificed with co 2 , and the lungs removed . the lung and liver homogenates ( 0 . 9 % in saline w / v ) and blood samples were treated with trichloroacetic acid to a final concentration of 10 %, and allowed to stand at 4 ° c . for ten minutes . samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for ten minutes and the supernatant neutralized with sodium bicarbonate . these neutralized supernatants were assayed for the presence of sulfhydryl groups by the method of ellman et al , ( 1959 ) arch . biochem . biophys . 82 : 70 - 77 . wr 2721 appears in the blood of mice as the free thiol after both oral and i . p . administration . the kinetics of appearance of mdp in the lungs of mice are similar to those for blood after oral ( not shown ) and i . p . administration . oral administration of wr 2721 leads to a rapid appearance of mdp in the blood and lungs , whereas parenteral administration is followed by a rise in mdp concentration 24 hours later . homogenates of mouse lung , liver and small intestine incubated with 1 mg / ml of wr 2721 converted all of the compound to mdp within 30 minutes ; thus , demonstrating in vivo conversion of wr 2721 to its active free thiol derivative , for the reduction of mucin viscosity . the administration of compounds containing protected sulfhydryl groups may be used in the treatment of any condition wherein excessive mucin viscosity is present . such conditions include cystic fibrosis , pneumonia , bronchitis , the common cold , mucin impaction of gastrointestinal tract , pancreas , liver , and the like . | 0 |
fig1 shows a schematic circuit diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a control device 1 according to the invention with a communications network 4 which , as well as controlling automatic manufacturing and monitoring processes , is also designed for controlling safety - critical processes in an automatic plant . a number of network subscribers 5 , 12 - 18 are connected to the communication master 2 via the communications network 4 . in a development of the invention , communication of the network subscribers 5 , 12 - 18 takes place via point - to - point connections to the communication master 2 . here , by appropriate routing of the communication telegrams , the communication master 2 establishes logical connections between the network subscribers 5 , 12 - 18 . some of the logical connections 21 are shown by way of example in fig1 . the communication master 2 therefore serves to control the data flow on the communications network 4 . although the control device 1 is used for controlling safety - critical processes , such as for example an emergency stop function of a machine when a light barrier is triggered , the communication master 2 itself does not have to be safe by design . in the example shown in fig1 , a subset of the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , namely the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , are designed as safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 . the safe logic module 5 likewise constitutes a safe network subscriber . in operation , the logic module 5 communicates via the point - to - point connections 20 and therefore via the logical connections 21 with the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 in order to control a safety - critical process . here , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 can , in particular , be input and / or output modules such as sensors and actuators for the safety - critical process . the safetybridge system , on which the exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 is preferably based , is based on the fact that , with the help of connections via any communications network 4 and with copy commands , a non - safe controller , that is to say the non - safe communication master 2 , enables the exchange of safe telegrams with safe i / o data between the network subscribers with safe inputs and / or outputs and the logic module 5 which processes the safe i / o data and itself can also have safe inputs and / or outputs . a safe point - to - point connection in the form of the logical connection 21 , on which safe telegrams can be transmitted in both directions , therefore exists between the logic module 5 and each safe network subscriber associated therewith . the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 are linked to the logic module to form a group of safety - related network subscribers for controlling a safety - relevant application . in order now to parameterize the logic module 5 and therefore also the safety - relevant application , in response to a start command received via the communications network 4 , the logic module 5 transmits a read request to the communication master 2 . in particular here , it is of advantage when the communication master 2 is set up to transmit the start command to the logic module 5 via the communications network 4 to start the parameterization process . the parameterization process can therefore be easily started for one or more such logic modules when the system is powered up . furthermore , in response to the receipt of the read request , the communication master 2 is set up to transmit parameterization data to the logic module 5 . in a development of the invention , in order to transmit the parameter data , additional non - safe input and output bytes are now implemented on the logic module 5 , by means of which the parameterization data of the non - safe controller or the communication master 2 are transmitted to the logic module 5 with the help of a simple parameterization protocol . in addition , the communication master 2 can in particular be set up to transmit the parameterization data in a logical channel provided for the purpose which is represented by a predetermined data range of the telegrams transmitted via the communications network 4 . in the example shown in fig2 , a parameter channel 40 is provided as the logical channel . in particular , the parameterization data can contain the types of the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , which are connected by means of the respective point - to - point connections 20 or in accordance with the logical connections 21 to the logic module 5 , and the links of the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 between one another , that is to say , therefore , the manner in which the safety - critical process is to be controlled . according to a development of the invention , the parameterization data are generated with the help of safe parameterizing / programming software which runs on a computer , for example . preferably , the parameter data are at least partially structured from device description files of the logic module and the safe i / o network subscribers . in the example shown in fig1 , a computer 7 , such as a pc for example , is connected to the communications network 4 for this purpose . the safe parameterizing / programming software is processed on this computer 7 and structures the parameter data for the safe i / o network subscribers , that is to say , in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 , for the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 . alternatively or in addition , the computer 7 can also be connected directly to the communication master 2 as symbolized dashed in conjunction with fig1 . according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention , the parameterization data can be divided into segments and are stored as a data module in the non - safe controller or in the communication master 2 . the communication master 2 informs the logic module 5 that a data module with parameterization data is available and that the logic module 5 is to be started with these data . according to the invention , all further activities for the parameterization are now controlled by the data receiver , that is to say , here , the logic module 5 . the logic module 5 knows the structure of the parameterization data and transmits a data request in the form parameterreadrequest ( segment , offset , length ). this request is transmitted until the non - safe controller responds with the requested data in the form parameterreadresponse ( segment , offset , length , data , data ). in general , without being restricted to the exemplary embodiments , according to this development of the invention , the logic module 5 is therefore set up to detect how much parameterization data is to be requested and to transmit read requests to the communication master 2 until all parameterization data have been received . furthermore , for this purpose , it is of advantage when the communication master 2 is set up to divide up the parameterization data and to transmit them successively in a plurality of telegrams . in this way , there are no restrictions to the scope of the parameterization data . the respective recipient of the data ( safe logic module or also safe i / o network subscriber as explained below ) therefore transmits a read request until the corresponding read response is received thereby . this enables transmission to take place over any networks and combinations of networks . when the logic module 5 has read out all the required parameterization data from the non - safe controller , it starts processing the parameterized links . the parameterization data which the logic module 5 has read out of the non - safe controller or the communication master 2 also contain the parameters for the associated safe i / o network subscribers , that is to say , in the example shown in fig1 , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 associated with the logic module 5 . the logic module informs the associated safe i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 of its parameterized state via parameter channels . thereupon , the safe i / o network subscribers , that is to say the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , for their part read out their parameters from the logic module 5 via the parameter channels with the help of the parameterization protocol . each safe logic module 5 and each safe i / o network subscriber changes into the parameterized state and starts processing after it has read all the required parameterization data . in order to transmit the parameter data to the i / o modules , the i / o ranges for the safe telegrams are extended by a parameter channel 41 , via which device and communications parameters are transmitted by the logic modules to the associated safe i / o network subscribers . accordingly , as shown in fig2 , a safe telegram 44 contains a data range 43 for safe messages and a parameter channel 41 . an exemplary embodiment for the parameterization of the logic module 5 is described below on the basis of the flow diagram shown in fig3 . the time axis of this flow diagram runs from top to bottom . the parameterization process begins when the system is powered on . the communication master 2 detects that a parameterization for a logic module 5 , for example in the form of a data module , is available and transmits a start command (“ start command ( parameter ready )”) to the logic module 5 ( step 31 ). according to a development which is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment , triggered by a system power - on or more generally an initialization of the logic module and / or in response to a start command received from the communication master 2 , the logic module 5 is furthermore set up to initially transmit a telegram to the communication master 2 with the state of the logic module as a diagnostic message ( step 32 , “ diagnostic message ( logic module stop )”). the initialization can also include a connection of the logic module to the communications network 4 . in the example shown in fig3 , after the receipt of the diagnostic message from the communication master 2 , a start command is transmitted to the logic module 5 ( step 33 ). in general , without restriction to the special exemplary embodiment shown , the communication master 2 can be set up to transmit a start command to a logic module 5 until the communication master 2 receives a read request . in response to “ parameter ready ” or , in general , to the start command , the logic module 5 starts to read out the parameters ( step 34 ), e . g . segment : 1 , offset : 0 , length : 2 ( command “ parameter read request ( 1 . 0 . 2 )”). in response thereto , the communication master 2 transmits the requested data ( step 35 ). these steps 34 , 35 are repeated until the last bytes of the parameterization data have been transmitted . in general , in a development of the invention , without being restricted to the special exemplary embodiment shown in fig3 , the logic module 5 is therefore set up to transmit with the read request a request of a particular part of the parameterization data . the communication master 2 is then set up accordingly to transmit the requested part of the parameterization data on this request . accordingly , in order to implement this protocol according to the invention , the non - safe controller , or the communication master 2 , must only have the capability of addressing the individual parameter bytes in the form parameter [ address ( segment + offset ), length ] and of copying them into the output range . this is usually the case , and integration into different controllers is therefore possible . the width of the parameter protocol can also be matched to the width of the consistency ranges of the non - safe controller . the processing of the protocol is shown schematically in fig2 . the parameter set 47 is subdivided into segments 48 , 49 and stored in the communication master 2 . for clarification , the different segments 48 , 49 are shown shaded differently . by way of example , in fig2 , the parameter set 47 is made up of only two segments 48 , 49 . naturally , however , more segments can also be provided . the read requests 45 received on the input side by the communication master 2 are processed by the communication master 2 to the effect that , from a particular segment 48 of the parameter set 47 stored in the communication master 2 specified in the read request 45 , a particular number of bytes 49 is read out , the position of which in the segment 48 is determined by an offset 50 which is likewise specified in the read request 45 . the bytes 50 are then transmitted on the output side to the logic module 5 via the parameter channel 40 in the above - mentioned form of a parameterreadresponse message 51 . according to a further development of the invention , when all the parameterization data have been transmitted , the logic module 5 carries out a consistency check of the transmitted data and thereupon transmits a diagnostic message to the communication master ( 2 ), step 36 . in the event of error - free transmission , the logic module 5 can start and transmit an appropriate message ( here : “ diagnostic message ( logic module run )”) to the communication master 2 as a diagnostic message . in the event of an error , an appropriate error message can be transmitted as a diagnostic message . a possible error , for example , is a lack of consistency in the transmitted data , which can be caused , for example , by a transmission error . a simple consistency check is a crc check of the received parameterization data by the safe logic module 5 . start commands ( step 37 ) and diagnostic messages ( step 38 ), which signal that currently no new parameterization data are to be called up by the logic module 5 and / or that the logic module 5 is in operation , can then also be transmitted during operation of the control device 1 in the provided data ranges of the transmitted telegrams . furthermore , the invention can also be extended to the effect that differentiated start commands are used . the usual start command signals to the logic module 5 that parameters are present and accordingly the above - mentioned processing is to be started in order to parameterize the logic module 5 . as explained with regard to the exemplary embodiment of fig3 , a reading - out of the parameters of the complete project from the non - safe controller or the communication master 2 is thereupon undertaken controlled by the logic module 5 . this is followed by a safe consistency check ( crc , plausibility ). if the parameterization data are free from errors , the processing starts . otherwise , an error message is generated by the logic module 5 as a diagnostic message . a further possibility is that the communication master is set up to generate a start command which signals that a parameter identifier is present . here , in a development of the invention , the logic module can be set up to read out the parameter identifier ( header or crc ) from the communication master 2 and to safely compare the parameter identifier with parameters retentively stored in the logic module . in the case of a positive comparison of the parameter identifier with the stored data , the logic module starts processing the parameterization data ; otherwise an error message is again preferably generated and transmitted to the communication master 2 . yet another possibility is a start command which signals that new parameters , in particular a complete project , are to be retentively stored in the logic module 5 . as a confirmation and for safety checking , the parameter identifier of the old previously retentively stored parameter set can be stored on the non - safe controller . the old parameter identifier ( header or crc ) is then first read out of the non - safe controller by the logic module 5 and the logic module undertakes a safe comparison with the retentively stored parameters . if the data are consistent , the logic module 5 erases its remanent memory ; otherwise the logic module 5 transmits an error message . if the data are consistent , the new parameters are read out of the non - safe controller by means of one or more read commands of the logic module . the new parameterization data read out are again checked for consistency , preferably with crc and a plausibility check . if the parameterization data are detected by the logic module 5 to be free from errors , these are or remain retentively stored . otherwise , an error message is again transmitted . yet another possible start command which can be output by the communication master 2 is a command to stop the processing . here , in response to the receipt of this start command , the logic module can be set up to stop the processing and to either restart it or to request new parameterization data . in the exemplary embodiment of the invention previously described , the communication master 2 constitutes the data source for the parameterization data of the logic module 5 . after receipt of the parameterization data , it is now also possible for the logic module 5 for its part to act as data source . here , according to a first embodiment of this development of the invention , the logic module 5 provides the associated safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 with the parameterization data intended for them . as soon as the safe logic module has read all parameters out of the non - safe controller , as a start command , it reports via the parameter channels to the associated safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 that parameters are ready for them . thereupon these read out their parameters from the logic module 5 in the manner described above . accordingly , in response to the receipt of a start command transmitted by the logic module 5 via the communications network 4 , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 which are associated with the logic module 5 for the control of a safety - related application , or at least one of these associated safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , are set up to transmit a read request to the logic module 5 via the communications network 4 . for its part , in response to the receipt of the read request , the logic module 5 is set up to transmit parameterization data to the particular safe network subscriber 12 , 13 , 14 from which the read request was received . by way of example , the start command of the safe logic module 5 can therefore contain the message to the network subscriber that parameters are present and the processing is to be started . according to an embodiment of the invention , a reading - out of the parameters ( communications and device parameters ) of the safe logic module 5 and a safe check for consistency ( crc , plausibility ) are carried out as actions of the associated safe i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 initiated thereby . if the check is free from errors , a change occurs in the parameterized state , and processing starts with the transmission of safe i / o data . otherwise , an error message is produced . a start command can also contain the instruction that the processing is to be stopped . in this case , in response to the receipt of such a start command , the safe network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 can be set up to change to the non - parameterized state and , by means of a read request , to request a transmission of safe replacement values from the logic module 5 . the invention also offers the advantage that the method for parameterization can be extended hierarchically . further logic modules can be assigned to a logic module 5 as subordinate i / o subscribers . the subordinate logic modules can then read out their parameters ( including the linking instructions ) from the superimposed logic module 5 . in this way , more safe i / o points and processing capacity are available to the user . from the user &# 39 ; s point of view , there is only one system , which is represented by the superimposed logic module . in particular , the reading - out from the superimposed logic module 5 can take place in the same way as the reading - out described above of the parameterization data from the communication master 2 by the logic module 5 . therefore , according to a development of the invention , as well as the logic module 5 , at least one further logic module is connected to the communications network 4 , wherein , in the manner according to the invention , the first logic module is parameterized by a start command of the communication master , at least one read request of the logic module , and a transmission of the parameterization data from the communication master 2 to the logic module 5 , and wherein the further logic module is parameterized in a corresponding manner in that , after receipt of the parameterization data , the logic module transmits a start command to the further logic module , in response to the receipt of the start command the further logic module transmits a read request to the first logic module , and in response to the receipt of the read request the first logic module transmits the parameterization data to the further logic module . in order to carry out this method hierarchically , in addition , the communication master 2 also transmits the parameterization data for the further logic module to the first logic module 5 . the schematic circuit diagram of fig4 shows an exemplary embodiment of this . as well as the logic module 5 , a further logic module 51 is connected to the communications network 4 . together with the network subscribers 16 , 17 , which are designed here as safe , the further logic module 51 is to control a further safety - related application . accordingly , together with the further logic module 51 , the i / o network subscribers 16 , 17 , like the i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 together with the first logic module 5 , in each case form a logical group of modules for executing a safety - related function . the further logic module 51 communicates with the first logic module 5 via a logical connection 22 . the transmission of the start command from the first logic module 5 , the one or more read requests by the further logic module 51 , and the transmission of the parameterization data from the first logic module 5 to the further logic module 51 take place via this logical connection . in a further step , as described above , the respectively associated i / o network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 and 16 , 17 can then be parameterized in a corresponding manner via the logical connections 21 , 23 . in general , and as described above , the invention offers the following expansion possibilities and advantages : the processing of the protocol does not have to be carried out synchronously with the transmission cycle via the network . if , therefore , the protocol could not be processed in a timely manner by the next transmission cycle , then the old protocol data can be retransmitted . the control of the sequence of reading out the parameter data can be carried out by a safe subscriber as necessary according to the stipulations of safety technology . the copy routines , which are already provided for the safe messages , must only be marginally expanded , if at all , for the transmission of parameter data from the safe logic module to safe i / o network subscribers , such as for example the network subscribers 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 according to fig4 and subordinate logic modules . the copy routines , with which the data transmitted from and to the i / o network subscribers are copied by the communication master 2 , are shown symbolically in fig2 and designated by the reference 52 . the receiver of the parameter data determines the timing of the transmission . as a result , for example , no time - controlled interrogations by the transmitter are necessary as to whether the receiver has already started or whether the connection between transmitter and receiver already exists . sub - systems automatically run up with the available i / o subscribers . i / o network subscribers which have been docked later can automatically be incorporated into the system . the person skilled in the art can see that the invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures . rather , the invention can be varied in many ways within the scope of the subject matter of the following claims . in the example shown in fig3 , two bytes of parameterization data are requested in each case . however , this length can be adapted to suit the data width available in a telegram . also , the number of bytes can be varied from telegram to telegram during the transmission of a data module , for example by an appropriate read request . the exemplary embodiment of fig3 therefore already provides that the read requirement contains the number of bytes requested . 31 - 38 method steps for parameterizing the logic module 5 | 7 |
in the retail trade there are some standard wall systems that include a metal strip 11 that is typically positioned vertically on a wall surface 12 . the wall surface may be part of the building or it may be a free standing wall . the metal strip 11 is preferably a generally inverted u - shaped strip having a top surface 13 and a pair of side surfaces 14 and 15 that extend from the top surface . the strip 11 is secured to the wall surface by any suitable means including but not limited to nails , screws , adhesive , etc . the strip may be open at the end opposite the top surface 13 or there may be a rear surface ( not shown ) extending from the first side surface 14 to the second side surface 15 forming an enclosed preferably hollow strip . whether the strip has a rear surface or not when the strip is secured to the wall surface , the strip 11 is provided with an open interior section 17 for at least a portion of its length . the top surface 13 of the strip is provided with a plurality of slots 18 along the top surface in the region of the open interior section 17 . the slots are preferably generally rectangular in shape and have a top edge 19 a bottom edge 20 and a pair of side edges 21 and 22 . see fig6 . the slot extends from the top surface through the strip to the interior section 17 of the strip . the slots are used to support one or more brackets 30 that are hung from the strip . the brackets are used to support merchandise or shelves or other aspects of the display . as seen in fig7 , the bracket is preferably a generally flat plate of sheet metal , plastic or other suitable material . the overall shape of the bracket can vary depending on the aesthetics or other considerations . while a generally square bracket is shown in the figures that exact shape is not required under the present invention . the bracket 30 has a first side surface 31 and a second surface 32 there may be a top edge 33 a bottom edge 34 as well as a front edge 35 and a rear edge 36 is provided with one or more hook members 37 extending rearwardly from the surface of the edge . the hook members 37 are provided with a first section 38 extending rearwardly of the rear edge . the hook member 37 may be a separate member or it may be integrated with the edge of the plate . the first section 38 has a top edge 39 and a bottom edge 40 . adjacent to the first section 38 is a rear section 41 . the rear section is provided with a hook section 42 which extends downwardly toward the bottom surface 34 of the plate . the configuration of the hook member forms a recess area 43 formed by the rear edge of 36 of the plate the bottom edge 40 of the first section and the inner surface 44 of the hook section 42 . the plate is preferably provided with at least two of the hook members 37 . the hook member 37 is inserted into the slot 18 . bottom edge 20 of the slot is positioned within the recess 43 . the hook section 42 thereby prevents removal of the plate from the slot in the strip . in a preferred embodiment , the rear edge 36 of the plate may be provided with a stabilizing bar 50 . the stabilizing bar 50 has a first section 51 that has a top edge 52 and a bottom edge 53 . in the embodiment shown in the figures the top edge 52 is an extension of the top edge 33 of the plate 30 however it is not required to have that arrangement . the top edge 52 may be in the same plane as shown or it may be above or below the edge 33 . extending from the first section is a rear section 54 . the rear section may have a hook section 55 which also extends downwardly toward the bottom surface of the plate . the downward extension of the hook section 55 also forms a recess area 56 . the recess area is for receiving the bottom edge 20 of a slot . the stabilizing member 50 also has an upwardly extending strip 57 . when the plate is being installed onto the strip 11 , the upwardly extending member 57 is inserted through a slot 18 . the plate is pushed generally upward toward the slot &# 39 ; s top edge 19 . the hook sections 55 is then inserted into the slot 18 and the plate is moved downwardly so that the bottom edge 20 of the slot is retained in recess area 56 . the stabilizing bar 50 provides additional support to reduce the risk that the plate could be inadvertently removed from the strip . the front edge 35 of the plate is provided with an upper edge or arm section 60 and a lower edge or arm section 61 the upper and lower edge section 60 and 61 are separated by an entrance area 63 and an open area 62 . the open area 62 is generally circular and access to the open area 62 is through the entrance area 63 . the plate 31 has a body portion 64 and a pair of arm areas 65 and 66 . the first arm area 65 is formed generally by the top edge 33 upper section 60 and bottom arm edge 67 . the second arm area is formed generally by a top arm edge 60 , lower edge section 61 and bottom edge 34 . bottom arm edge 67 may have a first end 69 and a second end 70 . top arm edge 68 may have a first end 71 and a second end 72 . bottom arm edge 67 and top arm edge 68 are preferably the same length as seen in fig7 but can also be as seen in fig1 . the configuration of the arms , can vary in shape as desired the general outline or circumference of the open area 62 is shown by solid lines 73 and dotted lines 74 and 75 . the dotted lines 74 and 75 represent the extension of the circumference 73 of the open area 62 and form what has been designated as the base of tips 76 and 77 which tips extend into the open area 62 . the tips can have two sides each as seen on tip 76 there is a first side 76 a and a second side 76 b similarly for tip 77 there is a first side 77 a and a second side 77 b . preferably side 76 b and 77 b are generally parallel to each other . more preferably a line drawn from the base 76 c along the edge 76 b is parallel to a line drawn from the base 77 c along the edge 77 b . at least a portion of the edge 77 a is preferably parallel to at least a portion of the edge 76 a . the plate may also be provided with an orifice 78 for a plurality of plates to be secured together . when the plate 30 is secured in the strip 11 a second plate is secured to a corresponding strip 11 a a distance from the first strip 11 . the two strips 11 and 11 a are preferably parallel to each other . the plates are used to secure a rod 80 that extends from the first plate 30 to the second plate 30 a . the rod 80 may be any length and is preferably rectangular in cross section . the rod 80 has a top surface 81 and a bottom surface 82 and a pair of opposing side surfaces 83 and 84 . the distance form side surface 84 must be less that he distance from bottom arm edge 67 to top arm edge 68 so that the rod 80 may be inserted through the entrance area 63 into the open area 62 as seen in fig1 . when the rod is in position as seen in fig1 the rod 80 is rotated so that bottom surface 82 is moved toward sidewall 77 b of tip 77 . at the same time the top surface 81 is rotated toward tip sidewall 76 b . as seen in fig1 sidewall 84 of the rod 80 contacts tip side 77 b and side wall 83 contacts tip side 76 b . this provides a suitable arrangement for the rod in the bracket and makes it difficult for the rod to be inadvertently released from the bracket particularly when items are hung from the rod or a shelf is placed on the rod as the weight makes it difficult to rotate . although the rod has been depicted as a rectangular rod a triangular rod can also be used or other similar configurations where one edge of the rod can enter the opening but the size of the other edge when the rod is rotated makes it difficult to remove the rod from the opening because of its size . fig1 shows the bracket of the present invention where the rod has an arm 90 extending from the rod . the arm has an inverted “ u ” 91 at one end . the inverted “ u ” goes over the top surface of the rod 80 . a shelf 92 may be positioned over the arm . fig1 shows the arrangement slightly enlarged . fig1 - 17 show an alternative embodiment for the stabilizer 57 . in addition there is no hook to hold the bracket in the slot . in this arrangement there is a semicircular member 101 that enters one slot while the other member 102 has a stabilizer 103 extending upwardly . the length of this stabilizer is greater than the stabilizer in fig7 . the length of the stabilizer renders the need for a hook member on the bottom semi - circular member unnecessary . | 0 |
several embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings . in the drawings , the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals even though they are depicted in different drawings . in the following description , a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein has been omitted for conciseness . the embodiments of the present invention modifies a sum - product algorithm used for ldpc code decoding . in the following description , a decoding algorithm for an ldpc code according to the embodiments of the present invention will be referred to as “ modified sum - product algorithm .” in the modified sum - product algorithm according to the embodiments of the present invention , the check node message update process of equation ( 2 ), described in conjunction with the prior art , is modified into r mn ( j ) ≈ ( ∏ i = 1 d c - 1 sgn ( q i ) ) min i | q i | , i = 1 , 2 , … , d c - 1 equation ( 7 ) equation ( 7 ) is an expression where a correction factor is not considered in the check node message update process of the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’. if the check node message update process is modified as shown in equation ( 7 ), the variable node message update process of equation ( 3 ), described in conjunction with the prior art , is modified into q mn ( j + 1 ) = q mn ( 0 ) + α n ( j ) ∑ i = 1 d v - 1 r i ( j ) , α n ( j ) = { 1 . 0 if | sgn ( q mn ( 0 ) ) + ∑ i = 0 d v - 1 sgn ( r i ( j ) ) | = d v + 1 f g if | sgn ( q mn ( 0 ) ) + ∑ i = 0 d v - 1 sgn ( r i ( j ) ) | & lt ; d v + 1 equation ( 8 ) in equation ( 8 ), sgn ( x ) is a function indicating a sign of a value x . herein , sgn ( x )= 1 for x & gt ; 0 , and sgn ( x )=− 1 for x & lt ; 0 . in addition , d v is the number of edges connected to a variable node n . in the invention , a regular ldpc code is considered in which the number of edges connected to all check nodes is identical to the number of edges connected to all variable nodes , so the d v is constant for all variable nodes . in addition , if a sign of a check node message applied to a variable node is identical to a sign of a channel reliability , equation ( 8 ) does not consider a weighting factor . however , if any one of the signs is different , equation ( 8 ) considers a weighting factor having a value smaller than 1 . here , the reason for considering a weighting factor smaller than 1 is to cancel out the influence of a check node message error generated through approximation of the check node message update process represented by equation ( 7 ) and to cancel out the influence of self - information fed back due to a short cycle which may exist on a factor graph defining an ldpc code . here , the “ cycle ” refers to a loop formed by several edges on a factor graph , and a cycle having a short length is called “ short cycle .” generally , it is known by those skilled in the art , that a short cycle has a negative effect on decoding of a code symbol for a corresponding node since a message output from a particular variable node is updated through as many iterative decoding processes as ½ of a cycle length and then applied to a corresponding variable node . such an example is illustrated in fig1 . [ 0064 ] fig1 illustrates an example of a short cycle having a length of 4 . in fig1 circles represent variable nodes , and blocks marked by a cross represent check nodes . connections between the first variable node and second check node , the second check node and third variable node , the first variable node and third check node , and the third check node and third variable node are shown by bold lines , representing a short cycle . in accordance with equation ( 7 ) and equation ( 8 ), the conventional llr update process of equation ( 4 ) is modified into l n ( j + 1 ) = l n ( 0 ) + α n ( j ) ∑ i = 0 d v - 1 r i ( j ) equation ( 9 ) performance improvement can be expected by canceling out the influence of self - information due to a possible short cycle , through the weighting factor of equation ( 8 ) and equation ( 9 ). since a check node message and channel reliability applied to a particular variable node represent the probability that the corresponding variable node would have a value of “ 0 ” or “ 1 ,” if signs thereof are not identical , it can be considered that an error has occurred in a transmission link or in a decoding process . in this case , therefore , it can be judged that a variable node message or llr obtained through the messages has lower reliability than a variable message or llr obtained when signs of all messages applied to the variable node are identical . therefore , if signs of all messages applied to a variable node are not identical , the corresponding variable mode message and llr value are multiplied by a weighting factor smaller than 1 . the value of the weighting factor can be set to an appropriate value through experiment . in the following description , a modified sum - product algorithm considering an adaptive weighting factor is referred to as a ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’. [ 0069 ] fig2 is a flow chart illustrating a ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ for iterative decoding of an ldpc code according to an embodiment of the present invention . with reference to fig2 a description will now be made of a ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ for iterative decoding of an ldpc code according to an embodiment of the present invention . in step 200 , an initialization process is performed . in the initialization process , an initial value of a variable node message on a factor graph representing an ldpc code structure is set . the initial value of the variable node message is defined as a channel reliability for a received code symbol corresponding to the variable node . since the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ performs its calculations in an llr domain , the channel reliability is determined by multiplying a received symbol by a signal - to - noise ratio ( snr ). accordingly , message initialization is performed on all variable nodes on the factor graph . after the initialization process , a check node message update process is performed in step 202 . in the check node message update process , a check node message is updated by using equation ( 7 ). in the update process of a check node message output to a variable node n , signs of all input messages except an input from a variable node n among messages applied to a check node are multiplied and then defined as a sign of an output message . in addition , a minimum value is selected among absolute values of the input messages , and defined as a size of the output message . in this way , message update is performed on all check nodes on the factor graph of fig1 . after the check node message update process , a variable node message update process is performed in step 204 . in the variable node message update process , a variable node message is updated by using equation ( 8 ). in the update process of the variable node message output to a check node n , all input messages except an input from a check node m among messages applied to a variable node are multiplied by a weighting factor and then the result values are added . a channel reliability is added to this sum ; the channel reliability has an initial value of the variable node message . if signs of all messages applied to a variable node and a sign of the channel reliability are all identical , a weighting factor is 1 . otherwise , the weighting factor has a value smaller than 1 . even in the variable node message update process of step 204 , message update is performed on all variable nodes on the factor graph of fig1 . thereafter , an llr update is performed in step 206 . in the llr update process , an llr value for a code symbol corresponding to a variable node is updated by using equation ( 9 ). in the llr update process , all messages applied to a variable node are multiplied by a weighting factor , and then , a value determined by summing up the result values is added to a channel reliability ( which is an initial value of a variable node message ). at this point , the value of the weighting factor is determined in the manner described in conjunction with step 204 . even in the llr update process , llr update is performed on all code symbols on the factor graph . thereafter , a hard decision process is performed in step 208 . in the hard decision process , if an llr value in a particular symbol of an ldpc code is larger than 0 , a binary value ‘ 0 ’ is decoded , and otherwise , if the llr value is smaller than 0 , a binary value ‘ 1 ’ is decoded . the decoded values are stored . a decoded codeword is obtained by performing a hard decision on all code symbols constituting one ldpc codeword . after performing the hard decision , the algorithm proceeds to step 210 . steps 210 and 214 provide a process of determining whether an error has occurred , through parity check . when hard decision for all code symbols of the ldpc code is completed , one codeword can be obtained from the hard decision results . when all parity check expressions defined by a parity check matrix are applied to the obtained codeword , decoding is stopped in step 212 if no error is detected in step 210 (“ yes ” path from decision step 210 ). further , the corresponding codeword is stored as a decoded codeword . in contrast , if an error is detected as a result of the parity check in step 210 (“ no ” path from decision step 210 ), the algorithm determines in step 214 whether decoding has been performed as many times as a predetermined maximum iteration number . if the decoding has not been performed as many times as the predetermined iteration number (“ no ” path from decision step 214 ), the algorithm increases a current iteration number by 1 in step 218 , and then proceeds to step 202 to continuously perform the iterative decoding . however , if an error is continuously detected even after the iterative decoding has been performed as many times as the predetermined iteration number in step 214 (“ yes ” path from decision step 214 ), the algorithm stops the decoding in step 216 . further , the algorithm declares the decoding failure and discards the corresponding codeword . [ 0076 ] fig3 a is a flow chart illustrating a process of updating a message in a particular check node according to an embodiment of the present invention . with reference fig3 a , a detailed description will now be made of a procedure for updating a message in a particular check node . in step 300 , messages applied from a particular variable node to a particular check node are rearranged . an index of a message received from a variable node n among the messages applied to a particular check node m is assigned as an initial index ( i = 0 ) of a new message index i . in step 302 , absolute values of all messages except a message with a message index i = 0 among the messages applied to a check node , are compared , and then a minimum value is selected from the compared values . in step 304 , signs of all messages except a message with a message index i = 0 among the messages applied to a check node are multiplied . thereafter , in step 306 , the minimum value selected in step 302 from the message absolute values is multiplied by the message sign calculated in step 304 to determine a final message transmitted from a particular check node m to a particular variable node n . therefore , fig3 a illustrates a process of calculating equation ( 7 ). [ 0078 ] fig3 b is a flow chart illustrating a process of updating a message in a variable node connected to the check node that performs the process of fig3 a , according to an embodiment of the present invention . with reference to fig3 a and 3b , a detailed description will be made of a process of updating a message in a variable node connected to a particular check node according to an embodiment of the present invention . in step 310 , messages applied from a particular check node to a particular variable node are rearranged . an index of a message received from a check node m among the messages applied to a particular variable node n is assigned as an initial index ( i = 0 ) of a new message index i . thereafter , in step 312 , a particular variable s is calculated by summing up signs of all messages applied to a particular variable node and a sign of an initial message value for the variable node . thereafter , in step 314 , an absolute value of the particular variable s calculated in step 312 is compared with a value determined by adding 1 to the number of all messages applied to the variable node . if the absolute value of the variable s is identical to the value determined by adding 1 to the number of messages applied to the variable node as a result of the comparison (“ yes ” path from decision step 314 ), the process proceeds to step 316 , and otherwise , the process proceeds to step 318 (“ no ” path from decision step 314 ). the determination of step 314 of whether the absolute value of the s is identical to the value determined by adding 1 to the number of messages applied to the variable node , is equivalent to determining whether signs of all messages received from the variable node and an initial value of a variable node message are all identical . if signs of all messages received from the variable node and an initial value of the variable node message are all identical as a result of the comparison , a value of a weighting factor for the variable node is set to 1 in step 316 (“ yes ” path from decision step 314 ). in contrast , if the absolute value of the s is not identical to the value determined by adding 1 to the number of messages applied to the variable node ( no ” path from decision step 314 ), i . e ., if any one of signs of all messages applied to the variable node and an initial value of the variable node message is different , then the value of a weighting factor for the variable node is set to a value smaller than a predetermined value 1 in step 318 . after step 316 or 318 , step 320 is performed . in step 320 , a message transmitted from a particular variable node n to a particular check node m is determined by using the weighting factor calculated in step 316 or 318 , the initial message for the particular variable node , and the sum of all messages except a message with a message index i = 0 among the check node messages applied to the particular variable node . thereafter , in step 322 , an llr message for a particular variable node n is calculated by using the weighting factor calculated in step 316 or 318 , an initial llr value for the particular variable node , and the sum of all check node messages applied to the particular variable node . a description will now be made of an exemplary structure of a processor for updating a message in each node according to an embodiment of the present invention . for simplicity , it will be assumed herein that the number of edges connected to check nodes and the number of edges connected to variable nodes are both 3 , though one skilled in the art can appreciate that this need not be the case ). a message update process in a particular check node m and a message update process in a particular variable node n are illustrated in fig4 a and 4b , respectively . in addition , a processor for each node in the message update process of fig4 a and a processor for each node in the message update process of fig4 b are illustrated in fig5 a and 5b , respectively . in fig5 a and 5b , since it is assumed that the number of edges connected to corresponding nodes is fixed to 3 , the numbers of input ports and output ports of a check node processor are both 3 , and the numbers of input ports and output ports of a variable node processor are both 4 by considering llr . for an actual regular ldpc code , the number of input / output ports of each node processor is determined according to d v and d c , the number of input edges of each node . an internal structure of the processor is so designed as to realize the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by an embodiment of the present invention . [ 0082 ] fig5 a illustrates an example of a hardware device that realizes equation ( 7 ) for calculating check node messages by handling input variable node messages . in fig5 a , absolute value calculators 500 each calculate an absolute value of a corresponding input variable node message . input variable calculators 502 each calculate a sign of the corresponding input variable node message . the absolute values calculated by the absolute value calculators 500 are provided to minimum value selectors 504 , and the minimum value selectors 504 each select a minimum value from their two inputs . multipliers 506 each multiply their two inputs by each other . specifically , output values of the input variable calculators 502 are provided in pairs to the three lower multipliers 506 . here , the reason that the number of the lower multipliers 506 each calculating a pair of output values of the input variable calculators 502 is 3 is because the number of edges connected to the check nodes is 3 . output signals of the three lower multipliers 506 , each of which multiplies a pair of the output values of the input variable calculators 502 , and output signals of the minimum value selectors 504 are provided to the three upper multipliers 506 . the three upper multipliers 506 generate output values rm 0 , rm 1 and rm 2 to be transmitted to corresponding variable nodes , by multiplying their two inputs . [ 0083 ] fig5 b illustrates an example of a hardware device that realizes equation ( 8 ) and equation ( 9 ) for calculating variable node messages and a new llr message by handling input check node messages and an input llr message . in fig5 b , three front adders 510 each add a pair of inputs from check nodes . four sign detectors 512 each calculate a sign of an llr value according to a corresponding input check node message or an initially received channel reliability . outputs of the sign detectors 512 are provided to an adder 514 , and the adder 514 adds up the signals provided from the sign detectors 512 . a value calculated by the adder 514 is provided to an absolute value calculator 516 . the absolute value calculator 516 then calculates an absolute value of the provided value . a comparator 518 compares an output of the absolute value calculator 516 with a fixed input value . the comparator 518 outputs a value of ‘ 1 ’ if the two input values are identical to each other , and otherwise , the comparator 518 outputs a value of ‘ 0 ’. an output value of the comparator 518 is provided to a selector 520 as a control signal . the selector 520 selects one of its two inputs ( 1 and f g ) according a value ( 0 or 1 ) of the control signal from the comparator 518 . the four multipliers 522 a - d can be divided into two groups . a first group includes multipliers receiving outputs of the three adders 510 a - c ( i . e ., multipliers 522 b - d ) each of which adds a pair of values received from the check nodes , and a second group includes a multiplier 522 a receiving a signal received from a first check node among the check nodes . there are provided a total of four multipliers . the four multipliers 522 a - d all receive an output of the selector 520 at their second input terminals . each of the multipliers 522 a - d multiplies their two input signals . the output values of the multipliers 522 a - d are provided to rear adders 510 d - g . the number of the rear adders 510 d - g is also 4 , and each read adder 510 d - g adds different values . specifically , of the four rear adders 510 d - g , three rear adders ( 510 e - g ) receive outputs of the three front adders 510 a - c ( through multipliers 522 b - d ) at their first input terminals , and commonly receive an initial value defined as a channel reliability of a received codeword at their second input terminals ( i ( 0 ) n ) the three rear adders 510 e - g each add their input values . the other rear adder 510 d receives an output of the second - group multiplier 522 a at its first input terminal and receives a signal output to the first check node at its second input terminal . thus , the other rear adder generates a value for determining an llr value by adding the output of the corresponding multiplier to the signal output to the first check node . a description will now be made of the simulation result of ldpc code decoding . the simulation was divided into simulation for an ldpc code having a short length and simulation for an ldpc code having a long length . first , the simulation for the ldpc code having a short length will be described . the simulation environment is given as follow . ( 1 ) a regular ldpc code is used in which the number of edges connected to a check node is fixed to 6 and the number of edges connected to a variable node is 3 on the factor graph . in addition , a short cycle having a length shorter than 6 is removed in the factor graph generation process . ( 2 ) the number of check nodes is 256 , and the number of variable nodes is 504 . ( 3 ) in the simulation , it is assumed that information bits constituting an ldpc code are all ‘ 0 ’ s . therefore , symbols of a transmission ldpc codeword are also all ‘ 0 ’ s . since the ldpc code is a linear code , the result obtained by the simulation does not lose generality . ( 4 ) bpsk ( binary phase shift keying ) demodulation scheme and channel environment are assumed as an awgn ( additive white gaussian noise ) transmission link . ( 5 ) it is assumed that a codeword completely decoded without arriving at the maximum iteration number has no error . the undetected error probability is , therefore , 0 . ( 6 ) a weighting factor f g smaller than 1 in the variable node message update process is set to 0 . 8 ( f g = 0 . 8 ). ( 7 ) a decoding performance criterion is set at a word error rate ( wer ) for energy per information bit ( eb / no ). ( 8 ) the maximum iteration number is set to 50 or 200 . the simulation result obtained under this environment is illustrated in fig6 . fig6 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code with a short length is decoded by using the proposed method , the conventional method , and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 50 . in fig6 “ opt ” represents decoding performance by the optimum sum - product algorithm , “ with corr .” represents decoding performance by the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’, and “ with weight ” represents decoding performance by the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by the invention . it can be understood from fig6 that the decoding performance by the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by an embodiment of the invention shows the most superior wer performance at a high signal - to - noise ratio . this is because the ldpc code with a short length has high probability that short cycles will exist on a randomly defined factor graph , and thus , in many cases , the influence of feedback self - information has a detrimental effect on decoding performance . generally , as to the influence of the cycle on the factor graph , the ldpc code with a short length has high occurrence probability of a short cycle , causing an increase in degradation probability of decoding performance . in contrast , if a length of an ldpc code is increased , occurrence probability of a short cycle is decreased , thus causing a decrease in the influence . in addition , even though there exists a short cycle , if the iteration number ( or the number of iterations ) is increased , the influence of the short cycle on decoding performance is also reduced . the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ proposed by an embodiment of the invention can consider a weighting factor smaller than 1 in a variable node message update process , and reduce the influence of self - information fed back by a short cycle existing on a factor graph by the weighting factor . accordingly , the proposed ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ shows the most superior performance . therefore , the ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ has low computational complexity and shows the most superior wer performance in decoding a randomly generated regular ldc code having a short length . [ 0097 ] fig7 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code with a short length is decoded by using by the proposed method , the conventional method , and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 200 . it is noted in fig7 that a performance difference among the three methods is slight since a wer performance difference by a decoding result of the three methods for the ldpc code is smaller as compared with when the maximum iteration number is set to 50 . this is because an increase in the iteration number causes a decrease in the influence of a short cycle of the ldpc code . next , the simulation for the ldpc code having a long length will be described . the simulation environment is the same as above , except that the number of check nodes and the number of variable nodes of the ldpc code are 4986 and 9972 , respectively . decoding simulation is performed on an ldpc code with a long length by increasing the number of code symbols of a particular ldpc codeword to 9972 . in addition , a weighting factor smaller than 1 in the variable node message update process of the ‘ sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ is also set to the value used in the simulation of the ldpc code having a short length . [ 0100 ] fig8 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code having a long length is decoded by using the proposed method , the conventional method and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 50 . fig9 is a graph illustrating a comparison among word error rates when an ldpc code having a long length is decoded by using the proposed method , the conventional method and the optimum method on the assumption that the maximum iteration number is set to 200 . compared with an lpdc code with a short length , an ldpc code with a long length has low occurrence probability of a short cycle on a factor graph , so it has the slight influence of a short cycle on the decoding performance as compared with the ldpc code with a short length . therefore , it can be noted from fig8 that in the ldpc code with a long length , the optimum sum - product algorithm show the most superior decoding performance . next , the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’, which is similar to the optimum sum - product algorithm , shows the second most superior decoding performance , and the proposed ‘ modified sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ shows the worst decoding performance . this is because the weighting factor proposed by an embodiment of the invention cancels out not only the self - information due to the short cycle but also correct information . this has no influence on an ldpc code with a short length but causes degradation of decoding performance in an ldpc code with a long length . however , as illustrated in fig8 performance degradation by the ‘ sum - product algorithm with weighting factor ’ is very slight , and has a difference of about 0 . 05 db at wer of 10 − 3 as compared with performance by the optimum sum - product algorithm . further , the performance difference by the ‘ sum - product algorithm with correction factor ’ is a negligible level of about 0 . 01 db . comparing fig8 with fig9 the increase in the maximum iteration number causes a reduction in a performance difference between them . as described above , the use of the proposed modified sum - product algorithm contributes to a reduction in computational complexity in the decoding process . in addition , the various embodiments of the present invention can obtain decoding performance which is superior or similar to decoding performance that can be obtained by using the optimum sum - product algorithm . while the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . | 7 |
the present invention will be described in detail with respect to its preferred embodiment which is a specimen holder for a transmission electron microscope . fig4 shows an isometric view of the complete in situ holder assembly 1 . assembly 1 is of a conventional design , which , as known to those skilled in the art , may take a variety of forms to accommodate various microscopes produced by various manufacturers . the mechanical needs of each device result in varying geometries of barrel 50 with respect to length , diameter and location of components . generally , assembly 1 is comprised a holder tip 2 which contains the e - cell 4 and the primary operative components of the assembly . holder tip 2 is supported and restrained at the appropriate location within the microscope by barrel 50 which may be designed with a variety of diameters and lengths . at least one o - ring 48 is disposed along the length of barrel 50 to seal the internal environment of the microscope from ambient air . a laser assembly 500 , or other electromagnetic radiation beam generator ( as shown in fig1 ) is disposed near the non - operative end of barrel 50 and is positioned to be located outside of the microscope environment when in use . a electromagnetic radiation source connection 80 and fluids connectors 82 are provided to supply laser irradiation and the in situ environment , in accordance with common practice of those skilled in the art . it is to be specifically noted that the laser may be substituted with any appropriate electromagnetic radiation beam generator , including x - rays and visible light . referring now to fig3 a and 3 b , specimen holder tip 2 includes e - cell 4 . lid 6 is slidably disposed on main body 12 of holder tip 2 . main body 12 is provided with a track 11 which is adapted to receive lid 6 and constrain its limited slidable displacement . displacement of lid 6 provides access to e - cell 4 on the underside of main body 12 . a travel limiting stop 20 is provided at one end of main body 12 to restrict the travel of lid 6 in the open , or loading position , as shown in fig5 . lid 6 may be slidably displaced from a position engaging stop 20 to a position engaging tangs 10 in the closed , or operative position , as illustrated in fig3 a and 3 b . tangs 10 receive and restrain lid 6 in the operative position , as will be more fully described below . travel of lid 6 in the closed position is further limited by travel stop 20 a . e - cell 4 is a cylindrical cavity , nominally 3 . 1 mm in diameter and 650 μm deep to accommodate a standard 3 mm diameter specimen disk . e - cell assembly 42 is placed within the cavity while in the open position as more fully described with reference to fig5 . once the e - cell 4 is loaded , lid 6 is displaced to the operative position . tangs 10 are resilient armatures having restraining profiles at the movable ends . tangs 10 may therefore be displaced inwardly by applying manual pressure in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of main body 12 . in order to relieve lid 6 from restraint by tangs 10 in the operative position , tangs 10 are depressed and lid 6 is slidably displaced ( to the right in fig3 a and 3 b ) to contact travel stop 20 . in order to engage lid 6 with tangs 10 for restraint in the operative position , lid 6 is merely slidably displaced ( to the left in fig3 a and 3 b ) until tangs 10 engage a locking interface provided on lid 6 ( not shown ). a clamping mechanism for more securely engaging lid 6 to main body 12 when in the operative position is provided by clamp 6 a which is slidably engaged with main body 12 along track 11 , as will be more fully described below . main body 12 is provided with a series of recesses and conduits to accommodate fluid conduits 22 which will not be described further as being within the ambit of one skilled in the art . fluid inlet and outlet conduits 22 a and 22 b , respectively , are a means for the environmental fluid to enter and exit e - cell 4 . although fig3 a and 3 b illustrate cylindrical fluid inlet and outlet conduits , one of skill in the art will recognize that other appropriately shaped conduits will serve the purpose of supplying fluid to the specimen . appropriate fluid connections are provided throughout holder assembly 1 to fluidly communicate with connectors 82 in a conventional manner . mirror retainer assembly 14 is utilized to receive and support minor 15 , which adapted to reflect the laser beam onto the specimen , as more fully discussed below . minor 15 is bonded to minor retainer 14 at a precise , preselected angle or may be dynamically adjustable by external control . minor retainer 14 is removably affixed to main body 12 by mounting screw 18 . referring now to fig3 , 5 and 9 , e - cell components 42 are assembled as a precisely sized unit having a particular height dimension to assist in maintaining a vacuum seal between lid 6 and main body 12 . main body 12 is provided with a mounting surface 100 disposed at the lower portion ( as shown in fig5 ) of e - cell cavity 101 . mounting surface 100 is further provided with an o - ring receiving recess 102 , as shown in fig9 , of conventional design . o - ring 44 a is located within this recess 102 . it is intended that the orifice within the e - cell components 42 provides clear access for a laser beam to engage the specimen , as will be described more fully below . the first of the e - cell assembly components , window frame 30 a , constructed of silicon , is mounted within the e - cell cavity 101 immediately adjacent mounting surface 100 and in sealing engagement with o - ring 44 a . window frame 30 a is provided with a orifice 31 which is sized and shaped in any one of a variety of geometric shapes and is preferably square in two dimensions and frustopyramidal in three dimensions , with the larger end facing the incoming laser beam . an electron and electromagnetic radiation transparent membrane may be deposited on the orifice 31 and window frame 30 a is presented as an integrated whole which is fluid impermeable . it is specifically noted that use of the membrane may be eliminated in certain applications to increase image resolution . spacer 36 b is mounted immediately adjacent window frame 30 a and is disposed having an orifice 36 c centrally located therein corresponding to orifice 31 of window frame 30 a . orifice 36 c is generally larger in dimension than orifice 31 . specimen 38 is mounted immediately adjacent to spacer 36 b and is typically a 3 mm diameter disk which has been appropriately thinned at the central point 82 for tem imaging and analysis . specimen 38 is optimally provided with an outer rim thickness of up to 200 μm . to obtain an electron transparent region , the specimen is thinned at the central region from a few nanometers to tens of nanometers . other types of specimens can be particles dispersed onto a grid or fib lamellae attached to a support structure . spacer 36 a and window frame 32 a are provided with orifices 36 d and 31 a , respectively , and are mounted similarly to the corresponding spacer 36 b and window frame 30 a . the total assembly height is optimally 650 μm which corresponds to the e - cell cavity 101 depth . spacers 36 a and 36 b act as thermal insulators and help obtain the desired fluid path length above and below the specimen , and further provide the interior space within the e - cell 4 which contains the environmental fluid , as supplied to e - cell cavity by fluid inlet conduit 22 a and evacuated by fluid outlet conduit 22 b in a conventional manner . e - cell cavity 101 is nominally designed to incorporate window frames having thicknesses ranging from about 75 μm to about 325 μm . the window membrane material must be electron transparent , able to withstand high temperature , pressure differentials in and around the chamber , and should not react with the fluid present within the chamber and may comprise , for example , silicon nitride , silicon oxide or amorphous silicon as dictated by user requirements . the thickness of window membranes 31 , 31 a is limited by the cell pressures desired within the e - cell 4 . in one preferred embodiment , window membranes 31 and 31 a are constructed from silicon nitride deposited on a silicon substrate using low - pressure vapor deposition techniques ( lpcvd ). it has been shown that a pair of 15 nm thick silicon nitride membranes are able to withstand a pressure differential of up to one atmosphere . diffused scattering of the electrons passing through the membrane increases with increasing thickness , degrading the attainable resolution . the thickness therefore should be minimized . e - cell assembly 4 is restrained within e - cell cavity 101 by the action of lid 6 . lid 6 is provided with an o - ring receiving recess 102 a , corresponding to recess 102 in main body 12 , for receiving and restraining o - ring 44 b . o - ring 44 b provides a sealing engagement between lid 6 and window frame 32 a . this sealing engagement , when lid 6 is in the operative position , causes e - cell 4 to be restrained as a unit within e - cell cavity 101 for imaging and analysis . additional sealing of the e - cell cavity is provided by o - ring 44 c , disposed between main body 12 and lid 6 . additionally , clamp 6 a is slidingly engaged with lid 6 to more securely depress lid 6 into engagement with e - cell 4 . clamp 6 a is provided with a wedge shaped armature 6 b which is interposed between lid 6 and main body 12 . once lid 6 is engaged with tangs 10 in the operative position , clamp 6 a is slidingly displaced along track 11 ( as shown in fig3 a ) such that armature 6 b is increasingly interposed between lid 6 and main body 12 and its increasing height causes lid 6 to be pressed more completely against main body 12 on the side opposite armature 6 b . this causes lid 6 to more fully compress o - rings 44 a , b and c . it is to be specifically noted that those skilled in the art may utilize any sealing methodology other than o - rings to provide an enclosed environment for the e - cell cavity 101 and other aspects of the holder assembly . this sealing mechanism provides the user with the flexibility of establishing a wide range of fluid lengths . the external height of the e - cell 4 is only 2 . 3 mm which is compatible with the objective pole pieces of most major commercially available tems . in certain embodiments , the thickness of the components of the e - cell 4 may be adjusted to achieve a particular fluid path length above and below the specimen . however , the total height of the e - cell assembly 4 should not exceed 650 μm +/− 25 μm . tables 1 and 2 illustrate two different configurations of the e - cell 4 components to achieve a path length of 250 μm and 10 μm respectively . this assembly is illustrated in fig6 and 7 . table 1 shows an e - cell 4 configuration for use with thin specimens . in this embodiment , the spacers are not utilized in the assembly . the fluid path length totally comprises the specimen thickness of 10 μm . table 2 shows an e - cell 4 configuration for use with thicker specimens . as illustrated , the fluid path length is 250 μm , corresponding to the combined height of the specimen 38 and the top and bottom spacers 36 a and 36 b . the major contributor to the relatively large fluid path length is the specimen 38 thickness . as illustrated in fig6 the fluid path length configuration is 10 μm and in fig7 the fluid path length configuration is 250 μm . the unique e - cell 4 sealing mechanism provides the user with the flexibility to choose the desired fluid path length ranging from the specimen thickness to 500 μm . a fluid path length can be selected based on the required specimen temperature and the acceptable image resolution . if a very high specimen temperature is desired , it is recommended to have a greater fluid path length to minimize the negative effects of radiation . the use of a laser in the present system allows for high precision , localized heating of the tem specimen . the laser optical components for this holder are illustrated in fig3 and 8 - 10 . a standard laser connector 80 , for example a sma 905 laser connector , is provided at the handle 54 of the holder body ( fig4 and 10 ). such laser connectors are well known in the art and therefore will not be explained in detail here . the desired laser 500 is connected to the holder using the sma connector 80 . the laser beam 70 then enters a collimator 78 . collimator 78 helps produce a parallel laser beam and prevents it from diverging as it travels along the length of the holder barrel towards the specimen tip 2 . the converging lens module 72 located at the holder tip 2 focuses the beam to a fine spot . referring specifically to fig3 a and 3 b , converging lens module 72 is illustrated , having a slidable lens body 72 a which is disposed within barrel 50 such that it may be displaced along the longitudinal axis of the holder assembly 1 or may be angularly displaced to permit translation of laser beam 70 across the face of specimen 38 . an actuation rod ( not shown ) is inserted in port 176 and controls the longitudinal movement of lens body 72 a . this movement changes the focus and / or position of the laser beam and therefore the beam diameter at the point of contact with specimen 38 . a fluid line conduit 175 is located within lens body 72 a to permit the displacement of lens body 72 a without interference with the passage of the environmental fluid into e - cell 4 . lens 174 is partially visible in fig3 b and comprises at least one movable element which is utilized to focus the laser beam . lens body 72 a is laterally displaced with respect to main body 12 and is resiliently affixed thereto by springs 177 . the small diameter laser beam 70 strikes the laser mirror 15 and is reflected to a precise location on the specimen 38 within e - cell 4 . depending on the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation and the focal length of the converging lens , the focused beam spot size at the specimen can be varied from a few to hundreds of microns . the collimator 78 , converging lens module 72 and the mirror 15 are precisely aligned so that the laser beam 70 clears the window frame 30 a through orifice 31 and strikes the specimen in the vicinity of the center point 82 . the window membrane is transparent to the laser beam 70 and does not absorb or reflect it . as a result , a radial symmetric heating zone is generated on the specimen . this allows for uniform expansion of the specimen at high temperatures , thus minimizing specimen drift . the laser optics of the present invention , i . e ., collimator 78 , converging lens 72 and minor 15 , act together to precisely focus laser beam 70 onto the e - cell 4 to attain high specimen temperatures . the maximum temperature that can be attained on the specimen is limited largely by the material properties of the specimen and the laser 500 power , thus creating a potential for applications in an extraordinary range of fields . the inventors have found that less than 1 watt of laser energy was required to raise the specimen temperature to 2 , 000 ° c . an additional advantage of the presently described specimen laser spot heating is the speed in which the steady state specimen temperature is achieved . most specimen reactions occur instantly once a critical temperature is obtained . standard tem heating holders utilizing resistive heaters have a slow heating response time and it takes a considerable amount of time to reach a steady state specimen temperature . the laser optics utilized in the present holder achieves sub millisecond heating response times due to the small heating zone . as a result , steady state specimen temperature is achieved instantly . the laser beam 70 can easily be modulated to provide dynamic thermal cycling of the specimen between ambient and elevated temperatures . pulsed lasers can be attached to the holder to provide pulses of energy within a time frame as small as few nano seconds . in addition , the laser heating system of the present invention is adjustable so that it may be used with a wide variety of specimens . the spot size of laser beam 70 may be adjusted by longitudinal displacement of lens body 72 a . this allows the flexibility of changing the laser power density . for example , it is possible to first melt a 10 μm hole in the specimen at high laser power density , thus locating the laser beam position within the microscope . the laser beam size may be increased to obtain the desired specimen temperature in the vicinity of the hole . referring now to fig1 , the fluid flow assembly design has the provision of flowing up to four different gases simultaneously through the cell . the various gases are provided in conventional cylinders 205 which are each in fluid communication with mass flow controllers 207 . mass flow controllers regulate the flow of gas under either manual or computer - operated control . a gas mixing chamber 209 is provided which combines the selected gases into a uniform composite which may be flowed to the holder assembly 1 through supply line 210 . supply line 210 is affixed to the appropriate fluid connector 82 and subsequently to fluid supply conduit 22 a . the uniform gas mixture is then circulated into the e - cell 4 . the continuous flow of gas is maintained with the help of the pressure differential generated between the inlet and the outlet ports of the holder by turbo molecular pump 215 mounted externally and the internal pressure of gas cylinder 205 . this pump in combination with diaphragm pump 220 and mass flow controllers 207 continuously flow the gas or gas mixture to supply the appropriate pressure within e - cell 4 , by means of gas exhaust line 210 a and gas supply line 210 . the primary consideration given towards the design of the gas flow system is the attainable pressure within e - cell 4 . higher gas pressures can be achieved by switching off the differential pumps and maintaining a steady flow of gas into e - cell 4 . the pressure inside e - cell 4 may be varied by simultaneously pumping the cell and / or regulating the mass flow rate of the gases . gas flow regulation as well as adjustments to the laser power may be either manually or computer controlled utilizing a standard computerized interface such as labview , a program developed by national instruments . similarly , an external liquid circulation unit can be attached to the holder in a similar fashion to incorporate biological applications that require the flow of liquids through the cell . the terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not as limitation , and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof , it being recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed . although particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the foregoing detailed description , it is to be further understood that the present invention is not to be limited to just the embodiments disclosed , but that they are capable of numerous rearrangements , modifications and substitutions . | 7 |
the present invention provides improvements over existing technology in use today in several ways . a preferred embodiment of the invention creates a microtitration zone which permits the accurate testing of a small fluid sample and prevents over sampling , while the integrated capillary provides a means to eliminate the problems associated with short sampling which frequently occurs in the current commercial products . the capillary also provides a means of absorbing the fluid sample from a non finger stick location . this permits the use of non traditional lancing systems . the small test pad used in this invention reduces the cost of the matrix employed and the quantity of expensive reagents needed to conduct an accurate assay using an oxidase and peroxidase chemistry . with a smaller test pad , a smaller sample volume is adequate . it should be noted also that an electrode based test system could be used with the basic structure and elements of this invention . the test strip is comprised of a test pad situated in a test pad holder . this holder provides a means for accurately positioning the test pad with respect to the optics system in the meter and for providing a means for blocking ambient light from affecting the analysis . the test pad is impregnated with the appropriate chemistry to permit a colormetric analysis of the analyte being tested and must therefore provide a stable absorbent substrate . if the system is developed with an electrode base system the function of the test pad holder is position the electrode contacts on the strip with those corresponding to the meter . the test pad can be made from various materials which will hold the test reagent in a dried form , including polyethersulphone ( gelman sciences supor 200d ), polysulphone ( memtec filtration asymmetric membrane ) and nylon ( pall biodyne ). the wicking layer can likewise be selected from various materials , including pall accuwick and whatman 41 , which provide a high enough capillary action to absorb the sample and spread it to the reaction matrix . the test strip of this invention provides a support for the test pad and the capillary peg contacting the test pad . the peg positively seats in the meter in a detent and is locked from rotation by a corresponding key in the test strip which fits into a slot in the meter test strip holder . the test strip holder is positioned to the optics block using pins on the optics block assuring proper alignment of the test strip . it also seals the optics area from ambient light and any excess blood contamination . these features are more fully disclosed in application ser . no . 08 / 960 , 866 filed oct . 30 , 1997 now u . s . pat . no . 5 , 872 , 713 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the signal producing system impregnated in the test pad matrix can be formed from different indicator systems such as 3 - methyl - 2 - benzothiazolinone hydrazone ( mbth ) and 8 - anilino - 1 - naphthalenessulfonate ( ans ) [ u . s . pat . no . 5 , 453 , 360 yu ], mbth and 3 - dimethylaminobenzoic acid ( dmab ) [ u . s . pat . no . 5 , 049 , 487 phillips et al . ], 3 - methyl - 2 - benzothiazolinone - hydrazone - sulfonate sodium salt ( mbths ) and - ethyl - n -( 3 - sulfopropyl ) aniline ( alps ) [ u . s . pat . no . 4 , 396 , 714 maeda et al .]. one skilled in the art could devise an alternate indicator system . the oxidase enzyme system contained in the reagent pad produces hydrogen peroxide which is a used to convert the indicator with the assistance of peroxidase which acts as the catalyst . in the most preferred embodiment the reagents are impregnated into a porous membrane by submerging the dry membrane into a reagent dip . excess fluid is wiped from the membrane surface and the membrane is gently dried in an oven . at this point , subsequent dipping and drying can be conducted . a preferred embodiment for a two dip process is : ______________________________________mbths & amp ; alps formulation final concentrations______________________________________a dip in citrate buffer , ph 7 0 . 1 m stock a dip edta 0 . 08 % mannitol 0 . 19 % gantrez - s95 0 . 53 % klucel 99 - ef 20 um crotein - spa 7 . 45 % enzyme reagents glucose oxidase 0 . 92 % peroxidase 0 . 54 % b dip in 70 % ethanol mbths 0 . 66 % alps 2 . 00 % sos 0 . 20 % ______________________________________ the color formed after applying the bodily fluid to the reagent test pad is proportional to the amount of analyte in the applied sample . the meter measures the change in reflectance due to the development of the specific color generated by the indicator . this is either used as the input to a function which relates reflectance to analyte level or to a table which correlates reflectance value to analyte level . the function or the table is stored within the meter system for it to produce and display a reading of the analyte level . while most meters in use today employ functions to convert reflectance readings to analyte concentration , this approach requires that the function be stable and well understood . the use of a look up table permits the storage of specific values for reflectance and their corresponding analyte levels . the meter uses this table and interpolates between the table values to give relatively accurate readings . this is achievable in a system such as that described by this invention as the table can quickly be generated for each reagent lot produced . the devices of this invention using a read once calibration chip or being fully disposable can use a lot specific look up table to convert reflectance reading to analyte levels . fig1 shows an elevation view of the un - embossed layers , wicking layer 5 and test matrix layer 4 between the die 17 formed from top plate 16 containing hole 18 and bottom plate 15 . fig2 shows an elevation view of the embossed or compressed layers , wicking layer 5 and test matrix layer 4 between the die 17 formed from top plate 16 containing hole 18 and bottom plate 15 . hole 18 in die plate 16 forms the microtitration pillow 21 in the wicking layer 5 and in test matrix layer 4 . the areas of the layers surrounding pillow 21 are compressed to make them essentially impervious to sample liqud flow , thus forming the microtitration volumetric area around pillow 21 . fig3 shows an exploded perspective view of the embossed or compressed layers , wicking 5 and test matrix 4 as formed between the die 17 formed from top plate 16 and bottom plate 15 . the assembly of a test strip 20 shown in fig4 a is accomplished as shown in fig4 b . in a preferred embodiment bottom or support member 6 which has the capillary peg 7 and capillary 10 integrally molded therein ( e . g ., by injection molding ) and constructed so that microtitration pocket 8 has breather holes 9 located within the microtitration pocket 8 . or capillary peg 7 can be formed as a separate element and assembled into support member 6 if desired . fig2 shows the formation of the microtitration pillow 21 in matrix 4 and wicking layer 5 . the microtitration pillow 21 is formed using die 17 formed from top plate 16 and bottom plate 15 . by using a die to form the pillows the spacing of the pillows 21 can be formed in the matrix 4 and wicking 5 so that they align with the microtitration pocket 8 . when the top layer 1 is assembled on bottom member 6 with test matrix layer 4 and wicking layer 5 properly positioned as shown between layers 1 and 6 . test matrix pad 4 is formed from a bibulous matrix which has been impregnated with a reagent system comprised of enzymes , indicators and blood separation agents and the wicking matrix pad 5 provides a means of spreading the sample over the test pad 4 . layers or pads 4 and 5 are preferably embossed or compressed prior to assembly with layers 1 and 6 . the holes 22 and 23 formed in the top layer 1 and alignment keys 11 and 12 formed in holder 6 provide a means of aligning the test strip assembly including pillow 21 and hole 18a to the microtitration pocket 8 . the breather holes 9 provide an escape path for trapped air in the assembly pillow 21 when wicking the sample up the capillary 10 and into pillow 21 . fig5 shows an additional preferred feature of the present invention where capillary peg 7 and capillary tube 10 are formed with a protruding collar 25 extending from capillary tube 10 to engage and further compress pillow 21 . this feature provides a seal between capillary tube 10 and the surface of wicking layer 5 , which better forces the sample flow from capillary tube 10 into the interior of wicking layer 5 to better distribute the sample throughout test matrix layer 4 and completely fill microtitration volume 8 and to better prevent sample from flowing between the surface of wicking layer 5 and the surface of the end of capillary peg 7 . | 8 |
preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings . referring to fig1 , a liquid cooling medium circulation system for an exposure apparatus , according to a first embodiment of the present invention , will be described . the reference numerals in fig1 similar to those referred to in the conventional structure shown in fig5 are assigned to corresponding elements . in this embodiment , a plurality of heat exhausting members 11 are used . generally , the liquid cooling medium circulation system of the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment is arranged to cool , by means of a liquid - like cooling medium ( coolant ), the heat exhausting member which exhausts heat to cool the components housed inside an exposure apparatus such as shown in fig4 . a reservoir 16 is a container which is filled with a cooling medium ( coolant ) 15 . a supply pump 17 is a device which is provided at the upstream side of the heat exhausting members 11 , for supplying the cooling medium 15 from the reservoir 16 . a heating device 18 is a heater for heating the cooling medium 15 supplied thereto from the supply pump 17 . a temperature controller 21 is a device for controlling the heating temperature at the heater 18 so as to maintain the temperature of the cooling medium 15 at a predetermined temperature . jackets 13 are formed in the heat exhausting members 11 , and the cooling medium 15 is supplied thereto from the heater 18 . a pressure reducing pump 1 is provided at the downstream side of the heat exhausting members 11 . it is communicated with each jacket 13 to reduce the pressure inside the jacket 13 . a cooling device 19 is a device for exhausting heat out of the cooling medium 15 as supplied from the pressure reducing pump 1 . the circulation system 12 includes the components described above . the cooling medium 15 is temperature adjusted in a similar manner as has been described with reference to the conventional coolant circulation system shown in fig5 . the pressure at the suction port of the pressure reducing pump 1 corresponds to the remainder that remains when the head δph of the pressure reducing pump 1 is subtracted from the pressure loss δpr from the pressure reducing pump 1 to the reservoir 16 . thus , a negative pressure is reduced if the head generated by the pressure reducing pump 1 is larger than the pressure loss downstream of it . furthermore , if the pressure reducing pump 1 is disposed at a position higher than the reservoir 16 and when the height ( level ) difference therebetween is denoted by h , the liquid cooling medium density is denoted by ρ and the gravitational acceleration is denoted by g , the pressure is reduced by an amount corresponding to “ ρgh ”. however , in liquid medium pumping , there is a negative pressure limit ( vacuum limit ) depending on the vapor pressure of the liquid cooling medium at a used temperature thereof as well as the required npsh of the pump itself . if the level is lower than the negative pressure limit value , cavitation occurs and the cooling medium pumping is no more attainable . additionally , the components of the circulation system may be damages seriously . in consideration of this and in order to avoid cavitation , a pressure sensor 2 is provided to detect the pressure at the suction port of the pressure reducing pump 1 , where the pressure becomes lowest . in addition to this , a pressure - reducing - pump suction pressure adjusting means that comprises a back pressure adjusting valve 3 , disposed downstream of the pressure reducing pump 1 , is newly provided . more specifically , the pressure loss at the downstream side of the pressure reducing pump 1 is adjusted by means of the back pressure adjusting valve 3 to avoid the suction pressure to go beyond the negative pressure limit . alternatively , a pressure control system ( not shown ) that controls the back pressure adjusting valve 3 while using the pressure sensor 2 as an input and the back pressure adjusting valve 3 as an output , may be provided to assure that the suction pressure of the pressure reducing pump 1 is maintained at a predetermined constant pressure . the flow rate adjustment is carried out by using flow rate adjusting means that comprises a flow rate adjusting valve 4 and a flow rate sensor 5 which are disposed between the heat exhausting member 11 and the supply pump 17 . by disposing the flow rate adjusting valve 4 at the upstream side of the heat exhausting member 11 , a pressure rise corresponding to the pressure loss is prevented . where a plurality of heat exhausting members are used such as in the first embodiment , preferably each member should be provided with similar flow rate adjusting means . alternatively , a flow rate control system ( not shown ) that controls the flow rate adjusting valve 4 while using the flow rate sensor 5 as an input and the flow rate adjusting valve 4 as an output , may be provided to assure that the flow rate is maintained at a predetermined constant level . in accordance with the first embodiment described above , the pressure to be applied to the heat exhausting member 11 can be reduced by an amount corresponding to the sum of the pressure loss downstream of the pressure reducing pump 1 and the negative pressure limit . furthermore , with the provision of the suction pressure adjusting means for the pressure reducing pump 1 , any differences in height or in pipe pressure loss can be absorbed flexibly . for enhanced pressure reduction effect , the pressure reducing pump 1 should preferably be disposed downstream of and yet quite close to the heat exhausting member as much as possible . next , referring to fig2 , a liquid cooling medium circulation system for an exposure apparatus , according to a second embodiment of the present invention , will be described . similar reference numerals are assigned to the components of this embodiment corresponding to those of the first embodiment shown in fig1 . in this embodiment , the suction pressure adjusting means for the pressure reducing pump 1 comprises a pressure - reducing - pump revolution control system 6 that controls the revolution speed of the pressure reducing pump 1 while using the pressure sensor 2 as an input and the pressure reducing pump 1 as an output , to assure that the suction pressure of the pressure reducing pump 1 is maintained at a predetermined constant pressure . furthermore , the flow rate adjusting means comprises a supply pump revolution control system 7 that controls the revolution speed of the supply pump 17 while using the flow rate sensor 5 as an input and the supply pump 17 as an output , to assure that a predetermined constant flow rate is maintained . a similar pressure reducing effect is attainable with this embodiment , like the first embodiment . next , referring to fig3 , a liquid cooling medium circulation system for an exposure apparatus , according to a third embodiment of the present invention , will be described . similar reference numerals are assigned to the components of this embodiment corresponding to those of the first and embodiments shown in fig1 and 2 . in this embodiment , there is a bypass pipe 8 that extends without passing through the flow rate adjusting valves 4 and the heat exhausting members 11 . in addition to this , a shut - off valve 9 is provided at the downstream side of a branching point 8 a of the bypass pipe 8 and at the upstream side of the heat exhausting member 11 . furthermore , another shut - off valve 9 is provided at the upstream side of the junction point 8 b of the bypass pipe 8 and at the downstream side of the heat exhausting member 11 . also , a bypass flow rate adjusting valve 10 is provided along the bypass pipe 8 . where the flow rate adjustment is made manually by using the flow rate adjusting valve 4 and if the supply pump 17 is started before the adjustment is made , it is possible that the liquid medium flows at a flow rate more than a predetermined and the pressure goes beyond the withstand pressure . if the flow rate adjusting valve is restricted to prevent this , it leads to disadvantageous non - discharge operation of the supply pump 17 . in consideration of this , the bypass pipe 8 and the shut - off valve 9 are provided as a protecting means for the heat exhausting member 11 . in operation , while keeping the shut - off valve 9 closed , the supply pump 17 is started with the bypass pipe 8 , and a pseudo pressure loss of the heat exhausting member 11 is generated through the bypass flow rate adjusting valve 10 on the bypass pipe 8 . furthermore , after the flow rate adjustment , the shut - off valve 9 is opened and the flow rate adjusting valve 4 is opened while the bypass flow rate adjusting valve is restricted . by this , any problems due to the pressure rise in the initial flow rate adjustment are avoided . next , an embodiment of a device manufacturing method which uses an exposure apparatus described above , will be explained with reference to an example of semiconductor device manufacture . fig6 is a flow chart for explaining the overall procedure for semiconductor device manufacture . step 1 is a design process for designing a circuit of a semiconductor device . step 2 is a process for making a mask on the basis of the circuit pattern design . on the other hand , step 3 is a process for preparing a wafer by using a material such as silicon . step 4 is a wafer process which is called a pre - process wherein , by using the thus prepared mask and wafer , a circuit is formed on the wafer in practice , in accordance with lithography . step 5 subsequent to this is an assembling step which is called a post - process wherein the wafer having been processed at step 4 is formed into semiconductor chips . this step includes an assembling ( dicing and bonding ) process and a packaging ( chip sealing ) process . step 6 is an inspection step wherein an operation check , a durability check an so on , for the semiconductor devices produced by step 5 , are carried out . with these processes , semiconductor devices are produced , and finally they are shipped ( step 7 ). more specifically , the wafer process at step 4 described above includes : ( i ) an oxidation process for oxidizing the surface of a wafer ; ( ii ) a cvd process for forming an insulating film on the wafer surface ; ( iii ) an electrode forming process for forming electrodes upon the wafer by vapor deposition ; ( iv ) an ion implanting process for implanting ions to the wafer ; ( v ) a resist process for applying a resist ( photosensitive material ) to the wafer ; ( vi ) an exposure process for exposing the resist - coated wafer to light or patterned radiation , through the circuit pattern of the mask , by using the exposure apparatus described above ; ( vii ) a developing process for developing the exposed wafer ; ( viii ) an etching process for removing portions other than the developed resist image ; and ( ix ) a resist separation process for separating the resist material remaining on the wafer after being subjected to the etching process . by repeating these processes , circuit patterns are superposedly formed on the wafer . as described hereinbefore , the liquid cooling medium circulation system according to the embodiments of the present invention explained above may comprise a supply pump disposed upstream of a heat exhausting member , for supplying a cooling medium thereto from a reservoir , and a pressure reducing pump provided downstream of the heat exhausting member and being communicated with a jacket , to reduce the pressure in the jacket . with this arrangement , even for a heat exhausting member having a low withstand pressure , the flow rate of the cooling medium can be enlarged without causing a pressure increase and , as a result of it , a thermal influence can be reduced . hence , components housed inside the exposure apparatus , such as stages , for example , can be cooled while assuring a high throughput . while the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein , it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims . this application claims priority from japanese patent application no . 308968 / 2005 filed oct . 24 , 2005 , for which is hereby incorporated by reference . | 6 |
according to the present invention , a polyamino - triazine , i . e ., a triazine having a plurality of substituted or unsubstituted amino groups attached , is reacted with formaldehyde to form the basic resin . numerous polyaminotriazines are suitable for use in the process , such as melamine ( 2 , 4 , 6 - triamino - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine ), benzoguanamine , diallylmelamine , and mixtures of these and other such polyamino - triazines . the term formaldehyde includes not only formaldehyde itself but also compounds yielding formaldehyde , for instance , paraformaldehyde and the like . formaldehyde is generally preferred for use as the aldehyde component , usually in the form of an aqueous 30 to 45 percent solution since the resin preparation is generally carried out in an aqueous medium . the mole ratio of polyamino - triazine to formaldehyde is not particularly critical and may range from about 2 to about 7 depending on the particular polyamino - triazine employed and the characteristics desired in the final product . for the preferred system of melamine and formaldehyde , a ratio of 3 to 5 moles formaldehyde per mole of melamine has been found most suitable for the process of the invention . the condensation reactions of polyamino - triazines and formaldehyde are considerably influenced by ph , and the optimum ph range for the precipitation of macroporous resins has been determined to be from about 2 to about 5 . consequently , the use of a condensation - catalyzing acid in the process is recommended . catalysts such as formic acid , sulfuric acid , hydrochloric acid , and acetic acid may be employed . formic acid has proven to be most effective in the process and is the preferred catalyst . the amount of acid catalyst may range from about 0 . 01 to about 0 . 10 moles per mole of melamine , with 0 . 04 to 0 . 06 moles being the usual concentration . the use of an effective miscible organic porogen is essential to the preparation of macroporous resins having the desired characteristics of high adsorptivity and large surface area . the porogen should be inert and miscible with all of the reactants . during the condensation , it serves as an internal diluent to introduce the desired sponge - like macroporous structure into the finished resin . the porogen may be selected from organics such as alcohols , thiols , amides , ethers , esters , or mixtures thereof . the preferred porogen for the process of the invention is n - propanol , which is miscible with all of the initial reactants in the process and has an appropriate boiling point ( 97 °) which is above the normal polymerization temperature yet is low enough to allow eventual removal at the usual drying temperatures . the porogen may be present over a broad range of concentration in the reaction mixture , usually from about 5 to about 30 percent of the total volume . concentrations in the range of 16 to 20 volume percent have been found to result in the optimum adsorptivity in the product resin for the preferred melamine - formaldehyde system . other specific porogens useful in the process include ethoxyethanol and dimethylformamide . since the resin preparation is carried out in an aqueous medium , the total quantity of solids in the initial reaction mix is not critical and normally ranges from 30 to 55 percent by weight of the total mixture . a solids content of about 45 percent has been found to produce the most suitable resins with lower amounts resulting in a more friable resin and higher amounts reducing the porosity of the product . the monomers , catalyst , and porogen are all charged into an appropriately sized reaction kettle , usually of glass or stainless steel construction and equipped with conventional heating and agitation means . the ph of the reaction mix is in the range of 2 to 5 initially . the reaction mix is gradually heated and agitated until solution of the initial reactants is complete , then heating is continued until polymerization begins and a gel forms . this initial reaction may be carried out at temperatures ranging from about 65 ° c . to about 95 ° c ., preferably at from about 70 ° c . to about 85 ° c . the initial reaction time is dependent upon the temperature employed and on the rate of heat input into the reaction mixture . the average rate of temperature increase in the reaction mix is preferably maintained in the range of 0 . 5 ° to 5 ° c ./ min . until gelation . reaction times will increase as the initial temperature is reduced . at 75 ° c ., the reaction may continue for more than 30 minutes . the reaction can be conducted under pressure , which will affect the temperatures and times recited . after the initial reaction , the resin is cured at from ambient to 100 ° c . for about 2 to 20 hours . the cure time may be shortened by elevating the temperature to the higher end of the range . during the curing step , the condensation goes to completion and the degree of cross - linking increases . completion of curing can be determined by measurement of the resin stability to acid hydrolysis . during this step , the porogen is removed from the rigid polymer matrix by evaporation without substantial effect on the volume of the gelled resin . the miscible porogen may also be washed out with the aqueous phase either during or subsequent to the curing . the product resin is then crushed , ground to the desired particle size ( preferably less than about 2000 microns ) and washed . the resin has the physical appearance of chalk . characteristic materials will have a surface area of over 10 m 2 / g and up to about 1000 m 2 / g as measured by b . e . t . nitrogen multipoint analysis and a porosity of 0 . 2 to 1 . 0 as measured by heptane regain . resistance to oxidation , as measured by h 2 o 2 oxidation , is 100 percent at ambient temperatures for up to 5 hours . the typical resin has an adsorption capacity of over 200 kg / m 3 of color as cobalt chloroplatinate for paper pulp mill &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; effluent compared to conventional nonporous amino resin adsorptivity of less than 50 kg / m 3 . the finished resin may be further treated by known methods , for example , reaction with epichlorohydrin and / or amination , to provide materials having different characteristics . the resins of the invention have particular utility in removing organic materials from fluid media by adsorption . by virtue of the combination of polar surface and chemical composition , the resins are efficient in the removal of acidic high molecular weight solutes from aqueous solution . these solutes can be desorbed from the resin by a variety of means , including peroxide treatment , which gives them an advantage over phenol - formaldehyde materials of similar structure . a typical application is in the treatment of paper pulp mill effluent which contains color bodies in the form of condensed guiacylpropane type structures , with carbonyl and carboxyl groups as well as phenolic hydroxyl . such materials are effectively removed by contact with the macroporous resins of the invention . the resins also exhibit equilibrium adsorptive capacities for typical organic materials , i . e ., 85 to 90 percent removal in a 0 . 01 m p - nitrophenol solution and 70 percent removal in munitions plant red water effluent . 225 g of melamine , 536 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent , aqueous ), 240 ml of n - propanol and 12 ml of 88 percent formic acid were mixed in a jacketed resin kettle equipped with stirrer , condenser and thermometer . the mixture was stirred and heated to 80 ° c . until gelation occurred , after about 20 minutes . the temperature was held at about 80 ° c . for 16 hours to cure the resin . after cooling , the product was removed from the kettle , ground , and water washed . the resin was an opaque solid with a pore volume of 0 . 6 ml / g , a surface area of 160 m 2 / g and an adsorption capacity to paper pulp mill effluent of 280 kg / m 3 as cobalt chloroplatinate . 765 g of melamine , 1608 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent ), 720 ml of n - propanol and 36 ml of 88 percent formic acid were combined as in example 1 . the mixture was stirred and heated to 75 ° c . until gelation ( about 30 minutes ). heating was continued for an additional 12 hours at 80 ° c . after cooling , grinding and washing the product , resin was a white opaque solid with a pore volume of 0 . 74 ml / g , a surface area of 180 m 2 / g and an adsorption capacity to paper pulp mill effluent of 360 kg / m 3 as cobalt chloroplatinate . 44 . 3 g of melamine , 63 . 2 g of paraformaldehyde , 85 ml of water , 57 ml of n - propanol and 1 . 9 ml of 95 percent sulfuric acid were combined as in example 1 . the mixture was stirred and heated to 78 ° c . until gelation occurred . heating was continued at about 80 ° c . for an additional 16 hours after which the material was cooled , ground and washed . the product was then heated at 100 ° c . for an additional 48 hours . the resulting resin was a white opaque solid with a pore volume of 0 . 35 ml / g and an adsorption capacity for paper pulp mill effluent of 125 mg / m 3 as cobalt chloroplatinate . 63 g of melamine , 150 . 5 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent ), 25 ml of ethoxyethanol , 75 ml of water , and 3 . 35 ml of 88 percent formic acid were mixed as in example 1 . the mixture was agitated and heated to 80 ° c . until gelation occurred . heating was continued at 80 ° c . for an additional 23 hours . the material was cooled , ground and washed . the resin was an opaque solid with a surface area of 213 m 2 / g . 63 g of melamine , 150 . 5 ml of formaldehyde ( 37 percent ), 25 ml of dimethylformamide , 75 ml of water , and 3 . 35 ml of 88 percent formic acid were mixed and reacted as in example 4 . the resin produce was an opaque solid with a surface area of 211 m 2 / g . the macroporous resins of the invention were prepared on a larger scale , using a polymerization kettle with a capacity of 190 liters . the reactants were added in the following order with agitation -- 104 . 9 liter formaldehyde ( 37 percent , aqueous , methanol inhibited ), 44 . 1 kg melamine , 47 liter n - propanol , and 2 . 35 liter 88 percent formic acid . the contents of the kettle were heated gradually , with stirring . the stirrer was removed when the mixture reached about 65 ° c ., and heating was continued until gelation occurred . a mild exotherm then raised the temperature to 80 ° to 85 ° c . the kettle jacket temperature was then raised to about 85 ° c ., and this temperature was maintained for 4 hours . the resin product was then cooled , ground and washed . reaction conditions and product characteristics for several batches are shown in the following table . table i______________________________________ color gel time rate of heat surface area removalbatch ( min ) to gel (° c ./ min ) ( m . sup . 2 / g ) ( kg / m . sup . 3 ) ______________________________________1 25 2 . 4 * 3202 22 2 . 7 180 3003 18 3 . 3 220 2504 18 3 . 4 250 2655 16 3 . 7 245 2606 16 4 . 4 260 350______________________________________ (* not measured ) the resin prepared in example 1 was used in the decolorization of tannin - containing surface water . a stream of 600 apha surface water was passed through a 50 ml volume of the resin in a 1 - inch diameter column at a rate of 11 ml / minute . a total of 12 . 5 liters of water was decolorized to an average of 25 apha units with a maximum color of 75 apha units . a resin prepared as in example 1 was used in the decolorization of an naoh extract of a bleached sulfate paper pulp mill liquor , termed the &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; effluent . the caustic extract , having a total color of 5 , 355 apha units , was adjusted to ph 4 . the solution was then passed through 50 ml of resin in a 2 cm diameter glass column at the rate of 5 ml / minute ( 6 bed volumes / hour ). the column effluent was collected in aliquots , the ph was adjusted to 7 . 6 , and comparison was made with standards prepared from the feed solution to determine the percent of color removed . the run was terminated at the arbitrary point where color removal had dropped to 70 percent . for the resin of the invention , this occurred after a total color throughput of 350 kg / m 3 , expressed as cobalt chloroplatinate . three other commercially available adsorbent resins were tested in the same manner , and the results are shown in the following table . table ii______________________________________ kg / m . sup . 3 total color throughputresin to reach 70 % removal______________________________________example 1 350amberlite ® xad - 2 28amberlite ® xad - 7 120amberlite ® xad - 8 80______________________________________ ( amberlite resins are available from rohm and haas company ) | 2 |
the present invention is directed to topical compositions for the treatment of acne , which are preferably non - irritating , and methods for treating acne by inhibiting the growth of p . acnes using an extract of at least one of grape seed , green tea , and cranberry . the grape seed and green tea extracts are preferably prepared as dried powders , while cranberry juice concentrate may be used without drying . green tea extract is preferably prepared from the leaves of camellia sinensis . the tea leaves are collected and dried , and then cut , crushed , soaked , and extracted , preferably with a hydro - alcoholic solvent . the liquid extract is collected , and the alcohol is preferably removed under vacuum . a portion of the water may also be removed by vacuum . the extract may then be mixed with an appropriate carrier , and spray dried . the cranberry extract is preferably prepared from the berries of vaccinium macrocarpon . the whole berries are cold pressed to produce single strength juice . the juice is preferably then blended with an appropriate carrier , and spray dried . grape seed extract is preferably prepared from the seeds of vitis vinifera . the seeds are collected and dried , and then soaked and extracted , preferably with an alcohol solvent . the liquid extract is collected , and the alcohol is preferably removed under vacuum until the residue is dry . the extract is preferably applied in an appropriate carrier in an amount of from about 0 . 03 to about 1 percent based on the weight of the composition . the concentration may be varied , depending on whether the composition is left on the skin after application , or is removed , such as by rinsing or washing . preferably , a composition of the invention is applied 1 to 3 times a day . as a result of the efficacy of the compositions of the invention , they may be substantially free of prior art acne treatments , such as copper lanolate , ( 5 , 4b )- isothiazolo pyridine - 3 - one , vitamin a , vitamin a derivatives , and amphiphilic lipid vesicles . the compositions of the invention may also be used with prior art facial washes for deep cleansing , skin creams , lotions , sun screens , anti - aging creams and lotions , and moisturizers to add anti - acne benefits . in addition , the compositions of the invention may be used in combination with prior art acne treatments . an in - vitro assay of the effectiveness of grape seed , cranberry , and green tea extracts as inhibitors of the growth of p . acnes was performed in a reinforced , clostridium medium , inoculated with p . acnes . in each assay , one of a 1 , 3 - butylene glycol control and one or more extracts in 1 percent dmso was added to the inoculated growth medium to provide samples having extract concentrations of 1 , 0 . 5 , 0 . 125 , 0 . 063 , 0 . 032 , 0 . 016 , and 0 . 008 percent . each of the extract solutions was prepared as follows . a dried , acetone extract in the form of a dry powder in an amount of 35 percent by weight was mixed with 35 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , and 30 percent water . a pressed , single - strength cranberry juice concentrate in an amount of 80 percent by weight , was mixed with 20 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol . a dried alcohol / water extract of green tea leaf in an amount of 35 percent by weight was mixed with 35 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol and 30 percent water . three mixtures containing grape seed extract were also tested . the grape seed / cranberry mixture contained 35 percent by weight of the dried grape seed extract , 50 percent of the cranberry juice concentrate , and 15 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol . the grape seed / green tea extract mixture contained 25 percent by weight of each of the dried grape seed and green tea extracts , 20 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , and 30 percent water . the last mixture contained 25 percent by weight of each of the dried grape seed and green tea extracts , 20 percent of the cranberry juice concentrate , 10 percent 1 , 3 - butylene glycol , and 20 percent water . following inoculation and the addition of 0 . 03 ml of a control or extract solution , each 3 ml sample was incubated for 2 days at 37 ° c . a turbidity measurement and a plating count of a subcultures was performed to determine the efficacy of each extract solution and the control . the observed results were as follows . no inhibition was observed with the 1 , 3 - butylene glycol control solution . significant inhibition was observed in all samples containing with both the grape seed extract alone and the mixture of grape seed and green tea extracts . therefore , the minimum concentration required for inhibition of p . acnes by both the grape seed extract alone and the mixture of grape seed and green tea extracts is no more than 0 . 032 percent by weight . significant inhibition was observed in all samples of the mixture of grape seed extract and cranberry juice concentrate and the mixture of grape seed and green tea extracts with the cranberry juice concentrate at concentrations of at least 0 . 063 percent by weight . therefore , the minimum concentration of those mixtures required for the inhibition of p . acnes is no more than 0 . 063 percent by weight . substantial inhibition of p . acnes was observed in all samples of the green tea extract having a concentration of at least 0 . 125 percent by weight . therefore , the minimum concentration of green tea extract required for the inhibition of p . acnes is no more than 0 . 125 percent by weight . for the cranberry juice concentrate , the observed minimum concentration required to inhibit p . acnes was 1 percent by weight . accordingly , it will be appreciated that the present invention has been described with references to particular preferred embodiments that are now contemplated . however , the invention is not limited by the embodiments disclosed herein and it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art . therefore , it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and embodiments that fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention . | 0 |
fig1 which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the lead of the present invention , shows a lead 10 originating at a connector portion 11 and terminating an electrode 12 . the connector portion 11 is of the type commonly referred to as pin form and is illustrative only , any connector configuration capable of efficiently making contact with a remote electrical device , such as a pulse generator , being sufficient . between the connector portion 11 and electrode 12 is a conductor 14 encased in an insulating material 15 which is generally inert to body fluids and tissues . the conductor 14 may be of any type known in the art and may comprise braided , coiled , tinsel wire or otherwise . again the particular construction and composition of the connector portion 11 , conductor 14 and insulating material 15 is known to the prior art in forms a part of the present invention only in combination with the electrode 12 . the electrode 12 is composed of a first arcuate pincer 17 whose free end is in spaced opposing relation to the free end of a second arcuate pincer 18 . in the embodiment of fig1 the pincer 17 and 18 are generally semi - circular and may comprise a single length of rod or wire bent at its midpoint in the configuration shown . the conductor 14 contacts the pincers 17 and 18 at the midpoint . electrical and mechanical connection is maintained by use of conductive epoxy at the contact point . in a preferred embodiment , the conductor and a section of wire near the midpoint are crimped together within a tubular crimping member 20 shown in section 1 . the remaining exposed areas of the terminus of conductor 14 and the midpoint is insulated by nonconductive adhesive material 23 . alternately , the conductor 14 may be welded to the member 20 to provide a strong electrical connection . the member 20 is shown in fig1 with an encapsulating sleeve 26 which extends over a portion of the insulating material 15 and to the insulating adhesive material 23 . this sleeve 26 may be of a material identical to that of the insulating material 15 and functions to insulate the crimping member 20 while providing a stress relief for the connection between the electrode 12 and the conductor 14 . also shown in fig1 are pincer insulating members 27 and 28 which extend from the sleeve 26 over the portion of the pincers 17 and 18 , respectively . these insulating members function to increase the current density at the interface between the electrode 12 and the body organ to which it is connected by reducing the effective conductive surface area of the electrode 12 . of course , in some situations current density control may not be critical or may be within an optimum range without insulating members 27 and 28 . therefore , it is to be understood that the insulating members 27 and 28 are optional on the construction of the electrode 12 , their use being dependent upon placement of the electrode and its intended use , among other things . the uninsulated free ends of the pincers 17 and 18 may terminate in cutting surfaces and may be dimensioned to pierce a fold of body tissue and to touch or overlap one another . referring now to fig2 there is depicted a preferred embodiment of the insertion tool 30 used in the attachment of the lead 10 of fig1 to a fold of a body organ . in fig3 a cross sectional view along the lines a -- a of the insertion tool of fig2 is depicted . the insertion tool 30 of fig2 and 3 may be of unitary construction preferably manufactured by injection molding of an insulating plastic material , such as an acetyl homopolymer or copolymer thermoplastic . insertion tool 30 comprises first means for securely gripping the first and second spaced organ engaging pincers 17 and 18 of the lead of fig1 and second means for applying compressive force on the first and second spaced organ engaging pincers 17 and 18 to mechanically deform them . the first mentioned means comprises the grooves 31 and 32 , respectively , located in the inner , opposite planer surfaces of the jaws 36 and 37 of the tool 30 . the second means includes the circular bores 33 and 34 extending through the jaws 36 and 37 which are engageable by the tip members or jaws of a forceps or other compression tool . a third means comprising stop member 35 is provided to limit the extent of deformation of the first and second pincers 17 and 18 in a manner to be described more completely hereinafter . as depicted in fig2 the insertion tool 30 is generally c - shaped having two first and second elongated portions or jaws 36 and 37 , respectively . an arcuate portion 38 joins the elongated portions 36 and 37 together . by reference to fig3 it will be noted that the insertion tool 30 is of a uniform thickness except at the free ends of the jaws 36 and 37 . at the free ends , the jaws 36 and 37 are tapered so that thickness reduces gradually to half that at the coupling portion 38 . the tapered surfaces 38 &# 39 ; of the jaws 36 and 37 provide a clearer view of the pincers 17 and 18 during the attachment procedure . it will be appreciated that the tapered surfaces 38 &# 39 ; may appear on both sides of the jaws 36 and 37 in other embodiments thereof . in the inner surfaces of the free ends of the first and second portions 36 and 37 there are located , as mentioned before , the grooves 31 and 32 , respectively . as shown in fig2 these grooves are arcuate and conform to the arc of the pincers 17 and 18 of the lead 10 . as shown in fig3 the arcuate grooves 31 and 32 have a predetermined width that is dimensioned to provide frictional engagement with the pincers 17 and 18 . the grooves 31 and 32 have a normal , relaxed , spacing apart that is slightly less than that of the outer surfaces of the first and second pincers 17 and 18 , so that the pincers are securely gripped by the tool 30 in their open position . the thickness of the insertion tool 30 is selected to provide an offset space for the stop member 35 and the gripping means 31 and 32 , and so that the sleeve 26 of the lead 10 may be accommodated in the space between the jaws 36 and 37 . in addition , the dimensions including the thickness of the insertion tool are designed to provide sufficient strength to conduct force exerted on the insertion tool 30 directly to the pincers 17 and 18 . referring now to fig4 there is shown in perspective a view of the lead 10 securely placed in the insertion tool 30 . as shown in fig4 the pincers 17 and 18 have been manually pressed into the grooves 31 and 32 , and the electrode 12 is supported by the insertion tool 30 . the portion of the lead 10 including the sleeve 26 remains loosely in the space between the jaws 36 and 37 and the conductor 15 exits from the insertion tool 30 along one side of the arcuate portion 38 . referring now to fig5 there is depicted a standard thoracic instrument such as a right angle forceps 40 ( mueller model ch - 1725 tonsil forceps , for example ) with its jaws 41 and 42 inserted into the holes 33 and 34 , respectively , of the insertion tool depicted in fig2 - 4 . the right angle forceps 40 may be used both to place the lead 10 into the grooves of the insertion tool and is intended to be used to exert force upon the pincers 17 and 18 to mechanically deform them about or through a fold of body tissue . the lead 10 is placed upon the insertion tool 30 by inserting the jaws of the forceps 40 into the two holes 33 and 34 and applying a slight opening pressure on the forceps 40 which in turn will spread the jaws 36 and 37 of the insertion tool 30 apart slightly . at this time , the lead 10 can be placed in the insertion tool 30 by visually aligning the pincers 17 and 18 with the grooves 31 and 32 , respectively . slowly releasing the pressure of the forceps 40 allows the insertion tool 30 to return to its free state . the lead 10 will now be held in place as shown in fig4 . when inserting the lead 10 into the insertion tool 30 , care should be taken to avoid damaging the silicone rubber insulation 27 and 28 , if any , of fig1 . to apply the lead to a fold of body tissue , the forceps jaws 41 and 42 are again inserted into the holes 33 and 34 of the insertion tool 30 . in fig5 a right angle forceps 40 is depicted . in the actual use of the device , a forceps should be selected that will give the best view and most comfortable angle of approach to the fold of body tissue selected for attachment to the lead 10 . as depicted in fig5 the forceps 40 is preferably inserted into the holes 33 and 34 from the side of the insertion tool 30 possessing the tapered surfaces 38 &# 39 ;, so that a clear view of the pincers 17 and 18 may be retained during insertion . light pressure should be exerted on the forceps 40 to prevent the insertion tool 30 from dropping off the jaws 41 and 42 . alternatively , if the forceps jaws 41 and 42 are tapered , the tool 30 may be pressed onto the tapered jaws in the manner depicted . while holding the folded body tissue , such as the atrial appendage of the heart with a convenient forceps or clamp , the surgeon is expected to slip the fold of tissue between the opened pincers 17 and 18 at the desired site of electrode placement . thereupon while holding the tissue in place , the surgeon closes the forceps 40 until a moderate force , resulting from the engagement of the stop member 35 with the portion 37 of the insertion tool 30 , is felt . at this point , the first and second pincers 17 and 18 should be fully closed and attached to the folded body tissue . the surgeon then reopens the forceps 40 to spread apart the jaws of the insertion tool 30 to remove it from the electrode 12 . the distal portion of the lead 10 should be inspected for proper closure of the pincers 17 and 18 . lead placement should now be complete and electrical measurements taken to insure that proper stimulation or sensing thresholds have been achieved . if thresholds are too high , the lead can be removed by inserting a closed forceps into the exposed portion of the electrode between the pincers 17 and 18 and then opening the forceps only enough to spread the pincers 17 and 18 far enough apart to withdraw the folded body tissues . the correct opening of the jaw pincers 17 and 18 may be measured by slipping the pincers 17 and 18 over the arcuate portion 38 of the insertion tool 30 . the lead must be adjusted to this dimension before attempting to re - insert it . while not shown in the drawings , a length of string may be attached to the arcuate portion 38 , so that the tool 30 may be withdrawn from the incision in case it slips off the jaws of the forceps . when the lead of the present invention is attached to the atrium or atrial appendage , the pincers will perforate the heart wall . inasmuch as these chambers are low pressure , there will be no excessive bleeding , the punctures being very analogous to those occurring in the prior art suturing techniques . when the electrode is applied to the ventricle , the thickness of the ventricle wall will prevent a perforation . again , wherever the electrode is to be placed there must be some penetration . the combination of the insertion tool 30 and the lead 10 provides more reliability and versatility for application of the lead 10 to body tissue . in the absence of the insertion tool 30 , the use of conventionally available forceps or surgical clip applicators , such as that depicted in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 777 , 538 has resulted in unreliable and difficult placement and attachment of the lead 10 to body tissue . slippage usually occurs between the applicating tool or forceps and the pincers 17 and 18 of the electrode 12 . in addition , either too little or too much force may be applied to the pincers 17 and 18 through use of the conventional instruments , resulting in unreliable attachments of the lead 10 . these and other advantages of the invention may be realized in alternate embodiments of the insertion tool . while not expressly depicted herein , it will be realized that the insertion tool 30 could take other shapes and forms that allow for the secure attachment of the electrode 12 to the applicator tool and for the application of force to the pincers 17 and 18 . for example , the outer surfaces of the insertion tool of fig2 could include arcuate ribs between which the forceps jaws 41 and 42 might be placed . in addition , the stop member 35 could take the shape of two members rising from both inner surfaces of the jaws 36 and 37 . obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . for example , while stress considerations indicate that an arcuate pincer configuration is most desirable , the pincers may be formed in any nonarcuate configuration capable of the deformation described herein . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise as is specifically described . | 0 |
the compressible carrier is generally designated 10 in fig1 . in fig1 the compressible carrier 10 is shown in is most compressed form . the compressible carrier 10 contains essentially seven subcomponents arranged in a regular pattern . these seven subcomponents are : the construction of the present invention will be described first followed by a description of the method of operation . there are eight side bar elements 11 associated with the compressible carrier 10 in the embodiment pictorially represented by fig1 . however , it should be noted at the outset that the compressible carrier 10 may have any number of side bar elements 11 including an odd number . the preferred embodiment is to produce a compressible carrier 10 with four sides , however , this does not preclude the creation of a compressible carrier 10 with any number of sides . the side bar elements 11 may be arranged to provide a compressible carrier 10 with either an even or odd number of overall sides . the side bar elements 11 are basically hollow parallelopipeds having openings at both of the longitudinal ends . provided on the outside surface of the side bar elements 11 are two tightening knobs 13 , one at each of the longitudinal ends . the tightening knobs 13 are simply knobs with screws attached thereto that penetrate the outside surface and protrude into the interior track of the side bar elements 11 . the interior track opens to the outside of the side bar elements 11 at each of the longitudinal ends . the interior track openings are shaped such that they can accept one end of a corner angle 12 . the corner angles 12 are rigid bars bent at ninety degrees along their length . however , any angular configuration of the corner angles 12 may be selected . each end of the corner angle 12 inserts into the interior track of a side bar element 11 . as a result , the placement of a corner angle 12 between two side bar elements 11 will juxtapose the two side bar elements 11 at ninety degrees relative to one another . the tightening knobs 13 are then tightened to hold the corner angles 12 in place . four of the side bar elements 11 are connected via corner angles 12 such that they form a square or rectangle . in this arrangement , the tightening knobs 13 all face outward from the periphery of the rectangle . two of these rectilinear members are required for the use of the compressible carrier 10 . the combination of side bar elements 11 and corner angles 12 create a structural member 20 . it can be seen that the compressible carrier 10 is essentially comprised of two structural members 20 , one atop the other . should the compressible carrier 10 be composed of a non - rectangular shape , as shown in fig5 the corner angles 12 will have to be pivoted in order for the whole structure to expand . pivot points 12a are provided on the corner joints of corner angles 12 so as to allow for the expansion of the side bar elements 11 and corner angles 12 in the various shapes that the compressible carrier 10 can assume . the rectilinear members , when the carrier 10 is collapsed , will rest one on top of the other . extending between these rectilinear members are vertical scissor elements 16 . the vertical scissor elements 16 are simply the combination of several flat bars connected in a zig zag pattern . due to the construction of the vertical scissor elements 16 , they may be expanded or collapsed thereby increasing or reducing the vertical height of the compressible cart 10 . one vertical scissor element 16 is associated with two side bar elements 11 , one located atop the other . the respective top and bottom side bar elements 11 may be open on one side to accommodate scissor element 16 as shown in fig2 and 9 . in fig2 and 6 , scissor elements 16 are shown to be provided on each side of carrier 10 for stability of the upper structural member 20 . it may also be possible to utilize telescoping bars 15 in the place of the vertical scissor elements 16 . however , clearly , the collapsibility is somewhat reduced . within the upper of the two side elements 11 , there is located a finite adjustment track 17 . the finite adjustment track 17 is simply a specifically designed slot in the construction material . the slot contains upwardly projecting recessions within which the top most portion of the vertical scissor elements 16 may be rigidly inserted . the top most portion of the vertical scissor elements 16 slide into the grooves provided by the finite adjustment track 17 to hold the vertical scissor elements 16 in place . by holding the top of the vertical scissor elements 16 stationary , the height of the compressible carrier 10 is held rigid . wheel and castor assemblies 14 are provided at the longitudinal ends of the side bar elements 11 . they are located on the bottom surface of the side bar elements 11 . the wheel and castor assemblies 14 allow for pivotal and for rolling motion of the compressible cart 10 . connecting the side bar elements 11 together , there is an additional feature , the telescoping base structural bars 15 . three base structural bars 15 extend from the inner surface of a side bar element 11 and extend to the side bar element 11 opposite . thus , the telescoping structural base bars 15 form a cross - hatch pattern across the base of the compressible carrier 10 . the telescoping structural base bars 15 are attached only to the side bar elements 11 located on the lower of the rectilinear members . three telescoping structural bars 15 is the preferred number , however , any number of these bars 15 may suffice . additionally , it may be possible to utilize scissor elements 16 in the lower structural member 20 as well . should the compressible carrier 10 have an odd number of sides , it will be necessary to provide telescoping structural bars 15 that can be pivotally mounted to the lower structural member 20 . thus , as the compressible carrier 10 is enlarged , the telescoping structural bars 15 will be able to compensate . the compressible carrier 10 may also be equipped with a carrying bag 2 that is placed within the volume defined by the cart 10 . the bag 2 could be suspended from the inner surfaces of each of the corner angles 12 and the side bar element 11 . the bag 2 would provide a carrier 10 that does not allow small items to fall out during movement . this adaptation may be of particular use in the grocery store . in order to increase the transportability of the carrier 10 , it is recommended that the apparatus 10 be composed of a lightweight material such as aluminum . it may be possible to construct the apparatus 10 of a rigid and strong plastic as well . however , it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to any particular material . a strap 18 is provided for the compressible carrier 10 so that the user may pull the cart behind him / her . the strap 18 is attached to the compressible carrier 10 on the lower of the two structural members 20 . the placement of the strap 18 in this location will provide the user with maximum leverage to pull the compressible carrier 10 . of course , the strap may also be attached to the upper structural member 20 if the need mandates such a design . removable hooks 19 are also provided on one of the sides of the compressible carrier 10 . these hooks 19 may be used to facilitate storage of the compressible carrier 10 . the hooks may be attachable either to the upper or the lower of the structural members 20 . one possible use of the hooks 19 is to allow the user to attach the compressible carrier 10 to the exterior of a shopping cart in a grocery store . the hooks 19 may alternately be used to mount the compressible carrier 10 to a wall in the user &# 39 ; s home . the hooks 19 are removable to prevent injury when the compressible carrier 10 is in use . the hooks 19 are simply screwed into the structural member 20 provided with the appropriately threaded female connective means 19 . the compressible carrier 10 may also be provided with electric motors 21 to automate the entire apparatus . the motors 21 would need to be placed in several locations . primarily , one motor 21 may be placed at each end of the side bar elements 11 . the placement of a motor 21 in each of these locations will allow extensible motion of the compressible carrier 10 in the lateral directions . the motors 21 could be provided with toothed gears 27 that would mesh with a toothed ridge 23 located on one of the sides of the corner angles 12 as shown in fig8 . clearly , with the addition of motors to the structure , it is no longer necessary to include the tightening knobs 13 . however , they may be provided to further enhance the structural rigidity of the compressible carrier 10 . alternative methods could be provided , and they will be obvious to those skilled in the art . in order to provide vertically extensible motion , additional motors 21 must accompany the vertical scissor elements 16 . ideally , a motor 21 should be placed at the midpoint between the ends of the vertical scissor elements 16 , as shown in fig9 . a cable 24 will extend from the ends of the vertical scissor elements 16 to a winding gear 25 attached to the shaft extending from the motor 21 . if the cable 24 is threaded as shown , namely , that the cable will pull equally on each end of the vertical scissor element 16 with each rotation , then the vertical scissor element 16 will extend evenly and smoothly . since motor 21 is attached to side bar element 11 in fig9 the tension of cables 24 pulling on each upper end of the vertical scissor element 16 will determine the height of upper side bar element 11 and hence of upper structural member 20 relative to the lower structural member 20 as motor 21 is operated . of course , the present invention is not limited solely to this particular arrangement . it will be obvious to those skilled in the art the possible alternative arrangements . a control panel 22 will need to be adapted to the compressible carrier 10 if the apparatus is motorized . the control panel 22 is described pictorially in fig7 . the control panel 22 would ideally contain enough switches to control all of the motions that the compressible carrier 10 can make . fig7 pictorially describes a control panel 22 having touch sensitive buttons 29 . these touch sensitive buttons correspond to each of the possible motions . each button would control and activate two of the motors 21 for the expanding or contracting of one the side bar elements 11 , each motor 21 being on each of the two corner angles 12 that control the movement of that side bar element 11 . fig1 shows the layout for the motors 21a - h for the side bar elements 11a - d . motors 21c and 21h would control the movement of sidebar 11a . the remaining side bar elements 11 would be controlled in a similar manner . the motors 21 that raise and lower would all operate at the same time so that the scissor elements 16 all move in unison . corner angles 12 could be constructed so as to be hollow for the purpose of accomodating the internal wiring that runs between the motors 21 and the control panel 22 . enough slack length should be provided to allow for the expansion of the whole structure 10 . the control panel 22 would also contain a battery 30 to power all of the motors 21 . fig1 shows a circuit diagram for motors 21 and control panel 22 . in order to expand the width of the compressible cart 10 , it is recommended that the cart 10 be reduced to its lowest height first . following this , the tightening knobs 13 are released to loosen the appropriate corner angles 12 . the sides can then be adjusted to suit the material to be carried . once the side bar elements 11 are properly adjusted , the tightening knobs 13 are tightened to keep the corner angles 12 fixed in place . the height of the carrier may now be adjusted . in order to raise the upper rectilinear member , simply grasp and pull . the vertical scissor elements 16 will expand thereby giving height to the compressible carrier 10 . the top most portion of each of the scissor elements is provided with a catch knob 32 that is permanently within its respective finite adjustment track 17 . by pushing the catch knob 32 into the recession of the finite adjustment track 17 , the vertical scissor element 16 is held in place . to release the vertical scissor element 16 , simply apply upwards pressure on the side bar elements 11 . this will dislodge the catch knob 32 from the recession and allow the cart 10 height to be reduced or increased . the vertical scissor elements 16 are rigidly held in place in the lower of the rectilinear members by rivets 34 . these rivets 34 allow flexible pivotal motion of the vertical scissor elements 16 . the operation of the compressible carrier 10 is significantly changed if motors 21 are added to the structure . for example , were it necessary to raise the height of the cart , the button 29 labeled &# 34 ; up &# 34 ; would be depressed until the appropriate height were achieved . were it necessary to extend on of the sides of the structural member 20 , ideally that particular side would need be given a name . the sides could be labeled &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; c &# 34 ;, and &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;. the touch sensitive buttons could be labeled , for example , &# 34 ; a in &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; a out &# 34 ;, etc . thus , by pressing &# 34 ; a in &# 34 ;, the cart side a would move inwards until it reached its inner most position . the opposite would be achieved by pressing the &# 34 ; a out &# 34 ; button 29 . thus , full motility is provided through the addition of motors to the compressible carrier 10 . an alternate form of the invention 100 is shown in fig1 , having a three tiered structure . it comprises a series of hollow , concentric , sliding tubes 101a that form the frame of the carrier 100 . the tubes 101a are preferably made of aluminum for a minimum of weight . for each tier 102a , 102b , 102c , there are two parallel tubes 101a . there are four corner angle tubes 101b . each tier 102a , b , c compresses in two dimensions . a vertical support 103 also comprises hollow , concentric , sliding tubes and compresses or expands the structure vertically as shown in fig1 a - 13c . pivot 106 allows handle 107 to be folded down . the scissor elements 104 are again present and are shown schematically in fig1 , 13b and 13c . they are connected to the bottom and top tiers 102c and 102a . on the lowest tier 102c , spaced in a parallel fashion , are a plurality of telescoping structural members 105 . these are similar to telescoping members 15 in the previous embodiment 10 . this embodiment 100 is simplified in that it lacks the motors 21 of previous embodiment 10 and relies on manual compression and expansion through the efforts of the user , but presents no difficulty due to the simplicity and lightness of the design . this removal of the motors serves to keep the weight of the carrier 100 to a minimum . the carrier 100 becomes truly portable due to its lightness and can be carried on board an aircraft when traveling . it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiments described above , but encompass any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims . | 1 |
hereinafter reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below . while the invention will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments , it will be understood that present description is not intended to limit the invention to those exemplary embodiments . on the contrary , the invention is intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments , but also various alternatives , modifications , equivalents and other embodiments , which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims . it is understood that the term “ vehicle ” or “ vehicular ” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles ( suv ), buses , trucks , various commercial vehicles , watercraft including a variety of boats and ships , aircraft , and the like , and includes hybrid vehicles , electric vehicles , plug - in hybrid electric vehicles , hydrogen - powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles ( e . g ., fuels derived from resources other than petroleum ). as referred to herein , a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power , for example both gasoline - powered and electric - powered vehicles . the above and other features of the invention are discussed infra . first , the configuration and function of a resolver will be briefly described for a better understanding of the present invention . for vector control of a synchronous motor or an induction motor used in a hybrid electric vehicle ( hev ) or a pure electric vehicle ( ev ), it is necessary to set a coordinate system in synchronization with the flux position of the motor . to this end , it is necessary to read the absolute position of a rotor of the motor , and thus the resolver is used to detect the absolute position ( i . e ., rotation angle ) of the rotor . as such , each phase of the rotor is accurately measured by the resolver , and a resolver - to - digital converter ( rdc ), which includes a synchronous rectifier for rectifying the measurement value and a voltage control oscillator ( vco ) for outputting the rectified voltage at a desired oscillation frequency , transmits the measured phase of the rotor . therefore , to the illustrative embodiment of the present invention accurately controls the motor speed and the motor torque required for the operation of the hev or ev without unnecessary failures . differential signals ( s 1 - s 3 , s 2 - s 4 ) output from the resolver may have a frequency of about 10 khz and an ac voltage of about 1 to 4 v in a normal state . however , if outside this range , i . e ., in the event of a failure in input signals ( i . e ., excitation signals , ext +, ext −) or output signals ( i . e ., basic signals for measuring the speed , s 1 - s 3 , s 2 - s 4 ) of the resolver , a fault signal is generated by the rdc and this fault signal is transmitted to a cpu , thereby indicating to the cpu that a failure in the detection of the rotor position of the resolver has occurred . the present invention aims at ensuring the reliability of the hybrid function of a hybrid vehicle and the operation of an electric vehicle by estimating the current rotor position information from the motor speed and rotor position information at the previous sampling in the event of absence of motor rotor position information due to an ad conversion error in the rdc or due to noise . more specifically , a method for compensating for an abnormal output of a resolver for an environmentally friendly vehicle in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the to present invention will be described with reference to fig1 . in order to obtain a current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ], a current motor position angle before compensation θ n , org is set as a current motor position angle θ n ( s 101 ). for reference , it should be noted that the reason the current motor position angle for compensation is expressed as θ n and the current motor position angle is also expressed as θ n is that they cannot be expressed in a different manner based on the programming flow of the software . next , a motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n [ rad ] between a current sampling [ n ] and a previous sampling [ n − 1 ] according to the output of the rdc is obtained based on the current motor position angle θ n . simultaneously , a motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n - 1 [ rad ] between the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the more previous sampling [ n − 2 ] is also obtained ( s 102 ). that is , the motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n [ rad ] between the current sampling [ n ] and the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] is obtained by subtracting the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 from the current motor position angle θ n . the motor ( rotor ) position change δθ n - 1 [ rad ] between the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the more previous sampling [ n − 2 ] is obtained by subtracting the more previous motor position angle θ n - 2 from the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 . these values may be obtained by periodically sampling the measurement signals of the motor position angle of the resolver output from the rdc . then , a variable a , i . e ., a difference between the position change δθ n [ rad ] between the current sampling [ n ] and the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the position change δθ n - 1 [ rad ] to between the previous sampling [ n − 1 ] and the more previous sampling [ n − 2 ] is calculated by the following formula 1 ( s 103 ): in formula 1 , the function “| |” is a function that outputs an absolute value of an input and the function of “ bound2pi ” is a function that limits the input to 0 to 2π ( rad ). here , when the sample period is taken at a given point in time , the difference between the motor ( rotor ) position changes δθ n [ rad ] and δθ n - 1 [ rad ], which indicate the position changes according to time , may be seen as a difference between the current sampling rate and the previous sampling rate , and this variable a may be expressed as an instantaneous acceleration change . next , the variable a calculated in the above manner is compared with a calibration variable k to determine whether to perform the compensation ( s 104 ). the calibration variable k is a constant that represents a physical limit . accordingly , when the instantaneous acceleration change , i . e ., the variable a is greater than the calibration variable k and smaller than 2π − k , the compensation for the motor rotor position is determined . in other words , if the variable a is greater than the calibration k and , at the same time , the variable a is smaller than 2π − k , it is determined that the motor rotor position information is omitted , and thus the compensation for the motor rotor position is determined . accordingly , the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] is calculated by the to following formula 2 ( s 105 ): θ n = bound2pi ( δθ n - 1 + ω restold × t s ) [ formula 2 ] in formula 2 , ω restold is an estimated speed at the previous sampling ( e . g ., a position change at the previous sampling rate ), t s represents the control period ( us ), and the function “ bound2pi ” is a function that limits the current motor position angle for compensation to 0 to 2π ( rad ). as a result , the calibration value , i . e ., the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] is a sum of the previous sampling position θ n - 1 and a position change ω restold at the previous sampling rate . therefore , the absence of the motor rotor position information is compensated with the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] calculated by formula 2 , thereby continuously ensuring the current of the motor and the torque control performance . in more detail , as shown in fig2 a , when the motor rotor position information is omitted during a certain sampling during rdc output and , at the same time , a current ripple ( e . g ., 350 apk ) larger than an abnormal output command current ( e . g ., 312 apk ) of the resolver is generated at the corresponding period , the omitted motor rotor position information is compensated with the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] calculated by formula 2 as shown in fig2 b , thereby continuously ensuring the current of the motor and the torque control performance . meanwhile , after the compensation for the omitted motor rotor position information with the current motor position angle for compensation θ n [ rad ] during the rdc output , new motor rotor position information is output at the next sampling period , and thus a process ( s 106 ) of assigning and storing the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 as the more previous motor position angle θ n - 2 , a process ( s 107 ) of assigning and storing the current motor position angle for compensation θ n as the previous motor position angle θ n - 1 and , at the same time , assigning and storing an estimated speed to ω rest [ rad / sec ] at the current sampling [ n ] as an estimated speed ω restold [ rad / sec ] at the previous sampling are performed based on the programming constructed in , e . g ., a computer readable medium . furthermore , the control logic of the present invention may be embodied as non - transitory computer readable media on a computer readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor , controller or the like . examples of the computer readable mediums include , but are not limited to , rom , ram , compact disc ( cd )- roms , magnetic tapes , floppy disks , flash drives , smart cards and optical data storage devices . the computer readable recording medium can also be distributed in network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable media is stored and executed in a distributed fashion , e . g ., by a telematics server or a controller area network ( can ). advantageously , in the event of absence of the rotor position information due to an ad conversion error in the rdc or due to noise , the illustrative embodiment of the present invention accurately determines the current motor rotor position through the compensation method of the present invention , thereby ensuring the current of the motor and the torque control performance . moreover , according to the compensation method of the present invention , the reliability and stability of the motor / inverter system , the hybrid function of the hybrid vehicle , and the operation of the electric vehicle is increased , thereby reducing the costs for ensuring the reliability of the resolver signal . the invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof . however , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention , the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents . | 6 |
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