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detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein ; however , it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms . the figures are not necessarily to scale some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components . therefore , specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention . referring now to fig1 , a schematic representation of a hybrid electric vehicle ( hev ) in accordance with embodiments of the present invention is shown . the basic components of the hev powertrain include an internal combustion engine 16 , an electric battery 12 , a power split device referred to as a planetary gear set 20 , an electric motor 46 , and an electric generator 50 . the hev powertrain has a power - split configuration . this configuration allows engine 16 to directly drive wheels 40 and at the same time charge battery 12 through generator 50 . both motor 46 and engine 16 can drive wheels 40 independently . engine 16 is connected to generator 50 through planetary gear set 20 . battery 12 is connected to motor 46 and generator 50 . battery 12 can be recharged or discharged by motor 46 or generator 50 or both . planetary gear set 20 splits the power produced by engine 16 and transfers one part of the power to drive wheels 40 . planetary gear set 20 transfers the remaining part of the power to generator 50 in order to either provide electrical power to motor 46 or to recharge battery 12 . engine 16 can provide mechanical power to wheels 40 and at the same time charge battery 12 through generator 50 . depending on the operating conditions , engine 16 , motor 46 ( which consumes electric energy stored in battery 12 ), or both can provide power to wheels 40 to propel the vehicle . the vehicle also incorporates a regenerative braking capability to charge battery 12 during vehicle deceleration events . as described , there are several degrees of freedom in this powertrain configuration to satisfy driver requests . this flexibility can be exploited to optimize fuel consumption . a hierarchical vehicle system controller 10 coordinates subsystems in the hev . controller 10 is used to capture all possible operating modes and integrate the two power sources , engine 16 and battery 12 , to work together seamlessly and optimally as well as to meet the driver &# 39 ; s demand . controller 10 is configured to send control signals to and receive sensory feedback information from one or more of battery 12 , engine 16 , motor 46 , and generator 50 in order for power to be provided to wheels 40 for propelling the vehicle . controller 10 controls the power source proportioning between battery 12 and engine 16 to provide power to propel the vehicle . as such , controller 10 controls the charging and discharging of battery 12 and thereby controls the state of charge ( soc ) of battery 12 . inherent to controller 10 is a logical structure to handle various operating modes and a dynamic control strategy associated with each operating mode to specify the vehicle requests to each subsystem . a transmission control module ( tcm ) 67 transmits the commands of controller 10 to motor 46 and generator 50 . as shown in fig2 , controller 10 takes as inputs environmental conditions , the driver &# 39 ; s requests , and the current state of the vehicle and provides outputs commands such as torque and speed commands for the powertrain components of the vehicle . the powertrain then follows the commands of controller 10 . in order to handle path - dependent control in accordance with embodiments of the present invention , controller 10 is extended with additional functionality to optimize fuel consumption . in particular , the environmental condition inputs for controller 10 include road length , road grade , and vehicle speed of a route to be traveled by the vehicle . the current state of the vehicle as represented by the soc of battery 12 is also an input to controller 10 . in order to improve fuel economy , controller 10 controls the transitions from charging to discharging mode and the durations of charging and discharging periods . towards this goal , controller 10 generates the battery soc set - points for the route and tracks the battery soc in order to realize these charging and discharging transitions that result in fuel efficient travel . ideally , battery soc set - points would be prescribed for every moment of travel along the route . however , to simplify the computations , the route is segmented into route segments . a virtual route representing the original route left - to - go is generated each time the vehicle moves from one route segment to the next route segment . each virtual route contains less route segments than the corresponding original route left - to - go . battery soc set - points are prescribed based on each virtual route . the battery is controlled while the vehicle is traveling along each current route segment with the battery soc set - point for the first route segment of the corresponding virtual route . the segmentation enables controller 10 to accurately track the corresponding battery soc before the end of a route segment . fig3 illustrates an original route 70 to be traveled segmented into a series of route segments 72 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention . original route 70 links an origin o to a destination d . in accordance with embodiments of the present invention , original route 70 is known in advance by being predicted , expected , forecasted , driver - specified , etc . original route 70 is segmented into a series of i = 1 , . . . , n route segments 72 connected to one another . thus , original route 70 includes a total of n route segments 72 . in fig3 , the ω i designates the fuel consumed over the ith route segment . each route segment 72 has a length l i , a road grade g i and a vehicle speed v i . this information for each route segment 72 is available ( e . g ., known or predicted ) in advance of the vehicle traveling along the route segment . the road grade and vehicle speed for each route segment are generally functions of distance and time . the road grade is a deterministic quantity which can be known in advance as a function of distance . with respect to modeling the vehicle speed , it is assumed that a nominal vehicle speed trajectory can be predicted for each route segment , possibly dependent on the characteristics of the route segment and traffic in the route segment . in accordance with embodiments of the present invention , the route segmentation criteria generally relate to substantial changes in characteristics of the route such as the average road grade or the average vehicle speed . such changes in the road grade may correspond to the beginning or end of a hill . such changes in the vehicle speed may coincide with the changes in the road class , vehicle deceleration to or acceleration from stop signs or traffic lights , or to traffic conditions . the route segmentation criteria may also relate to the ability of controller 10 to track battery soc set - points within a route segment . as such , route segments 72 will have different lengths from one another in order to provide more efficient aggregation of the relevant road conditions . consequently , a constant average road grade g i can be assumed in each route segment and a varying nominal vehicle speed trajectory v i is considered in each route segment . such a representative vehicle speed trajectory ( a scenario ) may be chosen consistently with a finite set of statistical features ( mean , variance , etc .) which are considered to be properties of traffic on a particular route segment or type of driver . the state - of - charge ( soc ) of battery 12 is a key dynamic state in the system . the value of the battery soc at the beginning of the ith route segment is denoted as soc i and the value of the battery soc at the end of the ith route segment is denoted as soc i + 1 . the value of the battery soc set - point for the ith route segment is denoted as soc d ( i ). controller 10 controls the battery soc in the ith route segment in response to the battery soc set - point soc d for the ith route segment . the expected fuel consumption ω i in the ith route segment is thus a function of g i , v i , l i , soc i , and soc d ( i ), i . e ., ω i ( g i , v i , l i , soc i , soc d ( i ))= e { f ( g i , v i , l i , soc i , soc d ( i ))} ( equation 1 ) e denotes the expected value . the expectation is used in equation 1 because the actual vehicle speed trajectory is generally not deterministic and can deviate from the nominal trajectory ( e . g ., due to different driver and traffic situations ) and hence the fuel consumption is a random variable . in particular , although the grade , the nominal vehicle speed , and the length of a route segment are deterministic quantities , the vehicle speed trajectory over the route segment is not . different drivers may produce different vehicle speed profiles while maintaining the same average speed . even the same driver will not be able to regenerate completely accurately a previously realized vehicle trajectory . environmental conditions including severe weather and traffic situations and even the personality and mood of the driver may affect the vehicle speed trajectory on trips . therefore , vehicle speed trajectory is a probabilistic quantity . consequently , even though a nominal speed on a route segment or a more realistic speed model is given , this information is not sufficient to compute a reliable value for the fuel consumption along a route segment . thus , a value representative enough for every type of driver and every environmental situation has to be considered for the fuel consumption of a route segment . an appropriate way to satisfy this goal is to consider the expected value of the fuel consumption over multiple probabilistic realizations of vehicle speed . accordingly , a large amount of speed trajectories around an originally given speed model is generated probabilistically for each route segment . for all of those speed trajectories , the corresponding fuel consumption ( i . e ., { f ( g i , v i , l i , soc i , soc d ( i ))}) is computed . the expected value ( i . e ., e { f ( g i , v i , l i , soc i , soc d ( i ))}) of those fuel consumptions is the representative fuel consumption of the route segment that will be provided as an optimization algorithm input as described herein . as indicated above , controller 10 includes a high - level portion which prescribes the battery soc set - points for the route . the upper - level controller can vary the battery soc set - point as a function of time . while this may be feasible over a short planning horizon , over longer planning horizons the computational effort may be large . furthermore , route information may only be available in aggregated / averaged form over a continuous route portion . thus , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention , a route to be traveled is segmented into route segments ( as shown in fig3 ) and , as the vehicle travels along the route , battery soc set - points are prescribed for each route segment . as further indicated above , controller 10 includes a lower - level portion which controls power flows within the hev to satisfy the driver power request and ensure that the battery soc tracks the specified soc set - point . the lower - level controller takes as inputs the battery soc at the beginning of a route segment , the grade of the route segment , the vehicle speed of the route segment , the length of the route segment , and the target battery soc at the end of the route segment ( prescribed by the upper - level controller ). of course , the lower - level controller also receives as inputs typical vehicle information such as driver power request , auxiliary power loads , motor speed , engine speed , etc . based on the inputs , the lower - level controller generates torque and speed commands for the hev components to ensure tracking of the battery soc set - point for the route segment . as indicated , a route segmented in accordance with embodiments of the present invention will likely have route segments of different lengths in order to provide more efficient aggregation of the relevant route conditions . as indicated above , for a route segmented into n route segments with certain properties of each route segment being known , controller 10 has the ability to prescribe a sequence of battery soc set - points { soc d ( i ), i = 1 , . . . , n } for the route to minimize the total fuel consumption . the sequence of battery soc set - points is generated based on the known properties of the route segments . controller 10 further has the ability to control the battery soc in the ith route segment in response to the battery soc set - point soc d ( i ) for the ith route segment . let i be the current node and the beginning of the ith route segment , i = 1 , 2 , . . . , n + 1 , where i = 1 and i = n + 1 represent , respectively , the origin and destination nodes of the route . controller 10 incorporates a control law which is a function of the state vector x ( i ) with two components : the segment / node i and the state of charge soc i at that node . the state dynamics are : the state at the current node is x ( i ). f is a nonlinear function which generates a successor state from the precedent state . the objective of minimizing the total fuel consumption along the route can be formulated as follows : min j [ soc d ( i )]= σ i = 1 n ω i ( equation 3 ) subject to soc min ≦ soc i + 1 ≦ soc max and subject to soc n + 1 = soc d . j is the objective function of the optimization problem . soc d ( i ) ( iε { 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . n }) are the manipulated variables . soc min and soc max are respectively the minimum and maximum soc limits . j is a stage - additive cost function and the stage cost reflects the expected fuel consumption in each route segment i . the constraint soc n + 1 = soc d is an optional constraint to match the battery soc to the desired battery soc value at the end of the route . the choice soc d = soc o ensures that the battery charge is sustained over the route . the optimization algorithm employed by controller 10 translates the property of any final part of an optimal trajectory to be optimal with respect to its initial state into a computational procedure in which the cost - to - go function j *( x ) can be recursively computed and satisfies the following relationships : j *( x )= min [ soc d ]{ j *( f ( x , soc d ))+ ω ( x , soc d )}, and ( equation 4 ) j * is the value function in the optimization problem . soc d = soc d ( x ) is the manipulated variable . x =[ i , soc ] t is the state vector with the elements being the route segment number i , i = 1 , . . . , n and the battery soc at the beginning of the segment . the vector x f represents the final state , which is the state at the destination . f is a nonlinear state transition function , which generates the next state from the precedent one . if the battery set - point soc d is feasible , then for x =[ i , soc ] t it follows that f ( x , soc d )=[ i + 1 , soc d ] t . the variable ω ( x , soc d ) denotes the expected fuel consumption for the state x and the battery soc set - point soc d . for on - line implementation , a regression model may be used to estimate the expected fuel consumption ω ( x , soc d ) as a function of battery soc = x ( 2 ) at the beginning of the segment , battery soc set - point soc d within the segment , and i = x ( l ) th segment properties ( grade , length , features of vehicle speed trajectory such as average , maximum , and minimum speeds and accelerations , etc .). the fuel consumption model may also include a dependence on the driver style ( passive or aggressive ) which may be inferred on - line from the variance of acceleration pedal input and vehicle speed . either vehicle measurement data over different roads or the results of vehicle simulations may be used to develop such a fuel consumption model . for a given battery soc at the beginning of the ith segment , not all soc d are feasible , i . e , can be tracked within a tolerance of 0 . 5 percent before the end of the segment . such infeasible values of soc d are eliminated from the optimization by artificially assigning a high value to the fuel consumption . thus , only battery soc set - points that can be accurately tracked before the end of each road segment are considered for prescription . given that battery soc is a continuously - valued quantity , for the numeral implementation of the optimization , the values of battery soc are quantized . with a quantization of the form soc i ε { soc 1 , soc 2 , . . . soc n } with soc 1 ≦ soc 2 ≦ . . . ≦ soc n , every segment i of the route can be associated with n 2 possible pairs of initial soc and final soc , i . e ., ( soc i , soc i + 1 ), and thus with n 2 possible values for the expected fuel consumption ω as shown in fig4 . a case study of the battery soc set - point optimization for a route as a whole will now be described . a sample route was segmented into seven route segments ( i . e ., n = 7 ). the route is assumed to have zero road grade . length information for each route segment and the vehicle speed trajectory in each route segment were assumed to be available and known in advance . table i below indicates the length and road grade of each route segment . fig5 illustrates a graph of the vehicle speed trajectory in each route segment . as illustrated , the vehicle speed trajectory for the entire route includes ramp - like changes and constant vehicle speed intervals . the battery soc at the route origin ( i . e ., at the beginning of route segment ( 1 )) is soc o = 50 %. to sustain the charge in battery 12 , the desired battery soc at the route destination ( i . e ., at the end of route segment ( 7 )) is soc d = 50 %. the values of soc min and soc max were set to 40 % and 60 %, respectively . table ii below compares the fuel consumption with the battery soc set - point optimization for the route as a whole ( referred to as “ whole route optimization ”) and the fuel consumption with the battery soc set - point being maintained at 50 % in each route segment ( referred to as “ no soc control ”). the fuel consumption ( 0 . 32 kg ) when the battery is controlled in accordance with the battery soc set - point whole route optimization is about 13 . 5 % lower than the fuel consumption ( 0 . 37 kg ) when the battery soc is maintained constant over the entire route . this fuel consumption reduction benefit is specific to the selected route and the potential benefits of varying battery soc set - point within the route may be different depending on the route . as further indicated in table ii , the prescribed battery soc set - point sequence is “ 50 - 52 - 50 - 48 - 46 - 46 - 44 - 50 ”. as such , the battery soc set - point for the 1 st and 8 th nodes ( i . e ., the origin and destination ) is 50 %. the battery soc set - points for the 2 nd through 7 th nodes are 52 %, 50 %, 48 %, 46 %, 46 %, and 44 %, respectively . the battery soc set - point whole route optimization approach ( i . e ., a single prescription of a sequence of battery soc set - points for a route segmented into n route segments { soc d ( i ), i = 1 , . . . , n } with the battery soc in the ith route segment to be controlled pursuant to the battery soc set - point soc d ( i ) for the ith route segment ) is helpful in delineating potential benefits of adjusting battery soc set - points according to the route being traveled . in implementing the whole route optimization approach , two issues need to be considered . the first issue involves computing effort . the second issue involves dependence on route characteristics which may not be accurately known in advance . the computing effort of the whole route optimization approach depends on the number of states in the model . as described , the model used for optimization had only a single vehicle state ( namely , the battery soc ). hence , computing the optimal control on - line using the whole route optimization approach may be feasible for routes with relatively few route segments . however , the whole route optimization approach may become computationally prohibitive for on - board applications if the route contains relatively many route segments . since route segmentation is based on changes in road and traffic conditions in accordance with embodiments of the present invention , routes over which optimization needs to be performed may contain a relatively large amount of route segments . the second issue of the whole route optimization approach deals with the fact that although only a prediction of the route with anticipated driving characteristics along the route segments are available , the characteristics of the route actually traveled may turn out to be different . variability in road and traffic conditions or in the driver &# 39 ; s choices may result in such deviations . therefore , the control policy for the whole route optimization approach has to either be regularly recomputed or corrected to account for these changes . in order to address the noted issues of the whole route optimization approach , embodiments of the present invention provide a receding horizon control ( rhc ) optimization approach as an alternative . a general description of the rhc optimization approach is as follows . assume that a hev travels along a route l having n segments , where n is relatively large . suppose the vehicle is currently at the beginning of the kth segment of the route . the remaining part of the route l ( k ) is the original route left - to - go and has n − k route segments . that is , the remaining part of the route l ( k ) is the original route minus the route segments already traveled . a virtual route l ′( k ) is generated to replace the original route left - to - go . the virtual route has n c + 1 route segments , where n c & lt ;& lt ; n . in the virtual route , each of the n c segments correspond to respective ones of the segments of the original route left - to - go . the ( n c + 1 ) segment of the virtual route is a virtual terminal segment . in particular , the n c segments of the virtual route are the initial n c segments of the virtual route and are taken from the initial n c segments of the original route left - to - go . for instance , if n c = 2 , then first and second segments of the virtual route are the initial two segments of the virtual route and are taken from the first and second segments , respectively , of the original route left - to - go . the ( n c + 1 ) segment ( i . e ., the virtual terminal segment ) of the virtual route is the last segment of the virtual route and represents all of the segments of the original route left - to - go following the n c segments of the original route left - to - go . the virtual terminal segment ( e . g ., the ( n c + 1 ) segment of the virtual route ) represents , on average , the characteristics of the last n − k − n c segments of the original route . after the virtual route l ′( k ) is generated , an optimized sequence of battery soc set - points { soc * d ( l ), l = 1 , 2 , . . . , n c + 1 } is generated using the optimization approach on the virtual route l ′( k ). that is , the optimization is done for a virtual route containing only n c + 1 route segments as opposed to being done for the original route left - to - go containing n − k route segments ( and as opposed to being done for the route as a whole containing n route segments ). as a result , the optimization may be performed relatively fast and in an on - board manner as there are relatively few route segments involved in the optimization computations . after the optimization for the virtual route l ′( k ) is completed , the assignment soc d ( k )= soc * d ( l ) is made ( i . e ., the battery soc set - point for the kth segment of the actual route is assigned to be the battery soc set - point for the first segment of the virtual route ). again , recall that the vehicle is currently at the beginning of the kth segment of the route . once the vehicle progresses to the beginning of the next route segment ( i . e ., the ( k + 1 ) route segment ), the virtual route generation and optimization processes are repeated . at this point , the vehicle is at the beginning of the k + 1 segment of the route and the original route left - to - go has n − k − 1 route segments . a second virtual route having n c + 1 route segments is then generated . the virtual terminal segment ( i . e ., the n c + 1 segment of the second virtual route ) represents , on average , the characteristics of the omitted n − k − 1 − n c segments of the original route . an optimized sequence of battery soc set - points { soc * d ( l ), l = 1 , 2 , . . . , n c + 1 } is generated using the optimization approach on the second virtual route . the assignment soc d ( k )= soc * d ( l ) is then made ( i . e ., the battery soc set - point for the k + 1 segment of the actual route is assigned to be the battery soc set - point for the first segment of the second virtual route ). the virtual route generation and optimization processes are repeated as the vehicle progresses to the beginning of subsequent route segments until a route segment corresponding to a sufficiently large value of k is reached for which l ( k ) consists of just n c + 1 route segments ( the value k being incremented each time a new current route segment begins ). at this point , optimization is solved for this remaining part of the actual route . with the receding horizon control ( rhc ) approach , optimization is performed over a route with n c + 1 segments and thus requires significantly less computing time and effort compared with whole route optimization ( assuming n c & lt ;& lt ; n ). further , with the rhc approach , characteristic changes of the route being traveled can be accounted for as a result of the optimization being repeated at the beginning of new route segments . with reference to fig6 , an example of the rhc approach will be described . this example uses the same sample route described above with reference to fig5 . as described , the sample route is segmented into n = 7 route segments . in this application of the rhc approach , the horizon ( n c ) is chosen to be two segments ( e . g ., n c = 2 ). thus , a three segment route is considered and optimized at each step of the approach . the three segment route includes the current segment , the next segment , and a virtual third segment . the virtual third segment represents on average the remaining part of the original route ( i . e ., the original route left - to - go ) following the current and next segments . the starting point is with the vehicle at the beginning of the route ( i . e ., at the beginning of route segment ( 1 )). at this point , the original route left - to - go is the original route itself as the vehicle has just started traveling from the beginning of the route . a virtual route having three segments is generated according to the rhc approach . the first and second segments of the virtual route are the first and second segments of the original route , respectively . the third segment of the virtual route is a virtual terminal segment . the virtual terminal segment is characterized by the total length , the average speed , and the average grade of the remaining route segments of the original route ( i . e ., the 3 th , 4 th , 5 th , 6 th , and 7 th segments of the original route ). the virtual terminal segment includes acceleration and deceleration portions from initial to final vehicle speed values ( see fig6 ). next , according to the rhc approach , an optimized sequence of battery soc set - points is generated using the optimization approach on the three - segment virtual route in order to obtain a battery soc sequence that minimizes fuel consumption . this optimization results in 50 → 50 → 48 → 50 as the optimal battery soc sequence ( also shown in fig6 ). this sequence suggests that 50 % should be used as the battery soc target on the first segment . thus , the battery soc is controlled to be maintained at 50 % ( as the initial battery soc was 50 % at the beginning of the first route segment ). when the vehicle arrives at the beginning of the next route segment ( i . e ., the second route segment ), the virtual route generation and battery soc optimization are repeated . this subsequent iteration at the beginning of the next route segment is similar to the initial iteration with the difference being that the route over which optimization is to be performed has changed . in particular , the beginning of the original route left - to - go now coincides with the beginning of the second route segment . the original route left - to - go at this point includes the segments 2 through 7 and does not include the first segment as the vehicle is at the beginning of the second segment having already traveled over the first route segment . a second virtual route having three segments is generated . the second virtual route includes the 2 nd and 3 rd segments of the original route and includes a second virtual terminal segment . the second virtual terminal segment is characterized by the total length , the average speed , and the average grade of the remaining route segments of the original route ( i . e ., the 4 th , 5 th , 6 th , and 7 th segments of the original route ). next , an optimized sequence of battery soc set - points is generated using the optimization approach on the second virtual route in order to obtain a battery soc sequence that minimizes fuel consumption . the first element of the optimized battery soc set - point sequence is set as the battery soc set - point for the second segment of the route . the procedure continues until the final iteration is reached where the vehicle has to travel just three segments until reaching the destination . at this point , the route - to - optimize includes the last three segments of the original route and the optimal soc sequence is simply computed for the route consisting of the last three segments of the original route . a case study of the receding horizon control ( rhc ) approach in accordance with embodiments of the present invention will now be described . this study illustrates the results of the rhc approach and presents a comparison with the battery soc optimization for a route as a whole approach (“ whole route optimization ”). this study uses the same sample route described with reference to fig5 . again , the grade of the entire route is zero and the soc at the origin and destination is set to be 50 %. table iii summarizes the effect that the rhc and whole route optimization approaches have on fuel consumption . when the battery soc set - point is not varied the total fuel consumption is 0 . 37 kg . with the rhc optimization approach the total fuel consumption is 0 . 33 kg . with the whole route optimization approach the total fuel consumption is 0 . 32 kg . the rhc optimization approach thus achieves a substantial fraction of the benefit of the whole route optimization approach for this particular route . as shown in table iii , the two methods ( rhc and whole route optimization ) produce different soc sequences . this is because at the beginning of each new route segment the rhc optimization approach optimizes the fuel consumption over a virtual route which is an approximation of the route left - to - go . on the other hand , the whole route optimization approach performs a single optimization for the entire route . another case study of the rhc optimization approach in accordance with embodiments of the present invention will now be described . in this study , the same sample route is used again . however , a grade of 1 % is inserted at the fourth segment and a grade of − 1 % is inserted at the sixth segment . the rest of the sample route characteristics remain unchanged . table iv summarizes the improvement of fuel economy that rhc and whole route optimization have on fuel consumption when the grade is not zero along the entire route . when the battery soc set - point is not varied the total fuel consumption is 0 . 37 kg . as such , although the grade of the route has changed , the total fuel consumption has not . this can be explained as the average grade of the entire route is slightly positive , but still very close to zero . with the rhc optimization approach the total fuel consumption has increased to 0 . 34 kg . with the whole route optimization approach the total fuel consumption has increased to 0 . 33 kg . these results indicate that the rhc optimization approach is able to reduce fuel consumption and attain a significant fraction of the achievable benefit given by the whole route optimization approach . as described , the rhc optimization approach is computationally faster than the whole route optimization approach . the rhc optimization approach enables on - board optimization for fuel consumption benefits . the rhc optimization approach is able to incorporate changes in the route information during the trip , e . g ., changes in traffic information , when re - optimizing the control solution . although certain segment characteristics , such as grade and distance , can be considered as deterministic quantities , the vehicle speed trajectories of different tripe over the same segment are not . factors such as weather and traffic conditions or even the personality and mood of the driver may affect the speed trajectory . the ability of the rhc optimization approach to account for these changes while providing a significant fraction of the fuel consumption reduction benefits as compared to the whole route optimization approach is thus beneficial . as described , embodiments of the present invention are directed to a receding horizon control ( rhc ) optimization approach to path - dependent control of a hev for reduced fuel consumption . in the rhc optimization approach , a route with a relatively large amount of segments is replaced by a virtual route having relatively few segments . the segments of the virtual route other than the last segment of the virtual route correspond one - to - one with the initial segments of the original route left - to - go . the last segment of the virtual route is a virtual terminal segment . the virtual terminal segment represents on average all of the last remaining segments of the original route left - to - go . each segment is characterized by its length , grade , average speed , and possibly other parameters which permit an estimate of the expected fuel consumption over the segment . the optimal battery state - of - charge ( soc ) set - point sequence , which minimizes the expected fuel consumption , is determined for the virtual route . the first element of the optimal battery soc set - point sequence for the virtual route is applied for the current segment of the original route left - to - go . during travel along the route , the battery soc optimization is recomputed at the beginning of each segment of the actual route until the end of the route is reached . while exemplary embodiments are described above , it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the present invention . rather , the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation , and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . additionally , the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the present invention .

a method includes utilizing navigation data from a navigation system to segment a route to be travelled by a travelling vehicle into segments each having a road grade different than neighboring segments . the method further includes discharging a battery of the vehicle as the vehicle travels along an initial segment of the route according to a state - of - charge set - point based on the road grade of the initial segment and a variable representative of the road grades of at least two other segments of the route .

in the present invention , utilizing the excellent carrier - transporting ability of hydrazone compounds having formula [ a ], the compound may be used as a carrier - transporting phase component material in the photosensitive layer of the so - called function - separated type photosensitive element wherein the generating and transporting of carrier are carried out separately by different materials respectively , whereby an electrophotographic photosensitive element may be produced which is excellent in respect of the physical properties of the layer and electrophotographic image forming characteristics such as charge acceptance , photosensitivity , residual electric potential and the like , and which is not only hardly deteriorated with exhaustion even when repeatedly used but the said characteristics do not change and is thus capable of displaying stable characteristics . in the above formula [ a ], a preferable aryl group is a phenyl group or a substituted phenyl group , and a preferable arylene group is a phenylene group or a naphthylene group . above groups may have a substituent or substituents which is optional . preferable substituent is an alkyl group such as a methyl group , an ethyl group , most preferably a lower alkyl group , or a halogen such as chlorine , bromine . hydrazone compounds having formula [ a ] which are useful in the present invention include , for example , those having the following formulas : ## str3 ## the above - enumerated hydrazone compounds may be readily synthesized in known manners . for example , the n - aminocarbazole and arylaldehyde having the following formulas [ b ] and [ c ] respectively are subjected to dehydration - condensation reaction in a solvent such as alcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst , whereby a hydrazone compound having formula [ a ] is obtained . ## str4 ## subsequently , a typical synthesis process of a hydrazone compound applicable to the present invention is illustrated in detail below : n - aminocarbazole of 18 g ( 0 . 1 mol ) and 30 g ( 0 . 1 mol ) of n , n - ditolylaminobenzaldehyde were dissolved in 500 ml of ethanol , and the solution thus obtained was added with 10 ml of acetic acid and then refluxed by heating for a period of two hours . the deposited crystals thus obtained were filtered , washed thoroughly by ethanol and dried up , whereby exemplified compound ( 2 ) has been obtained . yield : 36 . 4 g , 78 . 3 %, and melting point : 150 . 0 °- 151 . 0 ° c . the above - mentioned hydrazone compound may be used not merely in single but in a mixture of two or more kinds thereof , and furthermore in a mixture of one or more kinds thereof with one or more kinds of different carrier - transporting materials , and in the latter case , there is the possibility to form a charge - transfer complex on both the foregoing hydrazone compounds and said different carrier - transporting materials , whereby it may become possible to control arbitrarily the transfer degree of a carrier of a specific sign in said carrier - transporting phase as well as to effectively lose the internal trap . this carrier - transporting phase may at need contain a plasticizer , residual electric potential reducing agent , exhaustion - reducing agent and the like . since hydrazone compounds used in the present invention have in themselves no layer formability , the combined use with various binders is required to form a carrier - transporting phase for composing a photosensitive layer . as binder mentioned herein above , although discretional materials may be used , the most preferaly usable are high molecular polymers capable of forming hydrophobic , highly dielectric and insulating film . such high molecular polymers may include , for example , compounds enumerated below , but those applicable to the present invention are not limited thereto : these binder materials may be used either in single or in a mixture of two or more kinds . the afore - mentioned carrier - transporting phase may effectively compose the photosensitive layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive element by the combination thereof with a carrier - generating phase comprised of discretional one selected from among various carrier - generating materials which absorb light to produce carriers . ( 12 ) charge - transfer complex formed from electron - donating materials such as poly - n - vinyl carbazole and electron - accepting materials such as trinitrofluorenone , and ( 13 ) co - crystalline complex formed from pyrilium salt or thiapyrilium salt and polycarbonate . these carrier - producing materials may be used in single or in combination of two or more , and when making the form of a layer in the case where carrier - generating materials used in single have no film formability , there may be applied thereto one arbitrarily selected from binder materials similar to those used for the carrier - transporting phase . in the present invention , however , it is particularly preferable to use one selected out of perylene dye , polycyclic quinone , azo dye , or the homologues thereof , as a carrier - generating material . the construction of the electrophotographic photosensitive element of the present invention is illustrated below : in the present invention , as shown in fig1 and fig2 a conductive support 1 is provided thereon with a photosensitive layer 4 composed of a carrier - generating layer 2 containing as the principal component thereof a carrier - generating material and a carrier - transporting layer 3 containing as the principal component thereof an aforementioned hydrazone compound . as shown in fig3 and fig4 a photosensitive layer 4 may also be provided through an intermediate layer 5 on a conductive support 1 . when a photosensitive layer 4 is thus composed of two layers an electrophotographic photosensitive element having excellent electrophotographic characteristics , can be obtained . and in the present invention , as shown in fig5 and fig6 a conductive support 1 may also be provided directly thereon or through intermediate layer 5 with a photosensitive layer 4 composed of a carrier - generating phase 7 prepared by dispersing a carrier - generating material in the powder form into a layer 6 of the carrier - transporting phase containing as the principal component thereof the foregoing carrier - transporting material . in the case where the photosensitive layer is composed of two layers as described above , which of the carrier - generating layer 2 and carrier - transporting layer 3 should come above depends on the selection of charging polarity ; that is , in the case of a negative charge type photosensitive layer , it is advantageous that the carrier - transporting layer 3 comes above because the hydrazone compound in said carrier - transporting layer 3 is a material having a high transportability to positive hole . the carrier - generating layer 2 of the photosensitive layer 4 which is composed of two layers may be formed directly on either the conductive support 1 or the carrier - transporting layer 3 , or at need on an intermediate layer provided such as an adhesive layer , barrier layer , etc ., in the manner of ( 2 ) method of coating a solution of a carrier - generating material dissolved in an appropriate solvent , or ( 3 ) method of coating a dispersion liquid obtained in the manner that a carrier - generating material is made in the fine particle form in a dispersion medium by means of a ball mill or homomixer and then at need dispersedly mixed with a binder . the thickness of the thus formed carrier - generating layer 2 is preferably from 0 . 01 to 5 microns , most preferably from 0 . 05 to 3 microns , while the thickness of the carrier - transporting layer , though allowed to be changed at need , is preferably normally from 5 to 30 microns . the proportion of the components composing the carrier - transporting layer 3 is preferably one part by weight of a carrier - transporting material composed principally of the foregoing hydrazone compound to 0 . 8 - 4 parts by weight of a binder . however , in the case of forming the photosensitive layer 4 in which a carrier - generating material in the powder form is dispersed , the proportion should preferably by within the range of not more than 5 parts by weight of the binder per part by weight of the carrier - generating material . further , in the case of composing the carrier - generating layer 2 as of the dispersion type with the use of a binder , the proportion should likewise be within the range of not more than 5 parts by weight of the carrier - generating material per part by weight of the binder . in addition , as the conductive support 1 for use in composing the electrophotographic photosensitive element there may be used a metallic plate or paper or plastic film provided with conductivity by being coaated , vacuum deposited or laminated with a conductive compound such as , a conductive polymer , an indium oxide or with a thin metallic layer such as , aluminum , palladium , gold . as the intermediate layer 5 such as an adhesive layer , barrier layer there may be used organic polymer such as gelatin , casein , starch , polyvinyl alcohol , vinyl acetate , ethyl cellulose , carboxy - methyl cellulose or aluminum as well as high molecular polymers usable as the foregoing binder . the electrophotographic photosensitive element of the present invention , which is composed as has been described above , as apparent from the hereinafter described examples , is excellent in charging , photosensitivity , and image formability characteristics , and particularly in the durability that it hardly becomes deteriorated with exhaustion even when used in the repetitive type electrophotographic process . examples of the present invention are illustrated in detail below , but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto . a conductive support made of polyester film laminated with an aluminum foil was provided thereon with an intermediatelayer with the thickness of 0 . 05 micron made of vinyl chloride - vinyl acetate - maleic anhydride copolymer &# 34 ; s - lec mf - 10 &# 34 ; ( manufactured by sekisui chemical co ., ltd .). on this was vacuum - deposited with dibromoanthanthrone , &# 34 ; monolite red 2y &# 34 ; ( c . i . no . 59300 - manufactured by i . c . i . ), and thus a carrier - generating layer with the thickness of 0 . 5 micron was formed . next , two parts by weight of exemplified compound ( 2 ) and 3 parts by weight of polycarbonate , &# 34 ; panlite l - 1250 &# 34 ; ( manufactured by teijin chemical industry co ., ltd .) were dissolved in 25 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - dichloroethane , and the solution thus obtained was coated so that the layer thickness may become 8 microns after drying to form a carrier - transporting layer , and thus an electrophotographic photosensitive element of the present invention was produced . the resulting electrophotographic photosensitive element was evaluated on the electrophotographic characteristics thereof in the dynamic system with the use of an electrostatic copying paper analyser model sp - 428 ( manufactured by kawaguchi electric works co ., ltd . ); that is , surface potential v a when the surface of the photosensitive layer of said photosensitive element was charged for 5 seconds at the charging voltage of - 6 . 0 kv ; surface potential v i after being left in the dark for the subsequent 5 seconds ; subsequently with a tungsten lamp light controlled so that the illuminance thereof on the surface of the photosensitive element became 35 lux . the exposure ( half - decay exposure ) e1 / 2 required for reducing surface potential v i to one second ; and surface potential ( residual potential ) v r after being exposed with the exposure of 30 lux . sec were found by measurements respectively . further , thus obtained electrophotographic photosensitive element was loaded to an electrophotographic copying machine , &# 34 ; u - bix 2000r &# 34 ; ( manufactured by konishiroku photo industry co ., ltd .) to perform the durability test by repeating 5000 times of a standard process comprising charging - exposure - cleaning steps , and the same measurement was immediately performed again . the results obtained are shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________ after dura - bility test of after 5000 - time 1st test operations______________________________________v . sub . a ( v ) - 550 - 572v . sub . i ( v ) - 456 - 470e1 / 2 ( lux · sec ) 1 . 8 1 . 8v . sub . r ( v ) 0 0______________________________________ as apparent from the above results , a very few fatigue and deterioration and very stable characteristics have been found even after the durability test of 5 , 000 - time operations . an electrophotographic photosensitive element for control was prepared in the same manner as in example 1 with the exception that for the formation of a carrier - transporting layer , benzaldehyde - diphenylene hydrazone was used which have the formula below ; ## str5 ## in place of exemplified compound ( 2 ). the results are shown in table 2 . table 2______________________________________ after dura - bility test of 5000 - time 1st test operations______________________________________v . sub . a ( v ) - 675 - 853v . sub . i ( v ) - 522 - 798e1 / 2 ( lux · sec ) 8 . 4 18 . 2v . sub . r ( v ) - 173 - 370______________________________________ as apparent from the above table , the electrophotographic photosensitive element for control was found out to be significantly poor in the characteristics . an electrophotographic photosensitive element for control was prepared in the same manner as in example 1 with the exception that for the formation of a carrier - transporting layer , p - diethylaminobenzaldehyde - diphenylene hydrazone was used which have the formula , ## str6 ## in place of exemplified compound ( 2 ). and each sample of the electrophotographic photosensitive element of example 1 and the electrophotographic photosensitive element of control example 1 -( 2 ) were loaded respectively in an electrophotographic copying machine , &# 34 ; u - bix 2000r &# 34 ; ( manufactured by konishiroku photo industry co ., ltd .) to perform the standard process comprising charging - exposure - cleaning steps repeatedly . in order to determine the degree of deterioration from electrical exhaustion ( durability ) in the processes , each exposure amount of 6 lux . sec was applied to the surface of the photosensitive layer , and how the surface potential of the light - sensitive body obtained at this time changes according to the repetition of the cycle of said processes was examined , then the results as shown in fig7 were obtained wherein curve i is the result of the electrophotographic photosensitive element in example 1 , while curve ii shows the result of the control electrophotographic photosensitive element in control 1 -( 2 ). as apparent from these curves the electrophotographic photosensitive element of the present invention is so satisfactory that the change in the surface potential after exposure is small even when repeatedly used , and that the characteristics are stable , whereas the control electrophotographic photosensitive element is low in sensitivity and the surface potential thereof is greatly fluctuated when subjected to a given exposure as the repetition of its use goes on , therefore it has the vital defects to use for a repeating image transfer type photosensitive element for electrophotographic use . an electrophotographic photosensitive element of the present invention was produced in the same manner as in example 1 with the exceptions that a carrier - generating layer was formed by coating a dispersion liquid so that the thickness may become one micron after drying , said dispersion liquid being obtained by adding three parts by weight of bisazo pigment having the formula ## str7 ## and one part by weight of polyester , &# 34 ; polyester adhesive 49000 &# 34 ; ( manufactured by do pont ) into 96 parts by weight of tetrahydrofuran and then by dispersing the mixture thus obtained by means of a ball mill , and that a carrier - transporting layer was formed by coating a coating liquid so that the thickness may become eight microns after drying , said coating liquid being prepared by dissolving two parts by weight of exemplified compound ( 1 ) and three parts by weight of polycarbonate , &# 34 ; jupilon s - 1000 &# 34 ; ( manufactured by mitsubishi gas chemicals co ., ltd .) into 25 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - dichloroethane . the electrophotographic photosensitive element thus produced was subjected to similar measurements ten times in succession to that of example 1 . the results are shown in table 3 . table 3______________________________________ 1st 10th______________________________________v . sub . a ( v ) - 735 - 731v . sub . i ( v ) - 617 - 613e1 / 2 ( lux · sec ) 5 . 5 5 . 6v . sub . r ( v ) 0 0______________________________________ as apparent from the table , even in the tenth measurements the results show nearly the same stable characteristics as those in the first . an electrophotographic photosensitive element for control was prepared in the same manner as in example 2 with the exception that for the formation of a carrier - transporting layer , p - diethylaminobenzaldehyde - diphenylene hydrazone was used which have the formula ## str8 ## in place of the exemplified compound ( 1 ), and the resulting product was subjected to similar measurements . the results are shown in table 4 . table 4______________________________________ 1st 10th______________________________________v . sub . a ( v ) - 763 - 825v . sub . i ( v ) - 651 - 693e1 / 2 ( lux · sec ) 6 . 9 7 . 2v . sub . r ( v ) - 20 - 35______________________________________ as apparent from the above table , the electrophotographic photosensitive element for control shows significantly deterioration in its characteristics . on a conductive support produced by the vacuum deposition of aluminium on a polyester film , a carrier - generating layer was formed by coating the solution so that the amount adhered after drying may be 0 . 2 g / m 2 , said solution being obtained by dissolving one part by weight of chloro dian blue having the following formula ## str9 ## into 140 parts by weight of the mixed solution of ethylene diamine , n - butylamine and tetrahydrofuran of which mixing ratio by weight is 1 . 2 : 1 . 0 : 2 . 2 respectively , and then a carrier - transporting layer was formed by coating a coating solution so that the thickness after drying may be 12 microns , said coating solution being obtained by dissolving two parts by weight of exemplified compound ( 3 ) and three parts by weight of methacrylic resin , &# 34 ; acrypet &# 34 ; ( manufactured by mitsubishi rayon co ., ltd .) into 30 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - dichloroethane , and thus , an electrophotographic photosensitive element of the present invention was produced . the electrophotographic photosensitive element thus obtained was subjected to measurements similar to those in example 1 , then e1 / 2 was 2 . 6 ( lux . sec ) and residual potential v r was o ( v ). the thus produced electrophotographic photosensitive element was subjected to a copying test , using the u - bix 2000r , then a clearly copied image having a satisfactory contrast and faithful to the original was obtained . further the same photosensitive element was subjected to a 10 , 000 - time repeated copying test without changing the given exposure , then there were obtained quality image copies as good as the initial one . on a conductive support produced by the vacuum deposition of aluminum on a polyester film a carrier - generating layer with the thickness of 0 . 5 micron was formed by the vacuum deposition of n , n &# 39 ;- dimethyl perylene - 3 , 4 , 9 , 10 - tetracarboxylic acid diimide &# 34 ; pariogen maroon 3920 &# 34 ; ( c . i . no . 71130 , manufactured by basf ). next , a carrier - transporting layer was formed by coating a liquid so that the thickness becomes 10 microns after drying , said liquid being prepared by dissolving 2 parts by weight of exemplified compound ( 5 ) and 3 parts by weight of a polyester &# 34 ; vylon 200 &# 34 ; ( manufactured by toyo spinning co ., ltd .) into 30 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - dichloroethane . the electrophotographic photosensitive element thus obtained was substituted to measurements similar to those in example 1 , then e1 / 2 was 4 . 3 ( lux . sec ) and residual potential v r was o ( v ). an electrophotographic photosensitive element for control was produced in the same manner as in example 4 with the exception that hydrazone compound was used which having the following formula , ## str10 ## in place of exemplified compound ( 5 ), and was subjected to similar measurements , then e1 / 2 was 5 . 9 ( lux . sec ) and v r was - 24 ( v ). further , each of the electrophotographic photosensitive element of example 4 and the electrophotographic photosensitive element for control of control example 3 was respectively loaded onto an electrophotographic copying machine , &# 34 ; u - bix 2000r &# 34 ; to be subjected to 5 , 000 - time repeated charging - exposure - cleaning steps of the standard process for the purpose of a durability test , and when the change on standing was measured in each of the standard process of the first and of the standard process performed after the 5 , 000 - time durability tests had been completed , the respective results have been obtained as shown in fig8 for the electrophotographic photosensitive element of example 4 and in fig9 for the electrophotographic photosensitive element for control of control example 3 . in fig8 and fig9 the dashed lines show the results of the measurements at the first test and the solid lines show the results of the measurements subjected after 5 , 000 - time durability tests . as is obvious from the above results , the electrophotographic photosensitive element of the invention is very excellent in the stability because changes in the respective sensitivity and residual potential are small even after it was used repeatedly . electrophotographic photosensitive elements of four kinds in total were produced in the same manner as in example ( 1 ) with the exception that for forming a carrier - transporting layer , exemplified compounds ( 6 ), ( 7 ) and ( 8 ) were used respectively in place of exemplified compound ( 2 ), and were measured the respective e1 / 2 and v r in the same manner as in example 1 . the results thereof are shown in table 5 . table 5______________________________________hydrazone compounds e1 / 2 ( lux · sec ) v . sub . r ( v ) ______________________________________example 5 exemplified compound ( 6 ) 1 . 9 0example 6 exemplified compound ( 7 ) 2 . 2 0example 7 exemplified compound ( 8 ) 2 . 0 0example 8 exemplified compound ( 9 ) 1 . 9 0______________________________________ on a conductive support produced by the vacuum deposition of aluminium on a polyester film , a carrier - generating layer was formed by coating a dispersed solution so that the thickness coated may become one micron , said dispersed solution being obtained by adding one part by weight of bisazo pigment having the following formula , ## str11 ## and one part by weight of polycarbonate , &# 34 ; panlite l - 1250 &# 34 ; ( manufactured by teijin chemicals ) into 45 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - dichloroethane and by dispersing the mixture thus obtained by means of a ball mill , and then a carrier - transporting layer was formed by coating a coating solution so that the thickness coated may become 10 microns after dried , said coating solution was prepared by dissolving two parts by weight of exemplified compound ( 1 ) and three parts by weight of polycarbonate , &# 34 ; panlite l - 1250 &# 34 ; into 25 parts by weight of 1 , 2 - dichloroethane , and thus the electrophotographic photosensitive element has been produced . the electrophotographic photosensitive element thus obtained was subjected to measurements similar to those in example 1 , then e1 / 2 was 5 . 2 ( lux . sec ) and v r was o ( v ).

an electrophotographic photosensitive element having a conductive support provided thereon with a photosensitive layer comprising a carrier - generating phase and a carrier - transporting phase . the carrier - transporting phase comprises a hydrazone compound to improve carrier - transporting ability having the formula ## str1 ## wherein , x and y each represent a hydrogen or a halogen , r 1 and r 2 each represent an aryl group which may have a substituent or substituents , and ar represents an arylene group which may have a substituent or substituents .

in the following description and claims the term &# 34 ; downward &# 34 ; means &# 34 ; in direction of the cutting load &# 34 ; marked by s in fig1 . &# 34 ; upward &# 34 ; means the opposite direction . if in a special application the cutting load is applied in another direction for example a horizontal direction then &# 34 ; downward &# 34 ; is not related to the gravity but to the direction of the cutting force alone . the same is true with respect to the terms upper and lower . &# 34 ; forward &# 34 ; means a direction pointing to a cutting die 16 which is fastened at the front end of a head 12 . a &# 34 ; rearward swing &# 34 ; is a movement by which the cutting die 16 is displaced in counterdirection with respect to the cutting load s . a quick interchangeable coupling 10 comprises the head 12 having fastened the cutting tool or die 16 on the upper surface of the front end thereof and a carrier 14 . the head 12 is interchangeably coupled at its rearward end with the front end of the carrier exclusively in a form - fit manner . the head 12 is loaded by the cutting force s which in this instance is directed downwards . three contact areas are provided between the rearward end of the head 12 and the front end of the carrier 14 . a first contact area comprises a lower head surface 24 abutting against and undergripping a lower carrier surface 25 . a second contact area comprises a front abutting surface 27 provided in a recess 22 formed in an upper carrier surface or area , and a front surface 26 provided at a nose 20 which extends downwards at the rearward end of an upper head projection 18 . the projection 18 is integral with the head 12 and projects rearwardly therefrom . the nose 20 is spaced from a bottom surface of the recess 22 . a third contact area is composed of a head supporting surface 28 and a carrier supporting surface 29 . this pair of supporting surfaces 28 , 29 extend in an inclined plane forming an angle between 30 ° and 60 ° with the cutting load s and are spaced above the first contact area 24 , 25 and are arranged substantially at the same level in front of the second contact area 26 , 27 . the cutting load is transmitted from the head 12 to the carrier at the third contact area 28 , 29 and therefore , the supporting surfaces thereof must at least extend with a geometrical component rectangularly with respect to the load direction s . that means , the supporting surfaces 28 , 29 can be arranged horizontally in this instance or inclined but must not run vertically . all surfaces 24 to 29 of the three contact areas extend at right angles to one and the same vertical plane which is the plane of section in fig1 . in order to ensure that the head 12 cannot be displaced transversely a form - fit arrangement is provided which comprises a projection 34 at the middle portion of the lower carrier surface 25 and an inserting opening 32 for the projection 34 . the opening 32 is formed in the inclined lower head surface 24 . the projection 34 and the opening 32 which opens to the rearward side have complementary configurations and comprise planar vertical side faces , which form an angle in the range of 60 ° to 120 ° with one another . the projection 34 fits into the opening 32 without any transverse clearance and in addition a self - centering effect is gained . the third contact area 28 , 29 prevents a downward movement of the head 12 with respect to the carrier 14 and the first contact area 24 , 25 prevents an upward movement . the first and third contact areas together prevent a rearward movement and the second contact area prevents a forward movement and also a forward swing i . e . a swinging movement in clock - wise direction . therefore , only one movement is possible to disconnect the head 12 from the carrier . that is a rearward swing i . e . a swinging movement of the head 12 in counter - clock - wise direction about the upmost edge 30 of the third contact area 28 , 29 . in normal operation this rearward swing is prevented by the cutting load . if no cutting load does exist the head 12 can be swung rearwardly about edge 30 . thereby the cutting die is lifted and the nose 20 dips deeper into the recess 22 . the lower head surface 24 gets out of its undergripping position with respect to the carrier 14 ( see the dot and dashes position in fig3 ) and then the head 12 can be lifted and separated from the carrier 14 . it is important that the head 12 must perform two different movements one after another to separate it from the carrier . both of these that movements are against the force and the moment resulting from the cutting load . the front surfaces 26 , 27 of the second contact area are substantially parallel with the direction of the cutting load . in practice the front surface must be slightly relieved so that the lower front end of the nose 20 can be displaced slightly forwards during the rearward swing . therefore the contact surfaces 26 , 27 form a very small angle with one another which is overdone in fig1 for better understanding . during operation no further means are necessary to securely hold the head 12 in working position . however , if no cutting load is applied and vibrations occur the head could unintentionally be swung into its opening position . to prevent this a safety device is provided acting against a downward movement of the nose 20 . according to fig1 this safety device consists of a stem 38 displaceably guided in a bore of the projection 18 of the head 12 and projecting at the rearward end thereof and a weak spring 36 urging the stem 38 rearwards . the stem abuts against a block fastened on the carrier 14 . the spring 36 pre - loads the head 12 by a moment which increases the moment resulting from the cutting load . the safety device 36 , 38 in no way does absorb cutting forces but even operate to increase those cutting forces . the front surface of the block on the carrier 14 can be inclined to provide for an automated coupling operation . the embodiment shown in fig4 differs from the embodiment according to fig1 to 3 in that the first and third contact areas 124 , 125 and 128 , 129 are connected with one another and are curved . the surfaces 126 , 127 of the second contact area are substantially parallel with one another and inclined upwards in forward direction . the angle between the front surfaces 126 , 127 and an imaginary line connecting the lowest point 40 of the second contact area with the lowest point of the first contact area 124 , 125 must be greater than 90 °. otherwise the surface 127 cannot prevent the head 112 from swinging forwards about the first contact area 124 , 125 . in this embodiment the head 112 is swung rearwards about this point 40 into its open position . the three contact areas 124 to 129 between the head 112 and the carrier 114 are arranged on a substantially c - shaped line . the first contact area 124 , 125 forms the lower end and the second contact area 126 , 127 forms the upper end of the c - line . the third contact area 128 , 129 is situated in the upper half of the c - shaped line . the head contact surface 124 must undergrip the carrier 114 and the front surface 126 at the upper end of the c - shaped line must grip behind the contact surface 127 of the carrier 114 . with this configuration the head 112 after having been swung in counter - clockwise direction can be removed from the carrier along an inclined path . according to fig5 a safety device comprises a stem 138 which is displaceably guided in a bore of the carrier 14 in parallel relationship with the cutting load . the stem projects upwards from the carrier and is pre - loaded upwardly by a spring 136 . the head 12 has a vertical bore 140 , the forward generating line thereof coinciding with that of the carrier bore . an operating plug 142 is vertically displaceable in the bore 140 . the stem 138 projects into the bore 140 and prevents a backward swing of the head 12 positively , namely in a from - fit manner . the stem 138 automatically takes its locking position when the head is swung into the operational position thereof . the head 12 can be unlocked by pressing down the plug 142 .

a carrier and a head having fastened thereon a cutting place are connected with one another exclusively by a form - fit coupling . a first contact surface of the head grips under the carrier . a second contact surface of the head above the first surface grips behind an abutment of the carrier and a third contact surface of the head arranged between the first and second contact surfaces thereof serves for transmission of the cutting load .

referring now to the drawings and more specifically to fig1 and 2 it may be seen that the distilling apparatus in accordance with this invention comprises a cylindrical tank reservoir container 10 having a pair of handles 11 secured to the side thereof . a boiler 12 having instantaneous heating elements 13 and 14 therein is affixed to the side of the tank 10 by the fluid connectors 15 and 16 . the fluid connector 15 includes an elbow 17 having a shoulder 18 and a threaded shank extending through cooperating openings in the wall 19 of the boiler 12 and the wall of the container 10 . a nut 20 engages the shank of the fitting 15 and together with a resilient washer 21 provides a water - tight seal for both the tank 10 and the boiler 12 . a water inlet conduit 22 is fixedly coupled to the fitting 15 by means of a nut 23 so that water within reservoir container 10 will automatically feed into the boiler 12 until the water level within boiler 12 corresponds to the reservoir water level inside reservoir container 10 . it will also be observed that the water level is maintained at a level adequate to effect total or at least substantial immersion of the heating elements 13 and 14 in the water of boiler 12 . the steam outlet fitting 16 is of conventional construction and includes an outlet pipe 24 , a threaded shank 24 ′ extending through the walls of reservoir container 10 and boiler 12 and secured thereto by a nut 25 . a sealing washer 26 is disposed between container and boiler to provide a watertight connection . in the preferred embodiment of the invention herein illustrated the condenser 27 is in the form of a coiled tube of metal such as stainless steel , copper or the like and has the inlet end portion 28 sealably connected to the fitting 16 within container 10 . the outlet 29 of the condenser 27 has a fitting 30 extending through the wall of container 10 and provides the condensate outlet 31 . optionally , but desirably an oversized filter 115 is interposed at condensate outlet 31 . as best may be seen in fig1 the coiled condenser tubing generates a cylindrical region 100 at the center of the reservoir container 10 . reservoir container 10 further includes an overflow pipe 32 which is connected to a fitting 33 sealed to the wall of the container 10 and a drain cock 34 for draining water from the container ( being useful for cleaning and maintenance ). a water inlet valve 35 is at the upper portion of the reservoir container 10 and has an inlet 36 , an outlet 37 and a hand - wheel 38 for regulating the water supply in order to maintain an appropriate supply of water to the reservoir container 10 . the boiler 12 is shown more clearly in fig4 and in the preferred embodiment illustrated herein consists of two housing elements 39 and 40 . a wall 41 disposed between the housing elements 39 and 40 includes a peripheral seal 42 which is releasably clamped between the outer rims of the housing elements 39 and 40 by clips 43 at the periphery of the boiler 12 . this arrangement completely seals the boiler formed by the housing element 39 and the wall 41 . the whole boiler can be readily disassembled for cleaning . the heating elements 13 and 14 in the illustrated embodiment are carried by the wall 41 and are connected in series by a lead 44 connecting one terminal of one heater to one terminal of the other heater . the power line 45 has one lead 46 connected to the other terminal of the heater 14 while the second lead 47 is connected through a thermostat 48 to the other terminal of the heater 13 . the thermostat is mounted on a bracket 49 in close proximity to the heaters 13 . in the event the heater 13 reaches a temperature above the normal operating temperature , the thermostat will operate to open the circuit and de - energize both heaters 13 and 14 . it is evident , however , that the heaters 13 and 14 could be arranged for parallel operating or in the alternative a single electric heater may be employed in the boiler provided however it delivers the quantity of heat necessary for operation of the distillation apparatus . included in the boiler is the ozone generator 120 . preferably , the ozone generator is inserted into the boiler through a port in housing element 39 . as illustrated in fig1 the ozone generator 120 is powered by transformer 121 . it is not necessary , however , to have a separate power supply for the ozone generating means . the ozone generator may be powered by the same power supply used to operate heaters 13 and 14 . in the preferred embodiment of the invention herein illustrated a forced air circulation means assists removal of steam and undesirable vapors liberated from the reservoir water within reservoir container 10 . the air circulating means which is shown in fig3 comprises an inverted dished cover generally denoted by the numeral 50 over reservoir container 10 which includes a flat upper wall 51 that is perforated or apertured , an upwardly extending peripheral wall 52 and a downwardly curved peripheral wall 53 . the lower peripheral edge of the wall 53 carries three or more diagonally disposed rollers 54 each having spaced discs 55 rotatably carried by a shaft 56 . the discs 55 engage the rolled edge 10 ′ of the reservoir container 10 and accordingly provide an annular vent between the cover 50 and the top edge of the reservoir container 10 . the flat apertured wall 51 of the air circulating means supports an electric motor generally denoted by the numeral 57 which powers a shaft 58 extending through the perforated wall 51 . the fan 59 is mounted on shaft 58 . power is fed to the motor 57 by a cable 60 connected in a conventional manner to the motor . if desired , switch means may be provided for operation of the fan . the fan motor 57 is covered by a vented dome - shaped housing 61 that is securely fitted to the cover 50 and is attached thereto by any suitable means . in the illustrated embodiment of the invention , the dome - shaped housing 61 frictionally engages the peripheral wall 52 of the cover 50 . in one mode of fan operation , air is drawn into the air circulating means assembly through an opening 62 in the dome - shaped housing 61 and then down through the perforated wall 51 whereupon it is directed downwardly over the reservoir water in reservoir container 10 and thereafter is discharged through the annular opening between the reservoir container 10 and its cover 50 . in the reverse mode of fan operation the fan 59 draws air in through the annular opening between reservoir container 10 and its cover 50 up through perforated wall 51 and opening out through vent 62 in motor housing 61 . as may be seen in fig3 a stirrer rod 101 extends from an integral connection with motor shaft 58 at the hub of fan 59 preferably but not necessarily axially of the cylindrical reservoir region 100 inside of condenser coil 27 and terminates at the stirrer blades 102 immersed in the reservoir water . the depth of immersion for stirrer blades 102 is not critical , but preferably , they are not deeper than the bottom of coil condenser 27 . in the mode illustrated herein , the stirrer rod was positioned modestly off - center to avoid interference with the outlet bend 29 of condenser coil 27 , see fig1 and 2 . in the operation of the distillation apparatus of this invention , the reservoir container 10 and boiler 12 are first filled with water to a level at least substantially covering the heating elements 13 and 14 as may be observed most clearly in fig2 . it will be observed that when filling reservoir container 10 , water will automatically flow through conduit 22 into the boiler so that ultimately the level of the water in the reservoir container 10 will be the same as the water level in the boiler 12 . when energy is then supplied to the heating elements 13 and 14 they will function to boil the water within the boiler 12 . oxygen in the air above the water is turned to ozone by ozone generator 120 . steam generated from heating elements 13 and 14 rises through the ozone and enters inlet 24 . the steam then flows through the condenser coil 27 to be condensed therein . the condensed steam will then discharge through filter 115 as the distillate ( liquid ) product from the condenser outlet 31 . when first operating the distillation apparatus , it is generally desirable to discard the distillate product until the water inside reservoir container 10 has attained a normal operating temperature which preferably is 180 . degree .- 190 . degree . f . ( which is rapidly attained ). heaters 13 and 14 are designed to heat the water within the boiler at a rate faster than the condenser coil 27 can accommodate the steam produced . accordingly , a head of steam is developed within the boiler 12 and the steam pressure will force liquid from the boiler back through the conduit 22 into the reservoir container 10 thereby relieving the steam pressure . the flow of the water from the boiler into conduit 22 generates a vacuum in the boiler . the vacuum causes air to be drawn through filter 115 into the condenser outlet 31 , traveling through the condenser and exiting in the boiler via outlet 24 and thereby providing fresh oxygen for the ozone generator 120 . as soon as the steam pressure within the boiler is relieved , water will again flow through the conduit 22 back into the boiler with the result that there will be a periodic reversal of water flow through the conduit 22 and air flow through the condenser 27 . this pulsating action results in a more rapid increase in temperature of the reservoir water within the container 10 by contributing heat over and above the heat imparted to the reservoir water by the action of the condenser coil 27 . it also results in a constant renewing of ozone in the boiler . the temperature of the reservoir water , however , is always below the boiling temperature ( of the water in boiler 12 ) so that distillate will be condensed in condenser 27 . preferably the reservoir water should be kept in the range of 180 . degree . f . to 190 . degree . f . this temperature level will boil off undesirable components from the reservoir water ( prior to actual distillation thereof ), and also serves to operate condenser 27 adequately . to maintain proper operation of the apparatus , a substantial proportion of the feed water which enters at the inlet 37 ultimately is discharged as overflow through tube 32 and outlet 35 . as has already been pointed out , a mechanical expedient to facilitate maintenance of a distinct temperature across the condenser coil tubing is illustrated in fig5 . shown there is an enlarged partial cross - section of condenser coil tubing . inside the tubing is a deflector 77 whose purpose is to generate spiral flow movement of steam and condensate to the tube wall . also , flow becomes more turbulent thereby helping heat exchange across the tube wall . a like deflector 79 may be provided in the conduit connecting reservoir container 10 and boiler 12 ( see fig6 ). the purpose of deflector 77 is , of course , to create turbulent mixing of the water so as to avoid any temperature stratification either in reservoir container 10 or in boiler 12 . an additional optional expedient which has been found advantageous in practice of this invention is the provision of a filter , preferably an oversized filter , at the condenser outlet 31 . in the embodiment illustrated herein the oversized filter 115 is a carbon filter . filter 115 absorbs any organic materials that are carried over with the condensate . it polishes the condensate , so to speak but also it achieves a superior aeration for the condensate . as has already been pointed out the distillation apparatus of this invention operates in a pulsating fashion causing water to flow through the connecting conduit 22 back and forth between boiler 12 and reservoir 12 . the same pulsations affect condenser 27 . a pulse of ( steam ) pressure from boiler 12 passes through the condenser tubing in a forward direction during a steam generation pulse , sending condensate out through filter 115 . then during the reverse suction pulse , air is drawn into the filter 115 , through the condenser , into the boiler . thus , the filter 115 acts as much to filter air drawn into the condenser tubing , as it does to filter distillate leaving the condenser tubing . manifestly , the pulses are not equal in their effect . steam is being generated in boiler 12 , then is condensed in condenser coil 27 . the distillate is discharged at the outlet 31 through filter 115 . a net movement outflow movement of distilled water through filter 115 results . at the same time , a small net inflow of air into filter 115 and condenser 27 results . the distillate , e . g ., at 190 . degree .- 195 . degree . f ., is hot enough to heat filter 115 and prevents microbial contamination of the filter . this means that air which enters oversized filter 115 during the suction pulses is retained therein and becomes sterilized by the hot filter before entering condenser 27 and / or becoming absorbed in the distillate . the reason for providing a filter 115 that is oversized is precisely to increase the residence time therein of the inflowing air . overall , the result is that air heated and sterilized in filter 115 partially aerates the distilled water improving the palatability thereof . while only certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein , it is understood that alterations , changes , and modifications may be made therein without departing from the true scope and spirit thereof .

a method and apparatus for water degasification and distillation in an apparatus having a container for a reservoir of water to be degassed and distilled , a relatively small boiler adjoining the container and having a feed water conduit connecting the container and boiler so that a selected water level in the container will fill the boiler to the same level , a coiled tube condenser within the container immersed in the water therein , the condenser coil having a vertically disposed longitudinal axis , a second conduit in the boiler connecting the space above the water level therein to the inlet of the condenser so that steam flows from the boiler to the condenser , an outlet on the condenser extending through a container wall for discharging the condensed steam as degassed distilled water , a heater in the boiler for heating the water therein , a motor driven stirrer axially of the coiled tube condenser for generating a swirling movement of the reservoir water with formation of steam bubbles therein and an ozone generating device in the boiler for purifying the steam . optionally , an oversized filter is mounted at the outlet of the condenser .

fig1 shows an optically excitable diode current limiter 11 having back to back silicon diodes 13 , 15 connected in series with a lead 17 , and having a variable light source 19 such as a potentiometer 20 controlled light source for optically exciting the diodes 13 , 15 , and an enclosure 21 to prevent external ambient light from reaching the diodes 13 , 15 . the light source may also be a light - emitting terminus such as the end of a fiber optic , or a light source that emits non - visible light such as x - rays . signals picked up by an electrode 23 at the end of the lead 17 , are selectively transmitted by the current limiter 11 via lead 18 to a signal processing device 25 for processing . device 25 may be any physiological signal processing device such as an electrocardiograph . the current limiter 11 may be placed near to the electrode 23 , for example within 6 inches of electrode 23 . when so placed , lead 17 between the patient and the current limiter 11 is short , thereby eliminating the hazard of shunt currents that can arise from long leads between the patient and the current limiter . when light from the light source 19 is incident on the diodes 13 , 15 , which may be two diodes as shown in fig1 or a greater number of diodes , free charge carriers are formed at the diode junctions . this reduces the resistance of the diodes 13 , 15 to current flow . when small signals with voltage levels in the range from - 25 millivolts to + 25 millivolts are applied to the diodes the diodes 13 , 15 act much like two resistors with a constant value producing a linear signal voltage - current relationship over this voltage range . when acting like resistors , the diodes conduct signals with small , non - hazardous currents such as physiological signal currents . fig2 shows the relationship between applied voltages ( v ) and current flow ( i ) through the diodes 13 , 15 . for a selected amount of light incident on the diodes , 13 , 15 , the magnitude of the current conducted by the diodes 13 , 15 varies linearly from - i limit1 to i limit1 as the applied voltage varies from - 25 millivolts to + 25 millivolts . as explained below , i limit1 represents the reserve leakage current of the diodes , 13 , 15 and is the maximum magnitude of current that can flow serially through both diodes 13 , 15 , for a selected amount of incident light . fig3 shows that as the light source 19 is varied , for example by varying the potentiometer 20 thereby increasing the intensity of light incident upon the diodes 13 , 15 , i limit1 increases in magnitude to another limiting value i limit2 . the diodes 13 , 15 conduct small currents flowing to or from the current limiter 11 . the back to back orientation of the diodes has no appreciable effect on the direction of flow of such small currents when the diodes 13 , 15 are acting like resistors . consequently , a physiological signal flowing from a patient 27 to the current limiter 11 would not be blocked by diode 15 ; the current would be allowed to flow to the signal processing device 25 . however , as fig2 shows , when the voltage of the applied signal is outside of the above - mentioned range , i . e ., less than - 25 millivolts or greater than + 25 millivolts , the diodes 13 , 15 act like typical diode semiconductors , each conducting current in one direction and blocking current greater in magnitude than i limit1 flowing in an opposite direction . signals having current levels greater in magnitude than i limit1 , for example , electrocautery , defibrillation , ground loops , stray capacitance or other signals occasioned by equipment failure , are deemed hazardous to the patient and are blocked by the current limiter 11 from flowing to or from the patient , i . e ., no current greater than i limit1 in magnitude is allowed to pass the current limiter 11 . diode 15 of the current limiter 11 blocks currents of hazardous signals that flow from diode 13 to diode 15 . diode 13 blocks currents of hazardous signal that flow from diode 15 to diode 13 . a hazardous signal applied to diode 15 reverse biases diode 15 . this causes diode 15 to conduct signals with current levels less than or equal to i limit1 in magnitude , and to block or not conduct signals with current levels greater than i limit1 in magnitude . similarly , a hazardous signal applied to diode 13 reverse biases diode 13 , thereby blocking the passage of all currents greater than i limit1 in magnitude and permitting the flow of currents less than or equal to i limit1 in magnitude .

an optically excited diode current limiter , when placed in series with a lead having an electrode attached to a patient such as an ekg or eeg lead , conducts physiological signals picked up by the electrode and protects the patient from electrical shock by limiting the amount of current flowing through the lead .

a wound dressing with a discontinuous contact layer surface has the advantages of promoting tissue growth with wound surface contact elements and permitting tissue growth by providing void volume for the subsequent tissue growth within the discontinuities . desirably , the structure of the contact material is sufficiently physically rugged to resist flattening when forces required to press the material against the wound surface are applied to the material . it is desirable for the material to retain its structure when exposed to aqueous or other bodily fluids . many traditional dressing materials soften as they moisten so that their geometry changes . the contact layer is permeable , permitting the underlying wound to breathe and allowing for fluids to be drawn from the wound . the contact layer should not be too absorbent as this might result in a loss of structure . the layer is comprised of base materials that are resistant to change in the presence of moisture and aqueous liquids . in the current embodiment , the extent of the voids remaining above the wound surface is preferably at least 0 . 1 mm when the structure is pressed against the surface of the wound . the width of the voids , as defined by contact elements adjacent the voids , is preferably greater than 0 . 1 mm . a more preferred width is between about 0 . 5 to 10 mm and a more preferred height is between about 0 . 2 to 5 mm . wound healing is recognized as a complex process . when a wound contact material as described is forced against a wound surface , a number of biological processes are believed to occur . mechanical stress is applied to the underlying tissue . the discontinuities in the contact surface impose a force resulting in a catenary shape on the tissue . these mechanical forces encourage cellular activities as well as angiogenesis , and the discontinuities begin to fill with granular tissue . excess fluid is conveyed away from the wound and tissue develops in a manner and pattern whereby disruption of the newly developed tissue is minimized upon removal of the contact surface . a fibrous substrate or structure has all the flexibilities provided by the textile arts . fibrous textiles can be formed into a structure for the invention by a number of the methods known in the art . among these methods are knitting , weaving , embroidering , braiding , felting , spunbonding , meltblowing , and meltspinning . each of these methods can be further adapted to produce a material whose structure matches that of the present invention . the desired structure can be imparted during production of the structure by , for example , applying molten material directly to a mold as in meltblowing . alternatively , the structure can be formed by working a formed structure after production by , for example , heat stamping or vacuum forming . further , fibers can be mixed with an adhesive and sprayed onto a textured surface . the versatility of fibrous textiles also extends to their easy adaptation to composite applications . individual fiber materials may be varied to optimize a physical parameter such as rigidity or flexibility . individual fiber materials can also be selected for their known ability to assist in wound healing . examples of such fiber materials are calcium alginate , and collagen . alternatively , fibers may be treated with known wound healing agents such as hyaluronic acid or antimicrobial silver . the ratio of the fiber materials can be varied to suit the requirements of the wound . according to one desirable aspect of the invention , different fibers with various wound healing properties may be added as desired . 1 . fluid absorbing fibers 2 . non - adsorbent fibers 3 . bio - absorbable fibers 4 . wicking fibers to wick fluid away from the surface of the wound 5 . fibers with known healing effects , such as calcium alginate 6 . bio - erodable fibers for the controlled release of a curative agent 7 . conductive fibers for the delivery of an electric charge or current 8 . adherent fibers for the selective removal of undesirable tissues , substances or microorganisms 9 . non - adherent fibers for the protection of delicate tissue an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , channeled wound dressing 100 is comprised of a generally conformable polyester felt material 102 . an alternative polyester textile such as a knit , weave , or braid may also be suitable for most applications . polyolefins , such as polyethylene or polypropylene , and polyamides , such as nylon , with similar physical properties are also contemplated . creep resistance , as exhibited by polyester , is particularly desirable . void channels 104 are cut into felt material 102 to provide a discontinuity that promotes the upward growth of new tissue . in use , the channeled wound dressing 100 is pressed against a wound in intimate contact with injured tissue . a force of 0 . 1 psi or more is desirably applied to the contact layer to press the contact elements against the surface of the wound . wound contact elements 106 are thus in intimate contact with injured tissue . fig2 a and 2b illustrate a wound dressing composite 200 comprised of channeled dressing 100 and a vapor permeable adhesive backed sheet 202 . adhesive backed vapor permeable sheets , in general , are known in the art and are believed to contribute to wound healing by maintaining a moisture level that is optimal for some wounds . in use , dressing composite 200 is placed onto the surface of the wound with its channeled dressing 100 portion in contact with the wound . adhesive sheet 202 covers channeled dressing 100 and adheres to skin adjacent the wound . composite 200 offers the advantages of channeled dressing 100 . additionally , adhesive sheet 202 secures composite 200 and protects the wound from bacteria , etc . while allowing for the transmission of moisture vapor . another desirable embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig3 a , 3b , 3 c , and 3 d . the substrate or structure for dimpled wound dressing 300 can be constructed from similar materials and production methods employed for channeled dressing 100 . fig3 a depicts a perspective view of dimpled dressing 300 with contact surface 320 on top . fig3 d shows a cross section of the dimpled dressing 300 which best illustrates the plurality of contact elements 322 and dimple voids 330 . preferably , the total dimple void area comprises at least about 25 % of the total dressing area . more preferably , the total dimple void area comprises at least about 50 % of the total dressing area . dimple voids 330 are partially defined by sidewalls 332 . sidewalls 332 are partially responsible for providing rigidity necessary to resist compaction of dimple dressing 300 . contact elements are preferably constructed to provide an arcuate contact surface . in a preferred embodiment , the radius of contact is between about 0 . 1 mm to 1 mm . dimple voids 330 can be formed in a variety of regular or irregular shapes . preferably , dimple voids are constructed so that they are not “ undercut ” such that each aperture circumference is smaller than the corresponding inner void circumference . an “ undercut ” or reticulated void structure can cause tissue disruption when the dressing 300 is removed because any tissue that has grown into the void may be torn away when the material is removed from the wound . additionally , undercut or reticulated void structures are more likely to result in shedding of the dressing material into the newly developing wound tissue . in one preferred embodiment , a base material for dressing 300 is masterflo rtm from manufactured by bba group of wakefield , mass . in this exemplary embodiment , the base material has a thickness of about 1 . 0 mm . dimple voids 330 are heat stamped in to the base material having a depth of about 0 . 75 mm and a diameter of about 2 mm . because the contact layer is generally replaced every few days it is important to account for the possibility of alignment of newly formed tissue with the voids of a new contact layer . thus , according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention 1 ) dimple voids 330 can be arranged randomly so that they don &# 39 ; t line up with the new tissue growth after each dressing change , 2 ) different contact layers with different diameter dimples may be provided , or 3 ) a different spacing of the dimples can be used every time the material is changed . fig3 b and 3c illustrate the corresponding top and bottom views , respectively , of dimpled dressing 300 . one variation of this embodiment is also contemplated having dimple voids 330 and / or contact elements 322 disposed on both the top and bottom of dimpled dressing 300 . a second variation on dimpled wound dressing 300 is also contemplated wherein some or all of the dimple voids 330 are replaced with holes traversing the structure &# 39 ; s entire thickness such that the top and bottom views of the variation would appear similar to fig3 b . in one exemplary embodiment , dimple voids 330 can be partially filled with therapeutic substances . for example , antiseptic substances might be placed in voids 330 for treating infected wounds . further , biologic healing agents could be delivered in the voids to improve the rate of new tissue formation . in yet another exemplary embodiment , the layer of dressing 300 could have a different function on each side . for example , one side of dressing 300 could be optimized for the growth of new tissue , while the other side could be optimized for the delivery of anti - microbial agents , for example . use of dimpled dressing 300 is illustrated by fig4 a , 4b , and 4 c . fig4 a shows a wound surface 400 . note that wound surface 400 may represent the majority of a shallow surface wound or a small interior portion of a deep tissue wound . fig4 b shows application of dimpled dressing 300 to wound surface 400 and corresponding tissue growth 410 within dimple voids 330 . finally , removal of dimpled dressing 300 leaving tissue growth 410 is illustrated in fig4 c . as will be addressed in detail below , it is desirable to provide an external force for keeping dressing 300 pressed against the surface of the wound . fig5 a and 5b illustrate another embodiment of the present invention ; a rough irregular dressing 500 . from a perspective view , fig5 a depicts how irregular dressing 500 has irregular voids 510 and irregular contact elements 520 acting as “ hook - like ” members that are able to contact and stick to necrotic tissue when the substrate is placed in the wound . when the substrate is removed from the wound , necrotic tissue is stuck to hook like protrusions 520 and is thus removed from the wound . removal of the substrate debrides the wound . removal of necrotic tissue is an important part of healing wounds . the substrate of dressing 500 may be made from polyester felt or batting . in one exemplary embodiment , the felt is singed with hot air so that a percentage of the fibers melt to form a textured surface with a number of hook like elements 520 . another suitable configuration can be the hook material such as that used with hook and loop fabric . after adequate removal of the necrotic tissue , the wound may still be considered infected and can be treated with the substrate including antimicrobial silver , for example , which is useful in killing bacteria , while the substrate and method of use facilitate the growth of new tissue . the phase of wound healing where new tissue is forming is generally referred to as the proliferative phase . once the wound is adequately healed in the proliferative phase and the bacterial load is adequately reduced , a substrate without antimicrobial silver and optionally with the addition of growth enhancing materials is used to facilitate the continued proliferation of new cells and tissue . fig5 b shows the random cross section of irregular dressing 500 . the roughened surface of irregular dressing 500 can be formed by passing a suitable substrate under convective heat at or about the melting point of the substrate &# 39 ; s component material . for example , polyester materials typically melt in a range from about 250 degrees celsius to about 290 degrees celsius . a polyester felt material passed briefly under a convective heat source operating in this range will experience surface melting and subsequent fusing of the polyester strands at its surface . the degree of surface melting can be controlled with temperature and exposure time to yield a surface of desired roughness exhibiting irregular voids 510 and irregular contact elements . although irregular dressing 500 is illustrated as having only one roughened surface the invention is not so limited in that both upper and lower surfaces may be similarly roughened . such a dressing would be useful in the treatment of an undermined wound . as described above , treatment with the present wound dressing invention comprises forcing the inventive dressing into intimate contact with the wound surface . generally the force should be at least 0 . 1 psi . various methods and systems for maintaining this intimate contact are contemplated . these methods and systems may include : applying an adhesive film over the inventive dressing and adjacent the wound surface ; wrapping a bandage over the dressing and around the injured area ; and securing a balloon or other inflatable bladder to the structure and inflating the bladder with air or a liquid . in one exemplary embodiment , the application of pressure to the bladder is provided intermittently . a conformable seal may be placed over the wound and contact structure , a rigid seal is then secured over the wound , contact structure imparting a force on the contact structure . a pressure is then applied between the rigid seal and the flexible seal forcing the contact structure against the wound surface . the intimate contact may be augmented by sealing the wound area with a conformable cover and applying suction . when suction is used , dimpled wound dressing 300 is particularly well - adapted for this application . in general the range of suction levels is between 0 . 25 psi and 5 psi . the suction use can be further improved by applying a wound packing material to the back of the dressing . one such suitable wound packing material is described in u . s . provisional patent application no . 60 / 554 , 158 , filed on mar . 18 , 2004 . patient a is a 70 year old male with a stage iv decubitus ulcer on the right hip with significant undermining . the contact structure of the present invention was applied to the wound and an adhesive film was placed over the wound and the contact structure . a suction of 1 . 1 psi was applied beneath the adhesive film to impart a force upon the contact structure . the suction was maintained generally continuously . the contact material was replaced every two to four days . after use of the device for 30 days the undermined portion of the wound had virtually healed and the area of the wound opening had decreased from 66 square cm to 45 square cm . a split thickness skin graft was applied to the wound . patient b is a 50 year old male with a facture of the right ankle with exposed bone . a plate was used to reduce the fracture and a rectus abdominus free flap was performed to cover the exposed bone and hardware . the flap only partially survived resulting in an open wound with exposed bone and hardware . the contact structure of the present invention was applied to the wound and an adhesive film was placed over the wound and the contact structure . a force was applied to the contact structure by the application of an ace bandage wrapped around the ankle or by the application of suction . the suction force was generally applied for about half of the day and the force of the bandage wrap was maintained for the remainder of the day . for a number of days , the bandage wrap was solely used to impart the force . when the force was imparted by suction a suction of between 1 and 2 psi was used . in less than 2 weeks new tissue had grown over the exposed hardware . in a period of 7 weeks the wound area was reduced from to 50 square cm to 28 square cm . while preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein , it will be understood that such embodiments are provided by way of example only . numerous variations , changes , and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . accordingly , it is intended that the appended claims cover all such variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention .

a therapeutic device for promoting the healing of a wound in a mammal is disclosed . an exemplary device comprises a permeable structure having a plurality of depressions formed in a surface thereof . in use , the surface having the depressions is disposed adjacent a surface of the wound . a method of treating a wound comprises the steps of providing a permeable structure comprising a plurality of randomly disposed fibers and having i ) a plurality of wound surface contact elements disposed between end portions of the structure , and ii ) a plurality of voids defined by the contact elements ; and applying the permeable structure to at least one surface of the wound .

in fig1 the rear part 1 , depicted in break - away , of a station wagon or automobile is shown in perspective view , where its luggage compartment 2 is defined by a floor 3 as well as two side walls , of which only the right side wall 4 is shown . above the side wall 4 , a rear side window 5 is located , while the front edge of the luggage compartment 2 forms a rear seat back rest 6 of a rear seat bench . the side window 5 ends at the front on a c - column 7 , which is located approximately at the height of the rear seat back rest 6 and at the rear end in the area of a luggage compartment opening 8 , of which only a side edge is shown . as can be recognized in the figure , there is an opening between the inside roof lining , which can not be recognized in the figure , and the upper edge of the rear seat back rest 6 , by which the luggage compartment 2 is connected to the passenger compartment , which is located in front of the rear seat back rest 6 . so that in a rear - end collision , no objects from the luggage compartment 2 are thrown into the passenger compartment , a safety net device 9 is provided . this safety net device 9 has a housing 11 as well as a safety net 12 to be pulled out of the housing 11 . the housing 11 is a longitudinal housing , which is detachably connected to the rear side of the rear seat back rest 6 and extends almost over the entire width . in the inside of the housing 11 , a winding shaft 13 is located , which is set in bearings so that it can rotate on the end side in the housing 11 . the length of the winding shaft 13 corresponds approximately to the length of the housing 11 . the winding shaft 13 is tube - shaped at least in an end section and contains in this section a coil spring 14 , which functions as a spring motor . the coil spring 14 is connected at its internal end 15 rigidly to the winding shaft 13 , while its outer - lying end 16 is connected rigidly so that it cannot rotate to a bearing journal 17 for the winding shaft 13 , which is affixed to the housing . on the winding shaft 13 , the safety net 12 is attached by a crosswise edge , which leads out through an outlet slit 18 from the housing 11 , which is limited by two lips 19 , 20 that are parallel to each other . a lip of the outlet slit 18 , namely the lip 19 , is toothed , in order to catch the safety net 12 in a crash in the manner described later . the lip 19 is adjacent to the passenger space . the safety net 12 has an edge that faces away from the winding shaft 13 and is affixed to a pull bar 21 . lateral edges of the safety net 12 are bordered with bands 22 . the pull bar 21 is a profile tube with a weather - stripping groove for attachment of the relevant edge of the safety net 12 . in its ends , the pull bar 21 contains mushroom - shaped anchor elements 23 , which are provided for suspending in receptacle bays 24 in the car body . the spring motor 14 attempts to pull the safety net 12 into the housing 11 with a relatively large force . the force is so large that the suspension of the anchor elements 23 can be difficult . in order to prevent the running back of the safety net 12 into the housing 11 during the suspension of the anchor elements 23 , a retaining device 25 is provided . the retaining device 25 includes two stanchions 26 , each of which is hinged at one end of the housing 11 . in the following , the exact description for one of the two stanchions 26 is given . this description applies logically and spatially as a mirror image also for the respective other of the two stanchions 26 . in order to affix the right stanchion 26 to the right side of the housing 11 , a bearing block 27 is attached on the upper side of the housing . the bearing block 27 is located next to the outlet slit 18 on the side of the toothed lip 19 . in it , a hinged bearing 28 is set so that it can be rotated around an axle . the pivot axle of the hinged bearing 28 lies parallel to the longitudinal axis of the winding shaft 13 . on the hinged bearing 28 , the housing - side end of the stanchion 26 is coupled , and to be precise , the stanchion 26 can be rotated in the hinged bearing 28 around an axle that runs at a right angle to the axle around which the hinged bearing 28 itself can turn . the end of the stanchion 26 that lies away from the housing 11 is pivotally connected , to a carriage 29 that can be conducted to slide in a guide groove , not shown , in the pull bar 21 . the connection between the stanchion 26 and the carriage 29 occurs , for example , via a loosely sitting rivet 31 , which allows the desired hinge movement of the stanchion 26 . the guide groove , which receives the carriage 29 , extends over the entire length of the pull bar 21 . on the pull bar 21 , a catch device 32 is provided , which contains a cover 33 . this cover 33 is provided for the purpose of covering the groove in which the two carriages 29 run , and it is connected to a hinge 34 so that it is movable with the pull bar 21 . using a spring that is not shown , the cover 33 is pretensioned in a position in which it projects in the movement path of the two carriages 29 in the guide groove . in order to lift the cover 33 out of this position , an activating clip 35 is present which is rigidly connected to the cover 33 . between the activating clip 35 and the pull bar 21 , a handle ring 36 is located , which is attached to the pull bar 21 . the handling of the depicted safety net device 9 is as follows , where it is assumed that the safety net 12 is first located in the wound up position in the housing 11 . in this position , the two stanchions 26 are parallel to the pull bar 21 and their carriages 29 are opposite each other a short distance apart . the cover 33 is lifted and lies on the respective parts of the carriages 29 , which project out from the corresponding guide groove . the force of the spring motor 14 causes the pull bar 21 to lie tightly on the outlet slit 18 . when the user wants to deploy the safety net 12 , he grasps the pull bar 21 from out of the luggage compartment opening 8 on the handle ring 36 and pulls the pull bar 21 to himself in the direction towards the luggage compartment opening 8 . during this movement , the safety net 12 is pulled out against the action of the spring motor 14 over the smooth lips 20 of the outlet slit 18 , as is shown in fig1 . the movement of the pull bar 21 away from the housing 11 pivots the stanchions 26 out of the position parallel to the pull bar 31 into a position that is at an angle to it , where the carriages 29 move , at the same time , away from the vicinity of the center of the pull bar 31 in the direction towards the respective adjacent end . the pivot movements are accommodated in the hinge 31 and the hinge bearing 28 . as soon as the length of the safety net 12 is pulled out of the housing 11 , as is necessary so that the anchor elements 23 can be suspended in the receptacle bays 24 , the two carriages 29 come into an area of their guide slit which is no longer covered by the cover 33 . the cover 33 is , starting from this position of the carriage 29 , no longer kept away from the pull bar 21 , instead it can be pushed against the pull bar 21 under the action of its pretensioning spring . in this pushed position , it is located in the clearance space of the sliding path of the two carriages 29 . when the user pulls the safety net 12 out of the housing 11 beyond this point and then lets the pull bar 21 go , the spring motor 14 can then pull the safety net 12 only far enough back into the housing 11 , until the two carriages 29 hit against the ends of the cover 33 that are set in the longitudinal direction of the pull bar 21 . further movement of the carriages 29 is prevented by the cover 33 . the carriages 29 are held apart from each other at a defined distance by the cover 33 . this distance defines the angle which the stanchions 26 enclose together and thus also the distance of the pull bar 21 from the housing 11 . the pull bar 21 is then rigidly supported via the two stanchions 26 opposite the housing 11 . the two stanchions 26 run at a slant angle and form a trapezoid , which is stable in shape and has equal legs , together with the corresponding section of the pull bar 21 and the corresponding section of the housing 11 . this is , so to speak , a frame for the safety net . the user can then without additional force exertion , guide the pull bar 21 to the top from the position according to fig1 where it performs a circle movement around the axles of the hinge bearings 28 . at the end of the swing - up movement , the anchorage components 23 , as is recognized in fig2 slide into the receptacle bays 24 . the opening above the rear seat back rest 6 is closed by the safety net 12 . the safety net 12 , which is itself elastic and flexible , and which in addition , is under pretension by the spring motor 14 , can be swung to the top , just like a completely rigid formed body . the stanchions 26 and the pull bar 21 form a rigid frame for the safety net 21 during handling . the catching of the anchor elements 23 in the receptacle bays 24 is simplified even further when the receptacle bays 24 are provided with a type of lead - in funnel that provides for an additional short piece of the safety net 12 to then be pulled out of the housing 11 during the catching movement . as is apparent , the user does not need to constantly apply an opposing force against the pull - back force of the spring motor 14 when guiding up the pull bar 21 into the receptacle bays 24 . the introduction of the anchor elements 23 into the receptacle bays 24 is done almost free of forces . the user must not , as is otherwise customary , lift up the pull bar 21 with extended arms against the action of the spring motor 14 . the retraction of the safety net 12 occurs as is logical in the reverse manner , in which at first the anchor elements 23 are pulled out of the receptacle bays 24 ; where for this purpose , overcoming the catching force is sufficient . then , the pull bar 21 is moved to the bottom , such that the movement is in turn guided by the stanchions 26 . at the end of the movement , the stanchions 26 are set down on the upper side of the housing 11 . the user can now grasp with a finger through the grip ring 36 and press down the clip 35 with his thumb . in this way , he lifts the cover 33 out of the clearance space of the carriages 29 , which can now move freely towards each other . this makes it possible for the pull bar 21 to be guided onto the housing 11 , where at the same time , the spring motor 14 winds up the safety net 12 . the end position is achieved when the pull bar 21 is set down on the outlet slit 18 . in this position , the stanchions 26 again run parallel to the pull bar 21 and to the winding shaft 13 . if a crash should occur when the safety net 12 is deployed and objects fly out of the luggage compartment 3 into the safety net 12 , an additional pulling off of the safety net from the winding shaft 13 is prevented through the toothed lip 19 . its teeth grip into the meshes of the safety net 12 and block a pull - off movement . in the fig3 to 7 , an embodiment is shown , in which the retaining device 25 acts together with the safety net 12 . if structural components and other components reoccur in the figures , which have already been explained in relation to the fig1 and 2 , they will not be described again . in order to simplify the operation of the new safety net device 9 , two mirror - image retaining devices 25 are provided on both sides of the safety net 12 . the structure of the retaining devices 25 is better seen from fig4 which shows an enlarged section of the area framed by the dash - dot circle a . since the retaining devices 25 are equivalent on both sides of the safety net 12 as mentioned , the explanation of the retaining device 25 that faces the observer will be sufficient . the retaining device 25 is a retaining device that is positive locking and has two catch mechanisms 41 and 42 that act together with one another , of which one is attached to the lip 20 as a stationary retaining mechanism 41 and the other is attached to the safety net 12 as a movable retaining mechanism 42 . the catch mechanisms 42 attached to the safety net 12 are the ends of a rod or stanchion 43 that is essentially rectangular in cross - section and stable in shape . the stanchion 43 is attached to the side of the safety net 12 that faces the luggage compartment opening 8 and runs over the entire width of the safety net 12 . on both side edges which are formed from the bordering bands 22 , the stanchion 43 overhangs by a corresponding piece extending further out so that , as mentioned , its ends 42 can form the catch mechanism connected to the safety net 12 . it runs parallel to and at a distance from the pull bar 21 ; the exact distance can be gathered from the functional description . the other catch mechanism 41 is locationally fixed and consists of a spring steel band 44 , which , as is shown in fig5 and 6 , is bent . the spring steel band 44 forms an essentially straight or only slightly bent strut 45 in the state free of force , as is seen in fig5 which on its lower end , for example using a rivet 46 , is riveted fixed on the inside of the housing 11 to the lip 20 . the lip 20 is not shown in fig5 and 6 . on the end that faces away from the attached end , the spring band 44 at 47 is angled in the direction away from the slit 18 , so that a step 48 results . at 49 , the spring band 44 is again bent around in the direction parallel to the strut 45 , and to be precise , at such a distance that the step 48 resulting from this is smaller than that corresponding to the thickness of the stanchion 43 . starting from the bending position 49 , the spring band 44 essentially runs straight to a position 51 and there changes in a 180 ° arc 52 , at the open end of which the spring band 44 is bent to the outside while forming an entry slope 53 in an s - shape . in this way , a hook 54 results , that has a clearance width that is sufficient to receive the catch mechanism 42 , i . e . the projecting end of the stanchion 43 . when it is in the installed position , the strut 45 goes through the slit 18 to the inside , while the hook 54 projects as shown out of the slit 18 . the hook 54 is to open in the direction to the winding shaft 13 and its hook opening is located on that side of the strut 45 , which faces the lip 19 , such that the function described in the following can occur . the functional method of the safety net device described thus far is as follows : in the resting condition , the safety net 12 is completely wound up on the winding shaft 13 . the loop of the safety net 12 with the pull bar 21 contained in it lies on the outside on the two lips 19 and 20 of the outlet slit 18 . when the user wants to suspend the safety net 12 in the receptacle bays 24 above the c - columns when the back rest 6 is erected as it is shown in fig1 he pulls the safety net 12 in the direction towards the luggage compartment opening 8 out of the housing 11 using an activation loop 55 that is attached to the safety net 12 . in this process , the safety net 12 unwinds from the winding shaft 13 opposite the effective direction of the spring motor 14 . during the pulling off or pulling out of the safety net 12 , it slides over the smooth lip 20 and moves essentially in a horizontal plane . in the process of this movement out , at some time corresponding to the distance of the pull bar 21 from the stanchion 43 , the stanchion 43 is pulled out of the slit 18 . during this movement directed to the outside , the projecting ends 42 with the strut 45 of the locationally fixed catch mechanism 41 come into engagement and bend the strut 45 spring - elastically , as fig5 shows , around the lip 20 . during the additional movement , the projecting ends 42 get into the hook 54 , where they are reliably guided by the inlet slopes 53 into the hook 54 . as soon as the catch mechanisms 42 that can be moved with the safety net 12 , in the form of the projecting ends of the stanchion 43 , have hooked into the two locationally fixed hooks 54 , no additional pull - out movement of the safety net 12 is possible . the user feels a correspondingly clear resistance and he is signaled through the retaining device 25 that has now become effective , that the exact quantity of safety net 12 has been pulled out which is sufficient to suspend the anchorage mechanisms 23 in the receptacle bays 24 . the user can now , without observing the suspension operation , using the loop 55 , blindly guide the next adjacent edge of the safety net 12 with the pull bar 21 to the top , where the safety net 12 will perform a pivot movement around the stanchion 43 , or when the movable strut 45 of the locationally fixed catch mechanism 41 is added , around the rivet 46 . the safety net 12 functions as the spacer and provides that inevitably the anchor elements 23 get into the receptacle bays 24 . during this movement pivoting up , the struts 45 become oriented from the position , as is shown in fig5 again into the position according to fig6 . since , furthermore , the distance of the receptacle bays 24 from the housing 11 is somewhat shorter than that corresponding to the quantity of safety net 12 that has been pulled out , the winding shaft 13 pulls the small excess portion of safety net 12 again back into the housing 11 . this movement is a movement out of the hook 54 and is prevented by the step 48 . since , however , the step 48 is not exactly sharp - edged , but instead has a certain residual slope , it acts like a catch mechanism that releases the stanchion 26 after a corresponding force has been overcome , so that at the end of the suspending operation , a position , approximately as shown in fig6 is achieved or a position , in which the stanchion 43 is released completely from the hook 54 . the purpose of the step 48 consists in absorbing a part of the pull - back force of the winding shaft 13 so that the user , when he must move the pull bar 21 to the top to the receptacle bays 24 with his arm extended , must not apply the full opposing force for the pull - back force of the safety net 12 . moreover , the retaining force is smaller than the pull - back force , so that in each case the winding shaft 13 can pull the stanchion 43 out of the hook 54 when the safety net 12 is driven in . when the safety net 12 is deployed and an object is thrown from the luggage compartment 2 into the safety net 12 , it is pressed to the front under the action of this object in the direction to the toothed lip 19 , such that the mesh of the safety net 12 is hung in the teeth of the toothed lip 19 and an subsequent unwinding of the safety net 12 from the winding shaft 13 is blocked . in order to retract in the safety net 12 , it is sufficient to allow the anchor elements 23 to be dismounted from the receptacle bays 24 and to allow the safety net 12 to run back . when the rear seat back rest 6 is laid down and the housing 11 is attached to the floor , and a larger pull - out quantity is necessary , as a rule the handling can no longer readily occur from out of the luggage compartment opening 8 . the housing 11 is located in proximity to the rear seat back rest of the front seat , which is why the operation must occur through the rear doors . in this type of operation , the pull - out direction of the safety net 12 is no longer , as described previously , approximately horizontal , but instead is more vertical . when the strut 45 of the catch mechanism 41 is bent somewhat from out of the housing , the hooks 54 are outside of the movement path of the stanchion 43 during the vertical movement of the safety net 12 and the stanchion will not be suspended in the hooks 54 during the vertical pull - out of the safety net 12 so that the full pull - out length is available . instead of a retaining device 25 that acts in a positive locking manner , which definitively defines the pull - out path , a retaining device 25 can also be used , which can be overcome when there is sufficient activation force . such a retaining device 25 is shown in various operating positions , greatly schematized in fig7 and 8 . belonging to it , are in turn a locationally fixed catch mechanism 56 as well as a catch mechanism 42 that can be moved with the safety net 12 . this catch mechanism 42 that can be moved is in turn , the laterally projecting ends of the stanchion 43 , which is provided on a flat side with a catch trough or catch groove 57 , which runs in the longitudinal direction of the strut 43 . similar to the catch mechanism 41 , the locationally fixed catch mechanism 56 has a flexible strut 58 , the lower end of which is attached to a rivet 46 in the inside of the housing 11 . on the upper end , the strut 58 is provided with a groove 59 that is opened to both sides , and which is limited by two groove walls 61 and 62 that are parallel to each other . both groove walls 61 and 62 are connected to each other as a single piece via a back piece 63 . in the assembled condition , the groove 59 is located outside of the outlet slit 18 . this configuration can be obtained , either in that a corresponding piece is cut and bent or as a flexible elastic plastic molded part . on the groove side wall 62 , a rib 64 projecting to the inside into the groove 59 is located , which is complementary to the catch groove 57 . in the case shown , the cross - sectional design of the rib 64 is approximately in the shape of a partial circle . the functional method of the retaining device that does not act in a positive locking manner according to fig7 and 8 is similar to what was explained previously in relation to fig3 to 6 . when the safety net 12 is pulled out in the horizontal direction , the stanchion 43 comes into contact with strut 58 of the locationally fixed catch mechanism 56 . this catch mechanism stands , prior to engagement , between the strut 58 and the stanchion 43 essentially vertically upright and is bent around the lip 20 through the sliding stanchion 43 in the movement direction of the safety net 12 . during further pulling out of the safety net 12 , the ends of the stanchions 43 reach into the relevant grooves 59 . in this process , the groove 59 expands as soon as the stanchion 43 runs into the rib 64 . during a subsequent pull on the safety net 12 , the stanchion 43 slides through below the rib 64 , continuing until the groove 57 catches with the rib 64 . this signals to the user that now a sufficient quantity of safety net 12 has been pulled out , so that as described above , the anchor elements 23 , guided through the length of the unwound net 12 , can be suspended in the receptacle bays 24 . during suspension , the strut 58 , starting from the position according to fig8 will be extended again . through the corresponding contouring of the rib 64 , as well as the catch groove 57 or the small edges of the struts 43 , the forces can be controlled , which are necessary , in order to maintain or release the catch of the rib 64 in the catch groove 57 . in a functional way , the rib 64 obtains for this an approximately sawtooth - shaped cross - sectional shape , where the more rigid side points away from the winding shaft 13 . in this way , it can be achieved that the catch absorbs a part of the pull - back force of the winding shaft 13 , in order to , as described above , increase the operating comfort . if the described intermediate position of the safety net 12 is not needed , but instead the full pull - out length , the user can overcome the catch between the rib 64 and the catch groove 57 with a correspondingly large force , in order to pull the stanchion 43 , at the end that faces away from the strut 58 , out of the groove 59 , as is shown to the left in fig8 . fig9 shows an embodiment of the safety net device 9 in a greatly schematized diagram , where a timing element 71 is allocated to the retaining device 25 . provided in this embodiment , structural components and other components arise , which have already been described or act or are constructed in a similar manner , these same reference indicators are used , without a further detailed explanation being given . the retaining device 25 in the embodiment example according to fig9 to 13 contains in turn a short bar 43 that is connected to the safety net 12 and projects by its end 42 over the edge of the safety net 12 and is attached in the border band 22 ; it does not project beyond the border band in the direction of the safety net . this bar 43 forms the movable retaining mechanism of the retaining device 25 . the locationally fixed retaining mechanism of the retaining device 25 consists of a locking lever 72 , which is set in bearings so that it can rotate and is parallel to the axis of the winding shaft 13 within the housing 11 on its front side . the locking lever 72 has on one end a drill hole 73 . with this drill hole 73 , it is inserted on a housing 74 of a viscosity brake , which represents the timing element 71 . the viscosity brake involves a commercially available structural component , so that its exact construction must not be explained . essentially , it consists of a locationally fixed part and the cylindrical housing 74 that can be rotated on it , where between the fixed anchorage part and the housing 74 , a gap filled with a high - viscosity liquid is present . the housing 74 is cylindrical on the outside and transforms on a front side 75 into a single piece molded - on toothed ratchet wheel 76 . acting together with this toothed ratchet wheel 76 is a catch ratchet 77 that is molded so that it is spring - elastic as a single piece on the locking lever 72 in the area of its bearing drill hole 73 . the orientation of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 76 as well as the effective direction of the catch ratchet 77 can be gathered from the following functional description . a catch 78 runs parallel to the locking lever 72 at a distance to it , and forms a type of hook together with the locking lever 72 . the end of the locking lever 72 facing away from the bearing drill hole 73 is provided with an eyelet 79 into which a tension spring 81 is suspended , whose other end at 82 is connected to the housing 11 . the effective method of the arrangement described thus far is as follows : at first it is assumed that the safety net 12 is completely wound up onto the winding shaft 13 . in this position , the bar end 43 is located at a radial distance from the axle of the winding shaft 13 corresponding to the roller diameter involved . the locking arm 72 is , due to the effect of the tension spring 81 , in the position shown in fig1 . in this position , the catch lever 78 appears , extending out from the bearing drill hole 73 , approximately in the direction towards the axle of the winding shaft 13 . if , starting from this operating position , the safety net 12 is pulled out of the housing 11 by the pull bar 21 , the winding shaft 13 with the roller located on it is set into rotation by the safety net 12 . it rotates , relative to fig1 , in the counter - clockwise direction . the length of the catch lever 78 is measured so that its free end 83 is a radial distance from the axle of the winding shaft 13 , such that the end 42 of the stanchion can freely pass the end 83 of the catch 78 during the rotation of the winding shaft 13 , and to be precise , as long as the stanchion 43 is located on or in the roller of the safety net 12 . the locking lever 72 is located with its outer end also outside of the circle of motion that the stanchion 43 located on the roller or in the roller defines . as soon as the safety net 12 is unwound so far that the stanchion 43 also is released from the outer side of the roller , its end 42 gets into the hook formed between the catch 78 and the locking lever 72 . this is achieved by a corresponding position of the lip 20 relative to the catch lever 78 . when the stanchion end 43 becomes suspended behind the catch lever 78 , the additional pulling out of the safety net 12 from the housing leads to the catch lever 78 being rotated together with the locking lever 72 out of the position shown in fig1 , into the position shown in fig1 . in this process , these two levers 72 and 78 rotate with the bearing drill hole 73 on the cylindrical outer surface of the housing 74 of the viscosity brake 71 . the free - wheel formed from the ratchet wheel 76 and the catch ratchet 77 is designed so that in a pivoting of the locking lever 72 in the clockwise direction , i . e . out of the position according to fig1 into the position according to fig1 , no obstruction results through the viscosity brake 71 when the safety net 12 is pulled out . at the same time as the pivoting of the locking lever 72 , the tension spring 81 is also tensioned . when the position according to fig1 is reached , the locking lever 72 is recognizable in the movement path of the stanchion end 43 . in this position , so much of the safety net 12 has been pulled off of the winding shaft 13 , that the user can suspend the anchor elements 23 free from tension in the receptacle bays 24 . when the user relaxes the safety net 12 in this position , the pull - back force applied by the spring motor 14 is absorbed by the locking lever 72 , on which the strut end 42 rests . the locking lever 72 is coupled onto the viscosity brake via the combined action of the catch ratchet 77 . the viscosity brake is only to be rotated back slowly , so that the return movement of the locking lever 72 into the release position is greatly slowed . since the brake 71 is a viscosity brake , it does not act as a blocking component , but instead as a delay component , which makes possible a slow rotation by a torque that acts from outside . the viscosity brake 71 will consequently not block a return rotation of the locking lever 72 into the position according to fig1 , but instead only slow it . the locking lever 72 will in the end go back into the position according to fig1 under the action of the tension spring 81 . thus , the winding shaft 13 can stretch the safety net 12 tight without obstruction through the locking lever 72 , in which the stanchion end 43 has been caught . when the user wants to completely allow the safety net 12 to retract , he completely unfastens the anchor elements 23 from the receptacle bays 24 and allows the pull bar 21 to run back in the direction to the slit 18 . thus , the stanchion end 43 slides over the rear side of the catch lever 78 that has in the meantime swung down , and it reaches the outside of the roller made of the safety net 12 that is wound up such that the stanchion end 43 is released from the effective area of the catch 78 . from the explanation given above it results that the user has a limited time available for suspending the anchor elements 23 . this time is measured from the delay time which the locking lever 72 requires until it has rotated back under the action of the forces acting on it in the direction to the position according to fig1 where it no longer prevents a pulling back of the safety net 12 . this delay time is a function of the characteristic of the viscosity brake 71 and the force acting on the catch lever 72 , which is comprised of the pull - back force of the safety net 12 and the force of the spring 81 . fig1 to 18 show an embodiment of a safety net device 9 , in which the retaining device 25 acts between the housing and the winding shaft 13 . also in this embodiment , the same reference indicators are used for structural components and other components that have already been described , without a new detailed functional description being given . moreover , the diagram is limited to the components necessary for the understanding of the invention . the retaining device 25 consists of a stationary retaining mechanism 85 and a follower component 86 connected to the winding shaft 13 . the stationary retaining mechanism 85 , which is not attached in the housing , has the design of a container with a cylindrical collar 87 that is to be adapted to the winding shaft 13 and that extends out from a bottom 88 . a drill hole 89 for a bearing journal 91 of the winding shaft 13 leads concentrically through the floor 88 . within the cylindrical collar 87 , a wall 92 runs in a spiral shape , which begins at 93 and ends radially further inside at 94 . this radially internal end 94 is located at a clear radial distance from the drill hole 89 . because of the progression of the wall 92 , a circular running groove occurs in the immediate proximity to the inside of the collar 87 , while between the adjacent windings of the wall 92 , a groove 95 that extends in a spiral results . this groove 95 changes radially on the inside into an essentially cylindrical area 96 , which is concentric to the drill hole 89 . the follower component 86 , which has the shape of a cylindrical journal , is seated on a slide 97 . this slide 97 contains a longitudinal hole 98 that is closed on all sides and is continuous over its entire length , in which a screw compression spring is housed . an end piece 101 that is t - shaped in cross - section is plugged into a tube that forms the winding shaft 13 and is anchored in the winding shaft 13 so that it can rotate . this end piece 101 carries a journal 102 that projects into the winding shaft 13 and transforms into a cylindrical flange 103 outside of the winding shaft 13 . the flange 103 has a front side 104 that faces away from the winding shaft 13 , onto which the bearing journal 91 is molded as a single piece , which is set in bearings in the bearing drill hole 89 so that it can rotate . in the flange 103 , a hole passing through 105 is located , running through the diameter of the flange 103 , and emerging to the outside at 106 through the circumferential surface of the flange 103 . the cross - section of the pass - through hole 105 corresponds to the cross - section of the slide 97 , so that the slide 97 is guided in the pass - through hole 105 so that it can move longitudinally and cannot rotate . in addition , the flange 103 contains a slit 107 that , starting from the bearing journal 91 , extends up to the circumferential side , i . e . the opening 106 of the pass - through hole 105 . it is aligned with the pass - through hole 105 and functions as a penetration opening for the follower component 86 , when the slide 97 slides more or less deeply into the pass - through hole 105 . in order to receive the compression spring 99 , the cross - section of the pass - through hole 105 is expanded cylindrically in the center , such that the cylindrical expansion 109 ends at one end 111 prior to the circumferential surface of the flange 103 . so that , depending on the rotational direction , the follower component 86 either slides along in the circular shaped running groove on the inside of the collar 87 or finds its way back into the spiral running groove 95 , a spring component 112 , which functions as a distributing mechanism , is provided on the radially outer - lying end of the wall 92 . in the resting position , the leaf spring tongue 112 rests on the cylindrical inside of the collar 87 . finally , a catch recess 113 is provided in the spiral running wall 92 . the functional method of the retaining device according to fig1 to 18 is as follows , where from the functional description , the winding direction of the spiral groove 95 also can be gathered : when the safety net 12 is completely driven in , the follower component 86 is located within the approximately cylindrical section 96 , as is limited by the radially inner lying end area of the wall 92 . in this position , the slide 97 is pressed in at maximum depth , i . e . the follower component 86 is located in practically immediate proximity to the bearing journal 91 . if , starting from this position , the user would like to pull the safety net 12 out , in order to suspend it in the receptacle bays 24 , the winding shaft 14 is set into rotation , as is indicated by the spiral arrow 114 . in this turning , the follower component 86 runs into the spiral groove 95 on its end that lies radially to the inside in the area of the end 94 of the spiral wall 92 . this running in is achieved by the follower component 86 being pretensioned radially to the outside away from the bearing journal 91 as a result of the screw compression spring 99 . as soon as it has run into the spiral groove 95 , it is forcibly guided radially between the walls of the spiral groove 95 . after a corresponding number of revolutions or partial rotations of the winding shaft 13 , the follower component 86 gets into the catch recess 113 . the position of the catch recess 113 corresponds in the case presented here to approx . 2¾ revolutions of the winding shaft 13 . this in turn corresponds to a pull - out length on the safety net 12 , which allows a hassle - free suspending of the anchor elements 23 into the receptacle bays 24 , when the short pull - out length is necessary . since the catch recess 113 is provided with rigid sides , the follower component 86 catches in the catch recess 113 . when the user lets go of the pull bar 21 after the catching , the follower component 86 is set on the relevant wall in the circumferential direction of the catch recess 113 . in this way , a catch force results in combination with the compression spring 99 , which can not be overcome by the pull back force of the angular spring 14 . the user can now suspend the anchor elements 23 in the receptacle bays 24 without exerting force . as soon as this has occurred , he activates a release button 114 that is present on the housing , which is located at a position corresponding to the position of the slide 97 during catching in the catch recess 113 . by pressing down the activation button 114 , which acts on the respective end of the slide 97 , on which the follower component 86 is located , the follower component 86 is pressed out of the catch recess 113 against the action of the compression spring 99 , so that now the angular spring 14 can tension the safety net 12 . after the tensioning of the safety net 12 , the follower component 86 is located in a position , which is between the catch recess 113 and the end 94 of the side wall 92 , which lies radially to the inside . without further activation of the release button 114 , the user can run the safety net 12 back into the housing 11 , such that the follower component 86 is conducted radially in the direction towards the bearing journal 91 as a result of the spiral groove 95 with each rotation of the winding shaft 13 . if the user requires a larger quantity of safety net 12 , for example , because the housing 11 is located in proximity to the luggage compartment floor , it first goes back into its functional position , in which the follower component 86 catches in the catch recess 113 , when the safety net 12 is pulled out . this position is shown in fig1 and 17 . by pressing down the release button 114 , the follower component 86 is lifted out of the catch recess 113 and the user can now pull the safety net 12 further out unobstructed by the catch recess 113 . in the further movement , the follower component 86 passes the leaf spring tongue 114 that functions as a distributing mechanism , and it rests on the cylindrical inside of the collar 87 from then on . after each complete rotation , the follower component 86 runs from the rear side over the leaf spring tongue 112 and presses it away from the cylindrical inner surface of the collar 97 by its free end . the cam follower component passes the spring tongue 112 in this way unobstructed and correspondingly often . for removal , the user guides the pull bar 21 back in the direction to the slit 18 . after at most one almost complete revolution , the follower component 86 is lifted through the leaf spring tongue 112 resting on the inside of the collar 87 and threaded back into the radial outer lying beginning of the groove 95 . after an additional revolution of approx . 90 ° in the embodiment depicted , the follower component 86 in turn gets into the catch recess 113 , out of which it must be lifted in order to drive the safety net 12 further in using the release button 114 . the lifted position is shown in fig1 . from now on , the follower component 86 runs in the circumferential passages of the spiral groove 95 lying further inside to its inside end corresponding to the end 94 of the wall 92 . regardless of how much safety net 12 is located outside of the housing and must be wound on the winding shaft 13 , the follower component 86 rotates in the free - wheel direction in the almost cylindrical inner space 96 , without bringing about an obstruction of the wind - up movement . the advantage of this arrangement consists in that less windings of the groove are necessary than revolutions for the complete pull - out of the safety net . as is apparent from the above description , the spiral groove 95 acts together with the catch recess 113 as a type of counter , which records the revolutions of the winding shaft 13 in order to determine how many complete revolutions plus partial revolutions are made for a pull - out length on the safety net 12 , so that the safety net 12 can be suspended without difficulties in the receptacle bays 24 . fig1 to 23 show in a greatly schematized basic representation , a retaining device 25 , which acts together directly with the winding shaft 13 and is triggered by an acceleration - dependent device 121 . the safety net 12 is connected by an edge to the winding shaft 13 is , as previously , where its other edge is attached to the pull bar 21 . as a locationally fixed retaining component , a locking ratchet wheel 122 functions , which carries saw - tooth shaped teeth in a known way and is coupled to the winding shaft 13 in a rotationally fixed manner . the movable retaining component is represented by a locking ratchet slide 123 . in a schematically indicated housing 124 , the locking ratchet slide 123 is set in bearings so that it can move in a corresponding guide , so that it can be moved on the locking ratchet wheel 122 radially toward and away from it . the locking ratchet slide 123 has on its upper side a first catch 125 and on its rear end , a second catch 125 . the two catches 125 , 125 are extensions or arms that are set off at right angles from the slide 123 . somewhat below the catch 125 , a compression spring 127 meshes in a drill hole 126 , the other end of which is anchored at 128 in the housing . the position of the anchor point 128 is selected so that the compression spring 127 can act as a catch spring for the locking ratchet slide 123 . above the locking ratchet slide 123 , a sensing slide 129 is located , which is guided in the direction parallel to the locking ratchet slide 123 in the housing 124 . the sensing slide 129 acts via a slope surface 131 on its left end together with the pull bar 21 . it pretensions a position , via a tension spring 132 that meshes at the rear end of the sensing slide 129 and finds its abutment in the housing 124 , in which the slope surface 131 of a stopper surface 133 fixed to the housing is as closely adjacent as possible . in this position , an arm 134 that extends to the bottom from the sensing slide 129 lies on a housing wall 135 . the length of the arm 134 is measured so that the open end of the arm 134 can come into contact with the catch 124 . in an inner space 136 of the housing 124 , in which the catch 125 also moves , a hook - shaped catch slide 137 is set in bearings so that it can move . the catch 137 has an arm 138 that points to the top , which is provided so that it can come into mesh with the catch 125 . in the movement direction behind the catch slide 137 , a weight 139 , which is guided in a chamber 138 of the housing 124 , is located , which is pretensioned by a compression spring 141 in the direction towards the winding shaft 13 . the kinematic connection between the weight 139 and the catch slide 137 is created by a coupling spring 142 that is attached on the end of the catch slide 137 that faces away from the arm 138 and towards an arm 143 , which extends out from the mass 139 and projects in the direction towards the catch slide 137 . at first , an operating position is assumed , as shown in fig1 . the safety net 12 is completely wound around the winding shaft 13 , so that the pull bar 21 penetrates into the wedge - shaped space between the slope surface 131 and the housing stopper surface 133 . in this way , the sensing slide 129 is moved in its end position directed towards left , in which the pull spring 132 is tensioned to the maximum extent . at the same time , the compression spring 127 is snapped in the direction towards the winding shaft 13 and presses a catch projection 144 of the locking ratchet slide 123 into the teeth gaps of the locking ratchet wheel 122 . the weight 139 is also brought via the compression spring 141 into the left end position . when the vehicle equipped with this device begins to move towards the left relative to the representations , the inertia of the weight 139 causes it to move against the action of the compression spring 141 into the chamber 138 into the right end position , as is shown in fig2 . in this way , the catch slide 137 is also pulled via the coupling spring 142 to the right relative to the housing 124 . this movement directed towards the right is transferred from the arm 138 to the arm 125 , such that the locking ratchet slide 123 is also bent back to the extent until its catch 124 comes to rest on the arm 134 . this arm 134 can not move out of the left end position , since the pull bar 21 is clamped between the slope surface 131 and the stopper surface 133 . the sensing slide 129 will thus maintain its left end position , which is why the locking ratchet slide 123 can only be pulled back into the position corresponding to fig2 . this slide of the locking ratchet slide 123 directed towards the right is not sufficient to allow the compression spring 127 to reverse . when the acceleration force disappears , the locking ratchet slide 123 will as a result move back into the position according to fig1 , when the force that pulls it back , which is exerted by the catch slide 137 , stops acting upon it . the user can grasp the pull bar 21 in order to deploy the safety net 12 and move it to the top in the direction towards the receptacle bays 24 . in this way , the sensing slide 129 comes free and can get into its right end position as a result of the action of the tension spring 132 , see fig2 . at the same time , through the pulling out of the safety net 12 , the winding shaft 13 is set into rotation in the clockwise direction . in this way , the flat tooth sides of the locking ratchet wheel 122 ratchet past the locking projection 144 of the locking ratchet slide 123 and press it periodically to the right against the action of the compression spring 127 . since the shift does not exceed the transition point of the compression spring 127 , the locking ratchet slide 123 in each tooth gap jumps back to the left in the tooth gaps . when the user has pulled out sufficient safety net and the tension in the safety net subsides , the spring motor 14 acts to move the winding shaft 13 back in the direction of the wind up . it is however , prevented in this by the combined action of the locking ratchet wheel 122 with the locking projection 144 , since the rigid tooth side surfaces rest on the locking projection 144 and can not press them back , see fig2 . the user is now in a position to suspend the anchor elements 23 in the receptacle bays 24 without applying force . if after suspending the safety net 12 , the vehicle is driven for the first time , the operation explained above repeats . the inertia of the weight 139 shifts the mass 139 to the right relative to the housing 124 against the action of the compression spring 131 , as shown in fig2 . this movement will in turn transfer via the coupling spring 142 to the catch slide 137 , which pulls the locking ratchet slide 123 to the right for the combined action of the arm 138 with the arm 125 . since , however , this time the sensing slide 129 is located in its right end position , the movement of the locking ratchet slide 123 is not stopped as described above , but instead can continue further to the right , where the reversal point of the compression spring 127 is exceeded . after this point is exceeded , the compression spring 127 no longer acts to the left in the direction towards the locking ratchet wheel 122 , but instead to the right in the sense that it holds the locking ratchet slide 123 out of mesh with the locking ratchet wheel 122 , even if the weight 139 is then returned into the position according to fig2 . the force applied by the spring motor 14 is thus free and can set the winding shaft 13 into rotation in the direction of winding up and thus tensioning of the safety net 12 . if the user wants to retract the safety net , it is sufficient to allow the pull bar 21 to be dismounted and the safety net 12 to run back . on the end of the drive - in movement , the pull bar 21 again comes into the wedge - shaped space between the sloped surface 131 and the stopper 133 and presses the sensing slide 129 back into its left end position . in this movement , the sensing slide 129 carries with it the locking ratchet slide 123 to the left over the reversal point of the compression spring 127 , so that the starting position is achieved according to fig1 . a safety net device has a housing , in which a winding shaft is set in bearings so that it can rotate . using a spring motor , the winding shaft is pretensioned in the wind - up direction of a safety net attached to the winding shaft . the other edge of the safety net is connected to a pull bar , which is to be suspended in the receptacle bays in the car body . so that the suspension can be done by the user with as little force as possible , a retaining device is provided , which absorbs at least a part of the pull - back force occurring when the safety net is run back into the housing , as soon as the safety net has been pulled out of the housing far enough until the pull bar can be suspended in the receptacle bays . the retaining device can be voluntarily unlocked in order to again make possible stowage of the safety net in the housing .

the invention relates to a safety net device with a housing , in which a winding shaft is rotationally mounted . the winding shaft is pretensioned by means of a spring motor in the direction of winding of a safety net which is fixed to the winding shaft . the other edge of the safety net is connected to a pull bar which is suspended in recesses in the car body . in order to minimize the effort required by the user to suspend said device , a holding device absorbs at least part of the pull - back force when the safety net is wound back into the housing immediately after the safety net has been pulled out of the housing to enable the pull bar to be suspended in the recesses . the holding device can be released at will in order to roll up the safety net back into the housing .

the rubbery polymers that can be reinforced with elongated silica in accordance with this invention are normally comprised of repeat units that are derived from a conjugated diene monomer and optionally additional monomers that are copolymerizable with the conjugated diolefin monomer , such as vinyl aromatic monomers . these rubbery polymers typically have a glass transition temperature of less than 0 ° c ., preferably less than − 10 ° c . such rubbery polymers can be synthesized using solution polymerization or emulsion polymerization techniques . however , it is normally preferred for the rubbery polymer to be synthesized by batch or continuous emulsion polymerization using a free radical initiator system . this is carried out by adding the conjugated diolefin monomer , water , a free radical generator , and a soap system to a polymerization zone to form an aqueous polymerization medium . the polymerization zone will normally be a reactor or series of two or more reactors . polymerization is initiated with the free radical generator . this polymerization reaction results in the formation of a latex of the polydiene rubber that is comprised of repeat units that are derived from the conjugated diene monomer and any additional monomers that are copolymerized therewith . the conjugated diolefin monomer will generally contain from 4 to 12 carbon atoms . those containing from 4 to 8 carbon atoms are generally preferred for commercial purposes . for similar reasons , 1 , 3 - butadiene and isoprene are the most commonly utilized conjugated diolefin monomers . some additional conjugated diolefin monomers that can be utilized include 2 , 3 - dimethyl - 1 , 3 - butadiene , piperylene , 3 - butyl - 1 , 3 - octadiene , 2 - phenyl - 1 , 3 - butadiene , and the like , alone or in admixture . other ethylenically unsaturated monomers can also be copolymerized into the polydiene rubber . some representative examples of additional ethylenically unsaturated monomers that can potentially be synthesized into the polydiene rubber include alkyl acrylates , such as methyl acrylate , ethyl acrylate , butyl acrylate , methyl methacrylate , and the like ; vinyl halides , such as 1 , 1 - dichloroethene ( vinylidene chloride ), 1 , 2 - dichloroethene , and the like ; α , β - olefinically unsaturated nitriles , such as acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile ; α , β - olefinically unsaturated amides , such as acrylamide , n - methyl acrylamide , n , n - dimethylacrylamide , methacrylamide , and the like . the polydiene rubber can be a copolymer of one or more conjugated diene monomers with one or more other ethylenically unsaturated monomers . such polydiene rubbers will normally contain from about 50 weight percent to about 99 weight percent conjugated diolefin monomers and from about 1 weight percent to about 50 weight percent of the other ethylenically unsaturated monomers in addition to the conjugated diolefin monomers . for example , copolymers of conjugated diolefin monomers with vinylaromatic monomers , such as styrene - butadiene rubbers which contain from 50 to 95 weight percent conjugated diolefin monomers and from 5 to 50 weight percent vinylaromatic monomers , are useful in the asphalt compositions of this invention . in such cases , the polydiene rubber will , of course , also contain repeat units that are derived from sulfur . vinyl aromatic monomers are probably the most important group of ethylenically unsaturated monomers that can be incorporated into the polydiene rubbers employed in this invention . such vinyl aromatic monomers are , of course , selected so as to be copolymerizable with the conjugated diolefin monomers being utilized . generally , any vinyl aromatic monomer that is known to polymerize with free radical initiators can be used . such vinyl aromatic monomers typically contain from 8 to 20 carbon atoms . usually , the vinyl aromatic monomer will contain from 8 to 14 carbon atoms . the most widely used vinyl aromatic monomer is styrene . some examples of vinyl aromatic monomers that can be utilized include styrene , 1 - vinylnaphthalene , 2 - vinylnaphthalene , α - methylstyrene , 4 - phenylstyrene , 3 - methylstyrene , and the like . copolymer rubbers of 1 , 3 - butadiene and styrene are particularly preferred . in synthesizing styrene - butadiene rubber ( sbr ) latex generally from about 10 weight percent to about 40 weight percent styrene and from about 60 weight percent to about 90 weight percent 1 , 3 - butadiene are copolymerized . it is typically preferred for the sbr to contain from about 20 weight percent to about 30 weight percent styrene and from about 70 weight percent to about 80 weight percent 1 , 3 - butadiene . it is normally most preferred for the sbr to contain from about 24 weight percent to about 28 weight percent styrene and from about 72 weight percent to about 76 weight percent 1 , 3 - butadiene . like ratios of styrene monomer and butadiene monomer will accordingly be charged into the polymerization zone . monomers containing nitrogen can also optionally be copolymerized into the rubbery polymer . the nitrogen group containing monomer will typically also contain a vinyl group ( ch 2 ═ ch 2 —). some representative examples of nitrogen group - containing vinyl monomers include polymerizable monomers having at least one amino group selected from the group consisting of primary , secondary and tertiary amino groups in their molecules . additionally , the nitrogen may in the form of an amide . of these , tertiary amino group - containing vinyl monomers are particularly preferred . these amino group - containing vinyl monomers may be used either singly or in any combination thereof . examples of the primary amino group - containing vinyl monomers include , p - aminostyrene , aminomethyl ( meth ) acrylate , aminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate , aminopropyl ( meth ) acrylate and aminobutyl ( meth ) acrylate . examples of secondary amino group - containing vinyl monomers include anilinostyrenes and anilinophenylbutadienes . examples of tertiary amino group - containing vinyl monomers include n , n - disubstituted aminoalkyl acrylates , n , n - disubstituted aminoalkyl acrylamides , n , n - disubstituted amino - aromatic vinyl compounds and vinyl compounds having a pyridyl group . examples of the n , n - disubstituted amino alkyl acrylates include esters of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid , such as n , n - dimethylaminomethyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dimethylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dimethylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dimethylaminobutyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - diethylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - diethylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - diethylaminobutyl ( meth ) acrylate , n - methyl - n - ethylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dipropylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dibutylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dibutylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dibutylaminobutyl ( meth ) acrylate , n , n - dihexylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate , and n , n - dioctylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylate . examples of the n , n - disubstituted aminoalkyl acrylamides include acrylamide compounds or methacrylamide compounds such as n , n - dimethylaminomethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dimethylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dimethylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dimethylaminobutyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - diethylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - diethylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - diethylaminobutyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n - methyl - n - ethylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dipropylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dibutylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dibutylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dibutylaminobutyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dihexylaminoethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - dihexylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide and n , n - dioctylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide . of these , n , n - dimethylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide , n , n - diethylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide and n , n - dioctylaminopropyl ( meth ) acrylamide are preferred . example of the n , n - disubstituted amino - aromatic vinyl compounds include styrene derivatives such as n , n - dimethylaminoethylstyrene , n , n - diethylaminoethylstyrene , n , n - dipropylaminoethylstyrene and n , n - dioctylaminoethylstyrene . examples of the pyridyl group - containing vinyl compounds include 2 - vinylpyridine , 4 - vinylpyridine , 5 - methyl - 2 - vinylpyridine and 5 - ethyl - 2 - vinylpyridine . of these pyridyl group - containing vinyl monomers , 2 - vinylpyridine which has the structural formula : are preferred . the most preferred pyridyl group - containing monomer is 2 - vinylpyridine . amino group containing monomers that contain more that one amino group can be used . some representative examples of such monomers include 2 - vinyl pyrimidine which has the structural formula : the amino group containing rubber will typically contain from about 0 . 1 weight percent to about 20 weight percent of the amino group containing monomer . in other words , repeat units in the amino group containing rubber are derived from the amino group containing monomer . in any case , it is normally preferred for the amino group containing rubber to contain from about 0 . 5 weight percent to about 10 weight percent of the amino group containing monomer . it is typically more preferred for the amino group containing rubber to contain from about 1 weight percent to about 4 weight percent of the amino group containing monomer . in another embodiment of this invention a hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomer is copolymerized into the rubbery polymer . in such cases , the bound hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomer will typically be present in the rubbery polymer at a level which is within the range of about 0 . 1 weight percent to about 15 weight percent . the hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomer will more typically be included at a level that is within the range of about 0 . 5 weight percent to about 10 weight percent . the hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomer will preferably be included at a level that is within the range of about 1 weight percent to about 8 weight percent . the hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomer will more preferably be included at a level which is within the range of about 3 weight percent to about 5 weight percent . the hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomers that can be used typically have a structural formula selected from the group consisting of : wherein r represents hydrogen atoms or an alkyl groups containing from 1 to about 8 carbon atoms , and wherein r ′ represents hydroxyalkyl groups containing from about 2 to about 8 carbon atoms . it is preferred for r to be a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group containing from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms . it is more preferred for r to be a hydrogen atom or a methyl group . it is most preferred for r to represent a methyl group . it is preferred for r ′ to represent a hydroxyalkyl group containing from about 2 to about 4 carbon atoms . it is more preferred for r ′ to be a hydroxypropyl group . some representative hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomers that can be used include 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylate , 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth )- acrylate , 3 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , 3 - chloro - 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , 3 - phenoxy - 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , glycerol mono ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxybutyl ( meth ) acrylate , 3 - chloro - 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth )- acrylate , hydroxyhexyl ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxyoctyl ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxymethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth )- acrylamide , 3 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylamide , di -( ethylene glycol ) itaconate , di -( propylene glycol ) itaconate , bis ( 2 - hydroxypropyl ) itaconate , bis ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) itaconate , bis ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) fumarate , bis ( 2 - hydroxy - ethyl ) maleate , and hydroxy - methyl vinyl ketone . the preferred hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomers are hydroxymethyl ( meth ) acrylate , 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth )- acrylate , 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , 3 - hydroxy - propyl ( meth ) acrylate , 3 - phenoxy - 2 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate , glycerol mono ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxy - butyl ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxyhexyl ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxyoctyl ( meth ) acrylate , hydroxymethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylamide , 2 - hydroxypropyl -( meth ) acrylamide , and 3 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylamide . of these , particularly preferred are hydroxymethyl ( meth ) acrylate , 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylate , and 3 - hydroxypropyl ( meth ) acrylate . the most highly preferred hydroxy alkyl acrylate monomer is hydroxypropylmethacrylate . these hydroxyl group - containing monomers can be used singly or in combination . for instance , a mixture of 2 - hydroxypropylmethacrylate and 3 - hydroxypropylmethacrylate can be utilized . essentially any type of free radical generator can be used to initiate the free radical emulsion polymerization . for example , free radical generating chemical compounds , ultra - violet light or radiation can be used . in order to ensure a satisfactory polymerization rate , uniformity , and a controllable polymerization , free radical generating chemical agents which are water or oil soluble under the polymerization conditions are typically used . some representative examples of free radical initiators which are commonly used include the various peroxygen compounds such as potassium persulfate , ammonium persulfate , benzoyl peroxide , hydrogen peroxide , di - t - butyl peroxide , dicumyl peroxide , 2 , 4 - dichlorobenzoyl peroxide , decanoyl peroxide , lauryl peroxide , cumene hydroperoxide , p - menthane hydroperoxide , t - butyl hydroperoxide , acetyl acetone peroxide , dicetyl peroxydicarbonate , t - butyl peroxyacetate , t - butyl peroxymaleic acid , t - butyl peroxybenzoate , acetyl cyclohexyl sulfonyl peroxide , and the like ; the various azo compounds such as 2 - t - butylazo - 2 - cyanopropane , dimethyl azodiisobutyrate , azodiisobutyronitrile , 2 - t - butylazo - 1 - cyanocyclohexane , 1 - t - amylazo - 1 - cyanocyclohexane , and the like ; the various alkyl perketals , such as 2 , 2 - bis -( t - butylperoxy ) butane , ethyl 3 , 3 - bis ( t - butylperoxy ) butyrate , 1 , 1 - di -( t - butylperoxy ) cyclohexane , and the like . the amount of initiator employed will vary with the desired molecular weight of the rubbery polymer being synthesized . higher molecular weights are achieved by utilizing smaller quantities of the initiator and lower molecular weights are attained by employing larger quantities of the initiator . however , as a general rule from 0 . 005 to 1 phm ( parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of monomer ) of the initiator will be included in the reaction mixture . in the case of metal persulfate initiators most commonly from 0 . 1 to 0 . 5 phm will be employed in the polymerization medium . a wide variety of soap systems can be used to emulsify the polymerization medium . for instance , an anionic , cationic or non - ionic emulsifier can be employed . a combination of rosin acid and fatty acid emulsifiers can be employed with excellent results . in such systems , the weight ratio of fatty acid soaps to rosin acid soaps will be within the range of about 50 : 50 to 90 : 10 . it is normally preferred for the weight ratio of fatty acid soaps to rosin acid soaps to be within the range of 60 : 40 to 85 : 15 all of the soap is charged into the first polymerization zone in practicing this invention . the total amount of soap employed will normally be within the range of about 1 phm to 5 phm . it is typically preferred to utilize a level of soap that is within the range of about 2 phm to about 3 . 5 phm . in most cases it will be most preferred to use an amount of the soap system which is within the range of about 2 . 5 phm to 3 phm . the precise amount of the soap system required in order to attain optimal results will , of course , vary with the specific soap system being used . however , persons skilled in the art will be able to easily ascertain the specific amount of soap system required in order to attain optimal results . the free radical emulsion polymerization will typically be conducted at a temperature which is within the range of about 20 ° f . (− 7 ° c .) to about 80 ° f . ( 27 ° c .). it is generally preferred for the polymerization to be carried out at a temperature that is within the range of 30 ° f . (− 1 ° c .) to about 65 ° f . ( 18 ° c .). it is typically more preferred to utilize a polymerization temperature which is within the range of about 45 ° f . ( 7 ° c .) to about 55 ° f . ( 13 ° c .). to increase conversion levels , it can be advantageous to increase the temperature as the polymerization proceeds . the polymerizations employed in making the polydiene rubber are typically initiated by adding the initiator to the aqueous polymerization medium that contains the monomers , water and emulsifier . such polymerizations are typically carried out utilizing continuous polymerization techniques . in such continuous polymerizations , monomer and initiator are continuously added to the polymerization medium with a latex of the polydiene rubber being continuously withdrawn . such continuous polymerizations are typically conducted in a multiple reactor system . after the desired monomer conversion is reached a short stop , such as a sodium salt of a dithiocarbamate and / or hydroxylamine , is added to the latex to terminate the polymerization . after the polymerization has been terminated the elongated silica can be added to the latex . the elongated silica will normally be added to the latex in the form of a silicasol and is well dispersed throughout the latex by mixing and / or agitation . the elongated silica will typically have a width of about 5 nm to about 20 nm and a length of about 40 nm to about 300 nm . the elongated silica will more typically have a length of about 70 nm to about 120 nm . the elongated silica will preferably have a length of about 80 nm to about 1020 nm . elongated silica that is suitable for use in this invention is commercially available from nissan chemical industries , ltd ., and is sold as snowtex ® silicasol . snowtex ® up silicasol and snowtex ® ps silicasol are representative examples of elongated silicas that can be used in the practice of this invention . the elongated silica will typically be added in an amount which is within the range of about 20 phr to about 70 phr . the elongated silica will more typically be added in an amount which is within the range of about 30 phr to about 60 phr . the elongated silica will preferably be added in an amount which is within the range of about 35 phr to about 55 phr . elongated silicasols that are useful in the practice of this invention can be made by the technique described by ralph k . iler , the chemistry of silica , solubility , polymerization , coloid and surface properties , and biochemistry , page 330 , john wiley & amp ; sons ( 1979 ). the silica containing rubber composition can then be recovered from the latex using standard coagulation and drying techniques . the silica containing rubber composition can then be employed in manufacturing tires and a wide variety of other rubber articles having improved performance characteristics . there are valuable benefits associated with utilizing the silica containing rubber compositions of this invention in making tire tread compounds . such tire tread compounds will , of course , contain other rubbers which are co - curable with the silica containing emulsion rubber composition of this invention . some representative examples of such rubbers include natural rubber , high cis - 1 , 4 - polybutadiene rubber , high vinyl polybutadiene rubber , medium vinyl polybutadiene rubber , high trans - 1 , 4 - polybutadiene rubber , solution styrene - butadiene rubber , styrene - isoprene - butadiene rubber , styrene - isoprene rubber , isoprene - butadiene rubber and 3 , 4 - polyisoprene rubber the cis - 1 , 4 - polybutadiene rubber employed in such blends will typically have a cis - 1 , 4 - isomer content of at least about 90 percent and will more typically have a cis - 1 , 4 - isomer content of at least about 95 percent . high cis - 1 , 4 - polybutadiene rubber which is suitable for use in such blends typically has a cis - isomer content of greater than 90 percent and can be made by the process described in canadian patent 1 , 236 , 648 . high cis - 1 , 4 - polybutadiene rubber which is suitable for employment in such blends is also sold by the goodyear tire & amp ; rubber company as budene ® 1207 polybutadiene rubber and budene ® 1208 polybutadiene rubber . tire tread compounds having extremely useful characteristics can also be made by including 3 , 4 - polyisoprene in the blend . the silica containing rubber compositions of this invention can be compounded utilizing conventional ingredients and standard techniques . for instance , such rubber blends will typically be mixed with carbon black and / or conventional silica , sulfur , fillers , accelerators , oils , waxes , scorch inhibiting agents and processing aids . in most cases , the emulsion sbr blend will be compounded with sulfur and / or a sulfur - containing compound , at least one filler , at least one accelerator , at least one antidegradant , at least one processing oil , zinc oxide , optionally a tackifier resin , optionally a reinforcing resin , optionally one or more fatty acids , optionally a peptizer and optionally one or more scorch inhibiting agents . such blends will normally contain from about 0 . 5 to 5 phr ( parts per hundred parts of rubber by weight ) of sulfur and / or a sulfur - containing compound with 1 phr to 2 . 5 phr being preferred . it may be desirable to utilize insoluble sulfur in cases where bloom is a problem . in any case , it will be highly advantageous to include an organosilicon compound ( silica coupling agent ) to realize maximum benefits . examples of suitable sulfur - containing organosilicon compounds are of the formula : where r is an alkyl group of 1 to 4 carbon atoms , cyclohexyl or phenyl ; wherein r ′ is an alkoxy group containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms or a cycloalkoxy group containing 5 to 8 carbon atoms ; and wherein alk is a divalent hydrocarbon of 1 to 18 carbon atoms and n is an integer of 2 to 8 . specific examples of sulfur - containing organosilicon compounds which may be used in accordance with the present invention include : 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( triethoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( triethoxysilylpropyl ) octasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( triethoxysilylethyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilylpropyl ) trisulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( triethoxysilylpropyl ) trisulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( tributoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilylpropyl ) hexasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilylpropyl ) octasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trioctoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trihexoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( tri - 2 ″- ethylhexoxysilylpropyl ) trisulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( triisooctoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( tri - t - butoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( methoxy diethoxy silyl ethyl ) tetrasulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( tripropoxysilylethyl ) pentasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( tricyclonexoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( tricyclopentoxysilylpropyl ) trisulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( tri - 2 ″- methylcyclohexoxysilylethyl ) tetrasulfide , bis ( trimethoxysilylmethyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 - methoxy ethoxy propoxysilyl 3 ′- diethoxybutoxy - silylpropyltetrasulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( dimethyl methoxysilylethyl ) disulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( dimethyl sec . butoxysilylethyl ) trisulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( methyl butylethoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( di t - butylmethoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( phenyl methyl methoxysilylethyl ) trisulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( diphenyl isopropoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( diphenyl cyclohexoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( dimethyl ethylmercaptosilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( methyl dimethoxysilylethyl ) trisulfide , 2 , 2 ′- bis ( methyl ethoxypropoxysilylethyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( diethyl methoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( ethyl di - sec . butoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( propyl diethoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( butyl dimethoxysilylpropyl ) trisulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( phenyl dimethoxysilylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 - phenyl ethoxybutoxysilyl 3 ′- trimethoxysilylpropyl tetrasulfide , 4 , 4 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilylbutyl ) tetrasulfide , 6 , 6 ′- bis ( triethoxysilylhexyl ) tetrasulfide , 12 , 12 ′- bis ( triisopropoxysilyl dodecyl ) disulfide , 18 , 18 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilyloctadecyl ) tetrasulfide , 18 , 18 ′- bis ( tripropoxysilyloctadecenyl ) tetrasulfide , 4 , 4 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilyl - buten - 2 - yl ) tetrasulfide , 4 , 4 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilylcyclohexylene ) tetrasulfide , 5 , 5 ′- bis ( dimethoxymethylsilylpentyl ) trisulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trimethoxysilyl - 2 - methylpropyl ) tetrasulfide , 3 , 3 ′- bis ( dimethoxyphenylsilyl - 2 - methylpropyl ) disulfide . the preferred sulfur - containing organosilicon compounds are the 3 , 3 ′- bis ( trimethoxy or triethoxysilylpropyl ) sulfides . the most preferred compound is 3 , 3 ′- bis ( triethoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide . therefore , as to formula i , preferably z is where r ′ is an alkoxy of 2 to 4 carbon atoms , with 2 carbon atoms being particularly preferred ; alk is a divalent hydrocarbon of 2 to 4 carbon atoms with 3 carbon atoms being particularly preferred ; and n is 2 . the amount of the sulfur - containing organosilicon compound of formula i in a rubber composition will vary , depending on the level of silica that is used . generally speaking , the amount of the compound of formula i will range from about 0 . 01 to about 1 . 0 parts by weight per part by weight of the silica . preferably , the amount will range from about 0 . 02 to about 0 . 4 parts by weight per part by weight of the silica . more preferably , the amount of the compound of formula i will range from about 0 . 05 to about 0 . 25 parts by weight per part by weight of the silica . in addition to the sulfur - containing organosilicon , the rubber composition should contain a sufficient amount of silica , and carbon black , if used , to contribute a reasonably high modulus and high resistance to tear . if carbon black is also present , the amount may vary . generally speaking , the amount of carbon black will vary from about 0 phr to about 80 phr . preferably , the amount of carbon black will range from about 0 phr to about 40 phr . it is to be appreciated that the silica coupler may be used in conjunction with a carbon black ; namely , pre - mixed with a carbon black prior to addition to the rubber composition and such carbon black is to be included in the aforesaid amount of carbon black for the rubber composition formulation . in any case , the total quantity of silica and carbon black will be at least about 30 phr . the commonly employed siliceous pigments used in rubber compounding applications can be used as the silica in this invention , including pyrogenic and precipitated siliceous pigments ( silica ), although precipitated silicas are preferred . the siliceous pigments preferably employed in this invention are precipitated silicas such as , for example , those obtained by the acidification of a soluble silicate ; e . g ., sodium silicate . the silica may also be typically characterized by having a dibutylphthalate ( dbp ) absorption value in a range of about 100 to about 400 , and more usually about 150 to about 300 . tire tread formulations which include silica and an organosilicon compound will typically be mixed utilizing a thermomechanical mixing technique . the mixing of the tire tread rubber formulation can be accomplished by methods known to those having skill in the rubber mixing art . for example , the ingredients are typically mixed in at least two stages ; namely , at least one non - productive stage followed by a productive mix stage . the final curatives including sulfur - vulcanizing agents are typically mixed in the final stage which is conventionally called the “ productive ” mix stage in which the mixing typically occurs at a temperature , or ultimate temperature , lower than the mix temperature ( s ) than the preceding non - productive mix stage ( s ). the rubber , silica and sulfur - containing organosilicon , and carbon black if used , are mixed in one or more non - productive mix stages . the terms “ non - productive ” and “ productive ” mix stages are well known to those having skill in the rubber mixing art . the sulfur - vulcanizable rubber composition containing the sulfur - containing organosilicon compound , vulcanizable rubber and generally at least part of the silica should be subjected to a thermomechanical mixing step . the thermomechanical mixing step generally comprises a mechanical working in a mixer or extruder for a period of time suitable in order to produce a rubber temperature between 140 ° c . and 190 ° c . the appropriate duration of the thermomechanical working varies as a function of the operating conditions and the volume and nature of the components . for example , the thermomechanical working may be for a duration of time which is within the range of about 2 minutes to about 20 minutes . it will normally be preferred for the rubber to reach a temperature which is within the range of about 145 ° c . to about 180 ° c . and to be maintained at said temperature for a period of time which is within the range of about 4 minutes to about 12 minutes . it will normally be more preferred for the rubber to reach a temperature which is within the range of about 155 ° c . to about 170 ° c . and to be maintained at said temperature for a period of time which is within the range of about 5 minutes to about 10 minutes . the silica containing tire tread compounds of this invention can be used in tire treads in conjunction with ordinary tire manufacturing techniques . tires are built utilizing standard procedures with the silica containing rubber composition of this invention being substituted for a portion of the rubber typically used in the tread rubber . after the tire has been built , it can be vulcanized using a normal tire cure cycle . tires made in accordance with this invention can be cured over a wide temperature range . however , it is generally preferred for the tires of this invention to be cured at a temperature ranging from about 132 ° c . ( 270 ° f .) to about 166 ° c . ( 330 ° f .). it is more typical for the tires of this invention to be cured at a temperature ranging from about 143 ° c . ( 290 ° f .) to about 154 ° c . ( 310 ° f .). it is generally preferred for the cure cycle used to vulcanize the tires of this invention to have a duration of about 10 to about 20 minutes with a cure cycle of about 12 to about 18 minutes being most preferred . this invention is illustrated by the following examples that are merely for the purpose of illustration and are not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the invention or the manner in which it can be practiced . unless specifically indicated otherwise , all parts and percentages are given by weight . in this series of experiments latex samples of a styrene - butadiene rubber having a solids content of 20 - 22 percent were blended with silica . in the procedure used a 3 , 3 ′- bis ( triethoxysilylpropyl ) disulfide / oil emulsion was made by mixing 1 . 71 phr ( parts per hundred parts of rubber ) of silane , 10 phr of oil , 6 . 4 phr of water , and 0 . 5 phr of soap in a high speed mixer . then the silane / oil , 42 . 86 phr of a silicasol or precipitated silica slurry ( see table i ), and 1 phr of an antioxidant emulsion were mixed into 100 parts by weight of the latex . the latex was subsequently coagulated at room temperature by the addition of a polyamine . the polymer , silica , and other ingredients formed coagulum and precipitated rapidly to the bottom of the contained used leaving a clear serum at the top . the polymer was washed several times with water , filtered , and dried in a forced air oven at 60 ° c . for about 10 hours . the polymer was then milled into sheets and tested for physical properties . the samples were tested for reinforcement using a rpa200 strain sweep at 70 ° c . the results of this evaluation are shown in table i with g ′ being shown in kpa . txiosil is precipitated silica having a particle size of 165 nm , sn - 40 is spherical silicasol having a particle size of 10 - 20 nm , sn - 50 is spherical silicasol having a particle size of 20 - 30 nm , sn - yl is spherical silicasol having a particle size of 59 nm , sn - z is spherical silicasol having a particle size of 70 - 100 nm , sn - upo is a acidic elongated silicasol having a particle size of 5 - 20 nm × 40 - 300 nm , and sn - up is silicasol having a particle size of 5 - 20 nm × 40 - 300 nm . as can be seen from table i , the elongated snowtex silicas ( sn - upo and sn - up ) provided a much higher level of reinforcement than did the snowtex spherical silicas at all strain levels . while certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the subject invention , it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the subject invention .

this invention is based upon the discovery that elongated silica has superior characteristics for reinforcing rubbery elastomers as compared to conventional silica . more specifically , elongated silica provides a higher level of reinforcement for elastomers at the same level of loading . accordingly , elongated silica can be employed to attain an equivalent level of reinforcement at a lower level of loading . this results in lower weight compositions and potential cost savings . rubber compounds that are reinforced with elongated silica offer significant advantages in tires including reduced rolling resistance , increased tread life , and , of course , reduced weight . the subject invention more specifically relates to a tire having a tread wherein said tread is comprised of a silica reinforced rubber composition , wherein the silica reinforced rubber composition is comprised of a rubbery polymer and an elongated silica , wherein the elongated silica has a width that is within the range of about 5 nm to about 40 nm , and wherein the elongated silica has a length of about 40 nm to about 300 nm . the present invention also discloses a process for preparing a silica reinforced rubber composition which comprises adding an elongated silica to a latex of a rubbery polymer , and recovering the silica reinforced rubber composition from the latex .

fig1 shows a foil cutting apparatus 10 , according to one embodiment of the invention . foil cutting apparatus 10 comprises a foil roll holder 12 towards the back thereof . this could be a “ u ” shaped holder or a have a rod 14 passing through the hollow roll to hold the foil roll along its length thereby reducing friction when it turns . number - pad 16 is for programming the functions of the machine 10 , for example the length of the foil strips and the number of those strips to be cut . this could be programmed using the mode buttons , for example the length selecting button 18 and the strip quantity selecting button 20 . the input information could be displayed on a screen 22 . the speed of the feed and cutting process could be increased and decreased using the plus and minus buttons 24 . once the factors have been entered , the user presses the start button 26 to start the machine according to the programmed information . the start button could be of the toggle kind and could be pressed again to stop the machine if it were necessary before the end of the programmed run of cutting . at the end of the programmed run the machine would automatically stop working . fig2 shows the rollers 50 and 52 that pull the aluminum sheet 54 off the roll of aluminum foil 56 and direct it toward the cutting device . the lower roller 52 could be free to roll and not be motorized . alternatively , it could be motorized to reduce strain on the aluminum sheet 54 as it passes through the rollers . if motorized , the two rollers 50 and 52 would turn in opposing directions in order to ease the pull of the aluminum off the roll 56 . if roller 52 were not motorized , the upper roller 50 would have to press with pressure against the lower roller 52 in order to pull the foil off the roll 56 . the motor 58 could be driven by mains or battery electricity 60 . the motor 58 , the top roller 50 and the foil cutting device could be connected to the length programmer so that when the roller has turned a certain number of turns which is equivalent to a length of foil passing through , then the cutting device would cut the foil . alternately an electronic eye or laser beam could be connected to the cutting device and be used for the length measurement and giving the electrical impulse to the cutting device to cut . the cutting device and the motor 58 could be connected to a counter so that when the required number of foil sheets had been cut , the motor would stop feeding foil and the cutter would stop cutting . fig3 schematically illustrates another embodiment of the invention wherein foil cutting apparatus 60 is operable to both automatically cut a sheet of foil to a predetermined length , as well as to automatically form a prefabricated angled foil portion , thereby considerably reducing the time needed by a stylist to perform a hair treatment operation of a selected bunch of hair strands . roll 62 of foil , which is generally aluminum foil but may also be another type of metallic foil such as copper foil , is rotatably mounted on a cylindrical horizontally disposed holder 64 , which is connected to shaft 66 of motor 67 . when motor 67 is operated , for example by activation button 73 of controller 61 , foil 63 is fed from an upper portion of roll 62 and sequentially accesses a foil pressing station 71 , a foil bending station 74 , and a cutting station 77 . the formed sheet of foil 69 may be received on a substantially horizontally disposed supporting element 79 , from which sheet 69 is discharged to a collection area ( not shown ). supporting element 79 may be fixated by stand 81 . although pressing station 71 is shown to be significantly spaced from roll 62 , it will be appreciated that pressing station 71 may be spaced from roll 62 by a distance of only a few centimeters when foil 63 is very thin , to avoid the formation of creases or wrinkles in the unsupported foil portion . controller 61 is used to control the operation of motor 67 . prior to a sheet forming operation , an operator enters desired dimensions of the sheet via keyboard 68 , or any other suitable input device . entered information or information related to the sheet forming operation is displayable on screen 72 controller 61 is operable to convert the operational speed of motor 67 into a longitudinal feed speed of foil 63 at , or downstream from , pressing station 71 , depending on the thickness and type of material being fed . a predetermined length of the free end of the foil at a given station may therefore be derived from the feed speed of the foil . accordingly , the various steps of a sheet forming operation may be synchronized by controller 61 in response to the number of revolutions of motor 67 . following unwinding of roll 62 during a sheet forming operation , controller 61 may adjust the speed of motor 67 to compensate for the reduced diameter of the roll , after knowing the starting diameter of roll 62 , the feed speed of foil 63 , and the number of motor revolutions made during the sheet forming operation . alternatively , controller 61 may maintain the same motor speed for the reduced - diameter roll while adjusting the feed speed of the foil , in order to timely command initiation of the various steps of the sheet forming operation . the sheet forming operation will now be described with reference to fig3 - 6 . after the operator enters a desired foil sheet length and a desired angled portion length in step 83 and motor 67 is activated in step 85 , the free end of foil 63 is fed in step 87 between two spaced elements of pressing station 71 until the free end is longitudinally spaced downstream from pressing station 71 by a predetermined distance d corresponding to the selected length of the angled portion 88 , whereupon the motor is temporarily deactivated . pressing station 71 comprises a stationary abutment element 57 and a displaceable element 59 that is vertically separated from abutment element 57 . elements 57 and 59 , which are shown to be rectangular but may assume any other desired shape , extend laterally across cutting apparatus 60 , and are sized to have a lateral dimension l substantially equal to that of foil 63 . displaceable element 59 is connected to a piston driven mechanism 86 , or any other vertical drive , in order to be controllably raised and lowered in response to commands by controller 61 . displaceable element 59 is shown to be positioned below abutment element 57 , but also may be configured to be positioned thereabove when abutment element 57 is positioned below the fed foil . after the foil ceases to be longitudinally advanced , displaceable element 59 is commanded to be vertically displaced in step 89 until it contacts foil 63 and presses on abutment element 57 , frictionally engaging the foil to apply a clamping force thereto during steps of the sheet forming operation . displaceable element 59 remains in abutting relation with element 57 for a predetermined duration . if so desired , motor 67 may be commanded to rotate in an opposite direction for a predetermined revolution , or fraction of a revolution , when the clamping force is applied in order to increase the foil tension . controller 61 then commands operation of bending station 74 in step 91 . bending station 74 comprises a planar rigid board 75 that extends laterally across cutting apparatus 60 and one or more vertical drive units 76 for vertically displacing board 75 . following a predetermined period of time after displaceable element 59 has been set in abutting relation with abutment element 57 , the one or more vertical drive units 76 are actuated to raise board 75 a predetermined distance above pressing station 71 . when board 75 is raised , as shown in fig5 , the top 92 thereof , which is preferably rounded to prevent unwanted tearing of the foil , or other damage thereto , contacts the free end portion of foil 63 and urges the same to bend with respect to the remaining portion of foil 63 . the free end portion continues to bend until board 75 is fully raised and the formed angled portion 88 assumes a substantially perpendicular angular disposition in step 93 with respect to foil 63 . the drive units 76 adapted to vertically displace board 75 may be provided with biasing means , in order to adjust the spacing between board 75 and elements 57 and 59 of pressing station 71 . the upstream edge 94 of board 75 is preferably smooth in order to prevent damage to angled portion 88 . it will be appreciated that bending station 74 may be configured to form an angled portion 88 of any other desired angle with respect to foil 63 . for example , board 75 may be disposed at a selected angle with respect to a horizontal plane and the downstream edges 65 of elements 57 and 59 may be formed with the same angle , to ensure formation of angled portion 88 when board 75 slides along downstream edges 65 of elements 57 and 59 . after angled portion 88 is formed , drive units 76 are actuated to lower board 75 below elements 57 and 59 in step 95 . motor 67 is operated for a predetermined duration in step 97 at a predetermined time after actuation of drive units 76 to lower the board 75 and of drive units 86 to lower the displaceable element 59 , in order to advance foil 63 in the feed direction by a distance r substantially equal to the length of the foil sheet end product 69 . motor 67 is then deactivated and displaceable element 59 is set in abutting relation with abutment element 57 in step 99 , whereupon controller 61 commands operation of cutting station 77 in step 101 . during operation of cutting station 77 , drive unit 78 sufficiently lowers knife blade 80 located vertically above the foil 63 so as to cut its extended free end portion 96 very close to downstream edges 65 , as shown in fig6 , e . g . at a distance of less than 0 . 5 cm therefrom , depending on thickness of foil , and then raises blade 80 . alternatively , blade 80 is laterally spaced from the foil 63 and drive unit 78 is adapted to laterally displace blade 80 while cutting free end portion 96 . the formed sheet of foil 69 is received on supporting element 79 in step 103 after blade 80 returns to its original position and is then delivered to a collection area in step 105 . supporting element 79 may have an inclined portion , to facilitate gravitational delivery of the formed sheet 69 to a collection area . alternatively , supporting element 79 may have one or more driven rollers , or other discharge element , for delivering sheet 69 to the collection area . each step of the aforementioned method may be individually activated or deactivated by the operator , or alternatively , the various steps may be synchronized together by means of the controller . the quality of a hair treatment operation is increased and the required time for it to be performed is considerably reduced when using the prefabricated foil sheet described hereinabove . the need to individually cut a sheet for each bunch of hair , regardless of the hair length or the thickness of the bunch , is obviated by the method and apparatus of the invention . as the angled portion is formed with a defined and accurate fold line at the interface with the sheet , the stylist simply places a selected bunch of hair on the sheet , applies the treatment liquid , and folds the angled portion on the corresponding fold line as many times as necessary to form a hair retaining envelope which prevents leakage of treatment liquid therefrom . fig7 illustrates another embodiment of the invention wherein foil 63 of apparatus 110 is fed by means of a motor 117 , which drives a roller 113 of pressing station 111 . foil 63 is fed between upper roller 113 and lower roller 114 , which are sufficiently close to each other so as to remain in constant pressing relation with the foil and to apply a clamping force thereto . the other structure of the apparatus is identical . while some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration , it will be apparent that the invention can be carried out with many modifications , variations and adaptations , and with the use of numerous equivalents or alternative solutions that are within the scope of persons skilled in the art , without exceeding the scope of the claims .

apparatus for forming a bent sheet of foil , comprising a holder for holding a roll of foil ; a motor for horizontally feeding the foil from the roll ; a bending station for providing the fed foil with an angled portion ; a controller for controlling a desired length of foil to be fed by commanding operation of said motor ; and a cutting station for cutting said fed foil at said desired length , whereby to form constant length sheets of said foil . the controller is operable to command operation of the motor to sequentially feed the foil a first distance corresponding to a selected longitudinal dimension of the angled portion and then to feed the foil a second distance corresponding to a selected longitudinal dimension of a foil sheet to be formed .

a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig1 and 2 . a mold carriage 10 according to the invention carries thereon a bending mold 12 on which a glass sheet ( not shown ), or a stack of two sheets of glass to constitute laminated glass , is placed horizontally . in a furnace 50 the mold carriage 10 can be transferred along a predetermined path by means of , for example , a chain conveyor 11 . the body of the carriage 10 is a frame 14 . the furnace 50 is provided with heaters ( not shown ) for entirely and uniformly heating the glass sheet placed on the mold 12 to a temperature sufficient to bend the glass sheet . a heater holder 16 is attached to the frame 14 of the mold carriage 10 at a location below the mold 12 to hold a heater element 18 such as a metal ribbon heater . this heater element 18 is for locally intensely heating the glass sheet in a predetermined area from the downside . the holder 16 includes a ceramic terminal 20 attached to the carriage frame 14 , a plate 22 which is attached to the frame 14 and has a vertically elongate slot - like aperture , a male screw 24 horizontally inserted in the aperture of the plate 22 , nuts 26 for fixing the male screw 24 to the plate 22 and a ceramic bobbin - like guide roll 26 which is fixed to a tip of the male screw 24 . an end of the ribbon heater 18 is connected to the terminal 20 . the position of the guide roll 28 is adjusted by moving the male screw 24 inserted in the elongate aperture of the plate 22 upward or downward and / or axially and then fixing the male screw 24 to the plate 22 with nuts 26 . the other end of the ribbon heater 18 is held in the same manner . a terminal plate 30 is fixed , with insulation , to a side member of the carriage frame 14 , and a lead wire 32 for the ribbon heater 18 extends from this terminal plate 30 to the terminal 20 . to connect the terminal plate 30 to a power supply ( not shown ) a conductor rod 52 penetrates into the furnace 50 through its side wall , with insulation . the conductor rod 52 can be moved axially to bring its tip into tight contact with the terminal plate 30 . a heater support 40 is attached to the carriage frame 14 to support thereon a heater element 56 which is provided in the furnace 50 to intensely heat the aforementioned predetermined area of the glass sheet on the mold 12 from the upside . in this embodiment the heater element 56 is a rod - shaped ceramic heater disposed horizontally to extend above and parallel to the above described ribbon heater 18 . a plate 42 having a horizontally elongate slot - like aperture 43 is fixed to the carriage frame 14 , and an inverted l - shaped bracket 46 having a vertically elongate slot - like aperture 47 is attached to the plate 42 by inserting a bolt 48 through the apertures 47 and 43 at the intersection of the crossing apertures 47 , 43 and fixing the bolt 48 by nuts ( not shown ). the heater holder 40 is horizontally swivellably mounted on the horizontal arm part of the bracket 46 . the position of the holder 40 is adjusable by varying the position of the bracket 46 relative to the fixed plate 42 before fixing the bolt 48 . a terminal of the rod - shaped heater 56 is held by a holder 58 . a lowermost part of the holder 58 is v - shaped in vertical sections , and the upper surface of the heater support 40 is formed with a cross - sectionally v - shaped groove 40a conforming to the v - shaped part of the holder 58 . therefore , the holder 58 stably rests on the support 40 even though there is some disagreement of lateral positions of the holder 58 and the support 40 . the opposite terminal of the rod - shaped heater 56 is held by a similar holder ( 58 ), and that holder rests on another support ( 40 ) attached to the carriage 10 . as shown in fig1 according to need the furnace 50 is provided with another rod - shaped heater 56 &# 39 ; to locally intensely heat the glass sheet in a predetermined second area from the upside . as indicated at 40 &# 39 ; and 58 &# 39 ; each terminal of the heater 56 &# 39 ; is held and supported in the manner illustrated in fig2 . beneath the rod - shaped heater 56 &# 39 ; another heater ( not shown ) corresponding to the heater 18 in fig2 may be installed on the carriage frame 14 to intensely heat the second area of the glass sheet from the downside . numerals 30 &# 39 ; and 52 &# 39 ; indicate another terminal plate and another power feeding conductor rod for the heater to heat the glass sheet from the downside . the rod - shaped heaters 56 , 56 &# 39 ; are suspended from a hanger frame 60 , which is a bottom part of a cage - like framework 64 suspended from an upper structure of the furnace 50 by belts 80 stretched vertically . the framework 64 is disposed in that zone of the furnace 50 where the predetermined areas of the glass sheet on the mold are to be intensely heated . the framework 64 can be moved downward and upward by operating a motor 86 to run belts 84 to thereby turn 82 around which the belts 80 are stretched . for example , the framework 64 includes vertical members 66 each angled at the lower end , and the hanger frame 60 is suspended from these vertical members 66 by angled brackets 68 fixed to the frame 60 and hooked to the angled ends of the vertical members 66 . the extent of the ascent and descent of the framework 64 is set by limit switches ( not shown ). for each terminal holder 58 to hold the rod - shaped heater 56 , a bracket 70 having a l - shaped lower part is fixed to an insulator band 72 attached to the hanger frame 60 . the horizontal tongue of the l - shaped part of the bracket 70 has a slot , and an angled strip 74 is inserted into the slot to extend downward . the terminal holder 58 is fixed to the lower end part of the strip 74 . instead of the combination of the l - shaped bracket 70 and the angled strip 72 it is possible to use a flexible and heat - resistant string or the like . for each terminal holder 58 a conductor rod 90 is attached to the framework 64 to extend vertically , and at the lower end the conductor rod 90 is fixed to ceramic insulators 92 attached to the hanger frame 60 . at the upper end the conductor rod 90 is connected with a power supply ( not shown ) by a lead wire 94 . at the lower end the conductor rod 90 is connected with the terminal of the rod - shaped heater 56 by a lead wire 96 . in preparation for a glass sheet bending operation , the mold 12 is mounted on the carriage 10 outside the furnance 50 , and the glass sheet ( or a stack of two glass sheets to be lamiated after bending ) is horizontally placed on the mold 12 . the positions of the supports 40 for the heaters 56 , 56 &# 39 ; in the furnace are adjusted in conformance with the areas of the glass sheet to be intensely heated , and the position of each holder 16 for the lower heater 18 is adjusted similarly , and the lower heater 18 is installed on the carriage 10 . after that the carriage 10 is introduced into the furnace and moved on the conveyor 11 to gradually heat the glass sheet . when the carriage 10 arrives at the zone where the framework 64 is disposed , the framework 64 is lowered until the heater terminal holders 58 rest on the supports 40 on the carriage 10 , respectively . then the upper heaters 56 are energized , and at the same time the lower heaters 18 are energized by thrusting the power feeding rods 52 against the respective terminal plates 30 . by the heaters provided on the side walls of the furnace 50 the glass sheet is entirely heated up to a shaping temperature such as about 630 ° c ., and by the additional and local heating by the upper and lower heaters 56 and 18 the predetermined areas of the glass sheet are heated to a temperature higher than the aforementioned shaping temperature by tens of degrees centigrade but lower than the softening point of the glass . consequently the glass sheet bends in accurate conformance with the curved shape of the mold 12 , and the bending is completed in a short time . in the case of bending a stack of two glass sheets , the bending is accomplished without producing any difference in curvature between the two glass sheets .

this invention relates to a mold carriage for carrying thereon a mold for bending a glass sheet , or a stack of glass sheets to be laminated , placed thereon into a curved shape by heating in a furnace . to locally intensely heat the glass sheet in a selected area to be bent sharply relative to the major area , the mold carriage is installed with a heater to heat a selected area of the glass sheet from underneath , a holder to hold the heater and adjust the position of the heater , and a heater support to support thereon an external heater which is suspended from a separate member disposed in the furnace to heat the afore - mentioned area of the glass sheet from above . the heater support also can adjust the position of the external heater .

fig1 illustrates the hydraulic stabilizer of the invention . the control system maintains the pressure from a plurality of ovens 11 . each oven individually is connected to the collector main 13 which connects to a crossover main 13 in which a butterfly valve 14 is mounted on a shaft 16 . a lever arm 17 connects to the shaft 16 and is pivotally connected to a pivotal l - shaped link 18 which connects to a to a piston rod 23 for a piston 26 mounted in power cylinder 24 . an electric motor driven pump 9 or a steam turbine driven pump 10 are connected to a suction main so as to move gas through the suction main 8 . within cylinder 24 , a first space 27 is formed on the top of the cylinder and a second space 28 is formed on the bottom of the cylinder relative to fig1 . a tube 29 is connected to the space 28 of the cylinder and passes through a valve 31 to a tube 32 which passes through distributor 5 and through a tube 42 to the left end 30 of a stabilizer cylinder 33 . a tube 142 connects the right end of stabilizer cylinder 33 to distributor 5 . a tube 36 is connected to the upper end of cylinder 24 and passes through a valve 37 and a tube 38 to a nozzle 39 which terminates adjacent the output end of a jet pipe 43 . a second nozzle 41 is mounted adjacent the output of the jet pipe 43 and is connected to a tube 42 which is connected to the left end of cylinder 33 . a valve 40 is connected between tubes 29 and 36 . the jet pipe 43 is pivotally connected at pivot 44 and has its left side connected by spring 61 to a link 62 which is engaged by a fulcrum 63 . a pivot pin 64 connects link 62 to the piston rod 66 of a piston 34 mounted in stabilizer cylinder 33 . a spring 71 mounted in an extension 81 of cylinder 33 is connected to piston rod 66 . a washer 201 and a set screw 202 allow the tension of the spring 71 on the piston rod 66 to be adjusted . a pump 54 receives an input from a fluid supply 67 and supplies an output through filter 53 to tube 92 which is connected to a pressure setting valve 48 which is connected by tube 51 to pressure indicator 49 . the tube 92 establishes a pressure in distributor 5 . a relief valve 68 is connected between the output of the pump and the supply 67 . a tube 47 is connected to nozzle 46 which supplies fluid to jet pipe 43 . a tube 147 connects a nozzle 146 to distributor 5 . a diaphragm container 60 contains a diaphragm 74 which has a chamber 79 on one side as , for example , the right side which is connected to atmosphere by tube 90 . the other side 76 of the diaphragm 74 is connected by a tube 77 to a pressure sensor 78 mounted in suction main 8 , as illustrated . a spring 81 is connected between the diaphragm 74 and a control knob 82 so as to allow a set point of the desired pressure to be set . a internal passage 93 is connected to the space 96 on the left side of the piston 34 and another internal passage 94 is connected to the space 97 on the right side of piston 34 . the passages 93 and 94 are connected to the valve 91 which can be controlled by the valve knob 92 which is an integral part of the stabilizer . a tube 101 has one end 102 connected to the space 97 on the right side of the piston 34 and has its other end connected to a valve 98 which has a control knob 99 . a tube 103 has its end 104 connected to the space 96 on the left end of piston 34 . in a specific installation , the tubes 101 and 103 have inside diameters of 0 . 307 inch . in operation , the jet pipe 43 discharges fluid at the two closely spaced orifices 39 and 41 . when the process pressure is at the set point , the jet pipe 43 is centered between the orifices 39 and 41 by a balance of forces and both the stabilizer piston 34 and the power cylinder piston 26 will be stationary . an increase of the process pressure above the set point changes the force that is exerted by the diaphragm 74 and springs 81 and 61 upon the jet pipe 43 and moves it to the right relative to fig1 . this causes piston 26 to move in a direction so as to close the butterfly valve 14 . at the same time , the piston 34 which is in the same hydraulic circuit as piston 26 is also displaced to the right and thereby extends the stabilizing spring 61 by an amount directly proportional to the travel of piston 34 . the extension of spring 61 tends to return the jet pipe 43 to its center position by balancing the forces acting on it . thus , a feedback signal to the jet pipe 43 is obtained which provides proportional position action . the proportional relationship can be changed by moving the moveable fulcrum 63 up and down as shown by the arrows on either side of it in fig2 so as to obtain reset characteristics , a bypass comprising the internal passages 93 and 94 and valve 91 and knob 92 are provided around the piston 34 with spring 71 which tends to bring the piston 34 back to its center position . if in the balanced condition , piston 34 has assumed a displacement to the right , due to the flow through the bypass 93 , 91 and 94 and the action of spring 71 , piston 34 will gradually return to its center position . this moves the jet pipe 73 and with it piston 26 at a rate which is determined by valve 91 in the bypass . the hyper - reset bypass comprising the tubes 101 and 103 and valve 98 with its set control 99 provides a system which is substantially stabler than the prior art system which had only the single bypass system comprising the tubes 93 , and 94 and valve 92 . for example , fig3 is a plot for a prior art device showing pressure variations 101 plotted against time with a system which does not include the tubes 101 and 103 and the valve 98 . it is to be noted that a substantial pressure variation occurred about the set point as shown by the curve 101 . fig4 is a plot 102 of pressure variations of a system which included the tubes 101 and 103 and valve 98 . it is to be noted that the pressure fluctuations have been substantially eliminated in this embodiment . thus , the invention results in more accurate and stable control of pressure in the system than does the system of the prior art . it is our experience that prior art equipment limitations did not control coke oven gas to a desired level . in particular , when valve 91 was at the end of its range , in the fully open position , the reset time was such that 3 - 4 mm spikes resulted . for improved control over coke oven gas leakage , it was discovered that if piston 34 returned to its center position in less time that back pressure control would be improved . this improved control was achieved by expanding the range of the stabilizer reset time . the addition of an external by - pass tube achieved this improved reset time . equalization was achieved by equalizing the displacement of oil ( hydraulic fluid ) across piston 34 . less reset time was achieved and charging spikes ( gas leakage ) was significantly reduced . 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 .

a hyper - reset pressure controller which includes two separate feedback paths which results in a substantially smoother and more accurate pressure control .

referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals designate like or corresponding elements throughout the views , there is shown in fig1 - 6 a constant velocity joint 10 , which comprises a first embodiment of the present invention . the joint 10 is employed to transfer torque from the mast 12 in a helicopter to a yoke 14 for rotating the yoke and blades attached thereto to lift the helicopter . the yoke 14 is supported through the constant velocity joint 10 for flapping motion , where the axis of rotation of the yoke 14 can become misaligned with the axis of rotation of the mast 12 . despite such misalignment , the constant velocity joint 10 will provide for a smooth transfer of torque from the mast to the yoke without inducing vibration . together , joint 10 and yoke 14 form the hub assembly of a helicopter . with particular reference to fig2 the mast 12 can be seen to have splined sections 16 and 18 along its length , and a threaded end 20 . the mast 12 is supported by the helicopter main frame and rotated about the driving axis 22 by the power plant in the helicopter . a lower triangular plate 24 , having inner splines 26 , is slid over the end of the mast 12 for engagement with spline section 16 for rotation with the mast . an upper triangular plate 28 , having inner splines 30 , is similarily splined to section 18 . the plates 24 and 28 are axially restrained along axis 22 between shoulder 104 on mast 12 and a nut 106 threaded on threads 20 . each of the three arms 32 of the plates 24 and 28 extend radially outward from the driving axis and end with a hole 34 . through bolts 36 connect the two plates 24 and 28 , as best seen in fig6 a . a carrier 40 is supported between the plates 24 and 28 and by the plates through three elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 . with reference to fig4 and 6c , each elastomeric bearing assembly 42 can be seen to comprise a rigid inner cylindrical section 44 rigidly secured between the plates 24 and 28 by through bolt 36 . the center elongate axis 46 of the cylindrical section 44 is thus parallel to , but radially spaced from , the driving axis 22 . a tapered cylindrical elastomeric bearing 48 is provided and is concentric with the cylindrical section 44 . the inner cylindrical surface 50 of the elastomeric bearing 48 is bonded or otherwise secured to the outer cylindrical surface 52 of the cylindrical section 44 . as an alternative , surface 50 can simply be secured directly to bolt 36 , although use of section 44 is preferred for ease of replacing assemblies 42 when worn or failed . a rigid intermediate section 54 is concentric with section 44 and bearing 48 when the bearing assembly is not subjected to external forces , and the outer cylindrical surface 56 of the elastomeric bearing 48 is bonded or otherwise secured to the inner cylindrical surface 57 of the intermediate section 54 . a spherical elastomeric bearing 60 has an inner spherical surface 62 which is bonded or otherwise secured to an outer spherical surface 63 of intermediate section 54 . with reference to fig6 a and 6b , the carrier 40 can be seen to comprise an annular ring having a series of six apertures 66 formed therethrough around its circumference . the apertures 66 are generally centered along axes parallel to the axis of symmetry 67 of the carrier 40 and at a uniform radius from the axis of symmetry . the elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 are received in three of the apertures 66 in a symmetrical pattern on the carrier 40 . the outer spherical surfaces 70 of spherical elastomeric bearings 60 ( see fig6 c ) are bonded or otherwise secured to the walls 72 of the apertures 66 and the walls 72 are preferably also configured as a spherical surface of equal radius to the outer spherical surfaces 70 . it can thus be seen that the three elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 support the carrier 40 between the plates 24 and 28 fixed to the mast 12 . however , the elastomeric bearings 48 and 60 within each elastomeric bearing assembly are capable of deformation to permit the axis of symmetry 67 of the carrier 40 to become misaligned with the driving axis 22 . in particular , the configuration and design of the elastomeric bearings 48 and 60 provide for three spring rates per elastomeric bearing assembly 42 . with particular reference to fig6 c , k 1 represents the combined axial spring rates of the cylindrical elastomeric bearings 48 and 60 for deformation along the center axis 46 . the value k 2 represents the radial spring rate of the elastomeric bearings 48 and 60 for motion perpendicular to the center axis 46 . the value k 3 represents the angular spring rate of the elastomeric bearings 48 and 60 about the common center 74 of the elastomeric bearing 60 , surface 54 and wall 72 , which lies on the center axis 46 . if desired , each elastomeric bearing can be laminated , as shown in fig6 d , with multiple layers of elastomeric material separated by rigid sections 49 in bearing 48 &# 39 ; and rigid sections 61 in bearing 60 &# 39 ;. the sections 49 and 61 are preferably contoured to the shape of the bearings . the sections 48 are therefore generally cylindrical while the sections 61 are formed with spherical surfaces . with reference to fig2 three elastomeric bearing assemblies 80 can be seen to secure the hub 14 to the carrier 40 for joint rotation , yet permit angular misalignment between the driven axis 82 of the hub 14 ( see fig5 ) and the axis of symmetry 67 of the carrier 40 . the elastomeric bearing assemblies 80 are in all respects identical to the elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 and are interchangeable therewith . each of the elastomeric bearing assemblies 80 is secured to the hub by a bolt 84 secured to the hub and supported at its upper end by a pillow block 86 having a u - shaped configuration . each pillow block 86 is rigidly secured to the hub 14 by bolts 87 as best seen in fig6 b . torque transmission to the yoke 14 from mast 12 is transmitted through elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 , carrier 40 and elastomeric bearing assemblies 80 . thrust ( or rotor lift ) is transmitted from yoke 14 to mast 12 through elastomeric flapping springs 116 and 118 discussed hereinafter . therefore , the yoke 14 is supported by the mast 12 through bearing assemblies 42 , carrier 40 and bearing assemblies 80 without a nonelastomeric connection . this permits the yoke 14 to flap relative to the mast 12 about a flapping center 88 ( see fig5 ), so that the joint 10 will permit the driving axis 22 and driven axis 82 to become misaligned by an angle α , as best seen in fig5 . the configuration of the constant velocity joint 10 is such that the axis of symmetry 67 of the carrier 40 will be misaligned with both the driving axis 22 and drive axis 82 by an angle α / 2 . the axis of symmetry 67 will always be positioned to exactly bisect the angular misalignment between the mast and hub and assures that the joint will have constant velocity . it will be observed that the flapping center 88 generally lies along the axis of symmetry of carrier 40 at the midpoint through the thickness of the carrier 40 . the center 74 of each of the elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 and 80 are also preferably in the plane that is perpendicular to the axis of symmetry 67 and contains the midpoint through the thickness of carrier 40 . this provides a compact arrangement for joint 10 . due to the stiffness of the elastomeric bearings , the misalignment of the driving and driven shafts will create forces in the bearings urging the mast and hub back into alignment . these forces contribute to the control moment applied at the flapping center 88 of the yoke 14 , which is defined as the point about which the yoke pivots relative to the mast 12 . the moment quantity contributed by the constant velocity joint 10 is calculated as follows : m = 1 . 5 r . sup . 2 sin α / 2 [ k . sub . 1 +( 1 - cos α / 2 ) k . sub . 2 ]+ 3 ( α / 2 ) k . sub . 3 k 1 = the axial spring rate of one elastomeric bearing assembly ( lb / in ). k 2 = radial spring rate of one elastomeric bearing assembly ( lb / in ). k 3 = the angular spring rate of one elastomeric bearing assembly ( in - lb / degree ). in one constant velocity joint constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention , a limit torque of 967 , 500 inch pounds was assumed . the springs rates for the elastomeric bearing assemblies would be as follows : while joint 10 can be used as a hub assembly drive joint as described without use of elastomeric bearings 116 and 118 , as long as plates 24 and 28 are confined along axis 22 , preferably the constant velocity joint 10 will have structure for limiting the angular misalignment and carrying the rotor thrust between the driving axis 22 and the driven axis 82 . therefore , a flapping and axial load transfer spring is mounted on joint 10 . in particular , a lower ring 100 can be splined to spline section 16 for rotation with the mast 12 as best seen in fig4 and 5 . an upper ring 102 can also be splined to the spline section 18 for rotation with mast 12 . both rings 100 and 102 and plates 24 and 28 can be secured on the mast 12 between the shoulder 104 and nut 106 threaded on end 20 of the mast 12 . both lower and upper rings 100 and 102 define spherical surfaces 108 which are centered on the flapping center 88 . a lower bowl 110 is secured to the yoke 14 by the bolts 87 that secure the pillow blocks 86 to the yoke 14 . an upper bowl 112 is secured to the yoke 14 above the pillow blocks 86 by the bolts 87 . both lower bowl 110 and upper bowl 112 can be seen to have spherical surfaces 114 also centered on flapping center 88 . a lower spherical elastomeric bearing 116 is bonded or otherwise secured to the spherical surfaces of lower ring 100 and lower bowl 110 . an upper spherical elastomeric bearing 118 is bonded or otherwise secured between the spherical surfaces on upper ring 102 and upper bowl 112 . it can thus be seen that the angular misalignment permitted between the axes 22 and 82 is limited by the deformation in compression of the elastomeric bearings 116 and 118 and that the rotor thrust is carried by bearings 116 and 118 . with reference now to fig7 - 9 , a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated , forming a constant velocity joint 200 . the joint 200 connects a first axis 202 with a second axis 204 for common rotation even if the rotational axis 206 of the first axis 202 is misaligned with the rotational axis 208 of the second axis 204 . it will also be understood that either of the shafts can be the driving or driven member , as the constant velocity joint 200 is bidirectional . the first member will be seen to have a triangularly shaped plate 210 secured at the end thereof . second shaft 204 will be seen to have a similar triangular shaped plate 212 fixed at its end . each of the arms 214 of plates 210 and 212 extend radially outward from the axis of rotation of the shaft to receive a bolt 222 . a carrier 218 , identical in function to carrier 40 and having an axis of symmetry 219 , is positioned between the ends of shafts 202 and 204 and also supports six elastomeric bearing assemblies 220 in the identical manner as carrier 40 supports elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 and 80 . elastomeric bearing assemblies 220 , in turn , are identical in structure and function with the elastomeric bearing assemblies 42 and 80 . alternating bearing assemblies 220 about the circumference of the carrier 218 are secured through their inner cylinderical sections rigidly to an arm 214 of plate 210 or 212 by bolts 222 . torque can thus be transmitted from one shaft to the other through the elastomeric bearing assemblies 220 and carrier 218 in a manner substantially identical to constant velocity joint 10 . as with carrier 40 , the configuration of constant velocity joint 200 will always have the axis of symmetry 219 of the carrier 218 at an angle bisecting the angle of misalignment between the axes 206 and 208 as best seen in fig9 . in addition , constant velocity joint 200 includes a thrust linkage 224 . the thrust linkage 224 includes a cleavis 226 formed on first shaft 206 having two parallel legs 228 . a spherical ball 230 is secured between legs 228 by pin 232 . an elastomeric bearing 234 having the shape of a spherical segment is bonded or otherwise secured on its inner surface to the ball 230 . the outer surface is bonded or otherwise secured to the inner surface of a ring 236 extending from the first shaft . the thrust linkage 224 therefore permits the transfer of thrust forces between shafts 202 and 204 along their rotational axes while permitting some misalignment between the rotational axes . a constant velocity joint has thus been disclosed which has significant advantages over prior art designs . the joint can be used in the environment of a flapping helicopter hub assembly , but can also be used with any power train , even with bidirectional torque transfer . the joint eliminates vibration common with nonconstant velocity joints . furthermore , it requires no lubrication , is self - centering and accommodates limited axial motion between the rotating members . the joint has a noncatastrophic failure mode should the elastomeric bearings shear or separate , which can be highly advantageous in environments such as a helicopter hub assembly . the placement of the elastomeric bearing assemblies in a carrier in a single plane minimizes the size of the joint and provides for most effective transfer of torque . a high torque transfer capacity is achieved , both by the absence of sliding friction between elements in the joint and the absence of severe shear in the elastomeric bearings . although several embodiments of the invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the detailed description , it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed , but is intended to embrace any alternatives , modifications and / or substitutions of parts and elements falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims .

a constant velocity joint is provided specifically for connecting a yoke to a mast in a helicopter and more generally for interconnecting a first shaft to a second shaft for bidirectional drive . the constant velocity joint employs a carrier which is formed with a series of apertures for receiving elastomeric bearing assemblies . the elastomeric bearing assemblies are provided with a spherical elastomeric bearing and a cylindrical elastomeric bearing . certain of the elastomeric bearing assemblies connect the carrier to one of the rotating members while the remaining elastomeric bearing assemblies connect the other rotating member to the carrier . the axis of symmetry of the carrier always bisects the angle of misalignment between the two rotating shafts or members to assure that a constant velocity joint is achieved .

referring more specifically to the drawings , for illustrative purposes the present invention is embodied in the apparatus generally shown in fig1 through fig3 . it will be appreciated that the apparatus may vary as to configuration and as to details of the parts without departing from the basic concepts as disclosed herein . fig1 illustrates a low - cost , small footprint , battery - operated heater unit 10 in accordance with the present invention . the heater 10 may be integrated into a number of applications , including a sample collection system as detailed in pending u . s . application ser . no . 11 / 875 , 702 , filed on oct . 19 , 2007 , entitled “ sample preparation cartridge and system ,” herein incorporated by reference in its entirety . the apparatus 10 uses a heating source 12 that preferrably comprises a semiconductor component , such as a mosfet ( metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor ). although a mosfet is used in the embodiments described herein , the heater 10 of the present invention is not limited to the use of a mosfet . since the functionally of the mosfet ( i . e ., electronic switching ) is not actually used , other semiconductor components that generate high surface temperatures during operation may be used as well ( e . g . transistor - transistor logic ( ttl ) or nmos logic , or other fet &# 39 ; s such as ap - n junction ( jfet ), or metal - semiconductor contact ( mesfet ) or the like . the “ excess ” heat that is being emitted by the semiconductor component during operation is used to provide heat a safe and predictable heating source . the unique heating aspect of the semiconductor 12 provide a heating source that does not result in a flame , spark , or red heat that is common with conventional heating sources . rather , the heat emitted from the semiconductor is safe and controllable . as further shown in fig1 , the semiconductor 12 is coupled to a microcontroller 14 via leads 24 . a power source 26 , preferrably a portable source such as a battery ( or set of aa batteries ), is coupled to the microcontroller to provide power to the semiconductor 12 . the micropocessor 14 controls the amount of current to the heater 12 to increase or decrease the desired output heat . for example , to increase the temperature ( which in case of a mosfet semiconductor 12 can easily be as high as 150 deg c . ), the microcontroller 14 simply increases the load current of the semiconductor 12 by increasing its gate voltage . reducing the temperature works similarly by reducing the load current . as further illustrated in fig1 , the semiconductor 12 is positioned under or adjacent a sample chamber 18 where the desired heating is directed . to minimize heat loss , the semiconductor 12 may be directly attached to the sample chamber 18 ( and the chamber may be insulated with materials such as styrofoam ). a temperature probe or sensor 20 may also be attached at or near the sample chamber to provide feedback for driving the semiconductor 12 . the probe 12 is couple to the microcontroller 14 via leads 22 such that the temperature readout from the controller 14 to run a temperature control loop . thus if the probe 20 senses a temperature above a particular threshold , the load current of the semiconductor 12 is shut off or decreases by descreating or cutting off its gate voltage . correspondingly , if the probe 20 senses a temperature below a particular threshold , the load current of the semiconductor 12 is turned on or increased by increasing its gate voltage . the microcontroller 14 enables the user to program in a variety of timer - controller heating profiles , thus enabling the system to run any type of heating cycle or interval ( e . g ., 60 deg c .- 90 deg c .- 60 deg c .) on the sample . cycle times may also be software - programmed . ( e . g ., 5 min at 60 deg c ., 4 . 3 min at 72 dec c ., etc .) it is preferable to position the probe 20 as close to the sample 18 as possible . depending on the sample , the temperature probe 20 may be even immersed in the sample . the better the chamber 18 is insulated and the closer the heat source 12 is to the sample , the less battery power is needed . the exact battery input capacity depends on how high the target temperature ( s ) are and for how long the system needs to maintain them . in case of the mosfet semiconductor heating source 12 , the surface temperature is proportional to its load current . accordingly , the sensor 20 may also be positioned at or near the surface of the semiconductor 12 to assure that the semiconductor does not exceed a threshold limit . the microcontroller may be pre - programmed to operate at a set temperature profile or multiple set point , or may be provided with an interface ( as shown in heater 50 in fig3 ) that allows heating profiles to be downloaded to the controller 14 or changed via software reconfiguration . fig2 illustrates the heater 10 of the present invention implemented on circuit board 30 . the semiconductor heating source 12 and probe 20 are coupled to the microcontroller 14 . a sample chamber 18 is positioned above the heating source 12 for direct heating . one or more resistors 26 may be incorporated to limit current to the semiconductor 12 . a switch 28 may also be incorporated to turn the unit on or off . t it is appreciated that the circuit board 30 or other electronics do not need to be colocated with be co - located with the sample chamber 18 or object that is being heating . for example , the circuit board 30 may be located away from the heating source ( semiconductor 12 ) if so desired . of course , the heating element 12 ( e . g ., mosfet ) and temperature probe 20 are ideally located at or near the heating source or item to be heated . the remaining components may reside elsewhere and be simply connected via a wire or flex - cable . fig3 illustrates an alternative heating system 50 that incorporates a visual indicator 52 to show the status of the heater . the indicator 52 may comprise a lcd or other type of display 52 that displays the temperature or profile / programming information received from the microcontroller 14 . for a lower - cost variation , the indicator may comprise one or more led &# 39 ; s to indicate the status of the heater . the heater 50 may have a housing 58 configured to house the heating source 12 , microcontroller 14 , display 52 , sensor 20 , power source ( e . g . battery ) 56 , and provide a surface for which the sample 18 is positioned for heating . the microntroller 14 may comprise memory for holding one or more temperature profiles , or additional separate memory may be coupled to the microcontroller ( not shown ). one or more heating profiles may be preprogrammed or hard - wired into the microcontroller 14 or memory . in addition , the device may be reprogrammed on the fly via interface 54 ( e . g . usb or field programmer input ). the housing may also support one or more buttons 60 for toggling through heating cycles , modifying the temperature or heating cycles ( e . g . changing the desired temperatures or time periods ), or facilitating updates to the memory on the device 50 . the power source 56 preferrably comprises a replaceable or rechargeable battery to maintain portability . however , the heater 50 may be configured to connect to fuel cell , solar power cell , or a direct power source ( e . g . 110 volt ac ). in another embodiment , a thermal switch ( e . g ., bi - metal strip / thermostat ) may be coupled to the semiconductor heating source 12 . in this instance , the thermal switch would take over the function of the temperature probe 20 and microcontroller 14 , i . e ., it would automatically disconnect the heating source 12 from its power supply 58 once it reaches a certain setpoint . to do so , the thermal switch ( not shown ) would to be co - located adjacent with ( or inside ) the sample chamber 18 or object being heated . once the temperature falls below a setpoint , the thermal switch would ( mechanically ) close again and re - energize the heating source to heat up again (( just like a thermostat in a house heating system ). of course , this approach would not allow for tight temperature control and timer - controlled , multi - setpoint heating profiles as described above . however , for a dedicated , single purpose heating application that doesn &# 39 ; t require tight temperature control , this may be a viable low - cost alternative . the embodiments disclosed above show the biological sample chamber 18 as the subject matter to be heated with the heater 10 of the present invention . however , it is appreciated that the heater 10 of the present invention may be used to heat a number of different subjects . for example , the heater 10 may be used as a portable warming plate for food or drink ( whereas the semiconductor would be positioned under a plate or bowl in place of the sample chamber 18 ), or could be placed under or in a planting pot to keep a plant at a certain temperature . the heater would be advantageous for applications in apparel , such as gloves , boots , or jackets , to warm the user in a safe and portable fashion . the heater 10 may also be used to warm instrumentation , such as optics , under situations where temperature affects performance of the instrument . although the description above contains many details , these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention . therefore , it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art , and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims , in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “ one and only one ” unless explicitly so stated , but rather “ one or more .” all structural , chemical , and functional equivalents to the elements of the above - described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims . moreover , it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention , for it to be encompassed by the present claims . furthermore , no element , component , or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element , component , or method step is explicitly recited in the claims . no claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 u . s . c . 112 , sixth paragraph , unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “ means for .”

a device for heating a biological sample , the device having a heating source comprising a semiconductor chip . a sample chamber , or other medium to be heated , is positioned adjacent the heating source , wherein the sample chamber is configured to house a biological sample at a predetermined temperature . a microcontroller is electrically coupled to the semiconductor chip and a sensor positioned inside , at , or near the sample chamber . the microcontroller supplies a load current to the heating source to generate heat from the heating source , and the sensor is coupled to the microcontroller to provide feedback for controlling the heat generated by the heating source . the device may also support different heating profiles that are software and / or hardware selectable .

the present method is an improvement upon the semi - additive techniques for production of printed circuits . as such the invention addresses many of the concerns and problems experienced by past techniques through the use of a specific processing sequence . the present invention proposes the following basic cycle for the production of double - sided and multilayer printed circuit boards : 3 . create circuitry on outer surfaces of copper clad laminate or multilayer package ; 5 . optionally , strip print and etch resist applied in step ( 2 ); * note : copper clad laminate and multilayer package are used herein and in the claims interchangeably . the first step calls for holes to be drilled or punched in the copper clad laminate . thus holes will penetrate through the entire board . vias may penetrate through one side of the board into the interior of the board but not through to the other side . the second step is optional , but recommended , and involves deburring the holes . deburring is typically a mechanical process whereby any burrs left on the holes from the drilling process are removed . the fact that the process of this invention does not utilize a &# 34 ; desense mask &# 34 ; as disclosed in knopp , allows the advantageous flexibility of deburring at this point . the third step calls for the formation of circuitry on the outer surfaces of the copper clad laminate . typically this is accomplished by applying print and etch resist in an image - wise fashion to the outer surfaces of the copper clad laminate . most notably , dry film resists are applied , exposed and developed to create a positive image of the desired circuitry on the outer surfaces . the exposed copper surfaces are then etched away causing the resist covered circuitry to stand out in vertical relief . next , the holes are activated to accept plating . activation of the holes can range in complexity from a single dip in a previous metal activator ( or other non - precious metal activates known in the art ) to a full desmear ( or etch bath ), plated through - hole cycle involving numerous steps . optionally , if desmear is desired , the desmear portion of the activation cycle may be separated from the activation cycle and inserted between step 2 ( optional deburr ) and step 3 ( creation of circuitry ) of the overall process of this invention . desmear generally consists of hole condition , dielectric etch , neutralization and optional glass etch . the most complex hole activation cycle might consist of hole condition ( m - pyrol ), potassium permanganate desmear , neutralization ( acid / reducer ), glass etch ( ammonium bifluoride ), ( the foregoing steps comprising desmear ) conditioner ( surfactant or other type ), microetch , activator ( pdci 2 / sncl 2 colloid ) and accelerator . clean water rinses are interposed between each chemical treatment . various combinations will be apparent to those skilled in the art . regardless of which hole activation cycle is chosen , its primary purpose is to treat the holes so that the hole surfaces will initiate plating . a wide variety of methods for achieving this are known in the art , any of which may be advantageously be utilized here . please refer to u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 032 , 427 ( kukanskis et al . ), u . s . pat . no . 4 , 976 , 990 ( back et al . ), u . s . pat . no . 4 , 608 , 275 ( kukanskis et al .) and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 863 , 758 ( rhodenizer ), the teachings all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . next , the print and etch resist which was applied in the second step is stripped off the surfaces of the copper clad laminate . typically an alkaline or solvent based solution is used to strip the resist . preferably the stripping action does not affect the activation in the holes . in this regard a mildly alkaline stripping solution is advantageous . in another embodiment of this invention the print and etch resist is not stripped at this point but is left in place on the board and stripped later in the process in the same step where the plating mask is stripped . at this point , the outer surfaces of the double - sided or multilayer circuitry are coated with a plating mask . the plating mask can be applied in several ways including dry film lamination , roller coating , curtin coating , screening , or various similar techniques . the most important aspect here is for the plating mask to cover all surfaces which are not to be plated . it must be particularly noted that since the print and etch resist was exposed to activation , the print and etch resist must either be stripped or covered with the plating mask to avoid plating on such resist . generally the plating mask is imaged so that the areas to be subsequently plated are not covered and the plating mask covers all other areas of the surface . the plating mask can be imaged in various ways including screening , photoimaging followed by development , or similar techniques . finally the plating mask is cured either by application of heat , photoradiation or both . compositions and methods of application of plating masks are well known in the art . it has been found most advantageous to apply the plating mask such that it covers substantially all of the exterior areas of the board except for the holes . this allows for plating in the holes only , and thus reduces the amount of plating chemicals required . heretofore prior art had taught the necessity of plating the holes as well as the surface features of printed circuit boards . note that if any print and etch resist is showing after application of the plating mask it may easily be removed at this point , particularly if the print and etch resist chosen has different solubility or stripping characteristics than the plating mask . after this it is optionally advantageous to clean the exposed copper surfaces , particularly exposed copper surfaces in and around the holes . this is advantageously performed with typical alkaline or acid based cleaning compositions widely used in the industry . preferably the cleaning operation will not affect the activation in the holes . the next step is to initiate plating in the holes and possibly upon the areas of connection and / or circuits ( depending upon the image of the plating mask ). this initiation can occur in several ways . one preferred example is through the application of electroless copper . another is through the application of electroless nickel . either of these solutions will initiate plating upon the activated areas only . thus , only the holes and other areas not covered by the plating mask will be plated . it has been discovered that initiation of plating can be made directly through the use of electroless nickel phosphorous in this case . this is possible because the surface features have been etched on the surface prior to this stage . if electroless nickel - phosphorous is used it is preferable to continue to build the entire required thickness with the electroless nickel - phosphorous solution . it is most advantageous to utilize a &# 34 ; high phosphorous &# 34 ; nickel - phosphorous bath which deposits nickel with 10 % or greater phosphorous content . the next step could be a continuation of the previous step , or , it could be a separate step as indicated on the former sequence . the object of this step is to plate the holes and other uncovered areas to the appropriate metal thickness . thus , if an appropriate electroless copper is used in the previous step , the board could be left in the electroless copper for an extended time to build the appropriate thickness of copper . one preferred method , however is to initiate plating in the previous step with electroless copper ( 10 to 150 microinches of copper ) and then to follow that initiation with either electroless nickel phosphorous preferably , ( with prior activation of the copper ) or a strike of electroless nickel - boron followed by electroless nickel - phosphorous . it is more preferable , however to accomplish all of the plating in a single electroless nickel , preferably electroless nickel - phosphorous , plating step . after metalization of the desired surfaces the plating mask can now be stripped away . in addition , if the print and etch resist was not previously stripped it should now be stripped along with the plating mask . typically an alkaline or solvent based solution will be used to strip the resist and the mask . the next step is to , optionally , remove any residual catalyst from the surfaces of the board . this step may be desired , depending upon the activation cycle used , in order to improve or restore the surface insulation resistance of the board . typical methods of performing these optional operations are described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 221 , 418 ; 5 , 207 , 867 ; and 4 , 978 , 422 , the teachings each of which are incorporated herein by reference . the final step is optional , but recommended . this step consists of applying some form of final finish to the holes and other areas of connection . these final finishes have as their objective , the protection and / or enhancement of the solderability of these surfaces . a final finish may take one of many forms . it may consist of an organic treatment which preserves and enhances the solderability of these surfaces , such as is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 362 , 334 ( adams et al .) the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . alternatively or in addition , it may consist of a series of metallic treatments , possibly culminating in a precious metal coating as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 235 , 139 , the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . the final finish step ( 9 ) can consist of any one of several variations , including the following : 9 ( a ) plate final finish metal coating or coatings ( typically palladium , copper or gold over nickel ) onto all surfaces not covered by the plating mask . 9 ( b ) apply solder mask to selected areas of the surfaces of the copper clad laminate , typically all areas other than areas of connection ( ie . holes , pads , lands etc .) 9 ( c ) apply final finish metal coating or coatings ( typically palladium , copper or gold over nickel ) onto all surfaces not covered by the solder mask . typical solder masks and processes for their use are described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 296 , 334 , the teachings of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety . one typical final finish is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 235 , 139 , the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . one typical organic solderability preservative is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 362 , 334 the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety . various additional steps may be inserted between the steps of the proposed process sequence . in addition , substitutions may also be made . these insertions or substitutions may be such as would be obvious to one skilled in the art . in addition please note that it is recommended that fresh water rinses be included between chemical treatment steps unless specifically noted otherwise . this invention is further described in the following examples which are given for illustrative purposes only , and are in no way limiting . a printed circuit board was fabricated in the following manner according to the teachings of this invention : 2 . a dry film print and etch resist was laminated onto both surfaces of a sized piece of copper clad laminate ( board ). the film was then exposed to u . v . radiation in an imagewise manner . the unexposed areas of the resist were then developed off the surfaces using a solution of 1 % potassium carbonate . the copper clad laminate was then subjected to an ammoniacal copper etchant , thereby etching away the exposed copper and causing the circuits and other desired surface features to stand out in vertical relief . 3 . the holes were activated to accept and initiate plating on their surface by subjecting the boards to the following treatments : a . cleaner / conditioner ( macdermid 9420 ) for 4 minutes at 110 ° f . by immersion therein . b . activation ( macdermid mactivate 10 ) for 4 minutes at 110 ° f . by immersion therein . 4 . the print and etch resist applied in step ( 2 ) above was then stripped in a 10 % caustic solution . 5 . macumask 9251 plating mask was then screened onto the surfaces of the board in an imagewise manner , then cured by baking at 320 ° f . for 15 minutes . 6 . the exposed copper surfaces were cleaned in macdermid 9271 cleaner at 115 ° f . for 4 minutes . 7 . the holes and other exposed copper areas , were plated using macdermid 101 high phosphorous electroless nickel plating solution to a thickness of approximately 1 . 0 mil . 8 . a final finish was applied using the following process sequence : a . electroless gold was then plated in the holes and any other exposed nickel surface . b . the plating mask was stripped using stripper 10067 solution at 95 ° f . for 4 minutes . a printed circuit board was fabricated in the same manner as in example 1 , except that after step 7 was replaced by the following : a . the plating was initiated by immersing the boards in macdermid electroless nickel - boron for three minutes at 115 ° f . to plate approximately one to three microinches of nickel - boron . b . the boards were then immersed in macdermid high phosphorous electroless nickel for 120 minutes at 190 ° f . to plate approximately 1 . 0 mil of nickel - phosphorous . a printed circuit board was fabricated in the same manner as in example i , except that the board was a multilayer printed circuit board and therefore the board was subjected to the following treatments directly before step 3 ( a ): b ). potassium permanganate ( macdermid 9275 ), 60 gr / l , 10 minutes , 160 ° f . * note . fresh water rinses are interposed between each chemical treatment step . a printed circuit board was fabricated in the same manner as in example i , except that step 8 was as follows : 8 ( a ) stripped plating mask in stripper 10067 solution at 95 ° f . for 4 minutes . 8 ( c ) plated electroless gold using macdermid planar electroless gold onto all surfaces not covered by the solder mask . a printed circuit board was fabricated in the same manner as in example 1 , except that step 8 was as follows : 8 ( a .) electroless copper was then plated in the holes and on any other exposed nickel surface using macdermid 9048 electroless copper 8 ( d .) applied organic solderability protectant to the final surface of the printed circuit board using macdermid m - coat +. a printed circuit board was fabricated in the same way as example i , except that step 4 was eliminated and the print and etch resist was stripped off in step 8 ( b ) along with the plating mask . the printed circuit boards in all the above examples were tested in a variety of ways including standard solder shock tests , conductivity tests , cross section tests , and various functional testing . the results of all testing revealed that all of the printed circuit boards produced , functioned acceptably , for the purposes intended . as can be seen from the current specification , the proposed process has many advantages over the prior art processes . one of the most important advantages is that it provides an efficient method of producing printed circuit boards which substantially reduces the number of required steps and processes required . in addition , the proposed process provides a workable semi - additive approach to producing printed circuit boards .

the present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of printed circuit boards . the method contemplates a novel processing sequence for this manufacturing process which method is particularly versatile in reducing the number of steps and variety of chemicals currently necessary to produce the circuit boards .

the apertures 16 are produced to a uniform size of greater diameter than that calculated to supply an adequate flow of air for cooling the wall at the normal operating temperature of the heatshield . the apertures may be formed by ablation with a laser . the apertures 16 are arranged at an angle to the face of the wall adjacent the combustion chamber to allow the flow of air through the aperture to provide a robust film on that face . the heatshield wall which defines the combustor 2 has a maximum duty temperature of about 950 ° c . turning now to fig2 specifically , a sacrificial component 14 in the form of a coating is applied to the apertures 16 at the entrance , exit , and / or within the bore of the aperture 16 to provide an effective aperture that passes a lesser amount of air to that passed by the uncoated aperture . the coating 14 has a melting or sublimation point below the maximum duty temperature of the heatshield wall . the coating 14 forms an obstruction that reduces the flow area of the aperture and consequently the mass flow rate of coolant fluid . if , in use , the local temperature rises to a temperature at or above the melting or sublimation point of the coating 14 then a proportion of the coating 14 is removed . the effective aperture and the flow area for the cooling flow is increased in size and this permits an increased cooling flow . the increased cooling flow reduces the local temperature and maintains the temperature of the heatshield wall within the limits of its maximum duty temperature . the coating 14 is preferably applied through an electroplating process . beneficially , the sharp edges of the aperture 16 results in preferential deposition at the entrance and exit . the effective aperture area is achieved with a minimum of coating material 14 and this provides both a weight and cost benefit . where silver is used as the sacrificial component material the effective aperture size will begin to increase when the local temperature rises to around 950 ° c ., this being the melting point of the silver . the effective aperture size may be modified at higher or lower temperatures depending on the choice of coating material . for example , if copper or gold , having melting points of 1080 ° and 1060 ° c . respectively , could be used to modify the aperture size at different temperatures to that of silver . for applications other than combustion chambers or afterburners lead or tin may be used , which have melting points of 330 ° and 230 ° c . respectively . such applications include , but are not limited to , an exhaust duct of a gas turbine engine or a duct of any device which is exposed to temperatures approaching the duty temperature of the duct material . sacrificial materials other than pure metals may also be used . these can be deposited using methods of application other than electroplating , such as dipping in molten material or plasma spray . other types of refractory material could be deposited by precipitation from gaseous phase reactants . for low activation temperature , a polymer or paint - type material could be used ; the polymer could be produced by reaction directly on the substrate ; paint could be applied conventionally . alternatively , and as show in fig3 a to 6b , the sacrificial component may be provided as a solid insert which is sized to fit in the aperture provided in the first component and manufactured from at least one of the materials described herein . the insert 14 , that is to say the sacrificial component 14 , is configured such that when inserted into the aperture 16 of the first component 12 , the effective cross sectional area of the flow path through the aperture 16 is partially reduced . for example , in the case of an aperture 14 with a substantially circular cross - section the sacrificial component may be an annular sleeve as shown in fig3 a and 3b . alternatively it may be a cylindrical plug with axially extending grooves on the periphery of the plug which define a plurality of flow paths as shown in fig4 a and 4b . in another embodiment the sacrificial component is provided with a plurality of perforations as shown in fig5 a and 5b . in another embodiment the sacrificial component is a porous plug as shown in fig6 a and 6b . the proportion of flow increase achievable by the invention can be set by choice of hole size and the thickness of the sacrificial component , whether the sacrificial component is provided as a coating or an insert . the diameters of cooling holes for high and low pressure combustion systems lie in the range ø 0 . 5 - 2 . 5 mm . for a diameter of ø 0 . 7 , and an initial sacrificial component thickness of 0 . 15 mm , a maximum increase in the effective aperture and flow area by a factor of 3 . 1 would result if the entire sacrificial component is removed . if desired , the sacrificial component may be removed and a new coating or insert provided during servicing to restore the combustor wall to its original state . it will be appreciated that the invention offers a number of advantages . in particular , the wall of the first component can be protected from events in service that increase the local temperature to above the maximum duty temperature of the wall . the wall can be protected even if associated components fail or there is a loss of coolant pressure additionally , the wall may be provided with an optimised cooling flow at the start of its life , which remains optimised during the life of the component as the cooling flow is automatically adjusted to respond to non - uniformity in the heat - load to the component . in some circumstances the precise temperature profiles within a component , such as the combustor , afterburner or exhaust duct of a gas turbine engine , are not easily predicted , the invention allows the cooling flow of the component to be automatically adjusted . further , the invention allows the relaxation of manufacturing tolerances , as normally the nominal size of cooling holes is chosen to be larger than required to ensure that the resultant cooling hole size , even on its minimum tolerance , is still adequate . the saving of cooling flow will give thermodynamic advantages to the engine cycle e . g . by minimising coolant frictional losses , reducing work required to pressurise coolant , and in the case of an afterburner , releasing this flow to take part in the combustion process ( giving higher thrust boost ). the sacrificial component need not be as robust as the wall of the first component and may be selected for its melting / sublimation temperature . the first component provides rigidity and support for the sacrificial component . consequently , for low activation temperature , a polymer or paint - type material could be used where the polymer could be produced by reaction directly on the substrate . paint could be applied conventionally . various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention . for example , the apertures in the first component may be formed using a process other than ablation , including conventional techniques such as drilling , electro discharge machining , or as part of a casting process . such processes can produce apertures of a lower tolerance which are modified through the addition of the sacrificial component to define the size of the effective aperture . the apertures can also be larger than those in current constructions because their size will be modified through the addition of the sacrificial component . larger apertures are generally cheaper to produce than smaller apertures and consequently the cost of manufacture is reduced . this system could be applied to any gas - turbine combustor or afterburner employing film cooling methods such as normal effusion , angled effusion , machined rings etc .

apparatus for adaptive cooling comprising a first component having at least one aperture extending therethrough with a sacrificial component positioned within the at least one aperture . the first component is operable at a maximum duty temperature and the sacrificial component has a melting or sublimation point below the maximum duty temperature of the first component . the sacrificial component defines an effective aperture the size of which may be increased if , in use , the sacrificial component is subjected to a temperature between the melting or sublimation point of the sacrificial component and the maximum duty temperature of the first component .

with reference to fig1 , 2 , 2 a , and 2 b there is shown a handcuff - like element 10 having an interior area 11 , a cap 12 , and a pair of generally rigid jaw members 14 and 16 each having a proximal hinge end 18 , 20 and a distal attachment end 22 , 24 . hinge ends 18 , 20 are directly connected together and held by a screw 26 or a similar fastening device that may act as an axle . additionally , or instead of the screw 26 acting as an axle , the inside cylindrical surface 28 and the outside cylindrical surface 30 along with appropriate snap fit confronting faces or shoulders , may create an accurate axle system . the axle system causes jaw members 14 and 16 to self align relative to one another when they are pivoted between the self sustaining wide open position ( fig2 a ) and the closed position shown in fig1 and 2c that encloses the interior area 11 . alternately , as illustrated in fig9 d below , a hinge strap , also known as a “ living hinge ” may be used in place of the axle system to similarly cause the jaws to self align when closed . cap 12 rests on shoulder 32 of jaw member 16 and is held in place by a pin 34 through holes as shown in cap 12 and jaw member 16 , but cap 12 could be attached by other methods , for example gluing or ultrasonic welding . on each side face of the cap are apertures 36 that are in line with two release tabs 38 that will be described below . the cap 12 creates a passageway 40 ( fig2 b ) having a retaining surface 42 for guiding the attachment end 22 . although jaws 14 and 16 are self aligning , and so retaining surface 42 is not required to guide attachment end 22 into a closed position , the retaining surface 42 aids in maintaining a latched condition by its close proximity to attachment end 22 , so that retaining surface 42 opposes flexing of attachment end 22 outwardly , such as might occur under forces from a bundle retained by jaw 44 . the “ outwardly directed forces ” would be most prevalent , for instance , if a person captured an oversized bundle of cord , preventing the device 10 from closing past just a few teeth of engagement , and thus the bundle exerts a force against the tooth portion of jaw 14 that may tend to open the jaws . the details of opening and closing of the jaws will be explained later . the outwardly directed forces would be a particular problem , if an oversized bundle were to receive an additive force such as by bumping or dropping of the bundle and device 10 . this embodiment of the device 10 could function in most circumstances even if cap 12 were not present , although it may not remain latched as well under the situations just described . jaw member 14 has a generally smooth retaining surface 44 and fixed teeth 46 on the inner surfaces and an outer press area 48 on the outer surface . although smooth surfaces are shown in the figs ., it will be appreciated that teeth 46 or other non - smooth features may extend along all of jaw member 14 , in other embodiments , such that there is not a smooth surface 44 . jaw member 16 has a generally smooth retaining surface 50 near its hinge end , an outer press area 52 on the outer surface , and a pawl 54 on its attaching end 24 . the pawl has deflecting teeth 56 and the horizontal release tabs 38 on each side . the fixed teeth 46 and the deflecting teeth 56 are sized to interlock . both sets of teeth 46 , 56 may be backward angled as seen most clearly in fig2 d , to enhance their ability to pass over each other in the closing direction , but resist movement in the opening direction . although multiple teeth 56 are shown in the drawings , a single tooth may perform the desired function satisfactorily . as seen most clearly in fig2 d , the pawl is at the end of a resilient cantilever portion 58 so that downward force on the top surface of release tab 38 , will cause the deflecting teeth 56 to move towards the interior of the device 10 . it should be noted that there are two release tabs 38 but a force on just one of them will deflect the teeth inwardly . in operation , as with some other handcuff like devices used for bundling , the device is put in the fully open position so that the retaining surfaces 44 and 50 define a bundle receiving space 60 ( fig2 a ). the device will remain in this position without any assistance , while the bundled item is placed in the space 60 . once the bundle is positioned , the user presses on outer press surfaces 48 and 52 to close the device . during the closing the attachment end 22 enters passageway 40 and the teeth 46 make contact with and pass over the teeth 56 ( best seen in fig2 c and 2d ) while the pawl 54 flexes as teeth 46 pass over deflecting teeth 56 . fig2 d demonstrates the initiating actions to open the device . the exposed ( as seen exposed in fig1 ) release tab portion 38 is pushed in the direction indicated by the arrow toward the interior of the device , such as with a fingernail , so that the deflecting teeth 56 disengage from the fixed teeth 46 and then the jaw member 14 is removed from passageway 40 before the pressure is removed from tab 38 . it is only necessary to use one of the two release tabs 38 , thus , the device is operable even if access to one of the tabs is blocked , such as by a neighboring wall , a computer rack , or anything nearby . the embodiment of a device 110 shown in fig3 a and 3b may be built with all of the same parts as the previous embodiment , except for using a different cap . whereas cap 12 of the previous figures allowed the device to open only through the use of the two release tabs 38 , cap 112 of this embodiment additionally offers the user a button or spot 190 resiliently cantilevered as part of the cap &# 39 ; s top surface 191 . inside of the cap ( see fig3 c , 3 d and 3 e ), integral to the push button are two tabs 192 that pass near the inside wall of the cap 112 , so that when the button 190 is depressed the two tabs 192 make contact with the two release tabs 38 resulting in the same releasing motion that would be provided by one or both release tabs being depressed directly . fig3 a shows the device 110 in the latched condition with the teeth 56 on the pawl 54 in their raised position , interlocked with teeth 46 . the button 190 is approximately flush with the top surface 191 of the cap 112 . the arrow indicates the direction of movement to press button 190 to initiate unlatching . fig3 b shows button 190 being pushed toward the interior of the device 110 , and tabs 192 are in contact with release tabs 38 . pawl 54 is deflected toward the interior of the device under the pressure from tabs 192 , which causes teeth 56 to move toward the interior of the device , and disengage from teeth 46 so that jaw member 14 can be removed from passageway 40 to complete unlatching . fig3 c is a cross sectional view of the device 110 of fig3 a and 3b . it is latched as in fig3 a . this cross sectional view shows two tabs 192 , apertures 36 , and release tabs 38 whereas only one of each is visible in the preceding views . fig3 c also shows the relative thickness of the sidewalls 193 of cap 112 , and the apertures 36 providing space for the release tabs 38 . spaces 194 between tabs 192 and the sidewalls of cap 112 are visible . teeth 46 and 56 are interlocked since the clamp 10 is shown latched . fig3 d is a cross sectional view similar to fig3 c but of an alternative embodiment . again this figure shows the embodiment in a latched condition . in this embodiment there is a cap 312 that does not have any apertures 36 to provide access to release tabs 38 , that is , cap 312 fully encloses release tabs 38 . the only means provided for opening the device is the button or spot 190 on the cap &# 39 ; s top surface 191 . release tabs 38 are accommodated inside cap 312 by two vertical channels 195 inside the cap 312 defined by reduced thickness of the sidewall 193 of the cap 312 in the area of the release tabs 38 . optionally , changes may also be made to reduce the extension of release tabs 38 , since it is not necessary for a finger or fingernail to make contact with release tabs 38 in this embodiment , although changes to the extensions of release tabs 38 are not necessary if channels 195 are provided . fig3 e illustrates the embodiment of fig3 d , with an arrow showing the directions the button 190 may be pushed to initiate unlatching . pawl 54 has been deflected , and teeth 46 and 56 are disengaged so that the device can be opened in the same way as previously described for other embodiments . although this embodiment shows the pawl 54 being actuated by tabs 192 being contacted by tabs 192 integral with and approximately directly below button 190 , other embodiments could be made that move the tabs 192 and button 190 to different positions . this change , however , may require that the embodiment of fig3 d - 3e would use different jaw members 16 , unless jaw member 16 was made to accommodate multiple positions of tabs 192 . fig4 , 5 , 6 a and 6 b show another embodiment of device 210 that combines advantageous aspects from two previously described embodiments . the three digit numbers used in this embodiment with like ending digits designate similar elements as the numbers in the previous embodiments . this embodiment has two side pushbuttons 290 cantilevered in the side surface of cap 212 which are actuated for unlatching by pushing either one , or both , of the two available buttons on cap 212 . although the appearances of jaw members 214 and 216 look substantially different in this embodiment when compared to earlier figures having jaw members 14 and 16 , many of the visual differences are a matter of styling or related to the fact that this embodiment shows how the device would look if it were sized for a small bundle , such as for a set of ear bud cables as used on small digital music devices that are currently common . functionally , however , jaw member 214 remains the same , whereas jaw member 216 is changed to accommodate the two side buttons 290 . fig6 a is a cross section showing the device 212 in the latched position , analogous with fig4 . cap 212 defines a passageway 240 that defines on its surface a retaining surface 242 . jaw member 214 has attaching end 222 and teeth 246 . jaw member 216 has pawl 254 , deflecting teeth 256 , and tabs 238 . teeth 246 are interlocked with teeth 256 . tabs 238 do not have a top face as did release tabs 38 , but instead have angled side faces 239 . the reason for these angled side faces can best be understood by describing the unlatching actuation as follows . two arrows in fig6 a show the buttons 290 being depressed towards the pawl 254 so that the device will unlatch . the lower inner corner 292 of either or both of buttons 290 makes contact with angled surface 239 , causing pawl 254 to deflect toward the interior of the device as indicated by the arrow . fig6 b shows the same cross section as fig6 a with the following differences : buttons 290 have moved towards each other and the pawl 254 and deflecting teeth 256 have moved inwardly and disengaged from teeth 246 . the device is ready to be opened by moving the jaw member 214 out of the passageway 240 . fig7 is shows a side partial sectional view of the device 210 in the latched position . fig8 a shows yet another embodiment of the invention . a device 310 is shown having a jaw member 314 that has teeth 346 that are disposed on the side of the jaw member rather than on the inward surface as in the other embodiments . a side button 390 is pushed to begin unlatching the device , using internal structures such as those shown in fig3 d and 3e . fig8 b shows yet another embodiment of the invention . a device 410 is shown having a jaw member 414 that has teeth 446 that are disposed on the outside of the jaw member rather than on the inward surface as in the other embodiments . a side button 490 is pushed to begin unlatching the device , using internal structures such as those shown in fig6 a and 6b . fig9 a shows an embodiment of a size similar to that of fig4 , but using two side buttons such as those in the embodiment of fig4 , 5 , 6 a , 6 b and 7 . a frame 294 has been added to so that a person &# 39 ; s fingers could pass through or grip the open area 296 and frame 294 to provide an easy way for a person to carry device 212 and its contents . frame 294 could be roughened or knurled to assist in gripping . a handle such as the one formed by frame 294 is especially convenient when the size of the device 210 is small , in which case grasping the combination of the device and a bundle could result in accidentally depressing a button 290 , causing the device 210 to unlatch . the frame 294 and open area 296 also forms a convenient way to hang a bundle and device combination . for instance , a coiled extension cord , captured by the device 210 , could be hung on peg on a garage wall by passing open area 296 over the peg . fig9 b shows an embodiment with two side buttons as in fig9 a , in which , instead of a frame 294 creating an open space 296 , a gripping wall 298 is provided . wall 298 may be knurled or roughened to facilitate gripping . fig9 b further illustrates optional wedges 300 a , 300 b and 300 c incorporated into wall 298 , used for mounting the device . wedges may mount the device onto the object to be bundled ( such as a headphone or extension cord ) or to another cylindrically - shaped item such as a peg in a pegboard . the device may incorporate wedge structures of varying sizes thus allowing the user to select the wedge 300 that is sized to accommodate the particular size of cord or tubular structure to attach to the device . the use and operation of wedge structures is disclosed in detail in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 774 , 945 , which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety . by selecting a wedge 300 that is slightly smaller than the cord or tubular structure , sufficient friction may be generated to prevent the cord or tubular structure from sliding in the wedge . on the other hand , if such sliding is desired , a wedge that is slightly larger than the cord or tubular structure may be selected . fig9 c shows an embodiment as in fig9 a or 9 b except that in this case there are two optional walls rather than just one as shown in fig9 b . the necessary internal workings for the two buttons are situated between the two walls . the two walls may define therein various wedges such as 300 d and 300 e illustrated in fig9 c . one way of constructing this embodiment is for the jaw member 216 to be able to accommodate a bigger cap 412 . the internal workings can include structures extending from the buttons that reach to the pawl , or the pawl can be made larger to extend to the buttons . fig9 d shows a further alternate embodiment 510 having jaw members 514 , 516 that are integrally joined by a hinge strap or “ living hinge ” 526 . this integral resilient hinge 526 performs the same alignment function as the screw 26 or cylindrical portion 30 disclosed in the embodiments of earlier figures . the contour at 526 can be of many shapes , and it is a function of the materials , thicknesses and curvatures used for a particular design of clamp 510 . although this hinge strap is only shown in this fig9 d , the concept can be used for any of the device embodiments shown . fig1 shows a method of use for any one of the embodiments such as device 10 . any one of the embodiments can be provided with one or more hooks 62 that could be of a variety of shapes and at a variety of locations either in the interior 11 of elsewhere on the device . this hook could either removably , or permanently , attach the device 10 to an object 64 suitable for bundling . other embodiments might use a wedge as described above to grip the cord being bundled , or other parts of the device 64 . the device 64 shown in fig1 is a set of ear buds and attached cords , as typically used for listening to music from portable audio devices . fig1 shows another example of an environment of use similar to that shown in fig1 . in this example the device 62 is an electrical device , such as a power drill , blow dryer , or extension cord . any corded device or other device in need of bundling ( such as a piece of rope ) could be bundled in the manner shown in this drawing . fig1 shows an example of a device 210 permanently or removably attached to an object 65 that uses a cord 64 needing bundling . in this embodiment the device 210 is attached to the object 65 rather than to the cord 64 that needs bundling . fig1 a shows a further embodiment , in which an object 66 incorporates into its structure , a device 610 utilizing principles previously illustrated . specifically , the device 610 creates a space 11 in which , for example , a cord 64 may be bundled . whereas in previous embodiments , for example the embodiment 210 ( fig1 ) included two jaw members such as 214 and 216 , in the present embodiment , only one jaw member 614 may be included . the functional portions , such as the pawl 54 and moving teeth 56 of the jaw member 216 shown in previous embodiments , are incorporated within the body of the object 66 . button 690 is outwardly visible and leads to internal moving parts controlling pawl 54 as discussed with reference to prior embodiments . in fig1 a , jaw member 614 has fixed teeth 646 on the inner surface , and button 690 moves a pawl into and out of engagement with teeth 646 , similar to button 290 of previous figures . alternatively , a button such as 190 of fig3 a may be used along with side teeth ( such as 346 in fig8 a ). similarly , teeth on the outer surface of jaw 614 ( such as teeth 446 in fig8 b ) could be used on jaw member 614 , with appropriate arrangement of a pawl to interlock with those teeth . although fig1 and 12a shown a portable music player that does not have a protective carrying case , in many examples of these portable players , the user may elect to use an exterior case surrounding the device for decorative and / or protective reasons . the principles of this invention , shown in fig1 and 12a , may be applied to a carrying case as readily as to the object itself ; that is , the device 210 may be attached to a case and / or a device 610 may be integrated into a case . while the present invention has been illustrated by the description of one or more embodiments thereof , and while the embodiments have been described in considerable detail , they are not intended to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail . additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art . the invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details , representative apparatus and method and illustrative examples shown and described . accordingly , departures may be made from such details without departing from the general inventive concept .

a device for handling or storing items uses jaw members that hinge to one of several closed positions in which the inner surface of a first jaw is engaged by an engagement device of the second jaw . an external release member in the second jaw is used to move the engagement device between an engaging and a disengaged position . the second jaw also incorporates a retaining surface , positioned opposite the outer surface of the first jaw when the jaws are closed , which opposes outward flexing of said first jaw member , and thus reduces the opportunity for disengagement due to forces from inside the jaws .

referring to fig2 to 4 , the preferred embodiment of a protective cover device according to the present invention is adapted to be mounted on a worktable of a sawing machine ( not shown ) on which a workpiece ( not shown ) is fed along a working path in a longitudinal direction , and is shown to comprise a supporting member 20 , a cantilever 40 , a cover shield 30 , a rear journal unit 50 , a front journal unit 60 , and a hold - down unit 70 . the supporting member 20 is in the form of a flat plate , and has a lower end portion 21 which is adapted to be secured on the worktable of the sawing machine , and an upper end portion 22 which is opposite to the lower end portion 21 in an upright direction transverse to the longitudinal direction and which has a rear pivot hole 23 and a retaining hole 24 extending therethrough in a transverse direction relative to both the upright direction and the longitudinal direction , and a retaining edge 25 disposed upwardly of the retaining hole 24 . the rear pivot hole 23 is round , and the retaining hole 24 is rectangular . the cantilever 40 has front and rear pivot ends 401 , 402 opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction . with further reference to fig5 and 6 , the rear pivot end 402 includes left and right lugs 43 , 44 which are spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction so as to define an accommodation space for receiving the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 therein , and which respectively have left and right through holes 431 , 441 . the rear journal unit 50 includes a first guiding member 51 , a second guiding member 52 , a rear journal pin 53 , a rear push actuator 54 , and a biasing member 55 . the first guiding member 51 includes a left stem 5112 which is configured to pass through the left through hole 431 , which has an inserting bore 5111 extending along a rear axis in the transverse direction to be exposed to the accommodation space between the lugs 43 , 44 , and which has a left outer threaded surface that surrounds the rear axis and that is threadedly engaged with a left tightening member 512 , and a left enlarged head 511 which extends leftwards from the left stem 5112 and outwardly of the left through hole 431 , and which forms , in cooperation with the left stem 5112 , a left surrounding shoulder to abut against the left lug 43 so as to be secured to the left lug 43 . the second guiding member 52 includes a right stem 5212 which is disposed in and which extends rightwards and outwardly of the right through hole 441 , and a right enlarged head 521 which extends leftwards from the right stem 5212 into the accommodation space between the lugs 43 , 44 , and which forms , in cooperation with the right stem 5212 , a right surrounding shoulder . the right stem 5212 has a right outer threaded surface which surrounds the rear axis and which is threadedly engaged with a right tightening member 522 so as to permit the right surrounding shoulder to be brought to abut against the right lug 44 so as to be secured to the right lug 44 . the right enlarged head 521 has a guiding bore 5211 which extends along the rear axis to communicate with the inserting bore 5111 . the rear journal pin 53 is received in and is guided to move into the inserting bore 5111 , and has an actuated end 531 which can extend through the rear pivot hole 23 to pivotally secure the rear pivot end 402 of the cantilever 40 to the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 , as shown in fig6 , such that the rear pivot end 402 is turnable about the rear axis between a lifted position where the front pivot end 401 is remote from the upper end portion 22 , and a working position where the front pivot end 401 is closer to the upper end portion 22 . the biasing member 55 is disposed in the inserting bore 5111 between the left enlarged head 511 and the actuated end 531 of the rear journal pin 53 to bias the actuated end 531 to a latched position , where the actuated end 531 extends through the rear pivot hole 23 so as to pivotally secure the rear pivot end 402 to the upper end portion 22 . the rear push actuator 54 has an actuating end 542 which confronts the actuated end 531 of the rear journal pin 53 , and an operated end 541 which extends outwardly of the guiding bore 5211 and which is pushed to move the actuating end 542 in the transverse direction so as to push the actuated end 531 of the rear journal pin 53 along the rear axis against the biasing action of the biasing member 55 to a released position , where the actuated end 531 is clear of the rear pivot hole 23 , thereby permitting separation of the rear pivot end 402 of the cantilever 40 from the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 , as shown in fig7 and 8 . preferably , each of the actuated end 531 of the rear journal pin 53 and the actuating end 542 of the rear push actuator 54 has a round edge so as to facilitate movement of the rear pivot end 402 upwards and away from the upper end portion 22 while the actuated end 531 is kept in contact with the actuating end 542 by the biasing action of the biasing member 55 in the released position . referring once again to fig4 , the cover shield 30 is configured to be adapted to cover a cutting blade ( not shown ) of the sawing machine , and includes two side plates 31 which are spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction to define a mounting space 33 for receiving the cantilever 40 therein , and a top wall 32 interconnecting the side plates 31 . each of the side plates 31 includes front and rear ends opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction , and a middle portion interposed therebetween . the front end extends downwards to terminate at a nose edge 34 . the middle portion has a front pivot hole 311 which extends therethrough in the transverse direction . thus , the cover shield 30 is movable by the cantilever 40 so as to be detached from the supporting member 20 when the rear pivot end 402 of the cantilever 40 is separated from the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 , as shown in fig8 . further , referring to fig9 and 10 , the front pivot end 401 of the cantilever 40 includes two lugs 41 which are spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction , and an upper wall 42 which interconnects the lugs 41 . each of the lugs 41 has a through hole 411 extending in the transverse direction , and a releasing hole 421 which extends in the upright direction and which is communicated with the through hole 411 by a communicating slot 412 to form an integral opening . the front journal unit 60 includes a front journal pin with two journal shafts 61 and two screw nuts 62 , and two biasing members 63 . each of the journal shafts 61 has a shank 611 which extends through the respective front pivot hole 311 to pivotally secure the middle portions of the side plats 31 of the cover shield 30 to the front pivot end 401 of the cantilever 40 such that the nose edges 34 of the cover shield 30 are brought to be in sliding contact with an upper surface of the workpiece fed along the working path by virtue of gravity when the rear pivot end 402 is in the working position . the shank 611 terminates at a connecting end 6111 which is threadedly engaged with the respective screw nut 62 . the journal shaft 61 further has an operated end 612 which is opposite to the connecting end 6111 and which is disposed outwardly of the respective side plate 31 . an operated slot 6121 is formed in the operated end 612 to receive a hand tool ( not shown ) used to fasten the connecting end 6111 and the screw nut 62 . each of the biasing members 63 is sleeved on the shank 611 of the respective journal shaft 61 between the operated end 612 and the respective side plate 31 . by virtue of the threaded engagement between the screw nut 62 and the connecting end 6111 against the biasing action of the respective biasing member 63 , each screw nut 62 is brought to abut against the respective side plate 31 so as to be retained in the respective through hole 411 , thereby placing the respective journal shaft 61 in a latched position by the biasing action of the respective biasing member 63 , as shown in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , when the operated end 612 is pressed against the biasing action of the respective biasing member 63 , the connecting end 6111 and the screw nut 62 are withdrawn inwardly to be clear of the respective through hole 411 so as to be moved to a released position , thereby permitting lifting of the cover shield 30 away from the lugs 41 in the upright direction , as shown in fig1 . furthermore , referring to fig1 and 14 , the hold - down unit 70 includes a journal body 71 , two hold - down members 72 , a first biasing member 74 , a retaining pin 76 , a second biasing member 77 , and a middle push actuator 78 . the journal body 71 is disposed to ride on the retaining edge 25 of the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 through a slot 711 , and has two tubular journal portions 712 which are disposed at two opposite sides of the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 and which respectively have receiving holes 713 that are aligned with the retaining hole 24 in the transverse direction and that are in the form of screw holes so as to threadedly engage screw bolts 73 . in addition , the journal body 71 is formed with a passage hole 714 that extends in the transverse direction . a barrier shaft 75 extends through the passage hole 714 , and has two ends extending outwardly thereof . each of the hold - down members 72 has an upper pivot end 722 which is journalled on the respective tubular journal portion 712 through a hole 721 , and a lower holding end 723 which extends downwardly from the upper pivot end 722 and which is configured to be kept in sliding contact with the workpiece sawn by the cutting blade so as to stabilize the sawing operation of the sawing machine . the first biasing member 74 is a torsion spring , and includes an abutting portion 741 abutting against the supporting member 20 , two coiled spring portions 742 respectively surrounding the tubular journal portions 712 , and two hooks 743 respectively abutting against the hold - down members 72 so as to bias the lower holding ends 723 of the hold - down members 72 downwardly toward the worktable . moreover , the turning of the lower holding ends 723 is limited by abutment of the upper pivot ends 722 against the ends of the barrier shaft 75 . the retaining pin 76 is substantially rectangular in shape , and mates with the retaining hole 24 in the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 . the retaining pin 76 is received in the receiving hole 713 in one of the tubular journal portions 712 , extends in the transverse direction , and is movable relative to the journal body 71 in the transverse direction . the second biasing member 77 is disposed in a seat hole 732 in one of the screw bolts 73 . thus , the retaining pin 76 is movable between a latched position , as shown in fig1 , where the retaining pin 76 extends into the retaining hole 24 so as to retain the journal body 71 on the upper end portion 22 , and a released position , as shown in fig1 , where the retaining pin 76 is clear of the retaining hole 24 when pressed out of the retaining hole 24 in the transverse direction against the biasing action of the second biasing member 77 . the middle push actuator 78 extends through the receiving hole 713 in the other one of the tubular journal portions 712 , and has an actuating end 782 extending to be in contact with an actuated end 761 of the retaining pin 76 , and an operated end 781 extending out of the respective screw bolt 73 through a through hole 733 such that the operated end 781 can be operated to push the retaining pin 76 in the transverse direction against the biasing action of the second biasing member 77 so that the retaining pin 76 is clear of the retaining hole 24 , thereby permitting separation of the journal body 71 from the supporting member 20 , as shown in fig1 and 16 . preferably , each of the actuated end 761 of the retaining pin 76 and the actuating end 782 of the middle push actuator 78 has a round edge so as to facilitate movement of the retaining pin 76 upwards and away from the upper end portion 22 while the actuated end 761 is kept in contact with the actuating end 782 by the biasing action of the second biasing member 77 in the released position . as illustrated , when it is desired to replace the cutting blade of the sawing machine , the cover shield 30 and the cantilever 40 can be detached from the supporting member 20 by separating the rear pivot end 402 of the cantilever 40 from the upper end portion 22 of the supporting member 20 , as shown in fig7 and 8 . alternatively , the cover shield 30 can be detached alone from the supporting member 20 by separating the shanks 611 and the screw nuts 62 from the releasing holes 421 in the front pivot end 401 of the cantilever 40 , as shown in fig1 and 12 . thus , replacement of the cutting blade is convenient to conduct . moreover , the hold - down unit 70 can be detached from the supporting member 20 by removing the journal body 71 from the retaining hole 24 in the supporting member 20 . while the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements .

a protective cover device includes a supporting member secured to a worktable of a sawing machine , a cantilever having rear and front pivot ends pivoted to the supporting member and a cover shield by rear and front journal pins , respectively . at least one of the rear and front journal pins is movable relative to a corresponding one of the rear and front pivot ends between a latched position , where a respective one of the rear and front journal pins pivotally secures a corresponding one of the rear and front pivot ends to a corresponding one of the supporting member and the cover shield , and a released position , where the respective one of the rear and front journal pins is clear of the corresponding one of the supporting member and the front pivot end by being withdrawn therefrom .

referring to the figures , wherein like reference numbers refer to the same or similar components throughout the several views , fig1 schematically illustrates a vehicle 10 including at least one motor 12 , and a transmission 14 . the vehicle 10 may be any vehicle that utilizes an electric motor to provide the vehicle with drive , such as an electric vehicle , a hybrid electric vehicle , or a fuel cell vehicle . therefore , in addition to the at least one motor 12 the vehicle 10 may also include an internal combustion engine 16 . in the embodiment shown there is a first motor 12 a and a second motor 12 b . the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b are the same size and capacity as one another . the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b are operatively connected to one another to drive the transmission 14 . in the embodiment shown the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b are coupled to one another . in this manner , the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b are stackable to provide the capacity required for the vehicle 10 while primarily operating within the efficiency ranges for the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b . therefore , one large electric motor may be replaced by multiple smaller motors 12 . the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b may be any type of electromechanical device to provide power , such as an induction motor , permanent magnet machine , a / c or d / c motors , etc . the first motor 12 a and the second mo or 12 b may be coupled together directly , through clutches or a solid shaft connection , or indirectly , such as a serpentine belt . direct coupling of the first motor 12 a to the second motor 12 b would provide an efficient arrangement with few losses . indirect coupling may provide a more flexible arrangement for packaging the first motor it 2 a and the second motor 12 b within the vehicle 10 . one skilled in the art would be able to select the manner of coupling most suited for a particular vehicle 10 . any number of generally identical motors , 12 may be combined or stacked to provide the capacity required by the vehicle 10 . the first motor 12 a acts as the primary motor and operates to drive the transmission 14 while the vehicle 10 is operating at steady speeds . the second motor 12 b acts as an additional power source and engages to drive the transmission 14 when additional operating loads are placed on the motors 12 , such as during accelerations of the vehicle 10 . the second motor 12 b would engage any time the operating loads exceed the capacity of the first motor 12 a . alternatively , the second motor 12 b may be engaged prior to the capacity of the first motor 12 a and at any time when the first motor 12 a begins to operate outside of the desired efficiency range . in this manner the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b may both operate within their efficiency range for greater periods of time and the overall vehicle 10 efficiency will be increased . in the above embodiment , the first motor 12 a is the primary motor for the vehicle 10 and the second motor 12 b is used to provide additional power and torque when required by the vehicle 10 . alternatively , the second motor 12 b may be the primary motor and the first motor 12 a may be used to provide additional power and torque . additionally , the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b may alternately be the primary motor and the other would provide the additional power and torque . in this manner , even overall wear on both the first motor 12 a and the second motor 12 b may be maintained . further , the primary motor 12 a or 12 b and the additional motor 129 or 12 a may be engaged or disengaged to maintain operation within the efficiency ranges . the primary motor 12 a or 12 b and the additional motor 12 b or 12 a may also engage or disengage in cooperation with the shift strategy of the transmission 14 to maintain maximum efficiency of the vehicle 10 . in this manner , nontraditional shift strategies of the transmission 14 may be utilized in combination with the motors 12 to increase the efficiency of the vehicle 10 . additionally , the first motor 12 a or the second motor 12 b may act as the primary motor in case of mechanical trouble of the other motor 12 a - b . in this instance the primary motor 12 a - b would not be able to meet the full capacity of the vehicle 10 . however , the vehicle 10 would operate in a restricted or limp - home mode but would allow the vehicle 10 operator to reach their destination . fig2 - 3 illustrate a second embodiment of the vehicle 110 including at least one motor 112 , and a transmission 114 . the vehicle 110 may be an electric vehicle or a hybrid electric vehicle 110 . therefore , in addition to the at least one motor 112 the vehicle 110 may also include an internal combustion engine 116 . in the embodiment shown , there are four motors , 112 a , 112 b , 112 c , 112 d to drive the vehicle 110 . as explained above any number of motors , 112 may be combined to provide the capacity required by the vehicle 110 . in this manner one large electric motor may be replaced by multiple smaller motors 112 . the first through fourth motors 112 a - d are operatively connected to one another and may be coupled together by directly , through clutches , or indirectly , such as by a serpentine belt . direct coupling of the first through fourth motors 112 a - d would provide an efficient arrangement with few losses . indirect coupling may provide a more flexible arrangement for packaging the first through fourth motors 112 a - d within the vehicle 10 . one skilled in the art would be able to select the manner of coupling most suited for a particular vehicle 110 . one of the motors 112 may be designated as the primary motor 112 a and the other motors 112 b - d may provide additional power and torque as required by the vehicle 110 . when the capacity of the first motor 112 a is exceeded or when the first motor 112 a begins to operate outside the efficiency range , the additional motors 112 b - d may be engaged . the additional motors 112 b - d may each provide the same amount of additional power and torque . alternatively , the additional motors 112 b - d may be engaged in an incremental manner . for example , the second motor 112 b may be engaged to assist the first motor 112 a when the capacity of the first motor 112 a is exceeded or when the first motor 112 a begins to operate outside the efficiency range . when the capacity of the first motor 112 a and the second motor 112 b are exceeded or when the first motor 112 a and the second motor 112 b begin to operate outside the efficiency ranges , then the third motor 112 c may be engaged . likewise , the fourth motor 112 d would engage when the capacity / efficiency of the first through third motors 112 a - c are exceeded . similar to the embodiment explained above , the motor 112 a - d which acts as the primary power source for the vehicle 10 may alternate among the first through fourth motors 112 a - d to maintain even overall wear on the first through fourth motors 112 a - d . additionally , any one of the first through fourth motors 112 a - d may act as the primary motor in case of mechanical trouble of one of the other motors 112 a - d . for example , if the first motor 112 a is acting as the primary motor and incurs mechanical trouble the second motor 112 b may then be used as the primary motor and the first motor may be disengaged until the mechanical trouble can be corrected . in the instance of trouble for any of the motors 112 a - d then the motor 112 a - d chosen to be the primary motor and the additional operating motors 112 a - d would not be able to meet the full capacity of the vehicle 110 . however , the vehicle 110 would operate in a restricted or limp - home mode but would allow the vehicle 110 operator to reach their destination . fig3 is a graph which illustrates how the output of the first through fourth motors 112 a - d may be combined to allow the first through fourth motors 112 a - d to primarily operate within their efficiency ranges while combining to provide the capacity required by the vehicle 110 . phase 0 indicates the output of the first motor 112 a . phase 1 indicates the output of the second motor 112 b as operating along with the first motor 112 a such that the torque output is increased . phase 3 indicates the output of the motors when the first through third motors 112 a - c are operating together and phase four indicates the output of all the motors 112 a - d operating at the same time . the efficiency range for the motors 112 a - d is indicated at area 120 . by adding the outputs of the motors 112 a - d together each of the motors 112 a - d each motor can continue to operate within the efficiency range 120 while providing an increase in the total output torque . fig4 schematically illustrates a third embodiment of a vehicle 210 having first motor 212 a and a second motor 212 b . the first motor 212 a and the second motor 212 b are coupled directly together . direct coupling of the first motor 12 a to the second motor 12 b provides an efficient arrangement with few losses . the first motor 212 a has a first input member 222 a and a first output member 224 a . likewise , the second motor 212 b has a second input member 222 b and a second output member 224 b . the first output member 224 b is connected to the second input member 224 a . in the embodiment shown , the first and second input members 222 a and 222 b are female input shafts and the first and second output members 224 a and 224 b are male output shaft . however , any arrangement of input members 222 a - b and output members 224 a - b that would mate together may be the first motor 212 a and the second motor 212 b are identical and have the same input members 222 a - b and output members 224 a - b . additional motors ( not shown ) may be connected to the first and second motors 212 a - b and would have the same input members and output members . therefore , any number of motors 212 may be connected in any order as required to provide the capacity of the vehicle 210 . in the embodiment shown in fig4 , the second motor 212 b is connected to the transmission 214 and acts as the primary motor to drive the vehicle 210 while operating at steady speeds . the first motor 212 a acts as an additional power source and engages to drive the vehicle 210 when additional operating toads are placed on the motors 212 a - b , such as during accelerations of the vehicle 110 . the first motor 212 a would engage any time the operating loads exceed the capacity of the second motor 212 b . alternatively the first motor 212 a may be engaged prior to reaching the capacity of the second motor 212 b and at any time when the second motor 212 b begins to operate outside of the desired efficiency range . in this manner , the first motor 212 a and the second motor 212 b may both operate within their efficiency range for greater periods of time and the overall vehicle 210 efficiency will be increased . in the above embodiment , the second motor 212 b is the primary motor for the vehicle 210 and the first motor 212 a is used to provide additional power and torque when required by the vehicle 10 . alternatively , the first motor 212 a may be the primary motor and the second motor 212 b may be used to provide additional power and torque . additionally , the first motor 212 a and the second motor 212 b may alternately be the primary motor and the other would provide the additional power and torque . in this manner , even overall wear on both the first motor 212 a and the second motor 212 b may be maintained . the first motor 212 a has a first rotor 226 a and the second motor 212 b has a second motor 226 b . due to the direct connection between the first motor 212 a and the second motor 212 b the rotor 226 a or 226 b of the additional motor 212 a or 212 b would continue to rotate while the primary motor 212 b or 212 a operates even though the additional motor 212 a or 212 b is not operating . additionally , either the first motor 212 a or the second motor 212 b may act as the primary motor if case of mechanical trouble of the other motor 212 a - b . in this instance the primary motor 212 b or a would not be able to meet the full capacity of the vehicle 210 . however , the vehicle 210 would operate in a restricted or limp - home mode but would allow the vehicle 210 operator to reach their destination . fig5 schematically illustrates a fourth embodiment of a vehicle 310 having a first motor 312 a and a second motor 312 b . the first motor 312 a has a first input member 322 a and a first output member 324 a . likewise , the second motor 312 b has a second input member 322 b and a second output member 324 b . the first motor 312 a is connected to the second motor 312 b through a first clutch 328 a . that is , the first clutch 328 a has a first clutch input member 330 a and a first clutch output member 330 b . the first motor output member 324 a is connected to the first clutch input member 330 a and the first clutch output member 332 a is connected to the second motor input member 322 b . the second motor 312 b is connected to a transmission 314 for the vehicle 310 through a second clutch 328 b . that is , the second clutch 328 b has a second clutch input member 330 b and a second clutch output member 332 b . the second motor output member 324 b is connected to the second clutch input member 330 b and the second clutch output member 332 b is connected to the transmission 314 . the first motor 312 a , the second motor 312 b , the first clutch 328 a and the second clutch 328 b are generally identical and each have the same input members 322 a - b , 330 a - b and output members 324 a - b , 332 a - b as one another . additional motors and clutches ( not shown ) may be connected to the first and second motors 312 a - b and the first and second clutches 328 a - b and would have the same input members and output members . therefore , any number of motors 312 may be connected through the clutches 328 a - b as required to provide the capacity required by the vehicle 310 . in the embodiment shown , the first and second motor input members 322 a and 322 b are female input members and the first and second motor output members 324 a and 324 b are male output members . likewise , the first and second clutch input members 330 a - b are female input members and the first and second clutch output members 332 a - b are mate output members . however , any arrangement of input members 322 a - b , 330 a - b and output members 324 a - b , 332 a - b may be utilized which would allow the first and second motors 312 a - b to be connected through the first and second clutches 328 a - b in the embodiment shown , the second motor 312 b is connected through the second clutch 328 b to the transmission 314 and acts as the primary motor and to drive the vehicle 310 is operating at steady speeds . the first motor 312 a acts as an additional power source and engages to drive the vehicle 310 when additional operating loads are placed on the motors 312 a - b , such as during accelerations of the vehicle 110 . the first motor 312 a would engage any time the operating loads exceed the capacity of the second motor 312 b . alternatively , the first motor 312 a may be engaged prior to reaching the capacity of the second motor 312 b and at any time when the second motor 312 b begins to operate outside of the desired efficiency range . in this manner , the first motor 312 a and the second motor 312 b may both operate within their efficiency range for greater periods of time and the overall vehicle 310 efficiency will be increased . the first motor 312 a has a first rotor 326 a and the second motor 312 b has a second motor 326 b . the first rotor 326 a does not rotate when the second motor 312 b is operating and the first motor 312 a is not operating . this is due to the first motor 312 a and the second motor 312 b being connected through the clutch 328 a which can be disengaged when the first motor 312 a is not operating . additionally , the first motor 312 a or the second motor 312 b may act as the primary motor if case of mechanical trouble of the other motor 312 a or 312 b . in this instance the primary motor 312 b or 312 a would not be able to meet the full capacity of the vehicle 310 . however , the vehicle 310 would operate in a restricted or limp - home mode but would allow the vehicle 310 operator to reach their destination . in the embodiment described above the motors 12 , 112 , 212 , 312 are described as being generally identical to one another . that is , the motors 12 , 112 , 212 , 312 have the same general size , capacity and preferably configuration of one another . alternatively , this may mean for a particular vehicle 10 , 110 , 210 , 310 configuration the motors 12 , 112 , 212 , 312 of that vehicle 10 are able to be used interchangeably with one another . while the best modes for carrying out the invention have been described in detail , those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention within the scope of the appended claims .

a vehicle comprises a plurality of motors operatively connected with one another . the vehicle is powered with the plurality of motors individually and in combination with one another to primarily operate each of the plurality of motors within a predetermine efficiency range .

detailed descriptions of one or more preferred embodiments are provided herein . it is to be understood , however , that the present invention may be embodied in various forms . therefore , specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in any appropriate system , structure or manner . fig4 shows door stand 10 holding up door 160 for painting by spray gun 170 . upper connecting member 20 is placed inside hardware opening 165 . bottom of door 167 contacts base 119 and base 119 contacts ground surface 180 . bottom edge of door 166 also contacts ground surface 180 . base 119 will resist tipping of door 160 in either direction of first and second door surfaces 168 , 169 . the bottom of door 160 will resist tipping of door 160 in a direction transverse to first and second door surfaces 168 , 169 . if door 160 is tipped slightly it will tend to return to the vertical position . accordingly , door 160 will be held stable while being painted . the article ( s ) to be painted or coated can be set up anywhere a relatively flat surface can be found . fig1 is a preferred embodiment of door stand 10 wherein stand 10 is collapsible . stand 10 is comprised of first leg 100 , second leg 110 , and base 119 . base 119 is comprised of first base portion 120 and second base portion 130 . upper connecting member 20 is attached to the connection 115 between first leg 100 and second leg 110 . upper connecting member 20 is preferably constructed of a flexible material such as an elastomer or rubber . flexibility allows for differential movement between stand 10 and door 160 . however , upper connecting member 20 can be constructed of any material of suitable strength such as polymer , plastics , metal , wood , glass , ceramic , or other material . pin 30 is attached to pivot stop / catch 90 and helps ensure contact between base 119 and bottom of door 167 ( fig4 ). pin 30 can be a metal , wood , elastomer , rubber , polymer , plastic , glass , or other suitable material which can facilitate engagement , frictional or otherwise , between base 119 and bottom of door 167 . pin 30 can also be a ridge or bumper ( not shown ) facilitating frictional engagement between base 119 and bottom of door 167 . first boot 70 and second boot 80 are attached to base 119 . boots 70 , 80 are preferably constructed of a material with adequate wear resistance and facilitates frictional engagement with ground 180 . boots 70 , 80 can be constructed of an elastomer , rubber , polymer , plastic , metal , wood , or other suitable material . first pivot 40 , second pivot 50 , third pivot 60 , and fourth pivot 65 facilitate the collapsing of stand 10 ( fig2 and 3 ). first pivot 40 pivotally connects first leg 100 and second leg 110 . second pivot 50 pivotally connects first leg 100 and first base portion 120 . third pivot 60 pivotally connects second base portion 130 and second leg 110 . fourth pivot pivotally connects first base portion 120 and second base portion 130 . fig1 shows stand 10 in an open condition and ready to be used to support door 160 . when in the open position fourth pivot stop / catch 90 resists further pivoting of first and second base portions 120 , 130 . fig2 shows an exploded view of collapsible stand 10 . fig3 shows stand 10 in a collapsed condition ready to be stored . ring 150 can be used to maintain stand 10 in the collapsed condition and ready for storage stand 10 is preferably sized to fit a standard door . suitable dimensions for stand 10 can nominally be about 40 inches for first and second legs 100 , 110 and about 34 inches for base 119 . those of ordinary skill in the art can size stand 10 for various articles to be painted or coated . in an alternative embodiment not shown , stand 10 can be non - collapsible . in such non - collapsible embodiment first and second legs 100 , 110 and base 119 would not be pivotally connected but affixed to one another . such an embodiment , although not collapsible , would have less moving parts and theoretically a longer useful life . fig5 shows two alternative embodiments : ( a ) tacked embodiment 200 and ( b ) t - embodiment 300 . construction of the tacked embodiment 200 can be similar to the embodiment disclosed in fig1 - 3 . however , pin 220 can be added to upper connecting member 210 . pin 220 connects to side of door 240 . pin 220 can be any fastener such as a pin , nail , screw , staple , magnet , or adhesive . engagement between tacked embodiment 200 and door 230 occurs at bottom of door 250 . connection between pin 220 and side of door 240 is not limited to hardware opening 350 , but can be at other locations along the side of door . t - embodiment 300 can include base 310 , pin 320 , lower arm 305 , and upper connecting member 340 . for adjustability upper arm 360 and adjusting screw 370 can be provided . upper arm 360 can telescopically fit within lower arm 305 allowing for adjusting the height of upper connecting member 340 to be inserted in hardware opening 350 . base 310 can include base ends 311 , 312 . pin 320 can be connected to base 310 and engages bottom of door 330 . fig6 and 7 show an alternative adjustable embodiment 400 . the extended orientation is shown in fig6 and contracted orientation in fig7 . fig7 also shows the stand 400 in a collapsed orientation . first and second sleeves 435 , 455 can connect first and second legs 430 , 450 with top portion 460 . adjusting screws 436 , 456 can be used to lock first and second sleeves 435 , 455 with first and second legs 430 , 450 when the desired extended position is achieved . pin 420 can be located on base 440 and upper connecting member 410 located on top portion 460 . fig6 also shows another alternative embodiment utilizing adjusting screws 465 , 470 . adjusting screws 465 , 470 can be threadably connected to base 440 allowing their adjustment for protrusion through bottom of base 440 . adjusting screws 465 , 470 help bring bottom of door 167 ( fig4 ) to a higher position and leveling door 160 allowing re - attachment of hinges to door 160 . such adjustment feature facilitates setting door 160 back on its hinges after door 160 has been painted or coated thereby allowing a single man to easily set door 160 . adjusting screws 465 , 470 can be added to any one of the embodiments disclosed in fig1 through 7 . adjusting screws 465 , 470 can also be located at different positions on any of the embodiments disclosed in fig1 through 7 , such as at the comers . adjusting screws 465 , 470 can also be removably attached to any of the embodiments disclosed in fig1 through 7 , such as by clips or other attachment means . in various embodiments shown in fig1 - 7 a triangular shape for stand 10 has been shown . however , those skilled in the art will realize that other shapes can be used such as a rectangle , parallelogram , parabola , semicircle , t , y , along with other configurations . the design takes into account the requirement of having at least one upper connecting point on the side of the article to be held , at least one lower connecting point on the bottom of the door , and at least two ground contacts point on opposite sides of the article . all measurements disclosed herein are at standard temperature and pressure , at sea level on earth , unless indicated otherwise . all materials used or intended to be used in a human being are biocompatible , unless indicated otherwise . it will be understood that each of the elements described above , or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods and apparatuses differing from the type described above . without further analysis , the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can , by applying current knowledge , readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that , from the standpoint of prior art , fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention set forth in the appended claims . the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only ; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims .

a method and apparatus for holding an article to be painted coated with a stand . in one embodiment the stand comprises a first leg , a second leg , an upper connecting member attached to the first and second legs at an upper elevational position , a base connecting the first and second legs at a lower elevational position , at least part of the upper connecting member being insertable in a hardware opening of the article , and the base extending on at least two sides of the article .

lamp sockets 1 , 2 ( fig1 ) may be considered as part of the context or environment of our invention , or to the extent recited in certain of the appended claims may be elements of the inventive combination . the same is true of the external half connector 70 , the power supply wires 6 , the external wiring 3 , 5 from the sockets 1 , 2 to the ballast 10 / 40 , and the cross - connections or common wiring extensions between the parallel - wired sockets 1 . the system of fig1 with its single connector 50 / 70 , includes sockets 1 , 2 for two lamps ; and the connector has one unused wiring position . fig2 illustrates a system with two connectors -- one at each end of the ballast -- and with sockets 1 , 2 , 1 &# 39 ;, 2 &# 39 ; for four lamps . this fig2 system includes additional direct ballast - to - socket wires 3 &# 39 ;, 5 &# 39 ; and additional cross - connections 4 &# 39 ;. if the ballast is an electronic type , the external wiring may include an added wire 7 to a computer or to a manual control for light intensity or the like -- thus using all nine wiring positions in one connector 50 / 70 that carries the input power and control connection . the connector at the other end of this ballast , however , has three unused positions . if justified by production volume , connectors with fewer wiring positions may be substituted for those having some positions unused , in both fig1 and 2 . a countervailing consideration is the cost of the added tooling required . as shown in fig1 through 9 , the ballast can or housing 10 / 40 is made up of two main parts : a lower structure 10 and a coverplate 40 . each is made from a single formed piece of sheet metal respectively . the lower structure 10 includes two generally upstanding side walls 11 , continuous ( along a corresponding fold 15 at each lower edge ) with a pair of transitional angled panels 13 , respectively . each of these angled panels 13 in turn is continuous ( along a respective fold 14 ) with a common central floor 12 . continuous with the floor 12 , along a transverse fold line 24 at each end , is an end wall 21 . in the illustrated embodiment , each end wall 21 is in turn continuous along another transverse fold line 32 with an end segment 31 , and along a pair of longitudinal fold lines 28 with a pair of short side tabs 27 , respectively . after assembly , as seen in fig1 and 4 , both of the latter longitudinal fold lines are generally vertical , while the end segments 31 are generally horizontal and extend longitudinally . as explained elsewhere in this document , we believe that our invention encompasses embodiments having no vertical end wall 21 , no side tab 27 , and no horizontal end segment 31 . the side tabs 27 ( when present ) then extend longitudinally from the side edges 28 of the end walls 21 , along the outside surfaces of the side walls 11 respectively . analogous side tabs 47 , much longer than those of the end walls 21 , extend downward from fold lines 48 along the long edges of the coverplate 40 -- also along the outside surfaces of the corresponding side walls 11 . for best inside clearance each side panel 11 is enlarged or &# 34 ; bellied out &# 34 ; in an area that is below ( as in fig1 ; or within , as in fig8 ) a tapered step 11 &# 39 ; formed in the sheet metal of the side panel . the step 11 &# 39 ; may meander somewhat arbitrarily , as suggested by comparison of fig1 and 8 . the end segments 31 are preferably formed with holes 35 for use in connection to the coverplate 40 ( fig7 ), at matching holes 45 in that plate -- as by fasteners 38 ( fig8 ). the end segments 31 and 41 of both the lower structure 10 and the coverplate 40 are slotted 34 , 44 for attachment by suitable fasteners to a luminaire ( not shown ). die - cut into each side wall 11 , at each end 17 of the side wall 11 where a connector is to be installed , is a respective notch 18 / 19 . each notch includes a vertical edge 19 , longitudinally inset from the corresponding side - wall end edge 17 ; and also includes a longitudinal bottom edge 18 . in the preferred embodiment illustrated , each notch 18 / 19 is cut out of the upper corner of the corresponding side wall 11 ( although , as explained elsewhere , that limitation is not believed to be necessary ). thus the notch has no upper edge as such , and the longitudinal bottom edge 18 of the notch is simply inset or down - set below the upper edge 16 of the corresponding side wall 11 . die - cut in each end wall 21 ( when present ) that will carry an internal half connector 50 is a respective orifice 22 / 23 . the orifice has an upper , relatively large rectangular portion 22 , and a smaller slot or recess 23 communicating with the bottom center of the large portion 22 . in the preferred embodiments that are illustrated , the internal half connector 50 is mounted substantially just inside the corresponding end wall 21 . we use the term &# 34 ; substantially &# 34 ; here to allow for the slight protrusion of an outward - projecting circumferential flange 52 from the internal half connector body 51 / 58 , through the large upper portion 22 of the end - wall orifice 22 / 23 . the external half connector 70 includes a body 71 , to which all the external wires 3 , 5 , 6 are connected . in the preferred embodiments of fig1 , 5 , 6 , 8 and 10 , the internal half connector 50 is a receptacle and the external half connector 70 is a jack . thus , when the external half connector 70 is mated with the internal half connector 50 , the forward tip of the external half 70 is inserted into an outward - facing antechamber 56 formed within and by the circumferential flange 52 . in other preferred embodiments , however , the opposite relationship may be used , as shown in fig1 . in either event , a hook 72 that projects from the external half connector body 71 then protrudes through the small recess portion 23 of the orifice 22 / 23 in the end wall 21 , and into a small secondary cavity 57 ( see fig5 , 8 , 10 and 11 ) formed with the internal connector body 51 / 58 . in assembly of the preferred embodiments illustrated in fig1 through 10 , typically the lower structure 10 and coverplate 40 are first die - cut from flat sheet metal . then the side walls 11 and transitional angled panels 13 are bent upward from the floor 12 to the orientations generally shown in fig3 . as previously mentioned , the end wall 21 is continuous with the floor 12 , the end segment 31 and the short side tabs 27 -- along respective fold lines 24 , 32 and 28 . those fold lines thus form part of the demarcation of the end wall 21 . the remaining demarcations of that wall are formed by substantially vertical cut side edges 26 , below the short tabs 27 , and angled cut lower - transitional edges 25 . the end wall accordingly has a double - trapezoidal shape , whose two angled lower edges 25 after bending lie generally adjacent to the cut edges of the two angled transitional panels 13 . as this bending process is completed , but before the metal break or other tooling is released , the long - fold angles 14 , 15 are such as to add up to substantially a right angle ; in other words , each of the walls 11 is then substantially perpendicular to the common floor 12 . similarly the side tabs 27 are then bent to a right angle , or slightly past a right angle , relative to the end walls 21 . finally right angles are formed along a short fold line 24 where the floor 12 is continuous with the end wall 21 , and at a longer fold line 32 where that wall 21 is continuous with the end segment 31 . because the metal is resilient , however , when the tool releases the metal all these bends spring open slightly from their final angles as formed . then the side walls 11 and end wall 21 all angle slightly outward from the vertical , relative to the floor 12 . the overall result of the bending action and the reaction just described appears in fig4 . in fig4 and 5 the springback has been drawn exaggerated to permit a more definite view of the consequent clearances . in fig4 through 8 , the end segment 31 is drawn partially broken away at 37 for a clearer view of relationships between other parts . fig4 shows , in particular , a gap between the end edges 17 of the two intermediate angled panels 13 and the nearly adjacent angled lower edges 25 of the end wall 21 , respectively . this gap is narrowest just adjacent to the floor folds 14 , and widest at the outer corners formed by the end - wall angled edges 25 and vertical edges 26 . also shown is an even wider gap between the end edges 17 of the two side walls 11 and the adjacent side edges of the end wall 21 . ( these side edges are formed , as earlier noted , by cut edges near the bottom of the end wall 21 , and then by folds 28 nearer the top of the end wall 21 .) this gap continues to increase from the bottom toward the top , due to the outward angles of both the end wall 21 and side walls 11 . the short side tabs 27 , folded from the end - wall 21 side edges 28 , project longitudinally next to the outside surfaces of the side walls 11 , respectively -- and in particular next to the notches 18 / 19 cut in the upper end corners of the side walls 11 . thus the tabs 27 partially obstruct the openings constituted by the notches 18 / 19 . fig5 illustrates the next assembly step , which is to drop roughly into place the internal half connector 50 , with its attached internal leads 91 and their associated electrical components 92 through 95 ( fig9 ). in fig5 one of the side tabs 27 is drawn broken away at 29 , for a clearer view of the relationships between the parts of the internal half connector 50 and the sheet - metal parts already described . the internal half connector 50 has a body 51 / 58 , and an end - wall - abutting lip 62 ( fig1 and 11 ) that extends upward from the forward or outward portion 58 of the half - connector body 51 / 58 . the lip 62 restrains the body 51 / 58 from falling forward through the end - wall orifice 22 , while allowing the previously mentioned circumferential flange 52 to protrude slightly through the orifice . the internal half connector 50 also has a pair of ears 55 that extend upward from the flange 62 , and thus indirectly from the body 51 / 58 . when the internal half connector 50 is preliminarily emplaced , these ears 55 slide loosely downward into the corresponding notches 18 / 19 -- roughly guided , laterally , by the short side tabs 29 at both sides of the assembly . optionally if desired such guidance could be enhanced by deforming the side tabs 27 inward in small dimples 27 &# 39 ; ( fig3 ). we have found assembly quite satisfactory , however , without that additional feature . as the bottom surfaces 54 of the ears 55 approach the horizontal cut bottom edges 18 of the notches 18 / 19 , the forward tip of the outward - projecting circumferential flange 52 slips easily through the orifice 22 and protrudes very slightly as shown in fig5 . at this stage the positioning of the connector is very preliminary and rough , and only shown by fig5 in a very representative way . for example , in one extreme situation the ears may rest squarely in one or both notches , with the rearward edge 53 of an ear closely juxtaposed to the vertical edge 19 of the corresponding notch -- as may appear from the portion of fig5 that shows the near corner . instead the ears may be slightly canted horizontally -- as may appear from the portion of the illustration showing the far corner , where the vertical edge 19 of the far notch 18 / 19 is visible to the left of the far ear 55 . in either event the ears 55 and flange 62 remain somewhat spaced away from the inside surface of the end wall 21 . the forward edge of the wall that defines the secondary cavity 57 also remains spaced somewhat inward from the end wall 21 , behind the cut edges of the small recess portion 23 of the orifice 22 / 23 . fig5 shows all these relations clearly . alternatively , as another extreme case , it is particularly easy for the entire connector body to fall forward toward the end wall 21 , so that the ears 55 , flange 62 , and secondary - cavity wall 57 rest lightly against the inside surface of that wall 21 . moreover the connector 50 can come to rest preliminarily in any of a great variety of positions intermediate between the two extreme orientations just described . successful practice of our invention does not depend upon orienting the connector 50 in any particular one of these conditions -- provided only that ( 1 ) the ears 55 are somewhere in the notches 18 / 19 and between the side tabs 27 , and ( 2 ) the entire periphery of the forward - projecting flange 52 is either started through the orifice 22 in the end wall 21 , or sufficiently well aligned with the orifice 22 at the instant when the next stage of assembly begins to start through it readily . this independence of any fine prealignment , or any other sort of fussing with the pieces , is a particularly valuable aspect of our invention . as previously pointed out , and as we shall shortly explain in terms of the very lenient tolerance requirements for the structures involved , this independence is not significantly traded off against fabrication costs but rather is a natural product of the unique geometry . fig6 represents the next assembly stage . here pressure 101 is applied laterally inward , and pressure 102 is applied longitudinally inward , on the side and end walls 11 , 21 respectively . this pressure 101 , 102 is commonly provided by inserting the assembly bodily into a jig -- sometimes denominated a &# 34 ; pouring fixture &# 34 ;-- which returns the walls to their previously substantially upright or perpendicular positions as obtained duping bending . for purposes of this document , elements of the pouring fixture can be regarded as represented by the arrows 101 , 102 . in these positions the gaps illustrated and previously discussed in connection with fig4 are all substantially closed up . at the same time the connector 50 is progressively forced square , erect and flat against the end wall 21 . more specifically , the ears 55 are captured between a pair of opposing jaws -- each formed by a notch vertical edge 19 at one side and the inside surface of the end wall 21 at the other . as these jaws come into near - parallelism , and approach a spacing that closely approximates the thickness of the ears 55 , the jaws force the ears into line -- straightening the ears in the notches -- and the rest of the connector body follows suit . while the lower structure 10 and the connector 50 are held firmly in this condition , potting material is poured as at 103 into the structure 10 , and around the connector , wires and associated components 92 - 95 . the coverplate 40 is then affixed as in fig8 so that the long side tabs 47 retain the side walls 11 inward -- and the fasteners 38 hold the end segments 31 and thereby the end walls 21 inward . the assembly 10 / 40 / 50 etc . can then be removed from the pouring fixture and set aside for cooling and solidifying of the potting material . it can now be more fully appreciated why successful practice of the foregoing aspects of our invention is relatively independent of fine adjustments and fussy prealignment . for one thing , the forward - projecting flange 56 need not fit through the orifice 22 / 23 very closely : the seal between the connector 50 and the end wall 21 is formed by flat - abutting parts all around the orifice . further , the notches 18 / 19 may be slightly taller than the ears 55 , provided that the fit is close enough to permit only very little leakage . this is not a severe constraint , for the notches are only a small fraction of an inch wide and any resulting gap is backed up at least esthetically by the side tabs 27 . the only fit between the connector and the can that is to any extent critical is the match between the widths of the notches 18 / 19 and of the ears 55 . here a relatively close tolerance is required , the ears preferably being if anything slightly narrower than the notches , as it is this fit that ensures a close abutment between the flat - abutting parts 55 , 62 , 57 and the end wall 21 , as previously mentioned -- to prevent leakage at the orifice 22 / 23 . this is true particularly around the small lower recess portion 23 of the orifice , where the path to potting material is relatively short . this sensitivity can be minimized if desired by provision of a small peripheral flange 68 ( fig1 through 14 , and fig1 ) around the hook chamber 57 , to lengthen the leakage path . similarly such a structure can be continued in a like flange 69 ( fig1 through 14 , and fig1 ) along the bottom of the body 58 , at both sides of the hook chamber 57 . this latter flange 69 even further reduces leakage along the bottom edge of the large upper section 22 of the orifice 22 / 23 . we consider it within the scope of our invention to cut the notches 18 / 19 at positions , along the end edges 17 of the side walls 11 , other than those illustrated and above discussed . in some ballast - can configurations , for example , the notches can be slightly lower -- with an upper edge ( not illustrated ) of each notch formed just below the top edges 16 of the side walls . in that arrangement , because of clearances arising from springiness of the various walls , the same general geometry and procedure can still be employed for insertion of the connector -- adjacent to and protruding through the end wall . another alternative is to omit the metal end wall 21 entirely , and to form the connector so that it fills the space at the end of the longitudinal walls and floor 11 - 13 . now it can be appreciated that notches 18 / 19 cut into the end edges 17 -- about halfway , or even more , down those edges -- locate the connector effectively relative to the panels 11 - 13 . this locating action is sufficient for positioning of the lower structure , half connector , and internal electrical components within a pouring fixture . later , coverplate tabs or the like secure the side walls 11 inward to maintain the closure , as in the geometry illustrated and earlier discussed . to reduce the number of segments along which the connector edges and metal panels have to match , in the configuration under discussion , the angled lower side panels 13 can be eliminated if desired -- and the side walls 11 and the floor 12 instead can be run all the way outward and downward to join each other in bottom corners . fig1 and 11 show interfitting between the two half connectors 50 , 70 and the end wall 21 -- for two alternative forms of the connectors , which correspond to use of female contacts in the external and internal half , respectively . these drawings also show how we prefer to provide male and female contacts for use in the connectors . details of the connector and contact features appear in fig1 through 29 . as shown in fig1 and 11 , a standard internal lead of a ballast -- or a standard fluorescent - fixture wire -- can serve as a male pin for one or the other half of the connector . in fig1 , an internal lead 91e is stripped to provide a bared end 96e that is used as a male pin ; and a female contact 110e , crimped to the bared end 8 of an external harness wire 5 , receives that male pin 96e when the connector halves mate . in fig1 it is the external harness wire 5 that is stripped , providing a bared end 8 that serves as a male pin ; and it is the internal lead 91e whose bared end 96e is crimped in a female contact 110e . the female contact is substantially greater in diameter than the male pin ; therefore whichever half connector carries the female contact has a contact chamber that is of relatively large diameter necessarily . if the mating half connector were designed to fit within the female - contact - carrying half , surrounding the female contact , then the female - contact - carrying half would require a contact chamber of even greater diameter . use of such a large , open chamber would increase the likelihood of inadvertent damage to the female contact . accordingly we prefer to make whichever half connector carries the female contacts 110e , etc ., serve as the male half of the connector -- i . e ., a jack 71 or 61e &# 39 ; etc . that male half connector is then inserted into the other half connector 58 &# 39 ; or 71 &# 39 ;, which carries the male pin 96e or 8 , etc . ; that other half is therefore configured as the female half of the connector -- that is , a receptacle . as fig1 shows , however , a simple construction in which the internal half connector is a jack 61e &# 39 ; results in substantial protrusion of that half connector from the end wall 21 . if this protrusion is considered undesirable in terms of risk of damage to the jack 61e &# 39 ;, etc ., the jack may be -- at somewhat greater cost -- recessed within the end wall 21 . to explicitly represent the above - discussed ballast - can geometry ( fig1 through 9 ) with use of the fig1 embodiment , or with that embodiment modified by recessing as described in the preceding paragraph , certain revisions would be required in the details of fig1 through 6 , and fig8 and 9 . the connector flange 52 shown in those drawings would have to be redrawn -- either protruding further as a group of elongated contact chambers 61 , each like the chamber 61e &# 39 ; in fig1 ; or having such a group of chambers 61 recessed as just described . rather than substantially duplicating several of those drawings , we hereby incorporate by reference the features of the fig1 embodiment , as alternative forms , into those other drawings of this document that show connector features . hence those other drawings are to be considered as representing all three connector geometries -- i . e ., those of fig1 , fig1 , and the described modification of fig1 . in both fig1 and 11 the lower part of the end wall 21 forms a lip 21 &# 39 ;, which constitutes the edge of the lower recess portion 23 of the orifice 22 / 23 . this lip 21 &# 39 ; extends slightly above the bottom of the hook - receiving chamber 57 formed in the internal half connector . for passage of the hook tip 73 into the chamber 57 , the hook 72 can be deflected so that its tip 73 moves to a raised position 73 &# 39 ; as represented in the phantom line in fig1 . a user can accomplish this deflection by squeezing the shank 72 of the hook upward toward the external half connector 71 . alternatively , a user can simply push that half connector into place in the internal half . during this process the angled forward surface 73 &# 39 ; ( fig1 ) of the tip 73 operates as an inclined plane against the lip 21 &# 39 ;, forcing the hook 72 / 73 upward in the manner of a ratchet . in either event , once the tip 73 has passed the lip 21 &# 39 ; the hook 72 can be allowed to spring back downward so that the lip 21 &# 39 ; captures the hook tip 73 . the hook 72 and thereby the external half connector 70 are thereby retained in place until a user again operates the hook tip 73 to its upper position 73 &# 39 ;-- this time necessarily by squeezing the shank upward -- for removal . fig1 and 11 are taken along the longitudinal centerline of the assembly . therefore the lead , wire and contact -- and the connector chambers in which they are held -- shown in fig1 and 11 represent the central wiring positions , of the several positions preferably provided in connectors according to our invention . as shown in fig1 through 16 , an internal half connector ( receptacle ) 50 forming part of a preferred embodiment of our invention is segmented into nine contact - mating chambers 61 in a row 61a through 61i . these chambers 61 ( or 61a through 61i ) are cylindrical , and are recessed within the previously mentioned antechamber 56 . fig1 through 21 show that our preferred external half connector ( jack ) 70 is similarly segmented to form nine contact chambers 74 ( or 74a through 74i ). when the jack 70 and receptacle 50 are connected together , these contact chambers 74 of the jack 70 are first received in the antechamber 56 of the receptacle 50 . the antechamber 56 serves to prealign the jack contact chambers 74 and guide them into the contact - mating chambers 61 . this guiding function is enhanced by fitting of rails 88 , along the outboard sides of the jack 70 , into mating grooves 61 &# 39 ; at both sides of the antechamber 56 ( and then continuing into the two outboard contact - mating chambers 61a , 61i ). leads 91 ( or 91a , 91b , and 91d through 91i , fig1 ) from the electrical components of the ballast are introduced into the receptacle 50 from the opposite or rear end , through insulated - lead holding chambers 63 . the leads 91 are secured within the holding chambers 63 by the strain - relief provisions of our invention -- discussed elsewhere in this document -- or if preferred by conventional plastic - welding techniques , or other means . the stripped ends 96 of the leads 91 are further inserted into bared - lead guide channels 64 . from these channels 64 the stripped ends 96 of the leads 91 extend forward into the contact - mating chambers 61 . there each stripped lead end 96 , serving as a male contact or pin , engages a female contact 110 -- as shown in fig1 for the central chamber 61e . for best pin alignment we extend the bared - lead guide channels 64 as far forward as possible . to accomplish this we form a central bulge in the rear wall 65 ( or 65a through 65i ) of each contact - mating chamber 61 , as seen in fig1 and 15 . each bulge 65 is separated from the cylindrical surface of its chamber 61 by a thin annular space . this space receives the annular tip 84 ( fig1 , and fig1 through 21 ) of the corresponding contact chamber 74 of the jack 70 . the centerlines of the nine wiring positions 61 - 64 - 63 in the receptacle 50 are spaced apart from one another by just enough to preserve thin walls 67 ( fig1 and 15 ) between the cylindrical interior surfaces 61 of the contact - mating chambers . these walls are desirable to maximize pin - to - pin distance through air , for voltage - standoff purposes . to minimize material usage , we prefer to make the receptacle body 51 as shallow as practical . a countervailing consideration is maintenance of adequate wall thickness all the way around the contact - mating chambers 61 . we prefer to address both these goals by forming nine very shallow vertical enlargements 66 of the body 51 , only where needed just above and below the central regions of the contact - mating chambers 61 . as shown in fig1 through 16 , each enlargement 66 ( or 66a through 66i ) may take the form of a cylindrical segment . as seen in fig1 through 21 , the wiring positions of the jack 70 are configured quite differently from those of the receptacle 50 . as already noted , the forward end of the jack 70 is segmented to form nine discrete cylindrical contact chambers 74 ; these are separated by thin spaces 87 that accommodate the thin walls 77 in the receptacle 50 . the cavities 75 - 76 in the jack 70 also are shaped quite differently from those of the receptacle 50 . except for the molding draft ( shown exaggerated in fig1 ), and an internal shoulder or contact anchor 81 about midway through , each cavity 75 - 76 of the jack 70 is nearly uniform in diameter . each cavity 75 - 76 also is large enough to receive a female contact 110 ( fig1 , 11 and 23 through 29 ). in assembly , the contact is first precrimped onto an external wire 5 ( or any of the wires 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 3 &# 39 ; or 5 &# 39 ; of fig1 and 2 ) and onto its insulation 8 ; and is then inserted from the rear end 86 of the jack 70 into the rear chamber 75 of the cavity 75 - 76 . the contact 8 is advanced through the rear chamber 75 and partway through the annular internal shoulder 81 . this motion continues until two forward stop - tangs 117 ( fig2 through 27 ) formed in the contact 110 have passed entirely through the shoulder 81 , and a rear stop 122 / 123 formed on the contact has engaged a rear stop surface 82 of the internal shoulder 81 . the tangs 117 are biased outward from the contact body 121 , as shown in fig2 . as they begin to pass through the shoulder 81 , that shoulder bends the tangs temporarily inward against their internal bias and toward the contact body 121 . when the rear ends 118 of the tangs pass through the shoulder 81 , the tangs 117 spring back outward , positioning the tang rear ends 118 just forward of a front stop surface 83 of the shoulder 81 . the annular internal shoulder 81 is then captured between the rear stop 122 / 123 and the tang ends 118 of the contact 110 -- or , to put it another way , the contact is anchored to the internal shoulder or &# 34 ; contact anchor &# 34 ; 81 . as will be seen , the contact can be secured within the jack 71 by strain - relief features of our invention instead , or other methods if preferred . in either event , the female contact or socket 110 and its attached wire are firmly secured in the jack 70 , and carried by the jack into engagement with a male pin in the receptacle 50 , as previously described . the connector of fig1 through 21 is very readily adapted to ballast cans of a great variety of different shapes and larger dimensions , merely by making the ears laterally longer . this is shown in fig2 , where an extension segment 155 is formed so that the tips of the ears 55 &# 39 ; are further outboard . in the configuration of fig2 , the engagement of the ears 55 &# 39 ; ( and the connector 50 &# 39 ; generally ) with the ballast notches 18 / 19 and end wall &# 39 ; 21 is substantially as described earlier for the previously discussed receptacle 50 of fig5 , and 8 through 16 . precisely the same jack 70 can be used with both receptacles 50 &# 39 ; and 50 . the contact 110 shown in fig2 through 29 is suited particularly for making and maintaining ( in event of any vibration at the connections ) a good wiping contact with the bared - lead ( or bared - wire ) male pins , without damage to the pins . it is similarly well - suited for repetitive connection and disconnection without damage . these benefits arise from provision of a circumferential , generally cylindrical contact body 111 , 121 that generally encircles the pin and makes a very smooth engagement at a smoothly shaped constriction 112 . upon insertion -- and thereafter in event of vibration -- the constriction 112 effects a nondestructive cleaning action and a resulting excellent electrical connection . each contact 110 is formed as one of a multiplicity of substantially identical units , initially held together in a row as by a common fabrication strip 140 ( fig2 ). each contact 110 is removed from the fabrication strip 140 by breaking away along the score 141 / 135 , after which the edge 135 ( fig2 and 25 ) constitutes the rear end of the contact . after die - cutting , opposite sides of the blank for each contact are curled around to a top seam 125 , and a segment 113 that is forward from the constriction 112 is flared outward to a bell 113 . the tip 114 of the bell 113 is circular , except where interrupted at top and bottom by formed cross - slots 115 . the cross - slots 115 enhance resiliency of the structure , and so enhance the wiping - contact action of the constriction 112 . initial die - cutting forms a &# 34 ; u &# 34 ;- shaped cutout 116 in each side wall , and thereby defines the previously mentioned tangs 117 -- which are slightly curled as shown in fig2 . rearward from the cutout 116 and tangs 117 is a transitional segment 121 of the contact 110 , followed by a rearward portion that is distorted to form three radial lobes 122 , 123 ( fig2 through 27 ). these two upper side lobes 122 and single bottom central lobe 123 cooperate to serve as the rear stop 122 / 123 mentioned earlier . the generally cylindrical forward segments 111 , 121 appear in the phantom line in fig2 . rearward of the stop 122 / 123 is another transitional segment 127 , which angles upward toward the rear to elevate the next segment 128 closer to the centerline of the structure . that next segment 128 is configured for crimping tightly around the bare conductor , and accordingly the floor of this conductor - crimping segment 128 is elevated into alignment generally with the bottom of the frontal constriction 112 . to enhance the longitudinal traction or grip of the conductor - crimp segment 128 against a bare wire , we prefer to preform serrations 132 ( fig2 , 24 and 28 ) around most of the interior surface of the crimp segment 128 . wrapping tabs 131 are formed to extend upward at both sides of the conductor - crimping segment . behind another transitional segment ( this one angled downward toward the rear ) is an insulation - crimping segment 133 , with longer wrapping tabs 136 to extend around the insulation of the wire . as fig2 and 29 show , the tips 134 of these tabs 136 , and the tips 131 of the conductor - crimping segment as well , are all coined . it remains to describe the strain - relief features of our invention . the apparatus of fig3 and 31 provides strain relief simultaneously for all the wiring positions ( not shown ) of a receptacle or jack 50 / 70 . multiple punches 171a through 171i are mounted in a unitary chuck 172 that is driven downward vertically by a ram 173 , held on a support 178 . the workpiece , namely a half connector 50 / 70 , is held by lateral spring - loading 175 in a jig 174 that includes a cradle 174 &# 39 ;, preferably inclined at a small angle -- less than thirty degrees and preferably about fifteen degrees . if the cradle 174 &# 39 ; is not angled , preferably the punches 171a through 171i are angled instead . in either case , their path through the connector body is off the perpendicular to the axis of the wire - holding chambers , by a small angle as noted above . it will be shown that such a relative angle enhances performance of our invention , but also that the invention can be practiced with the punches substantially at the perpendicular if preferred . suitable pedestals and base 176 are included . these allow the entire apparatus and workpiece to rest on an ordinary workbench or like station 177 . fig3 offers a more - detailed but schematic view of a receptacle or jack 50 / 70 , together with just one 171 of the relatively angled punches 171a through 171i ready for operation . the half connector 50 / 70 may be regarded as one outboard side of the receptacle 50 described earlier . an insulated lead 91 is shown extending into an insulated - lead holding chamber 63 in one wiring position of the receptacle 50 . the body 51 of the receptacle is drawn broken away at 182 , to show the bared conductor 96 extending onward within the body 51 . the position 183 to be punched , in fig3 through 34 , is substantially featureless . that is , the half - connector wall in that region is neither preperforated nor otherwise distorted or marked . it is also not prestressed . thus in simplest theory no special preparation , external or internal , is required for practice of this aspect of the invention . the angled punch 171 is simply advanced , generally parallel to its axis , into the surface region 183 above the wire insulation 91 . fig3 shows that the punch preferably is formed with a tip that is angled slightly downward from the horizontal , allowing for the orientation of the punch shank 171 . this tip first snaps away the material 183 at the forward edge of the impact area , and begins to bend the rearward edge -- thereby starting to form a slug 183 of material . with continued advance of the punch 171 parallel to its axis , the rearward edge of the impact area also breaks away . the slug 183 is next bodily displaced into the chamber 63 -- and then further displaced into compressive wedged engagement with the insulation 91 -- leaving an aperture 184 . the punch 171 is then withdrawn , leaving the assembly as fig3 shows ( with some exaggeration of the distortion 185 of the insulation 91 ). when a sharp tool 171 is used and the thickness of wall 51 is in a suitable range , the slug 183 snaps out cleanly enough that the wall retains much of its structural integrity . the slug 183 , once pushed past the bottom edge of the now - perforated ceiling of the chamber 63 , is cocked relative to the aperture 184 -- that is to say , no longer oriented for sliding motion in the aperture . no source of reorienting force is available , so the slug 183 remains cocked , and remains wedged between the inner cylindrical surface 63 and the insulation 91 , at the aperture 184 . by comparing fig3 and 34 it will be clear that the material 183 which forms the slug also assumes other positions : first a preliminary position , similar to that shown in fig3 but without the initial fracture at the left end of the slug 183 , or in other words the prefracture position of the material that is to become the slug ; and an intermediate position very similar to that of fig3 , but resulting from the initial translation of the slug material 183 from its prefracture position to a position pressed by the punch 171 past the internal wall surface 63 and further into the insulation 91 than shown in fig3 , so that the upper left corner is within the internal cavity but not still within the hole 184 . from consideration of the two positions just described , in relation to the two positions that are illustrated in fig3 and 34 , it will be understood that the material 183 as shown in fig3 is in a position that is significantly translated relative to a prefracture position , but not necessarily to the extent of the initial translation . now light withdrawal force 186 , up to twenty pounds or even somewhat more , may be applied to the insulated wire 91 , in the form of tension on the wire outside the connector body 51 . the wire responds by moving outward , carrying the slug 183 with it , but only far enough to jam the rear corner of the slug against the rearward edge of the aperture 183 . the cocked slug 183 cannot escape either through the aperture 184 or -- because the slug is jammed against the rearward edge of the aperture 184 -- longitudinally through the cylindrical chamber 63 . because the insulation 91 is also jammed against the slug 183 , the slug locks the insulation in place and the wire cannot be withdrawn . as fig3 shows , the end of the punch 171 can be made concave , yielding a double - cusped tip 171 &# 39 ; to most effectively start breaking away the forward edge of the half - connector wall as a neatly formed slug . we have found , however , that this relatively elaborate tooling shape is not required . as already stated , no surface preparation or internal preparation is required in principle for our slug - lock strain relief . we have found , however , that one minor departure from this principle may be helpful . the half - connector general wall thickness is selected to optimize the structure as between structural strength and material cost . as may be expected , a different wall thickness is optimum for neatly snapping breakaway slugs into the insulated - wire chambers while otherwise maintaining the integrity of the walls . we have found that the slug - lock - optimizing thickness is smaller than the general - structure - optimizing thickness . for that reason we consider it advantageous to preform shallow recesses 181 ( fig3 and 36 ) into the half - connector wall 51 at the points where the punches 171 will act . each recess 181 may be formed with vertical walls 187 , if desired . these shallow recesses , or mere slight reduction of the wall thickness in the general area where the punches will operate , are believed to be notably different from anything that could properly be called a preformation of the slugs themselves . accordingly certain of the appended claims include the terminology &# 34 ; substantially without preforming of material to be displaced &# 34 ;; and we wish to make completely clear that this terminology encompasses structures in which simply shallow recesses are formed or the wall thickness is reduced , as shown . if provided with an angled tip , even a vertical punch 171 &# 39 ; ( fig3 ) can create an angled slug 183 &# 39 ; that deforms the insulation 91 and locks the insulation against the rearward corner of the aperture . even a vertical punch with a right - angle tip can inset a slug 183 &# 34 ; ( fig3 ) that deforms the insulation 91 enough to lock the wire against withdrawal . yet another form of connector - body preparation appears in fig3 . here a hole 186 is formed in the holding - chamber floor , directly opposite ( below ) the preformed recess 181 &# 39 ; in the ceiling . the slug is then pushed downward somewhat more forcibly , squeezing the insulation at the bottom of the chamber downward and outward into the hole 186 . slight deformation is also thereby produced in the segment of the conductor , within the insulation , that is between the preformed hole 186 below and the punched aperture above . with sufficient force from the punch , the conductor deviates significantly out of line . its deformation notably increases the combined resistance of the wire and insulation to withdrawal force . our slug - lock principle is not limited to displacing a single slug of material over the center of a lead . among many variations is that shown in fig4 and 41 -- where the insulation 91 is pinched slightly between two off - center slugs . fig4 shows that the punch locations 181 &# 34 ; ( recessed as shown , if desired ) are off to both sides of the insulated - wire chamber 63 . fig4 shows that the twin slugs 189 are driven vertically , along roughly punched - out channels 184 &# 34 ;, into positions that are partially within the chamber 63 and partially outside it laterally . fig4 probably exaggerates considerably the regularity of the slugs 189 , particularly at their sides that are remote from the wire 91 / 96 : in the embodiment illustrated , those remote portions are formed largely by crushing of material originally adjacent to the chamber 63 . fig4 shows a different use of the slug lock , namely strain relief for a female contact 110 of the type previously described and discussed . instead of engaging a conductor 8 or its insulation 5 as in previous illustrations , a slug 188 here moves into the space available above the conductor - crimping segment 128 of the contact 110 . upon application of withdrawal force , the intermediate section 121 of the contact promptly strikes the forward inside corner of the slug 188 . this interference deters further withdrawal of the contact 110 and therefore of its attached insulated wire or lead 8 , 5 . as previously stated , one particularly beneficial characteristic of our invention is that its successful practice is relatively insensitive to precison of tolerances . to facilitate practice of the invention by those skilled in our field , however , we tabulate below representative dimensions and angles for one preferred embodiment . ______________________________________ mm inch______________________________________notches 18 / 19height 19 16 . 5 0 . 65width 18 2 . 7 0 . 11end wall 21width across folds 28 58 . 1 2 . 29 ( inside the tabs 27 ) aperture upper section 22height 9 . 7 0 . 38width 50 . 3 1 . 98aperture lower section 23height 3 . 3 0 . 13width 7 . 5 0 . 30receptacle 50overall width 58 . 2 2 . 29 ( across the ears 55 ) ear height 53 16 . 5 0 . 65ear thickness 54 2 . 5 0 . 10flange 52outside width ( outside 50 . 0 1 . 95the side guides 61 &# 39 ;) inside width ( outside 47 . 2 1 . 86the side guides 61 &# 39 ;) outside height 8 . 9 0 . 35inside height 6 . 1 0 . 24flange 52 depth ( forward 1 . 5 0 . 06from hook cavity 57 ) antechamber 52 depth 5 . 3 0 . 21contact - mating chambers 61diameter 4 . 6 0 . 18full depth 8 . 9 0 . 35depth of rear - wall bulge 65 2 . 5 0 . 10width of flat annular seat 0 . 76 0 . 030surrounding bulge 65partitions 67 minimum width 0 . 38 0 . 015bared - lead guide channels 64diameter 1 . 07 0 . 042length ( with rear c &# 39 ; sink ) 3 . 3 0 . 13insulated - lead holding chambers 63diameter 2 . 16 0 . 085length ( with rear c &# 39 ; sink ) 5 . 1 0 . 20jack 70overall width ( across the 46 . 7 1 . 84side rails 88 ) forward contact chambers 76 / 85outside diameter ( taper ) 4 . 45 - 4 . 57 0 . 175 . 0 . 180outside depth to 9 . 1 0 . 36stop surface 89width of space separating 5 . 59 - 6 . 35 0 . 220 - 0 . 250adjacent chambersinside diameter ( taper ) 3 . 35 - 3 . 45 0 . 132 - 0 . 136inside depth to 11 . 4 0 . 45contact anchor 81annular radius at tip 0 . 064 0 . 0025rearward contact chambers 75inside diameter ( taper ) 3 . 35 - 3 . 45 0 . 132 - 0 . 136depth to contact anchor 81 10 . 2 0 . 40 ( with inside beveland rear c &# 39 ; sink ) hook 72 / 77height of heel 77 5 . 1 0 . 20length of shank 72 ( from 10 . 7 0 . 42rear surface 86 tocapture surface 78 ) radius of extreme tip 206 0 . 3 0 . 01angle of shank 72 to contact - 3 degreeschamber centerline ( withhook relaxed ) angle of hook capture surface 85 degrees78 to shank 72angle of camming surface 73 &# 39 ; 40 degreesto shank 72length of flat 204 between 0 . 8 0 . 03capture surface 78 andcamming surface 73 &# 39 ; radius of transition 205 0 . 5 0 . 02between flat 204 andcapture surface 78anchor 81 inside diameter 2 . 69 0 . 106anchor 81 length ( excluding 1 . 5 0 . 06rear bevel 82 ) anchor 81 rear bevel 82longitudinal length 0 . 5 0 . 020annular radial step 0 . 28 0 . 011radius of transition 0 . 5 0 . 02201 from bevel 82to inside diameterof anchor 81anchor 81 forward stop 83annular radial step 0 . 28 0 . 011angle of annular stop 5 degreessurface to diametercontact 110overall length 15 . 7 0 . 62material initial thickness 0 . 30 0 . 012longitudinal inset from bell tip 114 to : construction 112 1 . 8 0 . 07 &# 34 ; u &# 34 ; cutout 116 4 . 1 0 . 16tip 118 of tang 117 7 . 4 0 . 29stop surface 122 / 123 9 . 4 0 . 37forward edge of conductor 11 . 4 0 . 45crimiping tabs 128 / 131rear edge of same 13 . 5 0 . 53forward edge of insulation 14 . 0 0 . 55crimping tabs 136 / 134bell 113 diameter 2 . 54 0 . 100constriction 112 inside diameter 0 . 89 0 . 035body 111 / 121 outside diameter 2 . 54 0 . 100elevation of conductor - crimping 1 . 14 0 . 045section 128 floor above body111 / 121 ( and insulation - crimp - ing section 136 floor 133 ) height of conductor crimping - tab 2 . 03 0 . 080tips 131 above section 128floor ( outside ) height of insulator crimping - tab 3 . 3 0 . 13tips 134 above section 136floor 133 ( outside ) width of flat at coined tips of 0 . 10 0 . 004tabs 131 and 134angle of bevel at coined tips to 30 degreestab axisoverall width , across tang 3 . 81 0 . 150tips 118height of tank 117 cross - section , 0 . 76 0 . 030midway from root to tipradius of tang inside surface 126 1 . 27 0 . 050______________________________________ it will be understood that the foregoing disclosure is intended to be merely exemplary , and not to limit the scope of the invention -- which is to be determined by reference to the appended claims .

a half - connector body has lateral ears that fit in small notches in the ends of the side walls of a ballast can , preferably at the top . an end wall , if present , traps the ears longitudinally in the notches ; resilience of that wall , and of its attachment to the can bottom , enhance tight longitudinal fit . the half connector presses against , and partly protrudes through an orifice in , the end wall . outside the ballast , in a new fixture , a jack slides freely in the receptacle to make wiring - harness connections . the jack has a ratchet - like manually operable hook to secure the jack until manually released . each contact or lead in either half connector is preferably provided with individual strain relief by permanent deformation of the connector wall inward , to displace material irreversibly around the wires . in either the jack or receptacle , cylindrical female contacts make smooth wiping contact with bared ends of standard fixture wires held in the opposite half connector , serving as pin contacts . if the female contacts are in the jack , a person may replace conventional ballasts with this new one , by cutting and baring the old harness wires and inserting them individually into the receptacle . alternatively , for field retrofit a jack can be supplied , e . g . with poke - in wiring .

the following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense , but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of exemplary embodiments . the scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims . fig1 - 3 show illustrations of a stair stringer assembly bench supporting a beam and a plurality of members configured in the form of a stair stringer . specifically , fig1 shows an illustration of a stair stringer assembly bench supporting a beam and a plurality of members in the form of a stair stringer before metal ties have been used to fasten the plurality of members to the beam 100 . fig2 shows an illustration of a stair stringer assembly bench supporting a beam and a plurality of members after metal ties have been used to fasten the plurality of members to the beam 200 . fig3 shows an illustration of a stair stringer assembly bench supporting a beam and a plurality of members flipped and configured for the application of ties to the other side of the stair stringer 300 . the stair stringer assembly bench 102 shown in fig1 - 3 includes a stop assembly 104 , a pneumatic press 106 and a plurality of fasteners 108 . the stair stringer assembly bench 102 also has a left support 110 and right support 112 . the stop assembly 104 includes a hand wheel 114 , a positioning tape 116 , and a plurality of stops 118 . on top of the stair stringer assembly bench 102 is a beam 120 and a plurality of members 122 . in fig2 , a plurality of ties 202 are affixed to the beam 120 and the plurality of members 122 . the stair stringer assembly bench 102 supports the beam 120 and the plurality of members 122 . the plurality of stops 118 in this embodiment are spaced uniformly and are shaped to engage the substantially right angle tips of the plurality of members 122 . the plurality of stops 118 cooperates with the plurality of fasteners 108 to secure the plurality of members 122 and the beam 120 in the form of a stair stringer . in this and many other embodiments the hand wheel 114 is operable to uniformly adjust the distance between stops allowing the carpenter to increase or decrease the separation between the plurality of members 122 . this provides the bench with the capability to accommodate different sizes and shapes of beams and members for a variety of different types and sizes of stair stringers . a positioning tape 116 in many embodiments allows the carpenter to easily inspect the distance between members . markings may be used in conjunction with the position tape place to show typical distances or indicate appropriate stop positions for a variety of different sizes and types of stair stringers . the positioning tape 116 thus may be used by the carpenter to quickly adjust the stop distances using the hand wheel 114 . those skilled in the art will readily recognize that there are many alternative embodiments that include different stop separation measuring features . for example , some embodiments feature a meter mechanically connected to the hand wheel that provides numeric indicia of the separation between the plurality of stops 118 . other embodiments feature no positioning tape 116 or measuring device . in this embodiment , the fasteners 108 are wing nut clamps and the plurality of stops 118 have embedded springs . the wing nut clamps can be tightened forcing the beam 120 and the plurality of members 122 up against the plurality of stops 118 compressing the embedded springs and bracing the beam 120 and the plurality of members 122 in the form of a stair stringer . alternate embodiments feature different types of fasteners 108 and stops . in some embodiments the plurality of stops 118 do not include embedded springs . in some embodiments the fasteners 108 are spring loaded . in some embodiments the stair stringer assembly bench 102 features grooved edges and cutouts for securing the beam 120 to the plurality of members 122 . in this embodiment , the pneumatic press 106 is slide - ably mounted on the stair stringer assembly bench 120 . the pneumatic press 106 can be moved along the bench as can be seen by the different positions of the pneumatic press 106 in fig1 and 2 . this allows the carpenter to easily position the pneumatic press 106 and press ties 202 over appropriate portions of the beam 120 and the plurality of members 122 . the pneumatic press 106 can then be used to press the ties into the beam 120 and the plurality of members 122 as shown in fig2 . the fasteners 108 may then be loosened to allow a carpenter to flip the beam 120 and the plurality of members 122 as shown in fig3 . the carpenter can then easily push the beam 120 up against the plurality of stops 118 allowing the carpenter to use the pneumatic press 106 to apply ties to the other side of the stair stringer form further securing the beam 120 to the plurality of members 122 . in alternate embodiments , the pneumatic press 106 is embodied as a mechanical , hydraulic or other type of press . still other embodiments feature no press at all with the carpenter securing the beam 120 to the plurality of members 122 with other fastening products such as glue , non - press ties or the like . the use of both metallic and nonmetallic ties in conjunction with the stair stringer assembly bench 120 is contemplated . the left support 110 and right support 112 can be used to hold the beam 120 or in other embodiments a plurality of beams . a convenient use of the left support 110 and right support 112 is manifest by placing the beam 120 in the supports before the plurality of members 122 are placed on the plurality of stops 118 . the beam 120 may then easily be lifted , rotated into place and secured with the fasteners 108 as shown in fig1 . it can be appreciated that the stair stringer assembly bench can be used to quickly and accurately assemble a stair stringer . the carpenter adjusts the plurality of stops 118 using the hand wheel 114 . he then places the plurality of members 122 into the plurality of stops 118 , lifts and rotates the beam 120 into place and uses the pneumatic press 106 to apply ties to secure the beam 120 to the plurality of members 122 . the carpenter then flips the resulting stair stringer form and pushes the beam 120 against the plurality of stops 118 and applies ties to the other side of the stair stringer form completing the stair stringer . those skilled in the art will recognize that the stair stringer assembly bench may be used in an assembly line fashion . lumberyards and other retailers can use the assembly bench to mass produce stair stringer assemblies for contractors saving the contractors time , effort and money . fig4 shows a schematic of an exemplary beam and a plurality of members 400 used to produce a stair stringer according to an embodiment of the invention . the beam 120 used to form the stair stringer has an “ a ” dimension 402 and a “ b ” dimension 404 . each of the plurality of members 122 has a riser dimension 406 and a tread dimension 408 . the riser dimension 406 and the tread dimension 408 determine a step to step dimension 410 . the step to step dimension is important because it determines the stop to stop separation that the carpenter should use when using the stair stringer assembly bench ( not shown ). a precut riser dimension 412 and tread dimension 414 are also shown . to construct the members of the stair stringer , the riser dimension 406 and tread dimension 408 are determined . in this exemplary case , the riser dimension 406 and the tread dimension 408 are both 9 . 0 inches . the riser dimension 406 of 9 . 0 inches and the tread dimension 408 of 9 . 0 inches results in a step to step dimension of about 12 . 75 inches . the step to step dimension for different riser dimensions and tread dimensions can be calculated using the pythagorean theorem . step to step dimension = square root of [( riser dimension ) 2 + tread dimension squared ) 2 ] to fashion two of the plurality of members 122 the carpenter can cut a rectangular piece from corner to corner . the rectangular piece should have a precut riser dimension 412 and tread dimension 414 that accounts for cutting loss . in this case , the precut riser dimension 412 and the precut tread dimension 414 are both 9 . 07 inches . in this example , the riser dimension 406 and tread dimension 408 are the same . however , the calculations are equally valid for stair stringers having different sized treads and risers . dimension a 402 represents the upper portion of the stair stringer that will extend beyond the risers and the treads . dimension b 404 represents the lower portion of the stair stringer that will extend beyond the risers and the treads . those skilled in the art will recognize that the carpenter assembling the stair stringer should know either dimension a 402 or dimension b 404 when assembling the stair stringer , to insure proper alignment of the 120 beam with the plurality of members 122 on the stair stringer assembly bench ( not shown ). fig5 is an exploded view of a stair stinger assembly 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention . a left bench support 502 and a right bench support 504 are shown . strung between the left bench support 502 and the right bench support 504 are a front panel 506 , a top surface 508 and a back surface 510 . a sliding mount 512 is slide - ably mounted on the back surface 510 . the sliding mount 512 rotate - ably supports the pneumatic press 106 . the top surface 508 has a lip 514 that extends upward to prevent the stop fixture 104 from rotating when the plurality of stops 122 is engaged by the plurality of members ( not shown ). those skilled in the art will recognize that this is an exemplary embodiment of the stair stringer assembly bench and that in other embodiments some of the parts shown may be embodied as different structures or their function may be incorporated in other parts . fig6 shows an illustration of an exemplary stop fixture according to an embodiment of the present invention 600 . the stop fixture 104 has a shaft 602 that is connected to a hand wheel 114 . connected to the shaft 602 is a plurality of stop assemblies 604 that support the plurality of stops 118 . stop plates 606 are arranged around a first stop assembly 603 and a last stop assembly 605 . a panagraph 608 connects each of the plurality of stop assemblies 604 including a first stop assembly 603 and a last stop assembly 605 . the shaft 602 has a threaded section 610 that extends between stop plates 606 arranged around the first stop assembly 603 . the shaft 602 also has a reverse threaded section 612 that extends between stop plates 606 arranged around the last stop assembly 605 . in this embodiment , turning the hand wheel 114 rotates the shaft causing the first stop assembly 603 to translate along the threaded section 610 and causing the last stop assembly 605 to translate along the reverse threaded section 612 . this results in the panagraph 608 expanding or contracting depending on the direction of rotation of the hand wheel 114 . the expansion or contraction of the panagraph 608 causes the plurality of stop assemblies 604 to move sympathetically . as the stop assemblies 604 move sympathetically , the distances between the plurality of stops 118 changes synchronously and uniformly . those skilled in the art will recognize that this synchronous and uniform change allows a carpenter to easily adjust the distance between the plurality of stops 118 . the distance can thus easily be set to the step to step distance of the stair stringer . after setting the distance the carpenter can quickly and easily place the plurality of members ( not shown ) flush against the stops . fig7 shows an exploded view of a stop fixture according to an embodiment of the present invention 700 . in this embodiment , the stop fixture 104 has a first stop plate 704 , a second stop plate 706 , a third stop plate 708 , a fourth stop plate 710 , a fifth stop plate 712 and a sixth stop plate 714 . a first hand wheel 716 and a second hand wheel 718 are also provided . the first hand wheel 716 is connected with a first shaft segment 720 , that is connected with a second shaft segment 722 having threads ( not shown ), that is connected with a third shaft segment 724 , that is connected with a fourth shaft segment 726 having opposite threads ( not shown ) as the second shaft segment 722 , that is connected with a fifth shaft segment 728 that is connected with the second hand wheel 718 . the shaft segments are supported in the stop fixture 104 by flange bearings 730 . the shaft segments are mutually connected a plurality of shaft couplings 740 . stop assemblies 742 ride on the shaft segments with a first stop assembly riding on the second shaft segment 722 , a last stop assembly riding on the fourth shaft segment 726 and the other stop assemblies riding along the third shaft segment . a panagraph constructed from bars 744 and pins 746 is coupled to the stop assemblies 742 . the stop assemblies 742 are arranged such that each stop assembly is equidistance from another stop assembly . it can be readily recognized that the parts used to construct stop fixture 104 are exemplary and that other embodiments feature different designs and structures that allow a carpenter to easily adjust the distance between the plurality of stops 118 . fig8 shows a shaft rotation assembly and a meter assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention 800 . the shaft rotation assembly 802 is connected with the meter assembly 804 . the shaft rotation assembly 802 includes a hand wheel 806 that has a rotation gear 808 . the meter assembly 804 has a meter gear 810 that is connected with the rotation gear 808 . the meter assembly 804 also includes a display 812 and a reset button 814 . when a carpenter turns the hand wheel 806 the rotation gear 808 turns proportionately . the rotation gear 808 turns the meter gear 810 as well as the shaft supporting the stop assemblies ( not shown ). the display 804 shows the amount of movement of the stop assemblies connected to the shaft . a reset button 814 allows the carpenter to reset the display value to a nominal value . using the shaft rotation assembly and meter assembly 800 the carpenter can easily adjusts the relative distances between stops allowing the carpenter to set the appropriate step to step distance for the stair stringer the carpenter is assembling . fig9 shows a stop 900 according to an embodiment of the present invention . the stop 900 has a base 902 and a head 904 . the head 904 has a contoured tip 906 adapted to accept the edge of a member ( not shown ). the base 902 and the head 904 are connected via a pair of shoulder bolts 908 and a spring 910 . the spring 910 applies a force to the base 902 and the head 904 . the force separates the base 902 from the head 904 when the stop 900 is in its quiescent state . when the edge of one of the plurality of members ( not shown ) is pressed up against the contoured tip 906 , a force is applied the spring 910 compressing the spring 910 and applying a reaction force to the member . as explained above , the stop 900 cooperates with the plurality of fasteners 108 to hold the beam ( not shown ) and the plurality of members ( not shown ) in the form of a stair stringer . fig1 - 11 show a pneumatic press according to an embodiment of the present invention . specifically fig1 shows the pneumatic press 106 in its quiescent position 1000 . fig1 shows the pneumatic press 106 in its press position 1100 . the pneumatic press 106 is generally u shaped and is attached to a mount 1002 via a pin 1004 . the mount 1002 is slide - ably attached to the stair stringer assembly bench 102 . the mount 1002 has a rotation guide 1006 proximate to the pneumatic press 106 . the pneumatic press 106 includes a piston chamber 1008 surrounding a piston 1012 that terminates in a press 1010 . the piston chamber 1008 and the piston are mounted via a rotating joint 1013 . in complementary relationship with the press 1010 is a rotating anvil 1014 . apparent in fig1 - 11 is one of the plurality of fasteners 108 cooperating with the one of the plurality of stops 118 to secure the beam 120 and the one of the plurality of members 122 in the form of a stair stringer . also apparent is the stop fixture 104 and the hand wheel 114 more fully described above . in operation , air forces the piston 1012 down on to one of the plurality of ties 202 . the force causes the rotating joint 1013 to rotate and the rotatable anvil 1014 to swivel substantially normal to the applied force . in addition , the pneumatic press 106 rotates relative to the mount via pin 1004 and is guided by the guide 1006 . the rotating joint 1013 , the rotating anvil 1014 and the pin 1004 cooperate and insure that most of the pneumatic forces during operation are distributed throughout the pneumatic press 106 with only a small amount of force being transferred the stair stringer assembly bench . while the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments , examples and applications thereof , numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims .

a stair making apparatus is disclosed . the stair making apparatus comprising a bench adapted to support a plurality of members and a beam ; a stop fixture connected to the bench , the stop fixture having a plurality of stops for individually engaging each of the plurality of members ; and one or more fasteners connected with the bench , the one or more fasteners configured to cooperate with the plurality of stops to brace the beam and the plurality of members in a form of a stair stringer .

in fig1 there is shown a pneumatic angle grinder , which comprises a housing 10 provided with two handles 11 , 12 , an output shaft ( not shown ) carrying a depressed centre type grinding wheel 13 , and a grinding wheel safety guard 14 . one of the handles 11 comprises the pressure air inlet passage 16 of the tool , an inlet valve ( not shown ) controlled by a lever 17 , and a conduit connection 18 for a pressure air supply conduit the tool further comprises a motor in the form of an action type air turbine 20 , a speed governor valve unit 21 , and a reduction gearing ( not shown ) coupling the turbine 20 to the output shaft . the turbine 20 consists of a turbine wheel 22 mounted on a shaft 23 and formed with a peripheral row of blades 24 , and a number of nozzles 25 for directing motive pressure air onto the turbine wheel blades 24 to rotate the turbine wheel 22 about an axis 26 . an air feed passage 27 extends between the speed governor valve 21 and the nozzles 25 , and a separate idle running nozzle 28 communicates directly with the inlet passage 16 upstream of the speed governor valve 21 via a passage 29 . see fig2 . an exhaust air passage 30 extends from the turbine wheel 22 to an outlet and silencing chamber 31 which communicates with the atmosphere through a number of openings 32 . opposite the idle running nozzle 28 and downstream the turbine wheel 22 , there is located a pressure sensing opening 34 which via a control pressure passage 35 communicates with the speed governor valve unit 21 . the speed governor valve unit 21 comprises a casing 36 which is sealingly inserted in the housing 20 and an end cover 37 with inlet openings 38 and a wire net screen 39 . the governor casing 36 is formed with two cylindrical bores 41 , 42 of different diameters which guidingly supports a valve element 43 and an activating piston 44 , respectively . a compression spring 45 acts between the governor casing 36 and a bias ring 46 which abuts against the activating piston 44 via an o - ring 47 . the latter covers a pressure relief opening 48 which extends through the piston 44 and acts as a safety valve in case of breakage of the spring 45 . the volume between the piston 44 and the casing 36 communicates with the atmosphere through an opening 40 . the bore 41 in the governor casing 36 has a number of lateral openings 49 which form parts of the air feed passage 27 and which are controlled by a tubular skirt portion 50 of the valve element 43 . this skirt portion has a number of radial openings 51 which are located at a distance from the outer end of the skirt portion 50 that is bigger than the axial extent of the openings 49 . this is to ensure that the openings 49 are fully covered by the skirt portion 50 as the valve element 43 occupies its closed position as illustrated in fig3 . in operation of the tool , pressure air is supplied through the inlet passage 16 at opening of the inlet valve by means of lever 17 . when having passed the screen 39 and the openings 38 , the air flow is divided into two separate paths , one entering the skirt portion 50 of the governor valve element 43 and another extending through the passage 29 past the governor valve 21 and further up to the idle running nozzle 28 . see fig2 . due to the action of spring 45 the valve element 43 occupies its closed position at the initial starting moment . however , the air flow leaving the idle running nozzle 28 passes through the turbine wheel blades 24 and makes the turbine wheel 22 start rotating . due to a low rotation speed the idle running flow hits the pressure sensing opening 34 and generates a control pressure in the passage 35 . see fig2 . this results in a force being built up on the activating piston 44 , a force that is large enough to move the valve element 43 to open position against the joint force of the spring 45 and the inlet air pressure acting on the valve element 43 . now , the main flow which enters the valve element skirt portion 50 passes through the radial openings 51 which are aligned with the openings 49 in the governor casing 36 , extends through the feed passage 27 and reaches the main nozzles 25 . this makes the turbine wheel 22 accelerate and very rapidly reach its intended operating speed level . as the rotation speed level of the turbine wheel 22 increases the idle flow through the turbine wheel blades 24 changes its direction such that most of it hits the exhaust passage 30 directly and the pressure in the pressure sensing opening 34 decreases . this means that the control pressure acting on the piston 44 no longer is able to maintain the fully open position of the valve element 43 against the joint force of the spring 45 and the inlet air pressure but allows the valve element 45 to move in its closing direction . thereby , the openings 51 on the valve element 43 move out of full alignment with the openings 49 in the governor casing 36 such that the air feed through passage 27 is restricted . it is to be understood that for the desired speed level there is obtained a balanced position of the valve element 43 such that the air feed flow to the main nozzles 25 is large enough just to maintain the turbine wheel rotation speed at the desired level . should the turbine speed tend to decrease due to an increased torque load on the output shaft of the tool , the flow from the idle running nozzle 28 would change direction and cause an increased pressure in the pressure sensing opening 34 which would generate an incresed control pressure load on the activation piston 44 as well as on the valve element 43 . the result would be a slight valve element movement in the opening direction of the latter and a subsequent increased flow to the main nozzles 25 . in fig5 there is illustrated the relationship between the rotation speed n and the obtained control pressure p c in the pressure sensing opening 34 . the desired operating speed level n m corresponds to a control pressure p c = p t . in fig6 there is illustrated the action of the valve loading spring 45 . it is of significant importance for obtaining a satisfactory operation of the governor valve unit 21 that there is a direct proportionality between the force exerted on the valve element 43 by the inlet pressure p i and the force accomplished by the control pressure p c acting on the piston 44 . the upper curve in the diagram shows a situation where no spring is employed , whereas the lower curve illustrates the situation when a spring is used . it is to be seen in the diagram that the main part of the lower curve illustrates a direct proportionality since the curve may be extrapolated through origo of the diagram . the difference between the two curves illustrates the force f exerted by the spring 45 onto the activation piston 44 . to increase safety against malfunction of the governor valve unit 21 in case of breakage of the spring 45 , the o - ring 47 is arranged to uncover the pressure relief opening 48 as a result of a discontinued contact pressure of bias ring 46 . as the opening 48 is uncovered the control pressure from the passage 35 is evacuated through the opening 40 and the piston 44 remains inactive . the valve element 43 will be kept in its fully closed position by the load of the inlet pressure prevailing in passage 16 , and the turbine 20 will be rotated by the idle running nozzle flow only . then , the rotation speed will not reach the intended operating speed .

a speed governor for a pneumatic power tool which comprises a housing with pressure air supply means and an air turbine including a turbine wheel drivingly coupled to an output spindle and a number of air nozzles for directing motive pressure air onto the turbine wheel , wherein the speed governor comprises a flow controlling valve element associated with an activation piston for adjusting the valve element in response to a control pressure obtained in a pressure sensing opening located opposite an idle running nozzle downstream of the turbine wheel .

the following description will deal mainly with recovery of gold , but it is to be understood the particles being processed may be other material combined with other suitable microorganisms and conditions . the system for practicing the present invention uses an immobilized bed bioreactor 14 is similar to the an immobilized bed bioreactor system described in the karamanev et al . references referred to above and incorporated herein by reference . referring to fig1 the system used with the present invention includes a vessel 20 having a immobilized bed 22 contained therein and positioned vertically spaced from the walls of the vessel 20 to provide a pair of passages 24 and 26 with opposite sides 22 a and 22 b of the bed 22 forming one side of each of the passages 24 and 26 . the bottom 32 of bed 22 is also spaced from the bottom 28 of the vessel 20 to provide a passage 30 interconnecting the passages 24 and 26 . preferably a cover ( not shown ) is provided to eliminate the effect of atmospheric elements such as sunlight and rain . the vessel 20 contains a liquid 34 introduced as indicated at 31 ( usually water that may contain added nutrients for the microorganisms being used ) up to a level above the top 36 of the bed 22 so that when filled with liquid 34 the passages 24 , 26 30 and the liquid above the top 36 form a continuous path of liquid 34 surrounding the bed 22 on 4 sides i . e . top 36 , bottom 32 and opposite sides 22 a and 22 b . in most applications of this system liquid will be bled from the system as indicated by line 33 . in some processes valuable material to be recovered leaves the vessel 20 in the bleed through line 33 . a suitable gas such as air is introduced at the bottom of one of the passages 24 and 26 — in the illustration passage 24 via line 38 from a pump 40 . the air acts to lift the fluid in the passage 24 and leaves the fluid at the top of the fluid in the vessel 20 i . e . at the fluid air interface adjacent to the top of the vessel 20 . the air also participates in the oxidation reaction when pyrite is being processed . the amount and a rate of air pumping is set to cause circulation of the liquid up though passage 24 across the top 36 of the bed 22 and to flow downward in the passage 24 and through passage 30 back into the bottom end of passage 24 as indicated by the arrow 44 . some of the liquid or fluid 34 as indicated by the arrows 46 also flows through the bed 22 from the passage 26 back into the passage 24 due to the difference in hydrostatic pressure on opposite sides of the bed 22 . at least at the startup of the system particles to be processed are introduced as schematically represented by the line 48 and shut off 50 into the vessel 20 preferably into the up - flow passage 24 and are carried in the flow to the passage 26 from which they enter the bed 22 from the side 22 b due to the flow through the bed 22 from the side 22 b to the side 22 a . these particles are trapped in and form part of the immobilized bed 22 . it will be apparent that the size of the particles , interstices of the bed 22 , velocity of fluid 34 etc . must be coordinated to obtain the required movement and deposition of the particles in the bed 22 . if desired nutrients for the microorganisms may be introduced to the fluid 34 in the vessel 20 as schematically indicated by the line 52 and valve 54 and / or may be introduced in the incoming liquid introduced via line 31 . when the treatment of the particles is complete the particles are recovered from the bed 22 for example by creating a sufficiently higher fluid pressure say on one side ( e . g . side 22 b ) and driving the particles out through other side ( side 22 a ) or vice versa . one such system to extract processed particles from the vessel 20 is in the form of washers schematically illustrated in elevated position in fig1 . in the illustrated arrangement the washer 70 ( in a system with multiple beds 22 obviously there will be one for each bed 22 ) direct jets 72 of fluid against the adjacent face of the bed 22 to force the particles within the bed to move to and out of the bed at the opposite face of the bed . when multiple adjacent beds are used a single washer 70 modified to direct liquid jets in opposite directions may be used to clean two adjacent beds 22 . when the washers 70 are lowered to operative position as indicated by the arrow 74 fluid ejected from the jets 72 drives the processed particles from the adjacent bed 22 and into the passage on the side of the bed remote from the side of the bed being impinged by the washing fluid . the removed particles are carried from the vessel 20 through the line 56 provided with a suitable shut - off system schematically represented at 58 to a location for further treatment or processing as required . fig2 is a magnified illustration of section ( within the ellipse 10 ) of the bed 22 . as illustrated the bed is form by a one or more textile layers 60 of the required mess size for the particles being processed . the textile layers are contained between a pair of reinforcing grids 62 on each side 22 a and 22 b of the bed 22 . the particles trapped or immobilized within to form part of the bed 22 are schematically illustrated at 64 are as shown of a variety of different sizes each having the required microorganisms 66 positioned thereon as indicated in fig3 . in fig3 the particle 64 has been designated a pyrite crystal and the microorganisms 66 as t ferrooxidans cells . generally the microorganisms will be added at start - up ( e . g . by inoculation ) and will continue to multiply and the nutrients will be added preferably continuously to the system in the liquid added via line 31 or through the line 52 . however , in some cases microorganisms can be present on the surface of solid particles before the latter are introduced to the bioreactor . fig4 schematically illustrates a multistage system wherein a plurality of beds are arranged in side by side relationship with tops 36 of the beds 22 below the fluid level to permit flow thereover and are spaced from the bottom of the tank 20 b so that liquid can flow completely around each of the beds 22 . similar to the system shown in fig1 each of the up passages 24 b is provided with an air inlet fed from air line 38 . if desired each passage 24 b may also be provided with a particle inlet and / or a nutrient inlet ( not shown ) as schematically illustrated at 48 and 52 respectively in fig1 . the bottom 25 of the vessel 20 b illustrated in fig4 is formed with a plurality of v - shaped troughs 27 with their apexes 29 positioned directly below and preferably centered on their respective up - flow passage 24 b . the air inlets for the up - flow passages 24 b are positioned at the apexes 29 to direct air up into the center of their respective up - flow passages . the v - shape troughs held in entraining particles that are intended to be deposited in the bed 22 to form the immobilized particles in the bed 22 . in this case the solid particles are removed as indicated by the line 74 having a suitable shut off 76 . where a tapered bottom is provided for each bed 22 when the system of fig1 ( as opposed to that of fig5 and 7 ) is used the level of liquid in the reactor is lowered and the liquid and solids withdrawn via line 74 . fig5 and 7 schematically illustrate a system that may be operated on a continuous or batch basis . in this system a cylindrical retaining vessel 220 contains series of annular immobilization beds 222 concentric with the vessel 220 . each of the beds 222 is constructed in the same manner as and equivalent to bed 22 but are in the form of a cylinder . in this arrangement an annular inlet manifold 238 is provided to introduce air ( as above described ) into the annular up passage 224 formed between a pair of beds 222 . liquids containing nutrients as required are introduces as schematically indicated at 31 and liquid is bled from the system as indicated at 33 . in order to remove the processed or treated particles from the system of fig5 and 7 a substantially radial arm 300 is mounted above the vessel 220 for example on brackets ( not shown ) for rotation by a motor or the like schematically represented by the arrow 304 . at appropriate locations along arm 300 there is provided in alternating relationship a first hollow member 306 and a second having one surface 308 ( see fig8 ) adjacent to ( and substantially parallel to ( i . e . vertical )) the surface 222 a . a plurality of perforations 310 are provided through the surface 308 to direct fluid jets 309 from the member 306 against the adjacent surface 222 a of the bed 222 for washing particles ( equivalent to particles 64 ) from the bed 222 . a second hollow member ( a collector member ) 312 is provided with a perforated surface 314 adjacent to ( and substantially parallel to ( i . e . vertical )) the surface 222 b on the side of the bed 222 radially opposite to the member 306 in a position so that fluid containing particle driven from the bed 222 are received in the member 312 for removal from the system . the members 306 and 312 preferably extend the full axial length ( height ) of the bed 222 so that particles may be collected over the full length of the bed 222 . in the illustrated arrangement the incoming fluid is indicated by the arrows 316 and the outgoing fluid carrying the particles by the arrows 318 . a suitable branch arm 350 is connected to and moves with ( trails ) the arm 300 in the direction of rotation of these arms as indicated by the arrow 304 . the branch arm 350 is provided with a plurality of particle dispensing lines 354 one for delivering particles into each of the passages 224 ( and / or 226 ). particles to be processed are provided through the lines 354 to replace the particles extracted by the washing action of the arm 300 locally and shortly after each local area of the bed 222 has been cleansed of particles . the arm 300 and thus the members 306 and 312 are rotated as represented by the arrow 304 at a rate commensurate with the time the particles are to be subjected to treatment in the system , for example if the particles are intended to remain in the bed 222 for about 2 days the rate of rotation of the arm 300 would be once every 2 days . it will be apparent that the basic principle of operation of the different embodiments of the invention described above are all the same as described above with respect to fig1 to 3 . it will also be apparent that a washing system similar to that described above and illustrated in fig5 and 7 with appropriate modification could be applied to the fig1 and / or fig4 embodiments . it is believed the process and apparatus of the present invention has wide application , however , one of the more significant applications of the present invention is in the treatment of sulphidic minerals or ores . generally the mechanisms for the oxidation of the sulfides is a s follows . typical sulphidic minerals or ores that may effectively be processed using the present invention include metal sulfides containing gold , copper , zinc or nickel ( and / or other metals such as cobalt , manganese it is believed may be processed using the present invention ). gold is the most unique in that processing of gold requires recovery of the treated particles from the bed and further treating the recovered particles ( in known manner ) to obtain the gold . the processing of copper , zinc or nickel or other metals requires further treating the bleed in line 33 in known manner to obtain the desired mineral . in either case the solid particles must be removed from the bed and be replenished with new ones to carry out the process as it is the particles that are being processed and provide the source of the material to be recovered . the immobilized bed bioreactor was a vertical cylindrical glass vessel with a diameter of 4 . 7 cm and a height of 37 cm . its working volume was 500 ml . the cylinder was divided vertically into two semicylindrical sections by means of a porous matrix ( bed 22 ) composed of one or more layers of non - woven polyethylene textile ( fig2 ). the total thickness of the matrix was 30 mm . it was kept in place by two sheets of stainless steel mesh ( 62 ) with 1 mm openings . the mesh and the textile formed a sandwich - like structure ( bed 22 ). a membrane air pump ( hagen inc .) was used to deliver air to the bioreactor . the air flowrate , measured by a calibrated rotameter , was in the range between 10 and 100 l / h . prior to entering the bioreactor ; air was saturated with water in a washing bottle in order to avoid evaporation of liquid in the reactor . the bioreactor was operated at room temperature ( 22 ° c .). it was wrapped in aluminum foil in order to avoid the effect of direct sunlight on thiobacillus ferrooxidans . the bioreactor was filled with a 9 k mineral nutrient media of silverman and lundgren ( journal of bacteriology , vol . 77 , p . 642 , 1959 ), containing ammonium sulfate 3 g / l , potassium hydrogen phosphate 0 . 5 g / l , magnesium sulfate 0 . 5 g / l , potassium chloride 0 . 1 g / l , calcium nitrate 0 . 01 g / l and sulfuric acid for ph correction to ph of 2 . 2 . the microbial culture used was thiobacillus ferrooxidans . it has been isolated from acid mine drainage . the solid phase used was ground pyrite with different size fractions . during the hydrodynamic experiments , the bioreactor was equipped with a magnetic stirrer in order to avoid settling of pyrite . after the immobilization of pyrite , the stirrer was stopped . the slurry bioreactor was a cylindrical vessel with an id of 10 cm and a height of 13 cm . its working volume was 500 ml . it was equipped with an 8 cm long magnetic , teflon - covered , metallic rod . it was rotated by a magnetic stirrer which was placed below the reactor . the reactor was aerated using the same equipment as the immobilized bed bioreactor described in detail in the karamanev et al references referred to above . the mineral salts used were analytical grade . the pyrite used was purchased from ward natural science ( st . catharines , ontario ). it was ground mechanically and only the fraction below 250 μm was used . the concentrations of ferrous and ferric ions in the bioreactor were measured using a new spectrophotometric method using sulfosalicilic acid as an indicator . the method allowed to measure both ferric and ferrous ions concentrations in a single sample . the measurement was performed at wavelengths of 425 and 500 nm for each form of iron ions , respectively . the spectrophotometer used was philips pu - 8625 . ph was measured by a fisher - 119 ph meter with a precision of 0 . 01 . an optical phase - contrast microscope microstar ( american optical ) was used to observe visually the free suspended microorganisms ( magnification 1000 ×). the concentration of solid particles in liquid was measured in a sample of 1 ml , withdrawn from the reactor and replaced by 1 ml of distilled water . the sample was placed for 15 min in a test tube to separate the solid particles from liquid by settling . the sediment was dried at 100 ° c . for 5 hours and weighed after cooling down . the total amount of immobilized pyrite particles was calculated from the difference between the amount of pyrite particles added to the reactor and the amount of particles suspended in liquid . the immobilized bed bioreactor was first studied from the hydrodynamic point of view . the dynamics of pyrite immobilization into the pores of the porous textile was studied . it was found previously that nonwoven textile is very appropriate as a porous matrix . the textile used in this work was described in details elsewhere ( karamanev et al ., 1998 ). its porosity was 0 . 995 and the mean fibre diameter was 50 μm . the rate and total amount of immobilized bed particles was measured as a function of the number of layers of textile , the air flow rate and the particle size . when the number of textile layers was changed , the total thickness of the textile matrix was kept constant ( 3 cm ). in order to occupy the same volume , multiple layers of textile were squeezed , and therefore , the increase in the number of layers led to a decrease in the porosity of the textile matrix . the experiments show that if more than 31 g of ground pyrite was added to the specific reactor used at once , they could not be kept in suspension by air bubbles because of the high density , and thus , high settling velocity of pyrite particles . therefore , pyrite was added to the reactor step - wise . initially 30 g of pyrite were added , followed by the addition of 3 g every minute during the first 5 minutes . after that , 3 g of pyrite was added each 5 minutes . in the first experiment , the matrix contained a single layer of non - woven textile . during the repeated addition of pyrite , it was visually observed that the process of pyrite immobilization was very fast : liquid became transparent in 10 to 15 seconds after the addition of pyrite . the concentration of pyrite in suspension , measured experimentally 1 minute after the addition of pyrite , was found to be practically zero . however , after the total addition of 43 g of pyrite , its concentration in slurry increased to 10 g / l . the addition of a new 3 g resulted in the formation of sediment at the reactor bottom . at this point it was assumed that the textile matrix was saturated with pyrite and could not accept more solid particles . the maximum amount of pyrite immobilized was studied as a function of the air flow rate . it can be seen ( fig9 ) that with the increase in the air flow rate , the amount of immobilized pyrite initially decreases , and after 40 l / h it levels off . similar experiments were performed for the case of 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 layers of textile in the matrix . the air flow rate was 30 l / h . the relationship between the number of textile layers and the maximum amount of pyrite immobilized is shown in fig1 . it can be seen that the increase in the number of textile layers up to 4 led to the proportional increase in the amount of pyrite at saturation and after that the slope slightly decreases . the effect of the number of textile layers and the matrix porosity on the maximal amount of pyrite immobilized ( at saturation ) is also shown in fig1 . the maximum quantity of immobilized pyrite was 192 g which was obtained when 5 layers of textile were used . since the liquid volume in the reactor was 500 ml , the fraction of solids in the reactor is equal to ( 192 / 500 )× 100 = 38 . 4 % w / v . this solids fraction is two times larger than that used in industrial slurry bioreactors which is between 15 % and 20 % v / w . the number of textile layers ( 4 ) and the quantity of pyrite ( 100 g ) in this study were determined according to the results of the hydrodynamics of pyrite immobilization given in the previous section . the microbial culture was activated by aerobic cultivation with ferrous sulfate as an energy source . once activated , the culture medium was used as an inoculate for the immobilized bed bioreactor . the bioreactor was filled with 450 ml of 9 k nutrient salts solution plus 50 ml of inoculate . after the aeration started ( 30 l air / h ), 100 g of pyrite were added to the bioreactor and immobilized in the textile matrix according to the procedure described in the above section . the concentrations of ferrous and total iron as well as ph in liquid were measured in time . in order to compare the rate of pyrite biooxidation in immobilized bed bioreactor with those in a slurry bioreactor , a second , slurry bioreactor was operated in parallel . the conditions in the slurry bioreactor were the same as those in the immobilized soil bioreactor , including the liquid volume , amount of pyrite , air flow rate , liquid composition , inoculate volume , temperature , initial ph . the only difference was in the amount of energy consumption since slurry bioreactor required intensive mechanical mixing , and therefore , higher energy input . unfortunately , the exact amount of energy input by the mechanical mixer can not be measured in the case of magnetic stirring . the amount of iron dissolved from pyrite in both bioreactors as a function of time is shown in fig1 . almost all the dissolved iron in both bioreactors was in the form of ferric ions , which shows that the microbial oxidation of ferrous iron was faster than the chemical reduction of ferric iron by pyrite . the time of biooxidation in both reactors was longer than that reported in industrial processes . however , it was similar to that reported in most laboratory - scale experiments . this difference can be explained by the use of adapted microbial cultures in most industrial operations and non - adapted ones in laboratory experiments , as the one reported in this work . the most important conclusion from fig1 however is that iron concentration in the immobilized soil bioreactor increased much faster than that in the slurry bioreactor . the difference was 2 . 5 times at the end of the run . the rate of pyrite dissolution , calculated from the change in the iron concentration in liquid , is shown in fig1 . this figure also shows clearly that the immobilized bed bioreactor has much higher volumetric efficiency of pyrite dissolution than a slurry bioreactor ; the difference increases with time . at the same time , it requires significantly less energy . it will be apparent that the advantages of the present invention include elimination of the power input required to keep solid particles in suspension . this allowed to significantly increase the volumetric efficiency of the process and to decrease the power requirements . the performance of the bioreactor was tested by the oxidation of pyrite by the bacterium thiobacillus ferrooxidans . our experimental results showed that : the volumetric efficiency of biooxidation in the new bioreactor was approx . 2 . 5 times higher than in a slurry reactor . all operational parameters ( including the volumetric pyrite fraction ) were kept equal in both bioreactors , except for the power input which was much lower in the new reactor the maximum amount of pyrite that can be treated per unit volume of the new reactor is twice as high as that in a slurry bioreactor . this novel bioreactor process can be used in different biohydrometallurgical processes , and especially for biologically - assisted gold processing . having described the invention , modifications will be evident to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .

a method and apparatus for bioprocessing particles wherein particles are entrapped a porous material and have biologically active microorganisms on their surfaces . a liquid is passed through the entrapped particles and microorganisms and microorganisms are active to breakdown said particles . after a suitable period of time the particles are removed from the matrix .

a description of example embodiments of the invention follows . fig1 shows a prior art hydraulically actuated printing press adjustment 100 . a gear 104 is mounted to a frame member 102 of a printing press and the axis of rotation 103 of the gear 104 is connected to an adjustment mechanism ( not shown ) of the printing press . for example , gear 104 may be connected to a mechanism that adjusts one of lateral or circumferential position of a printing press cylinder ( not shown ). the gear has teeth 118 ( partially shown ), which mesh with corresponding gears 116 on a rack 106 . an end of the rack 106 is attached to a hydraulic actuator shaft 108 a . the hydraulic actuator shaft 108 a passes through a housing 110 and an opposite end of the hydraulic actuator shaft 108 b extends from the opposite end of the housing 110 . the housing includes a cylinder wall 120 and two end caps 112 a , 112 b . the end caps 112 a , 112 b are pressed against the ends of cylinder wall 120 by threaded rods 114 a , 114 b . note that fig1 only shows two threaded rods 114 a , 114 b . typically , the end caps 112 a , 112 b are pressed against the ends of cylinder wall 120 by four threaded , but only two of the four threaded 114 a , 114 b are visible in fig1 . hydraulic lines 122 a and 122 b feed hydraulic fluid under pressure into respective ends of the hydraulic cylinder 120 via the end caps 112 a , 112 b to push the hydraulic actuator shaft 108 a , 108 b in a direction towards or away from the gear 104 . for example , adding hydraulic fluid at hydraulic line 122 b into end cap 112 b pushes the hydraulic actuator shaft 108 a , 108 b towards the gear 104 . conversely , adding hydraulic fluid at hydraulic line 122 a into end cap 112 a pushes the hydraulic actuator shaft 108 a , 108 b away from the gear 104 . thus , by controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid , an operator can cause the hydraulic actuator shaft 108 a , 108 b to turn the gear 104 via the rack 106 . as discussed above , there are several disadvantages of a hydraulic system . first , the hydraulic system is relatively inaccurate . second , due to constraints on the hydraulic pressure supply , only one or a small number of hydraulic actuators can be operated at one time . fig2 a - 2c show an example embodiment of a retrofit kit 200 according to the present invention that replaces hydraulic fluid with an electric motor 232 to actuate the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 a , 208 b . the hydraulic cylinder 220 , end caps , and hydraulic actuator shaft 208 a , 208 b are left in place mounted to a frame member of the printing press ( not shown ). hydraulic lines ( not shown in fig2 a - 2c , but see 122 a - b in fig1 ) are disconnected from the end caps 212 a , 212 b and hydraulic fluid ( not shown ) inside the hydraulic cylinder 220 is drained . with the hydraulic cylinder 220 drained of hydraulic fluid ( not shown ), the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 a , 208 b can move freely . nuts 215 a - d are temporarily removed from threaded rods 214 a - c ( a fourth threaded rod is not visible in fig2 a - 2c ), and stationary bracket 230 is mounted next to end cap 212 b . the nuts 215 a - d are reassembled onto threaded rods 214 a - c ( and the fourth rod , which is not visible in fig2 a - 2c ) to also hold bracket against end cap 212 b . threaded rods 214 a - c ( and the fourth threaded rod not visible in fig2 a - 2c ) may be replaced with longer threaded rods to accommodate the thickness of the stationary bracket 230 . hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b passes through a hole 231 in the stationary bracket 230 . the stationary bracket 230 extends past a side of end cap 212 b and electric motor 232 mounts to the stationary bracket 230 at the extension . the motor 232 may be mounted to stationary bracket 230 by bolts 219 a - d , rivets ( not shown ), or any other commonly - used fastening mechanism . optionally , a space plate 221 may be included between the motor 232 and the stationary bracket 230 . typically , the electric motor 232 is a two - phase stepper motor having at least 200 steps per revolution ( 1 . 8 degree increments ). a two - phase electric stepper motor having 400 steps per revolution may also be used to achieve even higher degrees of accuracy . if a stepper motor having 400 steps per revolution is used , software in a controller 250 can provide for larger step increments , such as 200 steps per revolution when larger adjustments to the printing press are required . an output shaft 234 of the motor 232 extends through a hole 233 in the stationary bracket . in the embodiment shown in fig2 a - 2c , the output shaft 234 is threaded . the threaded output shaft 234 may be a separate piece connected to the output shaft of the electric motor 232 . when the end cap 212 b and electric motor 232 are both attached to the bracket 230 , the threaded output shaft 234 and hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b are parallel to each other . a movable bracket 236 is attached to the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b and electric motor output shaft 234 . the movable bracket 236 is attached to the end of hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b with a bolt 238 that passes through hole 237 in the bracket 236 and threads into a threaded hole ( not shown ) in the end of the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b . the hole ( not shown ) in the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b may need to drilled and tapped . the threaded output shaft 234 is threaded through a threaded hole 239 in the movable bracket 236 . with the movable bracket 236 attached to the end of the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b and threaded onto the threaded output shaft 234 of the electric motor 232 , rotation of the threaded output shaft 234 causes the movable bracket 236 to move towards or away from the electric motor 232 and hydraulic cylinder 220 . the movement of the movable bracket 236 causes the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 a , 208 b to also move with respect to the hydraulic cylinder 220 . the rack 206 attached to the end of hydraulic actuator shaft 208 a moves beneath the printing press adjustment gear 204 . fig2 a - 2c also show a guide shaft 240 attached to the stationary bracket 230 and passing through a hole 235 in the movable bracket 236 . the movable bracket 236 slides over the guide shaft 240 , the guide shaft 240 keeping the movable bracket 236 perpendicular to the axes of the hydraulic actuator shaft 208 b and the electric motor 232 output shaft 234 , thereby preventing the movable bracket 236 from binding on the threaded shaft . a bushing 242 may be fitting inside the hole 235 in the movable bracket 236 such that the guide shaft 240 is in sliding contact with the bushing 242 rather than the hole 235 in the movable bracket 236 . the bushing 242 may improve the effectiveness of the guide shaft 240 to prevent binding between the movable bracket 236 and the threaded output shaft 234 . the bushing 242 may be installed and fixed in place with nut 243 . fig2 a also shows a controller 250 attached to the electric motor 232 via wires or cables 252 . the controller 250 may be a programmable logic controller ( plc ) and is configured to send electrical signals to the electric motor 232 , causing the motor 232 to turn the threaded output shaft 234 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction . the controller for the removed hydraulic system may be repurposed to control the electric motor 232 . alternatively , a new controller 250 may be installed with the above - described assemblies . the controller may be configured to accept commands from a human operator , e . g ., the human operator may push a first button that causes the motor to turn clockwise or push a second button that causes the motor to turn counterclockwise . the controller may also be automated and computer controlled , responding to sensor readings to determine when an adjustment needs to be made and automatically making the required adjustment . the sensor is typically a camera pointed at a color register on each print page that indicates alignment of the print rollers for the different colors with respect to each other . when the camera detects a misalignment of a print roller , a computer coupled to the camera and receiving the misalignment information instructs the controller 250 to turn the motor 232 to adjust the print roller . the controller also may control other types of actuators , e . g ., a motor coupled to a hand adjustment wheel as described in u . s . pat . nos . 7 , 208 , 904 and 7 , 408 , 316 , both titled “ multiple motor position control ,” u . s . pat . no . 7 , 321 , 212 , titled “ restricted motion motor control with visual indication ,” u . s . application ser . no . 11 / 344 , 867 , titled “ quick disconnect motor mount ,” and u . s . application ser . no . 11 / 344 , 866 , titled “ flexible cantilever motor mount ,” all of which are incorporated herein by reference . a typical printing press has a total of eight printing rollers , one roller for each of the four colors printed on each side of a piece of paper . each roller has two adjustments : circumferential adjustment , i . e ., clocking the print roller with respect to the other print rollers , and lateral adjustment , i . e ., moving the print roller with respect to the other print rollers . thus , there are a total of sixteen gears , such as gear 104 on a printing press , and a total of sixteen retrofit kits , such as retrofit kit 200 in fig2 , may be used to upgrade a printing press . the electric motor 232 of each retrofit kit 200 may be controlled by a dedicated controller 250 or all sixteen motors 232 of the sixteen retrofit kits 200 may be controlled by a single controller 250 . fig3 - 5 show how a dedicated programmable logic controller ( plc ) may be incorporated into a third party system already operating on a printing press . as described in step 1 a . of fig3 , the third party plc maintains control of color registration adjustments unless it is disabled ( by failure or by being taken off line on purpose ). if the third party system is disabled , the dedicated plc automatically takes control of the color registration adjustments ( as described in steps 1 b . to 1 h .). embodiments of such a dual plc systems include a safeguard to ensure that both the dedicated plc and third party plc are not simultaneously enabled . fig4 shows a schematic diagram of a third party plc 402 and a dedicated plc ( labeled “ imc plc ”) 404 simultaneously connected to a motor driver 406 . if the third party plc 402 is in control , then the dedicated plc 404 does not control the stepper motors 408 . however , the dedicated plc 404 does monitor the positions of stepper motors 412 and any system alarms 410 . fig5 shows a schematic diagram how a dedicated plc 500 may be connected to a motor driver 502 . signals representing direction of motor driving ( pins 17 and 18 ), signals representing number of motor driving pulses ( pins 19 and 20 ), and signals representing alarms ( pins 25 and 26 ) are always provided to the dedicated plc 500 . also , the dedicated plc 500 can clear alarms via pins 21 and 22 if the 3 rd party plc 9not shown in fig5 ) is not capable of controlling electric motors . fig5 also shows a relay switch 504 that connects either the dedicated plc 500 or the third party plc ( not shown ) to the motor driver 502 ( pins 9 and 10 for motor direction and pins 11 and 12 for motor activation ). normally , the relay switch 502 closes an electrical circuit with the third party plc ( not shown ) such that the dedicated plc 500 cannot send control signals to the motor driver 502 . in the event the third party plc ( not shown ) is disabled , the relay switch 504 closes the circuit to the dedicated plc 500 so the dedicated plc 500 may send control signals to the motor driver 502 . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to example embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims .

a retrofit kit for a printing press adjustment hydraulic actuator . the hydraulic actuator is maintained to benefit from its mounting position and alignment , but the hydraulic fluid is removed . a hydraulic actuator shaft is attached to a mechanism that converts the rotary motion of an electric motor to linear motion . the electric motor provides faster and more accurate control of the hydraulic actuator shaft than the hydraulic fluid , providing for faster adjustment of the printing press .

fig1 illustrates an mht configuration of powertrain 10 components that includes an internal combustion engine 12 , an engine disconnect clutch 14 , a high voltage battery 16 , a high voltage to low voltage dc / dc converter 18 , low voltage battery 20 , low voltage starter 22 , torsion damper 24 , electric machine 26 , torque converter 28 , torque converter bypass clutch 30 , transmission gear box 32 , driveshaft 34 , final drive gearing 36 , halfshafts 38 , 40 , and driven wheels 42 , 44 . the torsion damper 24 comprises a coiled spring or a mechanism that includes multiple coiled springs , wherein torsion applied to the damper causes displacement of the spring mechanism . torsional energy is dissipated by the damper 24 due to frictional contact between the moving springs and the walls of a damper casing containing the springs . a main transmission pump 46 , driven by the engine 12 , supplies pressurized hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic system of the transmission 32 and the torque converter 28 . an auxiliary oil pump , driven by an electric motor ( not shown ), supplies pressurized hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic system of the transmission 32 and the torque converter 28 when the engine is off . the internal combustion engine ( ice ) 12 is connected to the electric machine 26 and transmission 32 through the disconnect clutch 14 , which can engage and disengage the engine from the powertrain to satisfy operational requirements of the hybrid vehicle in different modes . the high voltage electric machine 26 is secured to the impeller shaft 50 of the torque converter 28 . the electric machine 26 is powered by the high voltage battery 16 . the hev powertrain 10 could share the same transmission hardware with conventional vehicles but different control algorithm , e . g . a regular step ratio transmission could be used in the powertrain to drive the vehicle . the torque converter 28 used in this configuration is preferably identical to the torque converter used in conventional automatic transmissions . when bypass clutch 30 is open , differential speed between the transmission input shaft 52 and the impeller shaft 50 is possible . when the bypass clutch 30 is closed the torque converter impeller and turbine are mechanically connected , in which case the speed of the electric machine 26 and transmission input 52 are substantially identical . alternatively , other types of automatic transmissions can be used in the powertrain 10 , e . g . a continuously variable transmission ( cvt ) having a drive belt engaged with a two pulleys , or an automatic manual transmission , or other hev technologies . the overall hybrid operation is similar but details of the mechanism disconnecting the motor from the transmission are different . the torsion damper 24 is a mechanical component having the primary function of modulating or eliminating high frequency torsional vibration from the powertrain 10 . the engine 12 is cranked to start by the high voltage motor 26 . engine cranking torque required to pull up an engine varies significantly base on the position of engine at crank . less torque is required to start an engine when an engine piston 70 is advancing close to top dead center in its cylinder than when the cylinder is farther from , but approaching top dead center . the torque required to overcome the first and second compression strokes of an engine , when engine speed is low and compression energy is lost , i . e ., does not drive the engine crankshaft during the expansion stroke , will change based on the crank angle at which the engine is stopped . the crank angle varies between 0 degrees and 720 degrees for a four stroke engine . fig2 shows that for an engine stopped at 60 degrees btdc , the first few compression strokes of a starting engine waste energy and provide no compression help on the expansion stroke . when starting torque is low 82 , the period length for engine speed to reach 300 rpm is longer than when starting torque is higher 84 . fig3 shows that for an engine stopped at 10 degrees btdc , after the second compression stroke energy from the compressed air - fuel mixture on the expansion stroke increases reducing the period length required for engine speed to reach 300 rpm . fig4 shows that over a range of engine crank positions when a relatively low magnitude of cranking torque is applied , the engine may not accelerate . fig5 shows a pressure profile 90 for disconnect clutch 14 when the engine 12 is stopped at 60 degrees btdc , as determined from an electronic signal representing an engine crank angle produced by sensor 91 . when hydraulic pressure of 56 . 5 psi is supplied to clutch 14 , the torque transmitting capacity of the clutch is 73 lb - ft . curve 92 shows the corresponding increase of engine speed during a period 102 required for engine speed to reach 300 rpm using clutch pressure profile 90 . similarly , fig5 shows a pressure profile 94 for disconnect clutch 14 when the engine 12 is stopped at 10 degrees btdc . when hydraulic pressure of 52 . 5 psi is supplied to clutch 14 , the torque transmitting capacity of the clutch is 65 lb - ft . curve 96 shows the corresponding increase of engine speed during the period 102 required for engine speed to reach 300 rpm using clutch pressure profile 94 . the clutch pressure profile 98 for disconnect clutch 14 when the engine 12 is stopped at 60 degrees btdc with hydraulic pressure of 62 . 5 psi supplied to clutch 14 , produces 85 lb - ft of clutch torque transmitting capacity . curve 104 shows that the engine speed corresponding to clutch pressure profile 98 increases rapidly to 300 rpm . the engine start produced by pressure profile 98 is premature , i . e ., occurs over a period 106 that is too short for the operating conditions or vehicle operator &# 39 ; s expectations , and wastes energy , which is supplied by starting motor 26 . curve 108 shows that an alternate engine start that is produced by pressure profile 98 is delayed , i . e ., requires a period 110 that is too long for the engine speed to reach 300 rpm , particularly so when the engine start is initiated by the vehicle operator &# 39 ; s depressing the accelerator pedal . preferably the period 102 for engine speed to reach 300 rpm has a consistent length . each of the disconnect clutch pressure profiles 90 , 94 , 98 determines how much electric machine torque will be directed to cranking the engine 12 . if the disconnect clutch pressure profile changes based on the stopping position of the engine , a reduction of torque required to crank the engine may be realized or anticipated . fig6 shows a variation 112 of the disconnect clutch pressure profile 90 of fig5 and the corresponding engine speed variation 114 during an engine restart . the desired pressure profile 11 , applicable when the engine 12 is stopped at 60 degrees btdc , provides a stepwise increase in clutch pressure when needed at 114 instead of the linear increase of pressure profile 90 whose peak magnitude supplied to clutch 14 is of 56 . 5 psi . curve 114 shows the corresponding increase of engine speed during a period 112 required for engine speed to reach 300 rpm . the open loop pressure profiles for disconnect clutch pressure control are selected and applied to crank and start engine 12 with reference to the angular position of the engine , i . e ., the crank angle of the stopped engine , and the basis for a command to restart the engine . for example , if the vehicle is operating in electric mode with the engine stopped , and the state of charge of battery 16 is low , the powertrain controller will issue a command to restart the engine using the electric machine 26 . an engine restart under such condition is preferably smooth , of high quality and occurs over a consistent length 102 . the engine restart occurs at relatively low cranking torque with the desired disconnect clutch pressure profile being 90 or 94 , depending on the crank angle position of engine 12 while stopped . but if the vehicle operator initiates an engine restart , such as by depressing the accelerator pedal 124 , the engine restart occurs over a relatively short period 106 at relatively high cranking torque . under such operating conditions the engine restart may be less smooth and of shorter duration and the desired disconnect clutch pressure profile is 98 depending on the crank angle position of engine 12 while stopped . in order to facilitate sustained engine combustion following engine cranking , the magnitude of pressure applied to clutch 14 decreases . after combustion becomes sustained in engine 12 , the magnitude of pressure applied to clutch 14 increases to a magnitude that is able to transmit engine torque through the electric machine 26 , torque converter 28 , transmission gearing 32 and final drive 36 to the driven wheels 42 , 44 . in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes , the preferred embodiment has been described . however , it should be noted that the alternate embodiments can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described .

a method for restarting a vehicle engine that is stopped at a known crank angle includes actuating a clutch located in a torque path between a starting motor and the engine with desired pressure related to the known crank angle during the restart , and using the starting motor to drive the engine during the restart .

the preferred embodiment is directed to etching the top working surface of a wafer to form a silicon stylus with a predetermined geometry . here and throughout the descriptions , working surfaces refer to the surfaces of interest that a specified operation is being performed on . for ease of presentation , “ top ” refers to the working surfaces of the wafer that are part of the silicon stylus formed or to be formed , while “ bottom ” refers to working surfaces that are not part of the silicon stylus to be formed or formed . the wafer is typically either a silicon wafer , a p - doped silicon wafer , an n - doped silicon wafer , a p - doped silicon - on - insulator ( soi ) wafer or a n - doped silicon - on - insulator wafer . fig1 a - 1d show steps for making a silicon nitride layer with a protruding silicon stylus . a wafer 50 is provided with a top silicon working surface 52 and a bottom silicon working surface 54 . the wafer 50 is a silicon wafer or a silicon - on - insulator wafer . in the case shown , the wafer is a silicon wafer that is p - doped , n - doped or un - doped silicon . the top working surface 52 , as shown in fig1 a , has been etched , according to known techniques , the details of which are readily available to produce a silicon stylus 60 with a height from 0 . 1 μm to 50 μm , but typically about 10 μm . the silicon stylus 60 is a tapered silicon structure that has an apex 62 and a base 64 , as shown in fig1 a . note that the silicon stylus 60 can be doped at any time during the method described when the silicon stylus or stylus apex is exposed . the preferred method for doping the stylus is by ion implantation , but any known method may be employed . notably , doping is useful for altering the conductivity of the tip itself . there are many reasons to control the conductivity including reducing electrostatic effects during dynamic operation , and having the ability to use the tip as an electrical ohmic point probe or an electric field probe . when using the tip 60 in such electrical applications , a metal element ( not shown ) may be connected from the tip 60 to the die or probe mount ( not shown ) in order to facilitate connection to the instrument . doping may also be changed in order to use the high doping as an etch stop , for example , in order to make a “ shell ” tip . it is well known that silicon highly doped with boron is an effective etch stop in silicon anisotropic etches ( i . e ., koh , edp , tmah ). by intensely boron doping the tip , the body of the tip can be etched away from the back side , leaving only the outside shell of the tip . this is advantageous because it will reduce the mass of the tip without affecting its functionality . operationally , the benefit of a lower mass tip is that it will cause the resonant frequency of the device to increase . higher resonant frequency cantilevers , with similar spring constants , have been shown to provide higher resolutions and faster responses when used as sensors . turning to fig1 b , a silicon dioxide ( sio 2 ) layer 66 , is grown over the wafer including the silicon stylus 60 . this layer is grown in conventional fashion in a manner that will cause the silicon tip to become sharper . an example of this would be an oxidation step using steam at 950 degrees c ., a well known process . the thickness of the resulting oxide layer should be great enough to serve as an etch stop for the subsequent silicon nitride etch . typically , 0 . 25 nm is a preferred thickness for the oxide layer . a silicon nitride layer 68 is then deposited over the silicon dioxide layer 66 . the silicon nitride layer 68 is deposited by one of a group including chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ), low pressure chemical vapor deposition ( lpcvd ), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition , chemical deposition , evaporation and sputtering , and is preferably 10 nm to 10 μm thick . as will become apparent , it is the oxide layer 66 that operates not only as an etch stop but as an intermediate “ bonding ” layer between the silicon tip and the silicon nitride cantilever . a protective coating 70 is then deposited on the silicon nitride layer 68 . preferably , coating 70 is a photoresist applied by spin coating , so that the coating thickness is less than the height of the silicon nitride covered silicon stylus 60 . an additional lithography step , which clears any resist from the apex 62 of tip 60 , could be used at this point . more particularly , the height of the tip 60 is known from prior processing . and , the properties of the resist are typically well known by the manufacturer , with the resist typically being provided with a look - up table that contains values for the final resist thickness for different spin speeds and durations . notably , even though the apexes of the tips may be covered by the initial application of the resist , the subsequent spin planarazation will clear them adequately . if this is a concern , a quick resist etch may be applied to clear any residual resist “ scum ” from the apex 62 . this process will leave a very thin coating , to no coating , of resist on the apex of the stylus . turning to fig1 c , a silicon nitride covered silicon stylus 60 is etched to expose the underlying silicon dioxide layer 66 , but not over - etched to the point that the silicon stylus 60 is exposed . the etch control is accomplished by knowing the etch rates of both the film being etched , the etch stop , and the etch mask of the particular etch tool being used . with these numbers , along with knowledge of the thickness of the film being etched , the etch stop , and the etch mask , a process window can be calculated that will give a range of etch times that will clear the stylus without clearing the etch stop or the etch mask . if these calculations do not yield an adequate etch window , the etch process or etch tool must be changed to increase the selectivity of the etch to the etch stop and the etch mask . this protects the apex 62 of the stylus 60 from this etch , and the subsequent cantilever release etch . in many cases , the combination of the etch selectivity between silicon nitride 68 and the resist 70 , and the height of the silicon nitride coated stylus will require multiple coatings of resist 70 to be applied . this would occur if all the resist is etched off the wafer before the silicon nitride on the silicon stylus is completely removed . the old resist can optionally be stripped off and new resist applied , and the etch continued . notably , during the clearing of the apex it is often convenient to pattern the shape of the cantilever . this is done by standard photolithography either during the stylus clearing or in a subsequent lithography step . it should be noted that photoresist need only be used if lithography is employed . otherwise polyimides , epoxies , waxes , etc . can be used for the tip definition . also , consumption of resist by the etch can be used , in conjunction with the total resist thickness , to tailor the amount of the stylus 60 that will be exposed . after the stylus has been exposed by the etch , the remaining resist is removed from the top silicon working surface of the wafer in conventional fashion . turning to fig1 d , a device is now released by etching away the back side silicon . this etch is stopped when the silicon is removed from under the silicon nitride layer 68 ( i . e ., cantilever ), but before the silicon stylus 60 is removed . in the case of an soi wafer , the middle oxide is used as an etch stop . the silicon dioxide layer 66 may then be removed . the protective oxide layer is preferably removed in an etch that is highly selective to silicon nitride and silicon , such as 6 : 1 buffered oxide etch , so that the characteristics of the tip ( for example , sharpness ) are not compromised . as a result , the silicon dioxide is removed without unbonding the silicon tip 60 from the silicon nitride cantilever . in sum , an oxide layer 66 is inserted so that the tip 1 ) is protected to the end of the process ( i . e ., the oxide operates as a passivating layer ), and 2 ) is coupled to the silicon nitride , albeit via the oxide . in the completed device , the tip 60 is cleared of oxide on its apex , but again not in the region that affixes the tip 60 to the silicon nitride 68 . therefore , the method removes the silicon nitride from the tip 60 while at the same time preserves the designed characteristics of the tip . notably , because the oxide passivation layer protects the tip throughout the entire process , including the exposing of the apex , but also through the release of the cantilever structure , the step of releasing the cantilever 68 via the backside silicon wafer etch does not ruin the tip 60 . a reflective coating 72 may then be deposited on a back side 74 of the cantilever 68 . again , this coating 72 may serve multiple purposes including , for example , a surface for reflecting a laser beam toward a photodetector in an optical beam - bounce measurement apparatus . the reflective coating can optionally be applied , in process , on the front side of the cantilever . this is advantageous because the reflective coating can be patterned into a specific shape . an example of a useful shape would be a reflective coating near the free end of the cantilever but not on the base of the cantilever . this configuration also would minimize the residual bending of the cantilever due to stress in the applied reflective film , and bending from thermal effects . fig2 a - 2d illustrate steps for making a silicon nitride layer with a protruding silicon stylus and a front side reflective coating . the process is the same as with respect to fig1 a - 1d , only now a reflective film 80 is deposited over the silicon nitride 68 . this film 80 may or may not be patterned separately from patterning the cantilever structure . the film is patterned separately when the desired shape of the reflector is different from the desired shape of the cantilever . this may be done to optimize cantilever parameters such as stress or reflectivity . if patterned separately , it is removed from the stylus stack before the silicon nitride stylus clearing etch . if a separate lithography is not used , this reflective coating can be cleared in the same manner as the silicon nitride 68 , only with a suitable etch . an additional lithography , which clears the resist 70 from the apex 62 of the tip 60 , could be used at this point . notably , the process illustrated in fig2 a - 2d is contrary to conventional practice in , for example , producing probes for surface analysis tools such as an atomic force microscope . again , in conventional production , the metal reflector is disposed on the back side of the cantilever in the final step of production because the laser used in the measurement apparatus ( e . g ., using an optical beam - bounce technique ) is typically reflected off the back side of the cantilever . and , in conventional production , the last step is the first time the back side of the cantilever is revealed so it cannot be deposited earlier in the process . the result of the process illustrated in fig2 d is a reflector on the front side of the cantilever , disposed in process prior to the back side being revealed . because the cantilever is transparent , a suitable reflector results , much how the metalization on a household mirror is disposed on the far side of the glass . this technique has significant advantages including the fact that the metal reflector can be shaped , and thus can be kept separate from critical elements . moreover , it is easier to process and more robust , and stress can be better controlled because the substrate is more stable . and , the process yields less worry about residual coating of the tip 60 because the reflective film 80 is actively etched away . moreover , this technique is particularly useful when producing thin cantilevers that need reflectors . the afm industry , for one , seems to be moving towards thinner levers , and therefore thinners reflectors . this process of producing a front side reflector can offer improvements over bulk back side coating because , as noted above , by patterning the reflector just where you need it , you can eliminate stress problems and thermal drift problems . fig3 a - 3d illustrate the fundamental steps for making a silicon nitride layer with a protruding metal stylus 90 . the same process is used as in forming the silicon stylus ( fig1 a - 1d ), only the etch is not stopped when the field silicon is clear , but when all the silicon is consumed , as shown in fig3 c . if an soi wafer is used , an extra oxide etch must be inserted , as appreciated by those skilled in the art . a metal film 90 is then deposited from the back side of the cantilever until the hole or aperture 92 formed by the removed silicon stylus is filled with metal and metal protrudes beyond silicon nitride cantilever to define stylus or tip 90 . the result of the deposition will be the formation of a metal tip 90 with electrical contact to the base of the cantilever . notably , the metal tip will be self - sharpening to a degree . as the aperture closes the apex will come to a point . however , it typically is not nearly as sharp as the silicon tip . this is acceptable as “ metal tip ” applications usually do not require a tip as sharp as applications that require a silicon tip . fig4 a and 4b illustrate the fundamental steps for making a silicon nitride layer with a protruding thermally sensitive stylus . the structure of fig3 a to 3d is formed and therefore the previous steps will not be repeated . thereafter , a dissimilar metal 100 is then deposited on the front or top surface 102 of the cantilever . the junction of the two metals 90 , 100 , which only occurs substantially at the apex 110 of tip 108 , forms a thermocouple . as previously noted , it is well known that dissimilar metals in contact will produce a voltage that is proportional to temperature . electrical contact is made to the thermocouple from contacting the respective metals 90 , 100 on the mounting section area 104 , 106 , respectively . turning to fig5 , a method 110 of producing a silicon nitride cantilever having a silicon tip is shown . initially , in block 112 , a substrate , such as a silicon wafer or a silicon - on - insulator wafer , is provided . then , one or more tips or styluses are formed on the working surface of the substrate in block 114 . at this point , an optional doping step may be performed to alter the make - up of the silicon stylus ( es ) in block 116 , as described previously . again , this doping step may be performed to alter electrical properties of the tip , or to form a “ shell ” tip , etc . next , in block 118 , an oxide layer is deposited on the top working surface of the substrate . preferably , this oxide layer acts as a sharpening step that results in a silicon dioxide layer residing on the silicon substrate including the silicon tips . then , a cantilever material layer ( preferably , silicon nitride ) is deposited on the silicon dioxide layer in block 120 . once the silicon nitride layer is formed so as to provide a cantilever having a selected thickness , a protective coating is deposited on the top working surface in block 122 . preferably , this is a spin coated resist that is deposited in conventional fashion . in block 124 , the apex of the tip is cleared of the silicon nitride . this is accomplished by using an appropriate etch . notably , the shape of the cantilever can be patterned in an optional operation as part of block 124 . importantly , upon completion of clearing the apex in block 124 , the protective silicon dioxide layer remains on the tip . in block 126 , the cantilever is released by etching away the silicon from the back side of the wafer . notably , the integrity of the characteristics of the tip are maintained in this step due to the fact that the silicon dioxide layer remains on the tip . once the cantilever is released in block 126 , the silicon dioxide on the tip ( and back side of substrate ) is removed using an appropriate etch so as to not compromise the integrity ( e . g ., sharpness ) of the tip in block 128 . then , in block 130 , a reflective coating is deposited on the cantilever of the probe from the back side working surface . of course , as highlighted above in discussing fig2 a - 2d , this reflective coating may be deposited on the front side working surface of the wafer during formation of the cantilever , after deposition of the silicon nitride layer in block 120 . method 110 is terminated in block 132 , to produce a scanning probe device suitable for use in , for example , an atomic force microscope . although the best mode contemplated by the inventors of carrying out the present invention is disclosed above , practice of the present invention is not limited thereto . it will be manifest that various additions , modifications and rearrangements of the features of the present invention may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept . the scope of still other changes to the described embodiments that fall within the present invention but that are not specifically discussed above will become apparent from the appended claims .

a method of making a probe having a cantilever and a tip include providing a substrate having a surface and forming a tip extending substantially orthogonally from the surface . the method includes depositing an etch stop layer on the substrate , whereby the etch stop layer protects the tip during process . a silicon nitride layer is then deposited on the etch stop layer . an etch operation is used to release the cantilever and expose the etch stop layer protecting the tip . preferably , the tip is silicon and the cantilever supporting the tip , preferably via the etch stop layer , is silicon nitride . a probe for a surface analysis instrument made according to the method includes a tip and a silicon nitride cantilever having a thickness defined during the deposition process .

( 1 ) an outside portion of a cylindrical wall of the reactor containment vessel is made of steel plate reinforced concrete to the base mat . the side walls and ceiling of the pressure suppression pool are made of steel plate reinforced concrete . ( 2 ) a steel plate reinforced concrete wall is installed below the floor of the pressure suppression pool . ( 3 ) a steel plate reinforced concrete floor is installed at the lower portion of the pressure suppression pool . an embodiment of a reactor containment vessel of the present invention will be described using fig1 a , 1 b and 1 c . fig1 a is a longitudinal cross sectional form of the reactor containment vessel according to an example of this embodiment of the present invention . fig1 b shows regions where steel plates are installed in the reactor containment vessel . the bold lines shown in fig1 b show the regions where the steel plates are installed . fig1 c shows a longitudinal cross sectional form of the cylindrical wall having the steel plate reinforced concrete . as shown in fig1 a and 1 b , a cylindrical wall 16 of a primary reactor containment vessel 6 reaches to a base mat 9 from a curved portion of a ceiling of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and is outside wall of a dry well 2 and a pressure suppression pool 3 . an equipment room 12 is disposed under the pressure suppression pool 3 and partitioned into the pressure suppression pool 3 with a floor . the equipment room 12 is partitioned with inner side walls installed to have radial configuration . an outside portion to the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 , an outside portion of the ceiling of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and both the inner side walls and an inside portion of ceiling of the partitioned equipment room 12 are formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 having the steel plate 22 respectively . a steel plate 22 is not installed in the region which adjoins the dry well 2 and the pressure suppression pool 3 which reach the high pressure state conditions of 171 ° c . and 104 ° c . respectively . this is for preventing thermal stretching of the steel plate 22 due to temperature increase . in fig1 a and 1 b , the dry well 2 in which a reactor pressure vessel 1 is disposed and the wet well 4 in which the pressure suppression pool 3 is disposed are formed in the primary reactor containment vessel 6 . the dry well 2 is partitioned into the wet well 4 with a diaphragm floor 14 . vent pipes 5 which are provided with inside wall of the pressure suppression pool 3 connects the dry well 2 to the pressure suppression pool 3 . in the case where design basis accident has been occurred , which is typically main steam pipe breakage , the high temperature and high pressure steam jetted into the dry well 2 is introduced to the pressure suppression pool 3 via the vent pipe 5 , and condensed by water in the pressure suppression pool 3 . as a result , the pressure and temperature in the dry well 2 is decrease within a set temperature and pressure range and the pressure and temperature is maintained within the set temperature and pressure range . combined with the operation of the safety system , the reactor containment vessel is a design in which radioactive substances can be safely sealed . because of the requirement of that the water in the pressure suppression pool 3 is injected into the core 25 of the reactor pressure vessel using gravity , the pressure suppression pool 3 is installed above a core 25 disposed in the reactor pressure vessel 1 . the pressure suppression pool 3 in which water is filled is installed on a pressure suppression pool floor 13 disposed over the base mat 9 . the space between base mat 9 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is used as the equipment room 12 . a secondary reactor containment vessel 7 is surrounding the primary reactor containment vessel 6 , and even when a small amount of leakage from the primary reactor containment vessel 6 occurs , the secondary reactor containment vessel 7 functions as a supplementary container for the leaked substance from the primary reactor containment vessel 6 . as shown above , in the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment , the outside portion of the cylindrical wall 16 from a top slab 15 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 to the base mat 9 , the upper portion of a top slab 15 and the inner side walls of the equipment room 12 are formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 including a steel plate 22 which has a thickness of about 20 mm and is disposed on surface of the concrete , and a stud 23 for fixing the steel plate 22 to the concrete . meanwhile , because the divisions in the primary reactor containment vessel , that is , the divisions which arrange the dry well 2 for storing the reactor pressure vessel 1 , the wet well 4 for disposing a pressure suppression pool 3 and the vent pipes 5 for connecting the wet well 2 and the pressure suppression pool 3 are designed as a high temperature and high pressure environment , in order to prevent excessive deformation due to heat , as is the case with the partition of the conventional primary reactor containment vessel , the structure of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 in this embodiment is the same as the abwr concrete containment vessel which has 6 . 4 mm thick steel plate liner at the cylindrical wall 16 and the reinforcement installed inside the cylindrical wall 16 . it is to be noted that because a portion between the pressure suppression pool floor 13 and the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 faces the equipment room , inside and outside portions of the cylindrical wall 16 can be formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 including the steel plate and the studs . the construction steps in this embodiment are shown in fig2 and the construction sequence is shown in fig3 . in addition , the conventional construction steps for the esbwr primary reactor containment vessel which this embodiment does not use is shown in fig6 and the conventional construction sequence is shown in fig7 . as shown in fig2 , in a construction process of the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment , first the base mat 9 is constructed . after the construction of the base mat 9 , the equipments are installed on the base mat 9 . subsequently , construction of an inside cylindrical wall and an outside cylindrical wall of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 , and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is done . the cylindrical wall 16 includes the inside cylindrical wall and the outside cylindrical wall disposed concentrically . the equipment room is arranged between the inside cylindrical wall and the outside cylindrical wall . the outside portion and the inside portion of the outside cylindrical wall 16 to the base mat 9 are made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . the inside and outside cylindrical walls and the inner side walls which surround the equipment room 12 and a floor of the equipment room 12 are made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . as shown in fig2 , the walls and floor of equipment room can carry as a metal plate box having an opening at the lower side . the steel plates join with each other via a connecting steel bars 24 called tie bars . thus , this steel plate box can be maintained configuration thereof at the time of a carry and the construction . when the concrete is injected , the connecting steel bars 24 can be used for connection between the form panels . furthermore , the steel plate 22 of a ceiling of the equipment room 12 is the bottom for the pressure suppression pool floor 13 . its steel plate 22 functions as a ceiling form panel for building the pressure suppression pool floor 13 . thus construction of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is done by installing reinforcement and liner plates on the steel plate as the ceiling form panel in the same manner as the abwr and making concrete to complete construction . by employing the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 , because the steel plates function as the building form panel and reinforcement , after the steel plates are set up , construction of the wall and floors is completed by only injecting concrete . as shown above , in this embodiment , because the outside portion of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 down to the base mat 9 and the bottom portion of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 are made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 , the form panel of the cylindrical wall 16 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 respectively can be built at once , and also the concrete pouring for the cylindrical wall 16 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 can proceed simultaneously . after construction of the cylindrical wall 16 below the pressure suppression pool floor 13 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is complete , the cylindrical wall 16 , that is , the inside portion of the outside cylindrical wall of the reactor containment vessel is built to reach the diaphragm floor 13 . then construction of diaphragm floor 13 , cylindrical wall 16 upper the diaphragm floor 13 and top slab are performed in that order . in this manner , in the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment , construction becomes possible without performing reinforcement bar arrangement and removal at position below the pressure suppression pool 3 because the region from the pressure suppression pool 3 that reaches the base mat can be constructed using a steel plate box which also uses a form panel for concrete formation . by using the cylindrical wall above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 as well as the steel plate below the pressure suppression pool floor 13 in place of the form panel or by using the cylindrical wall above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 as well as the outside steel plate and the inside liner plate , it becomes possible to shorten the construction period . meanwhile , in the conventional primary reactor containment vessel of the esbwr which is shown in fig6 and not used in this embodiment , after the construction of base mat , construction of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 to reach directly below the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is complete . afterward , construction of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 begins . when the cylindrical wall 16 is being constructed , the form panel is set up and the reinforcement construction is performed . then concrete is injected and at the stage where appropriate concrete strength is achieved , the form panel is removed . when the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is constructed , because the support column 20 for holding the form panel of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 must be installed in the equipment room 12 , the work of installing the safety - related equipment 17 in the equipment room 12 is not completed until completion of construction of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 . thus other related construction such as pipe laying cannot be completed too . the construction sequence above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 proceeds in the order of form panel construction , reinforcement construction , concrete pouring and form panel removal as is the case for the steps up to the point directly below pressure suppression pool floor 13 . in this manner , when the construction sequence shown in fig3 and that shown in fig7 are compared , in the construction sequence of this embodiment , the region reaching the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 can be built simultaneously . because the cylindrical wall 16 and the top slab 15 above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 are also formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 , it becomes possible for the construction period to be shortened when compared to the reactor containment vessel that does not apply this embodiment . standard construction period is evaluated to be three months for one floor of reactor building . according to this evaluation , the construction period for reactor containment vessel of this embodiment can be shortened by about three months less than the conventional primary reactor containment vessel shown in fig7 that does not apply this embodiment . also , because outside and inside portions reaching the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 are formed of the steel plate reinforced concretes 10 , it becomes possible to use steel plate reinforced concretes 10 at both side portions of the cylindrical wall 16 , and due to the elimination of form panel and reinforcement construction , it is no longer necessary to use the conventional sequence of form panel construction reinforcement construction concrete placement form panel removal . thus construction speed of the reactor containment vessel in this embodiment is improved , and consequently , it becomes possible for the construction period to be shortened by more than three months . an example of the reactor containment vessel of another embodiment of the present invention is described using fig4 a , 4 b and 4 c . fig4 a shows a longitudinal section of the reactor containment vessel according to this embodiment . fig4 b shows a cross section of equipment rooms in the reactor containment vessel shown in fig4 a . fig4 c shows a longitudinal section of steel plate reinforced concretes being used the reactor containment vessel . the equipment room is partitioned with partitions walls 11 installed on the base mat 9 so as to be radial from the inside cylindrical wall to the outside cylindrical wall being the cylindrical wall 16 , in the circumferential direction . the safety - related equipment 17 is disposed in the partitioned equipment room . the partition wall 11 is made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . the steel plates 22 locating on both side portions of the partition walls 11 are connected by the tie bars 24 respectively . the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is arranged over the equipment room 12 as shown in fig4 a . at the time of construction , it is possible for each steel plate locating at the inside and outside portion of the outside cylindrical wall 16 , both side portions of the partition walls 11 opposing each other and the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall which form the equipment room to be integrally carried . for this reason , a new construction sequence for the installation of the partition wall 11 is not generated . meanwhile , because the partition wall 11 can be used as wall for supporting the pressure suppression pool floor 13 from the lower side , it is possible to build the pressure suppression pool floor 13 without providing special temporary supporting structures for the large vertical direction load due to the concrete pouring when the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is being built . there is no need for a support column for supporting the pressure suppression pool floor 13 from beneath in the construction period in order to withstand this large vertical direction load in the period of pouring the concrete for the pressure suppression pool floor 13 using the partition walls 11 . for this reason , construction of the pipes , cables and ventilation ducts for the safety - related equipment 17 installed in the equipment room can be done in parallel . furthermore , because each surface of the inside , the outside and the ceiling of the equipment room 12 are formed of a strong steel plate with a thickness of 20 mm , the support for the pipes , cables and ventilation ducts can be directly connected by welding to the steel plates . by installing the equipment room in which the pipes , cables and ventilation ducts have already been installed , there is a great reduction in on - site construction inside the equipment room 12 . plane dimensions in which the steel plates of the inside and outside portion the outside cylindrical wall 16 , the steel plates of the partition wall 11 and the steel plate of the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall forming the equipment room are integrally carried are determined by the capacity of a crane for installing these modules at the period of construction . due to the arrangement of the safety - related equipment 17 and partition walls 11 , a suitable proportion such that a weight of about 600 ton which is the average value for the suspension capability of the crane becomes possible . because the steel plates of the inside and outside portion the outside cylindrical wall 16 , the steel plates of the partition wall 11 and the steel plate of the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall form a block having an enclosed space . after installation of the block , the pipe connection operation for the safety - related equipment 17 installed in the block can be performed under conditions separated from the surrounding environment and can be easily performed independent of the weather . an example of an embodiment of nuclear reactor building according to this invention will be described with reference to fig5 . fig5 shows a longitudinal section of a reactor containment vessel according to another embodiment of the present invention . the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment has an equipment room 12 which is divided into a plurality of floors due to the system requirements of the safety - related equipment 17 . the equipment room 12 shown in fig5 is divided into two floors of an upper region and a lower region by the equipment room floor 21 provided with the inside cylindrical wall and the outside cylindrical wall . the equipment room floor 21 is formed of steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . due to installment of the equipment room floor 21 installing the safety - related equipment 17 , the related pipes , cables and the air heating and ventilation air conditioner ducts at the time of construction , the safety - related equipment 17 , the pipes , cables , the air heating and ventilation air conditioner ducts and a block formed by each steel plate locating at the inside and outside portion of the outside cylindrical wall 16 , both side portions of the partition walls 11 opposing each other and the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall which form the equipment room can be constructed as an integral module . by the construction using the module , it can be expected that construction efficiency will be further improved . the equipment room floor 21 functions as a reinforce structure for preventing horizontal direction bending of the block and the reactor system device 17 . thus , it contributes to the reduction in the mass of the temporary reinforce structure comprising the h steel due to integrate the safety - related equipment 17 and the block .

a reactor containment vessel of the present invention has a primary reactor containment vessel disposing a dry well for storing a reactor pressure vessel , a wet well for storing a pressure suppression pool , and an equipment room disposing below said pressure suppression pool inside thereof . further , the primary reactor containment vessel includes an outer cylindrical wall reaching to a base mat from a top slab of the primary reactor containment vessel and facing the drywell , the pressure suppression pool and the equipment room respectively , an inner cylindrical wall facing the pressure suppression pool and the equipment room respectively , and a pressure suppression pool floor partitioning among the pressure suppression pool and the equipment room , and an outside portion of the outer cylindrical wall , an inside portion of the inner cylindrical wall , an outside portion of the ceiling and a lower portion of the pressure suppression pool floor are formed of a steel plate reinforced concrete respectively . the reactor containment vessel can contribute to shorten construction period and thereby improve economic efficiency of nuclear power generation facilities .

referring to fig1 it is the 3d view of a card switch device of the present invention , in fig . 1 , there is a standard cf ( compact flash ) card . cf cards can be classified into two types : type i ( 3 . 3 mm )/ type ii ( 5 . 0 mm ) according to thickness . also as shown in fig2 - 3 , they are the exploded views of a card switch device of the present invention . the card switch device ( 10 ) of the present invention can switch one or more memory cards , i . e ., the signals from the memory cards will be transformed into the format conformal to the cf card interface to transmit . in a preferred detailed embodiment , the card switch device includes a base frame and a base plate . a base frame ( 24 ) has a groove ( 12 ), which contains the memory cards arranged in overlap . a first row of contact elements ( 20 ), a second row of contact elements ( 21 ) and third row of contact elements ( 22 ) are properly distributed over the groove ( 12 ). the contact elements are , for example , pins . a base plate ( 26 ), is placed under the base frame ( 24 ). a socket is formed at one side of the base plate ( 26 ) and electrically connected to the base frame ( 24 ). a plurality of round holes connected with the contact elements are arranged at the position corresponding to the contact elements on the base plate . when a small memory card is inserted in the groove ( 12 ), the corresponding contact elements will couple with the signals form the memory card and transform the signal into the format conformal to the card switch device ( 10 ) via appointed contact elements among these contact elements . in the preferred embodiment , a first and a second row of contact elements ( 20 ), ( 21 ) are arranged back and forth at one side of the groove ( 12 ). and the first row of contact elements ( 20 ) has 16 pins to couple with an xd card , and the second row of contact elements ( 21 ) has 9 pins to couple with an sd card or an mmc card . however , the third row of contact elements ( 22 , 10 pins ) are arranged at the other side of the groove ( 12 ), where the ms duo card can be inserted for coupling with each other . thus , it makes the groove ( 12 ) supporting different types of memory cards ( including xd , ms duo , sd and mmc cards or other small memory cards ). particularly , the contact elements ( 20 ), ( 21 ) and ( 22 ) are embedded in the groove ( 12 ) of the base frame ( 24 ) by pin loading . the contact elements are connected to the round holes of the base plate ( 26 ) by smt or dip . as shown in fig4 it is the side view of a card switch device of the present invention . it &# 39 ; s obvious that the three rows of contact elements ( 20 )˜( 22 ) are arranged at their corresponding position and are arranged according to the sizes of the memory cards . thus , such a design will not cause increased thickness of the standard card switch device ( 10 ) of the present invention for supporting insertion of different types of memory cards . in other words , this technology agrees with not only the standard cf type i , type ii cards but also the lengthened cf cards . it should be supplemented that in the combination of the base frame ( 24 ) and the base plate ( 26 ), besides certain circuit configuration on the base plate ( 26 ), there are also ic , memory cards , capacitance , and resistance , etc . and according to the position of the contact elements ( 20 ), ( 21 ), pluralities of small round holes are arranged on the base plate ( 26 ) in order to implement better combination . the third row of contact elements ( 22 ) are combined with the base plate ( 26 ) through the pins extending upwards from the base frame ( 24 ) for signal transmission . this is the prior art and it is not discussed here . also as shown in fig5 it is the diagram of an embodiment of a card switch device supporting insertion of different types of memory cards according to the present invention . in fig5 . the base frame ( 24 ) of the present invention further comprises a top shell ( 14 ) and a bottom shell ( 16 ) for covering the card switch device ( 10 ). obviously , besides the third row of contact elements ( 22 ), another row of pins ( as marked with circle in fig5 ) are arranged around the second row of contact elements , because the exterior size of the sd / mmc card is similar to the ms duo card in size . in conclusion , the card switch device of the present invention has at least the following advantages and efficacy : 1 . the switch device of the cf card interface according to the present invention can support insertion and access of different types of standard memory cards which are inserted at different times through a single groove . 2 . according to the present invention , the single groove is arranged to hold the different types of memory cards by special overlap . the memory cards comprise : ms duo card , sd / mmc card and xd card or other small memory cards . 3 . according to the present invention , besides the third row of contact elements , the contact elements for sd / mmc cards can be commonly used for ms duo cards .

a card switch device comprises a base plate and a base frame at least , and the base plate is electrically connected to a socket on the side thereof . the base frame has a groove retaining contact elements of memory cards of not less than two standards . thus , the card switch device can provide use for one or more memory cards .

as used in the present disclosure , “ inflammation ” refers to the well known localized response to various types of injury or infection , which is characterized by redness , heat , swelling , and pain , and often also including dysfunction or reduced mobility . acute inflammation , according to cruse and lewis , i llustrated d ictionary of i mmunology , 2d ed . ( crc press 2003 ), represents “ an early defense mechanism to contain in infection and prevent its spread from the initial focus . when microbes multiply in host tissues , two principal defense mechanisms mounted against them are antibodies and leukocytes . the three major events in acute inflammation are ( 1 ) dilation of capillaries to increase blood flow ; ( 2 ) changes in the microvasculature structure , leading to escape of plasma and proteins and leukocytes from the circulation ; and ( 3 ) leukocyte emigration from the capillaries and accumulation at the site of injury .” neutrophils escape from their endothelial location and are attracted by chemotaxis toward the site of injury . prostaglandins and leukotrienes are formed , along with various cytokines . non - specific defense mechanisms including natural killer ( nk ) cells are activated by cytokines . by contrast , adaptive responses often take days to develop . for example , kambayashi , et al ., j . immunol . 165 ( 9 ), 4964 - 69 ( 2000 ) report that adaptive cd8 + cells expressing nk receptors develop in the lungs of influenza - infected mice beginning after about day 5 following infection ( see fig1 : cell levels are at control level through day 5 , and begin to increase thereafter to peak at about day 10 ). thus adaptive responses are typically not seen during the first days following an infection . the term “ tisf ” refers to a mammalian polypeptide or mixture of polypeptides of mammalian origin ; the preparation of tisf and its characterization as a novel entity are described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 616 , 554 , which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety . tisf is alternatively referred to as epithyme ™ and as s - celergin at times herein and in other references . a number of factors have been described which stimulate various stages of cd4 + lymphocyte development . tisf stimulates a normally unresponsive population of cells at a later stage of the process while a factor stimulating an earlier stage of the process is described , for example , in beardsley , et al ., pnas 80 : 6005 ( 1983 ). tisf is thus effective as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 616 , 554 for stimulation of mature t - lymphocytes , resulting in increased antiviral or antitumor activity . herein , its effectiveness for the treatment of inflammation from any etiology , and especially inflammation of the upper respiratory tract , is disclosed . tisf may be obtained by purification from a host animal , but is preferably obtained by purification from a cell culture by methods such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 616 , 554 , which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety . tisf may be of feline , canine , or bovine origin ; in a preferred embodiment , the tisf administered to a subject originates from the same species as that of the subject to be treated . tisf may be used to treat inflammation in canine , feline , and bovine subjects as well as in human subjects . administration of tisf : tisf may be administered parenterally , intraperitoneally , topically or orally . parenteral administration is often preferred , and subcutaneous injection is sometimes preferred . for treatment of inflammation of the epidermis , topical administration may be preferred . for treatment of inflammation of the mucosa , direct application to the affected area such as by ocular application or inhalation may be preferred . suitable methods for administration by these routes are well known in the art , and suitable formulations for each route of administration may be prepared using methods known in the art . tisf may be admixed with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable diluents , excipients , stabilizing agents , solubilizing agents , or other pharmaceutically - indicated agents , and it may optionally be incorporated into a liposomal or slow - release matrix for administration . suitable pharmaceutical carriers and diluents , as well as pharmaceutical necessities for their use in pharmaceutical formulations , are described in remington &# 39 ; s p harmaceutical s ciences ( alfonso gennaro et al ., eds ., 17th edn ., mack publishing co ., easton pa ., 1985 ), a standard reference text in this field , in the usp / nf , and by lachman et al . ( t he t heory & amp ; p ractice of i ndustrial p harmacy , 2nd ed ., lea & amp ; febiger , philadelphia pa ., 1976 ). in the case of rectal and vaginal administration , the compositions are administered using methods and carriers standardly used in administering pharmaceutical materials to these regions . for example , suppositories , creams ( e . g ., cocoa butter ), or jellies , as well as standard vaginal applicators , droppers , syringes , or enemas may be used , as determined to be appropriate by one skilled in the art . parenteral , intramuscular , intraperitoneal , or other types of injection administration are often advantageous , especially since tisf may be subject to degradation if administered orally ; suitable compositions for such administration are well known to those skilled in the art , and may be identified by analogy to other polypeptide pharmaceutical compositions . the compositions of the invention may be administered by any route clinically indicated , such as by application to the surface of mucosal membranes ( including : intranasal , oral , ocular , gastrointestinal , rectal , vaginal , or genito - urinary ). alternatively , parenteral ( e . g ., intravenous ( iv ), subcutaneous , intraperitoneal , or intramuscular ) modes of administration may also be used . because tisf is a polypeptide , and is thus potentially subject to degradation upon oral or topical administration , administration by parenteral ( injection ) methods including subcutaneous or intramuscular delivery is often preferred . to maximize its efficient utilization , subcutaneous delivery of tisf is often used , and such delivery may be concurrent with delivery of other nutrient , hydration or therapeutic agents as appropriate . for subcutaneous administration , tisf is preferably dissolved in an aqueous or isotonic solution such as saline ; phosphate buffer or other conventional buffers may be added as needed to ensure stability of the composition . further details of compositions suitable for administration of tisf are well - known to those of skill in the art by analogy to other pharmaceutical compositions which contain polypeptides as active ingredients . the amount of tisf to be administered depends on the particular subject and indications , such as the extent , severity and duration of the inflammation as well as the status underlying cause . the mode and frequency of administration can be determined according to the desired effect , as one skilled in the art will appreciate , and the effectiveness of the chosen regimen can readily be ascertained by monitoring improvements in the symptoms of inflammation , allowing the regimen to be optimized for the particular subject being treated . in general , tisf will be administered in compositions which deliver amounts of tisf ranging between about 0 . 1 μg and 50 mg per kilogram of body weight of the subject . preferred doses are generally between about 0 . 5 μg / kg and 10 mg / kg , and more preferably between about 1 μg / kg and 5 mg / kg . a dosage of about 1 μg / kg to 1 mg / kg is often more preferred . administration of tisf to a subject to be treated may be repeated as is determined to be necessary by one skilled in the art , considering the severity of the subject &# 39 ; s inflammation and what other treatments the subject is receiving , or it may be delivered continuously to a subject via an intravenous fluid delivery system or slow - release depot device or other passive or active slow delivery means . while a single administration of tisf has been demonstrated to produce effects lasting for several days , repeated administration at intervals of a few hours to a month are contemplated and are within the scope of the invention . thus tisf may be administered one to three times daily , or it may be administered one or two times per week , or one to two times per month . determination of the dose required and the frequency of treatment required are within the ordinary skill in the art , since dosage and frequency can be adjusted until the desired effect is achieved . progress is readily monitored by well - known techniques for determining the blood cell count for each type of blood cell of interest for the particular subject . since tisf may be used to treat inflammation associated with pathogenic infections , it is also contemplated that tisf may be admixed with or administered with other therapeutic agents suitable for treating such pathogenic infections , including but not limited to antiretroviral agents such as hiv protease inhibitors and reverse transcriptase inhibitors , radiotherapeutic treatments , and antineoplastic therapeutic agents such as alkylating agents , purine nucleoside analogs , and corticosteroids . compositions containing a mixture of such other therapeutic agents with tisf are thus contemplated , as are treatment protocols which utilize tisf in combination with such agents . the present invention can be better understood by way of the following examples which are representative of certain preferred embodiments thereof , but which are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention . tisf derived from cultured bovine thymic cells was supplied as a freeze dried material and was used as a saline solution containing one microgram of protein per ml of saline solution . the subjects used were mustella putorius faro , an outbred albino ferret strain . the subjects were all males , weighing about 600 - 1100 g on the first day of treatment , and were obtained from highgate farm , in england . the testing of tisf in animals was conducted by a contract laboratory familiar with procedures for testing antiviral and similar pharmaceutical candidate molecules in animal models . each treated ferret received 1 ml of this solution subcutaneously , delivering approximately 1 microgram of tisf per animal . control animals received vehicle without tisf added . prior to testing , all animals were primed with influenza a / panama / 2007 / 99 ( h3n2 ) at a titre of approximately 10 6 . 5 tcid 50 / ml , which gave 100 % infection of the ferrets , when 250 microliters of the virus solution was administered intranasally , 21 days before treatment with tisf or a control injection of vehicle lacking tisf . testing was initiated with a low pathogenic influenza strain of avian influenza nibrg - 14 virus ( h5n1 ), where the external proteins of avian influenza a / vietnam / 1194 / 04 ( h5n1 ) virus from which the polybasic ha cleavage site had been excised , and containing the internal genes of human influenza a / puerto rico / 8 / 34 ( h1n1 ). the challenge virus described above at a titre of about 10 5 . 25 tcid 50 / ml using 250 microliter aliquot was administered intranasally to each ferret , providing 100 % infection . a nasal wash was performed on each animal daily following infection using a standard protocol developed by the contract laboratory . cell counts in the nasal wash were determined using a tryptan blue stain , as a method of determining the extent of inflammatory cell response . blood analyses were also made at days 0 , 2 and 4 , and overall health and weight of the test animals were also assessed . animals treated with tisf displayed less weight loss during the test period , and they displayed less severe clinical symptomology , although these effects were not considered statistically significant in this test . virus shedding into the nasal wash was also evaluated , though the levels of virus were generally below detectable levels . on each of the first four days post treatment , leukocyte counts were determined from nasal wash samples for each test animal and each control animal . the results of that testing is summarized in fig1 . fig1 shows that leukocyte levels were lower in animals treated with tisf within the first four days , and it shows a statistical analysis of the data . the treated and control groups were compared using anova , with the bonferonni correction for multiple testing , using log - transformed total leukocyte counts per ml of nasal wash . both the mean sum of leukocyte counts and the mean maximum leukocyte counts were lower in the treated subjects , and the differences were statistically significant for each measure of inflammation . see fig2 and 3 . the lower leukocyte levels in the nasal wash from tisf treated subjects are indicative of less severe inflammation of the nasal passages in the treated animals . cells were stimulated with a solution containing 1 microgram of highly purified tisf . the cells were maintained for 24 hours post - treatment , at which time the supernatant was tested for cytokine levels using the raybio ® mouse cytokine antibody arrays 1 and 1 . 1 from raybiotech . both positive and negative controls were included in the test , and a background array was run as well : the background level of each cytokine has been subtracted from the data in fig4 . tisf stimulated production of at least il - 10 , il - 12 ( anti - inflammatory cytokines ) and gm - csf . it had no effect on tnf - α levels , and may have an inhibitory effect on mcp - 1 ( pro - inflammatory cytokine ). the cytokine level test was performed according to the user manual provided by raybiotech , inc . the foregoing detailed description of the invention and preferred embodiments , especially with respect to product compositions and processes , is to be considered illustrative of specific embodiments only . it is to be understood , however , that additional embodiments may be perceived by those skilled in the art . the embodiments described herein , together with those additional embodiments , are considered to be well within the scope of the present invention .

the present invention relates generally to the fields of pharmacology , and particularly to a method for treating inflammation , particularly inflammation of the respiratory system . the invention provides a method to reduce or ameliorate inflammation , by administering an effective amount of a protein factor originally isolated from thymic tissue , and referred to as t4 immune stimulating factor .

with reference to fig1 , a metering rod assembly is illustrated and identified generally by reference numeral 10 . the metering rod assembly 10 is illustrated as a component of a machine for applying a coating to paper during a paper manufacturing process . it will be appreciated that the metering rod assembly 10 is supported by a support 12 adjacent a roller 14 which advances a web of paper 16 between the metering rod assembly 10 and the roller 14 . although not shown , it is well known that an applicator is generally provided upstream of the metering rod assembly 10 for applying a coating liquid to the web 16 . the coating is applied in excess and the metering rod assembly 10 is utilized to remove excess coating from the web 16 to achieve a desired coating thickness . the metering rod assembly 10 generally includes a base member 30 that is mounted to the support 12 . with additional reference to fig2 and 3 , the base member 30 includes a channel 34 opening to a face or surface 36 thereof . the channel is generally defined by first and second sidewalls 40 a and 40 b that are spaced about a central plane a - a of the channel 34 . in this embodiment , the first and second side walls 40 a and 40 b of the channel 34 extend at a non - zero angle 41 relative to a central plane a - a of the channel 34 such that the mouth of the channel 34 is wider than a base portion of the channel 34 . the channel 34 further includes upper and lower retention slots 42 a and 42 b for receiving corresponding retention elements on a rod bed insert , as will be described below . a rod bed insert 46 is received in the channel 34 and includes a metering rod slot 50 in which a metering rod 54 is supported . the rod bed insert 46 is configured to be closely received within the channel 34 , with first and second sidewalls 56 a and 56 b of the insert 46 have a mating shape and slope to the first and second side walls 40 a and 40 b of the channel 34 . the rod bed insert 46 includes a narrow or necked - down portion 57 connecting the first and second sidewalls 56 a and 56 b allowing the insert 46 to flex about the necked - down portion 57 to accommodate insertion and / or removal of the metering rod 54 from the metering rod slot 50 . the rod bed insert 46 includes a pair of tab portions 58 a and 58 b that serve as retaining elements when the rod bed insert 46 is inserted in the channel 34 . as best seen in fig1 and 2 , the retention tabs 58 a and 58 b extend into corresponding retention slots 42 a and 42 b at the base of the channel 34 . once the tabs 58 a and 58 b are secured in the slots 42 a and 42 b , the interference between the tabs 58 a and 58 b and the base member 30 restricts withdrawal of the rod bed insert 46 from the channel 34 . returning to fig1 , a pressure tube 60 is supported adjacent the base member 30 and configured to apply a force along the plane a - a to place the metering rod 54 in compressing engagement with the roller 14 , as is conventional . in the illustrated embodiment , the pressure tube 60 acts along the plane a - a . the pressure tube 60 can also be configured to apply pressure along a plane offset from the plane a - a . unlike prior art metering rod assemblies , a single pressure tube is utilized to not only place the metering rod 54 into compressive engagement with the roller 14 , but also to clamp the metering rod 54 and / or rod bed insert 46 in the base member 30 . to this end , it will be appreciated that when force is applied to a rear surface 64 of the base member 30 , the force is transmitted through the base member 30 and rod bed insert 46 to the metering rod 54 . a reactive force is applied to the metering rod 54 by the roller 14 which tends to force the metering rod 54 deeper into the rod bed insert 46 . the net effect is that surfaces 40 a and 40 b are urged towards each other thereby clamping the rod bed insert 46 and / or metering rod 54 in the channel 34 of the base member 30 . as the force urges the insert 46 deeper into the channel 34 , the interaction of the sloping surfaces 56 a and 56 b with sloping surfaces 40 a and 40 b urges the sides of the insert 46 together gripping the rod more tightly . it will be appreciated that , for a given pressure applied to the base member 30 by the pressure tube 60 , the clamping force can be altered by changing the angle of surfaces 40 a and 40 b relative to the plane a - a . for example , a relatively shallow angle , such as 20 degrees , will produce more clamping force on the rod bed insert 46 than a relatively steeper angle , such as 40 degrees . accordingly , depending on the specific application , the clamping effect can be tuned to achieve desired performance . for example , an application requiring light pressure on the metering rod may benefit from a relative steep angle of side walls 40 a and 40 b ( greater clamping force at lower pressure on the metering rod ), while an application requiring higher pressure on the metering rod may benefit from a more shallow angle ( less clamping force at higher pressure on the metering rod ). turning to fig4 , another exemplary metering rod assembly is illustrated and identified generally by reference numeral 80 . this embodiment is essentially identical to the metering rod assembly 10 of fig1 - 3 , with the exception of a hinge feature of the base member . accordingly , the assembly 80 includes a base member 82 having a mounting portion 84 adapted to be secured to a support ( not shown ), a head portion 86 , and a reduced cross - section hinge portion 88 connecting the head portion 86 and the mounting portion 84 . a rod bed insert 92 is received in a channel 94 of the base member 82 in a similar manner to the rod bed insert 46 of fig1 - 3 . the channel 94 includes first and second side walls 95 a and 95 b spaced about an axis or plane b - b . in this embodiment , the hinge portion 88 facilitates flexing of the head portion 86 relative to the mounting portion 84 when a force is applied to the head portion 86 , such as by a pressure tube ( e . g ., pressure tube 60 of fig1 ). such flexing generally rotates the head portion 86 counterclockwise relative to the mounting portion 84 such that an upper jaw 96 including side wall 95 a is urged towards a lower jaw 98 including side wall 95 b thereby clamping the rod bed insert 92 and / or a metering rod in the channel 94 of the base member 82 . in this embodiment , it may be advantageous to position the pressure tube to apply force to the head portion 86 at a position above plane b - b to increase the levering effect and clamping force generated . as with the embodiment of fig1 - 3 , the angle of side surfaces 95 a and 95 b relative to plane b - b can dictate the level of clamping force generated when the metering rod assembly is in use . unlike the previous embodiment , however , the present embodiment optionally allows for elimination of the angled side walls of the channel 94 since the upper jaw 96 is urged towards lower jaw 98 resulting in a clamping effect independent of the clamping effect generated by angled side walls . the exemplary embodiment has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments . obviously , modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description . it is intended that the exemplary embodiment be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof .

a metering rod assembly including a body for accommodating a metering rod insert and configured to clamp the metering rod and / or metering rod insert without the use of an auxiliary clamping device , such as a pressure tube or the like . a rod bed insert is supported in a tapered channel of a body whereby a clamping action is created during use . in another embodiment , the body includes a hinge portion that facilitates relative rotation between upper and lower jaws to create a clamping action during use .

the material according to the present invention is produced according to methods presented in wo99 / 12866 and wo0018702 . these methods include the following steps : 1 . forming a porous workpiece out of a mixture , containing diamond particles . 2 . heat treating the work piece and controlling the heating temperature and heating time so that a certain desired amount of graphite is created by graphitization of diamond particles , thereby creating an intermediate body . 3 . infiltrating melted silicon or alternatively a silicon alloy into the intermediate body . 4 . reacting of the molten silicon and graphite to form sic . by the manufacturing process described above an article with a predetermined shape is formed . no shrinking , swelling or warpage occur on a macroscopic level during the process from the forming of the workpiece to the finished product . the above mentioned publications wo99 / 12866 and wooo / 18702 are referred to for further details of the methods and the contents thereof are incorporated herein . the workpiece is formed out of a mixture of diamond particles having a minimum size of 6 μm ; the workpiece being formed with a relative green density of at least 60 %. the diamond mixture consists of at least two different fractions with different diamond particle sizes . of the diamond content in the workpiece at least 50 weighty / should have a diameter of 80 μm or above . the use of at least two different fractions with different diamond particle sizes is necessary in order to reach a packing degree in the work piece that in the sintered compact gives a high enough diamond concentration ( i . e . a short path for the phonons to travel between the diamonds ) to reach the required levels of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity . the content of diamond in the workpiece is at least 95 % w %, that is a small amount of binder can be used . forming of the workpiece is carried out by known methods such as pressing tape casting , slurry casting or gel casting using conventional equipment . the total duration of the heat treatment of the diamond body is as long as is needed for the diamond mass in the body to have decreased by a desired amount due to graphitization of the diamond particles . an example of heat treatment is heating the workpiece to temperatures between 1000 and 1900 ° c . in vacuum or an inert atmosphere . the infiltration of molten si or silicon alloy is carried out by such known methods as melting a solid piece on the surface of the workpiece , feeding already molten si or silicon alloy on to the surface of the workpiece or by dipping the workpiece into a melt of si or silicon alloy . as the melt infiltrates the workpiece it reacts with graphite and form sic or a sic phase including elements from the alloying elements . the formed silicon carbide phase and a small amount of un - reacted silicon or silicon alloy phase fill up the porous space of the workpiece . the heat treatment and infiltration can advantageously be carried out in the same furnace . the infiltrating melt used can be a silicon alloy comprising at least one metal from the group consisting of ti , zr , hf , v , nb , ta , cr , mo , w , mn , re , fe , co , ni , cu , ag , at or ge . in this case small amounts of secondary phase compounds may form , such as metal silicides , metal carbides , etc . the sintered composite material thus consists of three major phases , a diamond phase , a silicon carbide phase around the diamond particles and un - reacted silicon or silicon alloy phase between areas of silicon carbide . fig1 shows an overview of a typical cross section of a material produced with the method described above in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention seen by back - scattered electron in scanning electron microscopy . dark particles are diamond , gray skeleton is sic and white spots are silicon areas . the initial composition was : 75 wt % d8 ( 150 μm )+ 20 wt % d31 ( 20 μm )+ 5 wt % d32 ( 7 μm ), where the denotations d8 , d31 and d32 are short names for different diamonds used and the different used mean particle sizes are indicated in the parenthesis . the silicon carbide that has formed from the reaction between the graphitized diamond and the melt is coating and surrounding each individual diamond particle . the sic phase forms an interconnected skeleton structure , which is enclosing the diamond particles . fig2 shows a more enlarged view of a typical cross section of a second embodiment of a material according to the invention containing 200 - 250 μm diamonds ( diameters of the largest particles ) to illustrate the close bond the diamonds and the sic surrounding the diamonds . there is virtual no diamond - diamond contact in the composite material . due to the fact that sic has a thermal expansion coefficient larger than the thermal expansion coefficient of diamond , the sic strives to contract more than the diamond particles during cooling after the termination of the heat treatment . at temperatures below the temperature at which the sic was formed , the sic surrounding the individual diamond particles will exert a compressive force on each particle . this is believed to contribute in some extent to the surprisingly good thermal conductivity of the material according to the invention . the silicon - or unreacted silicon alloy together with the possible small amounts of secondary phase compounds , such as metal carbides , metal silicides , etc , are located in the areas in - between the silicon carbide that enclose the diamond particles . the sintered composite material contains said phases in the following proportion : diamond 58 - 81 volume %, si or si alloy max 39 volume % and sic 3 - 41 volume % the limits of the diamond content have been determined empirically . a diamond concentration below 58 volume % in the finished body renders a too low thermal conductivity . a diamond concentration above 79 volume % is hard to achieve with the forming technique used . moreover a diamond concentration above 79 volume % cause problems during the infiltration of the melt , the whole workpiece will not be completely filled by the melt , this leads to poor properties of the finished composite , both thermal and mechanical . however , with special forming techniques and moderate pressure - aided infiltration technique the diamond concentration in the finished body might be slightly increased , a diamond content of 81 volume % may be obtained . to provide a high value of thermal conductivity to a composite material it is crucial to have good adhesion between the different phases , see handbook of industrial diamonds and diamond films , page 184 . the graphite layer formed on the surface of the diamond particles has a very good adhesion to the diamond since the graphite is transformed diamond . when silicon melt reacts with the said graphite the silicon carbide formed inherit the very good adhesion to the diamond and a strong bond between the carbide and diamond is formed . when nucleation of silicon carbide takes place on a graphite surface that has been formed trough graphitization of diamond the formed silicon carbide grows epitaxially , i . e . the growth of silicon carbide on the diamond follows the crystallographic orientation of the diamond the manner in which silicon carbide is formed and the strong bond between the diamond particles and the surrounding silicon carbide are believed to be decisive factors for obtaining the surprisingly high thermal conductivity of a material according to the present invention . a long free path for the phonon transport is obtained in the material according to the present invention . it is shown in table 3 that the thermal conductivity is dependent on how the carbon that form silicon carbide has been provided in materials with otherwise identical initial compositions . a good quality of the raw materials , diamonds as well as silicon is essential in order to reach the maximum levels of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity . examples of important diamond quality parameters are low cobalt , nickel and nitrogen bulk levels . it is well known that a low level of nitrogen gives good thermal conductivity . it is an advantage if the nitrogen content of the large sized diamond particles is 300 ppm or below , preferably 100 ppm and below . very high thermal conductivity values are reached when the nitrogen content is 80 ppm and below . the graphitization of the diamond surfaces has a positive effect with regards to physical surface defects on the diamond particles , caused by mechanical treatments like crushing or sieving . the graphitization transforms defective layers on the diamond surface , resulting in improvement of the phonon transport path . surprisingly we have found that a direct bonding between diamonds is not needed to achieve good thermal conductivity . to have a phonon transport path of high quality is more essential . it is being illustrated in the examples given below . in table 1 and 2 thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity values for a number of different phase compositions are shown . table 1 stress the stated diamond levels , and table 2 the importance of diamond particle sizes . the denotations d1 , d2 etc are short names for different diamonds used and mean particle size is indicated in the parenthesis . the phase composition of the sintered samples given in table 1 and 2 are calculated values . the following four equations were used . where ε 0 is the starting porosity , ρ scd , ρ d and ρ sic are the densities of sintered composite , diamond and silicon carbide , m sic and m c are the molecular masses of silicon carbide and carbon and finally α is the graphitization degree . [ 0054 ] table 2 phase composition of particle size relative the sintered initial for each green c p composite α ± 5 % λ composition diamond type density density ( j / kgk ) ( vol . fraction ) ( cm 2 / s ) ( w / mk ) ( wt %) ( μm ) (%) ( g / cm3 ) calculated d sic si measured calculated 65 % d4 ( 500 ), 79 3 , 345 545 0 , 75 0 , 15 0 , 10 3 , 590 657 d4 + 25 % d24 ( 50 ), d24 + 10 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 65 % d1 ( 420 ), 79 3 , 318 541 0 , 77 0 , 09 0 , 14 4 , 076 732 d1 + 25 % d28 ( 53 ), d28 + 10 % d27 ( 6 ) d27 65 % d3 ( 420 ), 79 3 , 339 544 0 , 75 0 , 14 0 , 11 3 , 372 613 d3 + 25 % d24 ( 50 ), d24 + 10 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 50 , 7 % d3 ( 420 ), 74 3 , 361 558 0 , 66 0 , 29 0 , 05 2 , 851 535 d3 + 49 , 3 % d29 ( 10 ) d29 65 % d34 ( 300 ), 79 3 , 332 544 0 , 75 0 , 13 0 , 12 3 , 408 618 d34 + 25 % d24 ( 50 ), d24 + 10 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 65 % d12 ( 160 ), 75 3 , 329 553 0 , 69 0 , 21 0 , 10 2 , 993 551 d12 + 35 % d31 ( 20 ) d31 75 % d8 ( 150 ), 74 3 , 369 558 0 , 66 0 , 30 0 , 04 3 , 362 632 d8 + 20 % d31 ( 20 ), d31 + 5 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 65 % d14 ( 180 ), 74 3 , 307 554 0 , 69 0 , 19 0 , 12 2 , 822 517 d14 + 35 % d31 ( 20 ) d31 65 % d13 ( 160 ), 77 3 , 364 551 0 , 71 0 , 23 0 , 06 2 , 793 517 d13 + 25 % d31 ( 20 ), d31 + 10 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 70 % d15 ( 150 ), 70 3 , 314 565 0 , 62 0 , 29 0 , 09 2 , 182 408 d15 + 30 % d35 ( 8 ) d35 75 % d36 ( 125 ), 74 3 , 332 557 0 , 68 0 , 24 0 , 08 2 , 562 475 d36 + 20 % d31 ( 20 ), d31 + 5 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 75 % d22 ( 125 ), 32 3 , 273 565 0 , 61 0 , 25 0 , 14 2 , 351 435 d22 + 25 % d29 ( 10 ) d29 70 % d17 ( 125 ), 69 3 , 311 566 0 , 61 0 , 30 0 , 09 2 , 230 418 d17 + 30 % d29 ( 10 ) d29 70 % d16 ( 106 ), 70 3 , 322 565 0 , 62 0 , 30 0 , 08 2 , 226 418 d16 + 30 % d35 ( 8 ) d35 75 % d26 ( 91 ), 70 3 , 265 561 0 , 65 0 , 20 0 , 15 2 , 228 408 d26 + 20 % d31 ( 20 ), d31 + 5 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 75 % d9 ( 88 ), 72 3 , 306 559 0 , 65 0 , 24 0 , 11 2 , 642 488 d9 + 15 % d31 ( 20 ), d31 + 10 % d32 ( 7 ) d32 70 % d10 ( 80 ), 66 3 , 290 570 0 , 58 0 , 32 0 , 10 2 , 300 449 d10 + 25 % d31 ( 20 ), d31 + 5 % d32 ( 7 ) d29 70 % d18 ( 75 ), 71 3 , 315 562 0 , 64 0 , 27 0 , 09 2 , 020 376 d18 + 30 % d30 ( 5 ) d30 70 % d19 ( 63 ), 70 3 , 340 566 0 , 60 0 , 34 0 , 06 2 , 036 385 d19 + 30 % d30 ( 5 ) d30 60 % d24 ( 50 ), 65 3 , 295 578 0 , 55 0 , 36 0 , 09 1 , 762 336 d24 + 40 % d29 ( 10 ) d29 70 % d20 ( 45 ), 70 3 , 318 564 0 , 62 0 , 30 0 , 08 1 , 948 365 d20 + 30 % d33 ( 3 ) d33 70 % d21 ( 38 ), 70 3 , 328 564 0 , 62 0 , 30 0 , 08 1 , 946 365 d21 + 30 % d33 ( 3 ) d33 the materials according to the invention exhibit a thermal expansion rate in the interval between 1 . 8 * 10 − 6 to 2 . 3 * 10 − 6 k − 1 . it is a very low level of thermal expansion that corresponds well to the thermal expansion rates of integrated circuit boards . as stated earlier creation of the carbon source for the carbide plays an important role in achieving a high level of thermal conductivity . a series of experiment were conducted in order to quantify this phenomenon . carbon was added to the workpieces or formed in the workpiece in three different ways , then the workpieces were infiltrated with silicon melt and the thermal diffusivity of the sintered composite was measured . the diamond mixture forming the work piece was exactly the same , represented by sample composition a . the carbon sources supplied for the carbide formation were graphitization of the diamonds , pyrocarbon deposition in the workpiece and carbon powder mixed together with the diamond powder that forms the workpiece . the set up and results of the experiments are shown in table 3 . it is clearly shown that sample a , where no external carbon source has been provided , has the highest thermal diffusivity . the phase compositions of the samples were in this case determined by sem picture analysis of fractured surfaces to allow a calculated level of the conductivity . there are some variations in the phase compositions between the four different groups of samples . the reason for these differences in the final product is the difficulties to reach the exact same final composition when using different manufacturing routes . when external carbon was added ( b ; c ; d ) the residual amount of silicon in the final sample was reduced from around 10 % ( a ). this was especially the case when adding pyrocarbon ( b ; c ), where less than 1 % silicon was seen . subsequently , the silicon carbide formation increased somewhat , but the overall phase shifts resulted in moderate differences in the c p - values used to calculate the level of thermal conductivity of the different samples , cf . table 3 . the above described variations are not large enough to explain the large difference in measured thermal diffusivity when external carbon is added . the importance of having carbon from diamond forming the surrounding sic - layer that extends into the skeleton structure of the composite allows an optimal lattice mechanism of phonon transport . table 3 shows the large influence of the origin of the carbon source on the thermal diffusivity . when the composite is made according to the present invention , the final level of thermal conductivity exceeds that of metals , one of the best being copper with λ = 400 w / mk and α = 1 , 16 cm 2 / s thermal diffusivity was measured using laser flash technique . the top surface of the sample disc was irradiated with a laser , which provided an instantaneous energy pulse . the laser energy was absorbed by the top surface and traveled through the sample . immediately after the laser flash has been emitted , the temperature of the rear face was monitored for heat radiation , which was detected using a photovoltaic infrared detector . the laser pulse raised the temperature of the sample with only a few degrees . the thermal diffusivity ( α ) was calculated from the thickness ( l ) of the sample and the time required for the temperature of the rear surface to reach half of the total temperature rise ( t 1 / 2 ) using the equation α = kl 2 / t 1 / 2 where k is a constant . the laser flash equipment used was a ulvac sinkt - rilco tc - 700 / melt with neodymium glass laser that has oscillating wavelength 1 . 064 μm and an indium antimony irl detector that was cooled with a liquid nitrogen . the dimensions of the samples were discs with 10 mm diameter and a thickness of 4 - 5 mm . the measurements were done at room temperature , the pulse width 0 . 88 ms , pulse duration 0 . 3 ms , pulse diameter 15 mm , pulse energy 15 j / pulse and voltage 2 . 4 kv . the thermal conductivity λ was then calculated using the equation α = λ / c p ρ , where c p is the thermal capacity and ρ the density . the thermal capacity c p was calculated according to c p = σ ( ρ i φ i c i )/ ρ scd where ρ scd is the density of the sintered composite , ρ i the density of each phase , φ i is the volume part of each phase and c i is the thermal capacity of each phase .

this invention relates to diamond - containing composite materials that have high thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity , and to the use of such materials in heat sinks , heat spreading and other heat conductive applications . the material comprises diamond particles silicone carbide and silicon and has a thermal conductivity of at least 400 w / mk and a thermal diffusivity of at least 2 . 1 cm 2 / s .

in the preferred embodiment , a constrained rotary vane - type compressor ( fig1 and 3 ), has a central rotor 10 having a plurality of vanes 20 slideably extending radially outward from rotor 10 , residing within a stator 30 . stator 30 has end caps 40 formed or attached at both ends . the axis of rotation 11 of rotor 10 is offset from , but parallel to , the axialcenterline 32 of stator 30 so as to form vaned compartments of varying volume throughout the cycle of rotation . the distal vane tips 21 of vane 20 &# 34 ; engage &# 34 ; the interior surface 31 of stator 30 , thereby forming a properseal between vane compartments throughout the region of compression . otherwise , fluid in a particular compartment undergoing compression may escape to other regions within the stator , thereby lowering the overall efficiency of the compressor . by &# 34 ; engage &# 34 ; it is meant that the distal vanetips come into very near proximity to the surface of the stator interior innormal operation the interior surface 31 of the stator will become coated with lubricating oil which will act to seal this gap . in the preferred embodiment , the gap between the vane tip and the interior surface of the stator is in the range of 0 . 025 to 0 . 127 mm , ( 0 . 001 to 0 . 005 inches ). to assist such engagement , the vanes may be further guided by tracks 50 in end caps 40 of stator 30 . thus , each vane 20 is equipped with at least oneroller 51 which runs in tracks 50 . track 50 provides a cam surface for roller 51 contacting it , such that as the rollers progress about a track , vanes 20 are guided as they rotate within the interior of stator 30 . since the vane tip 21 does not actually touch the interior surface 31 of the stator 30 and the vane 20 does not rely on the interior surface 31 to arrest its centrifugal acceleration , it is possible to relieve certain portions of the stator interior substantially from the circumferential profile which the vane tip traces . ( this is not possible with a conventional , unconstrained , rotary vane compressor .) creating such relieved areas is , in fact , quite desirable in the vicinity of the inlet 90 and outlet 93 inasmuch as it allows a more gradual transition of the fluid flow and reduces energy losses in these areas . in fig3 and 4 it can be seen that the inlet port surface 91 and outlet port surface 92 are both relieved in this manner . throughout the operation of most conventional constrained rotary vane compressors , various liquids may collect on the exposed surfaces of the vanes . indeed , as previously noted , lubricating oil is purposely circulated with the refrigerant to aid in sealing and as a lubricant . in addition , under certain conditions slugs of refrigerant still in their liquid state may be encountered . as the vanes rapidly rotate , centrifugal force directs the liquids collected on the vane surfaces to the distal ends of the vanes . when the vane tip clearance is increased , as in the region near inlet port surface 91 , a ridge of liquid may form on the tip of the vane . this ridge of liquid may have a height such that when situated on the end of a rotating vane , the effective radial dimension of the vane exceeds the radial dimension of the stator interior . thus , upon avane entering the region of compression , the liquid may become trapped between the interior surface of the stator and the distal vane tip . the essentially instantaneous decrease in clearance above the tip of the vane does not allow sufficient time for the relatively viscous liquid to be displaced from the vane tip . the result is that liquid then impacts the interior surface of the stator which imparts a force upon the vane assembly . occurrence of this is often exhibited as noise and vibration of the compressor . fig4 and 5 clearly show the preferred embodiment of the oil skive 60 of the present invention . oil skive 60 is essentially an angular depression in the generally cylindrical stator wall 31 comprising a depression bottomwall 80 and a trailing wall or step 70 formed in the interior wall 31 of stator 30 . step 70 is referred to as the trailing wall of oil skive 60 because it is the last wall of oil skive 60 which vanes 20 pass as they rotate . the formation , ( typically by machining ) results in depression bottom wall 80 formed on one side of trailing wall 70 . skive 60 ( trailing wall 70 and accompanying depression bottom wall 80 ) is located between inlet port 90 of the compressor and region 100 where compression begins . the oil skive must be machined at the intersection point of inlet port surface 91 and stator interior 31 such that the oil skive 60 is the first point of engagement for a vane entering compression region 100 of stator 30 . the height of trailing wall 70 is preferably between about 0 . 5 mm to about 2 . 0 mm ; such height is more or less constant as the trailing wall extends across the width of the interior wall of stator 30 . oil skive 60 ( trailingwall 70 and depression bottom wall 80 ) preferably extends substantially across the width of stator 30 , and most preferably entirely so as this maximizes the benefits and advantages of the present invention . it is crucial to the function of the oil skive 60 that the intersection of trailing wall 70 and stator interior 31 be essentially a sharp edge . fig5 shows clearly that the trailing wall 70 extends across the width of stator 30 at a slight angle to the axial centerline of stator 30 projectedonto stator wall 31 . in the preferred embodiment , trailing wall 70 is oriented such that as the vane 20 approaches the oil skive 60 , the liquid - covered distal tip of the vane will make contact first at point 71 . as the vane movement progresses the point of contact ( where oil is being skived off the vane tip ) will shift from 71 to the opposite end 72 of the trailing wall 70 . the projected length 73 of skive trailing wall 70 is equal to the distance that the vane travels during this skiving action and , with the rpm , determines the amount of time during which the oil can be displaced from the vane tip . if distance 73 is zero , there is essentially no time for oil displacement and large hydraulic forces , vibration , etc . ensue . in the preferred embodiment distance 73 is approximately the same as the thickness of one vane 20 used in the compressor , resulting in an angular orientation of trailing wall 70 to theaxial centerline of stator 30 of approximately 10 °. in the broader aspects of the invention , this angle can be from about 1 ° to 30 °. liquid which has been wiped off a passing vane 20 collects on trailing wall70 and on depression bottom wall 80 existing on one side of trailing wall 70 . the surface of depression bottom wall 80 extends from trailing wall 70to its intersection with inlet port surface 91 . as trailing wall 70 is oriented at some angle to the vane 20 edge , the liquid collected on depression bottom wall 80 is further directed towards that end of trailingwall 70 which last engages a passing vane 20 . this collected liquid is thenswept into the general compression region after the vane 20 has passed the trailing wall 70 , and before the next vane 20 approaches . the trailing wall 70 , as seen in fig4 should be oriented approximately perpendicular to the path of the tip of passing vane 20 , or even undercut , to ensure that the skiving action will not generate a radial force onto thevane 20 . as shown in fig3 - 4 , the trailing wall 70 is generally radially oriented with respect to stator 30 , substantially in the same plane as a vane 20 having reached its point of closest approach to wall 70 while sweeping past oil skive 60 . furthermore , the surface of depression bottom wall 80 intersects trailing wall 70 face surface at an angle of 90 ° in the preferred embodiment . however , it is envisioned that a range of trailing wall face angles may be utilized , greater or lesser than 90 °. in the foregoing , skive 60 has been shown positioned just &# 34 ; downstream &# 34 ; ( in the direction of rotation of rotor 10 and vanes 20 ) from inlet port 90 . inthe broader aspects of the invention , the skive , or multiple skives , could be located at different points throughout the stator . a logical location for such a skive is any point at which vane tips 21 move from an area where they are not in close proximity to the interior surface 31 of stator30 to a point where they re - approach close proximity to the interior surface 31 . thus a logical location for a second oil skive 60a in the preferred embodiment shown would be just on the downstream side of the exhaust port 93 as illustrated in fig6 . of course , it is understood that the foregoing is merely a preferred embodiment of the invention and that various changes and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and broader aspects thereof as set forth in the appended claims , which are to be interpreted in accordance with the principles of patent law , including the doctrine of equivalents .

a constrained rotary vane compressor having a rotor - vane assembly within a stator often exhibits unwanted noise and vibration effects . the present invention offers a design and method to decrease noise and vibration effects of such compressors by the incorporation of an oil skive formed in the interior wall of the stator . the oil skive rids the vane tips of any excess liquid which may have collected on the rotating vanes , which otherwise may impact certain interior regions of the stator resulting in unwanted noise and vibration of the compressor .

referring now to fig1 it will there be seen that the preferred embodiment of the miniature kite body of this invention is denoted as a whole by the reference numeral 10 . like standard kite bodies , it is substantially diamond - shaped , having a longitudinal extent that exceeds its transverse extent . the preferred longitudinal extent is about four and nine - sixteenths inches and the preferred transverse extent is about three and five - sixteenths inches . the assembly table should be rotatable about a vertical axis , should have a dark color to contrast with the white glue used in the manufacturing process , and should be made of a material such as glass , formica ® or plexiglas ®. in fig1 a bamboo stick 12 is adhered to a first side of kite body 10 . stick 12 is coincident with the longitudinal axis of symmetry of said kite body . although the step of adhering bamboo stick 12 to kite body 10 might be accomplished by any suitable means , the preferred technique is to prepare white glue that has been diluted , and to brush that watered - down white glue onto a first side of bamboo stick 12 , being careful to apply the glue for the entire length of the stick . another way to apply the glue is to grasp the stick with a pair of tweezers and to swipe the stick from one end to the other through a glue spot on the assembly table or through a flat - surfaced tray , thereby eliminating the need for a brush , increasing production , and facilitating glue application . undiluted ( full strength ) glue is too thick for easy application to either the stick or the paper and wrinkles the tissue paper from which kite body 10 is made . stick 12 is then positioned , while still holding it with tweezers , on the kite body in alignment with the longitudinal axis thereof as indicated in fig1 . if the stick is bowed , it is a simple matter to straighten it before the glue dries by nudging it with a finger until it is straight . the stick is pressed lightly to promote adhesion , and the glue is allowed to cure . a second , transversely disposed bamboo stick 14 is then adhered in the same manner to the kite body as depicted in fig2 i . e ., in alignment with the largest or maximum - size transverse axis of the kite body . if either or both bamboo sticks have a slight warp or curvature , then the convex side of the warp or curvature is disposed against the kite body to optimize the shape thereof for flying . sticks 12 and 14 collectively form a frame that maintains the shape of the kite body . to attach triangular - shaped tab or flap 32 , kite body 10 is inverted so that the side thereof to which bamboo sticks 12 , 14 are adhered is facing down on the assembly table . a coin or clean pebble is placed on the kite body to prevent it from blowing away during the remaining steps of the method . a narrow strip of adhesive 33 is applied to long edge 34 of flap 32 as indicated in fig3 a ; the width of the adhesive strip is about one - eighth of an inch . however , as a practical matter , it is advantageous to apply narrow strip of adhesive 33 to kite body 10 instead of to flap 32 . kite body 10 is larger and more stable than flap 32 when lying on a table so the application of adhesive 33 to such kite body is easier and faster than applying said adhesive to flap 32 as depicted . although a brush is depicted in fig3 a , it should be understood that use of a plastic applicator has some advantages over a brush . for example , a plastic applicator is superior to a brush when applying a clean thin line of adhesive to a surface . accordingly , when applying adhesive to the kite body in preparation to attaching flap 32 to said kite body , a plastic applicator can make the strip of adhesive precisely the length of the flap edge and can position the strip of adhesive very close to vertical stick 12 . a mark such as a “& lt ;” can also be made on handle of a plastic applicator and used to indicate the vertical position of flap 32 relative to horizontal bamboo stick 14 . throughout this disclosure , it should be understood that all references to a brush should be interpreted as including a plastic applicator as well . the glued edge of triangular flap 32 is pressed against the stick - free side of kite body 10 , in parallel but slightly offset relation to the longitudinal axis thereof , as depicted in fig3 . more particularly , long edge 34 of flap 32 is positioned slightly to the left or right of longitudinal stick 12 ( which is on the opposite side of kite body 10 ), depending upon the dominant handedness of the assembler , so that when the unglued part of flap 32 is folded along its glued edge , the main body of said flap is oriented normal to the plane of kite body 10 and in a plane coincident with the longitudinal axis of symmetry of said kite body . specifically , long edge 34 is positioned between one - sixteenth to one - eighth of an inch from said longitudinal axis . the top of the flap is positioned about three - quarters of an inch from leading end 11 of kite body 10 . this positions apex 32 a of triangular flap 32 about one - eighth to one - fourth of an inch above transverse stick 14 . as used herein , the term “ above ” means on the side of transverse stick 14 nearest said leading end . the leading end of kite body 10 is the top end thereof , as drawn in fig3 b , and is denoted 11 as aforesaid . the positioning of said apex 32 a about one - eighth to one - fourth of an inch from transverse stick 14 , on the leading side thereof , is of critical importance . this distance is denoted 33 b in fig3 b . this represents a critical positioning of said apex because it optimizes the aerodynamic features of the novel kite . for example , if apex 32 a of triangular flap 32 were coincident with transverse stick 14 , i . e ., if distance 33 b were zero , the flight characteristics of the novel kite would be diminished vis a vis the optimal positioning disclosed herein . since the one - eighth to one - fourth inch separation between apex 32 a of triangular flap 32 and transverse stick 14 is optimal only for the specific size kite body mentioned above , it is clear that such distance would increase as the size of kite body 10 is increased and decrease as said size is reduced . in the broadest claim that follows this description , the apex of the triangular flap is recited as being between the leading end of the kite body and the longest transverse axis of the kite body . transverse stick 14 is coincident with said longest transverse axis as mentioned earlier . when the kite is in use , flap 32 is positioned normal to the plane of kite body 10 . apex 32 a is between leading end 11 of kite body 10 and the longest transverse axis 14 as aforesaid , but is spaced from the plane of kite body 10 by a distance predetermined by the size of flap 32 , which size is of course variable . the triangular shape of flap 32 may be divided by an imaginary line into two right triangles as indicated by imaginary line 33 a in fig3 a . apex 32 a is thus understood to be spaced from the plane of kite body 10 by a distance equal to the length of imaginary line 33 a when flap 32 is in its deployed , in flight position . about forty ( 40 ) yards of thread is wound in a uniform manner around a relatively stiff 3½ “× 5 ” inch card , preferably made of pressboard , denoted 36 in fig5 on a thread - winding machine designed by the present inventor . after flap 32 has been secured to kite body 10 , a free end of thread 27 is adhered to apex 32 a of flap 32 as depicted in fig3 c . diluted white glue is applied by any suitable means to free end 27 a of thread 27 for an extent of about one - half of an inch , and said glue - covered free end is then placed into overlying relation to flap 32 at apex 32 a . although flap 32 could have a shape other than triangular , the use of a triangular - shaped flap has the advantage that it provides a clear apex to which thread 27 is attached . this removes all guesswork from the kite assembly and positions thread 27 at its optimal position . the preferred embodiment of the novel miniature kite includes two tail ribbons , although different numbers thereof are within the scope of this invention . the ribbons are made of the same light - in - weight material as the kite body and flap . each ribbon is preferably about nine - sixteenths of an inch in width and about thirty inches in length . a second pair of kite tails is provided in each kit of the commercial embodiment of the invention , for use in high winds . specifically , the respective leading ends of the second pair of tails are attached to the respective trailing ends of the primary tails in such circumstance . the ribbon attaching procedure is depicted in fig4 a , 4 b , and 4 c . as indicated in fig4 a , the diluted glue is applied by a suitable brush means or plastic applicator to a first end of one of the ribbons ; the glue extends from the leading end of ribbon 16 to a point about one - quarter inch from said end . the leading end of ribbon 1 8 is then pressed thereagainst and the two ribbons are joined to one another when the glue sets . the brush or plastic applicator is then used again to apply glue to an exterior surface of either ribbon , as indicated in fig4 b . this glue extends from the end of the ribbon to a point about one - quarter inch from said end . the glued end of the ribbon is then pressed against kite body 10 at its trailing end as indicated in fig4 c and the tail connecting procedure is finished when the glue cures . it is important to apply the tails squarely so that their respective longitudinal axes of symmetry are coincident with the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the kite . however , it has been found that an easier , faster and more accurate tail - attaching method is to lay a plurality of tails on the assembly table , apply glue to the tails with the plastic applicator , and to place the kite body — stick side down — onto the tails . this allows for a more accurate placement and alignment of the kite body to and with the tails so that they are squared relative to the longitudinal axis of the kite main body and in line with one another . in the preferred embodiment , each ribbon of the ribbon pair is of a different color for artistic purposes . the miniature kite is prepared for shipping by placing it into overlying relation to card 36 as depicted in fig5 . ribbons 16 , 18 , that form the kite tail are coiled around the card as shown . card 36 provides ease of packaging , and facilitates packaging of the kite by the manufacturer and carrying and use of the kite by the consumer . in a commercial embodiment , an extra set of tails is provided for use in high wind conditions as mentioned earlier . the novel procedures disclosed above may be employed to make kites of widely varying shapes , and the coverage of this invention extends to kites of all shapes and sizes . for example , as depicted in fig6 a , kite body 10 a may have a triangular shape and the frame that maintains that shape may include a longitudinally disposed first stick 12 a and a transversely disposed second stick 14 a . as depicted in fig6 b , kite body 10 b may have the configuration of a five - pointed star and in such event the frame for maintaining that shape would include sticks 12 a , 12 b , 12 c , and 14 b . fig6 c depicts kite body 10 c of substantially diamond - shaped configuration , and its frame includes sticks 12 a and 14 d . rectangular kite body 10 d is depicted in fig6 d and its frame includes sticks 12 a , 12 e and 12 f arranged in an “ x ” configuration . an oval kite body is denoted 10 e in fig6 e and its frame preferably includes three sticks 12 a , 12 h and 12 i arranged in the pattern of an asterisk . fig6 f depicts a substantially triangular kite body 10 f having a frame formed by sticks 12 a and 14 j . finally , a modified five - pointed star kite body 10 g is depicted in fig6 g , and its frame is formed by sticks 12 a , 12 k , 12 l and 14 k , 14 l . numerous other shapes and appropriate frames therefore are within the scope of this it being impractical to illustrate all other practical miniature kite designs made possible by this invention . note further that the embodiments of fig6 a , 6 b , 6 d , and 6 g are double - tailed , and the embodiment of fig6 f may be double or triple - tailed . it will be seen that the objects set forth above , and those made apparent from the foregoing description , are efficiently attained . since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described , and all statements of the scope of the invention that , as a matter of language , might be said to fall therebetween .

13 a miniature , highly decorative kite that flies indoors or outdoors is made by cutting a small piece of tissue paper into any preselected shape , including the shape of a standard diamond - shaped kite . very finely cut bamboo sticks serve as the frame of the miniature kite and are adhered to a first side of the kite body to form a frame that maintains the preselected shape . two elongate ribbons are secured to one another at their respective leading ends and are secured to the trailing end of the kite body . a string is attached to the apex of a triangular flap that is adhered to a second side of the kite body . the flap is folded at its base so that it lies in a plane perpendicular to the kite body when functioning . the kite flies in the slightest breeze and may be flown indoors .

referring to fig1 - 2 , there is illustrated a portion of a wafer 10 . fig1 and 2 show an upper portion of the wafer 10 , which is built on a supporting substrate 70 . the substrate 70 may have electronic devices or regions fabricated therein . the wafer 10 has a first dielectric layer 18 , upon which is located a hard mask layer 14 . positioned atop the hard mask layer 14 is a second dielectric layer 12 . conductive plugs 20 formed of a conductive material fills openings 19 in the first dielectric layer 18 . the conductive plugs 20 may connect with an active region or another conductor within the substrate 70 . vias 16 extend from a top surface of the second dielectric layer 12 to a bottom surface of the hard mask layer 14 . conductive material fills each via 16 and contacts a corresponding conductive material plug 20 . the dielectric layers 12 , 18 may be formed of any suitable dielectric material , such as , for example , borophosphosilicate glass ( bpsg ), tetra ethyl orthosilane ( teos ) or plasmas enhanced teos ( peteos ). the conductive material 20 may be formed of a suitably conductive material , such as a metal . suitable metals include copper , aluminum , gold , silver , titanium and the like . the hard mask layer 14 is formed of a material resistant to certain etchants . preferably , the hard mask layer 14 is formed of silicon nitride . the wafer - in - process is chemical mechanical polished to prepare the surface for further processing . a conventional process has been illustrated in fig1 and 2 . fig3 - 5 illustrate the formation of the wafer 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . fig3 illustrates a photolithographic device 30 , such as a semiconductor mask or reticle , which includes a transparent substrate 32 and radiant energy inhibiting portions 34 . the transparent substrate 32 is formed of quartz , glass , or any other material transparent to radiant energy . the inhibiting portions 34 are formed of a material which will prevent passage of radiant energy , such as chromium or other like opaque materials . alternatively , a translucent or semi - opaque material may be used to inhibit the passage of radiant energy . [ 0022 ] fig4 shows the fig2 structure at the point where a photoresist layer 22 has been applied to the dielectric layer 12 which has the vias 16 formed therein . as shown in fig4 a radiant energy source 50 projects radiant energy toward the photolithographic device 30 , which for simplicity &# 39 ; s sake will hereinafter be called a reticle 30 . a portion 40 of the radiant energy is inhibited by the inhibiting portions 34 from projecting onto and exposing portions of the photoresist material 22 while another portion 42 of the radiant energy extends through the reticle 30 . the reticle 30 is registered to the wafer - in - process such that each inhibiting portion 34 obstructs the radiant energy portion 40 from direct transmission to the photoresist material 22 overlaying , and positioned in , a corresponding via 16 . by inhibiting direct projection of radiant energy to portions of the photoresist material 22 within or above the vias 16 , a lower portion 26 of the photoresist material 22 remains unexposed , while an upper portion 24 of the photoresist material 22 still becomes exposed and may then be removed ( fig5 ). the lower portions 26 of the photoresist layer 22 protect the hard mask layer 14 and the conductive plugs 20 during a subsequent processing step performed on the wafer 10 ( described in detail below ). strategic placement of the inhibiting portions 34 on the reticle 30 prevents the depth of focus ( dof ) of the radiant energy from extending beyond the depth of the vias 16 , allowing the lower photoresist portions 26 to remain in a lower quadrant of the vias 16 . preferably , the unexposed lower photoresist portions 26 should protect at least the conductive plugs 20 , and more preferably also protect the hard mask layer 14 . thus , more preferably the unexposed lower photoresist portions 26 should extend from the conductive plugs 20 beyond the hard mask layer 14 . with reference to fig4 by directing radiant energy through a properly registered reticle 30 , an exposure pattern emerges on the wafer - in process in which the photoresist material 22 directly above the vias 16 has a reduced exposure relative to other portions of the photoresist material 22 . specifically , in the photoresist material 22 surrounding the vias 16 , the normalized intensity ( exposure / time ) is about 0 . 90 to about 1 . 00 . however , because of the inhibiting or opaque portions 34 directly blocking radiant energy from the vias 16 , the normalized intensity at the photoresist material 22 overlaying the vias 16 is about 0 . 58 to about 0 . 34 . fig6 - 7 illustrate a method of fabricating the wafer 10 in accordance with the present invention . step 100 ( fig6 a , 7 ) is an etch of the first dielectric layer 18 . radiant energy projects through a transparent substrate 31 of a photolithographic device 29 onto a photoresist layer 52 on the first dielectric layer 18 . opaque or inhibiting portions 33 prevent radiant energy from extending to some parts of the photoresist layer 52 . the radiant energy may be any suitable form capable of developing the photoresist layer 52 , as is well known in the art . the radiant energy extending through the transparent substrate 31 forms openings in the photoresist layer 52 . these openings in the photoresist layer 52 are in turn used in the etching of the first dielectric layer 18 to form the openings 19 therein ( fig6 b ). after formation of the openings 19 in the first dielectric layer 18 , conductive material 21 is deposited within the openings 19 and over the first dielectric layer 18 at step 105 ( fig6 c ). conductive plugs 20 are then formed at step 110 ( fig6 d ). preferably , a chemical mechanical polish ( cmp ) is performed on the conductive material 21 overlaying the first dielectric layer 18 to ablate that portion of the material 21 , leaving behind the conductive plugs 20 . the hard mask layer 14 is then deposited over the first dielectric layer 18 and the conductive plugs 20 at step 115 ( fig6 e ). the second dielectric layer 12 is then deposited on the hard mask layer 14 at step 120 ( fig6 f ). the vias 16 are formed in the second dielectric layer 12 and the hard mask layer 14 at step 125 ( fig6 f , 6g ). specifically , radiant energy is projected through transparent portions 231 of a photolithographic device 229 onto a photoresist layer 54 to expose portions of it . the layer 54 is then developed and openings therein are used to etch the second dielectric layer 12 and the hard mask 24 to form the vias 16 . radiant energy is inhibited from projecting through part of the device 229 to the wafer - in - process due to the positioning of opaque or inhibiting portions 233 . the device 229 is registered to the wafer - in - process so as to position the openings in the photoresist layer 54 to form each via 16 to contact a corresponding conductive plug 20 . the vias 16 are filled with the photoresist material 22 , which extends over a top surface of the second dielectric layer 12 , at step 130 ( fig6 h ). as noted above , the photoresist material 22 includes a shallow portion 24 and a deep portion 26 . at step 135 , a portion of the photoresist material 22 is exposed ( fig6 h , 61 ). specifically , the radiant energy 42 projects through the transparent portions 32 of a photolithographic device 30 . the device 30 includes the inhibiting or opaque portions 34 which inhibit the radiant energy 42 from directly extending through the device 230 to the wafer - in - process . the device 30 differs from the device 229 in that the opaque portions 34 are positioned to inhibit radiant energy from directly reaching the vias 16 , while the opaque portions 233 are positioned out of a direct line with the vias 16 and the radiant energy . in other words , the device 30 is the inverse of the device 229 . the exposed portions of the photoresist 22 are removed , leaving an open space 60 and some remaining unexposed deep portions 26 of the photoresist 22 in the vias 16 . after removing the exposed portions of the photoresist 22 , the wafer - in - process is etched at step 140 ( fig6 j ). specifically , the top surface of the second dielectric layer 12 is etched to increase the surface area of the open space 60 . after such processing , the remaining deep portions 26 of the photoresist material 22 are removed at step 145 . the vias 16 and the open space 60 are then filled at step 150 with the conductive material 62 ( fig6 k ). a portion of the conductive material 62 is ablated through chemical mechanical polishing at step 155 ( fig6 l ) to prepare the surface for further processing . the described embodiments provide protection for the conductive plugs 20 and the hard mask layer 14 during etching of the open space 60 by the simple expedient of leaving some photoresist 22 at the bottom of the vias 16 when photoresist patterning the area for etching the second dielectric layer 12 to produce the open space 60 . while the invention has been described in detail in connection with the preferred embodiments known at the time , it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments . rather , the invention can be modified to incorporated any number of variations , alterations , substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described , but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , while portions 33 , 34 , and 233 are described as opaque , translucent , semi - opaque or like materials capable of keeping the radiant energy dof less than the depth of the vias 16 may be used . accordingly , the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description , but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims .

an apparatus , system and method for fabricating a wafer utilizing a dual damascene process are described . a wafer - in - process , having conductive plugs within a first dielectric layer , a hard mask over the first dielectric layer , vias in a second dielectric layer which overlies the hard mask , and a photoresist material within the vias is further processed by a photolithographic device having transparent portions and radiant energy inhibiting portions . the photolithographic device is registered to the wafer - in - process to prevent radiant energy from being directly transmitted into the photoresist material overlaying the vias . this prevents the exposure of a portion of the photoresist material at a lower portion of the vias , thus protecting the hard mask layer and / or the conductive plugs from damage during a subsequent etching process . the exposed photoresist material is then removed .

a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig3 to 6 . [ 0026 ] fig3 is a schematic side view of a magnetic field generator 38 to which the present invention is applicable . as shown , the magnetic field generator 38 comprises two plate yokes 40 and 42 supported in parallel by way of two pillar or column yokes ( only one is shown and denoted by 44 ). the generator 38 further comprises two permanent magnets 46 and 48 , which carry respectively two pole pieces 50 and 52 on opposite surfaces thereof as in the prior art referred to in the opening paragraphs . as mentioned above , each of the magnets 46 and 48 is fabricated using a plurality of magnetized rectangular or cubic blocks . each of the magnets is typically an nd — fe — b , sm — co , or sm — n — fe type magnet by way of example . further , each of the pole pieces 50 and 52 comprises a soft iron substrate on which laminated silica - steel boards are provided , or made of soft ion . comparing the two magnetic field generators 10 and 38 respectively shown in fig1 and 3 , the generator 38 is provided with two pillar yokes . however , this difference in structure has no meaning , and the present invention can also be applied to the generator 10 of fig1 . the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail . it is assumed that the permanent magnets 48 and 48 have already been installed on the plate yokes 40 and 42 , respectively . [ 0028 ] fig4 is a diagram schematically showing how to install the pole piece 62 under the magnet 46 ( viz ., at a predetermined position defined on the lower surface of the magnet 46 ) using an assembling apparatus ( denoted by 60 ). although not shown in fig4 the assembling apparatus 60 is strongly held by a suitable supporter that is typically rested on the floor on which the plate yoke 40 is placed . as an alternative , the supporter might be settled within the yoke structure . the assembling apparatus 60 generally comprises a hollow rectangular guide case 62 which is roughly exemplified in fig5 a screwed rod 64 , and a cap or lid 66 through which the rod 64 rotatably advances toward the magnet 48 . the guide case 62 is preferably made of non - magnetic material such as aluminum , and has upper and lower plates 64 a - 64 b and side plates 64 c and 64 d ( fig5 ) for defining the path along which the pole piece 52 is inserted and advanced . although it is not shown in fig4 and 5 how to attach or fasten the cap 66 to the end of the guide case 62 , the cap 66 can detachably be attached to the end of the guide case 62 using known technology , and as such , the detail thereof is omitted for brevity . when the apparatus 60 is set to a predetermined position as illustrated in fig4 , the inner surface of the upper side 64 a is aligned with the lower major surface of the magnet 48 . when starting the installation of the pole piece 52 , the rod 64 is removed together with the cap 66 . subsequently , the pole piece 52 is inserted into the guide case 62 as shown in fig5 and the cop 66 is attached after which the rod 64 is inserted into a screwed hole provided in the cap 66 . in the above , it is preferable to apply suitable lubricant such as grease to the upper surface of the pole piece 62 and also to the lower surface of the magnet 48 in order to reduce the friction therebetween . thereafter , the pole piece 52 is advanced toward the magnet 48 by rotating the screw rod 84 as schematically shown in fig4 until being positioned under the center portion of the lower surface of the magnet 48 . as mentioned above , the magnetic attracting forces between the magnet 48 and the pole piece 52 reaches as large as about 10 - ton . however , according to the experiment conducted by the inventor , the maximum force required to push the pole piece 52 until setting the same on the predetermined position under the magnet 48 was as small as about 2 - ton . more specifically , the experiment was implemented with the following conditions . that is , the frame structure such as shown in fig3 has 1 . 5 meters in width , 2 meters in depth , and 1 . 4 meters in height . the plate yokes 40 and 42 were supported using two pillars as shown in fig3 . further , two nd — fe — b type magnets 46 and 48 are provided , between which there exists magnetic field strength of about 0 . 2 - tesla . the pole piece 52 was disk - shaped and has a diameter of 1 meter , and 100 mm in height including the circumferential protrusion . still further , a normal type machine grease was applied to the top surface of the pole piece 52 and the lower surface of the magnet 48 . after the pole piece 52 has been installed onto the lower surface of the magnet 48 , the other pole piece 50 is then installed onto the magnet 46 as shown in fig6 . in fig6 the members or potions corresponding to those described in fig4 are denoted by like numerals plus primes . it is readily understood from the foregoing that the process of installing the lower pole piece 50 is substantially identical to that discussed above , and accordingly , further description thereof is deemed redundant , and as such , will be omitted for brevity . it is to be noted that the order of installing the pole pieces 52 and 60 is optional and in no way limited to that described above . in the above , the screw rod 64 is used to push the pole pieces 50 and 52 . however , it is within the scope of the present invention to employ other known suitable pushing apparatus such as using a piston and cylinder . still further , it is possible to install both the pole pieces 50 and 52 simultaneously by devising the supporters for supporting both the assembling apparatuses 60 and 60 ′. the foregoing descriptions show only one preferred embodiment . however , other various modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention which is only limited by the appended claims . therefore , the embodiment described are only illustrated , not restrictive .

assembling magnetic circuitry for an mri system is disclosed . the mri system comprises two permanent magnets provided within a yoke structure such as to face each other for generating magnetic field in the space defined therebetween , and two pole pieces respectively provided on opposing surfaces of the permanent magnets . each of the pole pieces is installed at a predetermined position of the corresponding permanent magnet by sliding the pole piece on the corresponding permanent magnet in a direction parallel with a main surface of the corresponding permanent magnet on which the pole pieces is to be installed .

fig1 and 2 show an exemplary embodiment of the operating mechanism 1 according to the invention , which is used for a parking brake on a vehicle and in particular a motor vehicle . the operating mechanism 1 is provided with a manual brake lever 2 which is attached pivoting to a bearing block 3 . the bearing block 3 includes at least one cast part , wherein the cast part is preferably composed of a light metal alloy . the manual brake lever 2 is embodied integrally and is also embodied as a cast part , wherein this cast part is also composed of a light metal alloy . aluminum - alloys or magnesium alloys are preferably used for the bearing block 3 as well as for the manual brake lever 2 . the manual brake lever 2 is positioned around a horizontally extending pivoting axis , wherein the manual brake lever 2 is attached to a tubular holder 4 to which a transmission element 5 is also attached . the respective position of the manual brake lever 2 is transmitted via this transmission element 5 to the vehicle parking brake which is not shown herein . the transmission element 5 in the present case is embodied as a rope or cord , but can alternatively also be embodied as a cable or a rod . the manual brake lever 2 comprises a guide 6 with a displaceable activation rod 7 located inside . in the embodiment shown , the activation rod 7 is a rod - shaped plastic part . the guide 6 is embodied as a u - shaped profile , with its open side exposed on one side of the manual brake lever 2 . by arranging the opening of the u - shaped profile on the side , the activation rod 7 can be inserted from the side into this guide . a push button 8 is fitted onto the front end of the activation rod 7 , which projects over the guide 6 , and is secured thereon with the aid of locking means and the like . the activation rod 7 is connected to a locking device 9 , wherein this locking device 9 can be used to lock the manual brake lever 2 in a predetermined pivoting position . the locking device 9 may comprise a detent 10 and a locking segment 11 . the locking segment 11 is attached to the bearing block 3 and is provided with a strip and detent teeth 12 . the detent 10 is positioned on a pivot bearing 13 on the manual brake lever 2 , so as to pivot around a horizontally extending pivoting axis , and is pre - tensioned via a spring element 14 . the pivoting axis extends through the center of the detent 10 and divides this detent into pivoting arms extending on both sides of the pivoting axis . the first pivoting arm of the detent 10 is connected to the activation rod 7 . the second pivoting arm of the detent 10 engages in the locking segment 11 . for this , the detent 10 is provided on the front end of the second pivoting arm with a latching nose which can be made to engage into the detent teeth 12 of the locking segment 11 . the activation rod 7 is prevented from moving out of the guide with the aid of a guide clip 15 as well as the connection between the detent 10 and the activation rod 7 . to release the detent 10 from the locking segment 11 , the push button 8 is depressed . as a result , the activation rod 7 is displaced and the detent 10 released counter to the spring force of the spring element 14 from the locking segment 11 . the design and function of the tubular holder 4 can be seen in particular in fig2 and 3 . the tubular holder 4 , which may also comprise a light metal alloy in the same way as the manual brake lever 2 and the bearing block 3 , is provided in addition to the hollow - cylindrical basic body 4 a with a formed - on part 4 b , in which the transmission element 5 in the form of a traction rope is guided and secured . a screw 16 is provided on one end of the formed - on part 4 b as a means for securing the traction rope . fig3 shows that the tubular holder 4 on the inside has an axially extending cavity with a circular cross - section . fig3 furthermore shows that two bearing bushings 17 are inserted into this cavity . these bearing bushings 17 are secured in their positions on the respective ends of the cavity by horizontal flanges that rest against the longitudinal ends of the tubular holder 4 . a bearing tube 18 is inserted into this cavity which is subsequently inserted and secured in bores in the side walls 3 a of the bearing block 3 , so that the bearing tube 18 is affixed non - rotating to the bearing block 3 . as a result , the tubular holder 4 with the attached manual brake lever 2 is thus positioned rotating on the positioning tube 18 , wherein a positioning with low friction is achieved when the tubular holder 4 is rotated because of the bearing bushings 17 that glide on the positioning tube 18 . the integrally embodied manual brake lever 2 is attached non - rotating in a predetermined desired position by pressing it onto the tubular holder 4 . fig4 and 5 in particular show the components on the manual brake lever 2 and the tubular holder 4 which are required for the press - fit connection . on one longitudinal end of its basic body 4 a , the tubular holder 4 is provided with a projection 19 , also tube shaped , for which the outer surfaces function as press - fit surfaces . the outer surfaces are provided with bevels , such that the outside diameter of the projection 19 is tapered continuously toward its frontal , exposed end . as can be seen in fig4 , the press - fit surfaces are structured such that in circumferential direction of the projection 19 , four offset - arranged ribs 20 a - d are provided . these ribs 20 a - d respectively extend over the total length of the projection 19 , wherein the ribs 20 a - d have different widths and are arranged at different distances relative to each other . the manual brake lever 2 is provided with an opening 21 into which the projection 19 of the tubular holder 4 can be pressed . the contour of the opening 21 is accordingly adapted to the contour of the projection 19 . the opening 21 is provided for this with bulges that correspond to the individual ribs 20 a - d of the projection 19 . since the ribs 20 a - d of the projection 19 are not radially symmetric with respect to the rotational axis of the tubular holder 4 ( and accordingly also the bulges on the opening 21 of the manual brake lever 2 ), the manual brake lever 2 can be pressed onto the projection 19 of the tubular holder 4 in only the desired position . for the press - fit operation , the inner surface of the opening 21 forms two press - fit edge surfaces 22 a , 22 b . these two edge surfaces 22 a , 22 b are slanted relative to each other to form separate press - fit surfaces on each side of the manual brake lever . the edge surfaces 22 a , 22 b adjoin in the center of the opening 21 and then extend at an angle , mirror - symmetrical to each other , toward the respective outer edges of the opening 21 . as a result , the diameter of the opening 21 is smallest at the center and increases toward the respective outer edges . as a result of the two press - fit surfaces formed by the edge surfaces 22 a , 22 b , the manual brake lever 2 can be arranged on a tubular holder 4 having the projection 19 located on its right longitudinal end ( corresponding to the embodiments shown in fig1 to 4 ). in this case , the edge surface 22 a is used for the press fit connection with the projection 19 of the tubular holder 4 . this variant is used for motor vehicles where the steering wheel is arranged on the left side of the vehicle . the same manual brake lever 2 can also be attached to a tubular holder 4 where the projection 19 is arranged on the left longitudinal end of the tubular holder 4 . in that case , the edge surface 22 b of the manual brake lever 2 is used for the press fit connection with the projection 19 of the tubular holder 4 . this type of embodiment is used for right - steering motor vehicles . it will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications , changes and adaptations , and that the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims .

an operating mechanism for a parking brake . the operating mechanism includes a manual brake lever pivotably coupled to a bearing block by a tubular holder . the manual brake lever is fixed to the tubular holder . the mechanism also includes a locking device adapted to fix the manual brake lever in a predetermined pivoting position , an activation rod guided inside the manual brake lever and operatively connected to the locking device , and a transfer element connected to the tubular holder . the transfer element is adapted to transmit movement of the manual lever to the parking brake .

referring now to the drawings , and first more particularly to fig1 a shoe constructed in accordance with the method of the present invention is indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 20 . the shoe 20 is preferably an athletic shoe ( e . g ., a running shoe or basketball shoe ) and includes an outsole , generally indicated at 22 , a midsole , generally indicated at 24 , an upper , generally indicated at 26 , and a sock liner , generally indicated at 28 . preferably , the outsole 22 and midsole 24 are made of conventional outsole and midsole materials . in particular , the outsole 22 is preferably of a durable material , such as carbon rubber , and the midsole 24 is preferably of a cushioning material , such as foam polyurethane or foam ethylene vinyl acetate . the sock liner 28 includes a sock liner member 30 , a heel pad 32 , and a forefoot pad 34 . the sock liner member 30 is preferably formed of a foam polyurethane or foam ethylene vinyl acetate . it is preferably formed with a heel cavity 36 and forefoot cavity 38 in its underside . the heel pad 32 is within the heel cavity 36 and the forefoot pad 34 is within the forefoot cavity 38 . the cavities 36 , 38 are each defined by a cavity wall and a cavity ceiling . each cavity wall is preferably a closed curve and is spaced at all points from the periphery of the sock liner member . in other words the cavity wall does not merge with or intersect the periphery of the sock liner member . although the cavities are shown as having a particular shape and being in a particular location , it is to be understood that they could be of different shapes and be in different locations without departing from the scope of this invention . also , the cavity ceilings are shown as being generally flat . however , it is to be understood that the cavity ceilings could be of other shapes without departing from the scope of this invention . to form the pads 32 , 34 the heel and forefoot cavities 36 , 38 are filled with a polyurethane fluid substance which is curable to an elastomeric solid condition , i . e ., it becomes solid to a predetermined firmness and does not flow . the polyurethane substance is preferably of two component fluids which are mixed together and then injected into the cavities 36 , 38 of the sock liner member 30 . preferably , the two component fluids are selected such that the mixture cures within fifteen minutes into the elastomeric pads 32 , 34 having a durometer hardness different from that of the sock liner member 30 . one of the two component fluids is preferably a polyether polyol , and the other is a plasticizer with isocyanate terminated prepolymers . these fluids are commercially available from synair corporation of chattanooga , tenn . the two component fluids are injected into the cavities 36 , 38 via a metered mixing and dispensing mechanism ( not shown ). preferably , the dispensing mechanism is of the type commercially available from ashby cross of tops field , mass . the meter mixing and dispensing equipment includes two separate tanks ( not shown ). one tank contains the liquid polyol and the other tank contains the liquid plasticizer . the liquids are drawn from their tanks in metered amounts , mixed via a mixing nozzle and then directly injected into the cavities of the sock liner member 30 . the combination of the two raw components when dispensed through the mixing nozzle has a viscosity comparable to that of motor oil ( e . g ., 800 - 1100 centipoise ). prior to curing therefore , the fluid substance is a liquid , flows easily into the cavities 36 , 38 , and can conform exactly to the three dimensional form of the cavity . upon curing , the formed polyurethane pads 32 , 34 preferably have a durometer hardness in the range of 25 - 65 shore 000 scale , and more preferably have a durometer hardness of approximately 50 shore 000 scale . the exact material properties of the polyurethane pads 32 , 34 can be varied by changing the mixing ratio of the polyol and plasticizer . the sock liner member 30 preferably has a durometer hardness in the range of 45 - 65 shore 00 scale . the predominant property that is changed by varying the ratio is hardness . although the pads 32 , 34 have been described as preferably being less resilient ( i . e ., softer ) than the sock liner member 30 , it is to be understood that the formed pads could be more resilient ( i . e ., harder ) than the midsole body without departing from the scope of this invention . preferably , the formed resilient pads 32 , 34 remain tacky even after curing so that they bond to the sock liner member 30 . this bond resists shifting of the pads 32 , 34 within the shoe 20 . thus , the tackiness of the pads maintains effectiveness of the pads and comfort of the shoe 20 by preventing a change in orientation of the pads , and also prevents shoe squeak . referring now to fig4 a flexible , polymeric sheet 40 is preferably placed against the underside of the sock liner member 30 after the fluid polyurethane has cured to form the heel pads 32 but before the sock liner 28 is placed onto the upper surface of the midsole 24 . preferably , the sheet 40 completely covers the tacky pads 32 , 34 . in some uses of the sock liner 28 , it is desirable to permanently bond the polymeric sheet 40 directly to the sock liner member 30 and insert the sock liner 28 with the attached sheet into the shoe . when used in this manner , the sheet 40 prevents the tacky pads 32 , 34 from adhering to the upper surface of the midsole 24 . in other uses of the sock liner 28 , it is desirable to remove the sheet 40 from the sock liner 28 before placing the sock liner onto the midsole 24 . when used in this manner , the sheet 40 acts as a backing layer to prevent the tacky pads 32 , 34 of the sock liner from undesirably adhering to other objects ( e . g , other sock liners ) before the sock liner is placed against the midsole 24 . when it is desired to place the sock liner 28 on the midsole 24 , the sheet 40 ( backing layer ) is peeled off the sock liner so that the pads 32 , 34 adhere to the midsole . when used as a backing layer , then the sheet 40 is adhered to the sock liner 28 only via the tacky pads 32 , 34 and not via the lock liner member 30 . also , preferably , when used as a backing layer , the sheet is either made of or coated with a suitable material ( e . g ., wax ) to somewhat repel or reduce the adhesive hold of the pads against backing layer so that the backing layer may be easily removed . in view of the above , it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained . as various changes could be made in the above constructions and methods 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 shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense .

a method of making a sock liner for insertion in footwear comprising providing a sock liner member having a cavity in an underside thereof , filling the cavity with a fluid which is curable to an elastomeric condition , and allowing the fluid to cure to the elastomeric condition .

fig1 shows one exemplary embodiment of the gas - insulated switch disconnector arrangement 1 according to the invention , in the form of a sectioned side view . the illustrated switch disconnector arrangement 1 has an enclosure 2 which is at ground potential and has three connecting stubs 3 which are each designed to produce a gas - tight connection to one of the outdoor bushings 4 . only three outdoor bushings 4 , which are arranged in the form of a fan on one plane , can be seen in fig1 . these three outdoor bushings 4 are associated with one phase of a three - phase network . the remaining outdoor bushings 4 for the other phases are offset into the plane of the drawing in fig1 , and are in each case arranged aligned with one of the illustrated outdoor bushings 4 . in total , nine outdoor bushings 4 are attached to the enclosure 2 . the outdoor bushing 4 has a hollow - cylindrical isolator 5 with a cavity 6 for holding a switch disconnector 7 . the switch disconnector 7 comprises a stationary female contact 8 and a sliding contact 9 , which is likewise stationary , with the female contact 8 being connected via a contact rod 10 to an outdoor connection 11 for connection of an air - insulated high - voltage line , which is not shown . at the end , the outdoor connection 11 is arranged on the isolator 5 and has a closure cap 12 which is connected to the isolator 5 in a gas - tight manner by adhesive means , and closes the cavity 6 such that it is gas - tight . a switching pin 13 is guided in the sliding contact 8 such that it can move , with the sliding contact 9 being electrically connected to a pole element 16 , which is arranged in the enclosure 2 , via a hollow connecting conductor 14 and via a plug - in contact 15 . insulating posts are provided on the enclosure 2 in order to hold the pole element 16 , but are not illustrated in fig1 . the pole element 16 produces an electrical connection between the sliding contacts 9 of one phase . in other words , the contact rods 10 , the female contacts 8 , the switching pins 13 , the sliding contacts 9 , the connecting conductors 14 , the plug - in contacts 19 and the pole element 16 produce a conductive connection between all of the outdoor connections 11 of one phase when all of the switch disconnectors 7 are in a contact position , in which the switching pin 13 has been moved into the female contact 8 . at the end of the isolator 5 that is remote from the outdoor connection 11 , each outdoor bushing 4 has attachment means 17 which are produced from a metallic material , for example aluminum , and a flange section 18 which is adhesively bonded to the isolator 5 , and an intermediate enclosure 19 . the interiors of the attachment means 17 are likewise tubular , and they have a linear profile in the direction of the longitudinal extent of the isolator 5 . each intermediate enclosure 19 is firmly screwed to a connecting stub 3 via a flange connection , with sealing means which cannot be seen ensuring a gas - tight link between the outdoor bushing 4 and the enclosure 2 . an electrically non - conductive isolating rocker 20 , which is arranged in the intermediate enclosure 19 , is provided in order to introduce a switching movement into the switching pin 13 , with side holding caps 21 being provided for gas - tight closure of an intermediate cavity 22 , which is bounded by the intermediate enclosure 19 . the intermediate cavity 22 enlarges the cavity 6 . a gas - tight bulkhead bushing 23 is provided as a holding means or as a holder in order to hold the sliding contact 9 above the connecting conductor 14 , and is mounted firmly between the intermediate enclosure 19 and the grounded connecting stub 3 . in this case , the connecting rod 14 passes through the center of the bulkhead bushing 23 , with sealing means which cannot be seen in fig1 ensuring gas - tight connection between the connecting rod 14 and the bulkhead bushing 23 . in this way , the cavity 6 forms a separate , gas - tight disconnector gas area , which can be filled with its own quenching or insulating gas , such as sulfur hexafluoride . in the operating state , in which all of the outdoor bushings are installed , the enclosure likewise bounds a closed enclosure gas area , which is likewise filled with a conventional insulating gas . the bulkhead bushing 23 is produced from a dielectric material , such as cast resin . the outdoor connection 11 is intended for connection of an air - insulated high - voltage line , which is not illustrated in the figure , while in contrast the enclosure 2 is at ground potential . in order to avoid voltage peaks resulting from high electrical field strengths on corners and edges of the attachment means 17 , field control elements 24 are provided , and are electrically connected to the attachment means 17 and to the enclosure 2 . a coupling rod 25 is provided in order to transmit the drive movement from the isolating rocker 20 to the switching pin 13 , is articulated on the isolating rocker 20 and is firmly connected to the switching pin 13 via a switching pin guide 26 at its end remote from the isolating rocker 20 . as can be seen , the switching pin 13 and the switching pin guide 26 are arranged within the hollow connecting conductor 14 , which for this reason is used as a guide means in addition to providing a purely electrical connection . in order to allow movement of the isolating rocker 20 , the connecting conductor 14 has a side opening opposite the isolating rocker 20 . the isolating rocker 20 is furthermore connected to a driveshaft 27 such that they rotate together , and the driveshaft 27 is passed out of the intermediate enclosure 19 via a rotating bearing which is expediently equipped with sealing means . rotation of the driveshaft 27 moves the isolating rocker 20 to a disconnected position 28 , which is indicated in fig1 and in which the switching pin 13 is withdrawn from the female contact 8 , so that an isolating gap is formed between the female contact 8 and the sliding contact 9 . a grounding switch 29 can be seen in the outdoor bushing 4 which is shown on the left , on the holding cap 21 and opposite the isolating rocker 20 , with the purpose of grounding all of the drive - side contact pieces of the switch disconnectors 7 for one phase once the switch disconnector 7 has been opened . for this purpose , the grounding switch 29 produces a conductive connection between a ground contact 30 , which is at the same potential as the connecting conductor 14 , and the enclosure 2 , which is at ground potential . a grounder shaft 31 , which is passed out of the intermediate enclosure 19 , is provided in order to drive the grounding switch 29 . furthermore , a drive box 32 , which is attached to the intermediate enclosure 19 , is provided in order to accommodate drive units . the drive units are designed to produce a drive movement for the driveshaft 21 and , to some extent , for the grounder shaft 31 . the enclosure 2 and thus the entire switch disconnector arrangement are connected via a supporting frame 33 to a foundation , which is not illustrated in the figure . the outdoor bushing 4 is also equipped with a current adaptor 34 . a connecting stub 35 for connection of a voltage transformer , which is not illustrated , can be seen underneath the housing 2 .

the invention relates to a disconnecting switch assembly for disconnecting air - insulated electrical lines , which have one or more phases , with at least one grounded housing that is filled with protective gas , with open air ducts , which are attached to the housing in a gastight manner and which each have an open - air connection for connecting the lines , and with gas - insulated disconnecting switches , which are placed inside the open - air ducts . at least three open air ducts are provided for each phase whose open - air connections can be electrically connected to one another by means of the disconnecting switch over current path piece mounted inside the housing .

referring firstly to fig1 the apparatus according to the invention is used for a rotatable chuck 10 mounted on the headstock 11 of a machine tool ( not shown ). the chuck has three jaw - ways 12 , 13 and 14 and the jaws are similar to those described in our european patent application no . 82306569 . 3 . in other words by rotating a release device the jaws are freed from their actuating mechanism so that the jaws can be slid out of the chuck for replacement by sliding them radially outwardly along the t - shaped slots in which they are mounted . the apparatus according to the invention comprises two principal components , namely a jaw changing apparatus 15 which also embodies a chuck location device , and a jaw release mechanism 16 . actual handling of the jaws is carried out by a conventional workpiece loading arm ( not shown ) mounted on an overhead gantry . the function of the jaw changing apparatus 15 is to guide a replacement jaw into the associated chuck jaw - way , as the jaw is moved in the requisite direction by the workpiece loader arm . the function of the jaw release mechanism 16 is to release the jaw that is to be replaced , and to locate the new jaw when it has been placed in position . turning now to fig3 to 5 , the jaw changing apparatus 15 comprises essentially a guide shoe 17 which , as best shown in fig3 defines a t - shaped slot 18 . as best seen in fig2 the side 19 of the shoe which defines the right - hand side of the slot 18 extends vertically to a point 20 . on the other hand the side 21 which defines the left - hand side of the slot 18 extends only to a significantly lower point 22 . this means that a t - shaped jaw can be located in the slot 18 by a series of three movements . firstly the jaw is moved in the direction of arrow a of fig3 until the base 23 of the jaw abuts the front face of the shoe . at this point the lowermost edge of the jaw will be at a level lying between 20 and 22 . the jaw can then be moved by the loader arm in the direction of arrow b of fig3 to cause the right - hand arm 24 of the jaw t to engage in the right - hand side of the t - shaped slot 18 . this engagement brings the jaw into full register with the t - shaped slot 18 and the jaw can now be moved downwardly , perpendicular to the directions a and b , i . e . in the direction of arrow c of fig2 . the shoe is provided with a proximity detector 25 which checks when a jaw has passed through the shoe . if , when a jaw is slid out of the shoe through its t - shaped exit mouth , the jaw is to move smoothly into the jaw - way of the chuck , it is important for the jaw - way of the chuck to be accurately aligned with the slot in the shoe . for this purpose the chuck location mechanism is used and this comprises a plunger 26 which is shown in fig4 and 5 . the plunger is mounted in a cylinder 27 attached to the rear of the shoe . the plunger has a tapered nose 28 and it can be extended by hydraulic fluid or compressed air to force the nose against the body of the chuck . as best seen in fig4 the chuck 10 is provided with a tapered recess 29 adjacent each chuck jaw - way . when it is desired to change a jaw the chuck is stopped with the desired recess 29 substantially in register with the plunger 28 and subsequent extension of the plunger 28 causes the plunger to engage in the recess 29 and accurately locate the jaw - way adjacent the guide shoe . turning now to fig6 to 8 , it will be seen that the jaw release mechanism 16 essentially comprises a plunger 30 having a screwdriver type head 31 designed to engage with the release member of the chuck jaws ( not shown ). the plunger is mounted in a cylinder 32 and is sealed thereto by means of an o - ring 33 . the plunger can be moved from its retracted position shown in fig6 and 7 to an extended position by the application of hydraulic fluid or compressed air . in the retracted position shown in fig6 and 7 , a peg 34 on the rear of the plunger engages in a socket 35 as best seen in fig7 . means are provided to rotate the plunger . the periphery of the plunger is provided with splines 36 and these engage with two other plungers 37 and 38 ( see fig8 ) each of which has rack - like teeth 39 engaging with the splines 36 . the plungers 37 and 38 are mounted in cylinders 40 and 41 which extend at right angles to the cylinder 32 . o - ring seals 42 are provided and the application of compressed air or hydraulic fluid to the cylinders 40 and 41 causes the plungers 37 and 38 to move in such a way as to rotate the plunger 30 . because of the engagement of the peg 34 in the socket 35 however , the plunger 30 can only rotate when it is in the extended position . a proximity detector 43 is arranged to detect when the plunger is in the retracted position . there is also a third proximity detector 44 ( see fig5 ) which detects when the plunger 26 of the chuck location apparatus is in the retracted position . turning now to fig9 it will be seen that the cylinder 29 of the chuck location device is connected by lines 45 , 46 respectively to a supply line 47 and a solenoid operated valve 48 . it will be seen that as a fail safe device pressure is continually applied to line 45 acting to return the plunger 26 to the fully retracted position . to extend the plunger the solenoid operated valve 48 is actuated to also apply the supply pressure to the upper face of the plunger 26 . since there is a greater exposed area at this upper face there is a nett downward force which moves the plunger to its extended position . the cylinders 32 , 40 and 41 are interconnected as shown with the supply line 47 and a valve 49 operated by two solenoids . in the position shown pressure is applied through line 50 to maintain plunger 30 in the retracted position . the rear of cylinder 32 and the cylinders 40 and 41 are connected to exhaust by the valve 49 . rotation of the chuck spindle is stopped with the chuck jaws in the workpiece loading position . the workpiece is gripped by the loading arm , the chuck jaws are opened and the workpiece is removed from the chuck by the workpiece loader . to clear any swarf from the chuck prior to removing the jaws the chuck is then rotated at maximum spindle speed with a copious supply of coolent applied over the chuck body . the coolent is then turned off and the chuck is allowed to run for a short period prior to stopping the spindle and positioning a first jaw - way , for example jaw - way 12 , substantially opposite the shoe 15 . the chuck jaws are then closed and the valve 48 is actuated causing the plunger 26 to extend and accurately position the chuck body relative to the guide shoe . valve 49 is then actuated by the right - hand solenoid causing pressure to be applied to the rear of cylinder 32 . this produces a greater force on plunger 30 than is produced by the pressure applied via line 50 and the plunger 30 is accordingly extended to engage the release member of the chuck . as soon as the peg 34 clears the socket 35 pressure applied to cylinders 40 and 41 causes the plunger to rotate through 180 ° to release the chuck jaw . the loading arm then engages the jaw ( which may be provided with pick - up grooves to facilitate this ) and extracts the jaw from the jaw - way . proximity detector 25 detects that the jaw has moved from the chuck into the guide shoe . the used jaw is then transported by the loading arm and is placed in a jaw storage area . the appropriate jaw of the replacement set of jaw is then retrieved from the jaw storage area by the loader arm and is transported by the loader arm ready for insertion at the guide shoe . the jaw is engaged with the guide shoe as described above and is moved radially into the chuck jaw - way . the detector 25 detects that the jaw has moved out of the shoe and into the chuck . the loader arm then moves to pick up the second jaw of the replacement set . valve 49 is then moved in the reverse direction by the second solenoid . this causes the plunger 30 to rotate in the opposite direction to lock the new jaw in position and once rotation has been completed the plunger 30 retracts . the fact that retraction has taken place is detected by the detector 43 . the plunger 26 is then retracted and once again retraction is sensed , this time by the proximity detector 44 . the machine spindle position system then rotates the chuck to position a second jaw - way opposite the guide shoe and the plunger 26 is extended to accurately locate the second jaw - way relative to the guide shoe , thus commencing a repeat of the above described sequence . the sequence is repeated three times until all three jaws are changed . after changing the last jaw retraction of the plungers 26 and 30 is checked and the spindle is rotated into the workpiece loading position . the chuck jaws are then opened and a new workpiece is loaded . the jaws close to grip the workpiece , the loading arm is removed and spindle rotation commences . the proximity detector 44 is interlocked with the spindle drive to ensure that the machine spindle is inhibited from rotating when the plunger 26 is extended . if a jaw is incorrectly engaged then the plunger 30 will not be able to rotate and hence will not be capable of being retracted . this will be sensed by the proximity detector 43 . to ensure that each jaw is only located in the associated jaw - way each jaw - way may be provided with a groove which is in a different position to the grooves of the other jaw - ways , and each jaw being provided with a pin which will only register with the groove of the correct jaw - way . the shoe 17 , as shown in fig3 has a slot 50 therein wide enough to accept all the pins . instead of using a loading arm mounted on an overhead gantry , the invention is equally applicable to the use of a loading arm mounted on a robot positioned adjacent to a machine tool . with such an arrangement the configuration shown in fig1 may be used . the jaw changing apparatus 15 is positioned at the side of the chuck 10 , instead of vertically above it , the jaws being withdrawn in the horizontal direction . the jaw release mechanism 16 is mounted as shown with the axis of plunger 30 vertical instead of horizontal . the operation of the second embodiment is identical to that of the first embodiment , the only difference being in the positioning of the jaw changing apparatus 15 and the jaw release mechanism 16 . the configuration of the chuck 10 is slightly different , since the release member for a given jaw must be positioned clockwise of the jaw for the embodiment shown in fig1 , and anti - clockwise of the jaw for the embodiment shown in fig1 . turning now to fig1 , there is shown an alternative embodiment in which the guide shoe 17 actually comprises part of the chuck body . the guide shoe in fact comprises a tapered jaw - way into which a correspondingly tapered base jaw 51 can be inserted by a robot arm . the jaw - way tapers in two directions so that the entry mouth 52 is wider and thicker than the leading end 53 of the base jaw . this allows the robot arm a certain amount of tolerance when inserting the base jaw into the jaw - way . the precise position of the base jaw with respect to the jaw - way is not critical on entry . once the base jaw has been located in the mouth of the jaw - way however , the jaw - way provides progressively greater guidance . although the base jaw , once inserted into the chuck bod , will undergo a certain amount of radial movement for the purpose of clamping and unclamping a workpiece , the amount of radial movement , and the extent of the tapers , is such that there is little change in the clearance between the base jaw and the jaw - way over the working range of the jaw . in each of the directions of taper , the taper is 0 . 004 inches per inch . the height of the base jaw as viewed in fig1 is 4 inches . this means that when the robot arm inserts the jaw in the jaw - way there is a clearance , in each of the two relevant directions , of 16 thousandths . once the jaw is in its working position however , the clearance may be as little as 1 thousandth . the range of working movement of the jaw in this embodiment is 1 / 4 inch and so , although the jaw is working in a tapered jaw - way , the clearance between the jaw and the jaw - way varies by only 1 thousandth over the working range of the jaw . the invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiments . for example , in the embodiment shown in fig1 , it is not essential that the taper be 0 . 004 inches per inch . the taper may for example be from 0 . 002 inches per inch to 0 . 06 inches per inch .

an apparatus is provided which enables the jaws of a chuck 10 to be removed from and inserted into jaw - ways 12 , 13 , 14 using a conventional workpiece handler , rather than a sophisticated and highly accurate dedicated jaw handling mechanism . a conventional workpiece handler cannot position a jaw to close tolerances but this problem is overcome by using a guide shoe 17 which can receive a jaw from the workpiece handler in any one of a range of positions and then accurately guide the jaw into one of the jaw - ways 12 , 13 , or 14 . a mechanism 16 is provided for releasing the jaws from the jaw - ways , and for re - locking the jaws in position .

with respect to the figures , fig2 - 8 illustrate in general the operation of the preferred embodiments of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention . fig2 in particular , is a graph showing bit error rate for a typical pocsag decoder which is plotted as a function of the received carrier to noise signal ratio for a conventional frequency modulated ( fm ) communication receiver , such as a paging receiver . the decoder bit error rate is defined as the probability of incorrectly detecting a received data bit , and as shown in fig2 the decoder bit error rate degrades rapidly as the receiver carrier to noise ratio degrades below the decoder threshold level . the decoder threshold is defined as the minimum signal level required to achieve a predetermined probability of correct address reception , and typically represents a ninety per cent probability of reliable address detection . the decoder threshold , it will be appreciated , is determined by a number of factors , including but not limited to , the actual receiver performance , and the error correcting capability for the code utilized for the signaling format . the decoder threshold for a typical paging receiver utilizing pocsag signaling occurs at approximately 0 db ( decibels ) carrier to noise signal ratio . paging systems are generally designed to provide additional margin in the transmitted signal strength within the coverage area provided by the system , to insure reliable message transmission to the paging receivers operating within the system . in such systems , the received carrier to noise signal ratio is generally in excess of plus 6 db throughout the coverage area . additional coverage is provided out to the system fringe limits , which is defined as that coverage area where the received signal is above the decoder threshold . as a result , address and message information received by the paging receiver is generally received with a very high probability of being free from errors . as shown by the graph of fig2 for a 6 db carrier to noise ratio , or better , the bit error rate is one in one million bits ( 0 . 00001 ) or better . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , a signal strength indicator , as will be described in detail below , is used to monitor the received signal strength to provide a signal quality indication . such a signal quality indication allows the adaptive battery saver controller of the present invention to reliably detect and distinguish between hard and soft decoding errors . when a hard decoding error is detected , the supply of power to the receiver is suspended , as will be described in detail below , otherwise address decoding is performed in a manner well known in the art . a hard decoding error is defined as a bit error which is detected when a received address bit does not match the corresponding address bit stored in the receiver code memory , the bit error being detected when the magnitude of the received signal is equal to , or above , a predetermined signal level , which corresponds to a predetermined carrier to noise ratio . such a hard decoding error indicates the code word being received is not intended for the paging receiver , even though the entire code word has yet to be received . a soft decoding error is then defined as a bit error which is detected when the magnitude of the received signal is less than the predetermined signal level , and above the decoder threshold level . such soft decoding errors are due to such factors as burst noise errors , signal fading errors and errors due to low signal strength such as encountered inside buildings at the fringe of coverage . soft errors are correctable , within limits , by the error detecting and correcting capability of the pocsag 32 , 16 bch coding system utilized in the paging receiver . the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention utilizes hard and soft decoding error detection on a bit by bit basis to achieve improved battery life , as will be described in detail below . fig3 a is a timing diagram showing the battery saving controller operating waveforms for a first preferred embodiment of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention . in the first embodiment of the present invention the adaptive battery saving controller distinguishes between received address and message code words when making the decision to battery save . as shown in fig3 a , the paging signal 302 transmitted during a pocsag frame can comprise , as for example , a thirty - two bit word including a code word identifier bit identified by the first data bit b0 being transmitted as a zero ( 0 ) for the address , followed by a thirty - two bit message code word including a code word identifier bit identified by the first data bit b0 being transmitted as a one ( 1 ) for the message . the paging signal 302 may also be the transmission of two address code words , two message code words , or a message code word followed by an address code word . during the reception of bit b0 , the magnitude 310 of the received signal strength is shown to be greater than the received signal strength indicator ( rssi ) threshold 304 , although as shown , the received signal strength magnitude 312 may degrade below the rssi threshold during the reception of the signal , such as would occur in a fading environment . prior to bit b0 being received , the battery saver strobe 308 supplies power to the receiver during time interval 314 , allowing the receiver to warm up prior to the reception of the first bit of the first code word of the frame , during time interval 316 . because the received signal was above the rssi threshold at the time of reception of bit b0 , the adaptive battery saver controller is assured the code word being received is an address code word , and maintains the supply of power to the receiver for the duration of the address code word , after the reception of bit b0 . the battery saver strobe 308 signal level indicates the supply of power to the receiver is maintained during at least a portion of time interval 318 , allowing the receiver to receive the first bit of the second code word of the frame . because the received signal was again above the rssi threshold at the time of reception of bit b0 , the adaptive battery saver controller is assured the code word being received in this instance is a message code word . in the example shown , the address received during the first code word did not correspond to an address assigned to the paging receiver , and as a result , the message code word being received during the second code word is not intended for the paging receiver , consequently the supply of power is suspended to the receiver during time interval 318 following the reception of bit b0 . when the address which is received during time interval 316 correspond to the address assigned to the paging receiver , the supply of power to the receiver is maintained during the time interval 318 , irregardless of the received signal magnitude , to allow the reception of the message code word . power is then suspended to the receiver upon completing the message reception , until the next time interval provided for the reception of the synchronization code word , at which time power is again supplied to the receiver . fig3 b is a timing diagram showing the battery saving controller operating waveforms showing the adaptability of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention . during the reception of bit b0 , the magnitude 322 of the received signal is shown to be less than the received signal strength indicator ( rssi ) threshold 304 , although as shown , the received signal magnitude 312 may be greater than the rssi threshold during the reception of any portion of the signal , shown as during time 330 . prior to bit b0 being received , the battery saver strobe 308 supplies power to the receiver during time interval 326 , as previously described . because the received signal is below the rssi threshold at the time of the reception of bit b0 , the adaptive battery saver controller cannot positively identify the code word being received as an address code word , and therefore the supply of power to the receiver is maintained for the duration of the received code word , during time interval 328 . in this instance an alternate form of battery saving during the reception of the code word is described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 996 , 526 issued feb . 19 , 1991 to deluca entitled &# 34 ; power conservation method and apparatus for a portion of a synchronous information signal &# 34 ; which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which is hereby incorporated by reference herein . should the decoder determine the received code word is an address code word assigned to the paging receiver , power would automatically be extended by the decoder to enable the reception of the following message code word . when the decoder determines the first code word is not an address code word assigned to the paging receiver , the battery saver strobe 308 continues to maintain the supply of power to the receiver during time interval 332 , allowing the receiver to receive the first bit of the second code word of the frame . again , because the received signal 324 was below the rssi threshold at the time of reception of bit b0 , the adaptive battery saver controller cannot positively identify the code word as being , in this instance , a received message code word . similarly , the supply of power to the receiver is maintained during time interval 336 to enable the decoder to process the received code word . in summary , the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention is capable of monitoring the received signal strength , and when the magnitude of the received signal strength is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold during the reception of the code word identification bit , the supply of power is suspended to the receiver during the message segment of message code words not intended for the paging receiver . when the magnitude of the received signal strength is less than the predetermined threshold during the reception of the code word identification bit , the supply of power to the receiver , is governed by the decoder to process the received code word in a conventional manner . fig3 c is a timing diagram showing the battery saving controller operating waveforms for a second embodiment of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention . in the second embodiment of the present invention , the adaptive battery saving controller is capable of detecting hard bit errors which are then used by the battery saving controller to make decisions to perform the battery saving function . a hard bit error constitutes any incorrect address bit which is received when the magnitude of the received signal exceeds the rssi threshold . because of the structure of the pocsag code word , no single bit error can result in the generation of a different valid address code word . consequently , when a hard bit error is detected , the battery saving controller can be assured the code word being received is not assigned to the paging receiver . as shown in fig3 c , prior to bit b0 being received , the battery saver strobe 308 indicates power is being supplied to the receiver during time interval 338 , allowing the receiver to warm up prior to the reception of the first bit of the first code word of the frame . because the magnitude of the received signal 340 is below the rssi threshold 304 during the reception of the first data bit at time 340 , the adaptive battery saving controller continues to supply power to the receiver on a bit by bit basis while the address being received is being decoded . during time interval 344 , the address bit received did not match the corresponding address bit for the predetermined address assigned to the paging receiver . since the magnitude of the received signal 342 exceeded the rssi threshold , the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention determines the error detected is a hard error , and the supply of power is suspended to the receiver prior to the completion of address decoding during time interval 348 , as shown . because the address code word detected during time interval 344 is determined as not being intended for the paging receiver , the battery saving controller will additionally suspend the supply of power to the receiver during the corresponding message code word during time intervals 350 and 352 . in summary , the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention described above makes battery saving decisions based on detecting hard bit errors . by being capable of making battery saving decisions based on hard bit errors , additional energy is conserved as compared to the prior art battery saving controllers . note that in alternate embodiments , thresholds 304 and 306 could have various other relationships including being equal to each other . fig4 is an electrical block diagram of a communication receiver , such as a paging receiver , utilizing the first and second preferred embodiments of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention . in the preferred embodiments of the present invention , coded message signals are transmitted in the pocsag signaling format , although it will be appreciated the present invention would function as described with other signaling formats as well . in the pocsag signaling format , the coded message signals transmitted include address code words and message code words corresponding thereto , as in the case for numeric or alphanumeric message transmissions . the address code words include an address identification bit and an address segment , and the message code words include a message identification bit and a message segment , as previously described . the transmitted coded message signals are intercepted by the paging receiver &# 39 ; s antenna , and are then coupled into the input of a receiver , or receiving means 402 . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , receiving means 402 is a conventional frequency modulated ( fm ) receiver , which is well known in the art . coupled to the receiving means 402 , is a received signal strength indicator ( rssi ) circuit 404 , which functions as a signal quality detecting means . several types of rssi devices are known in the art including these measuring an ` if rise ` of an fm receiver , or those measuring the audio spectrum of the detected fm signal . the rssi circuit generates a quality indication signal indicating the received signal quality when the received signal strength is equal to or greater than a predetermined signal magnitude , such as corresponding to a predetermined carrier to noise ratio value , such as a value of + 6 db . it will be appreciated , other carrier to noise ratio values may be utilized , however as the carrier to noise ratio value approaches the decoder threshold , the likelihood of detecting soft errors , such as generated by burst noise , or signal fading , becomes more prevalent . it will also be appreciated , setting the predetermined signal magnitude to higher values will only minimally reduce the bit error rate while significantly reducing the geographic area within which the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention will operate , thereby reducing the energy consumption savings that may be obtained in operation . the output 406 of the receiving means is a stream of binary information , corresponding to the received address and message information . the output 406 of the receiving means , couples to the input of the synchronization means 408 which synchronizes the decoder and battery saving controller operation to the transmitted coded message signals . operation of the synchronization means is described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 995 , 099 issued feb . 19 , 1991 to davis , entitled &# 34 ; power conservation method and apparatus for a portion of a predetermined signal &# 34 ; which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention . the synchronization means 408 generates a recovered bit clock which couples to timing and control circuit 410 . the timing and control circuit 410 generates timing signals for address decoding , as well as generates timing signals controlling the battery saver operation , as will be described below . the output 406 of the receiving means also couples to the input of an address decoder 412 comprising a address correlator 414 and the timing and control circuit 410 . the address correlator 414 includes a sampling means 416 , a bit comparing means 418 , and an error counting means 420 . sampling means 416 samples the received data bits from the receiving means output 406 , and temporarily stores the address code word data bits as they are received for further processing . the output 426 of the sampling means couples to the input of the bit comparing means 418 which compares the most recently received data bit with the corresponding address bit information stored in code memory 424 . an output 434 from the timing and control circuit 410 generates timing signals which are coupled to the input of the code memory 424 , enabling the code memory contents to be read out in synchronism with the received address code word data bits . a first output 428 of bit comparing means 418 couples to the timing and control circuit 410 to provide information on the value of the first data bit of the received code word . this information indicates whether the received code word is an address code word or a data code word . a second output 430 of the bit comparing means 418 couples to the input of error counting means 420 to provide an indication of whether each data bit , as received , correlates with the corresponding address bit information stored in code memory 424 . when the output 430 of the bit comparing means 418 indicates the received address code word data bit does not correlate with the corresponding address information bit , the error counter count is incremented by one . the output 432 or the error counting means 420 also couples to the timing and control circuit 410 which processes the error count information as will be described in detail below . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the address decoder 412 is implemented using a microcomputer , such as an mc68hc05 such as manufactured by motorola . when the received address code word correlates to the stored address information , as indicated by the error count value being below a predetermined error count value ( three in the preferred embodiment ), indicating an address has been detected , the timing and control circuit 410 generates an alert signal , in the case of a tone only page , which is coupled to the input of the alert driver circuit 436 . the output of the alert driver circuit 436 couples the alert signal to a transducer 438 to provide an audible alert alerting the user of the receipt of the message . when the message being received is a numeric or an alphanumeric message , the received message information following the address code word is coupled to the input 440 of the timing and control circuit 410 , which then stores the received message information into message memory 442 . the timing and control circuit 410 then generates the alert signal which is coupled to the alert driver circuit 436 . the output of the alert driver circuit 436 then couples the alert signal to a transducer 438 to provide an audible alert alerting the user of the receipt of the message information which is stored in the message memory . switch means 444 , includes user actuatable switches for controlling the operation of the communication receiver . in particular , the message information can be retrieved from the message memory 442 by the user actuating a read switch , which causes the message information to be read from the message memory 442 by the timing and control circuit 410 . the retrieved message information is coupled from the timing and control circuit 410 to the input of the display driver 446 which processes the message information for display by display 448 . display 448 may be implemented using any number of well known display technologies , such as an lcd display for displaying numeric or alphanumeric information . power for the communication receiver is supplied by a battery 450 . the battery 450 couples to the decoder circuit 412 , which includes circuitry ( not shown ) for stepping up the single cell battery voltage to a level sufficient to operate the decoder electronics . the battery output also couples to an input of the power switching means 422 which enables the supply of power to be switched to the receiving means 402 . a second input to the power switching means 422 is coupled to the timing and control circuit 410 which controls the supply of power to the receiving means 406 by the power switching means 422 . an output from the received signal strength indicating circuit 404 couples to the timing and control circuit 410 , enabling the operation of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention , to be described in further detail below . fig5 is a flow chart showing the general battery saving operation of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention . microcomputer decoder 412 executes many other well known programs for controlling the operation of the receiver as well , and which will not be described herein . only those functions necessary for the description of the present invention are detailed herein . the program starts at step 502 which is typically a power on sequence . the program proceeds to the sync acquisition routine 504 , which searches for and synchronizes with the synchronization code word . when the signaling format is that of the pocsag signaling format , finding the first synchronization code word , at step 506 indicates synchronization to the pocsag signal . steps 504 and 506 are repeatedly performed until synchronization to the pocsag signal is achieved . any of a number of methods may be utilized for implementing the sync acquisition routine , such as described by u . s . pat . no . 4 , 961 , 073 issued oct . 2 , 1990 , to drapac et al ., entitled &# 34 ; battery saving apparatus and method for providing optimum synchronization code word detection &# 34 ;, or u . s . pat . no . 4 , 995 , 099 issued feb . 19 , 1991 to davis , entitled &# 34 ; power conservation method for a portion of a predetermined signal &# 34 ; which are hereby incorporated by reference herein . upon synchronization , the programming proceeds to step 508 where the power is conserved until the receiver &# 39 ; s assigned frame is expected . the power conservation includes operating the receiving means 402 and / or the decoding means 412 , and any other receiving circuitry in the low power mode . next , in step 510 , the receiver is initially operated in the high power mode in order to receive and decode information transmitted within the first code word of the receiver &# 39 ; s assigned frame . when the address of the receiver is detected within the first code word of the assigned frame , an alert is generated , as previously described above . when the information received during the first code word is not an address code word , or is not an address assigned to the receiver , the supply of power to the receiver is suspended early during the first code word as will be described in detail below . next , in step 512 , the receiver is again initially operated in the high power mode in order to receive and decode information transmitted within the second code word of the receiver &# 39 ; s assigned frame . when the address of the receiver is detected within the second code word of the assigned frame , an alert is generated , as previously described above . when the information received during the second code word is not an address code word , or is not an address assigned to the receiver , the supply of power to the receiver is again suspended early during the second code word as will also be described in detail below . a detailed description of the first word address detection routine 510 , and the second word address detection routine 512 are provided in fig6 and 7 , respectively . next , in step 514 , power is conserved until the next synchronization code word . in step 516 , a sync maintenance routine is performed . during sync maintenance , power may also be conserved during a part of the code , as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 995 , 099 issued feb . 19 , 1991 to davis , described above . after completion of step 516 , the program then proceeds to step 518 to determined the result of the sync maintenance routine . if the determination is made that the sync is maintained , the program returns to step 508 thereby continuing the decoding of the received pocsag signals . if , however , the determination is made that the sync is not maintained , the program returns to step 504 to re - acquire sync . in summary , fig5 provides a general description of the sync acquisition , address code word decoding , and sync maintenance routines utilizes in conjunction with the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention . fig6 is a flow chart describing the battery saving operation of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention during the detection of the first assigned frame code word . the microcomputer enters the first word address detection routine 600 , at the beginning of the assigned frame , as described above . a number of counters utilized in address decoding are initialized to zero , at step 602 , including an error counter and a bit counter , both of which are maintained by the microcomputer . the first bit of the received code word is then sampled , at step 604 . the output of the rssi circuit is checked by the microcomputer at step 606 to determine if the received signal strength is equal to or greater than the predetermined signal magnitude during the time the first bit was received . when the received signal strength is equal to or greater than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the first bit , at step 606 , the microcomputer next checks the value of the first received bit . when the value of the first received bit is not a logic zero , at step 608 , indicating the code word being received is a message code word , the microcomputer terminates the supply of power to the receiver during the remainder of the first code word , at step 618 . the microcomputer then exits the first word address detection routine 600 , at step 620 . when the value of the first received bit is a logic zero , at step 608 , indicating the code word being received is an address code word , the microcomputer maintains the supply of power to the receiver for reception of the next data bit . the bit counter is incremented , at step 610 , after which the next bit of the received code word is sampled , at step 612 . the output of the rssi circuit is next checked by the microcomputer at step 614 to determine if the received signal strength is equal to or greater than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the next data bit . when the received signal strength is good during the reception of the next bit , at step 614 , the microcomputer next checks value of the received address bit with the corresponding stored address bit for the address assigned to the receiver , at step 616 . when the received address bit does not match the corresponding stored address bit , indicating the detection of a hard decoding error , the microcomputer terminates the supply of power to the receiver during the remainder of the first code word , at step 618 . the microcomputer then exits the first word address detection routine 600 , at step 620 . when the received signal strength is less than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the first data bit , at step 606 , or during the reception of the next data bit , at step 614 , the microcomputer correlates the received information using the correlation routine described by steps 622 , 624 and 626 . the microcomputer first checks the value of the received address bit with the corresponding stored address bit for the address assigned to the receiver , at step 622 . when the received address bit does not match the corresponding stored address bit , indicating the detection of a soft decoding error , the microcomputer increments the the error counter , at step 624 . the error counter value is next checked to determine if the error count is equal to a maximum predetermined error count , at step 626 . when the error count is equal to the maximum predetermined error count , indicating the received code word does not correlate to the stored address code word assigned to the receiver , the microcomputer terminates the supply of power to the receiver during the remainder of the first code word , at step 618 . the microcomputer then exits the first word address detection routine 600 , at step 620 . when the error count is less than the maximum predetermined error count , at step 626 , or the received bit matches the corresponding stored address bit , at step 616 , or the received bit matches the corresponding stored address bit , at step 622 , the value of the bit counter is checked , at step 630 , to determine if the entire first code word has been received . when the bit counter value indicates the entire first code word has been received , the microcomputer determines that the address has been properly decoded , at step 632 , where upon the microcomputer then exits the first word address detection routine 600 , at step 620 . when the bit counter value , at step 630 , indicates the entire first code word has not been received , the microcomputer proceeds to step 610 , whereupon the bit counter is incremented by one , and the next bit is sampled , at step 612 . the decoder continues correlating the received code word bit , as previously described above . in summary , when the received signal strength magnitude is greater than a predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the first code word bit , and the received code word bit indicates the code word is a message code word , power to the receiver is conserved during the remainder of the first code word . when the received signal strength magnitude is greater than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of any other first code word bit , and the received code word bit does not match the corresponding stored address bit , indicating the detection of a hard decoding error , power to the receiver is also conserved during the remainder of the first code word . when the received signal strength magnitude is less than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of any code word bit , conventional address decoding techniques are utilized to correlate the received code word with the stored address code word assigned to the receiver . fig7 is a flow chart describing the battery saving operation of the adaptive battery saving controller of the present invention during the detection of the second assigned frame code word . the microcomputer enters the second word address detection routine 700 , at the beginning of the assigned frame , as described above . the counters utilized in address decoding are again initialized to zero , at step 702 . the first bit of the received code word is then sampled , at step 704 . the output of the rssi circuit is checked by the microcomputer at step 706 to determine if the received signal strength is equal to or greater than the predetermined signal magnitude during the time the first bit was received . when the received signal strength is equal to or greater than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the first bit , at step 706 , the microcomputer checks the value of the first received bit . when the value of the first received bit is not a logic zero , at step 708 , indicating the code word being received is a message code word , the microcomputer checks to determine if the address was previously detected during the previous frame , at step 734 , indicating the message being received is intended for the receiver . the microcomputer then enters the address detection routine , at step 740 . the particulars of the address detection routine are well known in the art . when the microcomputer determines the received message code word is not intended for the receiver , at step 734 , the microcomputer terminates the supply of power to the receiver during the remainder of the second code word , at step 718 . the microcomputer then exits the second word address detection routine 700 , at step 720 . when the value of the first received bit is a logic zero , at step 708 , indicating the code word being received is an address code word , the microcomputer maintains the supply of power to the receiver for reception of the next data bit . the bit counter is incremented , at step 710 , after which the next bit of the received code word is sampled , at step 712 . the output of the rssi circuit is next checked by the microcomputer at step 714 to determine if the received signal strength is equal to or greater than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the next data bit . when the received signal strength is good during the reception of the next bit , at step 714 , the microcomputer next checks value of the received address bit with the corresponding stored address bit for the address assigned to the receiver , at step 616 . when the received address bit does not match the corresponding stored address bit , indicating the detection of a hard decoding error , the microcomputer terminates the supply of power to the receiver during the remainder of the second code word , at step 718 . the microcomputer then exits the second word address detection routine 700 , at step 720 . when the received signal strength is less than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the first data bit , at step 706 , the microcomputer determines if the assigned address was previously detected during the first word address detection routine , at step 742 . when the address was previously detected , the microcomputer enters the address detection routine at step 740 . when the microcomputer determines the address was not previously detected during the first word address detection routine , at step 742 , or that the received signal strength is less than the predetermined signal magnitude during the reception of the first data bit , at step 714 , the microcomputer correlates the received information using the correlation routine described by steps 722 , 724 and 726 . the microcomputer first checks the value of the received address bit with the corresponding stored address bit for the address assigned to the receiver , at step 722 . when the received address bit does not match the corresponding stored address bit , indicating the detection of a soft decoding error , the microcomputer increments the error counter , at step 724 . the error counter value is next checked to determine if the error count is equal to a maximum predetermined error count , at step 726 . when the error count is equal to the maximum predetermined error count , indicating the received code word does not correlate to the stored address code word assigned to the receiver , the microcomputer terminates the supply of power to the receiver during the remainder of the first code word , at step 718 . the microcomputer then exits the first word address detection routine 700 , at step 720 . when the error count is less than the maximum predetermined error count , at step 726 , or the received bit matches the corresponding stored address bit , at step 716 , or the received bit matches the corresponding stored address bit , at step 722 , the value of the bit counter is checked , at step 730 , to determine if the entire first code word has been received . when the entire first code word has been received , the microcomputer determines that the address has been properly decoded , at step 732 , where upon the microcomputer then exits the first word address detection routine 700 , at step 720 . when the bit counter value , at step 730 , indicates the entire first code word has not been received , the microcomputer proceeds to step 710 , whereupon the bit counter is incremented by one , and the next bit is sampled , at step 712 . the decoder continues correlating the received code word bit , as previously described above . in summary , the second word address detection routine processes the received code word information , generally as described for the first word , above . when a message code word is detected during the second word address detection routine , and the address was previously detected during the first word address detection routine , the message being received which is intended for the receiver is processed in a normal manner . an adaptive battery saving controller has been described above which utilizes a received signal strength indicator together with an address decoder to enable the early termination of the supply of power to the receiver following either the detection of a message code word which is not intended for the receiver , or following the detection of a hard address decoding error . when the received signal strength falls below a predetermined signal magnitude , address decoding , and battery saving operation revert to well known decoding and battery saving methods . while specific embodiments of this invention have been shown and described , further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art . all modifications which retain the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein are with the scope and spirit of the present invention .

an adaptive battery saving controller for a battery powered communication receiver utilizes a signal quality detector for detecting strong signal and weak signal conditions . during strong signal conditions , the adaptive battery saving controller is capable of suspending the supply of power to the receiver during the reception of message code words not intended for the communication receiver . the adaptive battery saving controller is also capable of suspending the supply of power to the receiver following the detection of a hard address error . during weak signal conditions , the adaptive battery saving controller reverts to conventional battery saving techniques .

fig1 illustrates a top view of a holder 1 , or a device to hold two beverage , containers 2 or similar objects in motor vehicles or similar powered or unpowered vehicles . the holder 1 has a housing 3 with at least one opening 4 . furthermore , movably mounted retaining arms 5 , preferably four in number , are uniformly distributed about the circumference and , for example , are arranged in pockets 6 directly below said opening 4 . molded onto the tips 5 . 1 of the retaining arms 5 is an elastomer 7 or similar material . a bottom part 8 of the holder 1 is mounted on a support plate 10 by a compression spring 9 ( fig4 ). the bottom part 8 forms , together with the retaining arms 5 and the opening 4 , a so - called receptacle section 11 for the beverage container 2 . the holder 1 has a receptacle section 11 that is adjustable in the diameter d v by means of the retaining arms 5 with the elastomer 7 . the adjustable diameter d v of the receptacle section 9 is determined by the different diameters d u of the different beverage containers 2 . the variation of the adjustable diameter d v can be between 50 and 90 mm , for example . the retaining arms 5 can pivot into and out of the free spaces or pockets 6 . within the free spaces 6 is provided a recess 12 , which is delimited by a wall 6 . 1 of the free spaces 6 . the retaining arms 5 are moved by an actuating drive ( motor ) 13 , as shown in fig2 . the retaining arms 5 are moved by an actuating drive ( motor ) 13 , as shown in fig2 . the motor 13 is arranged in the housing 3 of the holder 1 , preferably directly next to the bottom part 8 , and during operation drives , via a worm 14 , a drive wheel 15 beneath the bottom part 8 , in which a spring 16 is attached to one side of said drive wheel . the other end of the spring 16 is connected to a segment wheel 17 . the segment wheel 17 has on its circumference four , corresponding to the number of retaining arms 5 , segment sections 17 . 1 , on which teeth 17 . 2 are located . cooperating therewith are teeth 18 . 2 of toothed segments 18 . 1 , which in turn are connected to levers 18 for moving the retaining arms 5 . when the beverage container 2 is placed inside , the bottom plate 8 is moved downward approximately 1 . 5 - 2 mm along with the beverage container 2 . as a result of this movement , a pulse for the motor 13 is triggered by at least one of three switches forming a pulse generator 30 . the motor 13 starts , and in so doing , moves the segment wheel 17 . movement of the segment wheel 17 causes rotation of the toothed segments 18 . 1 , and thus of the levers 18 , which pivot the retaining arms 5 out of their neutral position in the process . the four retaining arms 5 , which in their nonactuated state can be concealed beneath a decorative wooden trim ( not shown ), for example , are pulled inward by means of the levers 18 . in the process , the elastomer 7 on the tips 5 . 1 presses against the beverage container 2 with a variable force , thus fixing it in place . when the tips 5 . 1 of the retaining arms 5 grip the beverage container 2 , the drive wheel 15 is still in motion and pulls the spring 16 taut ( extends it ). the result of this force amplification is that the retaining arms 5 hold the beverage container 2 firmly . the spring 16 thereby functions as a force amplifier . for removal , the operator rotates the beverage container 2 , for example by approximately 5 °. as a result of the elastomer adhesion , the retaining arms 5 are rotated as well . in this process , a pulse is triggered by the pulse generator 30 or another pulse generator 31 , which activates the motor 13 such that the motor moves preferably opposite to its previous direction of rotation and the pockets or free spaces 6 . rotation of the retaining arms 5 with the beverage container 2 then causes a pulse to be triggered , for example , if at least one of the retaining arms 5 contacts the wall 6 . 1 in one of the pockets 6 . fig3 shows another solution , wherein the adjusting movement is achieved by articulations 21 . here , a worm 19 that stands in functional connection with a drive wheel 20 , is moved by a motor , which is not shown . by the articulations 21 , which preferably grip the retaining arms 5 from below , the retaining arms 5 are pulled toward the center or back outward when the drive wheel 20 is actuated . fig4 shows the holder 1 as a section a — a from fig2 in order to better illustrate the parts located beneath the bottom part 8 . the motor 13 is rigidly mounted on the support plate 10 , and the drive wheel 15 and the segment wheel 17 are movably mounted thereupon . on the same plane as the segment wheel 17 are attached the toothed segments 18 . 1 that are held by levers 18 , which are supported on the support plate 10 . the retaining arms 5 are attached to the levers 8 . a printed circuit board 22 , which carries the necessary electronic components , including , for example , the motor electronics , is likewise located on the support plate 10 . the bottom part 8 has in its center a projection 8 . 1 , which is surrounded by the compression spring 9 , by which the bottom plate 8 presses against the housing 3 in the absence of the effects of weight . the support plate 10 has an opening 10 . 1 to allow entry of the projection 8 . 1 of the bottom plate 8 during functional use . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims .

in order to be able to initiate in a simple way the power adjustment of retaining arms of a device for holding containers , it is proposed to trigger control of an actuating drive initially by displacement of at least a bottom part of the holder , and subsequently by rotation of a container inside the holder . this permits unambiguous and intentional switch - on of the actuating drive inside the holder .

in the prior art construction of fig1 and the inventive construction of fig2 the cylindrical valve chamber 2 or 4 is in the form of a cylindrical circular bore of casing surface 6 , 8 of a rotary piston compressor and is directed parallel to the rotation axis thereof . a plurality of uniformly spaced , slot - like valve intakes 14 , 14 &# 39 ; in the form of an axially directed row pass into the valve chamber 2 or 4 , as indicated by broken lines 14 , 14 &# 39 ; in fig3 from the surface path 10 or 12 of the compressor and / or from its compression chamber . it is obvious that a single intake can replace said plurality of intakes . when the valve is closed each intake 14 , 14 &# 39 ; is covered by the circumferential region of a circular spring leaf 16 or 18 , which sealingly engages in the area of the inner wall of valve chamber 4 surrounding the openings . a comparison of fig1 and 2 shows that in the prior art construction , the spring leaf 16 engages with a relatively larger circumference of the chamber inner wall , this necessarily resulting from the use of a spring leaf 16 which is flat in the untensioned state and which only assumes a circular configuration through its mounting in the cylindrical valve chamber . the free oppositely directed ends 20 , 22 are supported on the cylindrical chamber inner wall or in the hook - shaped ends 24 , 26 of a ω - shaped lift guard 28 , so that they are directed at an angle to a tangent of the chamber inner wall . it has been found that through the engagement of said spring leaf 16 with a relatively large circumferential region of the chamber inner wall there is support on the latter under the restoring force of the spring leaf and as a result said leaf cannot deflect in an unhindered manner under the pressure of the inflowing medium , so that the deflection is limited to a relatively narrow circumferential region in the vicinity of an intake 14 , as indicated by broken line 30 in fig1 . line 30 shows the valve is in its maximum open position in which a further deflection of the spring leaf 16 is limited by the lift guard 28 . the inward deflection in a narrow circumferential region leading at this point to a concave shape of the spring leaf causes increased bending stress at points 32 , 34 where the spring leaf curvature passes from a convex into a concave shape , resulting in early fatigue failure in the case of prolonged alternating loading when used on a compressor . to make this clearer , the deflection in accordance with line 30 and the maximum open position of the valve have been shown in an exagerated form . however , said overstressing even occurs with deflections of fractions of a millimeter . after the spring leaf in the region of intake 14 has lifted from the chamber inner wall under the pressure of the compressed medium , the latter can flow radially into valve chamber 2 or 4 , whereby it is axially deflected so that it flows through the chamber to an outlet located at one end thereof and which can have the cross - sectional size of the valve chamber . the axial flow takes place in part in the gap between the chamber inner wall and the spring leaf , as well as radially past the laminations 16a to 16e or 18a to 18e of the spring leaf 16 or 18 to the central area of the valve chamber , before finally being axially led away to the outlet . the dividing up of the valve intake into a plurality of slot - like intakes 14 , 14 &# 39 ; arranged in rows and the gaps 36 between the individual laminations permit the flowing in of the medium to the central area of the valve chamber even when the valve has a relatively large axial extent . in the prior art construction of fig1 it is obvious that lateral slot - like openings 38 , 40 are provided in lift guard 28 through which extend in an arcuate manner the individual laminations of spring leaf 16 . the valve according to the invention of fig2 fundamentally operates in the same way as that of fig1 but it has a differently shaped and dimensioned spring leaf 18 , having a different deformation behaviour . even in the untensioned state , i . e . before incorporating into the cylindrical valve chamber 4 , the spring leaf 18 is shaped like a cylindrical sleeve with an axial slit bounded by the oppositely directed leaf ends 42 , 44 . however , when uncoiled flat the spring leaf 18 can have the same shape as the spring leaf 16 of the valve of fig1 as shown in fig3 . in the fitted state , the axial slit is expanded somewhat , so that the leaf ends 42 , 44 embrace under pretension a web - shaped projection 46 of a spacer 48 fixed to the inner wall of valve chamber 4 diametrically opposite to the row of openings 14 &# 39 ;. the outer circumferential surface of leaf ends 42 , 44 engage with limited pretension on the surfaces 50 , 52 of spacer 48 running on both sides to the web - like projection 46 and with this pretension the area of the spring leaf facing the axial slit sealingly engages on the rim 54 surrounding openings 14 &# 39 ; and therefore on the inner wall of the chamber . as soon as a pressure acts in intakes 14 which is greater than the pressure in the valve chamber 4 and the contact pressure of the spring leaf , the latter rises from rim 54 , so that it is only in contact with spacer 48 . it is not possible to prevent the deformation of the circular spring leaf due to engagement on the chamber inner wall , because the spring leaf diameter is smaller than the cylindrical valve chamber diameter . in fig2 the shape of the spring leaf 18 when the valve is open is indicated by a broken line . a lift stop is not necessary because in the case of too great a deformation of the spring leaf , the latter is supported on the chamber inner wall on two opposite sides and the arcuate spring leaf portion between the support points forms a high resistance to further deformations . it is obvious that in the untensioned state , the spring leaf can have different circular shapes and the valve chamber can also have different cross - sectional shapes , such as e . g . elliptical , oval , etc . it is important that the spring leaf only engages with the chamber inner wall along the opening rim 54 permitting an elastic deformation of the spring leaf which is not impeded by the chamber inner wall . this reliably obviates the disadvantages of a valve according to fig1 . although it is not necessary , a lift stop can also be used in the valve according to the invention . the spring leaf can be made from steel sheet material , whose thickness is such that over the intakes 14 &# 39 ; it does not deform in a non - circular shape .

a valve assembly having a cylindrical valve chamber with radially directed inlet orifices and with a circular spring leaf which resiliently seals the orifices and which may be deflected by fluid pressure within the inlet orifices to open the orifices . the spring leaf is configured so that it may deflect to open the valve inlet without deviation from its essentially oval shape .

the present invention is a method of manufacturing wireless communication devices such as those used in co - pending , commonly assigned u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 501 , 435 and 6 , 975 , 834 , entitled “ wireless communication device and method ” and “ multi - band wireless communication device and method ” respectively , both of which were filed on oct . 3 , 2000 and are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties . in particular , the present invention allows variations in the size of the tabs used for antenna elements in the wireless communication devices . some wireless communications devices have both transmit and receive capability and can be used in the present invention . a typical example of such a device is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 585 , 953 , entitled “ ir / rf radio transceiver and method ,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . other wireless communication devices have receive capability and use the energy received to communicate back , such as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 078 , 259 entitled “ radio frequency identification tag ,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . such passive devices may likewise be used with the present invention . the wireless communication device in the present invention can be any type of device that allows reception of wireless electronic communications and is able to communicate in response thereto . both types of wireless communication devices are sometimes referred to herein and in the art as transponders . the terms are used equivalently herein . fig1 illustrates a wireless communication device 10 , such as that described in the previously incorporated applications . in particular , wireless communication device 10 comprises a substrate 20 , a wireless communication chip 30 , and one or more tabs 40 , to serve as an antenna 60 for wireless communication device 10 . tabs 40 a , 40 b may be constructed out of any type of material so long as the material is conductive . such material may be a ferrous material , including metal , steel , iron , or the material may be aluminum or other type of conducting material . tabs 40 may also be constructed from a tape impregnated with metal loaded ink , as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 566 , 441 , entitled “ attaching an electronic circuit to a substrate ,” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . in one embodiment of the present invention , as illustrated in fig1 , tabs 40 a , 40 b are made from a foil tape 42 , 52 respectively as is well understood in the art . an optional ground plane ( not shown ) may be oppositely positioned on substrate 20 if needed or desired . substrate 20 may be almost any material , but is most likely a plastic or similar material . wireless communication chip 30 may comprise a device from intermec as used in their intellitag ® labels and those devices from scs as used in their dl100 label although other devices are certainly possible , especially in light of the present invention &# 39 ; s suitability to both active and passive wireless communication devices 10 . wireless communication chip 30 may comprise a controller , memory , a battery , a sensor , and other conventional components such as those described in the previously incorporated applications . tabs 40 a , 40 b together comprise dipole antenna 60 . in this particular embodiment , tabs 40 a , 40 b are asymmetrical with respect to one another to form an asymmetrical dipole antenna . an asymmetrical dipole antenna 60 is an antenna having a first tab 40 a , or first pole , different in shape , including , but not necessarily limited to length , width , volume , and / or density , from the second tab 40 b , or second pole . tabs 40 a , 40 b may also be coupled to a slot to form a slot antenna ( not shown ). alternatively , a single tab 40 may be used as a monopole antenna given the appropriate ground plane ( not shown ). while the present invention is primarily directed to dipole antenna tab structures , it should be appreciated by those in the art that some of the techniques may be equally applicable to a single tab 40 arrangement , or an arrangement having more than two tabs 40 a , 40 b . the present invention focuses on techniques to manufacture these wireless communication devices 10 . there are several different aspects to the manufacturing process . the first is properly positioning the wireless communication chip 30 for later processing , and is discussed in the chip positioning section below . the second is the creation of the tabs 40 that form the antenna 60 , addressed in a separate section below . the last is the merging of the chip 30 with the antenna 60 to form the wireless communication device 10 , discussed in the mounting techniques section below . fig2 illustrates an exemplary carrier tape 100 comprising an adhesive sealing layer 102 and a container layer 104 . container layer 104 comprises a plurality of containers or pockets 106 having wireless communication chips 30 disposed therein . carrier tape 100 may be made from any number of materials and is available from a number of manufacturers such as tek pak . details can be found at www . tekpak . com . adhesive sealing layer 102 initially seals the chips 30 within the containers 106 , protecting them from environmental vagaries . subsequently , when desired , adhesive sealing layer 102 peels off of container layer 104 , leaving the contents of the containers 106 exposed for further processing . there are two specifically contemplated techniques to remove the chips 30 from the carrier tape 100 for later mounting on the wireless communication device 10 . other techniques are also contemplated to enable the roll - to - roll continuous automation process of the present invention . a first technique is illustrated in fig3 . chip positioning system 110 comprises a waste roller 112 , a first roller 114 , and a second roller 116 . carrier tape 100 is fed to rollers 114 , 116 simultaneously with an adhesive line 111 . waste roller 112 wraps adhesive sealing layer 102 therearound , exposing chips 30 within the containers 106 ( fig1 ). rollers 114 , 116 may be oval shaped and rotate at a frequency so as to space chips 30 appropriately on adhesive line 118 . the proximity of the roller 114 to roller 116 pushes the chip 30 out of the container 106 and to the sticky surface of the adhesive line 118 . this removes the chip 30 from the container 106 and allows the adhesive line 118 with the chips 30 to be passed downstream for further processing . a second technique is illustrated in fig4 and 5 . as illustrated in fig4 , chip positioning system 110 a comprises a waste roller 112 , a toothed roller 120 having teeth 122 and may have an optional second roller ( not shown ) comparable to second roller 116 . carrier tape 100 is fed to the roller 120 with waste roller 112 removing the adhesive sealing layer 102 as previously described . now with reference to fig5 , wherein a more detailed view of the interface between the teeth 122 , the containers 106 , the chips 30 , and the adhesive line 118 is illustrated , it can be seen that a tooth 122 pushes through the floor 105 of the container 106 , pushing chip 30 upwardly to contact the adhesive line 118 . again , this removes the chip 30 from the container 106 and allows the adhesive line 118 with the chips 30 to be passed downstream for further processing . concurrent to the positioning of the chips 30 on the adhesive line 118 , tabs 40 may be created for the wireless communication device 10 . this section focuses on techniques by which the tabs 40 may be created that are again well suited for use in the roll - to - roll automated manufacturing process of the present invention . a first technique for the creation of tabs 40 a , 40 b is illustrated in fig6 and 7 . fig6 illustrates a tab production system 100 , comprising a pair of rollers 132 , 134 oppositely positioned on either side of a production line 140 . top roller 132 may comprise a die cutting roller while bottom roller 134 may be a driving roller to push material though rollers 132 , 134 . it should be appreciated that rollers 132 , 134 may be reversed if production line 140 is inverted . production line 140 may also comprise a backing layer 142 , an adhesive ( not shown explicitly ) and a conductive foil 144 , such as a copper foil , an aluminum foil , or the like . as production line 140 passes through rollers 132 , 134 , die cutting roller 132 cuts conductive foil 144 into one or more tabs 40 . in this particular embodiment , die cutting roller 132 cuts conductive foil 144 into two tabs 40 a , 40 b . waste foil 146 is peeled from backing layer 142 while tabs 40 a , 40 b and backing layer 142 continue for further processing . tabs 40 are then used to form antenna elements for antenna 60 on the wireless communication device 10 as explained below . to accommodate substrates 20 that may have varying dielectric constants and / or thicknesses ( such as may occur when switching materials having different dielectric constants forming substrate 20 ) variations may need to be made to the dimensions of tabs 40 a , 40 b to produce the optimum read range at the desired operating frequency . to ensure optimal antenna 60 performance using tabs 40 a , 40 b with chip 30 , energy transfer should be maximized between chip 30 and tabs 40 a , 40 b to maximize emitted radiation from tabs 40 a , 40 b . to ensure maximum energy transfer , the impedance of tabs 40 a , 40 b must be substantially matched to the impedance of chip 30 . further information on impedance matching between wireless communication devices and antennas is described in the previously incorporated u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 501 , 435 and 6 , 975 , 834 , and co - pending u . s . pat . no . 6 , 642 , 897 entitled “ tuning techniques for a slot antenna ,” filed on apr . 18 , 2002 , by the same assignee as that of the present application and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . a first technique to address this situation is illustrated in fig8 and 9 . in this technique , a plurality of rollers 200 , 202 , 204 is used . in particular , tab production system 130 a receives production line 140 . a first roller 200 makes an initial cut 206 in conductive foil 144 . this initial cut 206 comprises the inner portions of tabs 40 a , 40 b . a second roller 202 makes a second cut 208 in conductive foil 144 that completes the creation of one of tabs 40 a , 40 b ( in this case tab 40 a ). second cut 208 overlaps to a certain extent initial cut 206 of first roller 200 . a third roller 204 makes a third cut 210 in conductive foil 144 that completes the creation of the other one of tabs 40 a , 40 b ( in this case tab 40 b ). third cut 210 overlaps to a certain extent the initial cut 206 of first roller 200 . note that the precise order of the cutting by rollers 200 , 202 , 204 may be varied . for example , a first cut could begin on the left edge , beginning tab 40 a , a second cut ends tab 40 a and begins tab 40 b , and the third cut ends tab 40 b . other variations are also contemplated . the technique of fig8 and 9 allows the sizes of the tabs 40 a , 40 b to be varied by varying the phases of rollers 202 , 204 with respect to first roller 200 . thus , if a longer tab 40 a is desired , second roller 202 is phased such that there is little overlap between the cuts 206 , 208 . if a shorter tab 40 a is desired , second roller 202 is phased such that there is substantial overlap in the cuts 206 , 208 . the same principle applies to the size of tab 40 b , but the phase of third roller 204 is modified to achieve the desired amount of overlap between the cuts 206 , 210 . allowing for differently sized tabs 40 a , 40 b allows optimal antenna 60 performance as previously explained . it should be appreciated that rollers 200 , 202 , 204 rotate at the same rate to avoid undesired phase changes between rollers 200 , 202 , 204 . this technique is especially well suited for situations in which substrate 20 varies between wireless communication devices 10 . in one embodiment , it is expected that at a 200 ft / min rate of movement of production line 120 , and an antenna 60 dimension of approximately 68 mm × 16 mm outside dimensions , thus giving about 60 antennas 60 per foot , approximately 12 , 000 antennas may be made per minute . an alternate technique to provide variations in the size of tabs 40 a , 40 b is illustrated in fig1 - 13b . in this technique , production system 130 b comprises a first roller 300 and a second roller 302 , each of which is independently movable relative to one another . this technique is better suited for situations in which substrate 20 on which wireless communication device 10 is to be placed varies , as this technique allows testing on the fly to get the desired impedance for antenna 60 in conjunction with substrate 20 . rollers 300 , 302 receive a production line 140 a ( illustrated in fig1 a ) comprising a backing material 130 with tabs 40 a , 40 b , and chip 30 disposed thereon . in contrast to the other techniques previously discussed , this technique positions , but does not specifically require , chip 30 mounted with the elements that form tabs 40 . production line 140 a passes under first roller 300 and second roller 302 to deposit the tabs 40 and the chip 30 onto the substrate 20 . rollers 300 and 302 may initially be close together as illustrated by dimension ‘ x ’ in fig1 and 11 . during the deposit of tabs 40 a , 40 b on substrate 20 , a low signal level and low frequency radiator 138 , operating at , for example , 125 khz , assesses the capacitance of tabs 40 a , 40 b in conjunction with substrate 20 and with or without ground plane 306 ( fig1 ). this provides an estimate of the thickness and dielectric constant of substrate 20 . tabs 40 a , 40 b may be sized appropriately to provide the desired capacitance by moving the rollers 300 , 302 to insure optimal antenna 60 performance as previously discussed . as illustrated by the difference between fig1 and 12 , rollers 300 , 302 may be spread if larger tabs 40 a , 40 b are required . after the testing equipment determines that the tabs 40 are appropriately sized to give the desired performance to antenna 60 , a cut is made and tabs 40 a , 40 b are mounted on substrate 20 . this cut may be made with a die , a knife , a laser , or other appropriate cutting tools ( none shown ). it may be desirable to test capacitance by changing one and then the other tab 40 a , 40 b as needed or desired . as can be seen in fig1 b , the cut removes tabs 40 a , 40 b and a portion of the backing material 130 to create hole 121 , leaving tab residuals 40 ′, 50 ′. as previously noted , some of the above techniques may be occurring concurrently with the positioning of the chips 30 on the adhesive line 118 . the following section deals with mounting the chips 30 on the wireless communication device 10 after the antenna 60 has been positioned thereon . one technique is illustrated in fig1 . in particular , a hole 22 is punched into substrate 20 . hole 22 is any type of cavity in substrate 20 or any type of geometry such that wireless communication chip 30 may be wholly or partially placed inside such cavity . hole 22 may have tapered top edges 24 that taper from a wide opening 26 to a narrow mouth 28 , the size of narrow mouth 28 may be the same or smaller in size than the width of wireless communication chip 30 , so that wireless communication chip 30 rests in hole 22 at the point where narrow mouth 28 begins . foil tape 42 , 52 overlaps edges 24 so that tape 42 , 52 extends partially into hole 22 . chip 30 is then inserted in the direction of the arrow into the hole 22 . hole 22 may be designed to allow chip 30 to sit flush with upper surface 21 of substrate 20 without substantially protruding therefrom , as is illustrated in fig1 . this reduces the profile of substrate 20 and protects chip 30 from some inadvertent harm . hole 22 may also be designed to allow chip 30 to sit fully below upper surface 21 or to protrude slightly from hole 22 depending on the design and size of hole 22 , edges 24 , and mouth 28 . a number of techniques exist to attach chip 30 to tabs 40 a , 40 b . a first technique comprises using a low melting point solder . tape ends 44 , 54 of foil tape 42 , 52 may be pre - loaded with a solder paste . chip 30 is then simply dropped onto the paste ( not shown ), and the solder ( not shown ) is melted to form connectivity between tabs 40 a , 40 b and chip 30 . appropriate methods to form the solder joint comprise the use of infrared radiation to heat the joint locally , or pushing chip 30 into the paste with pins 32 of chip 30 preheated . preheating of pins 32 allows the solder to remain in a liquefied state longer after initial melting so that solder may more easily flow to more surface area of tabs 40 a , 40 b and around pin 32 to form a stronger bond . such preheating may be accomplished by any technique , including use of a preheating tool that emits heat such as a hot gas jet or the like . an alternative technique for attaching chip 30 to tabs 40 a , 40 b comprises the use of a conductive adhesive ( not shown ). the adhesive forms a bond between tabs 40 a , 40 b and chip 30 , and the conductivity of the adhesive ensures electrical continuity between tabs 40 a , 40 b and chip 30 . either a suitable conductive adhesive can be applied by printing to ends 44 , 54 of tape 42 , 52 prior to assembly , or chip 30 may be pushed onto a pressure sensitive conductive adhesive on top surfaces 46 , 56 of tape 42 , 52 it may be advantageous , but not required to use an adhesive that can be cured rapidly . for example , an adhesive cured by a flash of ultraviolet ( uv ) light would be appropriate . examples of conductive adhesives include isotropic conductive adhesives , conductive silicones , and anisotropic conductive adhesives . the interested reader is directed to electrically conductive adhesives characteristics and applications , a loctite corporation publication available at www . loctite . com that is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . further information may also be found at the following website : www . chemical , felpro . com / electronics / elec_tech_index . html # eleccond . yet another alternative is illustrated in fig1 - 17 . in this embodiment , the tape 42 has one end sliced into a plurality of fingers 43 . note that the fingers 48 are made from the same material as the tape 42 , but include cuts 49 between the fingers 48 . the fingers are then placed proximate the hole 22 . a top view of the tape 42 , the fingers 48 , and an exemplary positioning relative to the hole 22 is illustrated in fig1 . with that arrangement in place , it is now possible to mount the chip 30 . chip 30 , and particularly pins 32 thereof , are heated above the yield point of substrate 20 and positioned over substrate 20 ( fig1 ). pins 32 are then forced into substrate 20 with fingers 48 wrapping around pins 32 , as illustrated in fig1 . the heat of pins 32 melts substrate 20 , which then cools around tape 42 and pins 32 forming an effective mechanical bond . also note that this technique could also be done on the other tab 40 b ( not shown ) in a similar fashion . note that both tabs 40 a , 40 b should be in place prior to this insertion . still another alternative would be to weld or tack pins 32 to tape 42 , 52 using a suitable tool . the tool presses chip 30 into surface 21 of substrate 20 . a high current may be passed through pins 32 , using a low voltage pulse therethrough to form the weld . a lower voltage pulse is desirable so as to not apply a damaging voltage to chip 30 . a modified chip 30 with a single thin foil ( not shown ) rather than multiple pins 32 may also be used for this technique . this technique may be better suited for chips 30 having an aluminum thin foil rather than a copper thin foil , since aluminum has a melting point temperature lower than copper thereby allowing use of a current that is lower in amperes . with all of these embodiments , a sealing layer ( not shown ) may also be placed onto substrate 20 and over chip 30 to hold chip 30 firmly in its desired location . this sealing layer may be an epoxy , but may instead be a robust plastic such as polyimide , mylar , or polypropylene . these plastics may be attached by adhesives or by thermal welding as needed or desired . it should be noted that extra layers may be added to wireless communication device 10 after or in place of the sealing layer . for example , a paper layer for printing or plastic layers may be added to the structure . such sealing layer or layers may be applied onto substrate 20 using any type of label printing machine . for almost any of the above styled processes , the chip 30 may be positioned on the substrate 20 with rollers as illustrated in fig1 and 19 . chip merging system 160 is illustrated schematically in fig1 and comprises a first and second heat and pressure roller 162 , 164 . these rollers 162 , 164 may perform the thermal welding alluded to above . adhesive line 118 with chips 30 disposed thereon passes between rollers 162 , 164 and mates with substrate 20 , and particularly hole 22 of substrate 20 as better seen in fig1 . tabs 40 have been pre - positioned on substrate 20 prior to the introduction of the chip 30 thereto . chip 30 may be secured to the tabs 40 and the substrate 20 by any of the means previously discussed as needed or desired . the above - mentioned techniques are useful with a number of other manufacturing techniques . of particular interest is the creation of tabs 40 a , 40 b . this may be done before , concurrently with , or after the creation of hole 22 in substrate 20 as needed or desired . the present invention is well suited for “ roll to roll ” processes , making the automation of the present invention easy . as illustrated in fig2 , the chip 30 positioning process may be occurring concurrently with the tab 40 creation process . the tabs are then positioned on the substrate 20 through an appropriate means as is well understood . finally the two production lines merge and the chip 30 may be positioned on the substrate 20 . furthermore , the automation may test and mark defective parts as needed or desired . the present invention may , of course , be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the scope and the essential characteristics of the invention . the present embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein .

a method for manufacturing wireless communication devices for use in tracking or identifying other items comprises a number of cutting techniques that allow the size of the antenna for the wireless communication device . further , the chip for the wireless communication device is nested so as to be flush with the surface of the substrate of the wireless communication device . rollers cut the tabs that form the antenna elements . in a first embodiment , a plurality of rollers are used , each on effecting a different cut whose position may be phased so as to shorten or lengthen the antenna element . in a second embodiment , the rollers are independently positionable to shorten or lengthen the antenna element .

fig1 depicts a handle apparatus for a microsurgical scalpel blade manufactured by eagle vision , inc ., memphis , tenn ., under the commercial name &# 34 ; ergoblade &# 34 ;. the ergoblade comprises an elongated central member 10 constructed of aluminum or other suitable thermoplastic materials , and having a hollowed distal portion 12 . a slot 14 is located on the central member 10 and extends along the circumference of the central member in a lateral direction . a clam collet 16 incorporating a flat top slotted and circular component with a hinged collet assembly 18 provides a locking mechanism for a micro - surgical scalpel blade 20 into the hollowed distal portion 12 of the central member 10 . the ergoblade is adapted to engage a variety of micro - surgical scalpel blades having a uniform shank design within the clam collet assembly 16 , to provide a surgical scalpel handle that can be re - used several times with different scalpel blades . fig2 a and 2b illustrate an ergonomic sleeve according to the present invention . fig2 a is a side view of a sleeve . the sleeve comprises a flexible , elongated tube open at both ends . fig2 b is a section view of the sleeve of fig2 a , illustrating the hollow interior of the sleeve and the inner surface thereof . the inner surface of the sleeve is generally designated as 22 . in the preferred embodiment in which the sleeve is particularly adapted to fit onto an ergoblade , the interior or inner surface 22 of the sleeve is substantially cylindrical in cross - section , to engage the cylindrical central member 10 of the ergoblade . however , it should be apparent to those in the art that the inner surface of the sleeve may be molded in other configurations so that the sleeve may be adapted for other types of medical instrument configurations . the sleeve is adapted to be positioned at the lower or distal portion of the elongated central member 10 of the ergoblade by way of a friction fit . the sleeve has tapered end portions 24 . the outer surface of the sleeve has formed thereon an aggressive raised knurling pattern . the sleeve may be formed by way of transfer and / or injection molding , and is preferably formed of a low durometer silicone or thermo - plastic material , such as the materials sold under the commercial names c - flex or kraton , although any other similar materials may be used . preferably , the sleeve is formed of 40 - 60 durometer . the sleeve is also preferably constructed so that it may be sterilized and autoclaved so that a single sleeve may be used repeatedly . when used with an ergoblade as described above , the sleeve may also be formed with an inner ring 26 on the rearward end of the sleeve ( shown as projecting portions in the section view of fig2 b ). this inner ring 26 is formed on the circumference of the circular inner surface of the sleeve and projects inwardly from the inner surface of the sleeve so that , when the sleeve is in its proper location on the ergoblade , the inner ring engages the slot 14 on the central member of the ergoblade . the engagement of the inner ring 26 in the slot 14 helps to prevent moisture and surgical debris from entering the sleeve and becoming trapped between the sleeve and the ergoblade handle , and also helps to hold the sleeve in place on the ergoblade handle by preventing the sleeve from sliding longitudinally along the central member 10 during use . fig2 a above shows one embodiment of the present invention in which a knurling pattern is formed on the outer surface of the sleeve . this knurling pattern provides increased tactile control of the instrument during use . fig3 a and 4b illustrate other preferred embodiments of the present invention , in which raised ridges 27 are formed on the outer surface instead of a knurling pattern . fig3 shows a sleeve with a series of ridges 27 disposed laterally around the sleeve . fig4 a and 4b show a sleeve with ridges 27 disposed longitudinally along the outer surface . to provide maximum tactile control , each of these ridges is triangular in cross - section ( as is shown in fig4 b ), although other configurations could be used . preferably , each of these ridges is formed having dimensions indicated in fig3 and discussed below . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , in which the sleeve is adapted to be used with an ergoblade , the sleeve has the following approximate dimensions , corresponding to the portions of fig3 identified with reference letters &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; through &# 34 ; j &# 34 ;: the overall length &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; of the sleeve preferably is 2 . 3 inches ; the diameter &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; of the hollow inner surface is 0 . 25 inches ; the diameter &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; of the entire sleeve , measured from the base of the ridges , is 0 . 44 inches ; the diameter &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; of the sleeve , as measured at its widest point ( the tips of the ridges ) is 0 . 50 inches ; the diameter &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; of the sleeve , measured at the narrower ends of the tapering portions 24 , is 0 . 38 inches ; the thickness &# 34 ; f &# 34 ; of the inner ring 26 is 0 . 03 inches ; the interior diameter &# 34 ; g &# 34 ; of the inner ring 26 is 0 . 19 inches ; the distance &# 34 ; h &# 34 ; between the base of each ridge is 0 . 03 inches ; the distance &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; between the apex or point of each triangular ridge is 0 . 09 inches ; and the angle &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; formed by the sloping sides of adjacent ridges is 90 degrees . however , sleeves may be manufactured with other dimensions to provide different types of tactile feel or control . further , these dimensions may be adjusted as necessary to adapt the sleeve for use with other types of medical instruments . in addition to scalpels such as the ergoblade , the present invention is particularly suitable for use with a phaco - emulsification handpiece and with an infusion / aspiration ( i / a ) handpiece . the modifications necessary to adapt the sleeve to those applications will be readily apparent to those in the art and are within the scope of the present invention . prior to a surgical procedure , the sleeve is slid longitudinally onto the ergoblade so that it frictionally engages the central member 10 at a distal portion thereof , corresponding to the portion of the central member normally grasped by the surgeon . fig5 depicts a scalpel of the ergoblade type with a sleeve engaged thereon . the surgeon then grasps the sleeve with the fingers of one hand to manipulate the scalpel . the tapered end portions 24 of the sleeve provide a smooth , comfortable transition to the central member and also provide a tighter fit between the sleeve and the handle or hand piece of the scalpel to minimize any space in the sleeve in which surgical debris such as human tissue or visco - elastic material may be caught . the knurling or ridged pattern on the outer surface of the sleeve improves traction and tactile feel , and significantly reduces the force necessary to maintain dynamic control of the surgical instrument or scalpel . the sleeve also absorbs movement energy and force , thereby reducing stress associated with repetitive movement injury and cumulative trauma disorder . the ergoblade may also be commercially manufactured and sold with the sleeve already in its proper place on the central member , so that the scalpel and sleeve are ready for use when removed from the packaging . the sleeve may also be left in place on the central member during sterilization . as described above , in an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention , the dimensions of the sleeve may be altered so that the sleeve can be used to aid in the grasping of a phaco - emulsification handpiece . further , in yet another alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention , the dimensions of the sleeve may be adjusted so that the sleeve can be used to aid in the grasping of an infusion / aspiration ( i / a ) handpiece . in both of these alternative embodiments , the sleeve comprises essentially the same components , except that the dimensions of the sleeve are increased or decreased to accommodate the desired applications , as will be readily apparent to those in the art . as will also be apparent to those in the art , the sleeve according to the present invention could also be modified or adapted to be used with any other medical or surgical instrument having an elongated portion which in operation is grasped and manipulated by the hand without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims .

a handle sleeve for facilitating the use of ophthalmic and micro - surgical instruments such as scalpels includes a flexible tube which can be removably attached to the instrument handle . the sleeve preferably has a knurling pattern or a plurality of ridges disposed on its outside surface , to improve traction and tactile feel . the sleeve provides a superior gripping surface and significantly reduces the force necessary for the surgeon to maintain dynamic control of the instrument during surgical procedures , and also reduces stress associated with repetitive movement injury and cumulative trauma disorder .

embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing figures wherein like numbers represent like elements throughout . before embodiments of the invention are explained in detail , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the examples set forth in the following description or illustrated in the figures . the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of applications and in various ways . also , it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting . the use of “ including ,” “ comprising ,” or “ having ” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items . referring to fig1 , there is depicted a system schematic of an exemplary dosing system 100 . exhaust from a diesel engine ( not shown ) is communicated through an exhaust pipe 102 including a p - trap , which is coupled to a catalytic converter 104 and diesel particulate filter ( dpf ) 105 . the catalytic converter 104 is of the scr type that is well known in the art , which utilizes a selective catalytic reduction method to reduce the no x content in the exhaust stream . the dpf 105 is shown schematically as being part of the catalytic converter 104 . however , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the dpf may be a separate unit disposed downstream of the catalytic converter 104 . a reducing agent , such as diesel fuel in the exemplary embodiment , is introduced into the exhaust pipe via a dosing valve 106 that is physically attached to pipe 102 . the diesel fuel injected via the dosing valve upstream of the catalytic converter 104 acts both as the reducing agent for the scr process , and to support the regeneration cycle in the dpf to clean the filter . the dosing valve 106 fluidly communicates with a control valve 108 that is disposed away from manifold 102 . the details of the dosing valve 106 and control valve 108 assembly are described in detail below . the control valve 106 receives a supply of diesel fuel that is stored in a fuel tank 110 via a pressure regulator 112 . a fuel pump 114 supplies diesel fuel under pressure from tank 110 to regulator 112 . the fuel pump 114 and the control valve 108 are electrically coupled to an electronic control unit ( ecu ) 116 . a dosing control unit ( dcu ) 118 is disposed between ecu 116 and control valve 108 . these components are operative to meter a quantity of diesel fuel that is injected into the exhaust stream to reduce the no x content in the exhaust stream . the reduction is effectuated by introducing a desired quantity of diesel fuel upstream of catalytic converter 104 . pressure sensors are disposed upstream and downstream of catalytic converter 104 to enable these parameters to be communicated to ecu 116 as schematically depicted in fig1 . in addition , temperature sensors and no x sensors electrically communicate with ecu 116 as is known in the art . the ecu 116 monitors various parameters including temperature , pressure and no x content in the exhaust stream and consequently meters the introduction of diesel fuel into the exhaust stream to optimize the reduction of undesirable particulates and no x emissions . fig2 is a schematic of a dosing valve assembly 200 , which generally comprises a control valve assembly 202 and poppet valve assembly 204 . the control valve assembly 202 includes a fuel injector 206 that , for this application , has been modified to omit an orifice disk that atomizes a fuel charge that is delivered to an internal combustion engine in the usual manner . the fuel injector 206 is described in greater detail below . in general terms , the fuel injector 206 comprises an electronic connector 208 that couples fuel injector 206 to the ecu 116 and dcu 118 as described above and depicted in fig1 . the fuel injector 206 is disposed on a bracket 210 for mounting the assembly within the vehicle . a fuel inlet 212 on a first end of the fuel injector 206 receives a supply of diesel fuel from fuel tank 110 ( fig1 ). the fuel injector 206 is fluidly coupled to poppet valve assembly 204 through a connecting tube 214 , which has a length sufficient to displace the control valve assembly 202 from the high temperature environment in proximity to the exhaust stream . the poppet valve assembly 204 is mounted directly on the exhaust structure and described in further detail below . fig3 is a schematic an exemplary fuel injector 306 ( corresponding to 206 in fig2 ), that may be used as a control valve for the present invention . fuel injector 306 extends along a longitudinal axis a - a between a first injector end 308 a and a second injector end 308 b , and includes a valve group subassembly 310 and a power group subassembly 312 . the valve group subassembly 310 performs fluid handling functions , e . g ., defining a fuel flow path and prohibiting fuel flow through the injector 306 . the power group subassembly 312 performs electrical functions , e . g ., converting electrical signals to a driving force for permitting fuel flow through the injector 306 . the valve group subassembly 310 includes a tube assembly 314 extending along the longitudinal axis a - a between the first fuel injector end 308 a and the second fuel injector end 308 b . the tube assembly 314 can include at least an inlet tube 316 , a non - magnetic shell 318 , and a valve body 320 . the inlet tube 316 has a first inlet tube end 322 a proximate to the first fuel injector end 308 a . the inlet tube 316 can be flared at the inlet end 322 a into a flange 322 b to retain an o - ring 323 . a second inlet tube end 322 c of the inlet tube 316 is connected to a first shell end 324 a of the non - magnetic shell 318 . a second shell end 324 b of the non - magnetic shell 318 can be connected to a generally transverse planar surface of a first valve body end 326 a of the valve body 320 . a second valve body end 326 b of the valve body 320 is disposed proximate to the second tube assembly end 308 b . a separate pole piece 328 can be connected to the inlet tube 316 and connected to the first shell end 324 a of the non - magnetic shell 318 . the pole piece may comprise a stainless steel material such as ss 430fr ( astm a838 - 00 ). the non - magnetic shell 318 can comprise non - magnetic stainless steel , e . g ., 300 - series stainless steels such as ss 305 ( en 10088 - 2 ), or other materials that have similar structural and magnetic properties . as shown in fig3 , inlet tube 316 is attached to pole piece 328 by weld bead 330 . formed into the outer surface of pole piece 328 are pole piece shoulders 332 a , which , in conjunction with mating shoulders of a bobbin of the coil subassembly , act as positive mounting stops when the two subassemblies are assembled together . the inlet tube 316 can be attached to the pole piece 328 at an inner circumferential surface of the pole piece 328 . alternatively , an integral inlet tube and pole piece can be attached to the inner circumferential surface of a non - magnetic shell 318 . an armature assembly 334 is disposed in the tube assembly 314 . the armature assembly 334 includes a first armature assembly end having a ferromagnetic or armature portion 336 and a second armature assembly end having a sealing portion . the armature assembly 334 is disposed in tube assembly 314 such that a shoulder 336 a of armature 336 confronts a shoulder 332 b of pole piece 328 . the sealing portion can include a closure member 338 , e . g ., a spherical valve element , that is moveable with respect to the seat 340 and its sealing surface 340 a . the closure member 338 is movable between a closed configuration ( depicted in fig3 ) and an open configuration ( not shown ). in the closed configuration , the closure member 338 contiguously engages the sealing surface 340 a to prevent fluid flow through the opening . in the open configuration , the closure member 338 is spaced from the seat 340 to permit fluid flow through the opening . the armature assembly 334 may also include a separate intermediate portion 342 connecting the ferromagnetic or armature portion 336 to the closure member 338 . the intermediate portion or armature tube 342 may be attached to armature 336 and closure member 338 by weld beads 344 , 346 , respectively . surface treatments can be applied to at least one of the end portions 332 b and 336 a to improve the armature &# 39 ; s response , reduce wear on the impact surfaces and variations in the working air gap between the respective end portions 332 b and 336 a . the surface treatments can include coating , plating or case - hardening . coatings or platings can include , but are not limited to , hard chromium plating , nickel plating or keronite coating . case hardening on the other hand , can include , but is not limited to , nitriding , carburizing , carbo - nitriding , cyaniding , heat , flame , spark or induction hardening . fuel flow through the armature assembly 334 is facilitated by at least one axially extending through - bore 336 b and at least one aperture 342 a through a wall of the armature assembly 334 . the apertures 342 a , which can be of any shape , are preferably non - circular , e . g ., axially elongated , to facilitate the passage of gas bubbles . the apertures 342 a provide fluid communication between the at least one through - bore 336 b and the interior of the valve body 320 . thus , in the open configuration , fuel can be communicated from the through - bore 336 b , through the apertures 342 a and the interior of the valve body 320 , around the closure member 338 , and through outlet end 308 b of injector 306 . in another embodiment , a two - piece armature having an armature portion directly connected to a closure member can be utilized . although both the three - piece and the two - piece armature assemblies are interchangeable , the three - piece armature assembly is preferable due to its ability to reduce magnetic flux leakage from the magnetic circuit of the fuel injector 306 . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the armature tube 342 of the three - piece armature assembly can be fabricated by various techniques , for example , a plate can be rolled and its seams welded or a blank can be deep - drawn to form a seamless tube . in the case of a spherical valve element providing the closure member 338 , the spherical valve element can be connected to the armature assembly 334 at a diameter that is less than the diameter of the spherical valve element . such a connection is on the side of the spherical valve element that is opposite and contiguous contact with the seat 340 . a lower armature assembly guide 348 can be disposed in the tube assembly 314 , proximate the seat 340 , and slidingly engages the diameter of the spherical valve element . the lower armature assembly guide 348 facilitates alignment of the armature assembly 334 along the longitudinal axis a - a . a resilient member 350 is disposed in the tube assembly 314 and biases the armature assembly 334 toward the seat 340 . a filter assembly 352 comprising a filter 354 and a preload adjuster 356 is also disposed in the tube assembly 314 . the filter assembly 352 includes a first filter assembly end 352 a and a second filter assembly end 352 b . the filter 354 is disposed at one end of the filter assembly 352 and also located proximate to the first end 308 a of the tube assembly 314 and apart from the resilient member 350 while the preload adjuster 356 is disposed generally proximate to the second end of the tube assembly 314 . the preload adjuster 356 engages the resilient member 350 and adjusts the biasing force of the member 350 with respect to the tube assembly 314 . in particular , the preload adjuster 356 provides a reaction member against which the resilient member 350 reacts in order to close the injector 306 when the power group subassembly 312 is de - energized . the position of the preload adjuster 356 can be retained with respect to the inlet tube 316 by an interference press - fit between an outer surface of the preload adjuster 356 and an inner surface of the tube assembly 314 . thus , the position of the preload adjuster 356 with respect to the inlet tube 316 can be used to set a predetermined dynamic characteristic of the armature assembly 334 . the power group subassembly 312 comprises an electromagnetic coil 358 , at least one terminal 360 , a coil housing 362 , and an overmold 364 . the electromagnetic coil 358 comprises a wire that that can be wound on a bobbin 314 and electrically connected to electrical contacts 368 on the bobbin 314 . when energized , the coil 358 generates magnetic flux that moves the armature assembly 334 toward the open configuration , thereby allowing the fuel to flow through the opening . de - energizing the electromagnetic coil 358 allows the resilient member 350 to return the armature assembly 334 to the closed configuration , thereby shutting off the fuel flow . the housing , which provides a return path for the magnetic flux , generally includes a ferromagnetic cylinder surrounding the electromagnetic coil 358 and a flux washer 370 extending from the cylinder toward the axis a - a . the flux washer 370 can be integrally formed with or separately attached to the cylinder . the coil housing 362 can include holes , slots , or other features to break - up eddy currents that can occur when the coil 358 is energized . the overmold 364 maintains the relative orientation and position of electromagnetic coil 358 , the at least one terminal 360 , and the coil housing 362 . the overmold 364 includes an electrical harness connector 370 portion in which a portion of the terminal 360 is exposed . the terminal 360 and the electrical harness connector portion 372 can engage a mating connector , e . g ., part of a wiring harness ( not shown ), to facilitate connecting injector 306 to ecu 116 ( fig1 ) for energizing the electromagnetic coil 358 . according to a preferred embodiment , the magnetic flux generated by electromagnetic coil 358 flows in a circuit that includes pole piece 328 , armature assembly 334 , valve body 320 , coil housing 306 , and flux washer 370 . the magnetic flux moves across a parasitic air gap between the homogeneous material of the magnetic portion or armature 336 and valve body 320 into the armature assembly 334 and across a working air gap between end portions 332 b and 336 a towards the pole piece 328 , thereby lifting closure member 338 away from seat 340 . in an illustrative embodiment , wire is wound onto a preformed bobbin 366 having electrical connector portions 368 to form a bobbin assembly . the bobbin assembly is inserted into a pre - formed coil housing 362 . to provide a return path for the magnetic flux between the pole piece 328 and the coil housing 362 , flux washer 370 is mounted on the bobbin assembly . in operation , the electromagnetic coil 358 is energized , thereby generating magnetic flux in the magnetic circuit . the magnetic flux moves armature assembly 334 ( along the axis a - a , according to a preferred embodiment ) towards the integral pole piece 328 , closing the working air gap . such movement of the armature assembly 334 separates the closure member 338 from the seat 340 and allows fuel to flow from the fuel tank 110 ( fig1 ), through inlet tube 368 , through - bore 336 b , apertures 342 a and valve body 320 , thereafter between seat 340 and closure member 338 , through the opening , and finally through the outlet end 308 b and into connecting tube 214 ( fig2 ). when the electromagnetic coil 358 is de - energized , the armature assembly 334 is biased by the resilient member 350 to contiguously engage closure member 338 against seat 340 , thereby blocking fluid flow through the injector 306 . fig4 is a schematic an exemplary poppet valve assembly ( pva ) 404 ( corresponding to 204 in fig2 ), that is mounted on the exhaust carrying structure to deliver a reducing agent ( e . g ., diesel fuel ) into the exhaust stream . pva 404 comprises an inlet 406 having a threaded portion 408 for attaching the connecting tube 214 ( fig2 ). the inlet 406 receives fuel from the control valve assembly ( see fig3 ). the fuel is delivered to first chamber 410 defined in a housing 412 of the poppet valve assembly 404 . in the illustrative embodiment , the housing 412 includes a first portion 414 a and second portion 414 b that are joined by welding at 416 . seals may be provided in the assembly , but are omitted here for clarity . a moveable valve plate 418 is disposed within housing 412 and includes at least one aperture 420 to enable fluid flow from first chamber 410 to a second chamber 422 . valve plate 418 is normally biased by spring 424 against annular surface 426 bounding first chamber 410 . a valve stem 428 is attached at a first end 430 to valve plate 418 and is axially elongated along a central axis b - b to a flared portion 432 at a second end 434 . the flared portion has a surface 436 that is normally biased against a complimentary surface 438 that defines a valve seat in housing 412 to block fluid flow through to an outlet end 440 of poppet valve pva 404 . an orifice plate 442 is disposed in the outlet end 440 to provide for a uniform distribution of fuel into the exhaust stream as is well known in the art of fuel injector design . the pva 404 is mounted on the exhaust carrying structure shown generally by the reference numeral 444 , by a clamping assembly ( omitted for clarity ). in operation , control valve assembly 306 ( fig3 ), under the control of ecu 116 / dcu 118 , releases a quantity of fuel to pva 404 via connecting tube 214 ( fig2 ). the fuel under pressure biases the valve plate 418 downwardly against the force of spring 424 , thereby enabling a quantity of fuel to flow through aperture ( s ) 420 into second chamber 422 . the movement of valve plate 418 translates the flared portion 432 of valve stem 428 away from surface 438 , which permits fuel to flow through the orifice plate 442 and out of the pva 404 into the exhaust manifold . when the control valve assembly 306 restricts the flow of fuel through the connecting tube 214 , the reduced fuel pressure in first chamber 410 is overcome by the force of spring 424 to move the valve plate 418 ( and stem 428 ) upwardly to close off the pva 404 , and the flow of fuel is prevented from entering the exhaust stream . the foregoing detailed description is to be understood as being in every respect illustrative and exemplary , but not restrictive , and the scope of the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from the description of the invention , but rather from the claims as interpreted according to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws . for example , while the method is disclosed herein with respect to tubular components of a fuel injector , the techniques and configurations of the invention may be applied to other tubular components where a hermetic weld is required . it is to be understood that the embodiments shown and described herein are only illustrative of the principles of the present invention and that various modifications may be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention .

a dosing valve assembly is disclosed for administering a reducing agent into an exhaust stream from an internal combustion engine upstream of a catalytic converter and diesel particulate filter . the dosing valve assembly includes a control valve coupled to a source of reducing agent , a delivery valve constructed and arranged for coupling to the exhaust stream to enable a quantity of reducing agent to be administered into the exhaust stream , and an elongated conduit connecting the control valve and delivery valve for fluidly communicating reducing agent from the control valve to the fuel delivery valve . the disclosed arrangement enables the control valve to be displaced from the delivery valve and thus away from the high temperature environment proximal to the exhaust stream .

the invention has several distinctive features . the first feature is envelope detection ( 1 ), which is performed more efficiently and with greater sensitivity , because two circuits are used to detect the envelope . one of the circuits , the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ) is used to polarize the other , the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ), ensuring that the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) has higher accuracy at envelope demodulation ( 1 ). the second feature is given by using a low - pass filter ( 16 ) between the polarization signal going from the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ) to the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ). the third feature is the generation of the reference signal from the attenuated envelope ( 10 ) via a voltage divider ( 17 ) and not directly from the detected envelope ( 7 ). the fourth feature is the use of a low - pass filter ( 18 ) to generate a reference signal ( 11 ) from the attenuated envelope ( 10 ) produced in the voltage divider ( 17 ). a fifth feature is the low - pass filter itself ( as shown in fig1 ), which is fed back with the demodulated data signal ( 12 ) of the circuit output ( 20 ). this feed - back enables to suppress rapid changes in the input signal ( 38 ) of the low - pass filter ( fig1 ), which must be filtered . thus , the - low pass filter produces an average signal ( 11 ) very close to the amplitude maximum high value of the signal being filtered , as shown in fig4 . the feed - back scheme is used in both instances of low - pass filters ; i . e . : both the polarization low - pass filter ( 16 ) and the average low - pass filter ( 18 ). the five features listed above can all be combined into a data detector circuit for rfids labels , featuring low power and high quality , or be used separately . the topology of the complete circuit in fig7 can be rearranged by hierarchical blocks . an example is shown in fig1 , where a new hierarchical block ( 43 ) is created including the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) and the voltage divider ( 17 ). similarly , the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) and the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ) could be grouped into a single hierarchy , without changing the invention . therefore , it is important to realize that the inclusion of new hierarchical levels in the proposed invention does not modify the invention . it is important to observe that some blocks could be implemented differently than proposed . for example , there are several ways to implement a voltage divider , not all resistive as shown in fig1 . similarly , there are several known implementations of low - pass filters different from that shown in fig1 . using equivalents modules for the proposed features does not characterize different invention . consider an example of signal processing through the complete circuit shown in fig1 , fig1 shows the ratio between the received signal envelope ( 45 ) and the envelope detected ( 49 ) by the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ). note that the received signal has an upper envelope ( 45 ) and a lower envelope ( 46 ). the envelope detected ( 49 ) by the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ) has a difference in potential very close to the threshold voltage of the pmos transistor ( 31 ) of the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ). thus , the difference between the maximum high value ( 47 ) of an upper envelope ( 45 ) of the received signal and the maximum high value ( 50 ) of the envelope detected by the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ) corresponds to the threshold voltage of the pmos transistor ( 31 ) of the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ). similarly , the difference between minimum high value ( 48 ) of the upper envelope ( 45 ) of the received signal and the minimum high value ( 51 ) of the envelope detected ( 49 ) by the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ) corresponds approximately to the threshold voltage of the pmos transistor ( 31 ) of the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ). fig1 shows the ratio between the envelope of the received signal ( 45 ) and the envelope detected ( 52 ) by the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ). note that the received signal has a highcr an upper envelope ( 45 ) and a lower envelope ( 46 ). the envelope detected ( 52 ) by the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) has a maximum high value ( 53 ) very close to the maximum high value ( 47 ) of the upper envelope ( 45 ) of the received signal . the envelope detected ( 52 ) by the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) has a minimum high value ( 54 ) very close to zero . fig1 shows the polarization average ( 55 ) calculated by the polarization low - pass filter ( 16 ) from the envelope detected ( 49 ) by the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ). note that the average polarization value ( 56 ) is very close to the maximum high value ( 50 ) of the envelope detected ( 49 ) by the polarizing detector circuit ( 15 ). fig1 shows the reference average ( 60 ) calculated by the reference low - pass filter ( 18 ) from the envelope detected ( 52 ) by the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) attenuated by 75 % ( 57 ). the envelope detected ( 52 ) by the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) is attenuated by 75 % through the voltage divider ( 17 ) generating an attenuated envelope ( 57 ) by 75 %. the reference average ( 60 ) calculated by the reference low - pass filter ( 18 ) from the envelope attenuated ( 57 ) by the voltage divider circuit ( 17 ). note that the reference average value ( 61 ) is very close to the maximum high value ( 58 ) of the envelope attenuated ( 57 ) by the voltage divider circuit ( 17 ). fig1 shows the calculation of the detected data ( 67 ) from the envelope detected ( 52 ) by the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ) and the reference average ( 60 ). note that the reference average value ( 61 ) is in an intermediate position related to the maximum high value ( 53 ) and minimum high value ( 54 ) of the envelope detected ( 52 ) by the polarized detector circuit ( 14 ). when the detected envelope ( 52 ) crosses the reference average ( 60 ) in the negative direction ( 62 ), the detected data has a high - to - low transition ( 64 ). when the detected envelope ( 52 ) crosses the with the reference average ( 60 ) in the positive direction ( 63 ), the detected data has an low - to - high transition ( 65 ). thus , it is possible to decode “ 1 ” ( 67 ) and “ 0 ” ( 66 ) binary states as encoded in the input signal . note that in countries allowing method claims , this example allows to claim a method where signals are processed according to the above sequence , regardless the circuit or device that implements the method .

data - detector circuit for rfid labels , wherein the package is detected using two circuits , a polarizing circuit and a polarized circuit . the polarization signal can be sent from the polarizing circuit to the polarized circuit via a low - pass filter . the reference signal for comparison with the package detected is generated on the basis of the package attenuated by means of a voltage splitter . the reference signal is filtered via a low - pass filter . the resulting circuit has the characteristics of low consumption and high sensitivity .

the invention provides a multi - segment handle that can be advantageously connected to mop heads or other devices such as paint rollers . the handle consists of several short ( preferably less then one foot in length ) sections that can be shipped and sold in small packages that can be displayed on conventional horizontal shelving and easily toted home by consumers . referring to fig1 the handle 10 has an upper grip section 12 , a lower accessory section 14 and one or more ( preferably four ) pole sections 16 . the components are preferably molded of a suitable rigid plastic , such as a nylon , preferably glass - filled nylon , however other materials could be used , for example a low cost metal . referring to fig4 - 9 , the grip section 12 is preferably molded hollow to approximately 10 - 30 cm ( 4 - 12 inches ) in length and about 2 . 5 cm ( 1 inch ) in diameter . it may also have an ergonomic contour for grasping by a hand . the upper end of the grip section 12 has an opening 18 for hanging the handle 10 on a hook , nail or the like inserted either directly through the opening 18 or through a suitable strap ( not shown ) looped through the opening 18 . the downward end of the grip section 12 may have either a female or a male connection end 20 . it is only important that the portion of the pole section 16 to be adjacent to it has the opposite type of end . referring next to fig1 and 14 - 16 , at the opposite end of the handle 10 is the accessory section 14 to which can be attached various accessories 22 such as a bristled head ( as in a broom or brush ) or wet or dry mop heads . the accessory section 14 defines a yoke 24 at its lower end . the yoke 24 includes two arms 26 each preferably having a recess 28 ( one shown ) that can receive a hinge pin 29 extending through or from a side of a upstanding member 30 ( see fig1 ) of the accessory 22 . opposite the yoke 24 , the accessory section 24 defines an enlarged connection end 32 . again , the end can be either a male end , or a female end , with it merely being important that the portion of a pole section to adjoin it must have the opposite type of end . referring next to fig2 - 3 and 10 - 13 , between the grip 12 and accessory 14 sections are one or more interconnected pole sections 16 . the number of pole sections 16 will depend on the desired length of the handle 10 when assembled and the desired size of the unassembled handle with consideration for intended size of the product package . in the preferred form shown in fig1 the handle 10 includes four identical pole sections 16 . together , the overall handle is of a typical length for a mop handle . each pole section 16 is preferably hollow with an outer diameter of one size , approximately 2 . 5 cm ( about 1 inch ), for most of its length , albeit with a narrower diameter female connection end 34 . the female connection end has an internal cavity 36 ( see fig3 ) suitable to receive an opposite male connection end 38 of decreased diameter . the male and female ends will be described herein with respect to the pole sections . however , it should be appreciated that the male end of the grip section ( see fig7 - 9 ) and the female end of the accessory section ( see fig1 and 16 ) are configured identically to the corresponding ends of the pole sections . figures showing the ends of the grip and accessory sections will be used to aid in the description of the ends of the pole sections . the male connection end 38 is formed with two sets or pairs of radially projecting elements , namely bosses 40 and ratchets 44 . the boss and ratchet in each set are generally axially aligned and spaced apart , the boss being spaced in from the terminal end of the male end and the ratchet being axially spaced in further , at the shoulder . each set is spaced from the other set preferably 180 degrees . the bosses 40 are shallow circular projections projecting radially outward with tapered circumferences . as can best be seen in fig2 and 8 - 9 , the ratchets 44 project radially outward and extend axially a short distance , approximately 5 mm ( slightly less than ¼ ″). each ratchet 44 has a flat side 42 and a ramped side 46 sloping downwardly away from the flat side . referring to fig3 and 13 , the female connection end 34 includes two d - shaped openings 48 in communication with the internal cavity 36 spaced apart 180 degrees and oriented with the flat side being axial and its bottom being nearest the terminal edge of the female connection end 34 . the openings thus extend in a circumferential direction to the grooves . as shown in fig1 , 11 and 13 , the female connection end 34 is formed with two shallow parallel grooves 50 extending axially from the terminal edge to the openings 48 , being axially offset but adjacent to the openings . the female connection end 34 is also formed with two pockets 52 generally axially aligned with the openings 48 and spaced circumferentially from the grooves 50 . the pockets 52 are sized and configured to accommodate the ratchets , including a flat , radial surface 54 . intermediate regions 58 lie between the grooves and the ratchets at the inner diameter of the female connection end and thus extend radially inward more than the pockets and the grooves . this interrupts free rotation of the male connection end in the female connection end by interfering with the ratchets . locking rotation is eased by ramped surfaces 56 of the intermediate regions 58 that slope down toward the grooves . the grip section 12 preferably has a male connection end 20 sized and is configured identically to the male connection ends 38 of the pole sections 16 , and the accessory section 14 preferably has a female connection end 32 identical to the female connection ends 34 . accordingly , the grip section 12 interlocks with an adjacent pole section 16 by mating end 20 of the grip section 12 with the female connection end 34 . end 32 of the accessory section 14 interlocks with the male connection end 38 of an adjacent pole section 14 . two additional pole sections 16 interlock together and to the pole sections 16 mated with the grip 12 and accessory 14 sections . preferably , the male connection ends are sized so that there is approximately 3 . 8 cm ( 1 . 5 inches ) of overlap at the joints . as shown in fig1 - 23 , adjacent sections are mated by inserting a male end into a female end . the bosses 40 and the ratchets 44 are aligned with the axial grooves 50 and the adjacent sections are brought together until the bosses 40 reach the ends of the grooves , as shown in fig1 and 21 . rotating the male connection end with respect to the female connection , in this case in a clockwise direction , drives the bosses and the ratchets into the d - shaped openings and the pockets , respectively , as shown in fig1 , 20 and 23 . as shown in fig2 , this rotation results in radial deflection of either or both of the male and female connection ends such that the ratchets and the bosses can pass by surfaces at the inner diameter of the female connection end radially inward further than the groove , namely the intermediate regions 58 and the small lipped area between the grooves and the d - shaped openings . the considerable force required for deflection is created by a simple twisting action by virtue of the mating ramp surfaces 46 and 56 as well as the tapered circumference of the bosses . at this point , the built up spring force drives the bosses and the ratchets radially outward to “ snap ” into the d - shaped openings and the pockets , respectively ( as shown in fig2 ). twisting and separation of the sections is resisted at the joints because of the engagement of the bosses with the walls of the d - shaped openings and more so the flat sides 42 and 54 of the respective ratchet and pocket as shown in fig2 . thus , the bosses and ratchets act to properly align the mating section and also to prevent their relative rotation , particularly in the loosening direction in which the bosses would move back within the grooves . note also that the bosses 40 are more shallow than the thickness of the d - shaped openings 48 such that they are recessed within the openings . this , and the rigidity of the plastic , makes it difficult to compress the male ends to separate the sections . thus , the handle is not only rigidly connected at the joints but its sections are substantially permanently connected once joined . this structure thus provides a handle in multiple smaller sections that can be shipped and sold in a compact package while at the same time providing a handle that is rigid and seems nearly monolithic when assembled . it should be noted , however , that the sections could be made more easily separable . an alternate version of a male connection end 38 a for the grip 12 and pole 16 sections is shown in fig2 and 25 . like the prior embodiment , here the male connection end 38 a is of a decreased diameter from the body of the section and includes two sets of bosses 40 a and ratchets 44 a . the ratchets are as described above , except that here the bosses are a d - shaped , like the openings 48 a . in particular , each boss 40 a extends at a first thickness from a flat side to an intermediate point , from which it tapers downwardly to a curved edge opposite the flat side . using a rigid plastic , this embodiment can provide an essentially permanent connection . the d - shape enhances the anti - rotational effect ( in the loosening direction ) of the bosses because of the engagement of the abutting flat surfaces of the d - shaped bosses and openings . thus , this alternate embodiment of the male connection end could be employed to make the handle even more robust and difficult to disassemble . preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above in considerable detail . other modifications and variations to the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art , which will be within the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , although multiple short pole sections are preferred , the assembly could comprise only one pole section ( of any length ) and one accessory section , without departing from the scope of the invention . moreover , the projections could be any suitable shape , other than round and d - shaped , such as rectangular , as could the openings , which could be internal grooves or recesses that do not extend through the thickness of the section walls . therefore , the invention should not be limited to the described embodiments . to ascertain the full scope of the invention , reference should be made to the following claims .

a twist - lock handle assembly includes sections that are interconnected by first telescoping them together , followed by relative rotational movement to interlock two pair of axially spaced apart tabs and recesses . the assembly can have a grip section , at least one pole section , and one accessory attachment section for connecting to a mop head . the components are rigidly and essentially permanently connected by sliding them together and twisting , but can be compactly shipped .

referring to fig1 there is shown compressor or pump assembly 20 , which is part of a refrigeration or air conditioning system ( not shown ). compressor assembly 20 has housing 22 which is comprised of top portion 24 , middle portion 26 and bottom portion 28 . the housing portions are welded or brazed together . mounting bracket 30 is attached to bottom housing portion 28 for securely attaching the compressor assembly to a base ( not shown ). located within hermetically sealed housing 22 is electric motor assembly 32 having stator 34 provided with windings 36 , and rotor 38 provided with central aperture 40 in which crankshaft 42 is secured by means of an interference fit . a terminal cluster ( not shown ) is provided in housing 22 for connecting motor assembly 32 to a source of electrical power for causing rotor 38 and attached crankshaft 42 to rotate . stator 34 is supported in housing 22 by means of its attachment to crankcase 44 . the lower interior portion of housing 22 serves as a sump 46 for oil . one end of crankshaft 42 is suspended below surface 48 of the oil , and is provided with an oil pump and conduit ( not shown ) through which oil may be drawn from sump 46 through the crankshaft to moving parts of the compressor assembly in the known manner , to lubricate same . the opposite end of crankshaft 42 drivingly attaches rotor 38 to compression mechanism 50 which , in the shown embodiment is a reciprocating piston type provided with slide block 52 and an associated , 2 - piece scotch yoke mechanism of known type . attached to first scotch yoke member 53 , by means of bolts 54 , are four piston assemblies 56 which reciprocate in radial cylinders 58 provided in crankcase 44 . heads 60 are attached to crankcase 44 over cylinders 58 and direct the flow of discharge pressure gas from the cylinders into housing 22 ; compressor assembly 20 is thus a high - side compressor , with motor assembly 32 exposed to discharge pressure gases . discharge gases from housing 22 are directed to the remainder of the refrigerant system loop . cylinders 58 are in communication with suction pressure space 62 . passages 64 in piston assemblies 56 provide a path through which suction gases may flow from space 62 to compression spaces 66 between the piston faces and heads 60 , the piston faces provided with suction valve plates ( not shown ) which overlie passages 64 . crankshaft 42 is journalled within axially aligned bearings 68 , 70 , with bearing 68 fitted within central bore 72 provided in crankshaft 44 . crankshaft 44 is provided with relatively large pilot hole 74 into which bearing plate 76 fitted , the bearing plate attached to the crankcase by means of bolts 78 . bearing plate 76 is provided with central bore 80 into which bearing 70 is fitted . disposed between bearings 68 , 70 , within suction pressure gas space 62 is cylindrical eccentric 82 having a central axis 84 ( fig2 a ) radially offset by distance e from crankshaft axis of rotation 86 . eccentric 82 may be integrally cast and machined into crankshaft 42 , and may be provided with radially - extending aperture 88 which communicates with the oil - conveying conduit ( not shown ) which extends along the length of the crankshaft . aperture 88 opens into recess 90 in the cylindrical surface of the eccentric and provides a supply of oil to the interface between the outer surface of the eccentric and the inner surface of slide block 52 . crankshaft 42 is also provided with counterweight portion 92 which may be completely integrally cast and machined into the crankshaft , or which may , in part , be an assembly as shown . counterweight portion 92 is disposed adjacent eccentric 82 and is disposed within suction pressure space 62 . also disposed within space 62 , adjacent the axial side of eccentric 82 opposite counterweight portion 92 , is second scotch yoke member 94 . as indicated above , crankshaft 42 is guided through pilot hole 74 as it is inserted into crankcase bore 72 . moreover , the assembly of the first and second scotch yoke members about eccentric 82 and slide block 52 within space 62 is accessed through pilot hole 74 prior to assembly of bearing plate 76 to crankcase 44 . to provide counterweights on both sides of eccentric 82 and between bearings 68 , 70 , shaft 42 is provided with portion 96 of generally elliptical cross section , the oppositely remote radial surfaces of which are provided with flat surfaces 98 , 100 which lie in parallel planes which are also parallel to and equidistant from axes 84 , 86 . the provision of flat surfaces 98 , 100 in shaft portion 96 also forms shoulders 102 , 104 therein , the shoulders lying in planes normal to axes 84 , 86 . with reference now to fig2 b and 3a - d , counterweight 106 is detachably affixed to crankshaft portion 96 and is comprised of interconnecting base portion 108 and insert portion 110 , each of which are substantially rigid and may be formed of sintered powdered metal , for example . base portion 108 is somewhat u - shaped , having projecting arms 112 , 114 and intermediate portion 116 . base portion 108 is disposed about shaft portion 96 in straddling fashion , with flat shaft surfaces 98 , 100 slidably contacting interfacing flat , parallel surfaces 118 , 120 of arms 112 , 114 , respectively . interior surface 122 of intermediate portion 116 abuts the adjacent surface of shaft portion 96 between its flat surfaces 98 , 100 . arms 112 , 114 are each provided with respective surfaces 124 , 126 which diverge from surfaces 118 , 120 to provide the necessary clearance to accommodate base portion 108 within the annular space between the upper portion of shaft 42 and pilot hole 74 . once base portion 108 has been lowered into space 62 , with diverging surfaces 124 , 126 sliding past shaft 42 , the base portion is fitted about shaft 96 , surfaces 118 , 120 and 98 , 100 in respective sliding contact with each other , as described above . counterweight 106 is prevented from moving axially along shaft 42 by the abutment of shaft shoulders 102 , 104 with the closely adjacent portions of base portion axial surfaces 128 , 130 . counterweight insert portion 110 is inserted into space 62 through pilot hole 74 to an overlying position atop base portion 108 , and extends between arms 112 , 114 thereof . insert portion 110 is provided with a central projecting portion which depends into the space between diverging surfaces 124 , 126 of base portion 108 . base and insert portions 108 , 110 have respective interfacing axial surfaces 134 , 136 which lie parallel to plane 137 , which is normal to axis of rotation 86 . insert portion 110 is provided with a pair of countersunk holes 138 which align with tapped holes 140 provided in base portion 108 . screws 142 are inserted into holes 138 and are threadedly engaged with tapped holes 140 ; the screws are placed and tightened through pilot hole 74 . with insert portion 110 so positioned on base portion 108 , with holes 138 and 140 aligned , curved surface 143 of the insert portion abuts the adjacent surface of shaft portion 96 and counterweight 106 thus surrounds shaft 42 . referring to fig3 b and 3d , counterweight base and insert portions 108 , 110 are also provided with respective first and second angled surfaces 144 , 146 , 148 , 150 . first angled surfaces 144 , 148 form a first interfacing pair and , when assembled , lie along plane 152 ( fig2 b , 3b ), whereas second angled surfaces 146 , 150 form a second interfacing pair which lie along plane 154 . planes 152 , 154 each form an acute angle θ ( fig2 b ) of at least about 30 ° with plane 137 such that planes 152 , 154 will intersect between surfaces 118 , 120 , forming a line ( not shown ) which is perpendicular to axis of rotation 84 . first and second angled surfaces 144 , 146 of base portion 108 have respective , parallel inner edges 156 , 158 which are also generally parallel with surfaces 118 , 120 . edges 156 , 158 are separated by distance a as shown in fig3 a , 3b . similarly , first and second angled surfaces 148 , 150 of insert portion 110 have respective , parallel inner edges 160 , 162 , which are parallel with edges 156 , 158 . edges 160 , 162 are separated by distance b as shown in fig3 c , 3d . distance a is greater than distance b , therefore , as interfacing axial surfaces 134 , 136 are forced into closer proximity by the tightening of screws 142 , increasing compressive forces are brought to bear between first and second angled surface pairs 144 , 148 and 146 , 150 . as a result of the increasing forces acting on base portion angled surfaces 144 , 146 , arms 112 , 114 are urged together such that the shaft portion 96 is tightly clamped at flat surfaces 98 , 100 by the engaging surfaces 118 , 120 of base portion 108 . in this way , counterweight is securely fastened to shaft 42 . fig5 is a schematic force and moment diagram for the inventive compressor embodiment shown in fig1 showing the locations and magnitudes of counterweights 92 and 106 , which respectively lie in planes i and ii , for optimally counterweighting the centrifugal forces acting on the eccentric of shaft 42 . notably , planes i and ii lie between bearings 68 and 70 ; as described above , eccentric 82 lies between planes i and ii . during steady state operation of compressor assembly 20 , rotating imbalances in rotor 38 , shaft 42 and eccentric 82 , the movement of reciprocating compression mechanism piston assemblies 56 , as well as forces exerted on the piston assemblies by the compressed gas within cylinders 58 , result in centrifugal forces p and q acting on the eccentric . given the location of counterweights in planes i and ii , the axial distances of force p from planes i and ii are identified in fig5 as &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;, respectively . similarly , the respective axial distances of force q from planes i and ii are &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;. those skilled in the art will recognize that the magnitude of counterweights 92 and 106 may be determined through use of the following equations , with reference to fig5 : resultant force cw 1 of p 1 and q 1 in plane i and resultant force cw 2 of p 2 and q 2 in plane ii represent the magnitudes of the correction weights provided by counterweights 92 and 106 , respectively , necessary to complete the balancing . it should be noted that in some embodiments , a and a &# 39 ;, as well as b and b &# 39 ;, may be equivalent distances . integrally formed counterweight portion 92 of shaft 42 may be appropriately weighted and configured relative to axis 86 during casting and machining of the shaft . alternatively , portions of counterweight 92 , such as portion 92a ( fig1 ), may be assembled thereto by means of fasteners prior to installation of shaft 42 into the crankcase . the orientation of shaft flat surfaces 98 , 100 , and the configurations of base and insert portions 108 , 110 of counterweight 106 such that when assembled about shaft portion 96 , the center of mass of the counterweight is appropriately positioned relative to axis of rotation 86 . further , the choice of material from which the counterweight base and insert portions are made may be considered in designing the specific configuration of counterweight 106 , for it is envisioned that materials of various densities may be used . while this invention has been described as having an exemplary design , the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure . this application is therefore intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of the invention using its general principles . further , this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims .

a compressor or pump assembly including a housing , a compression mechanism disposed within the housing , a shaft operatively connecting the compression mechanism and a drive source , the shaft having an axis of rotation and first and second surfaces , the shaft axis of rotation disposed between the first and second shaft surfaces , and a counterweight disposed about the shaft and comprising first and second portions , the first counterweight portion generally u - shaped , having first and second arms , the first arm in contact with the first shaft surface , the second arm in contact with the second shaft surface , the second counterweight portion extending between the first and second arms and attached to the first counterweight portion , the shaft captured between the first and second counterweight portions , whereby rotation is imparted to the counterweight through the interface of the shaft surfaces and the arms .

referring to fig1 an adjustable pedal module system ( apms ) 10 for a motor vehicle is illustrated in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . the apms 10 includes a brake pedal assembly 12 , an accelerator pedal assembly 14 , an adjustable pedal module ( apm ) 16 , and supporting electrical circuits ( not shown ). the apm 16 controls the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 and communicates with other vehicle electronic control units ( ecus ) 30 . the apm 16 may receive a manual interrupt input from either a manual switch 28 or from memory 26 . the apm 16 is connected to the ecus via a data bus 32 . movements of the accelerator pedal assembly 14 are monitored by a movement sensor 22 . the movement sensor is connected to a motor module 18 through a cable 24 . the brake pedal assembly 12 is also connected to the motor module 18 . fig2 of the drawings illustrates the preferred embodiment of the apm 16 in greater detail . the apm 16 further contains a pedal movement module 19 , an operating condition sensor 34 , and a lockout module 36 . the pedal movement module 19 receives manual interrupt inputs from the manual switch 28 and memory 26 . the pedal movement module 19 communicates with the ecus 30 through the data bus 32 . the operating condition sensor 34 receives identifying messages from the various modules of the motor vehicle . the operating conditional messages are collected in the operating sensor 34 and sent to the lockout module 36 . the lockout module 36 determines the existence of any lockout conditions based upon the identifying messages received by the operating condition sensor 34 . if any of lockout conditions are detected , the pedal movement module 19 of the apm 16 disables the adjustment of the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 . if lockout conditions are not detected , the pedal movement module 19 adjusts the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 to a desired position . with further reference to fig3 of the drawings , a process for adjusting the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is illustrated . the apms 10 receives an input at step 40 . the input signal may be from either the manual switch 28 , which is pressed by a vehicle occupant , or memory 26 . the memory 26 retains at least two different pedal positions . upon a request for adjustment of the pedal assembly 12 and 14 by the vehicle occupant , the input signal is sent to the pedal movement module 19 of the apm 16 . the pedal movement module 19 of the apm 16 controls the movement of both the brake assembly 12 and the accelerator assembly 14 . when the pedal movement module 19 acknowledges an input signal , the apm 16 determines whether the data bus 32 is in an active mode , step 41 . if the data bus 32 is in an active mode , the apm 16 proceeds on to checking lockout conditions , step 44 . on the other hand , if the data bus 32 is in an inactive mode , the integrity of data bus 32 is verified , step 42 . more particularly , at step 42 , the apms 10 determines the data bus 32 is capable of providing bi - directional communication between the ecus 30 and the apm 16 . the step of verifying the integrity of data bus 32 will be described below in greater detail with reference to fig4 . in the preferred embodiment , a sae j1850 bus is used as the data bus 32 for providing bi - directional communication between the apm 16 and the ecus 30 . however , it should be understood that any data bus , such as a controller area network ( can ) data bus , can also be used so long as bi - directional communication is supported between vehicle ecus . once the integrity of the data bus 32 is established , other ecus place lockout information on the bus . after the integrity of data bus 32 is verified , the apm 16 determines whether lockout conditions exist , step 44 . the pedal movement module 19 interfaces with the vehicle ecus 30 via data bus 32 in order to monitor operating conditions of the vehicle . the signals from the ecus 30 are transmitted to the lockout module 36 . the lockout module 36 monitors the signals to determine whether any lockout conditions exist . what constitutes a lockout condition will be more fully described below with reference to fig5 and 6 . the presence of lockout conditions determines whether to adjust the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 to a desired position . if lockout conditions are detected , the apms 10 does not adjust the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 , but instead terminates the process , step 52 . if no lockout conditions are found , the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 are adjusted to the desired position , step 50 . if the input signal is received from the memory 26 and none of the lockout conditions are identified , the apms 10 retrieves the desired pedal position from memory 26 . subsequently , the apms 10 moves the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 to the stored position , step 48 . at step 52 , the apms 10 waits for the next input from the vehicle occupant , and enters a sleeping mode , step 54 . with reference to fig4 a more detailed flowchart of the apms 10 is illustrated . at step 60 , the data bus is in an inactive mode and the apm 16 is in a sleeping mode . as mentioned above , the apms 10 receives a manual interrupt input signal from a manual switch 28 to adjust the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 , step 62 . upon receiving the manual interrupt input signal , the apm 16 debounces and decodes the input signal . the maximum rate at which the apms 10 receives the input signal and adjusts the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 is forty msec . at step 64 , the apms 10 determines if the sae j1850 data bus 32 for an active mode . if the sae j1850 is active , the apm 16 of apms 10 checks for lockout conditions , step 74 . the following table 1 shows the lockout conditions for the apms 10 . the apms 10 disables the adjustable pedal feature under certain conditions . in the preferred embodiment of present invention , the apms 10 has different lockout conditions depending on the source of the manual interrupt input signal . if the input signal is from the memory 26 , the apms 10 will only adjust the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 when the transmission of vehicle is in parking . if the input signal is from the manual switch 28 , the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 are locked out only when the transmission is in reverse or when cruise control is engaged . in order to determine if the vehicle is under any of the lockout conditions , the pedal movement module 18 of the apm 16 monitors signals from various ecus 30 via the sae j1850 data bus 32 . the ecus 30 periodically transmit signals indicative of operating conditions of the vehicle . tables 2 and 3 shows bus messages used to determine lockout conditions and a description of each bus message . as briefly mentioned above , the apm 16 determines if lockout conditions exist before the apm 16 adjusts the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 . frame $ 35 shows when cruise control is engaged or if the transmission is in park or neutral . the apms 10 locks out the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 when $ 35 message indicates that cruise control is engaged and the vehicle transmission is in neither park nor neutral . the bus message $ 37 indicates whether the vehicle transmission is in park , neutral , drive , or low . in bus message $ 37 , the least three significant bits of a data byte may show if the transmission is in reverse . the status of the vehicle transmission determines whether to lock out the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 . for example , the vehicle transmission must be in park for the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 to be adjusted when the input signal is transmitted from memory recall 26 . bus message $ 37 is available only for vehicles with automatic transmissions . for vehicles with manual transmissions , bus message 37 is not available . this is because the manual transmission is not controlled by ecus , but is controlled strictly mechanically . for vehicles with automatic transmissions , the apm 16 uses bus messages $ 35 and $ 54 to determine which gear the transmission of the vehicle is in . the bus message $ 35 is indicative of whether the transmission is in park or neutral , and the bus message $ 54 is used to check if the transmission is in reverse . thus , the apm 16 determines whether the transmission of the vehicle is in drive depending on bus messages $ 35 and $ 54 for automatic transmission vehicles only . referring back to fig4 the apm 16 checks for lockout conditions in step 74 from operating conditions transmitted from the aforementioned bus messages . if conditional step 76 of the apms 10 detecting any of the lockout conditions is satisfied the apms 10 does not adjust the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 , and returns to stand - by mode , step 80 . if the lockout conditions are not determined the apms 10 adjusts the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 to a desired position and returns to the stand - by mode , steps 78 and 80 . the apms 10 will lockout manual or memory controls due to a diagnostic issues . still with reference to fig4 of the drawings , if it is determined that the j1850 data bus 32 is inactive at step 64 , the apms 10 verifies the integrity of the data bus 32 . when the integrity of the data bus 32 is verified , the apms 10 checks for an open circuit condition . for example , if an open circuit exists and the integrity of the bus 32 is not verified , the apm 16 is likely to determine that the bus is inactive , and the other modules are asleep . operation of the apm 16 is then excluded because the data bus 32 does not respond to the lockout conditions due to an open circuit . therefore , in this present invention , the apms 10 verifies the integrity of the data bus using a handshake method between two vehicle modules which are still active when the vehicle is in a key - off condition . two vehicle modules that are still used , in an active mode to minimize the current draw from the battery . thus , the battery size can be kept to a minimum . if the sae j1850 is inactive , the apm 16 wakes up in 8 msec , step 66 . as the apm 16 wakes up , it transmits the $ 5c - 2a - 02 - 00 - crc message to the body control module ( bcm ), step 68 . the $ 5c - 2a - 02 - 00 - crc is a motion status message used by the memory system , that is indicative of whether or not the apm 16 is manually performing an adjustment . in the presently preferred embodiment , bcm is used for the handshake method . however , it would be understood that any vehicle module that is still active in key - off condition could also be used . the bcm has been in an inactive mode until it receives $ 5c - 2a - 02 - 00 - crc bus message from the apm 16 . as shown in step 70 , when the bcm receives a signal , the bcm is activated sending $ 5b bus message back to the apm 16 in 60 msec . within 25 msec ., the apm 16 must receive the $ 5b bus message in order to verify the integrity of the sae j1850 32 bus . as indicated in tables 2 and 3 , the $ 5b bus message is indicative of the ignition status . if apm 16 receives $ 5b from the bcm within 60 msec ., the amp 16 confirms that the sae j1850 data bus 32 is capable of receiving and transmitting data signals . if the apm 16 does not receive the $ 5b bus message within 90 msec . after transmitting $ 5c bus message , then the apm 16 returns to sleep mode and tries again with the next activation of a manual switch . $ 5b bus message indicates whether the ignition state is in run mode . in run mode , the apm 16 retrieves the sae j1850 bus 32 . the apm 16 logs a fault when the apm 16 does not receive a needed bus message within a maximum period of 5 seconds . therefore , by monitoring the ignition status , the apm 16 determines which lockout conditions are relevant before adjusting the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 . fig5 is a table 90 depicting the bus messages and transmission rates 92 for different ignition states . the different ignition states are accessory - mode 94 , lock - mode 96 , unlock - mode 98 , run - mode 100 and start - mode 102 . all of the bus messages are available when the ignition state is in run - mode 100 . the prndl bus message is available when the ignition state is in unlock - mode 98 . the apms 10 can adjust the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 if the input signal comes from the memory 26 during unlock mode 98 . also , $ 37 message is not available when the ignition state is in start - mode 102 . this is because $ 37 message is generated by the transmission module such as eatx that is asleep in the ignition start mode . bus message $ 37 is , thus , generated only when the associated transmission module is awake . fig6 shows fault lockout conditions 110 to disable the apm 16 when at least one of the bus messages $ 5b 112 , $ 10 114 , $ 35 116 , $ 37 118 and $ 54 120 is missing . comments 126 show where the log fault is located when one or more bus messages are missing . whether to disable the apm 16 when at least one of the bus messages is missing also depends on whether the input signal comes from the manual switch 28 or the memory 26 . manual pedal adjustment 122 and memory recall adjustment 124 columns show if the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 are adjusted when various faults are present . the apms 10 controls the movement of the brake 12 and accelerator 14 pedal assemblies through a full range of adjustment as selected by the vehicle occupant . the pedal assemblies 12 and 14 can be adjusted in the range of 80 mm from the nominal position ( fully forward position ) by the use of a manual switch . the pedal assembly 12 and 14 adjust at a speed of 11 . 5 mm / sec under nominal conditions of 13 . 5 volts and 25 ° c . the apms 10 has at least two positions stored in memory 26 for the purpose of the vehicle occupant &# 39 ; s personalization . those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of ways . therefore , while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof , the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings , specifications and following claims .

an adjustable pedal system for a motor vehicle is presented . the system includes an adjustable pedal assembly being movable to at least two pedal positions and an adjustable pedal module , responsive to a pedal command , to control the movement of the adjustable pedal assembly . the pedal module includes a lockout module to disable the movement of the adjustable pedal assembly when a predetermined lockout condition is detected . the pedal module is interconnected through a data bus to at least one of vehicle electronic modules . the predetermined lockout condition is communicated to the adjustable pedal module over the data bus .

embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings . fig1 shows an embodiment of a computer system according to the present invention . this computer system comprises site 1500 a and site 1500 b , with connectivity between these sites via internet 1000 . site 1500 comprises a plurality of computers ( hereinafter “ clients ”) 800 , used by users , a plurality of computers ( hereinafter “ cn ”) 101 for managing file management information ( hereinafter “ metadata ”), a plurality of computers ( hereinafter “ sn ”) 301 for managing file data and a plurality of storage devices 600 . here , mutual interconnectivity between clients 800 , cn 101 and sn 301 is provided via network 700 . mutual interconnectivity between the plurality of storage devices 600 , cn 101 and sn 301 is provided via storage network 500 constructed of fiber cables or the like . scsi or fibre channel protocol is used as a transmission protocol for storage network 500 . network 700 is connected to network 700 of site 1500 b via internet 1000 . accordingly , each client 800 , cn 101 and sn 301 of site 1 can transmit through sn 301 c and network 700 of site 1500 b and internet 1000 . client 800 , cn 101 and sn 301 are computers comprising a processor , memory , parts for performing input and output , a network interface and storage device . the processor of cn 101 runs a server program that performs management of metadata ( hereinafter “ msvr ”) and a server program that performs management of the database storing metadata ( hereinafter “ dbms ”). these programs are stored in memory . the processor of sn 301 runs a server program that performs management of file data ( hereinafter “ fsvr ”) 300 . fsvr 300 is stored in memory of sn 301 . a storage device 600 comprises a control part and a storage part . an electromagnetic disk , semiconductor disk or optical disk may be used as a storage medium of the storage part . further , a storage device 600 may include for its storage part a disk device that uses one of such disks or a storage device system such as a disk array using a plurality of disk devices . cn 101 and sn 301 run respectively msvr 100 and fsvr 300 and cooperate to perform management of files stored in storage device 600 . according to this embodiment metadata such as file attributes and accounting information for example and file data are respectively managed through different computers and different storage devices 600 . this allows flexible management of file attributes . in the storage part of storage device 600 a are stored file attributes database ( hereinafter “ db ”) 110 and accounting information db 210 for accounting information on each user . in the file attributes db 110 are stored file attributes table 120 , acl table 130 , extended attributes table 140 , location table 150 and file id bitmap 160 . in accounting information db 210 is stored server by server accounting information table 220 . cn 101 a runs msvr 100 a and manages file attributes corresponding to file data stored in storage device 600 b and 600 c using file attributes db 110 . cn 101 a runs msvr 100 b and uses db 210 for managing information for calculating accounting applied to a user when the user uses a file stored in the computer system . a local file system ( hereinafter “ local fs ”) 310 is stored in storage devices 600 b and c . local fs 310 comprises file data 320 , metadata 330 for managing file data and a program for managing said metadata 300 and said file data . information showing the data volume and storage locations in storage device 600 of file data 320 managed by local fs 310 is stored in metadata 330 . sn 301 runs fsvr 300 , to control and manage local fs 310 . local fs 310 a is managed by sn 301 a , local fs 310 b is managed by sn 301 b , local fs 310 c is managed by sn 301 c and local fs 310 d is managed by sn 301 d . the computer system according to this embodiment operates such that when a client 800 creates a file a plurality of files with the same contents are automatically created at cn 101 . file data of each of that plurality of files is transmitted to different sn 301 and then stored in the respective local fs 310 managed by those sn 301 . file data stored in each of these local fs 310 is hereinafter referred to as local files . according to this embodiment , a plurality of such local files exists for each file . the storage location for each of these local files is decided by cn 101 and the information showing this storage location is registered in location table 150 in file attributes db 110 in accordance with instructions from cn 101 . cn 101 a runs msvr 100 a to manage basic file attributes such as file size and creation date in file attributes table 120 . moreover , cn 101 a runs msvr 100 a to manage access rights to files for each client 800 through acl table 130 . again , cn 101 a runs msvr 100 a to manage other file attributes through extended file attributes table 140 . cn 101 b runs msvr 100 b and uses accounting information db 210 to manage information necessary for accounting a user using files . generally , because characteristics such as performance and reliability of each storage device 600 managed by sn 301 differ , the accounting policy applied to users may differ for each sn 301 or storage device 600 . accordingly , cn 101 b creates a accounting information record for each pair of a user and sn 301 managing the storage device 600 , and by registering the records in server by server accounting information table 220 , collects accounting information for each sn 301 and / or each site . according to this embodiment cn 101 manages accounting information and file attributes using a relational type database . fig2 shows an example of the composition of the tables of file attributes db 110 . file attributes shared by all files are stored in file attributes table 120 . file attributes table 120 comprises the entries file - id 2210 in which a file identifier is registered , owner 2220 in which is stored the id of the file owner , date 2230 in which a file &# 39 ; s creation date is stored , size 224 that stores information on file size and type 2250 that stores information showing file type . there is one record for each file in file attributes table 120 . information concerning access rights restrictions applied to each user for a file is stored in acl table 130 . basically , acl table 130 is comprised of each of the entries file - id 2110 in which is registered a file &# 39 ; s identifier , usr 2120 in which a user &# 39 ; identifier is registered , read 2130 and write 2140 in which is registered information on whether read access right and write access right to a file exist or not and expire 2150 in which is registered information on the expiration of a time period in which it is possible to access a file . records corresponding to the combination of a file and a user exist in acl table 130 for the number of file - user combinations that exist . extended attributes table 140 is used as an attributes table for managing attributes corresponding to a file &# 39 ; s type . fig2 shows an example of extended attributes table 140 used as an attributes table for managing encryption file attribute . here , extended attributes table 140 comprises the entries of file - id 2410 in which is registered a file &# 39 ; s identifier and encryption key 2420 in which is registered encryption key information . here , if the file managed by this computer system is an encrypted file the extended attributes table 140 shown in fig2 is used ( the encrypted file is registered in that table ) but if the file is of another type , this extended file attributes table 140 is not used ( the file is not registered in that table ). in this way , files of specific types can be managed through specific tables as an extended attributes table 140 storing file attributes is established individually for each file attribute . management in this way enables management of a variety of different file attributes without an excessive increase in the size of a table . information showing the storage location of file data is held in location table 150 . location table 150 comprises the entries of file - id 2310 in which a file &# 39 ; s identifier is registered and location 2320 in which is registered the location of stored file data . the entry file - id is included in all of the above - mentioned tables , file attributes table 120 , acl table 130 , extended attributes table 140 and location table 150 . accordingly , each table has a structure of a relational database providing mutual interaction between them using the entry of the file - id , enabling necessary file attributes to be searched as required . fig3 shows an example of the composition of server by server accounting information table 220 which comprises each of the entries usr 3110 in which a user &# 39 ; s identifier is registered , fsvr - id 3120 in which is registered an identifier of an fsvr 300 run by sn 301 , usage volume 3130 in which is registered the total volume of files stored in a storage device 600 managed by sn 301 executing fsvr 300 , total no . of files 3140 in which is registered the number of files stored in a storage device 600 as well as rsize 3150 in which is registered the volume of data read by a user from storage device 600 and wsize 3160 in which is registered the volume of data written - in by a user to storage device 600 . because server by server accounting information table 220 accumulates information on usage by a user of local fs for each sn 301 ( basically , fsvr 300 run by sn 301 ), it has records for each user - sn 301 pair . cn 101 b runs msvr 100 b , and by searching the contents of accounting information db 210 using information registered in usr 3110 as the key , is able to acquire information on the conditions of usage of each user of storage devices 600 managed by each sn 301 . the description of this embodiment has used an example wherein file attributes db 110 and accounting information db 210 are managed using relational databases however it is also suitable to use object oriented databases or xml databases . the processes involved according to the present invention when a user reads - out a file or updates a file ( writes data to a file ) will now be described . updating of a file by a user according to this invention will now be described . for the purposes of this explanation it is assumed that a file , “ file 1 ” has already been created in this computer system . when a user ( given usr 1 for an identifier ) that uses client 800 a performs an update of data in file 1 , first client 800 a runs agent 810 and transmits a file update request ( hereinafter “ write request ”) 4100 to cn 101 a . the top layer of fig4 shows a basic example of a write request transmitted from client 800 a to cn 101 a . write request 4100 includes entries of command type 4110 , user identifier 4120 , file identifier 4130 , write commence offset 4140 , data size 4150 and data 4160 . basically , the following information is registered in the respective entries of the write request according to this embodiment . in the entry command type 4110 is shown “ write ” indicating that this request is a data update request , in the entry user identifier 4120 is “ usr 1 ” information showing the user issuing the request , and in the entry file identifier 4130 is registered the information “ file 1 ” specifying the file that is the subject of the operation . in the entries write commence offset 4140 , data size 4150 and data 4160 is stored respectively , the location inside the file of the data to be updated , the data size and the actual data itself . fig7 is a flowchart showing the processes of cn 101 a after receiving a write request 4100 . cn 101 a executes these processes by running msvr 100 a . upon receiving write request 4100 , in order to confirm access rights of the user , cn 101 a creates a search request to search acl table 130 stored inside storage device 600 a using the received file 1 file identifier and usr 1 user identifier as the key . cn 101 a commences running dbms 102 a in order to run this search request produced . fig1 shows the contents of acl table search request 600 a that provides a basic example of a search request . acl table search request 6000 comprises the entries of command name 6001 , select field name 6002 , searching subject table name 6003 and reference conditions 6004 . in the example of fig1 , command name 6001 a specifies “ select ”, select field name 6002 a specifies “ write ”, searching subject table name 6003 a specifies “ acl table ” and searching conditions 6004 a are “ file - id = file 1 and owner = usr 1 and curdate ( )& lt ; expire ”. basically , the above described registered contents specify that a record for which the registered file - id is file 1 , the owner field is usr 1 and the expire field has a period for which the value is greater than the current date must be searched from acl table 130 . by running dbms 102 a , cn 101 a specifies that the searching processes instructed in acl table search request 6000 be performed in file attributes db 110 and receives the results from storage device 600 a . here , high - speed database searching technology is used in the searching processes executed by cn 101 a running dbms 102 a . for example , high - speed searching processes can be performed using a method like that described in u . s . pat no . 6 , 353 , 820b1 . according to this embodiment the record that fulfills searching conditions 6004 of acl table searching request 6000 is record 2111 so as a result of the searching operation the value registered in write field 2140 of record 2111 is transmitted to cn 101 a ( step 5000 ). thereafter cn 101 a decides whether or not the write request is authorized or not based on whether or not the value of write field 2140 thus transmitted is 1 . according to this embodiment , when that value is 1 it shows that access is authorized to the file . accordingly , as the value in the extracted write field 2140 is 1 , cn 101 a decides that this write request is authorized ( step 5020 ). when the value of write field 2140 is 0 , cn 101 a decides the write request is not authorized , notifies this non - authorization to the client 800 a and terminates procedures ( step 5100 ). when the write request is authorized , cn 101 a must next ascertain the location of the file to be updated . to do this , cn 101 a creates a location table search request 6100 and by running dbms . 102 a to reference location table 150 , acquires location information including information that shows the location of the file for updating from storage device 600 a . fig1 shows an example of a location table search request 6100 . in this location table search request 6100 for acquiring the storage location of file 1 , the information “ select ” is registered in search command 6101 , “ location ” is registered in acquire field 6102 , “ location table ” is registered in searching subject table 6103 and the information “ file - id = file 1 ” is registered in searching conditions 6104 . using this location table search request 6100 , cn 101 a running dbms 102 a , specifies searching of location table 150 to storage device 600 , and acquires from storage device 600 a information concerning records 2311 and 2312 that have “ file 1 ” specified in the file - id field . thereafter , cn 101 a extracts the information “ fsvr 1 :/ file 1 ” and fsvr 3 :/ file 1 ” stored in location field 2320 from these records ( step 5030 , 5040 ). the cn 101 a having acquired the values stored in location field 2320 transmits a local file write request to all sn 301 included in those values . the top layer of fig5 shows a basic example of a local file write request 4500 . this local file write request 4500 includes the entries transmission destination fsvr 4510 , local file i / o command 4520 , local file name 4530 , offset 4540 , size 4550 and data 4560 . according to this embodiment , information indicating sn 301 a and c is registered in transmission destination fsvr 4510 . in local file i / o command 4520 , write , showing that it is a local file update request is registered . in each of the other entries , the respective information showing the location of a local file ( step 5050 ) is registered . fig8 is a flowchart showing the processes of sn 301 a ( and 301 c ) after receiving local file write request 4500 . upon receiving local file write request 4500 , sn 301 a first refers metadata 350 a stored in storage device 600 b and acquires the size ( hereinafter “ used disk size ”) in storage device 600 used for the local file 4530 specified in the local file write request received . as described , in addition to the size of data and the location of a local file stored in local file fs 310 a , metadata 330 a includes information on used disk size ( step 5200 ). next , sn 301 a checks to ascertain that there is sufficient vacant space just to write - in the data received to local file system 310 a and if there is insufficient space , sn 301 a proceeds to step 5230 and an error is returned to cn 101 a ( step 5205 ). next , sn 301 a performs the write - in write processes of the received data into cache memory of sn 301 a having just the size specified by size 4550 , from the location shown in the information registered in offset 4540 of the local file write request received , and performs sync processes to reflect in storage device 600 b , the result of those write processes ( step 5210 ). after completion of the sync processes sn 301 a refers to metadata 330 a and acquires the used disk size for the local file after completion of the write - in . thereafter sn 301 a compares the used disk size of storage device 600 before and after the local file write - in and calculates the storage space newly given to the local file through that local file write - in operation , in other words , calculating the newly allocated disk size ( step 5220 ). this newly allocated disk size is used when updating server by server accounting information table 220 . the volume in storage device 600 used by a user must be accurately reflected in the usage volume 3130 field existing in server by server accounting information table 220 . accordingly , although it is essential to ascertain storage volume newly allocated to cater for the write processes to each local file , when there is an over write operation to a local file , processes to newly allocate storage space are not performed because the local file is already in existence , therefore the increase in used disk space cannot be ascertained . that is why the used disk size for a local file the subject of a write operation both before and after the local file write processes is compared and the newly allocated disk size calculated . finally sn 301 a transmits the results of the local file write processes to cn 101 a . the content of that transmission to cn 101 a includes information on status showing whether or not the data update in line with the local file write processes was successful or not , information showing the size of the completed write - in operation ( the size of data the subject of the completed write processes ) and information showing the newly allocated disk size newly allocated for the size of the completed write - in ( step 5230 ). this description will now be continued returning for reference back to fig7 . upon receiving the results of the write - in from sn 301 a ( or 301 c ) ( step 5060 ) cn 101 a checks the information on status included in the result thus received ( step 5070 ). if there is an sn 301 that has a failed write - in operation , cn 101 a sends a request to that sn 301 to read all data of the local file concerned stored in storage devices 600 managed by that sn 301 . after obtaining that data from the sn 301 , cn 101 a transmits the data thus acquired to sn 301 that had a successful write - in operation and instructs those sn 301 to do a rewrite of the local file concerned in the storage devices 600 managed by those sn 301 . by doing this , cn 101 a returns all local files in the computer system back to the condition day were in prior to the write - in operation . thereafter cn 101 a transmits a result showing an error to client 800 a ( step 5075 ). if the data write - in operation is successful for all local files / replications of the local file cn 101 a performs update processes in file attributes table 120 . basically , this means cn 101 a updates the value of size field 2240 of the record corresponding to the file shown by file identifier 4130 inside file attributes table 120 , to reflect the size after execution of the write operation . firstly , cn 101 a creates a size field acquisition request . this request includes for search command “ select ”, file attributes table for search destination table , size for acquire field and , for the searching conditions , information specifying conditions equivalent to those for file identifier 4130 as the file - id field . by running dbms 102 a and processing this size field acquisition request , cn 101 a can acquire the value for size field 2240 prior to execution of the write operation . next , cn 101 a compares the value of the sum of the values registered for offset 4140 and size 4150 of write request 4100 with the value registered in the size field 2240 acquired by the size field acquisition request . if the value acquired through the size field acquisition request is equivalent to or greater than the value of that sum , file size update processes are not necessary so cn 101 a finishes update operations for that file attributes table and proceeds to run the next process . if the value acquired through the size field acquisition request is smaller than the value of that sum , cn 101 a updates the file attributes table with a new file size being the value of the sum of offset 4140 and size 4150 . basically , cn 101 a creates a file size update request . the file size update request includes for update command “ update ”, file attributes table for search destination table , “ set size = new file size ” for the update instruction and , for the conditions of the update , information specifying conditions equivalent to file identifier 4130 as the file - id field . by cn 101 a running dbms 102 a and processing this file size update request , the file attributes table is updated and the results are reflected in storage device 600 ( step 5075 ). when the file attributes table update processes are finished , cn 101 a transmits a accounting information db update request 4700 to cn 101 b ( step 5080 ). fig6 shows a basic example of the contents of an accounting information db update request 4700 . this request has the entries transmission destination msvr 4710 , user identifier usr 4720 , file server identifier 4730 and list 4740 of write information for each servers write - in to each server information list 4740 . write information list 4740 further includes the entries file server identifier 4750 , read completion size 4760 , write completion size 4770 and disk size 4780 . upon receiving the accounting information db update request from cn 101 a , cn 101 b performs update processes in accounting information table 220 ( step 5080 ). the update processes for accounting information table 220 will be described subsequently . receiving notice from cn 101 b that the accounting information db update request has finished , cn 101 a reports to client 800 a that the write - in is complete ( step 5090 ) and terminates the write processes ( step 5100 ). fig9 shows the procedures for the update processes in accounting information table 220 performed by cn 101 b upon receipt of the accounting information db update request . first , cn 101 b creates database update request 6200 instructing searching , with the pair of the user identifier and the identifier showing sn 301 as the key , of a record matching that pair inside accounting information table 210 and instructing that the information registered in the disk size 4780 and write size 4770 entries included in the accounting information db update request be added , respectively , to the usage volume 3130 and wsize 3160 entries included in the a record thus searched , and commences running dbms 102 b . a database update command request has the entries command name 6201 , update table name 6202 , update information 6203 and searching conditions 6404 . fig1 shows a basic example of a database update request 6200 . the information shown in the entries for database update request 6200 a ( and b ) is “ update ” for command name 6201 a ( and 6201 b ), “ accounting information table ” for update table name 6202 a ( and 6202 b ) and “ usr = usr 1 and fsvr - id = fsvr 300 a for searching conditions 6204 a ( and 6204 b ). further , information showing “ usagevolume = usagevolume + dsksize ” is specified in update information 6203 a and information showing “ wsize = wsize + wcsize ” is specified in update information 6203 b . according to this embodiment the two records existing are record 3111 inside accounting information db 210 selected by the key usr 1 and fsvr 1 and record 3112 selected by the key usr 1 and fsvr 3 . thus , cn 101 b first creates database update command 6200 a ( and 6200 b ) in respect of record 3111 selected by the key usr 1 and fsvr 1 and runs dbms 102 b ( step 5400 ). based on that update command 6200 a ( and 6200 b ) as created , cn 101 b running dbms 102 b performs write - in processes to storage device 600 a of the results of the sum of the newly allocated disk size and the size after the write - in is complete into the usage volume 3120 entry and wsize 3150 entry of each record . if at the time of the database update processes no record exists matching the combination of the specified user identifier and identifier specifying fsvr 300 , accounting information db update processes produce an error . then , cn 101 b collects from storage device 600 a , information ( the results of the executed processes ) showing whether or not the processes of database update request 6200 were successful . cn 101 b refers to the results of the executed database update request colleted and decides whether the processes were successful ( step 5410 ). if the accounting information db update processes based on the key of usr 1 and fsvr 1 fail , it means that a record matching that usr 1 and fsvr 1 key does not exist in accounting information table 220 . accordingly , when an error occurs cn 101 b must transmit an add new record request to storage device 600 a . such an error occurs when the write - in is for a new file but here , because it is an example of write - in - for an existing file , the error does not occur ( step 5420 ). details of these processes are described in the subsequent description of new file creation processes . if the database update processes request in respect of usr 1 and fsvr 1 completes , cn 101 b decides whether or not the processes in respect of all the sn 301 specified in write - in to each file server information list 4740 of accounting information db update request 4700 have been completed ( step 5430 ). if those processes are not completed , the system reverts back to steps 5400 through 5420 . according to this embodiment , cn 101 b repeats steps 5400 through 5420 in respect of the next record with usr 1 and fsvr 3 as the key . once the accounting information update processes specified in write - in to each file server list 4740 included in the accounting information db update request are complete for all sn 301 , cn 101 b transmits the results to cn 101 b thus completing the process ( step 5440 ). in this way the accounting information of each sn 301 can be easily managed through managing accounting information at the databases . for this embodiment , the description used an example wherein file attributes db 110 and accounting information db 210 are managed by different cn 101 however a configuration in which both those db are managed by one cn 101 is also suitable . an example of file read , read , processes by a user via client 800 a will now be described . here , the explanation proceeds assuming that a file ( hereinafter “ file 2 ”) has already been created in the system . when a user ( hereinafter “ usr 2 ”) using client 800 a performs a read of file 2 , client 800 a first runs agent 810 and transmits read request 4200 to cn 101 a . the middle layer in fig4 shows a basic example of a read request . in the read request 4200 are included each of the entries command type 4210 , user identifier 4220 , file identifier 4230 , read command offset 4240 and data size 4250 . in this example “ read ” showing that this is a file read request is registered in the command type 4210 entry , “ usr 2 ” is registered in the user identifier 4220 entry and information showing “ file 2 ” is registered in the file identifier 4230 entry . in read command offset 4240 and data size 4450 respectively is stored the location to which the data should be read in the file and the data size . unless otherwise required , cn 101 a performs the processes by running msvr 100 a . upon receiving the read request 4200 , in order to confirm access rights of the user , cn 101 a creates acl table search request 6000 b to search acl table 130 using the received file 2 file identifier and the usr 2 user identifier as the key . next , cn 101 a runs dbms 102 a , transmitting the above acl table search request 6000 b to storage device 600 a and acquires information on the access rights from storage device 600 a . fig1 shows a basic example of acl table search request 6000 b . in the respective entries of acl table search request 6000 b is registered information that for command name 6001 b specifies “ select ”, for select field name 6002 b specifies “ read ”, for searching subject table name 6003 b specifies “ acl table ” and for searching conditions 6004 b “ file - id = file 2 and owner = usr 2 and curdate ( )& lt ; expire ”. according to this acl table search request 6000 b , cn 101 a runs dbms 102 a and selects from the acl table a record for which file - id holds file 2 , owner field holds usr 2 and the expire field is a period greater than the current date , and acquires the read field from storage device 600 a . according to this embodiment , record 2113 is the record fulfilling the conditions registered in the entry for searching conditions 6004 b , so here , cn 101 a can acquire the value registered in the read field 2130 of record 2113 from storage device 600 a area . thereafter , cn 101 a decides whether or not the read request is authorized or not based on whether or not the value of the read field obtained through running dbms 102 a is 1 . here , the value of read field 2130 is 1 so cn 101 a decides that this read request is authorized . when the value of read field 2130 is 0 , cn 101 a decides the read request is not authorized , notifies this non - authorization to client 800 a and terminates procedures . when the read request is authorized , cn 101 a must ascertain the location of the file to be read . cn 101 a acquires information on the location , comprising the location of the file to be read from storage device 600 , by running dbms 102 a just as in the case of the write processes and processing the location table searching request 6100 . at this time “ file - id = file 2 ” is specified for searching conditions 6140 of location table searching request 6100 . for this embodiment the location information obtained from these processes is the two items “ fsvr 1 :/ file 2 ” and “ fsvr 3 :/ file 2 ”. next , cn 101 a uses the file identifier file 2 to search file attributes table 120 and reads - out the record that satisfies the conditions from storage device 600 a . cn 101 a then acquires the information registered in the entries file size 2240 and file type 2250 of the selected record . according to this embodiment , cn 101 a acquires from selected record 2212 the information file size 20 mb and file type encrypt . here , the information encrypt means that the file is of a file type that must be encrypted before transmission when cn 101 a transmits a file on to client 800 . accordingly , when transmitting the file on data to client 800 a , cn 101 a must encrypt the file data using the encryption key stored in extended attributes table 140 . according to this embodiment , because the data can be acquired from any sn 301 managed storage device 600 where that file data is stored , cn 101 a can issue local file read request 4600 to sn 101 a or sn 101 c or to both . the following description provides an example where cn 101 a transmits a local file read request to sn 301 a connected to the same network 700 as cn 101 a , however it would also be suitable for cn 101 a to issue to both sn 301 a and to sn 301 c a local file read request to read one - half of the data out from each . the middle layer in fig5 shows a basic example of a local file read request 4600 . in this local file read request 4600 are included the entries transmission destination fsvr 4610 , local file i / o command 4620 , local filename 4630 , offset 4640 and size 4650 . the information “ read ” indicating a file read is registered in the entry local file i / o command 4620 . “ file 2 ” indicating file 2 is registered in the entry local file name 4630 . unless otherwise required the processes of sn 301 a are performed by running fsvr 300 a . upon receiving local file read request 4600 sn 301 a performs local file read processes to read data of the size specified in the entry size 4550 from the location registered in the offset 4640 entry of the specified local file . basically , sn 301 a issues the read request to the appropriate storage device 600 b to acquire the required file data . after finishing the local file read processes sn 301 a transmits the data read and the size to cn 101 a . upon receiving the results of the local file read request from sn 301 a , cn 101 a checks the status included in the result received to confirm whether or not the local file read operation was successful . if the local file read processes of sn 301 a fail , cn 101 a issues the same request to sn 301 c . in this way when a plurality of replications of a local file exist even if the read by a sn 301 fails it is possible for the read processes to be performed using another sn 301 thereby providing a more reliable system . if the read operations of all sn 301 registered in location table 150 fail cn 101 a returns an error to client 800 . if the local file read from sn 301 a is successful cn 101 a creates a accounting information db update request 4700 and transmits it to cn 101 b . thereafter unless otherwise required cn 101 b performs processes by running msvr 100 b . cn 101 b having received accounting information db update request 4700 , first creates accounting information table update request 6200 c instructing that storage device 600 a , using the pair of the user identifier and the identifier showing fsvr 300 as the key , searches a record matching that pair inside accounting information table 210 and adds in the information registered in the read completion size 4760 entry included in accounting information db table update request 6200 c to the rsize 3140 entry included in the record thus searched . accounting information table update request 6200 c has the entries command name 6201 , update table name 6202 , update information 6203 and searching conditions 6204 . fig1 shows an example in which the registered information specifies “ update ” for command name 620 c 1 , “ accounting information table ” for update table name 6202 c , rsize = rsize + rcsize for update information 6203 c and “ usr = usr 2 and fsvr - id = sn 301 a for searching conditions 6204 c . in accounting information table 220 the record corresponding to the combination usr 2 and sn 301 a is record 3113 . accordingly cn 101 b runs dbms 102 b and instructs storage device 600 a through accounting information table update request 6200 c , to perform write - in processes of the result to the rsize 3140 entry of record 3113 of the result of the added up read completion size entry . next , cn 101 b decides whether or not the processes have been completed for all file servers specified in write - in to each file server information list 4740 of accounting information db update request 4700 , and if those processes are not completed the aforementioned database up date request processes are repeated . according to this embodiment , as there is no other specified file server , at this point cn 101 b terminates accounting information update processes and transmits the result to cn 101 a . upon receiving notification from cn 101 b that accounting information db update request processes have completed , cn 101 a searches extended attributes table 140 inside storage device 600 a using the file 2 file identifier as the key to confirm that file 2 is registered in extended attributes table 140 . for the purposes of this example cn 101 a acquires from the key 2420 entry encryption key 1 required to transmit file 2 to client 800 . if the file is not registered in extended attributes table 140 , these processes for the attribute concerned ( in terms of this example , the encryption ) are not performed . thereafter , cn 101 a using key 1 , encrypts the read file data and transmits the encrypted file , the result of the read operation , to client 800 , completing the read processes . fig1 shows the processes performed when a new file is created within this computer system . these processes are performed by cn 101 a running msvr 100 a . when a new file is created , the client 800 receiving instructions from a user runs agent program 810 a and transmits a create request 4300 to cn 101 a . the bottom layer in fig4 shows an example of a create request 4300 . create request 4300 includes the entries file create command 4310 , user id 4320 , file redundancy 4330 , file type 4340 , encryption key 4350 and usage term exp_date 4360 . upon receiving create request 4300 , cn 101 a acquires a file id allocated for the file . the file id bitmap 160 is used for this process . in file id bitmap 160 are registered file id &# 39 ; s that can be used by this computer system . bit 1 is allocated for a file id that is being used by the computer system and bit 0 is allocated to a file not being used . cn 101 a refers file id bitmap 160 stored in storage device 600 a and finds a 0 bit to enable it to acquire an unused file id . when a 0 bit is found cn 101 a instructs storage device 600 to make that bit 1 to indicate that it is being used ( step 5600 ). next cn 101 selects sn 301 storing the file data . file redundancy is specified in the create request 4300 and cn 101 a therefore selects the appropriate number of sn 301 for the specified level of redundancy . this selection utilizes a method wherein for example cn 101 a broadcasts messages over network 700 and selects in order from the first sn 301 returning a reply ( step 5610 ). next , cn 101 a transmits local file create request 4690 to the sn 301 selected at step 5610 and receives the result of the execution of that request ( step 5620 ). the bottom layer of fig5 shows an example of a local file create request 4690 . local file create request 4690 has the entries fsvr 4691 of name of sn 301 creating the file , local file create command create 4692 and local file name 4693 . here , information showing the file id selected at step 5600 is registered in local file name 4693 . upon receiving the local file create request 4690 , sn 301 runs fsvr and creates the local file using the value registered in the local file name 4693 entry specified in the command , before returning the result of the operation to cn 101 a . receiving this result , cn 101 a decides whether or not the received result for the local file create operation indicates success ( step 5625 ). if the result is failure cn 101 a goes back to step 5610 . if the local file create operation is successful cn 101 a registers fsvr of the name of the sn 301 successfully creating the local file in location table 150 . this registration operation is performed through cn 101 a running dbms 102 a . at this time to location registration request 6110 is instructed to storage device 600 . fig1 shows a basic example of a location registration request 6110 . location registration request 6110 includes each of the entries , registration command insert 6111 , table name 6112 and values to register in record 6113 . in this example , for the values set for registration as values to register in record 6113 , the file id allocated at step 5600 is set for the file - id field and the “ fsvr ” of the name of cn 301 that successfully created the local file and the name of the created local file are set for the location field ( step 5630 ). after completing registration of information to location table 150 , cn 101 a finds out whether or not creation of the number of local files specified in file redundancy 4330 is complete ( step 5640 ). if creation of that number of local files is not complete , the processes from step 5610 are performed again . if creation of the specified number of local files is complete , cn 101 a finds out whether the file type specified at file type 4330 should be registered in extended attributes table 1140 , for the purposes of this example , finding out whether that file type is encrypt or not ( step 5650 ). if the file type is encrypt , cn 101 a performs processes to register in extended attributes table 140 the key specified in encryption key 4350 and the file - id . these registration processes are performed by cn 101 a running dbms 102 a at which time an extended attributes registration request 6020 is created and issued as an instruction to storage device 600 . fig1 shows an example of an extended attributes registration request 6020 . the extended attributes registration request 6020 includes each of the entries db registration command 6021 , extended attributes table name 6022 , and values to register in record 6023 . for the values set for registration as values to register in record 6023 , the file id allocated at step 5600 is set for the file - id field and the key specified at encryption key 4350 for the key field ( step 5660 ). if cn 101 a determines at step 5650 that the file type is not encrypt or after registration of the value in the extended attributes table at 5660 , cn 101 a performs registration processes in file attributes table 120 . these registration processes in file attributes table 120 are performed by cn 101 a running dbms 102 a however before that , cn 101 a creates the file attributes table registration request 6030 required when dbms 102 a is run . fig1 shows an example of a file attributes table registration request 6030 . file attributes table registration request 6030 includes each of the entries db registration command 6031 , file attributes table name 6032 and values to register in record 6033 . for the values to register in record 6033 , the id allocated at step 5600 is set for the file - id field , the value specified by user id 4320 is set for the owner field , curdate ( ) showing the current date is set for the date field , in the size field is 0 and the value shown by the file type 4340 is set for the type field . cn 101 a refers to file attributes table registration request 6030 when running dbms 102 a , performing registration processes in file attributes table 120 in accordance with the contents of that registration request , reflecting the result of that operation in storage device 600 ( step 5670 ). after completing the registration process in the file attributes table , cn 101 a performs registration processes in the acl table for the new file . 101 a performs this registration process by running dbms 102 a to process the following acl table registration request 6010 . fig1 shows an example of an acl table registration request 6010 . acl table registration request 6010 includes each of the entries db registration command 6011 , acl table name 6012 and values to register in record 6013 . for the values set for registration as values to register in record 6013 , the file id allocated at step 5600 is set for the file - id field , the value specified by user id 4320 is set for the owner field and the value exp_date 4360 is set in the expire field ( step 5680 ). after completing registration processes to the acl table , cn 101 a returns to client 800 , information indicating whether or not the file creation processes were successful . at this time , if those file creation processes were successful the file id is returned to client 800 at the same time ( step 5690 ). next an embodiment according to the present invention for calculating amounts to invoice to each user will be described with reference to fig1 through 13 . as described above in this computer system information on usage of storage devices 600 is managed with respect to each sn 301 . accordingly , even where the accounting policies and accounting rates of each sn 301 differ it is still possible to perform accounting processes reflecting those differences . according to this embodiment , a new accounting server 900 and storage device 600 d storing a accounting data db are added . like client 800 described above , accounting server 900 is a computer . in storage device 600 d are stored all of the types of tables described hereafter . it is also suitable for accounting server 900 and storage device 600 d to be integrated in one body or to exist separately . according to this embodiment calculation of the amount to invoice each user is performed using accounting data db 930 . basically , accounting server 900 runs accounting calculation program 910 to calculate the amount for invoice . further , accounting server 900 manages a user id of a user for performing accounting processes through a user table 940 and manages the accounting policy of each sn 301 using accounting policy table 950 . further , accounting server 900 searches accounting policy table 950 and user table 940 of storage device 600 d and runs dbms 920 , a program for storing the result of the searching operations in accounting information table 960 . fig1 a shows an example of the configuration of user table 940 . this user table is a table holding information on users using this computer system and includes the entries user id 7000 , name 7010 , invoice recipient 7020 and comments 7030 . the top layer in fig1 b shows an example of accounting invoice table 960 . accounting invoice table 960 is a table holding information concerning the amount for invoice for each constant period of usage , and based on the information in this table 960 , owners of this computer system invoice for usage charges . in this table 960 are included the entries usage month 7110 and invoice amount 7120 . it is also suitable in this table 960 to include entries registering information like whether or not the invoice has been issued and whether or not payment has been collected . fig1 c shows an example of accounting policy table 950 holding information on the accounting policies of each file server . based on information stored in this table 950 and in accounting information db 210 , accounting server 900 calculates the invoice amount for each user . this table 950 includes each of the entries file server name 7200 , volume unit price 7210 showing the monetary amount for usage in respect of each unit of volume , file unit price 7220 showing the monetary amount for usage in respect of each file , read unit price 7230 showing the monetary amount for usage in respect of the unit size of each read and write unit price 7240 showing the monetary amount for usage in respect of the unit size of each write - in . fig1 shows the processes performed by accounting server 900 running accounting calculation program 910 . accounting server 900 first acquires a user id from user table 940 of storage device 600 d . this process is performed by accounting calculation server 900 running dbms 920 , performing the following processes for user id list acquisition request 6420 . fig1 shows an example of a user id list acquisition request 6420 . for this user id list acquisition request 6420 information showing “ select ” is registered for search command entry 6421 , for acquisition field name entry 6422 “ usr ” is registered and “ user table ” is registered for searching destination table name entry 6423 ( step 5600 ). next accounting server 900 acquires the leading user id of the acquired list ( step 5610 ). thereafter , accounting server 900 performs accounting information acquisition processes based on the user id acquired . these processes are realized by accounting server 900 issuing accounting information searching request 6410 to cn 101 b and cn 101 b running dbms 102 b . fig1 shows an example of accounting information searching request 6410 . this accounting information searching request 6410 includes searching command “ select ” 6411 , acquire all fields instruction “*” 6412 , searching destination table 6413 and searching conditions 6414 . the condition specified for searching conditions 6414 is acquisition of the equivalent record as for the user id acquired at 5600 as the value for usr field 3110 ( step 5620 ). accounting server 900 , having acquired the accounting information , next calculates the invoice amount in respect of each sn 301 . in the acquired accounting information is included records of server by server accounting information table 220 concerning all sn 301 used by the same user . accounting server 900 uses the value of each fsvr - id field 3110 included in each record to search accounting policy table 950 , acquires the accounting policy for each sn 301 then uses the accounting policies as acquired and the information of the records from server by server accounting information table 220 to calculate the amount for invoicing in respect of each sn 301 . at this time the searching of accounting policy table 950 is performed by accounting server 900 running dbms 920 and processing a accounting policy table searching request 6430 . fig1 shows the configuration of accounting policy table searching request 6430 . accounting policy table searching request 6430 includes search command “ select ” 6431 , acquire all fields instruction “*” 6432 , searching destination table “ billing policy table ” 6433 and searching conditions 6434 . the searching conditions 6434 specify the condition that fsvr field 7200 is equivalent to fsvr of the name of the sn 301 the subject of the present invoice amount calculation operation . the invoice amount corresponding to the selected sn 301 can be calculated by adding to the values included in accounting information acquired at step 5620 , namely the values registered in usage volume field 3130 , no . of files field 3140 , rsize field 3150 and wsize field 3160 , the respective values of volume unit price 7210 , file unit price 7220 , read unit price 7230 and write unit price 7240 ( step 5630 ). once the invoice amount for each sn 301 is calculated accounting server 900 totals the amount to be invoiced for all sn 301 and stores the result in accounting invoice table 960 . this process is performed by accounting server 900 running dbms 920 and processing a accounting invoice table registration request 6400 . fig1 shows an example of a accounting invoice table registration request 6400 . this table includes search command “ insert ” 6401 , registration destination table name “ accounting invoice table ” 6402 and registration content 6403 . registration content 6403 includes information showing user id , usage month and invoice amount ( step 5640 ). upon completing calculation of the invoice amount for sn 301 , accounting server 900 decides whether or not the processes for calculating the amount for invoice has been completed for all users . if there are any users in respect of which those processes are not completed accounting server 900 repeats processes from step 5610 through step 5640 ( step 5650 ). as described according to this embodiment of the present invention , it is possible to exercise detailed control over accounting operations that reflects the accounting policies of each sn 301 . this invention realizes a computer system providing the flexibility to add file attributes for each file and allowing efficient management of access rights information for multiple users . further , where a file is stored using a plurality of storage devices managed by servers dispersed in a plurality of sites , this invention realizes a computer system in which accounting information can be managed in respect of each site and each server . it should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention , the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims .

to solve a problem of waste of management resources / wasteful management involved in the setting of information defining access rights of multiple users to a single file and the setting of differing file attributes information for each file , this system has a file attributes db operating as a database managing file attributes , a accounting information db as a database managing accounting information and a local file system storing file data . the accounting information db holds records for each combination of a user or group and a server and adds records for each additional user or server .

referring to fig1 to 4 the fastener element 10 shown there is provided with a head part 14 having a ring - like contact surface 12 and a tubular rivet section 16 provided at the side of the contact surface 12 of the head part 14 and extending away from the head part 14 . the fastener element has a central longitudinal axis 11 . a tubular guide section 18 is arranged concentric to the tubular rivet section 16 and radially within the latter , with a ring gap 20 being provided between the guide section 18 and the rivet section 16 , the ring gap only being visible in fig4 . as can likewise be seen from fig4 the free end 22 of the wall of the ring - like rivet section 16 is rounded when viewed in the axial section plane of fig4 both at the radially outer side 24 and also at the radially inner side 26 and has here a rounded shape resembling an arrow - tip . the tip of shape resembling an arrow - tip could however likewise be rounded , which would result in a semicircular shape , which is however not shown . in the illustration of fig4 the ring gap has a radial dimension of 0 mm i . e . the rivet section contacts the guide section 18 but is first connected to the guide section 18 at the position where the ring gap 20 finishes at a short axial spacing “ a ” from the ring - like contact surface 12 . the fastener element of fig1 to 4 is normally produced by a cold heading process , the basic principles of which are well known per se . in order to manufacture the rivet section which closely contacts the guide section it can be necessary to first produce the rivet section with a certain radial spacing from the guide section by cold heading and subsequently , in a further phase of the cold heading process , to press the rivet section against the guide section or to dilate the guide section until it enters into contact with the rivet section or to achieve the reduction of the radial spacing by a combination of the two measures . it is favourable when the ring gap 20 has the smallest possible radial width because this leads to a compact design of the fastener element and saves material . the guide section 18 is formed here as a piercing section and has a ring — 20 like cutting edge 28 at its end remote from the contact surface 12 , i . e . at its free end . the fig1 to 4 furthermore show features 30 providing security against rotation in the region of the ring - like contact surface 12 and at the rivet section 16 , with the features providing security against rotation being formed here by noses which are present in raised form at the contact surface 12 and at the rivet section 16 in the region of the transition from the contact surface into the rivet section 16 . the noses providing security against rotation shown here are provided with side flanks 30 and 32 which lie in planes extending in the longitudinal direction of the element . the noses providing security against rotation are made with sharp edges at 34 and 36 in fig1 and 4 and could instead be provided here with rounded edges . the noses providing security against rotation could also be realized by recesses in the contact surface or in the rivet section . the possibility also exists of giving the jacket surface 36 of the head part 14 a polygonal or grooved shape . the hollow fastener element has a smoothed cylindrical bore which is disposed coaxial to the longitudinal axis 11 of the fastener element and in this example is partly present in the guide section 18 . the diameter of the smooth cylindrical bore is so dimensioned that by turning in a thread cutting or thread forming screw , such as is for example explained in more detail with reference to fig1 , a thread of the desired size arises . for an m8 thread the diameter of 7 . 55 is for example selected for a thread forming screw . for thread cutting screws the usually provided dimensions can likewise be selected . a further special feature of the hollow fastener element of fig1 to 4 is to be seen in the two lugs 40 which projects from the upper end face of the element 10 and which can be produced by shifting material from the regions 42 upwardly during the cold heading process so that recesses arise at the corresponding positions 42 . the designation “ upwardly ” is only to be understood with reference to the illustration of fig1 and , as are other statements of position in this application , only used in relation to the figures and do represent a spatial restriction of the subject of the invention . the lugs 40 ensure that a cable shoe an be secured to the fastener element by means of a screw inserted from above without the cable shoe rotating during attachment of the screw , since a co - rotation of the cable shoe is prevented by the lugs 40 . the cable shoe which represents an electrical terminal device can have a connection surface provided as an eye which has a circular cut - out to receive the said screw , or can have a — likewise known — u - shaped cut - out which is bounded by two terminal legs . in both cases a connection region extending sideways away from the connection surface is provided which holds a cable which is normally secured in current conducting manner to this connection region via a crimped connection . the precise design of the electrical terminal device is however not restricted to such embodiments and can in principle have any desired form including the form of sheet metal parts , for example sheet metal parts which project out of a housing on the electrical apparatus , as is for example shown in fig1 and 16 . it is only necessary for the form of the mount at the fastener element to be compatible with the form of the electrical terminal device so that the desired security against rotation is achieved . as is evident from fig4 the fastener element 10 has cylindrical free spaces or cut - outs 44 and 46 above and below the smooth cylindrical bore 38 with these free spaces having , a diameter which is normally dimensioned to be fractionally larger than the outer diameter of a screw which is screwed into the cylindrical bore 38 . although the cylindrical bore 38 is here arranged partly in the head part 14 and partly in the guide section 18 of the fastener element 10 it could also be fully arranged in the head part or fully arranged in the guide section . fig4 shows the fastener element 10 in a first stage of the attachment to the sheet metal part 50 , with the sheet metal part being supported in the illustration of fig4 on a die button 52 and being pressed against the die button 52 by means of a ring - like hold - down member 54 , with the hold - down member 54 being preferably provided but not essential . the illustration of fig4 assumes that the attachment of the fastener element 10 to the sheet metal part 50 takes place in a press , with the die button 52 being arranged in the lower tool of the press ( not shown ) and the fastener element being pressed by means of a likewise non - illustrated setting head onto the sheet metal part 50 , with the setting head being able to be attached to an intermediate plate of the press or to an upper tool of the press . such setting heads and hold - down members 54 are well known in the prior art and will therefore not be especially described here . it should , however , be noted that other arrangements within a press are also possible . for example , the die button 52 can be arranged in an intermediate plate of the press with the setting head , with or without a hold - down member , then being attached to the upper tool of the press . it is also possible to provide the die button 52 at the upper tool of the press and to then mount the setting head , with or without the hold - down member on an intermediate plate of the press or on the lower tool of the press , i . e . to attach the fastener element 10 in the reverse direction below the sheet metal part 50 . it is also possible to attach the fastener element 10 to the sheet metal part 50 by a robot or by using a c - frame with pressure cylinder known per se , with the robot or an auxiliary robot then holding the die button 52 below the sheet metal part and serving for the application of the required pressing force on the fastener element 10 . in fig4 a two - part design of the die button 52 is shown . this consists of an outer ring - like die part 54 and an inner likewise ring - like die part 56 having a central longitudinal bore 58 . in this example the inner die part 56 has a slightly conically extending outer wall which cooperates with a correspondingly shaped conically extending inner wall 53 of the outer die part 54 so that the upper end face 60 of the inner die part 56 lies below the upper end face 62 of the outer die part 54 and hereby forms a recess 64 . the upper end face 60 of the inner die part 56 also forms the base surface of the recess 64 and has in other respects a ring - like concavely arched surface 66 . the central bore 58 of the central die part 56 has a diameter which is fractionally larger than the outer diameter of the guide section 18 . the recess 64 has a diameter which is somewhat larger than the outer diameter of the head part 14 of the fastener element 10 plus the double - thickness of the sheet metal part 50 . both the inner die part 56 and also its bore 58 and also the outer die part 54 and the recess 64 defined between the two die parts are disposed coaxial to the central longitudinal axis 11 of the fastener element 10 . the die button 52 could also be made in one - part form . starting from the stage of fig4 the fastener element 10 is now pressed towards the sheet metal part 50 in accordance with fig5 by the application of a force in the arrow direction 70 onto the upper end face of the fastener element 10 by means of the setting head , for example in the press , or by using a robot and with simultaneous support of the die button , with the hold - down member 54 which is optionally provided in fig5 being omitted for the sake of the illustration . one sees that the guide section presses the sheet metal part against the upper end face 60 of the inner die part 56 and has drawn the sheet metal part into a conically extending recess 72 . at this stage the ring - like cutting edge 28 of the guide section formed as a piercing section 18 has not yet started to cut through the sheet metal part 50 and the free lower end face 22 of the rivet section 16 has not yet contacted the sheet metal part 50 . in the further stage of fig6 the guide section 18 has separated a piercing 5 slug 74 from the base of the conical recess of the sheet metal part and partly pushed this through the central bore 58 of the die , with the central bore 58 also being able to made so that it diverges slightly downwardly , so that the piercing slug can be disposed of through this central longitudinal bore by gravity , optionally with . pneumatic assistance . after the cutting out of the piercing slug the rounded outer wall 64 at the free end of the rivet section 16 has also pressed the wall of the conical recess of the sheet metal part 50 away from the central longitudinal axis 11 , i . e . brought the wall into a somewhat steeper position , and has dilated the hole 76 , which has arisen by the cutting out of the piercing slug 74 , to such an extent that the free end of the rivet section 16 can now be pushed through the hole 76 so that the inner curved wall 26 of the free end of the rivet section can enter into contact with the ring - like recess 66 . in this way , with a further downwardly directed movement of the fastener element as a result of the pressure in the arrow direction 70 , the tubular rivet section 16 is beaded over in accordance with fig7 to form a rivet bead 78 . through this beading over process the sheet metal . part 50 is so deformed in the region of the previous conical recess that it is clamped in form - fitted manner between the ring - like contact surface 12 and the beaded over rivet section . at the same time the noses 30 providing security against rotation are pressed into the sheet metal part so that a security against rotation also arises . when the features providing security against rotation are formed by corresponding recesses the sheet metal material is pressed into such recesses whereby a security against rotation likewise arises . the sheet metal part is however simultaneously partly pressed into the recesses 42 which have arisen by the formation of the lugs 40 so that a security against rotation also arises in this region . should the head part 14 of the fastener element 10 have a polygonal or grooved or ribbed shape then a corresponding form - fitted connection between the sheet metal part and the fastener element is also produced in this region . one can see from fig7 that the guide section 18 extends ever deeper into 10 the central bore 58 of the inner die part 56 during the attachment of the fastener element 10 whereby a secure guidance of the fastener element is achieved . the finished component assembly consisting of a fastener element 10 and 15 a sheet metal part 50 is then shown in fig8 after removal from the attachment 2 , i . e . from the press or from the robot or from attachment tools which are conceived differently . one can see that the guide section projects clearly beyond the beaded over 20 rivet section 16 . it is in other respects also possible to dimension the arrangement such that the body part 14 is accommodated still further within the recess in the sheet metal part or indeed fully within this . in the finished state in . accordance with fig8 a component assembly can be provided as a whole with a protective coating and an electrical terminal device , for example a cable shoe can subsequently be attached to the upper end thee of the fastener element or onto the lower end face of fig8 , i . e . the corresponding cutting or thread forming screw can be introduced coming from the top into the cylinder bore with simultaneous formation of the thread cylinder . the lugs 40 which . are provided here , make it possible to use the element as an electrical terminal element , for example as an electrical grounding element in a vehicle body . the fastener element 10 in accordance with the present invention has the 5 special advantage that it can also be used with sheet metal parts 50 provided with protective layers or paint layers and nevertheless produces an excellent electrical connection and indeed in the region of the pierced hole and of the noses providing security against rotation which , particularly with a sharp edged design of the noses providing security against rotation locally cut through the protective coating and ensure a metallic connection to the sheet metal part 50 . moreover the protective layer is damaged at points which lie within the form - fitted connection between the sheet metal part 50 and the fastener element so that a seal is present and corrosion is prevented . the form - fitted connection between the sheet metal part and the fastener element is so intensive that the connection represents a sealed connection which , if a particular seal is necessary , can also be assisted by the application of an adhesive to the element or to the sheet metal part . through the recess in the sheet metal part 50 in the region of the fastener element an excellent connection to the sheet metal part is ensured so that a high resistance against pull - out forces in both directions and a high button out resistance is generated and , moreover , a high resistance against shear forces and torsion forces is present . in addition , the element can be used with alternating dynamic loadings and fatigue effects with dynamic loadings need not be feared . the fig9 to 15 relate to a further embodiment of a fastener element 10 in accordance with the invention which is very similar to the fastener element of fig1 to 8 . there are essentially only two differences which will be described somewhat later . the same reference numerals are used for the embodiment of fig9 to 15 , and also for the further figures , as for the first embodiment in accordance with fig1 to 8 and it will be understood that parts or features which have the same reference numeral have the same function as in the first embodiment . insofar the previous description also applies to the following examples , unless something to the contrary is stated . as mentioned , in the embodiment of the fastener element of fig9 to 15 , there are basically represents mainly two differences with respect to the previous embodiment in accordance with fig1 to 8 . in one respect this refers to the ring - like contact surface 12 which in this example is conically arranged and forms an included cone angle of 90 ° at the central longitudinal axis 11 of the fastener element . the features providing security against rotation are located in this example exclusively in the region of the ring - like contact surface 12 . the fastener element 10 of the embodiment of fig9 to 15 is attached in precisely the same manner to a sheet metal part as in the first embodiment except that the die button is slightly modified in order to take account of the conical contact surface . further particulars of the advantages and designs of the fastener element with a conical sheet metal contact surface can be found in the pct application pct / ep02 / 04365 of the present applicant . the second distinction lies in the fact that the mount 80 for receiving the electrical terminal device 104 is formed in this example by a projection 41 which projects away from the upper end face of the fastener element 10 which is remote from the rivet section 16 . this projection has a central bore which lies coaxial to the central bore 38 of the hollow fastener element 10 and has a somewhat larger diameter than the bore 38 . in its external outline the projection is in this example eight - sided , i . e . octagonal and serves to receive an electrical terminal device 104 which can be seen from fig1 and 16 . accordingly , the electrical terminal device is formed as a sheet metal part with a cut - out 110 in the form of a passage hole through which the screw 106 projects and has three lugs 112 which project downwardly in the illustration of fig1 , which respectively contact one of the side surfaces of the projection , which is of octagonal shape in its external outline . the lugs 112 , as well as the hole 110 and any other features of shape of the sheet metal part 104 , such as for example external outline , are produced by a punching process , with the lugs 112 being formed from material which is exposed at three sides from the regions 114 by the punching process and bent downwardly . in this example , in accordance with fig1 and 16 , the electrical terminal device 104 is provided as a terminal clamp of a housing 116 of an electrical unit of any desired form of construction . the electrical terminal device 104 could , however , just as well be provided with a cable connection region to which one or more cables is or are secured by crimped connection . for example the region 118 could serve for this purpose . the exposed surfaces of the component assembly consisting of the sheet metal part 50 , the fastener element 10 of fig1 including the outer sides and the upper end face of the projection 41 are , as also in other examples of the component assembly , coated with a protected coating 120 ( only indicated at certain positions and not shown in fig8 ). nevertheless a high quality electrical connection is present between the electrical terminal device 104 and the sheet metal part 50 and indeed this connection passes from the electrical terminal device via the head of the screw 106 , the shaft part of the screw 106 and the thread formed or cut into the fastener element by this screw and further via the fastener element itself and the features providing security against rotation and the pierced surfaces into the sheet metal part 50 . the protective coating at the surface of the projection 41 thus does not prevent a high quality electrical connection being achieved . finally , reference is made to the further embodiment of the invention in accordance with fig1 to 19 . here also , as explained above , the same reference numerals are used for the same parts . the fastener element 10 of fig1 to 19 is formed in accordance with the european patent ep 0 539 793 except that here the rivet section 16 is formed as a piercing and riveting section in accordance with the description of de 3446978 c or de 3447006 c . amount 80 for an electrical terminal device is present at the free end face of the fastener element 10 of fig1 to 19 , i . e . at the end face which is remote from the piercing and riveting section 16 and is formed in accordance with the mount 80 of the embodiment of fig9 to 15 . it thus has a projection 41 which is octagonal in its external outline . naturally the fastener element 10 in this example could also be provided with two lugs corresponding to the lugs 40 of the embodiment of fig1 to 8 . the present invention is not restricted to the fastener elements which are 20 shown in the figures but rather any hollow fastener element which can be attached to a sheet metal part with an adequately high security against rotation and security against button out can be used in accordance with the invention by the provision of a corresponding mount for an electrical terminal device . the fastener elements described here can for example be manufactured in all materials which achieve the strength class 5 . 6 or higher . such metallic materials are normally carbon - steel with 0 . 15 to 0 . 55 carbon content . in all embodiments all materials can be named as an example for the material of the fastener elements which achieve the strength values of class 8 in accordance with the iso standard in the context of cold deformation , for example a 35b2 alloy in accordance with din 1654 . the so formed fastener elements are suitable amongst other things for all commercially available steel materials for sheet metal parts of drawing quality as also for aluminium or its alloys . also aluminium alloys , in particular those of higher strength , can be used for the fastener elements for example aimg5 . also fastener elements of higher strength magnesium alloys such as for example am5o can also be considered .

a method for providing an electrically conductive connection between an electric terminal device having a cavity and a sheet metal part . a hollow fixing element is riveted to the sheet metal part to prevent torsion producing an electrically conductive connection between the fixing element and the sheet metal part . the assembled component is then provided with an electrically non - conductive or poorly conductive protective coating . a receptacle for the electric terminal device is configured near the front face of the fixing element , to which the electrical terminal device is attached . the receptacle prevents the torsion of the terminal device in relation to the fixing element . the sheet metal part and a thread forming or cutting screw is screwed through the cavity of the electric terminal device into the hollow fixing element to form or cut a thread . the invention also relates to a corresponding fixing element and an assembled component .

according to various embodiments , in a method for determining the fuel quality in an auto - igniting internal combustion engine , a defined fuel quantity which differs by a specific amount from the fuel quantity required for the operating state is injected at defined crankshaft angles during a deceleration fuel cutoff phase of the internal combustion engine , the crankshaft torque contribution effected thereby is recorded , and an absolute or relative measure for the fuel quality is calculated therefrom . according to another embodiment , a device for an auto - igniting internal combustion engine may perform the aforesaid method . according to various embodiments , the effect that a fuel injection has on the crankshaft torque is greatly dependent on the fuel quality . if a favorable operating point at which the operating parameters of the internal combustion engine are otherwise constant is thus chosen it is possible to determine the fuel quality by injecting fuel and converting the difference in the crankshaft torque from the crankshaft torque that would result in the case of a standard fuel into a deviation from the standard fuel quality or by absolutely calculating directly from the crankshaft torque an absolute measure for the fuel quality . determining the torque contribution of an injection is known in the prior art and is now used for determining the fuel quality . just a single sample injection can suffice to record a metric for the fuel quality . for improved measurement accuracy it is to be preferred to repeat the method while the operating parameters remain unchanged within defined limits and to perform an averaging or a suitable statistical evaluation for the crankshaft torques or fuel quality measured values then recorded . if it transpires that at the selected , defined crankshaft angle the generated crankshaft torque or the determined measure for the fuel quality leads to possibly erroneous or implausible values , it is to be preferred to repeat the method at a changed defined crankshaft angle which may be less or greater than the angle previously used . this will be done in particular in the case of significant deviations from the standard fuel quality or in the case of a measure for the fuel quality which indicates an unusually poor - or good - quality fuel . by means of the crankshaft torques then obtained for different crankshaft angles or measured values for the fuel quality it is then possible to use a linear regression in order to obtain an improved value for the fuel quality . fig1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a method for determining the fuel quality in an auto - igniting internal combustion engine . after the method is started at a step s 0 it is first queried at a step s 1 whether the internal combustion engine is in a deceleration fuel cutoff mode of operation or in another mode of operation in which the injected fuel mass is constant within defined limits . if no such operating state is present ( n branch ), the method is terminated at a step s 2 . determining the fuel quality only takes place ( y branch ) if such an operating state is present . then , at a step s 3 , a defined fuel quantity is injected at a defined crankshaft angle . said fuel quantity is different from the quantity otherwise provided for the operating state ( zero in the case of the deceleration fuel cutoff operating mode ). the difference in quantity leads to a specific change in the crankshaft torque which is recorded at a step s 4 . from said torque difference according to step s 4 , either an absolute measure for the fuel quality is determined or a relative measure is calculated taking into account the deviation from a standard value that would result in the case of a standard fuel . the method is then terminated ( step s 2 ). if the method is operating in a deceleration fuel cutoff phase , the change in torque is an absolute torque contribution due to the injection of the defined fuel quantity . in order to improve the measure for the fuel quality said method can be modified in a way such as is shown in fig2 . fig2 shows the extract part of the method according to fig1 from steps s 3 to s 5 . in this case a counter is incremented ( step s 6 ) so that a statistical evaluation can be carried out by way of the determination of the torque or the torque difference . step s 6 is in this case arranged in the representation scheme of fig2 between steps s 2 and s 4 , though it can also be placed before step s 3 or after step s 4 . the main thing is that it precedes a step s 7 which is in turn arranged after the determination of the torque or the torque difference . a check is made at step s 7 to determine whether the counter has reached a specific maximum value . if this is not the case , a sliding averaging , for example , is performed at a step s 8 over the recorded change in crankshaft torque or its deviation from standard fuel conditions . the concluding step s 5 in the determination of the measured value for the fuel quality , which step is not reached until the averaging includes a defined number of loop iterations , then makes use of the averaged value for the torque or , as the case may be , the torque difference . in this way a more accurate determination of the fuel quality is reached . in the embodiment variant shown in fig2 the averaging can , of course , also include a statistical evaluation . an averaging / statistical evaluation can also be performed on the basis of the measure for the fuel quality , instead of on the basis of the crankshaft torque or the crankshaft torque difference . in that case step s 5 will then come before step s 7 and the statistical evaluation or averaging at step s 8 will make use of the measure for the fuel quality . a further embodiment of the method is shown in fig3 . this serves to vary the defined fuel quantity and / or the crankshaft angle at which said fuel quantity is injected . this is based on the knowledge that there are specific time instants ( referred to the crankshaft angle ) at which the fuel quality has a particularly strong impact on the torque contribution of an individual injection . steps of the method according to fig3 which correspond to those of the method described with reference to fig1 are labeled with the same reference signs and , to the extent that it is not necessary , are not explained again . moreover , fig3 represents only an extract of the method , which extract starts only at step s 3 , which is , of course , in turn preceded by steps s 0 and s 1 as well as s 2 . characteristic of the method according to fig3 is a query step s 9 arranged after steps s 3 and s 4 ( and , depending on embodiment , also s 5 ) to determine whether the determined change in torque or , as the case may be , torque difference ( or the measure for the fuel quality , if step s 5 is also executed ) lies within a certain tolerance range around standard values . if this is the case , the measure for the fuel quality is determined at step s 10 , analogously to step s 5 , or alternatively step s 10 contains no further steps if step s 5 preceded step s 9 ( dashed variant of fig3 ). if , however , a deviation from standard values is present which points to a particularly unusual fuel quality — because e . g . the determined torque difference or , as the case may be , torque change indicates a similar situation or ( if step s 5 was executed ) the measure for the torque or , as the case may be , torque difference points thereto , a modified specification for the defined crankshaft angle and / or change in fuel quantity which is used at step s 3 is set at a step s 11 . at the same time the value obtained at step s 4 ( or step s 5 ) is assigned to the previously used defined value for the crankshaft angle and stored . subsequently steps s 3 and s 4 ( and , where applicable , s 5 ) are executed once more and the query at step s 9 is then skipped . based on the two defined crankshaft angles or changes in fuel quantity present as well as on the assigned values from step s 4 ( and , where applicable , s 5 ), step s 10 then performs a linear regression in which model data is used which expresses a relationship between fuel quality and torque contribution of an injection as a function of the crankshaft angle . by this means an improved indication of the fuel quality can be obtained . it is , of course , possible to perform not just two iterations of the loop of steps s 3 and s 4 with two different crankshaft angles / fuel quantities , but also a higher number , which then improves the linear regression .

in order to determine the quality of fuel in an auto - igniting internal combustion engine , a defined fuel amount is injected at defined crank shaft angles during a deceleration fuel shut - off phase of the internal combustion engine . the thereby created crankshaft torque contribution is detected and an absolute or relative measure is determined for the fuel quality thereof .

the numerous innovative teachings of the present application will be described with particular reference to the presently preferred embodiment ( by way of example , and not of limitation ), in which : fig1 shows a first sample device structure according to the present invention . this is a vdmos , in which the mobility of the channel regions 52 , but not of the regions 54 where jfet pinchoff occurs , has been increased . the dashed horizontal line indicates the approximate boundary between the sige . sub .. 1 material , in the presently preferred embodiment , and the pure silicon . however , a too - shallow boundary makes process control more difficult ( especially in relation to control of oxide growth ). this structure operates conventionally ( except that the current density is increased ); i . e . the potential of insulated gate 51 controllably pulls the channel 52 into accumulation , and thereby permits electrons to flow from source 50 down through the n - type epitaxial layer 62 and n - type substrate 60 to a backside drain contact 61 . the channel 52 is formed by a surface portion of the p - type body diffusion 52 . deep body diffusion 59 provides added jfet gating for high - voltage withstand . fig2 shows a second sample device structure according to the present invention , in which a surface dmos , with enhanced mobility , drives the emitter of a buried bipolar transistor which provides high - voltage withstand . in the illustrated example the surface dmos is a vdmos , but of course this can be varied . the dashed line indicates the approximate boundary between the sige . sub .. 1 material , in the presently preferred embodiment , and the pure silicon . in this embodiment this boundary is indicated as lying below the source junction , but alternatively this could be as shallow as the source junction depth , or even shallower . ( ultimately the relevant depth is the depth of the accumulation region when the device is fully turned on , and some benefit will still be obtained if bandgap gradation occurs within this depth .) in this structure , the connections to external terminals c ( collector ), b ( base ), s ( source ) and g ( gate ) are indicated . the insulating layer 12 separates the gate 9 from the source metallization 10 . regions 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 of the figure constitute , respectively , the collector , the base and the emitter of a bipolar transistor , while region 5 constitutes the drain of the mos . switched - emitter devices , like igbts , preferably use clamping diodes when used with inductive loads . fig2 a shows a sample doping profile for a vertical line through the structure of fig2 . germanium fraction is shown with a dotted line , since germanium is not a dopant ( strictly speaking ). the lateral dimensions of this figure are not to scale , but this figure does give some indication of relative dopant levels . fig3 shows a third sample device structure according to the present invention . this is another switched - emitter structure , but in this case the control device is a trench transistor with enhanced mobility . due to the scale required , this drawing does not explicitly show the bandgap variation , but this is shown in the detail view of fig3 a . the n + emitter portions 110 , in the presently preferred embodiment , have a pitch in the range of 10 - 15 μm and a minimum width of e . g . 3 - 4 μm . ( the width is less than half the pitch in order to avoid current crowding between adjacent emitters .) the pitch , in the presently preferred embodiment , is limited by the n + pitch rather than the trench pitch . ( minimum geometries for buried layers are typically larger than those of overlying structures .) the dopant density ( q ) for the buried layers is typically in the range of 5e14 - 5e16 cm - 2 for each ( specifically e . g . 5 × 10 15 cm - 2 for the p - type and 2 × 10 16 cm - 2 for the n - type ). many bipolar structures use a heavier doping for the n - type buried layer ( and this may be preferable in some implementations of the disclosed structure ), but this is not strictly necessary for the practice of the present invention ( emitter injection efficiency is not particularly a concern ). the p - type doping density is preferably selected to provide a low sheet resistance in the extrinsic base 120e while retaining base width control ; the n - type dopant density is preferably selected to provide counterdoping of the p - type dopants , and to provide a heavier doping on the emitter side of the emitter / base junction . boron is preferred for the p - type buried layer 120 . ( the greater diffusivity of boron , as opposed to gallium , would provide greater counterdoping , hence a greater ratio of extrinsic base width to intrinsic base width .) a slow diffusing dopant ( as or sb ) is preferred for the n - type buried layer , but phosphorus can also be used . the length of the channel 130 of the trench fet , in the presently preferred embodiment , is selected to withstand only a moderate voltage ( e . g . about 20 v , which implies a channel length of about 0 . 5 to 1 μm with typical epitaxial layer doping levels . the epitaxial layer thickness can accordingly be e . g . 5 to 10 microns . the channel 130 is provided by the portion of p - type body diffusion 131 which is nearest the trench ( and hence can be gated by trench gate 134 ). the gate 134 of the trench fet is , e . g ., n + polysilicon . a clamp diode is preferably used to protect the switched - emitter structure when inductive loads must be driven . the minimum intrinsic base thickness in this type of structure is selected in accordance with the desired gain and ruggedness , but is typically in the range of 1 - 4 μm . larger base widths imply lower gain but greater ruggedness . the bipolar transistor is preferably be a fairly low - gain device , e . g . beta of 20 - 100 . ( the beta is controlled by selecting the base width ; lower base widths produce higher gain , but transistors with lower beta are typically more rugged .) typical operating voltages on this structure may be , e . g ., 3 v constant base voltage ( optionally fed through a load impedance ); 0 v source voltage on the control device ; gate voltage switched between e . g . 0 v and e . g . 10 v ; collector voltage 500 v . of course a wide variety of different operating voltages can be specified , with or without modifications to optimize the device structure , but this example will help to illustrate the advantages of the disclosed structure . as seen in the detail view of fig3 a , a region of sige alloy exists along the walls of the trench , and thus the channel regions 130 are located in a region of higher mobility . there are several process options in constructing the innovative devices . the simplest approach is simply to epitaxially grow a thin layer of sige , e . g . sige . sub .. 1 to a thickness in the range of 100 - 5000 å ( preferably e . g . 1000 å ). this is preferably performed on a naked wafer , but optionally can be performed after a locos - patterned field oxide has been grown ( since the wider - bandgap material is preferred under the field oxide ). optionally n - wells and p - wells , if desired , can also be formed before the epitaxial growth . ( optionally a brief silicon epitaxy can be performed after the sige epitaxy ( e . g . to 300 å ), to facilitate the subsequent growth of a gate oxide which is predominantly sio 2 . depending on the thickness of this overgrowth a reverse bandgap gradation may occur near the surface , but this can be tolerated as long as lower - bandgap portions dominate the depth of the channel accumulation layer .) after these initial steps , the rest of the process uses normal transistor fabrication steps , for whatever mix of devices is desired , which are entirely conventional and well - known . this embodiment is generally less preferable , due to greater process complexity and defect density . however , this may be preferred for other reasons . also , this is the most straightforward way ( although not contemplated as the most preferable ) to construct a switched - emitter device with trench fet control devices . in this case the sige epitaxy would be made thick enough to extend down to the drain of the trench transistor , e . g . 2 μm thick . this is a more preferable way to fabricate device embodiments with a trench control transistor . in this process embodiment a short sige epitaxial growth step , as described in the first process embodiment above , is performed after the trenches have already been etched . ( the epitaxial growth thickness is less than 1 / 4 of the ultimate minimum trench width , and more preferably less than 1 / 10 thereof .) this provides a high current density in the trench fets ( which is where the limit on current density arises ), without requiring a long epitaxial growth step . this process also provides good compatibility with use of the epitaxial layer for other devices , e . g . cmos . in this embodiment an implant of ge is performed with a dose in the range of e . g . 5e17 to 1e19 cm - 2 and an energy selected to provide a stopping distance in the range of 100 to 500 å . after annealing this provides a lower - bandgap surface portion as desired . as will be recognized by those skilled in the art , the innovative concepts described in the present application can be modified and varied over a tremendous range of applications , and accordingly the scope of patented subject matter is not limited by any of the specific exemplary teachings given . for example , as will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art , other circuit elements can be added to , or substituted into , the specific circuit topologies shown . for another example , it is not at all necessary to use a pure silicon substrate : the substrate may itself be a low - alloy ( wider - bandgap ) sige alloy while the surface layer is a higher - alloy ( lower - bandgap ) sige alloy . for another example , it is not strictly necessary to use only the si / sige alloy spectrum to provide the desired bandgap engineering capability . the above teachings can optionally also be adapted to si / sic alloys or to ternary semiconductors such as gesic alloys . for another example , the capability for bandgap engineering can also be used for other portions of the device structure . for example , in the switched - emitter embodiments the high - mobility control device channel , as described above , can optionally be combined with a heterojunction at the level of the buried emitter / base junction , to provide improved emitter injection efficiency in the buried device . this narrow / wide / narrow bandgap structure is not particularly preferred , but can be implemented if desired ( e . g . by growing a silicon epi layer on a sige . sub .. 1 substrate ).

a power device structure which is formed of two merged device structures : an fet control device is located in a surface layer of narrower - bandgap material , and a blocking device which provides high - voltage - withstand capability is located deeper in the device , in a substrate of wider - bandgap material .

fig1 through 5 and 13 and 14 depict an anchor nut 10 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention . fig1 and 14 show nut 10 inserted through and in locked engagement with the edge of a mounting hole 12 of rectangular ( square ) configuration through the lower side of a workpiece 14 which , for example , may be a piece of sheetmetal forming part of the leg or bottom of an object such as a domestic appliance . fig1 also shows nut 10 engaged by a threaded member , such as an adjustable mounting foot 16 having a head 18 and a threaded shank 20 . in fig1 , a broken line 22 designates a pallet having a hole 24 therethrough through which mounting foot 16 extends to illustrate an arrangement wherein foot 16 secures the pallet against anchor nut 10 and to the bottom of the appliance for shipment . it is to be understood that pallet 22 could be omitted and foot 16 could be fully screwed into nut 10 so that head 18 bears against the nut and is out of the way during shipment . as fig1 through 5 show , anchor nut 10 comprises two sections or nut - halves 24 , 26 which are connected together by a thin flexible web or hinge 28 which enables the two sections to be moved from the unfolded position ( in which they are molded ), shown in fig1 through 4 , to the folded position ready for insertion , as shown in fig5 . when so folded , sections 24 and 26 define a screw - receiving bore 29 , as fig5 shows . nut sections 24 and 26 are mirror images of each other except that , for alignment purposes , section 24 comprises a pair of hemisperical indentations 30 for receiving a pair of hemispherical projections 32 on section 26 . since the sections 24 and 26 are substantially identical , only section 24 is hereinafter described in detail . section 24 comprises a semi - cylindrical head portion 34 from which a rectangular tapered shank portion 35 extends . shank portion 35 is divided by a wedge - shaped slot 38 into resiliently movable bifurcations or legs 35a and 35b which can be flexed , as hereinafter explained , in the direction of the arrow a in fig2 . shank portion 35 is provided with two slots or grooves 40 on opposite sides thereof in the region where shank portion 35 joins head portion 34 and these grooves 40 and adjacent shoulders 41 serve as a locking or latching means for gripping the edge of the hole 12 in workpiece 14 , as fig1 and 14 show . section 24 of anchor nut 10 comprises inside and outside surfaces 42 and 44 , respectively , and also comprises top and bottom surfaces 46 and 48 , respectively . inside surface 42 is provided with a nearly semi - cylindrical indentation or depression 50 which extends between and through top surface 46 and bottom surface 48 . depression 50 is divided into four regions , as follows , as shown in fig2 : a threaded head region 50a , an unthreaded intermediate region 50b , a threaded region 50c on leg 35a , and a threaded region 50d on leg 35b . prior to insertion of screw 16 , the legs 35a and 35b and the threaded regions have the relationship shown in fig2 but after screw insertion the legs 35a and 35b flex outwardly to the position shown in fig1 with the following effect : the shoulders 41 of the grooves 40 more firmly entrap or engage workpiece 14 ; the depression 50 assumes a substantially semi - cylindrical ( although threaded ) configuration ; and the threaded regions 50c and 50d on legs 35a and 35b , respectively , align with the threaded head region 50a . the unthreaded intermediate region 50b allows for such threaded alignment . it is to be noted that the legs 35a and 35b of each section 24 and 26 are tapered inwardly toward each other , as fig2 shows , when those legs are in relaxed condition and , therefore , the threads 50c and 50d on each leg 35a and 35b are also tapered toward each other and out of registry . the threads 50c and 50d become properly aligned when the end of screw 16 , already engaged with the threads 50a , crosses the unthreaded intermediate region 50b and starts to engage the threads 50c and 50d but , before being able to do so , first causes the legs 35a and 35b to spread apart . the insertion end of depression 50 is provided with a chamfered surface 52 to facilitate screw insertion into the bore 29 defined by the two mating depressions 50 . the head portion 34 of nut section 24 is provided with recesses 54 separated by walls 56 which extend inwardly ( see fig3 and 4 ) which reduce the amount of plastic material required to fabricate the nut without sacrificing rigidity or strength . anchor nut 10 is employed as follows . assume initially that nut 10 is disposed as shown in fig1 through 4 . the nut - halves or sections 24 and 26 are then swung toward each other on hinge 28 until they assume the condition shown in fig5 . proper mating and alignment of the sections 24 and 26 is accomplished by engagement of the projections 32 with the indentations 30 . in this condition , the shank portion 35 of nut 10 is inserted into and through mounting hole 12 in workpiece 14 , as fig1 shows . the wedge - shaped slots 38 allow the pair of legs 35a and the pair of legs 35b to move toward each other as tapered shank portion 35 is pushed into mounting hole 12 . thus , the distance between the pair of shoulders 41 is reduced sufficiently to enable the shoulders to move through hole 12 , whereupon the pairs of legs 35a and 35b spring outwardly to the position shown in fig1 . this enables the opposite edges of the workpiece 14 adjacent hole 12 to engage the grooves 40 in locking relationship . at this point , the threaded member or screw 16 is screwed into that portion of bore 29 defined by the two mating threaded head regions 50a of the head portions 34 of the sections 24 and 26 . the lead end of screw 16 then traverses the unthreaded section of bore 29 defined by the mating pair of unthreaded intermediate regions 50b . the lead end of screw 16 engages four tapered threaded regions 50c and 50d and by forcing apart the pair of legs 35a and the pair of legs 35b in the outward direction causes the screw threads on the four legs 35a and 35b to become properly aligned with each other and with the screw 16 , as fig1 shows . screw 16 is driven into anchor nut 10 to whatever extent is necessary or desirable . when screw 16 is in place , anchor nut 10 cannot be withdrawn from hole 12 in workpiece 14 because of the fact that the semi - cylindrical head portions 34 bear against one side of workpiece 14 and the shoulders 41 bear against the opposite side of the workpiece , as fig1 shows . however , if screw 16 is unscrewed from anchor nut 10 , either completely or at least to the point where threaded screw shank 20 is disengaged from the four threaded regions 50c and 50d , then the pairs of legs 35a and 35b move toward each other to the position shown in fig1 and can then be squeezed even closer together manually until the distance between the shoulders 41 is less than the diameter of hole 12 in the same direction , whereupon nut 10 can be withdrawn from hole 12 . after withdrawal , anchor nut 10 tends to resume the unfolded condition shown in fig1 through 4 . fig6 through 12 depict an anchor nut 110 in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention . fig1 shows nut 110 inserted through and in locked engagement with the edge of a mounting hole 12 of rectangular ( square ) configuration through the lower side of workpiece 14 . as fig6 through 12 show , anchor nut 110 comprises two sections or nut - halves 124 , 126 which are connected together by a thin flexible web or hinge 128 which enables the two sections to be moved from the unfolded position ( in which they are molded ), shown in fig6 through 10 , to the folded position ready for insertion , as shown in fig1 . when so folded , sections 124 and 126 define a screw - receiving bore 129 , as fig1 shows . nut sections 124 and 126 are mirror images of each other except that , for alignment purposes , section 124 comprises a pair of hemispherical indentations 130 for receiving a pair of hemispherical projections 132 on section 126 . since the sections 124 and 126 are substantially identical , only section 124 is hereinafter described in detail . section 124 comprises a semi - cylindrical head portion 134 from which a rectangular shank portion 135 extends . shank portion 135 is provided with two slots or grooves 140 on two opposite sides thereof intermediate the ends of shank portion 135 . these grooves 140 accommodate resilient movable or flexible tabs 143 which serve as a locking or latching means for gripping the edge of the hole 12 in workpiece 14 , as fig1 shows . each tab 143 is integrally formed with shank portion 135 and extends outwardly therefrom . section 124 of anchor nut 110 comprises inside and outside surfaces 142 and 144 , respectively , and also comprises top and bottom surfaces 146 and 148 , respectively . inside surface 142 is provided with a semi - cylindrical indentation or depression 150 which extends between and through top surface 146 and bottom surface 148 and which is provided with a threaded head region 150a . the insertion end of depression 150 is provided with a chamfered surface 152 to facilitate screw insertion into the bore 129 defined by the two mating depressions 150 . the head portions 134 of nut sections 124 is provided with recesses 154 separated by walls 156 which extend inwardly ( see fig7 and 10 ) which reduce the amount of plastic material required to fabricate the nut without sacrificing rigidity or strength . anchor nut 110 is employed in either one of two ways as follows . assume initially that nut 110 is disposed as shown in fig6 through 10 . in the first manner of usage the nut - halves or sections 124 and 126 are then swung toward each other on hinge 128 until they assume the condition shown in fig1 . proper mating and alignment of the sections 124 and 126 is accomplished by engagement of the projections 132 with the indentations 130 . in this condition , the shank portion 135 of nut 110 is inserted into and through mounting hole 12 in workpiece 14 , as fig1 shows . the tabs 143 move toward each other into the grooves 140 as shank portion 135 is pushed into mounting hole 12 . thus , the distance between the outside surfaces of the pair of tabs 143 is reduced sufficiently to enable the shank to move through hole 12 , whereupon the pair of tabs 143 spring outwardly to the position shown in fig1 . this enables the opposite edges of the workpiece 14 adjacent hole 12 to engage the shoulders 141 in locking relationship . at this point , the threaded member or screw 16 is screwed into threaded bore 129 . screw 16 is driven into anchor nut 110 to whatever extent is necessary or desirable . in the second manner of usage hereinbefore referred to , the nut - halves 124 and 126 are folded around the threaded shank 20 of screw 16 at some preferred location and the anchor nut 110 with the screw 16 already in place therein is inserted into hole 12 in the same manner as hereinbefore described . anchor nut 110 cannot be withdrawn from hole 12 in workpiece 14 because of the fact that the semi - cylindrical head portions 134 bear against one side of workpiece 14 and the tabs 143 bear against the opposite side of the workpiece , as fig1 shows . however , the tabs 143 can be squeezed closer together manually into the grooves 140 whereupon nut 110 can be withdrawn from hole 12 . after withdrawal , anchor nut 110 tends to resume the unfolded condition shown in fig6 through 10 . fig1 through 21 depict an anchor nut 210 in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention . fig2 shows nut 210 inserted through an in lock engagement with the edge of a mounting hole 12 of rectangular ( square ) configuration through the lower side of workpiece 14 . as fig1 through 21 show , anchor nut 210 comprises two sections or nut - halves 224 , 226 which are connected together by a thin flexible web or hinge 228 which enables the two sections to be moved from the unfolded position ( in which they are molded ), shown in fig1 through 18 , to the folded position ready for insertion , as shown in fig2 . when so folded , sections 224 and 226 defined a screw - receiving bore 229 , as fig2 shows . web 228 is non - frangible . nut sections 224 and 226 are mirror images of each other except that , for alignment purposes , section 224 comprises a pair of hemispherical indentations 230 for receiving a pair of hemispherical projections 232 on section 226 . since the sections 224 and 226 are substantially identical , only section 224 is hereinafter described in detail . section 224 comprises a semi - cylindrical head portion 234 from which a rectangular shank portion 235 extends . section 224 of anchor nut 210 comprises inside and outside surfaces 242 and 244 , respectively , and also comprises top and bottom surfaces 246 and 248 , respectively . inside surface 242 is provided with a semi - cylindrical indentation or depression 250 which extends between and through top surface 246 and bottom surface 248 and which is provided with a threaded region 250a . the head portion 234 includes an undersurface 225 and the shank portion 235 includes an outerface 227 , a first side face 229 and a second side face 231 . each side face 229 , 231 has a width w ( see fig1 ) and each side face has an integrally formed tab or projection 243 thereon which extends outwardly from its respective side face and serves as a locking or latching means for gripping the edge of the hole 12 in workpiece 14 , as fig2 shows . each projection 243 , which slopes outwardly proceeding from its respective side face 229 , 231 in a direction toward undersurface 225 of head portion 234 and terminates short of undersurface 225 so as to provide a groove 239 for receiving the hole edge , extends only about one - half the width w ( w / 2 ) across its respective side face 229 , 231 . furthermore , shank portion 235 is provided with a slot or groove 240 which extends inwardly from outer face 227 for a depth slightly greater than the width of its associated projection 243 and exits at side face 229 . slot 240 is preferably slightly longer than the associated projection 243 and has a width which is preferably slightly deeper than the maximum distance which the associated projection 243 extends from its respective side face 229 , 231 at its widest point . this enables the projection 243 to be fully depressed during insertion into or removal from hole 12 of anchor nut 210 . this construction enables solid latching of nut 210 in hole 12 , since each of the four projections 243 on nut 210 acts independently of the other . furthermore , although four independent projections 243 are provided , this is done by using a minimum amount of plastic material and the maximum material is retained at the thinnest portion of the shank wall thereby resulting in a stronger anchor nut . the insertion end of depression 250 is provided with a chamfered surface 252 to facilitate screw insertion into the bore 229 defined by the two mating depressions 250 . the head portions 234 of nut section 224 is provided with recesses 254 separated by walls 256 which extend inwardly ( see fig1 , 18 and 19 ) which reduce the amount of plastic material required to fabricate the nut without sacrificing rigidity or strength . anchor nut 210 is employed in either one of two ways as follows . assume initially that nut 210 is disposed as shown in fig1 through 19 . in the first manner of usage the nut - halves or sections 224 and 226 are then swung toward each other on hinge 228 until they assume the condition shown in fig2 . proper mating and alignment of the sections 224 and 226 is accomplished by engagement of the projections 232 with the indentations 230 . in this condition , the shank portion 235 of nut 210 is inserted into and through mounting hole 12 in workpiece 14 , as fig2 shows . the tabs 243 move toward each other into the slots 240 as shank portion 235 is pushed into mounting hole 12 . thus , the distance between the outside surfaces of the pair of tabs 243 is reduced sufficiently to enable the shank to move through a hole 12 , whereupon the pair of tabs 243 spring outwardly to the position shown in fig1 . this enables the opposite edges of a workpiece such as the workpiece 14 adjacent hole 12 to engage the shoulders 241 in locking relationship . at this point , the threaded member or screw 16 is screwed into threaded bore 229 . screw 16 is driven into anchor nut 210 to whatever extent is necessary or desirable . in the second manner of usage hereinbefore referred to , the nut - halves 224 and 226 are folded around the threaded shank 20 of screw 16 at some preferred location and the anchor nut 210 with the screw 16 already in place therein is inserted into hole 12 in the same manner as hereinbefore described . anchor nut 210 cannot be withdrawn from hole 12 in workpiece 14 because of the fact that the semi - cylindrical head portions 234 bear against one side of workpiece 14 and the tabs 243 bear against the opposite side of the workpiece , as fig2 shows . however , the tabs 243 can be squeezed closer together manually into the slots 240 whereupon nut 210 can be withdrawn from hole 12 . after withdrawal , anchor nut 210 tends to resume the unfolded condition shown in fig1 through 19 , ready for re - use . as seen in fig1 and 20 , there is 100 percent thread engagement with shank 16 for the full length of nut 210 .

a one - piece molded plastic reusable internally threaded anchor nut removably insertable in a mounting hole in a workpiece and adapted to receive a screw comprises two sections which are joined together by an integrally formed web or hinge . when the sections are folded together , they define an internally threaded screw - receiving passage and an external releasable locking mechanism for securing the anchor nut in the mounting hole . in one embodiment the portions defining the screw - receiving passage are bifurcated and expand outwardly as the screw is inserted so as to cause the external locking mechanism to engage the edge of the mounting hole in which the nut was previously inserted . in other embodiments , the external locking mechanism operates independently of screw insertion and the anchor nut with the screw already disposed therein is insertable into or removable from the mounting hole when the projections are depressed .

the following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings . the same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements . also , the following detailed description does not limit the invention . fig1 is a diagram of a web directory of business listings . as shown in fig1 , the directory includes categories that form a hierarchy . the “ clothing and accessories ” category , for example , is shown as including several sub - categories ( e . g ., “ accessories ,” “ apparel brokers ,” “ clothing stores ,” and “ wholesale and manufacturers ”) and sub - sub - categories ( e . g ., “ boutiques ,” “ children &# 39 ; s clothing ,” “ maternity clothing ,” and “ women &# 39 ; s clothing ”). business listings may be assigned to the appropriate categories . for example , a business that sells maternity clothing may be assigned to the maternity clothing category . systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention may use information regarding the categories to which documents are assigned to suggest categories that relate to a search . the categories may be used to further define the search or replace the search and present a user with results that are relevant to the user &# 39 ; s interests . a “ document ,” as the term is used herein , is to be broadly interpreted to include any machine - readable and machine - storable work product . a document may include , for example , an e - mail , a web site , a file , a combination of files , one or more files with embedded links to other files , a news group posting , a blog , a web advertisement , etc . in the context of the internet , a common document is a web page . web pages often include textual information and may include embedded information ( such as meta information , images , hyperlinks , etc .) and / or embedded instructions ( such as javascript , etc .). a “ link ,” as the term is used herein , is to be broadly interpreted to include any reference to / from a document from / to another document or another part of the same document . fig2 is an exemplary diagram of a network 200 in which systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention may be implemented . network 200 may include multiple clients 210 connected to multiple servers 220 - 240 via a network 250 . two clients 210 and three servers 220 - 240 have been illustrated as connected to network 250 for simplicity . in practice , there may be more or fewer clients and servers . also , in some instances , a client may perform the functions of a server and a server may perform the functions of a client . clients 210 may include client entities . an entity may be defined as a device , such as a wireless telephone , a personal computer , a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a lap top , or another type of computation or communication device , a thread or process running on one of these devices , and / or an object executable by one of these devices . servers 220 - 240 may include server entities that gather , process , search , and / or maintain documents in a manner consistent with the principles of the invention . in an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention , server 220 may include a search system 225 usable by clients 210 . server 220 may crawl a corpus of documents ( e . g ., web documents ), index the documents , and store information associated with the documents in a repository of documents . servers 230 and 240 may store or maintain documents that may be crawled or analyzed by server 120 . while servers 220 - 240 are shown as separate entities , it may be possible for one or more of servers 220 - 240 to perform one or more of the functions of another one or more of servers 220 - 240 . for example , it may be possible that two or more of servers 220 - 240 are implemented as a single server . it may also be possible for a single one of servers 220 - 240 to be implemented as two or more separate ( and possibly distributed ) devices . network 250 may include a local area network ( lan ), a wide area network ( wan ), a telephone network , such as the public switched telephone network ( pstn ), an intranet , the internet , a memory device , or a combination of networks . clients 210 and servers 220 - 240 may connect to network 250 via wired , wireless , and / or optical connections . fig3 is an exemplary diagram of a client or server entity ( hereinafter called “ client / server entity ”), which may correspond to one or more of clients 210 and / or servers 220 - 240 , according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention . the client / server entity may include a bus 310 , a processor 320 , a main memory 330 , a read only memory ( rom ) 340 , a storage device 350 , an input device 360 , an output device 370 , and a communication interface 380 . bus 310 may include a path that permits communication among the elements of the client / server entity . processor 320 may include a conventional processor , microprocessor , or processing logic that interprets and executes instructions . main memory 330 may include a random access memory ( ram ) or another type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions for execution by processor 320 . rom 340 may include a conventional rom device or another type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions for use by processor 320 . storage device 350 may include a magnetic and / or optical recording medium and its corresponding drive . input device 360 may include a conventional mechanism that permits an operator to input information to the client / server entity , such as a keyboard , a mouse , a pen , voice recognition and / or biometric mechanisms , etc . output device 370 may include a conventional mechanism that outputs information to the operator , including a display , a printer , a speaker , etc . communication interface 380 may include any transceiver - like mechanism that enables the client / server entity to communicate with other devices and / or systems . for example , communication interface 380 may include mechanisms for communicating with another device or system via a network , such as network 250 . as will be described in detail below , the client / server entity , consistent with the principles of the invention , may perform certain document processing - related operations . the client / server entity may perform these operations in response to processor 320 executing software instructions contained in a computer - readable medium , such as memory 330 . a computer - readable medium may be defined as a physical or logical memory device and / or carrier wave . the software instructions may be read into memory 330 from another computer - readable medium , such as data storage device 350 , or from another device via communication interface 380 . the software instructions contained in memory 330 may cause processor 320 to perform processes that will be described later . alternatively , hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement processes consistent with the principles of the invention . thus , implementations consistent with the principles of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software . fig4 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of search system 225 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention . the portion of search system 225 illustrated in fig4 may include search engine 410 and category suggestion engine 420 . while search engine 410 and category suggestion engine 420 are shown as separate engines , in practice , search engine 410 may include category suggestion engine 420 . search engine 410 may include a traditional search engine that returns a ranked set of documents related to a user search query . search engine 410 may include a general search engine , such as one based on documents from a large corpus , such as documents on the web , or a more specialized search engine , such as a local search engine . in operation , search engine 410 may receive a user search query . search engine 410 may identify a set of documents that match the search query by comparing the search terms in the query to documents in the document corpus . there are a number of known techniques that search engine 410 may use to identify documents related to a set of search terms . for example , when the set of search terms includes a single search term , search engine 410 might identify documents that contain the search term . when the set of search terms includes multiple search terms , search engine 410 might identify documents that contain the search terms as a phrase . alternatively or additionally , search engine 410 might identify documents that contain the search terms , but not necessarily together . alternatively or additionally , search engine 410 might identify documents that contain less than all of the search terms , or synonyms of the search terms . yet other techniques for identifying relevant documents are known to those skilled in the art . search engine 410 might generate an information retrieval ( ir ) score for the identified documents . there are a number of known techniques that search engine 410 may use to generate an ir score for a document . for example , search engine 410 may generate an ir score based on the number of occurrences of the search terms in the document . alternatively or additionally , search engine 410 may generate an ir score based on where the search terms occur within the document ( e . g ., title , content , etc .) or characteristics of the search terms ( e . g ., font , size , color , etc .). alternatively or additionally , search engine 410 may weight a search term differently from another search term when multiple search terms are present . alternatively or additionally , search engine 410 may consider the proximity of the search terms when multiple search terms are present . yet other techniques for generating an ir score for a document are known to those skilled in the art . search engine 410 may sort the identified documents based on their ir scores and output them as a list of search results to category suggestion engine 420 . in another implementation , search engine 410 may generate total scores for the documents based on a combination of their ir scores and link - based scores associated with the documents . several techniques exist for determining the link - based score of a document . one such technique is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 285 , 999 , entitled “ method for node ranking in a linked database ,” the contents of which are incorporated by reference . category suggestion engine 420 may suggest one or more categories that relate to the search . in operation , category suggestion engine 420 may identify categories associated with the top n ( e . g ., 1000 ) documents in the list of search results . the categories may be obtained from a number of different category providers , such as yellow pages and web directories , or derived using an automatic text classification system . a category associated with a document may be pre - stored with the document in a database associated with server 220 . in this case , category suggestion engine 420 may identify the category by looking it up in the database . a document may have one or more associated categories . category suggestion engine 420 may score the categories based on the scores of the associated documents in the list of search results . for example , a score assigned to a category associated with a document with a higher score may be higher than a score assigned to a category associated with a document with a lower score . in some cases , it may be possible for the categories associated with two different documents to be assigned the same score , such as when the two documents have similar scores . category suggestion engine 420 may combine ( e . g ., add ) the scores assigned to the categories . for example , a category may be associated with a number of documents in the list of search results . category suggestion engine 420 may add the scores for the category to identify its final score . category suggestion engine 420 may then identify the highest scoring one or more categories and present them as suggestions for the search with the list of search results . according to another implementation , category suggestion engine 420 may count the number of occurrences of each of the categories . category suggestion engine 420 may then assign a final score to the categories based on their number of occurrences . category suggestion engine 420 may then identify the highest scoring one or more categories and present them as suggestions for the search with the list of search results . sometimes the categories are derived from a number of different category providers that may use different naming schemes . for example , a category for pizza restaurants may be named “ pizza restaurant ” under one naming scheme and “ restaurant : pizza ” under another naming scheme . in one implementation , category suggestion engine 420 may consider similar category names as the same category for scoring purposes . also , category suggestion engine 420 may use the naming scheme associated with the highest scoring category when presenting category suggestions . in another implementation , category suggestion engine 420 may use a different technique . fig5 is a flowchart of exemplary processing for presenting category suggestions relating to a search according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention . processing may begin with server 220 receiving a search query ( block 510 ). in one implementation , a user may use a web browser associated with a client 210 to provide the search query to server 220 . a search may be performed to identify a set of documents based on the search query ( block 520 ). for example , the term ( s ) of the search query may be compared to the text of documents in the document corpus . documents related to the search query may be identified and scored in a manner similar to that described above . categories associated with the top n ( e . g ., 1000 ) documents in the list of search results may be identified ( block 530 ). in one implementation , the categories may be identified by looking up category information in a database . the categories may be scored based on the positions of the associated documents in the list of search results ( block 540 ). for example , the category scores may , in one implementation , be based on the scores ( which determine the position ) of the associated documents in the list of search results . the scores for each of the categories may then be combined ( e . g ., added ) to identify a final score assigned to the category ( block 550 ). in another implementation , final scores may be assigned to the categories based on a count of the number of occurrences of the categories . the one or more highest scoring categories may be presented as suggestions for the search along with the list of search results ( block 560 ). the category suggestions may assist the user in refining the search query to find documents in which the user is interested . for example , if the user selects one of the category suggestions , a refined search may be performed to identify documents in the list of search results that are assigned to the category corresponding to the selected category suggestion . alternatively , the documents in the list of search results may be replaced with documents associated with the selected category suggestion . fig6 - 9 are exemplary diagrams of a local search user interface that may be presented to a user according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention . as shown in fig6 , a user interface may be presented relating to local searching . the local search user interface may permit a user to search for business listings in a particular location . to assist the user in searching , the user interface may provide a “ what ” field and a “ where ” field . for example , the user may enter the name of a business ( e . g ., “ pizza hut ”) or a type of business ( e . g ., pizza restaurant ) in the “ what ” field . the user may enter the name of a location ( e . g ., albany , n . y .) in the “ where ” field . assume for this example , that the user entered “ maternity dress ” in the what field and “ fairfax , va .” in the where field of the user interface . a server associated with the local search user interface , such as server 220 , may perform a search based on the search terms “ maternity dress ” and “ fairfax va .” to identify documents associated with businesses relating to the search terms “ maternity dress ” in the “ fairfax , va .” location and include the identified documents in a list of search results . as described above , categories may be identified for the documents , the categories may be scored , and the one or more highest scoring categories may be determined . as shown in fig7 , the local search user interface may present the list of search results . for each document in the list of the search results ( or for some set of the search results ), the user interface may provide address information for the business associated with the document , a telephone number for the business , a link to more information associated with the business , a link to directions to the business , and / or a link to one or more documents that refer to the business . the user interface may also provide a map of the area covered by the search . the map may optionally include pointers to businesses associated with the list of search results ( or some set of the search results ). as further shown in fig7 , the local search user interface may present one or more category suggestions relating to the search . as explained above , the category suggestions may correspond to the one or more highest scoring categories . in the example of fig7 , the category suggestions include a “ clothing stores ” category and a “ consignment & amp ; resale stores ” category . assume that the user selected the clothing stores category . in this case , the server may refine the search to identify documents associated with businesses relating to the search terms “ maternity dress ” in the “ fairfax , va .” location that are assigned to the clothing stores category and include the identified documents in a modified list of search results . alternatively , the server may replace the user &# 39 ; s search query with the selected category . in this case , the server may provide documents relating to the selected category as a modified list of search results . as shown in fig8 , the local search user interface may present the modified list of search results . for each document in the modified list of the search results ( or for some set of the search results ), the user interface may provide address information for the business associated with the document , a telephone number for the business , a link to more information associated with the business , a link to directions to the business , and / or a link to one or more other web documents that refer to the business . the user interface may also provide a map of the area covered by the search . the map may optionally include pointers to businesses associated with the list of search results ( or some set of the search results ). assume that the user selected the consignment & amp ; resale stores category . in this case , the server may refine the search to identify documents associated with businesses relating to the search terms “ maternity dress ” in the “ fairfax , va .” location that are assigned to the consignment & amp ; resale stores category and include the identified documents in a modified list of search results . alternatively , the server may replace the user &# 39 ; s search query with the selected category . in this case , the server may provide documents relating to the selected category as a modified list of search results . as shown in fig9 , the local search user interface may present the modified list of search results . for each document in the modified list of the search results ( or for some set of the search results ), the user interface may provide address information for the business associated with the document , a telephone number for the business , a link to more information associated with the business , a link to directions to the business , and / or a link to one or more other web documents that refer to the business . the user interface may also provide a map of the area covered by the search . the map may optionally include pointers to businesses associated with the list of search results ( or some set of the search results ). systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention may perform a search to identify documents based on a search query and use information regarding the categories to which the documents are assigned to suggest categories that relate to the search . the categories may be used to further define or replace the search and present a user with results that are relevant to the user &# 39 ; s interests . the foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention provides illustration and description , but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed . modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention . for example , while a series of acts has been described with regard to fig5 , the order of the acts may be modified in other implementations consistent with the principles of the invention . further , non - dependent acts may be performed in parallel . also , exemplary user interfaces have been described with respect to fig6 - 9 . in other implementations consistent with the principles of the invention , the user interfaces may include more , fewer , or different pieces of information . the category suggestions have been described as relating to the search . one skilled in the are would readily recognize that the category suggestions also relate to interests of the user who provided the search query . further , certain portions of the invention have been described as an “ engine ” that performs one or more functions . an engine may include hardware , such as an application specific integrated circuit or a field programmable gate array , software , or a combination of hardware and software . it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that aspects of the invention , as described above , may be implemented in many different forms of software , firmware , and hardware in the implementations illustrated in the figures . the actual software code or specialized control hardware used to implement aspects consistent with the principles of the invention is not limiting of the invention . thus , the operation and behavior of the aspects were described without reference to the specific software code — it being understood that one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to design software and control hardware to implement the aspects based on the description herein . no element , act , or instruction used in the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such . also , as used herein , the article “ a ” is intended to include one or more items . where only one item is intended , the term “ one ” or similar language is used . further , the phrase “ based on ” is intended to mean “ based , at least in part , on ” unless explicitly stated otherwise .

a system determines categories for business listings identified in a list of search results and assigns scores to the categories . the system presents one or more high scoring ones of the categories as one or more category suggestions relating to the list of search results .

before proceeding with the detailed description of the preferred embodiments , several comments should be made about the applicability and the scope of the present invention . first , while venetian - type blinds are shown in certain of the figures , the types of materials from which the blinds are made or the relative widths , heights and the configuration of the headrail , bottom rail and slats may vary widely . the present invention has applicability to a variety of such blinds . the present invention is also useful with window shades of various types since many shade designs also use lifting cords and would benefit from the features of this invention . whenever blinds are mentioned herein , shades should be considered a suitable alternative . second , while preferred types of springs are shown , one varying in width , another varying in thickness and a third being of constant cross - section , a combination of the three could be employed . other spring configurations could also be used , in addition to those having a rectangular cross - section . for example , springs with round or oval cross - sections , decreasing along its length ( for a variable force spring ) or a laminated spring could also be employed . third , while one example is given of how to interconnect a plurality of spring motors , other techniques can be employed . for example , a gear system can be employed instead of the illustrated bar . the object of illustrative fig3 is to show how the spring motors can be made to operate in unison for level raising or lowering of the blind or shade , even if the lifting forces are applied off center . ideally , however , the user should be instructed to apply the lifting or lowering force at , or relatively near , the center of the bottom rail to maintain desirable balance and to prevent slack from being created in the lifting cords . proceeding now to a description of the figures , fig1 is a perspective view of one storage drum 10 useful in the preferred embodiment . storage drum 10 includes an axial hole 12 , a cylindrically - shaped spring storage area 14 , and a pair of walls 16 and 18 which taper upwardly and outwardly from area 14 . this particular storage drum is especially suitable for a spring which varies in width , as will be described later in this specification . drum 10 will be referred to herein as a storage drum , i . e . the drum on which the spring is initially coiled . the drum 10 would have parallel walls 16 and 18 for other embodiments such as for the springs illustrated in fig5 a , 5 b , 8 a , and 8 b . proceeding next to fig1 b , an output drum is shown generally at 20 to include an axial hole 22 , a cylindrical body 24 , and a pair of walls 26 and 28 . a hole 29 is provided on body portion 24 , the purpose of which will become apparent shortly . output drum 20 also includes a cord spool 30 having a central aperture ( not shown ) coaxial with hole 22 , a body portion 32 , and a pair of parallel side walls 34 and 36 defining an area therebetween for storage of the lifting cords . proceeding next to fig2 the arrangement of the devices in fig1 a and 1b in a spring motor unit 40 is shown . motor unit 40 includes a bracket having a planar back wall 42 onto which the storage drum 10 and output drum 20 are rotatably mounted in a spaced apart orientation . axles 43 and 44 pass respectively through the apertures 12 and 22 of the drums 10 and 20 . from fig2 it will be appreciated that output drum 20 is located adjacent wall 42 , with the cord spool 30 located outwardly therefrom . a spring is illustrated at 45 and is coupled between storage drum 10 and output drum 20 . the spring itself will be described later . the spring motor unit 40 also includes a pair of surfaces 46 and 47 , which are parallel to one another and perpendicular to surface 42 , defining a generally u - shaped enclosure for the two drums and the cord spool . a hole 49 is provided in surface 46 and a hole 50 is provided in surface 47 , with lifting cords 52 shown passing through each toward the cord spool 30 . the illustrated motor unit 40 also includes another bracket component 55 spaced apart from surface 47 and including a plurality of slots 56 in its upper edge . solid and dashed lines illustrate how the slots 56 may be used to increase the tension on the cord 52 traveling through portion 47 toward cord spool 30 . finally , two attachment areas 57 and 59 are shown in fig2 with holes 58 and 60 , respectively . the latter are used for attachment of the bracket to the blind head bracket . obviously , the location of the mounting holes can vary widely , depending on the overall configuration of the blind with which the spring force motor unit 40 is to be used . before proceeding to more detailed descriptions of the springs 45 , reference should now be made to fig3 showing schematically how a plurality of spring motor units 40 may be coupled together , e . g . by an elongate bar 62 rotatably coupled to each of the respective cord spools 30 ( or by gearing on the drums 10 and 20 , not shown ). it will be appreciated from this drawing , which is from a reverse perspective compared to that shown in fig2 that the three spring motor units 40 will work in unison and the bar 62 will compensate for minor variations in spring forces which may exist for the individual springs 45 and ensure an even winding of the cords 52 , even if the force to raise or lower the blind is applied off - center . proceeding next to the descriptions of fig4 a and 4b , a preferred spring 70 is shown , again in perspective form . spring 70 includes a first narrower end 72 , a second wider end 74 and a coupling extension 75 having a hole 76 therein . the illustrated spring has a constant thickness . spring 70 , in use , is wound onto the storage drum in the configuration illustrated in fig4 b , i . e . with its narrower end coupled to body portion 14 , and its wider end toward the outside . the extension 75 is attached to the body portion 24 of output drum 20 using hole 76 and any suitable fastener . the spring is wound from one drum to the other in an opposite coil orientation . in other words , as spring 70 is transferred from the storage drum 10 to the output drum 20 , the width of the spring 70 between the two drums will decrease and the spring will be wound oppositely to its original coil shape . another embodiment of a spring useful in the invention is shown in fig5 a and 5b , i . e . a spring 80 having a varying thickness . spring 80 has a thinner first end 82 , a thicker second end 84 having a width equal to that of end 82 , and a coupling extension 85 having a hole 86 therein . the preferred coil orientation for spring 80 is shown in fig5 b , this time with the thinner end 82 at the core of the storage drum 10 and the thicker end 84 extending onto and around the output drum 20 , using coupling extension 85 and hole 86 . again , the orientation of the spring , as it is transferred from the storage drum 10 to the output drum 20 , is reversed . while it has been mentioned earlier that springs of different configurations may be employed for variable force spring motors , it will now be more fully appreciated that one variation would be to use a spring which varies both in width and thickness . also , a coil spring of circular cross - section or a laminated spring could be employed . the cross - section increasing from the end attached to the storage drum 10 to the end attached to the output drum 20 . proceeding now to fig6 the use of a spring motor unit 40 for a blind system 90 is shown . blind system 90 includes a bottom bar 92 , a headrail 94 , and a plurality of slats 95 located therebetween . the ladders are not illustrated in these figures but are conventional and , in and of themselves , do not form part of the present invention . the cords for raising and lowering bottom bar 94 are illustrated at 96 and 97 and are shown extending through the slats and toward the cord spool 30 , which will be fully wound with cord when the blind is in the position illustrated in fig6 . moreover , the storage drum would be wound with most of spring 45 and the output drum would be wound only to the extent desirable to attach its end and to provide the desired holding force . referring now to fig7 the bottom bar 92 is shown in its fully lowered position with the individual slats 95 spaced from one another and with the cords 96 and 97 unwound from cord spool 30 . at this point , the slats would be individually suspended from ladders ( not shown ) attached to the headrail 94 , so that their weight is not being carried by the spring motor unit 40 . it can be observed that the spring 45 has been substantially transferred from the storage drum 10 to the output drum 20 , thereby decreasing the amount of force exerted on the bottom bar . in an ideal situation , the spring force will be just sufficient to prevent bottom bar 92 from self - raising . when it is desired to open blind system 90 , the bottom bar 92 is urged toward headrail 94 , resulting in a spring driven rotation of the cord spool to wind cords 96 and 97 . the spring will rewind back to storage drum 10 , with an ever increasing level of force as the weight of the bottom bar 92 and accumulating slats 95 continues to increase . the operation is completed when the fig6 configuration is achieved . while the present invention has been described in connection with several illustrated embodiments , further variations may now be apparent . for example , instead of using only two cords ( illustrated as 96 and 97 in fig6 - 7 ), additional cords could be used for wider blinds , as required . in connection with experiments done to date , one suitable spring is made from type 301 high - yield stainless steel and has a length of 87 inches and a constant thickness of 0 . 005 inches . its width increased from 0 . 110 inches at its narrow end to 0 . 312 inches at its wide end . for a coil diameter of 0 . 540 inches , a theoretical maximum torque of 0 . 650 pounds per inch was created , and the theoretical torque minimum was 0 . 230 pounds per inch . in another example , a spring strip of the same length and material varied in thickness from 0 . 0029 inches to 0 . 0054 inches with the same coil diameter . the theoretical maximum torque was 0 . 819 pounds per inch , while the torque at the bottom ( minimum ) is reduced to 0 . 140 pounds per inch . it can be seen from these examples that the spring motor provides a variable force which is consistent in application , depending upon the particular position of the bottom rail or member with respect to the headrail . the theoretical forces may be readily calculated using formulas which are available from spring manufacturers in which the output force is determined by the formula : f = e · b · s 3 24 · r 2 it then becomes apparent that as the width or thickness varies from end to end of the strip , so also will the resultant force . fig8 a and 8b show yet another embodiment of the present invention , this time where the spring 45 is a constant cross - section spring 110 having a first end 112 , a second end 114 , an extension 115 extending from the second end , and a hole 116 in the extension . the coiled form of spring 110 is shown in fig8 b . it has been found that in some applications , for example applications where the blinds are short , or are made from very light materials , or where friction imparting devices are used with the cords that a constant force spring may be entirely suitable . this is true because while the weight exerted on the lifting cords 94 and 96 will vary as the blind is raised and lowered , frictional forces are present which can be sufficient to maintain the shade in any desired position without free fall . this particular embodiment could be enhanced using the friction imparting devices discussed in connection with fig2 . accordingly , it can be readily seen that the present invention has extremely wide application and that the designer may make numerous choices depending upon the particular size of the blind , its construction materials , etc . as with the other embodiments , several spring motors employing springs 110 can be coupled together , e . g . as is shown in fig3 . alternatively , a plurality of such motors may be used which are not interconnected to one another . fig9 is a view , similar to fig6 showing in schematic form a motor system for raising and lowering a blind . in order to facilitate understanding of the invention , like elements will be identified by like reference numerals in fig9 and fig6 . accordingly , in fig9 a blind system 90 is illustrated having a spring motor unit 40 and cords 96 , 97 for raising and lowering bottom bar 92 . also shown in fig9 are a drive motor 110 , and a control unit 112 for controlling operation of drive motor 110 . drive motor 110 is preferably an electrical motor which can drive in two directions and is operatively coupled with spring motor unit 40 by a coupling 111 to apply a drive force in either of two directions to move bottom bar 92 up or down . it is advantageous to use both spring motor unit 40 and drive motor 110 so that the force applied to blind system 90 by spring motor unit 40 augments and assists drive motor 110 . drive motor 110 may be operatively coupled anywhere in the driving mechanism of blind system 90 . by such an arrangement a smaller , cheaper , and more energy - efficient drive motor 110 may be more advantageously employed with blind system 90 than could be employed alone without spring motor unit 40 . control commands may be provided to control unit 112 for controlling operation of drive motor 110 from a remote position by hard - wired connection ( not shown in fig9 ) to a remote control unit such as remote control unit 114 . in the alternative , remote control unit 114 may wirelessly communicate with control unit 112 by any of several methods , such as sonic coded signal patterns or optic coded signal patterns . the coding patterns may be coded transmission patterns , or coded frequency patterns , or combinations of such patterns . in environments where there are a plurality of blind systems 90 which should be individually wirelessly controllable by one or more remote control units 114 , respective blind systems 90 must be individually addressable . the required distinction among such a plurality of blind systems 90 may be encoded in each respective control unit 112 and recognized by remote control unit ( s ) 114 in any of several manners . for example , respective control units 112 may be user - coded by individual digital switches to assign a user - determined code to each respective blind system 90 . further , similar coding may be effected by embedding code in a read only memory ( rom ) in each respective control unit 112 , or by programming a code into a random access memory ( ram ) in each control unit 112 . a pin grid array or a jumper wire arrangement would also accomplish the desired coding , but such arrangements are susceptible to error and occupy large amounts of space . remote control unit 114 may similarly be encoded to selectively address a particular blind system 90 : digital switch coding , rom , ram , and jumper - wiring may all be appropriate . yet another approach involves factory preprogramming of systems . for example , a factory - provided library of codes may be programmed into a rom in a remote control unit 114 . a user may select a code from the library of codes for assignment to a respective blind system 90 by any of the above - described encoding mechanisms : e . g ., digital switches , ram , or the like . the user - selection may involve merely a two - digit entry or selection to identify an eight - digit ( for example ) digital code . by such an arrangement , the security of eight - digit coding and its protection against inadvertent operation of blinds is achieved with significantly less opportunity for errors in user - coding since the user needs only to enter two digits to identify / encode a particular blind system 90 . so while the invention has been described in connection with certain illustrative examples , it is not to be limited thereby but is to be limited solely by the scope of the claims which follow .

a cordless , balanced venetian blind or shade with a constant , or a variable force spring motor includes conventional window covering components without the outside hanging lifting cords or cord locking mechanisms . one or more spring motors are employed . a cord spool , in the preferred embodiment , is coupled to one of the spring drums to serve to wind the cords to cause the blind to be raised or lowered , simply by manipulation of the bottom bar of the blind system . due to the spring forces , the system compensates for the increasing weight on the cords as the window covering is raised and for the decreasing weight as it is lowered .

referring to the drawings , the reference numeral 20 designates generally a display hook according to the invention . the display hook comprises a base plate 21 , which can be of a known , conventional type , adapted to be supported on a display wall ( not shown ) of conventional type . the illustrated base plate is intended to be suspended on a metal cross bar ( not shown ). however , the base plate may also be configured for mounting on a perforated panel , slat board or other display panel arrangement . the illustrated base plate , designed for support on a metal cross bar , advantageously is provided with a through opening 22 at the bottom , for the reception of a locking pin 23 which extends under the bar and inhibits lifting of the hook off of the cross bar by unauthorized parties . the main portion of the display hook 20 is formed of a continuous length of wire and comprises a vertical portion 24 , which is welded or otherwise fixed to the base plate 21 , an outwardly extending upper arm 25 and an outwardly extending lower arm 26 which extends generally parallel to but spaced below the upper arm , as shown in fig1 . in the illustrated form of the invention , the upper arm 25 of formed with a downwardly extending portion 27 at its forward extremity , and a label mounting plate 28 is welded to the portion 27 . the mounting plate provides a fixed surface for securing labels with pricing and other product information . alternative label mounting arrangements may be employed , such as pivoting label holders supported on a cross bar at the end of the upper arm 25 . whatever arrangement is provided for the display of labels will also serve the functions of protecting the outer end of the arm 25 and of forming a positive stop means at the outer end of the arm . in accordance with an aspect of the invention , the lower arm 26 of the display hook is formed with three separate sections . a first or back section 29 extends from the base plate 21 for approximately one - half the length of the lower arm , and is of relatively straight configuration such that carded or other merchandise suspended thereon can easily slide along the first section . a second or intermediate section 30 is integrally joined with the first section 29 and extends to a position a short distance from the end extremity if the lower arm 26 . the intermediate section 30 is configured in a sharply angular form . in the illustrated example , the angular form consists of a plurality of connected v - shaped segments 31 . the v - shaped segments 31 preferably are formed with sharp connecting curves 32 , 33 at the bottom and top . in the illustrated example , the intermediate section 30 is formed with four sets of connected v - shaped segments 31 . preferably , the v - shaped segments are aligned in a common vertical plane with the upper arm 25 . the arrangement is such that , to remove an item of carded merchandise from the back section 29 of the lower hook , the item has to be moved vertically upward and downward four times in order for it to pass over the intermediate section 30 of the lower arm . this slows down the removal of the merchandise item and thus inhibits a “ quick strike ” action of a shoplifter . moreover , the several connected v - shaped sections make it next to impossible for a shoplifter to strip a display hook of its entire inventory . in the illustrated embodiment of the invention , the lower arm 26 also includes a forward section 34 joined integrally with the intermediate section 30 and extending forwardly therefrom to a point a short distance behind the label mounting plate 28 . the forward section 34 desirably is straight and substantially coaxial with the back section 29 . at its forward extremity 35 , the forward section 34 has a lateral extension 36 that serves as a position stop for an item of merchandise at a forwardmost position on the lower arm while enabling the merchandise to be removed from the hook by a lateral motion along the extension . pursuant to an aspect of the invention , the illustrated display hook 20 is advantageously used in combination with a locking device 40 , which preferably but not necessarily is of the type which forms the subject matter of the before mentioned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 957 , 555 , the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference . the described locking device comprises a body 41 containing a rotor element 42 that can be rotated between “ lock ” and “ unlock ” positions by an insertable / removable key 43 . the upper portion 44 of the lock body 41 has a recess 45 for engaging the upper arm 25 of the hook , and a retaining plate 46 which secures the lock body to the upper arm 25 while allowing it to rotate about the arm . as shown in fig3 , the lock body 41 includes a second recess 47 positioned to receive the back or forward sections 29 , 34 of the hook 20 when the lock body is rotated to a position in which the lower recess 47 is directly below the upper recess 45 . the lock rotor 42 includes a locking arm 48 which , when the rotor is in its “ lock ” position , closes off the recess 47 and secures the lock body 41 to the lower arm 26 of the display hook . when the lock body is secured to the lower arm , any merchandise suspended on the lower are and positioned behind the lock body will be locked on the display hook . the lock can be released by rotation of the rotor to opening the recess 47 and allow the lock body to be rotated out of the way . this , of course , requires the presence of an authorized person with a key . in the form of locking device 40 shown , the upper portion of the lock body is advantageously formed with an integral tubular extension 49 . one portion 50 of the extension is aligned with the upper recess 45 and is arranged to receive a portion of the upper arm 25 when the lock body is mounted on the arm . a second portion 51 of the extension is positioned laterally beyond the open side of the recess 45 and has a downwardly opening slot 52 . the slot 52 can be flexed open to fit over the upper arm 25 on enable the lock body to be installed thereon . the length of the tubular extension is such as to define a desired forwardmost position of the lock body 41 at a distance back of the label mounting plate 28 , as shown in fig4 , whereby the lock body engages the lower arm 26 directly in front of the v - shaped sections 31 of the lower arm intermediate section 30 . in accordance with an aspect of the invention , the locking device 40 can be located in various positions on the display hook 20 , as determined by the storekeeper to be consistent with the level of shoplifting threat that exists at the particular store location . in an upscale area , in which shoplifting is a negligible threat , and / or where the value of the displayed merchandise is relatively low , the storekeeper has the option of locating the locking device 40 at a backmost position on the back section 29 of the hook , as shown in fig6 , such that none of the displayed merchandise is locked and the customers may freely serve themselves in the selection of merchandise . should circumstances indicate a moderate , but not high , level of threat , the storekeeper may opt to position the locking device at the forward end of the back section 29 , as shown in fig5 . in this position , all merchandise items supported on the back section 29 will be locked and can be removed only by or with the attendance of a authorized store person with a key . in this configuration , however , the storekeeper can place one or several product items in front of the lock , hanging in the v - shaped sections 31 of the intermediate section 30 and / or on the forward section 34 . and items on the forward section 34 will , of course be easily removable , and items on the intermediate section will be removable , but less easily . should the storekeeper deem the threat of loss high or very high , he or she has the further option of positioning the locking device 40 on the front section 34 of the lower arm 26 . in this lock position , the storekeeper can place all of the merchandise behind the lock , or optionally leave an item suspended from the section 34 in front of the lock . when the locking device is positioned on the forward section 34 , the lateral extension 36 of the forward section serves as a positive stop and thus will prevent the lower portion of the locking device , when locked , from being pulled forwardly over the end of the forward section to release merchandise . a storekeeper &# 39 ; s objective is always to sell as much merchandise as possible , consistent with holding “ shrinkage ” from shoplifting at tolerable levels . the invention gives the storekeeper unique tools to optimize the balance of customer accommodation and freedom to chose , with maintaining a desirable level of control over product loss , through the combination of an advantageous display hook configuration in conjunction with the use of a positionable locking device . this enables as much merchandise as the store owner is willing to risk , given the store location and surrounding circumstances , to be made directly accessible to the customer , with the option to require the presence of store personnel to release any greater amount of the displayed product . the storekeeper &# 39 ; s options apply to both the character of the surrounding neighborhood and to the value of the displayed merchandise , and both can be evaluated in the determination of an optimal location for placement of the locking device on a particular merchandise hook . it will be understood , of course , that the embodiments of the invention herein specifically disclosed are intended to be representative of the invention but not limiting as to the manner in which it may be carried out .

a security product display hook assembly comprising a unique form of product display hook , in combination with a security lock , providing optional levels of product security and customer convenience . the display hook has a merchandise supporting arm formed with a back section , an intermediate section and a front section . the intermediate section is of sharply irregular configuration to allow , but inhibit , product removal , while effectively preventing mass product removal often attempted by shoplifters . the locking device is positionable in front of or directly behind the intermediate section to provide the highest security , with all products locked or an intermediate level , with a portion of the products locked . the locking device can also be positioned at the back of the back section such that all products are unlocked and available for customer selection .

reference will now be made in detail to the 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 . fig5 is a schematic view illustrating the principle of phase shift in a mask according to the present invention . in fig5 , a first part 54 a of a laser beam 54 passes through a first portion m 1 of a mask 50 , where there is no layer , and a second part 54 b of the laser beam 54 permeates a second portion m 2 of the mask 50 , where there exists a phase shift layer 52 . since the first part 54 a and the second part 54 b of the laser beam 54 go through different optical paths according to the existence of the phase shift layer 52 , there is a phase difference δφ between the first part 54 a and the second part 54 b passing through the mask 50 . the phase difference δφ is expressed as the following equation : wherein , λ represents a wavelength of a light source , n is a refractive index of the phase shift layer 52 , and d represents a thickness of the phase shift layer 52 . thus , from the above equation , the phase of light can be shifted by about 180 degrees , for example , by controlling the thickness d of the phase shift layer 52 . fig6 is a plane view of a mask for crystallizing amorphous silicon according to the present invention . in fig6 , a phase shift layer 112 is formed in a first direction on a base substrate 110 . the phase shift layer 112 includes a plurality of first stripes , each of which has a first width w 1 . a blocking layer 114 is formed in the first direction , overlapping the phase shift layer 112 . the blocking layer 114 includes a plurality of second stripes , each of which has a second width w 2 . spaces between adjacent phase shift layers 112 become a plurality of slits 116 , and each slit 116 has a third width w 3 . here , the second width w 2 is narrower than the first width w 1 , thereby exposing both sides d of each first stripe of the phase shift layer 112 . the exposed sides d of the phase shift layer 112 causes a phase shift of a laser beam passing therethrough when the laser beam is irradiated , and thus profiles of the laser beam passing through the mask can have a stiff slope . the first width w 1 may generally be twice as wide as the third width w 3 in the related art . however , the first width w 1 may be smaller than or equal to the third width w 3 in the present invention . the mask of the present invention may be used for excimer laser . fig7 is a cross - sectional view taken along line vii - vii of fig6 . as shown in fig7 , the phase shift layer 112 , which includes the plurality of first stripes , is formed on the base substrate 110 such that the first stripes are spaced apart from each other , and each first stripe has the first width w 1 . the blocking layer 114 , which includes the plurality of second stripes having the second width w 2 , is formed on the phase shift layer 112 , wherein the second width w 2 is narrower than the first width w 1 , thereby exposing both sides d of each first stripe of the phase shift layer 112 by the blocking layer 114 . the spaces between the first stripes of the phase shift layer 112 become the slits 116 . the slits 116 have the third width w 3 . the phase shift layer 112 may be formed of a material that can reverse the phase of light , such as mosi x ( molybdenum - silicide ). the base substrate 110 may be formed of a high heat - resistant material , such as quartz , and the blocking layer 114 may be formed of a material that can block a light passage , such as chromium ( cr ). in the mask of the present invention , the third width w 3 of the slit 116 may be within the range of about 1 to 3 micrometers (□), and the first width w 1 of the phase shift layer 112 may be also within the range of about 1 to 3 micrometers (□). it may be beneficial that the third width w 3 and the first width w 1 are about 2 micrometers (□). accordingly , in the present invention , the resolution of the mask for crystallizing can be improved due to a destructive interference of the beam profile by using the phase shift layer without changing the optical compensating apparatus for controlling the laser beam . therefore , productivity in the sls crystallizing method can be increased due to the mask having an improved resolution . the exposed sides d of the phase shift layer 112 should have sizes enough so that the transmitted laser beam is reversed to have energy intensities larger than the melting point of a silicon layer . fig8 is a schematic view showing energy intensity profiles of a laser beam irradiated through the mask of the present invention . in fig8 , a first laser shot is irradiated on a substrate 122 including an amorphous silicon layer 120 formed thereon , and a beam passing through the mask has two peaks , which corresponds to the slits of the mask . the peaks are spaced apart from each other without overlapping each other . next , a second laser shot is irradiated , wherein a peak of the second laser shot overlaps the two peaks of the first laser shot . in the sls crystallizing method of the present invention , peaks of each laser shot do not overlap each other because profiles of the laser beam passing through the mask have stiff slopes due to destructive interference by using the phase shift layer . therefore , the number of laser shots is decreased as compared to that in the related art . in addition , since the distance between the slits can be reduced and the number of slits can be increased , the resolution of the mask for crystallizing can be improved . accordingly , although the mask may have the resolution of about 2 micrometers (□), for example , the profiles of the laser beam do not overlap each other , and thus the growth of grains can be stable and reproducible . in the present invention , the number of laser shots is not limited to two but decreased as opposed to the related art , thereby improving productivity of the sls crystallizing process . fig9 is a flow chart showing a sls crystallizing process using the mask of the present invention . in step st 1 , an amorphous silicon layer is formed by depositing amorphous silicon on an insulating substrate and dehydrogenating the amorphous silicon to improve crystallizing characteristics . here , a buffer layer may be formed between the substrate and the amorphous silicon layer . the buffer layer may be formed of an insulating material such as silicon oxide ( sio 2 ). in step st 2 , the sls crystallizing process is performed by using a laser . that is , a first shot of a laser beam is irradiated on the substrate including the amorphous silicon layer by using the mask having a phase shift layer , and a portion exposed to the laser beam is melted . grains grow from the boundaries of the melted portion toward the middle of the melted portion , and thus a first crystallized region is formed . the next shot is irradiated , so that the transmitted laser beam overlaps the first crystallized region . thus , a second crystallized region is formed . in step st 3 , a polycrystalline silicon layer is formed by repeatedly performing step st 2 . in the mask of the present invention , the blocking layer that is formed of chromium reflects the laser beam , and the phase shift layer formed of molybdenum silicide reverses the phase of the laser beam , reducing the intensity of the laser beam . therefore , peaks of a laser shot can be separated without difficulty . additionally , the resolution of the mask for crystallizing can be improved , and thus productivity of the sls crystallizing process can be increased . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the mask and method for crystallizing amorphous silicon of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .

a method of crystallizing amorphous silicon includes forming an amorphous silicon layer on a substrate , placing a mask over the substrate including the amorphous silicon layer , and applying a laser beam onto the amorphous silicon layer through the mask to form a first crystallized region , the laser beam having an energy intensity high enough to completely melt the amorphous silicon layer , wherein the mask comprises a base substrate , a phase shift layer on the base substrate , having a plurality of first stripes having a first width separated by slits , and a blocking layer overlapping the phase shift layer , having a plurality of second stripes having a second width narrower than the first width , the second stripes being parallel to the first stripes .

this invention proposes the design of a central tower receiver using molten salts with a defined configuration , which facilitates its functioning and control during the operation of the thermoelectric solar plant . the main advantage of the design which is the object of this invention is that its implementation allows the useful life of the receiver to be increased and a decrease in the differences in temperature between the feed entrance and exit in the pipes which the receiver is composed of . as a consequence , there would be a reduction in the thermal tensions experienced by the material which can result in structural damage , such as fractures and cracks , mainly in the welded areas . to achieve this , a system is proposed involving recirculation of a percentage of the exit flow of the receiver ( mixture of hot molten salts ) upon their entrance . this flow percentage must result in the lowest possible load loss , generating at the same time admissible thermal losses for a fixed level of receiver efficiency . the receiver proposed in this invention , in order to reduce thermal losses , will be of a cavity type . cavity type receivers are defined as those which are installed at the top of a tower inside a gap or cavity , in order to minimize thermal losses due to radiation or convection . the configuration is in a semi cylindrical shape composed of panels , the receiver area is determined according to the thermal power of the design . the panels are formed of a combination of vertical pipes . the semi cylindrical shape of the receiver allows the maximization of the capture of solar radiation by the heliostat field . the cold molten salt ( heat transfer fluid ), originating from the storage tank , is not directly introduced into the receiver , as occurs in state - of - the - art systems , but supplies a mixture deposit which collects cold salt as well as a part of the hot recirculating salt mixing them together in the deposit , so that afterwards said mixture , of cold and hot molten salts , is introduced in the upper part of the vertical pipes which the receiver consists of . on the lower part , the hot salt is collected . part of the exit flow of this hot salt ( this proportion is defined for reasons of recirculation ) is recirculated in the mixture deposit and the rest is carried to the hot salt storage tank . the heating of the salt mixture is produced as the fluid advances through the interior of the combination of vertical pipes in the panels , absorbing the incident solar radiation on the surface . the configuration of the panels which the receiver consists of is in parallel . the distribution of the entrance fluid ( mixture of cold and hot molten salts ) within the panels is carried out using control valves on the upper part . the distribution of the flow of fluid is based on the incident solar radiation power in the panels ( distribution of non uniform incident flow over time ). as a result , in the panels which receive greater incident radiant power , a greater flow of refrigeration will circulate , in this way ensuring that the gradients in the pipe walls of the receivers are at a minimum during their operation . the recirculation of a part of the exit flow of the receiver ( hot molten salt ) at its entrance allows , as previously mentioned , reductions in the temperature variations between the entrance and the exit of the vertical pipes of the panels of which the receiver consists of and , as a consequence , reductions in the thermal dilations of the materials from which the pipes are manufactured . however , as the recirculation percentage increases , not only is there an increase in the difference in temperatures between the entrance and the exit of the vertical tubes that the receiver is composed of , but the load losses in the system increase , so that greater impulsion power of the working fluid is required . furthermore , the temperature of the metal in the surface of the receiver is greater , resulting in greater thermal losses , mainly due to radiation . as a result , a suitable selection with regards to optimal recirculation for established design power will lead to optimal functioning of the receiver . the proposed configuration of the molten salt receiver ( system with recirculation ) minimizes the technological risks which are present in other receivers , in those which the thermal cycles which the material must bear are stronger and , as a result , have a greater impact on the material . this device must offer solutions to some of the problems detected that exist in molten salt receiver technology and provide advantages in its use , such as the reduction in the risk of damage to the structure and the material of the receiver ; and increase the efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle with respect to that currently obtained with saturated and / or overheated steam receivers , thanks to which greater working temperatures are reached . to complete the description that is being made and with the object of assisting in a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention , accompanying said description is a set of drawings wherein , by way of illustration and not restrictively , the following has been represented : fig1 . configuration of a molten salt receiver formed by a panel with a recirculation system . fig2 . configuration of a molten salt receiver formed by four panels with a recirculation system . fig3 . geometry of a molten salt receiver formed by four panels . a list is provided below with the references used in the figures : ( 1 ) entrance flow to the receiver ( 2 ) exit flow from the receiver ( 3 ) entrance flow to the hot salt storage tank ( 4 ) recirculation flow of hot salt ( 5 ) entrance flow of cold salt to the mixer ( 6 ) mixer ( flows 4 and 5 ) ( 7 ) impulsion pump of the molten salt mixture ( 8 ) cold molten salt storage tank ( 9 ) hot molten salt storage tank ( 10 ) receiver panel formed by vertical pipes ( 11 ) panel 2 e ( east ) of the receiver ( 12 ) panel 1 e ( east ) of the receiver ( 13 ) panel 1 w ( west ) of the receiver ( 14 ) panel 2 w ( west ) of the receiver ( 15 ) control valve for the flow distribution of panel 2 e ( 16 ) control valve for the flow distribution of panel 1 e ( 17 ) control valve for the flow distribution of panel 1 w ( 18 ) control valve for the flow distribution of panel 2 w ( 19 ) focus point of the heliostat field to achieve a better understanding of the invention , there is a description below of the system and operation of a central tower receiver system using molten salts . as observed in fig1 , the molten salt receiver ( 10 ) is formed by a panel composed of vertical pipes . the cold molten salt ( 5 ), originating from the tank in which it is stored ( 8 ), is carried to supply a mixture deposit ( 6 ) where , by way of a supply line , hot molten salts ( 4 ) also arrive , so that the exit flow from the mixer ( 6 ) enters the upper part of the vertical pipes of which the receiver is composed of ( 10 ). on the lower part of said pipes , the hot salt is collected ( 2 ). part of the exit flow ( 2 ) ( the quantity being defined for reasons of recirculation which are established ) recirculates ( 4 ) to the mixture deposit ( 6 ) and the rest ( 3 ) is carried to the hot salt storage tank ( 9 ). the heating of the mixture of cold and hot salts ( 1 ) entering the receiver ( 10 ) is produced as the fluid advances through the interior of the combination of vertical pipes in the panels , absorbing the incident solar radiation on the surface . shown in the configuration of the four panel receiver ( fig2 ) is the circulation circuit of the working fluid in parallel through the panels and the flow of recirculation ( 4 ) from the exit ( 2 ) to the entrance ( 1 ) of the receiver . each panel ( 11 , 12 , 13 and 14 ) is composed of a combination of vertical pipes . the circulation of the fluid inside the receiver is identical to that described for fig1 . as observed in fig3 , the molten salt receiver is formed by four panels ( 11 , 12 , 13 and 14 ) with a semi cylindrical disposition . this configuration manages to collect all the solar energy reflected by the heliostat field which is directed at the focus point ( 19 ). the heat transfer fluid used in a preferred embodiment is a mixture of molten nitrate salts ; a preferred composition would be formed by 60 % of nano 3 and 40 % of kno 3 .

molten salt solar receiver and procedure to reduce the temperature gradient in said receiver . the receiver consists of at least one panel of semi cylindrical geometry , formed by a combination of vertical pipes . the receiver is supplied with a heat transfer fluid made up of molten salts which originate from a recirculation system which is composed of a mixture deposit , a hot salt storage tank and a cold salt storage tank ; the mixture tank which is supplied by a part of the hot heat transfer fluid which exits the receiver and the cold heat transfer fluid which exits the cold salt storage tank ; the hot salt storage tank is connected to the exit of the receiver so that a part of the heat transfer fluid which does not recirculate is stored .

a novel wheeled container or wheeled case , specifically and preferably a display case , is illustrated in fig1 through 3 of the drawings and is generally designated by the reference numeral 10 . the wheeled case 10 is defined by a one - piece container or case body 11 and a one - piece cover 12 , each being a one - piece substantially homogeneous molded polymeric / copolymeric member with the container body 11 and the cover 12 each being injection molded . the case body or container body or housing 11 is relatively elongated and includes a first or lower end 13 and a second or upper end 14 with the lower end 13 being closed by a bottom wall 15 , and the upper end defining an opening o ( fig4 ) defined by a substantially axially upwardly projecting cylindrical or peripheral wall 16 having a terminal upper edge 17 and merging at a lower end ( unnumbered ) with an annular wall or shoulder 18 . a pair of diametrically opposite thickened wall portions 20 , 20 ( fig5 ) extend upwardly from the annular wall 18 and end short of the terminal edge 17 . the thickened wall portions 20 , 20 lend rigidity to or reinforce the peripheral wall 16 of the upper end or end portion 14 of the housing or body 11 . a major portion ( unnumbered ) of the annular wall 18 lies in a generally radial plane normal to a longitudinal axis a ( fig5 ) of the casing body 11 while a minor portion ( unnumbered ) of the annular wall 18 converges upwardly and defines an upwardly converging wall potion 21 of the upper housing portion 14 ( fig5 ) for a purpose to be described more fully hereinafter . opposite sides ( unnumbered ) of the housing 11 include elongated oval - shaped recesses 22 which reinforce the housing 11 and each wall ( unnumbered ) of each recess 22 is itself further recessed by an upper plurality of side - by - side parallel reinforcing ribs 23 and a plurality of lower side - by - side parallel reinforcing ribs 24 . a carrying handle 25 defining a hand - receiving opening 26 is disposed between the two recess panels 22 at approximately one - half the distance between the opening o and the bottom wall 15 . a pair of shoulder strap receiving loops 27 , 28 are disposed in substantial longitudinal alignment with the handle 25 and are respectively positioned above and below the handle 25 . conventional latching means 30 , 31 are carried respectively by the upper end 14 of the case body or housing 11 and the cover 12 . reference is specifically directed to fig6 and a pair of identical wheels 41 , 42 and covering means or cover plates 43 , 44 , respectively , associated therewith . a shaft 45 of a cylindrical configuration includes opposite threaded ends 46 , 47 . opposite lower side walls 48 , only one of which is shown , are stepped - recessed to define a relatively deep wheel - receiving recess 50 defined by a relatively flat wall 51 and a curved wall 52 with the flat wall 51 having an opening 53 formed therein which may be reinforced by a cylindrical metal sleeve 54 . a cover plate - receiving recess 60 is shallower than the wheel - receiving recess 50 and is defined by a wall 61 substantially parallel to the wall 51 and an arcuate wall 62 with the wall 61 having an opening 63 formed therein . the recesses 50 , 60 associated with the wheel 41 are replicated identically at the opposite side wall ( unnumbered ) of the lower end portion 13 of the housing 11 associated with the wheel 42 and the covering means or covering plate 44 ( fig3 ). the covering means or covering plates 43 , 44 are also identical and each includes an edge 72 ( fig6 ) contoured to the configuration of the wall 62 , an opening 73 and an opening 74 . the wheels 41 , 42 and the covering plates 43 , 44 are assembled to the lower end 13 of the housing 11 by inserting the shaft 45 through the openings 53 of the opposite generally parallel walls 51 , 51 or the cylindrical metal sleeves 54 associated therewith . the threaded ends 46 , 47 project equal distances beyond the walls 51 and the wheels 41 , 42 are slipped over and beyond the threaded end portions 46 , 47 , respectively , of the shaft 45 . the covering plates 43 , 44 are then seated in the recesses 61 with the edges or walls 62 , 72 contiguous each other with the threaded ends 46 , 47 of the shaft 45 projecting outwardly of the openings 74 of the covering plates 43 , 44 . a conventional threaded fastener 75 is passed through the opening 73 of each covering plate 43 , 44 and is threaded into the opening 63 to rigidly connect each of the covering plates 43 , 44 in abutting relationship with the walls 61 . a conventional cap nut 76 is then threaded upon the threads 46 , 47 of the shaft 45 . since the wall 52 is substantially of a depth corresponding to the thickness of the wheels 41 , 42 , the wall 51 and the inner surface ( unnumbered ) of the covering plates 43 , 44 opposing the wall 51 define a wheel chamber having a depth corresponding to the thickness of the wheels 41 , 42 thereby assuring that the wheels 41 , 42 are at all times in parallel relationship to each other and are confined for rotation in parallel planes . furthermore , since the shaft 45 is supported by both the wall 51 and the covering plate 43 , 44 immediately adjacent each wheel 41 , 42 , the shaft 45 cannot deflect under heavy loads and the wear - life thereof is immeasurably extended beyond known conventional wheeled containers . moreover , should the wheels 41 , 42 require repair or replacement due to long years of normal wear and tear , the same can be readily replaced by rapidly removing each of the covering plates 43 , 44 in the manner obvious from the latter description . reference is specifically made to fig3 through 5 of the drawings and the cover 12 thereof which includes an interior generally cylindrical recess r defined by a substantially circular end panel or end wall 81 and a depending peripheral wall or peripheral skirt 82 having an inner surface ( unnumbered ) corresponding in size and configuration to the exterior surface ( unnumbered ) of the peripheral wall 16 ( fig4 ) of the upper end 14 of the housing 11 . diametrically opposite inner surfaces of the peripheral wall or skirt 82 are preferably relieved or slotted to form recesses 83 into which the thickened wall portions 20 seat when the cover 12 is closed and latched / locked . a pull handle 90 is disposed substantially diametrically opposite the latching means 30 , 31 and includes a hand grip or bight portion 91 and a pair of opposite arms or legs 92 , 93 merging with the peripheral wall or peripheral skirt 82 and setting - off therewith recess means in the form of t - shaped opening or slot 94 defined by oppositely directed arms 95 , 96 and a leg 97 . to either side of the leg 97 the peripheral skirt 82 is reinforced by relatively large thickened wall portions 101 , 102 carrying pivoting means in the form of respective pivot pins or pivot pin portions 103 , 104 which are in axially aligned opposed spaced relationship to each other . the pivot pins or pivot pin portions 103 , 104 are formed during the molding of the integral one - piece homogeneous cover 12 , as by injection molding , or can be instead formed as separate pins threaded into the enlarged or thickened wall portions 101 , 102 after the molding of the cover 12 . complementary pivot pin - receiving recesses or slots 113 , 114 are integrally formed in the upwardly converging wall portion 21 ( fig5 ) of the upper end portion 14 of the housing 11 . each of the slots 113 , 114 opens generally radially outwardly of the longitudinal axis a , and each slot 113 , 114 includes an entrance portion ( unnumbered ) narrower than the diameter of the pivot pins 103 , 104 and a blind end portion ( unnumbered ) corresponding in diameter to the diameter of the pivot pins 103 , 104 . the pivot pins 103 , 104 are forced through the narrow entrance openings or opening portions of the respective slots 113 , 114 which is achieved by the flexible nature of the polymeric / copolymeric material . however , once the pivot pins 103 , 104 pass the narrow entrance portions , the material thereof rebounds , the pivot pins 103 , 104 seat and are journalled for rotation in the blind end portions of the recesses 113 , 114 , and the cover 12 readily pivots between the open ( fig4 ) and closed ( fig3 ) positions thereof . it is to be particularly noted that the location of the pivot means 103 , 104 , 113 and 114 and the pull handle 90 are substantially in overlying relationship to the wheels 41 , 42 , as is readily apparent from fig3 of the drawings . thus , the hand grip portion 91 of the handle 90 can be gripped when the latching means 30 , 31 is closed and the wheeled case can be tilted and pulled in a conventional manner . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been specifically illustrated and described herein , it is to be understood that minor variations may be made in the apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , as defined the appended claims .

a wheeled container includes a one - piece molded polymeric / copolymeric container body defined by an elongated housing closed at a first end by a bottom wall ad having an opposite second end defining an opening . a one - piece molded polymeric / copolymeric cover is pivotally connected to a peripheral edge portion of the container body second end for pivotal movement between a first closed and a second open position respectively closing and opening the container second end opening . the cover has a handle projecting substantially radially away from a longitudinal axis of the housing , and a pair of relatively spaced wheels are located at the first end of the container at a side of the housing corresponding to a side from which the handle projects . latches are disposed substantially diametrically opposite to the handle for retaining the cover in the closed position .

for the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the invention , reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same . it will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended . any alterations and further modifications of the illustrated device , and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein , which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and in possession of this disclosure , are to be considered within the scope of the invention claimed . applicant has discovered that the functional appeal of curbing and flatwork can be enhanced significantly by projecting a continuous beam of light along the curbing or flatwork . in presently preferred embodiments , the curbing or flatwork includes one or more elongate channels formed therein , and the lighting is separately sheathed and removably disposed in the channel to produce a continuous beam of light 15 ( shown in fig1 and 6 ) along the curbing or flatwork . the lighting preferably comprises a sequence of small , closely - spaced light bulbs disposed in a flexible translucent or transparent sheath , and the lighting thereby resembles a rope . other sources of light may be utilized in lieu of bulbs , such as solar - power devices , laser - light devices , or light - emitting fibers such as glass fibers , plastic fibers , or any other suitable device capable of producing light . referring now to fig1 there is shown one embodiment of the invention , in the form of lighted curbing designated generally at 10 . the lighted curbing includes curbing 12 having a channel 14 formed therein , said channel 14 preferably extending along the entire length of the curbing 12 . lighting 16 is disposed in the channel . the lighting 16 is preferably glued to at least one of the sidewalls forming the channel 14 with any suitable type of glue . the lighting 16 preferably includes an elongate , flexible transparent sheath 18 in which a light source 20 is disposed . the light source 20 is operatively connected by connecting line 22 to a remote power source 24 , as shown schematically in fig1 . the connecting line 22 may selectively extend underground to be concealed from observers . the light source 20 may comprise any suitable device for producing light , including a plurality of bulbs as shown in fig1 or a solar powered device as known in the art , or a laser light device as known in the art , or light - emitting fibers as known in the art , including flexible glass fibers , flexible plastic fibers , or any other suitable type of light - emitting fiber as known in the art . in the embodiment shown in fig1 wherein the light source 20 comprises light bulbs , the bulbs are preferably spaced within the sheath 18 at a spacing of at least four bulbs per foot . more preferably , the light bulbs are spaced within the sheath 18 at a spacing of at least six bulbs per foot . the power source 24 is a schematic representation of whatever power source would necessary to render operative the light source 20 as understood by those of ordinary skill in the relevant fields , whether the light source 20 be conventional light bulbs , a solar powered light device , a laser light device , or light - emitting fibers such as a bundle of fiber - optic fibers . for example , the power source 24 could be a solar power means for receiving sunlight and producing electricity therefrom that is conveyed by the connecting line 22 to the light source 20 , and the light source 20 would be an artificial light means disposed within the channel 14 of the curbing 12 receiving the electricity from the solar power means and producing artificial light therefrom . the curbing 12 includes a front section having a preferably convex face 26 , and a rear section preferably comprising a substantially planer face 28 . the channel 14 of fig1 is formed in the convex face 26 of the front section , and is an open , recessed channel . the curbing 12 can be utilized as a border , such as to separate a lawn terrain area from a planting bed terrain area . it will be appreciated that the curbing 12 is one of many types of structures that can be described as a curbing means for residing in a stationary position upon terrain and for forming an elongate boundary between a first terrain area and a second terrain area , said curbing means having a channel formed therein , said channel having an open side along its length . it will be further appreciated that the lighting 16 is one of many types of structure that can be described as a continuous , elongate , hollow sheath and a light source means for producing light within said sheath , said sheath being configured and dimensioned for inserting into the open side of a channel along the length of the channel and residing within said channel to thereby project light outwardly from , and along at least a portion of , curbing in which the channel is formed . it is preferred that substantially all portions of the curbing 12 are constructed entirely of a material capable of blocking transmission of light therethrough . the channel 14 preferably extends along at least a majority length of the curbing 12 , and the sheath 18 preferably has a length of at least a majority length of the channel 14 . more preferably , the channel 14 and sheath 18 both extend along substantially the entire length of the curbing 12 . the channel 14 preferably has a cross - sectional area that is less than one - tenth of a cross - sectional area of the curbing 12 , more preferably less than one - fifteenth of a cross - sectional area of the curbing 12 , and most preferably less than one - twentieth or even one - thirtieth of a cross - sectional area of the curbing 12 . referring now to fig1 - 4 and 6 collectively , it will be appreciated that channels for receiving the lighting 16 may be formed in essentially any portion of the curbing . the channel 16 in fig1 is formed in the front , convex face 26 , while the channel 30 of fig6 is formed in the rear , substantially planer face 28 . alternatively and as shown in fig2 channels 32 and 34 may be formed in both the front , convex face 26 and in the rear , substantially planer face 28 , respectively , if desired . it is to be understood that the front , convex face 26 may also be described as a crown . referring now to fig3 - 4 , it will be appreciated that the curbing may assume any cross - sectional shape desired by the builder , such as the square or rectangular cross section with rounded upper corners 36 as depicted in fig4 with a channel 38 formed therein for receiving lighting 16 . the cross section may also comprise a somewhat triangular shape as depicted in fig3 with a channel 40 formed therein for receiving lighting 16 . the channel formed in the curbing 12 is preferably continuous and uninterrupted along its length . most preferably , the sheath 18 resides continuously within the open channel 14 without exiting any portion of the open side 14c of said channel 14 when placed for operation . the open channel 14 is defined by sidewalls 14a and 14b , and the sheath 18 is preferably narrower than said open channel 14 to thereby enable either insertion or removal of said sheath 18 into and from said channel 14 , respectively , without exposing the light source 20 to potential contact with the walls 14a and 14b defining said channel 14 . the open side 14c of the channel 14 preferably remains uncovered along its length when the sheath 18 resides within said channel 14 . it is further preferable that the sheath 18 be flexible and have an interior width , and the light source 20 reside within said sheath 18 and have a smaller width than the interior width of said sheath 18 to thereby enable said flexible sheath 18 to bend without breaking said light source 20 contained within said sheath 18 . the sheath 18 is preferably bendable into a circle having a diameter of less than two feet without breaking the light source 20 . more preferably , the sheath 18 is bendable into a circle having a diameter of less than one foot without breaking the light source 20 . most preferably , the sheath 18 is bendable into a circle having a diameter of less than six inches without breaking the light source 20 . as shown in fig5 the curbing 12 need not include a channel , and the lighting 16 may simply be disposed on the curbing 12 at any desired location , such as along the rear face 28 as shown . of course , the lighting 16 may also be disposed along the front , convex face 26 if desired . the curbing 12 is preferably formed of a cementitious material such as concrete . the curbing 12 preferably comprises a front sidewall 42 , the opposing rear sidewall 28 , and a top wall 44 extending from the rear sidewall 28 inwardly and at least partially toward the front sidewall 42 , and wherein a crown portion includes a first portion 46 extending from the front sidewall 42 inwardly toward the rear sidewall 28 and a second portion 48 ( shown most clearly in fig2 ) extending upwardly from the first portion 46 into a junction 50 ( shown most clearly in fig2 ) with the top wall 44 , such that second portion 48 of the crown portion and the top wall 44 collectively form a concave surface . as shown in fig2 the channel 14 is preferably formed in the second portion 48 of the crown portion . it will be appreciated that material used to form the curbing 12 , such as cementitious material like concrete , will have a density of at least 50 pounds per cubic foot , and more likely a density of at least 100 pounds per cubic foot , and most likely a density of at least 130 pounds per cubic foot . the lighted curbing of the invention may be placed in any setting desired . as shown in fig6 the curbing 12 may be placed near a wall 52 to separate a planting bed terrain area 54 from a lawn area 56 , for example . in such a case , the curbing 12 could include the channel 30 formed in the rear face 28 to thereby project the continuous stream of light 15 from the curbing 12 onto the wall 52 . referring now to fig1 - 12 , it will be appreciated that the light source 20 may also be included in various forms of flat work . the phrase &# 34 ; flat work &# 34 ; as used herein shall refer broadly to any structure having surfaces that are mostly flat , regardless of the material from which the structure is made , including , but not limited to , the sidewalk 60 of fig1 , the wall 70 of fig1 , and the stairs 80 of fig1 . the sidewalk 60 , wall 70 and stairs 80 are examples of structures that may be described as a flatwork structure for supporting either static loads or dynamic loads . the sidewalk 60 has a recessed channel 62 formed therein , said channel 62 having an open side 62a along its length . an illumination means such as the lighting 16 is disposed within the channel 62 . a second channel 64 may also be formed in the sidewalk 60 . the wall 70 has a recessed channel 72 formed therein , said channel 72 having an open side 72a along its length , and wherein an illumination means such as the lighting 16 resides within said recessed channel 72 . the stairs 80 has at least one recessed channel 82 formed therein , said channel having an open side 82a along its length , and wherein an illumination means such as the lighting 16 resides within said recessed channel 82 . the channel 82 extends along a corner section 84 of the stairs 80 without extending across any corner of the stairs 80 . the stairs 80 may further include a channel 86 is formed within steps 85 of the stairs 80 . the channel 86 extends continuously across several sequential steps 85 and around male and female corners 84 and 88 , respectively , of said steps 85 . lighting 16 resides within the channel 86 and extends flexibly within said channel 86 and thus also across said several sequential steps 85 and around the male and female corners 84 and 88 , respectively , of said steps 85 . it will be appreciated that the structure and apparatus disclosed herein is merely one example of an illumination means for projecting light , and it should be appreciated that any structure , apparatus or system for projecting light which performs functions the same as , or equivalent to , those disclosed herein are intended to fall within the scope of an illumination means , including those structures , apparatus or systems for projecting light which are presently known , or which may become available in the future . anything which functions the same as , or equivalently to , an illumination means for projecting light falls within the scope of this element . referring now to fig7 - 9 , and in accordance with the features and combinations described above , a preferred method of assembling a ground curb system includes the steps of : ( a ) placing upon a predetermined area of terrain a curbing 12 for residing in a stationary position upon said terrain and forming an elongate boundary between a first terrain area and a second terrain area ; and ( b ) removably placing on the curbing an illumination means for projecting light from said curbing , said illumination means comprising a flexible hollow sheath and light source means for producing light within said flexible hollow sheath . the method described above may be further augmented , wherein step ( a ) further comprises forming the curbing 12 by advancing an at least partially uncured cementitious compound 90 through a mold 92 having an interior surface 94 and a projection 96 projecting inwardly from said interior surface 94 , in a manner sufficient to cause said compound 90 to mold around said projection 96 to thereby form an open , recessed channel 30 in the curbing 12 . referring briefly to fig9 the compound 90 is fed through the mold 92 as indicated by arrow 93 , by any suitable machine or device , represented in schematic phantom line at 95 , such as a conventional curbing machine as known to those in the field of concrete curbing . as such , the mold 92 has the projection 96 disposed on a rear , substantially planer section 98 of said mold 92 . in the alternative , a mold 100 ( shown in fig8 ) may be used having a projection 102 disposed on a convex face 104 of a front section of the mold 100 . the mold 92 and the mold 100 are each preferably characterized by an absence of abrupt corners or grooves as shown , except for the projections 96 and 102 , respectively . the projections 96 and 102 preferably have a cross - sectional shape of either a square or a rectangle as shown . referring now to fig1 and 13 - 14 , there is shown another embodiment of a mold , designated generally at 110 , made in accordance with the principles of the present invention . the mold 110 has been found by applicant to be a highly effective tool in forming the curbing 12 ( fig1 ), and in particular in forming the channel 14 . it will be appreciated that other versions of the mold 110 may be constructed for forming the channels 30 ( fig6 ), 32 and 34 ( fig2 ), or any other channel . the curbing 12 is preferably formed from an uncured , flowable material having a non - rigid consistency prior to being cured , such as concrete or some other cementitious compound . as such , the sidewalls 14a and 14b of the channel 14 are at risk of collapsing when the curbing 12 is newly formed but uncured . one solution to this is to removably place a bracing means 114 , which is preferably an elongate strip of polymeric foam material , inside the channel 14 until the curbing 12 has cured sufficiently . as such , the bracing means 114 operates as a means removably placeable in the channel 14 of the curbing 12 prior to curing of said curbing for preventing collapse of the sidewalls 14a and 14b defining said channel 14 during curing of said curbing 12 . in additional to a polymeric foam material , the bracing means 114 may alternatively comprise any suitable material for satisfying the purpose of preventing collapse of the channel 14 , such as wood , cardboard , and non - foam polymeric material . in accordance with the features and combinations described above , a preferred method of assembling a ground curb system includes the steps of : ( a ) forming the curbing 12 by advancing an at least partially uncured compound through the mold 110 having an interior surface and a projection 112 projecting inwardly from said interior surface , in a manner sufficient to cause said compound to mold around said projection 112 to thereby form the open , recessed channel 14 in the curbing means ; ( b ) removably placing the bracing means 114 in the channel 14 of the curbing 12 prior to curing of said curbing 12 for preventing collapse of sidewalls defining said channel 14 during curing of said curbing 12 . step ( b ) above may be augmented by the step of feeding the bracing means 114 through the projection 112 of the mold 110 as the uncured compound is advanced through the mold 110 . for example , step ( b ) may include the step of feeding the bracing means 114 along a movement path through the projection 112 that progresses first ( i ) through an upper opening 116 in the projection 112 , then ( ii ) through a majority length of the projection 112 , then ( iii ) through an end opening 118 in the projection 112 and into the channel 14 . it will be appreciated that the mold 110 comprises a first side 120 and an opposing second side 122 , and a first open end 124 and an opposing second open end 126 , said first and second open ends 124 and 126 residing between the first and second sides 120 and 122 . the mold 110 , having such structural attributes , is the type of mold utilized in a continuous forming type of a process whereby the uncured concrete is simply fed through the mold 110 , and the mold 110 advances along as explained above in conjunction with fig9 to form the curbing 12 in a continuous sequence instead of forming all portions of the curbing 12 simultaneously . in contrast and in reference now to fig1 , curbing may be formed as a &# 34 ; simultaneous &# 34 ; process in that all portions of a section of curbing are molded simultaneously instead in sequentially . the scope of the invention includes a &# 34 ; pre - fab &# 34 ; mold designated generally at 130 , wherein the mold 130 comprises a generally arcuate shape configured for forming an arcuate section of curbing . the mold 130 includes a concave , interior surface 132 and a projection 134 extending outwardly from the interior surface 132 for forming an open channel in the curbing for receiving a section of the lighting 16 described above in conjunction with fig1 . the mold 130 is shown accompanied by a companion mold 140 depicted schematically in phantom line with the understanding that mold 140 corresponds in shape and structure to the mold 130 but opposite in arcuate direction . the molds 130 and 140 preferably comprise companion semi - circles for shaping concrete curbing having a consistent shape and channel for receiving the lighting 16 ( fig1 ), for example to encircle the base of a tree or shrub . referring now to fig1 and 17 , there are shown &# 34 ; pre - fab &# 34 ; forms in schematic illustration , for use in constructing the sidewalk 60 and wall 70 of fig1 and 11 , respectively . it is to be understood that any type of curbing , flatwork , or any other structure can be formed to include an open channel for receiving the lighting 16 therein , and the forms shown in fig1 and 17 are therefore intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive of the instruments and devices with which lighted flatwork might be constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention . as such , the forms of fig1 and 17 , and any equivalents or alternatives , may each be described as a mold defining a surface of a flatwork structure , said mold having an interior surface and including an elongate projection disposed on said interior surface defining a shape of the channel of the flatwork structure . for example , in fig1 is a form designated generally at 150 , including an interior surface 151 and elongate projections 152 and 154 for forming the channels 62 and 64 shown in fig1 . similarly , in fig1 is a set of forms designated generally at 160 , including interior surfaces 161 and an elongate projection 162 for forming the channel 72 shown in fig1 . the invention described herein is new , useful and nonobvious over the prior art known to applicant , for the reasons described herein . the use of a continuous channel formed directly as a part of the curbing , wherein the channel has a relatively small cross - sectional area in comparison to the cross - sectional area of the curbing , in combination with using a flexible light rope 16 that is even narrower than the channel , account for many of the advantages provided by the invention . it is to be understood that the above - described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the present invention . numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements .

an apparatus and method of lighted ground curbing , flatwork and other structures having a recessed channel formed therein for receiving a length of flexible sheathed lighting . the separately sheathed lighting is adequately protected independent of the curbing , flatwork or other structure , and is powered by a power source residing separately and independently of the curbing , to thereby eliminate any need for electrical sockets or protective covering to be included as part of the curbing or flatwork portion . the lighting operates to project a substantially continuous stream of light extending continuously along the recess formed in the curbing , flatwork or other structure .

before discussing the details of the antenna switching circuit and the branching circuit proposed herein and their advantages over the prior art , reference is directed to fig1 in which an example of a conventional antenna switching circuit is illustrated . in fig1 the conventional antenna switching circuit is adapted to perform the diversity receiving of vhf band signals and constructed generally symmetrically . this antenna switching circuit is provided with a first antenna input terminal in a1 and a second antenna input terminal in a2 to which two independent antenna output signals are connected respectively . the first antenna input terminal in a1 is connected , through a capacitor 3 , to a junction between a cathode of a first switching diode 1 and an anode of a second switching diode 2 . the first and second switching diodes form a first series circuit of unidirectional switching elements . an anode of the first switching diode 1 is connected to a first output terminal out 1 through a capacitor 4 . a cathode of the second switching diode 2 is grounded through a capacitor 5 and also connected to the anode of the first switching diode 1 through an rf ( radio frequency ) signal stopping coil 6 . the junction between the cathode of the first switching diode 1 and the anode of the second switching diode 2 is connected to a collector of a transistor 8 through an rf signal stopping coil 7 . a base of the transistor 8 is connected to a control input terminal in c1 through a resistor 9 and its emitter is grounded . a power voltage v b is supplied to the collector of the transistor 8 through a resistor 10 . the other part of the symmetric construction which is connected to the second antenna input terminal in a2 is made up of third and fourth switching diodes 11 and 12 , a capacitor 13 , an rf signal stopping coil 17 , transistor 18 , and resistors 19 and 20 . since the mutual connections among these circuit elements are the same as in the above explained part of the symmetric construction , explanation thereof will not be repeated . the third and fourth switching diodes 11 and 12 together form a second series circuit of third and fourth unidirectional switching elements further , the anode of the switching diode 11 is connected to the junction between the anode of the first switching diode 1 and the capacitor 4 . similarly , the cathode of the switching diode 12 is connected to the junction point of the cathode of the switching diode 2 . a terminal of the capacitor 13 is connected to the antenna input terminal in a2 . a base of the transistor is connected to a second control input terminal in c2 via a resistor 19 . a second output terminal out 2 is provided and connected to the second antenna input terminal in a2 through a coil 21 . for the receiving operation , an antenna of vhf ( very high frequency ) band , for receiving fm broadcasting signals , is connected to the first antenna input terminal in a1 and an antenna covering both vhf band and mf ( medium frequency ) band , for receiving fm and am broadcasting signals , is connected to the second antenna input terminal in a2 . the first output terminal out 1 is connected to an rf input terminal of a receiver ( not shown ) for the fm broadcasting band and the second output terminal out 2 is connected to an rf input terminal for am broadcasting signals of mf band . thus only fm broadcasting signals are received by the diversity receiving system . in operation , if the fm broadcasting signals of vhf band are to be received , the power voltage v b is supplied to the power supply terminal of the circuit . on the other hand , if the am broadcasting signals of mf band are to be received , the supply of the power voltage v b is stopped . further , during the receiving of the fm broadcasting signals , a high level control signal is applied to one of control input terminals in a1 and in a2 and a low level control signal is applied to the other one of control input terminals in a1 and in a2 . assume that the high level control signal is applied to the control input terminal in c1 and the low level control signal is applied to the control input terminal in c2 . the transistor 8 is turned on and the transistor 18 is turned off . under this condition , due to the application of the power voltage v b , a current flows through the resistor 10 and the transistor 8 to the ground . also a current which serves as a bias current of the diodes 12 and 1 flows through a path consisting of the resistor 20 , the coil 6 , the diode 6 , the coil 7 , and the transistor 8 , to the ground . in this way , the diodes 1 and 12 are switched on , while the diodes 2 and 11 are switched off . thus the rf input signals from the antenna input terminal in a1 are supplied to the output terminal out 1 through the capacitor 3 , the diode 1 , and the capacitor 4 . on the other hand , the rf input signals from the antenna input terminal in a2 are grounded through the capacitor 13 , the diode 12 , and the capacitor 5 . in this way , the rf signals from the antenna connected to the antenna input terminal in a1 are supplied to the receiver with the application of the high level control signal at the control input terminal in c1 . conversely , when the low level control signal is applied to the control input terminal in c1 and the high level control signal is applied to the control input terminal in c2 , the transistor 8 is turned off and the transistor 18 is turned on . under this condition , a current flows through the resistor 20 and the transistor 18 due to the supply of the power voltage v b . at the same time , a current which serves as a bias current of the diodes 2 , 11 flows through a path consisting of the resistor 10 , the coil 7 , the diode 2 , the coil 6 , the diode 11 , the coil 17 , and the transistor 18 , to the ground . thus the diodes 2 and 11 are switched on , while the diodes 1 and 12 are switched off . in this state , the rf input signals from the antenna input terminal in a2 are supplied to the output terminal out 1 through the capacitor 13 , the diode 11 , and the capacitor 4 . on the other hand , the rf input signals from the antenna input terminal in a1 are grounded through the capacitor 3 , the diode 2 , and the capacitor 5 . thus the rf signals from the antenna connected to the antenna input terminal in a2 are supplied to the receiver . while receiving am broadcasting signals where the supply of the power voltage v b is stopped , rf signals from the antenna input terminal in a2 are supplied to the output terminal out 1 through the coil 21 . it is to be noted that the coil 21 transmits the rf signals of the mf band , such as the am broadcasting band , well , while it exhibits a high resistance to the rf signals of the vhf band , such as the fm broadcasting band , and it transmits almost no rf signals of the vhf band . on the other hand , the capacitor 13 transmits the rf signals of vhf band well , while it exhibits a great resistance to the rf signals of the mf band , and it transmits almost no rf signals of the am broadcasting band . as mentioned before , in the case of the conventional antenna switching circuits such as the above explained example , it was rather inconvenient that two independent output terminals out 1 and out 2 respectively for the rf signals of vhf band and the rf signals of mf band were necessary . moreover , two input terminals for the rf signals of the fm broadcasting band and the rf signals of the am broadcasting band were also required on the receiver &# 39 ; s side , corresponding to the output terminals of the antenna switching circuit . for reducing the number of the output terminals , it is conceivable to directly connect the output terminals out 1 and out 2 with each other . however in that case , it will be difficult to prevent a level drop of the rf signals of the am broadcasting band during the am reception since the rf signals at the output terminal out 2 will be grounded through the output terminal out 1 , the capacitor 4 , the coil 6 , and the capacitor 5 . this is so because the coil 6 has a very low impedance against the rf signals of the am broadcasting band . the embodiment of the antenna switching circuit according to the present invention will be explained hereinafter with reference to fig2 of the accompanying drawings . in fig2 the antenna switching circuit of the present invention has basically the same construction as the antenna switching circuit of fig1 and the explanation of the connection of the corresponding circuit elements will not be repeated here . this antenna switching circuit is characterized by the following circuit elements in addition to the construcion of fig1 . firstly , a diode 23 is provided , as a fifth unidirectional switching element , between the coil 6 and the common connection point of the anodes of the diodes 1 and 11 . more specifically , a cathode of the diode 23 is connected to the anodes of the diodes 1 and 11 and the anode of the diode 23 is connected to a terminal of the coil 6 . instead of directly connecting the second antenna input terminal in a2 with a terminal of the capacitor 13 , the second antenna input terminal in a2 is connected to a terminal of a primary winding 25a of a transformer 25 through a capacitor 24 . the other terminal of the primary winding 25a is connected to the output terminal out 1 through a capacitor 6 and a coil 27 , and at the same time grounded through a diode 28 which can be forward biased . also the other terminal of the primary widing 25 is supplied with the power voltage v b through a resistor 29 and a diode 30 whose anode is connected to a power supply side . the anode of the diode 30 is grounded through a capacitor 31 . a secondary winding 25b of the transformer 25 is grouned at a terminal thereof and the other terminal is connected to the capacitor 13 whose other terminal is connected in the same manner as the antenna switching circuit of fig1 . the operation of the thus constructed antenna switching circuit according to the present invention will be explained hereinafter . during the receiving of the fm broadcasting signals , the power voltage v b is supplied and a current flows through the resistor 29 , diode 30 , and the diode 28 to the ground . accordingly , the diodes 28 , 30 are switched on and a voltage level of the terminal of the primary winding 25a to which the diodes 28 , 30 are connected is set at the ground level . under this condition , the input rf signals from the antenna input terminal in a1 are transmitted from the primary winding 25a to the secondary winding 25b and supplied to the capacitor 13 . therefore , under this condition , in the same manner as the conventional antenna switching circuits . rf signals from one of the antenna input terminals in a1 and in a2 are supplied to the output terminal out 1 in accordance with the state of the levels of the control input terminals in c1 and in c2 . in addition , the diode 23 is switched on by the current flowing therethrough . on the other hand , in the case of the receiving of the am broadcasting signals , the diodes 28 , 30 are switched off since the supply of the power voltage v b is stopped . therefore , the rf signals from the antenna input terminal in a2 are supplied to the output terminal out 1 through the capacitor 24 , the primary coil 25a , the capacitor 26 , and the coil 27 . under this condition , the diodes 1 , 11 , 23 are switched off and the rf signals are prevented from flowing into the capacitor 4 . thus the level drop of the rf signals is prevented . further , the inductance of the coil 27 is selected such that it transmits the rf signals of mf band well , while it exhibits a great resistance to the rf signals of the vhf band . therefore , the coil 27 transmits almost no rf signals of the fm broadcasting band and the flow of the rf signals from the output terminal out 1 to the coil 27 during the receiving of the fm broadcasting signals is prevented . in the above explained embodiment , the rf signals of the am broadcasting band and the rf signals of the fm broadcasting band are directed from the antenna input terminal in a2 to the output terminal out 1 by way of two independent paths respectively due to the operation of the circuit consisting of the transformer 25 , the diodes 28 and 30 , and the resistor 29 . however , it is to be noted that the circuit can by simplified by eliminating the above mentioned circuit portion . in that case , the level drop of the rf signals of the mf band is also prevented by the circuit construction almost the same as the circuit shown in fig1 while the output terminals out 1 and out 2 are directly connected with each other and the diode 23 is placed between the coil 6 and the capacitor 4 . thus , with the antenna switching circuit according to the present invention , a bias current is supplied to the first and second series circuits each of which is made up of two unidirectional switch elements , such as diodes , so that rf signals of the fm broadcasting band obtained from two independent antenna input terminals are selectively supplied to an output terminal . further , an additional series circuit made up of a coil and a unidirectional switch element , for blocking the flow of hte rf signals of the fm broadcasting band therethrough , is provided in parallel with the first and second series circuits . therefore , when the rf signals of the am broadcasting band are supplied to the output terminal when the rf signals of the fm broadcasting band are not selected , the grounding of the rf signals through the coil which might be experienced with the prior art is prevented since each of the unidirectional switching elements is switched off . thus , the level drop of the rf signals of the am broadcasting band is preveted . in this way , the selective supply of the rf signals of two different bands such as the fm and am broadcasting bands through a single output terminal has become possible . as a result , the connection of the antenna switching circuit to a receiver is enabled by a single output terminal and is much simpler than conventional circuits . turning to fig3 an embodiment of the branching circuit according to the present invention which takes the form of the antenna switching circuit will be explained hereinafter . in fig3 the circuit has two antenna input terminals in a1 and in a2 as in the previous embodiment . a capacitor 3 is connected between the antenna input terminal in a1 and a stationary contact a 1 of a switch 34 . the switch 34 has another stationary contact a 2 and a movable contact which is connected to an output terminal out and the operation of the switch 34 is controlled by external control signals . the antenna input terminal in a2 is connected to the stationary contact a 2 of the switch 34 through a dc blocking capacitor 24 and a transformer 25 whose connection will be explained later . thus the selection between the rf signals from the antenna input terminal in a1 and the rf signal from the antenna input terminal in a2 is performed by the switch 34 . as mentioned above , the dc blocking capacitor 24 is connected to the transformer 25 at a terminal of a primary winding 25a . the other terminal of the primary winding 25a is connected to the output terminal out through a dc blocking capacitor 26 and a coil 27 , and at the same time is connected to an anode of a diode 28 whose cathode is connected to the ground . also , a cathode of a diode 30 is connected to this terminal of the primary winding 25a . an anode of the diode 30 is connected to a resistor 29 which , in turn , is connected to a cathode of a diode 32 whose anode is supplied with a power voltage v b during the receiving of the fm broadcasting signals . in addition , the anode of the diode 30 is grounded through a capacitor 31 . further , during the receiving of an am broadcasting signal , an agc voltage v g from a receiver connected to this switching circuit is supplied , through a diode 33 whose anode is arranged on the supply side of the agc voltage , to the junction between the resistor 29 and the cathode of the diode 32 . a terminal of the secondary winding 25b of the transformer 25 is connected to the stationary contact a 2 of the switch 34 and the other terminal of the secondary winding 25b is grounded . selection of the stationary contacts a 1 or a 2 of the switch 34 is enabled only when the power voltage v b is supplied thereto and the position of the movable contact thereof is controlled by a level of a switching signal which is applied at a control terminal in c . in other words , the movable contact of the switch 34 is set at a neutral position when the power voltage v b is not supplied . for operating this antenna switching circuit , an antenna 35 of the vhf band for receiving the fm broadcasting signals is connected to the antenna input terminal in a1 , and an antenna 36 which covers the vhf band and the mf band for receiving the fm and am broadcasting signals is connected to the antenna input terminal in a2 . the output terminal out is connected to an rf input terminal of the receiver . thus only fm broadcasting signals of the vhf band are received by the diversity receiving process . the operation of the thus constructed antenna switching circuit will be explained hereinafter . the power voltage v b is supplied in the case of the receiving of the fm broadcasting signals . by the application of the power voltage v b , a current having a magnitude above a predetermined level flows into the ground through the diode 32 , the resistor 29 , the diode 30 , and the diode 28 , as a bias current . therefore , the diodes 28 and 30 are switched on and the voltage level of the terminal of the primary winding 25a of the transformer 25 at which the diodes 28 , 30 are connected becomes almost equal to the ground level . therefore , the rf signals from the antenna input terminal in a2 are transmitted from the primary winding 25a to the secondary winding 25b and the stationary contact a 2 of the switch 34 . at the same time , by the supply of the power voltage v b , the switch 34 is activated and the movable contact is connected to one of the stationary contacts a 1 and a 2 according to the level of the switch control signal applied at the control terminal in c . when the stationary contact a 1 is selected , rf signals obtained at the antenna 35 and supplied at the antenna input terminal in a1 are transmitted to the output terminal out through the capacitor 3 and the switch 34 . when , on the other hand , the stationary contact a 2 is selected , rf signals obtained at the antenna 36 and supplied at the antenna input terminal in a2 are transmitted to the output terminal out through the capacitor 24 , the transformer 25 , and the switch 34 . in the case of the receiving of the fm broadcasting signals , the rf signals transmitted to the output terminal out from the switch 34 does not flow into the coil 27 since the coil 27 has a high impedance characteristic to the rf signals of the fm broadcasting band . in the case of the receiving of the am broadcasting signals , the supply of the power voltage v b is stopped so that the movable contact of the switch 34 is set at the neutral position . under this condition , on the other hand , rf signals from the antenna 36 which are supplied from the antenna input terminal in a2 are transmitted to the output terminal out , through the capacitor 24 , the primary winding 25a , the capacitor 26 , and the coil 27 . in this state , the primary winding 25a of the transformer 25 serves simply as an inductance . however , the impedance thereof becomes almost negligible against the rf signals of the am broadcasting band . on the other hand , when the level of an rf signal received by the receiver becomes large , the agc voltage v g which is obtained by rectifying an output signal of an intermediate frequency amplification stage of the receiver is supplied to the switching circuit . therefore , a current whose magnitude corresponds to the level of agc voltage v g flows into the ground through the diode 33 , resistor 29 , and the diodes 30 and 28 . since the magnitude of this current is smaller than the aforementioned predetermined level , the current does not cause the conduction of the diode 28 to a degree at which the voltage level at the terminal of the primary winding 25a becomes equal to the ground level . therefore , the input rf signals are attenuated at a ratio determined by the impedance value of the diode 28 and the impedance value of the circuit portion viewed from the anode of the diode 28 towards the antenna 36 . since the impedance of the diode 28 becomes small as the magnitude of the current flowing therethrough increases , it becomes small as the level of the agc voltage v g becomes large . therefore , the degree of the attenuation of the rf signals becomes large as the level of the agc voltage v g increases . in this way , the level of the rf signals of the am broadcasting band supplied to the receiver is controlled according to the agc voltage v g . in the above described example of the antenna switching circuit , the circuit is so constructed that two antennas are used for the receiving of the fm broadcasting signals . however , it is to be noted that the application of present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and the antenna switching circuit can be constructed to have more than two antenna input terminals for antennas of the vhf band , so that one , of the more than two antennas , is selected . thus in the case of the branching circuit according to the present invention which is embodied as an antenna switching circuit in the prefered embodiment , a terminal of a primary winding of a transformer having the primary winding and a secondary winding connected via an ac coupling to an input terminal of the rf signals and the other terminal of the primary winding connected to a switch element such as a diode which in turn is connected to a point of a reference potential . when rf signals of the higher one of the two different frequency bands such as the fm broadcasting band are to be selected , a bias current is supplied to the switch element so that a potential level of the other terminal of the primary winding is made equal to the reference potential , and the rf signals are derived through the secondary winding . when , on the other hand , rf signals of the lower one of the frequency bands such as the am broadcasting band are to be selected , a bias current is supplied so that the impedance of the switch element is varied in response to a control voltage such as the agc voltage , and the rf signals are derived after being attenuated by the impedance of the switching element . in , this way , the branching circuit according to the present invention is capable of functioning also as an attenuation circuit of the rf signals . by employing the branching circuit according to the present invention , it becomes possible to expand the range of operation of the agc circuit of a receiver , which in turn improves a high input characteristic of the receiver . moreover , if the branching circuit of the present invention is used for an am / fm receiver , it becomes possible to eliminate an attenuating circuit for am signals on the receiver &# 39 ; s side .

an antenna switching circuit which selectively transmits , to a receiver , rf signals from a plurality of antennas including rf signals of different frequency bands such as the vhf band and the mf band using a single output terminal . to prevent a level drop of rf signals of one of the frequency bands due to a common use of the output terminal , a unidirectional switching element is added to a switching circuit network by which the selection of rf signals from the different antennas is performed . a branching circuit for separating rf signals of different frequency bands is provided with an attenuation operation using a variable impedance characteristic of a semiconductor switching element which is basically on - off operated for the switching between the rf signals of the different frequency bands .

an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 shows a hardware arrangement of an electronic musical instrument to which an automatic accompanying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied . in fig1 a keyboard circuit 10 detects depression of a key at a keyboard ( not shown ), and generates key information ( key code ) representing the depressed key . the key code complies with the midi ( musical instrument digital interface ) standards . as shown in fig2 the key codes are obtained by assigning integer multiples of 12 ( indicated by decimal notation ), e . g ., 36 , 48 , . . . , 96 to respective c tones , and values , which are incremented by one as a tone sharps , to the remaining keys in correspondence with positions c 1 , c # 1 , d 1 , . . . , b 1 , c 2 , . . . , c 6 of depressed keys . a rest , i . e ., a ( key ) code representing a state wherein none of the keys is depressed is represented by &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. in the following description , the numerical value data such as key codes are indicated by the decimal notation unless otherwise specified . the overall operation of the electronic musical instrument shown in fig1 is controlled by using a central processing unit ( cpu ) 20 . the cpu 20 is connected to the keyboard circuit 10 , a program memory 24 , a register group 26 , a pattern memory 30 , a table group 32 , a clock generator 40 , a switch group 50 , and a tone generator 60 through a bidirectional bus line 22 . the tone generator 60 is connected to a sound system consisting of an amplifier , loudspeakers , and the like although not shown . the clock pulse output terminal of the clock generator 40 is connected to the interrupt signal input terminal of the cpu 20 through a signal line 70 . the program memory 24 comprises a rom , and stores various control programs of main processing , tempo clock interruption processing , chord tone generation processing , and the like corresponding to the flow charts shown in fig9 to 11 . the register group 26 temporarily stores various data generated when the cpu 20 executes the control programs , and includes the following registers set in a ram . in the following description , the registers and their contents ( data or the like ) are represented by identical label names unless otherwise specified . tclk indicates a progression position of an auto rhythm within one measure and varies in the range of 0 to 31 . run indicates whether a rhythm runs (= 1 ) or is stopped (= 0 ). var represents a variation pattern number of a rhythm designated by the rhythm number rhy , where &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; represents a normal pattern . kcbuf 0 to kcbuf 3 : key code buffers for depressed keys note codes of c , c #, d , . . . , b are represented by values &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; 11 &# 34 ;. as shown in fig3 chord types are represented by values &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; 6 &# 34 ;. &# 34 ; 7 &# 34 ; represents that a chord cannot be formed . three groups , e . g ., an m ( major ) group , an m ( minor ) group , and a 7th ( seventh ) group are represented by &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; 2 &# 34 ;, respectively . bit indicates a position of chord pattern data with respect to the present timing in one byte . one tempo clock tclk allows an increment of 2 bits . dt is 2 - bit data , &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ; indicates a rest , &# 34 ; 01 &# 34 ; indicates a key - on event , &# 34 ; 10 &# 34 ; indicates a key - on event with an accent , and &# 34 ; 11 &# 34 ; indicates an interval shift key - on event . odt represents a chord pattern data value at an immediately preceding timing . ky 1 to ky 3 : chord tone key code registers ky 1 to ky 3 temporarily store tones ( three tones ) constituting a chord for generating accompanying tones . the pattern memory 30 comprises a rom , and stores rhythm patterns , chord patterns , and bass patterns . as the rhythm patterns , a plurality of variation patterns are prepared in correspondence with rhythm variation numbers var in units of rhythm types corresponding to rhythm numbers rhy . the memory 30 stores ( the number of rhythm types )×( the number of variation patterns ) rhythm patterns . the memory 30 stores three types ( the m ( major ), m ( minor ), and 7th groups ) in fig4 of each of chord and bass patterns for each rhythm pattern , i . e ., the chord and bass patterns three times the rhythm patterns . each chord pattern is obtained by arranging one - measure 2 - bit chord pattern data each representing a tone generation state at a timing corresponding to a thirty - second note in the order starting from the lowest address adrs and the least significant bit bit , as shown in fig5 a . this chord pattern is recorded at a thirty - second note resolution . fig5 a shows encircled typical timings ( in fig5 b ) in a state wherein chord pattern data at timings &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; 31 &# 34 ; of one measure in quadruple time are arranged in the pattern memory 30 . for each 2 - bit chord pattern data , &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; represents a rest ; &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, a key - on event ; &# 34 ; 2 &# 34 ;, a key - on event with an accent ; and &# 34 ; 3 &# 34 ;, an interval shift key - on event . the memory 30 stores note ( or pitch ) data of bass patterns in c major . in the table group 32 , a chord conversion table shown in fig6 a is prepared . the chord conversion table represents how to shift an interval of each constituting tone of a chord designated upon depression of a key of the keyboard circuit 10 ( to be referred to as a designated chord hereinafter ) when data &# 34 ; 11 &# 34 ; ( binary notation ) representing the interval shift key - on event is read out as the chord pattern data . the shift amount of the designated chord is determined as follows with reference to the chord conversion table upon interval shift : fig6 b exemplifies a chord conversion in c . for example , if a rhythm pattern is first variation pattern ( samba 1 ) of samba and the designated chord is in c major ( root : 0 , type : 0 ), &# 34 ; 3 &# 34 ; is subtracted from the root to yield &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; (=- 3 ), and &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is added to the type to yield &# 34 ; minor &# 34 ; (= 1 ). thus , the chord to be accompanied is converted to &# 34 ; am &# 34 ;. therefore , when the &# 34 ; samba 1 &# 34 ; rhythm pattern is selected and keys of c major are depressed to perform an automatic accompaniment using pattern data shown in fig8 a backing pattern shown in fig7 is played . in this case , a chord tone generation range is limited to one octave tone range starting from g 2 . since all the constituting tones of both the designated chords and the converted chords are set within the range of g 2 to f # 3 , a natural chord performance can be made without using notes having a large pitch difference . in the above case , the notes of chord c are c 3 , e 3 , and g 3 , and the notes of chord am are a 2 , c 2 , and e 3 . thus , only g 3 is replaced with a 2 in these chords . the tempo clock generator 40 is obtained by combining a variable frequency oscillator or fixed - frequency oscillator and a frequency divider having a variable frequency division ratio , and 32 clock pulses per measure in quadruple time are generated in accordance with a preset tempo . these clock pulses are input to the cpu 20 through the signal line 70 as an interruption signal . the switch group 50 includes various operation switches arranged on an operation panel ( not shown ), e . g ., a start / stop switch for designating start and stop of automatic rhythm and accompaniment performance operations , a rhythm selection switch , a variation pattern selection switch , and the like . the tone generator 60 has four tone formation channels for forming key - on tones , three channels for forming chord tones , and one channel for forming a bass tone . the tone generator 60 forms a tone signal based on key - on data , key - off data , tone color ( or instrument type ) data , pitch data , and the like , and supplies the signal to a sound system ( not shown ) comprising an amplifier and the like . the sound system generates tones based on the tone signal . the operation of the electronic musical instrument shown in fig1 will be described below with reference to the flow charts shown in fig9 to 11 . when the electronic musical instrument is powered , the cpu 20 starts an operation in accordance with the control program stored in the program memory 24 . first , the cpu 20 executes processing of a main routine in step 100 and thereafter in fig9 and also executes tempo clock interruption processing shown in fig1 . referring to fig9 the cpu 20 performs initialization processing in step 101 . the initialization processing includes setting of the rhythm run flag run , clearing of the key code buffers kcbuf 0 to kcbuf 3 , and zero - clearing of the rhythm number register rhy , the rhythm variation register var , and the like . the cpu 20 then executes loop processing consisting of steps 102 to 115 . in this loop processing , the outputs from the switch group 50 are checked in steps 102 , 104 , and 106 . if the cpu 20 detects an on - event of the rhythm selection switch , i . e ., that the state of the switch is switched from off to on , the flow branches to step 103 . in step 103 , the selected rhythm number is stored in the register rhy , and thereafter , the flow advances to step 104 . if the cpu 20 does not detect an on - event in step 102 , the flow directly advances from step 102 to step 104 while skipping the processing in step 103 . if the cpu 20 detects the on - event of the variation switch in step 104 , the flow advances to step 105 , and the selected variation number is stored in the register var . thereafter , the flow advances to step 106 . on the other hand , if no on - event is detected in step 104 , the flow directly advances from step 104 to step 106 . if the cpu 20 determines the on - event of the start / stop switch in step 106 , the flow branches to step 107 . in step 107 , the rhythm run flag run is inverted , and thereafter , the cpu 20 checks in step 108 if the flag run becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; ( or is set ). if the flag run is set , the tempo clock register tclk and the old data register odt are cleared in step 109 in order to start automatic rhythm and accompaniment performance operations , and then , the flow advances to step 111 . on the other hand , if the flag run is reset , the cpu 20 supplies an all key - off instruction of channels which are generating chord and bass tones to the tone generator 60 in step 110 so as to stop automatic chord and bass performance operations . the flow then advances to step 111 . if no switch on - event is detected in step 106 , the flow directly advances from step 106 to step 111 without executing the processing in steps 107 to 110 . in step 111 , the cpu 20 checks the output from the keyboard circuit 10 to determine the presence / absence of a key event . if no key event is detected , the flow directly advances from step 111 to step 115 ; otherwise , the flow advances to step 112 . in step 112 , if the detected key event is a key - on event , the event is key - assigned and stored in one of the registers kcbuf 0 to kcbuf 3 . alternatively , if the detected key event is a key - off event , the corresponding one of the registers kcbuf 0 to kcbuf 3 is cleared in step 112 . in step 113 , the cpu 20 detects a chord represented by the key depression states stored in the registers kcbuf 0 to kcbuf 3 , and stores root data in the register root and a chord type in the register type . in step 114 , the cpu 20 determines a chord group ( fig3 ) to which the detected chord belongs based on the data in the register type . the flow then advances to step 115 . in step 115 , other processing is executed . the flow then returns to step 102 , and the loop processing in steps 102 to 115 is repeated . in this electronic musical instrument , the cpu 20 executes the clock interruption processing shown in fig1 in response to a tempo clock generated by the tempo clock generator 40 for every 1 / 32 cycle of one measure in quadruple time as an interruption signal . referring to fig1 , the cpu 20 checks the rhythm run flag run in step 201 . if the flag run is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the rhythm and accompaniment automatic performance operations are interrupted , and the tone generation processing of rhythm and accompaniment tones , count processing of the tempo clocks , and the like need not be performed . therefore , interruption is immediately canceled , and the control recovers the main routine . if the flag run is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, since the rhythm and accompaniment automatic performance operations are running , the cpu 20 executes rhythm tone generation processing based on the rhythm number rhy , the variation number var , and the tempo clock tclk in step 202 . in step 203 , the cpu 20 executes bass tone generation processing . in this processing , the bass pattern is read out based on the rhythm number rhy , the variation number var , the chord group grp , and the tempo clock tclk , the intervals are converted based on the root root and chord type type , key - on / key - off data of the bass tone is supplied to the tone generator 40 , and so on . in this case , bass pitch ( note ) data read out as the bass pattern is interval - converted to generate a bass tone due to the following reason . that is , since the bass pattern is stored in the pattern memory 30 in c major notes , the readout bass pitch data must be harmonized with the constituting tones ( notes ) of the designated chord . in step 204 , an integer part of a quotient obtained by dividing the tempo clock tclk by 4 is stored in the address pointer adrs , and in step 205 , a value twice a remainder obtained by dividing the tempo clock tclk by 4 is stored in the bit register bit . as described above , since the chord pattern data is 2 - bit data , and sets of four 2 - bit data ( one byte ) are stored in the pattern memory . in the processing in steps 204 and 205 , the pointer adrs and bit are set at a chord pattern position ( fig5 a ) at the timing tclk . in step 206 , a chord pattern to be read out is selected based on the rhythm number rhy , the variation number var , and the chord group grp , and the selected number is stored in the register pat . in step 207 , the cpu 20 reads out the chord pattern data stored at two bits , i . e ., bits ( bit + 1 ) and bit , of the storage position designated by the address adrs of the chord pattern in the pattern memory 30 , and stores in readout data in the register dt . thereafter , the cpu 20 checks in step 208 if the stored pattern is equal to the chord pattern data odt which is read out during the immediately preceding interruption processing . if these data are equal to each other , since no key event ( a change in chord tone generation state ) is made , the tempo clock tclk is incremented by one within circulating values of 0 to 31 in step 210 , and interruption is canceled . the control then recovers the main routine . if the cpu 20 determines in step 208 that the new pattern data dt is different from the old chord pattern data odt , the flow advances to step 211 , and updates the register odt using the new data dt . the cpu 20 checks in step 212 if the new data is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. as shown in the table in fig5 c , if the old data odt is &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ; and the new data dt is other than &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, the present timing corresponds to a key - on event generation ( chord tone generation start ) timing . if the old data odt is other than &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ; and the new data dt is &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, the present timing corresponds to a key - off event generation ( chord tone generation end ) timing . therefore , if the new data dt is &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, the present timing is a keys - off timing . in this case , in step 213 , the cpu 20 keys off the chord tone . thereafter , the tempo clock tclk is incremented within the circulating values of 0 to 31 in step 210 , and interruption is canceled . the control then recovers the main routine . on the other hand , if the cpu 20 determines in step 212 that the new data is other than &# 34 ; 00 &# 34 ;, the present timing is a key - on timing . in this case , the cpu 20 checks in step 220 if the key - on event is a key - on event with interval shift information . if the new data is &# 34 ; 11 (= 3 )&# 34 ;, the key - on event is a key - on event with interval shift information . if the new data is &# 34 ; 01 (= 1 )&# 34 ; or &# 34 ; 10 (= 2 )&# 34 ;, the key - on event is a key - on event without interval shift information . if the cpu 20 determines in step 220 that the new data dt is other than &# 34 ; 11 (= 3 )&# 34 ;, i . e ., represents a key - on event without interval shift information , the cpu 20 executes chord tone generation processing in step 250 ( to be described later ). in step 210 , the tempo clock is incremented within the circulating values of 0 to 31 , and interruption is canceled . the control then recovers the main routine . on the other hand , if the cpu 20 determines in step 220 that the new data dt is &# 34 ; 11 (= 3 )&# 34 ;, i . e ., represents a key - on event with interval shift information , the flow advances to step 221 . in step 221 , the cpu 20 saves the root root data , the chord type type data , and the chord group grp data . the cpu 20 refers to the chord conversion table in the table group 32 shown in fig6 a in steps 222 and 223 so as to obtain shift amounts of the root and chord group based on the rhythm number rhy , the variation number var , and group number grp , and stores the obtained shift amounts in the corresponding registers rtchg and grpchg . the following relations represent the processing in steps 222 and 223 . in step 224 , the cpu 20 checks the data rtchg and grpchg . if both the shift amounts rtchg and grpchg are &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, this means that no interval shift is performed . in this case , the flow advances from step 224 to step 250 , and chord tone generation processing in step 250 and tempo clock increment processing in step 210 are executed . thereafter , interruption is canceled , and the control recovers the main routine . if the cpu 20 determines in step 224 that at least one of the data rtchg and grpchg is not &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the flow advances to step 225 . in steps 225 and 226 , as described above , the root and chord group are shifted in accordance with the data rtchg and grpchg , and the shifted data are respectively stored in the registers root and grp . the root ( note ) data is numerical data varying between 0 and 11 . thus , in step 225 , data obtained by adding the shift amount is divided by 12 to obtain its remainder , thereby converting to the root data varying between 0 and 11 . the chord group data is similarly obtained by calculating a remainder as a result of a division by 3 , thus obtaining data varying between 0 and 2 . after the processing in steps 225 and 226 , the cpu 20 stores the chord group grp in the register type as the interval - converted chord type . in step 250 , the chord tone generation subroutine processing is executed . in step 228 , the cpu 20 reads out the root , chord type , and chord group data saved in step 221 , stores them in the corresponding registers root , type , and grp , and executes tempo clock increment processing in step 210 . thereafter , interruption is canceled , and the control recovers the main routine . in the electronic musical instrument shown in fig1 the cpu 20 executes the tempo clock interruption processing for every 1 / 32 cycle of one measure during the automatic accompaniment operation . when the cpu 20 detects the key - on timing in step 212 in the interruption processing , it executes chord tone generation processing shown in fig1 based on data of a chord designated at the keyboard or chord data obtained by converting the designated chord in accordance with interval shift information read out from the pattern memory 30 together with a chord pattern . referring to fig1 , the cpu 20 checks in step 251 if a chord is formed by key depression at the keyboard . the chord types type &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; 6 &# 34 ; represent types of chord , and &# 34 ; 7 &# 34 ; represents that the chord cannot be formed . if the cpu 20 determines in step 251 that the chord is formed , i . e ., that the chord type type is other than &# 34 ; 7 &# 34 ;, the cpu 20 forms note data of three constituting tones of the chord specified by the root data root and the chord type data type based on a tone generation rule shown in fig1 , and stores the note data in the chord tone key code registers ky 1 to ky 3 . on the other hand , if the chord cannot be formed ( type = 7 ), the flow advances from step 251 to step 253 , and the cpu 20 picks up three notes from among the highest tone of the key - on tones at the keyboard and stores the picked - up tones in the registers ky 1 to ky 3 . after the processing in step 252 or 253 , the flow advances to step 254 . in step 254 , the cpu 20 converts note data stored in the registers ky 1 to ky 3 into key codes of corresponding notes within the range of g 2 to f # 3 . in step 255 , if the key - on data of three key codes stored in the registers ky 1 to ky 3 and the chord pattern data represent key - on events with an accent , the cpu 20 executes chord tone key - on processing , e . g ., sends data of a message indicating this to the tone generator 60 , and so on . the control returns to the previous processing ( step 210 or 228 in fig1 ). in the above description , the chord tone generation range is limited to a one - octave range starting from g 2 ( g 2 to f # 3 ), so that a natural chord performance can be made without notes having a large pitch difference in the electronic musical instrument shown in fig1 . the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment , and various changes and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention . 2 . the apparatus for performing an accompaniment in quadruple time at a thirty - second note resolution has been described . however , the resolution and time of the tempo clock are not limited to those in the above embodiment . other resolutions and times may be set . 3 . in the above description , one kind of interval shift information is employed . a plurality of kinds of interval shift information may be given . 4 . in the above description , interval conversion is performed depending on rhythms ( including variation patterns ). however , predetermined conversion may be performed regardless of rhythm . 5 . in the above description , control , e . g ., interval conversion is performed in units of chords . however , the control can be made in units of individual constituting tones . 7 . the chord designation means may employ either a finger mode for depressing keys corresponding to constituting tones of a chord or a single finger mode for designating a chord using the root of the chord and other white or black key .

a new automatic accompaniment apparatus for sequentially reading out at a predetermined tempo accompaniment pattern information , including interval shift information , stored in a pattern memory and then generating tones of a designated chord , designated by a chord designatin means such as a keyboard , based on the accompaniment pattern information , thereby performing an accompaniment performance . the new automatic accompaniment apparatus , when the interval shift information is read out , will play a chord which is constituted by shifting intervals of part or all of the constituting tones of the designated chord in place of the designated chord , thus enabling an accompaniment performance rich in variety to be played as compared with a conventional apparatus having a memory capacity equivalent to that of the present accompaniment apparatus .

this example relates to a solution of 8 . 8 % of azelastine hydrochloride in a mixture of solvents referred to as cascade 0 ( azelastine 8 %). 1000 g of water , 1000 g of glycerin - 1 - n - propyl ether , 500 g of glycerin - 1 - n - hexyl ether and 500 g of glycerin - 1 - n - nonyl ether are mixed in a suitable vessel . about 2 . 5 liters of cascade 0 are measured into a suitable vessel and 264 g of azelastine hydrochloride dissolved in this mixture of solvents . the resulting solution is then made up to 3 liters with cascade 0 . the density of the solution of 1 . 023 g / ml at 22 ° c . this solution is sterile filtered under aseptic conditions into a sterile vessel through a membrane filter having a pore size of 0 . 2 μm and filled in sterile dropper bottles of 10 ml each . each ml of solution contains mg of azelastine ( corresponding to 88 mg of azelastine - hcl ). a premix is prepared of 440 g of azelastine - hcl , 360 mg of micro crystalline cellulose and 200 g of talcum . this premix together with 6000 g of lactose monohydrate , 2870 g of microcrystalline cellulose and 100 g of highly disperse silicon dioxide are passed through a sieve and homogenized in a sutable mixer . 30 g of magnesium stearate are sieved into the mixture so obtained and the resulting mixture is homogenized one more time . the mass so obtained is pressed into tablets weighing 100 mg having a diameter of 6 mm and a radius of curvature of 5 . 5 mm . the tablets are continuously sprayed in a vessel suitable for this purpose with 1 . 2 kg of a film suspension . the film suspension is prepared by dissolving 60 g of polyethylene glycol 6000 , 12 g of polysorbate 80 and 9 . 6 g of carboxymethyl cellulose sodium in 787 . 2 g of water . 120 g of talcum , 120 g of titanium dioxide and 1 . 2 g of simethicone 1 are dispersed in this solution and then 90 g of a copolymerizate based on dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate and neutral methacrylic acid esters added with gentle stirring in the form of a 30 % aqueous dispersion ( eudragit ® e 30 d ). each film tablet contains 4 mg of azelastine ( corresponding to 4 . 4 mg of azelastine hydrochloride ). 88 g of azelastine hydrochloride , 701 g of lactose monohydrate and 701 g of microcrystalline cellulose are sieved , mixed and moistened with 1440 g of a ph - independent acrylic resin lacquer substance which forms poorly permeable coatings ( eudragit ® rs 12 . 5 ). the moist mass is granulated through a sieve and dried . the dry granulate , 100 g of talcum and 30 g of magnesium stearate are sieved again and homogenized in a suitable mixture . this mass is pressed into tablets weighing 180 mg having a diameter of 8 mm and a radius of curvature of 6 mm . to prepare the film - coated tablets the tablets are sprayed in an apparatus conventionally used for this purpose with a film suspension manufactured as follows . 18 g of magnesium stearate are dispersed in 664 g of isopropanol with stirring ; 18 g of 1 , 2 propylene glycol and 800 g of eudragit ® s 12 . 5 ( an anionic polymerizate of methacrylic acid and methacrylic acid esters that contains a softener , is gastric juice resistant and only soluble beyond ph 7 ) are then worked into this suspension . each film - coated tablet contains 8 mg of azelastine ( corresponding to 8 . 8 mg of azelastine hydrochloride ). 4 . azelastine 8 mg capsules ( preferably for the treatment of colitis ulcerosa ) 100 g of azelastine hydrochloride , 200 g of tartaric acid , 500 of lactose and 700 g of microcrystalline cellulose are mixed and pasted with about 700 g of purified water . the moist mass is pressed through a perforated place having a hole diameter of 1 mm and the resultant strands divided and rounded in the conventional manner by treatment on a spheronizer disc . the pellets obtained are dried and sieved . 1000 g of pellets of the sieve fraction 800 to 1200 μm are sprayed with a suspension that is prepared as follows : 0 . 6 g of polysorbate 80 are dissolved in 190 g of purified water and 40 g of triethyl citrate are emulsified into the solution . 800 g of eudragit ® rs 30 d ( a 30 % aqueous dispersion of a copolymerizate of acrylic and methacrylic acid esters having a low content of trimethyl ammonium methacrylate chloride ) are added to the emulsion thereby obtained and stirred for about 10 minutes . 109 . 2 g of talcum and 0 . 2 g of silicone anti - foaming oil ( simethicone ) are suspended in 860 g of purified water . this suspension is stirred into the above obtained dispersion . the lacquering suspension so obtained is applied to the pellets in the conventional manner , for example using a fluidized bed spray granulator at an inlet air temperature of 40 °- 50 ° c . and a maximum outlet air temperature of 40 ° c . the pellets are dried under the same conditions . the lacquering suspension is sprayed onto the pellets until the total weight of the dried pellets is 1127 g . the lacquered pellets are filled in batches of 148 . 7 mg into si 1 hard gelatin capsules . each hard gelatin capsule contains 8 . 8 mg azelastine hydrochloride , corresponding to 8 mg of azelastine , in a sustained release formulation . the release of azelastine hydrochloride from this dosage form is tested according to the process given in the us pharmacopoeia , 21st edition ( usp xxi ) using the dissolution test apparatus 2 . the release of azelastine hydrochloride 500 ml of test solution at 37 ° c . is determined at a paddle speed of 1 revolutions per minute . the test solution consists , for the first 2 hours , of 0 . 1 molar hydrochloric acid , after which the pellets are transferred to phosphate buffer solution of ph 6 . 8 of the european pharmacopoeia . in each case the release of azelastine hydrochloride is measured from the test solutions . the release is

the use of azelastine or its therapeutically acceptable salts and the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of inflammatory disorders and psoriasis disorders .

the high - rate anaerobic pond bioreactor ( hrapb ) corresponds to an optimization of the conventional anaerobic pond . through the current invention an increase is obtained in the treatment efficiency of biodegradable residual waters , measurement established as the percentage of biodegradable organic matter eliminated from the liquid phase entering the bioreactor per unit of time . through this manner , a cleaner liquid effluent is obtained at the output of the hrapb bioreactor , but also because of the active retention of the biomass , stabilization is accomplished of the bio - solids , thus reaching what is known as advanced primary treatment of residual water and the bio - solid produced in the hrapb bioreactor . the latter is a typical characteristic of high - rate anaerobic reactors ; improvement is reached with the solution provided with the hrapb reactor is the conversion from a low - rate traditional system like the conventional anaerobic pond to a more compact and efficient system that additionally permits recovery of clean energy in the form of biogas ( i . e ., methane , ch 4 ), the hrapb bioreactor , as an improved process unit , has four main components that characterize its design , construction , and operation . the first component is a mix chamber ( 12 ), which is the structure that receives the raw residual water coming from the preliminary treatment . in this unit , through a vertical flow of the water , the necessary kinetic energy is guaranteed to produce sufficient mix and close contact between substrate and biomass . thus , a very active biological bed is developed in this structure ; such bed is characterized by particles or bio - floccules constituted by a diverse and active population of microorganisms from bacteria and archae domains . the dimensions or design of this chamber is a direct function of the type of residual water to be treated , the quantity of such , and the environmental temperature of the treatment zone . the depth of this chamber can vary between 4 and 6 m , and its volume can be calculated with volumetric organic loads that range between 0 . 8 - 1 . 5 kg bod5 m - 3 d - 1 . the second component is a transition zone ( 11 ) between the mix chamber and the sedimentation zone . said zone is located directly afterward and on the upper part of the mix chamber . it is constituted by semi - permeable barriers , which permit changing the gradual direction of the fluid coming in vertical direction and upon crossing the permeable barriers , changes its direction to horizontal . said barriers also offer a means of support for adhered biomass growth , which aside from furnishing additional treatment to the water exiting the mix chamber , also permits intercepting the particles or bio - floccules trying to escape the mix chamber , returning them to active reaction zone . the combined action of the mix chamber and the transition zone is constituted in the active mechanism of biomass retention of a hrapb bioreactor , and this is what defines its characteristic as a high - rate reactor known in the state of the technique . the third component is a biogas collection structure ( 5 ) found ahead and in the upper part of the transition zone . this structure that gathers the biogas produced in the mix chamber is projected in modular form or through compartments , whose size and quantity depend on the surface area of the mix chamber of the hrapb unit . diverse geometric shapes can be used for such ; these include domes , spherical or elliptic caps , or pyramid or conic bells . the materials used for this structure are also diverse but these should be corrosion resistant and preferably light for the removal , maintenance , cleaning , and adequate repair of the respective collection bells . said collecting structure as a component of the hrapb bioreactor is fundamental for the adequate management of the possible greenhouse gases from the anaerobic biological degradation of organic matter . the design , construction , and adequate operation of this component in a hrapb , gives this technology an ecological and innovative character , and turns into an alternative that contributes to the mitigation of climate change via improved treatment of liquid wastes of anthropic origin . the fourth component of the hrapb unit is an uncovered sedimentation zone ( 6 ). once the water flows horizontally through the transition zone and through the semi - permeable membranes , it continues in the same flow direction along the sedimentation zone . this zone is characterized by low depth varying between 1 . 0 and 1 . 5 m ; the water has horizontal velocities in orders of magnitude of 1 . 0 × 10 − 2 m · s − 1 . due to this , a laminar flow regime is produced characterized by very low velocities and in a horizontal sense , which allows for improved sedimentation . this is also the most notable difference of a hrapb reactor in comparison with other more traditional high - rate anaerobic systems like the uasb or rafp reactors . this zone of the bioreactor is not covered because vast majority of the biogas has already been recovered in the collector structure for said purpose . there are other complementary components that guarantee the operation of the hrapb bioreactor ; among others , there are the devices of input and distribution of residual water , the device to purge bio - solids , the beds for bio - solid drying , bio - filters for purifying the biogas collected , and the system for combustion or exploitation of the biogas . each of these components is designed and constructed in function of the amount and quality of the residual water to be treated in the hrapb . likewise , the construction materials for these components are specified in function of the corrosiveness of the water and of the biogas generated in the mix chamber . the treatment process of residual waters in the hrapb bioreactor reaches efficiency of elimination of organic matter in the liquid phase in the order of 70 ± 5 %, measured as bod 5 . for solid matter found in the entering residual water , the hrapb unit can reach elimination in the order of 75 ± 5 %, measured as the separation of total suspension solids ( tss ). the collection and treatment of the biogas generated can reach a ch 4 recovery in the order of 80 %. for the bio - solids , the production is low requiring only one evacuation of this material per month , depending on the contents of the organic matter present in the raw water . the following experiments were developed to evaluate the hydrodynamic behavior ( experiment 1 ) and the performance of the process ( experiment 2 ) in the reactor of the current invention as compared to conventional reactors . the experimental reactors received residual water previously treated to remove thick solids and fats . the arrangement of the entry and exit pipes and the geometric shape of the reactors were designed according to recommendations from technical literature ( mara , d . d ., alabaster , g . p ., pearson , h . w . and mills , s . w . waste stabilisation ponds : a design manual for eastern africa . lagoon technology international . leeds , england , 1992 ; prosab . domestic wastewater treatment by anaerobic processes and controlled disposal on soil . j . r . campos ( ed . ), prosab , rio de janeiro , brazil , 1999 ). experiment 1 evaluated a horizontal baffle anaerobic pond ( hbap ) reactor , an hrapb reactor of the invention with a built - in mix pond ( mpap ) and a conventional anaerobic pond ( cap ) reactor . the hbap reactor presents to baffles placed at l / 3 and 2 l / 3 . a flow - free space ( 0 . 80 m wide × 1 . 70 m high ) was left at the end of each horizontal baffle to permit water flow at the turn points . the hrapb reactor equipped with mpap was outfitted with a water input at the bottom followed by vertical flow through a reaction chamber . the residual water was fed by a multiple manifold type distribution system . hence , the density resulting at the feed points ( surface area of 8 . 8 m 2 ) was 2 . 9 m 2 / point of entry . once the residual water flows through the reaction chamber and is mixed with the biomass in the hrapb reactor with mpap , it travels horizontally through an undisturbed sedimentation zone toward the exit . the transition zone between the mix chamber and the sedimentation zone was elaborated with an arrangement of four permeable screens constituted by synthetic high - density polyethylene nets placed in the following configuration : the first and second screens have a mesh with 25 - mm diameter hexagonal holes ; while , the third and fourth screens have a mesh with 19 - mm diameter hexagonal holes . the experiment was statistically designed with a comparative two - factor experiment , where the factors varied were the rate of hydraulic load ( 1 . 0 , 1 . 2 , 1 . 5 , and 2 . 0 ws ) and the mix device inside the pond ( hbap , hrapb with mpap and cap ). to conduct dispersion studies , a tracing solution was used for each combination of mix device and flow rate . the concentration of the tracer in the effluent was monitored during the sampling for a period equal to three times the theoretical hydraulic retention time ( hrt ). a tracer pulse ( 1 l solution containing 261 g licl [ 42 . 47 g li + ]) was applied to the input flow of each anaerobic reactor , assuring that the point of application were the same for each test . the licl solution was prepared the day before the test run to allow total cool down of such due to its exothermal behavior . a total of 60 samples per reactor effluent per test run were obtained to elaborate the resistance time distribution ( rtd ) curves , based on the tracer experimental curves . control samples of untreated residual waters and sludge from the reactors were taken to establish the initial or bottom concentration of li + and the adsorption of such on the bio - solids . the li + concentrations were determined by atomic absorption in a perkin elmer s100pc spectrophotometer , method of air - acetylene flame at 670 . 80 nm with a detection limit of ± 0 . 01 mg / l . each reactor was sown with a content of bio - solids equivalent to 5 % of its total volume . the samples from untreated residual waters and from the effluents were taken daily from 07 : 00 h to 19 : 00 h during the test runs of dispersion studies . according to the experimental design , 21 cod determinations were carried out along with 12 from tss and 12 from sedimentable solids in the input flow and the effluent per run , additional to the determination for temperature and ph . experiment 2 evaluated the process performance for the hbap , hrapb reactor with mpap and cap in stationary state for 22 weeks with three different rates of hydraulic load according to the design presented in table 3 . the response to each rate of applied hydraulic load was evaluated for six weeks in stationary state , which was previously established in a two - week period . combined 12 - h samples were taken in untreated waters and in the effluents from the reactors once per week , on the same day each week . the flow data were recorded each hour in each input flow on the day of the sampling . the flow rates of the effluent were measured volumetrically once per week to check water loss by evaporation . determinations were made on ph , temperature , redox potential , volatile fatty acids ( vfa ), so 4 2 − , alkalinity , filtered cod , total cod , tss , suspended volatile solids ( svs ), fecal coliforms , e . coli , and helminth eggs . the samples of bio - solids were taken from the bottom of the reactor by using an electric peristaltic pump : dayton - ac gear 5k940d . the bod 5 ( λv ) rate of volumetric organic load applied to each of the reactors at the last stage ( q r = 2 . 0 l / s ) was 780 , 762 , and 762 g bod 5 / m − 3 d − 1 for hbap , mpap , and ap , respectively . the efficiency of cod t and cod f elimination for each of the hbap , hrapb reactors with mpap and cap are presented in fig1 , 2 , and 3 , respectively . the figures illustrate the percentage of experimental cod t and cod f elimination in function of the hrt ( h ) compared to the completely stirred tank reactor ( cstr ) polynomial and the model by wehner & amp ; wilhelm . fig1 , 2 , and 3 show the degree of dispersion of experimental data when compared to the theoretical lines of the cstr and wehner and wilhelm dispersion models . the data dispersion is greater in the hbap and cap , especially in the elimination of cod f ; in contrast , the mpap reactor shows a behavior close to that of the csrt model for cod t and cod f . the results of evaluation of process performance in stationary state show that the greatest efficiency in cod t removal occurs in a mpap reactor ( 77 - 79 %), followed by the hbap reactor ( 65 - 51 %), and finally in the conventional reactor ( 67 - 49 %). hydrodynamic improvement and the increase in the contact pattern along with greater retention of biomass explain the increase in efficiency in cod f removal found in the hrapb reactor with mpap ( 50 - 78 %), compared to 41 - 44 % with the hbap reactor , and 44 - 53 % with the conventional reactor ( cap ). although the current invention has been described with the preferred realizations shown , it remains understood that the modifications and variations that conserve the spirit and reach of this invention are understood within the reach of the attached claims .

the present application relates to a high - rate anaerobic pool bioreactor as an improved processing unit for treating biodegradable wastewater , which allows the conversion of a low - performance rate traditional system , such as the anaerobic pool , into an efficient , compact system that enables clean energy to be recovered in the from of biogas . the application also describes a process for the anaerobic treatment of wastewater that uses said bioreactor , which optimizes the processes of mixing and contact between the biomass and the substrate and presents a novel process for separating out the biomass by means of improved sedimentation in horizontal laminar flow .

referring to the drawings and in particular fig1 , a first embodiment of a multiple - component tampon applicator of the present invention is represented generally by reference numeral 10 . one distinguishing feature of this applicator 10 is that instead of being formed from two components , namely , a barrel and a plunger , it is formed from three distinct components . in a preferred aspect of this first embodiment , the three distinct components are barrel 12 , plunger 14 , and fingergrip or fingergrip component 16 . the barrel 12 retains its approximately uniform cross - section , thus allowing petals 18 to be formed prior to pledget insertion . the petals 18 can be formed with the assistance of an internal mandrel , if desired . referring to fig2 , a second embodiment of the multiple - component tampon applicator according to the present invention is depicted . this applicator 10 is formed from four distinct components . again , as a preferred aspect of this second embodiment , the preferred components are barrel 12 , plunger 14 , fingergrip 16 , and insertion tip 19 . petals 18 are formed on insertion tip 19 . as such , an absorbent pledget may be loaded into barrel 12 either before or after insertion tip 19 is connected to barrel 12 . referring to fig3 , a third embodiment of the multiple - component applicator of the present invention is shown . this applicator 10 is formed from at least three distinct components , namely , barrel 12 , plunger 14 , and insertion tip 19 . barrel 12 has a forward end 21 . in this embodiment , fingergrip 16 is integrally formed as part of barrel 12 . an absorbent pledget may be loaded into barrel 12 through forward end 21 , prior to connecting insertion tip 19 to the barrel . barrel 12 of the multiple - component applicator 10 of the present invention may be formed from any suitable material . suitable materials for forming barrel 12 include , for example , biopolymer , cardboard , heat shrink plastic , paper slurry , plastic , plastic tubing , pulp slurry , pulp - molded paper , or any combinations thereof . preferably , barrel 12 is formed from cardboard . barrel 12 may be formed from spiral wound or convolutely wound cardboard . any individual component that forms the multiple - component applicator , and especially barrel 12 , may be internally and / or externally coated with any suitable material to enhance its strength and / or reduce surface friction . suitable coatings include , for example , cellophane , cellulose , epoxy , lacquer , nitrocellulose , nylon , plastic , polyester , polylactide , polyolefin , polyvinyl alcohol , polyvinyl chloride , silicone , wax , or any combinations thereof . it should also be understood that barrel 12 , while depicted as a single component , may be formed from one or more components , such that when assembled , the one or more components form barrel 12 . plunger 14 may be formed from any suitable material . suitable materials for forming plunger 14 include , for example , biopolymer , cardboard , heat shrink plastic , paper slurry , plastic , plastic tubing , pulp slurry , pulp - molded paper , or any combinations thereof . preferably , plunger 14 is formed from cardboard . referring to fig1 and 2 , fingergrip 16 , as a separate component , provides a way to create an applicator having a cardboard barrel with pre - formed petals and , perhaps , a reduced cross - sectional fingergrip area with an accompanying reduced cross - section plunger 14 . fingergrip 16 has two distinct ends , barrel or forward end 20 having a diameter approximately equal to that of barrel 12 , and plunger or rearward end 22 having a diameter slightly larger than that of plunger 14 . fingergrip 16 also has channel 26 , which extends axially through the entire length of the fingergrip . channel 26 has a cross - sectional area slightly larger than that of plunger 14 so as to accommodate the plunger during assembly of applicator 10 . the pledget ( not shown ) is loaded into barrel 12 through fingergrip or rearward end 24 of the barrel . petals 18 , if any , on barrel 12 have been pre - formed into their final shape , as in fig1 . as shown in fig2 , when insertion tip 19 and fingergrip 16 are formed as separate components , an absorbent pledget ( not shown ) may be loaded either through forward end 21 or barrel rearward end 24 of barrel 12 . referring to fig3 , when insertion tip 19 is formed as a distinct component , it also allows barrel 12 and fingergrip 16 to be formed as one component . with this configuration , an absorbent pledget may be loaded into barrel 12 through forward end 21 , prior to assembling the multiple - component applicator . by way of example , fig4 shows the three - component applicator of fig1 assembled . once an absorbent pledget ( not shown ) is loaded into barrel 12 , barrel forward end 20 of fingergrip 16 is connected to barrel 12 at barrel rearward end 24 . plunger 14 is then inserted into fingergrip plunger end 22 through channel 26 . alternately , plunger 14 may be loaded into channel 26 of fingergrip 16 prior to the fingergrip being connected to barrel 12 . fingergrip 16 may be secured permanently to barrel 12 by any conventional method . preferably , fingergrip 16 is connected to barrel 12 with an adhesive . outer edge 25 of fingergrip 16 may be of such a size that it creates a continuous surface flush with the outer edge of barrel 12 . it should be understood that the multiple - component tampon applicators depicted in fig2 and 3 may also be assembled according to the same basic tenets set forth for assembling the three - component applicator of fig1 . one distinguishing feature of the applicator of fig2 with respect to assembly , is that the absorbent pledget may be loaded into barrel 12 either through forward end 21 or barrel rearward end 24 . therefore , the order in which the components are assembled may depend on which end of barrel 12 the pledget is loaded . a distinguishing feature of the applicator of fig3 , with respect to assembly , is that barrel 12 and fingergrip 16 are formed as one component , therefore , the absorbent pledget must be loaded into barrel 12 through forward end 21 , prior to assembling insertion tip 19 with barrel 12 . it should also be understood that each component of the tampon applicator set forth above may be formed from one or more individual parts or sections ( i . e . barrel 12 , plunger 14 , fingergrip 16 and / or insertion tip 19 may be formed from one or more individual parts or sections that are connected to form the component ). in addition , it should be understood that while each applicator component is shown above as being discrete and separate from each other , any two or more of the components may be integrally formed and then assembled with the one or more separate components . by way of example , the insertion tip 19 , the barrel 12 , the fingergrip 16 , and / or the plunger 14 may be integrally formed , in any combination . in addition , any component that is made up from two or more parts or sections , as set forth above , may be connected to form that component , prior to connecting with any other individual component to form an assembled applicator 10 . however , the overall applicator will , nonetheless , have at least three components . fingergrip 16 can be formed from any suitable moldable material . suitable moldable materials include , for example , biopolymer , cardboard , heat shrink plastic , paper slurry , plastic , plastic tubing , pulp slurry , pulp - molded paper , or any combinations thereof . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , fingergrip 16 is formed from pulp molded paper . fig5 is another embodiment of the present invention . fingergrip 16 is formed with a connector ring 32 on barrel forward end 20 . connector ring 32 has a diameter slightly larger than the internal diameter of barrel 12 so that fingergrip 16 can be connected and secured to barrel 12 by interference fit . fig2 and 3 show forward end 21 that has a connector ring 23 and may also be assembled according to the same basic tenets set forth for assembling the three - component applicator of fig1 having fingergrip 16 . fig6 is another embodiment of the present invention . connector ring 32 may be formed with one or more tabs , ridges and / or slots 34 . one or more tabs , ridges and / or slots 34 can interlock with corresponding tabs , ridges and / or slots ( not shown ) formed on the inner surface of barrel 12 , thus securing fingergrip 16 to barrel 12 . the one or more tabs , ridges and or slots may be formed on external and / or internal surfaces . fig7 is another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , fingergrip 16 is formed from a heat - shrinkable material 36 that has an initial diameter larger than the outer diameter of barrel 12 , and shrinks to a diameter at least as small as plunger 14 . heat - shrinkable material 36 at barrel end 20 is shrunk to fit the outside of barrel 12 snugly . the union between heat - shrinkable material 36 and barrel 12 can be reinforced with an adhesive . plunger or rearward end 22 of fingergrip 16 is shrunk so that it is just larger than the outside diameter of plunger 14 . the fingergrip 16 may be formed with any number and / or configuration of gripping structures , to further enhance the applicator &# 39 ; s grippability . fingergrip 16 may be smooth or , more preferably , may include one or more patterned or textured structures extending above and / or below the surface of the fingergrip . the gripping structures may include , for example , one or more abrasive materials , embossments , grooves , high wet coefficient of friction materials , lances , pressure sensitive adhesives , protuberances , slits , treads , or any combinations thereof . in addition , the gripping structures may be formed in any shape , including , for example , arc , circle , concave , cone , convex , diamond , line , oval , polygon , rectangle , rib , square , triangle , or any combinations thereof . referring to fig8 , by way of example , several different fingergrip embodiments having various gripping structures are depicted . fig8 a depicts fingergrip 16 with one or more bands 38 circumferentially disposed around fingergrip rearward end 22 . fig8 b depicts fingergrip 16 with one or more dot - like structures 40 disposed circumferentially around fingergrip rearward end 22 . fig8 c depicts fingergrip 16 with one or more circular structures 42 disposed circumferentially around fingergrip rearward end 22 . fig8 d depicts fingergrip 16 with two or more wavy bands 44 disposed circumferentially around fingergrip rearward end 22 . it should be understood that the gripping structures may be arranged circumferentially around fingergrip 16 in any pattern suitable for forming a gripping area . for example , the gripping structures can form a distinct pattern , such as , rows , columns or may be formed intermittently with breaks in structure or in any random order or pattern . fig9 is another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , fingergrip rearward end 22 may be formed with a circumferentially flared or ridge - like structure end 46 , to further enhance the gripping characteristics of the applicator . fig1 is another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , fingergrip rearward end 22 is formed with a stepped taper to further enhance the gripping characteristics of the applicator . fig1 is another embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , fingergrip rearward end 22 may be formed with a knob - like structure 48 to further enhance the gripping characteristics of the applicator . any combinations of the features depicted in fig8 through 11 , and described above , are possible as well . in addition , the gripping structures could be raised , depressed , or any combination thereof , with respect to the surface of the fingergrip area . the gripping structures can be formed in any shape , in any number , and in any pattern or configuration suitable for forming an enhanced gripping area on fingergrip 16 . as such , it should be clear that the present invention is in no way limited by those features depicted or described above . it is also understood that the cross - section of barrel 12 , plunger 14 , fingergrip 16 and insertion tip 19 can be circular , oval , polygonal or elliptical . also , insertion tip 19 can be tapered , elliptical , dome - shaped or flat . barrel 12 can be straight , tapered , or curvilinear along its length . referring to fig1 through 14 , a method of assembling a multiple component tampon according to another embodiment of the present invention is depicted . applicator 10 has independent or discrete barrel 12 , plunger 14 and fingergrip 16 . to assemble the components , adhesive 50 is applied to the fingergrip barrel end 20 . as depicted in fig1 , fingergrip 16 is inserted into cavity 62 of heated shaper 64 . mandrel 60 is inserted into fingergrip 16 housed in cavity 62 . barrel 12 is inserted over mandrel 60 . the barrel 12 and fingergrip 16 are allowed to remain in position in heated shaper 64 for about 1 to 20 seconds and more preferably 5 to 10 seconds . referring to fig1 , when removed from the mandrel 60 and heated shaper 64 , the fingergrip 16 is connected to barrel 12 at tapered rearward end 66 . plunger 14 may then be inserted into fingergrip 16 . the foregoing specification and drawings are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to limit the invention to the disclosed embodiments . variations and changes , which are obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope and nature of the present invention , which is defined in the appended claims .

there is provided a multiple - component tampon applicator formed from at least three separate components . a fingergrip having a reduced cross - section as compared to that of the barrel may be formed such that it is a separate component or is integrally formed with a barrel component . the reduced cross - section fingergrip provides exceptional grippability to the user . the multiple components may be formed from materials including , for example , biopolymer including starches and proteins , cardboard , heat shrink plastic , paper slurry , plastic , plastic tubing , pulp slurry , pulp - molded paper , or any combinations thereof . prior to assembly of the applicator and prior to loading the barrel component with an absorbent pledget , petals may be formed on the insertion end of the barrel using existing processes and equipment . alternatively , a separate insertion tip component having petals may be formed . this separate component may then be connected to the barrel component either before or after an absorbent pledget is loaded into the barrel component .

the coupling shown in fig1 to 4 includes a first coupling part 1 constructed as a coupling sleeve and second coupling part 2 constructed as a plug . first coupling part 1 includes a housing 3 , receptacle 4 , relative to it , axially movable locking sleeve 5 , first valve 6 and the actuating means which include actuating shaft 7 . receptacle 4 is threadedly connected to housing 3 . actuating shaft 7 includes two shaft parts 8 and 9 , which are threadedly connected to each other by a screw 10 . the two shaft parts 8 , 9 each have an outer collar 11 , 12 respectively . an end of the actuating shaft part 8 , 9 is flattened or contoured . the flat portion 13 is more closely recognizable in fig9 and 10 and explained on that basis . on the flattened portion 13 there is non - rotatably supported an actuating member 18 ( fig7 and 8 ). this actuating member 18 has a preferably elliptical basic shape with minor axis 16 and major axis 17 ( fig8 ). for couplings which are not used as quick disconnect couplings , actuating member 18 can be non - slidable , as shown in fig8 and non - rotatable on actuating shaft 7 . for couplings functioning as quick disconnect couplings , actuating member 18 ( fig7 ) has an elongated hole 19 for the non - rotatable support . this elongated hole ( 19 ) is longer than dimension 20 ( fig1 ) of flattened portion 13 of shaft part 8 by at least the closing path and passage 49 . the thickness of actuating member 18 is smaller , a desired amount , than distance 21 of the flattened portion 13 , when the two parts 8 and 9 of actuating shaft 7 are axially connected firmly and concentrically by screw 10 ( fig1 ). thus , actuating member 18 can shift on actuating shaft 7 in its axial direction 17 by the amount by which elongated hole 19 is longer than dimension 20 of shaft range 13 ( fig7 ). first valve 6 of first coupling 1 includes valve body 30 and carrier 29 , which is constructed from the four shafts 31 ( in the sectional drawings only two pieces are shown in each case ) and rear face plate 32 . closing spring 33 is supported at one end by a shoulder 50 of connection 34 and pushes valve body 30 of the first valve in direction a and thus toward the closed position by means of shafts 31 . in bore 59 of valve body 30 , actuator 35 is axially guided . this actuator 35 is a preformed part with ranges of varying diameters and with head 36 and head surface 36a . actuator 35 is held against actuating member 18 by opening spring 37 , one of the ends of which is supported by valve body 30 . head 36 of actuator 35 is guided into guide space 26 ( fig1 ), which is located between the four shafts 31 of carrier 29 , and its shaft is sealed against valve body 30 by seal 38 . the diameter of bore 57 of housing 3 is enlarged in direction a before actuating shaft 7 by a given angle 40 , and it is reduced in diameter toward actuating shaft 7 by a given angle 41 . this change in diameter is , as described below , necessary for the function of actuating member 18 . shaft parts 8 and 9 are sealed against housing 3 by seals 42 , which have been placed in a recess 55 of the housing 3 and seal against the shoulder 11 or 12 of shaft parts 8 , 9 . this design of a shaft seal is particularly simple and space saving . the actuator handle 43 is attached to shoulder 11 . instead of actuator handle 43 , a rotary key can also be used for actuating the coupling if the shoulder 11 is designed accordingly . receiving portion 4 is , according to fig1 constructed for the second coupling part designed as a flat valve plug , which is shown , as well as for plugs designed according to iso - standard 5675 and sae - j - standard 1036 . it is for this purpose , that receptacle 4 , from lock ball line 45 to head surface 46 of valve body 30 , or , as the case may be , to face 28 of housing 3 , is longer by the amount by which valve continuation 47 ( fig2 ) of second valve 64 protrudes from face 48 of second coupling part 2a . a second coupling part 2 , on the other hand , is longer from line 45 to its face 48 also by the amount represented by valve continuation 47 . if designed in this manner , plugs according to iso - or sae - standards can be used for receptacle 4 , as well as specially fitted second coupling parts 2 ( fig1 ) configured as plugs . lock balls 51 retain second coupling part 2 or 2a in a known manner in receptacle 4 . locking sleeve 5 locks or unlocks balls 51 also in a known manner and is , therefore , not described any more precisely . if housing 3 of first coupling part 1 is placed in a fixed location , then coupling or uncoupling is effected by shifting locking sleeve 5 manually against the force of spring 52 relative to housing 3 and receptacle 4 . in its embodiment as a quick disconnect coupling , locking sleeve 5 is placed in a fixed position , where housing 3 with receptacle 4 can be moved axially by the amount necessary for the displacement of locking balls 51 in the unlocking grooves in locking sleeve 5 . because this function is known , it will not be addressed any further . fig1 and 2 show the coupling according to the invention in the closed actuating position and with an actuating member 18 , which is designed as a self - closing first valve 6 of first coupling part 1 . for non - self - closing valves 6 it is sufficient , as was mentioned , to use an actuating member according to fig8 . the coupling parts 2a , designed as plugs according to iso - and sae - standards , as well as the adapted and constructed as a flat plug second coupling part 2 , have a second valve 64 with an opening path limited by a stop . here , star - shaped body 60 of second valve 64 in housing 61 of the second coupling part is axially held in place by appropriate means . in sleeve 62 of star - shaped body 60 , shaft 63 of second valve 64 is supported in an axially slidable manner . the distance between sleeve end 65 and valve plate 66 determines the possible opening path of second valve 64 . in the open position , the plug valve is , therefore , located at sleeve 62 of star shaped body 60 . fig3 shows the coupling according to fig1 in a section displaced by 90 ° and in the open actuation position . if actuating shaft 7 ( fig1 ) is rotated by 90 °, actuating member 18 is also rotated by 90 ° by means of flattened portion 13 . major axis 17 ( fig7 ) of actuating member 18 acts here in an axial direction ( in the direction of valve shaft 23 ) of first valve 6 , and has now moved actuator 35 in direction a and rear face plate 32 with carrier 29 in direction b . actuator 35 has now opened second valve 64 far enough , that valve plate 66 of second valve 64 is placed against sleeve 62 of star - shaped body 60 . in this actuating position , actuating shaft 7 is in the middle of actuating member 18 and elongated hole 19 , located in it , is displaced from the center and moved in direction b . because actuator 35 cannot be moved any further in direction a , since valve plate 66 is located at sleeve 62 , which is axially held in place , first valve 6 , which is pulled from rear face plate 32 in direction b by way of shafts 31 due to the fact that operating surface 44 of actuating surface 22 of actuating member 18 is positioned against it , has also been opened . actuating member 18 with its elongated hole 19 , only separated by certain passage , is now positioned against actuating shaft 7 . thus , first valve 6 can not move further in direction b . thus , the coupling is protected against reverse flow , because neither the valve of the first nor that of the second coupling part can be crushed by the flow of media . through - flow in both flow directions is possible . if now , for example in the case of a coupling installed as a quick disconnect coupling , second coupling part 2 or 2a is disconnected without first closing the coupling , the axial resistance of second valve 64 against actuator 35 is eliminated , and closure spring 33 pushes valve body 30 of first valve 6 , by way of carrier 29 , in direction a and thus places valve 6 in the closed position . at the same time , actuating member 18 in elongated hole 19 is likewise pushed in direction a by means of face plate 32 . the valve position of fig4 with closed first valve 6 and actuator 35 protruding into receptacle 58 , is established . in this position , renewed coupling is only possible with a non - pressurized second coupling part 2 , 2a . even then , however , the coupling force is considerably higher than in the closed coupling position , because the force of closing spring 33 must additionally be overcome , since actuator 35 now pushes face plate 32 , by way of actuating member 18 and thus carrier 29 , in direction b when a plug is inserted into receptacle 58 . when actuator shaft 7 is turned into the closing position , actuating member 18 is eccentric with respect to actuator shaft 7 and must be returned to its centered position in elongated hole 19 , because the length of the longitudinal axis of actuating member 18 corresponds approximately to the inner diameter of cylindrical bore 57 of housing 3 of first coupling part 1 . in order to make this possible during the actuating process , an increasing or decreasing diameter enlargement 56 with angles 40 and 41 is required . the number of degrees of the angle depends on the shape of actuating member 18 . while the coupling is being opened , the elongated hole 19 at actuating member 18 has to point to the rear , thus in direction b . in order to avoid turning the coupling in the wrong rotational direction , it is necessary to provide for corresponding stops . these stops are provided for carrier 29 of valve body 30 of first valve 6 and preferably disposed at or between shafts 31 ( fig1 and 17 ). thus , the angular position of actuating handle 43 relative to actuating shaft 7 can be freely chosen . this is especially advantageous , if the space for the installation of the coupling on the corresponding equipment is limited or can not be chosen at will . it may also be necessary , depending on the installation position of the coupling , to attach the actuating lever optionally on one of the partial shaft pieces 8 or 9 . in this case , the coupling can either be opened in a clockwise direction and closed in a counter clockwise direction or in the opposite sequence . for this reason , a stop outside the coupling sleeve is not advantageous . the configuration of the stops in the case of a carrier consisting of shafts 31 can be seen in fig1 , 17 . there are two shafts 31 of the valve body of the first coupling part connected to each other by a bridge 70 which functions as a stop . bridge 70 is constructed in such a manner , that actuating member 18 can only be turned forward in one direction and turned rearward in the opposite direction . therefore , it is not possible according to fig2 to turn actuating handle 43 any further in direction a , because actuating handle 18 would then hit against stop 71 of bridge 70 . actuating handle 43 can , therefore , be turned only in direction b , and thus elongated hole 19 can likewise be turned rearwardly in direction b . on the other hand , it is not possible , to turn actuating member 18 by more than 90 ° because , as shown in fig3 it then touches edge 72 of bridge 70 . the coupling according to the invention as shown in fig1 , 3 and 4 has , as described , an elongated recess , in order to employ , on the one hand , a second coupling part in the form of a plug according to iso - standard 5675 or sae - standard j 1036 , and on the other hand , flat plugs for uncoupling free of oil leaks . in fig5 a coupling of the same kind is shown , which is only suitable for the above mentioned standard - complying plug as a second coupling part , but not for flat valve plugs . in this embodiment of the invention recess 4a is constructed according to the known dimensions required by the standards . the face side of valve body 30a of first valve 6 displays a crater - like depression , which approximates the negative contour of continuation 47 of second valve 64 of the second coupling part , which is formed as a plug . actuator 35a is here shorter by the amount of the plug opening path than in the previously described construction examples . the mode of operation of the coupling is the same as the previously described one . only , as was mentioned , a second coupling part constructed as a flat valve plug cannot be used . in this embodiment as well the amount of oil leakage during uncoupling is low , but does not have the low level , which the coupling according to the invention according to fig1 and 14 achieves with second coupling parts constructed as flat valve plugs . fig6 shows a solution for further reducing the amount of oil leakage during uncoupling of plugs complying with the standards in the case of couplings according to the invention , with recesses which are equally suitable for second coupling parts , which are usable as flat valve plugs as well as plugs according to iso - standard 5675 or sae - standard j 1036 . for the use of standard - complying plugs , a filler ring 54 of suitable material can be inserted between face surface 28 of housing 3 of the first coupling part and face surface 48 of the housing ( fig2 ) of the second coupling part . this filler ring 54 must , however , be removed when an adapted flat plug is to be connected . if the use of plugs according to iso - standard 5675 or sae - standard j 1036 is refrained from , then the elongation of the recess described is unnecessary . then a dimension favorable to the second coupling part , constructed as a plug , and to the recess can be chosen . actuating shaft 7 includes the two shaft parts 8 , 9 . during the axial assembly of shaft parts 8 and 9 the end portion of flattened shaft end 13 of first shaft part 8 is inserted into a groove 14 of the second shaft part 9 in such a manner that a unitary actuating shaft 7 is generated according to fig1 . fig1 shows a section along line 12 -- 12 according to fig9 . alternatively , instead of the flattened portion 13 of size 20 a square shape according to fig1 can also be chosen . also a polygonally contoured cross - section of this portion is possible ( not drawn ). fig1 shows a coupling with an axial - radial direction of flow for the pressurized medium . as already mentioned , the quick connect couplings with ball locks are favored for use as so - called quick disconnect couplings . this requires , however , that for most known couplings the locking sleeve must be installed at a fixed location and the housing must be slidable relative to it . the connection of the pressurized medium to the housing must then , however , be flexibly movable , if an axial through flow of the pressurized medium occurs . this movable connection is for reasons of space not always feasible . for this reason the pressurized medium must flow through the housing in a radial direction if a quick disconnect coupling is desired . also , it has become recent practice , to place several housings of the first coupling part in a block building pattern in a common housing . for modern tractors it is not unusual to provide four or more coupling sleeves for the most diverse uses of hydraulic energy . according to fig1 , the second coupling part 2 configured as a plug , corresponds to the one of fig1 and is not further discussed below . first valve 6 , consisting of valve body 30a , carrier 29 with shafts 31 and face plate 32 and actuator 35 , as well as actuating shaft 7 , are equal in construction and function to those of the embodiments of fig1 and 4 . they are , therefore , not discussed any further below . outer sleeve 75 is supported in a fixed location . instead of this kind of sleeve , the recess for the first coupling part can also be a bore in the housing having the interior contour of sleeve 75 . several housings can be imagined which contain bores for several first coupling parts . an inner sleeve 76 is provided for installation purposes and is supported at its face surface 77 at shoulder 78 of outer sleeve 75 . at the other end , the inner sleeve 79 is held axially in place by safety ring 76 so that it is not slidable in outer sleeve 75 by safety ring 79 . a seal 80 seals outer sleeve 75 against inner sleeve 76 . circumferential locking ring 81 , which retains locking balls 82 in locking groove 53 of plug 2 , is made in one piece with inner sleeve 76 . for reasons of manufacturing and installation , the receiving housing part 83 is threadedly connected to housing 85 by means of a thread 84 . however , it is also possible to make housing parts 83 and 85 in one piece . a spring 86 acts in a known manner between housing parts 83 and 85 , on the one hand , and sleeve parts 75 and 76 on the other hand in a known manner , so that sleeve parts 75 , 76 and housing parts 83 , 85 can be axially displaced relative to each other in each direction by a certain amount in order to open the ball - lock for connecting or disconnecting the second coupling part . during coupling , coupling part 2 , which is constructed as a plug , is pushed in direction b into the housing part forming the recess . hereby , housing part 85 is displaced against the force of spring 86 against outer sleeve 75 , equally in direction b . housing part 85 and the housing part 83 forming the recess are sealed against outer sleeve 75 by seals 87 and 88 . after being pushed in direction b , locking balls 82 can escape outwardly into space 90 and second coupling part 2 can be pushed in a known manner into the recess . in this position , locking balls 82 can move aside into the locking groove of second coupling part 2 and locking occurs as soon as second coupling part 2 and thus the first coupling part as well are moved again by spring 86 in direction a until the spring is in the neutral position . in the neutral position of spring 86 , the locking ring is positioned , as shown in fig1 , above locking balls 82 . for uncoupling , the second coupling part 2 , which is configured as a plug , is pulled in direction a . now housing 85 of the first coupling part is also pulled against the force of spring 86 against outer sleeve 75 in direction a . locking balls 82 can escape outwardly to receptacle 89 and second coupling part 2 is released . housing 85 moves independently by the force of spring 86 in direction b , again until the spring is neutralized . for the radial through flow through the coupling at least one , but preferably several , crossbores 91 are distributed along the circumference of housing 85 and in outer sleeve 75 a annular groove 92 is provided . the continuing channel or line for the pressurized medium is connected to annular groove 92 ( not drawn ). when the coupling is turned to &# 34 ; open &# 34 ; by turning handle 43a , during power transmission to a user , pressurized medium flows from annular groove 92 through crossbore 91 and the open valves 6 , 64 , from the first and second coupling part , axially through the second coupling part 2 toward the user , or in the opposite direction if the user must discharge pressurized medium . in fig1 , a one piece configuration with locked rear face plate 32a is described instead of valve body 30 of the first valve . the carrier is composed of the four shafts 31 and rear face plate 32 according to fig1 , 17 . this valve body includes a pair of slots 68 for actuating shaft 7 , partial shaft pieces 8 and 9 and a pair of slots 69 and 69a , which is contemplated to be displaced by 90 °, in which actuating member 18 is guided . slot 69 is here shorter than slot 69a . this causes edge 71 to act as a stop for actuating member 18 and , therefore , this can likewise , as described above , not be actuated in the wrong direction . however , a design according to fig1 has shown itself to be particularly advantageous . valve body 30 is connected to rear face plate 32 by four shafts 31 , which together form carrier 29 . shafts 31 have a groove 73 at each end , by means of which they can each be inserted in the corresponding slot 74 ( fig1 ). the positioning of shafts 31 on valve body 30 and face plate 32 is contemplated to be rectangular in such a manner that the distance generated between the four shafts 31 , between which a guide space 26 is created , can sometimes be wider and sometimes smaller . in this guide space 26 , the head of actuator 35 is guided . actuating member 18 is guided between the more closely spaced shafts 31 of carrier 29 . the clearance volume generated by the larger spacing of shafts 31 serves to provide a through - passage of actuating shaft 7 . shafts 31 are shown in the drawing with grooves 73 , which each snap into slots 74 of valve body 30 and face plate 32 . however , it is obviously possible to connect shafts 31 in other ways , for example by welding , soldering or threaded connections , with valve body 30 and face plate 32 . fig1 is a section along line 17 -- 17 of fig1 . it clarifies stop 71 , which is generated by bridge 70 , with which two of the four shafts 31 are connected to each other . the first coupling part according to the invention can also be used with a recess , which is configured as a threaded connection for the second coupling part . fig1 shows such an embodiment , where recess 4a is equally elongated in such a way that a second coupling part , configured as a flat valve plug , can be used as an alternative to such conical valves , which protrude from the face around the exit path , and is , therefore , free of leaks . recess 4a is , in this case , equipped with an outer thread 93 , to which swivel nut 94 can be threaded , and holds second coupling part 2b , which is configured as a plug , in recess 4a by means of shoulder 95 . it is understood that a threaded connection can be used for all of the embodiments described above in the place of a ball check valve . the geometry of actuating member 18 can vary from the shape of an ellipse . the actuating member can also assume a basic rectangular shape with differently rounded corners and / or it can be provided with an elongated hole , which is placed at an angle to longitudinal axis 17 . fig1 shows an actuating member made in such a manner . such configuration , which generate an actuating path deviating from 90 ° and possibly have a favorable effect on the required actuating force , can be so variable that they are not discussed further . under various conditions of use it is desirable that the coupling part , constructed as a plug , cannot be disconnected when the coupling has been actuated into the open position . for all described embodiments of the quick closing coupling according to the invention with axial locking ( therefore , with the exception of the described embodiment as a threaded coupling ) a locking feature can be designed relatively easily . in fig2 and 21 , a coupling with a coupling lock is shown schematically . some reference numbers are taken from fig1 or are being augmented to make it more understandable . locking sleeve 5 includes an extension 101 extending past second shaft piece 9 . instead of the extension drawn , locking sleeve 5 can be elongated all over by a certain amount and thus envelop housing 3a of the first coupling part . applied to the embodiment of fig1 , a housing in a fixed position can also take the place of locking sleeve 5 , where the housing of the first coupling part can move axially by a certain distance for making and breaking the connection . fig2 shows the coupling in an assumed closed - valve position and with a locking sleeve 5 in a fixed location . shoulder 102 of partial shaft piece 9 has an oval shape and , with the coupling closed , its longitudinal axis is disposed in an axial direction with respect to housing 3a of the first coupling part and thus in the direction of elongated hole 103 with two curved openings 96 , which are located opposite each other in the center of the elongated hole . elongated hole 103 is longer , in the axial direction , than the longitudinal axis of oval shoulder 96 on the partial shaft piece by twice the length of the path required for the actuating process . the widening of elongated hole 103 by curved openings 96 is dimensionally about equal to the longitudinal axis of shoulder 104 . in the neutral position of the coupling , which occurs when locking ring 81 ( see fig1 , for example ) is in the locking position around lock balls 82 , or when spring 86 is in a neutral position , partial shaft piece 9 is located in the center of elongated hole 103 . in it , when the coupling is closed , oval shoulder 102 of the partial shaft piece can now move axially in both directions , in each direction with the stroke necessary for coupling . the spacing between each of the two ends 97 , 98 of elongated hole 95 and the opposite ends 99 , 100 of shoulder 102 corresponds in each case to the coupling stroke . coupling and uncoupling is , therefore , possible in the position of partial shaft piece 9 according to fig2 . when the actuating shaft is rotated by 90 °, then oval shoulder 102 is placed diagonally to the longitudinal direction of elongated hole 103 and enters , with its longitudinal axis , the curved spaces 96 of elongated hole 103 . now the sliding ability of housing 3a relative to locking sleeve 5 is blocked . the second coupling part 2 , which has the shape of a plug , cannot be uncoupled . it is understood that the same function is achieved , if instead of locking sleeve 5 , housing 3a is positioned in a fixed location and locking sleeve 5 is slidable by hand relative to housing 3a for coupling and uncoupling of the second coupling part 2 . the coupling is secured in the described manner , so that it can be coupled or uncoupled only when the valve is closed . in fig2 , a further embodiment of a coupling with an actuating mechanism in accordance with the invention is shown . here , first coupling part la , which embodies the actuating mechanism , is made as a plug . second coupling part 2c of the coupling is constructed as a sleeve part . such a coupling is preferably used where the first coupling part , which is used as a plug , is stationary , i . e . is installed in such a way that it cannot move , and the second coupling part , which is configured as a sleeve part , is movable . here the coupling process of the two coupling parts 1a , 2c can be performed with one hand by grasping the movable second coupling part , which is constructed as a coupling sleeve , at the slide sleeve and pushing it against first coupling part 1a . sliding sleeve 104 then moves against the force of spring 105 holding it in place , so that locking balls 82 can move out of the way . if one releases sliding sleeve 104 , then it will once more be pushed by spring 105 into the locking position . if it is to be uncoupled , sliding sleeve 104 is pulled in the opposite direction out of the locking position and sleeve - shaped second coupling part 2b releases itself from plug - shaped first coupling part 1a . such a coupling can be used to advantage anywhere where no classical quick disconnect coupling is to be used . as can be further seen from fig2 , first coupling part 1a is constructed as the male part and accordingly equipped with a plug - like end . second coupling part 2b is then constructed as a sleeve part with locking balls 82 which are held in the locking position by slide sleeve 104 . first coupling part 1a is installed in a stationary location and second coupling part 2b is movable , then slide sleeve 104 moves relative to the housing of the first coupling part in direction b as soon as the plug - shaped end of first coupling part 1a pushes against locking balls 82 and slide sleeve 104 is pushed against the force of spring 105 further in direction b . now locking balls 82 can move aside into first annular groove 106 in the interior surface of slide sleeve 104 until the plug - shaped end of first coupling part 1a is fully inserted into sleeve - shaped second coupling part 2b and locking balls 82 can snap into groove 107 . if slide sleeve 104 is now released , then it will again be pulled in direction a by pressure spring 105 until it reaches a locking position , in which locking balls 82 can no longer escape to the outside . the coupling is now firmly connected . if second coupling part 2b is to be uncoupled from first coupling part 1a , then slide sleeve 104 is pulled in direction a . it moves against the housing of first coupling part 2b and against the force of pressure spring 105 in direction a until locking balls 81 can escape into second annular groove 108 in the interior surface of slide sleeve 104 and second coupling part 2b can be pulled away from first coupling part 1a . it is also possible to install this embodiment of the coupling as a genuine quick disconnect coupling . in such a case , slide sleeve 104 shown in fig4 is installed stationarily and coupling parts 2b and 1a are movable . likewise , an embodiment is possible where a threaded coupling similar to the one of fig1 is provided for connecting the two coupling parts 1a and 2b . in connection 34 a check valve 109 is contemplated , which is spring loaded in direction a by spring 110 . it is placed between line connection 113 and actuating member 18 . valve cone 111 of check valve 109 includes an actuator 112 , both made of one piece , which extends close to face plate 32 of carrier 29 , when the coupling is placed in the closed position . check valve 111 is then also closed . if now pressurized medium is introduced erroneously into connection 113 , then it cannot get into coupling part 1a and thereby push actuator 35b out of housing 3b of first coupling part 1a . if the coupling is now switched into the open position , then face plate 32 of carrier 29 will be pushed in direction b by actuating member 18 . this then pushes against actuator 112 , and check valve 109 will be opened . it is to be understood that the shown embodiment of check valve 109 can also be varied . for example , actuator 112 can also be fastened to face plate 32 or designed to be of one piece with it , and push against valve cone 111 in order to open it . also , a ball seat valve can be installed instead of valve cone 111 . while the above detailed description described the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the invention is susceptible to modification , variation , and alteration without deviating from the scope and fair meaning of the subjoined claims .

the invention concerns a coupling for connecting hydraulic lines having a first coupling part 1 with a first valve 6 , which is received into a housing 3 , and including means for receiving a second coupling part 2 , which includes a second valve 64 . the truncated conical valve body 30 of first valve 6 is urged in the closing direction by a separate closing spring 33 . valve body 30 of first valve 6 is then penetrated by an actuator , which is adjustable in the direction of second valve 64 , and which actsacross an actuating surface cooperatively with an actuating shaft 7 disposed diagonally to the valve axis and penetrates housing 3 of first coupling part 1 , which actuating surface , on the one hand , acts on valve body 30 of first valve 6 and , on the other hand , on an actuator 35 . the actuator 35 is urged toward actuating surface 22 by means of an opening spring 37 supported by valve body 30 . in order to attain a simplified assembly , the actuating surface is part of a separate actuating member 18 , which is attached non - rotatably to an actuating shaft 7 , which is divided into two partial shaft pieces 8 , 9 .

referring mainly to fig6 , a device 1 according to the invention can be seen represented , with an inverter 2 and switching means 4 comprising three h - shaped bridges , 3 , 3 ′, 3 ″. each bridge 3 , 3 ′, 3 ″ comprises four switches ( consisting , in the present example , of power transistors ) distributed on arms referenced a to f . the device 1 also comprises energy energy energy storage means 5 , a motor 6 , represented partially , the windings 7 of which serve as inductance . the device 1 also comprises a connector system 8 making it possible to connect to the outlet of the electrical network 11 . the switching from the power supply mode to the charging mode is managed by a control circuit 9 ( in fig6 , the link between the control circuit 9 and the switches 12 has not been represented to make it easier to read the figure ). referring to fig6 , it can be seen that the device 1 also comprises a dc / dc converter 10 arranged between the h - shaped bridges and the energy energy energy storage means 5 , the latter makes it possible to adapt the voltages and consequently optimize the dimensioning of the inverter without degrading efficiency . fig1 targets an embodiment combining a three - phase motor and a single - phase charging electrical network , the compensation being performed by rectification of the network . fig1 represents an inverter 2 with a control circuit 9 and a single - phase electrical source or network 11 . the single phase of the network 11 is connected to the first phase of the motor 6 to make it possible to charge the energy energy energy storage means 5 . more specifically , the phase of the network 11 is connected so as to use the first coil 7 of the stator of the motor 6 as inductance during charging . during this charging step , a magnetic field is created in the motor that includes a homopolar component which attracts and repels in succession the poles of the rotor of the motor 6 . depending on the rotor types , it is thus possible for the rotor to vibrate or start rotating during the charging of the energy storage means 5 and , in particular , in the case of use of a permanent - magnet rotor . even in the case of a wound rotor , if the latter is not insulated from its power supply , spurious induced currents can appear in the rotor and set the latter in motion . the use of a diode bridge 14 as compensation means makes it possible to create a unipolar field that varies only in amplitude . these compensation means prevent the appearance of the attraction repulsion phenomena in a permanent - magnet rotor . fig2 a and 2b target an embodiment combining a three - phase motor and a single - phase charging electrical network , the compensation being performed by current injection . fig2 a represents an inverter 2 with a control circuit 9 and a single - phase electrical network 11 . in this example , the compensation consists in injecting into the remaining phase a current identical to that used for charging . the compensation consequently makes it possible to thus inhibit the effect of the charge current with respect to the rotor . the compensation of the magnetic fields during the charging step is in this case performed by a compensation operation during which the control circuit 9 drives the switches 12 so as to inject , into each of the two phases of the motor that have remained free ( that is to say , into the two coils of the stator of the motor 6 that are not linked to the network 11 ), a compensation current determined by the control circuit 9 so that the vector sum of the magnetic fields created by each of the three coils 7 is zero . this makes it possible to reduce or eliminate the movements of the rotor due , for example , to dissymmetries of the motor . as an example , compensation currents identical to the charging current can be injected , thus inhibiting the effect of the charging current with respect to the rotor . the control circuit 9 thus determines the compensation current by slaving it to the charge current . as a variant , or in addition , the compensation currents can also be determined by the control circuit 9 according to the position of the rotor of the motor 6 supplied , for example , by a sensor . the compensation current is then slaved to the physical position of the rotor , that is to say that it is modified until the rotor is immobilized or exhibits an acceptable movement . fig2 b shows a variant in the connection of the single - phase network to the h - shaped bridges ( 3 , 3 ′, 3 ″). the link from the control circuit 9 to the transistors of the h - shaped bridges has not been represented to keep the figure simple . these links are identical to those of fig1 and 2a . in all the figures , the points that can be seen in proximity to the motor windings 7 define the winding direction of the winding in the notches provided for this purpose . the winding is such that if balanced three - phase currents supply the coils 7 of the motor 6 via each of the terminals indicated by the point , the magnetomotive force system is a balanced three - phase system . in a misuse of language , it is said that the terminal of coil 7 marked by a point is the positive terminal . in fig2 b , the single - phase network is connected so that the neutral of the network is on a coil 7 terminal that is said to be positive and the phase is on a negative terminal . thus , from the viewpoint of the motor 6 , the currents passing through its first two coils are in phase . it is then sufficient to inject into the remaining coil 7 a current that is in phase . thus , the fields generated on the stator of the motor 6 are in fact on the rotor because the vector sum of the currents of the coils 7 of the motor taking into account their spatial offset is zero . during charging , one of the possible commands is to drive the arms b and c in phase opposition . for example , the arms b and c can be controlled according to a conventional pwm ( pulse width modulation ) control in order to produce the pfc ( power factor corrector ) function . there will be no more detailed discussion here concerning how to control the current to produce all the functionalities of a battery charger , which is known to those skilled in the art . to produce the compensation , the arms e and f are driven in the present example so as to generate a current equal in amplitude and in phase on the corresponding coil 7 , the role of which is to compensate for the stator field created by the first two coils 7 . the arms a and d are represented in dotted lines because they are not controlled during this charging phase . the compensation is thus produced by the arms e and f . a variant of the embodiment of fig1 consists in complementing the compensation by rectification of the network with a compensation by current injection into the remaining free phase of the motor , as in the embodiment of fig2 a and 2b . fig3 targets an embodiment combining a three - phase motor and a single - phase charging electrical network , the compensation being performed by current injection at the mid - points of the windings 7 of the motor 6 . fig3 represents an inverter 2 with a control circuit 9 and a single - phase electrical network 11 . in this example , the compensation means are produced by connecting the terminals 15 of the electrical network 11 via the mid - points 16 of two coils of the stator of the motor 6 . during the charging step , the current is input at the mid - points 16 . this introduction means that the charge currents are balanced between each half - coil and consequently do not create any magnetomotive force . the arms a and b as well as c and d are driven in the present example so as to generate currents that are equal in amplitude but in phase opposition from the viewpoint of the motor 6 . for example , the arms b and c can be controlled according to a conventional pwm control in order to produce the pfc function . since the currents of each half - coil flow in the same notches but in opposite directions , as indicated in the figure , the magnetomotive force is therefore zero . there is no field created on the stator by virtue of this compensation . nevertheless , these currents are in phase from the viewpoint of the battery charger . the battery charging is handled , as in a conventional charger , by the arms a , b , c and d and by the leakage inductances of each pair of half - coils . in practice , the coupling of the two half - coils is not perfect even though they pass through the same notches , this being due to the inevitable shape imperfections of the coils . these imperfections therefore form an inductive element for the charger function . the arms e and f are not controlled during this charging phase . as a variant , the coils can be arranged so that the currents of each half - coil do not flow in the same notches . fig4 targets an embodiment combining a three - phase motor and a three - phase charging electrical network , the compensation being performed by rectification of the network . fig4 represents an inverter 2 with a control circuit 9 and three - phase electrical network 11 . in this exemplary embodiment , the compensation means comprise diode bridges 14 . to improve the compensation and prevent any rotation of the rotor , the compensation may include an additional step consisting in reversing a phase of the rotor of the motor 6 . this reversal can be produced simply by reversing the connection of one of the inductive windings of the stator ( see fig4 in which , for the leftmost winding 7 in the figure , the point is to the right of this winding whereas , for the other two windings 7 , the point is to the left of the corresponding winding ). fig5 targets an embodiment combining a three - phase motor and a three - phase charging electrical network , the compensation being performed by current injection at the mid - points of the windings 7 of the motor 6 . fig5 represents an inverter 2 with a control circuit 9 and a three - phase electrical network 11 . in this exemplary embodiment , the compensation means are produced by connecting the electrical network 11 to the mid - points 16 of the coils of the stator of the motor 6 . all the arms a to f are in this case controlled according to a conventional pwm control in order to produce the pfc function . the input of the current , during the energy energy energy storage means charging mode , at the mid - points means , in the same way as was described in the example of fig3 for a single - phase electrical network , that the charge currents are balanced between each half - coil and consequently do not create any magnetomotive force . this solution for compensation by current injection into the mid - points of the coils has the advantage of advantageously reducing the apparent inductance of the charger ( this is also valid for the embodiment of fig3 ). in practice , in order to produce a device producing the pfc function , the inductance of the coils must not be too great so as not to distort the wave of the current . when the power factor is unitary , the current is in phase with the voltage . the slope of the current is maximum when the voltage is zero . if the inductance is high , the rise of the current will take longer and will reach its maximum slope with a delay . the consequence is a distortion of the current during the transition to zero . this distortion is a source of harmonics . as it happens , the leakage inductance is much less than the magnetizing inductance . generally , the ratio of the leakage inductance to the magnetizing inductance is from 1 to 10 %. in the case of a high - voltage machine , the value of the inductance increases with the square of the control voltage . for high - voltage systems , the inductances of the stator coils of the electric machines are too high to produce a charger with control of the power factor . the solution of fig3 and 5 makes it possible to divide this inductance by 10 or even 100 . for example , a 50 kw machine engineered for an inverter with a 900 v h - shaped bridge may exhibit an inductance of 4 mh . this value is not suitable for a 3 kw charger at 230 v . the use of the leakage inductance makes it possible to reduce this value between 400 and 40 μh . the drawback may be a ripple on the current that is greater than the chopping frequency . this ripple can be reduced by increasing the chopping frequency . bearing in mind that the 3 to 6 kw charger does not use the full capacity of the electronics engineered for a 50 kw inverter , there is no drawback in increasing the switching losses in battery charging mode . consequently , in the case of a current injection at the mid - points of one or more coils of the stator ( fig3 and 5 ), and when the same current is injected into the two half - coils ( formed by the existence of the mid - point ), the inductances of the two half - coils are canceled out . only the leakage inductance associated with the imperfections of the coils remains apparent , this inductance being much lower and better suited to use in a charger . other features of the invention could also have been envisaged without thereby departing from the scope of the invention defined by the claims below . thus , in the various examples taken up in the description the compensation means are detailed with a three - phase motor , but the teachings of this description can be transposed and extended generally to polyphase electric machines . as in the examples cited the inverter has an h - shaped bridge structure , the invention however is not limited to this structure and notably can be extended to a conventional structure with an inverter produced with three - phase bridges and switching means of power contactor type to switch from a battery charging mode to a motor power supply mode . moreover , the various embodiments described here can be combined , just as the compensation step can be performed by a combination of the various compensation means described . in the examples cited , the expression “ mid - point ”, when it relates to a coil , may designate not only the point of connection of two half - coils with the same number of turns , but also the point of connection of two half - coils with different numbers of turns . the expression “ mid - point ” is therefore used here in accordance with its usual meaning in electronics , equally covering a point taken at the exact middle of a coil , and a point dividing the coil into two unequal portions ( for example , one portion comprising two thirds of the total number of turns and another portion comprising one third of the total number of turns ). in the same spirit , the terms “ half ” or “ half - coil ” designate one of these portions , even if the latter comprises a number of turns that is different from half the total number of turns of the coil . the charge currents are then distributed in each half - coil in such a way as to reflect the ratio between the number of turns of the half - coil concerned and the total number of turns of the coil .

a combined power supply and charging method includes controlling switching from a motor power supply mode to an energy storage charging mode on an electrical network and vice versa , and compensating for magnetic fields during the energy storage charging mode in order to limit or eliminate movements of a rotor of the motor .

a perspective view of a tree - felling saw head 10 is illustrated in fig1 and shows the saw head 10 operably extended forwardly of a saw head enclosure 11 . a more detailed description of the saw head 10 is presented in canadian patent application no . 574 , 491 , filed oct . 11 , 1988 , in the name of m . w . kenneth nunweiler . a double - headed arrow 12 indicates the direction along which the saw head is reciprocable . thus the saw head may be fully extended , as shown , when cutting a tree and then completely retracted for safety when not in use and to prevent damage thereto through inadvertent contact with rocks and the like . in this regard , a bumper 13 extends outwardly from an external surface of each side wall of the enclosure 11 to prevent accidental side contact with the saw head 10 when extended . grapple arms ( not shown ) are usually employed with the saw head 10 to assist in tree cutting . thus , while a tree trunk is firmly gripped by the grapple arms ( not shown ) against an upper curvilinear supporting edge 14 of the enclosure 11 and a corresponding lower supporting edge ( not shown ) the saw head 10 is advanced forwardly in the direction of the arrow 12 to sever the tree . when completely cut through , the tree is further supported laterally by a shield plate 15 that substantially conforms to the curvature of the upper edge 14 as shown in fig1 . in addition to such lateral support , the base of the tree is carried upon a top plate 16 which enters the kerf as it is cut by a plurality of saw teeth 17 and 17 &# 39 ;, individual ones of which are removably mounted on each side of a center disk 19 alongside a peripheral edge 18 thereof . fig2 illustrates an end view of a pair of known saw teeth 20 and 20 &# 39 ; which are positioned in a cutting configuration as when mounted on the center disk 19 . although not illustrated in detail , it will be understood that the teeth 20 and 20 &# 39 ; are of the type commonly referred to as chainsaw teeth . a kerf 21 cut by the teeth 20 , 20 &# 39 ; is illustrated in fig2 b which shows a cross - sectional portion of a tree 22 having longitudinal fibers 23 . it will be observed that the saw teeth 20 and 20 &# 39 ; each have a sloping cutting edge 24 as shown which results in a correspondingly shaped end wall 25 of the kerf 21 . it has been discovered that cross cutting the fibers 23 , as in the manner of the prior art , requires an expenditure of additional energy as compared to effecting the same cut using saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; illustrated in fig3 . the saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; are positioned similarly to the teeth of fig2 . however , a significant difference observable in fig3 a is that cutting edges 26 of the saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; are coplanar . a kerf 27 is therefore cut with a square end wall 28 that is substantially parallel to the fibers 23 . in the example of fig3 it has been determined that 90 % of the power available for the cut is used to break the fibers 23 along side walls 29 of the kerf 27 . since the side walls 29 are cut in advance of the remaining portion of the kerf 27 in accordance with the invention , only 10 % of the power available is required to remove the remainder of the kerf 27 . the cutting action of the saw teeth 20 , 20 &# 39 ; cuts or breaks the fibers 23 more than once . this is wasteful of available power which otherwise could be used to increase the speed of the cut . in high production situations , speed is critical to efficiency of performance and therefore there is a perceived need to design improved cutting apparatus for felling trees . as will be described in greater detail in the description herein to follow , the saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; are able to cut the kerf 27 efficiently with a square profile as illustrated in fig3 b . as a result , the saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; are capable of separating the fibers 23 with relative ease and to achieve thereby the desired result of improved cutting efficiency . a perspective view of the saw tooth 17 is shown in fig4 . in the interest of brevity , the following description will apply principally to the saw tooth 17 . it will be understood , however , that the following description may apply equally to the saw tooth 17 &# 39 ; since one saw tooth is merely the mirror image of the other . equal numbers of the saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; are fastened to the center disk 19 using conventional fastening means such as threaded machine screws and corresponding threaded apertures in the center disk 19 . various structural elements of the saw tooth 17 are identified in fig4 where it will be seen that the saw tooth comprises a body portion 30 that is adapted to be fastened alongside the peripheral edge of the center disk 19 . two apertures 31 include a countersunk portion 32 ( fig6 ) that facilitates mounting the saw tooth 17 using flat - head threaded machine screws ( not shown ). rotational direction of the saw tooth 17 is indicated by an arrow 33 . a lead cutter 34 extends i forwardly of the portion 30 and includes a cutting edge 35 that is adapted to cut a narrow kerf which defines the side wall 29 of the larger principal kerf 27 . in addition , a corresponding square corner between the side wall 29 and the end wall 28 is formed . a primary cutter 36 trails the cutter 34 and functions to cut a corresponding remainder of the kerf 27 with a cutting leading edge 37 that is defined by a spiral around the surface of a cylinder having a radius equal to the radius of a tip 38 of the cutter 36 when mounted on the center disk 19 . since the edge 37 is at a constant radius to the rotational axis of the center disk 19 , the edge 37 does not cross wood fibers when cutting the kerf 27 . instead , the end wall 28 is cut square as previously described in fig3 . trailing the edge 37 there is a ruled , radially extending outermost surface 39 that is defined by two spirals around two cylinders ( not shown ) of slightly different radii . as may be best seen in fig6 a trailing portion of the surface 39 terminates along a trailing edge 45 and is lowered 8 . 0 ° ( fig5 ) to provide the cutting action required with clearance . if a line is drawn from the edge 37 to the edge 45 , it is a straight line . a series of such straight lines following the arc indicated by the arrow 33 , provides the required curvature to cut between the fibers 23 and to separate the same without double cutting and using extra power unnecessarily . fig5 shows a second trailing edge 46 , and a surface portion 44 , that are stepped radially inwardly from the radius of the tip 38 to prevent any frictional contact with the wall 28 so as to further improve cutting efficiency . a throat portion 47 separates the cutters 34 and 36 and facilitates removal of wood chips from the kerf 27 . the edge 35 of the cutter 34 breaks the fibers 23 in the corner of the kerf 27 by means of a sharpened tip 48 . cutting the narrow side wall kerf and fracturing the fibers in the corner requires about 90 % of the available power to drive the saw head 10 . this equates to a power consumption of about 45 % for each cutter 34 on a pair of saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; needed to form the kerf 27 . in the event that the cutter 34 is dulled by the action of rocks and other debris at the base of the tree 22 , the cutter 34 will continue to fracture the fibers 23 via compression in the corner of the kerf . it has been found that the fibers 23 damaged in this manner release readily when the cutter 36 advances into the fibers to form the kerf 27 . as well as achieving improved efficiency , the cutter 34 functions to protect the tip 38 of the cutter 36 in order to clear a path for the latter . this feature is achieved by setting the cutter 34 into the path of the arc traced by the cutter 36 in order to clear a path for the latter . reference to fig5 and 6 shows that the cutting edges 35 and 37 of cutters 34 and 36 , respectively , are positioned at an angle of 45 ° relative the cutting direction of the cutters . as previously described , the cutter 34 breaks the fibers 23 and initiates cutting the kerf 27 . the following cutter 36 subsequently separates the wood fibers without double cuttingi the same . each saw tooth 17 , 17 &# 39 ; takes an incremental bite of from 0 . 100 inches to 0 . 200 inches on each cut path . as a result , a tree 22 that is from 20 - 22 inches in diameter will be cut in approximately 4 seconds . since the center disk 19 is advanced forwardly at a rate of approximately 5 . 25 inches per second using hydraulic feed cylinders as described in copending application ser . no . 574 , 491 , and the rim speed of the disk is in the range of from 300 to 400 rpm using 20 saw teeth 17 , 17 &# 39 ;, the aforedescribed cutting results are readily achieved . fig5 and 6 also illustrate the cutters 34 and 36 with side walls 49 and 50 , respectively , each of which is directed inwardly of the center disk 19 at an angle of 5 . 0 ° relative to the cutting direction of the cutters . it will be understood therefrom that an opposite side wall 51 , corresponding to the side wall 50 , is angled convergingly towards the center disk 19 . turning to fig5 it will be observed that a top surface 40 of the cutter 34 trailing the cutting edge 35 is declined radially inwardly from the tip 48 at an angle of 8 . 0 ° relative a line tangent to the cutting circle of the cutters 34 and 36 . the aforedescribed bite is a function of this declination . the tip 38 may be regarded as a point of origin for the edge 37 as well as a cutting leading edge 52 of the side wall 50 . the edge 52 is downwardly directed into the throat 47 at an angle of 35 . 0 ° relative a line tangent to the cutting circle of the cutters as shown . a cutting surface of the cutter 36 intermediate the edges 37 and 52 comprises separate cutting surfaces 53 and 54 that comprise respective ruled surfaces defined by two spirals around two cylinders of different radii . to those individuals skilled in the art to whom this specification is addressed , it will be apparent that the embodiment heretofore described may be varied to meet particular requirements without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention disclosed . for example , the various surface angles disclosed may be varied somewhat to meet particular operating criteria . the foregoing embodiment is therefore not to be taken as indicative of the limits of the invention but rather as an exemplary structure of the invention which is described by the claims appended hereto .

a saw tooth , of which a number are removably mounted on a tree - felling saw head , includes a body portion having a lead cutter and a trailing primary cutter separated by a throat . the combined lead cutters function to cut a narrow side wall kerf on each side of a larger principal kerf together with corresponding inside corners of the larger kerf . the remainder of the larger kerf is then cut out by the following primary cutters , forming a square cut end . as the cut progresses , the combined primary cutters separate the longitudinal fibers of the tree at the square cut end without double cutting the fibers , thereby improving cutting efficiency and reducing energy requirements in felling a tree .

embodiments of systems according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 is a conceptual diagram of a lifeline information collection / monitoring system constituted by combining an asynchronous two - layer polling system serving as the first embodiment of a database network system according to the present invention and a high - speed database . a center station 1 comprises a main database 1 a for arranging collected data and accumulating the data for a required period of time . the center station 1 sequentially polls relay database stations . ( rds ) 3 1 to 3 p1 of a relay database station group 3 to collect data . the relay database stations 3 1 to 3 p1 are related to corresponding terminal groups , and sequentially poll terminal stations , e . g ., the terminal stations each corresponding to one household serving as a living unit , to collect data . although each of the relay database stations 3 1 to 3 p1 has the same function as that of the main database 1 a , this is omitted in fig1 for descriptive convenience . terminal station groups 5 1 to 5 p1 are related to the relay database stations 3 1 to 3 p1 , respectively . the terminal station group 5 1 related to the relay database station 3 1 includes p 2 terminal stations 5 11 to 5 1p2 . the relay database station 3 1 sequentially polls terminal stations 5 11 to 5 1p2 to collect data . the relay database station 3 2 sequentially polls terminal stations 5 21 to 5 2p2 to collect data . the relay database station 3 p1 sequentially polls terminal stations 5 p11 to 5 p1p2 to collect data . the sequential polling operations in the relay database stations are performed in parallel or almost in parallel to each other . upper - layer communication is indicated by a dotted line 6 , and an effective data transmission rate of communication between the center station 1 and the relay database station 3 1 or the like is represented by r 1 . lower - layer communication is indicated by a dotted line 8 , and an effective data transmission rate of communication between the relay database station 3 1 and a terminal station or the like is represented by r 2 . as communication media , various media including priority communication in , especially , the lower - layer communication are expected . however , a radio communication medium is used in this embodiment . as the first embodiment of the database network system , a system for recognizing within ten minutes the state of damage of city lifelines ( waterworks , electricity , or gas supply systems ) caused by a large earthquake will be described below . signals ( lifeline information ) representing the states of water , gas , and electricity supplies are collected and continuously monitored through meters installed in houses . collection , analysis , and accumulation / holding of the lifeline information are performed by using a dedicated network structured by combining radio communication devices and computers . in this case , each house corresponds to a terminal station , and information obtained from so - called electronic meters ( or microcomputer meters ) is used as the lifeline information . the electronic meter has functions of performing collection , holding , transmission , updating , and the like , of information data ( quantity used or the like ). information which has a high degree of emergency and must be continuously monitored is 3 . pieces of information having a high degree of emergency and which must be continuously monitored are periodically collected from the 260 , 000 house terminals every several minutes and updated . the collection / updating time is set at 10 minutes or less . in addition , a time record of the last 24 hours is always held . 4 . all the collected pieces of lifeline information are updated as needed ( or periodically ), and the latest contents of the lifeline information are held in the database in the system . the realization of a system satisfying the above requests uses the techniques ( combinations thereof ) described below . 2 . a conceptual view of the configuration of a lifeline information collection system constituted by combining a two - layer polling system and a high - speed database is shown in fig1 . 3 . pieces of house terminal lifeline information collected by a polling scheme ( 1 ) have given addresses , and ( 2 ) are classified by designated items . therefore , since the pieces of lifeline information collected from the house terminals have a database structure , a computer ( pc ) for acquiring and processing the pieces of lifeline information is regarded as a database , and functions and characteristics of the database are effectively used . 4 . in addition to arrangement of the main database device 1a in the center station 1 , databases are distributed in the relay stations 3 i . 5 . databases capable of updating a large quantity of data at high speed are used as the main database device 1 a and the relay station database devices ,. 6 . a relay station in which a database having a high - speed data updating function is arranged is called a relay database station ( to be referred to as an rds hereinafter ). ( 2 ) acquisition of lifeline information ( b 1 bytes / terminal , in this embodiment b 1 = 100 bytes ) from a house terminal . ( 3 ) data having a high degree of emergency or specific data is extracted , and data sets ( called event change information or specific data information ) of ( b 2 bytes / terminal , in this embodiment b 2 = 10 bytes )× p 2 are generated . ( 4 ) division of lifeline information 100 bytes / terminal ( the number of divided portions is n ), and holding of the divided portions for a predetermined period of time . 8 . the center station 1 sequentially polls p 1 relay database stations to collect information . for one polling period , [( 10 + 100 / n )× p 2 ] bytes are collected from each rds . 9 . as a result of item 7 , every one polling period , event change information of ( 10 bytes / terminal )× p 2 × p 1 is collected in the center station 1 . here , p 2 × p 1 is the total number of house terminals . 10 . as a result of item 7 , every n polling periods , lifeline information of ( 100 bytes / terminal )× p 2 × p 1 is collected in the center station . more specifically , every n periods , pieces of lifeline information from all the house terminals are collected . 11 . according to items 9 and 10 , the following is understood : from all the house terminals to the center station 1 , ( 1 ) event change information having a high degree of emergency is transmitted for a short time , and ( 2 ) all pieces of lifeline information are transmitted . the above two objects can be achieved by using one information transmission path . 12 . an upper - layer polling period t 1 is given by the following equation : where r 1 is the effective data transmission rate of the upper polling layer . when the number of all house terminals p 2 × p 1 is given , the polling period t 1 is mainly determined by r 1 . 13 . when the upper limit of t 1 is given to use a network , according to the above equation , the lower limit of r 1 is almost determined . 14 . a polling period t 2 of the lower polling layer is given by : where r 2 is the effective data transmission rate of the lower polling layer . 15 . the effective data transmission rate r 1 of the upper polling layer is given by : where r d1 is a data transmission rate in bits per second ( bps ) of a communication line for connecting an rds and the center station 1 to each other , and r u1 is a data updating rate of a database in the center station . 16 . the effective data transmission rate r 2 of the lower polling layer is given by : where r d2 is a data transmission rate of a transmission line for connecting house terminal stations and an rds , and r u2 is a data updating rate of a database in the rds . 17 . the upper polling layer and the lower polling layer operate asynchronously . in order to ensure that data collected in the center station and the upper - layer rds are the latest data collected in the rds , the condition t 1 = t 2 is satisfied , all the data collected in the lower polling layer are sent to the upper polling layer . for this reason , the data transfer efficiency is 100 %. 19 . at this time , the effective data transmission rate r 2 of the lower polling layer and the effective data transmission rate r 1 of the upper polling layer have the following relationship : where ( 1 / p 1 ) is a required rate reduction effect obtained by a parallel operation of p 1 lower polling cells , and [ 100 /( 10 + 100 / n )] is an adjustment effect obtained by a ratio of quantities of transmission information . 20 . actually , r 2 is set to be slightly larger than the above value : 21 . the memory capacity required for a database in an rds : ( 1 ) 100 × p 2 bytes : 100 bytes of data are collected from p 2 house terminals and stored . ( 2 ) 10 × p 2 bytes : 10 bytes are extracted from 100 bytes , and 10 bytes × p 2 are stored . 22 . the memory capacity required for a database in the center station : ( 1 ) 100 × p 2 × p 1 bytes : pieces of lifeline information collected from all the house terminals are stored and held . ( 2 ) 10 × p 2 × p 1 ×( 24 × 60 / t 1 ) bytes : pieces of event change information collected from all the house terminals for the latest 24 hours are stored and held . 24 . this system is a system which basically receives lifeline information of 100 × p 2 × p 1 bytes generated by the house terminals and accumulates the information in the relay / database station ( rds ) layer and the center station . the data generated by data processing in the system are accumulated in the layer in which the data are generated and the layer thereabove . 25 . the memory capacity which must be held by the system is basically twice ( the number of layers ). to this memory capacity , a capacity which is twice ( rds and center station ) the quantity of data generated in the system is added . 26 . for the cost of doubling the memory capacity , the function of collecting information having a high degree of emergency for a short time can be obtained . 27 . the high - speed database devices are distributed to make it possible to realize a network which is appropriate to achieve the objects of the invention by using a communication path having a limited data transmission rate . 28 . the network in which the high - speed database devices are distributed use a communication path having a limited data transmission rate is called a database network . 29 . the database network technique becomes a practically useful technique by the development of the high - speed database technique and a reduction in price of a large - scale memory . the effective data transmission rate r 1 of the upper polling layer is given by : where r d1 is a data transmission rate ( bps ) of a communication line for connecting an rds and the center station , and r u1 is a data updating rate of a database in the center station . the effective data transmission rate r 2 of the lower polling layer is given by : where r d2 is a data transmission rate of a communication line for connecting a house terminal station and an rds , and r u2 is a data updating rate of a database in the rds . a database which satisfies r d1 & lt ;& lt ; r u1 and r d2 & lt ;& lt ; r u2 is defined as a high - speed database . 31 . ( method of determining the number of relay / database stations ( rds ) p 1 ) a penalty function is defined for the database network by the following equation : where a 1 and a 2 are communication error generation rates per line connection in the upper polling layer and the lower polling layer . since p 2 × p 1 is equal to the number ( c ) of house terminals , is satisfied . when the above equations are combined , the following equation is obtained : when the penalty function f has an extreme value when δf / δp 1 = 0 is satisfied : p 1 =( a 2 / a 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) ×( c ) ( 1 / 2 ) p 2 =( a 1 / a 2 ) ( 1 / 2 ) ×( c ) ( 1 / 2 ) . when p 1 and p 2 are selected according to the above equations , the expected value of the communication error rate of the whole network is minimized . design of a two - layer polling information collection / monitor system ( example 1 ) which is one example of database networks will be described below . the number of all house terminals = p 2 × p 1 = 2 18 = 262144 required upper polling layer data transmission rate : r 1 & gt ; 139 . 81 kbps required lower polling layer data transmission rate : r 2 & gt ; 682 . 7 ×( 1 + δ )= 685 bps . assumption 1 : it is assumed that the ratio of the error generation rate a 1 per line connection in the upper polling layer to the error generation rate a 2 per line connection in the lower polling layer is 1 : 1 . in this case , the number of rdss which minimize the error generation rate of the whole network is given by : p 1 = p 2 =( c ) ( 1 / 2 ) =( 262144 ) ( 1 / 2 ) = 512 . assumption 2 : it is assumed that the ratio of a 1 to a 2 is 1 : 4 . in this case , the number of rdss which minimize the error generation rate of the whole network is given by : p 1 =( a 2 / a 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) ×( c ) ( 1 / 2 ) = 2 × 512 = 1024 p 2 =( a 1 / a 2 ) ( 1 / 2 ) ×( c ) ( 1 / 2 ) = 0 . 5 × 512 = 256 the upper - layer communication line error generation rate may be frequently higher than the lower - layer communication line error generation rate . in this case , the number selected by the designer is adequate . when the database network technique is extended to increase the number of layers of the network from two to three , the characteristics of the database network described above can be extended . 1 . fig2 is a conceptual diagram of the configuration of a three - layer database network according to the second embodiment . in this configuration , a relay database has two layers , i . e ., an upper layer and a lower layer . a center station 101 comprises a main database 101 a . the center station 101 polls upper - layer relay database stations 103 1 , 103 2 to 103 p1 included in an upper - layer relay database station group 103 to collect data of the upper - layer relay database stations . each upper - layer relay database station polls lower - layer relay database stations of a related lower - layer relay database station group to collect data of the lower - layer relay database stations . the upper - layer relay database station 103 1 polls lower - layer relay database stations 104 11 to 104 1p2 related to the upper - layer relay database station 103 1 to collect data of the lower - layer relay database stations . the lower - layer relay database station polls terminal stations of a terminal station group related to the lower - layer relay database station to collect data of each terminal station . for example , the lower - layer relay database station 104 11 polls terminals 105 111 to 105 11p3 of the terminal station group related to the lower - layer relay database station 104 11 . a lower - layer relay database station 104 p1p2 polls terminal stations 105 p1p21 to 105 p1p23 of a terminal station group related to the lower - layer relay database station 104 p1p2 . a dotted line 106 indicates upper - layer communication , and the effective data transmission rate of the upper - layer communication is represented by r 1 . a dotted line 107 indicates intermediate - layer communication , and the effective data transmission rate of the intermediate - layer communication is represented by r 2 . a dotted line 108 indicates lower - layer communication , and the effective data transmission rate of the lower - layer communication is represented by r 3 . 2 . more specifically , in addition to arrangement of the main database 101 a in the center station 101 , databases ( not shown ) are also distributed in the lower - layer relay stations and the upper - layer relay stations . 3 . the lower - layer and upper - layer relay stations in which high - speed databases are arranged are called a lower - layer relay database station ( lower - layer rds ) and an upper - layer relay database station ( upper - layer rds ). 4 . in fig2 the lower - layer rds mainly has four functions . ( 1 ) communication control of a lower polling layer . ( 2 ) acquisition of lifeline information ( 100 bytes / terminal ) from a house terminal . ( 3 ) data having a high degree of emergency is extracted , and data sets ( event change information ) of ( 10 bytes / terminal )× p 3 are generated . ( 4 ) division of lifeline information of 100 bytes / terminal ( the number of divided portions is n 3 ), and holding of the divided portions for a predetermined period of time . 5 . in fig2 the upper - layer rds mainly has five functions . ( 2 ) acquisition of event change information ( 10 bytes × p 3 ) from the lower - layer rds . ( 3 ) acquisition of lifeline information (( 100 bytes / n 3 )× p 3 ) from the lower - layer rds . ( 4 ) accumulation and holding of the lifeline information (( 100 bytes / n 3 )× p 3 )× p 2 acquired from the lower - layer rdss of p 2 stations . ( 5 ) data having an intermediate degree of emergency is extracted from the lifeline information , and data sets of ( 20 bytes / terminal )× p 3 × p 2 ( called maintenance information ) are generated . ( 6 ) division of the maintenance information of ( 20 bytes / terminal )× p 3 × p 2 ( the number of divided portions is n 2 ), and holding of the divided portions for a predetermined period of time . 6 . the center station sequentially polls the upper - layer rdss of the p 1 stations to collect event change information and maintenance information or event change information and detailed information . for one polling period , [( 10 + 20 / n 2 )× p 3 × p 2 ] bytes are collected from the upper - layer rdss . 7 . as a result of item 6 , every polling period , pieces of event change information of ( 10 bytes / terminal )× p 3 × p 2 × p 1 are collected . here , p 3 × p 2 × p 1 is the total number of house terminals . 8 . as a result of item 6 , every n 2 polling periods , pieces of maintenance information of ( 20 bytes / terminal )× p 3 × p 2 × p 1 are collected . more specifically , the pieces of maintenance information are collected from all the house terminals every n 2 periods . 9 . the pieces of lifeline information ( 100 bytes / terminal )× p 3 × p 2 are accumulated and held in the databases in the upper - layer rdss for a predetermined period of time . 10 . in place of the maintenance information , lifeline information is transmitted to the center station as needed . 5 × n 2 polling periods are required . 11 . each upper - layer rds sequentially polls lower - layer rdss of the p 2 stations to collect event change information and lifeline information . for one polling period , [( 10 + 20 / n 3 )× p 3 ] bytes are collected from the lower - layer rdss . 12 . the following is apparent from items 7 to 11 . from all the house terminals to the center station , ( 1 ) event change information having a high degree of emergency is transmitted for a short time ( every polling period t 1 ), ( 2 ) maintenance information having a second - high degree of emergency is transmitted in n 2 polling periods , and ( 3 ) lifeline information is transmitted for 5 × n 2 polling periods , if necessary . the above three objects can be achieved by using one information transmission path . 13 . an upper - layer polling period t 1 is given by the following equation : t 1 =[ 8 ×( 10 + 20 / n 2 )× p 3 × p 2 × p 1 ]/ r 1 where r 1 is the effective data transmission rate of the upper polling layer . 14 . an intermediate - layer polling period t 2 is given by the following equation : where r 2 is an effective data transmission rate of the intermediate polling layer . 15 . a lower - layer polling period t 3 is given by the following equation : where r 3 is the effective data transmission rate of the lower polling layer . 16 . in order to ensure that data collected in the center station and the upper layer rds is the latest data , the condition is satisfied , the data transfer efficiency is 100 %. under this condition , r 1 , r 2 , and r 3 have the following relationships : r 2 = r 1 ×( 1 / p 1 )×( 10 + 100 / n 3 )/( 10 + 20 / n 2 ) r 3 r 2 ×( 1 / p 2 )×[ 100 /( 10 + 100 / n 3 )]= r 1 ×( 1 / p 1 )×( 1 / p 2 )×[ 100 /( 10 + 20 / n 2 )] 18 . actually , r 2 and r 3 are set to be slightly higher than the above values . r 2 = r 1 ×( 1 / p 1 )×( 10 + 100 / n 3 )/( 10 + 20 / n 2 )×( 1 + δ ) r 3 = r 1 ×( 1 / p 1 )×( 1 / p 2 )×[ 100 /( 10 + 20 / n 2 )]×( 1 + δ ) 19 . the memory capacity required for a database in a lower - layer rds : ( 1 ) 100 × p 3 bytes : 100 bytes of data are collected from the house terminals and stored . ( 2 ) 10 × p 3 bytes : 10 bytes are extracted from 100 bytes and stored . 20 . the memory capacity required for a database in an upper layer rds : ( 1 ) 100 × p 3 × p 2 bytes : 100 bytes of data are collected from the house terminals , stored , and held . ( 2 ) 20 × p 3 × p 2 bytes : 20 bytes of data are extracted from 100 bytes and held . ( 3 ) 10 bytes × p 3 × p 2 bytes : event change data of p 3 × p 2 house terminals are collected and stored . 21 . the memory capacity required for a database in the center station : ( 1 ) 100 × p 3 × p 2 × p 1 bytes : pieces of lifeline information collected from all the house terminals are stored and held . ( 2 ) 20 × p 3 × p 2 × p 1 bytes : a latest f frame of pieces of maintenance information collected from all the house terminals is stored and held . ( 3 ) 10 × p 3 × p 2 × p 1 ×( 24 × 60 / t 1 ): event change information for the latest 24 hours is stored and held . 26 . three types of information are transmitted from a house terminal to the center station by using one communication path . in order to make this possible , lower - layer rdss and upper - layer rdss are distributed in the middle of the communication path . event change information is generated in the lower - layer rds , and maintenance information is generated in the upper - layer rds . 27 . required quantities of memory are added to distributed high - speed databases , so that various data processing functions can be achieved . a database network having characteristics depending on the object can be structured . 28 . ( method of determining the number of upper - layer relay / database stations p 1 and the number of lower - layer relay database stations p 2 ) a penalty function is defined for the database network having a three - layer structure by the following equation : where p 1 × p 2 × p 3 = c , the number of house terminals . a procedure for determining p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 will be considered in two steps . first , p 1 is regarded as a constant , and the relationship between p 2 and p 3 is determined . under this condition , the value of p 1 is determined . here , a penalty function f 2 about the relationship between p 2 and p 3 is defined . f 2 =  a 2  p 2 + a 3  p 3 =  a 2  p 2 + a 3  ( c / p 1 )   ( 1 / p 2 ) p 2 which gives the extreme value of f 2 will be calculated . δ f 2 / δp 2 = a 2 p 2 − a 3 ( c / p 1 )( 1 / p 2 2 )= 0 p 2 =( a 3 / a 2 ) ( 1 / 2 ) ×( c / p 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) p 3 =( a 2 / a 3 ) ( 1 / 2 ) ×( c / p 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) . when these values are put in the equation for defining f , the following equation is satisfied : f =  a 1  p 1 + a 2  ( a 3 / a 2 ) ( 1 / 2 ) × ( c / p 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) +  a 3  ( a 2 / a 3 ) ( 1 / 2 ) × ( c / p 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) =  a 1  p 1 + 2  ( a 2  a 3 ) ( 1 / 2 ) × ( c / p 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) . from the above equation , p 1 which gives the extreme value of f will be calculated . δ f / p 1 = a 1 −( a 2 a 3 c ) ( 1 / 2 ) ×[ 1 /( p 1 ( 3 / 2 ) )]= 0 p 1 =( a 2 a 3 / a 1 2 ) ( 1 / 3 ) ×( c ) ( 1 / 3 ) the value is substituted in the expressions of p 2 and p 3 : p 2 = ( a 3 / a 2 ) ( 1 / 2 ) × ( c / p 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) = ( a 1  a 3 / a 3 2 ) ( 1 / 3 ) × ( c ) ( 1 / 3 ) p 3 = ( a 2 / a 3 ) ( 1 / 2 ) × ( c / p 1 ) ( 1 / 2 ) = ( a 1  a 2 / a 3 2 ) ( 1 / 3 ) × ( c ) ( 1 / 3 ) . it is assumed that a 1 , a 2 , and a 3 denote communication error generation rates per line connection of the upper - layer polling , the intermediate - layer polling , and the lower - layer polling , respectively . in this case , when p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 are set to be the above values , the communication error generation rate of the whole network is minimized . a design of a three - polling information collection / monitor system will be described with reference to an example ( example 2 ) of a database network . the number of all house terminals = p 3 × p 2 × p 1 = 2 19 = 524288 requirement for polling cycle period t 1 : t 1 ≦ 5 minutes ( design ) the number of divided portions of 20 bytes data : n 2 = 4 ( selected by designer ) required upper polling layer data transmission rate : r 1 ≧ 209 . 7 kbps the number of upper - layer rdss : p 1 = 512 ( selected by designer ) the number of divided portions of 100 bytes data : n 3 = 5 ( selected by designer ) the number of lower - layer rdss / the number of upper - layer rdss : p 2 = 32 ( selected by designer ) maintenance information collection time : t 1 ×( n 3 + n 2 )= 45 minutes detailed lifeline information collection time : t 1 ×( n 3 + n 2 × 5 )= 125 minutes adequacy of p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 selection will be examined . on the above assumptions , when p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 are calculated , the following results are obtained : p 1 = [ a 2  a 3 / a 1 2 ] ( 1 / 3 )  ( c ) ( 1 / 3 ) = 5 . 04 × 80 . 64 = 406 . 4 p 2 = [ a 1  a 3 / a 2 2 ] ( 1 / 3 )  ( c ) ( 1 / 3 ) = 0 . 630 × 80 . 64 = 50 . 8 p 3 = [ a 2  a 1 / a 3 2 ] ( 1 / 3 )  ( c ) ( 1 / 3 ) = 0 . 315 × 80 . 64 = 25 . 4 these values are close to the design values obtained when a communication error is minimized . when the database network system is to be used for emergency notification during the occurrence of a large earthquake , it must be assured according to the object of the invention that the database network system has been normally operating . the operational condition must at least be accurately recognized . for this reason , the database network system is continuously operated , and the main database of the center station is designed to always hold the history of the operation by accumulating specific information data or specific information data and other data for a predetermined period of time . therefore , it can be determined whether an accident or the like is caused by the disaster . since the database network system according to the present invention collects information without interruption as described above , the database network system can collect an enormous quantity of information . for this reason , not only the lifeline data described above , but also a large quantity of other information can be collected . more specifically , as a combination of the pieces of changing information , combinations of data for reading meter values included in lifeline data of meters , data for collecting / monitoring information related to various maintenance jobs , and information data related to security , care of elderly people , water pressures of fire hydrants , and monitors of air - conditioners can be employed . various modifications of the embodiments described in detail above can be effected without departing from the range of the spirit and scope of the present invention . although rdss having one layer and two layers are exemplified , the number of layers of the rds can be increased to three or more . in this case , the method of design described above can be similarly applied . although the database network system according to the present invention has been described above in detail with reference to collection of emergency information of city lifelines , the database network system can also be used to collect other information as described above . in the embodiments , although a radio communication medium is used as a communication medium , a cable communication network including optical fiber communications can also be established and used . cable communications and radio communications can be selectively used in different layers , and can be selectively used in different areas .

a database network system is capable of recognizing in a short time the state of damage or the like of city lifelines over a whole city . a database network system according to the present invention includes a center station , relay database stations , and terminal stations . a terminal station group includes a plurality of terminal stations for acquiring changing information to accumulate the information as data and for transmitting the data as requested . each of the plurality of relay database stations is arranged for the terminal station group , and accumulates pieces of information sequentially received from the terminals as specific data and other data and transmits the data as requested . the center station sequentially receives parts of the specific data and other data of an arbitrary one of the relay database stations from the corresponding relay database station , performs a receiving operation of all the data and the specific information data a plurality of times by performing the receiving operation a plurality of times , and accumulates the data as needed .

the aliphatic group represented by r includes a linear , branched or cyclic alkyl group , alkenyl group or alkynyl group , which preferably has from 1 to 30 carbon atoms . the branched alkyl group may be cyclized to form a saturated hetero ring containing one or more hetero atoms therein . for example , the group r may be a methyl group , a t - butyl group , an n - octyl group , a t - octyl group , a cyclohexyl group , a hexenyl group , a pyrrolidyl group , a tetrahydrofuryl group , or an n - dodecyl group . the aromatic group represented by r may be a monocyclic or a bicyclic aryl group , for example , a phenyl group , or a naphthyl group . the heterocyclic group represented by r can be a 3 - membered to 10 - membered unsaturated or saturated heterocyclic group having at least one hetero atom of nitrogen , oxygen , or sulfur , it may be monocyclic or may form a condensed ring with other aromatic ring ( s ) and / or hetero ring ( s ). the hetero ring is preferably a 5 - or 6 - membered aromatic hetero ring , for example , a pyridine ring , an imidazolyl ring , a quinolinyl group , a benzimidazolyl group , a pyrimidinyl group , a pyrazolyl group , an isoquinolinyl group , a benzothiazolyl group , or a thiazolyl gorup . the group represented by r may optionally be substituted by one or more substituents . in addition , these substituent groups may be further substituted . for example , the substituents may be an alkyl group , an aralkyl group , an alkenyl group , an alkynyl group , an alkoxy group , an aryl group , a substituted amino group , a ureido group , a urethane group , an aryloxy group , a sulfamoyl group , a carbamoyl gorup , an alkylthio group , an arylthio group , an alkyl - or arylsulfonyl group , an alkyl - or arylsulfinyl group , a hydroxyl group , a halogen atom , a cyano gorup , a sulfo group , an alkyloxycarbonyl group , an aryloxycarbonyl group , an acyl group , an acyloxy group , a carbonamido group , a sulfonamido group , or a carboxyl group . if possible , these groups may also be bound to each other to form a ring . the divalent organic group represented by l may be an aliphatic gorup , an aromatic group , or a group of the following structural formula : ## str7 ## wherein l &# 39 ; represents an aromatic group or a heterocyclic group ; r 0 1 to r 0 4 each independently represents a hydrogen atom , a halogen atom , or an alkyl group ; and r and s each represents 0 or 1 . the aliphatic group which may be represented by l is a linear , branched , or cyclic alkylene group , alkenylene group , or alkynylene group . the aromatic group which may be represented by l is a monocyclic or bicyclic arylene group , for example , a phenylene group , or a naphthylene group . especially preferred is a phenylene group . the group represented by l may optionally have one or more substituents . these substituents include a group of r -- y -- nh -- and those as referred to , above , as substituents on r . time represents a divalent organic group which may have a timing adjustment function . t means 0 or 1 ; and when t is 0 , pug is directly bound to the carbonyl group in the formula . a divalent organic group for time is a group capable of releasing pug from the moiety time - pug which is released from the oxidation product of the redox nucleus . this release can be via a one step reaction or a reaction having plural steps . examples of the divalent organic group for time include those which release pug by an intramolecular ring closure reaction of p - nitrophenoxy derivatives as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 248 , 962 ( jp - a - 54 - 145135 ); groups that release pug by a ring cleavage reaction followed by an intramolecular ring closure reaction as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 310 , 612 ( jp - a - 55 - 53330 ) and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 358 , 525 ; groups that release pug by an intramolecular ring closure reaction of the carboxyl group of succinic acid monoesters or their analogs with formation of an acid anhydride as described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 330 , 617 , 4 , 446 , 216 and 4 , 483 , 919 and jp - a - 59 - 121328 ; groups that release pug by an electron transfer of the aryloxy or heterocyclic oxy group via the conjugated double bond to form a quinomonomethane or its analog as described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 409 , 323 , 4 , 421 , 845 , research disclosure , item no . 21228 ( december , 1981 ), u . s . pat . no . 4 , 416 , 977 ( jp - a - 57 - 135944 ) and jp - a - 58 - 209736 and jp - a - 58 - 209738 ; groups that release pug by electron transfer of the enamine structure moiety of the nitrogen - containing ring from the gamma position of the enamine as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 420 , 554 ( jp - a - 57 - 136640 ), jp - a - 57 - 135945 , jp - a - 57 - 188035 , jp - a - 58 - 98728 and jp - a - 58 - 209737 ; groups that release pug by an intramolecular ring closure reaction of the hydroxyl group formed by electron transfer of the carbonyl group conjugated with the nitrogen atom of the nitrogen - containing hetero ring as described in jp - a - 57 - 56837 ; groups that release pug with formation of aldehydes as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 146 , 396 ( jp - a - 52 - 90932 ), jp - a - 59 - 93442 , jp - a - 59 - 75475 , jp - a - 60 - 249148 and jp - a - 60 - 249149 ; groups that release pug with the decarbonylation of the carboxyl group as described in jp - a - 51 - 146828 , jp - a - 57 - 179842 and jp - a - 59 - 104641 ; groups having -- o -- coocr 2 r 6 -- pug that release pug by decarbonylation followed by formation of aldehydes ; groups that release pug by formation of isocyanates as described in jp - a - 60 - 7429 ; and groups that release pug by a coupling reaction with the oxidation product of a color developing agent as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 438 , 193 . preferably , the divalent group represented by time in formula ( 1 ) may be selected from those of the following formulae ( t - 1 ) to ( t - 6 ), where (*) indicates the position where time is bonded to ## str8 ## and (**) indicates the position where time is bonded to pug . ## str9 ## wherein w represents an oxygen atom , a sulfur atom or ## str10 ## r 11 and r 12 each independently represents a hydrogen atom or a substituent ; r 13 represents a substituent ; t represents 1 or 2 , and when t is 2 , two ## str11 ## may be the same or different . where r 11 and r 12 are substituents , specific examples of the substituents are r 14 , r 14 co --, r 14 so 2 --, ## str12 ## r 14 represents an aliphatic group , an aromatic group or a heterocyclic group ; and r 15 represents an aliphatic group , an aromatic group , a heterocyclic group , or a hydrogen atom . examples of the substituents as r 13 include the same substituents as r 11 and r 12 as described above . r 11 , r 12 and r 13 each may be a divalent group to form a cyclic structure . specific examples of the groups represented by formula ( t - 1 ) are mentioned below . ## str13 ## wherein nu represents a nucleophilic group , and an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom are examples of nucleophilic nuclides ; e represents an electrophilic group and it is nucleophilically attacked by nu to be able to cleave the bond to the position of (**); link represents a linking group which participates in the steric configuration of nu and e so that nu and e may be subjected to intramolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction therebetween . specific examples of the groups represented by formula ( t - 2 ) are mentioned below . ## str14 ## wherein w , r 11 , r 12 and t have the same meaning as those in formula ( t - 1 ). specific examples of the groups of formula ( t - 3 ) are mentioned below . ## str15 ## in these formulae , w and r 11 have the same meanings as those in formula ( t - 1 ). specific examples of the groups of formula ( t - 6 ) are mentioned below . ## str16 ## specific examples of the divalent organic groups for time are also described in detail in jp - a - 61 - 236549 and jp - a - 64 - 88451 and japanese patent application no . 63 - 98803 . preferred examples of these groups are mentioned below . ## str17 ## the group pug represents a photographically useful compound that can be present as either ( time ) t - pug or pug . examples of photographically useful groups are development inhibitors , development accelerators , nucleating agents , foggants , couplers , diffusible or nondiffusible dyes , desilvering accelerators , desilvering inhibitors , silver halide solvents , competing compounds , developing agents , auxiliary developing agents , fixation accelerators , fixation inhibitors , image stabilizers , color toning agents , processing dependence improving agents , dot improving agents , color image stabilizers , photographic dyes , surfactants , hardening agents , desensitizing agents , contrast enhancing agents , chelating agents , brightening agents , acids , bases , and precursors of acids or bases . examples of these photographically useful compounds are described in , for example , t . h . james , the theory of the photographic process , 4th ed . ( published by macmillan , 1977 ). more precisely , development inhibitors , dyes , couplers and developing agents are described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 248 , 962 ; foggants in jp - a - 59 - 170840 ; and desilvering accelerators ( bleach accelerators ) in jp - a - 62 - 168159 . photographically useful groups often overlap with each other with respect to their usefulness . as a typical exampl of the group , a development inhibitor is discussed in detail below . the development inhibitor represented by pug or ( time ) t - pug may be a known development inhibitor containing hetero atoms . such an inhibitor is bound to ## str18 ## in formula ( 1 ) via the hetero atom . examples of such development inhibitors are described , for example , in c . e . k . mees and t . h . james , the theory of photographic processes , 3rd ed . ( published by macmillan 1966 ), pages 344 to 346 . they include , for example , mercaptotetrazoles , mercaptotriazoles , mercaptoimidazoles , mercaptopyrimidines , mercaptobenzimidazoles , mercaptobenzothiazoles , mercaptobenzoxazoles , mercaptothiadiazoles , benzotriazoles , benzimidazoles , indazoles , adenines , guanines , tetrazoles , tetraazaindenes , triazaindenes and mercaptoaryls . the development inhibitors represented by pug may optionally be substituted . in addition , these substituents may be further substituted . an example of a group that may be a substituent is an alkyl group , an aralkyl group , an alkenyl group , an alkynyl group , an alkoxy group , an aryl group , a substituted amino group , a ureido group , a urethane group , an aryloxy group , a carbamoyl group , an alkylthio group , an arylthio gorup , an alkyl - or arylsulfonyl group , an alkyl - or arylsulfinyl group , a hydroxyl group , a halogen atom , a cyano group , an aryloxycarbonyl group , an acyl group , an alkoxycarbonyl group , an acyloxy group , a carbonamido group , a sulfoxy group , or a phosphoric acid amido group . when the development inhibitors represented by pug have a nitro group , it is preferred that t in ( time ) t is 1 . in formula ( 1 ), the group r or -( time ) t - pug may contain a ballast group which is generally contained in a nondiffusible photographic additive such as a coupler or a gorup that accelerates adsorption of the compound of formula ( 1 ) to silver halide grains . the ballast group usable for this purpose is an organic group which may give sufficient molecular weight to the compound of formula ( 1 ) so that the compound would not substantially diffuse into other layers or into the processing solution . the ballast group is composed of one or more of the following groups : an alkyl gorup , an aryl group , a heterocyclic group , an ether group , a thioether group , an amido group , a ureido group , a urethane group , or a sulfonamido group . preferably , the ballast group contains a substituted benzene ring ; especially preferred is ballast gorup having a benzene ring substituted with a branched alkyl group . examples of groups that accelerate the adsorption of the compound of formula ( 1 ) to silver halides are the following : cyclic thioamido groups ( such as 4 - thiazoline - 2 - thione , 4 - imidazoline - 2 - thione , 2 - thiohydantoin , rhodanine , thiobarbituric acid , tetrazoline - 5 - thione , 1 , 2 , 4 - triazoline - 3 - thione , 1 , 2 , 4 - oxazoline - 2 - thione , benzimidazoline - 2 - thione , benzoxazoline - 2 - thione , benzothiazoline - 2 - thione , thiotriazine and 1 , 3 - imidazoline - 2 - thione ); chain thioamido groups ; aliphatic mercapto groups ; aromatic mercapto groups ; heterocyclic mercapto groups ( when a nitrogen atom is adjacent to the carbon atom bonded to -- sh , the groups have the same meaning as the cyclic thioamido groups which are tautomers of the groups , and specific examples of the groups are the same as those mentioned above ); groups containing disulfido bond ; 5 - membered or 6 - membered nitrogen - containing heterocyclic groups composed of a combination of nitrogen , oxygen , sulfur and carbon atoms ( such as benzotriazoles , triazoles , tetrazoles , indazoles , benzimidazoles , imidazoles , benzothiazoles , thiazoles , thiazolines , benzoxazoles , oxazoles , oxazolines , thiadiazoles , oxathiazoles , triazines , azaindenes ); and heterocyclic quaternary salts such as benzimidazoliniums . these groups may further be substituted , if desired . examples of these substituents are those discussed as representative of r , above . specific examples of compounds of formula ( 1 ) employable in the present invention are given below . these are not , however , intended to limit the present invention . ## str19 ## the compounds of formula ( 1 ) used in the present invention are produced in accordance with the methods described in jp - a - 61 - 213847 and jp - a - 62 - 260153 , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 684 , 604 , and japanese patent application no . 63 - 98803 . the compounds of formula ( 1 ) can be incorporated into the photographic emulsion layer or hydrophilic colloid layer of the silver halide photographic materials of the present invention . the compound of formula ( 1 ) may be first dissolved in water or in a water - miscible organic solvent ( if desired , in the presence of an alkali hydroxide or a tertiary amine for salt formation ), the resulting solution may then be added to the hydrophilic colloid liquid ( such as silver halide emulsion or aqueous gelatin solution ), and the ph of the resulting colloid liquid may be adjusted by addition of an acid or alkali , if desired . the compounds of formula ( 1 ) can be employed singly or in combinations of two or more when incorporated into the photographic material . the amount of the compound of formula ( 1 ) to be added to the photographic material is preferably from 1 × 10 - 6 to 5 × 10 - 2 mol , more preferably from 1 × 10 - 5 to 1 × 10 - 2 mol , per mol of the silver halide in the material . a pertinent amount may be added , as known in the art , in accordance with the properties of the silver halide emulsion combined with the compound . the compound of formula ( 1 ) is preferably employed in combination with a hydrazine derivative of general formula ( 2 ). ## str20 ## wherein r 31 represents an aliphatic group or an aromatic group ; r 32 represents a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group , an aryl group , an alkoxy group , an aryloxy group , an amino group , a carbamoyl group , or an oxycarbonyl group ; g 1 represents a ## str21 ## a thiocarbonyl group , or an iminomethylene group ; and both a 1 and a 2 are hydrogen atoms , or one of them is a hydrogen atom and the other represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkylsulfonyl group , a substituted or unsubstituted arylsulfonyl group , or a substituted or unsubstituted acyl group . in formula ( 2 ), the aliphatic group represented by r 31 is preferably a linear , branched or cyclic alkyl group having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms , more preferably from 1 to 20 carbon atoms . the branched alkyl groups may be cyclized to form a saturated hetero ring containing one or more hetero atoms . the alkyl groups may optionally be substituted by the following substituent ( s ): an aryl group , an alkoxy group , a sulfoxy group , a sulfonamido group , or a carbonamido group . in formula ( 2 ), the aromatic group represented by r 31 is a monocyclic or bicyclic aryl group or unsaturated heterocyclic group . the unsaturated heterocyclic group may be condensed with a monocyclic or bicyclic aryl group to form a hetero aryl group . examples of these groups are a benzene ring , a naphthalene ring , a pyridine ring , a pyrimidine ring , an imidazole ring , a pyrazole ring , a quinoline ring , an isoquinoline ring , a benzimidazole ring , a thiazole ring , and a benzothiazole ring . especially preferred is a benzene ring . the aryl group or unsaturated heterocyclic group represented by r 31 may optionally be substituted . typical substituents are an alkyl group , an aralkyl group , an alkenyl group , an alkynyl group , an alkoxy group , an aryl group , a substituted amino group , a ureido group , a urethane group , an aryloxy group , a sulfamoyl group , a carbamoyl group , an alkylthio group , an arylthio group , an alkyl - or arylsulfonyl group , an alkyl or arylsulfinyl group , a hydroxyl group , a halogen atom , a cyano group , a sulfo group , an aryloxycarbonyl group , an acyl group , an alkoxycarbonyl group , an acyloxy group , a carbonamido group , a sulfonamido group , a carboxyl group , a phosphoric acid amido group , a diacylamino group , an imido group , and an ## str22 ## preferably , the substituents are a linear , branched , or cyclic alkyl group ( preferably having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms ), an aralkyl group ( preferably a monocyclic or bicyclic group where the alkyl moiety has from 1 to 3 carbon atoms ), an alkoxy group ( preferably having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms ), a substituted amino group ( preferably an amino group substituted by one or more alkyl groups each having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms ), an acylamino group ( preferably having from 2 to 30 carbon atoms ), a sulfonamido group ( preferably having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms ), a ureido group ( preferably having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms ), or a phosphoric acid amido group ( preferably having from 1 to 30 carbon atoms ). in formula ( 2 ), the alkyl group represented by r 32 is preferably an alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms , which may be optionally substituted by the following substituent ( s ): a halogen atom , a hydroxyl group , a cyano group , a carboxyl group , a sulfo group , an alkoxy group , a phenyl group , an alkyl - or arylsulfonyl group , an acyl group , an alkoxycarbonyl group , an aryloxycarbonyl group , a carbamoyl group , a sulfamoyl group , a nitro group , a heterocyclic aromatic group , or an ## str23 ## these groups may further be substituted . the aryl group represented b r 32 is preferably a monocyclic or bicyclic aryl group , for example , containing a benzene ring . the aryl group may be optionally substituted by substituent ( s ), such as , for example , a halogen atom , an alkyl group , a cyano group , a carboxyl group , a sulfo group , or a sulfonyl group . the alkoxy group represented by r 32 is preferably an alkoxy group having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms , which may be optionally substituted by one or more substituents that are either a halogen atom or an aryl group . the aryloxy group represented by r 32 is preferably monocyclic , and may be optionally substituted by a halogen atom or the like . the amino group represented by r 32 is preferably an unsubstituted amino group , an alkylamino group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms , or an arylamino group . it may be optionally substituted by one or more of the following substituents : an alkyl group , a halogen atom , a cyano group , a nitro group , and / or a carboxyl group . the carbamoyl group represented b r 32 is preferably an unsubstituted carbamoyl group , or an alkylcarbamoyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms or an arylcarbamoyl group . it may be optionally substituted by one or more of the following substituents : an alkyl group , a halogen atom , a cyano group , and / or a carboxyl group . the oxycarbonyl group represented by r 32 is preferably an alkoxycarbonyl group having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms or an aryloxycarbonyl group , and it may be optionally substituted by one or more of the following substituents : an alkyl group , a halogen atom , a cyano group , and / or a nitro group . where g 1 is ## str24 ## r 32 is preferably a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group ( e . g ., methyl , trifluoromethyl , 3 - hydroxypropyl , 3 - methanesulfonamidopropyl , phenylsulfonylmethyl ), an aralkyl group ( e . g ., o - hydroxybenzyl ), or an aryl group ( e . g ., phenyl , 3 , 5 - dichlorophenyl , o - methanesulfonamidophenyl , 4 - methanesulfonylphenyl , 2 - hydroxymethylphenyl ); and it is most preferably a hydrogen atom . where g 1 is -- so 2 --, r 32 is preferably an alkyl group ( e . g ., methyl ), an aralkyl group ( e . g ., o - hydroxybenzyl ), an aryl group ( e . g ., phenyl ), or a substituted amino group ( e . g ., dimethylamino ). where g 1 is -- so --, r 32 is preferably a cyanobenzyl group or a methylthiobenzyl group . where g 1 is ## str25 ## group , r 32 is preferably a methoxy group , an ethoxy group , a butoxy group , a phenoxy group , or a phenyl group ; most preferably a phenoxy group . where g 1 is an n - substituted or unsubstituted iminomethylene group , r 32 is preferably a methyl group , an ethyl group , or a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group . substituents on r 32 , if any , are the same as those mentioned for r 31 , above . in formula ( 2 ), g 1 is most preferably a ## str26 ## group . r 32 may also be such a group that causes release of the -- g 1 -- r 32 moiety from the remaining molecule followed by a cyclization reaction to form a cyclic structure containing the atoms of the thus released -- g 1 -- r 32 moiety . such an r 32 group is represented by the following formula ( a ): wherein z 31 represents a group which nucleophilically attacks the group g 1 to cleave the -- g 1 -- r 33 -- z 31 moiety from the remaining molecule ; where r 33 represents a group derived from r 32 by the removal of one hydrogen atom . in the group represented by formula ( a ), z 31 nucleophilically attacks g 1 and , as a result , g 1 , r 33 and z 31 form a cyclic structure . more precisely , z 31 is a group that easily reacts nucleophilically with g 1 , when the hydrazine compound of formula ( 2 ) forms a reaction intermediate of : by oxidation , thereby cleaving the r 31 -- n ═ n -- moiety from group g 1 . specifically , z 31 may be a functional goup which directly reacts with group g 1 , such as oh , sh or nhr 34 ( where r 34 represents a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group , an aryl group , -- cor 35 , or -- so 2 r 35 ; and r 35 represents a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group , an aryl group or a heterocyclic group ), or cooh , these groups oh , sh , nhr 34 , and cooh , may be temporarily protected so that the free group is formed by hydrolysis with an alkali or the like . alternatively , z 31 may also be a functional group which may react with the g 1 group after reacting with a nucleophilic agent such as a hydroxyl ion or a sulfite ion . examples of such functional groups are ## str27 ## ( where r 36 and r 37 each represents a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group , an alkenyl group , an aryl group , or a heterocyclic group ). the ring formed by g 1 , r 33 and z 31 is preferably a 5 - membered or 6 - membered one . of the formula ( a ) groups , those represented by the following formulae ( b ) and ( c ) are preferred . ## str28 ## wherein r b 1 to r b 4 each represents a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group ( preferably having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms ), an alkenyl group ( preferably having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms ), or an aryl group ( preferably having from 6 to 12 carbon atoms ), and these may be the same or different ; b represents an atomic group necessary for completing an optionally substituted 5 - membered or 6 - membered ring ; and m and n each represents 0 or 1 where ( n + m ) is 1 or 2 . examples of 5 - membered or 6 - membered rings formed by b are a cyclohexene ring , a cyclopentene ring , a benzene ring , a naphthalene ring , a pyridine ring , and a quinoline ring . z 31 in formula ( b ) represents the same groups as it does in formula ( a ), above . ## str29 ## wherein r c 1 and r c 2 each represents a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group , an alkenyl group , an aryl group , or a halogen atom , and these may be the same or different ; r c 3 represents a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group , an alkenyl group , or an aryl group ; and p represents 0 or 1 , and q represents 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 . r c 1 , r c 2 and r c 3 may be bonded to each other to form a ring , provided that z 31 has a structure capable of attacking group g 1 by an intramolecular nucleophilic reaction . r c 1 and r c 2 each are preferably a hydrogen atom , a halogen atom , or an alkyl group ; and r c 3 is preferably an alkyl group or an aryl group . q is preferably 1 , 2 , or 3 . when q is 1 , p is 1 ; when q is 2 , p is 0 or 1 ; when q is 3 , p is 0 or 1 ; and when q is 2 or 3 , the plural (-- cr c 1 r c 2 )&# 39 ; s may be the same or different . z 31 in formula ( c ) represents the same groups as it does in formula ( a ), above . a 1 and a 2 each represents a hydrogen atom ; an alkylsulfonyl or arylsulfonyl group having 20 or less carbon atoms ( preferably an unsubstituted phenylsulfonyl group or a phenylsulfonyl group so substituted that the total of the hammett &# 39 ; s substituent constants is - 0 . 5 or more ); an acyl group having 20 or less carbon atoms ( preferably an unsubstituted benzoyl group or a benzoyl group so substituted that the total of the hammett &# 39 ; s substituent constants is - 0 . 5 or more ); or a linear , branched or cyclic substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic acyl group ( where the substituents of the group are , for example , a halogen atom , an ether group , a sulfonamido group , a carbonamido group , a hydroxyl group , a carboxyl group , or a sulfonic acid group ). r 31 or r 32 in formula ( 2 ) may have a ballast group which is generally present in a nondiffusible photographic additive such as a coupler . the ballast group is a group which is relatively inactive in terms of photographic properties and has 8 or more carbon atoms . examples of ballast groups are an alkyl group , an alkoxy group , a phenyl group , an alkylphenyl group , a phenoxy group , or an alkylphenoxy group . r 31 or r 32 in formula ( 2 ) may have a group which functions to enhance the adsorption of the compound of formula ( 2 ) to the surface of silver halide grains . examples of such adsorbing groups are thiourea groups , heterocyclic thioamido groups , mercaptoheterocyclic groups , triazole groups as well as the groups mentioned in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 385 , 108 and 4 , 459 , 347 , jp - a - 59 - 195233 , jp - a - 59 - 200231 , jp - a - 59 - 201045 , jp - a - 59 - 201046 , jp - a - 59 - 201047 , jp - a - 59 - 201048 , jp - a - 59 - 201049 , jp - a - 61 - 170733 , jp - a - 61 - 270744 , jp - a - 62 - 948 , jp - a - 63 - 234244 , jp - a - 63 - 234246 , and japanese patent application no . 62 - 67501 . specific nonlimiting examples of compounds of formula ( 2 ) are given below . ## str30 ## hydrazine derivatives usable in the present invention , in addition to the above - mentioned compounds , are described in research disclosure , item no . 23516 ( november , 1983 , page 346 ) and the literature as referred to therein ; as well as in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 080 , 207 , 4 , 269 , 929 , 4 , 276 , 364 , 4 , 278 , 748 , 4 , 385 , 108 , 4 , 459 , 347 , 4 , 560 , 638 , 4 , 478 , 928 , british patent 2 , 011 , 391b , european patent 217 , 310 or u . s . pat . no . 4 , 686 , 167 , jp - a - 60 - 179734 , jp - a - 62 - 270948 , jp - a - 63 - 29751 , jp - a - 61 - 170733 , jp - a - 61 - 270744 , jp - a - 62 - 948 , jp - a - 62 - 178246 , jp - a - 63 - 32538 , jp - a - 63 - 104047 , jp - a - 63 - 121838 , jp - a - 63 - 129337 , jp - a - 63 - 223744 , jp - a - 63 - 234244 , jp - a - 63 - 234245 , jp - a - 63 - 234246 , jp - a - 63 - 294552 , jp - a - 63 - 306438 , jp - a - 1 - 100530 , jp - a - 1 - 105941 , jp - a - 1 - 105943 , jp - a - 64 - 10233 , jp - a - 1 - 90439 , and japanese patent application nos . 63 - 105682 , 63 - 114118 , 63 - 110051 , 63 - 114119 , 63 - 116239 , 63 - 147339 , 63 - 179760 , 63 - 229163 , hei - 1 - 18377 , 1 - 18378 , 1 - 18379 , 1 - 15755 , 1 - 16814 , 1 - 40792 , 1 - 42615 , 1 - 42616 , 1 - 123693 , 1 - 126284 . in accordance with the present invention , the amount of the hydrazine derivative to be added to the photographic material is preferably from 1 × 10 - 6 mol to 5 × 10 - 2 mol , most preferably from 1 × 10 - 5 mol to 2 × 10 - 2 mol , per mol of the silver halide in the material . the hydrazine derivatives can be incorporated into the photographic emulsion layer or hydrophilic colloid layer of the photographic material of the present invention . by combining a compound of formula ( 1 ) and a hydrazine derivative of formula ( 2 ) with a negative emulsion , a negative image having high contrast can be formed . in addition , a compound of formula ( 1 ) and a derivative of formula ( 2 ) may also be combined with an internal latent image - type silver halide emulsion . it is preferred that a compound of formula ( 1 ) be combined with a hydrazine derivative of formula ( 2 ) and a negative emulsion for forming a negative image having high contrast . where a compound of formula ( 1 ) is utilized to form a negative image having high contrast , the silver halide grains employed are preferably fine grains having a mean grain size of 0 . 7 μm or less , more preferably 0 . 5 μm or less . although the molecular size distribution of the silver halide grains is not specifically limited , the emulsion is preferably a monodispersed emulsion . the &# 34 ; monodispersed emulsion &# 34 ; as used herein means that at least 95 % by number or by weight of the silver halide grains in the emulsion have a grain size falling within the range of the mean grain size , or plus or minus 40 %. the silver halide grains in the photographic emulsion may be regular crystals such as cubic , octahedral , rhombic dodecahedral or tetradecahedral crystals ; they may be irregular crystals such as spherical or tabular crystals ; or they may be composite crystals composed of a variety of regular and irregular crystal forms . the silver halide grains may be composed of a uniform phase throughout the whole grain or a different phase inside the grain and at the surface layer of the grain . the silver halide grains of the emulsion of the present invention may be formed or physically ripened in the presence of a cadmium salt , a sulfite , a lead salt , a thallium salt , a rhodium salt , a complex rhodium salt , an iridium salt , or a complex iridium salt . specifically , the silver halide grains for use in the present invention are prepared in the presence of an iridium salt or a complex iridium salt present in an amount of from 10 - 8 to 10 - 5 mol per mol of silver . these silver halide grains are silver haloiodides where the silver iodide content of the surface of the grain is larger than the mean silver iodide content of the whole grain . by using an emulsion containing such silver haloiodide grains , a photographic material having a much higher sensitivity and a much higher gamma value can be obtained . the silver halide emulsion employed in the present invention may or may not be chemically sensitized . chemical sensitization of silver halide grains is known using a sulfur sensitization , a reduction sensitization , or a noble metal sensitization . any of these sensitizations can be employed singly or in a combination of two or more for chemical sensitization of the emulsion of the invention . gold sensitization is a typical noble metal sensitization method , which uses gold compounds that are essentially gold complexes . needless to say , other noble metals , such as platinum , palladium , or rhodium , may also be used for a noble metal sensitization . examples of the compounds usable in such sensitization methods are described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 448 , 060 and british patent 618 , 016 . examples of sulfur sensitizing agents are sulfur compounds that are contained in gelatin as well as other sulfur compounds , such as thiosulfates , thioureas , thiazoles and rhodanines . any of these can be employed in the present invention . in the above - mentioned chemical sensitization , it is preferred to use an iridium salt or a rhodium salt before the physical ripening of the silver halide emulsion is completed . more preferred is to use the sensitizer during formation of the silver halide grains . in the present invention , it is preferred that the silver halide emulsion layer contains two mono - dispersed emulsions each having a different mean grain size as illustrated in jp - a - 61 - 223734 and jp - a - 62 - 90646 , whereby the maximum density ( dmax ) is elevated . of the two emulsions , the small sized monodispersed grains are preferably chemically sensitized , most preferably by sulfur sensitization . the other large sized mono - dispersed grains may or may not be chemically sensitized . since sensitized large sized monodispersed grains often cause generation of black peppers , they are not generally chemically sensitized . however , if they are chemically sensitized , it is especially desired that the chemical sensitization is lightly effected so that it does not cause generation of black peppers . the phrase &# 34 ; chemical sensitization is lightly effected &# 34 ; means that the time of chemical sensitization of the large sized grains is shorter than that of the small sized grains , or the temperature is lowered , or the amount of the chemical sensitizing agent to be added is reduced . although not specifically limited , the difference in the sensitivity between the large sized monodispersed emulsion and the small sized monodispersed emulsion is preferably from 0 . 1 to 1 . 0 , more preferably from 0 . 2 to 0 . 7 , as δlog e . that is , it is preferred that the sensitivity of the large sized monodispersed emulsion is higher . the sensitivity of the emulsion is one as measured by coating an emulsion containing a hydrazine derivative on a support and processing the coated layer with a developer containing a sulfite ion in an amount of 0 . 15 mol / liter or more having a ph value of from 10 . 5 to 12 . 3 . the mean grain size of the small sized monodispersed grains is 90 % or less of that of the large sized monodispersed grains and is preferably 80 % or less thereof . the mean grain size of the silver halide grains for use in the present invention is preferably within the range of from 0 . 02 μm to 1 . 0 μm , more preferably from 0 . 1 μm to 0 . 5 μm . it is more preferred that the mean grain sizes of both the large sized grains and the small sized grains are within the given ranges . where two or more emulsions each having a different mean grain size are employed in the present invention , the amount of the silver ion the small sized monodispersed emulsion coated is preferably from 40 to 90 % by weight , more preferably from 50 to 80 % by weight , of the total amount of silver coated . where two or more emulsions each having a different mean grain size are employed in the present invention , they may be incorporated into the same emulsion layer or may be separately incorporated into different emulsion layers . in the latter case of introducing the emulsions into different emulsion layers , it is preferred that the large sized emulsion layer is an upper layer and the small sized emulsion layer is a lower layer . the total amount of silver coated is preferably from 1 g / m 2 to 8 g / m 2 . the photographic materials of the present invention can contain various sensitizing dyes , for example , those described in jp - a - 55 - 52050 , pages 45 to 53 ( such as cyanine dyes or merocyanine dyes ), for the purpose of elevating the sensitivity of the material . these sensitizing dyes may be added to the photographic material singly or in combinations of two or more . the combination of sensitizing dyes is often employed for the purpose of super color sensitization . additionally , dyes which do not have a color sensitizing effect by themselves or substances which do not substantially absorb visible rays but have a super color sensitizing capacity may also be incorporated into the emulsion of the photographic material of the invention , along with the sensitizing dyes . usable sensitizing dyes , combinations of dyes for super color sensitization and super color sensitizing substances are described in detail in research disclosure , vol . 176 , item no . 17643 ( december , 1978 ), page 23 , jv - j . the photographic materials of the present invention can contain various compounds for the purpose of preventing the materials from fogging during manufacture , storage , or photographic processing , or for the purpose of stabilizing the photographic properties of the materials . for instance , various compounds which are known as an antifoggant or stabilizer can be employed . these include azoles such as benzothiazolium salts , nitroindazoles , chlorobenzimidazoles , bromobenzimidazoles , mercaptothiazoles , mercaptobenzothiazoles , mercaptothiadiazoles , aminotriazoles , benzothiazoles , nitrobenzotriazoles ; mercaptopyrimidines ; mercaptotriazines ; thioketo compounds such as oxazolinethione ; azaindenes such as triazaindenes , tetraazaindenes ( especially 4 - hydroxy - substituted ( 1 , 3 , 3a , 7 ) tetraazaindenes ), pentaazaindenes ; as well as benzenethiosulfonic acids , benzenesulfinic acids ; and benzenesulfonic acid amides . above all , benzotriazoles ( for example , 5 - methylbenzotriazole ) and nitroindazoles ( for example , 5 - nitroindazole ) are preferred . these compounds may be added to the processing solutions . examples of development accelerators or an accelerator for nucleating infectious development suitably employed in the present invention are the compounds illustrated in jp - a - 53 - 77616 , jp - a - 54 - 37732 , jp - a - 53 - 137133 , jp - a - 60 - 140340 and jp - a - 60 - 14959 , as well as other compounds containing nitrogen and / or sulfur atom ( s ). the optimum amount of accelerator applied to the photographic materials of the present invention , although varying in accordance with the kind of the compound of the agent , is desirably from 1 . 0 × 10 - 3 to 0 . 5 g / m 2 and preferably from 5 . 0 × 10 - 3 to 0 . 1 g / m 2 . the photographic materials of the present invention can contain a desensitizing agent in the photographic emulsion layer or in any other hydrophilic colloid layers . a desensitizing agent for use in the present invention may be an organic desensitizing agent , as defined by the polarographic half - wave potential or by the oxidation reduction potential as determined by polarography . that is , the agent is defined so that the sum of the polarographic anode potential and the polarographic cathode potential is positive . the method of measuring the polarographic oxidation reduction potential is described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 501 , 307 . an organic desensitizing agent for use in the present invention is preferably one having at least one water - soluble group . for instance , the water - soluble group may be a sulfonic acid group , a carboxylic acid group , or a phosphonic acid group , and it may be in the form of a salt with an organic base ( for example , ammonia , pyridine , triethylamine , piperidine or morpholine ) or an alkali metal ( for example , sodium or potassium ). as preferred organic desensitizing agents for use in the present invention , the compounds of formulae ( iii ) to ( v ) described in jp - a - 63 - 133145 , pages 55 to 72 are mentioned . in accordance with the present invention , the organic desensitizing agent is preferably incorporated into the silver halide emulsion layer in an amount of from 1 . 0 × 10 - 8 to 1 . 0 × 10 - 4 mol / m 2 , preferably from 1 . 0 × 10 - 7 to 1 . 0 × 10 - 5 mol / m 2 . the photographic materials of the present invention can contain water - soluble dyes in the emulsion layer or in any other hydrophilic colloid layers , as a filter dye , for the purpose of antiirradiation , or for any other purpose known in the art . the filter dyes are those having a function of further lowering the photographic sensitivity of the photographic materials . they are preferably ultraviolet absorbents having a spectral absorption maximum in the intrinsic sensitivity range of the silver halides of the materials or dyes , and they exhibit substantial light absorption from about 380 nm to 600 nm for the purpose of elevating safety to a safelight when the materials are handled under daylight conditions . these dyes are added to the emulsion layer , the upper layer of the silver halide emulsion layer , or the non - light - sensitive hydrophilic colloid layer depending on which is more remote from the support than the silver halide emulsion layer . the chosen dye ( s ) are preferably fixed to the layer along with a mordant agent . ultraviolet absorbents are added to the photographic materials in an amount of from 10 - 2 g / m 2 to 1 g / m 2 , preferably from 50 mg / m 2 to 500 mg / m 2 , in accordance with the molar extinction coefficient thereof . the ultraviolet absorbents may be dissolved in a pertinent solvent ( for example , water ; alcohols , such as methanol , ethanol or propanol ; acetone ; methyl cellosolve ; or mixed solvents ) and the resulting solution added to the coating composition . the ultraviolet absorbents usable in the present invention , for example , are aryl group - substituted benzotriazole compounds , 4 - thiazolidone compounds , benzophenone compounds , cinnamic acid ester compounds , butadiene compounds , benzoxazole compounds , and ultraviolet absorbing polymers . specific examples of the usable ultraviolet absorbents are described , for example , in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 533 , 794 , 3 , 314 , 794 , 3 , 352 , 681 , 3 , 705 , 805 , 3 , 707 , 375 , 4 , 045 , 229 , 3 , 700 , 455 and 3 , 499 , 762 , west german patent ( ols ) no . 1 , 547 , 863 , and jp - a - 46 - 2784 . the filter dyes usable in the present invention include oxonol dyes , hemioxonol dyes , styryl dyes , merocyanine dyes , cyanine dyes , and azo dyes . for the purpose of decreasing the residual color in the photographic materials as developed , water - soluble dyes or dyes which may be decolored by alkali substances or sulfite ion are preferred as the filter dyes . specific examples of such filter dyes are the pyrazoloneoxonol dyes described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 274 , 782 ; the diarylazo dyes described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 956 , 879 ; the styryl dyes or butadienyl dyes described in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 423 , 207 and 3 , 384 , 487 ; the merocyanine dyes described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 527 , 583 ; the merocyanine dyes or oxonol dyes described in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 486 , 897 , 3 , 652 , 284 and 3 , 718 , 472 ; the enaminohemioxonol dyes described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 976 , 661 . in addition , the dyes described in british patents 584 , 609 and 1 , 177 , 429 , jp - a - 48 - 85130 , jp - a - 49 - 99620 , jp - a - 49 - 114420 , and u . s . pat . nos . 2 , 533 , 472 , 3 , 148 , 187 , 3 , 177 , 078 , 3 , 247 , 127 , 3 , 540 , 887 , 3 , 575 , 704 and 3 , 653 , 905 may also be used . the dyes are dissolved in an appropriate solvent ( for example , water ; alcohols , such as methanol , ethanol , or propanol ; acetone ; methyl cellosolve ; or mixed solvents thereof ). the resulting solution may be added to the coating composition to form the non - light - sensitive hydrophilic colloid layer in photographic materials of the present invention . the preferred amount of the dyes to be incorporated into the layer may be from 10 - 3 g / m 2 to 1 g / m 2 , more preferred is from 10 - 3 g / m 2 to 0 . 5 g / m 2 . the photographic materials of the present invention may contain an inorganic or organic hardening agent in the photographic emulsion layer or in any other hydrophilic colloid layers . for instance , chromium salts , aldehydes ( e . g ., formaldehyde , glutaraldehyde ), n - methylol compounds ( e . g ., dimethylolurea ), active vinyl compounds ( e . g ., 1 , 3 , 5 - triacryloylhexahydro - s - triazine , 1 , 3 - vinylsulfonyl - 2 - propanol ), active halogen compounds ( e . g ., 2 , 4 - dichloro - 6 - hydroxy - s - triazine ) and mucohalogenic acids can be employed singly or in combination of two or more of them as the hardening agent . the photographic materials of the present invention can further contain various surfactants in the photographic emulsion layer or in any other hydrophilic colloid layers for various purposes such as coating assistance , prevention of static charge , improvement of slide properties , emulsification and dispersion , prevention of surface blocking , and improvement of photographic characteristics ( for example , acceleration of developability , elevation of cotnrast and enhancement of sensitivity ). surfactants especially preferably employed in the present invention are polyalkylene oxides having a molecular weight of 600 or more , such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 221 , 857 and jp - b - 58 - 9412 ( the term &# 34 ; jp - b &# 34 ; as used herein refers to an &# 34 ; examined japanese patent publication &# 34 ;). where the surfactants employed act as an antistatic agent , fluorine - containing surfactants ( described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 201 , 586 and jp - a - 60 - 80849 and jp - a - 59 - 74554 ) are particularly preferred . the photographic materials of the present invention may contain a matting agent such as silica , magnesium oxide , or polymethyl methacrylate in the photographic emulsion layer or in any other hydrophilic colloid layer to prevent surface blocking . additionally , the photographic materials of the present invention may also contain a dispersion of a water - insoluble or hardly water - soluble synthetic polymer in the photographic emulsion for the purpose of improving dimensional stability . for instance , polymers or copolymers composed of monomers of alkyl ( meth ) acrylates , alkoxyalkyl ( meth ) acrylates and / or glycidyl ( meth ) acrylates singly or in combinations . optionally , these monomers may be employed along with other comonomers of acrylic acids and / or methacrylic acids . the photographic materials of the present invention preferably contain an acid group - containing compound in the silver halide emulsion layer or in any other layers . as the acid group - containing compound can be , for example , organic acids ( such as salicylic acid , acetic acid , or ascorbic acid ) as well as polymers or copolymers composed of acid monomers ( such as acrylic acid , maleic acid , or phthalic acid as the repeating unit ). the description of these compounds is further detailed in jp - a - 61 - 223834 , jp - a - 61 - 228437 , jp - a - 62 - 25745 and jp - a - 62 - 55642 . among the compounds , ascorbic acid is especially preferred as an example of a low molecular compound , and a water - dispersed latex of a copolymer composed of an acid monomer such as acrylic acid and a crosslinking monomer having two or more unsaturated groups such as divinylbenzene is preferred as the example of a high molecular compound . photographic images having ultrahigh contrast and high sensitivity can be obtained by processing silver halide photographic materials of the present invention in infectious developers or high - alkali developers having a ph value of nearly 13 as described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 419 , 975 , as well as in any stable developer . specifically , silver halide photographic materials of the present invention are processed with a developer containing sulfite ion as a preservative in an amount of 0 . 15 mol / liter or more and having a ph of from 10 . 5 to 12 . 3 , preferably from 11 . 0 to 12 . 0 , to obtain ultrahard negative images . the developing agent of the developer used for processing the photographic materials of the present invention is not specifically limited . but it is preferred that the developer contain dihydroxybenzenes in order to yield good dot image quality . a combination of dihydroxybenzenes and 1 - phenyl - 3 - pyrazolidones or a combination of dihydroxybenzenes and p - aminophenols may also be employed . in general , the developer preferably contains developing agent in an amount of from about 0 . 05 mol / liter to 0 . 8 mol / liter . where the combination of dihydroxybenzenes and 1 - phenyl - 3 - pyrazolidones or p - aminophenols is employed , the content of the former is preferably from about 0 . 05 mol / liter to 0 . 5 mol / liter and that of the latter is from 0 . 06 mol / liter or less . sulfite preservatives for use in the present invention are , for example , sodium sulfite , potassium sulfite , lithium sulfite , ammonium sulfite , sodium bisulfite , potassium metabisulfite , and formaldehyde - sodium metabisulfite . the concentration of the sulfite is preferably 0 . 4 mol / liter or more , preferably 0 . 5 mol / liter or more . the developer to be employed in the present invention can contain the compounds described in jp - a - 56 - 24347 as a silver stain inhibitor . the developer may further contain a solubilizer aid , which may be selected from the compounds described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 740 , 452 ( corresponding to jp - a - 61 - 267759 ). the developer may also contain a ph buffer , which may be selected from the compounds described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 569 , 904 ( corresponding to jp - a - 60 - 93433 ) or the compounds described in jp - a - 62 - 186259 . the compound of formula ( 1 ) can be combined with a negative emulsion and incorporated into a high contrast photographic material as mentioned above . additionally , it may be combined with an internal latent image type silver halide emulsion as described below . if combined with an internal latent image type silver halide emulsion , the compound of formula ( 1 ) is preferably incorporated into the internal latent image type silver halide emulsion layer . it may also be incorporated into the hydrophilic colloid layer adjacent to the internal latent image type silver halide emulsion layer . such an adjacent layer may be a colorant - containing layer , an interlayer , a filter layer , a protective layer , or an antihalation layer , provided that it does not interfere with the diffusion of the nucleating agent into the silver halide grains of the adjacent emulsion layer . the quantity of the compound of formula ( 1 ) in the emulsion layer may vary broadly depending on the characteristics of the silver halide emulsion used , the chemical structure of the nucleating agent , as well as the development conditions , but the practically useful range is from about 0 . 005 mg to about 500 mg per mol of silver in the internal latent image type silver halide emulsion . more preferably , the range of the quantity of the compound of formula ( 1 ) in the emulsion layer is from about 0 . 01 mg to about 100 mg per mol of silver . where it is incorporated into the hydrophilic colloid layer adjacent to the emulsion layer , the amount of the compound may fall within the above - mentioned range based on the amount of silver contained in the same area of the adjacent internal latent image type emulsion layer . the details of the definition of the internal latent image type silver halide emulsion as referred to herein are described in jp - a - 61 - 170733 , page 10 , upper column and british patent 2 , 089 , 057 , pages 18 to 20 . specific examples of internal latent image type emulsions which are preferably employed in the present invention are described in jp - a - 63 - 108336 , from page 28 , line 14 to page 31 , line 2 ; and those of the silver halides which are preferably employed in the present invention are described in the same patent specification , from page 31 , line 3 to page 32 , line 11 . in the photographic materials of the present invention , the internal latent image type emulsions may optionally be color sensitized to blue light , green light , red light , or infrared light having a relatively long wavelength by the use of sensitizing dyes . sensitizing dyes usable for the purpose are cyanine dyes , merocyanine dyes , complex cyanine dyes , complex merocyanine dyes , holopolar cyanine dyes , styryl dyes , hemicyanine dyes , oxonol dyes , and hemioxonol dyes . such sensitizing dyes include the cyanine dyes and merocyanine dyes described in jp - a - 59 - 40638 , jp - a - 59 - 40636 , and jp - a - 59 - 38739 . the photographic materials of the present invention can contain developing agents such as hydroxybenzenes ( for example , hydroquinones ), aminophenols , or 3 - pyrazolidones . these can be included , for example , in the emulsion layer of the material . the photographic emulsion of the present invention can be combined with a color diffusion transfer dye - forming compound ( colorant ) capable of releasing a diffusion dye with the development of the silver halide , in order to obtain a transfer image on an image - receiving layer after proper development . various color diffusion transfer colorants of this type are known . colorants that are originally nondiffusible , but are cleaved to release a diffusion dye by an oxidation reduction with the oxidation product of a developing agent ( or an electron transfer agent ) ( hereinafter referred to as &# 34 ; drr compounds &# 34 ;) are preferably employed in the present invention . in particular , the drr compounds containing an o - hydroxyarylsulfamoyl group described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 005 , 428 , 4 , 053 , 312 and 4 , 336 , 322 and the drr compounds containing a redox nucleus described in jp - a - 53 - 149328 are especially preferred when they are combined with the nucleating agent of the present invention . by combining such drr compounds and a nucleating agent of the present invention , the temperature dependence of the resulting photographic materials is noticeably lowered . examples of drr compounds , in addition to those described above , are 1 - hydroxy - 2 - tetramethylenesulfamoyl - 4 -[ 3 &# 39 ;- methyl - 4 &# 39 ;-( 2 &# 34 ;- hydroxy - 4 &# 34 ;- methyl - 5 &# 34 ;- hexadecyloxyphenylsulfamoyl ) phenylazo ] naphthalene as a magenta dye image - forming substance and 1 - phenyl - 3 - cyano - 4 -[( 2 &# 34 ;&# 39 ;, 4 &# 34 ;&# 39 ;- di - tert - pentylphenoxyacetamino ) phenylsulfamoyl ] phenylazo )- 5 - pyrazolone as a yellow dye image - forming substance . it is preferred that the photographic materials of the present invention are imagewise exposed and then color developed with a surface developer containing an aromatic primary amine color developing agent and a ph value of 11 . 5 or less , during or after fogging treatment of the exposed material under light or with a nucleating agent . the thus developed material is bleached and fixed to form a direct positive color image . the developer to be used in the process preferably has a ph value of from 11 . 0 to 10 . 0 . the fogging treatment applied to the photographic material of the present invention in the above - mentioned process may be either a &# 34 ; light fogging method &# 34 ; where the complete surface of the light - sensitive layer is subjected to the second light exposure or a &# 34 ; chemical fogging method &# 34 ; where the material is developed in the presence of a nucleating agent . in addition to these methods , the material may also be developed in the presence of a nucleating light and under exposure to light . alternatively , a nucleating agent may have been previously be incorporated into a photographic material , which is then subjected to fogging exposure . the light fogging method is described in detail in jp - a - 63 - 108336 ( corresponding to european patent 267 , 482a ), from page 47 , line 4 to page 49 , line 5 ; and nucleating agents employable in the present invention are described in detail in the same patent application , from page 49 , line 6 to page 67 , line 2 . in particular , the compounds of formulae ( n - 1 ) and ( n - 2 ) as mentioned therein are prefrred . specific examples of the compounds are mentioned in the same patent application , and the compounds ( n - i - 1 ) to ( n - i - 10 ) described in pages 56 to 58 and the compounds ( n - ii - 1 ) to ( n - ii - 12 ) described in pages 63 to 66 are particularly preferred . a nucleation accelerating agent can be employed in the present invention , and examples of the agent are described in the above - mentioned jp - a - 63 - 108336 , from page 68 , line 11 to page 71 , line 3 . in particular , the compoiunds ( a - 1 ) to ( a - 13 ) mentioned in pages 69 to 70 of jp - a - 63 - 108336 are especially preferably employed in the present invention . the details of the color developer employable for development of the present invention are described in jp - a - 63 - 108336 , from page 71 , line 4 to page 72 , line 9 . in particular , p - phenylenediamine compounds are especially preferred as the aromatic primary amine color developing agent to be used for developing the materials of the present invention . specific examples of these compounds are 3 - methyl - 4 - amino -- n - ethyl -- n -( β - methanesulfonamidoethyl ) aniline ; 3 - methyl - 4 - amino -- n - ethyl - n -( β - hydroxyethyl ) aniline ; 3 - methyl - 4 - amino -- n - ethyl -- n - methoxyethylaniline ; and salts of these compounds ( such as sulfates or hydrochlorides ). where a direct positve color image is formed from the photographic material of the present invention by a clor diffusion transfer process , black - and - white developing agents such as phenidone derivatives can be used in addition to the above - mentioned color developing agent . the color developed photographic emulsion layer is generally bleached . bleaching may be effected simultaneously with fixation by a monobath bleach - fixation system or separately . in order to accelerate the processing procedure , bleach - fixation may be effected before or after bleaching . the bleaching solution or bleach - fixing solution to be employed in the present invention generally contains an aminopolycarboxylate - iron complex as a bleaching agent . as additives to the bleaching solution or bleach - fixing solution various compounds can be employed . these are described in detail in jp - a - 62 - 215272 , at pages 22 to 30 . after the desilvering step ( bleach - fixation or fixation ), the photographic materials are rinsed in water and / or stabilized . it is prefrred that softened water be used as the rinsing water or in the stabilizing solution . as the means for softening water the methods of using an ion exchange resin or a reverse osmosis apparatus , as described in detail in jp - a - 62 - 288838 , can be employed . additives usable in the rinsing or stabilization step are described in detail in jp - a - 62 - 215272 , pages 30 to 36 . the amount of the replenisher necessary in the respective processing steps is preferably small . the amount is preferably from 0 . 1 to 50 times , more preferably from 3 to 30 times , of the carry over of the previous bath per unit area of photographic material being processed . the compounds of the present invention can be applied to heat developing photographic materials . heat developing photographic materials are illustrated in , for example , u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 463 , 079 , 4 , 474 , 867 , 4 , 478 , 927 , 4 , 507 , 380 , 4 , 500 , 626 , 4 , 483 , 914 , jp - a - 58 - 149046 , jp - a - 58 - 149047 , jp - a - 59 - 152440 , jp - a - 59 - 154445 , jp - a - 59 - 165054 , jp - a - 59 - 180548 , jp - a - 59 - 168439 , jp - a - 59 - 174832 , jp - a - 59 - 174833 , jp - a - 59 - 174834 , jp - a - 59 - 174835 , jp - a - 61 - 232451 , jp - a - 62 - 65038 , jp - a - 62 - 253159 , jp - a - 63 - 316848 , jp - a - 64 - 13546 , and european patent laid - open nos . 210 , 660a2 , 220 , 746a2 . the above - mentioned heat developing photographic materials essentially have light - sensitive silver halides , binders , dye - forming compounds and reducing agents ( as the case may be , dye - forming compounds may also act as a reducing agent ), on a support . if desired , the materials may further contain organic silver salts and other additives . the above - mentioned heat developing materials may be either those capable of forming negative images by exposure or those capable of forming positive images by exposure . the system of forming positive images may be either a system of using a direct positive emulsion as a silver halide emulsion or a system of using a dye - forming compound capable of positively releasing a diffusion dye image . the former system includes two types , one is to use a nucleating agent and the other is to be fogged with light . there are a variety of diffusion dye transfer systems , which are , for example , a system of transferring a diffusion dye to a dye - fixing layer by the action of an image - forming solvent such as water , a system of transferring a diffusion dye to a dye - fixing layer by the action of a high boiling point organic solvent , a system of transferring a diffusion dye to a dye - fixing layer by the action of a hydrophilic heat solvent , and a system of transferring a diffusion dye to a dye - receiving polymer - having dye - fixing layer by means of the heat diffusibility or sublimability of the diffusion dye . any one of the said systems can be employed in the present invention . as an example of the above - mentioned image - forming solvent , there is known water , and the water is not limited to only a pure water but it may be a so - called ordinary water with a broad meaning . the following examples are intended to illustrate the present invention in more detail but not to limit it in any way . unless otherwise indicated , all parts and percents are by weight . an aqueous solution of silver nitrate , and an aqueous solution of potassium iodide and potassium bromide were simultaneously added to an aqueous gelatin solution kept at 50 ° c . in the presence of 4 × 10 - 7 mol per mol of silver of potassium iridium ( iii ) hexachloride and ammonia , over a period of 60 minutes . the pag of the reaction system was maintained at 7 . 8 . this resulted in a cubic monodispersed emulsion having a mean grain size of 0 . 28 μm and a mean silver iodide content of 0 . 3 mol %. the emulsion was desalted by flocculation , and inert gelatin was added in an amount of 40 g per mol of silver . this was added to a 10 - 3 mol per mol of silver of ki solution of 50 ° c . containing a sensitizing dye of 5 , 5 &# 39 ;- dichloro - 9 - ethyl - 3 , 3 &# 39 ;- bis ( 3 - sulfopropyl ) oxacarbocyanine . the mixture was allowed to stand for 15 minutes and the temperature of the reaction system was lowered to 8 ° c . the emulsion prepared above was redissolved and the following hydrazine derivatives were added thereto at 40 ° c . ## str31 ## next , a compound of formula ( 1 ) of the invention or a comparative compound , as indicated in table 1 , below , were added . additionally , 5 - methylbenzotriazole , 4 - hydroxy - 1 , 3 , 3a , 7 - tetraazaindene , compounds ( a ) and ( b ), polyethyl acrylate 30 wt % to gelatin , and compound ( c ) ( a gelatin hardening agent ) were added . the resulting composition was coated on a polyethylene terephthalate film ( thickness : 150 μm ) having a vinylidene copolymer subbing layer ( thickness : 0 . 5 μm ), in an amount of 3 . 8 g / m 2 of silver . ## str32 ## a protective layer comprising 1 . 5 g / m 2 of gelatin and 0 . 3 g / m 2 of polymethyl methacrylate grains ( mean grain size : 2 . 5 μm ) were coated over the emulsion layer using the following surfactants . ## str33 ## the samples thus prepared were exposed to a tungsten light of 3 , 200 ° k . through an optical wedge and a contact screen ( 150 chain dot type , manufactured by fuji photo film co ., ltd .) and developed with the following developer at 34 ° c . for 30 seconds , fixed , rinsed in water , and dried . ______________________________________composition of developer : ______________________________________hydroquinone 50 . 0 gn - methyl - p - aminophenol 0 . 3 gsodium hydroxide 18 . 0 g5 - sulfosalicylic acid 55 . 0 gpotassium sulfite 110 . 0 gdisodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate 1 . 0 gpotassium bromide 10 . 0 g5 - methylbenzotriazole 0 . 4 g2 - mercaptobenzimidazole - 5 - sulfonic acid 0 . 3 gsodium 3 -( 5 - mercaptotetrazole )- 0 . 2 gbenzenesulfonic acidn - n - butyldiethanolamine 15 . 0 gsodium toluenesulfonate 8 . 0 gwater to make 1 literpotassium hydroxide to make ph of 11 . 0______________________________________ the dot image quality and the dot gradation of these processed samples were measured . the results obtained are shown in table 1 , below . the dot gradation was represented by the following formula : the dot quality was visually evaluated by five ranks . in this five rank evaluation , &# 34 ; 5 &# 34 ; is the best and &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is the worst . the ranks &# 34 ; 5 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 4 &# 34 ; are practical for use as a dot image plate in photomechanical printing ; the rank &# 34 ; 3 &# 34 ; is the critical level for the practical use ; and the ranks &# 34 ; 2 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; indicate emulsions that are practically useless . as shown in table 1 , the compounds of the present invention were extremely effective for improving or broadening the dot gradation of the processed samples . thus , samples containing compounds of the invention exhibited an unexpected improvement in dot image quality , compared to the samples containing the comparative compounds according to the prior art . table 1__________________________________________________________________________ kind of amount added dot gradationsample compound added ( mol / m . sup . 2 ) ( δloge ) dot image quality__________________________________________________________________________comparative example comparative compound1 -- -- 1 . 19 32 a 2 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 5 1 . 32 43 b &# 34 ; 1 . 23 34 c &# 34 ; 1 . 20 35 d &# 34 ; 1 . 19 3 compound ( according toexample the invention ) 1 2 2 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 5 1 . 45 42 3 &# 34 ; 1 . 43 43 8 3 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 6 1 . 42 44 19 2 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 5 1 . 46 55 21 &# 34 ; 1 . 47 56 24 &# 34 ; 1 . 35 47 26 &# 34 ; 1 . 40 48 30 &# 34 ; 1 . 35 49 23 &# 34 ; 1 . 38 4__________________________________________________________________________comparative compound - a ( according to jp - a - 61 - 213847 ) ## str34 ## comparative compound - b ( according to jp - a - 61 - 213847 ) ## str35 ## comparative compound - c ( according to u . s . pat . no . 4 , 684 , 604 ) ## str36 ## comparative compound - d ( according to u . s . pat no . 4 , 684 , 604 ) ## str37 ## the same samples as those of example 1 were exposed in the same manner as described in example 1 . these sampels were processed using a photomechanical process automatic developing machine ( type fg660f , manufactured by fuji photo film co ., ltd . ), using the same developer as described in example 1 in the machine . the samples were developed for 30 seconds at 34 ° c . under the following conditions , fixed , rinsed in water , and dried . ( a ) ( development with fresh solution ) immediately after the temperature of the developer in the developing machine reached 34 ° c ., development was started . ( b ) ( development with air fatigued solution ) the developer in the developing machine was allowed to stand for 4 days before the development was started . ( c ) ( development with forcedly fatigued solution by developing a lot of sheets ) the developing machine was filled with developer , and 200 sheets / day of a partially exposed film so that 50 % of the area of the film was developed after processing ( fuji film grandex ga - 100 ) having a size of 50 . 8 cm × 61 . 0 cm were developed with the machine for 5 days , whereupon 100 cc / sheet of a fresh developer was replenished . the photographic properties of the thus processed samples are shown in table 2 , below . in view of the running processing stability , it is desired that the difference between the photographic properties obtained by process ( b ) or ( c ) and those obtained by process ( a ) be negligible . as shown in table 2 , the running processing stability of the samples containing the compounds of the present invention was unexpectedly improved over those containing the comparative compounds of the prior art . table 2______________________________________ running processing stability air fatigued forcedly fatiguedsample no . ( δs . sub . b - a )* ( δs . sub . c - a )* ______________________________________1 comparative + 0 . 07 - 0 . 14 example 12 comparative + 0 . 04 - 0 . 08 example 23 comparative + 0 . 07 - 0 . 14 example 34 comparative + 0 . 08 - 0 . 15 example 45 comparative + 0 . 07 - 0 . 15 example 56 example 1 of + 0 . 03 - 0 . 06 the invention7 example 2 of + 0 . 03 - 0 . 06 the invention8 example 3 of + 0 . 03 - 0 . 07 the invention9 example 4 of + 0 . 02 - 0 . 07 the invention10 example 5 of + 0 . 02 - 0 . 06 the invention11 example 6 of + 0 . 03 - 0 . 07 the invention12 example 7 of + 0 . 03 - 0 . 07 the invention13 example 8 of + 0 . 03 - 0 . 07 the invention14 example 9 of + 0 . 03 - 0 . 06 the invention______________________________________ *( δs . sub . b - a ): difference between the sensitivity ( s . sub . b ) as developed with air fatigued solution and the sensitivity ( s . sub . a ) as developed with fresh solution . *( δs . sub . c - a ): difference between the sensitivity ( s . sub . c ) as developed with forcedly fatigued solution and the sensitivity ( s . sub . a ) a developed with fresh solution . an aqueous silver nitrate solution and an aqueous sodium chloride solution were simultaneously added to and blended with an aqueous gelatin solution of 50 ° c . in the presence of 5 . 0 × 10 - 6 mol of ( nh 4 ) 3 rh cl 6 per mol of silver , and the soluble salts removed . gelatin was added . the mixture was not chemically ripened , rather a stabilizer of 2 - methyl - 4 - hydroxy - 1 , 3 , 3a , 7 - tetraazaindene ( 1 . 3 mg / m 2 ) was added to it . the result was a monodispersed emulsion containing cubic grains having a mean grain size of 0 . 15 μm . the following hydrazine compound ( 49 mg / m 2 ) was added to the emulsion . ## str38 ## next , a compound of the invention or a comparative compound , as indicated in table 3 below , was then added . additionally , a polyethyl acrylate latex ( 30 wt % to gelatin ) and a hardening agent of 1 , 3 - vinylsulfonyl - 2 - propanol were added . the resulting composition was coated on a polyester support in an amount of 3 . 8 g / m 2 of ag . the gelatin content in the coated layer was 1 . 8 g / m 2 . next , a protective layer comprising gelatin ( 1 . 5 g / m 2 ); a mat agent of polymethyl methacrylate grains ( mean grain size : 2 . 5 μm ) at 0 . 3 g / m 2 ; the following surfactants as coating aids ; the following stabilizers ; and the following ultraviolet absorbing dye were coated over the formed emulsion layer and dried . ______________________________________ surfactants : ## str39 ## 37 mg / m . sup . 2 ## str40 ## 37 mg / m . sup . 2 ## str41 ## 2 . 5 mg / m . sup . 2stabilizerthioctic acid 2 . 1 mg / m . sup . 2ultraviolet absorbing dye : ## str42 ## 100 mg / m . sup . 2______________________________________ these samples were imagewise exposed through an embodiment of the invention as illustrated in fig1 using a daylight printer ( p - 607 , manufactured by dai - nippon screen co .) and developed at 38 ° c . for 20 seconds , fixed , rinsed in water , and dried . the thus processed samples were evaluated with respect to the quality of the superimposed letter image formed by way of a 5 - rank evaluation . for the 5 - rank superimposed letter image evaluation , the photographic material sample was perperly exposed through an embodiment of the invention as illustrated in fig1 so that 50 % of the dot area of the original would be 50 % of the dot area of the reproduced image on the sample by contact dot - to - dot work . the rank &# 34 ; 5 &# 34 ; in the evaluation indicates that 30 μm width letters were well reproduced and the superimposed letter image quality was excellent . the rank &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; indicates that only letters of 150 μm width or more were reproduced and the superimposed letter image quality was bad . the other rankings of from &# 34 ; 4 &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; 2 &# 34 ; were conducted by functional evaluation . ranks of &# 34 ; 3 &# 34 ; or more indicate the practical working level . the results are shown in table 3 below . these results illustrate that the samples of the present invention have excellent superimposed letter image quality . table 3______________________________________ kind of superimposed compound amount added letter imagesample no . added ( mol / m . sup . 2 ) quality______________________________________1 -- -- 3 . 0 ( comparison ) 2 comparative 5 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 5 3 . 5 ( comparison ) compound - a3 comparative &# 34 ; 3 . 0 ( comparison ) compound - b4 comparative &# 34 ; 3 . 0 ( comparison ) compound - c5 comparative &# 34 ; 3 . 0 ( comparison ) compound - d6 compound 3 5 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 5 4 . 0 ( invention ) 7 compound 19 &# 34 ; 4 . 0 ( invention ) 8 compound 21 &# 34 ; 4 . 5 ( invention ) 9 compound 14 &# 34 ; 4 . 5 ( invention ) 10 compound 16 &# 34 ; 5 . 0 ( invention ) 11 compound 4 7 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 6 4 . 5 ( invention ) 12 compound 22 &# 34 ; 4 . 5 ( invention ) 13 compound 26 5 . 0 × 10 . sup .- 5 4 . 0 ( invention ) 14 compound 23 &# 34 ; 4 . 0 ( invention ) ______________________________________ emulsions for photographic layers , a dispersion of zinc hydroxide , a dispersion of active charcoal , a dispersion of an electron transmitting agent , dispersions of yellow , magenta , and cyan couplers and a dispersion for an interlayer were prepared as mentioned below . using them , a photographic material ( sample no . 801 ) was prepared , as mentioned below . additionally , an image - receiving material was prepared , also as mentioned below . the following solution ( 1 ) and solution ( 2 ) were simultaneously added to a well stirred aqueous gelatin solution ( which was prepared by adding 20 g of gelatin , 3 g of potassium bromide , 0 . 03 g of the following compound ( 1 ) and 0 . 25 g of ho ( ch 2 ) 2 s ( ch 2 ) 2 s ( ch 2 ) 2 oh to 800 cc of water and heated at 50 ° c . ), over a period of 30 minutes . afterwards , the following solution ( 3 ) and solution ( 4 ) were further added thereto at the same time over a period of 20 minutes . 5 minutes after the initiation of adding solution ( 3 ), a dye solution mentioned below was added over a period of 18 minutes . after washed with water and desalted , 20 g of lime - processed ossein gelatin was added , the ph was adjusted to 6 . 2 , and the pag to 8 . 5 . next , sodium thiosulfate , 4 - hydroxy - 6 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 3a , 7 - tetraazaindene and chloroauric acid were added for optimum chemical sensitization . thus , 600 g of a monodispersed cubic silver chlorobromide emulsion having a mean grain size of 0 . 40 μm was obtained . ______________________________________ solution solution solution solution ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ______________________________________agno . sub . 3 30 g -- 70 g -- kbr -- 17 . 8 g -- 49 gnacl -- 1 . 6 g -- -- water to make 180 cc 180 cc 350 cc 350 cc______________________________________ the following solutions ( i ) and ( ii ) were added to an aqueous gelatin solution ( see below ) well stirred and heated at 50 ° c ., over a period of 30 minutes . next , solutions ( iii ) and ( iv ) were added over a period of 30 minutes , whereupon a dye solution mentioned below was added 1 minute after the completion of the addition of solutions ( iii ) and ( iv ). ______________________________________gelatin 20 gnacl 6 gkbr 0 . 3 g ## str46 ## 0 . 015 gh . sub . 2 o 730 ml______________________________________ solution solution solution solution ( i ) ( ii ) ( iii ) ( iv ) ______________________________________agno . sub . 3 50 g -- 50 g -- kbr -- 21 g -- 28 gnacl -- 6 . 9 g -- 3 . 5 gwater to make 200 cc 200 cc 200 cc 200 cc______________________________________ thus , a monodispersed cubic emulsion having a grain size of 0 . 40 μm was obtained . the yield was 63 g . __________________________________________________________________________ composition of dye solution : __________________________________________________________________________ ## str47 ## 0 . 23 gmethanol 154 cc__________________________________________________________________________ after being washed with water and desalted , 20 g of gelatin was added , the ph and pag were adjusted , and triethylthiourea , chloroauric acid and 4 - hydroxy - 6 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 3a , 7 - tetraazaindene were added for optimum chemical sensitization . the following solutions ( v ) and ( vi ) were added to a well stirred aqueous gelatin solution ( which was prepared by adding 20 g of gelatin , 0 . 3 g of potassium bromide , 6 g of sodium chloride and 30 mg of the following compound ( 1 ) to 800 ml of water and heated at 50 ° c .) at the same time and at the same flow rate over a period of 30 minutes . afterwards , the following solutions ( vii ) and ( viii ) were also added at the same time over a period of 30 minutes . 3 minutes after the initiation of adding solutions ( vii ) and ( viii ), a dye solution mentioned below was added over a period of 20 minutes . after being washed with water and desalted , 22 g of lime - processed ossein gelatin was added , the ph was adjusted to 6 . 2 , and the pag to 7 . 7 . next , sodium thiosulfate , 4 - hydroxy - 6 - methyl - 1 , 3 , 3a , 7 - tetraazaindene and chloroauric acid were added for optimum chemical sensitization at 60 ° c . thus , a monodispersed cubic silver chlorobromide emulsion having a mean grain size of 0 . 38 μm was obtained . the yield was 635 g . ______________________________________ solution ( v ) solution ( vi ) ______________________________________agno . sub . 3 50 . 0 g -- kbr -- 28 . 4 gnacl -- 3 . 4 gwater to make 200 ml 200 ml______________________________________ solution ( vii ) solution ( viii ) ______________________________________agno . sub . 3 50 . 0 g -- kbr -- 35 . 0 gwater to make 200 ml 200 ml______________________________________ ## str48 ## 67 mg of the following dye ( a ) and 133 mg of the following dye ( b ) were dissolved in 100 ml of methanol . ## str49 ## next , a dispersion of zinc hydroxide was prepared as mentioned below . 12 . 5 g of zinc hydroxide having a mean grain size of 0 . 2 μm , 1 g of carboxymethyl cellulose as a dispersing agent , and 0 . 1 g of sodium polyacrylate were added to 100 cc of a 4 % aqueous gelatin solution and milled for 30 minutes with glass beads having a mean grain size of 0 . 75 mm . the glass beads were removed , and a dispersio of zinc hydroxide was obtained . 2 . 5 g of active charcoal powder ( special grade chemical , product by wako pure chemical ), 1 g of demole n ( product by kao soap co .) as a dispersing agent , and 0 . 25 g of polyethylene glycol nonylphenylether were added to 100 cc of a 5 % aqueous gelatin solution , and milled for 120 minutes with glass beads having a mean grain size of 0 . 75 mm . after the glass beads were removed , a dispersion of active charcoal having a mean grain size of 0 . 5 μm was obtained . a dispersion of an electron transmitting agent was prepared as follows : 10 g of an electron transmitting agent mentioned below , 0 . 5 g of polyethylene glycol as a dispersing agent , and 0 . 5 g of an anionic surfactant mentioned below were added to a 5 % aqueous gelatin solution , and milled for 60 minutes with glass beads having a mean grain size of 0 . 75 mm . after the glass beads were removed , a dispersio of an electron transmitting agent having a mean grain size of 0 . 3 μm was obtained . ## str50 ## gelatin dispersions each containing a dye - forming compound were prepared as mentioned below . a yellow , magenta or cyan dye - forming composition as indicated below was added to 50 cc of ethyl acetate and dissolved under heat at about 60 ° c . to form a uniform solution . this was blended with 100 g of 10 % lime - processed gelatin - containing aqueous solution , 0 . 6 g of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and 50 cc of water by stirring and then dispersed for 10 minutes with a homogenizer at 10 , 000 rpm . the dispersion thus prepared is called a gelatin dispersion of a dye - forming compound . __________________________________________________________________________ yellow magenta cyan__________________________________________________________________________dye forming compound ( 1 ) 13 g ( 2 ) 15 . 5 g ( 3 ) 16 . 6 gmentioned belowelectron donating compound ( 1 ) 10 . 2 g 8 . 6 g 8 . 1 gmentioned belowhigh boiling point solvent ( 2 ) 6 . 5 g 7 . 8 g 8 . 3 gmentioned belowelectron transmitting agent 0 . 4 g 0 . 7 g 0 . 7 gprecursor ( 3 ) mentioned belowcompound ( a ) 3 . 9 g -- -- mentioned below__________________________________________________________________________dye forming compound ( 1 ): ## str51 ## dye forming compound ( 2 ): ## str52 ## dye forming compound ( 3 ): ## str53 ## electron donating compound ( 1 ): ## str54 ## high boiling point solvent ( 2 ): ## str55 ## electron transmitting agent precursor ( 3 ): ## str56 ## compound ( a ): ## str57 ## a gelatin dispersion of electron donating compound ( 4 ) for an 23 . 6 g of the following electron donating compound ( 4 ) and 8 . 5 g of the above - mentioned high boiling point solvent ( 2 ) were added to 30 cc of ethyl acetate to form a uniform solution . the solution was blended with 100 g of a 10 % aqueous solution of lime - processed gelatin , 0 . 25 g of sodium hydrogensulfite , 0 . 3 g of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate , and 30 cc of water with stirring , and then dispersed for 10 minutes with a homogenizer at 10 , 000 rpm . the resulting dispersion is called a gelatin dispersion of electron donating compound ( 4 ). ## str58 ## ______________________________________sixth layer : protective layergelatin 900 mg / m . sup . 2silica ( size : 4 μm ) 40 mg / m . sup . 2zinc hydroxide 900 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 5 ) (* 1 ) 130 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 6 ) (* 2 ) 26 mg / m . sup . 2polyvinyl alcohol 63 mg / m . sup . 2lactose 155 mg / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer (* 3 ) 8 mg / m . sup . 2fifth layer : blue - sensitive emulsion layerlight - sensitive silver halide 380 mg / m . sup . 2 as agemulsionantifoggant ( 7 ) (* 4 ) 0 . 9 mg / m . sup . 2gelatin 560 mg / m . sup . 2yellow dye forming compound ( 1 ) 400 mg / m . sup . 2electron donating compound ( 1 ) 320 mg / m . sup . 2electron transmitting agent 25 mg / m . sup . 2precursor ( 3 ) compound ( a ) 120 mg / m . sup . 2high boiling point solvent ( 2 ) 200 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 8 ) (* 5 ) 45 mg / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer (* 3 ) 13 mg / m . sup . 2fourth layer : interlayergelatin 555 mg / m . sup . 2electron donating compound ( 4 ) 130 mg / m . sup . 2high boiling point solvent ( 2 ) 48 mg / m . sup . 2electron transmitting agent ( 10 ) (* 7 ) 85 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 6 ) (* 2 ) 15 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 8 ) (* 5 ) 4 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 9 ) (* 6 ) 30 mg / m . sup . 2polyvinyl alcohol 30 mg / m . sup . 2lactose 155 mg / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer (* 3 ) 19 mg / m . sup . 2hardening agent ( 11 ) (* 8 ) 37 mg / m . sup . 2third layer : green - sensitiveemulsion layerlight - sensitive silver halide 220 mg / m . sup . 2 as agemulsionantifoggant ( 12 ) (* 9 ) 0 . 7 mg / m . sup . 2gelatin 370 mg / m . sup . 2magenta dye forming compound ( 2 ) 350 mg / m . sup . 2electron donating compound ( 1 ) 195 mg / m . sup . 2electron transmitting agent 33 mg / m . sup . 2precursor ( 3 ) high boiling point solvent ( 2 ) 175 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 8 ) (* 5 ) 47 mg / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer (* 3 ) 11 mg / m . sup . 2second layer : interlayergelatin 650 mg / m . sup . 2zinc hydroxide 300 mg / m . sup . 2electron donating compound ( 4 ) 130 mg / m . sup . 2high boiling point solvent ( 2 ) 50 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 6 ) (* 2 ) 11 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 8 ) (* 5 ) 4 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 9 ) (* 6 ) 50 mg / m . sup . 2polyvinyl alcohol 50 mg / m . sup . 2lactose 155 mg / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer (* 3 ) 12 mg / m . sup . 2active charcoal 25 mg / m . sup . 2first layer : red - sensitive emulsion layerlight - sensitive silver halide 230 mg / m . sup . 2 as agemulsionantifoggant ( 12 ) (* 9 ) 0 . 7 mg / m . sup . 2gelatin 330 mg / m . sup . 2cyan dye forming compound ( 3 ) 340 mg / m . sup . 2electron donating compound ( 1 ) 133 mg / m . sup . 2electron transmitting agent 30 mg / m . sup . 2precursor ( 3 ) high boiling point solvent ( 2 ) 170 mg / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 8 ) (* 5 ) 40 mg / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer (* 3 ) 5 mg / m . sup . 2support : polyethylene terephthalate ( 96 μm thick )( carbon black was added to the backinglayer ) ______________________________________ compounds used above are as follows : (* 1 ) surfactant ( 5 ): ## str59 ## (* 2 ) surfactant ( 6 ): ## str60 ## - (* 3 ) watersoluble polymer : ## str61 ## - (* 4 ) antifoggant ( 7 ): ## str62 ## - (* 5 ) surfactant ( 8 ): ## str63 ## - (* 6 ) surfactant ( 9 ): ## str64 ## - (* 7 ) electron transmitting agent ( 10 ): ## str65 ## - (* 8 ) hardening agent ( 11 ): 1 , 2 - bis ( vinylsulfonylacetamide ) ethane (* 9 ) antifoggant ( 12 ): ## str66 ## ______________________________________third layer : gelatin 0 . 05 g / m . sup . 2silicone oil ( 1 ) 0 . 04 g / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 1 ) 0 . 001 g / m . sup . 2 . sup . surfactant ( 2 ) 0 . 02 g / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 3 ) 0 . 10 g / m . sup . 2matting agent ( 1 ) 0 . 02 g / m . sup . 2guanidine picolinate 0 . 45 g / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer ( 1 ) 0 . 24 g / m . sup . 2second layer : mordant agent ( 1 ) 2 . 35 g / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer ( 1 ) 0 . 20 g / m . sup . 2gelatin 1 . 40 g / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer ( 2 ) 0 . 60 g / m . sup . 2high boiling point solvent ( 1 ) 1 . 40 g / m . sup . 2guanidine picolinate 2 . 25 g / m . sup . 2brightening agent ( 1 ) 0 . 05 g / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 5 ) 0 . 15 g / m . sup . 2first layer : gelatin 0 . 45 g / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 3 ) 0 . 01 g / m . sup . 2water - soluble polymer ( 1 ) 0 . 04 g / m . sup . 2hardening agent ( 1 ) 0 . 30 g / m . sup . 2support ( 1 ): see below . first backing layer : gelatin 3 . 25 g / m . sup . 2hardening agent ( 1 ) 0 . 25 g / m . sup . 2second backing layer : gelatin 0 . 44 g / m . sup . 2silicone oil ( 1 ) 0 . 08 g / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 4 ) 0 . 04 g / m . sup . 2surfactant ( 5 ) 0 . 01 g / m . sup . 2matting agent ( 2 ) 0 . 03 g / m . sup . 2______________________________________ ______________________________________surface subbing layer : 0 . 1 μm ( thickness ) gelatinsurface pe layer ( glossy ): 45 . 0 μm ( thickness ) low density polyethylene 89 . 2 parts ( density : 0 . 923 ) surface - treated titanium oxide 10 . 0 partsultramarine 0 . 8 partspulp layer : 92 . 6 μm ( thickness ) high quality paper ( lbkp / nbkp = 1 / 1 , density : 1 . 080 ) back surface pe layer ( matting ): 36 . 0 μm ( thickness ) high density polyethylene ( density : 0 . 960 ) back surface subbing layer : gelatin 0 . 05 μm ( thickness ) colloidal silica 0 . 05 μm ( thickness ) total 173 . 8 μm ( thickness ) ______________________________________ in the same manner as the preparation of sample no . 801 , other sample nos . 802 to 805 were prepared , as indicated in table 4 below . sample nos . 802 to 805 each contained a compound of the present invention , which had been dispersed in gelatin by an oil dispersion method , in the second and fourth layers each in an amount of 3 × 10 - 5 mol / m 2 . sample nos . 801 to 805 thus prepared were exposed with a spectrophotometric camera through an optical wedge where the optical density continuously varied in the direction vertical to the wavelength . the exposed samples were then wetted with water by applying a hot water ( 35 ° c .) to the emulsion surface of each sample in an amount of 15 ml / m 2 for 3 seconds . the thus wetted sample was attached to the previously prepared image receiving material so that the coated surfaces of the two faced to each other . the combined sample was then heated with a heat roller for 15 seconds whereupon the temperature of the wetted layer was adjusted to 78 ° c . next , the image receiving material was peeled off from the photographic material and , as a result , a blue - green - red spectrogram was formed on the image receiving layer in accordance with the wavelength of the light as exposed . the density of each of the yellow , magenta and cyan colors was measured with 310 type densitometer ( manufactured by x - rite co .). the results obtained are shown in table 4 below . table 4______________________________________ comparison invention 801 802 803 804 805______________________________________compound added to -- ( 1 ) ( 8 ) ( 29 ) ( 34 ) second and fourthlayersblue - exposed regionyellow 0 . 75 0 . 60 0 . 65 0 . 65 0 . 60magenta 2 . 00 2 . 15 2 . 05 2 . 10 2 . 10cyan 2 . 05 2 . 15 2 . 10 2 . 10 2 . 15green - exposed regionyellow 1 . 90 2 . 05 2 . 00 2 . 05 2 . 05magenta 0 . 70 0 . 55 0 . 60 0 . 60 0 . 55cyan 2 . 00 2 . 15 2 . 10 2 . 10 2 . 15red - exposed regionyellow 1 . 90 2 . 00 1 . 95 2 . 00 2 . 00magenta 1 . 90 2 . 05 2 . 00 1 . 95 2 . 10cyan 0 . 40 0 . 30 0 . 35 0 . 35 0 . 30______________________________________ from the results above , it is noted that the density of all the blue , green and red colors increased by addition of the compound of the present invention . additionally , the color purity also increased by such addition , since the complementary color component decreased . accordingly , it was proved that the compounds of the present invention had an excellent capacity of improving the color reproducibility . next , the above - mentioned photographic material samples were stored for 1 month under the condition of 30 ° c . and 70 % rh and then subjected to the same treatment as described above . after the treatment , the same results as those in the above - mentioned table 4 were obtained . accordingly , it was confirmed that the compounds of the present invention have no harmful influence on the stabilities with the laps of time of the photographic materials containing the same . each of 0 . 825 mmol / m 2 of compound ( 1 ), ( 6 ), ( 30 ), and ( 27 ) of the present invention was added to the timing layer of the cover sheet of example 1 of jp - a - 63 - 289551 to prepare cover sheets ( 9 - 1 ), ( 9 - 2 ), ( 9 - 3 ), and ( 9 - 4 ). each of these cover sheets was attached to light - sensitive sheet ( 102 ) of the same example and then processed in the same manner as in the same example . the liquid spreading temperature was 10 ° c ., 25 ° c . and 35 ° c . as a result , it was found that all the samples had little processing temperature dependence and had excellent photographic properties with a high dmax value and a low dmin value . a light - sensitive sheet was prepared in the same manner as in example 5 , except that the same molar amount of compound ( 36 ) of the present invention was used in place of the yellow dye releasing redox compound in the tenth layer . the light - sensitive sheet was combined with the cover sheet and the processing solution of example 1 of jp - a - 63 - 289551 and processed at 25 ° c . in the same manner as in the same example . it was found that the light - sensitive sheet of the present invention had a rapid speed of increasing b density and a short period of time of completing the color image . accordingly , the sheet of the present invention could form a color image in a short period of time . 3 mg / m 2 of compound ( 1 ), ( 29 ) or ( 34 ) of the present invention was added to each of the third , fourth , sixth , seventh , ninth and tenth layers of sample no . 102 of example 1 of jp - a - 1 - 112241 , respectively , to prepare samples ( 11 - 1 ), ( 11 - 2 ) and ( 11 - 3 ). these samples were processed in the manner as described in the same example , and it was confirmed that all these samples had an excellent color reproducibility . 15 mg of compound ( 1 ) of the present invention was added to the third , fourth , fifth , seventh , eighth , ninth , eleventh , twelfth , and thirteenth layers of sample no . 101 of example 1 of jp - a - 1 - 267638 to prepare sample no . ( 8 - 1 ). this was processed and evaluated in accordance with the manner described in the same example . as a result , the sample was proved to have excellent sharpness and color reproducibility . 20 mg of compound ( 28 ) of the present invention was added to the fourth , fifth , sixth , ninth , tenth , eleventh , fourteenth , fifteenth and sixteenth layers of sample ( 208 ) of example 2 of jp - a - 1 - 291250 to prepare sample no . ( 9 - 1 ). this was processed in accordance with the manner described in the same example . as a result , the sample was found to have excellent sharpness , graininess and color reproducibility . 3 mg / m 2 of compound ( 1 ) of the present invention was added to each of the third , fourth , sixth , seventh , eleventh and twelfth layers of sample ( 502 ) of example 4 of european patent 327066a to prepare sample no . ( 10 - 1 ). this was processed in accordance with the manner described in the same example . as a result , the sample was found to have an excellent color reproducibility . compound ( 1 ) of the present invention was added to the emulsion layer of sample ( 1 ) of example 1 of jp - a - 1 - 234840 in an amount of 560 mg per mol of the silver halide in the layer to prepare sample no . ( 11 - 1 ). this was processed in accordance with the manner described in the same example . as a result , the sample formed a high quality image having a high black density . while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof .

a silver halide photographic material is disclosed , which has at least one compound represented general formula : ## str1 ## wherein r represents an aliphatic group , an aromatic group , or a heterocyclic group ; both l and time represent a divalent organic group ; t represents 0 or 1 ; pug represents a photographically useful group ; y represents -- so 2 --, -- y &# 39 ;-- so 2 --, or ## str2 ## and y &# 39 ; represents -- o --, -- nh --, or ## str3 ## the material has a broad exposure latitude in line image - taking work and has a high resolving power in the work . it can form an ultrahard image having a high gamma value of 10 or more . the material may excellently reproduce a line original to form an ultrahard image having a high background density . it also has a broad exposure latitude in halftone dot image - taking work and can form a halftone dot image having ultrahigh contrast with high image quality .

a passenger vehicle 1 includes a vehicle body 2 which has a large windshield 4 in the rear - end area 3 shown here and a body part 5 behind that . the rear windshield 4 and the body part 5 are each bordered on the two longitudinal sides 6 by a rear side part 7 in which a rear side window 8 is provided . a light unit 10 running transversely is connected to the rear end 9 of the side part 7 . the body part 5 and the rear windshield 4 may be designed separately from one another , but they may also be combined to form a joint structural unit mounted pivotably on the vehicle body 2 , for example . in the exemplary embodiment shown here , the body part 5 is formed by an engine cover on the rear end . a spoiler 11 including a spoiler element 12 that cooperates with an operating device ( not shown here ) is provided on the rear end body part 5 of the rear - end area 3 designed in the manner of a fastback . the spoiler element 12 is movable by means of the operating device from a resting position a , in which it is integrated into the shape of the rear - end area 3 to be approximately flush with the surface , to an extended operating position d by way of intermediate positions b , c and vice versa . in the resting position a , the spoiler element 12 is accommodated in a countersunk receptacle of the rear end body part 5 , the top side of the spoiler element 12 running approximately flush with the surface of the adjacent body contour . the spoiler element 12 in the exemplary embodiment is formed by a rear spoiler 13 which can be pivoted outward and is connected with an articulated connection to the adjacent body part 5 on its forward end 14 with the help of at least one hinge ( not shown here ). the rear end 15 of the rear spoiler 13 is pivoted upward when the spoiler 1 is extended ( fig2 ). however , the movable spoiler element 12 could also be formed by an inverted airfoil wing profile ( not shown here ). according to this invention , the spoiler element 12 in the extended operating position d has a greater transverse extent than in the retracted resting position a . this is achieved by the fact that the movable spoiler element 12 is designed in multiple parts — as seen in the transverse direction of the vehicle e - e — with at least individual parts of the spoiler device 12 being designed to be movable in the transverse direction e - e of the vehicle . according to a first embodiment , the spoiler 12 has a relatively wide central part 16 and two definitely narrower side extension parts 17 , 18 that are on the outside , whereby the two side extension parts 17 , 18 are movable in the transverse direction e - e of the vehicle with respect to the central part 16 . in the retracted resting position a of the spoiler 12 , the two side extension parts 17 , 18 are inserted into the wider central part 16 in at least some areas . in the exemplary embodiment , the side extension parts 17 , 18 have upright bordering webs 19 , 20 running in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle on their outer ends , these bordering webs protruding upward beyond the top side of the rear spoiler 13 . the side extension parts 17 , 18 are movable by means of a drive device ( not shown ) from their retracted end position f ( fig1 and fig2 ) into their extended end position g ( fig4 ) via a telescoping shifting movement or a flipping movement . this adjusting movement of the side extension part 17 , 18 in the transverse direction of the vehicle takes place only when the complete spoiler element 12 has been moved from the retracted resting position a into a raised intermediate position b . the side extension parts 17 , 18 are partially extended in fig3 , whereas fig4 shows the completely extended operating position d of the spoiler element 12 , i . e ., the side extension parts 17 , 18 are extended now completely in the transverse direction e - e of the vehicle and the spoiler device 11 has a greater transverse extent . the second extraction movement of the spoiler element 12 in the transverse direction e - e of the vehicle may be accomplished pneumatically , hydraulically or by an electric motor or the like . in the resting position a , the two narrow sides extension parts 17 , 18 are inserted almost completely into the wider central part 16 and only the two upright longitudinally directed bordering webs 19 , 20 are situated outside the central part 16 . however , no bordering webs 19 , 20 need be provided on the extension parts 17 , 18 . according to a second embodiment ( not shown here ), the spoiler element 12 has two halves which in the retracted resting position a have each been pushed over a central means part in some areas and area in contact with one another in the area of a central longitudinal plane h - h of the vehicle . in the completely extended operating position d , the central part extends between the halves that have been pushed apart . air inlet openings may be provided locally on the spoiler element 12 so that cool air can be directed to an internal combustion engine situated behind it . in the inventive arrangement , the spoiler element 12 is moved from a resting position a in which it is flush with the outer skin into a raised intermediate position b by means of a first adjusting movement ( pivoting or raising ) and then there is a second adjusting movement of the spoiler element 12 in the transverse direction e - e of the vehicle into the extended operating position d . in the extended operating position d the spoiler element 12 is widened by a measure l by means of the two side extension parts 17 , 18 on the two longitudinal sides . the foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting . since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art , the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof .

a spoiler for a motor vehicle , in particular a passenger vehicle , is mounted in the rear - end area on the vehicle and comprises a spoiler element which is movable from a resting position in which it is integrated into the shape of the rear - end area and into an extended operating position . to further improve upon the aerodynamic properties of the spoiler in particular the downward pressure on the rear axle , the spoiler element has a greater transverse extent in the extended operating position than in the retracted resting position .

fig1 contains a schematic diagram of a flotation plant according to the state of the art with four primary cells , p 1 , p 2 , p 3 and p 4 , and two secondary cells , s 1 and s 2 . the flow of pulp suspension z is brought into the first primary cell p 1 at a suitable point . the bubbles are generated inside this cell via loop 1 , which is partly disconnected from the feed , by the injector 2 drawing in air l and mixing it into the suspension . the entire flotation plant is largely filled with suspension , on the surface o of which a foam forms , containing as much as possible of the substances and ink particles to be removed by flotation . the accept flow cleaned to remove ink and contaminants in primary cell p 1 is transferred to the second primary cell p 2 through an opening 5 located at the base of the dividing wall 10 . there and in all other primary cells the suspension is treated in the same way , with bubble generating injectors which are operated by internal cell loops , and is discharged at the end of the plant as accept g . the foam collected from all primary cells p 1 to p 4 can drain off down a foam channel 3 into a tank 4 . the overflow from this intermediate tank 4 , from which the foam has largely been removed in the meantime , is fed to the secondary cell s 2 . gas loading takes place here again as the suspension flows round the internal cell loop 6 . the accept from the secondary cell s 2 is transferred to the secondary cell s 1 through the opening 7 located at the base . after gas loading using loop 8 , the foam from the secondary cells can be removed as overflow ü . the accept from the secondary cell s 1 enters the first primary cell p 1 through the opening 9 in the dividing wall 11 located at the base . as a basic principle , the dirt speck removal stage according to the invention can be interposed at several points . it can be inserted into the loop of a primary cell , a secondary cell , or between the primary and secondary stages . fig2 shows the dirt speck removal stage interposed in a primary stage and in a secondary stage . the dirt speck remover ( cleaner ) 12 is installed at one of the primary cells ( p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , p 4 ), depending on the desired process management and cleanness requirements . as an alternative or in addition , one dirt speck removal stage ( cleaner ) 12 ′ can be interposed in the loop of a secondary cell ( s 1 , s 2 ). as an example , fig2 shows a dirt speck remover ( cleaner ) 12 at p 2 and a cleaner 12 ′ at s 2 . the cleaner 12 , 12 ′ is installed downstream of an injector pump 13 . compared with the state of the art , in the invention the injector pump 13 provides a higher pressure output at the same throughput in order to overcome the high pressure drop ( 0 . 8 to 2 . 0 bar , preferably 1 . 2 to 1 . 6 bar ) caused by the hydro - cyclone installed between the injector pump and cleaner . an ash removal stage can also be included in combination with a hydro - cyclone . in the process sequence the cyclone is installed preferably upstream of the ash removal machine . in order to increase the dirt speck removal efficiency in the cyclone , the suspension should be de - aerated when using conventional coarse cleaners . if so - called degassing cleaners are used , removal of fine matter is particularly significant . depending on the type of raw material and the characteristics of the dirt specks , the high air content in the suspension may enhance removal of dirt specks ( centrifugal flotation ). a part flow of the liquid is drawn off near the base of the cell p 2 , s 2 before the content drains into the next cell and enters the same cell after the dirt specks have been removed in the cleaner 12 , 12 ′ and the pulp consistency set by means of the diffuser 14 , 14 ′. there is also the possibility of interposing a cleaner between several cell chambers . the substances removed in the cleaner 12 , 12 ′ are brought to a waste water treatment plant . the degree of ash removal can be set with the usual machine parameters . by setting the injector flow rate independently of production , according to the state of the art as shown in fig1 , it is also possible to coordinate the degree of dirt speck removal in the market pulp . if , according to the invention , forward feed of the entire production flow is requested or if a washing stage is to be installed in an existing dip plant , the ash can also be removed from the entire flow between the cells . in order to retain the flotation efficiency , the loop must be opened and the pulp consistency further diluted , preferably to approximately 0 . 8 to 1 . 3 %. in fig3 , the feed 15 to the secondary cell is treated in a cleaner 16 , acting as dirt speck removal device , such that the hydraulic load in the secondary cells is reduced due to removal of dirt specks and ink particles . the fundamental aspect here , however , is targeted removal of dirt specks . the variant in fig3 shows the most effective form of partial flow treatment because the foam is already enriched considerably with mineral substances and dirt specks during the flotation process . interposition of cleaners at this point permits reliable and efficient discharge of dirt specks with positive reinforcement of ash removal in reject flows that are hydraulically small , but have high loading . in the ash removal process the accept is thickened . in order to ensure that the pulp consistency is not too high in secondary flotation , the pulp suspension is normally diluted to approximately 0 . 6 to 1 . 4 %. this process is needed in all removal procedures within the flotation plant . a further potential means of removing the dirt specks is shown in fig4 . here , the dirt specks are removed in two partial flows . in order to further reduce fibre losses , the cleaners 17 , 17 ′ are cascaded . here , each of the cleaners 17 , 17 ′ can be followed by a further washer for ash removal . the accept , now depleted of filler and coming from the next washer 18 , is brought to the flotation foam tank 4 and undergoes further flotation together with the overflow foam from the primary cells to the secondary cells . the reject , which contains a high concentration of fillers and fines , goes through a daf ( dissolved air flotation ) unit or a sludge press before disposal . fig5 shows a diagram with a potential variant of a dirt speck removal stage . the fibre pulp suspension to be cleaned undergoes medium - consistency slot screening 21 at 20 before being fed to the primary stage p of a flotation unit . a hydro - cyclone stage 12 is included in loop 6 ; it can be either single - stage or multi - stage , and may also include a degassing unit if necessary . the dirt specks and ink particles removed are discharged from the system at sp . for optimum cleaning , the cyclone is followed by a washing stage 22 for ash removal . the accept is returned to the accept flow at times through a medium - consistency slot screen 23 , and is then fed to a low - consistency slot screen 24 . if necessary , the reject flow from the washing stage is fed to a further secondary flotation stage s . if cleaning efficiency is good — depending on the characteristics of the raw material in each case — this stage may also be omitted entirely . as an alternative , the suspension can also be fed to a second stage 25 of a medium - consistency slot screen and added from there to the pulp suspension 20 ahead of the first stage 21 of the medium - consistency slot screen . fig6 shows a variant of a cleaner in the form of a hydro - cyclone 26 . the pulp flow 27 enters at a tangent , with the accept 28 then being drawn off in axial direction . the reject flow 29 , containing a high concentration of dirt specks and ink particles , is removed at the base of the hydro - cyclone 26 . normally , a number of cyclones 26 of this type are connected and can be arranged either horizontally or in groups of two . by removing a large percentage of the filler from the production flow and with additional removal of small ink particles , the brightness or whiteness increases as well . while preferred embodiments have been shown and described , various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is to be

a process for aerating suspensions , particularly to flotate them , for example in deinking of pulp suspensions , with one or more stages and / or cells . each stage / cell has its own separate liquid loop . a cleaner is interposed to improve removal of dirt specks .

the invention is a result of combined efforts of the central veterinary institute ( cvi ) and the regional animal health services ( rahs ) in the netherlands in trying to find the cause of the new disease msd . farms with pigs affected by the new disease were visited by field veterinarians of the rahs . sick pigs , specimens of sick pigs , and sow sera taken at the time of the acute and convalescent phase of the disease were sent for virus isolation to the rahs and the cvi . paired sera of affected sows were tested for antibodies against ten known pig - viruses . three different viruses , encephalomyocarditis virus , porcine entero virus type 2 , porcine entero virus type 7 , and an unknown agent , lelystad agent ( la ), were isolated . sows which had reportedly been struck with the disease mainly seroconverted to la , and rarely to any of the other virus isolates or the known viral pathogens . in order to reproduce msd experimentally , eight pregnant sows were inoculated intranasally with la at day 84 of gestation . one sow gave birth to seven dead and four live but very weak piglets at day 109 of gestation ; the four live piglets died one day after birth . another sow gave birth at day 116 to three mummified fetuses , six dead piglets and three live piglets ; two of the live piglets died within one day . a third sow gave birth at day 117 to two mummified fetuses , eight dead and seven live piglets . the other sows farrowed around day 115 and had less severe reproductive losses . the mean number of live piglets from all eight sows at birth was 7 . 3 and the mean number of dead piglets at birth was 4 . 6 . antibodies directed against la were detected in 10 out of 42 serum samples collected before the pigs had sucked . la was isolated from three piglets that died shortly after birth . these results justify the conclusion that la is the causal agent of mystery swine disease . la grows with a cytopathic affect in pig lung macrophages and can be identified by staining in an immuno - peroxidase - monolayer assay ( ipma ) with post - infection sera of pigs c 829 and b 822 , or with any of the other post - infection sera of the spf pigs listed in table 5 . antibodies to la can be identified by indirect staining procedures in ipma . la did not grow in any other cell system tested . la was not neutralized by homologous sera , or by sera directed against a set of known viruses ( table 3 ). la did not haemagglutinate with the red blood cells tested . la is smaller then 200 nm since it passes through a filter with pores of this size . la is sensitive to chloroform . the above results show that lelystad agent is not yet identified as belonging to a certain virus group or other microbiological species . it has been deposited jun . 5 , 1991 under number i - 1102 at institute pasteur , france . the genome organization , nucleotide sequences , and polypeptides derived therefrom , of la have now been found . these data together with those of others ( see below ) justify classification of la ( hereafter also called lelystad virus or lv ) as a member of a new virus family , the arteriviridae . as prototype virus of this new family we propose equine arteritis virus ( eav ), the first member of the new family of which data regarding the replication strategy of the genome and genome organization became available ( de vries et al ., 1990 , and references therein ). on the basis of a comparison of our sequence data with those available for lactate dehydrogenase - elevating virus ( ldv ; godeny et al ., 1990 ), we propose that ldv is also a member of the arteriviridae . given the genome organization and translation strategy of arteriviridae , it seems appropriate to place this new virus family into the superfamily of coronaviruses ( snijder et al ., 1990a ). arteriviruses have in common that their primary target cells in respective hosts are macrophages . replication of ldv has been shown to be restricted to macrophages in its host , the mouse ; whereas this strict propensity for macrophages has not been resolved yet for eav and lv . arteriviruses are spherical enveloped particles having a diameter of 45 - 60 nm and containing an icosahedral nucleocapsid ( brinton - darnell and plagemann , 1975 ; horzinek et al ., 1971 ; hyllseth , 1973 ). the genome of arteriviridae consists of a positive stranded polyadenylated rna molecule with a size of about 12 - 13 kilobases ( kb ) ( brinton - darnell and plageman , 1975 ; van der zeijst et al ., 1975 ). eav replicates via a 3 ′ nested set of six subgenomic mrnas , ranging in size from 0 . 8 to 3 . 6 kb , which are composed of a leader sequence , derived from the 5 ′ end of the genomic rna , which is joined to the 3 ′ terminal body sequences ( de vries et al ., 1990 ). here we show that the genome organization and replication strategy of lv is similar to that of eav , coronaviruses and toroviruses , whereas the genome sizes of the latter viruses are completely different from those of lv and eav . the genome of lv consists of a genomic rna molecule of about 14 . 5 to 15 . 5 kb in length ( estimated on a neutral agarose gel ), which replicates via a 3 ′ nested set of subgenomic rnas . the subgenomic rnas consist of a leader sequence , the length of which is yet unknown , which is derived from the 5 ′ end of the genomic rna and which is fused to the body sequences derived from the 3 ′ end of the genomic rna ( fig2 ). the nucleotide sequence of the genomic rna of lv was determined from overlapping cdna clones . a consecutive sequence of 15 , 088 bp was obtained covering nearly the complete genome of lv ( fig1 seq id no : 1 ). in this sequence 8 open reading frames ( orfs ) were identified : orf 1a , orf 1b , and orfs 2 to 7 . orf 1a and orf 1b are predicted to encode the viral replicase or polymerase ( seq id no : 2 and seq id no : 3 ), whereas orfs 2 to 6 are predicted to encode structural viral membrane ( envelope ) associated proteins ( seq id nos : 4 - 8 ). orf 7 is predicted to encode the structural viral nucleocapsid protein ( seq id no : 9 ). because the products of orf 6 and orf 7 of lv ( seq id no : 8 and seq id no : 9 ) show a significant similarity with vpx and vp1 of ldv , respectively , it is predicted that the sequences of orfs 6 and 7 will also be highly conserved among antigenic variants of lv . the complete nucleotide sequence of fig1 ( seq id no : 1 ) and all the sequences and protein products encoded by orfs 1 to 7 ( seq id nos : 1 - 9 ) and possible other orfs located in the sequence of fig1 ( seq id no : 1 ) are especially suited for vaccine development , in whatever sense , and for the development of diagnostic tools , in whatever sense . all possible modes are well known to persons skilled in the art . since it is now possible to unambiguously identify la , the causal agent of msd , it can now be tested whether pigs are infected with la or not . such diagnostic tests have , until now , been unavailable . the test can be performed by virus isolation in macrophages , or other cell culture systems in which la might grow , and staining the infected cultures with antibodies directed against la ( such as post - infection sera c 829 or b 822 ), but it is also feasible to develop and employ other types of diagnostic tests . for instance , it is possible to use direct or indirect immunohistological staining techniques , i . e ., with antibodies directed to la that are labeled with fluorescent compounds such as isothiocyanate , or labeled with enzymes such as horseradish peroxidase . these techniques can be used to detect la antigen in tissue sections or other samples from pigs suspected to have msd . the antibodies needed for these tests can be c 829 or b 822 or other polyclonal antibodies directed against la , but monoclonal antibodies directed against la can also be used . furthermore , since the nature and organization of the genome of la and the nucleotide sequence of this genome have been determined , la - specific nucleotide sequences can be identified and used to develop oligonucleotide sequences that can be used as probes or primers in diagnostic techniques such as hybridization , polymerase chain reaction , or any other techniques that are developed to specifically detect nucleotide acid sequences . it is also possible to test for antibodies directed against la . table 5 shows that experimentally infected pigs rapidly develop antibodies against la , and table 4 shows that pigs in the field also have strong antibody responses against la . thus , it can now also be determined whether pigs have been infected with la in the past . such testing is of utmost importance in determining whether pigs or pig herds or pig populations or pigs in whole regions or countries are free of la . the test can be done by using the ipma as described , but it is also feasible to develop and employ other types of diagnostic tests for the detection of antibodies directed against la . la - specific proteins , polypeptides , and peptides , or peptide sequences mimicking antigenic components of la , can be used in such tests . such proteins can be derived from the la itself , but it is also possible to make such proteins by recombinant dna or peptide synthesis techniques . these tests can use specific polyclonal and / or monoclonal antibodies directed against la or specific components of la , and / or use cell systems infected with la or cell systems expressing la antigen . the antibodies can be used , for example , as a means for immobilizing the la antigen ( a solid surface is coated with the antibody whereafter the la antigen is bound by the antibody ) which leads to a higher specificity of the test , or can be used in a competitive assay ( labeled antibody and unknown antibody in the sample compete for available la antigen ). furthermore , the above described diagnostic possibilities can be applied to test whether other animals , such as mammals , birds , insects or fish , or plants , or other living creatures , can be , or are , or have been infected with la or related agents . since la has now been identified as the causal agent of msd , it is possible to make a vaccine to protect pigs against this disease . such a vaccine can simply be made by growing la in pig lung macrophage cultures , or in other cell systems in which la grows . la can then be purified or not , and killed by established techniques , such as inactivation with formaline or ultra - violet light . the inactivated la can then be combined with adjuvantia , such as freund &# 39 ; s adjuvans or aluminum hydroxide or others , and this composition can then be injected in pigs . dead vaccines can also be made with la protein preparations derived from la infected cultures , or derived from cell systems expressing specifically la protein through dna recombinant techniques . such subunits of la would then be treated as above , and this would result in a subunit vaccine . vaccines using even smaller components of la , such as polypeptides , peptides , or peptides mimicking antigenic components of la , are also feasible for use as dead vaccine . dead vaccines against msd can also be made by recombinant dna techniques through which the genome of la , or parts thereof , is incorporated in vector systems such as vaccinia virus , herpesvirus , pseudorabies virus , adeno virus , baculo virus or other suitable vector systems that can so express la antigen in appropriate cells systems . la antigen from these systems can then be used to develop a vaccine as above , and pigs , vaccinated with such products would develop protective immune responses against la . vaccines against msd can also be based on live preparations of la . since only young piglets and pregnant sows seem to be seriously affected by infection with la , it is possible to use unattenuated la , grown in pig lung macrophages , as vaccine for older piglets , or breeding gilts . in this way , sows can be protected against msd before they get pregnant , which results in protection against abortions and stillbirth , and against congenital infections of piglets . also the maternal antibody that these vaccinated sows give to their offspring would protect their offspring against the disease . attenuated vaccines ( modified - live - vaccines ) against msd can be made by serially passaging la in pig lung macrophages , in lung macrophages of other species , or in other cell systems , or in other animals , such as rabbits , until it has lost its pathogenicity . live vaccines against msd can also be made by recombinant dna techniques through which the genome of la , or parts thereof , is incorporated in vector systems such as vaccinia virus , herpesvirus , pseudorabies virus , adeno virus or other suitable vector systems that can so express la antigen . pigs vaccinated with such live vector systems would then develop protective immune responses against la . lelystad agent itself would be specifically suited to use as a live vector system . foreign genes could be inserted in the genome of la and could be expressing the corresponding protein during the infection of the macrophages . this cell , which is an antigen - presenting cell , would process the foreign antigen and present it to b - lymphocytes and t - lymphocytes which will respond with the appropriate immune response . since la seems to be very cell specific and possibly also very species specific , this vector system might be a very safe system , which does not harm other cells or species . [ 0049 ] fig1 ( seq id no : 1 ) shows the nucleotide sequence of the lv genome . the deduced amino acid sequence of the identified orfs ( seq id nos : 2 - 9 ) are shown . the methionines encoded by the ( putative ) atg start sites are indicated in bold and putative n - glycosylation sites are underlined . differences in the nucleotide and amino acid sequence , as identified by sequencing different cdna clones , are shown . the nucleotide sequence of primer 25 , which has been used in hybridization experiments ( see fig2 and section “ results ”), is underlined . [ 0050 ] fig2 shows the organization of the lv genome . the cdna clones , which have been used for the determination of the nucleotide sequence , are indicated in the upper part of the figure . the parts of the clones , which were sequenced , are indicated in black . in the lower part of the fig . the orfs , identified in the nucleotide sequence , and the subgenomic set of mrnas , encoding these orfs are shown . the dashed lines in the orfs represent alternative initiation sites ( atgs ) of these orfs . the leader sequence of the genomic and subgenomic rnas is indicated by a solid box . samples and pigs were collected from farms where a herd epizootic of msd seemed to occur . important criteria for selecting the farm as being affected with msd were : sows that were off feed , the occurrence of stillbirth and abortion , weak offspring , respiratory disease and death among young piglets . samples from four groups of pigs have been investigated : ( 1 ) tissue samples and an oral swab from affected piglets from the field ( table 1a ); ( 2 ) blood samples and oral swabs from affected sows in the field ( tables 1b and 4 ); ( 3 ) tissue samples , nasal swabs and blood samples collected from specific - pathogen - free ( spf ) pigs experimentally infected by contact with affected sows from the field ; or ( 4 ) tissue samples , nasal swabs and blood samples collected from specific - pathogen - free ( spf ) pigs experimentally infected by inoculation with blood samples of affected sows from the field ( tables 2 and 5 ). samples for virus isolation were obtained from piglets and sows which on clinical grounds were suspected to have msd , and from experimentally infected spf pigs , sows and their piglets . tissue samples were cut on a cryostat microtome and sections were submitted for direct immunofluorescence testing ( ift ) with conjugates directed against various pig pathogens . 10 % suspensions of tissues samples were prepared in hank &# 39 ; s bss supplemented with antibiotics , and oral and nasal swabs were soaked in hank &# 39 ; s bss supplemented with antibiotics . after one hour at room temperature , the suspensions were clarified for 10 min at 6000 g and the supernatant was stored at − 70 ° c . for further use . leucocyte fractions were isolated from edta or heparin blood as described earlier ( wensvoort and terpstra , 1988 ) and stored at − 70 ° c . plasma and serum for virus isolation were stored at − 70 ° c . serum for serology was obtained from sows suspected to be in the acute phase of msd , a paired serum was taken 3 - 9 weeks later . furthermore , sera were taken from the experimentally infected spf pigs at regular intervals and colostrum and serum was taken from experimentally infected sows and their piglets . sera for serology were stored at − 20 ° c . pig lung macrophages were obtained from lungs of 5 - 6 weeks old spf pigs or from lungs of adult spf sows from the central veterinary institute &# 39 ; s own herd . the lungs were washed five to eight times with phosphate buffered saline ( pbs ). each aliquot of washing fluid was collected and centrifuged for 10 min at 300 g . the resulting cell pellet was washed again in pbs and resuspended in cell culture medium ( 160 ml medium 199 , supplemented with 20 ml 2 . 95 % tryptose phosphate , 20 ml fetal bovine serum ( fbs ), and 4 . 5 ml 1 . 4 % sodium bicarbonate ) to a concentration of 4 × 10 7 cells / ml . the cell suspension was then slowly mixed with an equal volume of dmso mix ( 6 . 7 ml of above medium , 1 . 3 ml fbs , 2 ml dimethylsulfoxide 97 %), aliquoted in 2 ml ampoules and stored in liquid nitrogen . macrophages from one ampoule were prepared for cell culture by washing twice in earle &# 39 ; s mem , and resuspended in 30 ml growth medium ( earle &# 39 ; s mem , supplemented with 10 % fbs , 200 u / ml penicillin , 0 . 2 mg / ml streptomycine , 100 u / ml mycostatin , and 0 . 3 mg / ml glutamine ). pk - 15 cells ( american type culture collection , ccl33 ) and sk - 6 cells ( kasza et al ., 1972 ) were grown as described by wensvoort et al . ( 1989 ). secondary porcine kidney ( pk2 ) cells were grown in earle &# 39 ; s mem , supplemented with 10 % fbs and the above antibiotics . all cells were grown in a cell culture cabinet at 37 ° c . and 5 % co 2 . virus isolation was performed according to established techniques using pk2 , pk - 15 and sk - 6 cells , and pig lung macrophages . the former three cells were grown in 25 ml flasks ( greiner ), and inoculated with the test sample when monolayers had reached 70 - 80 % confluency . macrophages were seeded in 100 μl aliquots in 96 - well microtiter plates ( greiner ) or in larger volumes in appropriate flasks , and inoculated with the test sample within one hour after seeding . the cultures were observed daily for cytopathic effects ( cpe ), and frozen at − 70 ° c . when 50 - 70 % cpe was reached or after five to ten days of culture . further passages were made with freeze - thawed material of passage level 1 and 2 or higher . some samples were also inoculated into nine to twelve day old embryonated hen eggs . allantoic fluid was subinoculated two times using an incubation interval of three days and the harvest of the third passage was examined by haemagglutination at 4 ° c . using chicken red blood cells , and by an elisa specifically detecting nucleoprotein of influenza a viruses ( de boer et al ., 1990 ). sera were tested in haemagglutinating inhibition tests ( hai ) to study the development of antibody against haemagglutinating encephalitis virus ( hev ), and swine influenza viruses h1n1 and h3n2 according to the protocol of masurel ( 1976 ). starting dilutions of the sera in hai were 1 : 9 , after which the sera were diluted twofold . sera were tested in established enzyme - linked immuno - sorbent assays ( elisa ) for antibodies against the glycoprotein gi of pseudorabies virus ( prv ; van oirschot et al ., 1988 ), porcine parvo virus ( ppv ; westenbrink et al ., 1989 ), bovine viral diarrhea virus ( bvdv ; westenbrink et al ., 1986 ), and hog cholera virus ( hcv ; wensvoort et al ., 1988 ). starting dilutions in the elisa &# 39 ; s were 1 : 5 , after which the sera were diluted twofold . sera were tested for neutralizing antibodies against 30 - 300 tcid 50 of encephalomyocarditis viruses ( emcv ), porcine enteroviruses ( pev ), and lelystad agent ( la ) according to the protocol of terpstra ( 1978 ). starting dilutions of the sera in the serum neutralization tests ( snt ) were 1 : 5 , after which the sera were diluted twofold . sera were tested for binding with la in an immuno - peroxidase - monolayer assay ( ipma ). lelystad agent ( la ; code : cdi - nl - 2 . 91 ) was seeded in microtiter plates by adding 50 ml growth medium containing 100 tcid 50 la to the wells of a microtiter plate containing freshly seeded lung macrophages . the cells were grown for two days and then fixed as described ( wensvoort , 1986 ). the test sera were diluted 1 : 10 in 0 . 15 m nacl , 0 . 05 % tween 80 , 4 % horse serum , or diluted further in fourfold steps , added to the wells and then incubated for one hour at 37 ° c . sheep - anti - pig immunoglobulins ( ig ) conjugated to horse radish peroxidase ( hrpo , dako ) were diluted in the same buffer and used in a second incubation for one hour at 37 ° c ., after which the plates were stained as described ( wensvoort et al ., 1986 ). an intense red staining of the cytoplasm of infected macrophages indicated binding of the sera to la . the identity of cytopathic isolates was studied by determining the buoyant density in cscl , by estimating particle . size in negatively stained preparations through electron microscopy , by determining the sensitivity of the isolate to chloroform and by neutralizing the cpe of the isolate with sera with known specificity ( table 3 ). whenever an isolate was specifically neutralized by a serum directed against a known virus , the isolate was considered to be a representative of this known virus . isolates that showed cpe on macrophage cultures were also studied by staining in ipma with post - infection sera of pigs c 829 or b 822 . the isolates were reinoculated on macrophage cultures and fixed at day 2 after inoculation before the isolate showed cpe . whenever an isolate showed reactivity in ipma with the post - infection sera of pigs c 829 or b 822 , the isolate was considered to be a representative of the lelystad agent . representatives of the other isolates grown in macrophages or uninfected macrophages were also stained with these sera to check the specificity of the sera . lelystad agent was further studied by haemagglutination at 4 ° c . and 37 ° c . with chicken , guinea pig , pig , sheep , or human o red blood cells . siv , subtype h3n2 , was used as positive control in the haemagglutination studies . the binding of pig antisera specifically directed against pseudorabies virus ( prv ), transmissible gastroenteritis virus ( tge ), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus ( ped ), haemagglutinating encephalitis virus ( hev ), african swine fever virus ( asfv ), hog cholera virus ( hcv ) and swine influenza virus ( siv ) type h1n1 and h3n2 , of bovine antisera specifically directed against bovine herpes viruses type 1 and 4 ( bhv 1 and 4 ), malignant catarrhal fever ( mcf ), parainfluenza virus 3 ( pi3 ), bovine respiratory syncitial virus ( brsv ) and bovine leukemia virus ( blv ), and of avian antisera specifically directed against avian leukemia virus ( alv ) and infectious bronchitis virus ( ibv ) was studied with species - ig - specific hrpo conjugates in an ipma on la infected and uninfected pig lung macrophages as described above . we also tested in ipma antisera of various species directed against mumps virus , sendai virus , canine distemper virus , rinderpest virus , measles virus , pneumonia virus of mice , bovine respiratory syncytial virus , rabies virus , foamy virus , maedi - visna virus , bovine and murine leukemia virus , human , feline and simian immunodeficiency virus , lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus , feline infectious peritonitis virus , mouse hepatitis virus , breda virus , hantaan virus , nairobi sheep disease virus , eastern , western and venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus , rubellavirus , equine arteritis virus , lactic dehydrogenase virus , yellow fever virus , tick - born encephalitis virus and hepatitis c virus . la was blindly passaged in pk2 , pk - 15 , and sk - 6 cells , and in embryonated hen eggs . after two passages , the material was inoculated again into pig lung macrophage cultures for reisolation of la . la was titrated in pig lung macrophages prior to and after passing through a 0 . 2 micron filter ( schleicher and schuell ). the la was detected in ipma and by its cpe . titres were calculated according to reed and muench ( 1938 ). we further prepared pig antisera directed against la . two spf pigs ( 21 and 23 ) were infected intranasally with 10 5 tcid 50 of a fifth cell culture passage of la . two other spf pigs ( 25 and 29 ) were infected intranasally with a fresh suspension of the lungs of an la - infected spf piglet containing 10 5 tcid 50 la . blood samples were taken at 0 , 14 , 28 , and 42 days post - infection ( dpi ). we further grew la in porcine alveolar macrophages to determine its growth pattern over time . porcine alveolar macrophages were seeded in f25 flasks ( greiner ), infected with la with a multiplicity of infection of 0 . 01 tcid 50 per cell . at 8 , 16 , 24 , 32 , 40 , 48 , 56 , and 64 h after infection , one flask was examined and the percentage of cpe in relation to a noninfected control culture was determined . the culture medium was then harvested and replaced with an equal volume of phosphate - buffered saline . the medium and the flask were stored at − 70 ° c . after all cultures had been harvested , the la titres were determined and expressed as log tcid 50 ml − 1 . the morphology of la was studied by electronmicroscopy . la was cultured as above . after 48 h , the cultures were freeze - thawed and centrifuged for 10 min at 6000 . times . g . an amount of 30 ml supernatant was then mixed with 0 . 3 ml la - specific pig serum and incubated for 1 . 5 h at 37 ° c . after centrifugation for 30 min at 125 , 000 × g , the resulting pellet was suspended in 1 % seakem agarose me in phosphate - buffered saline at 40 ° c . after coagulation , the agarose block was immersed in 0 . 8 % glutaraldehyde and 0 . 8 % osmiumtetroxide ( hirsch et al ., 1968 ) in veronal / acetate buffer , ph 7 . 4 ( 230 mosm / kg h 2 o ), and fixed by microwave irradiation . this procedure was repeated once with fresh fixative . the sample was washed with water , immersed in 1 % uranyl acetate , and stained by microwave irradiation . throughout all steps , the sample was kept at 0 ° c . and the microwave ( samsung re211d ) was set at defrost for 5 min . thin sections were prepared with standard techniques , stained with lead citrate ( venable et al ., 1965 ), and examined in a philips cm 10 electron microscope . we further continued isolating la from sera of pigs originating from cases of msd . serum samples originated from the netherlands ( field case the netherlands 2 ), germany ( field cases germany 1 and germany 2 ; courtesy drs . berner , müinchen and nienhoff , münster ), and the united states [ experimental case united states 1 ( experiment performed with atcc vr - 2332 ; courtesy drs . collins , st . paul and chladek , st . joseph ), and field cases united states 2 and united states 3 ; courtesy drs . van alstine , west lafayette and slife , galesburg ]. all samples were sent to the “ centraal diergeneeskundig instituut , lelystad ” for la diagnosis . all samples were used for virus isolation on porcine alveolar macrophages as described . cytophatic isolates were passaged three times and identified as la by specific immunostaining with anti - la post infection sera b 822 and c 829 . we also studied the antigenic relationships of isolates nl1 ( the first la isolate ; code cdi - nl - 2 . 91 ), nl2 , ge1 , ge2 , us1 , us2 , and us3 . the isolates were grown in macrophages as above and were tested in ipma with a set of field sera and two sets of experimental sera . the sera were also tested in ipma with uninfected macrophages . the field sera were : two sera positive for lv ( th - 187 and to - 36 ) were selected from a set of la - positive dutch field sera . twenty - two sera were selected from field sera sent from abroad to lelystad for serological diagnosis . the sera originated from germany ( be - 352 , be - 392 and ni - f2 ; courtesy dr . bemer , münchen and dr . nienhoff , münster ), the united kingdom ( pa - 141615 , pa - 141617 and pa - 142440 ; courtesy dr . paton , weybridge ), belgium ( pe - 1960 ; courtesy prof . pensaert , gent ), france ( ea - 2975 and ea - 2985 ; courtesy dr . albina , ploufragan ), the united states ( sl - 441 , sl - 451 , al - rp9577 , al - p10814 / 33 , al - 4994a , al - 7525 , jc - mn41 , jc - mn44 and jc - mn45 ; courtesy dr . slife , galesburg , dr . van alstine , west lafayette , and dr . collins , st . paul ), and canada ( rb - 16 , rb - 19 , rb - 22 and rb - 23 ; courtesy dr . robinson , quebec ). the experimental sera were : the above described set of sera of pigs 21 , 23 , 25 , and 29 , taken at dpi 0 , 14 , 28 , and 42 . a set of experimental sera ( obtained by courtesy of drs . chladek , st . joseph , and collins , st . paul ) that originated from four six - month - old gilts that were challenged intranasally with 10 5 . 1 tcid 50 of the isolate atcc vr - 2332 . blood samples were taken from gilt 2b at 0 , 20 , 36 , and 63 dpi ; from gilt 9g at 0 , 30 , 44 , and 68 dpi ; from gilt 16w at 0 , 25 , 40 , and 64 dpi ; and from gilt 16y at 0 , 36 , and 64 dpi . to study by radio - immunoprecipitation assay ( rip ; de mazancourt et al ., 1986 ) the proteins of la in infected porcine alveolar macrophages , we grew la - infected and uninfected macrophages for 16 hours in the presence of labeling medium containing 35 s - cysteine . then the labeled cells were precipitated according to standard methods with 42 dpi post - infection sera of pig b 822 and pig 23 and with serum mn 8 which was obtained 26 days after infecting a sow with the isolate atcc vr - 2332 ( courtesy dr . collins , st . paul ). the precipitated proteins were analyzed by electrophoresis in a 12 % sds - page gel and visualized by fluorography . to characterize the genome of la , we extracted nuclear dna and cytoplasmatic rna from macrophage cultures that were infected with la and grown for 24 h or were left uninfected . the cell culture medium was discarded , and the cells were washed twice with phosphate - buffered saline . dna was extracted as described ( strauss , 1987 ). the cytoplasmic rna was extracted as described ( favaloro et al ., 1980 ), purified by centrifugation through a 5 . 7 m cscl cushion ( setzer et al ., 1980 ), treated with rnase - free dnase ( pharmacia ), and analyzed in a 0 . 8 % neutral agarose gel ( moormann and hulst , 1988 ). to clone lv rna , intracellular rna of lv - infected porcine lung alveolar macrophages ( 10 μg ) was incubated with 10 mm methylmercury hydroxide for 10 minutes at room temperature . the denatured rna was incubated at 42 ° c . with 50 mm tris - hci , ph 7 . 8 , 10 mm mgcl 2 , 70 mm kcl , 0 . 5 mm datp , dctp , dgtp and dttp , 0 . 6 μg calf thymus oligonucleotide primers pd ( n ) 6 ( pharmacia ) and 300 units of moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase ( bethesda research laboratories ) in a total volume of 100μl 20 mm edta was added after 1 hr ; the reaction mixture was then extracted with phenol / chloroform , passed through a sephadex g50 column and precipitated with ethanol . for synthesis of the second cdna strand , dna polymerase i ( boehringer ) and rnase h ( pharmacia ) were used ( gübler and hoffinan , 1983 ). to generate blunt ends at the termini , double - stranded cdna was incubated with t4 dna polymerase ( pharmacia ) in a reaction mixture which contained 0 . 05 mm deoxynucleotide - triphosphates . subsequently , cdna was fractionated in a 0 . 8 % neutral agarose gel ( moormann and hulst , 1988 ). fragments of 1 to 4 kb were electroeluted , ligated into the smal site of pgem - 4z ( promega ), and used for transformation of escherichia coli strain dh5α ( hanahan , 1985 ). colony filters were hybridized with a 32 p - labeled single - stranded cdna probe . the probe was reverse transcribed from lv rna which had been fractionated in a neutral agarose gel ( moormann and hulst , 1988 ). before use , the single stranded dna probe was incubated with cytoplasmic rna from mock - infected lung alveolar macrophages . the relationship between lv cdna clones was determined by restriction enzyme analysis and by hybridization of southern blots of the digested dna with nick - translated cdna probes ( sambrook et al ., 1989 ). to obtain the 3 ′ end of the viral genome , we constructed a second cdna library , using oligo ( dt ) 12 - 18 and a 3 ′ lv - specific oligonucleotide that was complementary to the minus - strand viral genome as a primer in the first - strand reaction . the reaction conditions for first - and second - strand synthesis were identical to those described above . this library was screened with virus - specific 3 ′ end oligonucleotide probes . most (& gt ; 95 %) of the cdna sequences were determined with an automated laser fluorescent a . l . f .™. dna sequencer from pharmacia lkb . fluorescent oligonucleotide primer directed sequencing was performed on double - stranded dna using the autoread ™. sequencing kit ( pharmacia ) essentially according to procedures c and d described in the autoread ™ sequencing kit protocol . fluorescent primers were prepared with fluoreprime ™. ( pharmacia ). the remaining part of the sequence was determined via double - stranded dna sequencing using oligonucleotide primers in conjunction with a t7 polymerase based sequencing kit ( pharmacia ) and α - 32 s - datp ( amersham ). sequence data were analyzed using the sequence analysis programs pcgene ( intelligenetics , inc , mountain view , u . s . a .) and fasta ( pearson and lipman , 1988 ). fourteen conventionally reared pregnant sows that were pregnant for 10 - 11 weeks were tested for antibody against la in the ipma . all were negative . then two groups of four sows were formed and brought to the cvi . at week 12 of gestation , these sows were inoculated intranasally with 2 ml la ( passage level 3 , titre 10 4 . 8 tcid 50 / ml ). serum and edta blood samples were taken at day 10 after inoculation . food intake , rectal temperature , and other clinical symptoms were observed daily . at farrowing , the date of birth and the number of dead and living piglets per sow were recorded , and samples were taken for virus isolation and serology . tissue sections of pigs with msd were stained in an ift with fitc - conjugates directed against african swine fever virus , hog cholera virus , pseudorabies virus , porcine parvo virus , porcine influenza virus , encephalomyocarditis virus and chlamydia psittaci . the sections were stained , examined by fluorescent microscopy and all were found negative . cytopathic isolates were detected in macrophage cultures inoculated with tissue samples of msd affected , two - to - ten day old piglets . sixteen out of 19 piglets originating from five different farms were positive ( table 1a ). these isolates all reacted in ipma with the post - infection serum of pig c 829 , whereas non - inoculated control cultures did not react . the isolates , therefore , were representatives of la . one time a cytopathic isolate was detected in an sk - 6 cell culture inoculated with a suspension of an oral swab from a piglet from a sixth farm ( farm ve ) ( table 1a ). this isolate showed characteristics of the picoma viridae and was neutralized by serum specific for pev 2 , therefore , the isolate was identified as pev 2 ( table 3 ). pk2 , pk - 15 cells and hen eggs inoculated with samples from this group remained negative throughout . cytopathic isolates were detected in macrophage cultures inoculated with samples of msd affected sows . 41 out of 63 sows originating from 11 farms were positive ( table 1b ). these isolates all reacted in ipma with the post - infection serum of pig b 822 and were , therefore , representatives of la . on one occasion a cytopathic isolate was detected in a pk2 cell culture inoculated with a suspension of a leucocyte fraction of a sow from farm hu ( table 1b ). this isolate showed characteristics of the picoma viridae and was neutralized by serum specific for emcv , therefore , the isolate was identified as emcv ( table 3 ). sk - 6 , pk - 15 cells and hen eggs inoculated with samples from this group remained negative . virus isolation from spf pigs kept in contact with msd affected sows cytopathic isolates were detected in macrophage cultures inoculated with samples of spf pigs kept in contact with msd affected sows . four of the 12 pigs were positive ( table 2 ). these isolates all reacted in ipma with the post - infection serum of pig c 829 and of pig b 822 and were , therefore , representatives of la . cytopathic isolates were also detected in pk2 , pk - 15 and sk - 6 cell cultures inoculated with samples of these spf pigs . seven of the 12 pigs were positive ( table 2 ), these isolates were all neutralized by serum directed against pev 7 . one of these seven isolates was studied further and other characteristics also identified the isolate as pev 7 ( table 3 ). virus isolation from spf pigs inoculated with blood of msd affected sows cytopathic isolates were detected in macrophage cultures inoculated with samples of spf pigs inoculated with blood of msd affected sows . two out of the eight pigs were positive ( table 2 ). these isolates all reacted in ipma with the post - infection serum of pig c 829 and of pig b 822 and were , therefore , representatives of la . pk2 , sk - 6 and pk - 15 cells inoculated with samples from this group remained negative . summarizing , four groups of pigs were tested for the presence of agents that could be associated with mystery swine disease ( msd ). in group one , msd affected piglets , the lelystad agent ( la ) was isolated from 16 out of 20 piglets ; one time pev 2 was isolated . in group two , msd affected sows , the lelystad agent was isolated from 41 out of 63 sows ; one time emcv was isolated . furthermore , 123 out of 165 msd affected sows seroconverted to the lelystad agent , as tested in the ipma . such massive seroconversion was not demonstrated against any of the other viral pathogens tested . in group three , spf pigs kept in contact with msd affected sows , la was isolated from four of the 12 pigs ; pev 7 was isolated from seven pigs . all 12 pigs seroconverted to la and pev 7 . in group four , spf pigs inoculated with blood of msd affected sows , the la was isolated from two pigs . all eight pigs seroconverted to la . paired sera from sows affected with msd were tested against a variety of viral pathogens and against the isolates obtained during this study ( table 4 ). an overwhelming antibody response directed against la was measured in the ipma ( 75 % of the sows seroconverted , in 23 out of the 26 farms seroconversion was found ), whereas with none of the other viral pathogens a clear pattern of seroconversion was found . neutralizing antibody directed against la was not detected . serology of spf pigs kept in contact with msd affected sows all eight spf pigs showed an antibody response in the ipma against la ( table 5 ). none of these sera were positive in the ipma performed on uninfected macrophages . none of these sera were positive in the snt for la . the sera taken two weeks after contact had all high neutralizing antibody titres (& gt ; 1280 ) against pev 7 , whereas the pre - infection sera were negative (& lt ; 10 ), indicating that all pigs had also been infected with pev 7 . all eight spf pigs showed an antibodyresponse in the ipma against la ( table 5 ). none of these sera were positive in the ipma performed on uninfected macrophages . none of these sera were positive in the snt for la . the pre - and two weeks post - inoculation sera were negative (& lt ; 10 ) against pev 7 . la did not haemagglutinate with chicken , guinea pig , pig , sheep , or human o red blood cells . la did not react in ipma with sera directed against prv , tge , ped , asfv , etc . after two blind passages , la did not grow in pk2 , pk - 15 , or sk - 6 cells , or in embryonated hen eggs , inoculated through the allantoic route . la was still infectious after it was filtered through a 0 . 2 micron filter , titres before and after filitration were 10 5 . 05 and 10 5 . 3 tcid 50 as detected by ipma . growth curve of la ( see fig3 ). maximum titres of cell - free virus were approximately 10 5 . 5 tcid 50 ml − 1 from 32 - 48 h after inoculation . after that time the macrophages he cytopathic effect of la . electronmicroscopy . clusters of spherical la particles were found . the particles measured 45 - 55 nm in diameter and contained a 30 - 35 nm nucleocapsid that was surrounded by a lipid bilayer membrane . la particles were not found in infected cultures that were treated with negative serum or in negative control preparations . isolates from the netherlands , germany , and the united states . all seven isolates were isolated in porcine alveolar macrophages and passaged three to five times . all isolates caused a cytopathic effect in macrophages and could be specifically immunostained with anti - la sera b 822 and the 42 dpi serum 23 . the isolates were named nl2 , ge1 , ge 2 , us1 , us2 , and us3 . antigenic relationships ofisolates nl1 , nl2 , ge1 , ge2 , us 1 , us2 , and us3 . none of the field sera reacted in ipma with uninfected macrophages but all sera contained antibodies directed against one or more of the seven isolates ( table 7 ). none of the experimental sera reacted in ipma with uninfected macrophages , and none of the 0 dpi experimental sera reacted with any of the seven isolates in ipma ( table 8 ). all seven la isolates reacted with all or most of the sera from the set of experimental sera of pigs 21 , 23 , 25 , and 29 , taken after 0 dpi . only the isolates us1 , us2 , and us3 reacted with all or most of the sera from the set of experimental sera of gilts 2b , 9g , 16w , and 16y , taken after 0 dpi . radioimmunoprecipitation studies . seven la - specific proteins were detected in la - infected macrophages but not in uninfected macrophages precipitated with the 42 dpi sera of pigs b 822 and 23 . the proteins had estimated molecular weights of 65 , 39 , 35 , 26 , 19 , 16 , and 15 kilodalton . only two of these la - specific proteins , of 16 and 15 kilodalton , were also precipitated by the 26 dpi serum mn8 . the nature of the genome of lv was determined by analyzing dna and rna from infected porcine lung alveolar macrophages . no lv - specific dna was detected . however , we did detect lv - specific rna . in a 0 . 8 % neutral agarose gel , lv rna migrated slightly slower than a preparation of hog cholera virus rna of 12 . 3 kb ( moormann et al ., 1990 ) did . although no accurate size determination can be performed in neutral agarose gels , it was estimated that the lv - specific rna is about 14 . 5 to 15 . 5 kb in length . to determine the complexity of the lv - specific rnas in infected cells and to establish the nucleotide sequence of the genome of lv , we prepared cdna from rna of lv - infected porcine lung alveolar macrophages and selected and mapped lv - specific cdna clones as described under materials and methods . the specificity of the cdna clones was reconfirmed by hybridizing specific clones , located throughout the overlapping cdna sequence , to northern blots carrying rna of lv - infected and uninfected macrophages . remarkably , some of the cdna clones hybridized with the 14 . 5 to 15 . 5 kb rna detected in infected macrophages only , whereas others hybridized with the 14 . 5 to 15 . 5 kb rna as well as with a panel of 4 or 5 rnas of lower molecular weight ( estimated size , 1 to 4 kb ). the latter clones were all clustered at one end of the cdna map and covered about 4 kb of dna . these data suggested that the genome organization of lv may be similar to that of coronaviridae ( spaan et al ., 1988 ), berne virus ( bev ; snijder et al ., 1990b ), a torovirus , and eav ( de vries et al ., 1990 ), i . e ., besides a genomic rna there are subgenomic mrnas which form a nested set which is located at the 3 ′ end of the genome . this assumption was confirmed when sequences of the cdna clones became available and specific primers could be selected to probe the blots with . a compilation of the hybridization data obtained with cdna clones and specific primers , which were hybridized to northern blots carrying the rna of lv - infected and uninfected macrophages , is shown in fig2 . clones 12 and 20 which are located in the 5 ′ part and the centre of the sequence , respectively , hybridize to the 14 . 5 to 15 . 5 kb genomic rna detected in lv - infected cells only . clones 41 and 39 , however , recognize the 14 . 5 to 15 . 5 kb genomic rna and a set of 4 and 5 rnas of lower molecular weight , respectively . the most instructive and conclusive hybridization pattern , however , was obtained with primer 25 , which is located at the ultimate 5 ′ end in the lv sequence ( compare fig1 ). primer 25 hybridized to a panel of 7 rnas , with an estimated molecular weight ranging in size from 0 . 7 to 3 . 3 kb ( subgenomic mrnas ), as well as the genomic rna . the most likely explanation for the hybridization pattern of primer 25 is that 5 ′ end genomic sequences , the length of which is yet unknown , fuse with the body of the mrnas which are transcribed from the 3 ′ end of the genome . in fact , the hybridization pattern obtained with primer 25 suggests that 5 ′ end genomic sequences function as a so called “ leader sequence ” in subgenomic mrnas . such a transcription pattern is a hallmark of replication of coronaviridae ( spaan et al ., 1988 ), and of eav ( de vries et al ., 1990 ). the only remarkable discrepancy between lv and eav which could be extracted from the above data is that the genome size of lv is about 2 . 5 kb larger than that of eav . the consensus nucleotide sequence of overlapping cdna clones is shown in fig1 ( seq id no : 1 ). the length of the sequence is 15 , 088 basepairs , which is in good agreement with the estimated size of the genomic lv rna . since the lv cdna library was made by random priming of the reverse transcriptase reaction with calf thymus pd ( n ) 6 primers , no cdna clones were obtained which started with a poly - a stretch at their 3 ′ end . to clone the 3 ′ end of the viral genome , we constructed a second cdna library , using oligo ( dt ) and primer 39u183r in the reverse transcriptase reaction . primer 39u183r is complementary to lv minus - strand rna , which is likely present in a preparation of rna isolated from lv - infected cells . this library was screened with virus - specific probes ( nick - translated cdna clone 119 and oligonucleotide 119r64r ), resulting in the isolation of five additional cdna clones ( e . g ., cdna clone 151 , fig2 ). sequencing of these cdna clones revealed that lv contains a 3 ′ poly ( a ) tail . the length of the poly ( a ) tail varied between the various cdna clones , but its maximum length was twenty nucleotides . besides clone 25 and 155 ( fig2 ), four additional cdna clones were isolated at the 5 ′ end of the genome , which were only two to three nucleotides shorter than the ultimate 5 ′ nucleotide shown in fig1 ( seq id no : 1 ). given this finding and given the way cdna was synthesized , we assume to be very close to the 5 ′ end of the sequence of lv genomic rna . nearly 75 % of the genomic sequence of lv encodes orf 1a and orf 1b . orf 1a probably initiates at the first aug ( nucleotide position 212 , fig1 ) encountered in the lv sequence . the c - terminus of orf 1a overlaps the putative n - terminus of orf 1 b over a small distance of 16 nucleotides . it thus seems that translation of orf 1b proceeds via ribosomal frameshifling , a hallmark of the mode of translation of the polymerase or replicase gene of coronaviruses ( boursnell et al ., 1987 ; bredenbeek et al . 1990 ) and the torovirus bev ( snijder et al ., 1990a ). the characteristic rna pseudoknot structure which is predicted to be formed at the site of the ribosomal frameshifting is also found at this location in the sequence of lv ( results not shown ). orf 1b encodes an amino acid sequence ( seq id no : 3 ) of nearly 1400 residues which is much smaller than orf 1b of the coronaviruses mhv and ibv ( about 3 , 700 amino acid residues ; bredenbeek et al ., 1990 ; boursnell et al ., 1987 ) and bev ( about 2 , 300 amino acid residues ; snijder et al ., 1990a ). characteristic features of the orf 1b product ( seq id no : 3 ) of members of the superfamily of coronaviridae , like the replicase motif and the zinc finger domain , can also be found in orf 1b of lv ( results not shown ). whereas orf 1a and orf 1b encode the viral polymerase ( seq id no : 2 and seq id no : 3 ) and , therefore , are considered to encode a non - structural viral protein , orfs 2 to 7 are believed to encode structural viral proteins ( seq id nos : 4 - 9 ). the products of orfs 2 to 6 ( seq id nos : 4 - 8 ) all show features reminiscent of membrane ( envelope ) associated proteins . orf 2 encodes a protein ( seq id no : 4 ) of 249 amino acids containing two predicted n - linked glycosylation sites ( table 9 ). at the n - terminus a hydrophobic sequence , which may function as a so - called signal sequence , is identified . the c - terminus also ends with a hydrophobic sequence , which in this case may function as a transmembrane region , which anchors the orf 2 product ( seq id no : 4 ) in the viral envelope membrane . orf 3 may initiate at the aug starting at nucleotide position 12394 or at the aug starting at nucleotide position 12556 and then encodes proteins ( seq id no : 5 ) of 265 and 211 amino acids , respectively . the protein of 265 residues contains seven putative n - linked glycosylation sites , whereas the protein of 211 residues contains four ( table 9 ). at the n - terminus of the protein ( seq id no : 5 ) of 265 residues a hydrophobic sequence is identified . judged by hydrophobicity analysis , the topology of the protein encoded by orf 4 ( seq id no : 6 ) is similar to that encoded by orf 2 ( seq id no : 4 ) if the product of orf 4 ( seq id no : 6 ) initiates at the aug starting at nucleotide position 12936 . however , orf 4 may also initiate at two other aug codons ( compare fig1 and 2 ) starting at positions 12981 and 13068 in the sequence respectively . up to now it is unclear which start codon is used . depending on the start codon used , orf 4 may encode proteins ( seq id no : 6 ) of 183 amino acids containing four putative n - linked glycosylation sites , of 168 amino acids containing four putative n - linked glycosylation sites , or of 139 amino acids containing three putative n - linked glycosylation sites ( table 9 ). orf 5 is predicted to encode a protein ( seq id no : 7 ) of 201 amino acids having two putative n - linked glycosylation sites ( table 9 ). a characteristic feature of the orf 5 product ( seq id no : 7 ) is the internal hydrophobic sequence between amino acid 108 to amino acid 132 . analysis for membrane spanning segments andhydrophilicity of the product of orf 6 ( seq id no : 8 ) shows that it contains three transmembrane spanning segments in the n - terminal 90 amino acids of its sequence . this remarkable feature is also a characteristic of the small envelope glycoprotein m or e1 of several coronaviruses , e . g ., infectious bronchitis virus ( ibv ; boursnell et al ., 1984 ) and mouse hepatitis virus ( mhv : rottier et al ., 1986 ). it is , therefore , predicted that the protein encoded by orf 6 ( seq id no : 8 ) was a membrane topology analogous to that of the m or e1 protein of coronaviruses ( rottier et al ., 1986 ). a second characteristic of the m or e1 protein is a so - called surface helix which is located immediately adjacent to the presumed third transmembrane region . this sequence of about 25 amino acids which is very well conserved among coronaviruses is also recognized , although much more degenerate , in lv . yet we predict the product of lv orf 6 ( seq id no : 8 ) to have an analogous membrane associated function as the coronavirus m or e1 protein . furthermore , the protein encoded by orf 6 ( seq id no : 8 ) showed a strong similarity ( 53 % identical amino acids ) with vpx ( godeny et al ., 1990 ) of ldv . the protein encoded by orf 7 ( seq id no : 9 ) has a length of 128 amino acid residues ( table 9 ) which is 13 amino acids longer than vp1 of ldv ( godeny et al ., 1990 ). yet a significant similarity ( 43 % identical amino acids ) was observed between the protein encoded by orf 7 ( seq id no : 9 ) and vp1 . another shared characteristic between the product of orf 7 ( seq id no : 9 ) and vp1 is the high concentration of basic residues ( arg , lys and his ) in the n - terminal half of the protein . up to amino acid 55 , the lv sequence contains 26 % arg , lys and his . this finding is fully in line with the proposed function of the orf 7 product ( seq id no : 9 ) or vp1 ( godeny et al ., 1990 ), namely encapsidation of the viral genomic rna . on the basis of the above data , we propose the lv orf 7 product ( seq id no : 9 ) to be the nucleocapsid protein n of the virus . a schematic representation of the organization of the lv genome is shown in fig2 . the map of overlapping clones used to determine the sequence of lv is shown in the top panel . a linear compilation of this map indicating the 5 ′ and 3 ′ end of the nucleotide sequence of lv , shown in fig1 ( seq id no : 1 ), including a division in kilobases , is shown below the map of cdna clones and allows the positioning of these clones in the sequence . the position of the orfs identified in the lv genome is indicated below the linear map of the lv sequence . the bottom panel shows the nested set of subgenomic mrnas , and the position of these rnas relative to the lv sequence . in line with the translation strategy of coronavirus , torovirus and arterivirus subgenomic mrnas , it is predicted that orfs 1 to 6 are translated from the unique 5 ′ end of their genomic or mrnas . this unique part of the mrnas is considered to be that part of the rna that is obtained when a lower molecular weight rna is “ subtracted ” from the higher molecular weight rna which is next in line . although rna 7 forms the 3 ′ end of all the other genomic and subgenomic rnas , and thus does not have a unique region , it is believed that orf 7 is only translated from this smallest sized mrna . the “ leader sequence ” at the 5 ′ end of the subgenomic rnas is indicated with a solid box . the length of this sequence is about 200 bases , but the precise site of fusion with the body of the genomic rnas still has to be determined . eight pregnant sows were inoculated with la and clinical signs of msd such as inappetance and reproductive losses were reproduced in these sows . from day four to day 10 - 12 post - inoculation ( p . i . ), all sows showed a reluctance to eat . none of the sows had elevated body temperatures . two sows had bluish ears at day 9 and 10 p . i . in table 6 the day of birth and the number of living and dead piglets per sow is given . la was isolated from 13 of the born piglets . [ 0152 ] table 2 description and results of virus isolation of samples of pigs with experimentally induced infections . sow pig @ material used results * a ( lo ) # c 835 lung , tonsil 2 × la c 836 nasal swabs 2 × pev 7 c 837 nasal swabs b ( ja ) c 825 lung , tonsil c 821 nasal swabs 1 × pev 7 c 823 nasal swabs 4 × pev 7 c ( ja ) c 833 lung , tonsil 1 × la , 1 × pev 7 c 832 nasal swabs 2 × pev 7 c 829 nasal swabs , plasma and 3 × la , leucocytes 2 × pev 7 d ( vd ) c 816 lung , tonsil c 813 nasal swabs 1 × la c 815 nasal swabs 1 × pev 7 total isolates from contact pigs 7 × la , 13 × pev 7 a b 809 nasal swabs b 817 nasal swabs b b 818 nasal swabs , plasma 1 × la and leucocytes b 820 nasal swabs c b 822 nasal swabs b 826 nasal swabs d b 830 nasal swabs 1 × la b 834 nasal swabs total isolates from blood inoculated pigs 2 × la # a separate stable . edta blood for virus isolation from plasma and leucocytes was taken whenever a pig had fever . [ 0153 ] table 3 identification of viral isolates buoyant 1 particle 2 neutralized by 4 origin and density size in sens 3 to serum directed cell culture in cscl fm ( nm ) chloroform against ( titre ) leucocytes 1 . 33 g / ml 28 - 30 not sens . emcv ( 1280 ) sow farm hu pk - 15 , pk2 , sk6 oral swab nd 28 - 30 not sens . pev 2 (& gt ; 1280 ) piglet farm ve sk6 nasal swabs , nd 28 - 30 not sens . pev 7 (& gt ; 1280 ) tonsil spf pigs cvi pk - 15 , pk2 , sk6 various 1 . 19 g / ml pleomorf sens . none ( all & lt ; 5 ) samples various farms pig lung macrophages # entero viruses ( pev ) 1 to 11 ( courtesy dr . knowles , pirbright , uk ), against encephalomyocarditis virus ( emcv ; courtesy dr . ahl , tübingen , germany ), against porcine parvo virus , and against swine vesicular disease . # leukemia virus from the spf - pigs ( see table 5 ). [ 0154 ] table 4 results of serology of paired field sera taken from sows suspected to have msd . sera were taken in the acute phase of the disease and 3 - 9 weeks later . given is the number of sows which showed a fourfold or higher rise in titre / number of sows tested . interval i farm in weeks hai hev h1n1 h3n2 elisa ppv ppv bvdv hcv th 3 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 5 0 / 6 rb 5 0 / 13 1 / 13 0 / 13 1 / 9 0 / 7 0 / 6 0 / 9 hu 4 0 / 5 0 / 5 3 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 ts 3 1 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 4 0 / 10 vl 3 0 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 1 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 ja 3 0 / 11 1 / 11 3 / 11 0 / 11 2 / 11 0 / 11 0 / 11 we 4 1 / 6 1 / 6 1 / 6 3 / 7 3 / 7 0 / 7 0 / 7 gi 4 0 / 4 1 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 se 5 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 6 0 / 3 0 / 8 ka 5 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 nd 0 / 1 ho 3 1 / 6 0 / 5 1 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 ny 4 0 / 5 1 / 5 1 / 5 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 4 jn 3 0 / 10 5 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 1 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 ko f 3 1 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 2 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 oe 9 nd nd nd 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 lo 6 nd nd nd 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 3 wi 4 nd nd nd 0 / 1 1 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 3 rr 3 nd nd nd 1 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 8 ry 4 nd nd nd 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 4 be 5 nd nd nd 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 bu 3 nd nd nd 1 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 kr 3 nd nd nd 1 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 kw 5 nd nd nd 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 vr 5 nd nd nd 1 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 hu 4 nd nd nd 1 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 me 3 nd nd nd 0 / 5 1 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 total negative n 19 41 29 97 16 140 165 total positive p 77 48 62 55 131 1 0 total sero - converted s 4 10 9 9 11 0 0 total tested 100 99 100 161 158 141 165 interval snt ipma farm in weeks emcv emcvi pev2 pev2i pev7 pev7i la la th 3 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 6 0 / 5 0 / 6 6 / 6 rb 5 1 / 7 1 / 9 0 / 6 2 / 6 1 / 8 0 / 6 0 / 13 7 / 9 hu 4 nd 0 / 5 0 / 5 0 / 5 nd 0 / 5 0 / 5 5 / 5 ts 3 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 7 0 / 4 0 / 10 0 / 7 nd 10 / 10 vl 3 nd nd 1 / 5 0 / 5 nd 0 / 5 nd 5 / 5 ja 3 0 / 11 0 / 11 0 / 11 0 / 11 1 / 11 2 / 11 0 / 5 8 / 11 we 4 1 / 7 1 / 6 1 / 6 1 / 7 1 / 7 1 / 7 0 / 7 7 / 7 gi 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 4 / 4 se 5 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 6 1 / 8 0 / 8 1 / 5 0 / 8 6 / 8 ka 5 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 ho 3 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 0 / 6 4 / 6 ny 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 4 4 / 4 jn 3 0 / 10 0 / 10 1 / 10 0 / 9 0 / 10 0 / 10 0 / 10 5 / 10 ko f 3 0 / 10 0 / 10 2 / 10 2 / 10 1 / 10 3 / 10 nd 8 / 10 oe 9 0 / 6 0 / 6 1 / 6 1 / 5 nd 1 / 6 nd 4 / 6 lo 6 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 nd 3 / 3 wi 4 nd nd 0 / 1 0 / 1 nd 0 / 1 nd 0 / 3 rr 3 0 / 8 1 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 8 nd 8 / 8 ry 4 0 / 4 nd 0 / 4 0 / 1 nd 1 / 4 nd 1 / 4 be 5 nd nd 0 / 10 0 / 10 nd 1 / 10 nd 0 / 10 bu 3 nd nd 0 / 6 0 / 6 nd 0 / 6 nd 6 / 6 kr 3 nd nd 0 / 4 0 / 4 nd 0 / 4 nd 1 / 4 kw 5 nd nd 0 / 10 0 / 10 nd 1 / 10 nd 10 / 10 vr 5 nd nd 0 / 6 1 / 6 nd 0 / 6 nd 6 / 6 hu 4 nd nd 0 / 3 0 / 4 nd 0 / 3 nd 3 / 4 me 3 nd nd 0 / 5 0 / 5 nd 0 / 5 nd 2 / 5 total neg . n 15 29 0 0 2 1 69 15 total pos . p 88 74 144 138 90 136 0 27 total sero - converted s 2 3 6 8 4 10 0 123 total tested 105 107 150 146 96 147 69 165 [ 0155 ] table 5 development of antibody directed against lelystad agent as measured by ipma . a contact pigs serum titres in ipma weeks post contact : pig 0 2 3 4 5 c 836 0 10 640 640 640 c 837 0 10 640 640 640 c 821 0 640 640 640 640 c 823 0 160 2560 640 640 c 829 0 160 640 10240 10240 c 832 0 160 640 640 2560 c 813 0 640 2560 2560 2560 c 815 0 160 640 640 640 b blood inoculated pigs serum titres in ipma weeks post inoculation : pig 0 2 3 4 6 b 809 0 640 2560 2560 2560 b 817 0 160 640 640 640 b 818 0 160 640 640 640 b 820 0 160 640 640 640 b 822 0 640 2560 2560 10240 b 826 0 640 640 640 10240 b 830 0 640 640 640 2560 b 834 0 160 640 2560 640 [ 0156 ] table 6 experimental reproduction of msd . no . of piglets length at birth no . of la 1 in piglets of alive dead deaths born died in sow gestation ( number ab pos ) 2 week 1 dead week 1 52 113 12 ( 5 ) 3 ( 2 ) 6 2 4 965 116 3 ( 0 ) 9 ( 3 ) 2 4 997 114 9 ( 0 ) 1 ( 0 ) 0 1305 116 7 ( 0 ) 2 ( 0 ) 1 134 109 4 ( 4 ) 7 ( 4 ) 4 3 941 117 7 10 1056 113 7 ( 1 ) 3 ( 0 ) 4 1065 115 9 2 [ 0157 ] table 7 reactivity in ipma of a collection of field sera from europe and north america tested with la isolates from the netherlands ( nl1 and nl2 ), germany ( ge1 and ge2 ), and the united states ( us1 , us2 and us3 ). isolates : nl1 nl2 ge1 ge2 us1 us2 us3 sera from : the netherlands th - 187 3 . 5 t 3 . 5 2 . 5 3 . 5 − − − to - 36 3 . 5 3 . 0 2 . 5 3 . 0 − 1 . 0 − germany be - 352 4 . 0 3 . 5 2 . 5 3 . 0 − 1 . 5 − be - 392 3 . 5 3 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 5 1 . 5 1 . 5 0 . 5 ni - f2 2 . 5 1 . 5 2 . 0 2 . 5 − − − united kingdom pa - 141615 4 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 5 − − − pa - 141617 4 . 0 3 . 5 3 . 0 3 . 5 − 2 . 5 2 . 0 pa - 142440 3 . 5 3 . 0 2 . 5 3 . 5 − 2 . 0 2 . 5 belgium pe - 1960 4 . 5 4 . 5 3 . 0 4 . 0 1 . 5 − − france ea - 2975 4 . 0 3 . 5 3 . 0 3 . 0 2 . 0 − − ea - 2985 3 . 5 3 . 0 3 . 0 2 . 5 − − − united states sl - 441 3 . 5 1 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 5 3 . 5 3 . 5 3 . 0 sl - 451 3 . 0 2 . 0 2 . 5 2 . 5 3 . 5 4 . 5 4 . 0 al - rp9577 1 . 5 − − 1 . 0 3 . 0 4 . 0 2 . 5 al - p10814 / 33 0 . 5 2 . 5 − − 2 . 5 3 . 5 3 . 0 al - 4094a − − − − 1 . 0 2 . 0 0 . 5 al - 7525 − − − − − 1 . 0 − jc - mn41 − − − − 1 . 0 3 . 5 1 . 0 jc - mn44 − − − − 2 . 0 3 . 5 2 . 0 jc - mn45 − − − − 2 . 0 3 . 5 2 . 5 canada rb - 16 2 . 5 − 3 . 0 2 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 5 − rb - 19 1 . 0 − 1 . 0 − 2 . 5 1 . 5 − rb - 22 1 . 5 − 2 . 0 2 . 5 2 . 5 3 . 5 − rb - 23 − − − − − 3 . 0 − [ 0158 ] table 8 reactivity in ipma of a collection of experimental sera raised against la and sirsv tested with la isolates from the netherlands ( nl1 and nl2 ), germany ( ge1 and ge2 ), and the united states ( us1 , us2 and us3 ). isolates : nl1 nl2 ge1 ge2 us1 us2 us3 sera : anti - la : 21 14 dpi 2 . 5 t 2 . 0 2 . 5 3 . 0 1 . 5 2 . 0 1 . 5 28 dpi 4 . 0 3 . 5 3 . 5 4 . 0 − 2 . 5 1 . 5 42 dpi 4 . 0 3 . 5 3 . 0 3 . 5 1 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 0 23 14 dpi 3 . 0 2 . 0 2 . 5 3 . 0 1 . 0 2 . 0 1 . 0 28 dpi 3 . 5 3 . 5 3 . 5 4 . 0 1 . 5 2 . 0 2 . 0 42 dpi 4 . 0 4 . 0 3 . 0 4 . 0 − 2 . 5 2 . 5 25 14 dpi 2 . 5 2 . 0 2 . 5 3 . 0 1 . 5 2 . 0 1 . 0 28 dpi 4 . 0 3 . 5 4 . 0 3 . 5 − 1 . 5 2 . 0 42 dpi 3 . 5 4 . 0 3 . 5 3 . 5 1 . 5 2 . 0 2 . 0 29 14 dpi 3 . 5 3 . 5 3 . 0 3 . 5 − 2 . 0 1 . 5 28 dpi 3 . 5 3 . 5 3 . 0 3 . 5 − 2 . 5 2 . 0 42 dpi 4 . 0 3 . 5 3 . 5 4 . 0 1 . 5 2 . 5 2 . 5 anti - sirsv : 2b 20 dpi − − − − 2 . 0 2 . 0 − 36 dpi − − − − 1 . 5 2 . 0 − 63 dpi − − − − 1 . 0 1 . 0 − 9g 30 dpi − − − − 2 . 5 3 . 0 − 44 dpi − − − − 2 . 5 3 . 5 − 68 dpi − − − − 2 . 0 3 . 5 1 . 5 16w 25 dpi − − − − 2 . 0 3 . 0 − 40 dpi − − − − 2 . 0 3 . 0 − 64 dpi − − − − 2 . 5 2 . 5 1 . 5 16y 36 dpi − − − − 1 . 0 3 . 0 1 . 0 64 dpi − − − − 2 . 5 3 . 0 − [ 0159 ] table 9 characteristics of the orfs of lelystad virus . calculated no . of size of the number of nucleotides amino unmodified glycosylation orf ( first - last ) acids peptide ( kda ) sites orf1a 212 - 7399 2396 260 . 0 3 ( seq id no : 2 ) orf1b 7384 - 11772 1463 161 . 8 3 ( seq id no : 3 ) orf2 11786 - 12532 249 28 . 4 2 ( seq id no : 4 ) orf3 12394 - 13188 265 30 . 6 7 ( seq id no : 5 ) 12556 - 13188 211 24 . 5 4 orf4 12936 - 13484 183 20 . 0 4 ( seq id no : 6 ) 12981 - 13484 168 18 . 4 4 13068 - 13484 139 15 . 4 3 orf5 13484 - 14086 201 22 . 4 2 ( seq id no : 7 ) orf6 14077 - 14595 173 18 . 9 2 ( seq id no : 8 ) orf7 14588 - 14971 128 13 . 8 1 ( seq id no : 9 ) boer , g . f . de , back , w ., and osterhaus , a . d . m . e . 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( 1989 ), an enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to porcine parvo virus , j . virol . meth . 23 , 169 - 178 . zeijst . b . a . m . van der , horzinek , m . c ., and moennig , v . ( 1975 ), the genome of equine arteritis virus , virology , 68 , 418 - 425 . phe trp asn ala gly gln val phe cys thr arg cys leu ser ala arg leu phe tyr lys pro arg asp lys leu his trp lys val pro ile gly ile pro gln val glu cys thr pro ser gly cys cys trp leu ser ala val phe pro leu ala arg met thr ser gly asn his asn phe leu gln pro arg his leu arg glu leu gln val tyr glu arg gly cys asn trp tyr pro ile thr gly pro val pro gly met gly leu phe ala asn ser met his val ser asp gln pro phe pro gly ala thr his val leu thr thr asp ser ser leu asn gly arg ser arg met met trp thr pro glu gln val glu ile leu ile arg ser phe pro ala his his pro val asp leu ala asp trp glu leu thr glu ser pro glu asn gly phe ser phe asn thr ser his ser cys gly his leu val gln asn pro asp val phe asp gly lys cys trp leu ser cys phe leu gly gln ser val glu val arg cys his glu glu his leu ala asp ala phe gly tyr gln thr lys ser cys pro gln ser trp ile arg his leu thr leu asp asp asp val glu pro thr thr ser arg ile phe arg phe gly ala his lys trp tyr val leu ala ala ile met asn arg met ile asn gly asp phe thr ser pro leu thr gln tyr asn arg pro glu asp asp trp ala ser asp tyr val his trp glu val glu val arg ser gly met ala pro arg ser leu ser ala tyr arg leu pro ser asp cys val ser ser gly ile ala asp phe leu ala asn pro pro pro gln glu phe trp thr leu asp lys met phe ile tyr ala val glu arg met leu lys asp cys pro ser ser lys val leu cys ser pro asp ala lys glu phe glu glu ala ala xaa glu glu gln thr pro asp asn pro gly ser asp ala gly ala leu pro val thr val arg glu phe val pro thr gly pro ile leu cys his val glu glu pro val phe val lys pro arg asn ala phe ser asp gly asp ser leu lys arg pro arg phe ser ala gln ala leu ile asp arg gly gly pro leu ala asp val his ala lys ile lys asn arg val tyr glu gln cys thr ser gln phe gln ala gly arg ile leu ala ser leu lys phe leu pro asp met ile gln asp thr pro pro pro val pro arg lys asn arg ala ser asp asn ala gly leu lys gln leu val ala gln trp asp gly ser ile ser gln arg leu met thr trp val phe glu val phe ser ala leu ser leu val tyr val val ser gln gly arg cys his lys cys trp gly lys cys ile arg thr ala pro ala glu val ala leu asn val arg phe gln thr pro lys gly val asp pro val his leu ala thr gly lys pro ile ala tyr ala asn leu asp glu lys lys met ser ala gln thr val val ala val pro tyr asp pro ser gln ala ile lys cys leu lys val leu gln ala gly gly ala ile val asp gln pro thr pro glu val ala ala val arg cys gly tyr ser thr ala gln leu xaa leu gly arg gly asn phe ala lys leu asn gln thr pro pro arg asn ser ile ser pro gln val cys gly arg gly thr ala asp pro trp cys ser asn leu thr met leu trp val his ser phe leu val phe cys leu pro ala arg phe thr gln val ala gly ile ile thr pro tyr asp ile his gln arg thr his lys pro cys leu asn thr val asn val val gly ser ser ser tyr asn arg met his thr phe lys thr asn gly asp tyr ala trp lys gly tyr arg gly arg ala tyr trp gln thr ser thr gly val glu his phe ala gly pro ser val pro leu gly asp ile lys leu ser pro leu cys val phe phe leu leu trp arg met met gly his ala trp thr ala thr pro trp ser ala gln val leu met ile arg leu leu thr ala glu leu ser gln ala leu ser thr tyr cys phe leu pro arg val leu ala met thr ser cys val pro thr ile ile ile gly gly leu his thr leu gly val ile leu trp xaa phe lys tyr arg cys leu his asn met ala glu gly asn leu arg lys gly val ser gln ser cys gly met asn lys ala leu arg gln glu leu ala ser leu val gln ile asp lys met gly ser ile leu asp ile asn val gly thr glu arg lys thr val ser val gln glu thr arg ser leu gly gly ser lys phe ser val cys thr val val ser asn thr pro val asp ala xaa thr gly ile pro leu gln asp asp leu lys val glu arg met lys lys his cys val ser leu gly phe his asn ile asn gly lys val tyr cys lys ile trp asp lys ser asp leu thr ala ala glu val glu lys leu lys arg ile ile ser gln ser arg thr phe thr leu gly pro leu asp leu lys val thr ser glu gly his gly ala gly asn met gly val asp gly ser ile trp asp phe gln ala cys glu val arg arg gly asp ala pro asn leu gln leu pro leu ile asn thr arg phe gly asp leu pro tyr lys thr pro gln asp thr lys ser ala ile his ala ala cys cys leu his pro asn gly ala asp ser arg pro asp thr pro phe met cys thr lys his gly thr ser his ile gly lys ala pro pro leu phe leu pro ser thr tyr pro ala lys asn ser met ala gly ile asn gly gln arg phe pro thr lys asp val gln ser ile pro glu ile asp glu met cys ala arg ala val lys glu asn trp gln thr val thr pro cys thr leu lys lys gln tyr cys ser lys pro lys thr arg thr ile leu gly thr asn asn phe ile ala leu ala his arg ser ala leu ser gly val thr gln ala phe met lys lys ala trp lys ser pro ile ala leu gly lys asn lys phe lys glu leu his cys thr val ala gly arg cys leu glu ala asp leu ala ser cys asp arg ser thr pro ala ile val arg trp phe val ala asn leu asn cys cys his asp leu val ala thr gln asp gly ala phe thr lys phe glu asp leu leu glu ile gln pro met leu val tyr ser asp asp leu val leu tyr ala glu arg pro xaa phe pro asn tyr his trp trp val glu his leu asp leu met leu gly phe arg thr asp pro lys lys thr val ile thr asp lys pro ser phe leu gly cys arg ile glu ala ala ile leu met asp ser cys ala cys ile asp his asp pro glu trp tyr ser phe pro gly pro ala phe phe met ser met trp glu lys leu arg ser his asn glu gly lys lys phe arg his cys gly ile cys asp gly arg ser pro leu asp ala val leu lys gln ile pro tyr lys pro pro arg thr val ile met lys val gly asn lys thr thr ala leu asp ile ala gly asn glu val asp leu ser asp xaa asp tyr gln val val pro leu leu pro thr cys lys asp ile asn met val lys val ala cys pro thr his gln thr met phe asp ile val ser ala leu lys val cys arg val ser tyr leu asp glu ala gly tyr cys asn his leu asp ile leu arg leu leu ser lys thr pro leu val cys leu gly asp leu gln gln leu his pro val gly phe asp ser tyr cys tyr val phe asp gln met pro gln lys gln leu thr thr ile tyr arg phe gly pro asn ile cys ala arg ile gln pro cys tyr arg glu lys leu glu ser lys ala val leu thr pro tyr his lys asp arg ile gly ser ala ile thr ile asp ser ser gln gly ala thr phe asp ile val thr leu his leu pro ala arg his gly leu phe ile tyr asp pro his asn gln leu gln glu phe phe asn leu thr pro glu arg thr asp cys asn leu val phe ser val ala lys ala leu glu thr gly pro ser arg phe arg val ser asp ser cys met pro leu pro gln val ala his asn leu gly phe tyr phe leu val ala ser met arg pro ile asp ala arg tyr ser lys pro met gly val val ser tyr tyr leu thr leu tyr ile arg gly glu pro gln ala leu pro glu thr leu val ser thr gly arg ile ala thr asp cys his ile thr ser lys tyr leu pro arg ser leu pro lys asp ser val glu thr ala ser lys cys trp lys leu lys leu asp phe arg asp val arg leu met val trp lys gly ala thr ala tyr phe gln leu glu gly leu thr trp ser ala leu pro asp tyr ala arg xaa ile gln leu pro thr pro tyr asp tyr gly ala gln asn ile leu thr thr ala trp phe glu asp leu gly pro gln trp lys ile leu gly leu gln pro phe arg arg ala phe gly phe glu asn thr glu asp trp ala ile leu ala arg arg met asn asp gly lys asp tyr thr asp tyr asn trp asn cys val his phe ala pro gly thr glu leu gln val glu leu gly lys pro arg met gln trp gly his cys gly val lys ser ala ser cys ser trp thr pro asp val pro gln phe ala val lys his pro leu xaa met phe trp tyr gln thr met glu his ser gly gln ala ala trp lys gln val val gly glu ala thr leu thr lys leu ser gly leu asp ile val thr his phe gln his leu ala ala val glu ala asp ser cys arg phe leu ser gln tyr asn thr thr leu asp arg val glu leu ile phe pro thr pro gly thr arg pro lys leu thr asp phe arg gln trp leu ile ser val val leu trp leu arg ile pro ala leu arg tyr val phe gly phe his cys phe trp phe pro leu ala his gly asn thr ser phe glu leu thr ile asn tyr thr ile cys met pro cys ser thr ser gln ala ala arg gln arg leu glu pro gly arg asn met trp cys lys ile gly his asp leu ser phe ser tyr ala ala gln phe his pro glu leu phe gly ile gly asn val ser arg val phe val asp lys arg his gln phe ile cys ser trp ser phe arg thr ser ile val ser asp leu thr gly ser gln val ser glu ala phe ala cys lys pro cys phe ser thr his leu ser asp ile glu thr asn thr thr ala ala ala gly phe met val leu gln asp ile asn cys phe arg pro his gly val ser ala ala gln glu lys ile ser phe gly lys ser ser gln cys arg glu ala val gly thr pro gln tyr ile thr ile thr ala asn val thr asp glu ser tyr leu tyr val ser ala cys val asn phe thr asp tyr val ala his val thr gln phe leu thr pro ser ala met arg trp ala thr thr ile ala cys leu met arg cys ser his lys leu gly arg phe leu thr pro his ser cys ile cys glu leu asn gly thr asp trp leu ser ser his phe gly trp ala val glu thr phe val leu tyr pro val ala thr his ile leu ser asn phe ile val asp asp arg gly arg val his arg trp lys ser pro thr ile lys his val val leu glu gly val lys ala gln pro leu thr met gly gly leu asp asp phe cys asn asp pro ile ala ala gln lys phe leu asn cys ser phe thr phe gly tyr met thr tyr val his phe leu trp gly val tyr ser phe thr glu ser trp lys phe ile thr ser asn arg ala tyr ala val arg lys pro gly leu thr ser val asn gly gly lys val ser phe gln val glu phe met leu pro val ala his thr

composition of matter comprising the causative agent of mystery swine disease , lelystad agent , in a live , attenuated , dead , or recombinant form , or a part or component of it . vaccine compositions and diagnostic kits based thereon . recombinant nucleic acid comprising a lelystad agent - specific nucleotide sequence . peptides comprising a lelystad agent - specific amino acid sequence . lelystad agent - specific antibodies .

the attachment plate 1 shown in fig1 comprises a rectangular and planar front wall 2 and side walls 5 and 6 bent towards the rear at 90 °. for mounting the attachment plate 1 on a supporting frame 10 shown here only partially , the plate has recesses 4a and 4b in the front face 2 and in the side walls 5 and 6 . latch 15 , which is only barely shown , may be introduced through the recesses . the latch connects detachably the attachment plate 1 with the supporting frame 10 whereby it engages with a head , not shown here , dovetail grooves 11 as well as channels 12 . as a rule , the attachment plate 1 is connected with several latches 15 of the same type on opposite sides with the frame 10 . for positioning the attachment plate 1 on the frame 10 the side walls 5 and 6 comprise projecting lugs 7 . in the same manner the attachment plate 1 may also be mounted on frame 10 rotated by 90 ° so that the side walls 6 also are in contact with the support of the frame 10 . the front wall 2 comprises two groups 3 of three mounting sites each in the form of breakthroughs 3a , 3b , and 3c . the two groups 3 are disposed symmetrically in mirror image with respect to a line s . the breakthroughs 3a and 3c are preferably circular and have a diameter of 30 to 36 mm , preferably 33 mm . the centers of breakthroughs 3b and 3c are disposed on a straight line a which is parallel to a lower edge 13 . it is clear especially in fig1 that in each group 3 the breakthrough 3a is disposed above the two breakthroughs 3b and 3c . however , the distance between the two breakthroughs 3a is different from the distance between the two breakthroughs 3c and also different from the distance between the two breakthroughs 3b . furthermore , the distance between the two breakthroughs 3a is different from the average of the distances between breakthroughs 3c or 3b , respectively . the corresponding distances are denoted in fig2 with x , y , and z . the distance between line a and line b through the centers of breakthroughs 3a is designated by w . for the greatest possible applicability of the attachment plate 1 these distances as well as the diameter of the breakthroughs 3a to 3c are essential and are given in the following table . deviations from the above distances are possible but lead , as a rule , to an opening which is less than the optimum . deviations of the diameter of the breakthroughs 3a to 3c as well as deviations from the circular shape of these breakthroughs are also conceivable . conceivable is also an implementation in which the front face 2 comprises more than 6 breakthroughs for lead - throughs . an attachment plate with a seventh mounting site on the line of symmetry s would also be suitable for an additional central mounting of a fixture . the front face 2 is preferably rectangular and has a length l of 248 mm and a height h of 120 mm . the depth of the side walls 5 and 6 is designated by t in fig2 and is preferably 32 mm . for an especially optimal implementation of the fixture plate 1 these dimensions are also essential but it is understood that slight deviations are possible . the dimension t corresponds preferable to the profile width . in fig2 to 5 are shown some typical examples of the applications of attachment plate 1 according to the invention . in the arrangement according to fig2 an isolating valve 15 is mounted on the attachment plate 1 . the breakthrough 3c used for the mounting is covered by a rosette 16 . clearly a second isolating valve 15 or another fitting may be mounted on the attachment plate 1 . fig3 shows an attachment plate 1 on which is mounted a safety group 17 . the latter has two conduits 18 and 19 which go through the two breakthroughs 3a and are mounted on them . also in this case the breakthroughs are covered by rosettes 16 . fig4 shows an attachment plate 1 on which are mounted washstand fittings with a siphon trap 22 and a valve 20 . in the case of this attachment plate a breakthrough 3a is used as well as a breakthrough 3b . through the breakthrough 3b a screw neck 21 of the siphon trap 22 is guided from the rear . fig5 shows an attachment plate 1 on which is mounted a so - called mixed - water fixture 23 . the latter comprises an actuation lever 33 as well as a spout 34 . lines 24 and 28 for warm or cold water , respectively ., lead through breakthroughs 3b . here also is provided in each instance a covering with a rosette 16 . if the distance between the two lines 24 and 28 is shorter , breakthroughs 3c or 3a are used correspondingly . however , the use of a breakthrough 3b and a breakthrough 3c is also possible . the mounting battery 23 on the plate 1 is shown in fig6 . pipe 24 comprises an outer flange 31 which rests on the rear side of the front wall 2 . on the opposite side of the front wall 2 is applied a counternut 32 which is screwed onto the outer threads 55 . between the flange 31 and the counternut 32 is placed in the breakthrough 3a a packing ring 30 made of a sound - absorbing material , for example rubber . finally , a rosette 16 mentioned hereinabove is placed onto the line 24 . the dimensions of the ring 30 depend on the outer diameter of line 24 . in the case of a small outer diameter , a ring 30 with a smaller inner diameter is selected accordingly . lateral displacement of line 24 is prevented in every case . consequently lines 24 with different outer diameter may readily be mounted on the attachment plate 1 . lugs 53 on the rear side of the front wall 2 which engage corresponding recesses 54 of the flange 31 facilitate the aligning of the fixture during the mounting operation . a suitable arrangement of these lugs 53 is shown in fig1 . in fig2 these lugs 53 are not shown for reasons of clarity . fig7 shows an attachment plate la in which each mounting site comprises eight bores 35 which are disposed in a circle 37 . as shown schematically in fig9 this plate serves for mounting fixtures 39 which comprise an outer flange 42 . the latter may be mounted by means of tapping screws 41 which are screwed into bores 35 . the lines 40 leading to the fixture 39 in this case do not pass through the attachment plate 1a and the corresponding breakthroughs may here be omitted . in addition to the bores 35 , breakthroughs 3a to 3c are provided in the implementation according to fig8 . in this case the mounting shown in fig1 of a line piece 43 provided with a flange 45 is possible . the fitting is here screwed onto external threads 44 of the line piece 43 . here are self - tapping screws 41 screwed into corresponding bores 35 of the attachment plate 1b . accordingly , a mounting site comprises in attachment plate 1b in each instance a breakthrough as well as several bores 35 disposed around it . finally is shown in fig1 an attachment plate which also comprises two groups each with three mounting sites . however , here two mounting sites or breakthroughs 3a and 3b are disposed on a straight line k extending obliquely and a third mounting site 3c is offset with respect to the former . the above stated distances x , y , and z , however , are also maintained in this implementation . in contrast with the other implementations described hereinabove , here a greater height h of the plate must be provided . the openings and latches , explained in connection with fig1 and 2 , for mounting the attachment plate on a supporting frame 10 are also provided in the case of the attachment plates 1a to 1c . however , they are not shown in the corresponding figures .

the attachment plate has a rectangular planar front wall with two groups each with three mounting sites . these groups are used for mounting sanitary fixtures such as for example isolating valves and the like . the two groups have in each instance two mounting sites disposed on a straight line . each group has moreover at least one third mounting site at a distance one from the other which is different from the distances of the remaining mounting sites . the mounting sites are disposed in such a manner on the attachment that all commonly used sanitary fixtures and the like can be mounted .

fig1 shows an epicyclic gear , more specifically a planetary gear having sun wheel shaft 10 , sun wheel 11 , planet wheels 12 ( only one shown ), inner toothed rings 13 and a planet wheel holder 14 . each planet wheel 12 rotates on a spindle 15 attached to the holder 14 by means of a set bolt 16 arranged centrally in the spindle . because of its central positioning the bolt 16 transmits no tangential force , but only axial , attachment force . the tangential force acting on the spindle 15 is taken up by guides 17 arranged in the holder 14 . guides 17 are recesses shaped to receive a correspondingly shaped boss extending from spindle 15 to lock spindle 15 in a fixed orientation relative to holder 14 . spindle 15 varies in cross section from its end near holder 14 to its outer end so that the shape of bearing surface 18 changes with distance from holder 14 . the section is not entirely circular right next to holder 14 as shown at section a in fig2 and gradually tapers outward to become circular as shown at section b in fig2 . the cross section axes shown at a and b are preferably tangential to the bolt circle of bolts 16 ; however , due to rotational forces and possible assymmetry in the gear train , these axes may deviate somewhat from their preferred orientation . the gradually changing cross section of spindle 15 provides compensation for the deformation which would occur if the cross section of spindle 15 were a right circular cylinder extending from unilateral holder 14 . deformation of a right circular cylindrical spindle would result in an unacceptable unbalance of the associated planet wheel and , as a result of the deformation , poor utilization of the bearing surface between the spindle and the planet wheel . for example , if spindle 15 were a right circular cylinder along its entire bearing surface , as indicated by the broken lines in section a , it would be bent by a tangential force f acting parallel to axes a and b on the spindle , so that bearing surface 18 between spindle 15 and the planet wheel 12 would deform approximately as shown by curve a , where the line d indicates the center line of the unloaded spindle . if , on the other hand , the shape of bearing surface 18 of spindle 15 is varied in accordance with the invention , preferably by a linear transition from section a to section b as shown by curve b , the deformation caused by tangential forces is compensated . when surface 18 has an unloaded contact surface having the shape of curve b , the surface will deform under loading to a curve which closely parallels line d and hence the axis of the gear train itself . alternatively , a curve according to c can be formed on bearing surface 18 by applying a tangential force f to prestress the work piece during machining of the bearing surface , for example , so that the bearing is better utilized . curve c would thus be inverse of curve a . the cross section of spindle 15 at section a preferably comprises two circular segments each having a radius of curvature equal to that of the circular cross section at section b . these segments intersect at two diametrically opposed points each spaced from line d a distance slightly less than the radius of the circular cross section at section b , the points also lying in a plane passing through the line d perpendicular to axes a and b . the bearing surface then tapers to the circular shape shown at section b . this taper changes the cross section of the spindle with distance from the holder so that under tangential loading , the side of the spindle supporting the planet wheel will deform and yet have a bearing surface which is essentially cylindrical parallel to the unloaded line d where the spindle bears on the surface . so , depending on the direction of rotation of holder 14 , planet wheel 12 rides on one or the other of the two circular segments at section a . thus , the planet wheels run parallel to line d , which minimizes binding or clamping among the various planet wheels , shaft pins , sun wheels and inner toothed gear ring . of course , other cross sections could be used at section a without departing from the scope of the invention , so long as the bearing surface between the spindle and the planet wheel deforms to be essentially circular and approximately parallel to the line d , as taught by this invention . in fig2 the difference 2δr between the dimensions d 1 and d 2 of the spindle in the two sections a and b has been greatly exaggerated in order to illustrate the principle of the invention . a realistic value for δr is about 1 / 10 mm when d 2 is 200 - 500 mm . as shown in fig1 the spindle is further provided with an internal recess 19 having a decreasing diameter towards the part of the spindle which is secured to the holder 14 , since the bending stress and thus the deformation will be greater in this part of the spindle . the recess 19 has the effect of decreasing the mass of the spindle with distance from the holder 14 .

an epicyclic gear train comprises support spindles for the planet or star wheels cantilevered from a single support flange . the cross sections of the spindles vary with distance from the support plate so that under tangential loading the bearing surfaces of the spindles will assume a position essentially parallel to the axis of the gear train .

the novel features believed characteristic of this invention are set forth in the appended claims . the invention itself , however , may be best understood and its objects and advantages best appreciated by reference to the detailed description below in connection with the accompanying drawings . referring now to fig4 and 6 , there are shown three alternate perspective views of the contra - rotating wind turbine systems 10 , 30 and 40 incorporating the features of this invention for efficient use of wind farms to produce more power . although the present invention will be described with reference to three embodiments shown in the drawings , it should be understood that the present invention could be embodied in many alternate forms or embodiments . in addition , any suitable size , shape or type of elements or materials could be used . in fig4 the wind turbine apparatus 10 is seen to include two rotor assemblies 11 , 12 two alternators 13 , an upright mast 18 supporting the turbine assembly base 19 including front and rare rotor gear boxes 16 . the leeward ( downwind ) rotor blades 12 are generally longer than the upwind rotor blades 11 and its hub is placed farther downstream from the vertical axis so that the system can self align to the wind as the wind changes its direction . the self - aligning feature results from larger leeward rotor drag and longer lever arm from its plane of rotation . consequently , a light duty servomotor is sufficient to position the system aligned to the wind . two disc brakes 15 are provided on the low speed rotor shafts 23 , 24 to shut down the system for servicing or in high - speed wind conditions . the arrow 20 denotes the wind direction , while arrows , 21 and 22 denote the rotational direction of the front and rear rotors respectively . certain communities that are far removed from accessible grid power source , a self - sustaining wind farm could be established by the use of small jet engines ( not shown ) mounted at the tip of the blades of rotors 11 and 12 to drive the generator during low wind or no wind conditions . detailed discussion of this innovation is disclosed in a forth - coming us patent issued to appa ( ref . 6 ). in fig5 is seen an alternate arrangement using a single generator 13 driven by two contra - rotating rotors 11 , 12 . the slowly spinning windward rotor 11 is coupled to the gear boxes 16 , generally of a planetary type . the high - speed end of said gearbox is coupled to the windward end of the generator shaft . the leeward end of the generator shaft is coupled to the high - speed end of a specially designed gear box 17 , while the low speed end of said gearbox is coupled to said leeward rotor . once again , the subassemblies comprising rotors , generator , gear boxes and servo control units are arranged in such a way that the mass center lies slightly towards the downwind direction to render the self aligning feature of the contra - rotating wind turbine system and is guaranteed to be statically and dynamically stable . once again said jet assisted hybrid configuration can also be implemented with this system . [ 0081 ] fig6 shows still another alternative arrangement of the tandem rotors 11 , 12 that drive a specially designed low speed direct drive generator 41 . the slowly spinning windward rotor 11 is directly coupled to the windward end of the generator shaft 23 . while the leeward end of the generator shaft 24 is first coupled to an adapter 25 , which in turn is coupled to the leeward rotor 12 . once again , the subassemblies comprising rotors , generator , and servo control units are arranged in such a way that the mass center lies slightly towards the downwind direction so that the self aligning feature of the contra - rotating wind turbine system is guaranteed to be statically and dynamically stable . said jet assisted hybrid configuration can also be implemented with the direct drive generator system . let us now consider the theoretical aspects of the invention , which demonstrates the benefits of contra - rotating tandem rotors in improving wind farm energy production and revenue at reduced cost . the contra - rotating wind turbine system though looked into never went beyond paper work . the main reason could be that by extending the rotor diameter the same extra power could be produced without the need for a complex configuration . this may hold true for a single tower in an open field , but it is not the best way to maximize the efficiency of an energy - rich wind farm . for an energy rich wind farm , which is a rare commodity , its full utilization becomes a very demanding factor . energy production and revenue depends on wind farm power density ( i . e . megawatts per square kilometer or acre ). if large diameter rotors are used , there will be fewer rotors ( since 5 to 8 diameter spacing limits number of rotors ) per acre resulting in no extra power . hence , the tandem rotor arrangement helps to increase farm power density . consequently , more power and revenue can be produced from the same wind farm . a brief discussion is presented next . the present invention introduces a new terminology , “ farm power density or fpd as an acronym ,” which denotes a measure of wind energy utilization of a wind farm . fpd is defined as mega watts per kilometer square , ( mw / km 2 ). consider a wind farm measuring 1000 meters wide and 1000 meters long in the wind stream direction . let , md and nd be the wind turbine spacing in lateral and longitudinal directions respectively , where d is the diameter of the rotor in meters . then , the number of turbines that can be installed in a kilometer square farm is , p = n *( π d 2 / 4 )* p =( π * 10 6 )/( 4 mn )* p watts per km 2 . p =( π / 4 mn )* p mega watt / km 2 ( mw / km 2 ) ( 2 ) where , p is the rotor power density in watts / m 2 . the wind farm power density , as shown in equation ( 2 ) is not directly related to the rotor diameter , but its spacing ( m , n ) and the rotor power density , p . the turbine spacing ( m , n ) is primarily a fixed quantity based on the aerodynamic characteristics of the rotors . thus , it is seen that the wind farm power density is directly proportional to the rotor power density ; p . if a novel approach is used to increase the rotor power density , then it is possible to enhance the wind farm power production and its revenue . such a novel approach is discussed next . in a recent study funded by the california energy commission under grant no . 51809a / 00 - 09 , a contra rotating wind turbine model was built ( fig1 ) and the concept feasibility was demonstrated by field - tests . fig2 summarizes the field test data in terms of power curves derived from two rotors . a theoretical analysis using the elementary blade theory as well as the wind stream power data are also shown for comparison with the field test results . the field test data are seen to agree well with the blade theory prediction up to wind speeds less than 16 mph . at higher speeds the blades might have stalled and hence the departure . fig3 shows the power coefficient ( a measure of power conversion efficiency ) distribution for each rotor and the net power coefficient . the rear rotor power coefficient is seen to be in excess of 40 % of first rotor power . especially at low rotor speeds , the net power coefficient is seen to be around 72 %, which is 13 % higher than betz &# 39 ; s prediction of a single rotor case ( ref . 1 ), and 8 % higher than jest &# 39 ; s two - rotor momentum theory ( ref . 2 ). in general , the leeward rotor is seen to produce more than 40 % of power at slow rotor speeds . this fact suggests that the velocity compounding by contra - rotation is seen to be more beneficial to utility scale mega watt wind turbines that turn slowly at 16 to 20 rpm . in that case , we may expect even better than 40 % power enhancement . thus , the contra - rotating tandem rotor wind turbine system has demonstrated that the rotor power density is 30 to 40 per cent more than that of a single rotor system . since from equation 2 the wind farm power density is directly proportional to rotor power density , the wind farm power production and revenue could be increased by 30 to 40 per cent with the tandem rotor arrangement . thus , the power density of the contra - rotating wind turbine is given by , with this amount of energy produced in a wind farm , the retrofit cost could then be recovered in 3 to 5 years . another interesting observation of these field tests was that the well - known buffeting phenomena did not occur . one possible reason could be that the leeward rotor running in opposite direction might have swept away the vortices . thus , the anticipated blade vibration may have been avoided . from the foregoing , consider some of the advantages of the proposed wind turbine system over the known single rotor system : 1 . these innovations disclosed here are expected to increase the wind farm energy production by 30 to 40 per cent more than similar single rotor units , 2 . dual tandem rotor assembly is expected to reduce stress levels on the supporting structure due to torque load balancing and counter weighting rotor loads , 3 . the dual rotor system posses naturally self aligning stability characteristics , 4 . jet assisted hybrid wind turbine system is self sustaining unit requiring no auxiliary power system , 5 . buffeting phenomenon is seen to be alleviated due to contra - rotation of the vortices . it should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention . various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention . accordingly , the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variances , which fall within the scope of the appended claims .

a method of enhancing wind farm power production using hybrid wind turbine apparatus includes a pair of counter rotating rotors in tandem . an upright mast supports bearings underlying and rotatably supporting a hub assembly . a first set of rotor is mounted on the windward end of the generator shaft , while the second rotor is mounted on the downwind side of the generator shaft . three alternate approaches are used to increase power production of a wind farm . one approach uses two turbines assembled in tandem . the second approach uses a conventional high - speed induction generator powered by tandemly mounted contra rotating rotors using suitably designed gearboxes . the third approach uses a specially designed low speed direct drive induction generator powered by tandemly mounted contra rotating rotors without the need of gearboxes . thus , contra rotating wind turbines can be used to generate more electrical energy and revenue from the same wind farms .

the variable geometry wingtip 5 morphs into a wide variety of shapes however , there are many other benefits and features not yet disclosed . an important aspect of the device is that it has two working airfoils 6 , 7 that double the effect of changing shapes . each wingtip 5 is independently controlled providing a pilot the ability to turn based on changing air speed at a wingtip and not bank angle . decreased bank angle results in decreased side slip . effective wing surface area decreases as bank angle increases . to initiate a turn using the device a pilot would extend one wingtip and retract the other . the two airfoils 6 , 7 work in harmony with each other in many other ways . in reference to the drawing diagrams , the lower airfoil 7 is mounted flat to an under surface 4 of the wing 1 and the upper airfoil 6 is in alignment with an upper surface 3 of the wing 1 at an outboard end . 2 this configuration creates a larger opening at a leading edge 12 and a narrower opening at a trailing edge . 13 this alignment creates a ram air effect between the two airfoils 6 , 7 causing inflation which results in increased stability of the structure . an example of ram air effect is seen in a wind sock used to determine wind direction at most airfields . still another aspect of the two airfoils 6 , 7 is that the leading edges 12 have a thin profile with minimal surface area exposed to incoming airflow . drag is reduced with a thin leading edge . another source of drag is induced drag which is the objective of most wingtip devices . induced drag is caused by vortices that form from the high pressure area under 4 the wing 1 circling around a wingtip to the low pressure area at the upper surface . 3 placing obstacles in the path of that airflow help to diminish vortices . in the variable geometry wingtip , an entirely different phenomena is occurring due to the two airfoils . 6 , 7 the airstream that flows in a void between the two airfoils 6 , 7 is not subject to the low to high pressure airflow . the airstream flows relatively undisturbed in this region . the high pressure flows along the curved surface of the lower airfoil 7 until an intersection 10 with upper airfoil 6 forms a projecting wingtip . 11 the projecting wingtip 11 utilizes the rising airflow to create additional lift while minimizing vortices . one very important feature of the wingtip 5 is the simple and lightweight construction . only one moving part is necessary to morph the wingtip 5 into all the shapes used for different flying conditions . that moving part is the upper airfoil 6 itself . the structure is extremely durable and not easily damaged . the wingtip will tend to deform on impact and then return to the original intended shape . as previously mentioned , the two airfoils 6 , 7 work in compression and tension against each other to change shape . in the extended state , the upper airfoil 6 is in compression and the lower airfoil 7 is in tension . in the retracted state , the upper airfoil 6 is in tension and the lower airfoil 7 is in compression . the structure become rigid as the forces are increased at the far extended and far retracted states . the structure becomes flexible when equilibrium is reached between these two states . the shape created in fig1 is a high speed , retracted spiroid like shape . the projecting wingtip or ventral fin 11 interrupts the rising airflow from the lower airfoil 7 providing extra lift . the structure is rigid and does not deform when subjected to high wing loading because the lower airfoil 7 provides sufficient tension for the retracted and compressed upper airfoil . 6 the upper airfoil 6 assumes a blended winglet shape . the lower airfoil 7 curves below the aircraft wing 1 forcing the high pressure airflow downward . another important aspect of the high speed shape is that the horizontal airfoil surfaces decrease and the vertical stabilizing airfoil areas increase . stabilizing vertical airfoil surfaces at the wingtips are the subject of many aeronautical publications . partially extending the upper airfoil 6 with the portion 9 from the outboard end 2 of the wing 1 provides a wingtip shape suited for normal flying conditions as shown in fig2 and 3 . the shape assumed in fig2 is during normal wing loading . the shape assumed during low wing loading is illustrated in fig3 . the structure has become semi - flexible because the forces between the two airfoils 6 , 7 has decreased . the horizontal airfoil surface has increased and the vertical airfoil surface has decreased . the lower airfoil 7 still has a downward component and the upper airfoil 6 is further extended with the ventral fin 11 intercepting upward airflow . in turbulent air conditions , the structure will further deform similar to fig1 which allows excessive forces to pass thereafter to return to the original shape . extending the upper airfoil 6 further utilizing the portion 9 from the outboard end 2 of the aircraft wing 1 as seen in fig4 and 6 will equalize the forces between the two airfoils . 6 , 7 the flying condition best suited for this shape is soaring and gliding because the maximum amount of horizontal wing surface area is exposed to rising air . the ventral fin 11 has morphed into a horizontal wing surface . during turbulent or high speed conditions , the wingtip 5 will deform into a blended winglet shape as seen in fig4 . during normal flying conditions , the wingtip 5 is extended which gives a pilot an indication of rising air as seen in fig5 . pilots in gliders often find rising air only under one wingtip and then circle around to make a full penetration into the rising air mass . in strong thermal conditions , gliders are often thrown into unintended wing - overs from rigid wingtip surfaces reacting to violent updrafts . low wing loading in this configuration will cause the wingtip to assume a shape as seen in fig6 . further extending the upper airfoil 6 will provide a wingtip shape best suited for landing or takeoff as illustrated in fig7 and 8 . the downward pointing wingtip 11 and airfoil surfaces 6 , 7 create a pressure wave between the ground and the under surface of the wing . 4 the wingtip 5 has once again morphed providing the ventral fin . 11 the wingtip stall speed has decreased resulting in a stable slow flying speed with the addition of an extended glide . the vertical airfoil surfaces have increased which also adds stability at the lower airspeeds . the upper airfoil 6 is in a compressive state and the lower airfoil 7 is in a tensile state which is the complete opposite from the high speed configuration . the structure is semi - flexible because the fully extended airfoil 6 has the maximum possible wing surface exposed . turbulence is often encountered during landing close to the ground . a semi - flexible structure deforms in turbulence as shown in fig7 . as air speed decreases the shape will resume a full downward pointing wingtip shape as seen in fig8 . unlike other ground effect winglets , the variable geometry wingtip has two working airfoils both of which point towards the ground . the result is that the increased vertical surfaces further increase stability , provide an even slower stall speed and double the ground effect . the subject matter disclosed in this description relates to a wingtip capable of morphing into multiple shapes . the subject matter however does not discuss different airfoil shapes and sizes . it is obvious to one skilled in the art that other shapes and sizes can be implemented using the structure . for example , the wingtip structure is capable of enlarging to encompass an entire wing or be made smaller for specific purposes . another variation of the invention would be to allow the lower airfoil to extend and retract and the upper airfoil to be mounted . furthermore the structure of the variable geometry wingtip is applicable to a multitude of aerodynamic uses including : propellers , rotors and wind generated electricity . any application where a morphing aerodynamic structure is implementable , the variable geometry wingtip can be used .

a variable geometry wingtip is comprised of two deformable yet relatively stiff airfoils that work in compression and tension against each other to change shape . there is only one moving part in the assembly with no internal mechanisms to facilitate morphing . the wingtip consists of a lower airfoil and an upper airfoil . the base of the lower airfoil is mounted horizontally to an under surface of an outboard end of a wing . the upper airfoil has a portion which is allowed to retract and extend from an upper surface of the outboard end of the wing . a single projecting wingtip is formed at an intersection of the lower and upper airfoils .

although the following text sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments , it should be understood that the legal scope of the description is defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent . the detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment since describing every possible embodiment would be impractical , if not impossible . numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented , using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent , which would still fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention . it should also be understood that , unless a term is expressly defined in this patent using the sentence “ as used herein , the term ‘ ______ ’ is hereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence , there is no intent to limit the meaning of that term , either expressly or by implication , beyond its plain or ordinary meaning , and such term should not be interpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in any section of this patent ( other than the language of the claims ). to the extent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent is referred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning , that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader , and it is not intended that such claim term by limited , by implication or otherwise , to that single meaning . finally , unless a claim element is defined by reciting the word “ means ” and a function without the recital of any structure , it is not intended that the scope of any claim element be interpreted based on the application of 35 u . s . c . § 112 , sixth paragraph . fig1 illustrates a network 10 that may be used to implement an xml versioning system described herein . the network 10 may be the internet , a virtual private network ( vpn ), or any other network that allows one or more computers , communication devices , databases , etc ., to be communicatively connected to each other . the network 10 may be connected to a personal computer 12 and a computer terminal 14 via an ethernet 16 and a router 18 , and a landline 20 . on the other hand , the network 10 may wirelessly connected to a laptop computer 22 and a personal data assistant 24 via a wireless communication station 26 and a wireless link 28 . similarly , a server 30 may be connected to the network 10 using a communication link 32 and a mainframe 34 may be connected to the network 10 using another communication link 36 . as it will be described below in further detail , one or more components of the dynamic software provisioning system may be stored and operated on any of the various devices connected to the network 10 . fig2 illustrates a computing device in the form of a computer 110 that may be connected to the network 10 and used to implement one or more components of the dynamic software provisioning system . components of the computer 110 may include , but are not limited to a processing unit 120 , a system memory 130 , and a system bus 121 that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing unit 120 . the system bus 121 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller , a peripheral bus , and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures . by way of example , and not limitation , such architectures include industry standard architecture ( isa ) bus , micro channel architecture ( mca ) bus , enhanced isa ( eisa ) bus , video electronics standards association ( vesa ) local bus , and peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) bus also known as mezzanine bus . computer 110 typically includes a variety of computer readable media . computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 110 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media , removable and non - removable media . by way of example , and not limitation , computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media . computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile , removable and non - removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions , data structures , program modules or other data . computer storage media includes , but is not limited to , ram , rom , eeprom , flash memory or other memory technology , cd - rom , digital versatile disks ( dvd ) or other optical disk storage , magnetic cassettes , magnetic tape , magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices , or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by computer 110 . communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions , data structures , program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media . the term “ modulated data signal ” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal . by way of example , and not limitation , communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct - wired connection , and wireless media such as acoustic , radio frequency , infrared and other wireless media . combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media . the system memory 130 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory ( rom ) 131 and random access memory ( ram ) 132 . a basic input / output system 133 ( bios ), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 110 , such as during start - up , is typically stored in rom 131 . ram 132 typically contains data and / or program modules that are immediately accessible to and / or presently being operated on by processing unit 120 . by way of example , and not limitation , fig1 illustrates operating system 134 , application programs 135 , other program modules 136 , and program data 137 . the computer 110 may also include other removable / non - removable , volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media . by way of example only , fig1 illustrates a hard disk drive 140 that reads from or writes to non - removable , nonvolatile magnetic media , a magnetic disk drive 151 that reads from or writes to a removable , nonvolatile magnetic disk 152 , and an optical disk drive 155 that reads from or writes to a removable , nonvolatile optical disk 156 such as a cd rom or other optical media . other removable / non - removable , volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include , but are not limited to , magnetic tape cassettes , flash memory cards , digital versatile disks , digital video tape , solid state ram , solid state rom , and the like . the hard disk drive 141 is typically connected to the system bus 121 through a non - removable memory interface such as interface 140 , and magnetic disk drive 151 and optical disk drive 155 are typically connected to the system bus 121 by a removable memory interface , such as interface 150 . the drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in fig1 , provide storage of computer readable instructions , data structures , program modules and other data for the computer 10 in fig1 , for example , hard disk drive 141 is illustrated as storing operating system 144 , application programs 145 , other program modules 146 , and program data 147 . note that these components can either be the same as or different from operating system 134 , application programs 135 , other program modules 136 , and program data 137 . operating system 144 , application programs 145 , other program modules 146 , and program data 147 are given different numbers here to illustrate that , at a minimum , they are different copies . a user may enter commands and information into the computer 20 through input devices such as a keyboard 162 and pointing device 161 , commonly referred to as a mouse , trackball or touch pad . other input devices ( not shown ) may include a microphone , joystick , game pad , satellite dish , scanner , or the like . these and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 120 through a user input interface 160 that is coupled to the system bus , but may be connected by other interface and bus structures , such as a parallel port , game port or a universal serial bus ( usb ). a monitor 191 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 121 via an interface , such as a video interface 190 . in addition to the monitor , computers may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers 197 and printer 196 , which may be connected through an output peripheral interface 190 . the computer 110 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers , such as a remote computer 180 . the remote computer 180 may be a personal computer , a server , a router , a network pc , a peer device or other common network node , and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 110 , although only a memory storage device 181 has been illustrated in fig1 . the logical connections depicted in fig1 include a local area network ( lan ) 171 and a wide area network ( wan ) 173 , but may also include other networks . such networking environments are commonplace in offices , enterprise - wide computer networks , intranets and the internet . when used in a lan networking environment , the computer 110 is connected to the lan 171 through a network interface or adapter 170 . when used in a wan networking environment , the computer 110 typically includes a modem 172 or other means for establishing communications over the wan 173 , such as the internet . the modem 172 , which may be internal or external , may be connected to the system bus 121 via the user input interface 160 , or other appropriate mechanism . in a networked environment , program modules depicted relative to the computer 110 , or portions thereof , may be stored in the remote memory storage device . by way of example , and not limitation , fig1 illustrates remote application programs 185 as residing on memory device 181 . it will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used . fig3 illustrates a block diagram of a form pooling system 200 that allows a client 202 to interact with a plurality of forms . the client 202 may be user of an application using one of the plurality of forms or it may be an application that may be calling the one of the plurality of forms . the form pooling system 200 includes a form pool manager 204 , a form pool 206 and a form storage 208 . each of the various components of the form pooling system 200 may be stored in one of the one of the various computer storage media of the computer 110 or on any of the various devices on the network 10 . the form pool manager 204 may interact with the client 202 to receive various requests for one or more of the plurality of forms , where such forms may be stored in the form pool 206 or in the form storage 208 . the form pool manager 204 may include an open form module 212 and a close form module 214 . the open form module 212 and the close form module 214 may be implemented as software , as hardware , as firmware or as a combination of any of these . the open form module 212 may receive a request from the client 202 for a form and may interact with form pool 206 and the form storage 208 to determine the status of the requested form and to open the requested form depending on the status of the requested form . the functioning of an exemplary implementation of the open form module 212 is described in further detail by a program as disclosed in fig4 . the close form module 214 may receive a request from the client 202 to close a form that may be currently used by the client . in response to the request from the client 202 , the close form module may close the form and store it in the form storage module 208 . alternatively , the close form module 214 may determine that the a currently used form needs to be kept open , in which case it may store that particular form in the form pool 206 . the functioning of an exemplary implementation of the close form module 214 is described in further detail by a program as disclosed in fig5 . the form pool 206 may be implemented in a memory module of the computer 110 , preferably in a memory module that is easily accessible . for example , the form pool 206 may be implemented in the random access memory 132 of the computer so that any of the various forms in the form pool are accessible to the form pool manager 204 and to the client 202 at a very high speed . in an implementation of the form pool 206 , the form pool 206 may be implemented as cache in the random access memory 132 . the form pool 206 may include various forms used by one or more clients interacting with the form pool manager 204 . for example , if the form pool manager 204 is currently interacting with only one client 202 , the form pool 206 may include various forms used by that particular client 202 only . however , in an alternate implementation , the form pool manager 204 may be interacting with a plurality of clients or client applications , in which case the form pool 206 may include forms related to one or more of such plurality of clients . for the purpose of clarity , the form pool 206 is shown to store forms related to only one of the client applications . the form pool 206 is disclosed to include a main form 200 and various forms deriving from the main form , such as a reports form 222 , a browser form 224 , a single object form 226 , etc ., wherein the single object form 226 may have a customer form 228 and a vendor form 230 deriving from it . each of the various forms 220 - 230 may be implemented in form of objects such that each of these forms includes various data structure , processes , controls , etc ., related to these forms . the forms 220 - 230 may be related to an accounting application , a customer relation management application , etc . fig4 discloses a flowchart for an open form program 250 that maybe used by the open form module 212 to manage requests from the client 202 for one or more forms . at a block 252 the open form module 212 receives a request to open a form . for example , a user of an accounting application may generate such a request by selecting to create a purchase transaction , or by selecting to view a financial statement report , etc . in response to the request for a form , at a block 254 , the open form module 212 determines if the requested form in stored in the form pool 206 or not . a requested form may be stored in the form pool 206 for a number of reasons . for example , the requested form may be recently used by the client 202 and the open form module 212 may have determined not to close it at the end of such recent use by the client 202 . alternatively , the requested form may be related to a currently open form and based on a pre - determined criteria , the form pool manager may have already opened and stored the requested form in the form pool 254 . in yet another case , based on another criteria , the requested form may be designated to be open at all the time as long as the client 202 is active . such criteria may be determined by the open form module 212 , or a user of the form pool manager 204 may be allowed to set one or more rules to determine such a criteria determining one or more forms to be stored in the form pool 206 . for example , at a time of installing an application on the computer 110 , a user of the application may indicate which forms should be saved in the form pool 206 , how many forms should be saved on the form pool 206 at any given time , etc . if it is determined at the block 254 that the requested form is not in the form pool 206 , at a block 256 , the open form module 212 opens a new instance of the requested form from the form storage 208 . note that in this situation , when the requested form in not in the form pool 206 , the newly opened form from the form storage 208 may have various data and controls attached to the newly opened form , and such data and controls may be automatically updated during the opening of the form . on the other hand , if at the block 254 it is determined that the requested form is available in the form pool 206 , at a block 258 , the open form module 212 may return the requested form to the client 202 from the form pool 206 . depending on the length of time the requested form has been in the form pool 206 , the number of other activities related to various data attached to the requested form , and other updates related to the one by more applications related to the requested form , it may be necessary to update various data and control information attached to the requested form . for example , if the requested form is a trial balance statement of an accounting system and after that trial balance statement was saved in the form pool 206 , there has been any activity related to any of the various accounts listed on that trial balance statement , it may be necessary to provide updated data to the trial balance statement form , before it can be displayed to the client 202 . therefore , at a block 260 , the open form module 212 may provide various state data to the requested form . once the requested form receives various state data , it may update various fields to be displayed to the client and take one or more actions based on the rules attached to the requested form based on the updated state data . for example , if the requested form is a bank statement and there are one or more open transactions that may effect the balance on the bank statement , the bank statement form may generate and display a message to the client to confirm or post the open transaction or to give permission to show the bank statement without the effect of the open transactions . subsequently , at a block 262 , the form pool manager 204 may display the requested form to the client 202 . fig5 discloses a flowchart for a close form program 300 that may be used by the close form module 214 to manage various requests to close one or more forms related to an application used by the client 202 . the close form program 300 may either be invoked by the client 202 to close a form or alternatively the close form program 300 may also be used by the form pool manager 204 to determine if a form needs to be closed for being inactive for a specific period of time . as shown by the flowchart of the close form program 300 , at a block 302 , the close form module 214 continuously monitors various forms of one or more applications that may be used by the client 202 . a block 304 determines if the close form module 214 has received any request from a client , such as the client 202 or any other client application to close an open form . a client may provide such an instruction to close an open form by , for example , selecting a close form button on a graphical user interface displaying the open form , etc . if no such request to close an open form is received , the close form program 300 continues to monitor the form pool 206 and various forms related to the form pool 206 . if it is determined at the block 304 that a request to close an open form has been received or at the block 306 a form has been found that has been inactive for over a predetermined period of time , a block 308 determines if that particular form needs to be saved in the form pool 206 . the close form module 214 may determine which form being closed is to be saved in the form pool 206 based on a number of different criteria . for example , one of such criteria may be how often that form is used in a predetermined time period . another such criteria may use a ranking assigned to the form , where such a ranking may be assigned by a user at the time of installation of an application using that form , or based on some other predetermined criteria . yet another criteria may be the amount of data related to the form and approximate time it may take to update such attached data . a combination of one or more of the above criteria may also be used . if it is determined at the block 308 that a particular form does not need to be saved in the form pool 206 , at a block 310 , the close form module 214 may close the form . such a closed form may be saved in the form storage 208 and the various data related to the form may be unbound from the form and saved in memory as necessary . if it is determined at the block 310 that a particular form does need to be stored in the form pool 206 , at a block 312 , the close form module 214 hides that particular form from the view and unbinds various data attached to that particular form . in this case , even though the form that is being saved in the form pool 206 may have actually received a form close command from a user , the form pool manager 204 may cancel such a close command and simply hide the form and call a method to unbind the data from the form being saved in the form pool . when the form pool management system 200 is implemented , the forms used by such a system may be designed in a manner such that the forms are aware of pooling and the forms are designed to provide additional hooks to the form pool manager 204 . for example , in an implementation , the forms may be designed to perform additional operations on themselves , such as unbinding , etc ., every time the forms are placed in the form pool 206 . subsequently , at a block 314 the close form module 214 may close that particular form in the form pool 206 . because the form pool 206 may be generally implemented in the random access memory , or in other similar media , saving the form in the form pool 206 may involve less unbinding of data and controls and more significantly , when that particular form is requested by the client 202 , it needs less time to re - open that form from the form pool 206 . a block 316 may determine if the form pool 206 is full . note that while in this implementation , the evaluation as to whether the form pool is full or not is undertaken after saving the form in the form pool , in an alternate implementation , such an evaluation may be made before the form is saved in the form pool 206 . alternatively yet , in another implementation , the form pool 206 may be of an indefinite size , where once it is determined that a form is to be saved on the form pool 206 , it is always saved in the form pool 206 irrespective of the existing capacity of the form pool 206 . in such a case , no evaluation of the capacity of the form pool 206 may be made at the block 316 . if the block 316 determines that there is no space available in the form pool 206 , a block 318 may remove one or more forms , as necessary and based on a predetermined criteria , form the form pool 206 . for example , one of the rules used to determine which forms need to be removed may be a first - in - first - out rule , where a form that has been in the form pool 206 for the longest time may be the first to be removed from the form pool 206 as necessary . subsequently , the close form program 300 may resume monitoring the form pool 206 at the block 302 . an alternate implementation of the form pool 206 may be illustrated by a data structure that may contain various lists for each form types , wherein each of the lists contain forms of a specific type . such a form pool may be restricted to an upper bound for the sum of all form instances in that form pool 206 and when the form pool 206 is full and another form is added to the pool an oldest form is removed from the pool to make room for the newly added pool . although the forgoing text sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments of the invention , it should be understood that the scope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent . the detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment of the invention because describing every possible embodiment would be impractical , if not impossible . numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented , using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent , which would still fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention . thus , many modifications and variations may be made in the techniques and structures described and illustrated herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . accordingly , it should be understood that the methods and apparatus described herein are illustrative only and are not limiting upon the scope of the invention .

a form pooling system allows efficient management of various forms used by a computer application . the form pooling system provides a close form module and an open form module to manage closing and opening various forms related to the application . the form pooling system significantly reduces form load time for complex forms by not having to re - create a form each time a client requests a form . the form pool may contain various types of previously used modeless forms and manages an upper limit of the number of forms that may be pooled to limit memory overhead . a form used in the form pooling system may be designed in a manner such that the form performs an unbinding operation when it is placed in a form pool and it performs a rebinding operation every time that form is retrieved from the form pool .

to present a uniform memory model to all executing programs , modern operating systems abstract memory addresses used by the system &# 39 ; s virtual memory manager ( vmm ). ( the vmm is a process that is primarily responsible for managing the use of both main memory and virtual memory . to do so , the vmm keeps track of each page of data that is in memory and swaps pages to and from the storage device both on demand and routinely .) this memory abstraction creates a range of available memory addresses that is referred to as an address space . when memory is requested from the system , a free space of the requested size ( i . e ., the requested number of free pages ) must exist in the system memory . if a free space does not exist , the system may have to swap pages of data in and out of memory . this may impact the performance of the system . the present invention is used to reduce the likelihood that the system may run out of free pages . note that it is assumed that there is a standard heap allocator and an interface to the vmm to disclaim pages in the system . a heap is a process that is used for allocating and freeing objects dynamically for use by a program . an object is an opaque block of memory space . an opaque block of memory space may not be modified by the allocator . with reference now to the figures , fig1 a depicts a conceptual view of an exemplary slab of memory 100 . the slab 100 is made of 16 contiguous pages ( i . e ., 16 × 4 kbytes ). in this particular example , the slab is made of 1 . 5 kbytes objects and presently seven ( 7 ) of the objects contain data ( objects 110 - 140 ). the rest of the slab 100 is empty . the slab also has a header 105 . as will be explained later , the header 105 contains an object - free list as well as some other control structures . a collection of slabs is called a pile . fig2 depicts a conceptual view of an exemplary pile 200 of slabs ( slabs 250 , 260 and 270 ). each pile has a maximum number of pages that it can contain . note that all slabs in a pile are divided into same sized objects . a pile has to be initialized . initialization of the pile 200 consists of initializing a sorted linked list of slabs as well storing some tracking fields into header 205 . specifically , a pointer ( pointer 210 ) from header 205 of pile 200 points to header 255 of slab 250 ( i . e ., the first slab in the pile ). pointer 220 from header 255 of slab 250 points to header 265 of slab 260 . likewise , pointer 230 from header 265 of slab 260 points to header 275 of slab 270 . basically , a pointer from the header of an immediately preceding slab points to the header of an immediately succeeding slab in each pile . sizes of the slabs and of the objects desired are also entered in header 205 . the slabs are sorted into sub - groups depending on whether their allocated space is full ( i . e ., no free objects ) or partially full . before a slab can be used , it has to be initialized as well . to initialize a slab is to divide the slab into a plurality of same sized objects . thus in this example , each slab is divided into 1 . 5 kbytes objects . note , however , that a slab is not allocated until needed . for example , if more pieces of data of the type for which the slabs in the pile 200 are constructed is being brought into memory , they are stored in successive free objects in the first slab 250 . when the slab 250 is full and if more data of the same type is being brought into memory , slab 265 will be constructed and initialized . optimal slab sizes are dependent upon the data to be stored therein . in any case , when a slab is initialized , an object handle is added to each free object . the handle is used to help track free objects as well as to provide a pointer back to the slab when the object is no longer free . specifically , if a slab has a free object , a pointer from its header will point to the free object . for example , slab 260 has a free object 268 . thus , pointer 266 from header 265 points to object 268 . if there is another free object down in the slab , a pointer from handle 267 of the free object 268 will point to that empty object and so on . thus , a linked list of pointers is used to indicate all free objects in a slab . fig3 a is a conceptual view of an exemplary slab header 300 in accordance with the invention . the slab header 300 has a reference count 305 , a slab list 310 , an object free list 315 , a flag 325 and a page reference count array 320 . the reference count 305 contains the number of objects in the slab . the slab list is a linked list of other slabs in the pile and the free list 315 is a linked list of free objects . the flag 325 is used to indicate whether a slab is to be squeezed . the page reference count array 320 is used to keep tab of all allocated pages in the slab that have data therein . each location in the array 320 is associated with a page in the slab . returning to the slab in fig1 a where the first seven objects in the slab are filled with data , three pages are used ( pages 0 , 1 and 2 ). page zero ( 0 ) contains data from three objects , objects 110 , 115 and 120 . thus , in the location of the array that is associated with page zero ( 0 ), a reference count of three ( 3 ) is entered . page 1 , however , contains data from four objects ( objects 120 , 125 , 130 and 135 ). hence , a page count reference of four ( 4 ) is entered in its associated location in the array 320 . similarly , page 2 has data from two objects , objects 135 and 140 , therefore a reference count of two ( 2 ) is entered in its associated location in the array . the other locations of the array have a zero reference count since their associated pages are empty . the invention makes use of four function calls : ( 1 ) alloc ; ( 2 ) free ; ( 3 ) config_max ; and ( 4 ) config_callback . each one of these functions will now be explained . alloc is a function that is used to allocate an object off a slab . when alloc is called , the free list 315 of each slab is scrutinized in their sorted order . the first slab to contain a free object will be used . then , the first free object on the free list will be allocated , if the slab contains more than one empty object . the object will then be removed from the free list 315 ( see fig3 a and 3 b ) and the slab object reference count 305 will be updated ( i . e ., incremented ). if none of the slabs contain a free object , the heap allocator will allocate a new slab that will be added to the pile , certain conditions permitting . for example , the maximum page count of a pile may not be exceeded . thus , if by adding a new slab the page count of the pile will exceed its limit , the allocation will be denied . if a slab is added to the pile , the slab will be initialized before the object is stored therein . free is a function that is used to de - allocate objects . depending on whether an object to be de - allocated is in a slab targeted to be squeezed , the following may occur : ( 1 ) if the slab is not a targeted slab ( i . e ., flag 325 is not set ), the object will be de - allocated by simply adding the object back onto the free list 315 of the slab and decrementing the object reference count 305 . when the object reference count 305 reaches zero ( 0 ), the slab will be de - allocated using the heap allocator ; ( 2 ) if the slab from which the object is to be de - allocated is a slab marked to be squeezed , the object will not be put back on the free list since the slab is to be de - allocated . the reference count , however , will be decremented and when it reaches zero , the slab will be de - allocated . in addition , the page reference count 320 will be tracked . if , when removing the object there is a page that does not contain data anymore , the page will be disclaimed ( i . e ., any bindings to physical memory associated with the page will be removed ); thus reducing the memory usage of the slab . as an example , suppose the slab in fig1 a is marked to be squeezed ( i . e ., flag 325 is set ), all its free pages will be disclaimed . thus , only the first three pages that contain the seven allocated objects ( objects 110 - 140 ) will remain in the slab . now suppose the last two objects ( objects 135 and 140 ) become free , then the slab will be as shown in fig1 b . in fig1 b , the crossed out sections have been disclaimed and thus are not available anymore to be used . the object reference count in header 300 will be decremented to five ( see fig3 b ). the free list 315 will be zero and the flag 325 will be set . the page reference count array 320 will be as shown . particularly , the location associated with page zero ( 0 ) will have an entry of three ( 3 ) therein since page zero ( 0 ) continues to hold the data of three objects . the entry in the location associated with page one ( 1 ), however , will be updated down to three ( 3 ) since now it only holds data of three objects instead of four objects ( see fig1 a and 1 b ). likewise , the entry in the location associated with page two ( 2 ) will be decremented to zero ( 0 ) since when objects 135 and 140 are de - allocated , page two ( 2 ) no longer holds any data . according to the invention , since page two ( 2 ) no longer holds data , it may be disclaimed . config_max is used to reconfigure a maximum page count of a pile . that is , at any given time an executing application may invoke the config_max function to reconfigure the maximum number of pages that a pile may contain . note that the application may choose any time that it deems appropriate to call the config_max function . if the current number of pages in the pile exceeds the reconfigured number , then a squeeze operation must occur . when a squeeze operation is to occur , the invention first determines the number of objects in each slab . this can easily be done by consulting reference count 305 of each header of a slab . the first partially - filled slab will be chosen to be squeezed . the flag 325 in the header of the slab to be squeezed is set . to squeeze a slab , the invention iterates through the objects to determine which objects are actually allocated . while doing so , the page reference count array 320 is updated . any allocated page that does not hold data for any of the objects will be disclaimed and the slab will be moved to the “ full ” list of slabs , since no more data may be placed therein . further , if the application has supplied a callback function , the objects in the slab that are still allocated are iterated over and the callback function is called with a reference to the object for each allocated object . the callback function is free to do what it wants with the referenced object . ideally , the callback function can free the referenced object , or mark it to be freed later . config_callback is the command used by an application to provide a callback function . as mentioned above , a callback function is free to do what it wants with any referenced object . fig4 is a flowchart of a process that may be used to implement the free function of the present invention . the process starts when the function is called ( step 400 ). then the object to be freed is de - allocated and the object reference count in the header of the slab in which the object is being de - allocated is decremented ( steps 402 and 404 ). after decrementing the object reference count , a check is made to determine whether the object count is equal to zero ( 0 ). if so , the slab will be de - allocated and the process ends ( steps 406 , 408 and 410 ). if the object reference count is not equal to zero ( i . e ., the count is greater than zero ), then a check will be made to determine whether the slab is marked to be squeezed . if not , the object that has been freed is added to the free list of the slab header ( steps 406 , 412 , 414 and 410 ). if the slab has been marked to be squeezed , the page reference count array is updated . if there is not an empty page after de - allocating the object , the process then ends . if there is an empty page after the object is de - allocated , the empty page will be disclaimed before the process ends ( steps 412 , 416 , 418 , 420 and 410 ). fig5 is a flowchart of a process that may be used to implement the alloc function of the present invention . the process starts when the function is called ( step 500 ). then a check is made to determine whether there is a free object in one of the slabs in the pile . if so , the free object will be allocated and the object will be removed from the free list in the slab header . the object reference count will also be updated before the process ends ( steps 502 , 516 , 518 , 520 and 514 ). if there is not a free object in any of the slabs in the pile , a new slab will be constructed and initialized if the page reference count of the pile will not exceed the maximum allowable page count of the pile . after initializing the slab , the process will jump to step 516 ( steps 502 , 504 , 506 , 508 and 516 ). if the maximum allowable page count of the pile will be exceeded after constructing the new slab , the request will be denied by generating an error message before the process ends ( steps 504 , 512 and 514 ). fig6 is a flowchart of a process that may be used to implement the config_max function of the present invention . the process starts when the function is called ( step 600 ). the new maximum allowable page reference count will be entered into the header of the pile ( step 602 ). then a check is made to determine whether the current page reference count exceeds the new maximum allowable page reference count . if so , a slab will be chosen to be squeezed by setting the flag in the header of the slab and the page reference count array is then updated ( steps 604 , 606 , 608 and 610 ). then a check is made to determine whether there are any empty pages in the chosen slab . if so , the free pages will be disclaimed . then , a check will be made to determine whether a callback function has been supplied . if not , the process ends ( steps 612 , 614 616 and 618 ). if there has been a callback function supplied , the function will be executed before the process ends ( steps 616 , 620 and 618 ). if there are not any free pages , the process will jump to step 616 ( steps 612 and 616 ). likewise , if the current page reference count is not greater than the new maximum page reference count , the process ends ( steps 604 and 618 ). fig7 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system in which the present invention may be implemented . data processing system 700 employs a peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) local bus architecture . although the depicted example employs a pci bus , other bus architectures such as accelerated graphics port ( agp ) and industry standard architecture ( isa ) may be used . processor 702 and main memory 704 are connected to pci local bus 706 through pci bridge 708 . pci bridge 708 also may include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor 702 . additional connections to pci local bus 706 may be made through direct component interconnection or through add - in boards . in the depicted example , local area network ( lan ) adapter 710 , scsi host bus adapter 712 , and expansion bus interface 714 are connected to pci local bus 706 by direct component connection . in contrast , audio adapter 716 , graphics adapter 718 , and audio / video adapter 719 are connected to pci local bus 706 by add - in boards inserted into expansion slots . expansion bus interface 714 provides a connection for a keyboard and mouse adapter 720 , modem 722 , and additional memory 724 . small computer system interface ( scsi ) host bus adapter 712 provides a connection for hard disk drive 726 , tape drive 728 , and cd - rom drive 730 . typical pci local bus implementations will support three or four pci expansion slots or add - in connectors . an operating system runs on processor 702 and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system 700 in fig7 . the operating system may be a commercially available operating system , such as windows xp , which is available from microsoft corporation or aix , which is an ibm product . an object oriented programming system such as java may run in conjunction with the operating system and provide calls to the operating system from java programs or applications executing on data processing system 700 . “ java ” is a trademark of sun microsystems , inc . instructions for the operating system , the object - oriented operating system , and applications or programs as well as the invention are located on storage devices , such as hard disk drive 726 , and may be loaded into main memory 704 for execution by processor 702 . those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in fig7 may vary depending on the implementation . other internal hardware or peripheral devices , such as flash rom ( or equivalent nonvolatile memory ) or optical disk drives and the like , may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in fig7 . also , the processes of the present invention may be applied to a multiprocessor data processing system . the description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description , and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention , the practical application , and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated .

a system and method of squeezing slabs of memory empty are provided . a slab is a block of allocated memory space that is dedicated to holding one type of data . when it is determined that a slab of memory is to be squeezed empty , no object may be allocated from the slab . that is , new data is precluded from being placed in any unused space of the slab . further , data is also precluded from being placed in any space in the slab that becomes unused anytime thereafter . when the slab becomes empty , the slab is de - allocated .

land grid area array interposers have been described in which an interposer is designed and fabricated for electrically connecting an electrical device to a printed circuit board wherein the interposer has been specifically designed to provide adequate stand - off between an electrical device and a printed wiring board to provide space for active and / or passive devices mounted thereto . turning to the drawings for greater detail , fig1 shows a circuit board assembly comprising a printed wiring board 110 electrically connected to an area array device 112 , such as a printed circuit board or module . the printed wiring board 110 includes a plurality of vias 120 extending from the surface 124 into the board . conductive pads 122 are soldered , pasted or plated to the openings of each via 120 on the top surface 116 of the pwb 110 , and pads 126 are soldered , pasted or plated to the bottom surface 124 of the pwb 110 . an interposer sheet 130 is provided with holes 132 positionally corresponding to the vias 120 on the bottom surface 124 of the pwb 110 . each hole 132 is filled with wadded wire 134 . one end of the wadded wires in the interposer sheet 130 is placed in contact with the contact pads 126 on the bottom surface 124 of the pwb and is soldered thereto . the area array device 112 contains electrical contacts or interfaces 148 on the board surface facing the pwb 110 . the contacts are positioned to abut the other end of the wadded wire contacts 134 . the wadded wire contact is compressed to the plated through hole 120 to form an electrical contact from the pads 148 on the module 112 to the plated through hole 120 using a conventional clamping device of the type commonly employed in the art . for purposes of illustration , the clamping pressure in fig1 is shown by opposing arrows 100 and is capable of evenly distributing clamping pressure to the mating surfaces of the pwb 110 , the area array device 112 , and the two surfaces of the interposer sheet 130 . the clamping means 100 can , for example , comprise several c - clamps placed around the edges of the mating surfaces sandwiched between backing plates ( not shown ). instead , a plurality of bolts can extend through holes in the various layers of the sandwich and through backing plates , and can be secured by nuts to provide the clamping pressure . in accordance with one embodiment of the invention , the solder is then reflowed to form the electrical connection between the contact pad 126 and the wadded wire 134 in the interposer 112 . this then comprises the interposer sub - assembly 144 . however , the interface between the wadded wire and the contact pad 148 is not soldered and , thus , remains separable , relying only on the clamping pressure to maintain electrical contact . this mechanical connection then facilitates the disassembly of the wiring board 110 and the area array device 112 . referring now to fig2 an interposer sub - assembly 244 comprises an inner pwb 210 containing a plurality of vias 220 extending between the surfaces of the pwb to form plated through holes ( pth ) s ) 218 . these pths join conductive pads 222 on the upper surface 216 of the pwb 210 to corresponding conductive pads 226 on the bottom surface 224 of the pwb 210 . the upper pads 222 contact fuzz buttons 234 pressed into holes 242 in interposer 240 . the fuzz buttons , in turn , make electrical contact with contact pads 246 on the upper area array device 214 . the pads 226 on the lower surface 224 of the pwb 210 are electrically and mechanically coupled to a lower area array device 212 through fuzz buttons of wadded wire 234 compressed into holes 232 in the interposer sheet 230 . the electrical connections from wadded wire 234 to the conductive pad 226 and the wadded wire 234 to conductive pad 222 is augmented with solder , conductive paste , or other permanent connection to improve control reliability or improve handling by reducing the number of loose pieces . on the other hand , mechanically coupling the sub - assembly 244 to the area array devices without solder or paste facilitates disassembly for repair and replacement . another advantage of this system is increased design flexibility with minimum inventory . modifications can be made in the thickness of the printed circuit board 210 to allow the same interposers 230 , 240 to accommodate multiple standoff heights and / or component heights on devices 212 , 214 . it should be understood that the invention can also be practiced by replacing the fuzz buttons 234 with springs , such as c - springs made by intercon corporation , or by the use of electrically conductive polymers or solder balls or other means for effecting an electrical connection between the pwb and the devices that are spaced from the pwb . the present invention also relates to the use of a standard height connector to get a fixed minimum space between the printed wiring board and the area array device . a 3 mm gap is adequate for many standard devices used in the industry today . the pwb is a laminate structure that can be soldered to a daughter card using established processes . the contact pads have a dog - bone structure on both the top and the bottom surfaces of the board , and these pads are electrically joined to the plated through holes . the plated through holes can be as small as 0 . 010 ″ for an interposer thickness up to 0 . 110 ″. for greater thickness , larger pths are required . turning now to fig3 a pwb 310 is shown between a lower area array device 312 and an upper area array device 314 . the pwb 310 is shown as a laminated structure comprising conductive metal layers 328 embedded in a prepeg . the pwb contains a plurality of vias extending through the pwb to form plated through holes 318 joining the upper surface 316 of the pwb with its lower surface 324 . the pths 318 are joined to conductive pads 322 on the upper surface 316 and to corresponding conductive pads 326 on the bottom surface 324 . the pads 322 are offset from the vias 318 in a so - called dog bone configuration . this permits the use of enlarged pads to establish electrical contact between the two surfaces of the pwb and the corresponding surfaces of the modules . the upper pads 322 contact solder balls 360 which , in turn , make electrical contact with the upper area array device 314 . the solder balls are supported by use of an underfill material 370 in accordance with well established practices . the underfill serves to reduce the creep of the solder balls under compression load and improves the fatigue life of the solder balls due to thermal strains . the pads 326 on the bottom surface 324 of the pcb are electrically connected to the lower area array device 312 through fuzz buttons 334 compressed into holes 332 in the interposer 330 in the manner previously described . as can be seen from the drawing , with the use of the dog bone configuration for the pads , it is not necessary to have an exact alignment between the solder balls , the plated through holes and the fuzz buttons . it should be understood that solder balls , metal springs or other connectors can be substituted for the fuzz buttons in the interposer . to avoid the need to use an underfill material to control movement of the solder balls , a plastic comb structure as shown in fig4 and 5 may be used . this structure provides a physical limit between a pwb 410 such as a mother board and a mezzanine device 414 . this plastic comb structure comprises a pair of plastic caps 480 to prevent the collapse of the solder balls 460 between the device 414 and the printed wiring board 410 when the components are clamped together . each cap includes a lip 482 extending downward over the edge of the pwb . the lips serve to accurately position the interposer with respect to the pwb and to restrict relative movement between these two components . the caps include a plurality of semi - circular cutouts 484 corresponding to the outer row of solder balls 460 . the thickness of the caps is at least as great as the diameter of the solder balls . thus , when the assembly is clamped together , the balls are not flattened or damaged by the compressive forces . furthermore , the caps 480 allow the area array device 414 to be removed for purposes of rework or replacement . the pwb 410 contains several conductive layers 428 laminated therein , and a plurality of plated through holes 418 extending therethrough . these holes 418 connect with conductive pads 426 on the bottom surface 424 of the pwb 410 . an interposer sheet 430 contacts the bottom surface 424 and contains a plurality of holes 432 into which wadded wire fuzz buttons 434 are pressed . the dog - bone shape of the pads 422 , 426 permits the solder balls 460 and wadded wire 434 to make electrical contact through the conductive pths , even though the solder balls and the wadded wire are not located directly above or below the plated through holes . the caps 480 typically are added after the pwb 410 and the top module 414 are soldered together and cleaned . thus , even if the two members creep toward one another , there is a set limit , as determined by the thickness of the cap , that will keep them apart and will avoid an electrical short between the solder balls . fig6 shows an arrangement wherein the deformable solder balls are replaced by hard electrically conductive balls composed of , for example , copper cores plated with a surface layer of tin or a tin alloy . the sub - assembly 644 comprises a printed wiring board 610 , an array of hard electrically conductive solder balls 662 , and an upper device 614 as another printed wiring board or a module . the pwb 610 contains a plurality of plated through holes 618 connected to a plurality of conductive pads 622 arranged in a dog - bone pattern on the upper surface 616 and to another set of offset pads 626 on its bottom surface 624 . as previously noted , this dog - bone arrangement of the pads eliminates the necessity of placing the hard solder balls directly over the pths and the c - springs directly beneath the pths . the hard balls 662 complete the electrical contacts between the pads 622 and the module 614 . the hard balls 662 resist collapse when the sub - assembly 644 , the upper device 614 and the lower device 612 are clamped together . with this arrangement of hard solder balls , no underfill material or plastic caps are needed to keep the solder balls from being collapsed under pressure . the sub - assembly 644 is soldered and cleaned , and is then ready to be connected to a lower device 612 via the land grid array connector . for this , an interposer sheet 630 contains a pattern of holes 632 containing c - springs 664 . this construction allows a thick interposer sub - assembly to be constructed with internal ground and power planes to reduce the noise and inductance that are inherent in long electrical leads . as previously described , the c - springs can be replaced with other types of electrical connectors , such a wadded wire , without departing from the present invention . the electrical connectors through the interposer may be selected from a number of different types . among these are metal filled polymers . others are compressible wadded wires commonly referred to as fuzz buttons . metal springs , as previously described , may also be used . the interposer is generally planar and is made from plastic or similar material having good mechanical strength and dimensional stability . it usually is an insulator made from plastic material , such as a polyphenylsulfide resin known as ryton r - 4 sold by phillips 66 corporation , or a liquid crystal polymer , such as vectra e130i available from hoechst celanese corporation . the interposer serves to electrically and mechanically isolate the area array devices from the printed wiring board . turning now to fig7 another embodiment is shown wherein a thick interposer 730 includes a plurality of holes extending therethrough , filled with a conductive paste 790 , such as a cured silver filled elastomeric compound . each hole is filled with a carefully controlled excess of the compound which is then cured or hardened . upon hardening , the excess forms a contact button 792 on the top surface of the interposer and another contact button 794 on the bottom surface . the interposer is clamped between an upper area array device 714 and a lower area array device 712 to form a completed assembly . the various contact points on the two area array devices are not shown in the drawing . the interposer 730 and the contact buttons 792 , 794 serve to maintain a minimum space of about 3 mm , for example , between the two area array devices . the costs associated with the constructing and qualifying of specialized interposers is reduced by following the teachings of the present invention . further , variations in size and thickness from one interposer to the other are reduced . the invention utilizes the advantages of metal - to - metal contact throughout the system . it allows the use of solder joints in compression to improve their reliability . the specific details and operation of the sub - assembly described herein as well as the details of the various passive and active devices that are used here are known to persons of ordinary skill in the art . accordingly , these details do not comprise a part of the present invention , except to the extent that they and their operation have been modified to become part of the present invention . while the invention has been described in combination with embodiments thereof , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications , and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing teachings . accordingly , the invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .

the details of a printed wiring board sub - assembly and the method of producing the same are described . the sub - assembly comprises a printed circuit board electrically joined through a plurality of connections to one or more area array devices , such as modules or printed wiring boards . the sub - assembly can serve as a part of an original assembly . the sub - assembly can function as an after market item that can be readily substituted as a replacement for a failed component wherein the dimensional space between the printed circuit board and one or both of the area array devices must provide sufficient clearance for surface mounted devices .

the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to fig3 to 6 . the like elements are designated by like reference numerals throughout the drawings . fig3 ( b ) is a block diagram indicating a conducting material fabrication process of the present invention and fig4 is a diagram indicating the conditions of powder particles in each process . first , the copper oxide powder 2 of 1 to 20 % is mixed with the copper powder 1 in the grain size of about 1 μm . this condition is indicated in fig4 ( a ) as the copper powder particles 1a and copper oxide powder particles 2a . meanwhile , as shown in fig3 ( b ), a solvent 3 is obtained by dissolving an organic titanium compound 3b ( for example , isosulfonyltridecylbenzen titanate ) of 0 . 5 % in weight with mek 3a . solvent 3 is for the mixed powder of copper powder 1 and copper oxide powder 2 . next , these copper powder 1 and copper oxide powder 2 are mixed with the solvent 3 for about 30 minutes in the mixing process a . after mixing by the mixing process a , mek 3a included in the solvent 3 is vaporized and dried in the drying process b of fig3 ( b ). thereby , the surfaces of copper powder particles 1a and copper oxide powder particles 2a are coated with the organic titanium compound film 4 as shown in fig4 ( b ). thereafter , the mixed powder solidified by the drying process b is cracked ( the solidified mixed powder is broken - up ) and is classified through a filter of about 100 mesh in the classifying process c of fig3 ( b ). as a result , the grain size of copper powder particles 1a and copper oxide powder particles 2a is kept at the value less than the predetermined value . as described above , the mixed powder in the grain size less than the predetermined value is spheroidized in the spheroidizing process d of fig3 ( b ) by the collision method of high speed gases flow , for example , using the hybridization system ( nara machinery works , co .). the collision method of high speed gases flow is described in detail , for example , in the &# 34 ; fine particle design &# 34 ; p . 157 , by masazumi koishi , published by industrial survey inst . as a result , the conducting material 6 of mixed powder consisting of spheroidized powder particles coated with organic titanium compound film having the grain size less than the predetermined value can be formed , as shown in fig4 ( c ). the conducting material 6 fabricated by the processes of fig3 ( b ) is used to fill the though holes 12 of green sheet 11 as shown in fig4 ( d ) using a mask 14 of fig3 ( a ) like the prior art . however , in the present invention , since the particles 1a and 2a are spheroidized , the packing density of through hole is sufficiently large . further , in order to obtain better filling for all through holes of a green sheet 11 , a porous tetrafluoroethylen resin sheet 20 is interposed between the green sheet 11 and a suction table 19 , which places the green sheet 11 under a drawing suction as shown in fig3 ( a ). ( a suction pump is not depicted .) by interposing the porous tetrafluoroethylen resin sheet 20 , sucking force becomes uniform over all through holes of the green sheet 11 . as the result , loading the conducting material 6 into the all through holes can be performed uniformly . as described above , a multilayer ceramic substrate 18 , in which the vias 13 are formed by sintering the conducting material 6 filling the through holes 12 as shown in fig4 ( e ), may be fabricated by firing the green sheet 11 in which the through holes thereof are filled the conducting material 6 . the firing of the green sheet is generally carried out at the temperature of about 800 ° c . in this case , organic materials included in the conventional conducting material ( copper paste ) start to be decomposed at about 400 ° c . some of them are vaporized and the others remain . those remaining as carbon are vaporized at 600 ° to 800 ° c . however , when the copper oxide powder 2 is mixed into the conducting material as in the case of the present invention , decomposition of residual carbon is accelerated and is vaporized at 600 ° c . as oxides . therefore , carbon , which is vaporized by the firing at 800 ° c ., does not remain . the organic titanate compound film coating the copper powder particles 1a and copper oxide powder particles 2a changes to titanium oxide ( tio 2 ) in the firing process of the green sheet at 800 ° c . as a result , the conducting material 6 of the present invention is used for filling the through holes 12 of green sheet 11 and is sintered . in this case , the titanium oxide easily binds with alumina included in the green sheet 11 and thereby the vias 7 are adhered to the internal surface of through hole 12 . as explained above , in the present invention , the packing density of particles 1a and 2a in via 7 is large , pores are not generated at the interface between the interior of via 7 and the internal surface of through hole 12 and thereby electrical resistance of via can be minimized . in the embodiment explained above , the weight ratio of copper oxide powder 2 in the copper powder 1 is selected to be about 1 to 20 % and it has been proved by experiments of the inventor that such range of weight ratio is the best range of weight ratio . the vias have been fabricated in the mixed powder of five kinds , i . e ., in the amount of 1 %, 5 %, 10 %, 25 % and 50 % copper oxide powder 2 relative to copper powder 1 , and the respective metallic structures have also been compared using a scanning electron microscope ( sem ). fig5 ( a ) to 5 ( f ) show photographs by sem of a part of cylindrical surface of an exposed via in which the ceramic at the side surface of a multilayer ceramic substrate is selectively etched so that the via is exposed . the magnification factor of these photographs is set to 1000 . fig5 ( a ) is an example of a conventional via in which copper oxide powder is not added . a white pole shown vertically extending through the central area of fig5 ( a ) is the via . many pores , as indicated by the arrow marks , can be observed in this pole . fig5 ( b ) is a photograph by sem of a via in which copper oxide powder in the amount of 1 % is added to copper powder . the white pole shown vertically extending through the central area of fig5 ( b ) is the via . some black pores exist in the via but the number of such pores is very small . fig5 ( c ), fig5 ( d ) and fig5 ( e ) respectively show the photographs by sem taken in the case that the copper oxide powder in the amount of 5 %, 10 % and 25 % is added , respectively . the white pole respectively shown vertically extending through the central area of fig5 ( c ) to 5 ( e ) is also the via as in the case of fig5 ( a ) and fig5 ( b ). few black pores exist in the vias shown in fig5 ( c ), 5 ( d ) and 5 ( e ). fig5 ( f ) shows a photograph in which the copper oxide powder in the amount of 50 % is added . in this case , black pores do not exist in the via as in the case of fig5 ( c ), fig5 ( d ) and fig5 ( e ). however , in this case , a mixing rate of copper oxide to copper is large and therefore reduction of copper oxide does not proceed sufficiently and it remains as it is . accordingly , sintering of the mixed powder of copper powder and copper oxide powder is interfered with and the shape of the sintered copper becomes irregular , resulting in easy disconnection of copper . in fig5 ( f ), a part of a copper grain having an anomalously large grain size is shown . therefore , it is desirable that amount of copper oxide powder to be added is selected to 50 % or less . next , the effect of the spheroidizing process to on the mixed powder of copper powder 1 and copper oxide powder 2 in the present invention will be explained with reference to fig6 ( a ) to 6 ( d ). fig6 ( a ) is a schematic sectional diagram indicating the condition of the mixed powder used to fill the through hole 12 before the firing , wherein the mixed powder is fabricated by the conducting material fabrication process of the present invention shown in fig3 ( b ), but in which only the spheroidizing process is omitted therefrom . it is shown that some pores 13a exist in the mixed powder filling the through holes 12 and the area between the mixed powder and internal walls of through hole 12 . fig6 ( b ) is a schematic sectional diagram indicating the condition of the mixed powder used to fill the through hole 12 before the firing , wherein the mixed powder is fabricated by the conducting material fabrication process of the present invention shown in fig3 ( b ). as shown in fig6 ( b ), in case that the through hole 12 is filled with the conducting material fabricated by the present invention , the mixed powder is almost uniformly packed without generation of pores , unlike fig6 ( a ), because each particle of the mixed powder is spheroidized . fig6 ( c ) and fig6 ( d ) respectively show photographs , by sem having the section in parallel to the green sheet surface , of the vias respectively formed by firing those shown in fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ). copper is selectively etched so that the conditions of the via formed in the through hole becomes apparent . the magnification factor of respective photographs is set to 1000 . fig6 ( c ) is a photograph by sem of a via formed without the spheroidizing process , corresponding fig6 ( a ). the packing density in the circular through hole is bad and pores , as indicated by the arrow mark , are generated between the internal wall surface of the through hole and the via . fig6 ( d ) is a photograph by sem of a via corresponding to fig6 ( b ). in this case , packing density in the circular through hole is good and pores are not generated between the internal wall surface of the through hole and the via and in the via itself . for fabrication of the via shown in fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ), a material having the following compositional amounts is used : copper powder in the amount of 90 g , copper oxide powder in the amount of 10 g , organic titanium compound in the amount of 0 . 5 g and mek in the amount of 200 ml .

vias each having no pore are formed in a multilayer ceramic substrate by filling through holes of green sheets with conducting material obtained by : kneading mixed powder particles , adding copper oxide powder particles 50 % or less to copper powder particles , with a solution including methyl ethyl ketone and 0 . 5 % of isosulfonyltridecylbenzene titanate ; drying and cracking the kneaded mixed powder particles , producing cracked mixed powder particles ; classifying the cracked mixed powder particles with a 100 mesh filter , producing classified mixed powder particles ; spheroidizing the classified mixed powder particles with a collision method performed in gases flowing at high speed ; and firing the green sheets at a temperature of about 800 ° c .

referring now to fig1 and 2 there is seen a preferred embodiment of solar energy concentration apparatus constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . in accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment , the collection apparatus comprises first and second elongate solar absorber plates 10 and 12 disposed in generally spaced back to back relationship . solar absorber plates 10 and 12 typically comprise metal strips having a low emissivity coating , such as black paint and are arranged in communication with flowing fluid in a manner not illustrated herein for heat transfer thereto . the exact construction of the heat exchanger which is in thermal communication with the solar absorber plates 10 and 12 may be entirely conventional . disposed adjacent each solar absorber plate is an elongate volume 14 of a material having an index of refraction greater than that of air . according to a preferred embodiment of the invention , volume 14 contains carbon disulfide ( cs 2 ) having an index of refraction of approximately 1 . 65 . volume 14 may be defined by walls of a solar energy transmissive material such as glass or perspex , and has a triangular cross section . disposed adjacent volume 14 is a second elongate volume 16 of a cross section which together with the cross section of volume 14 defines a trapezoid . volume 16 typically comprises a material having an index of refraction less than that of the material contained in volume 14 . according to a preferred embodiment of the invention , volume 16 contains water having an index of refraction of 1 . 33 . volume 16 , similarly to volume 14 may be defined by walls of glass or any other suitable material . alternatively , solid materials may fill volumes 14 and 16 and thus no walls are required . materials such as plastics may be employed . arranged along the underside and bottom surfaces 18 and 20 of volume 16 are reflecting mirrors 22 and 24 having their reflecting surfaces facing towards volume 16 . it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the geometry of volumes 14 and 16 and the indices of refraction thereof are selected in order to maximize the efficiency of the solar energy collector apparatus at a desired output temperature for a desired location and solar radiation conditions . the criteria for such selection will be described and explained hereinafter . it is noted for example that a trapezoidal cross section is employed rather than a simple triangular cross section to provide an increased ratio of collector surface area to absorber surface area . the additional volume , defined by volume 14 , is filled with a material of higher index of refraction than that of volume 16 in order to direct the radiation incident upon volume 14 from the atmosphere and from volume 16 onto the absorber surface , and more particularly to provide total internal reflection for radiation travelling from volume 14 towards volume 16 at the interface between the volumes . it is appreciated that any desired number of volumes having differing indices of refraction may be employed in combination to define the radiation pathway from the atmosphere to the absorber surface . reflecting mirrors 22 and 24 may be separate from volume 16 or may be coatings formed thereon . alternatively reflecting mirrors 22 and 24 may be omitted . considering the geometry of the exemplary solar collector configuration of fig1 and 2 it is appreciated that the broadest surface is oriented such that the perpendicular thereto faces the median position of the sun during the day and the arc described by the sun during the day defines a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 30 of the collector . for the purposes of illustration and description , the surface facing the median location of the sun is identified by reference numeral 32 , its length is termed l and its overall width is 2b . the area of the facing surface is given by : the width of each of solar absorber plates 10 and 12 is termed b and their length is l so that the total area of the absorber surfaces is given by : the solar radiation intensity on the absorber surface is given by : where i is the global radiation including both direct radiation and diffused radiation ; η r is the optical efficiency of the collector , a factor which takes into account reflection losses due to the absence of total internal reflection , and θ is the angle between the position of the sun at any time and the plane parallel to the axis 30 and to the normal to the facing surface . it is desired to maximize the useful energy produced by the collector , which is given by : t liq is the temperature of the liquid adjacent the absorber surface ; it may be appreciated that by maximizing the ratio of b / b , the geometrical concentration ratio of the apparatus is maximized . it will now be shown that there exists a trade - off between the maximization of b / b and the maximization of the amount of radiation which is subject to total internal reflection within volumes 14 and 16 . the critical angle θ for total internal reflection between bodies of different indices of reflection is given by snell &# 39 ; s law : ## equ1 ## where the radiation is travelling from body b to body a and the index of refraction of b is greater than the index of refraction of a . thus in the case where body a is air , whose index of refraction is equal to unity , the greater the index of refraction of body b the larger the critical angle . if α is the acute angle between the facing and underside surfaces 32 and 18 , it may be appreciated that : where θ 2 is the maximum permissible azimuth angle for which total internal reflection will be achieved . thus in order to determine the values of α and θ 2 which provide a maximum q u for a given location , the values for solar radiation intensity for various azimuthal angles through the day for each given location must be considered . such values are known in the literature . thus for example it has been found that for a location in ohio u . s . a . an α of 30 ° provides a maximum amount of useful energy over an entire day . it is appreciated that each given location , having a different intensity pattern for solar radiation as a function of azimuthal angle of the sun &# 39 ; s position , has a different preferred angle α . reference is now made to fig3 and 5 which illustrate in cross - sectional illustration , alternative embodiments of the invention . fig3 shows a collector of circular cross section comprising an absorber surface 40 of circular cross section which is disposed within a volume 42 containing a material such as water which has desired characteristics of total internal reflection , as described hereinabove . the absorber surface 40 may be arranged in the center of the cross section of volume 42 or alternatively , off center , as illustrated . a mirror surface or coating 44 may be provided on a portion of the outer surface of volume 42 for providing desired reflection onto the absorber surface . alternatively this may be omitted . fig4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention in which volume 42 defines facing and back surfaces 46 and 48 of differing cross sectional radii . in this embodiment , a pair of planar absorber surfaces 50 and 52 are employed , and a heat absorbing fluid is circulated in association therewith . fig5 illustrates a further alternative embodiment of the invention in which a geometry substantially similar to that of fig1 and 2 is employed in an upside down orientation , such that the solar energy receiving surface is defined by a plurality of surfaces angled with respect to each other and the bottom surface , which may be provided with a reflective coating is flat . it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to any particular geometry or arrangement of absorber surfaces or number of volumes of differing index of refraction . the scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims which follow .

non - focusing solar energy concentration apparatus comprising one or more solar energy absorbing surfaces defining a first area and solar energy transmissive material disposed adjacent the absorbing surfaces and defining an incident surface having a second area greater than the first area , the incident surface being arranged to receive incident radiation from the sun , the solar energy transmissive material also defining a second surface for transmitting radiation to the at least one absorbing surface , the transmissive material having an index of refraction and a configuration selected to provide total internal reflection at the incident surface of radiation incident on the incident surface within a predetermined azimuthal range .

referring now to fig1 a typical exercise machine 10 is illustrated , which may be a recumbent bicycle - type exercise machine in which an individual 12 is located on a seat 14 on frame 16 which houses a braking device for pedals 18 that revolve around a shaft 20 . the pedals are coupled to a wheel 22 mounted for rotation in the housing , with wheel 22 being braked as illustrated in fig2 by a braking system 30 which includes an eddy current brake 32 including electromagnetically actuated coils 34 to either side of a flat aluminum disc 36 which is mounted for rotation about a shaft 37 . in the illustrated embodiment , a spin up 8 : 1 reduction system is illustrated in which there is an 8 to 1 difference in diameter between pulley 38 and wheel 22 . note the linkage between the two is via a belt drive 40 . in the embodiment shown , the aluminum disc has a diameter 42 of 14 inches , whereas each electromagnet is maintained at a distance of 12 inches from shaft 37 as illustrated by arrow 45 . the eddy current brake 32 is under control of a control unit 44 which is supplied with a . c . as illustrated at 46 . this control is settable from instrument cluster 48 in fig1 so as to provide a constant braking torque to disc 36 and thus pedals 18 for constant current . because the disc is made out of aluminum , as will be demonstrated in fig5 and 6 , the torque applied to disc 36 is flat over the operating speed range of the disc . what this means is that for a pedaling speed range of 40 to 100 rpm , the corresponding speed of the disc is between 320 and 800 rpm . as will be demonstrated for almost all constant current settings , there is very little change in torque versus speed . thus , unlike prior art systems in which there is either a linear or hyperbolic relationship between speed and torque , in the subject system it has been found that the torque is relatively flat over the operating speeds of interest due to the use of aluminum for the disc . this provides user 12 of fig1 with an exceptional amount of consistency of applied torque regardless of the pedaling speed . this in turn makes adjustment of the braking force for exercise much easier and more predictable than in prior art eddy current devices . moreover , measurement of the actual work done is more accurately predictable from the power consumed in the braking system so that critical medical measurements can be made for exercise devices utilizing the eddy current brake in combination with the rotating aluminum disc . brake away torque is virtually non - existent in aluminum disc systems and , because the aluminum disc is non - magnetic , there is no residual magnetism for which compensation is necessary . also it is a feature of the subject invention that any aluminum moving member may be utilized in the subject eddy current brake , regardless of shape . moreover , because the pole pieces of the opposed magnets which sandwich the aluminum disc are to either side of the disc , as opposed to being positioned at its periphery , and since thermal expansion occurs in the radial direction only , the spacing between the pole pieces and the disc surface is maintained relatively constant regardless of the amount of heating accompanying the exercise . one of the features of the subject system is illustrated in fig3 in which the electromagnets which sandwich disc 36 have a three pole e - shaped yoke configuration to magnify the eddy current effect by 3 times over a single pole piece yoke . in this embodiment three pole pieces 50 , 52 , and 54 , respectively north , south , and north , are opposed by opposite polarity pole pieces 56 , 58 , and 60 , with the e - shaped yoke oriented such that a line through the ends of the pole pieces is perpendicular to the radius of the disc for maximum braking torque . it will be noted that each of the electromagnets includes an energizing coil 62 and 64 respectively , each of which is energized through the supply of current from a controlled current supply 66 which has a . c . power 68 applied thereto and which is settable as illustrated . disc 36 is rotated about a shaft which is mechanically coupled as illustrated at 70 to an exercise device 72 . because of the triple pole configuration of the yoke for each electromagnet , for a given amount of current , the eddy current effect is magnified by 3 times over that associated with a single pole electromagnet . the purpose of utilizing the triple pole configuration is in part to reduce the amount of power necessary to provide the predetermined braking force . however , a more important reason for the utilization of the triple pole magnet is to permit the utilization of the aluminum disc and the advantages which flow therefrom . it can therefore be seen that the eddy current effect takes place over a larger portion of the aluminum disc than heretofor performed . the result in that the amount of torque is multiplied over the utilization of a single pole . as illustrated in fig4 one type of prior art eddy current system , that shown in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 442 , 131 issued to jay leyton of may 6 , 1969 , describes the extreme dependence of torque on speed . while in this patent it is said that it is preferable to operate the system at a linear portion of the curve , there is still an increase in torque of for an increase in pedal speed . thus , rather than providing a constant torque for all usable pedal speeds , the leyton device describes an increase in torque with pedal speed , albeit quasi - linear . in contradistinction to this prior art torque versus speed characteristic , in the subject system for a single reduction ratio of 8 ; 1 the response of the torque is relatively flat for increased current settings . one plausible reason for the flatness of the torque versus speed characteristic is the lower electrical conductivity of the aluminum itself . this same flat response is illustrated in fig6 for a double reduction system in which the total reduction is 21 . 8 : 1 , with a 10 inch diameter disc and magnets located on 8 inch diameters to either side of the disc . note that the speeds of the discs are as indicated and correspond to a normal pedaling range of between 40 and 100 rpm . while the subject invention has been described in connection with a rotary aluminum disc powered via bicycle type exercise apparatus , it will be appreciated that other types of exercise apparatus are within the scope of this invention , assuming that the exercise apparatus requires a constant torque braking system . having above indicated a preferred embodiment of the present invention , it will occur to those skilled in the art that modifications and alternatives can be practiced within the spirit of the invention . it is accordingly intended to define the scope of the invention only as indicated in the following claims :

an improved eddy current braking system for fly wheel braked exercise equipment includes the use of a flat aluminum disc and electromagnets to either side of the disc adjacent to the periphery thereof , with the electromagnets containing multiple pole pieces to multiply the torque so as to reduce heating and power consumption . the utilization of aluminum achieves a flat torque versus speed characteristic vis - a - vis copper discs over the normal operating speed range . additionally , the utilization of aluminum prevents the warpage associated with copper .

embodiments of the presently disclosed multi - lumen access port will now be described in detail with reference to the drawing figures wherein like reference numerals identify similar or identical elements . in the drawings and in the description which follows , the term “ proximal ”, as is traditional , will refer to the end of the multi - lumen access port which is closest to the operator while the term “ distal ” will refer to the end of the device which is farthest from the operator . referring initially to fig1 , the presently disclosed multi - lumen access port is shown generally as access port 100 . access port 100 includes a plurality of access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 . one or more of the access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 may contain a fluid - tight seal , each access tube 10 , 20 , 30 has an open proximal end 14 , 24 , 34 and an open distal end 16 , 26 , 36 . a passageway 12 , 22 , 32 is defined between open proximal ends 14 , 24 , 34 and open distal ends 16 , 26 , 36 . each access tube 10 , 20 , 30 is generally an elongate tubular structure that is adapted for receiving at least a portion of an endoscopic surgical instrument ( not shown ) therethrough . in one embodiment , the configuration of at least one passageway 12 , 22 , 33 allows passage of a surgical instrument having an outside diameter ranging between about 5 mm and about 12 mm through access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 . access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 may be configured , however , to receive surgical instruments having other suitable sizes . the present disclosure envisions access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 having a variety of sizes and shapes . access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 may have circular cross - sections , oval cross - sections , or any other suitable shape so long as they are capable of receiving a surgical instrument . in addition to their ability to receive a surgical instrument , access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 are able to move axially with respect to one another . access port 100 includes a mechanism 56 adapted to facilitate relative movement of access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 . mechanism 56 operably connects access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 at a pivot point p . consequently , a portion of each access tube 10 , 20 , 30 overlaps at pivot point p . the location of pivot pin p allows users to employ mechanism 56 to pivot access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 with respect to one another , in the depicted embodiment , mechanism 56 includes a pivot pin 58 or any other suitable fastening member adapted to interconnect access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 . pivot pin 58 facilitates pivotal movement of access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 about an axis . alternatively , pivot pin 58 operably couples only two access tubes 10 , 20 . in any case , the location of pivot pin 58 coincides with the location of pivot point p . accordingly , access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 rotate about pivot point p upon manipulation by a user during operation . fig2 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure . this embodiment is generally designated as access port 200 . access port 200 is substantially similar to access port 100 . the presently disclosed access port 200 includes a plurality of access tubes 210 , 220 , 230 . at least one access tube 210 , 220 , 230 may include a fluid - tight seal . each access tube 210 , 220 , 230 has an open proximal ends 214 , 224 , 234 and an open distal end 216 , 226 , 236 . open proximal ends 214 , 224 , 234 and open distal ends 216 , 226 , 236 each defines a passageway 212 , 222 , 232 therebetween . each passageway 212 , 222 , 232 has a cross - section adapted to receive an endoscopic surgical instrument . in one embodiment , the cross - section of at least one passageway 212 , 222 , 232 is capable of receiving therethrough a surgical instrument having an outside diameter ranging between about 5 mm and about 12 mm . during use , a surgeon may introduce a surgical instrument through open proximal end 214 , 224 , 234 until it reaches a location beyond open distal ends 216 , 226 , 236 . the open distal ends 216 , 226 , 236 of access port 200 form a juncture 256 , as illustrated in fig2 . juncture 256 operatively connects open distal ends 216 , 226 , 236 with one another . during operation , juncture 256 facilitates relative movement of access tubes 210 , 220 , 230 upon manipulation by a user . therefore , juncture 264 is sufficiently strong to maintain open distal ends 216 , 226 , 236 joined , but sufficiently flexible to allow relative movement of access tubes 210 , 220 , 230 . as seen in fig1 and 2 , the embodiments of the present disclosure include a support body 50 . support body 50 supports access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 . in use , support access 50 serves as a standalone component for providing access to a working space in the patient &# 39 ; s body . alternatively , a user may use support body 50 in conjunction with other access devices ( i . e . access ports ). in any case , support body 50 has a flexible outer wall 54 . the resiliency of flexible outer wall 54 permits temporarily deformation of support body 50 during its installation . after installation , support body 50 along with its flexible outer wall 54 reverts to its original configuration and provides a fluid - tight seal in conjunction with the patient &# 39 ; s skin ( i . e . standalone mode ) or the access device . in either mode , support body 50 conforms to the skin at an opening in the patient &# 39 ; s body or the interior wall of the access device , thereby providing a fluid - tight seal for inhibiting leakage of insufflation fluids from the working space or the introduction of external contaminants into the working space . the structural relationships between support body 50 and access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 is substantially similar to the structural relationship between support body 50 and access tubes 210 , 220 , 230 . therefore , the mechanical cooperation and operation of support body 50 and access tubes 210 , 220 , 230 will not be described herein in detail , referring to fig3 and 4 , an embodiment of support body 50 has a circular cross - section , the present disclosure nevertheless envisions support bodies with other configurations . in the depicted embodiment , support body 50 includes a plurality of bores 52 . bores 52 are laterally and longitudinally spaced apart from one another . each bore 52 is adapted to receive an access tube 10 , 20 , 30 and extends through support body 50 . the cross - section of each bore 55 is larger than the cross - section of access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 , as seen in fig3 and 4 . this configuration provides access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 certain freedom of movement within bores 52 . in an alternative embodiment , support body 50 includes at least one slit 60 extending along at least a portion of the length of support body 50 , as illustrated in fig5 . slit 60 enhances the flexibility of support body 50 . the presence of slit 60 allows user to move access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 beyond the boundaries of bores 52 . in use , a surgeon may employ access port 100 or 200 to create and maintain access into a working space inside a patient &# 39 ; s body during a surgical procedure . in particular , physicians may employ either access port 100 , 200 during a laparoscopy or a hals procedure . initially , the surgeon may first incise a body wall with scalpel or any other suitable instrument . alternatively , the surgeon may penetrate the body wall with a sharp tip , once the body wall has an opening , the surgeon may place support body 50 in the desired site . the physician may employ support body 50 by itself or in conjunction with other access device . before placing access port 100 inside a patient &# 39 ; s body , the surgeon may deform support body 50 . thereafter , the surgeon places access port 100 inside the patient &# 39 ; s body . immediately after its installation , support body 50 reverts to its original configuration and creates a fluid - tight seal in conjunction with the patient &# 39 ; s skin ( in the standalone mode ) or an access device . after the establishing the fluid - tight seal , the surgeon inserts one or more surgical instruments though access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 . in particular , the surgeon may initially insert an insufflation device through any access tube 10 , 20 , 30 . before activating the insufflation device , the user may move access tubes 10 , 20 , 20 to direct the delivery of insufflation gas . once in position , the insufflation device delivers gas to a body cavity upon activation by the surgeon . this gas expands the body cavity and prepares the surgical site , subsequently , the physician may insert a laparoscope or any other suitable viewing apparatus through another access tube 10 , 20 , 30 . the laparoscope facilitates visual observation of the surgical site . again , the operator may move access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 to observe several areas of the body cavity . after visually inspection the body cavity , the physician may insert a surgical instrument through any of the open proximal ends 14 , 24 , 34 . the surgeon should advance the surgical instrument through the corresponding passageway 12 , 22 , 32 until it reaches a location beyond corresponding open distal end 16 , 26 , 36 . the surgeon may then move access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 to reach the desired surgical site . access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 may move upon manual manipulation by the operator . the operator , however , may use any suitable means to move access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 . during operation , access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 of access port 100 move relative to one another about pivot point “ p .” the boundaries of bores 52 may slightly restrict the movement of access tubes 10 , 20 , 30 , as shown in fig4 . nonetheless , access tubes disposed in a support body 50 having a slit 60 may easily move beyond the boundaries of bores 52 . the method of using access port 100 is substantially similar to the method of using access port 200 . during the operation of access port 200 , however , a surgeon may move access tubes 210 , 220 , 230 with respect to one another , but their distal open ends 216 , 226 , 236 are fixed in relation to each other . it will be understood that various modifications may be made to the embodiments of the presently disclosed surgical stapling instruments . therefore , the above description should not be construed as limiting , but merely as exemplifications of embodiments , those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure .

an access device includes a body , a first tube , a second tube , and a mechanism . the first and second tubes extend through the body . the mechanism operably couples the first and second tubes such that at least one tube is pivotable about an axis with respect to the other tube . the body may form a substantially fluid - tight seal at the incision . in another embodiment , the access device further includes a third tube extending through the body and the mechanism operably couples the tubes together such that at least two tubes are pivotable about the axis with respect to the remaining tube .

the invention will now be explained with reference to specific embodiments . fig1 shows the overall arrangement of an ignition timing control system for internal combustion engines in accordance with this invention . a six - cylinder vehicle internal combustion engine 10 has an air intake passage 12 provided at its distal end with an air cleaner 14 . air drawn in through the air cleaner 14 has its flow rate controlled by a throttle valve 16 and passes through a manifold 18 to combustion chambers 20 ( only one shown ). a pipe 24 branches off from the air intake passage 12 at an appropriate position downstream of the throttle valve 16 . the pipe 24 is provided near its far end with an intake air pressure sensor 26 which detects the engine load by measuring the absolute value of the intake air pressure . a coolant temperature sensor 30 is provided in the vicinity of a coolant passage 28 of the internal combustion engine 10 for detecting the temperature of the engine coolant and an intake air temperature sensor 32 is provided in the air intake passage 12 at an appropriate position downstream of the throttle valve 16 for detecting the temperature of the air drawn into the engine . the internal combustion engine 10 has a distributor 36 which includes a crank angle sensor 40 comprised of a magnet which rotates in synchronism with a crankshaft ( not shown ) rotated by the reciprocal motion of pistons 38 ( only one shown ) and a stationary member disposed opposite the magnet . the crank angle sensor 40 outputs a pulse signal once every predetermined angle of crankshaft rotation at an appropriate location on the block 42 of the internal combustion engine 10 is provided a piezoelectric knock sensor 44 for detecting vibration produced by combustion knock arising within the combustion chambers 20 . the outputs of the intake air pressure sensor 26 and the other sensors 30 , 32 , 40 and 44 are forwarded to a control unit 50 . the arrangement of the control unit 50 is illustrated in fig2 . the outputs from the intake air pressure sensor 26 , the coolant temperature sensor 30 and the intake air temperature sensor 32 are input to a level converter 52 in the control unit 50 for adjustment to a prescribed level and are then forwarded to a microcomputer 54 the microcomputer 54 comprises an a / d converter 54a , i / 0 circuits 54b , 54f , a cpu ( central processing unit ) 54c , a rom ( read - only memory ) 54d , a ram ( random access memory ) 54e , and counters for computation and timers ( the two last mentioned members not being shown ). the signals output by the level converter 52 are converted to digital values by the a / d converter 54a in accordance with commands from the cpu 54c and are then temporarily stored in the ram 54e . the digital outputs of the crank angle sensor 40 etc . are shaped in a wave shaping circuit 56 and then input to the microcomputer 54 through an i / 0 circuit 54b . after being sent to the control unit 50 , the output from the knock sensor 44 is input to a knock detection circuit 60 . the knock detection circuit 60 comprises a filter 60a , a comparator 60b and a d / a converter 60c . the occurrence of combustion knock is detected in the comparator 60b by comparing a reference value received from the microcomputer 54 through the d / a converter 60c with the sensor output value received through the filter 60a . the microcomputer 54 calculates the engine speed from the output of the crank angle sensor 40 and determines the engine load from the output of the pressure sensor 26 . these operations are conducted in the conventional manner . from other operating conditions and the presence / absence of knock , it also determines the ignition timing based on control characteristics established in association with the octane number of the fuel being used ( each set of such characteristics being referred to as a &# 34 ; zone &# 34 ; hereinafter ). the manner in which this determination is made will be explained later . the microcomputer 54 then issues an ignition command via the i / 0 circuit 54f and an output circuit 68 to an ignition device 70 , thereby causing a spark plug 72 of a prescribed cylinder selected by the distributor 36 to fire and ignite the air - fuel mixture in the associated combustion chamber 20 . the operation of the control system will now be explained with reference to the flowcharts , beginning with fig3 . it should be noted that the present invention is not characterized by the ignition timing control itself but , as explained in the foregoing , by the forcible switchover between sets of control characteristics ( referred to hereinafter as &# 34 ; zone reset &# 34 ;). the following explanation will therefore focus on this point . the program according to the flowchart of fig3 is executed by the microcomputer 54 on an interrupt basis at a predetermined crank angle . referring to fig3 the procedure begins at step s10 in which the engine coolant temperature tw is compared with a prescribed value twrs . this prescribed value is of a magnitude appropriate for enabling judgment as to whether engine warmup has been completed and may be set at 60 ° c ., for example . if the engine is still at a low start - up temperature , the result of the judgment in step s10 is negative and the procedure moves to step s12 in which the bit of a flag f - twrs is set to 1 and then to step s14 where the zone is determined . the zones will be explained with reference to fig4 . in the present embodiment , three zones are established and designated as zone 0 , zone 1 and zone 2 in correspondence to the octane numbers of three types of fuel . zone 0 defines the ignition timing control characteristics for use with a fuel of an octane number of around 100 , zone 1 those for use with a fuel of an octane number of around 95 , and zone 2 those for use with a fuel of an octane number of around 92 . as shown in the figure , the higher the zone number , the more retarded is the ignition timing . the reference symbols avlmt0 , avlmt1 and avlmt2 appearing at the left in the figure indicate the upper limit values of ignition timing advance in the respective zones . in zone 2 , for example , the ignition timing is basically not allowed to advance beyond avlmt2 . these upper ignition advance limit values are set as a function of the engine speed and the engine load and thus vary with these parameters . the upper ignition advance limit value avlmt0 is identical with the basic ignition timing . each of the zones is further assigned a retard side discrimination value rdlmt0 , 1 , 2 , shown at the opposite in the figure , which is used for zone selection in the manner to be explained later . the retard side discrimination values other than rdlmt2 are set as a function of only the engine speed , and thus vary . the retard side discrimination value rdlmt2 is fixed . the ignition timing knock adjustment value is controlled within one of these zones to fall between the upper ignition advance limit value avlmtn and the retard side discrimination value rdlmtn ( where n is the number of the zone concerned ). returning to fig3 in step s14 , which marks the start of the zone determination process , since no zone has yet been decided in the first program cycle after engine startup , the judgments in steps s14 and s16 are negative , and the procedure thus moves to step s18 in which it is determined whether or not the knock adjustment value θknock ( initially zero ) is further in the retard direction than the retard side discrimination value rdlmt0 . ( in the flowcharts of fig3 and higher numbered figures , retard direction values are defined as positive .) in the first program cycle following engine startup , the judgment in step s18 is negative and the procedure advances to step s20 , where zone 0 is selected . the calculation of the knock adjustment value will now be explained with reference to fig5 - 9 . the flowchart of fig5 shows an example of how the knock adjustment value is calculated in the retard direction upon the occurrence of knock . the procedure begins with the judgment of the presence / absence of knock in step s100 . when knock is found to be present , the procedure moves to step s102 in which it is determined whether or not a counter value naftnk ( explained below ) remains . as in the first program cycle this value is in its initial zero state , the result of the determination is negative so that the procedure moves to step s104 in which the value naftnk is retrieved from the diagram shown in fig6 and is set on the counter . the value indicates the number of firings during which retard adjustment is consecutively carried out . as will be noted in this diagram , this number increases stepwise in proportion as a knock recurrence counter value cknock increases . the counter will be explained later with reference to fig1 . the procedure then advances to step s106 in which it is judged whether or not the consecutive retarded firing number naftnk is zero . if not , the procedure advances to step s108 in which this number is decremented by 1 , to step s110 in which a unit retard amount dknock is added to the knock adjustment value θknock to adjust it in the retard direction , to step s112 in which it is judged whether or not the adjusted retard target value exceeds the value of the aforesaid maximum retard discrimination value of zone 2 , and if it does , to step s114 in which the knock adjustment value is replaced by the maximum retard discrimination value . this replacement is conducted for preventing the exhaust temperature from rising excessively . as is clear from fig5 when the consecutive retarded firing number naftnk is set at 2 or a higher value , even if knock is found to be absent at the beginning of the following cycle , ignition retard is continued . ( steps s100 , s106 , s108 and s110 ) fig7 - 9 relate to the case where the knock adjustment value is adjusted in the advance direction . when explaining the procedure according to the flowchart of fig7 it starts with step s200 in which it is determined whether or not a counter value nknock exceeds a prescribed firing number avcntn . the counter value nknock counts the number of firings in which no knock occurs consecutively and the value avcntn means the number of firings during which advance should be deferred . when it is found in step s200 that no knock occurred during the prescribed number of firings , the procedure advances to s202 in which a unit advance amount dadv is determined . fig8 is the flowchart of a subroutine for this purpose , in step s202a of which a unit advance amount is retrieved from the map shown in fig9 . as will be noted from this map , the unit advance amount is set as a function of the engine speed ne and the manifold pressure pb ( engine load ). as will be explained later , zone reset is considered once the knock adjustment value has been adjusted in the advance direction to the point that it reaches the upper advance limit value . since the upper advance limit value is a function of the engine speed and the engine load and is thus variable , the unit advance amount is likewise made a function of these parameters . the procedure next goes to step s204 in which the knock adjustment value is reduced by the amount of the retrieved unit advance amount to adjust it in the advance direction , and to step s206 in which the consecutive knockfree firing number counter is reset to zero . in the starting from step s208 , a check is conducted in the zone concerned to determine whether or not the adjusted knock adjustment value exceeds the upper advance limit value . specifically , if it is determined in step s208 that the current zone is zone 2 , for example , the procedure passes through steps s210 and s212 , in which it is determined that the bits of flags f - zrok21 and f - zrs21 ( explained later ) are 0 , to step s214 in which the knock adjustment value is compared with the upper advance limit value for zone 2 and if it is found to exceed this limit value in the advance direction , it is limited to the upper advance limit value in step s216 . when the bit of either of the flags is found to be 1 in steps s210 and s212 , the procedure goes to step s218 in which the knock adjustment value is compared with a reference value rdrll ( explained later ) and if it is found to be less than this reference value , the knock adjustment value reduced every time the procedure passes through step s204 . this will be again referred at a later stage . if it is found to exceed this reference value in the advance direction , it is limited to the reference value in step s220 . again note here that retard direction values are defined as positive . a similar check is conducted in steps s224 - s234 if the current zone is zone 1 , and in steps s236 - s238 if it is zone 0 . the so - determined knock adjustment value is added to the basic ignition timing and the final ignition timing is determined by further addition of other adjustment values such as that for the temperature of the engine coolant . however , as these operations are known to the art and have no bearing on the gist of the present invention , they will not be discussed further here . returning to fig3 insofar as it is determined in step s18 that the knock adjustment value does not exceed the retard discrimination value of zone 0 , the zone is judged to be zone 0 and the ignition timing is determined accordingly . however , during engine warmup the engine produces a high level of mechanical noise owing to the fact that the pistons hit the cylinder walls more strongly when the engine is cold and the gap between the pistons and the cylinder walls is large and also to the fact that the viscosity of the lubricating oil is high in a cold engine . there is therefore a possibility that this louder noise during warmup may lead to the erroneous detection of knock when none has actually occurred . if this should happen , the knock adjustment value will be adjusted in the retard direction to the extent of exceeding the retard discrimination value of zone 0 in step s18 , whereafter the zone will be judged to be zone 1 in step s22 . thus even though the engine is using a fuel with an octane number of 100 which is appropriate for engine operation using zone 0 characteristics , the system could judge the zone to be zone 1 , which is further to the retard side than zone 0 . once zone 1 has been selected , the ignition timing will , as explained earlier , be limited by the upper advance value of zone 1 , leading to an unnecessary loss of engine output . for overcoming this problem , the present embodiment of the invention facilitates zone reset at the point where engine warmup has been completed . specifically , when the engine has warmed up and it is found in step s10 that the coolant temperature exceeds 60 ° c ., the procedure advances to step s26 in which it is determined whether or not the bit of flag f - twrs is zero . since this flag was set to 1 in step s12 , the result of the determination is negative and the procedure advances to step s28 in which the bit of flag f - twrs is reset to 0 and the bit of flag f - twzrs is set to 1 , to step 30 in which the values of timers tzrs21 and tzrs10 are replaced with prescribed values tzrs21w and tzrs10w , and to step 32 in which the bits of flags f - zrs10 , f - zrs21 , f - zrok10 and f - zrok21 are reset to 0 . ( flag f - zrok10 is also rest to 0 after zone 1 is selected in step s22 .) these flags and timers will be explained later . zone reset judgment is cooperatively conducted by the procedures indicated by the flowcharts of fig1 and fig1 . fig1 shows the procedures for issuing permission to carry out zone reset judgment ( turn - on of the bits of flags f - twzrs , f - zrs21 and f - zrs10 ) and fig1 the procedures for , upon receipt of this permission , permitting zone reset ( turn - on of the bits of flags f - zrok21 and f - zrok10 ). it should be noted , however , actual zone reset carried out under prescribed conditions in the flowchart of fig3 after receiving the zone reset permission . the procedure according to fig1 starts with step s300 in which it is confirmed whether or not the bit of flag f - twzrs is on ( this flag indicating that zone reconsideration has become permissible owing to the fact that the engine has passed from the initial low - temperature operating state to the warmed up state , namely that the coolant temperature has risen to over 60 ° c .). when the result of this confirmation is affirmative , the procedure advances to step s302 in which the current zone is determined . as explained earlier , presuming that zone 1 has been misselected , the result of the determination in step s302 will be negative , the result of the determination in step 304 will be affirmative , whereafter the procedure will advance to step s306 in which determination is made as to whether or not the ignition timing has returned to the upper advance limit value of zone 1 . if the result of the determination is negative , the procedures goes to step s308 in which a timer tzr ( explained later ) is reset ( started ), concluding the current program cycle . what this means is that permission to conduct zone reset judgment is not issued until the ignition timing has returned to the upper advance limit value . when it is found after a number of program cycles that the ignition timing has returned to the upper limit value , the procedure advances to step s310 in which it is determined whether or not the bit of the flag f - zrs10 is on . since the bit of this flag was turned off earlier in step s32 of the flowchart of fig3 the determination here is negative and the procedure move to step s312 in which it is similarly confirmed that the bit of the reset permission flag is off , to step s314 in which it is confirmed that the reset judgment permission flag is on owing to completion of engine warmup , to step s316 in which the value of the timer tzr is compared with the prescribed value tzrs10 and execution of the program is suspended until the prescribed time period has passed . in other words , this timer measures time lapsed from the time at which the ignition timing has returned to the zone upper limit . the prescribed value tzrs10 is set at , say , 5 seconds . the value with which tzrs10w is replaced in step s30 of the flowchart of fig3 as mentioned earlier is of a shorter length on the order of 2 seconds . in other words , since , as was explained at the start , hunting could apt to occur if zone reset is carried out simply , for example , as soon as the upper ignition advance limit value avlmtn is reached , the present invention is constituted so as to implement zone reset only after various conditions have been satisfied . the fact that zone resetting is not conducted in this invention even after the required conditions have been met , until after it has been confirmed that the operating condition has normalized and that no knock occurs during the aforesaid prescribed time , is a further aspect of the high level of caution the invention uses regarding zone reset . however , since the aim of the zone reconsideration at the time of warmup completion is to provide relief in the case of zone misselection resulting for spurious knock detection , the prescribed time period for this determination is made short . after the program has gone through a number of cycles and it is found that in step s316 that two seconds have passed , the procedure advances to step s318 in which the bit of flag f - zrs10 is turned on ( indicating zone reset judgment permission is established ), and then to step s308 in which the timer value is reset and the program is terminated . the numeral 10 appended to this flag symbol is for indicating determination permission relating to a reset between zone 1 and zone 0 . upon issuance of the zone reset judgment permission , procedure for issuance of zone reset permission is carried out in accordance with the flowchart of fig1 . specifically , this procedure begins with step s400 in which it is determined whether or not the knock recurrence counter value cknock is less than a prescribed value kn . at this time the determination of knock recurrence is conducted based on the number of firings in which knock occurs out of a prescribed number of firings . for example , it is determined whether or not there were two firings in which knock occurred among a total of 120 firings . when it is found in step s400 that the number of knock occurrence recurrences is less than the prescribed number , the procedure moves to step s402 in which it is determined whether or not the reset judgment permission has been established with respect to resetting from zone 2 to zone 1 . since at this point the permission has been established with respect to resetting from zone 1 to zone 0 , the result of the determination in step s402 is negative and the determination in the following step s404 is affirmative . thus after it is confirmed in step s406 that the knock adjustment value has advanced to the reference value rdrl0 , the procedure advances to step s408 in which the bit of flag f - zrok10 is set to 1 ( indicating zone reset permission is established ) and then to step s410 in which the same bit is turned off since the zone reset determination permission flag is no longer needed . this will be explained with reference to fig1 which , by way of example , relates to the case of reset from zone 1 to zone 0 . in this embodiment , zone reset is conducted when the following conditions have been established : 1 ) adjustment value θknock has advanced to the upper ignition advance limit value avlmtl of the zone ( step s306 in fig1 ). ( point 1 ) 2 ) a prescribed time period tzrs10 ( or tzrs10w ) has passed after 1 ). ( step s316 in fig1 .) ( point 2 ) 3 ) at this point the zone reset judgment permission ( fzrs10 = 1 ) is issued at step s318 and the ignition timing is advanced in increments of unit advance amount dadv , if no knock occurs as was shown with reference to steps s204 , s226 , s232 in fig7 . 4 ) at the point of time when the ignition timing has advanced to the reference value rdrl0 , the zone reset permission ( f - zrok10 = 1 ) is issued ( steps s406 , s408 in fig1 ). ( point 3 ) 5 ) following a period of waiting for the engine operation condition to change and when it is detected that the refer ence value rdrl0 has come to coincide with the upper advance limit avlmt0 of the next zone , actual reset from zone 1 to zone 0 is conducted ( steps s36 - s44 in fig3 ). ( point 4 ) while as shown in fig4 the reference value rdrl0 is set by delta rl0 in the advance direction from the upper advance limit of zone 1 , it should be noted that it differs from the upper advance limit of zone 0 . however , since these upper limit values vary with engine speed and engine load , they become the coincident in the low engine load operating region where the accelerator pedal has been released , for example . the invention therefore prevents actual reset from being carried out when they are coincident in order to avoid a sudden change in the ignition timing characteristics . ( it should be noted that the same applies to the reference value for zone 2 , namely that rdrl1 = avlmt2 - delta rll .) and as indicated by the broken line marked &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; in fig1 , when knock occurs in the course of ignition advance and the number of recurrences thereof is found to have reached or exceeded the prescribed value , the zone reset procedure is discontinued ( step s400 , s412 in fig1 ). further , as shown in fig3 at the point where engine warmup is completed , reset permission is confirmed in step s36 , whereafter the procedure moves to step s38 in which it is confirmed that the upper advance limit of the next zone has come to coincide with the reference value , to step s40 in which the zone is reset from 1 to 0 , to step s42 in which the bit of flag f - zrok10 is turned off , and to step s44 in which the bit of flag f - twzrs is turned off . as a result , zone reset based on completion of engine warmup is conducted only once , namely at the time of the transition from the initial low - temperature operating state to the warmed - up state , and is not conducted again at any time while the engine remains in operation . zone reset caused by other than engine warmup will now be explained . when warmup has been completed , the result of the confirmation in step s300 of fig1 is negative , the procedure advances to step s320 in which the engine speed ne is compared with a prescribed engine speed nezr . this prescribed engine speed is a low one on the idling speed level . when it is determined in step s320 that the engine speed is above the idling range , the procedure advances to step s322 in which the engine load is determined by comparing the intake pressure pb with a prescribed value pbknz . this prescribed value is appropriately set at one adequate for enabling discrimination of high - load operating state . as shown in the characteristic diagram of fig1 , the prescribed value pbknz varies with the engine speed , whereby zone reset can be determined in the operating region in which knock is even more apt to occur and the appropriateness thereof can be confirmed more suitably . when it is found in step s322 that the engine is in a high - load state , the procedure advances to step s302 and the ensuing steps for judgment of zone reset at high - load operation . taking the case of reset from zone 1 to zone as an example , when the result of the determination in step s302 is negative , the procedure advances to step s304 in which the result of the determination is affirmative , and to step s306 where the procedure waits for the adjustment value θknock to reach the upper advance limit value of zone 1 . upon confirmation in step s306 that the upper advance limit value has been reached , the procedure passes through steps s310 , s312 and s314 to step s324 , in which a check is made as to whether the timer value indicates the passage of the prescribed time ( 5 seconds ). when it has been confirmed that the prescribed time has lapsed , the procedure advances to step s326 in which the value czrs10 of a counter for counting the number of reset judgment permissions issued is compared with a prescribed value zrs10 . this number of reset judgment permissions indicates the number of times in which , after judgment permission was once established , the reset procedure was discontinued because knock recurred the prescribed number of times or more , and the prescribed value zrs10 is appropriately set at , for example , five times . the first time this step is executed , the result of the determination is naturally negative and the procedure advances to step s328 in which the counter value is incremented , and to step s318 in which the bit of the reset judgment permission flag is set to 1 , completing the first cycle of the routine . when zone reset permission is issued in step s318 and after it has been confirmed through steps s404 - s410 of the flowchart of fig1 that the knock adjustment value has reached the reference value , zone reset is conducted through steps s36 - s44 of the flowchart of fig3 after waiting for confirmation at s38 that the upper limit of zone 0 has become equal to the reference value . in other words , as indicated in fig1 , decision to conduct zone reset is made in the high - load region above a prescribed engine speed . on the other hand , zone reset is conducted in the low - load region where the reference value coincides with the upper advance limit . however , occurrence of knock may cause the adjustment value to turn in the retard direction as illustrated by the dotted line a in fig1 and if knock recurs beyond the rate defined at step s400 in fig1 flowchart , the flag bit of f - zrs10 is turn off at step s412 in the same figure . at that situation , time measurement is resumed again when the adjustment value has returned to the zone 1 upper limit . and after the time has lapsed , the counter value is again incremented to &# 34 ; 2 &# 34 ; and so on and the flag bit is again set to 1 ( s306 , s308 , s310 , s312 , s314 , s324 , s326 , s328 , s318 in fig1 ). the procedure then goes to fig3 flowchart and waits the chance to reset zone . however , if it is determined in step s322 that a high load is not present , the procedure passes through steps s332 - s340 , the counter value is decremented , the flag bit is turned off and the timer value is reset . if it still remains failing zone reset and when after some number of cycles it is found in step s326 that the counter value has reached the prescribed value ( number of times ), the procedure moves to step s330 in which the timer value tzrs10 ( e . g ., 5 seconds ) is rewritten to tzrs10l ( e . g ., 25 seconds ). this change is for making it more difficult for the zone reset permission to be established , and is implemented in light of the fact that where the occurrence of knock causes the procedure to be discontinued each time zone reset is attempted , the reason can be presumed to be that the engine is operating on low octane number fuel . in such a case , it can be expected that even if zone reset is conducted the system will thereafter return to the original zone , resulting in frequent changes in the ignition timing control characteristics . in such an operating state it is therefore preferable to make it difficult for zone reset to be established so as to prevent this type of hunting . while only reset from zone 1 to zone 0 is discussed in the foregoing , the situation regarding reset from zone 2 to zone 1 is basically the same . at first , when it is found in step s34 of fig3 that knock adjustment value has exceeded the retard side discrimination value rdlmtl of zone 1 , the procedure advances through steps s46 - s48 so that zone 2 is selected . the ignition timing is thereafter controlled based on the ignition timing characteristics of this zone . if in this condition it is found that engine warmup has been completed ( step s300 in fig1 ) or that the engine load has become high ( step s322 of fig1 ), zone reset judgment permission is established as the procedure passes from step s302 through the steps s342 - s360 ( and through occasionally steps s362 and s364 ) of the fig1 flowchart , zone reset permission is established through the steps s400 , s402 and s414 - s418 of the flowchart of fig1 , and reset to zone 1 is carried out after is has been found through steps s50 - s58 of the fig3 flowchart that coincidence has arisen between the reference value rdrll of zone 2 and the upper ignition advance limit value avlmtl of zone 1 . differently from the case of the arrangement proposed earlier by the assignee in which zone reset is decided on the basis of a prescribed engine speed , with this arrangement according to this invention zone reset can be conducted even when a zone misselection is made during acceleration , without waiting for the engine speed to decrease . moreover , in the case where the engine is operating on a low octane fuel and zone 1 ( or 2 ) has been properly selected , indiscriminately conducting zone reset when the engine speed decreases will result in the occurrence of knock in the upper zone to which reset is made and this will lead to the zone being changed again . in this invention , however , since , as explained above , the ignition timing is advanced by the prescribed increment to enable the judgment to be made in the high - load region in which knock is apt to occur and shift to more advanced characteristics is carried out only when it has been confirmed that knock does not occur in the process of ignition timing advance , it becomes less likely that zone reset will be carried out during use of a low octane fuel , whereby hunting is prevented . and the zone reset itself is carried out in the low - load region at which the upper advance limit comes to coincide with the reference value , the shift will not cause sudden change in ignition timing so that any unpleasant feeling owing to sudden torque change will not occur . it should be noted here that , in a case where high octane number fuel is in use but is misidentified as low octane number fuel , no inconvenience arises even if zone reset control is not conducted in the low - load region , since almost no torque loss exists in the low - load region . the wait time is provided before starting advancing and the wait time is then extended when knock recurs repeatedly so as to carefully check appropriateness of zone reset . in the embodiment just described , while the timer values in the flowchart of fig1 ( s316 , s324 , s350 , s354 ) are expressed in terms of time , they may alternatively be expressed in terms of number of firings . fig1 shows the second embodiment of the invention . focussing on the difference between the embodiment and the first one , in a fragmentary flowchart of fig1 similar to that in fig1 , the former steps s326 and s330 are now changed as s326a and s330a , and new steps s326b and s330b are added . after time lapse is confirmed at s324 , the procedure advances to step s326a in which the counter value is compared with a first reference value zrs10a ( e . g ., 3 times ) and if it is found to exceed , the procedure then goes to another judge step s326b in which the counter value is again compared with a second reference value zrs10b ( e . g ., 5 times ). if it does not exceed , the procedure moves to step s330a in which the timer value tzrs10 ( e . g ., 5 seconds ) is rewritten to tzrs10m ( e . g ., 20 seconds ), whereas if it is found to exceed at step s326b , the once rewritten timer value is again renewed as tzrs10l ( e . g ., 25 seconds ) at step s330b . thus , it is possible to make it difficult , in a more suitable manner , for zone reset to be established in responsive with the knock recurrence state so as to prevent the hunting . it will be easily understood from the above that the timer period can be further varied depending on the number of times counted . for example , it can be 20 seconds for 3 times , 25 seconds for 5 times and 30 seconds for 7 times . these values can , of course , also be expressed in terms of number of firings . the rest of the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment . fig1 shows the third embodiment of the invention . the values delta rl0 and delta rll explained in the first embodiment with respect to fig4 can be either fixed or variable values . with the particular aim of facilitating zone reset judgment upon completion of engine warmup , the values delta rl0 , 1 is shortened , i . e ., the hatched portions are narrowed in the third embodiment in contrast with those in the first embodiment . it may possible to achieve the same purpose by shorten the aforesaid unit advance amount dadv ( s202a in fig8 flowchart ), so as to speed up the arrival of the ignition timing at the reference value rdrli or rdrll , when making the reset judgment upon completion of engine warmup . the present invention has thus been shown and described with reference to the specific embodiments . however , it should be noted that the present invention is in no way limited to the details of the described arrangements but changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims

a system for controlling ignition timing of a vehicle internal combustion engine , in which a plurality of sets of ignition timing control characteristics are established in response to the octane numbers of different kinds of fuel which may intentionally or unintentionally be used in the vehicle . the system infers the octane number of the fuel being used from the occurrence state of knock and selects the set of control characteristics corresponding to the selected fuel octane number , whereafter it determines the ignition timing based on the selected set of control characteristics . the system overcomes the problem of unnecessarily reduced torque occurring when the set of characteristics for low octane number fuel is misselected when the vehicle is running on high octane number fuel , as may happen particularly at the time of engine cold start , since during warmup the engine is apt to produce mechanical noise resulting in spurious knock detection . upon completion of engine warmup , the system concerned advances the ignition timing by unit amounts if no knock occurs in the course of the advancement , forcibly shifts from retarded to advanced characteristics .

the invention is described in detail below for purposes of illustration only . modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention , set forth in the appended claims , will be readily apparent to one of skill in the art . as used herein , terminology and abbreviations have their ordinary meaning unless otherwise stated . fig1 illustrates the sequence of steps employed in a variety of bleach processes wherein starting pulp containing a mixture of chemical and high yield fibers pass through a sequence of steps . where a particular block in the flow diagram states “ add mg ( oh ) 2 ” or “ add h 2 o 2 ” or “ add taed or acetic anhydride ”, it should be understood that the indicated additive , or a precursor therefor , is incorporated into the pulp admixture in an amount which is effective when combined with the other additives indicated in the other blocks of that sequence to produce a brightening on lightening of the pulp as indicated in the body of the specification . similarly , “ mix ” indicates that the pulp admixture is thoroughly homogenized on such a scale that the individual fibers in the admixture are not unduly damaged but grosser inhomogeneities in the distribution of bleaching ingredients are reduced to such an extent that the resulting paper made from such pulp will be commercially acceptable . typically this is done by passing the admixture through a medium consistency / high shear pump although impellers in a tank can have some effectiveness . “ steam ” indicates that the pulp admixture is heated by injection of live steam to a temperature which will be effective for the intended process steps following in the sequence , typically a “ retention ” step in which the admixture is allowed to internally equilibrate to allow color bodies to be lightened . “ wash ” steps indicate that the pulp admixture is contacted with relatively “ clean ” aqueous liquid to remove unreacted reactants as well as undesired reaction products from the pulp . in this sense , “ clean ” does not usually mean clear potable water but rather some other stream containing the unreacted reactants and undesired reaction products in a lower , hopefully far lower , concentration than the pulp admixture . fig2 illustrates the flow diagram for the process summarized as option 1 , in which medium consistency pulp enters through feed line 22 , mixing therein with magnesium hydroxide entering feed line 22 prior to steam mixer 24 wherein the pulp and magnesium hydroxide admixture are heated to a temperature of between about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) and just below boiling , more preferably between 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 93 ° c . ( 200 ° f .) while the magnesium hydroxide is thoroughly mixed with the pulp in steam mixer 24 which may be either of the type in which steam is injected into a flowing stream of pulp and mixing occurs by virtue of the shear created as the pulp flows or of the tank type where steam is injected into a stirred tank . after the pulp is thoroughly mixed with magnesium hydroxide , hydrogen peroxide is added prior to the inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 26 . molecular oxygen ( o 2 ) is added to the admixture of pulp , magnesium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide at the suction inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 28 which impels the mixture to primary bleach tower 30 . preferably , commercially pure oxygen is used although any oxygen enriched stream or even atmospheric air is usable but the ultimate goal is most preferably to completely saturate the admixture with oxygen and this is far more easily accomplished with relatively pure gaseous oxygen . it is not necessary to achieve complete saturation to achieve substantial benefits from injection of a stream carrying oxygen . pulp flows upwardly through primary bleach tower 30 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 60 to about 210 minutes and more preferably from about 120 to about 180 minutes . inlet temperature to primary bleach tower 30 is suitably from about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f .) to about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f . ), preferably at least slightly below boiling and more preferably between about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 93 ° c . ( 200 ° f .) while the outlet temperature is suitably between about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) and about 88 ° c . ( 190 ° f . ), preferably between about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .). in some cases , particularly in the case where there is substantial decomposition of hydrogen peroxide or some other significant exothermic bleaching reaction , it is possible that temperature may increase during an oxidative bleach stage . typically , the amount of the increase would be minor , with an increase of 0 . 5 to about 3 ° c . (˜ 1 - 5 ° f .) not being exceptional . it is considered beneficial that usually only a small amount of heat is evolved when fibers are bleached with the combination of peroxide and magnesium hydroxide as there is a reduced tendency to damage the fibers as compared to the case where sodium hydroxide is used and the amount of heat evolved can be far more substantial . the residence time in primary bleach tower 30 is typically somewhat longer than would be the case where sodium hydroxide might be used as the source of alkalinity ; however the damage to fibers is greatly reduced resulting in greatly reduced generation of fines and anionic trash . preferably , the pulp is not washed between primary bleach tower 30 and residual bleach tower 32 as it is far more effective to leave unreacted hydrogen peroxide in place to be converted to peracetic acid in situ in residual bleach tower 32 . typically , the inlet concentration of hydrogen peroxide to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 and 5 %, preferably between about 0 . 5 and 3 . 5 %, more preferably between about 1 and about 2 , while the concentration of magnesium hydroxide will be between about 0 . 1 % and about 2 %, preferably between about 0 . 2 and 1 . 5 %, more preferably between about 0 . 4 and about 0 . 8 %. desirably , inlet concentration of oxygen to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 and 1 % of the weight of the pulp , preferably between about 0 . 15 and 0 . 75 %, more preferably between about 0 . 25 and about 0 . 5 %. entry ph is from about 7 to 10 , preferably from about 7 . 5 to about 9 . 7 , more preferably from about 8 . 5 to about 9 . 5 , while ph at the exit to primary bleach tower 30 is from about 7 to about 9 , preferably from about 7 . 25 to about 8 . 75 , more preferably from about 7 . 5 to about 8 . 5 . typically , the amount of peroxide consumed in primary bleach tower 30 will be somewhat lower than in the case where sodium hydroxide is used as the source of alkalinity . however , the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the inlet to primary bleach tower 30 should be carefully controlled so that the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the outlet from primary bleach tower 30 is suitably from about 0 . 1 to about 3 %, preferably from about 0 . 25 to about 2 % and more preferably from about 0 . 5 to about 1 . 0 %. prior to entry into residual bleach tower 32 , the pulp carrying a substantial amount of entrained hydrogen peroxide is mixed with peroxide activating agent as previously described in medium consistency mixing pump 34 . preferably the amount of peroxide activating agent is sufficient to ensure that the bulk , if not all , of the entrained hydrogen peroxide is converted in situ to peracetic acid which yield perhydroxyl ions which are ultimately converted to active oxygen as previously mentioned . peroxide activating agent is introduced into the stream leaving primary bleach tower 30 at medium consistency mixing pump 34 , the amount and nature being carefully matched to the residual hydrogen peroxide contained therein , the goal being to achieve substantially complete consumption of the expensive hydrogen peroxide in residual bleach tower 32 . pulp flows upwardly through residual bleach tower 32 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 210 minutes and more preferably from about 60 to about 120 minutes . inlet temperature to residual bleach tower 32 is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) to about 88 ° c . ( 190 ° f . ), preferably between about 68 ° c . ( 155 ° f .) and about 85 ° c . ( 185 ° f .) and more preferably between about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) while the outlet temperature is suitably about the same . as mentioned previously , a rise of temperature during an oxidative bleach stage of 0 . 5 to 3 ° c . (˜ 1 - 5 ° f .) would not be exceptional . to avoid waste of expensive bleaching chemicals , the pulp stream exiting residual bleach tower 32 should be washed thoroughly in washer 36 to remove those residua of the oxidative bleaching process which would interfere with subsequent reductive bleaching . after washing , the pulp is mixed with steam in steam mixer 38 and more thoroughly mixed as it passes through medium consistency mixing pump 40 to low consistency mixing pump 42 wherein it suitably mixed with a reductive bleaching agent such as sodium hydrosulfite , the admixture entering reductive bleach tower 44 being at an entrance temperature which is suitably from about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) to about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f .) and more preferably between about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f .) while the outlet temperature is only very slightly , perhaps as little as 0 . 5 ° c . (˜ 1 ° f .) to 5 ° c . ( 10 ° f . ), lower . reductive bleach tower 44 is suitably sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 minutes to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 180 minutes and more preferably from about 60 to about 120 minutes . the final pulp is usually washed at least one more time before it is passed to the paper machine . the process of the present invention is advantageously operated with a mixed chemical and high yield pulp having a brightness of between about 50 and 70 , preferably between 55 and 65 , which is rather lower than the brightness of unbleached / unbrightened recycle pulps used to make premium and near premium quality tissues and towel product which is most usually at least about 80 and often at least about 82 . the target brightness of pulp leaving residual bleach tower 32 is typically between about 70 and 80 which is also rather lower than would be expected of a typical recycle pulp for premium and near premium towel and tissue products prior to reductive bleaching . however , it is desirable to employ slightly more aggressive reductive bleaching than normal to bring the final brightness of the pulp up to from about 80 to about 85 , preferably at least about 81 , more preferably at least about 82 and most preferably at least about 83 . accordingly , it can be appreciated that considerable savings can be realized by beginning with lower brightness recycle pulp , using milder oxidative bleaching steps which do less damage to the pulp and thus introduce less trash and scale to the paper machine and then achieve final brightness in the reductive bleaching stages which will be operated at higher concentrations of bleaching chemicals , higher temperatures and longer residence times than are typical . fig3 illustrates the flow diagram for carrying out option 2 in which medium consistency pulp enters through feed line 22 , mixing therein with hydrogen peroxide entering feed line 22 prior to steam mixer 24 wherein the pulp and hydrogen peroxide admixture are heated to a temperature of between about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) and about 99 ° c . ( 210 ° f . ), more preferably between 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 93 ° c . ( 200 ° f . ), while the hydrogen peroxide is thoroughly mixed with the pulp in steam mixer 24 which may be either of the type in which steam is injected into a flowing stream of pulp and mixing occurs by virtue of the shear created as the pulp flows or of the tank type where steam is injected into a stirred tank . after the pulp is thoroughly mixed with hydrogen peroxide , magnesium hydroxide is added prior to the inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 26 . molecular oxygen ( o 2 ) is added to the admixture of pulp , magnesium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide at the suction inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 28 which impels the mixture to primary bleach tower 30 . preferably , commercially pure oxygen is used although any oxygen enriched stream or even atmospheric air may be used but the ultimate goal is preferably to completely saturate the admixture with oxygen and this is far more easily accomplished with relatively pure gaseous oxygen . it is not necessary to achieve complete saturation to achieve substantial benefits from injection of a stream carrying oxygen . pulp flows upwardly through primary bleach tower 30 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 60 to about 210 minutes and more preferably from about 120 to about 180 minutes . inlet temperature to primary bleach tower 30 is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) to about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) and about 99 ° c . ( 210 ° f . ), and more preferably between about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 93 ° c . ( 200 ° f . ), while the outlet temperature will vary from only slightly lower , perhaps as little as 3 ° c . ( 5 ° f . ), lower , than the inlet temperature down to about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .). as mentioned , a rise of 0 . 5 to 3 ° c . (˜ 1 - 5 ° f . ), would not be considered exceptional . the residence time in primary bleach tower 30 is typically somewhat longer than would be the case where sodium hydroxide might be used as the source of alkalinity ; however the damage to fibers is greatly reduced resulting in greatly reduced generation of fines and anionic trash . preferably , the pulp is not washed between primary bleach tower 30 and residual bleach tower 32 as it is far more effective to leave unreacted hydrogen peroxide in place to be converted to peracetic acid in situ in residual bleach tower 32 . typically , the inlet concentration of hydrogen peroxide to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 % and 5 %, preferably between about 0 . 5 % and 3 . 5 %, more preferably between about 1 % and about 2 %, while the concentration of magnesium hydroxide will be between about 0 . 1 and about 2 , preferably between about 0 . 25 % and 1 %, more preferably between about 0 . 4 % and about 0 . 8 %. desirably inlet concentration of oxygen to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 and 1 . 0 %, preferably between about 0 . 15 and 0 . 75 %, more preferably between about 0 . 25 and about 0 . 5 %. entry ph is from about 7 to 10 . 0 , preferably from about 8 to about 9 . 75 , more preferably from about 8 . 5 to about 9 . 5 , while ph at the exit to primary bleach tower 30 is from about 7 to about 10 , preferably from about 8 to about 9 . 75 , more preferably from about 8 . 5 to about 9 . 5 . however , the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the inlet to primary bleach tower 30 should be carefully controlled so that the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the outlet from primary bleach tower 30 is suitably from about 0 . 1 to about 3 , preferably from about 0 . 25 to about 2 . 0 and more preferably from about 0 . 5 to about 1 . 0 . prior to entry into residual bleach tower 32 , the pulp carrying a substantial amount of entrained hydrogen peroxide is mixed with peroxide activating agent as previously described in medium consistency mixing pump 34 . preferably the amount of peroxide activating agent is sufficient to ensure that the bulk , if not all , of the entrained hydrogen peroxide is converted in situ to peracetic acid which yields perhydroxyl ions which are ultimately converted to active oxygen as previously mentioned . suitably the amount of peroxide activating agent will be from about 0 . 01 % to about 1 . 0 % based on the weight of the pulp . the amount of peroxide activating agent is preferably from about 0 . 015 % to about 0 . 50 %, more preferably from about 0 . 025 % to about 0 . 25 % and most preferably from about 0 . 05 % to 0 . 10 % of the dry weight of the pulp to be treated . peroxide activating agent is introduced into the stream leaving primary bleach tower 30 at medium consistency mixing pump 34 , the amount and nature being carefully matched to the residual hydrogen peroxide contained therein , the goal being to achieve substantially complete consumption of the expensive hydrogen peroxide in residual bleach tower 32 . pulp flows upwardly through residual bleach tower 32 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 210 minutes and more preferably from about 60 to about 120 minutes . inlet temperature to residual bleach tower 32 is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) to about 88 ° c . ( 190 ° f . ), preferably between about 68 ° c . ( 155 ° f .) and about 85 ° c . ( 185 ° f .) and more preferably between about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) while the outlet temperature varies from only slightly lower , perhaps as little as 3 ° c . ( 5 ° f .) lower , down to 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f . ), but possibly increasing slightly — sometimes by from about 0 . 5 to 3 ° c . ( 1 - 5 ° f .). to avoid waste of expensive bleaching chemicals , the pulp stream exiting residual bleach tower 32 should be washed thoroughly in washer 36 to remove those residua of the oxidative bleaching process which would interfere with subsequent reductive bleaching . after washing , the pulp is mixed with steam in steam mixer 38 and more thoroughly mixed as it passes through medium consistency mixing pump 40 to low consistency mixing pump 42 wherein it suitably mixed with a reductive bleaching agent such as sodium hydrosulfite , the admixture entering reductive bleach tower 44 being at an entrance temperature which is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) to about 88 ° c . ( 190 ° f . ), preferably between about 66 ° c . ( 150 ° f .) and about 85 ° c . ( 185 ° f .) and more preferably between about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) while the outlet temperature is suitably only very slightly , perhaps as little as 0 . 5 to 5 ° c . (˜ 1 - 10 ° f .) lower , but possibly from 0 . 5 to 3 ° c . (˜ 1 - 5 ° f .) higher . reductive bleach tower 44 is suitably sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 minutes to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 180 minutes and more preferably from about 60 to about 120 minutes . the final pulp is usually washed at least one more time before it is passed to the paper machine . the process of the present invention is advantageously operated with a mixed chemical and high yield pulp having a brightness of between about 50 and 70 , preferably between about 55 and 65 which is rather lower than the brightness of unbleached / unbrightened recycle pulps used to make premium and near premium quality tissues and towel product which is most usually at least about 80 and often at least about 82 . the target brightness of pulp leaving residual bleach tower is typically between about 70 and 80 which is also rather lower than would be expected of a typical recycle pulp for premium and near premium towel and tissue products prior to reductive bleaching . however , it is desirable to employ slightly more aggressive reductive bleaching than normal to bring the final brightness of the pulp up to from about 80 to about 85 , preferably at least about 81 , more preferably at least about 82 and most preferably at least about 83 . accordingly , it can be appreciated that considerable savings can be realized by beginning with lower brightness recycle pulp , using milder oxidative bleaching steps which do less damage to the pulp and thus introduce less trash and scale to the paper machine and then achieve final brightness in the reductive bleaching stages which will be operated at higher concentrations of bleaching chemicals , higher temperatures and longer residence times than are typical . fig4 illustrates the flow diagram for option 3 , in which medium consistency pulp enters through feed line 22 , mixing therein with peroxide activating agent entering feed line 22 prior to steam mixer 24 wherein the pulp and peroxide activating agent admixture are heated to a temperature of between about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 63 ° c . ( 145 ° f .) and about 93 ° c . ( 200 ° f . ), more preferably between 66 ° c . ( 150 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) while the peroxide activating agent is thoroughly mixed with the pulp in steam mixer 24 which may be either of the type in which steam is injected into a flowing stream of pulp and mixing occurs by virtue of the shear created as the pulp flows or of the tank type where steam is injected into a stirred tank . after the pulp is thoroughly mixed with peroxide activating agent , hydrogen peroxide is added prior to the inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 26 . molecular oxygen ( o 2 ) and magnesium hydroxide are added to the admixture of pulp , peroxide activating agent and hydrogen peroxide at the suction inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 28 which impels the mixture to primary bleach tower 30 . preferably , commercially pure oxygen is used although any oxygen enriched stream or even atmospheric air may be used but the ultimate goal is preferably to completely saturate the admixture with oxygen and this is far more easily accomplished with relatively pure gaseous oxygen . it is not necessary to achieve complete saturation to achieve substantial benefits from injection of a stream carrying oxygen . pulp flows upwardly through primary bleach tower 30 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 to about 180 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 120 minutes and more preferably from about 30 to about 90 minutes . inlet temperature to primary bleach tower 30 is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 63 ° c . ( 145 ° f .) and about 93 ° c . ( 200 ° f .) and more preferably between about 66 ° c . ( 150 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) while the outlet temperature may vary from only slightly lower than the inlet temperature , perhaps some 3 ° c . ( 5 ° f .) lower , down to about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f . ), with a slight increase being possible . the residence time in primary bleach tower 30 is typically somewhat longer than would be the case where sodium hydroxide might be used as the source of alkalinity ; however the damage to fibers is greatly reduced resulting in greatly reduced generation of fines and anionic trash . preferably , the pulp is not washed between primary bleach tower 30 and secondary bleach tower 46 as it is far more effective to leave unreacted hydrogen peroxide in place to be converted to peracetic acid in situ in secondary bleach tower 46 . typically the inlet concentration of hydrogen peroxide to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 % and 5 . 0 %, preferably between about 0 . 35 % and 2 . 5 %, more preferably between about 0 . 75 % and about 1 . 25 %, while the concentration of magnesium hydroxide will be between about 0 . 1 % and about 2 . 0 %, preferably between about 0 . 25 % and 1 . 5 %, more preferably between about 0 . 4 % and about 0 . 8 %. desirably inlet concentration of oxygen to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 % and 1 . 0 %, preferably between about 0 . 15 % and 0 . 75 %, more preferably between about 0 . 25 % and about 0 . 5 %. entry ph is from about 7 to 9 , preferably from about 7 . 25 to about 8 . 75 , more preferably from about 7 . 5 to about 8 . 5 , while ph at the exit to primary bleach tower 30 is from about 7 to about 9 , preferably from about 7 . 25 to about 8 . 75 , more preferably from about 7 . 5 to about 8 . 5 . however , in the practice of option 3 , the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the inlet to primary bleach tower 30 need not be as carefully controlled as in the options 1 and 2 as additional hydrogen peroxide is introduced through mixing pump 34 so that the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the inlet to secondary bleach tower 46 is suitably from about 0 . 1 % to about 3 . 0 %, preferably from about 0 . 5 % to about 2 . 5 % and more preferably from about 1 % to about 2 %. hydrogen peroxide is introduced into the stream leaving primary bleach tower 30 at medium consistency mixing pump 34 , the goal being to achieve substantially complete consumption of the expensive hydrogen peroxide in secondary bleach tower 46 . pulp flows upwardly through secondary bleach tower 46 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 60 to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 90 to about 210 minutes and more preferably from about 120 to about 180 minutes . inlet temperature to secondary bleach tower 46 is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) to about 93 ° c . ( 200 ° f . ), preferably between about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) and about 91 ° c . ( 195 ° f .) and more preferably between about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 88 ° c . ( 190 ° f .) while the outlet temperature may vary between only slightly less than the inlet temperature , perhaps 3 ° c . ( 5 ° f .) less , down to 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) with a slight increase being possible . to avoid waste of expensive bleaching chemicals , the pulp stream exiting secondary bleach tower 46 should be washed thoroughly in washer 36 to remove those residua of the oxidative bleaching process which would interfere with subsequent reductive bleaching . after washing , the pulp is mixed with steam in steam mixer 38 and more thoroughly mixed as it passes through medium consistency mixing pump 40 to low consistency mixing pump 42 wherein it suitably mixed with a reductive bleaching agent such as sodium hydrosulfite , the admixture entering reductive bleach tower 44 being at an entrance temperature which is suitably from about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) to about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f .) and more preferably between about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), while the outlet temperature is suitably only very slightly , perhaps as little as 0 . 5 ° c . to 5 ° c . (˜ 1 - 10 ° f . ), lower . reductive bleach tower 44 is suitably sized to provide a residence time of from about 5 seconds to about 30 minutes , preferably from about 30 seconds to about 20 minutes and more preferably from about 1 minute to about 15 minutes , the amount of time varying widely within this range depending largely upon temperature and concentration . very short residence times are often quite suitable with temperatures nearer to 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f .) at high concentration of reductive bleaches and high consistency . the final pulp is usually washed at least one more time before it is passed to the paper machine . fig5 illustrates the flow diagram for option 4 , in which medium consistency pulp enters through feed line 22 , mixing therein with mg ( oh ) 2 entering feed line 22 prior to steam mixer 24 wherein the pulp and mg ( oh ) 2 admixture are heated to a temperature of between about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 63 ° c . ( 145 ° f .) and about 96 ° c . ( 200 ° f . ), more preferably between 66 ° c . ( 150 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) while the mg ( oh ) 2 is thoroughly mixed with the pulp in steam mixer 24 which may be either of the type in which steam is injected into a flowing stream of pulp and mixing occurs by virtue of the shear created as the pulp flows or of the tank type where steam is injected into a stirred tank . after the pulp is thoroughly mixed with mg ( oh ) 2 , hydrogen peroxide is added prior to the inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 26 . molecular oxygen ( o 2 ) may also be added to the admixture of pulp and hydrogen peroxide at the suction inlet to medium consistency mixing pump 28 which impels the mixture to primary bleach tower 30 . preferably , commercially pure oxygen is used although any oxygen enriched stream or even atmospheric air may be used but the ultimate goal is preferably to completely saturate the admixture with oxygen and this is far more easily accomplished with relatively pure gaseous oxygen . it is not necessary to achieve complete saturation to achieve substantial benefits from injection of a stream carrying oxygen . pulp flows upwardly through primary bleach tower 30 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 120 minutes and more preferably from about 30 to about 90 minutes . inlet temperature to primary bleach tower 30 is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) to about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 63 ° c . ( 145 ° f .) and about 96 ° c . ( 200 ° f .) and more preferably between about 68 ° c . ( 150 ° f .) and about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) while the outlet temperature may vary from only slightly lower than the inlet temperature , perhaps some 3 ° c . ( 5 ° f .) lower , down to about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) with a slight increase being possible . the residence time in primary bleach tower 30 is typically somewhat longer than would be the case where sodium hydroxide might be used as the source of alkalinity ; however the damage to fibers is greatly reduced resulting in greatly reduced generation of fines and anionic trash . preferably , the pulp is not washed between primary bleach tower 30 and secondary bleach tower 46 as it is far more effective to leave unreacted hydrogen peroxide in place to be converted to peracetic acid in situ in secondary bleach tower 46 . typically the inlet concentration of hydrogen peroxide to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 % and 5 . 0 %, preferably between about 0 . 35 % and 2 . 5 %, more preferably between about 0 . 75 % and about 1 . 25 %, while the concentration of sodium hydroxide hydroxide will be between about 0 . 1 % and about 2 . 0 %, preferably between about 0 . 25 % and 1 . 5 %, more preferably between about 0 . 4 % and about 0 . 8 %. desirably , inlet concentration of oxygen to primary bleach tower 30 will be between about 0 . 1 % and 1 . 0 %, preferably between about 0 . 15 % and 0 . 75 %, more preferably between about 0 . 25 % and about 0 . 5 %. entry ph is from about 7 to 9 , preferably from about 7 . 25 to about 8 . 75 , more preferably from about 7 . 5 to about 8 . 5 , while ph at the exit to primary bleach tower 30 is from about 7 to about 9 , preferably from about 7 . 25 to about 8 . 75 , more preferably from about 7 . 5 to about 8 . 5 . typically , the amount of peroxide consumed in primary bleach tower 30 will be somewhat lower than in the case where sodium hydroxide is used as the source of alkalinity . however , the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the inlet to primary bleach tower 30 should be carefully controlled so that the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the outlet from primary bleach tower 30 is suitably from about 0 . 1 % to about 3 %, preferably from about 0 . 25 % to about 2 % and more preferably from about 0 . 5 % to about 1 . 0 %, all based on the weight of oven dry pulp . prior to entry into secondary bleach tower 46 , the pulp carrying a substantial amount of entrained hydrogen peroxide is mixed with a carefully controlled amount of sodium hydroxide as previously described in medium consistency mixing pump 34 . preferably the amount of sodium hydroxide is just sufficient to ensure that the bulk , if not all , of the entrained hydrogen peroxide is converted in situ to perhydroxyl ions which are ultimately converted to active oxygen as previously mentioned . sodium hydroxide is introduced into the stream leaving primary bleach tower 30 at medium consistency mixing pulp 34 , the amount being carefully matched to the residual hydrogen peroxide contained therein , the goal being to achieve substantially complete consumption of the expensive hydrogen peroxide in secondary bleach tower 46 without degrading the fiber either by generation of anionic trash or darkening the pulp due to excessive alkalinity . the ph of the stream entering secondary bleach tower 46 is suitably no lower than 8 , preferably between about 8 . 5 and 10 . 0 , more preferably between 9 and 10 . pulp flows upwardly through secondary bleach tower 46 which is sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 to about 180 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 150 minutes and more preferably from about 60 to about 120 minutes . inlet temperature to secondary bleach tower 46 is suitably from about 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f .) and about 96 ° c . ( 200 ° f . ), preferably between about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) and about 91 ° c . ( 195 ° f .) and more preferably between about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 88 ° c . ( 190 ° f .) while the outlet temperature may range from only slightly less than the inlet temperature , perhaps 3 ° c . ( 5 ° f .) less , down to as low as 60 ° c . ( 140 ° f . ), the possible slight temperature increase being perhaps lightly greater due to the action of sodium hydroxide . to avoid waste of expensive bleaching chemicals , the pulp stream exiting secondary bleach tower 46 should be washed thoroughly in washer 36 to remove those residua of the oxidative bleaching process which would interfere with subsequent reductive bleaching . after washing , the pulp is mixed with steam in steam mixer 38 and more thoroughly mixed as it passes through medium consistency mixing pump 40 to low consistency mixing pump 42 wherein it suitably mixed with a reductive bleaching agent such as sodium hydrosulfite , the admixture entering reductive bleach tower 44 being at an entrance temperature which is suitably from about 71 ° c . ( 160 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), preferably between about 77 ° c . ( 170 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), and more preferably between about 82 ° c . ( 180 ° f .) and about 100 ° c . ( 212 ° f . ), while the outlet temperature is suitably only very slightly , perhaps as little as 0 . 5 ° c . to 5 ° c . (˜ 1 - 10 ° f . ), lower . reductive bleach tower 44 is suitably sized to provide a residence time of from about 30 minutes to about 240 minutes , preferably from about 45 to about 180 minutes and more preferably from about 60 to about 120 minutes . the final pulp is usually washed at least one more time before it is passed to the paper machine . the process of the present invention is advantageously operated with a mixed chemical and high yield pulp having a brightness of between about 50 and 70 , preferably between about 55 and 65 which is rather lower than the brightness of unbleached / unbrightened recycle pulps used to make premium and near premium quality tissues and towel product which is most usually at least about 80 and often at least about 82 . the target brightness of pulp leaving residual bleach tower is typically between about 70 and 80 which is also rather lower than would be expected of a typical recycle pulp for premium and near premium towel and tissue products prior to reductive bleaching . however , it is desirable to employ slightly more aggressive reductive bleaching than normal to bring the final brightness of the pulp up to from about 80 to about 85 , preferably at least about 81 , and more preferably at least about 82 . accordingly , it can be appreciated that considerable savings can be realized by beginning with lower brightness recycle pulp , using milder oxidative bleaching steps which do less damage to the pulp and thus introduce less trash and scale to the paper machine and then achieve final brightness in the reductive bleaching stages which will be operated at higher concentrations of bleaching chemicals , higher temperatures and longer residence times than are typical . the process of the present invention can also be advantageously operated with a mixed chemical and high yield pulp having a brightness of between about 45 and 75 , preferably between 50 and 70 , more preferably between about 55 and 65 which is rather lower than the brightness of unbleached / unbrightened recycle pulps used to make premium and near premium quality tissues and towel product which is most usually at least about 80 to 82 and often at least about 85 . the target brightness of pulp leaving residual bleach tower is typically between about 70 and 80 which is also rather lower than would be expected of a typical recycle pulp for premium and near premium towel and tissue products prior to reductive bleaching . however , it is desirable to employ slightly more aggressive reductive bleaching than normal to bring the final brightness of the pulp up to from about 80 to about 82 , preferably at least about 83 , more preferably at least about 84 and most preferably at least about 85 . accordingly , it can be appreciated that considerable savings can be realized by beginning with lower brightness recycle pulp , using milder oxidative bleaching steps wherein not only is the peroxide is utilized more effectively due to the presence of the magnesium ions but which also do less damage to the pulp and thus introduce less trash and scale to the paper machine and then achieve final brightness in the reductive bleaching stages which will be operated at higher concentrations of bleaching chemicals , higher temperatures and longer residence times than are typical . in many embodiments , mg ( oh ) 2 is the only alkali source in a multi - stage bleaching sequence , the first stage using hydrogen peroxide and mg ( oh ) 2 , followed by addition of taed or another peroxide activating agent to the pulp which is believed to form peracetic acid as a result of reaction of taed with unreacted residual peroxide remaining in the pulp after the alkaline peroxide bleaching step , thereby resulting in further brightening of the pulp . it is believed that use of magnesium hydroxide in the alkaline peroxide bleaching steps often results in a higher residual peroxide level than with more aggressive hydroxides and this residual peroxide is most advantageously used to form peracetic acid in situ in the pulp admixture thereby avoiding troublesome and expensive separation of the bleach liquor from the partially bleached pulp . only after all of the oxidative bleaching stages are completed is the pulp washed to remove residual oxidative chemical and then reductively bleached at medium consistency . cellguard op ® magnesium hydroxide suspension , from martin marietta , is a preferred source of magnesium hydroxide . in some embodiments , it may be desirable that at least some quantity of the peroxide activating agent be present in the recycled fibers at the time of contact with an alkaline peroxide step . in additional embodiments , it may be desirable that at least some quantity of peroxide activating agent be present in the recycled pulp at the end of the alkaline peroxide step . in one such embodiment , at least about 10 % of the peroxide activating agent is present the recycled fibers at the end of the first alkaline peroxide step . this ensures that there is very little wastage of the expensive hydrogen peroxide , which is a major contributor to the cost of the bleaching process — at least at today &# 39 ; s pricing . while the invention has been described in connection with numerous examples and drawings , modifications to those examples and drawings within the spirit and scope of the invention will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art . in view of the foregoing discussion , relevant knowledge in the art and references discussed above in connection with the background and detailed description , the disclosures of which are all incorporated herein by reference in their entireties , further description is deemed unnecessary .

this present invention relates to methods for preparing premium or near - premium brightness pulps for towel and tissue applications from fiber sources comprising substantial amounts of lignin - containing pulp and chemical pulp while controlling fines , scale and anionic trash . these methods use alkaline hydroxide in combination with peroxide and oxygen for initial bleaching stages followed by treatment with a peroxide activating agent to convert residual peroxide in the pulp into peracetic acid followed by a final reductive bleaching stage .

in the present invention , the ( r , s )- compounds of the raw materials can be prepared , for example , by the following process . ## str4 ## namely , the ( r , s )- compounds can be obtained by introducing a protective group to a commercially available diol compound represented by formula ( iii ). on the other hand , after a protective group is introduced in an available compound represented by formula ( iv ), the carbonyl group of the compound is reduced by a reducing agent and the ( r , s )- compound ( ii ) can be obtained as shown in the following process . ## str5 ## further , the ( r , s )- compounds can be obtained by the following ring opening process of epoxy compounds ( vi ) which are industrially and inexpensively prepared . ## str6 ## the ( r , s )- compounds can be produced by various processes in which common chemical methods of organic synthesis are used . it is also sufficent to use esters , preferably triglycerides and fatty acid vinyl esters , which are commercially available without any difficulty . as these esters , methyl propionate , ethyl butyrate , ethyl stearate , trichloroethyl laurate , butyl laurate , ethylene glycol diacetate , etc , can be used . especially , triglycerides and vinylesters are preferable . triacetin , tripropionin , tributyrin , tricaproin , tristearin , trilaurin , trimyristin , triolein , vinyl acetate , vinyl caproate , vinyl laurate , etc , can be exemplified as such triglycerides and fatty acid vinyl esters . the hydrolase which is used in this invention has the ability to catalyse a transesterification reaction preferentially between the r - or s - alcohol and the ester when the enzyme is used with the ( r , s )- compound , and the enzyme can be used regardless its class . for example a lipase , lipoprotein lipase , esterase , etc . are preferable . the following table shows commercially available enzymes that can be used in the present reaction . table______________________________________trade name origin seller or maker______________________________________lipase ap aspergillus niger amano pharma - ceutical co ., ltdlipase m mucor javanicus amano pharma - ceutical co ., ltdlipase p pseudomonas fluorescens amano pharma - ceutical co ., ltdlipase ces pseudomonas sp . amano pharma - ceutical co ., ltdlipase ce humicola lanuginosa amano pharma - ceutical co ., ltdlipase f - ap rhizopus javanicus amano pharma - ceutical co ., ltdlipase ii porcine pancreas sigma chemical co ., ltdlipase viii geotrichum candidum sigma chemical co ., ltdlipase x rhizopus delamar sigma chemical co ., ltdlipase chromobacterium viscosum toyo jozo co ., ltdpalatase a aspergillus niger novo industi a / slipase rhizopus niveus nagase biochemi - cals , co . ltd______________________________________ in addition to these enzymes , microorganisms which produce the enzymes having the above ability can be used regardless of their species and genus . as such microorganisms , the genera arthrobacter , acromobacter , alcaligenes , aspercillus , chromobacterium , candida , mucor , pseudomonas , rhizopus , etc , can be exemplified . the enzymes produced from these microorganisms can be also used . in the following , the process for producing the optically compounds is described in more detail . in the practice of the invention , the reaction is typically conducted by mixing an ( r , s )- compound with an ester , preferably a triglyceride or a fatty acid vinyl ester and efficiently contacting the mixture with an enzyme . the ( r , s )- compound and the ester such as the triglyceride or the fatty acid vinyl ester can be used without any particular treatments . when the alcohol is slightly soluble in the ester , an organic solvent such as , for example heptane or toluene can be added . the reaction temperature is suitably 0 ° to 100 ° c . and especially preferably 30 ° to 45 ° c . the reaction time is broadly 5 to 2000 hours . the reaction time can be shortened by changing the reaction temperature , the kind of the enzyme and the substrate concentration . the ( r , s )- alcohol which is a substrate and the ester are mixed in the ratio 1 : 0 . 5 to 1 : 2 by mole , and preferably 1 : 1 . 1 to 1 : 2 by mole . after the transesterification reaction , the enzyme can be removed by conventional filter operation and used again , as it is . the filtrate can be separated into an optically active alcohol and an ester which is an antipode of the alcohol , respectively , for instance by distillation or column chromatography . the obtained ester is hydrolyzed in an alkali or acid solution to derive the optically active alcohol which is an antipode of the alcohol . by the above described process , the optically active r - and s - alcohol can be obtained . since the compounds of the present invention represented by formula ( i ) are diol compounds in which one of hydroxide groups is protected or compounds in which two hydroxide groups are protected by different substituent groups , the compounds can be converted to various types of compounds . as an example , the compound represented by the general formula ( i ) wherein r 1 is hydrogen , r 2 is ethyl and x is ## str7 ## ( the same compound as in example 1 ) can be easily converted to optically active 3 - hydroxypentanoic acid or optically active 2 - methyl - 3 - hydroxypentanoic acid . the obtained compounds are useful as starting materials of serricornin or anhydrous serricornin which is pheromone of lasioderma serricorne ( r . w . hoffmann et al ., tetrahedron lett ., 23 , 3479 ( 1982 )). moreover , as an example , the compound of the general formula ( i ) wherein r 1 is hydrogen and r 2 is n - pentyl can be easily converted to 1 - iodo - 2 - heptanol which is useful for starting materials of prostaglandin ( e . j ., corey et al ., j . am . chem . soc ., 93 , 1491 ( 1971 )). since the compounds of the general formula ( i ) can be changed to diol compounds or epoxy compounds , these compounds are useful for starting materials of various compounds . as an example , optically active epoxy compounds as shown in the following process are useful for starting materials of ferroelectric liquid clystal compounds which are recently noted ( nohira , kumano , ishizuka and miura , 14th forum of liquid crystals , 1b113 ( 1988 )). ## str8 ## furthermore , the merits of the production process of the present invention are as follows . ( 1 ) unnecessary hydrolysis of esters scarcely occurs because the transesterification reaction is substantially conducted under the conditions of no water . ( 3 ) no special equipment and materials are used because the reaction can be performed under the conditions of relatively low temperatures and an open system . ( 4 ) optically active substances having high purity are obtained by a one - step reaction . ( 5 ) in spite of the biochemical reaction , the substrate concentration can be increased and big reaction vessels are unnecessary , because a buffer solution and the like are not required in the reaction . the preparation of optically active 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol ( in formula ( i ), r 1 is hydrogen , r 2 is ethyl and x is ## str9 ## a mixture of 1 . 00 g of 1 - hydroxy - 2 - butanone , 143 g of 2 , 3 - dihydropyran and 200 ml of dichloromethane was cooled to 0 ° c . and 4 . 8 g of pyridine p - toluenesulfonate in 75 ml of dichloromethane was added dropwise to the mixture . the mixture was stirred for four hours in an ice bath and then for one hour at room temperature and left overnight . the obtained solution was cooled in an ice bath . to the solution 3 g of sodium bicarbonate was added . after stirring for one hour , dichloromethane was removed from the solution under reduced pressure . 200 ml of n - heptane was added and the obtained product was purified with a chromatograph over silica gel . after removing the solvent , 174 g of ( r , s )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanone was obtained by reduced distillation . b . p . 82 ° c . ( 4 . 5 torr ). a mixture of 38 g of lialh 4 and one liter of tetrahydrofuran was cooled to 0 ° c . and 173 g of ( r , s )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanone in 450 ml of tetrahydrofuran was added dropwise to the mixture and stirred at room temperature for three hours . to the reaction product cooled in an ice bath , 300 ml of ethyl acetate , 300 ml of water and 300 ml of aqueous solution of 2n sodium hydroxide were added . after solids were removed by filtration from the reaction system , tetrahydrofuran was removed under reduced pressure from the filtrate . the obtained product was purified with a chromatograph over silica gel . after removing the solvent , 64 g of ( r , s )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol was obtained by reduced distillation . a mixture of 10 g of enzyme lipase &# 34 ; amano &# 34 ; ces ( produced by amano pharmaceutical co ., ltd ), 60 g of ( r , s )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol and 117 g of tributyrin was reacted with stirring at 38 ° c . for ten days . after the reaction was stopped , the enzyme was removed by filtration , and the enzyme on the filter paper was washed by using n - heptane . n - heptane was distilled away from the filtrate , the residue was purified with a chromatograph over silical gel , and 22 . 5 g of optically active 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol and 20 . 8 g of 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butyryloxybutane were obtained . the obtained compounds were determined by structure analysis of a nmr chart . a mixture of 4 . 3 g of optically active 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol which was obtained in the third step of example 1 , 0 . 6 g of pyridine p - toluenesulfonate and 20 ml of ethanol was reacted with stirring for three hours at 60 ° c . after ethanol was distilled away from the reacted product under reduced pressure , 0 . 48 g of optically active 1 , 2 - butanediol was obtained by reduced distillation . b . p . 78 ° c . ( 10 torr ). to the mixture of 0 . 48 g of optically active 1 , 2 - butanediol , 5 ml of toluene and 2 . 5 ml of pyridine , 1 . 7 g of acetyl chloride was added dropwise in an ice bath and stirred for two hours . 10 ml of water and 10 ml of toluene were added to the reaction mixture and stirred . the obtained solution was washed with 2n sodium hydroxide and then with water . the toluene solution was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate . toluene was distilled away from the solution under reduced pressure , the residue was purified with a chromatograph over silica gel , and 1 , 2 - butanediol diacetate was obtained . the obtained compound had a gas chromatographic purity of 98 . 9 %. it showed a specific rotation of [ α ] d 28 =- 12 . 2 ° c . ( c = 1 . 08 , chcl 3 ). the optical purity of the compound was determined by using a column of optical resolution ( trade name : chiral cel ob , produced by daicel chemical industries , ltd ., in japan ). from the peak area of the product , the optical purity was 85 % ee . the determination of the optical purity of optically active 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butyryloxybutane the first step : the preparation of optically active 2 - butyryloxy - 1 - butanol a mixture of 9 . 5 g of optically active 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butyryloxybutane which was obtained in the third step of example 1 , 1 . 5 g of pyridine p - toluenesulfonate and 50 ml of ethanol was reacted with stirring for three hours at 60 ° c . after ethanol was distilled away under reduced pressure , 5 . 0 g of optically active 2 - butyryloxy - 1 - butanol was obtained by reduced distillation . b . p . 90 ° c . ( 4 torr ). the second step : the preparation of optically active 1 , 2 - butanediol a mixture of 5 . 0 g of lialh 4 and 30 ml of tetrahydrofuran was cooled to 0 ° c . 5 . 0 g of optically active 2 - butyryloxy - 1 - butanol in 15 ml of tetrahydrofuran was added dropwise to the mixture and stirred at room temperature for three hours . to the reaction mixture cooled in an ice bath , 10 ml of ethyl acetate , 10 ml of water and 10 ml of aqueous solution of 2n sodium hydroxide were added . after solids were removed by filtration from the reaction system , tetrahydrofuran was removed under reduced pressure from the filtrate , and 3 . 4 g of optically active 1 , 2 - butanediol was obtained . the third step : the preparation of optically active 1 , 2 - butanediol diacetate to a mixture of 0 . 34 g of optically active 1 , 2 - butanediol , 5 ml of toluene and 2 . 5 ml of pyridine , 1 . 2 g of acetyl chloride was added dropwise in an ice bath and stirred for two hours . 10 ml of water and 10 ml of toluene were added to the reaction mixture and stirred . the obtained solution was washed with 2n sodium hydroxide and then with water . the toluene solution dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate . toluene was distilled away from the solution under reduced pressure , the residue was purified with a chromatograph over silica gel , and 1 , 2 - butanediol diacetate was obtained . the obtained compound had a gas chromatographic purity of 95 . 0 %. it showed a specific rotation of [ α ] d 30 + 14 . 8 ( c = 1 . 12 , chcl 3 ). the optical purity of the compound was determined by using a column of optical resolution ( trade name : chiral cel ob , produced by daicel chemical industries , ltd ., in japan ). the antipode of the product was absent and the optical purity was 100 % ee . the preparation of optically active 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol ( in formula ( i ), r 1 is hydrogen , r 2 is ethyl and x is ## str10 ## a mixture of 23 g of enzyme lipase &# 34 ; amano &# 34 ; ces ( produced by amano pharmaceutical co ., ltd ), 40 g of ( r , s )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol and 16 . 5 g of vinyl caproate was reacted with stirring at 38 ° c . for eight hours . after the reaction was stopped , the enzyme was removed by filtration , and the enzyme on the filter paper was washed by using n - heptane . n - heptane was distilled away from the filtrate , the residue was purified with a chromatograph over silical gel , and 21 . 5 g of optically active 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - butanol and 23 g of 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - 2 - caproyloxybutane were obtained . the optical purity of the obtained compounds which was determined by using the same method as in examples 2 and 3 was 67 . 6 % ee and 100 % ee , respectively .

this invention provides optically active compounds which are starting materials of physiologically active substances , functional materials and the like , and the compounds are represented by the general formula : ## str1 ## wherein r 1 is hydrogen or alkanoyl of 2 - 20 carbon atoms , r 2 is alkyl of 1 - 40 carbon atoms , alkenyl of 1 - 40 carbon atoms , or alkynyl of 1 - 40 carbon atoms in which the alkyl , alkenyl or alkynyl moiety is possible to have phenyl , cyclohexyl , pyridyl , pyrimidyl , pyridadyl , pyrazyl , dioxyl , bicyclooctyl , or a substituent thereof , or halogen , cyanogen , oxygen , nitrogen , silicon or sulfur , and x is a protective group removable by a chemical method of organic synthesis and c * is an asymmetric carbon .

preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 shows a circuit diagram of an electric ballast system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . as shown in the drawing , the electric ballast comprises a voltage source vin ; a half bridge converter 100 ; a lamp portion 200 ; a lamp driving circuit 300 ; a lamp protector 400 ; resistors r 1 and r 5 ; capacitors c 1 , c 2 and c 3 ; and a diode z 1 . a first end of the resistor r 1 is connected to the power source vin ; the half bridge converter 100 is also connected to the power source vin ; the lamp portion 200 is connected to the half bridge converter 100 ; the lamp protector 400 is connected to the lamp portion 200 ; and the lamp driving circuit 300 has six terminals ( 1 ) through ( 6 ), the terminals ( 5 ) and ( 6 ) being respectively connected to each end of the half bridge converter 100 , and the terminal ( 4 ) being connected to both the resistor r 1 and the lamp protector 400 . further , the capacitor c 2 is connected to the terminal ( 1 ); the capacitor c 3 is connected between the terminal ( 2 ) and the capacitor c 2 ; the resistor r 5 is connected between the terminal ( 3 ) and a common terminal of the capacitors c 2 and c 3 ; the diode z 1 is connected between a common terminal of the terminal ( 4 ) and the resistor r 1 and a common terminal of the capacitors c 2 and c 3 and the resistor r 5 ; and the capacitor c 1 is connected in parallel to the diode z 1 . the half bridge converter 100 includes resistors r 2 and r 3 , a transformer t 1 , and transistors q 1 and q 2 . the transformer t 1 has two secondary coils — an upper secondary coil and a lower secondary coil . also , a first end and a second end of a primary coil of the transformer t 1 are respectively connected to the terminal { circle around ( 5 )} and the terminal { circle around ( 6 )} of the lamp driving circuit 300 . the resistor r 2 is connected to the upper secondary coil of the transformer t 1 and the resistor r 3 is connected to the lower secondary coil of the transformer t 1 . further , a source of the transistor q 1 is connected to the voltage source vin , a gate of the transistor q 1 is connected to the resistor r 2 , and a drain of the transistor q 1 is connected to the lower secondary coil of the transformer t 1 . in addition , a drain of the transistor q 2 is connected to a common terminal of the drain of the transistor q 1 and the upper secondary coil of the transformer t 1 , a gate of the transistor q 2 is connected to the resistor r 3 , and a source of the transistor q 2 is connected to the lower secondary coil of the transformer t 1 . the lamp portion 200 includes an inductor l 1 ; capacitors c 5 , c 6 and c 7 ; and a lamp lamp 1 . a first end of the inductor l 1 is connected to a common terminal of the transistor q 1 and the transistor q 2 , and a second end of the inductor l 1 is connected to the lamp lamp 1 . the capacitor c 5 is connected in parallel to both ends of the lamp lamp 1 , the capacitor c 6 is connected between the voltage source vin and a common terminal of the lamp lamp 1 and the capacitor c 5 , and the capacitor c 7 is connected between the common terminal of the lamp lamp 1 and the capacitor c 5 and the source of the transistor q 2 . the lamp protector 400 includes a capacitor c 4 and diodes d 1 and d 2 . the capacitor c 4 is connected to a common terminal of the capacitor c 6 , the capacitor c 7 , and the lamp lamp 1 . also , a cathode of the diode d 1 is connected to the capacitor c 4 , an anode of the diode d 1 is connected to the source of the transistor q 2 , an anode of the diode d 2 is connected to a common terminal of the capacitor and the diode d 1 , and a cathode of the diode d 2 is connected to the terminal { circle around ( 4 )} of the lamp driving circuit 300 . fig2 shows a detailed circuit diagram of the lamp driving circuit 300 . as shown in the drawing , the lamp driving circuit 300 includes a reference current generator 310 , a lamp drive starter 320 , a soft starter 330 , a sawtooth wave oscillator 340 , an adder a 1 , a current source i 1 , a pwm wave generator 350 , and a pwm wave splitter 360 . the reference current generator 310 is connected to the terminal ( 3 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , the lamp drive starter 320 is connected to the terminal ( 4 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , and the soft starter 330 is connected to both the reference current generator 310 and the lamp drive starter 320 . further , the sawtooth wave oscillator 340 and the soft starter 330 are connected to the adder a 1 ; the adder a 1 is connected to the terminal ( 2 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 and the current source i 1 the pwm wave generator 350 is connected to a common terminal of the current source i 1 , the adder a 1 , and the terminal ( 2 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 ; the pwm wave splitter 360 is connected to the pwm wave generator 350 and the lamp drive starter 320 ; and an output terminal of the pwm wave splitter 360 is connected to the terminals ( 5 ) and ( 6 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 . the reference current generator 310 includes resistors r 6 and r 7 , a capacitor c 8 , a comparator com 1 , and a transistor tr 1 . a first end of the resistor r 6 is connected to the terminal ( 3 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , the capacitor c 8 is connected between a second end of the resistor r 6 and a ground , a negative terminal of the comparator com 1 is connected to a common terminal of the capacitor c 8 and the resistor r 6 , and a positive terminal of the comparator com 1 is connected to a reference voltage vref . also , a base of the transistor tr 1 is connected to an output terminal of the comparator com 1 , an emitter of the transistor is connected to the resistor r 7 , and a collector of the transistor tr 1 is connected to a current mirror 311 . the soft starter 330 includes a current source 12 , switches s 2 and s 3 , a subtractor d 1 , and a multiplier m 1 . the switch s 2 is connected between the lamp drive starter 320 and the terminal ( 1 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , the switch s 3 is connected to the terminal ( 1 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , the current source 12 is connected between the switch s 3 and a ground , the subtractor d 1 is connected to the terminal ( 1 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , and the multiplier m 1 is connected to the subtractor d 1 and the current mirror 311 . the pwm wave generator 350 includes comparators com 2 and com 3 , and a latch 351 . a positive terminal of the comparator com 2 receives an input of 1v , a negative terminal of the comparator com 2 receives a charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 , a positive terminal of the comparator com 3 receives the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 , and a negative terminal of the comparator com 3 receives an input of 3v . further , an r terminal of the latch 351 is connected to an output terminal of the comparator com 2 , and an s terminal of the latch 351 is connected to an output terminal of the comparator com 3 . an operation of the electric ballast system of the present invention structured as in the above will now be described with reference to fig1 and 2 . the electric ballast system receives power through the input of the voltage source vin , thereby beginning the operation of the electric ballast system . a current supplied from the voltage source vin passes through the resistor r 1 to charge the capacitor c 1 . if a charge voltage of the capacitor c 1 exceeds a predetermined level , the lamp driving circuit 300 begins to operate . that is , when a voltage input to the terminal ( 4 ) exceeds a predetermined level , the lamp drive starter 320 begins to operate , which , in turn , controls the switch s 2 from off to on . further , since the switch s 3 is initially in an on state , if the switch s 2 is controlled to off when a charge voltage vc 2 of the capacitor c 2 is in a ground voltage state , the charge voltage vc 2 of the capacitor c 2 increases . at this time , a rate at which the charge voltage of the capacitor c 2 increases is determined by the capacitor c 2 . that is , if a capacity of the capacitor c 2 is small , the charge voltage vc 2 of the capacitor c 2 is more quickly increased , and if the capacity of the capacitor c 2 is large , the rate at which the charge voltage vc 2 of the capacitor c 2 increases is decreased . accordingly , the lamp driving circuit 300 can be started by the presence of the capacitor c 2 . the reference current generator 310 generates a reference current in the following manner . the reference voltage vref is supplied to the positive terminal of the comparator com 1 , and because a voltage of the negative terminal of the comparator com 1 also becomes the reference voltage and a current flowing to the resistor r 6 becomes almost zero , a voltage of the resistor r 5 becomes the reference voltage vref . as a result , a current flowing to the resistor r 5 becomes vref / r 5 , and since the current flowing to the resistor r 6 becomes almost zero , a current is flowing to the resistor r 7 also becomes vref / r 5 . the current mirror 311 receives the input of the current is , then outputs a reference current ik , the reference current ik being proportional to the current is . the reference current ik output by the reference current generator 310 is determined by a size of the resistor r 5 , which is connected to the terminal ( 3 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 . the subtractor d 1 outputs a difference between the reference voltage vref and the charge voltage vc 2 of the capacitor c 2 , and the multiplier m 1 multiplies the reference current ik output from the reference current generator 310 by the difference between the reference voltage vref and the charge voltage of the capacitor c 2 output by the subtractor d 1 , after which a resulting value is output to the adder a 1 . the resulting value , or an output current ih , therefore , is derived by the following calculation : ik ×( vref − vc 2 )/ vref . the output current ih can be varied as needed , as is understood by those in the art to which the present invention pertains . the output current ih of the multiplier m 1 and an output sawtooth wave current ic of the sawtooth wave oscillator 340 are received by the adder a 1 , after which the adder a 1 adds these two values and outputs a resulting current value ( i . e ., an output current ia ) to the capacitor c 3 . the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 is shown in fig3 . since the output current ia of the adder a 1 is the sum of the sawtooth wave current ic and the output current ih of the multiplier m 1 , the output current ia results in a waveform as shown in ( a ) of fig3 such that the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 is also depicted by ( a ) of fig3 . the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 varies between the 3v input voltage of the negative terminal of the comparator com 3 and the 1v input voltage of the positive terminal of the comparator com 2 . here , the input voltage of the negative terminal of the comparator com 3 and the input voltage of the positive terminal of the comparator com 2 can be varied as needed . since the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 takes on a sawtooth waveform between 1v and 3v as shown in fig3 an output waveform of the latch 351 results in a waveform as shown by ( b ) of fig3 . the reason for this is as follows . when the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 is at 1v , since an output value of the comparator com 2 ( the input value of the r terminal of the latch 351 ) is 1 and an output value of the comparator com 3 ( the input value of the s terminal of the latch 351 ) is 0 , an output value q of the latch 351 becomes 1 . further , in an interval where the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 increases from 1v to 3v , since the output values of the comparator com 2 and the comparator com 3 are both 0 , the output value q of the latch 351 is maintained at the previous value of 1 . however , when the charge voltage of the capacitor becomes 3v , since the output value of the comparator becomes 1 and the output value of the comparator com 2 becomes 0 , the output value q of the latch 351 becomes 0 . in the case where the output value q of the latch 351 is 1 , the switch s 1 and the switch s 3 are controlled to on . if the switch s 1 is controlled to on , since the current charged in the capacitor c 3 is minimized by as much as a current value of the current source i 1 , the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 is reduced . at this time , if the current value of the current source 11 is set to be larger than the output current ia of the adder a 1 , the voltage of the capacitor c 3 is discharged more quickly than when charged such that the charge voltage of the capacitor results in a waveform as shown by ( a ) of fig3 . in addition , in an interval where the charge voltage of the capacitor c 3 reduces from 3v to 1v by the on operation of the switch s 1 , since the output values of the comparators com 2 and com 3 become 0 , the output value q of the latch 351 is maintained at the previous value of 0 . accordingly , the output waveform of the latch 351 results in a waveform as shown by ( b ) of fig3 . the pwm wave splitter 360 splits output pwm waves of the pwm wave generator 350 through the terminals ( 5 ) and ( 6 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 . that is , the output pwm waves as shown in ( b ) of fig3 are output alternatingly through terminal ( 5 ) then through terminal ( 6 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 . by this operation , the lamp driving circuit 300 generates pwm waves , which are input to both ends of the primary coil of the half bridge converter 100 . when the pwm waves are output through the terminal ( 5 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , a current of a counterclockwise direction is induced to the upper secondary coil of the transformer t 1 , while a current of a clockwise direction is induced to the lower secondary coil of the transformer t 1 . as a result , the transistor q 1 is controlled to on and the transistor q 2 is controlled to off . in this case , current flows through a path of the transistor q 1 , the inductor l 1 , the lamp lamp 1 , and the capacitor c 7 ; as well as a path of the transistor q 1 , the inductor l 1 , the lamp lamp 1 , and the capacitor c 6 . a frequency of this current is a resonance frequency between the inductor l 1 and the capacitor c 7 . when the pwm waves are output through the terminal ( 6 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 , a current in the clockwise direction is induced to the upper secondary coil of the transformer t 1 , while a current of a counterclockwise direction is induced to the lower secondary coil of the transformer t 1 . as a result , the transistor q 1 is controlled to off and the transistor q 2 is controlled to on . in this case , current flows through a path of the capacitor c 6 , the lamp lamp 1 , the inductor l 1 , and the transistor q 2 ; as well as a path of the capacitor c 7 , the lamp lamp 1 , the inductor l 1 , and the transistor q 2 . a frequency of this current is a resonance frequency between the inductor l 1 and the capacitor c 6 . the lamp is operated by the lamp driving circuit 300 using the operational principles as outlined above . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the operation of the lamp driving circuit 300 is discontinued by the lamp protector 400 when there is no bulb installed in the lamp . an operation of the lamp protector 400 will now be described . the lamp protector 400 , with reference to fig1 and as described above , includes the capacitor c 4 and the diodes d 1 and d 2 . the capacitor c 4 is connected to a common terminal of the capacitor c 6 , the capacitor c 7 and the lamp lamp 1 such that a part of the current applied to the lamp lamp 1 is supplied through the terminal ( 4 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 . if a bulb is installed in the lamp lamp 1 , the current is supplied to the lamp driving circuit 300 , but when there is no bulb , current does not flow through the lamp lamp 1 . as a result , current does not flow to the lamp driving circuit 300 through the lamp protector 400 . the current supplied through the lamp protector 400 is supplied to the lamp drive starter 320 through the terminal ( 4 ) of the lamp driving circuit 300 . that is , the current supplied to the lamp drive starter 320 is supplied through the voltage source vin and the lamp protector 400 , and if the current is not supplied through the lamp protector 400 , the lamp drive starter 320 does not operate . this is because the lamp drive starter 320 operates only when a current of above a predetermined level is supplied thereto . as a result , the operation of the lamp drive circuit 300 can be discontinued when there is no bulb installed in the lamp lamp 1 , thereby preventing the continuous flow of current to the lamp driving circuit 300 when there is no bulb . therefore , the burning out of the internal elements of the lamp driving circuit 300 is prevented . further , a complicated lamp protecting circuit as used in the prior art is not needed . in addition , since no element is provided at a point where the transistor q 1 and the transistor q 2 meet , the transistors q 1 and q 2 can perform zero voltage switching . accordingly , an increase in the operational temperature of the transistors q 1 and q 2 , which causes the lamp driving circuit 300 to malfunction , is prevented . although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail hereinabove , it should be clearly understood that many variations and / or modifications of the basic inventive concepts herein taught which may appear to those skilled in the present art will still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention , as defined in the appended claims .

disclosed is an electric ballast system . the system comprises a voltage source for supplying power to the electric ballast system ; a lamp driving circuit having a first terminal , a second terminal , and a third terminal , the power of the voltage source being supplied through the first terminal to begin the driving of the electric ballast system , and the lamp driving circuit outputting pwm waves through the second and third terminals ; a half bridge converter , a first end of which is connected to the second terminal of the lamp driving circuit and a second end of which is connected to the third terminal of the lamp driving circuit , the half bridge converter receiving input through the second and third terminals of the lamp driving circuit , and the half bridge converter performing output of a current which changes flow directions according to the pwm waves output by the lamp driving circuit ; a lamp portion , a first end of which is connected to an output end of the half bridge converter , the lamp operating according to the current output by the half bridge converter ; and a lamp protector connected between a second end of the lamp and the first terminal of the lamp driving circuit , the lamp protector discontinuing the operation of the lamp driving circuit if there is no bulb installed in the lamp .

as shown in fig1 and 2 , a padlock 10 in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a base shell 20 , a locating bar 23 , a cover shell 30 , a shackle assembly 40 , and two combination lock sets 50 . the base shell 20 is a rectangular shell , having a first shackle groove 202 and a second shackle groove 204 bilaterally disposed at the top and arranged in parallel , and two posts 21 bilaterally perpendicularly extending from the front side and having respectively an inner notch 212 near the free end . the shackle grooves 202 and 204 have a semicircular cross section . the locating bar 23 is affixed to the base shell 20 with fastening members , for example , tie screws 25 . the locating bar 23 has a first shackle groove 232 and a second shackle groove 234 that match the first shackle groove 202 and second shackle groove 204 of the base shell 20 respectively . the first shackle groove 232 and the second shackle groove 234 have a semicircular cross section . after installation of the locating bar 23 in the base shell 20 , the first shackle grooves 202 and 232 form a round through hole for receiving a part of the shackle assembly 40 , and the second shackle grooves 204 and 234 form another round through hole for receiving another part of the shackle assembly 40 . the cover shell 30 has the bottom side thereof pivotally connected to the bottom side of the base shell 20 . therefore , the cover shell 30 can be closed on the base shell 20 or opened from the base shell 20 . when the cover shell 30 is closed on the base shell 20 , the peripheral wall of the cover shell 30 is closely abutted against the peripheral wall of the base shell 20 , thereby defining a storage chamber 31 in between the base shell 20 and the cover shell 30 . the cover shell 30 has a plurality of first rectangular through holes 32 and a plurality of second rectangular through holes 33 symmetrically arranged at two different elevations in communication with the storage chamber 31 , two compartments 34 respectively disposed corresponding to the first rectangular through holes 32 and the second rectangular through holes 33 , and two transverse grooves 35 bilaterally set between the compartments 34 and aligned in a line . the shackle assembly 40 comprises a substantially u - shaped shackle 42 and a control member 44 . the shackle 42 comprises a substantially u - shaped shackle body 421 , and a straight endpiece 423 axially extending from one end of the shackle body 421 . the straight endpiece 423 is pivotally and axially movably mounted in the round hole of the first shackle grooves 202 and 232 , for enabling the other end of the shackle body 421 to be inserted into the round hole of the second shackle grooves 204 and 234 . further , the straight endpiece 423 of the shackle 42 has a neck 425 disposed inside the round hole of the first shackle grooves 202 and 232 . the control member 44 is pivotally mounted inside the base shell 20 and provided with an actuating portion 441 and a retaining portion 443 at two sides of the pivoted middle part thereof to the base shell 20 . the retaining portion 443 is attached to the neck 425 of the endpiece 423 of the shackle 42 to stop the shackle 42 from axial movement relative to the base shell 20 . when pressed the actuating portion 441 , the control member 44 is biased to disengage the retaining portion 443 from the neck 425 of the endpiece 423 , and therefore the shackle 42 is unlocked . the shackle assembly 40 further comprises a spring member 46 stopped between the actuating portion 441 and the base shell 20 . the spring member 46 imparts an outward force to the actuating portion 441 , thereby holding the retaining portion 443 in engagement with the neck 425 of the endpiece 423 of the shackle 42 . referring to fig3 and fig1 and 2 again , the two combination lock sets 50 are located inside the chamber 31 . the combination lock sets each have a set of numbered wheels 55 and a movable plate 56 . a holder frame 51 is affixed to the cover shell 30 with fastening members , for example , tie screws 52 to hold the two combination lock sets 50 in the compartments 34 respectively and to have the numbered wheels 55 be respectively peripherally extended out of the first and second rectangular through holes 32 and 33 of the cover shell 30 . the two combination lock sets 50 further comprise two latches 53 respectively slidably mounted in the transverse grooves 35 of the cover shell 30 , and a spring member 54 . each of the latches 53 has a front end terminating in a tongue 532 corresponding to the inner notches 212 of the posts 21 . the spring member 54 is stopped between the rear ends of the latches 53 and adapted to force the tongues 532 of the latches 53 into engagement with the inner notches 212 of the posts 21 . the two movable plates 56 are respectively coupled to the two numbered wheel sets 55 for stopping against the rear ends of the latches 53 to prohibit displacement of the latches 53 in the grooves 35 . when the cover shell 30 is in the opened status , the movable plates 56 are disengaged from the latches 53 for allowing movement of the latches 53 in the respective grooves 35 away from the inner notches 212 of the posts 21 . when the user would like to open the padlock 10 , he / she needs to rotate the numbered wheels of the two numbered wheel sets 55 to show the correct combination for each numbered wheel set 55 . at this time , the movable plates 56 are biased relative to the two latches 53 and respectively disengaged from the latches 53 as shown in fig4 . at this time , the user can pull the cover shell 30 outwards from the base shell 20 to open the storage chamber 31 , and then press the actuating portion 441 of the control member 44 to disengage the retaining portion 443 from the neck 425 of the straight endpiece 423 of the shackle 42 , as shown in fig5 , thereby unlocking the shackle 42 . thus , the user can use the padlock 10 to lock things , and can keep a memo or any of a variety of small items in the storage chamber 31 . thereafter , the user can close the cover shell 30 on the base shell 20 , and then rotate the numbered wheels of each numbered wheel set 55 to show a wrong number combination respectively . at this time , the movable plates 56 are biased and stopped against the rear ends of the latches 53 , so that the tongues 532 of the latches 53 will be positively engaged with the inner notches 212 of the posts 21 ; therefore , the cover shell 30 is locked to the base shell 20 . as indicated above , the padlock 10 uses two numbered wheel sets 55 to control the latches 53 in locking / unlocking the cover shell 30 . the use of the two numbered wheel sets 55 greatly complicates the riddle of the number combinations , increasing the security level . further , the storage chamber 31 of the padlock 10 can be used to keep keys , memos , or other small items . fig6 shows an alternate preferred embodiment of the present invention . according to this embodiment , the padlock 60 is substantially similar to the aforesaid first embodiment with the exception that the shackle 61 has two straight endpieces 612 and 614 and a notch 616 at each of the straight endpieces 612 and 614 . when the two numbered wheel sets 63 respectively show the correct number combination , the two movable plates 632 are moved away from the respective latches 62 , allowing disengagement of the latches 62 from the notches 616 of the straight endpieces 612 and 614 , thereby unlocking the shackle 61 . the padlock 60 of this second embodiment achieves the same effects as the aforesaid first embodiment . although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration , various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims .

a padlock includes a base shell , a cover shell pivoted to and openably covered on the base shell to define with the base shell a storage chamber therebetween , a shackle movably mounted in the base shell , and two combination lock sets each having a latch engagable with the base shell for locking the cover shell to the base shell , a plurality of numbered wheels extending out of through holes of the cover shell , and a movable plate actuactable by the numbered wheels to move relative to the latch for engaging or disengaging the latch to further have the latch engage or disengage with the base shell so as to lock or unlock the cover shell to the base shell .

fig6 is a perspective view of a cable preparation tool shown generally at 100 as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . tool 100 includes tool handles 102 and 104 which are pivotally joined at a hinge 106 . handle 102 has a tool head end 110 and handle 104 has a tool head end 112 . tool handle 102 has a grip end 114 and handle 104 has a grip end 116 . grip end 116 contains a finger bore hole 118 . positioned between grip end 114 and grip end 116 is a resilient member 108 . resilient member 108 biases tool head ends 110 and 112 towards each other as described in further detail herein . a detachable blade cartridge assembly 122 is mounted to tool handle 104 at tool end 112 . blade cartridge assembly 122 includes a blade 136 , as shown in fig8 b , for scoring the jacket 12 and the foils 18 of shielded cable 10 . blade cartridge assembly 122 contains semi - cylindrical channel 134 and area of enlarged radius 132 which are positioned opposite semi - cylindrical channel 120 of tool handle 102 . a detachable template cartridge assembly 142 is mounted to tool handle 104 at cartridge receptacle 143 . template cartridge assembly 142 allows the installer to properly position wires 16 for installation into connector as described in further detail herein . cartridge receptacle 143 is shaped approximately congruent to insertion side 145 ( see fig7 c ) of template cartridge assembly 142 . cartridge receptacle 143 is sized slightly larger than template cartridge assembly 142 to allow insertion of the latter into the former while still maintaining sufficient friction between contacting surfaces to prevent cartridge dislodgment during tool 100 usage . fig7 a depicts a perspective view of template cartridge assembly 142 . template cartridge assembly 142 is comprised of cartridge base 152 upon which a planar extension 150 and an angled extension 148 are mounted . planar extension 150 contains a semi - cylindrical cut - out 157 to aid in the separation and positioning of wires 16 when inserted into template cartridge assembly 142 in preparation of termination with a connector . angled extension 148 contains indicia 146 discussed below . planar extension 150 and angled extension 148 are mounted on cartridge base 152 perpendicular to each other such that four sectors 151 are formed . funnels 149 are bored into cartridge base 152 in each sector 151 . funnels 149 are conical in shape and taper to holes 144 to guide wires 16 into holes 144 during use of template cartridge assembly 142 . the height of angled extension 148 above base 152 and height y of base 152 are established so that a predetermined length of wire extends from the cable jacket 12 after cable preparation as described herein . fig7 b is a top view of template cartridge assembly 142 . cartridge base 152 contains eight holes 144 paired in each sector 149 . angled extension 148 contains indicia 146 corresponding to each of the eight holes 144 . indicia 146 may be comprised of color codes , words , and / or symbols and may be used to instruct the installer in the proper positioning of each wire 16 for termination into one or several connector types . fig7 c is a bottom view of template cartridge assembly 142 . template cartridge assembly 142 is placed in cartridge receptacle 143 for use with tool 100 as discussed more fully herein . the bottom 145 of cartridge base 152 includes exit holes 144 ′ which correspond to holes 144 of fig7 b . fig8 a depicts a front view of blade cartridge assembly 122 . indicia 139 is embossed on front wall 138 . indicia 139 may be comprised of words , symbols , and / or color codes and may indicate the proper direction to direct fully shielded cable 10 onto template blade cartridge assembly 122 when preparing cable for connector installation . guide rails 137 are mounted on first and second side walls 133 and 135 . contact surface 131 contains semi - cylindrical channel 134 and an area of enlarged radius 132 . stop tab 130 extends from front wall 138 in a direction opposite contact surface 131 . stop tab 130 is a safety precaution which prevents cartridge slippage and blade mishandling during tool usage . fig8 b is a plan view of contact surface 131 of blade cartridge assembly 122 . a blade 136 is positioned in semi - cylindrical channel 134 a determined distance from area of enlarged radius 132 . this distance corresponds to the length of metallic foil 18 required to remain on each pair of individual insulated wire 16 after scoring , as discussed below in conjunction with fig1 and 11 . blade 136 is set into blade cartridge assembly 122 to prevent unintended contact with the blade but still allow proper scoring of outerjacket 12 and metallic foils 18 . fig8 c is a plan view of the bottom surface 140 of blade cartridge assembly 122 . bottom surface 140 is arranged opposite contact surface 131 . blade base 136 ′ mounted to side walls 133 and 135 via mounting members 141 . use of tool 100 will now be described . fig9 a and 9b depict the removal of the cable jacket 12 using tool 100 . handles 102 and 104 of tool 100 are depressed towards each other to spread tool ends 110 and 1 12 apart . cable 10 is placed in semi - cylindrical channel 134 , as shown in fig9 a , so that blade 136 contacts cable jacket 12 approximately thirty - five to fifty millimeters from the end to be terminated of fully shielded cable 10 . tool handles 102 and 104 are then released . tool ends 110 and 112 are biased together by resilient member 108 pressing blade 136 against jacket 12 . tool 100 is then rotated around cable 10 to score cable jacket 12 . scored jacket 12 is removed by hand and metallic braid 14 is folded back at scored jacket edge 15 , as shown in fig9 b , exposing wires 16 wrapped in metallic foils 18 . fig1 a and 10b depict the scoring of metallic foil 18 using tool 100 . handles 102 and 104 of tool 100 are depressed towards each other to spread tool ends 110 and 112 apart . the four pairs of wires 16 , each surrounded by foil 18 , are placed in semi - cylindrical channel 134 simultaneously and arranged so that wires 16 traverse blade 136 with excess wires 16 extending , if necessary , beyond the end of contact surface 131 of blade cartridge assembly 122 . the scored jacket edge 15 of jacket 12 abuts inner wall 132 ′ of area of enlarged radius 132 . this allows an appropriate distance of eleven and one - half to fourteen millimeters of metallic foils 18 to remain on wires 16 as shown in fig1 b . the absence of cable jacket 12 from semi - cylindrical channel 134 while scoring metallic foils 18 allows for unencumbered contact between blade 136 and metallic foils 18 . tool handles 102 and 104 are then released . tool ends 1 10 and 112 are biased together by resilient member 108 pressing blade 136 against at least one metallic foil 18 . tool 100 is then rotated once around cable 10 to score the four individual metallic foils 18 . fig1 a and 11b depict the removal of scored metallic foils 18 from wires 16 . wires 16 are bent ( e . g ., three times ) into positions at an angle relative to cable 10 using the score in metallic foils 18 as the axis of rotation , as shown in fig1 a . wires 16 are then returned to a position in line with cable 10 and metallic foils 18 are removed by hand as depicted in fig1 b . approximately eleven and one - half to fourteen millimeters of metallic foils 18 remain wrapped on wires 16 . fig1 and 13 depict the method of arranging individual wires 16 for insertion into termination caps 22 on connector 20 . based on indicia 146 , the wires 16 are positioned in holes 144 of template cartridge assembly 142 , as shown in fig1 . wires 16 that emerge from exit holes 144 ′ are severed and discarded as shown in fig1 . as noted above , the height , x , of angled extension 148 and height , y , of base 152 establish the amount of wire 16 that extends from cable jacket 12 after severing wires 16 as shown in fig1 . wires 16 are removed from template cartridge assembly 142 . fully shielded cable 10 is now prepared for termination on insulation displacement contacts in connector 20 . fig1 is a perspective view of cable preparation tool 200 , an alternative embodiment of the invention . tool 200 includes first and second tool handles 202 and 204 which are pivotally joined at a hinge 206 . handle 202 has a tool head end 208 and handle 204 has a tool head end 210 ( shown in fig1 ). tool handle 202 has a grip end 212 and handle 204 has a grip end 214 . positioned between grip end 212 and grip end 214 is a resilient member 216 which biases tool head ends 208 and 210 towards each other as described in further detail herein . a detachable tool head 220 is mounted to handle 204 and includes a blade for scoring the jacket 12 and the foils 18 of shielded cable 10 . handle 202 includes channels 209 that are positioned opposite channels in detachable tool head 220 . tool handle 204 includes a template 222 comprised of eight holes 224 and indicia 226 positioned adjacent to the holes . the template 222 allows the installer to arrange the wires 16 in the proper locations by positioning the wires 16 in holes 224 . the indicia adjacent to the holes 224 instruct the installer as to which wire is to be positioned in each hole 224 . wires 16 in cable 10 are typically color coded and thus indicia 226 on template 222 may be color coded instructing the installer of the proper position for each wire 16 . indicia 226 may also include words for indicating to the installer the type of connector the template 222 is used with ( e . g . an outlet ). on the inside of handles 204 and 202 are protrusions 228 and 230 each having a surface for contacting termination caps 22 . fig1 is an exploded , perspective view of tool 200 showing tool head 220 detached . tool head 220 includes a semi - cylindrical first channel 240 having an end wall 242 and a semi - cylindrical second channel 244 having an end wall 246 . a blade 248 is positioned in each channel . fig1 depicts the template 222 which may include indicia 226 ′ different from the indicia 226 on the opposite side of handle 204 . the indicia 226 ′ may be color codes instructing the installer of the proper position for each wire . indicia 226 ′ may also include words for indicating to the installer the type of connector the template 222 is used with ( e . g . a plug ). the use of different indicia on each side of handle 204 allows a template for two different components ( e . g . an outlet and a plug ). use of tool 200 will now be described . fig1 a and 16b depict the removal of the cable jacket 12 using tool 200 . handles 202 and 204 are depressed towards each other as indicated by arrows a to spread tool head ends 208 and 210 apart . cable 10 is placed in first channel 240 abutting end wall 242 . as described below with reference to fig2 and 21 , the end wall 242 of channel 240 is positioned so that a predetermined amount of the jacket 12 will be removed . handles 202 and 204 are released and spring member 216 biases tool head ends 208 and 210 towards each other . blade 248 contacts the jacket 12 . tool 200 is then rotated around cable 10 as shown in fig1 b to score the jacket 12 which then can be removed by hand . fig1 a and 17b depict removal of the foils 18 using tool 200 . handles 202 and 204 are depressed towards each other as indicated by arrows a to spread tool head ends 208 and 210 apart . the four pairs of wires 16 , each surrounded by foil 18 , are placed in second channel 244 simultaneously so that the ends of wires 16 abut 246 . second channel 244 may have a radius less than that of first channel 240 . as described below with reference to fig2 and 21 , the end wall 246 of channel 244 is positioned so that a predetermined amount of the foils 18 will be removed . handles 202 and 204 are released and spring member 216 biases tool head ends 208 and 210 towards each other . blade 248 contacts at least one foil 18 . tool 200 is then rotated around cable 10 as shown in fig1 b to score the four individual foils 18 which then can be removed by hand . fig1 a and 18b depicts the usage of template 222 to arrange the individual wires 16 for connector termination . based on indicia 226 or 226 ′( depending on the installation ) the wires 16 are positioned in holes 224 in template 222 to properly position wires 16 for installation with a connector . fig1 depicts the step of terminating the wires to a connector . wires 16 are positioned in termination caps 22 of connector 20 in the proper order as established by template 222 . the connector 20 is positioned between handles 202 and 204 so that the termination caps 22 are positioned adjacent protrusions 228 and 230 . handles 202 and 204 are depressed towards each other as indicated by arrows a driving the termination caps 22 into the connector 20 and terminating wires 16 on insulation displacement contacts in connector 20 . fig2 depicts tool head 220 . in first channel 240 , the distance from the blade 248 to the end wall 242 is equal to length a shown in fig4 . as described above , to remove the jacket 12 , the cable 10 is inserted into channel 240 until the cable end contacts end wall 242 . this ensures that the right amount of jacket 12 is removed . similarly , in channel 244 the distance between blade 248 and end wall 246 is equal to length b shown in fig4 . to remove the foils 18 , the pairs of wires 16 are positioned in channel 244 until the ends of the pairs of wires 16 contact end wall 246 . this ensures that the right amount of foil is removed . fig2 and 23 depict an alternative tool head 300 having a single channel 302 . it is understood that tool 200 would be modified to have a single semi - cylindrical channel aligned with channel 302 when using tool head 300 . the tool head 300 has a first side wall 308 and a second side wall 310 , as shown in fig2 . blade 304 is positioned a distance a from the first side wall 308 and positioned a distance b from the second side wall 310 . to remove the jacket 12 , the cable 10 is inserted in channel 302 from side wall 310 until the end of the cable 10 is aligned with wall 308 . the tool is then rotated to score the jacket 12 at the appropriate position . to remove the foils 18 , the cable 10 is inserted in channel 302 from side wall 308 until the ends of the pairs of wires 16 are aligned with wall 310 . the tool is then rotated to score the foils 18 at the appropriate position . channel 302 includes an area of enlarged radius 306 ( relative to the remainder of channel 302 ) that receives the cable jacket 12 when the foils 18 are being scored . the area of enlarged radius 306 allows the foils 18 to contact blade 304 . without area 306 , the jacket 12 could prevent the foils 18 from contacting blade 304 . the present invention provides a tool for removing the outer jacket , removing the foils and arranging the inner wires of fully shielded cable for termination onto a connector . the present invention reduces labor costs by reducing installation time , eliminates the need for multiple tools , and ensures the safety of the installer by eliminating the use of open blades . the invention has been described in connection with a shielded cable having four pairs of wires with each pair encased in a foil . it is understood that the invention may be adapted to use with different cable configurations such as two - pair . while preferred embodiments have been shown and described , various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation .

an improved cable preparation tool and an accompanying method which , when utilized concurrently , prepare fully shielded cables for termination into connecting devices . a preferred embodiment of the tool has hinged first and second tool handles biased together about a hinge by a resilient member . one end of a tool handle is fitted with a receptacle to receive and mount a detachable blade cartridge assembly which cuts the cable jacket and shielding metallic foils wrapped around individual pairs of insulated wires . a second receptacle is provided in either tool handle to receive a detachable template cartridge assembly which is used to properly position wires for termination into a connector . an exemplary method of cable preparation using the tool includes removing a cutting a cable jacket , cutting a plurality of foils and aligning wires using a single cable preparation tool .

the present description is related to improving hybrid vehicle emissions after an engine is started . the hybrid vehicle may include an engine as is shown in fig1 . further , the engine may be included in a driveline of the hybrid vehicle as is shown in fig2 . engine emissions may be reduced via heating a catalyst by operating an engine and driveline integrated starter / generator ( disg ) as shown in the sequence of fig3 . the engine and disg may be operated according to the method of fig4 in the system of fig1 and 2 to provide the operating sequence shown in fig3 . referring to fig1 , internal combustion engine 10 , comprising a plurality of cylinders , one cylinder of which is shown in fig1 , is controlled by electronic engine controller 12 . engine 10 includes combustion chamber 30 and cylinder walls 32 with piston 36 positioned therein and connected to crankshaft 40 . flywheel 97 and ring gear 99 are coupled to crankshaft 40 . starter 96 ( e . g ., low voltage ( operated with less than 30 volts ) electric machine ) includes pinion shaft 98 and pinion gear 95 . pinion shaft 98 may selectively advance pinion gear 95 to engage ring gear 99 . starter 96 may be directly mounted to the front of the engine or the rear of the engine . in some examples , starter 96 may selectively supply torque to crankshaft 40 via a belt or chain . in one example , starter 96 is in a base state when not engaged to the engine crankshaft . combustion chamber 30 is shown communicating with intake manifold 44 and exhaust manifold 48 via respective intake valve 52 and exhaust valve 54 . each intake and exhaust valve may be operated by an intake cam 51 and an exhaust cam 53 . the position of intake cam 51 may be determined by intake cam sensor 55 . the position of exhaust cam 53 may be determined by exhaust cam sensor 57 . fuel injector 66 is shown positioned to inject fuel directly into cylinder 30 , which is known to those skilled in the art as direct injection . alternatively , fuel may be injected to an intake port , which is known to those skilled in the art as port injection . fuel injector 66 delivers liquid fuel in proportion to the pulse width from controller 12 . fuel is delivered to fuel injector 66 by a fuel system ( not shown ) including a fuel tank , fuel pump , and fuel rail ( not shown ). in addition , intake manifold 44 is shown communicating with turbocharger compressor 162 . shaft 161 mechanically couples turbocharger turbine 164 to turbocharger compressor 162 . optional electronic throttle 62 adjusts a position of throttle plate 64 to control air flow from air intake 42 to compressor 162 and intake manifold 44 . in one example , a high pressure , dual stage , fuel system may be used to generate higher fuel pressures . in some examples , throttle 62 and throttle plate 64 may be positioned between intake valve 52 and intake manifold 44 such that throttle 62 is a port throttle . distributorless ignition system 88 provides an ignition spark to combustion chamber 30 via spark plug 92 in response to controller 12 . universal exhaust gas oxygen ( uego ) sensor 126 is shown coupled to exhaust manifold 48 upstream of catalytic converter 70 . alternatively , a two - state exhaust gas oxygen sensor may be substituted for uego sensor 126 . converter 70 can include multiple catalyst bricks , in one example . in another example , multiple emission control devices , each with multiple bricks , can be used . converter 70 can be a three - way type catalyst in one example . controller 12 is shown in fig1 as a conventional microcomputer including : microprocessor unit 102 , input / output ports 104 , read - only memory 106 ( e . g ., non - transitory memory ), random access memory 108 , keep alive memory 110 , and a conventional data bus . controller 12 is shown receiving various signals from sensors coupled to engine 10 , in addition to those signals previously discussed , including : engine coolant temperature ( ect ) from temperature sensor 112 coupled to cooling sleeve 114 ; a position sensor 134 coupled to an accelerator pedal 130 for sensing force applied by foot 132 ; a position sensor 154 coupled to brake pedal 150 for sensing force applied by foot 152 , a measurement of engine manifold pressure ( map ) from pressure sensor 122 coupled to intake manifold 44 ; an engine position sensor from a hall effect sensor 118 sensing crankshaft 40 position ; a measurement of air mass entering the engine from sensor 120 ; and a measurement of throttle position from sensor 58 . barometric pressure may also be sensed ( sensor not shown ) for processing by controller 12 . in a preferred aspect of the present description , engine position sensor 118 produces a predetermined number of equally spaced pulses every revolution of the crankshaft from which engine speed ( rpm ) can be determined . in some examples , the engine may be coupled to an electric motor / battery system in a hybrid vehicle as shown in fig2 . further , in some examples , other engine configurations may be employed , for example a diesel engine . during operation , each cylinder within engine 10 typically undergoes a four stroke cycle : the cycle includes the intake stroke , compression stroke , expansion stroke , and exhaust stroke . during the intake stroke , generally , the exhaust valve 54 closes and intake valve 52 opens . air is introduced into combustion chamber 30 via intake manifold 44 , and piston 36 moves to the bottom of the cylinder so as to increase the volume within combustion chamber 30 . the position at which piston 36 is near the bottom of the cylinder and at the end of its stroke ( e . g . when combustion chamber 30 is at its largest volume ) is typically referred to by those of skill in the art as bottom dead center ( bdc ). during the compression stroke , intake valve 52 and exhaust valve 54 are closed . piston 36 moves toward the cylinder head so as to compress the air within combustion chamber 30 . the point at which piston 36 is at the end of its stroke and closest to the cylinder head ( e . g . when combustion chamber 30 is at its smallest volume ) is typically referred to by those of skill in the art as top dead center ( tdc ). in a process hereinafter referred to as injection , fuel is introduced into the combustion chamber . in a process hereinafter referred to as ignition , the injected fuel is ignited by known ignition means such as spark plug 92 , resulting in combustion . during the expansion stroke , the expanding gases push piston 36 back to bdc . crankshaft 40 converts piston movement into a rotational torque of the rotary shaft . finally , during the exhaust stroke , the exhaust valve 54 opens to release the combusted air - fuel mixture to exhaust manifold 48 and the piston returns to tdc . note that the above is shown merely as an example , and that intake and exhaust valve opening and / or closing timings may vary , such as to provide positive or negative valve overlap , late intake valve closing , or various other examples . fig2 is a block diagram of a vehicle 225 including a driveline 200 . the driveline of fig2 includes engine 10 shown in fig1 . driveline 200 may be powered by engine 10 . engine 10 may be started with an engine starting system shown in fig1 or via driveline integrated starter / generator ( disg ) 240 . disg 240 ( e . g ., high voltage ( operated with greater than 30 volts ) electrical machine ) may also be referred to as an electric machine , motor , and / or generator . further , torque of engine 10 may be adjusted via torque actuator 204 , such as a fuel injector , throttle , etc . an engine output torque may be transmitted to an input side of driveline disconnect clutch 236 through dual mass flywheel 215 . disconnect clutch 236 may be electrically or hydraulically actuated . the downstream side of disconnect clutch 236 is shown mechanically coupled to disg input shaft 237 . disg 240 may be operated to provide torque to driveline 200 or to convert driveline torque into electrical energy to be stored in electric energy storage device 275 . disg 240 has a higher output torque capacity than starter 96 shown in fig1 . further , disg 240 directly drives driveline 200 or is directly driven by driveline 200 . there are no belts , gears , or chains to couple disg 240 to driveline 200 . rather , disg 240 rotates at the same rate as driveline 200 . electrical energy storage device 275 ( e . g ., high voltage battery or power source ) may be a battery , capacitor , or inductor . the downstream side of disg 240 is mechanically coupled to the impeller 285 of torque converter 206 via shaft 241 . the upstream side of the disg 240 is mechanically coupled to the disconnect clutch 236 . torque converter 206 includes a turbine 286 to output torque to input shaft 270 . input shaft 270 mechanically couples torque converter 206 to automatic transmission 208 . torque converter 206 also includes a torque converter bypass lock - up clutch 212 ( tcc ). torque is directly transferred from impeller 285 to turbine 286 when tcc is locked . tcc is electrically operated by controller 12 . alternatively , tcc may be hydraulically locked . in one example , the torque converter may be referred to as a component of the transmission . when torque converter lock - up clutch 212 is fully disengaged , torque converter 206 transmits engine torque to automatic transmission 208 via fluid transfer between the torque converter turbine 286 and torque converter impeller 285 , thereby enabling torque multiplication . in contrast , when torque converter lock - up clutch 212 is fully engaged , the engine output torque is directly transferred via the torque converter clutch to an input shaft ( not shown ) of transmission 208 . alternatively , the torque converter lock - up clutch 212 may be partially engaged , thereby enabling the amount of torque directly relayed to the transmission to be adjusted . the controller 12 may be configured to adjust the amount of torque transmitted by torque converter 212 by adjusting the torque converter lock - up clutch in response to various engine operating conditions , or based on a driver - based engine operation request . automatic transmission 208 includes gear clutches ( e . g ., gears 1 - 6 ) 211 and forward clutch 210 . the gear clutches 211 ( e . g ., 1 - 10 ) and the forward clutch 210 may be selectively engaged to propel a vehicle . torque output from the automatic transmission 208 may in turn be relayed to wheels 216 to propel the vehicle via output shaft 260 . specifically , automatic transmission 208 may transfer an input driving torque at the input shaft 270 responsive to a vehicle traveling condition before transmitting an output driving torque to the wheels 216 . further , a frictional force may be applied to wheels 216 by engaging wheel brakes 218 . in one example , wheel brakes 218 may be engaged in response to the driver pressing his foot on a brake pedal ( not shown ). in other examples , controller 12 or a controller linked to controller 12 may apply engage wheel brakes . in the same way , a frictional force may be reduced to wheels 216 by disengaging wheel brakes 218 in response to the driver releasing his foot from a brake pedal . further , vehicle brakes may apply a frictional force to wheels 216 via controller 12 as part of an automated engine stopping procedure . controller 12 may be configured to receive inputs from engine 10 , as shown in more detail in fig1 , and accordingly control a torque output of the engine and / or operation of the torque converter , transmission , disg , clutches , and / or brakes . as one example , an engine torque output may be controlled by adjusting a combination of spark timing , fuel pulse width , fuel pulse timing , and / or air charge , by controlling throttle opening and / or valve timing , valve lift and boost for turbo - or super - charged engines . in the case of a diesel engine , controller 12 may control the engine torque output by controlling a combination of fuel pulse width , fuel pulse timing , and air charge . in all cases , engine control may be performed on a cylinder - by - cylinder basis to control the engine torque output . controller 12 may also control torque output and electrical energy production from disg by adjusting current flowing to and from field and / or armature windings of disg as is known in the art . when idle - stop conditions are satisfied , controller 12 may initiate engine shutdown by shutting off fuel and spark to the engine . however , the engine may continue to rotate in some examples . further , to maintain an amount of torsion in the transmission , the controller 12 may ground rotating elements of transmission 208 to a case 259 of the transmission and thereby to the frame of the vehicle . when engine restart conditions are satisfied , and / or a vehicle operator wants to launch the vehicle , controller 12 may reactivate engine 10 by craning engine 10 and resuming cylinder combustion . referring now to fig3 , an example hybrid vehicle operating sequence is shown . the sequence of fig3 may be provided by the system of fig1 and 2 executing the method of fig4 stored as instructions in non - transitory memory . the vertical lines at t 1 - t 5 represent particular time of interest during the sequence . the first plot from the top of fig3 is a plot of vehicle speed versus time . the y axis represents vehicle speed and vehicle speed increases in the direction of the y axis arrow . the x axis represents time and time increases from the left to right side of the figure . the second plot from the top of fig3 is a plot of active transmission gear versus time . the y axis represents active transmission gear and the active transmission gears are indicated along the y axis . the x axis represents time and time increases from the left to right side of the figure . the third plot from the top of fig3 is a plot of engine and disg speed versus time . the y axis represents engine and disg speed and engine and disg speed increases in the direction of the y axis arrow . the x axis represents time and time increases from the left to right side of the figure . the engine and the disg are coupled together during the sequence via the driveline disconnect clutch . the fourth plot from the top of fig3 is a plot of driver demand torque versus time . the y axis represents driver demand torque and driver demand torque increases in the direction of the y axis arrow . the x axis represents time and time increases from the left to right side of the figure . the fifth plot from the top of fig3 is a plot of engine air mass or mass of air flowing through the engine versus time . the y axis represents engine air mass and engine air mass increases in the direction of the y axis arrow . the x axis represents time and time increases from the left to right side of the figure . the sixth plot from the top of fig3 is a plot of disg torque versus time . the y axis represents disg torque and disg torque increases in the direction of the y axis arrow . the x axis represents time and time increases from the left to right side of the figure . horizontal line 302 represents a maximum disg torque at disg speeds below a disg speed where the disg changes from having a constant maximum torque output to having a constant maximum power output . the seventh plot from the top of fig3 is a plot of engine torque versus time . the y axis represents engine torque and engine torque increases in the direction of the y axis arrow . the x axis represents time and time increases from the left to right side of the figure . at time t 0 , a driver inputs a driver demand torque after a cold engine start and vehicle speed begins to increase . the engine air mass or air flowing through the engine is at a predetermined constant level . the disg torque begins to increase in response to the driver demand torque and the engine torque begins to decrease so that disg torque plus engine torque meets the driver demand torque at a torque converter impeller that is downstream of the disg . the engine speed increases since the disg and engine are coupled and because the combined disg and engine torque is increasing in response to the driver demand torque . the transmission is in first gear and the vehicle speed begins to increase in response to the driver demand torque . at time t 1 , the transmission shifts into second gear . the transmission shifts in response to the driver demand torque and vehicle speed . the vehicle speed continues to increase and the engine speed and disg speed decrease in response to shifting into a higher gear . the driver demand torque is slowly being reduced in response to a driver operating the accelerator pedal , and the engine air mass remains constant even though engine speed is reduced . engine air mass may be held constant when engine speed is reduced by opening the engine &# 39 ; s throttle and / or advancing intake valve timing . opening the engine throttle and / or advancing intake valve timing increases engine torque . the disg torque is reduced in response to the increase in engine torque . between time t 1 and time t 2 , the engine &# 39 ; s throttle is closed ( not shown ) to maintain constant engine air flow as engine speed and disg speed increase . closing the engine &# 39 ; s throttle reduces intake manifold pressure so that engine cylinders produce less torque for each combustion event . consequently , engine torque decreases in response to engine speed increasing and maintaining constant engine air flow . at time t 2 , the transmission shifts from second gear to third gear in response to vehicle speed and driver demand torque . the engine and disg speed are reduced in response to the transmission entering third gear . the engine air mass remains constant and the engine torque increases in response to the decrease in engine speed to maintain the constant engine air mass . the engine torque is increased via opening the engine &# 39 ; s throttle or advancing intake valve opening timing . the disg torque is reduced in response to increasing engine torque . the engine torque plus the disg torque provides the desired driver demand torque at the vehicle &# 39 ; s torque converter impeller . at time t 3 , the vehicle speed has reached a higher level and the driver reduces the driver demand torque via partially releasing the accelerator pedal . the engine torque increases to maintain engine air flow and disg torque is decreased in response to the decreased driver demand torque and the increased engine torque . the engine speed and disg speed are reduced in response to the reduced driver demand torque . the transmission remains in third gear and the vehicle speed begins to decrease . between time t 3 and time t 4 , the driver demand torque remains low and the engine speed and disg speed decrease in response to the low driver demand torque . the engine torque increases a slight amount to maintain the engine air amount and the disg torque decreases in response to the increase in engine torque . the vehicle speed continued to slow . at time t 4 , the driver increases the driver demand torque via applying the accelerator pedal . the transmission remains in third gear and the engine and disg speed begin to increase in response to the combined disg torque and engine torque providing the driver demand torque . the engine torque decreases as the engine speed increases to maintain the constant engine air flow . the disg torque increases with the increasing driver demand torque and decreasing engine torque . at time t 5 , the disg torque reaches torque limit 302 . torque limit 302 may be a maximum engine torque at the present disg speed . the maximum disg torque is a function of disg speed . disg torque is maintained at the maximum disg torque and engine torque is increased so that the disg torque plus engine torque provides the driver demand torque at the vehicle &# 39 ; s torque converter impeller . the engine air flow is increased to increase engine torque after the disg is at its maximum torque . thus , if the disg provides its maximum torque and additional torque is needed to meet driver demand torque , the engine air mass may be increased to meet the driver demand torque . in this way , the engine air flow may be held at a constant flow until driver demand torque exceeds maximum disg torque plus engine torque when the engine is operated with the predetermined constant air mass . referring now to fig4 , a method for operating a hybrid vehicle driveline is shown . the method of fig4 may be included in the system of fig1 and 2 as executable instructions stored in non - transitory memory . additionally , the method of fig4 may provide the operating sequence shown in fig3 . at 402 , method 400 judges if the engine is being cold started . alternatively , or in addition , method 400 may judge if the engine is operating within predetermined conditions after a cold start , or if the engine is operating within predetermined conditions after a warm engine start . the predetermined conditions after cold and / or warm start may be that a catalyst temperature is less than a first threshold temperature and / or that engine temperature is less than a second threshold temperature . the engine may be considered to be cold started when engine and / or exhaust component temperature is less than a threshold temperature ( e . g ., 20 ° c .) and before the engine has been operating for a predetermined amount of time or before the engine has reached a threshold temperature . if method 400 judges that the engine is being cold started or if the engine is operating within predetermined conditions after a start , the answer is yes and method 400 proceeds to 404 . otherwise , the answer is no and method 400 proceeds to 450 . at 450 , method 400 adjusts the engine air mass in response to the driver demand torque and spark is adjusted to knock limited or mbt spark timing . for example , if driver demand torque increases , the engine air amount increases . if driver demand torque decreases , the engine air amount decreases . additionally , the engine air - fuel ratio averages a near stoichiometric air - fuel ratio . method 400 proceeds to exit after engine air - fuel ratio is adjusted . at 404 , method 400 determines engine speed . in one example , engine speed is determined via measuring time between engine positions via an engine position sensor . further , method 400 determines driver demand torque at 404 . in one example , driver demand torque may be based on accelerator pedal position and vehicle speed . specifically , vehicle speed and accelerator pedal position are used to index a table containing empirically determined driver demand torques . the table outputs the driver demand torque based on the accelerator pedal position and vehicle speed . method 400 proceeds to 406 after engine speed is determined . at 406 , method 400 determines desired engine air mass or the desired amount of air to flow through the engine . in one example , the desire engine air mass is empirically determined and stored in a table or function that is indexed based on engine temperature and / or catalyst temperature . additionally , the table or function may be indexed via time since engine stop . the table may contain desired engine air mass amounts that allow a catalyst in the engine exhaust system to reach a desired temperature within a threshold amount of time . the desired engine air mass may be a substantially constant value ( e . g ., varying less than 10 %) from the time since engine speed reaches a threshold speed after engine stop until a catalyst reaches a desired temperature or until driver demand exceeds a threshold torque , including all time between . further , in some examples , the substantially constant air mass may be based on engine temperature or catalyst temperature during engine starting . for example , the engine air mass may be a greater value for lower catalyst and engine temperatures , though the engine air mass remains constant from a time the engine reaches a threshold speed after engine stop until predetermined conditions are achieved ( e . g ., the catalyst or engine reach a threshold temperature ). for example , if engine temperature is 20 ° c . during a first start , the engine air flow may be x kg / sec . however , if engine temperature is 15 ° c . during a second start , the engine air flow may be y kg / sec , where y is greater than x . the respective x and y air masses may flow through the engine from the time since engine speed reaches a threshold speed after engine stop until a catalyst reaches a desired temperature or until driver demand exceeds a threshold torque . the desired engine air mass is output from the table and method 400 proceeds to 408 . at 408 , method 400 determines a desired spark retard from minimum spark advance timing for best engine torque ( mbt ). in one example , the spark retard from mbt is empirically determined and stored in a table or function that may be indexed based on time since engine stop and / or engine or catalyst temperature . the table or function outputs a spark retard and method 400 proceeds to 410 . in one example , the spark retard from mbt spark timing may be substantially constant ( e . g ., changing by less than 5 crankshaft angle degrees ) from the time since engine stop until a catalyst reaches a desired temperature or until driver demand exceeds a threshold torque . at 410 , method 400 determines desired engine torque to provide the desire engine air mass determined at 406 . in one example , the desired engine air flow determined at 406 is multiplied by a fuel to air ratio to determine a fuel flow rate . the fuel flow rate may be used to index a table or function that outputs engine torque based on fuel flow rate and engine speed . the table or function outputs empirically determined engine torque values corresponding to the engine torque produced at the present engine speed when engine fuel flow is based on the desired air flow and fuel to air ratio . method 400 proceeds to 412 after the desired engine torque is determined . at 412 , method 400 determines the desired disg or motor torque . in one example , the desired motor torque is determined via the following equation : where t mot is the desired motor torque , t dd is the driver demand torque , and where t des _ eng is the desired engine torque determined at 410 . method 400 proceeds to 414 after desired motor torque is determined . at 414 , method 400 judges if motor torque ( e . g ., t mot ) is less than maximum motor torque ( e . g ., t mot _ max ). if so , the answer is yes and method 400 proceeds to 416 . otherwise , the answer is no and method 400 proceeds to 418 . at 416 , method 400 determines the motor and engine torque commands . in particular , the motor torque command is t mot _ cmd = t mot , or the motor torque command is the motor torque determined at 412 . the engine torque command is t eng _ cmd = t des _ eng , or the engine torque command is the desired engine torque determined at 410 . method 400 proceeds to exit after the engine and motor commands are determined . additionally at 416 , method 400 provides for operating the engine with a substantially constant air mass ( e . g ., air mass that changes by less than 10 %) as a transmission shifts gears . further , method 400 may upshift a transmission from a lower gear to a higher gear in response to speed of the motor being within a threshold speed of a speed where the motor transitions from providing a constant maximum torque to providing a constant maximum power . by upshifting the transmission , the maximum disg torque may be held at a higher value than if the disg speed were to continue increasing . consequently , the engine may be held with a constant air mass flowing through engine even as the vehicle speed increases . thus , method 400 may limit disg speed to a speed less than a speed where the disg transitions from providing a constant maximum torque to providing a constant maximum power to provide a greater maximum disg torque . during conditions where engine torque is greater than driver demand torque , the disg may be transitioned from a motor mode ( e . g ., providing positive torque to the driveline ) to a generator mode ( e . g ., providing negative torque to the driveline ) while the engine operates at the substantially constant air mass . at 418 , method 400 determines the motor and engine torque commands . in particular , the motor torque command is t mot _ cmd = t mot _ max , or the motor torque command is the maximum motor torque at the present motor speed . the engine torque command is t eng _ cmd = t dd − t mot _ max , or the engine torque command is the driver demand torque determined at 404 minus the maximum motor torque at the present motor speed . the engine torque is adjusted via adjusting throttle position , intake valve closing timing , and / or fuel injection . motor torque is adjusted by adjusting an amount of current supplied to the motor . further , if the motor torque command is negative , the motor is operated as a generator to absorb engine torque . thus , at 418 the engine torque command increases with driver demand torque such that the engine air flow increases from the substantially constant air amount in response to driver demand torque being greater than maximum engine torque while the engine operates with the substantially constant air amount and maximum disg torque at a present disg speed . method 400 proceeds to exit after the engine and motor commands are determined . the engine torque may be adjusted via adjusting the amount of fuel injected and the engine throttle position or intake valve closing timing . in one example , as desired engine torque is adjusted to provide the desired engine air mass as engine speed changes , the throttle or intake valve timing may be adjusted to provide a desired intake manifold pressure that corresponds to the desired engine air - flow rate at the present engine speed . in particular , engine intake manifold pressure may be adjusted to provide the desired engine air mass via adjusting the engine throttle or intake valve closing time based on the following speed / density equation : p = r · t · me · 2 η v · n e where me is the desired engine air flow , r is a gas constant , t is air temperature , n e is engine speed , p is manifold pressure , and η v is engine volumetric efficiency . the intake manifold pressure may be closed loop control based on intake manifold pressure . for example , if intake manifold pressure is greater than desired based on intake manifold pressure feedback from a pressure sensor , the throttle may be closed further . thus , the method of fig4 provides for a method , comprising : operating an engine with a substantially constant air mass and spark timing in response to catalyst temperature less than a threshold ; varying engine torque as engine speed varies while operating the engine at the substantially constant air mass ; and providing driver demand torque via engine torque and motor torque while operating the engine at the substantially constant air mass . the method includes where the spark timing is retarded from minimum spark timing for best engine torque . the method includes where engine torque is adjusted via adjusting a position of a throttle . in some examples , the method includes where engine torque is further adjusted via adjusting an amount of fuel injected to the engine . the method also includes where engine torque is adjusted via adjusting a position of an intake cam or timing of an intake valve . the method includes where the engine is operated with the substantially constant air mass as a transmission shifts gears . the method also includes where the substantially constant air mass is varied in response to engine or catalyst temperature during engine starting . the method further comprises upshifting a transmission gear in response to speed of the motor being within a threshold speed of a speed where the motor transitions from providing a constant maximum torque to providing a constant maximum power . the method of fig4 also provides for : varying engine torque as engine speed varies while operating an engine at a substantially constant air mass in response to a temperature being less than a threshold and driver demand torque being less than a maximum engine torque plus a maximum driveline integrated starter / generator ( disg ) torque , where the maximum engine torque is produced while the engine operates at the substantially constant air mass , and where the maximum ( disg ) torque is at a present disg speed ; and providing driver demand torque via engine torque and disg torque while operating the engine at the substantially constant air mass . in some examples , the method includes where the engine is operated with a substantially constant spark timing when the engine is operated with the substantially constant air mass . the method also includes where the temperature is a catalyst temperature or an engine temperature . the method further comprises increasing engine air amount from the substantially constant air amount in response to driver demand torque being greater than maximum engine torque while the engine operates with the substantially constant air amount and maximum disg torque at a present disg speed . the method further comprises upshifting a transmission gear in response to speed of the disg being within a threshold speed of a speed where the disg transitions from a constant maximum torque to a constant maximum power . the method includes where the substantially constant air mass is adjusted in response to a temperature at engine start . the method further comprises limiting disg speed to a speed less than a speed where the disg transitions from providing a constant maximum torque to providing a constant maximum power . in some examples , the method of fig4 provides for a method , comprising : varying engine torque as engine speed varies while operating the engine at a substantially constant air mass ; transitioning a driveline integrated starter / generator ( disg ) from a motor mode to a generator mode in response engine torque exceeding driver demand torque while the engine operates at the substantially constant air mass ; and providing driver demand torque via engine torque and motor torque while operating the engine at the substantially constant air mass . the method further comprises increasing engine air amount from the substantially constant air amount in response to driver demand torque being greater than maximum engine torque while the engine operates with the substantially constant air amount and maximum disg torque at a present disg speed . the method further comprises upshifting a transmission gear in response to speed of the disg being within a threshold speed of a speed where the disg transitions from a constant maximum torque to a constant maximum power . the method further comprises limiting disg speed to a speed less than a speed where the disg transitions from providing a constant maximum torque to providing a constant maximum power . the method includes where the engine is operated with a substantially constant spark timing when the engine is operated with the substantially constant air mass . as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art , the methods described in fig4 may represent one or more of any number of processing strategies such as event - driven , interrupt - driven , multi - tasking , multi - threading , and the like . as such , various steps or functions illustrated may be performed in the sequence illustrated , in parallel , or in some cases omitted . likewise , the order of processing is not necessarily required to achieve the objects , features , and advantages described herein , but is provided for ease of illustration and description . although not explicitly illustrated , one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the illustrated steps or functions may be repeatedly performed depending on the particular strategy being used . further , the described actions , operations , methods , and / or functions may graphically represent code to be programmed into non - transitory memory of the computer readable storage medium in the engine control system . this concludes the description . the reading of it by those skilled in the art would bring to mind many alterations and modifications without departing from the spirit and the scope of the description . for example , 13 , 14 , 15 , v6 , v8 , v10 , and v12 engines operating in natural gas , gasoline , diesel , or alternative fuel configurations could use the present description to advantage .

systems and methods for improving emissions and drivability of a hybrid vehicle that includes a motor / generator and an engine are presented . the systems and methods may allow vehicle emissions regulations to be met while at the same time providing driveline torque that matches driver demand torque so that vehicle drivability may be maintained or improved .

the basic laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig1 . the laminate 10 comprises a sheet of glass 12 laminated to an ionomer resin layer 14 . the ionomer resin layer 14 is thicker in the basic laminated article than in articles including a layer of polycarbonate or a second layer of glass . a second embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig2 . the laminate 20 comprises a sheet of glass 22 and an ionomer resin layer 24 , similar to the laminate 10 of fig1 . however , the embodiment of fig2 is further provided with a hard coat 26 on the otherwise exposed surface of the ionomer resin film , in order to protect the ionomer resin film form scratching , abrasion and other similar damage . a &# 34 ; hard coat &# 34 ; provides abrasion resistant , optically transparent coatings which serve to protect the surface and render the laminate more resistant to scratching and the like . useful &# 34 ; hard coat &# 34 ; compositions are described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 027 , 073 and u . s . patent application ser . no . 473 , 790 , filed mar . 10 , 1983 , and assigned to the owner of this application . a third embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig3 . the laminate 30 comprises a sheet of glass or a transparent polyester , such as mylar 32 laminated to an ionomer resin film 34 , which is in turn laminated to a polycarbonate , polyurethane or acrylic layer 36 . as additional strength is provided by the layer 36 , the ionomer resin layer 34 may be thinner than the ionomer resin layer 14 in the embodiment shown in fig1 optionally the mylar may be provided with a hard coating . a fourth embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig4 . the laminate 40 is similar to that of fig3 in comprising a glass sheet 42 , an ionomer resin layer 44 and a polycarbonate layer 46 . although polycarbonate is used to provide additional strength to the laminate , polycarbonates are usually too soft , and therefore subject to scratches and abrasion . accordingly , the laminate 40 is provided with a hard coat layer 48 for protecting the otherwise exposed surface of the polycarbonate layer 46 . a fifth embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig5 . the laminate 50 comprises two sheets of glass 52 , 54 joined by an ionomer resin layer 56 . as no soft surfaces are exposed , no hard coat layer is necessary . a sixth embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig6 . the laminate 60 comprises first a polycarbonate layer 62 sandwiched between two ionomer resin layers 64 , 66 . the ionomer resin / polycarbonate / ionomer resin laminate is itself sandwiched between two glass sheets 68 and 70 . as might be expected , the thicker and more complex laminate 60 shown in fig6 is more expensive to produce than the laminates shown in fig1 - 5 , but it exhibits the greatest strength and resistance to shattering and spalling . a seventh embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig7 . the laminate 70 comprises a sheet of glass 72 and a sheet of polyurethane or acrylic plastic 76 joined by an ionomer resin film layer 74 . the polyurethane or acrylic plastic layer 76 may or may not be coated with an appropriate hard coat . an eighth embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig8 . the laminated article 80 comprises a sheet of glass 82 and a sheet of metal 86 joined by an ionomer resin film layer 84 . the metal layer 86 may be any metal such as aluminum , silver , iron and copper . a ninth embodiment of a laminated safety glass article according to this invention is shown in fig9 . the laminated article 90 comprises sheets of glass 92 , 96 , 100 and 104 sandwiched by ionomer resin film layers 94 , 98 and 102 . a number of transparent laminates were prepared for a first series of tests , using a 2 . 5 millimeter thick sheet of float glass , a 1 / 8 inch sheet of polycarbonate and a 30 mil thick layer of an ionomer resin film . the ionomer resin film incorporated in the laminate is formulated by melting the ionomer resin pellets , preferably under an inert atmosphere , such as may be provided by nitrogen , at about 380 ° f ., and extruding the molten resin through a die in accordance with procedures well known in the art . films varying in thickness from 1 mil to 100 mils may be used in the laminates of the invention . the ionomer resin film may be rolled and stored , preferably in a bag or other container to protect it from dust , dirt or other contaminates . the ionomer resin pellets may also be melted and poured into a mold to produce cast sheets of ionomer resin for use in preparing the desired laminates . the sheets and layers were approximately 4 inches by 5 inches in size to facilitate handling and processing . in particular , the ionomer resin film was &# 34 ; surlyn &# 34 ; 1601 , manufactured by polymer products department of the dupont company . the melt index of &# 34 ; surlyn &# 34 ; 1601 is 1 . 3 dg / min , astm d - 1238 . the ion type is sodium and the density is 0 . 94 g / cc . a data information sheet on &# 34 ; surlyn &# 34 ; 1601 ionomer resin ( for flexible packaging ) is available under the number e - 29173 ( 7 / 81 ). the information of this technical release , including the rheology curves , is incorporated herein by reference . surlyn type 1707 is also a preferred sodium ionomer resin for use in this invention . organic amines may be combined with the ionomer resin in an amount of from about 0 . 5 to 7 %, by weight , based on the weight of the resin . it has been found that the presence of an organic amine in the ionomer resin may serve to maintain the optical clarity of the laminates produced in the invention . the commercially available organic amines are simply combined with the ionomer resin pellets and extruded or cast as desired . likewise , a mixture of sodium and zinc ionomer resins may be used to prepare the ionomer resin film useful in the invention . the sodium and zinc ionomer resins may be combined in a ratio of 95 : 5 to 5 : 95 . for purposes of simplifying the test , the sandwich was constructed with one outer layer of glass , one inner layer of ionomer resin and one outer layer of polycarbonate . a three layer laminate as tested can be fully expected to perform in the same manner as a five layer lamination such as that shown in the drawing with regard to adhesion , if not overall strength . the sandwiched laminates were assembled in a vacuum bag and placed in an autoclave . the samples were heated to a temperature of from about 200 ° f . to about 275 ° f . over a 45 minute period , were held at the elevated temperature for about 15 minutes , and were then cooled to room temperature , approximately 65 ° f .- 70 ° f . after cooling , the laminates were immersed in boiling water in an effort to promote premature and unwanted delamination . throughout all of the examples herein , the same basic procedure , involving vacuum bag , autoclave , heating up , sustained heating and cooling were followed unless otherwise noted . the tests were conducted with and without certain primers to promote adhesion between the ionomer resin and the glass and polycarbonate respectively . primers suitable for glass , and the glass / ionomer resin interface in particular , were found to include salines , such as those produced under the registered trademarks &# 34 ; z - 6040 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; z - 6020 &# 34 ; by dow chemical company . other primers suitable for the polycarbonate / ionomer resin interface in particular , were found to include organic amines , usually in a diluted solution with an inert solvent ( unlikely to attack the polycarbonate , e . g . alkanes and alcohols ), such as aliphatic or polyethylene amines or ethanolamines , and specifically diethylenetriamine . other specific primers include diisocyanates ( toluene diisocyanate ) and polyacrylic acid ( produced under the registered trademarks &# 34 ; acryloid &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; acrysol &# 34 ; by the rohm and haas company ). a laminate of glass and ionomer , the glass surface to be laminated to the ionomer resin having been primed with dow z - 6020 was formed following the procedure set forth above . the laminate did not undergo delamination in boiling water . a 30 cm by 30 cm laminate comprising a 3 mm thick clear polycarbonate sheet sandwiched between two 0 . 7 mm thick ionomer resin films made from surlyn 1601 which in turn are sandwiched between 2 . 5 mm thick sheets of chemically strengthened glass was prepared following the procedure set forth above . the glass and polycarbonate components were throughly cleaned and treated with a silane primer to enhance adhesion . the components were dried , and free of residual solvents and moisture prior to forming the sandwich . the sandwiched laminate was bagged and autoclaved at a temperature of 205 ° to 255 ° f . under 10 atmospheres of pressure for a period of about 90 minutes . the laminate was cooled quickly to room temperature . the laminate was used as a target and a 45 calibre bullet from a handgun was fired at the laminate three times . no delamination occurred although the glass shattered . the ionomer resin film remained laminated to the polycarbonate and glass surfaces . laminates 75 mm square were prepared following the procedure and using like components specified in example 2 were prepared . the resultant laminates were placed in boiling water . the laminates did not lose integrity after two hours in boiling water . small bubbles did develop about the perimeter the laminates ; however , visibility was only marginally impaired around the perimeter . on the basis of the foregoing examples , ionomer resin films may be substituted for polyurethane and polyvinyl butyral in laminated safety glass , at a substantial savings in cost . the best primer for the polycarbonate / ionomer resin interface is dow z - 6020 . other primers could prove satisfactory . a 30 cm by 30 cm laminate comprising an 0 . 25 mm thick ionomer resin film sandwiched between 1 mm thick chemically strengthened glass and a 1 mm thick aluminized steel sheet following the procedure set forth in example 2 . the laminate was cycled between - 20 ° f . to 160 ° f ., 10 times and did not undergo delamination . a 30 cm by 30 cm laminate comprising a 3 mm thick clean acrylic sheet sandwiched between two 1 . 4 mm thick ionomer resin films made from surlyn 1707 which in turn are sandwiched between 3 mm thick sheets of chemically strengthened glass was prepared following the procedure of example 2 . a long 22 caliber rifle bullet was fired at the resulting laminate from a distance of 35 feet , and no penetration resulted . a 30 cm by 30 cm laminate comprising chemically strengthened glass and ionomer resin film made from surlyn 1707 sandwiched in the order shown in fig9 was prepared following the procedure of example 2 . the lamina was laid up in the following order , starting with the target side : a 2 . 5 mm thick lamina of chemically strengthened glass , a 5 mm thick lamina of ionomer resin film , or 12 mm thick lamina of chemically strengthened glass , a 5 mm thick lamina of ionomer resin film , a 12 mm thick lamina of chemically strengthened glass , a 5 mm thick lamina of ionomer resin film and a 1 mm thick lamina of chemically strengthened glass . all surfaces were cleaned and treated with a silane primer to enhance adhesion . in this instance , the laminate was autoclaved under vacuum at a temperature between 205 ° f . and 285 ° f . at 10 atmosphere pressure for a 2 . 5 hours . after cooling quickly , the resulting laminate was clear and used as a target with the mass of glass facing in the direction of fire . a 0 . 357 magnum handgun using 158 grain metal painted ammunition of remington was fired at the laminate . no penetration occurred after three shots were fired in a triangular pattern . the 1 mm thick glass sheet did splinter but remained laminated . this example was repeated substituting 6 mm thick cast sheets of ionomer resin for the 5 mm thick ionomer resin lamina and in place of the 1 mm thick glass spall sheet . the resultant laminate was not penetrated when fired on as above , and only a slight bulge appeared on the spall sheet . an organic diamine was selected from the group of diamines listed below and was mixed with a partially neutralized surlyn 1707 resin . the mixture was added to the resin port of a small extruder ( wayne machine co ., 7 - in extruder , with a nine inch die ). the extruding barrel was maintained at 325 °- 400 ° f . a 50 to 60 mil film was extruded and cut into six inch squares stacked to about one - half inch thickness and laminated between two primed one - fourth inch glass plates in an autoclave at 255 ° f . for three minutes under 150 - 200 psi pressure in a vacuum . the final ionomer layer was optically clear and one - half inch or more in thickness with a light transmitance over 50 %. the following amines in the weight percents given were combined with surlyn 1707 . for each amine , excellent optical clarity was achieved . ______________________________________amine weight percent______________________________________ ( a ) 1 , 4 - butamediamine 1 ( b ) 1 , 6 - hexanediamine 1 ( c ) bac 1 ( d ) isophorone diamine 3______________________________________ similarly , following the aforementioned procedure , a mixture of zinc ionomer or an ionomer neutralized with both zinc and sodium ions may be utilized in place of the sodium ionomer . the mixture of ions produces an ionomer having greater impact resistance . the ionomer may be partially neutralized with a metal cation selected from the group consisting of alkali metals , aluminum and zinc . most preferable are sodium and zinc cation . other ionomers which may be utilized in connection with the invention are disclosed in co - pending application ser . no . 642 , 042 filed aug . 17 , 1984 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the preferred organic amines which are utilized as the metal cation are selected from the group consisting of 1 , 3 - diaminomethyl xylene , isophorone diamine and a monocyclic compound of the formula : ## str1 ## wherein : r &# 34 ; and r &# 39 ;&# 34 ; represent hydrogen or lower alkyl ; x is 0 - 4 , with the proviso that together x and y equal 4 . aliphatic diamines and triamines such as 1 , 4 - butanediamine , and diethylenetriamine are preferably use in combination with sodium or zinc ionomers . it is to be understood that the foregoing examples are given for the purpose of illustration and that any other suitable glass , ionomer resin , reinforcing plastic or the like could be used provided that the teachings of this disclosure are followed . the basic building block of this invention , namely a laminate comprising a sheet of glass laminated to an ionomer resin film , may be used in multiples to achieve nearly any desired strength . this is illustrated in fig9 wherein lamina of varying thickness of glass are sandwiched with lamina of varying thickness of ionomer resin film . by varying the number and the thickness of the lamina of glass and ionomer resin film , always , however , laminating in the alternative order shown in the figure , it is possible to produce laminates having resistance to exceptionally large force . the principles of this invention may also be applied to curved laminated articles , such as windshields and face masks . the laminates shown in fig1 - 9 are flat merely for purposes of facilitating illustration . where transparency is not critical , the bonding techniques taught herein may be used for laminating metal as well as glass such as illustrated in fig8 . this invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof , and accordingly , reference should be made to the appended claims , rather than to the foregoing specification , as indicating the scope of the invention .

laminated articles , particularly safety glass , comprising a lamina of ionomer resin film laminated to a sheet of glass . the ionomer resin film is preferably an ionically crosslinked ethylene - methacrylic acid copolymer . the laminated articles may also comprise a sheet of polycarbonate laminated to the ionomer resin film opposite the glass . the laminated articles may further comprise an ionomer resin film sandwiched between two sheets of glass . the laminated articles may still further comprise a sheet of polycarbonate or other plastics sandwiched between sheets of ionomer resin film , which are in turn sandwiched between sheets of glass .

referring first to fig1 , there is shown a component kit 10 comprising a sterile package 12 containing an incontinence prevention device 14 , a deployment base member 16 , a deployment tube 18 and a pusher plunger 20 . the kit may also conveniently contain a supply of a gel lubricant ( not shown ). following the sealing of the kit components in the package 12 , the package is subjected to a sterilization operation such as by subjecting the package to gamma radiation in a manner well known in the art or by introducing a sterilant such as ethylene oxide into the package . the incontinence prevention device 14 may be made in accordance with the teachings of my u . s . pat . no . 6 , 311 , 689b1 , which is hereby incorporated by reference . it need not , however , have a stylet lumen therein . the device comprises an elongated , soft , elastomeric shaft 24 having an enlarged closed loop 26 , also formed from a soft elastomeric material preferably silicone rubber , affixed to the distal end of the shaft 24 . a proximal retention member 28 in the form of a wing - like projections , also of a soft material that is configured to conform to the vestibule proximate the urethral opening is disposed on a proximal end of the shaft 24 . those desiring more detailed information on the size and shape configuration of the incontinence prevention device 14 may derive same from a reading of the aforereferenced &# 39 ; 689 patent . as will be explained in greater - detail hereinbelow , the device 14 may be self - inserted into the urethra by a female subject by first loading the device 14 into the deployment tube 18 in a manner yet to be described and then positioning the distal end of the delivery tube proximate the urethral meatus and expelling the device 14 from the deployment tube 18 using the deployment plunger 20 as a pusher device . because the retention loop 26 of the device 14 can , with time , take on a permanent set if packaged with the device 14 already contained within the lumen of the deployment tube 18 , it is a feature that the placement of the incontinence prevention device 14 within the deployment tube can be achieved only a relatively short time prior to use of the deployment device to insure that the retention loop 26 will fully expand to its open - loop shape once the loop enters the urinary bladder where it is unconstrained either by the delivery tube 18 or the urethra . it is also important to insure that the device 14 remains sterile and that it does not come in contact with the subject &# 39 ; s fingers during the insertion process . the delivery kit 10 of the present invention assures these results . referring next to fig2 , there is shown a side elevation view of the deployment base member 16 of fig1 . in the preferred embodiment , it comprises a finger grip element 30 which may be somewhat semi - circular in shape and having a recessed central portion 32 defined by a peripheral wall 34 . having this shape allows the device 16 to be readily gripped between the thumb and forefinger of a user &# 39 ; s hand . projecting longitudinally from a base 36 of the finger grip element 30 is a longitudinally extending rod 38 having an integrally molded , l - shaped hook as a device engagement element 40 formed at the distal end thereof . in accordance with the embodiment of fig2 , the deployment base member 16 further includes a second rigid , longitudinally - extending , rail 42 that has an integrally molded stop member 44 at its distal end . the rail 42 preferably has a somewhat i - shaped cross - section , as best seen in the cross - sectional view of fig3 . the length of the rail 42 is greater than that of the first rigid rod 38 by a predetermined amount . without limitation , the length of the first rod 38 may be approximately 92 . 75 mm and the length of the rod 42 may be 107 . 25 mm . referring now to fig4 , it shows a perspective view of the deployment tube 18 of the kit 10 . tube 18 has a distal end 44 and a proximal end 46 with a lumen 48 extending therebetween . integrally formed with and projecting perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the tube 18 at its distal end 44 is an insertion limit 50 . the lower end of the insertion limit member 50 includes a t - shaped notch 52 . it is dimensioned to engage the guide rail 42 comprising the second rod of the deployment base member 16 when the first rod 38 of the deployment base member 16 is disposed within the lumen 48 of the deployment tube 18 . the lumen 48 has a shape to accept the rigid rod 38 therein with sufficient clearance to permit the tube to slide relative to the road 38 . opposed sidewall surfaces of the tube 18 may be slightly indented as at 54 and these surfaces are preferably knurled to facilitate gripping thereof by the user . to facilitate entry of the retention loop 26 of the incontinence device 14 into the deployment tube 18 , it has been found expedient to provide a flared or oval opening on the proximal end of the deployment tube where the opening has a chamfered edge 49 . this shape on the distal end of the deployment tube causes the retention loop 26 to compress into two contiguous parallel , rectilinear segments as it is being drawn by the hook - shaped device engagement element 40 into the lumen 48 of the deployment tube . further , the lumen of the deployment tube may also be of an oval cross - section throughout its length or may transition to a circular cross - section at a predetermined point along the length thereof as reflected in fig4 . the cross - sectional view of fig5 shows the deployment tube 18 in surrounding relationship to the first rod 38 of the deployment base member 16 . here it can be seen how the t - shaped notch 52 on the retention limit member 50 engages the guide rail 42 . also visible in the view of fig5 is the fact that the length of the deployment tube 18 is slightly less than the length of the first rod 38 such that the hook - shaped engagement element 40 extends outward from the distal end 46 of the deployment tube . in loading the incontinence device 14 into the deployment tube 18 , the device comes packaged with the loop 25 , fitted over the hook - shaped element 40 in the space between the element 40 and the proximal end 46 of the deployment tube . that is to say , the kit comes with the loop 26 encircling the l - shaped hook element 40 , thus obviating the need for the users to touch the sterilized device 14 . now , when the finger grip 30 is grasped between the thumb and foregoing of the user &# 39 ; s one hand and the thumb and forefinger of the other hand are placed on the surfaces 54 of the deployment tube , the deployment tube may be slid in the distal direction causing the retention loop to be drawn into the lumen 48 of the deployment tube as the retention limit 50 slides along the i - shaped guide rail 42 of the base member 16 . the deployment tube is slid in the distal direction until the retention limit member 50 comes into abutment with the stop member 44 on the rail 42 , at which point only a predetermined portion of the retention loop 26 will extend out beyond the distal end of the deployment tube 18 , given the difference in length of the cylindrical rod 38 and the guide rail 42 . the extending portion is still maintained rectilinear in that the remainder of the loop is still constrained by the wall of the deployment tube . the described incontinence device loading system also assures proper orientation of the loop as it expands upon entry into the bladder . with the aid of the l - shaped hook , the loop exits the lumen of the deployment tube in the same orientation as it had upon entry into the proximal end of the tube . because the guide rail 42 has its upper flange notched , as at 56 , when the retention limit member 50 reaches the stop 44 , the guide tube with the incontinence prevention device contained therein can be lifted free of rail 42 of the deployment base member 16 . next , the portion of the retention loop projecting outward from the distal end of the deployment tube can be dipped into a sterile lubricating gel which may come with the kit and the user will next insert the distal end 58 of the plunger 20 ( fig6 ) into the lumen 48 at the proximal end 46 thereof and will then insert the protruding portion of the retention loop into the urethral meatus until the insertion limit member 50 is brought into contact with the subject &# 39 ; s vestibule . the insertion limit member 50 is sufficiently large to prevent the deployment tube from passing through the meatus . now , by depressing the finger rest 60 of the plunger 20 , the incontinence prevention device is forced out from the deployment tube 18 and through the urethra until the finger rest 60 of the plunger abuts the end 46 of the deployment tube as shown in fig7 . the length of the plunger is judiciously chosen such that when fully inserted , the retention loop will be disposed within the subject urinary bladder where it can expand to its open loop shape for nesting in the bladder neck . the deployment base member , deployment tube and pusher may be molded from a suitable medical grade plastic , such as abs , but limitation to this material is not to be inferred . fig8 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the deployment device of the present invention . here , the deployment base member includes only a single longitudinally extending rod 70 that is affixed to and projects from the finger grip member 72 . fitted over the rod 70 is a deployment tube 74 that has a stop member 76 at a distal end thereof . the rod 70 terminates in a hook 78 that extends outwardly beyond the distal end 80 of the deployment tube 74 when the stop 76 is in abutment with the base of the finger grip member 72 . an incontinence prevention device of the type already described is shown with its retention loop 26 looped over the hook 78 . the configuration shown in fig8 would be packaged in a sterile container with the hook 78 engaging the loop 26 . when removed by the user from the sterile package , she would grasp the finger grip 72 between the thumb and forefinger of one hand and the deployment tube 74 between the thumb and forefinger of the other hand and then slide the deployment tube 74 to the right as shown in fig8 , drawing the retention loop 26 and the stem 14 into the deployment tube 74 . instructions with the device would advise the user to uncouple the hook from the loop once a portion of the loop , approximately 15 mm in length , is projecting from the distal end of the deployment tube . as before , the projecting portion of the loop remains collapsed and rectilinear . it would be dipped in a lubricant and the deployment tube positioned such that the lubricated tip of the retention loop is inserted into the urethral meatus and the stop 76 abuts the user &# 39 ; s vestibule . a pusher , like that shown in fig6 , is again used to move the incontinence prevention device out of the deployment tube and through the urethra until the retention loop 26 enters the urinary bladder and expands to its open loop configuration . this invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required . however , it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices , and that various modifications , both as to the equipment and operating procedures , can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself . for example , a piece of string could be substituted for the deployment base member hook where the string loops through the retention loop of the incontinence prevention device and through the lumen of the deployment tube . immediately prior to deployment , by pulling on the string , the incontinence prevention device will be drawn into and through the deployment tube with a portion of the retention loop extending beyond the end of the deployment tube as earlier described .

a kit to facilitate self - placement of an incontinence prevention device within the urethra includes a deployment base member , a deployment tube , a deployment pusher along with the incontinence prevention device in a sterile pack . the base member includes a rigid shaft of a predetermined length having a finger grip member at one end and a hook member at its opposite end . the shaft of the base member is adapted to fit through the lumen of the deployment tube with the hook projecting out from a proximal end of the deployment tube and with the hook engaging a retention loop on the incontinence prevention device when in its sterile package . upon removal of the kit components , the deployment tube is slid off the deployment base member and , in doing so , the incontinence prevention device becomes loaded into the deployment tube . the pusher is then used to urge the incontinence prevention device from the deployment tube into the urethra .

multi - ply laminations according to the invention consist essentially of ( a ) an outer layer capable of providing rigidity , clarity , chemical resistance and high temperature resistance ; ( b ) at least one layer of a uniaxially oriented polymer material having a with - grain to cross - grain tensile strength ratio greater than about 4 to 1 , preferably greater than 10 to 1 , and a maximum elongation in both with - grain and cross - grain directions of less than 150 %, ( c ) at least one sealant or bonding material effective to bond said oriented polymer to said outer protective layer ; and ( d ) at least one sealant or bonding material effective to bond said oriented polymer film layer to a core comprising an information - bearing substrate . in the more specific and preferred embodiments , heat sealing or bonding materials and / or primers may be employed to insure maximum interply adhesion and sealability to an identification card or core component , i . e . an information - bearing substrate . with reference to the drawings , there is illustrated an identification card , credential or the like , 1 , which comprises a core component 10 sandwiched and sealed to multi - ply extrusion laminae 11 on its front and rear surfaces . the principal purpose of the core is to provide identifying information either in the form of printed indicia , photograph or any other form of identifying information . the core should preferably comprise a material that has surface properties such that it may be uniformly joined by lamination with thermoplastic bonding layers of the multi - ply laminae of the invention . any known material commonly used for this purpose may be used including paper , cardboard , aluminum , steel , glass , polymers such as polyamides , polyethylene glycol esters of terephthalic acid , woven materials , polyvinyl chloride and combinations of the same . the core may be unitary and span the entire length and width of the card or it may comprise merely a small photograph with indicia mounted on plastic film or it may comprise a plurality of entities separated by sections containing only film laminated or bonded to film . it may be transparent or colored and opaque or comprise sections of both transparent and colored entities . preferably , the core will be polyester with sealant on both sides , the sealant being low density polyethylene , ethylene - ethacrylate , ethylene - acrylic acid or other sealants well known in the art . an added measure of tamperproofness is accomplished by printing on the sealant surface , since any attempt to separate the card to alter the information will result in destruction of the card . the laminae may be bonded to one or both surfaces of the core . where bonded to only one surface , it will be bonded to the information bearing surface of the core . moreover , when the core is paper or paperboard , since the paper component is easily susceptible to alteration , it is preferred that the paper core be totally encapsulated by front and back laminations . in the most preferred embodiment of the invention , the preferred polyester core 10 bearing printing or a photograph or other identifying indicia , is sandwiched and encapsulated by multi - ply post laminations 11 which , together with printing on the heat seal surface of the core , form the gist of this invention . the critical components of the multi - ply laminations are the outer protective layer , the layer of uniaxially oriented polymer that constitutes the tell - tale feature and the sealant or bonding materials effective to bond the outer protective layer to said oriented polymer layer and to said core . the outer protective layer 12 will typically be a polyester such as a polyethylene glycol ester of terephthalic acid available commercially as mylar , or oriented polyamides such as oriented nylon , oriented polypropylene , acrylonitrile , polycarbonate and the like of which polyester is preferred . if desired , the outer layer may be coated or otherwise treated with a primer 13 , which promotes adhesion of the outer layer to the next succeeding layer of the laminae . suitable primers include polyethylene imine available commercially as chemicat p - 145 from alcolac ; polyester / polyurethanes available commercially as morton &# 39 ; s adcote from morton chemical co ., etc . the layer 14 , as illustrated , is a sealant or bonding material effective to bond said protective outer layer to the next succeeding layer . any heat sealant or bonding mateial so effective may be used . typical examples of materials suitable for such purpose include low and medium density polyethylene , ethylene - vinyl acetate copolymer , ethylene - acrylic acid copolymer or ionomer such as surlyn , available from dupont and comprising copolymers of α , b - ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids having 3 to 8 carbon atoms wherein 10 % to 90 % of the carboxylic acid groups are neutralized with metal ions . the preferred sealant is low density polyethylene . layer 15 is bonded on one side to the outer protective layer through sealant layer 14 . to be satisfactory for use in this invention , the film comprising layer 15 must be produced from a polymer capable of a high degree of orientation along a given axis . such orientation is preferably achieved by compression - rolling of the film while stretching the film linearly between nips or surfaces operating at different speeds . suitable uniaxial orientation may also be obtained by uniaxially stretching the polymer by passing the film over increasing speed rollers , etc . high density polyethylene , polypropylene , polyacrylonitrile , acrylonitrile - butadiene - styrene terpolymer and polyvinyl chloride are typical of suitable materials for this use with high density polyethylene and polypropylene being especially preferred . orientation along a single axis results in the predominant alignment of the chain axis of the molecules parallel to the orientation direction giving great strength in that direction . the resultant lack of molecules aligned in the direction perpendicular to the direction of orientation results in weak bonds in the transverse direction . the uniaxial orientation of molecules thus amounts for great differences in tear strength between the with - grain axis and the cross - grain axis of the film . generally , the with - grain to cross - grain tensile strength ratio should be greater than 4 to 1 and preferably greater than about 10 to 1 . additionally , the film should be capable of no more than very moderate elongation in either the machine or the transverse direction so that it will tend to break rather than to stretch . optimally , the degree by which the film may be stretched in either direction prior to reaching its breaking point should be no more than about 150 % of its original length . film oriented to have a tensile strength differential of less than about 4 to 1 or an elongation of substantially more than 150 % will not be effective . the most desirable uniaxially oriented films for use in this invention will tear very easily in the with - grain direction or parallel to the axis of orientation whereas it is very difficult to tear the film across the grain or perpendicular to the axis of orientation . suitable film may be oriented by fluid , compression rolling in accordance with the process set forth in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 504 , 075 . due to its method of manufacture , the preferred high density polyethylene , for example , is converted from an opaque film to a high clarity film . such high clarity film when employed in the multi - ply laminae of the invention provides the tell - tale feature of the invention . attempts to delaminate the finished card result in fibers being torn from the layer 15 ( see fig5 ) and such torn fibers cannot be readhered with adhesive so as to be unnoticeable . if heat sealing is used in an attempt to readhere the laminations , the heat required for bonding causes the film comprising the layer 15 to lose its orientation resulting in shrinkage and opacification leaving tell - tale signs that are readily visible providing easy indication that alterations have been made or attempted . layer 15 is bonded to heat sealing or bonding layer 16 which may be selected from known sealants as listed above for layer 14 and is preferably comprised of low density polyethylene . it is to be understood , however , that layers 14 and 16 may be different sealants . the final layer 17 may be comprised of any material that is capable of bonding to the oriented polymer , to the core and , preferably , to itself . suitable materials are known sealants such as low density polyethylene , ethylene - ethacrylate , ethylene methacrylate , ethylene - acrylic acid copolymer , ethylene - vinyl acetate copolymers , inomers such as surlyn , etc . to avoid premature shrinkage and / or tell - tale changes of the oriented film during manufacture of the laminae or during encapsulation of the core , it is necessary that the oriented film comprising the layer 15 be heat - set after orientation . this may be accomplished by annealing the film at high temperature below its melt point while holding it under tension . thicknesses of the various layers may conform to those conventionally used in the credit card , credential or identification card art , i . e . any suitable thickness card may be produced . for example , the variations may range from 0 . 5 to 7 mils for the outer protective layer 12 to 1 . 0 to 10 mils of the combined remaining layers . the oriented film can be employed to replace a portion of the polyester used in the various constructions contemplated by the invention . such substitution of the oriented film for the more expensive polyester , for example , reduces the cost of producing the laminae and identification cards . a typical laminae and i . d . card may be produced as follows : mylar polyester film and uniaxially oriented polyethylene film , the latter having been heat set at 250 ° f ., were each subjected to electrostatic treatment to improve adhesion . the electrotreated side of the mylar polyester film was primed by coating with polyethyleneimine primer at a coating weight of less than 1 lbs ./ ream after which it was extrusion laminated to the treated side of the oriented polyethylene using low density polyethylene as the material bonding the oriented polyethylene to the primed mylar . the polyethylene bonding material was employed at a weight of about 10 lbs ./ ream . the unbonded side of the oriented polyethylene film was then extrusion coated with approximately 12 lbs ./ ream of low density polyethylene which in turn was extrusion coated with approximately 22 lbs ./ ream of ethylene ethacrylate . in this form , the laminate may be wound and stored or utilized as post - laminations in the production of identification cards as hereinabove defined . to produce the i . d . card , a core comprising any conventional information bearing or identifying card , photo , laminated photo , etc . was encapsulated by sandwiching the same between two layers of the post laminae film prepared hereinabove and sealed under heat and pressure . for example , the ethylene - ethacrylate surfaces of the respective film were heat sealed at a temperature of about 325 ° f . under a pressure of about 40 psi for 3 seconds . excellent interply and heat seal adhesion was obtained when utilizing the extrusion laminating method . when the procedure was repeated but employing morton &# 39 ; s 76 rb - 16 or desoto chemical company &# 39 ; s eps - 71 , ( two - package polyester adhesives with isocyanate acclerators ) to adhesive laminate the polyester to the uniaxially oriented polyethylene , good ashesion of the polyester to the oriented polyethylene was obtained . suitable structures were produced comprising polyester / adhesive / oriented polymer / adhesive / sealant layers and polyester / adhesive / oriented polymer / low density polyethylene / oriented polymer / adhesive / sealant layers , etc . it will be seen that the invention provides post - laminations capable of providing tell - tale indicia and suitable for use as components of credentials , identification cards and the like . while various embodiments of the invention have been described , it will be undersood that other modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims .

multi - ply laminae are provided which are suitable for use as tell - tale indicators for identification cards , credentials and the like . the laminae are post - laminated to a core layer bearing a photograph or similar information or indicia . thereafter attempts to delaminate the card result in fibers being torn from a uniaxially oriented polyethylene or polypropylene layer of the laminae . attempts to readhere the layers with adhesives result in tell - tale indicia in the form of the torn fibers which cannot be adequately realigned or adhered so as to be unnoticeable . moreover , attempts to heat seal the card after tampering causes the oriented polymer to shrink and opacify resulting in additional tell - tale indicia of tampering . in addition , the core comprises heat seal surfaces upon which printing and other indicia is placed whereby any attempt to alter the printing or other indicia results in destruction of the card .

the presence of water is essential in all cleaning applications , such as hand cleansing . however , if these antiseptic wipes were supplied in wet form , the activated iodine risks rapid degradation in the presence of water , and the aqueous iodine would leave visible stains on skin , clothing or hard surfaces . these disadvantages add to the cost of packaging , storing and using the wipes , and most importantly reduce their shelf life time . it has now been found that wipes containing pvp - iodine can be manufactured using a non - aqueous solvent carrier that will yield substantially dry wipes that can be activated with water shortly before use by the end user . the synthetic matrix is manufactured dry , meaning no water has been added other than the water naturally present in the basic fibers . typically , these synthetic materials have a moisture content of less than 1 %. the term “ substantially dry ” also encompasses a finished product , i . e . a wipe , into which the anhydrous treatment solution containing an antimicrobial and surfactant formulation has been impregnated . the matrix with the treatment solution normally feels dry , and lubricious to the touch . the matrix for containing the anhydrous treatment solution used in the present invention comprises synthetic fibers which may be processed into woven , non - woven or knitted form . of particular interest for use in the matrix employed in the present invention are the following fibers : polypropylene , polyester , and other synthetics . in accordance with the invention , pvp - iodine is the antiseptic active . commercially , pvp - iodine complex is available in a pharmaceutical grade containing 10 parts active halogen per 100 parts of dry powder . for this reason , the commercial product has sometimes been referred to as “ pvp - iodine 10 .” there are two major suppliers of pvp - iodine : basf fine chemicals and napp technologies . pvp - iodine is completely soluble in cold water with mild agitation as well as propylene glycol in amounts up to and exceeding 10 % ( 1 . 0 % available iodine ). aqueous solutions of pvp - iodine have been marketed under the trademark betadine ® microbicides by purdue frederick company as a defense against topical infection from pre - surgical cleansing to hand and skin degerming , as being active against both gram - positive and gram - negative bacteria , fungi , protozoa , and viruses in vitro . in general , to reduce microorganisms on skin and prevent infections in skin , topical solutions containing between about 1 and 15 % pvp - iodine ( 0 . 1 and 1 . 5 % available iodine ) may be used . it is preferred that the solution contain between about 5 and 10 % pvp - iodine ( 0 . 5 and 1 % available iodine ) and most preferably the solution contains about 10 % pvp - iodine ( 1 % available iodine ). anticipating the dilution with water upon wetting prior to use , the initial concentration of pvp - iodine in the manufactured anhydrous solution could contain higher concentration of pvp - iodine . the substrate comprises synthetic , woven , non - woven or knitted fibers , or blends thereof . the intended use ( hands , body , first aid ) dictates the amount of add - on needed to achieve effective skin antisepsis . the treatment solution also contains from about 0 . 5 % to 15 % of a non - ionic or cationic surfactant . it is preferred that the treatment solution contains between about 3 and 6 % of a non - ionic or cationic surfactant . the specific amount of the particular non - ionic or cationic surfactant which is employed within this range will depend upon the detergent activity desired as can be readily determined by one of ordinary skill in the art . any of the well - known classes of non - ionic and cationic surfactants such as nonylphenol ethoxylates also known as igepal may be employed in the wipe of the present invention . the presence of non - ionic or cationic surfactant enhances skin cleaning efficiency . the dry article optionally may contain one or more fragrances for imparting a pleasant odor to the skin . as used herein , the term “ fragrance ” includes chemicals that can mask unpleasant odors and / or destroy unpleasant odors . when employed , the fragrance is present in the dry wipe in amounts up to 5 % of the treatment solution . the present invention uses a non - aqueous solvent carrier for pvp - iodine during the manufacturing and storage of the wipes . glycols are the preferred non - aqueous solvents and propylene glycol is the preferred glycol . the non - aqueous solvent functions not only to dissolve the pvp - iodine , but these solvents also impart emolliency and lubricity to the treatment solution which helps prevent skin breakdown and maintain skin softness . the use of propylene glycol instead of water as a solvent is essential . propylene glycol does not precipitate the release of free iodine , and thereby deplete its effectiveness before its actual use . propylene glycol , unlike water , actually does preserves the stability of pvp - iodine and facilitates an extended shelf life of the treated wipe . propylene glycol is a lubricious emollient imparting soothing and softening qualities to skin . propylene glycol does not freeze in cold weather . the use of propylene glycol , as a non - aqueous solvent obviates the need for buffers , stabilizers and preservatives which are generally required to be used in aqueous solutions . propylene glycol is an active skin lubricant and emollient as well as the solvent for the pvp - iodine . typically , propylene glycol is the major component in the treatment solutions of the present invention . however , it can also be combined with similar glycols such as glycerin or low molecular weight polyethylene glycols such as peg - 200 , peg - 400 etc . preferably , not more than about 40 % by weight of the propylene glycol is replaced with these other glycols . the matrix prepared in accordance with the one of the methods described above , from which the cleansing wipe or other products of the present invention are obtained , can be coated and impregnated with the non - aqueous treatment solution using any conventional process , such as spraying , dipping , extrusion , and those described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 919 , 471 . the coating / impregnation method enables a uniform and accurate application of all active ingredients and surfactants to the woven or nonwoven matrix of synthetic fibers without the use of carriers and without the need for a separate step to dry the residual solution from the matrix . prior to use by the end users , the wipes are wetted using water . the presence of the water will enhance the release of free iodine for efficient antisepsis and will precipitate better cleansing performance . the exclusion of water from the treatment formulation , which is applied to the substrate during manufacturing , provides the many benefits described above in the manufacturing , storage and distribution of the wipe products . the following examples are given in order to more completely illustrate the usage benefits of the invention , and are not to be construed in limitation thereof : formulation # 1 listed below was impregnated into a 4 . 0 oz / sq . yd non - woven 100 % polypropylene needle punched fabric . wipes of 8 × 11 inches were cut from the fabric and were prepared using the technique described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 021 , 395 . treatment of wipes weight of wipe g . add - on % add on 7 . 4 1 . 9 25 . 7 7 . 7 1 . 8 23 . 4 7 . 9 1 . 8 22 . 8 formulation # 1 wt . percent ingredients 6 . 3 % povidone iodine 30 % dwb - 40 ( non - ionic foaming agent ) 47 . 2 % propylene glycol 15 % glycerine 1 . 5 % menthol fragrance the treated antiseptic hand wipes were evaluated by wetting both hands under a running faucet . the wet hands were then rubbed with the dry wipe to activate the ingredients . the wipe foamed readily when activated with water from the wet hands . there was very little iodine odor detected , and the cleansing action of the wipe was quickly evident . there was no irritation and there was a lubricious feel as the wet wipe was rubbed over the hands . the weight of water extracted from the saturated wipe was between 5 - 7 grams . this would produce an iodine concentration of about 1900 - ppm . after a few minutes the wipe was discarded and the hands were rinsed under water . there was no staining on the hands , which felt soft and refreshed with a pleasing aroma . the 4 oz / sq . yd . needle punched 100 % polypropylene wipes 8 × 11 inches were similarly impregnaged with formulation # 2 listed below . formulation # 2 wt . percent ingredients 5 % povidone iodine 20 % glycerine 20 % nonoxynol - 9 53 . 5 % propylene glycol 1 . 5 % menthol fragrance treatment of wipes wt of wipe g . add - on g . % add on 7 . 7 1 . 1 14 . 2 7 . 7 1 . 3 16 . 8 a wipe was lightly wetted with water from a faucet . the wet wipe , which picked up 25 grams of water , was rubbed gently over the hands for one minute . the wipes foamed extensively as the hands were gently scrubbed with the wipe . no odor of iodine was detected . a lubricious feel was detected as the wipe was used on the hands . the wipe was then discarded and the hands were rinsed under water . no staining of the hands was observed and the hands felt smooth , soft and cleans with a pleasant aroma . based on the water pick up of the wipe , the iodine concentration is about 220 - ppm . 11 × 8 inch wipes were cut from 3 oz ./ sq . yd . needle punched polyester fabric . wipes were impregnated with formulation # 3 below : formulation # 3 wt . percent ingredients 75 . 0 % propylene glycol 20 . 2 % pacon concentrate ( non - ionic foaming agent ) 4 . 8 % povidone iodine treatment of wipes wt . wipe g . add - on % add on 5 . 7 1 . 9 33 . 3 5 . 6 1 . 4 25 . 0 5 . 6 1 . 5 26 . 7 hands were wetted under a running faucet . one wipe treated with formulation # 3 was rubbed over the wet hands to activate the treatment . the wipe foamed readily when wet and massaged on the hands . there was no odor of iodine detected and no staining of the hands was observed . after one minute of rubbing the wipe over the hands , the wipe was discarded and the hands rinsed in running water . the hands felt soft and clean . 3 oz ./ sq . yd . needle punched polyester fabric was cut into 10 × 8 in . wipes and treated with formulation # 4 below . formulation # 4 wt . percent ingredients 74 . 16 propylene glycol 20 . 02 pacon concentrate ( non - ionic foaming agent ) 4 . 82 % povidone iodine 1 . 00 % crisp morning fragrance treatment of wipes wt . of wipe grams add - on % add on 5 . 3 1 . 4 26 . 4 5 . 2 1 . 5 28 . 8 5 . 3 1 . 6 30 . 2 hands were wetted under a running faucet . a treated polyester needle punched wipe was rubbed over both hands and massaged into the hands for about one minute . extensive foaming was produced as the wipe was rubbed over the wet hands activating the ingredients in the wipe . hands felt lubricious and no iodine odor was detected . after one minute , hands were rinsed in running water . hands were clean and soft and possessed a pleasant fragrance . 4 oz ./ sq . yd . needle punched polyester fabric was cut into 8 × 8 in . wipes . wipes were treated with formulation # 3 above . treatment of wipes wt . wipe g . add - on % add on 5 . 6 2 . 1 37 . 5 % 5 . 6 2 . 0 35 . 7 % 5 . 7 1 . 7 29 . 8 % hands were wetted under a running faucet and then a treated polyester wipe was gently massaged into the hands for about one minute . the wipe produced an abundance of foam and felt smooth and soft on the skin . after one minute the hands were rinsed under running water and dried . hands were clean and felt soft . 4 oz ./ sq . yd . needle punched polyester fabric was cut into 10 × 8 in . wipes . wipes were treated with formulation # 4 above . treatment of wipes wt . of wipe g . add - on % add on 5 . 7 2 . 1 36 . 8 % 5 . 6 1 . 7 30 . 3 % 5 . 5 2 . 0 36 . 3 % the 8 × 8 inch treated needle punched wipe was lightly wetted with water under a faucet . the wipe was then massaged into the hands . within a few seconds there was abundant foaming and cleaning action . after 30 seconds the wipe was discarded and the hands rinsed under a faucet . hands felt clean , refreshed and exhibited a pleasant aroma . 1 . 5 oz ./ sq . yd . thermo - bonded polypropylene fabric was cut into 8 × 10 inch wipes . wipes were treated with formulation # 5 listed below . formulation # 5 wt . percent ingredients 58 . 0 % propylene glycol 25 . 0 % nonoxynol - 9 5 . 0 % povidone iodine 12 . 0 % glycerine treatment of wipes . wt . of wipe g . add on % add on 2 . 5 0 . 50 20 . 0 % 2 . 6 0 . 40 15 . 43 % 2 . 6 0 . 50 19 . 2 % hands were wetted under a running faucet . a treated wipe was rubbed over the wet hands . foaming was observed within seconds . the wipe was easy to manipulate through the hands and cleaned the hands thoroughly . after 30 seconds the wipe was discarded and the hands rinsed under water . no staining of the hands was observed . hands felt refreshed and soft . all of the treated wipes were tested on hands either first wetted or by wetting the wipe lightly with water . in all cases the wipes foamed readily providing effective cleansing without staining the skin . the odor of iodine was either very light or not detected at all . when hands were rinsed in water , they felt smooth , soft and appeared clean .

a personal skin cleansing wipe comprising a flexible substantially dry matrix formed from synthetic , woven , non - woven , or knitted fibers impregnated with a substantially anhydrous antimicrobial , antiseptic , antifungal solution in an amount wherein the matrix retains its substantially dry characteristics and the treatment solution includes an amount of pvp - iodine in solution in glycerol and / or glycerine . the treatment solution in addition to an effective amount of pvp iodine as active , contains surfactants and optionally a compatible fragrance . the wipe is activated with water just prior to use .

the embodiments discussed hereinafter determine a retrieval status of one or more resources utilized during execution of a database query to generate an optimal access plan for executing the database query . a resource consistent with the invention may represent practically any data that may need to be retrieved in connection with the execution of a query , e . g ., data from a database file , data from a database table , an index , a hash table , a temporary result set or file ( e . g ., a materialized view ), etc . moreover , the retrieval status of a resource may be implemented in a number of manners consistent with the invention . for example , the retrieval status may be based upon whether a resource is currently stored in different levels of a memory architecture , e . g ., a working memory , different levels of cache memory , local vs . remote memory ( e . g ., in a distributed memory architecture such as numa ), local or remote persistent storage , etc . furthermore , the retrieval status may also be represented using a number of different metrics , e . g ., whether or not the resource is retrieved into the relevant memory , what percentage of the resource is retrieved into the relevant memory , pointers to the current location of various pages of the resource , etc . furthermore , the amount of a resource may be based upon an exact percentage , or a less exact estimate ( e . g ., a percentage of pages or cache lines that at least partially include data allocated to the resource ). alternatively , the retrieval status may indicate what the estimated retrieval time or input / output cost would be for the resource ( or a portion thereof ) based upon the memory within which the resource currently resides ( or memories within which different portions of the resource current reside ). as will become more apparent below , the retrieval status of a resource may be determined , for example , by accessing a resource manager ( e . g ., a storage manager , a memory manager , a cache memory manager or any other software and / or hardware component responsible for retrieving data from a memory architecture ), as such a component typically maintains status information about the resources being managed thereby . for example , where retrieval status is based upon the retrieval of data from persistent storage into a working memory of a computer , the retrieval status for a resource may be determined by querying a resource manager such as a storage manager as to the percentage of the pages of the memory space allocated to the resource that are currently resident in the working memory . it will be appreciated , however , that the functionality used to determine retrieval status may be separate from a resource manager in other embodiments consistent with the invention . turning now to the drawings , wherein like numbers denote like parts throughout the several views , fig1 illustrates an exemplary hardware and software environment for an apparatus 10 suitable for implementing a database management system incorporating query optimization consistent with the invention . for the purposes of the invention , apparatus 10 may represent practically any type of computer , computer system or other programmable electronic device , including a client computer , a server computer , a portable computer , a handheld computer , an embedded controller , etc . moreover , apparatus 10 may be implemented using one or more networked computers , e . g ., in a cluster or other distributed computing system . apparatus 10 will hereinafter also be referred to as a “ computer ,” although it should be appreciated that the term “ apparatus ” may also include other suitable programmable electronic devices consistent with the invention . computer 10 typically includes a central processing unit ( cpu ) 12 including one or more microprocessors coupled to a memory 14 , which may represent the random access memory ( ram ) devices comprising the main storage of computer 10 , as well as any supplemental levels of memory , e . g ., cache memories , non - volatile or backup memories ( e . g ., programmable or flash memories ), read - only memories , etc . in addition , memory 14 may be considered to include memory storage physically located elsewhere in computer 10 , e . g ., any cache memory in a processor in cpu 12 , as well as any storage capacity used as a virtual memory , e . g ., as stored on a mass storage device 16 or on another computer coupled to computer 10 . computer 10 also typically receives a number of inputs and outputs for communicating information externally . for interface with a user or operator , computer 10 typically includes a user interface 18 incorporating one or more user input devices ( e . g ., a keyboard , a mouse , a trackball , a joystick , a touchpad , and / or a microphone , among others ) and a display ( e . g ., a crt monitor , an lcd display panel , and / or a speaker , among others ). otherwise , user input may be received via another computer or terminal , e . g ., via a client or single - user computer 20 coupled to computer 10 over a network 22 . this latter implementation may be desirable where computer 10 is implemented as a server or other form of multi - user computer . however , it should be appreciated that computer 10 may also be implemented as a standalone workstation , desktop , or other single - user computer in some embodiments . for non - volatile storage , computer 10 typically includes one or more mass storage devices 16 , e . g ., a floppy or other removable disk drive , a hard disk drive , a direct access storage device ( dasd ), an optical drive ( e . g ., a cd drive , a dvd drive , etc . ), and / or a tape drive , among others . furthermore , computer 10 may also include an interface 24 with one or more networks 22 ( e . g ., a lan , a wan , a wireless network , and / or the internet , among others ) to permit the communication of information with other computers and electronic devices . it should be appreciated that computer 10 typically includes suitable analog and / or digital interfaces between cpu 12 and each of components 14 , 16 , 18 , and 24 as is well known in the art . computer 10 operates under the control of an operating system 26 , and executes or otherwise relies upon various computer software applications , components , programs , objects , modules , data structures , etc . for example , a database management system ( dbms ) 28 may be resident in memory 14 to access a database 30 resident in mass storage 16 . in addition , a storage manager 32 may be incorporated into operating system 26 to manage the retrieval of resources from mass storage into working memory , while a storage management manager 34 may be incorporated into dbms 28 to interface with storage manager 32 to calculate the retrieval status of resources being managed by storage manager 32 . moreover , various applications , components , programs , objects , modules , etc . may also execute on one or more processors in another computer coupled to computer 10 via a network , e . g ., in a distributed or client - server computing environment , whereby the processing required to implement the functions of a computer program may be allocated to multiple computers over a network . in general , the routines executed to implement the embodiments of the invention , whether implemented as part of an operating system or a specific application , component , program , object , module or sequence of instructions , or even a subset thereof , will be referred to herein as “ computer program code ,” or simply “ program code .” program code typically comprises one or more instructions that are resident at various times in various memory and storage devices in a computer , and that , when read and executed by one or more processors in a computer , cause that computer to perform the steps necessary to execute steps or elements embodying the various aspects of the invention . moreover , while the invention has and hereinafter will be described in the context of fully functioning computers and computer systems , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various embodiments of the invention are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms , and that the invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of computer readable signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution . examples of computer readable signal bearing media include but are not limited to recordable type media such as volatile and non - volatile memory devices , floppy and other removable disks , hard disk drives , magnetic tape , optical disks ( e . g ., cd - roms , dvds , etc . ), among others , and transmission type media such as digital and analog communication links . in addition , various program code described hereinafter may be identified based upon the application within which it is implemented in a specific embodiment of the invention . however , it should be appreciated that any particular program nomenclature that follows is used merely for convenience , and thus the invention should not be limited to use solely in any specific application identified and / or implied by such nomenclature . furthermore , given the typically endless number of manners in which computer programs may be organized into routines , procedures , methods , modules , objects , and the like , as well as the various manners in which program functionality may be allocated among various software layers that are resident within a typical computer ( e . g ., operating systems , libraries , api &# 39 ; s , applications , applets , etc . ), it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the specific organization and allocation of program functionality described herein . those skilled in the art will recognize that the exemplary environment illustrated in fig1 is not intended to limit the present invention . indeed , those skilled in the art will recognize that other alternative hardware and / or software environments may be used without departing from the scope of the invention . fig2 next illustrates in greater detail the principal components in one implementation of dbms 28 . the principal components of dbms 28 that are generally relevant to query execution are a structured query language ( sql ) parser 40 , query optimizer 42 and database engine 44 . sql parser 40 receives from a user ( or more typically , an application executed by that user ) a database query 46 , which in the illustrated embodiment , is provided in the form of an sql statement . sql parser 40 then generates a parsed statement 48 therefrom , which is passed to optimizer 42 for query optimization . as a result of query optimization , an execution or access plan 50 is generated . once generated , the execution plan is forwarded to database engine 44 for execution of the database query on the information in database 30 . the result of the execution of the database query is typically stored in a result set , as represented at block 52 . to assist in generating an optimal access plan , query optimizer 42 determines the retrieval status of one or more resources used by the query . in the illustrated embodiment , this determination incorporates the issuance of one or more retrieval status requests 54 from query optimizer 42 , which are passed to storage management manager 34 to determine the retrieval status of the resource ( s ) at issue . as will be discussed in greater detail below , storage management manager 34 is configured to access storage manager 32 to determine the retrieval status of the resource and provide such information back to the query optimizer via a response 56 . now turning to fig3 - 7 , an exemplary implementation of the invention , within which query optimization is based in part on the determined retrieval status of one or more resources used during execution of a query , is illustrated in greater detail . such an implementation may be utilized , for example , in an eserver iseries computer from international business machines corporation executing a db2 database management system , along with a storage manager resident in an os / 400 operating system . the determination of the retrieval status of various resources is implemented within a storage management manager component in the db2 database management system , which provides an interface to the query optimizer to retrieve an estimated percentage of a given resource that is currently in memory , and which calls the operating system storage manager to retrieve information needed to estimate that percentage , such as to retrieve the total size of the resource , and retrieve the amount of that resource that is currently in memory , either in number of bytes , number of pages , or as percentages . in addition , the storage management manager may determine what level of memory the resource is in , such as working memory , cache memory , local versus remote , and pass this to the operating system storage manager . the storage management manager may also pass this level of memory information to the query optimizer so that , if needed , an appropriate adjustment can be made on the estimate based on the memory level . for example , if memory is remote , the query optimizer may use this information to bias the advantage of the percentage in working memory to be less of an advantage , since bringing in even a small portion of the remote memory would still be rather expensive compared to bringing in memory from a cache . it will be appreciated , however , that the query optimizer , storage management manager and storage manager may be allocated different functionality in other embodiments consistent with the invention . moreover , a separate storage management manager may be omitted in some embodiments . fig3 illustrates a process incoming query routine 60 executed by query optimizer 42 in response to reception of a parsed sql statement . routine 60 begins in block 62 by generating a plurality ( n ) of potential access plans , in any number of conventional manners known in the art . each access plan represents a different way of executing the query . next , beginning in block 64 , a costing algorithm is executed to calculate the estimated cost of each access plan . in particular , block 64 initiates a for loop to process each potential access plan . for each such plan , control passes to block 66 to calculate the processor ( cpu ) cost for the plan , using any number of conventional algorithms . control then passes to block 68 to calculate the input / output ( io ) costs for the resources used by the access plan . in particular , block 68 initiates a for loop to process each resource needed during execution of the access plan . for each such resource , a calculate io cost for resource routine 70 is called to calculate the io cost for the resource . then , once the io cost for each resource has been calculated , block 68 passes control to block 72 to calculate the total estimated cost for the access plan using the cpu cost calculated in block 68 and the io costs for the various resources calculated in the loop implemented by blocks 68 and 70 . control then passes to block 64 to process additional access plans . once each potential access plan has been costed , block 64 passes control to block 74 to select the minimum cost access plan for implementing the query . the access plan is then passed to database engine 44 for execution in a conventional manner . in addition , as illustrated in block 76 , it may also be desirable in some implementations to save the access plan along with the io cost assumptions under which the access plan was generated . as will be discussed in greater detail below in connection with fig7 , it may be desirable to save the cost assumptions along with the access plan when it is expected that the access plan may be reused ( e . g ., when the access plan is to be stored in a package or program for repeated usage ). in other embodiments , e . g ., where queries are generated dynamically and interactively , and are unlikely to be reused , block 76 may be omitted . fig4 next illustrates one implementation of calculate io cost for resource routine 70 . routine 70 begins in block 80 by calculating the io cost for the resource , assuming the resource is not resident in memory , e . g ., using any of a number of conventional costing algorithms . next , block 82 calls a storage management manager resident in the database management system to obtain the estimated percentage of the resource that is currently in working memory . the call to the storage management manager may take the form , for example , of a request that specifies the identity of the resource . moreover , as noted above , the percentage of the resource that is in memory may be represented in terms of percentage of bytes , or alternatively , in terms of percentage of cache lines , percentage of memory pages , etc . as will be discussed below in greater detail in connection with fig6 , the storage management manager receives the request generated in block 82 , calculates the estimated percentage and returns the calculated percentage in a response to the query optimizer . as such , block 82 also typically incorporates the reception of an appropriate response from the storage management manager . upon completion of block 82 , control passes to block 84 to reduce the io cost for the resource by the determined percentage of the resource that is resident in the working memory . routine 70 is then complete . thus , as an example of the operation of routine 70 , if it is determined that the io cost for retrieving a certain table is five seconds , but that forty percent of the table is already in working memory , the io cost may be reduced by forty percent , resulting in an io cost of three seconds being used in the overall access plan cost determination . it will be appreciated that other implementations of routine 70 may be used consistent with the invention . for example , rather than calculating an io cost assuming the resource is not resident in memory , and then reducing that calculated cost based upon the retrieval status of the resource , routine 70 may simply calculate an io cost from scratch based upon the percentage of the resource that is determined to be in the working memory . in addition , in other embodiments , a costing algorithm may determine the percentage of a resource that is in memory , applying one scaling factor reflective of the time required to access the data when resident in working memory to that percentage , and applying a second factor representative of the time required to access data when not resident in working memory to the remaining percentage . in the latter instance , the fact that some io cost still is associated with accessing a resource in working memory may be accounted for ( even though the cost is often orders of magnitude smaller than the cost of accessing a resource not already resident in working memory ). yet another alternative that may be implemented in routine 70 is that of adjusting io cost based upon the type of query . for example , if a query is designated as either a * firstio , or a first n rows , meaning that the user is most interested in seeing early results for a few rows before returning all of the results , then an additional weight may be given to the percentage of the front end of a file , index or other resource that is already in memory . this is based on the fact that records will usually be referenced from the front of a resource first for these types of queries . while different weighting may be used in different embodiments , relatively simple weighting , such as if the first half of the resource is in memory , then weight this at an eighty percent multiplier , or if the first third of the resource is in memory , weight this at a fifty - five percent multiplier , etc ., may be used . fig5 , for example , illustrates an alternate calculate io cost for resource routine 70 ′ that implements the aforementioned first end functionality . routine 70 ′ begins in block 86 by calculating the io cost for a resource assuming that the resource is not resident in memory . next , block 88 determines whether the request is a * firstio or first n rows query . if not , block 88 passes control to block 90 and 92 to call the storage management manager to obtain the percentage of the resource in memory and reduce the io cost for the resource by that percentage , in a similar manner to routine 70 of fig4 . if , on the other hand , an affirmative result is found in block 88 , control passes to block 94 to call the storage management manager to obtain the percentage of the front end of the resource that is in memory . control then passes to block 96 to reduce the io cost for the resource by the percentage of the front end of the resource that is currently in working memory , and scaled by an adjust value . the adjust value may apply a multiplier to certain portions of a resource based upon the relative locations of such portions relative to the front end of the resource . in the alternative , the percentage of the resource may simply reflect the percentage of the front end of the resource , ( e . g ., the first half or third , or the first x pages ) that is currently resident in working memory , with no separate scaling factor utilized . fig6 next illustrates a process incoming retrieval status request routine 100 that may be executed by a storage management manager in response to a retrieval status request issued by a query optimizer . routine 100 begins in block 102 by looking up the resource to determine the total number of pages allocated to the resource . next , block 104 looks up the current location of each resource page to determine whether that resource page is currently resident in working memory . block 106 then determines the percentage of resource pages currently in working memory and returns an appropriate response to the query optimizer . routine 100 is then complete . in the illustrated embodiment , the storage management manager looks up the status of the resource by accessing the storage manager , e . g ., via an interface provided by the storage manager . in the alternative , the determination of which pages are allocated to a resource , and the percentage of those pages that are currently resident in working memory , may be implemented within the storage manager itself . in such an instance , the storage management manager may be omitted , or in the alternative , may simply manage the passage of requests and responses from and to the query optimizer . in still other embodiments , the storage management manager may be capable of issuing a request to the storage manager for the percentage of an identified resource that is currently in working memory , with the response provided by the storage manager indicating such percentage . in addition , where functionality is supported for separately weighting queries directed to the front end of a resource , functionality may be supported in a storage management manager and / or a storage manager to direct lookups to specific pages or portions of a resources , or to implement the scaling within the storage management manager or storage manager directly . in such instances , requests issued by the query optimizer may indicate that the request is related to the front end of the resource , and in some embodiments , to an identified portion of the resource . other alternatives will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the instant disclosure . in addition , a storage manager consistent with the invention may be configured to dynamically generate retrieval status information in response to requests , or in the alternative , may separately maintain real time statistics on the percentages of resources that are currently resident in working memory so that the processing of requests only requires a lookup of prestored percentage data . for example , a storage management memory manager function may be implemented in a storage manager to dynamically track the percentage of each resource that is currently in working memory . in addition , a storage manager may store such information either in a separate database or storage area , or alternatively , may store the percentage along with its associated resource , e . g ., stored in the header of each resource . as noted above , it may also be desirable in some implementations to permit cost assumptions associated with a generated access plan to be stored along with the access plan and later utilized to determine whether to reuse an access plan during a subsequent execution of a query . for example , an alternate process incoming query routine 110 is illustrated in fig7 . routine 110 begins in block 112 by determining whether an access plan is already saved for the query . if no such plan has been saved , control passes to block 114 to generate and execute a new access plan for the query , in generally the manner described above in connection with fig3 . processing of the query is then complete . on the other hand , if an access plan is saved for the query , block 112 passes control to block 116 to retrieve the cost assumptions associated with the stored access plan . next , in block 118 , the storage management manager is accessed to determine the current retrieval status of the resources used by the access plan , e . g ., in the general manner described above in connection with blocks 68 - 70 of fig3 . next , block 120 determines whether the cost assumptions are still valid , i . e ., whether the current retrieval status of the resources matches those under which the access plan was initially generated . if the cost assumptions are not still valid , e . g ., if the current retrieval status of one or more resources has changed greater than some threshold compared to the saved cost assumptions , block 120 passes control to block 114 to generate and execute a new access plan for the query , thereby bypassing the use of the saved access plan . if , on the other hand , the cost assumptions are still valid , block 120 passes control to block 122 to execute the query using the stored access plan . routine 110 is then complete . therefore , it will be appreciated that , when the cost assumptions for a saved access plan are still valid , the overhead associated with generating a new access plan may be avoided . various additional modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . therefore , the invention lies in the claims hereinafter appended .

an apparatus , program product and method utilize the retrieval status of a resource to generate an access plan for a database query that uses the resource . the retrieval status , which indicates , for example , what percentage of a given resource is already stored in working memory , and thus need not be separately retrieved during query execution , may be used to generate more accurate input / output cost estimates for access plans , and thus enable a query optimizer to better select an access plan that is optimal under given runtime conditions .

the converting unit 10 in fig1 , is made in the form of a floating buoy and , in addition to a post float ( 12 ), has a toroidal or ring float 14 . as a result of different natural frequencies , depending on the excitation , the two bodies execute relative motion . the different mass motion which accompanies different wave motion is relayed to a displacer device 18 of individual hydraulic working cylinders 19 connected on their piston side to the post float 12 and on their rod side to the ring float 14 . this converting unit 10 , is shown by example in fig3 in a control diagram as a spring - mass oscillator with the corresponding cushioning element , wave passage being detected by way of example according to path ( x - wave ) and speed ( v - wave ) as a cumulative input signal in a symbolically depicted block diagram 20 . as a result of the different motions of the post float 12 with respect to the ring float 14 , for the displacer device 18 , a pumping motion of the individual hydraulic working cylinders 19 occurs . the hydraulic energy obtained thereby can in principle be supplied to a hydraulic motor which could directly drive a generator for producing electrical energy . this direct drive , however , leads to the aforementioned feedback and stability problems . fundamentally , the following formula relationships apply : on the one hand , the force f of a cylinder 19 is proportional to the pressure p which acts on its piston surface and which is produced by the load resulting from the opposite relative motion between the post float 12 and the ring float 14 . on the other hand , the power which can be obtained from the wave energy by the opposite relative motions of the masses m 1 and m 2 depends on various factors , particularly on the energy content of the partners involved . the determining factors are the selected mass and the individual speeds achieved . if , for example , the actuating pistons of the individual cylinders 19 can be pumped almost without force , then as shown in fig2 , a maximum stroke is produced , but the pressure which can be generated is almost zero , and the power and the energy which can be obtained therefrom are close to zero . this curve characteristic is designated as 22 in fig2 . the pressure is maximum due to the very high or excessive force , but cylinder motion in itself is blocked ; i . e ., the desired relative motion approaches zero , and likewise the energy which can be produced with it is also close to zero . this situation is qualitatively designated as 24 in the diagram as a curve characteristic , as shown in fig2 . the maximum possible energy recovery therefore lies between these two extremes , i . e ., at an average force on the piston of the cylinder 19 which allows a sufficiently large relative stroke . this average force only moderately reduces the motion not being constant , but rather arising as a function of relative velocity when the energy content of the wave is to be used as optimally as possible . the effect of this operation is that the force , like the relative velocity , must change during a stroke , with the pertinently optimum energy curve 26 being produced as an average between the extreme curves 22 and 24 ( cf . fig2 ). as a result of this actual wave model , meaningful energy withdrawal in the form of electrical energy using a hydraulic motor connected directly to the control circuit in addition to a generator would hardly make sense . feedback or a reaction could lead to shutdown of the wave energy receiving device in the form of the converting unit 10 . the control devices detailed below are designed to be used to essentially ensure the pertinently optimized energy curve 26 in the operation of the converting device . at this point , the energy converting device will be detailed below using the circuit diagram as shown in fig3 and 4 . fig3 and 4 along the intersection line s - s and the two nodal points combine to show the converting device as a whole . division into the two figures with the different scales is done for improved representation . as already described , the energy converting device in this exemplary embodiment is used for conversion of mechanical wave energy into hydraulic energy and from the hydraulic energy into electrical energy . the energy transport medium is a control fluid , especially in the form of a control oil or hydraulic oil . this control fluid is routed in two different control circuits 28 , 30 , with fig3 showing the first control circuit 28 and with fig4 showing the second control circuit 30 . the two control circuits 28 , 30 are dynamically connected to one another specifically by a coupling device 32 used for energy transfer . one or first control circuit 28 is used for energy supply , especially in the form of mechanical wave energy . the other or second control circuit 30 is used to deliver energy in the form of electrical energy obtained from the hydraulic energy . the coupling device 32 has a hydraulic motor 34 connected to the first control circuit 28 to carry fluid . as shown in fig3 , the hydraulic motor 34 is located on the opposite side of the control circuit 28 relative to the converting unit 10 . the hydraulic motor 34 is furthermore connected to a first hydraulic pump 38 by a conventional gear connection 36 with a definable transmission ratio . the pump has an adjustable , variable stroke volume , as shown in fig3 . the gear connection 36 is not , however , critically necessary for the operation of the invention . the pertinent hydraulic pump 38 is connected to the second control circuit 30 to carry fluid and in this respect circulates the control fluid of the second control circuit 30 . as already described , to feed energy into a first control circuit 28 a first converting unit 10 converts the mechanical wave energy into hydraulic energy by the first converting unit 10 actuating the displacer device 18 with the individual hydraulic working cylinders 19 . the respective working cylinders 19 , depending on the direction of motion , pump the fluid in the control circuit 28 back and forth in opposite directions . the control fluid of the first control circuit 28 is therefore supplied by the displacer device 18 in opposite directions to the component circuits 40 , 42 of the first control circuit 28 . to the extent that the component circuits 40 , 42 are addressed here , they also relate to the respective component fluid guidance upstream of a graetz circuit 44 . the volume of the respective working cylinder 19 displaced , by analogy to electrical engineering , is rectified by the graetz circuit 44 as a rectifier circuit . the graetz circuit is implemented by four spring - loaded nonreturn valves 46 as shown in fig3 . viewed in the direction of fig3 , the upper component circuit 40 connected is a conventional hydraulic accumulator 47 used to compensate for leaks and / or cavitation phenomena and , like the graetz circuit 44 , is protected by a pressure limitation valve 48 relative to the lower component circuit 42 . the graetz circuit 44 at least ensures that the hydraulic motor 34 is driven only in one direction . the motor enables hydraulic power delivery from the first control circuit 28 to the second control circuit 30 by the gearing 36 . altogether the gearing 36 is made in the manner of a hydrostatic transmission . to trigger the hydraulic pump 38 from 0 % to 100 % delivery volume amount , a first control 50 is used for optimum power removal of the wave energy from the first converting unit 10 . the regulator 52 used is provided with a saturation curve and adjusts the δp actual value to a definable δp setpoint value , the δp actual value resulting from the difference of the pressures in the component circuits 40 , 42 of the first control circuit 28 and the δp setpoint value following from the δv value which represents the resulting , changing velocity difference with respect to the relative motion of the masses m 1 and m 2 of the post float 12 and the ring float 14 . it would be possible to include other , sensor - detected characteristics of the converting unit 10 into the control here , such as the distance traversed x or the force applied f , etc . with the illustrated control , the mechanical wave energy present at the time is always optimally converted into hydraulic drive energy for the second control circuit 30 . based on ambient conditions , a closed system is preferably used here . in an open system also only one pressure sensor p of the hydraulic first control circuit 28 is sufficient to accordingly arrive at an input quantity for the first control 50 . for energy delivery from the other , second control circuit 30 , a second converting unit 54 in fig4 is used to converts hydraulic energy into electrical energy . the second converting unit 54 has another displacement device in the form of a hydraulic motor 56 which drives the generator 58 to produce electrical energy . for this conversion of hydraulic energy into electrical energy , a second control device 60 made in the manner of a slip control ensures optimum power delivery to the electrical network . in particular , the output of the second control device 60 is connected to the hydraulic motor 56 such that its stroke volume can be varied in a controlling manner . the regulator 62 of the second control unit 60 is a pid - regulator with a connected saturation curve . to implement the indicated slip control , among other things the reference quantity is the torque ( t ) of the generator 68 and its shaft rpm w . with the indicated slip control it is possible to keep the electrical output power of the generator 68 at an optimum output point regardless of the actual power input quantity with respect to the power output of the hydraulic pump 38 with a variable stroke volume . to implement the variable stroke volume of the hydraulic pump 38 and hydraulic motor 56 , an inclined cam plate is conventionally used whose effective degree of tilt can be stipulated by the respective control device . in one especially preferred embodiment , this slip control as shown in fig4 is superimposed by feed - forward control 64 of the hydraulically available power which as the input value picks up by two pressure sensors p the pressure difference δp in the component circuits of the second control circuit 30 upstream and downstream of the hydraulic pump 56 acting in both actuating directions . this pressure difference δp is used as an indicator for the available hydraulic energy relative to the second control circuit 30 . the hydraulic motor 56 and the generator 58 are designed for a specific maximum flow rate , which is ultimately dictated by the hydraulic working cylinders 19 of the first displacer device 18 . otherwise , a system which is made open would also be possible for the two circuits . if the flow rate decreases , for example as a result of smaller wave motion on the first converting unit 10 , to this same extent the control pressure in the second control circuit 30 will also decrease . this driving pressure for the hydraulic motor 56 can then drop to low values such that cavitation occurs , which can lead to shutdown of the entire energy converting device in a reaction . in order to manage this problem , the indicated slip control is superimposed by the above - indicated feed - forward control 64 with the result that , provided the flow rate falls back , the hydraulic motor 56 is triggered such that it also requires only a smaller flow rate . the output power for the generator 68 then decreases , but without shutdown phenomena of the entire converting device occurring . in this case the control 60 , 64 therefore allows setting of the electrical output power of the generator 68 for the most varied wave amplitudes relative to the input side in the form of the first converting unit 10 . the second control circuit 30 can also be provided with a hydraulic accumulator unit 66 for purposes of storing hydraulic energy . the second control circuit 30 is also protected by a pressure limitation valve 68 . the illustrated nonreturn valves 70 of the second circuit are used to ensure that vibrations of the hydraulic circuit cannot occur or that backflow in the wrong direction for the control fluid of the second circuit 30 does not accidentally occur . the solution according to the invention need not be limited to use in wave energy systems , but can also be used , for example , for other energy systems , such as wind power plants and the like . thus , for example , a hydraulic working pump , which is not detailed , can convert the mechanical energy of the output shaft of a wind power plant accordingly into hydraulic energy of the first control circuit 28 and in this case replace the described hydraulic working cylinder 19 . it would also be possible to make available mechanical energy on the first converting unit 10 with as little loss as possible in the reverse direction to the one shown in fig4 proceeding from the second electrical converting unit 54 in the reverse direction . the above - described exemplary embodiment of an energy converting device fundamentally manages even without a graetz circuit . in this case , however , the hydraulic pump used can be swiveled in both directions . it then undertakes rectification , and absolute - value generation in the regulator is eliminated . instead of the sensor information of the relative speed , a volumetric flow sensor in the control circuit 28 or the rotary speed ( tachogenerator ) of the hydraulic motor 34 can also be analogously used . this arrangement has the advantage that the sensor is not exposed to rough ambient conditions . as already described , for the sake of simplicity fig3 and 4 show only the open system with a tank . by replacing the tank with another accumulator ( not shown ) a closed system can be created which is especially advantageous for rough ambient conditions . the accumulator in fig3 can be connected to the second component circuit 42 instead of the illustrated tank in the region of reference number 44 . the corresponding hydraulic accumulator in fig4 would be used instead of the tank shown there between the nonreturn valves 70 and the pressure limitation valve 68 . while one embodiment has been chosen to illustrate the invention , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .

an energy converting device , particularly for converting mechanical energy to hydraulic energy and from it into electrical energy , uses as an energy transport medium , a control fluid guided in two different control circuits . the control circuits have an operative connection to each other by a coupling device . one control circuit serves for feeding in energy , particularly in the form of mechanical energy . the other control circuit serves for discharging energy in the form of converted energy , particularly electrical energy .

the preferred embodiment of the present invention is an electronic restraint system including an electronic shackle or cuff and corresponding electronic key . illustrated in fig1 is an electronic shackle 100 for enhancing the restraint of an individual and the safety of law enforcement personnel . the shackle 100 includes a pair of metal cuffs 102 or manacles adapted to encircle and confine the wrist or ankle of a person in the custody of law enforcement , this person being referred to herein as a prisoner . each cuff 102 includes a cheek plate 104 , ratchet 106 pivotably attached to the cheek plate by means of hinge 109 , and a primary keyway 120 configured to receive a cuff key . the cheek plate 104 conceals a pawl with teeth 130 that engage the teeth 108 of the ratchet 106 . the cuffs 102 are flexibly coupled together with a chain 110 or bolt and swivel eyes 112 to bind the prisoner &# 39 ; s wrists or ankles together . referring to fig2 , each cuff 102 comprises a cheek plate 104 of hardened - steel for housing one or more mechanical and electronic locks , a ratchet 106 rotatably attached to the cuff housing by means of a pivot point 109 , a primary keyway 120 sized to receive a cuff key to disengage a single lock mechanism and double lock mechanism , and a secondary keyway 220 sized to receive the pin of a cuff key to engage the double lock mechanism . in accordance with some embodiments , the cuff further incorporates one or more electronic locks including a first electronic lock 260 and a second electronic lock 270 , each of which is electrically coupled to a passcode processor 250 protectively concealed within the cuff . illustrated in fig3 is an exemplary cuff key 300 , which functions at both a mechanical level and an electrical level to open the electronic restraint system . in the preferred embodiment , the lower portion 310 of the cuff key comprises a form of barrel key with a hollow , cylindrical shaft 312 and a rectangular tooth or bit 316 . the barrel 310 is sized to fit within the primary keyway 120 and over a protrusion 122 that juts into the primary keyway from the inside of the cuff . the rectangular tooth or bit 316 is configured to turn within the cuff housing and unlock the single lock and double lock mechanisms . in addition , the upper portion of the cuff key includes an eye hole 322 and a pin 320 adapted to engage the double lock mechanism and the second electronic lock when inserted into the second keyway 220 . the central portion of the cuff key includes a passcode generator 350 for communicating an internal passcode to the cuff as well as a battery 360 configured to provide operational power to the passcode generator 350 , the passcode processor 250 , the first electronic lock 260 , and the second electronic lock 270 . illustrated in fig4 is a partial cross section of a cuff with the single lock mechanism engaged ( i . e ., locked ) and the double lock mechanism disengaged ( i . e ., unlocked ). the cuff includes a housing defined by wall 402 , a ratchet 106 , a pawl 410 with spring 412 , a lifter arm 420 , and a bolt 430 . consistent with a conventional cuff with the single lock engaged , the spring 412 continually biases the pawl 410 downward toward the ratchet 106 . the pawl 410 , however , may be raised upward when the ratchet 106 is closed if and when the slopped faces of the ratchet &# 39 ; s teeth 108 are forced from right to left . as such , the single lock mechanism of the present embodiment allows the ratchet 106 to freely rotate in a closing direction ( counter - clockwise about hinge 109 ) toward the housing to enable law enforcement personnel to quickly immobilize a prisoner &# 39 ; s wrist or ankle , for example . due to the asymmetric shape of the teeth on the ratchet and pawl , however , the single lock mechanism generally prevents the ratchet 106 from rotating in an opening direction ( clockwise ) unless the single lock mechanism is first disengaged with the cuff key 300 . illustrated in fig5 is a partial cross section of a cuff 102 as the single lock is disengaged . to mechanically disengage the single lock , the cuff key is inserted into the first keyway 120 and the key turned clockwise to engage a flange 423 on the lifter arm 420 . when turned beyond about 135 degrees , the key &# 39 ; s bit 316 pulls the lifter arm 420 away from the ratchet 106 in a generally upward direction . when a torque sufficient to compress the spring 412 is applied , the lifter arm 420 pivots counter - clockwise about its axis 422 , which causes the distal end at the right to push the pawl 410 upward away from the ratchet . the preferred embodiment of the cuff further includes a double lock mechanism for added security . illustrated in fig6 is a partial cross section of a cuff with both the single lock mechanism and double lock mechanism engaged . the double lock is engaged by inserting the cuff key &# 39 ; s pin 320 into the secondary keyway 220 to push the bolt 430 to the right into a position directly between the pawl 410 and housing wall 402 , thereby preventing the pawl from being lifted away from the ratchet 106 . as such , the pawl 410 is held in place to prevent the ratchet 106 from either opening ( loosened ) or closing ( tightened ) until the double lock is subsequently disengaged . to disengage the double lock , the same cuff key used for the single lock is inserted into the primary keyway 120 and turned counter clockwise ( opposite direction needed to unlock the single lock mechanism ), which pushes the bolt 430 back to the left when the key &# 39 ; s bit 316 engages a flange 630 on the bolt 430 . when pushed back to its initial station , the bolt 430 is once again clear of the pawl 410 to permit the pawl to retract from the ratchet 106 . the cuff 102 of the preferred embodiment further includes a first electronic lock 260 and a second electronic lock 270 . the first and second electronic locks are configured to cooperate with and reinforce the single and double lock mechanisms , respectively . both electronic locks are connected to the passcode processor 250 configured to compare the passcode received from a key to a stored passcode before disengaging the electronic locks . the passcode is communicated to the processor 250 by means of one or more electrical contacts 314 in the cuff key &# 39 ; s bit 316 and corresponding electrical contacts in one or more of the keyway 120 , 220 . when the first electronic lock 260 is engaged , for example , the single lock mechanism can only be opened when the processor 250 receives the proper security code from a cuff key inserted into the primary keyway 120 . the electronic cuff cannot , therefore , be opened by a standard cuff key even though it possesses the same physical shape and dimensions as the electronic cuff key 300 depicted in fig3 . the first electronic lock 260 is automatically engaged when the single lock mechanism is engaged ( i . e ., when the ratchet engages the pawl ), and automatically disengaged when the proper key is inserted and / or turned clockwise in the primary keyway 120 . similarly , the second electronic lock 270 is automatically engaged when the double lock mechanism is engaged via the second keyway 220 ( i . e ., when the bolt is slid behind the pawl ), and automatically disengaged when the proper key is inserted and / or turned counter - clockwise in the first keyway 120 . referring to fig4 again , the first electronic lock 260 includes a first actuator while the second electronic lock 270 includes a second actuator , both of which are connected to the passcode processor 250 . in the preferred embodiment , the actuators are electromagnetic solenoids although various other types of linear and rotary actuators known to those skilled in the art may be employed . the first actuator includes a coil 450 and a retractable projection 452 . when engaged , the projection 452 extends into the path of the lifter arm 420 , thereby preventing the lifter arm from pulling the pawl 410 away from the ratchet 106 . referring to fig5 again , if and when the first electronic lock is disengaged , the processor 250 applies a power signal to the first solenoid 260 , which causes the projection 452 to be temporarily retracted . when retracted , the lifter arm 420 may be turned counter - clockwise and the pawl 410 lifted . without the proper key , the projection 452 remains extended to prevent a key from turning the lifter arm 420 to open the ratchet . referring to fig6 again , the second solenoid 270 also includes an electromagnetic coil 460 and a projection 462 adapted to physically obstruct the bolt 430 from sliding in an unlocking direction without the proper cuff key . if and when the second electronic lock is disengaged , the processor 250 applies a power signal to the second solenoid 270 , which causes the projection 462 to be retracted from a recess in the bolt . with the projection 462 clear of the bolt 430 , the bolt may be manually slid to the left and clear of the pawl 410 . without the proper key , the projection 462 secures the bolt 410 to prevent a key from disengaging the second lock mechanism . in accordance with some embodiments , the power to actuate the first and second solenoids is provided by the cuff key 300 , which includes a portable energy source including one or more batteries 360 . the power signal may be transmitted serially after the passcode is transmitted to the cuff 102 , transmitted in parallel via a second channel operably coupling the key and passcode processor , or communicated to the cuff via a capacitive or inductive link . the cuff 102 in the preferred embodiment , however , does not include any internal energy source . the passcode processor 250 in the preferred embodiment is a solid state micro - processor such as a programmed integrated circuits ( pic ), for example . the processor authenticates the passcode by comparing the passcode received from the key to one or more approved passcodes retained in on - board memory in the cuff &# 39 ; s passcode processor 250 , for example . a passcode is preferably a 256 or 512 bit digital code or combination representing an alphanumeric string of characters . the passcode may be stored to on - board memory when the cuff is manufactured ; programmably written to memory using an erasable programmable read - only - memory ( eprom ), for example ; or a combination thereof . the set of passcodes with which the cuff 102 can be opened may consist of a single passcode associated with one or more keys , or comprise multiple passcodes associated with different geographic areas or the different levels of a law enforcement organization . for example , there may be a first passcode associated with the key of an officer ; a second passcode associated with a local law enforcement department , a third passcode associated with a county law enforcement department ; a fourth passcode associated with a state law enforcement department ; or any combination of the above . this avoids the problems associated with the universal key in traditional cuffs . the preferred embodiment also isolates problems due to lost keys , for example , since the loss of a key used in one police department does not affect another department using a different passcode . in some embodiments , the cuff 102 is further adapted to retain a black list including passcodes that are barred from unlocking the cuff , thereby providing a mechanism for neutralizing the passcodes associated with keys that are lost or stolen , for example . the authorized passcodes and black list codes may be periodically uploaded to the cuff using a docking station , such as a cradle maintained by the law enforcement office or manufacturer . the electronic cuff key 300 in the preferred embodiment comprises a traditional skeleton key or barrel key with one or more bits 316 having one or more electrical contacts 314 ; a memory for retaining one or more passcodes ; a processor 350 or circuit board for generating the passcode ; one or more batteries 360 or other power source ; and a cylinder 370 to house the batteries . the key 300 should be sufficiently large to prevent a stolen key from being easily concealed by a prisoner during a pat - down search , for example . this may be effectively achieved using a key with two or more aa or aaa batteries , for example . the key may have assigned to it a unique serial number that is also communicated to the cuff each time the cuff is unlocked . in some embodiments , the cuff key 300 includes a miniature recharging apparatus in the key , the recharging apparatus being consistent with the recharger used in hands - free headsets for cellular phones . a light emitting diode may be used as a low battery charge level indicator , and / or an audible alert used to notify the user of a low battery charge level or malfunction . when low , the batteries can then be recharged with a ac to dc converter , which could save the law enforcement departments the expense of replacing batteries . in some embodiments , the key and / or cuff includes a light emitting diode ( led ) whose light level can be used to indicate to law enforcement personnel whether the first or second locking mechanism has been properly engaged and / or disengaged . similarly , the cuff key 300 and / or cuff 102 may include an audible alarm for generating a beep to indicate when the electronic cuff is locked and / or unlocked . in some additional embodiments , the cuff 102 is adapted to measure , record , and upload information about the cuff and key usage . information indicating the degree to which the cuff is locked may also be recorded to enable law enforcement to reconstruct the conditions under which cuff was applied to a prisoner . that is , the cuff 102 is adapted to indicate the position of the ratchet relative to the housing , thus indicating how much or how little pressure was used to constrain the prisoner &# 39 ; s wrist within the cuff . the position of the ratchet may be measured and recorded in terms of the number and position of the ratchet teeth 108 that engage the pawl 410 when the cuff is secured in the single or double locked position . the information may further include a timestamp and the information periodically uploaded to a cradle or docking station , for example . the information recorded by the cuff for subsequent download may further include the serial number of the previous one or more keys used to unlock the cuff . this information may then be stored in the cuff and retrieved if necessary to identify which key was used to unlock the cuff , determine the identity of the person to whom the key was assigned , and whether the individual with the key was authorized to unlock the cuff . the preferred embodiment of the invention herein is intended for use in a cuff or other restraint system . one skilled in the art , however , will appreciate that the invention is also applicable to numerous other locking applications including automobiles , homes , gates , filing cabinets , lock boxes , safes , chests , briefcases , padlocks , and trigger locks , for example . although the description above contains many specifications , these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention . therefore , the invention has been disclosed by way of example and not limitation , and reference should be made to the following claims to determine the scope of the present invention .

a combination mechanical and electronic lock system for use in cuffs and various other locking applications is disclosed . in the preferred embodiment , the lock is configured to receive a matching key that transmits a code that disengages the electronic lock from the mechanical lock so that the mechanical lock can be manually opened by the user . when implemented in a handcuff , for example , the mechanical lock includes a single lock mechanism and a double lock mechanism ; and at least one electronic lock configured to selectively unlock at least a portion of the mechanical lock upon receipt of the proper digital code from the cuff key . the power needed to operate the electronic lock , preferably a solenoid or other actuator , is received directly or indirectly from the cuff key so that the cuff need not possess a battery .

the present invention can be described by reference to the drawings . a preferred embodiment of a light weight water turbine drive is shown in fig1 . this turbine is extremely efficient at speeds in the range of 1800 rpm to 24 , 000 rpm and with loads in the range of 1 / 2 to about 50 horsepower . essentially any corresponding high speed rotating load in this range can be attached directly to the shaft 18 . for slower speed rotating loads gear or belt pulley reduction may be required . turbine nozzle body 16 is firmly attached to bearing housing 76 . together they contain rolling element bearings 21 . said bearings provide for rotable radial and axial support to shaft 18 which at its rear end supports a firmly attached axial flow bladed water turbine wheel 26 incorporating blades 19 . the front of the shaft could be attached to any one of a number of rotating loads . since the turbine wheel in this embodiment is water driven , a convential sliding shaft seal 22 is provided sealing the water filled cavity 40 from air filled cavity 41 located on the opposite of seal 22 . water is supplied to the water turbine at a pressure ranging typically form 40 to 180 psig into the annular water turbine inlet cavity 30 through turbine inlet passage 35 . the annular water turbine inlet cavity 30 supplies high pressure water to a plurality ( twelve in this embodiment ) of turbine nozzles configured as round holes with generally varying diameter and positioned appropriately within the nozzle &# 39 ; s body 16 , so as to produce maximum hydraulic effenciency in combination with the turbine wheel blades 19 . such turbine nozzles are identified as 50 in fig1 . as indicated in fig3 and 4 , the turbine nozzles are drilled at an angle of about 10 to 30 degrees with the plane of the face of the nozzle body outlet surface . in my prototype designed for 2 to 6 horsepower at a 160 psig inlet pressure and a design speed of 10 , 000 rpm , the angle was 15 degrees . it is unlikely that the angle need be greater than about 30 degrees or less than 10 degrees . fig3 shows the plane view of the exit portion of the turbine nozzles 50 as viewed in the plane 3 -- 3 in fig4 . fig4 shows a section through the nozzle body 16 along the plane 4 -- 4 in fig3 and combines such view with the plane view of turbine blades 19 and turbine wheel 26 . the high pressure water is fed from annular water turbine inlet cavity 30 into the plurality of turbine nozzles 50 . the water flow accelerates through nozzles 50 converting the pressure energy into kinetic energy with minimum hydraulic losses . high hydrodynamic efficiency of nozzles 50 is attributed to the particiular combination of round cross sectioned nozzles 50 and the gradual change in the cross section of the flow area along the centerline axis of the individual nozzles 50 . the turbine nozzles 50 are positioned close to each other within the nozzle body 16 so as to produce minimum wakes of low velocity fluid in between the passage areas of nozzles 50 and turbine blades 19 . such wakes are considered to be generally harmful to the turbine hydraulic efficiency . such nozzle positioning as shown in fig3 , 5a , 6a , 5b , and 6b maximizes the percentage of the turbine blades frontal flow area occupied by the high velocity fluid relatively to the frontal flow area occupied by the wakes . it should be noted here that many hydraulic fluids other than water could be used to power turbine drive units built according to this invention . persons skilled in the art are aware of the minor changes that should be maintained to retain high effiencies taking into account the differing vicosities of the various hydraulic fluids which could be used . a preferred embodiment of the present invention is to drive a high speed electric generator as shown in fig2 . the water turbine 80 is driving high frequecy electric generator 72 . in this embodiment the turbine shaft is directly coupled via coupling 74 to generator 72 . excellent power matching between generator and turbine is being achieved . in this embodiment the diameters of turbine nozzle throats shown as 51 in fig4 are increased by 20 percent and inlet pressure is 200 psi and operating speed of 12 , 000 rpm is specified to match commercially available bendix electric generator model 28b285 - 43 pr oducting up to 8 kva at 400 hz frequecy . as shown in fig2 electric generator 72 is mounted on frame 71 . adapter housing 73 is attached concentrically to electric generator 72 and turbine 80 . mounting flange design on turbine 80 is modified in this embodiment to fit the specific configuration of adopter housing 73 . another preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig8 . in this embodiment a rotating grinding wheel 71 is directly driven by shaft 18 of water turbine 80 . some or all of the discharge water out of the turbine could be utilized to cool the rotating tool and for the prevention of sparks . fig9 shows a 60 hz electric generator 82 being driven by my high speed water turbine 80 via belt 81 using common speed reducing pulley arrangement with approximately 3 : 1 pulley diameter ratio for 3600 rpm or 6 : 1 pulley ratio for 1800 rpm . frequency of 60 hz can be maintained by employing suitable feedback control circuitry which adjusts the turbine water flow to match the load using techniques well known in the art . fig1 shows a common household garbage disposal rotor 92 driven directly by the turbine 80 utilizing pressurized household water supply to drive the water turbine . discharge water out of the water turbine discharge passage 36 flows further into sink 93 flushing the chopped garbage through passage 94 and down the household drain . turbine 80 is of the same configuration as shown in fig1 and first described above , except the turbine nozzle passages 50 shown in fig4 have small diameter of 0 . 10 inch instead of 0 . 13 inch . standard household pressure of 50 psi will produce 1 / 3 horsepower in the speed range of 3000 to 5000 rpm and water flows of about 18 gpm . alternate turbine configurations , producing significantly higher shaft horsepower and utilizing the same basic turbine hardware as described above is shown on fig5 b , 6b and 7b . the lower horsepower turbine nozzles configuration shown on fig5 a and 6a incorporates nozzle body 16a and individual nozzles 50a having exit diameter identified as na on fig5 a . the matching lower horsepower tubine wheel and the turbine blades are identified by numerals 26a and 19a respectively on fig7 a . the tip diameter of the lower horsepower turbine blades is identified as da on fig7 a . the basic turbine blade configuration diameter identified as db on fig7 a is generally larger than the diameter da and is machined down to the diameter da for a lower power version , while it can remain unchanged for a higher power version such as shown on fig7 b . the basic nozzle body utilized for both versions is shown on fig5 a and 6a and it can remain unchanged for the lower power version . for the higher power version the cylindrical portion of the individual nozzle diameter is increased from the dimension na shown on fig5 a to a dimension nb shown on fig5 b while utilizing the same centerlines of the individual nozzles . as described above the typical nozzle passage geometry as shown as 50a on fig5 a consists of tapered hole at the entrence and leading into a cylindrical portion of the nozzle passages closely adjacent to each other at the nozzle exits . therefore , an increase of individual nozzle diameters in those regions will cause interference of those passages and resulting in a breakage between the nozzle wall . to correct this undesirable effect , the nozzle body is machined in the axial direction by the amount shown as dimension l on fig5 b . the result of the aforemensioned operation will produce closely nested nozzles with larger flow areas as indicated by 50b on fig6 b . the turbine blades tip diameter db on fig7 b is sized to match the larger nozzle shown on fig6 b . the objective of this design method is to affect minimum changes in the overall turbine configuration , thus the position of the bearings and the shaft remain unchanged for both versions . this dictates that the turbine wheel be machined in the axial direction by the dimension l shown on fig7 b , in order to compensate for the aforemensioned change of the nozzle body shown as dimensionl on fig5 b . the increase in the nozzle sizes utilizing the aforemensioned procedure to larger nozzles as shown in fig6 b changes the outer perimeter of the nozzle exits significantly , thus requiring a change in the matching turbine blades tip diameter from da shown on fig7 a to diameter db on fig7 b . however , the change on the inner permeter of the nozzle exits is minimal because of the compound effect of the nozzles centerlines spreading further apart from each other tending to increase the inner perimeter of the nozzles , while the increase inthe individual nozzle diameters tend to decrease the inner permiter of the nozzles . for typical high efficiency turbines , the nozzle centerlines are positioned to the shaft centerline with an angle of 60 to 80 degrees ( 10 to 30 degrees with the turbine nozzle outlet surface ) which incombination with an appropriate cone shape of individual nozzles allows for maintaining of relatively constant inner nozzles perimeter utilizing the above described procedure . therefore , the turbine blades inner diameter shown as di on fig7 a and 7b which typically is somewhat smaller than the inner perimeter of the nozzles , can remain the same for both versions even if the inner perimeter of the nozzles changes slightly from one version to another . by this method , a relatively simple and inexpensive machining operations allow for utilization of standard premachined turbine nozzle bodies and premachined turbine wheels and blades , thus avoiding a relatively large expense associated with redesigning and retooling of the entire turbine and associated housings . a higher turbine power output achieved by the above procedure should be matched by the same increase in power absorbed by the load . standard methods well known in the art are used to provide such matching performance . it should be understood that the form of the invention illustrated and described herein is intended to be representative only , as certain changes may be made therein without departing from the clear teachings of the disclosure . acordingly , reference should be made to the following apended claims in determining the full scope of the invention .

a high speed hydraulic turbine drive . a nozzle body contains a number of nozzles through which hydraulic fluid is discharged to impinge on the blades of a turbine wheel which is fully submerged in the hydraulic fluid . the nozzles are cylindrical or part conical and part cylindrical and the center line of the nozzles for an angle of about 10 to 30 degrees with the outlet surface of the nozzle body . a manufacturing method is provided which permits the manufacture of drives of various power using the same standard machined parts . in preferred embodiments the turbine drive drives high speed and low speed electric generators , a grinder and a garbage disposal unit .