Pattern buffer The pattern buffer was a key component of transporter systems . The buffer was used to temporarily store the matter stream following dematerialization , but prior to sending the stream to its target . This was done because of the relative motion of transporter and target . By temporarily storing the matter stream , the Doppler compensators had enough time to adjust the targeting scanner s . A matter stream could not be stored indefinitely in the buffer ; after 420 seconds , the stored pattern would degrade and the object was lost . The only known occurrence of a person surviving in a buffer longer than the theoretical maximum was Captain Montgomery Scott on board the . Following the " Jenolan " s crash landing on a Dyson sphere , Scott , with the help of Matt Franklin , was able to store his pattern in the buffer for 75 years . This was achieved by disabling the rematerialization subroutine , connecting the phase inducer s to the emitter array , bypassing the override , and locking the buffer into a continuous diagnostic cycle . Although Captain Scott ' s pattern suffered less than 0 . 003 % degradation , and was successfully recovered by Geordi La Forge of the in 2369 , Franklin was irretrievable , as one of the inducers had failed , causing a 53 % degradation in his pattern . ( ) In 2152 , diamagnetic storm s saturated with polaric energy were encountered on a planet visited by the crew of the starship . The storms interfered with the operation of the ship ' s transporter , resulting in Hoshi Sato being trapped in its pattern buffer for 8 . 3 seconds while Malcolm Reed worked to reintegrate the matter stream . ( ) A pattern buffer malfunctioning was the leading cause of transporter accidents . In the 2270s , during the " V ' ger " incident , Commander Will Decker and Lieutenant Cleary did repairs on the pattern buffer but it malfunctioned while Cleary was replacing the transporter sensor . Janice Rand attempted to beam Commander Sonak and a female officer aboard the " Enterprise " but they were both killed . Scotty later repaired the pattern buffer and the sensor in time to beam Ilia and Leonard McCoy aboard . ( ) On starship s , the pattern buffer was located immediately beneath the transporter pad . ( ) When weapons were beamed to a rebel camp on Krios from a cargo transporter of the " Enterprise " - D in 2367 , Miles O ' Brien asked Geordi La Forge if he could check the reliability of the pattern buffers . ( ) When Jadzia Dax decided to stay on in 2371 , the transporter buffer of the was used to bring her quantum matrix in sync with that of the Meridians . ( ) Starships could also transfer patterns from one pattern buffer to another by " locking on " to the target buffer and energizing . ( ) To eliminate the medical condition called transporter psychosis , Federation transporters were equipped with multiplex pattern buffers . ( ) The transporter buffer of an starship performed a version of a microcellular scan every time it was used . ( ) Cardassian transporter systems were still equipped with active feed pattern buffers in 2367 ; these were considered outdated by Starfleet . ( ) In 2374 , the crew of " Voyager " overloaded the ship ' s pattern buffers attempting to transport deuterium from beneath the surface of a Y - class planet . ( )