Patent Publication Number: US-2006020977-A1

Title: Television broadcast signal receiving system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a television broadcast signal receiving system for receiving television broadcast signals delivered from a plurality of directions.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      In the North American Continent where an ATSC digital television broadcast (it is abbreviated to a hereinafter digital TV broadcast) is performed, plains are dotted with metropolises, so that various digital TV broadcast signals broadcasted in the suburbs of each metropolis can be received at other cities or the halfway point of the cities. In consideration from a user who receives the TV broadcast signals, since many TV broadcast signals are transmitted in various directions, it is necessary to regulate a direction of an antenna in an orientation to a TV broadcasting station from which a program which he wants to watch is delivered. Therefore, a multi-directional antenna such as a smart antenna is put into practical use. According to the EIA-909 technical standard, it is provided that a smart antenna has sixteen signal receiving directions in respective directions where a circle is divided into sixteen.  
      A television broadcast signal receiver connected to such a multi-directional antenna is capable of adjusting an effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna. In the EIA-909 technical standard, it is prescribed that the television broadcast signal receiver is connected to the multi-directional antenna via a modular cable so as to transmit a control signal from the television broadcast signal receiver to the multi-directional antenna. Therefore, transmitting and receiving of the control signal are performed through a CEA-909 interface between the television broadcast signal receiver and the multi-directional antenna connected by the modular cable.  
      By the way, among conventional television broadcast signal receiving systems using a unidirectional antenna, there is no system that connects the television broadcast signal receiver to the unidirectional antenna by the modular cable. Thus, in the above-mentioned television broadcast signal receiving system that connects the television broadcast signal receiver to the multi-directional antenna by the modular cable, there is a fear that a user is confused when setup of the system.  
      In addition, in the conventional television broadcast signal receiving system using the unidirectional antenna, a plurality of television broadcast signal receivers can be connected to a single unidirectional antenna. In contrast, in the television broadcast signal receiving system using the multi-directional antenna, optimum signal receiving direction of each channel may be different. When a plurality of television broadcast signal receivers are connected to a single multi-directional antenna, it is necessary to adjust capability to control the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna between the television broadcast signal receivers.  
      As for a method to control the communication among a plurality of terminal apparatuses, the documents of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 7-307742, No. 11-55266 and No. 2001-237839 are known.  
      However, there is no television broadcast signal receiving system which can control the multi-directional antenna from the television broadcast signal receiver without using the modular cable. Furthermore, there is no television broadcast signal receiving system which can adjust the capability to control the multi-directional antenna among a plurality of television broadcast signal receivers, when the television broadcast signal receivers are connected to the same multi-directional antenna. Even when the techniques shown in the above-mentioned prior art documents are applied to the television broadcast signal receiving system using the multi-directional antenna, it is impossible to solve these problems.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      A purpose of the present invention is to provide a television broadcast signal receiving system, in which setting up of a multi-directional antenna and a television broadcast signal receiver can be made easier, and a single multi-directional antenna can be used commonly by a plurality of television broadcast signal receivers.  
      A television broadcast signal receiving system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention comprises a multi-directional antenna having a plurality of signal receiving directions previously defined and at least one television broadcast signal receiver connected to the multi-directional antenna for receiving a television broadcast signal.  
      The television broadcast signal receiver has a tuner connected to the multi-directional antenna and receiving a television broadcast signal, and a transmitter for transmitting an antenna control signal to the multi-directional antenna via a wireless transmission so as to switch an effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna while receiving the television broadcast signal.  
      The multi-directional antenna has a receiver for receiving the antenna control signal transmitted from the transmitter of the television broadcast signal receiver, and a switch for switching the effective signal receiving direction among a plurality of signal receiving directions of the multi-directional antenna corresponding to the antenna control signal.  
      By such a configuration, the antenna control signal is transmitted from the television broadcast signal receiver to the multi-directional antenna via the wireless transmission without using the modular cables, so that the setting up of the television broadcast signal receivers and the multi-directional antenna can be made simple and easy. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a conceptual diagram showing a circumstance for receiving digital television broadcast signals in home;  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television broadcast signal receiving system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a conceptual diagram showing signal receiving conditions of a multi-directional antenna used in the system;  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing a process for automatically scanning an optimum signal receiving direction of each channel by a television broadcast signal receiver used in the system;  
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing a process for scanning all channels in all signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna by the television broadcast signal receiver used in the system;  
       FIG. 6  is a table showing relations between the channels and optimum signal receiving directions formed by the process shown in  FIG. 5 ;  
       FIG. 7  is a flowchart showing a process for transmitting a control signal by a transmitter of the television broadcast signal receiver;  
       FIG. 8  is conceptual diagram showing processes for transmitting and receiving the control signal; and  
       FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing a process for receiving the control signal by a receiver of the multi-directional antenna. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT  
      A television (TV) broadcast signal receiving system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to figures. A circumstance for receiving TV broadcast signals in home is shown in  FIG. 1 . In an area where grand-based digital TV broadcast is performed, when an intensity of received signal of a digital TV broadcast signal is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value, an image having a predetermined image quality can be obtained by correction. Thus, it is possible to view TV programs by receiving TV broadcast signals which are delivered from TV stations existing at many positions in such as areas designated by symbols A, B, C, and so on, as shown in  FIG. 1 . According to such a circumstance, various types of multi-directional antennas called smart antenna having a plurality of signal receiving directions are put into practical use.  
      The TV broadcast signal receiving system is configured for including one or a plurality of TV broadcast signal receiver and one or a plurality of multi-directional antennas.  FIG. 2  shows an example of that two TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B are connected to a single multi-directional antenna  3 . The TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B respectively receive a TV broadcast signal among many TV broadcast signals delivered in a predetermined frequency band from TV stations disposed at various locations by switching an effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna  3 , and outputs a TV program on a monitor display apparatus with using the TV broadcast signal. In this description, a physical channel which is a frequency bandwidth of carrier wave used for transmitting the TV broadcast signal is merely called as a channel.  
      Each of the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B is comprised of a tuner  21  connected to the multi-directional antenna  3  and receiving a TV broadcast signal, a front end  22  performing a predetermined signal processing to the TV broadcast signal received by the tuner  21  for decoding the TV broadcast signal, an MPEG decoder  23  decoding the TV broadcast signal compressed in compliance with the MPEG standard, an on screen display (OSD) unit  24  superimposing a data of predetermined display image on the decoded TV broadcast signal, a main controller  25  sensing a signal receiving condition of the TV broadcast signal, outputting an antenna control signal for controlling a control unit  32  of the multi-directional antenna  3 , and controlling the entire of the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A or  2 B, a memory  26  memorizing a table of signal receiving directions and so on, and a transmitter  27 . The TV broadcast signal decoded by the MPEG decoder  23  is outputted to a monitor display apparatus through the OSD unit  24  so that an image is displayed on the monitor display apparatus with using the TV broadcast signal.  
      The table of signal receiving directions memorized in the memory  26  includes information of channel numbers delivered from the TV stations, optimum signal receiving direction (abbreviated as optimum direction in flowchart) of each channel when the TV broadcast signal of the channel is received by the multi-directional antenna  3 , and registered channel information showing whether the channel is registered as receivable or not. Hereinafter, a condition that a specific channel is registered as receivable is described as an ADD flag is ON state, and a condition that a specific channel is not registered as receivable is described as the ADD flag is OFF state. In addition, when the registered channel information is deleted from the table of signal receiving directions, it is described as the ADD flag is changed from ON state to OFF state. When the registered channel information is added to the table of signal receiving directions, it is described as the ADD flag is changed from OFF state to ON state.  
      The transmitter  27  serves as a control signal generator and a control signal transmitter when it performs control signal processing based on the antenna control signal inputted from the main controller  25 .  
      The multi-directional antenna  3  which is called smart antenna comprises an antenna unit  31  for receiving TV broadcast signal, a control unit  32  for controlling the motion of the antenna unit  31 , a receiver  33 , and an amplifier (not shown) for amplifying the TV broadcast signal received by the antenna unit  31 . The antenna unit  31  has, for example, sixteen signal receiving directions D 1  to D 16  as shown in  FIG. 3 , and an effective signal receiving direction is selected among these sixteen signal receiving: directions by electrically switched on and off of electronic switches or mechanically moving an antenna (these elements are not shown). The electronic switches or a controller for moving the antenna serves as a switch for switching the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna  3 . The receiver  33  serves as a control signal receiver and an antenna control signal extractor when it performs a control signal receiving process, and outs the antenna control signal to the control unit  32 . The control unit  32  makes an indicated signal receiving direction effective among the signal receiving directions D 1  to D 16  of the antenna unit  31  corresponding to the inputted antenna control signal. Furthermore, the control unit  32  serves as an antenna setting switch for changing a gain of the amplifier.  
      Subsequently, a basic motion of the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A or  2 B is described. At first, an automatic scanning process for deciding an optimum signal receiving direction of an optional channel delivered from a TV station is described with reference to a flowchart shown in  FIG. 4 . When an automatic scanning mode is chosen by a user, and a channel, to which the optimum signal receiving direction is decided, is set, the main controller  25  sets an initial value “n” into a counter corresponding to a number of signal receiving directions of the multi-directional antenna  3  (S 1 ). In this case, since the multi-directional antenna  3  has sixteen signal receiving directions D 1  to D 16 , so that the initial value n=16. Then, the main controller  25  outputs an antenna control signal indicating the n-th signal receiving direction to the multi-directional antenna  3  (S 2 ).  
      The tuner  21  receives a TV broadcast signal of the channel in the n-th signal receiving direction (S 3 ). Furthermore, the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A or  2 B measures an intensity of the received TV broadcast signal(abbreviated as intensity of signal in the flowchart), and memorizes the measured result into the memory  26  (S 4 ). After that, the main controller  25  subtracts a number of the counter by one (S 5 ), and judges whether the intensity of the TV broadcast signal is measured in all signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna  3  or not (S 6 ).  
      When the intensity of the TV broadcast signal is not measured in all signal receiving directions of the multi-directional antenna  3  (NO in S 6 ), the flow returns to the step S 2 , and the main controller  25  performs the process for measuring the intensity of the TV broadcast signal in the next signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna  3 .  
      When the measurement of the intensity of the TV broadcast signal is completed in all signal receiving directions of the multi-directional antenna  3  (YES in S 6 ), the main controller  25  reads out the measured data from the memory  26  and compares all the read-out intensities of the TV broadcast signals in all the signal receiving directions (S 7 ). The main controller  25  decides a direction showing the largest intensity of the TV broadcast signal as the optimum signal receiving direction of the channel (S 8 ), and registers the optimum signal receiving direction of the channel into the table of signal receiving directions (S 9 ).  
      Furthermore, the main controller  25  judges whether the intensity of the TV broadcast signal in the optimum signal receiving direction is equal to or larger than a predetermined reference value or not (S 10 ). When the intensity of the TV broadcast signal is equal to or larger than the predetermined reference value (YES in S 10 ), the main controller turns the ADD flag on in the table of signal receiving directions (S 11 ), and completes the automatic scanning process. Alternatively, when the intensity of the TV broadcast signal is smaller than the predetermined reference value (NO in S 10 ), the main controller does not turn the ADD flag on ( maintains the OFF state of the ADD flag) in the table of signal receiving directions, and completes the automatic scanning process.  
      Subsequently, a process for scanning whole area, by which the optimum signal receiving directions of every channels delivered from the TV stations are decided, is described with reference to a flowchart shown in  FIG. 5 . When the process for scanning whole area is selected by the user, the controller  25  sets an initial value “m” of a counter and a number of channels m max , to which the optimum signal receiving direction are decided corresponding to the number of channels delivered from the TV stations (S 21 ). The main controller  25  performs the above-mentioned automatic scanning process with respect to the m-th channel so as to decide the optimum signal receiving direction and the registered channel information of the channel, and records them into the table of signal receiving directions (S 22 ). Then, the main controller  25  add one to the number of the counter (S 23 ), and judges whether the automatic scanning operation is performed with respect to all the channels or not (S 24 ). When the automatic scanning process is not completed with respect to all channels (NO in S 24 ), the flow returns to the step S 22 , and the main controller performs the automatic scanning operation with respect to next channel. Alternatively, when the optimum signal receiving direction and the registered channel information are registered into the table of signal receiving directions (YES in S 24 ), the main controller  25  completes the process for scanning whole area.  
       FIG. 6  shows an example of the table of signal receiving directions formed in the above-mentioned process for scanning whole area. In the table of signal receiving directions  50 , the optimum signal receiving direction  52  and the registered channel information  53  are memorized with relation to each channel number  51 . In addition, an ON state of the ADD flag is shown by a symbol “◯”, and an OFF state of the ADD flag is shown by no mark, in  FIG. 6 . The numerals shown in the boxes of the optimum signal receiving directions  52  correspond to the signal receiving directions D 1  to D 16  of the multi-directional antenna  3 . For example, the numeral “2” corresponds to the signal receiving direction D 2 , and the numeral “3” corresponds to the signal receiving direction D 3 .  
      The main controller  25  performs channel selection processing for the channels registered as receivable based on the registered channel information. Specifically, the main controller  25  reads out the optimum signal receiving direction of a selected channel from the memory  26 , and outputs an antenna control signal for indicating the optimum signal receiving direction of the selected channel to the multi-directional antenna  3 .  
      Subsequently, a process for transmitting the control signal by the transmitter  27  is described with reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8 . The transmitter  27  watches whether an antenna control signal  61  is inputted from the main controller  25  or not (S 41 ). When the antenna control signal  61  is inputted (YES in S 41 ), the transmitter  27  adds apparatus identifying information (abbreviated as apparatus information in the flowchart)  62  to the antenna control signal  6 i, so that a control signal  60  with apparatus identifying information is formed (S 42 ). The apparatus identifying information  62  includes an apparatus ID  62   a  for identifying the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B, a priority level  62   b  which is set to each of the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B. Then, the transmitter  27  modulates the control signal  60  with the apparatus identifying information, and transmits the modulated control signal to the multi-directional antenna  3  via wireless transmission.  
      Subsequently, a process for receiving the control signal by the receiver  33  is described with reference to  FIGS. 8 and 9 . The receiver  33  watches whether the control signal  60  with the apparatus identifying information is transmitted from the transmitter  27  or not (S 61 ). When the receiver  33  receives the control signal  60  (YES in S 61 ), the receiver  33  demodulates the control signal  60  with the apparatus identifying information (S 62 ). Then, the receiver  33  judges whether the control signal  60  is transmitted from the apparatus having a higher priority level or not with reference to the apparatus identifying information  62  included in the control signal  60  (S 63 ). Specifically, the receiver  33  judges whether the priority level of the apparatus newly outputted the control signal  60  is higher than that of the apparatus previously outputted the control signal  60 , or not.  
      When the control signal  60  is outputted from the apparatus having the higher priority level (YES in S 63 ), the receiver  33  removes the apparatus identifying information  62  from the control signal  60  so that the antenna control-signal  61  is extracted in compliance with the CEA-909 technical standard, and outputs the antenna control signal  61  to the control unit  32  (S 64 ). Alternatively, when the control signal  60  is outputted from the apparatus having the lower priority level (NO in S 63 ), the receiver  33  throws out the control signal  60  (S 65 ), and completes the process.  
      For example, when the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A has a higher priority level than that of the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 B, and the receiver  33  has previously received the control signal  60  outputted from the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A, the control signal  60  outputted from the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 B will be thrown out. Alternatively, when the receiver  33  has previously received the control signal  60  outputted from the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 B, and receives the control signal  60  the control signal  60  outputted from the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A later, the antenna control signal  61  is extracted from the control signal  60  from the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A and inputted to the control unit  32 .  
      In addition, it is possible to provide an expiration term to the antenna control signal  61  so as not to be thrown out the control signal  60  outputted from the apparatus having the lower priority level at all times. After passing the expiration term, the control signal  60  outputted from the apparatus having the lower priority level can be received by the receiver  33 . In the above-mentioned example, when the expiration term of the antenna control signal  61  outputted from the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A has passed, the antenna control signal  61  is extracted from the control signal  60  outputted from the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 B and inputted to the control unit  32 .  
      According to the TV broadcast signal receiving system  1  of the embodiment, each of the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B respectively performs the process for transmitting the control signal, so that the control signal  60  with the apparatus identifying information is transmitted to the multi-directional antenna  3  via the wireless transmission. In the multi-directional antenna  3 , the process for receiving the control signal is performed for receiving the control signal  60  with the apparatus identifying information and extracting the antenna control signal  61  included in the control signal  60 . The effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna  3  and the gain of the amplifier are switched on the basis of the antenna control signal  61 . Thus, the multidirectional antenna  3  can be controlled by the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B without connecting the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B to the multidirectional antenna  3  by modular cables. Since it is no need to connect the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B to the multidirectional antenna  3  by the modular cables, setting up of the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B and the multidirectional antenna  3  becomes simple and easy.  
      Furthermore, since the multi-directional antenna  3  extracts the antenna control signal  61  from the control signal  60  only when the control signal  60  is outputted from an apparatus having a higher priority level, and switches the effective signal receiving direction of thereof corresponding to the indication of the antenna control signal  61 , it is possible to adjust the capability for controlling the multi-directional antenna  3  between the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B. Consequently, a single multi-directional antenna can be used commonly among a plurality of TV broadcast signal receivers.  
      Still furthermore, the multi-directional antenna  3  extracts the antenna control signal  61  from the control signal  60  and switches the effective signal receiving direction only when the control signal  60  is outputted from the apparatus having the higher priority level, so that it is possible to prevent malfunction of switching the effective signal receiving direction by a radio wave such as noise except the control signal from predetermined apparatuses.  
      In addition, the present invention is not to the above configuration of the embodiment, and various kinds of modification are possible. For example, the apparatus identifying information  62  may include other information further to the apparatus ID  62   a  and the priority level  62   b.  Even though the apparatus identifying information  62  includes any information, the apparatus identifying information  62  is added to the control signal by the transmitter  27  and removed from the control signal by the receiver  33 . Therefore, the antenna control signal  61  can be transmitted and received in a predetermined form, for example, in compliance with the CEA-909 technical standard between the main controller  25  of the TV broadcast signal receiver  2 A or  2 B and the control unit  32  of the multi-directional antenna  3 , similar to the case that the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B and the multi-directional antenna  3  are connected by the modular cables.  
      In contrast, when a single multi-directional antenna is not used commonly by a plurality of the TV broadcast signal receivers, the apparatus identifying information  62  is not necessarily be added to the antenna control signal  61 . The antenna control signal  61  may be transmitted to the receiver  33  from the transmitter  27 . In addition, the TV broadcast signal which can be received by the TV broadcast signal receivers  2 A and  2 B may be analog television broadcast signal without it being limited to the digital television broadcast signal.  
      A television broadcast signal receiving system in accordance with the present invention comprises at least a multi-directional antenna having a plurality of signal receiving directions previously defined and at least one television broadcast signal receiver connected to the multi-directional antenna for receiving a television broadcast signal. The television broadcast signal receiver has a tuner connected to the multi-directional antenna and receiving a television broadcast signal, and a transmitter for transmitting an antenna control signal to the multi-directional antenna via a wireless transmission so as to switch an effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna while receiving the television broadcast signal. The multi-directional antenna has a receiver for receiving the antenna control signal transmitted from the transmitter of the television broadcast signal receiver, and a switch for switching the effective signal receiving direction among a plurality of signal receiving directions of the multi-directional antenna corresponding to the antenna control signal.  
      By such a configuration, the antenna control signal is transmitted from the television broadcast signal receiver to the multi-directional antenna via the wireless transmission without using the modular cables, so that the setting up of the television broadcast signal receivers and the multi-directional antenna can be made simple and easy.  
      It is possible that the transmitter of the television broadcast signal receiver adds apparatus identifying information including an apparatus ID to the antenna control signal for identifying the television broadcast signal receiver from which the antenna control signal is outputted, and the receiver of the multi-directional antenna identifies the television broadcast signal receiver from which the antenna control signal is outputted based on the apparatus identifying information, and extracts the antenna control signal when the television broadcast signal receiver outputted the antenna control signal corresponds to a predetermined apparatus to be responded.  
      By such a configuration, the apparatus which outputs the antenna control signal is identified with reference to the apparatus identifying information. If the apparatus does not correspond to the predetermined apparatus to be responded, the antenna control signal will be ignored. Thus, even when the antenna control signal is outputted from an apparatus which has no capability for controlling the multi-directional antenna, or a quasi antenna control signal similar to the antenna control signal is inputted to the multi-directional antenna due to noise signal, it is possible to prevent malfunction of switching the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna.  
      Furthermore, it is possible that the apparatus identifying information further includes a priority level, and the receiver of the multi-directional antenna compares the priority level of the television broadcast signal receiver from which the antenna control signal is newly outputted with a priority level of a television broadcast signal receiver from which an antenna control signal is previously outputted, extracts the antenna control signal when the priority level of the television broadcast signal receiver from which the antenna control signal is newly outputted is higher than that of the television broadcast signal receiver from which the antenna control signal is previously outputted, and outputs the extracted antenna control signal to the switch so as to switch the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna corresponding to indication of the antenna control signal.  
      By such a configuration, when a plurality of antenna control signals is outputted from different television broadcast signal receivers, the multi-directional antenna compares the priority levels of these television broadcast signal receivers, and makes the antenna control signal effective which is outputted from the television broadcast signal receiver having the highest priority level. Thus, it is possible to prevent that the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna is frequently switched.  
      Still furthermore, it is possible that the antenna control signal is thrown out when the priority level of the television broadcast signal receiver from which the antenna control signal is newly outputted is smaller than that of the television broadcast signal receiver from which the antenna control signal is previously outputted.  
      By such a configuration, the antenna control signal which is outputted from the apparatus irresponsive can easily be ignored, so that the malfunction of switching of the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna can be prevented.  
      Still furthermore, it is possible that the antenna control signal further includes an expiration term; and when the expiration term of the antenna control signal previously outputted has passed, the receiver of the multi-directional antenna extracts the antenna control signal with no relation to the priority level of the television broadcast signal receiver, and outputs the extracted antenna control signal to the switch so as to switch the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna corresponding to indication of the antenna control signal.  
      By such a configuration, when the effective signal receiving direction of the multi-directional antenna is not switched while a predetermined term, it is possible to give a capability to the television broadcast signal receivers having lower priority level. Thus, the television broadcast signal receiving system can be used by a plurality of users evenly.  
      This application is based on Japanese patent application 2004-201708 filed Jul. 8, 2004 in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by references.  
      Although the present invention has been fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, unless otherwise such changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention, they should be construed as being included therein.